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

twenty five

"It wasn't?"

She shakes her head, "I must have missed it. Should we go in?"

"Go in? Of course we shall! You spotting that, it's a sign, darling!"

So before she can protest, he's dragging her inside. It looks like a new build, it's clear that at the very least, it's just a few years old but looking at the posters and information that are on the walls, it looks like it could be an incredible place to record.

"Holy shit," Roxanne whispers, "Freddie, The Beatles recorded here."

"They did indeed," she spins around to see a man standing by the reception desk, "They recorded Hey Jude and part of their self-titled album. Nice to meet you," he holds his hand out to Freddie, "My name is Norman Sheffield, I'm one of the managers here. How can I help you?"

When Freddie doesn't move, Roxanne nudges him in the ribs, "Fred."

He grins, stepping forward to shake Norman's hand, "Lovely to meet you, my name is Freddie. Freddie Mercury and this is my friend Roxanne. We were hoping that maybe we could talk about possibly having some recording time."

"Oh, of course, yes! Please, how about I give the two of you a tour and then we can have a chat?"

"That sounds positively wonderful."

++|++

The studio was perfect; it was big enough that the four of them could all spread out and be comfortable, it had the most up-to-date, state of the art equipment and the best thing - if the band agreed to record on what Norman called off-peak (when the studio was closed), then they would knock a chunk of the payment off as well.

Roxanne and Freddie were so excited that they didn't do any shopping. Well, they did but it was only for a bottle of very cheap prosecco out of the closest supermarket.

From a phonebox, they rang John and told him to head over to Roger and Brian's flat where Brian was probably sat stressing about his upcoming teaching year.

They had tried to ring the shop to tell Roger the same thing but there was no answer and arriving back in Kensington, they soon realised why.

"That bastard," Freddie muttered, shaking his head at the closed sign on the door, "He knows we're struggling and he pulls this?"

Roxy stays quiet as they get back in the car. She had a feeling that Alyssa had something to do with that, "They've probably gone back to the flat."

"Most likely," he nods, "Now, do I kill him and then tell him or do I tell him and they kill him?"

Roxy pulls into a space behind Roger's van, confirming her thoughts that they were indeed here and after reaching into the backseat to grab the prosecco, they practically run upstairs.

John is already there, talking about a song with Brian and Roger and Alyssa are there too but Roxanne is in such a good mood that she doesn't even mind that she's here for this.

"Hey," Brian greets the pair, "Deaky said you told him to come over? Is there a band meeting we've forgotten about?"

"Hear that, Alyssa?" Roxy mumbles, sitting down on the couch beside John, "A band meeting. Maybe you should step out, huh?"

"Roxanne," Roger warns while Alyssa glares at her and she holds her hands up.

"I was kidding, Rog. Jeez." she then looks at John, "Hi."

"Hi," he grins, kissing her cheek before looking between her and Freddie and he swears that he can see the excitement rolling off them in waves, "What's going on?"

"We've done it," Freddie begins, "Well, Roxanne did it."

"Freddie, you did all the talking."

"But if it hadn't been for you, darling-"

"Alright," Roger says loudly, "That could go on forever. Now, will one of you please tell us what the hell is going on?"

"We've got a studio," he grins and Roxanne, with a matching smile, looks at the three of them.

"You...you found one?" Brian repeats, "And it's...you've gone inside?"

"Went inside, got a tour," Freddie nods, "Talked money. It was a little expensive but then they offered us a deal."

"What kind of deal?" John asks curiously.

"They said if we record off-peak, they'll take the price down."

"And what exactly is off-peak?" Roger's excited but he doesn't let it show. They've been this close before only for it to go tits up at the last moment. The last thing he wants to do is get his hopes up.

"It means that you record during the night," Roxanne explains, "While the place is closed. And guys, it's a massive saving. You'll still have to sell the van but you'll have some leftover. It means that you guys could buy proper food instead of living on beans on toast."

It was no secret that the past few weeks had been somewhat of a struggle. Fred, he was probably getting on better than the rest of them because he lived with Mary and she was there to help if he desperately needed it but the other three were barely making enough to cover their rent and Roxanne knew that John, although he loved staying with her, was also staying over more often because he knew that he could get some real food and not just eat cheese sandwiches (which he only came clean about after he'd had three helpings of her spaghetti the other night.)

"Well?" Freddie asks impatiently.

Brian grins while Roger reaches for the bottle of prosecco, "It looks like we're recording an album, boys."