Hello guys! Today Bohemian Rhapsody was released in my country and I'll be watching it in a few hours. As weird as it sounds I feel like after the film is over an era will be over for me. I've spent every single day thinking about the Queen members and BoRhap cast for an entire year and obviously I have been writing about them. Obviously this fanfic exists because of them and writing it has been one of the best decisions I've taken in my life. We're on 11.4K reads in less than a week after hitting 10K (it hit 10K reads last Sunday). I want to thank you all for reading my story, it means a lot to me. Enjoy Bohemian Rhapsody! The wait is over and it feels so surreal to say it out loud. ♥️
The first time Belle Bulsara saw Ben Hardy on the day she was supposed to divert his attention from Michelle, it was by accident, seeing him inside the elevator she was supposed to take. There was an uneasiness in her chest, like she was getting the feeling she should have never promised Gwilym she would be able to retain Ben's attention for the entire day. Hell, even the idea of spending less than ten seconds locked in the same small place as him made her sick to her stomach. The fact that Ben didn't even bother to look at her as she stepped into the elevator was enough for her to understand he didn't want to be friendly at all, so what made her think she would be able to grab at least one single part of his attention? It didn't make sense to her.
The doors shut after what felt like years. Belle focused on thinking of a way to talk to him, but there was something so tense in the air. Did Ben feel it too?
But a few moments later, the heaviness in the air wasn't the main concern anymore.
A terrible screech could be heard, following by the space around them lurching to a stop before their bodies had time to catch up. Luckily both of them grappled around for something to hold on to.
"Hell," Ben exclaimed below the groaning of the elevator around them. It wasn't moving anymore, he could feel it from the unnatural stillness that would never come from a normally moving elevator.
"Oh my God, it's not moving," Belle mumbled with fear. She was at a loss for words, caught between dim emergency lights making it difficult to see anything, and the fact that all of this was occurring with the obnoxious Ben Hardy standing a foot away from her.
"Just stay calm. The front desk probably knows the elevator is stuck," Ben said as he saw Belle standing up again, rushing to press the elevator's buttons.
"Oh God, don't," Ben grabbed Belle's wrist. "Don't press the buttons. Something might happen if you do."
"How much worse can this get?", Belle asked as if the whole situation wasn't as bad as it could have been, like this was a mild worst case scenario she'd not been completely blindsided by. "It's already bad enough with you."
"I mean, I know you strongly dislike me, but that was unnecessarily rude," Ben complained.
Belle let out a deep sigh. "I'm sorry, I only slept for two hours last night and my lack of sleep is messing up with me."
"Why?", Ben asked.
"Well, you know that I'm getting divorced and the process is on its final stages already, so last night my future ex-husband was in my house discussing the final details and also taking care of Alice because she had fever."
"I hope your daughter is okay now, and I'm sorry that you're getting divorced", Ben said. "At the same time it's a good thing. I know you love Roger and I know Roger loves you."
Belle smiled, not only because of Ben's words but the fact that he was actually making a conversation with her warmed her heart. And he didn't sound forced or annoyed, that was a good thing, Belle thought.
10 minutes later
"S-So, what's.." she began to say before realising she hadn't thought of anything to say. "What's your favourite colour?", Belle asked so she could choose the colour of the hair ribbon she would wear today, looking at her collection inside of her bag.
Ben looked a bit shocked for a fraction of a second before the expression melted into a smile, he really didn't think Belle would want to have a conversation with him. He didn't know for how many more time he'd be locked in a small space with Belle, so the least he could do was make a conversation with her.
"Pristine white," Ben replied. "Just like the coat you're wearing right now. But wearing a white ribbon wouldn't make a good combination with blonde hair. I think you should wear a darker colour."
Belle raised an eyebrow. "I literally never thought you could ever be capable of being nice to me, let alone receiving fashion advice from you."
"I don't have anything against you, I just don't want to be too kind as a boss. There are no kind bosses in real life. Even though I have to admit I admire your audacity to act so cold towards the man who controls your internship in this hospital," Ben giggled.
Both Ben and Belle laughed, and Belle was ready to answer Ben's witty remark until a loud sound of the doors being pried on interrupted the moment. They both could hear the bustle of people at work on the door, and a man rushed in to pull them both out, shocked by the fact the pair was surprisingly calm and happy.
"Doctor Hardy, Miss Bulsara, we're sorry for what just happened," a member of the Board of Directors said to the pair as they emerged from the fallout. "You both can leave now if you'd like. Go home or wherever you want to go. It must have been tremendously stressful to be stuck in that elevator."
Ben and Belle looked at each other. They both loved doing what they did but there was no way either of them would decline a day off work, so they scooted out of the hospital as fast as they could.
"Where should we go?", Ben asked before starting his car.
"The Mazzello's," Belle suggested with enthusiasm. "They're both our friends and I promised Mailen I would come say hi today."
"Sounds good."
Everything about this was extremely odd. Did they really have to get suck in an elevator to start talking to each other? And did she really leave work early on the day she had gotten almost no sleep? This day was surely planned in Heaven.
Mailen opened the door and her eyes immediately widened, like she didn't expect Belle to come visit her so early and much less with Ben Hardy next to her.
"Hi!", she greeted excitedly, moving out of the doorway so her friends could enter before closing the door. "What a surprise! Belle Bulsara and Ben Hardy paying me visit at 11 A.M? Why do I feel like there's an interesting explanation to this?".
