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mercurysnitch · 4 years

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Mother Mercury, Part 2: If I Could Only Reach You…

Summary: Questions about Mel’s true identity swirl amongst the main cast, but her mother’s visit to the set may bring some of the answers they’re seeking.

Author’s note: It’s back, bitches! 😂 I know this part’s taken a while, but I’ve had my massive final semester group project due, and exams, and a life, so I’ve had a bit going on lately. I’m on holidays right now, but I’m starting a work placement next week so I’m not sure when Part 3 will be done. I am home alone at the moment, so hopefully it’ll be soon, but I’m not making any promises. At this point it’s looking like it’ll be 4 parts plus an epilogue, but that might change depending on how the story develops. During this part you may notice I’m not big on slow-burn romance (or tension, frankly), but that doesn’t mean there’s not lots more plot still to come.

As I said in the previous part, this story is built around the idea that Freddie Mercury accidentally fathered a lovechild during a drug-fuelled party in the late 70s. If you’re not comfortable with that notion that’s absolutely fine, but I suggest you stop reading now. I know I said the whole lovechild situation would be explained in this part, but I’ve rearranged the plot slightly since then, so that section will be in the next part. In any case, Freddie is still very much gay in this story, it’s just that things also happened while he was under the influence which resulted in a lovechild. Remember this is fiction, and that particular element basically just needs to happen for the rest of the plot to work.

This was supposed to be written from Mel’s perspective, but it ended up going in a different direction as this part unfolded. I’m still trying to write it mostly from Mel’s point of view, but the pov character will shift when required. Hopefully it’s not too confusing - there are a lot of pov changes in this part, but there should be less from hereon in (I hope 🤣)

PS: Thanks for all the lovely messages about part 1. Feel free to send me an ask or DM any time, and don’t hesitate to ask if you want to be tagged.

Warnings: Writing about real people, mentions of pregnancy, mentions of teen pregnancy, mentions of labour, multiple perspective switches, I’ve probably missed a few typos so please forgive that

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Rami's head was full of questions the next morning. Could Freddie really have had a secret lovechild? Could that lovechild really have grown up to be Mel's parent? It seemed almost too good to be true for Freddie's grandchild to end up working on his biopic, Rami thought uneasily. Then again, that would only be possible if he had indeed fathered a lovechild in the first place. That was the key question that needed answering, Rami realised. But how to answer it? Mel might be the best source, but he could hardly go and ask her about her family history out of the blue. And she might not know herself, depending on the circumstances. Hell, Freddie’s child might not even know the truth about their origins. No, asking Mel was definitely not an option. But if not her, then who? Who else might have answers?

Rami supposed Brian and Roger might know something, or quite possibly everything. But he didn’t think it would be appropriate for him to ask them about it. More to the point, they might not want to tell him even if they did know the full story. Perhaps direct questions wasn’t the best approach here, Rami mused. Maybe it would be better to start with Mel and work backwards. But who other than Mel would know about her family? Ben was quite clearly the closest to her, Rami realised. Might as well start with him then.

Ben was suspicious as soon as he saw Rami in makeup that morning. There was a look in his friend's eye that Ben was quite sure meant he was up to something. Exactly what that was became clear when they found themselves alone together between takes. "Uhh, Ben?" Rami began, not wanting to rush in to what could be a delicate subject. Here it comes, Ben thought. Outwardly, he smiled reassuringly. "Yeah?" "You and Mel, you're… close, right?" Rami's question mostly confused Ben. "Um, not… not really" Ben replied hesitantly. "We hang out a bit on set, but it's not really any more than that." Rami seemed surprised at Ben's response. "Really?" he questioned. "Why would I lie about that?" Ben said crossly. "I didn't say that!" Rami backtracked. "I just meant, you and Mel seemed so cosy together yesterday, I thought you must be hanging out without us" he explained. Ben glared at him suspiciously. "You've seen us together all of once, Rami." "I know" Rami replied evenly. "But Lucy agrees with me, and she's seen Mel a lot more than I have." Ben sighed. "Look, I do like her, but- wait, why are you even asking that?"

