PRETTY LOVER BOY - ROGER TAYLOR

IX.

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For the next month I grow a lot closer with the band. Some more than others. Freddie had ended up getting my address from god knows where and he now pops over from time to time for a chat and some champagne. He really is enjoyable company, and dare I say we've become close friends. Brian and Deaky like me as well if I do say so myself. They're always super welcoming of me whenever I come to their Smile performances, or Queen now, as Freddie calls them. Brian even goes as far as to call me and ask if I'd like to come to some of them. And then there's Roger. Roger is a different story.

He's sweet and cocky and handsome and arrogant and he gives me butterflies, and I hate his guts. I absolutely despise him for what he does to me. It's like a simple glance and he has me on my knees for him. Worst of all, he makes me feel like I'm the only girl in the world. He has me on cloud nine every time I'm near him. I've known him for a month. It's ridiculous.

"Hey, Earth to Clementine." Fingers snap in front of me and I shake my head, turning my attention to the familiar face sitting next to me on the couch.

"Yes, Elijah, hi," I pull my legs under me, taking a sip of my tea.

"Look at you," he gestures to me, "what's this place done to you, Clems?"

"What do you mean?" I ask, setting my mug down on its coaster on the coffee table.

"We'll you're drinking tea for starters, hell, you've got me drinking it," he stands up, "now you're looking off into space like you're on something."

"I'm perfectly fine Eli, I'm more than fine," I grin up at his exasperated face.

"Come back to the states, Clementine," he sits down next to me again.

"You know I can't," the phone begins to ring and I make my way over to it, "there's really nothing for me there."

"Yeah, what's for you here then?" I pick up the phone, met with some talking across the way as I say hello.

"Clems, darling, how are you?" Freddie's voice comes over the line.

"I'm good, Fred," I respond, leaning my back against the wall, "what's going on over there?"

"Well, you see, we're recording an album over here," he begins, some more shouting sounding over the phone.

"Really? That's great!" I grin, trying to pick out voices in the background.

"Yes, I suppose it is, but you see, we're having some creative difficulties on our end, and I thought maybe you could come to the studio and put your two cents in?" Freddie asks me. In the momentary silence, I hear a female voice over the phone, and she says Roger's name. My heart immediately drops.

"Clementine?" He asks.

"Yeah sure, just give me the address," I respond. Freddie does just that, bidding me adieu, those being his exact words, before I hang up the line, looking towards Elijah.

"Who was that?" He asks.

"What I think may be here for me."

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We make it to the studio about an hour or so after the call and my heart is beating out of my chest. It shouldn't be, I shouldn't care.

"So are we going in or what?" Elijah asks me and I inhale sharply.

"Yep, let's go," I lead him into the studio and soon enough, I've found the boys and I enter the room, Eli on my tail.

"Clems, darling, you made it!" Freddie is first to greet me, enveloping me in a hug. I grin as he does so, returning it. I quickly let my eyes travel to Roger sitting on the couch with a girl cuddled up next to him. She's pretty, I'll give her that. Roger on the other hand has a look that's between confusion and oh shit.

"What, you thought I'd leave you all hanging in a state of creative emergency," I say jokingly as he releases me. I do my rounds, saying hi to everyone, including Roger and his lady friend, my face never breaking as I do.

"Who's your friends, Clems?" Brian asks me from his seat next to the big console.

"Ah, this is Elijah Grace, a very good friend from New York. I thought I'd bring him along," I grab his face, squeezing his cheeks, "besides, he's too cute to leave at home." Eli rolls his eyes, pushing my hand away.

"Nice to meet you," Brian shakes his hand, "what are you doing here in Britain?"

"I was visiting a colleague for work and thought I'd give one last go at getting Clementine to change her decision about staying here," he informs them. Oops, bombshell.

"You were moving back to the states!?" Freddie shouts, looking at me with wide eyes.

"I was," I say quickly, giving a nervous smile.

"And you weren't going to tell us?" Freddie responds, exasperated. There's a bit of bickering after that, but it eventually dies down and Fred drags me to the console. As he does so, I can see Roger out of the corner of my eye staring down Elijah.

"Alright darling, I just re-did this, tell me what you think." Deaky starts the recording at Fred's command and I listen to it, leaning over his shoulder. I stand tapping my foot, my face somewhat neutral until I begin to hear familiar words and a grin spreads across my face.

"Fred, you've written the song," I say as the lyrics surpass that of the ones he had written down on the scrap piece of paper. He just smiles back at me as I turn my full attention to the music. By the end of it, I'm a grinning mess.

"Oh Freddie, it's wonderful, I love it," I clasp my hands in front of me, rings clinking together.

"You seem rather ecstatic about this song," Brian says, and I look back at him.

"That's cause I wrote it for her," Freddie replies for me.

"Huh, I suppose that does make sense, yeah," Bri leans back in his chair.

The rest of our time in the studio I can tell Roger is kind of tense, but I, on the other hand, I'm having the time of my life running around the live room, playing with different sounds and helping the boys. Besides, he should feel awkward shouldn't he.

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NOTE!!: i love rushing things *awkward outdated whip* anyway, i hope you think it's decent, at least :). also, i'm not really editing these with a close eye (which is why you might see random updates to the previous chapters) so i hope i'm not killing the grammar.