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

one hundred and fifteen

"Hey buddy," John ruffles their youngest's hair. 

"Are Ellie and Heather here?" he asks, bouncing up and down on his feet. 

"Yep, just through there." John points and he, along with the rest of the kids disappeared to go find their cousins. 

"How's Isla?" he asks, standing at the window beside Roxanne, "She looks a lot better." 

"She is," Roxy says with relief, "I did ask her if she wanted to skip this and spend another day recouperating but...well, you know how stubborn she is." 

"She gets that from you." he smiles but it doesn't reach his eyes and with a frown, she reaches up and gently rests her hand on his cheek.

"Are you alright?" 

"I'm just tired," he sighs, turning his attention out the window where he can see the ever-growing crowd.

"You get to come home and rest after tonight," she murmurs, rubbing his back and he nods. 

He really can't wait; not having to worry about missing flights, sleeping in his own bed...it was going to be bliss.

++|++ 

Like she said, Roxanne had felt sorry for the crowd - they had quite a wait until the main event but there were three bands here supporting Queen and keeping them entertained until it was time. 

The band still had some stuff to do before they went on and so Roxanne and the kids make their way down to the stage with Rebecca, Alice and their kids, to the private area that the band had set up for them where they could still see the stage but there was plenty of space for the kids to run around and play should any of them get bored. 

When the band set foot out onto the stage...honestly, Roxanne hadn't heard anything like it. 

The crowd, they were going crazy because this, this is who they'd waited to see, who they'd spent over eight hours standing in the blistering sun for and god, did they make it worth the wait. 

The set list was a power house; from beginning to end, it was just hit after hit, opening with One Vision and closing with the mighty We Are the Champions. 

Roxanne loves that they don't just play songs from their most recent release. No, they go way back into their catalog to, she's pretty sure their first or second album to bring back Lap of the Gods and Seven Seas of Rhye. 

"Come on," Alice taps her arm as the band starts saying their goodbyes, "We'll meet them through the back."

And they do. The reach the cars just as the band start filing offstage and as he passes them, Freddie takes the towel off of the roadie and wraps it around his shoulders, muttering something about how he can't keep doing this anymore. 

The kids are all jumping up and down in front of their fathers and Brian lifts his daughter up onto his hip, looking after his friend with a concerned glance.  

Well that was concerning.

++|++

John falls face first onto the bed once they've got the kids off to bed. It was late when they finally trudged through the front door. Both Isla and Robert had passed out on the way back from the train station and the older boys quickly took themselves off to bed as well. 

Roxanne tidies up for a little bit downstairs, loading up the dishwasher before she too heads upstairs. She quickly brushes her teeth, grabbing an old band shirt to change into and then crawls into bed beside her husband who is, surprisingly, still awake. 

He turns onto his side, prompting her to do the same and they stare at each other in the dim moonlight that's coming through their curtains and John's lips quirk up when she starts tracing her fingers across his face. 

"Something's on your mind," Roxy whispers. 

"Freddie wants to take a break from touring," he murmurs, nodding when her eyebrows raise, "Don't know for how long but," he wraps his arm around her when she curls up against him, "He wants to focus on making new music and honestly, this feels like the right time to take one."

"End things on a high?" she asks, humming when he starts running his long fingers through her hair. 

"Exactly." 

They never imagined that it would be the last. 

++|++

so, this is kinda the last chapter 🤷‍♀️ I've got an epilogue type thing, like a wee present day that will be next week's chapter but then that's it 😢