Rami smiled nervously. "I was wondering if she'd told you anything about her family, but I guess not." Ben raised an eyebrow. "I think she still lives with her mum, but that's about it. Why?" he asked suspiciously. "I did some digging in my research last night. About Freddie" Rami explained. "And?" Ben asked, not sure where his friend was going with this. "I found out something… intriguing." "Yes?" Ben urged, suddenly intrigued himself. "Turns out there used to be rumours that Freddie had a lovechild back in the day" Rami said casually. Ben was shocked. "What?" "Keep your voice down!" Rami hissed.

"Wait, what does this have to do with Mel?" Ben questioned. "I think that could be how she's related to Freddie" Rami admitted. Ben was confused. "But she wasn't even born until years after he died." Rami shook his head. "I don't mean that she's his child" he clarified. "But the rumours seemed to agree that the alleged Mercury lovechild was born in about the late 70s or very early 80s, and Mel was born in… when was she born, Ben?" Ben looked thoughtful as he racked his brains. "Well, she's 21, so she would have been born in-" Ben went quiet while he did the maths. "-1996" he finally declared. Rami smiled. "So if the lovechild was born by, say, 1981," he explained, "in 1996 that child would have been old enough to have a child themselves." Ben wasn't convinced. "They would have only been a teenager though." "Teenagers do have kids sometimes, Ben" Rami reminded him. "I guess" Ben conceded. Suddenly he realised Rami's overarching point. "So are you saying you think Mel is Freddie Mercury's granddaughter?" he gasped. Rami nodded. "But don't tell anyone. Right now there's no way of being sure he even had a lovechild, let alone a grandchild." Ben smiled reassuringly. "Don't worry, I won't say anything." He paused, shaking his head. "Christ, that's massive though. If it’s true I mean." "It's huge" Rami agreed. "I only hope it's not too big to be true."

Ben found himself gripped with excitement after hearing Rami's theory about Mel's background. If Rami was right, he could have stumbled on one of the biggest secrets in Queen history, hiding in plain sight on the set of Freddie's movie. Of course he could very well be completely wrong, but even so Ben couldn't shake the feeling Mel's resemblance to Freddie was more than just a weird coincidence. Ben was itching to ask Mel about it, but at the same time he didn't want to put her off by trying to be too close too soon. No, he thought, a bit of patience would be needed here. Perhaps if he took her on a date they could get talking and… no, stop it, Ben thought to himself, she might not even like you in that way. But what if she does? suggested a small voice in his head. Ben had to admit the thought was rather intoxicating, but some more skeptical part of him refused to be convinced it was a real possibility.

Ben found himself horribly distracted by the various conflicting thoughts whirring through his head. So much so that he nearly walked into the very girl he’d been brooding over on his way to lunch. “Oh, shit, sorry Mel, didn’t see you there.” Luckily she wasn’t angry at him. “I was wondering how long you’d take to notice me waving” she laughed. “Clearly there’s something on your mind today.” Yeah, Ben thought, you. But he didn’t say it. He couldn’t. All he said was, “Yeah, been busy with lines today.” Mel seemed unconvinced, but said nothing. “Anyway,” Ben hurried on, “you headed for lunch?” “Actually, I came to tell you Brian May’s coming to set this afternoon” Mel commented. Suddenly she broke into a cheeky grin. “But I might grab some lunch too, while I’m here.” Ben smiled, internally relieved he hadn’t completely blown his chance with Mel just yet. “Might as well eat together then” he said coolly.

Lunch was spent with the rest of the band, as they’d taken to calling themselves. Even Allen and Lucy were there for a change. Joe was bouncy as ever, and all in all they were a merry bunch. But Ben felt a small knot of guilt in his stomach when he realised the others hadn’t yet heard about Rami’s new theory on Mel’s origins. Gwilym would never hold it against either of them, Ben knew, but he thought Joe was unlikely to appreciate being left out. Fortunately, Joe was soon distracted by Mel's recounting of her near-collision with Ben that morning. "Jesus, Ben, are you as blind as Roger too?" Joe quipped, when he'd finished falling about laughing. "I didn't know you were that method-"“Oh, come off it” Ben grumbled, not appreciating the joke.

