If I Could

{77} - There Must be More to Life than This

Roger Taylor hasn't left his room for three days.

He hasn't talked to anyone, he immediately came back to London the morning after Belle disappeared with Ben and he had been ignoring every single call he received, though that was less of a problem since he had thrown his telephone across the room so hard he'd shattered a lamp with it and broke the device a little, making the telephone's reception decrease. He felt broken, completely broken in every way. He missed Belle, but he also resented her so incredibly much, because who the Hell does that? Who runs away with their fiancé's cousin? He had the TV on for some background noise. The editor-in-chief of a prestigious fashion magazine was on a show talking about her predictions for Belle's wedding dress, and Roger couldn't believe these people lived in the same world as he did. There's no way they did. Because in his world, the idea of marrying Belle Bulsara was an unrealistic one. It was Wednesday, his wedding was on Friday and he still had not heard a word from her. He was hopeless, he felt way too sad, he kept having dreams about Ben and Belle kissing, making him wake up with screams choked halfway in his throat. He looked at people passing by through the window and wondered if they've ever gotten a forever or if, by chance, forever really existed. He wanted to die, because anyone with half a brain would understand that Belle's actions had no other logical explanation other than being in love with Ben Hardy. His life was now the struggle against Belle's absence.

Roger Taylor spent three days locked in his room, but that changed when Freddie Mercury arrived to his house asking him if he knew about his daughter's whereabouts.

"I just called my sister and she told me she hasn't seen Belle, Belle isn't with her," Freddie said as he hung up the phone, his voice echoing through the room. Worry was evident in the faces of everyone who was with Freddie. Mary Austin: worried. Brian May: worried. Jim Hutton: worried. Rami Malek: angry, because where the Hell did this woman take his daughter?

"What do we do?", Brian questioned, trying hard not to fall asleep. He had not slept well for three days, looking for Belle every night.

"We call off the wedding," Mary answered.

"Mary, please," Freddie hissed, momentarily leering at her.

"What, Freddie?", Mary exclaimed loudly. "You have to admit that talking about cancelling the wedding is something reasonable right now. And before you try to blame it on me, remember I'm not the one who caused this, your daughter did," Mary uttered with fury, pointing her finger at Freddie when she spoke her last sentence.

"Mary, Freddie, please just calm down, seriously," Jim spoke, his jaw hurting from clenching every time Mary opened her mouth. "I know the wedding is really close, but she could show up any time now. I'm sure she will."

"I think Roger is the only person who can make that decision," Brian said, making the most logical statement of all. Everyone turned their heads at Roger, making him pay more attention to his surroundings. Brian May was leaning on the doorframe, Mary Austin was leaning against the wall with a cup of coffee in her hand, waiting for his answer. He looked sideways, Freddie and Jim sitting together, and Rami Malek had his arms crossed. Roger looked at them and wished he could be one of them. Sure, they were worried about their daughter, about their friend, about the mother of their child, but they weren't the ones who would be humilliated if Belle didn't appear. Belle wasn't their fiancée. Really, these people knew nothing about anguish at all. Roger wished he was dead.

"I will wait until tomorrow."

And while her family was worried about her, hoping she would come back, Belle Bulsara was having nightmares about coming back. John was kind enough to agree to keep quiet about her location, Belle was grateful for that. She was folding Alice's clothes when Ben Hardy breezed in, making her raise an eyebrow, wondering if he would talk to her this time. He had not talked to her for two days, and she tried hard to understand why it mattered so much. He did tell her something about "setting boundaries" for "the sake of this mental health", or something among those lines. It was complicated, dealing with this whole situation. Belle knew Ben really loved her and that made her feel.. some kind of way. She doesn't let herself dwell on what her feelings could mean, though.