Stars in Your Eyes (Queen/Roger Taylor)

13. Skylar

"Shit, I don't mean that sexually," he adds, misinterpreting my silence. His hand snakes under his shirt as he once again rubs his collarbone absentmindedly.

"You sure about that?" I grin up at him, poking him lightly in the stomach.

"I mostly didn't mean that sexually," he clarifies with a smirk.

"But you're in the middle of something." As soon as the words leave my mouth, Roger exhales and shifts his body weight from one leg to the other. Slowly, he places a hand against the wall behind me, just next to my face, and leans closer.

"I promise you that I'm not."

His eyes are once again expressionless, and I wish more than anything that I could interpret them.

"Okay," I reply softly.

"Okay?"

"Okay, let's get out of here." Roger looks momentarily surprised, which is quickly replaced by a breathtaking smile. Without another word, he takes my hand and guides us through the crowd, not stopping until we have on our coats and are standing just outside the pub.

"We could go to a club?" he offers, knowing that it's one of the few public venues still open and probably not wanting to seem too forward.

"Is, uh-- is your place far?" I look down shyly, not knowing what his reaction will be.

"Uh- well- a bit- I mean, um, further than yours," he stammers. I look up, pleased that he seems to feel as flustered as I am.

"Ah, but will Brian and Jenny be having very loud sex at your flat? Because I'm fairly certain that they will be at mine."

"Really? I wouldn't have pegged Brian for a screamer."

"You'd be surprised. The stuff I hear--"

As if on command, the two lovebirds in question spill out of the pub door, lips locked and arms twisted around each other. Roger and I burst out laughing as he grabs my hand to walk towards the taxi stand.

We sit in silence the entire way to his flat, both of us looking studiously out of our respective windows. The air is thick with tension and uncertainty, at least that's what it feels like to me. It's not until we're inside his apartment that he looks at me with a small, unsure small on his face.

"Hi," he repeats, taking a step closer. The light from a passing car illuminates his face briefly before fading so that we're left in a half-dark entryway.

"Hi," I say, expecting that he's going to lean in to kiss me but, instead, he wraps his arms around me and lifts me slightly off the ground. As noted previously, the Taylors are huggers.

"I missed you, Sky," he says quietly.

"It sounds like your trip was so insane that you didn't have time to miss anyone," I reply with a shy smile. "It sounds like you all barely managed to escape alive."

"Well... okay, I missed you approximately ten percent of the time," he jokes. We pull away from each other, and his eyes soften. He helps me off with my coat and, each time his hands make contact with my arm, it sort of makes me want to jump him. Roger must be able to see how tense I am because he runs a hand lightly over my back.

"Relax," he says with a small, breathy laugh before leading me further into his flat. It's smaller than I expected, especially given how well Queen seems to be doing. That's not to say that it's not nice, because it's surprisingly clean and well-decorated.

"Sorry, it's not exactly Buckingham Palace," Roger says apologetically. "Though it's a bit more tidy than usual, seeing as Clare has been staying here."