Good Old-Fashioned Lover Boy (JoeMazzello!JohnDeacon fanfic)

one hundred and ten

the gif isn't mine but there's so much to admire; freddie, john's arms...brian's legs...

Like Roxanne had said, Live Aid truly was shaping up to be one of the biggest gigs the world had ever seen and upon doing some more research, she found that some of the biggest names in music were taking part; David Bowie, Elton John and Duran Duran to name a few. 

John and the band were spending all their time practicing - Freddie had wanted to get it absolutely perfect, they all did and so Roxanne understood why he was almost never home. 

He had told her before her left that morning that they might be going out after the rehearsal so when she saw his wallet lying on the kitchen table at lunchtime, she decided to take it to him. 

And so after she rang Rebecca and asked if she could send the kids over for an hour or so -if they came with hers she'd never get them away from their uncles-, she herded the five of them out the door, much to their protests. 

"Mum, I was building something!" Theo objects as she leads them down towards the back gate.
"I know, hun but the sun is shining, the birds are singing and you need to get outside. You've been in the house for the past three days."

"It's been raining!"

"And now it's not," she grins, unlocking the gate, "Now on you go. Have fun with your cousins. I'm sure Aunt Becca will let you play in the pool if you ask."

That perks the older of the three up and Theo takes Isla and Robert's hands to lead them along the path. 

"I'll come get you when I'm home!" Roxanne calls, "And be good!"

She watches to make sure that they get there safely and since the gate clicks shut behind Arthur, she closes their own gate and returns into the house. 

Jellybean is sat on one of the dining chair and Roxy makes sure to give the top of her head an affectionate scratch.

Since the kittens were now two weeks old and starting to become more aware of their surroundings, John had built a pretty impressive barrier that he'd put across the desk -under the watchful eye of Jellybean- so that they couldn't get out and wander into somewhere they shouldn't. 

"I will be back soon," Roxy tells the cat, tapping her gently on the nose as she passes, "You're in charge." 

She makes a quick shopping list and grabs John's wallets before she heads on out the door.

The drive doesn't take long, she spends most of it cursing other drivers and laying on the horn when someone pulls out in front of her (she only does this when the kids are not present).

Since she's not planning on staying long, she oulls into the carpark if the rehearsal building and abandons her car behind Roger's and grabs John's wallet. 

She hears them before she sees them, the familiar sound of Queen's music being rehearsed and as quietly as she can, she slips into the room and moves to stand beside Miami -someone whos she's only met a handful of times even though he's been with the band almost as long as she's been with John.

Her plan was supposed to be drop off the wallet and head out on her shopping trip but it's been oh-so-long since she's gotten to watch them perform and with Jim's permission, she hops up onto an equipment box. 

"Leak the setlist and you're dead," he jokes as she puts her car keys down beside her.

"My lips are sealed," she promises.

She finds it amazing that after all these years, it's as if she's seeing them play for the first time again. Every performance is just that good.

Miami winces when Freddie's voice cracks in the middle of the chorus and Roxanne sees John and Brian share a concerned glance but Freddie, ever the trooper, is determined to carry on and he does until it becomes too much and Brian waves a hand for them to cut it. 

Roxy recalls John mentioning that Freddie's been having a bit of bother with his voice but he hadn't said it was that bad.

"Roxanne!" Brian's the first to spot her, "Hello, love!" 

"Hiya, Brian!" she grins as he steps over the mess of wires to hug her. He always sounds so enthusiastic to see her, "You guys sound great."

"Don't give me that rubbish, darling," Freddie scoffs, "I know that I sound like shit." 

"We'll get there, Fred," Brian pats him on the shoulder.

Roger nods in agreement as Roxy slips off of the rig she's sat on, "Yeah, we've still got a couple more days." 

John greets her with a smile as he puts his bass away and he lets out laugh when she wraps an arm around his neck so she can press a kiss to his cheek, "Hello."

"Hi," she grins, holding out his wallet, "You forgot this."

"Honestly," he tuts, "I'd forget my head if it wasn't screwed on. Thank you,  Rox."

"We're going to that little pub down the road," Roger says as he stands from his kit, "You want to tag along, Nessie?" 

"Thanks for the offer but no," she shakes her head, "I've got some shopping to do. Besides, I've left the kids with Becca."

"They better not stress her out, Roxanne," he says seriously, "You know that it's not good for her..." 

Freddie is uncharacteristically quiet, sharing a silent conversation with Miami and Brian pats his shoulder once more. 

"You coming, Fred?" 

He spins round, "Before you go, can I have a minute?" 

"Sure."

Roxy decides that's her cue to go. Kissing John once more, she returns to where she had been sat so that she can grab her keys.

"Jim, I'll see you later," she smiles but he won't meet her gaze, something that she finds strange but before she can question if he's alright, Freddie's grabbing hold of her arm and leaning in so he can give her a hug. 

"Oh," she grins, wrapping her arms around him tightly. It had been a long time since she'd had one of Freddie's hugs, "I'll see you later, Fred." 

He gives her one last squeeze before releasing her and she gives the rest of the band a wave before she leaves the room, letting the door swing shut behind her.