You And I

Chapter 16

I shared a room with Eva, which had a balcony looking out into most of New York City. Sunset was just approaching as the sun glowed a bright orange colour, it was almost as if the sky was on fire. With the lights from the Empire State Building and Times Square shining, it was surely the best view I had ever seen in my life. I stood, placing my hand along the rail, breathing in the air. I closed my eyes for a second, only hearing the car horns in the distance.

Then I heard someone knock on the door, and my heart skipped a beat. As I jogged to the door, I sorted out my hair, before I opened it. John stood there, wearing his tight jeans and a smart looking shirt. When he smiled, I could see the gap in-between his teeth, which every time I saw it, it always made me giggle.

"Hi." He said, quietly. "Wow, you look beautiful."

I smiled at him, trying not to blush. "Why thank you. And may I say, you're looking rather dashing yourself."

He chuckled nervously. "Well, I do try."

We both giggled at each other as I let him inside, and we both walked out to the balcony. John was taken aback by the beautiful scenery as we both stood staring out into the city.

"So, you ready for tonight?" I asked him.

It was their first big concert at Madison Square Garden tonight.

"As I'll ever be." His hands were shaking slightly. "Brian is worse out of the four of us though, as his parents are coming to see us play tonight."

"Of course." I exclaimed, realising. "It'll be the first time they will have seen him perform live, is it?"

"Yep. Poor guy, whole lot depending on this performance. Sure hope we don't let him down." John sounded concerned.

"I'm sure you won't. Just as long as Freddie behaves himself, you'll be fine!" I said in a joking matter, which made him laugh.

As we stood in silence for a while, I could feel a hand on top of mine. John's fingers interlocked slightly with mine as I still held onto the rail. His pulse was faster, even though I could feel my heart beating out of my chest. Eventually I cleared my throat and faced him.

"Look, John. These past few months away from you, have been nothing short but torture. To think that everything had changed since that one night, how things have become so awkward. I don't want to lose you."

"What makes you think you're going to lose me?" He whispered, sounding slightly concerned.

I took a deep breath and stared into his green eyes. "I don't know if you still love me or not, but after this time apart, I've come to realise... that... I do have feelings for you."

John looked excited all of a sudden. "You do?"

He came towards me, but I pushed him back a little. "That doesn't mean that it's going to happen straightaway."

As soon as I said that, he looked sad.

"I mean, I've only just started talking to Roger again, imagine how he would react if we were together."

"I suppose." He nodded at me, and I could tell that he was a little nervous, when I placed my hand on his cheek.

"So, for now, it's a no. But maybe as time goes on, there could be something there. I'm just not ready yet."

"That's absolutely fine. As long as we're no longer ignoring each other, that's all I want." John said, trying to sound convincing, but I knew what he wanted from the start.

As we met each other's gaze, I could feel myself getting lost in his eyes. I licked my lips as our hand was still slightly interlocked whilst holding the rail, hypnotised by the glistening green glow I could see before me. He swallowed as the sun was shining out a red glow in the sky, which was highlighting his bold lips. Something was happening, a different connection between us was slowly beginning to grow.

Suddenly, the hotel door swung open and we both jumped in surprise.

"Hey, Mel!" Eva came into the room carrying shopping bags.

I could feel John taking his hand away from mine as we both blinked and watched her coming out to join us.

"Sorry, didn't realise you had company." Eva winked at me and I stared at her, to see if she could take the hint.

John cleared his throat, but his voice still sounded a bit nervous. "Hey, how's things, Eva?"

"Good, pretty good." Eva replied, trying not to laugh. "By the way, the boys are looking for you."

"Shit, is it 6 o'clock?" John exclaimed as he looked at his watch. "Better run onto the stage then, get ready."

As he headed for the door, me and Eva followed him. It was not that far away from the gardens, a few yards away. The stage was massive, with lights and so many speakers standing up, it was unreal. A few hundred fans had already made their way to the fields and stood there, clapping to the support group that were just playing. As we ran behind the stage, the other members with Elizabeth were standing there, sighing with relief.

"Bloody hell, Deacon! Where were you?" Roger exclaimed.

"Just..." His voice trailed a little as he was panting from all the running. "Was just getting ready."

"Cutting it a little fine though, chum?" Freddie said, hitting him on the back. "Right boys, let's get those vocals ready!"

As Brian, Roger and Freddie began to warm up their voices, Eva took me away from them, only by a short distance. Elizabeth came over to join us as Eva was still holding onto my arm.

"Hey, what was all that between you and John earlier?" Eva said, raising her eyebrows.

"What?!" Lizzie explained. I hit her across the arm, and the volume in her voice went down. "You and John, since when?"

"There's nothing happening between us and John..." I said, but they weren't convinced. "Yet..."

"Oooh!" Both girls said in sync with each other.

"Shush. " I placed my hands on their mouths, shutting them up. "I don't know what I really feel about him yet. He's my friend, one of my best friends. One of my best friends, who is friends with my ex, where things still seem to be a bit patchy between the two of us. Besides, I would be risking a lot here. I just don't want to jump in and ruin everything."

The girls went silent, as I looked down to see John playing a riff on his bass to himself. A flashback of the first time we met, came into view as I compared the man then, to the man I now see before me. His hair was slightly shorter, he was certainly skinner now than he was before, but he still had those green eyes, he still had that cheeky smile, he was still passionate. I sighed, thinking about all those years we had known each other since then, and how much everything would change, if I made a decision.

Eventually we all went back to join the band, as they were prepping in the last few moments. I could see Elizabeth kissing Brian, who was shaking like a leaf.

"You're going to be great, I love you." Those words she said seem to echo around in my brain for some reason.

"I love you." Brian said back to her, using his spare arm to wrap around her waist.

"Go for it boys!" Eva cheered, making them laugh.

"Oh we will!" Roger said and turned round to ask Freddie something. "Are we doing Liar tonight or not?"

"Don't think so. We could just let Brian do his fancy solo instead, that would give us time to come in with the big one." Freddie said, meaning Bohemian Rhapsody.

As he hugged Eva, I could see John standing a few paces away from them, looking down on the floor. I walked over to him, and he nearly jumped when he saw me. He watched as I placed my hand on his shoulder and looked at him.

"Enjoy yourself out there. I'm proud of you." I said quietly.

He smiled as he came over to hug me. I gave him a little wink as he joined his bandmates who were getting up on the stage. I cheered along with the crowd who were screaming as the band were setting everything up. Then the sound of the roar from Brian's Red Special, blared through the speakers, making the crowd go wild.