speechless | roger taylor

four

Elise downed her fifteenth shot of the night, the burning alcohol making its way down her nearly raw throat. Freddie was sat beside her, his head resting on his arms as he watched her take her shot.

"How aren't you losing yet?" he asked, running a hand along his face.

"She's very good at handling her alcohol," John laughed, winking at his best friend. She smirked and nodded, happiness radiating from her.

"That, I am," she said, rubbing Freddie's back sympathetically. "'S okay to admit that I win."

"You win," he said bitterly, getting up and nearly falling over. He'd decided on drinking straight shots of vodka, for reasons she had no clue of, and it was wrecking him more than her whiskey was.

John knew that she was barely tipsy, and he just laughed. "I'm going to take Freddie home," he said in Elise's ear, his arms wrapped around her shoulders. "You going to be okay?"

"I'm pretty sure I will be. I've got money for a taxi if something happens."

"Okay," he said, pressing a small kiss to her forehead. "Stay safe."

"You, too," Elise replied. She stacked the shot glasses that were still on the bar counter and picked them up, taking them over to the bartender that she'd talked to earlier.

"Rog, mate," John said, standing in front of the blonde man that had taken a liking to his best friend. Brian was behind the two of them, trying to steady Freddie as he got up.

"Hey," he said, taking a small sip of his beer. He'd been drinking the same bottle of beer for the last hour as he watched the game between Freddie and Elise—if he was planning on driving home, he needed to stay sober.

It was the first time John had ever seen Roger stay sober at a gig of theirs. Usually, he'd be downing the shots right beside Freddie, getting completely smashed and ending up in the back of their tour bus with a different girl every night.

The girls had been—quite literally—on top of him all night, but he never took the bait. He had shoved them off and after a while, they stopped bothering him. He only had one girl on his mind, which was Elise. There was just something about her that made her completely irresistible.

"Look," John said, his arms crossed over his chest. "Just... don't hurt her. She's an adult and she can do what she wants, but please... she's my best friend."

Roger looked up at him, his cerulean eyes turned soft. "I promise, mate."

John and Roger were just as close of friends as John and Elise, and he knew that when Roger promised something, he always kept it.. John trusted him—he trusted that he'd never hurt her. "I'm supposed to tell you that if you hurt her, you've got Vera on your ass."

He laughed, slightly scared. Both of them knew how scary she could get when someone she loved got hurt, and they both knew never to cross her. "Alright."

"Take care of her, yeah? I'll see you at the studio tomorrow," John told him, patting his shoulder lightly before turning around and taking Freddie off of Brian's hands. "See you tomorrow," he said.

"See you," Brian smiled. John led Freddie out to his car and left Elise in the safekeeping of Roger and Brian.

Elise made her way back, settling down once more on the barstool beside Roger. She smiled at both of them before fiddling with the skirt of her dress, looking down at it.

"I'll leave you two to it. Chrissie should be here soon, anyway. Was very nice to meet you, Elise," Brian said after a moment, standing from his barstool. He held out his hand for the girl and she took it graciously, shaking it.