Fortunately Ben was saved from further teasing by the approach of a very familiar grey-haired figure. Brian smiled as he reached the table. “Hello boys! Sorry to interrupt, I just wanted to check in while you weren’t busy” he explained. "It's quite alright" Gwilym reassured him, setting off a chorus of agreeing noises from the rest of the table. Brian looked relieved. "Oh good. I must say, it's a bit odd seeing you all in costume together, it's almost like looking into some kind of time warp" he commented, looking around the table at them all. His face suddenly grew puzzled when he reached Ben. Ben was momentarily confused until he realised Mel was sitting next to him. "I'm so sorry, I completely forgot you haven't been introduced" he gabbled apologetically. "Brian, this is Mel, one of the wardrobe assistants. Mel, th-" "I know who he is" Mel cut him off, smiling shyly. "Lovely to meet you" Brian responded, shaking Mel's hand across the table. She smiled up at him as she returned the handshake, and Brian had to suppress a gasp when he finally got a good look at her face.

Somehow Brian continued with the conversation he'd been planning while internally, he was absolutely reeling. The girl in front of him bore an absolutely stunning resemblance to Freddie. Far too much for it to be a coincidence, Brian thought. But what was the connection? How could she be related to him? Unless she was… But she had to be too young, surely. Freddie's child would be nearly forty by now, but Mel looked like she was barely more than a teenager, fresh out of uni, perhaps.

Brian was shaken from his reverie by a sudden commotion at the table. Rami and Lucy were needed on set, apparently, and Mel wanted to get back to work before she ran over her allotted break time. The others had finished their lunch and decided they might as well decamp to Gwilym's trailer until they were needed for filming again later. A sudden idea popped into Brian's head as Mel left the table. "I, erm, need to go and talk to someone for a minute" he said hurriedly, standing up from the table. "I'll come and find you in the trailer later, if that's alright?" Gwilym smiled. "Of course, Brian." Brian flashed him a relieved smile before heading off after Mel.

"Mel, wait!" Brian called, hoping desperately he wouldn't attract too much attention. Mel turned around looking curious. "You want to talk to me?" she asked, surprised. Brian nodded as he caught up to her. "Yes. Has anyone ever told you you could be Freddie's spitting image?" Mel smiled. "On this set, many people" she told Brian. "But it means a lot to hear it from you" she added softly. "Ah, Mel…” Brian began, suddenly uncertain. “I don’t want to seem intrusive, but how old are you?” “21” Mel replied casually. Definitely too young to be Fred's girl, then.

Brian was suddenly desperate to find out more, to get to the bottom of the mystery, but another part of him was rather nervous. Should he even be asking someone he’d just met something like this? “Is my age important or something?” Mel asked, cutting off his hemming and hawing. That gave Brian the push he needed to forge ahead. “Mel, if you don’t my me asking, is there any chance you could be related to Freddie, do you know?" He sounded almost apologetic as he posed the question. "The similarities… it seems too much to be a coincidence” he explained.

Melina was taken aback by Brian’s forwardness, but she recovered quickly. “Uh, very probably, we're not absolutely sure." Brian wasn't quite following. "Who's not sure?" "My mum. And my grandmother, I suppose" she explained. Brian was still confused. "What's your grandmother got to do with it?" "Look, I think you'd be better off talking to my mum" Mel sighed. "Would she want to talk to me though?" Brian asked, mildly concerned. He wanted answers, but he wouldn't blame Mel's mum for not wanting to talk to a virtual stranger about something so personal. Mel herself simply shrugged. "She might. It's worth a shot. I think she should, anyway, it's… it's been long enough." Brian found the last comment rather mysterious, but he thought it best not to ask about it just then. Instead, he smiled kindly. “Alright then, when might she be available for a meet’n’greet?” Melina grinned. “She’s coming to visit me here tomorrow.”

