ACT TWO - NIGHT
"Everything is more intense at night."
Chapter 10
New love - a boy and girl they talking
New words - that only they can share in
New words - a love so strong it tears their hearts
David Bowie's voice as Ziggy Stardust boomed through the interior of the Alfa Romeo. You were nervous to drive the car such a long distance. You were used to taking it around London when Roger was out, but the two hour ride to Ridge Farm Studio scared you.
You were pretty sure you were on the right way, according to the map, but just to be sure, as soon as you saw a man walking on the road, you slowed the car down and opened the window. He looked at you with a disapproving frown on his face as David Bowie sang to him.
Love is careless in its choosing - sweeping over cross a baby
Love descends on those defenseless
You turned the music down and gave him an apologizing smile. "I'm sorry, sir", he said, but his frown wasn't gone at the sound of your american accent. But you still had to confirm you were in the right direction. "So this road will take me to Ridge Farm, right?", you said, and he nodded. "Well, thank you", you said, before opening the other window as you turned the music louder, as loud as possible. If he was gonna be rude, at least give him a reason to complain.
You didn't realize how fast you were until, less than a minute later, you could already see a mid-17th century house. That was Ridge Farm.
It was the late afternoon, the sun was setting behind the house, giving it a mysterious gloom as you got closer to it. You could already see the stars in the part of the sky that was the furthest to the horizon. It was a beautiful view, and it brought you peace. Just like imagining that you would see Roger in a few minutes.
Roger was sitting in the kitchen, waiting as Brian prepared something for them to eat - apparently it was going to be another pasta night - as he heard David Bowie's voice from outside. He knew you finally arrived, a smirk on his lips as he looked at Brian before leaving the house.
You stopped the car and parked it as you saw the front door open, and a head full of messy blonde hair peeked out of the doorframe. When Roger confirmed it was you, he got out of the house and started walking in your direction with a grin. You opened the car door and did the same thing, Bowie's voice still screaming.
Make me baby, make me know you really care
Make me jump into the air
And he opened his arms and you jumped so you could wrap your legs around him and start kissing him passionately. He tasted like cigarettes and chocolate, and the feeling of his tongue against your own, against your lips, made you want to have him right there. It's been three weeks since you last saw him.
Keep your 'lectric eye on me babe
Put your ray gun to my head
Press your space face close to mine, love
Freak out in a moonage daydream oh yeah
"Hey", you said, after breaking the kiss to get some air. "Hey", he said back through a smirk.
"Y/N, you come visit us blasting an album that was recorded at our old studio?", you heard Brian ask you, and you got off Roger so you could properly answer him. Roger moved his hand down your waist and grabbed your hip, keeping you closer to him, as you started to walk to the house. Brian was in the front door, and you told him "I didn't knew that, actually. My bad for coming here bringing all of those bad memories to you, Bri", you joked, and Roger let go of you so you could hug him.
"But you have to admit, Bri. This album is good, and it was the only tape Roger had in his car that I actually enjoyed. I heard it twice already while coming here", you told him, and Roger scoffed. "Actually, I have our three albums in the car", he said, and you smiled at him. "Don't you think it's a bit weird if I listen to Queen in the car on my way here, as I'm spending the weekend watching you guys record your new album?" you asked him, and he looked like he was thinking.
"No, not weird at all", he said, and you jokingly hit his chest. "I forgot how self centered a certain someone can be", you told him, and he scoffed again. "Yeah, Brian can really be selfish sometimes", he said, and you all laughed.
"Where is Freddie and Deacy?", you asked as you moved inside the house. "In the studio. John's writing a song on an Wurlitzer electric piano, and Freddie is annoyed. He hates that piano and refused to play it, so Deacy is just playing it himself", Brian told you. "Bri's making us dinner tonight, Y/N. You got lucky - it's the chef special for the 6th day in a row: pasta", Roger said, and you laughed. Bri looked annoyed at Roger. "Don't complain, Roger. You barely know how to fry an egg", and you laughed, knowing it was true. You were not a good cook, but in comparison to Roger, you were a full blown chef.
"Let me give you a tour of the house before dinner's ready", he said, offering you a hand. "Okay", you told him, getting off the chair you were sitting on. Roger pointed at the TV and said "Along with the telephone, these are our only ways to get in touch with the outside world, and therefore are the most important parts of the living room", and he led you outside again. "That smaller house is the actual studio, but I'll take you there in a minute. This view is kind of nice at twilight, as you can see. It improved much more now that you brought my other love with you", he commented, talking about his car. As he walked you inside again, you asked him "Are you proud? No scratches on this two hour long road trip!", you said, and he turned back to you so he could give you a peck on the lips.
"Very proud", he answered, and you smiled as you took the lead and walked upstairs. "It was tempting to scratch it out of jealousy, you know. You like this car better than you like me", you told him, already on the second floor, and he got behind you and grabbed your waist and the back of your knees, holding you like a bride.
"That's just not true", he said. As he pointed his head to the other doors, he said which room belonged to who. "And that's my room", he told you, now walking to it. "Where's Deacy's room?", you asked, still on his arms. "Downstairs. Why'd you wanna know? After scratching my car, are you gonna dump me for Deacy? Cause I think Veronica will be mad at you", he told you, going through the door with you.
As he put you down on his bed, the mat let out a loud squeak. "So your bed is pretty loud... That could be a problem", you told him, and he laughed. "Yeah, and you'll have to keep your voice down, too. The walls are really thin. Unless you don't mind confirming to the band what they already know we're doing", he winked at you as he moved on top of you.