Mailen's house had been redecorated, giving a homely feel to it. Even with the air being crisp and light condensation exiting her mouth, Belle could feel warmth curling in her gut by just looking at the house.
"Well, long story short, we got stuck in an elevator so we finally started talking to each other," Ben gushed. "And we were told we could leave early, so now we're here."
"That's scary, I'm glad you guys are okay."
"Oh, wow," Belle exclaimed as she looked at a piece of paper on the sitting room's table. "So many numbers and annotations. What are you planning?".
"Joseph and I are planning a group trip to Virginia Water," Mailen replied. "We were thinking of inviting you guys. Ben, Michelle, Belle, Roger, and my brother too."
"That sounds fantastic," Ben took off his white coat. "I've been so busy lately, I need some time away from London."
"Of course," Belle smiled. "It sounds perfect. When would it be?".
"In around four months," Mailen answered. "Could be earlier, though. I'm not sure when you guys take your vacations."
"We'll have to discuss the timing," Ben told Mailen.
"Of course," Mailen said as she grabbed her car keys. "Sorry, guys, time for me to go and pick Eric up from school. I'll be back in ten minutes, and after I come back you'll get to eat the goulash I cooked," she smiled. "I'll be right back!", Mailen closed the door.
"Life with children is hectic, isn't it?", Ben commented as he was left alone in the sitting room with Belle.
Belle stiffened right after hearing Ben's comment, reminding her of the terrible fact that he didn't know his wife was infertile.
"It is," Belle faked a smile. "Do you.. do you want to have children someday?".
Hell. Holy crap. Hell. Holy crap. Why did she just ask that? If Ben indeed dreams of becoming a father someday, Belle's heart will ache in a way it's never ached before.
"I do," Ben smiled. "It's one of my biggest dreams, actually."
Belle didn't even have any words to say. She just could be aware of the big pain in her heart.
Ben looked at her, confused. "Why are you looking.. upset?".
"I'm not upset," Belle assured as she snapped back to reality and looked at his new friend again. "I hope your dream comes true someday."
"Thank you. I know Michelle will be a great mother."
Belle wanted to cry. "You really love her, don't you?".
"I do," Ben replied. "With all my heart."
While Belle Bulsara was busy saving Gwilym Lee's emotional stability, Jessica Maine was on the other side of the city, reaching her apartment's entryway as she heard someone knocking the door. When she finally jabbed the button to disengage the automatic lock and yanked it open, alarms went off in her head.
It was Roger Taylor. Jessica had almost forgotten about Roger. Or the present version of Roger. She was aware of how utterly inconceivable that sounded, because after all, he was still officially her boyfriend. But she couldn't stop to think about that right now. Her immediate reaction was to greet him, but Roger looked downcast, and disappointed.
"I'm sorry, Jessica," was the sentence that came out of his mouth, his shoulders drooping. "I'm ashamed about the way I handled our relationship. Really, I should have known I wouldn't be able to commit to it. Please forgive me."
Jessica wanted Roger to know that there were no hard feelings. She couldn't bring herself to feel any kind of resentment towards him because she strangely admired the way Roger loved Belle.
"You don't need to apologise, Roger. Belle is the love of your life, I knew it as soon as you started telling me about her. The way your spoke about her and the way your eyes shone whenever you heard her name, as cheesy as it sounds, I knew that what you felt for her was something real and pure, no matter how much you tried to hide it from me," Jessica laughed. "Roger, I'm glad you can finally be with her."
"Really?", Roger's eyes sparkled, feeling relieved. "Have I been forgiven?".
"Of course, even if I feel like there's nothing to forgive you for," Jessica said as she wiggled her slippers from side to side with her foot. "Please come in."
"Oh, well, thank you. See, I need you to give me your opinion.. from the point of view of a woman's perspective," Roger nervously mentioned as he entered Jessica's apartment.
"Of course, what is it?"
Roger licked his lips nervously as he reached for a blue box in the inner pocket of his coat and showed it to Jessica, making her bring her hands to her face in excitement.
"You're going to — you're going to propose to Belle?", Jessica exclaimed. "Roger, I can't believe it!".
"That's what I plan on doing," Roger chuckled. "I need advice because even though I've been married before, I've never proposed marriage to a woman. I'm not sure about when I should do it, though. I really can't wait to ask her to be my wife, and I'm not sure if Belle is ready to get married again."
"You haven't discussed marriage with her yet?".
"No, even though she's given a few hints about wanting to get married again."
"Well, but this situation is so different from others. Remember her marriage's story and remember who she was married to. Rami Malek. It was a loveless marriage, as far as I'm concerned. I don't think Belle is hurt over it. Therefore I don't think she would have a problem getting married right after her divorce."
"You're right," Roger said with a trembling tone, eyes shining brightly, as if he was realising that nothing could hold him back anymore. "Now, I need you to give me your opinion on the ring itself," Roger opened the ring's box and showed it to his now ex-girlfriend.
Jessica beamed with delight. "Of course I like it, Roger! It's perfect, breathtakingly beautiful and I don't know why, but it looks as if it was made just for Belle."
"Um, that's because it is. I had this ring made exclusively for her."
"It's absolutely flawless, Roger. There's no way in the entire world she wouldn't like it. Looks as if it was made in Heaven."
"Now I need your opinion on how I want to propose to her."
"You already thought about that too? Roger, you're fast."
"Of course I have, I think that's one of the most important things. I have a lot of ideas in mind," Roger uttered as he rubbed his hands together.
Jessica smiled. "I'm all ears."