*** The band stared after Brian in stunned silence, before bursting into excitable chatter that continued all the way to Gwilym's trailer. "What was that about?" Joe started, utterly confused. "I… don't know" Gwilym mused. Ben felt rather guilty; he had a hunch he knew what Brian was up to, but he wasn't sure if he should share Rami's theory with the others. "I, um, might have an idea" he said sheepishly. "I think he might have wanted to talk to Mel." Strangely, this seemed to make perfect sense to both Gwilym and Joe. "You think he might have thought the same thing as Rami, then?" Gwilym asked. "You know about Rami's theory?" Ben asked, only mildly surprised. "I don't" Allen piped up. There was a pause as Joe explained it to him. Suddenly Allen smirked at Ben. "So Ben fancies Freddie Mercury's granddaughter?" "Quiet!" Gwilym hissed. "We don't want the whole bloody set hearing." Meanwhile, Ben's jaw dropped. "Shit" he muttered. He'd never thought of it like that. What had he gotten himself into?

*** The next morning Mel was hard at work on some urgent mending when she heard a soft knock on the door of the wardrobe truck . “Come in” she called. “Mel, you’ve got a visitor” Joe told her softly, trying to open the door quietly. She looked around. “Mum! You’re here!” Her mother rushed over to embrace her. “Hello darling!” “I see you’ve met Joe already” Mel commented as they broke apart. “Is he the one playing Deacy?" her mother asked. Mel nearly snorted. "Who else d'you think he'd be playing?" Joe was both surprised and rather flattered. "Do I really look that much like him out of costume?" he asked uncertainly. Mel and her mum both looked at him with bemusement, but surprisingly it was the older woman who answered. "Yes” she said bluntly. “If you looked any more like him I'd be asking serious questions about your parentage." Joe laughed, and Mel's mother looked at him quizzically. "What?" "I thought the same thing the first time I saw a photo of him" Joe explained. "I like him" Mel's mother whispered to her conspiratorially. Mel just shook her head. "Alright, Mum. Now come on, I’ve got so much to show you.”

*** Brian made extra sure he and Roger were both on set that day. He had many questions, and he imagined Mel’s mother might too. They finally got an opportunity to talk over lunch. Mel came bounding over to join them in the queue for food. “Brian, Roger, this is my mum Eve” she introduced. Both men looked at Eve curiously. Her hair was chestnut brown rather than jet black, and her eyes were lighter, almost hazel, but the shape and the warmth they exuded were all Freddie. She wasn’t the precise image of their friend, her jawline was less angular for a start, but the resemblance was clear nonetheless.

Roger suddenly realised hers was a face he’d seen before. It was a long time ago, when she was much younger, but the eyes were unmistakable. “Evangeline?” he gasped. She nodded. “I can't believe you recognise me, it’s been a very long time.” Roger smiled. “Maybe too long. You were just a kid then, now here you are with a grown up daughter of your own.” “So Mel is yours” Brian said wonderingly. “But that would mean…” Eve suddenly smiled nervously. “Yeah, I was a teenager.” Roger was shocked. “You were-? That must have been hard.” Eve’s smile vanished alarmingly quickly in the wake of his statement. “I don't need your 'sympathy' ” she growled. “It wasn’t easy, but I chose to do it. I wasn’t a victim.” Roger and Brian broke into identical bemused smiles at that. “Doesn’t she sound just like Fred?” Roger murmured. “Practically identical” Brian agreed.

“Incidentally, you’ve raised a good kid” Brian commented to Eve. Mel, who'd been watching on in quiet amusement, beamed at the compliment. Eve smiled too, her anger quickly forgotten. "Thanks, Brian." "She looks like her grandad too" Roger commented. "Even more than you do, strangely." "Does she really?" Eve questioned, rather surprised. Roger smiled. “Love, your daughter looks so much like Fred she could practically be his twin. Have you really never noticed the resemblance?” "Mum always said I look a lot like my dad" Mel chimed in. “He’s Greek” Eve explained. “Olive-skinned, black hair. I always assumed she just took after his family looks-wise. He chose her name too, actually.” Brian raised an eyebrow curiously. “Now you mention it, what is her full name? We only know her as Mel.” "It's short for Melina" Mel piped up. Brian smiled wonderingly, but Roger nearly gasped. "Melina? Freddie's granddaughter's called Melina?" "Coincidence" Eve clarified. "I'd forgotten Papa's connection to that name by the time I had her." She paused, smiling slightly. "But as soon as her dad suggested it I just knew it was her name. It just suited her perfectly." Brian and Roger agreed, it definitely did.