"And that is?", you asked, as he leaned in, his lips inches away from yours. "I'll show you", he said, finally kissing you.
It was more desperate, like your kisses were in the beginning of your relationship. His body was completely pressed against yours, your legs wrapped around him so you could feel the friction between the two of you, and you had to bite your lip to hold a moan once you felt his hard member against your wet core.
Once you moved on the bed, sitting up so you could start undressing him, the bed make a loud squeak again. Roger smirked. "I guess you'll have to be slower, my love", he said, taking off his own sweater. You wanted to kiss every inch of his torso, to leave marks on his body so he could remember you after you got back to London. "Maybe I don't mind the noise. Just lock the door", you told him, sitting up so you could unzip his pants. "That's the thing too, Y/N. The doors don't lock", he said, smirking, and you looked annoyed at him.
"This studio really is planned in a way so you don't have a lot of distractions", you said, laying back again. "Maybe we should wait until everyone's asleep", you said, pouting. You didn't want to. "I think it's better now, since only Brian's inside the house. We just need to finish before Freddie and John come back, they'll want to see you", he told you, but you weren't completely convinced; you wanted to be with him in your own pace after being separated for weeks. He noticed that.
"C'mon, my love. Just a quickie", he begged, and you smirked as he unzipped his pants.
...
It was the next day, right after you helped John to make lasagna for lunch, and you were in the smaller house, the studio, sitting on the couch behind the mixing console, watching as the boys finished singing the backing vocals to John's song.
Uh, you make me live now, honey
The sight of Roger on the drums earlier was ever so distracting, and it made you think of the only time you weren't mesmerized with him as he played the drums.
It was last year, 1974; they were finally invited to play on Top of the Pops, and you were all excited on your way there, spilling champagne on the car mat, the driver giving you a death glare, but you we're all still laughing and enjoying the good time you were having.
Until you got there. The band was told they had to pretend to play their instruments, and they were all mad, but at least pretended not to be when the cameras were rolling. Except for Roger. He was not hiding his annoyed expression, and you watched from the audience as he gave up on pretending to hit the drums to the rhythm of the song, hitting cymbals in the air, twirling his drumsticks every few seconds, and even rolling his eyes as Brian pretended to play his solo.
You were holding a laugh the whole time you watched them perform. Roger looked like a child, annoyed to do its chores at home, pouting. Completely different from the sexy drummer that caught your attention years ago, you thought, as he pretended to harmonize on the fake mic. The opportunity to see that new side of him was really enjoyable, and made him grew more on you - sometimes you wondered how was that possible.
Because it's nice to be around him when he's confident and sexy and fun, but you also enjoyed to see more imperfect sides of him. Gave him more depth, and made you like him even more.
But now the harmonies were real and amazing, and John watched by your side. As they finished, he gave them a thumbs up. "It's good, guys", he said through the intercom. "What do you think, Y/N?", he turned to ask you. "It's beautiful, Deacy", you answered, and he smiled.
You got one of the lyric sheets nearby. "Ooh, I've been wandering 'round / But I still come back to you", you read it out loud. "So it's not easy for any of the band's girls, I see", you joked at him, and he apologized with a shy smile.
"But it's really nice. Whenever this world is cruel to me / I got you to help me forgive; that's beautiful. It's a romantic song about the most underrated aspect of a relationship: friendship. It's brilliant, John", you told him.
You were reading out loud the lyric "In rain or shine / You've stood by me girl / I'm happy at home", when Roger got off the recording booth. "I still fucking hate this phrase, though", he told John, and you looked at him confused. "What? We're a rock n' roll band. We shouldn't be singing about being happy at home", he said, throwing himself by your side on the couch.
"I think it's nice, John. Veronica's gonna love it", you told him, and he thanked you. "You didn't show me any of your songs, Rog", you told him, and he looked shy. "Well, that's because he only wrote one until now. The stupid car fucking song", Freddie told you, and you laughed. "You wrote a song for your car?", you asked, and he confirmed with a nod.
"I'm trying to write something nice so I can dedicate it to you, but I don't know how to express myself with this romantic gibberish. So, I wrote a song about sex, thinking about you, and I thought it would be funny if I was actually talking about a car, something ironic. Masculinity taking itself too seriously", he said, and you laughed. "Yeah, but it's not being released as a single", Freddie warned him.
"Freddie, let's not have this discussion right now. I'm trying to have a nice time with my girlfriend, I don't want to scream at you at the moment", he said, and you laughed. "There is no argument to be made, Roger. It's just not happening", Freddie told him, as you passed your legs over Roger's lap. He just put his hands over his ears so he didn't have to listen to Freddie, and you laughed more. "You're such a child sometimes, Rog. And it's okay, I don't expect a loud rock telling me how much you love me. It's just not you", you told him, and he flashed a smile at you.
I mean, you would love a song dedicated to you, of course. But you were dating Roger. You weren't dating Deacy, or even Freddie. So it was unfair with him if you expected him to act like them - especially because you were not like Veronica or Mary, who were more at ease with being just their partners. Unlike you, who desired a life of your own. If Roger supported that, you could support his kinky car song instead of a song that talked about how much he loved you.
And later that evening, as you fell asleep on Roger's lap while watching Barbarella with the rest of the band, you felt at ease. It was one of the most peaceful memories you had, now: the feeling of his hand on your hair as he hummed the soundtrack of the movie, paying attention to it, his jawline defined against the changing lights of the movie on his skin.