"So what do you do with yourself these days, Eve?" Roger asked casually, hoping to ease the slight awkwardness in the air. "I'm an illustrator" she replied. "Mostly kids books, but I enjoy it." Roger couldn't help looking at Brian then, knowing they were both thinking the same thing without needing to say a word. "So you got to uni then?" Brian asked conversationally. Eve nodded. "I did. Well, to art college. Not Ealing though." "Shame" Roger murmured. "That's a fair achievement you know, getting through school and uni while raising a small child" Brian commented. "Oh, I had lots of help" Eve explained modestly. "There must have been times, though, when you felt scared or alone" Roger suggested. Eve nodded. "There were" she agreed. "But Papa was with me."

1996 Eve was troubled. Not surprising, really, considering she was facing the biggest decision of her young life. The decision itself was not actually troubling her particularly, strangely. She knew what she wanted to do, but what worried her was what people would think. Would keeping her baby really ruin her life? Was doing what she wanted really the right thing for either of them? These questions haunted her as she tried to get to sleep.

Sleep, unsurprisingly, took its time to descend that night. When it finally did, Eve had unsettled dreams, the sort where she thought she was still awake half the time. She woke more than once, jolted by restless visions. It was after one of these wakings, when she wasn't sure if she was still dreaming or wide awake, that she saw him.

He was standing at the end of her bed, all dressed in a shining white material that seemed to glow around him. He had long black hair and dark, friendly eyes. Eve didn't know who he was at first, but she felt like she'd known him forever somehow. He smiled gently as he walked around to sit on the end of her bed, and suddenly she recognised him. "Papa?" Eve gasped. "But… how? Why?" Freddie smiled mysteriously. "I heard your call, darling, so I came." Eve was confused. "What call?" she asked suspiciously. "It doesn't matter, I'm here now" Freddie said airily. "Now, tell me your troubles, darling." Eve was uncertain. "Why should I tell you?" "I could help" Freddie said evenly. Eve snorted. "I doubt that." Freddie just smiled wryly. "You won't know if you don't try, dear. Tell me everything." For some reason Eve did. Oh well, she thought, can't hurt to vent to a ghost. Freddie, who now she thought of it looked younger than she'd ever seen him in life, simply smiled and nodded as she explained just what her troubles actually were.

"You want to keep it" Freddie said, almost as soon as Eve stopped speaking. It wasn't even a question; somehow he knew what his daughter was thinking. "I do" she agreed. "But…" She took a breath. "I'm scared. What if it ruins my life like everyone says? What if I'm a terrible mum? What if I never actually get my shit together and they end up hating me for cocking everything up?" The words almost fell out of her mouth in a sort of panicked jumble. Freddie's expression softened at her obvious fear. "They won't hate you, darling, you're their mother" he reassured you. "And it won't ruin your life if you don't let it." Eve stared at him, confused. "So, I should just go ahead and assume everything'll be fine?" He shook his head. "Don't assume. Make the effort to get things to work for you. Get angry if you have to. Make sure you can still live the life you want, even with the bumps in the road." Eve was suddenly crestfallen. "But everyone says…" Freddie grinned. "Fuck what they say. Don't forget, you're not most people. Making the choice you want won't derail everything, the journey will just be… different." Hope bloomed in Eve's chest at his words. Maybe things wouldn't be as awful as everyone said. "It will be alright, darling" Freddie assured her.

It seemed as though Eve only looked away for half a second, but when she looked back he was gone. The next morning Eve woke up feeling peaceful. She was filled with resolve. She knew, now, what her decision would be, and she'd never felt more sure of anything in her life. Talking to her late Papa must have been a dream, a figment of her imagination. But how could a mere dream give her so much reassurance, so much certainty? He must have been, though. He couldn't be anything else. Surely not.

Of course, making the decision was only half the battle. There were still many people to be told. Nikos was surprisingly pleased at the prospect of teen fatherhood, though his parents were a lot less enthusiastic, much as Eve had expected. They'd never particularly liked her, and now they were sure to hate her forever for "ruining" their precious son's life. Eve's own mother wasn't exactly thrilled, but she promised to stick by her daughter regardless. And then there was Uncle Deaky and Aunt Veronica. Strangely, Eve didn't actually have to say anything to them initially.

It took one look over afternoon tea for Aunt Vee to guess what was going on. "You're not pregnant, are you?" she asked quietly, sounding as though she didn’t want to believe her own theory. Eve's eyes went wide. "How did you know?" she gaped. "I've had six children, dear, I know the signs” Aunt Veronica pointed out. She softened considerably when she realised just how frightened Eve was, despite being absolutely certain about her choice.

Uncle Deaky was also surprisingly calm when Eve finally told him about her situation, and what she’d decided. He almost immediately pulled her into a hug when he realised she was about to cry. “It’s alright, love, I’m not cross at you” he reassured her. Eve was surprised. “You’re not?” Uncle Deaky smiled. “No. I mean, I’m not jumping for joy, but it’s not the end of the world either.” Eve smiled. “Besides,” he added softly, “I was in your shoes once. Well, we weren’t exactly teenagers, but that doesn’t mean we weren’t scared when we found out Robert was on his way.” “You were scared?” Eve asked, incredulous. “Of course.” Deaky smiled. “Knowing it’s what you want doesn’t mean it's not also terrifying.” Eve found that statement oddly reassuring. And she was very glad when Uncle Deaky reassured her he and Veronica would support her every step of the way. Though when she thought about it, she wasn’t that surprised at this reaction.

Over the following months Eve sometimes felt the oddest sensation while she was alone. It was as if someone was standing near her, someone she couldn't see. She wondered whether it was her papa looking out for her. She found the thought rather comforting, really. But she was never more grateful for it than the day her daughter was born.

Eve had been home alone when she'd first realised she was going into labour, more than a week early, and she didn't think she'd ever been so scared in her life. She couldn't reach her mum, or Auntie Vee, who'd promised to stay with her at the hospital, and she knew calling Nikos wouldn't help, even if she was having his bloody child. She couldn't even get an answer at the Deacon house. Presumably they were all out enjoying the summer holidays somewhere. Eve was starting to feel very scared and very alone when Jim suddenly turned up at her door.

She wasn't expecting him, but his presence was very much welcome. He'd been visiting her in London as much as he could while she was pregnant. She'd expected him to be angry when she broke the big news, all those months ago, but Jim was only mildly shocked. "You're hardly the first person to be a teenage parent, love" he told her. "You're not the first I've known, either. Doesn't mean I'm happy about this, but you're still my Evie. I'll always be here for you, you know." And he'd proved it that fateful day.

"You have no idea how glad I am you're here" Eve quipped as she let Jim into Garden Lodge. "You know, I wasn't even planning to come today, but I had more spare time than I expected" he mused. Suddenly Eve groaned, and he turned around in alarm. "You alright, love?" "I'm in labour" she griped. "You're just in time to take me to the hospital." Eve relaxed as the pain passed. "Honestly, you couldn't have come at a better time" she said happily. Jim smiled gently. "Well then, Freddie must have sent me for you."

Jim sat with Eve at the hospital for a while, although he absolutely would not countenance staying for the main event. Both Nikos and Veronica had already agreed to be present to support her through that part, but they were taking their sweet time getting to the hospital. Jim agreed to stay for the time being, but eventually he needed a break, so he stepped out for a few minutes, leaving Eve all alone in her stark white room.

And yet she didn't feel particularly alone. It was as though Freddie was standing in the room with her, somewhere just out of sight. Eve wasn't a paranormal enthusiast by any means, but she almost felt like if she turned her head she would see her beloved Papa next to her, cheering her on. The feeling disappeared as soon as Jim returned, with Veronica arriving soon after. But it returned several hours later, after her daughter had finally been born. Eve was sitting in the bed, cradling her newborn child, and she could have sworn Freddie was peering over her shoulder, admiring the new baby. It thrilled Eve to think her father might have visited her for this momentous occasion, and it brought her comfort to know he hadn't let her go through it alone.

2017 Brian and Roger weren't the least bit surprised to hear that Eve had felt Freddie with her when she needed him most. But they were a little bit shocked that this was the first they were hearing about her teenage years. "I can't believe Deacy never told us Fred was a grandad" Roger said, still trying to process everything. "I'm sure he had his reasons" Brian said evenly. "I didn't want him to" Eve explained. "I didn't particularly want the world to know I was a teen mum." "We're hardly the world" Roger pointed out, slightly miffed. "I know" Eve conceded. "But he was hardly seeing you by then anyway, it was just easier not to say anything." She paused as something suddenly occurred to her. "Besides, you lot turning up at Garden Lodge again would have caused a sensation, and then all Papa's efforts to keep me secret would have been for nothing." "You're right, of course" Roger sighed. “I just wish we could have been there for you. We could have helped, you know.”

“You did help” Eve said softly. “You kept Queen going.” Roger was confused. “And how did that help you, exactly?” “It meant I kept getting royalties” Eve explained. “Not a vast fortune, of course, but enough to keep me going while I finished school and whatnot.” Roger smiled. "Well I'm glad to know we were able to do something for the two of you." "And I'm sure Deacy was a brilliant support to you" Brian chimed in. "He was" Eve agreed, nodding. "He and Veronica pretty much got me through my teens, really."

At the mention of his old friend Roger looked thoughtful. “How is John these days?” Eve smiled rather sadly. “He’s… happy enough” she said slowly. “He still misses Freddie bitterly, but he likes the quiet life.” Roger and Brian both smiled in understanding, though they seemed a little wistful. “He was never much into the rockstar lifestyle” Brian commented.

Suddenly the warm atmosphere was shattered by Mel cursing. “Bugger. I’ve gotta get back, the band’s all wondering where I am.” “The band?” Eve questioned. “The young men playing us” Brian explained. “Some of the production staff referred to them that way and it sort of stuck.” Eve grinned. “Makes sense.” “Well, they could hardly call them Queen II could they?” Roger joked.

“Actually,” he went on more seriously, “you should meet them, Eve. They’re nice lads, and I’m sure they’d enjoy hearing your perspective on a few things…” “Rami and Joe in particular would be very appreciative, I think” Brian added. “Why-” Eve started to ask, but Mel cut her off. “They can’t talk directly to the people they’re playing” she pointed out. “Oh, of course” Eve murmured. “I’m not sure, I wouldn’t want to expose myself to the world” she demurred. “You wouldn’t” Mel countered. “They’d never sell anyone out like that.” Eve hesitated. “Your daughter’s quite right, they’re perfectly trustworthy” Brian assured her. “At least talk to Rami, he’d be absolutely thrilled to speak with you” he urged. Suddenly Eve smiled. “Well alright then.” With a cheeky grin she turned to her daughter. “Take me to the band!” she jokingly ordered. Roger and Brian laughed almost as much as Mel, finally revelling in the joy of the day’s unexpected reunion.

Luckily, the band were still eating lunch together, so locating them all was a simple matter of finding their table in the catering tent. Mel eagerly led her mother towards them, Brian and Roger having quietly wandered off along the way, ostensibly to have a chat with the producers. Eve was almost as eager as her daughter, curious to see what the men Mel spoke so highly of were really like. They were in early 70s garb today, all long hair and flared pants. Eve was rather grateful that Rami wasn’t wearing the moustache; she wasn’t sure how she would have reacted to seeing him dressed as the Freddie she'd known. As it was she thought they all looked equally wonderful in today’s costumes.

Mel couldn’t help smiling when she caught Ben’s eye. She could have sworn he smiled back, but it was Joe who spoke first. “Mel! Where’ve you been, Ben’s been worried sick all lunch break” he asked dramatically. “Oh, shut up” Ben grumbled, shoving his shoulder crossly. Mel just rolled her eyes affectionately. “I’ve been showing my mum round, you knew I’d be busy today.” “Your mum?” Gwilym questioned. “Yes” Mel replied simply. “Guys, this is my mum Eve.” Polite hellos were duly exchanged across the table, though Eve could feel genuine warmth behind them. Even Lucy, half draped across Rami’s lap, was obviously pleased to meet a relative of Mel.

The group chattered amiably while they finished their lunch, but before long the band and Lucy were needed back on set. Mel expected them Rami to lead them all back to work, but surprisingly he hung back, telling the others he’d meet them at the set. They apparently accepted this without question, though Mel was quite sure they’d be discussing it at length before they got back to work. When the rest of the band were safely out of earshot, Rami turned to Eve. “Has anyone ever told you that you and your daughter both look like Freddie Mercury?”

Eve smiled. “I know Mel’s been hearing that a lot lately,” she said knowingly. “But it’s been a while since anyone’s said that to me.” Rami peered at her curiously. “Do you… do you have any idea where that resemblance might have come from?” Mel could feel the tension rise at Rami’s blunt question, but to her immense relief her mother seemed untroubled. “Well,” Eve said, grinning mischievously, “I expect it’s the family resemblance.” Rami stared at her, brows furrowed in confusion, until realisation suddenly dawned across his face. “Wait, are you saying-” “I can explain, but I’d rather do it in private” Eve explained, cutting Rami off before he could accidentally reveal her great secret. To her immense relief he quickly flashed her an understanding smile. “I have to go to work now, but come to my trailer later. Mel knows where it is.” He smiled again, and with a quick ‘nice to meet you’ he hurried off back to set.

Mel turned to her mother expectantly. “Well?” “He seems nice” Eve commented. “Actually they all seem like nice lads, I can see why you like them so much.” She paused thoughtfully. “I think I can see why they wanted him to play Freddie, too.” Mel smiled with relief. “So you’ll help him?” “As much as I can” Eve agreed. “Perhaps you could help Joe too” Mel suggested. Eve smiled. “I suppose I could.”

Mel found herself facing a busy afternoon, so she sent her mum to watch the filming while she worked. It soon became clear that none of the band was going to get much downtime until shooting finished for the day, so between takes Rami organised to meet Eve just before he went home for the night. The filming went on for hours, but finally the director called cut and everyone started to pack up. Amongst all the activity Eve managed to slip away unnoticed, to a deserted corner near Rami’s trailer where they were unlikely to be seen.

Rami grinned mischievously when he spotted Eve behind his trailer. “So, about that family resemblance…” Eve took a breath. “I meant that sincerely you know” she said casually. “The truth is, as far as anyone knows Freddie Mercury was my biological father.” Rami raised an eyebrow. “As far as anyone knows?” “He’s not the only, ah, candidate, but I’ve never actually had a DNA test” Eve explained. Rami snorted. “You don’t need one.” He paused, suddenly looking distinctly uncomfortable. “Sorry if this is a bit forward of me, but I’d love to talk to you about Freddie, somewhere a little more private” he said warmly. “So I was thinking we could get dinner at my hotel?” “What, now?” Eve questioned. Rami nodded. “If that’s alright with you.” Eve was hesitant. “Just checking: this isn’t a romantic invitation is it?” Rami shook his head. “God, no!” he burst out, almost too quickly. “Sorry, I just meant I’m kind of not… available in that way.” Eve smiled. “It’s fine” she reassured him. “If it was I would have had to turn it down seeing as I’m a married woman.” Rami grinned with relief. “Well, in that case, shall we?” Eve smiled. “Just let me ring home on the way and I’m all yours.” With that, they trotted off along a less conspicuous route to Rami’s chaffeured car, chatting amiably along the way.

Ben had almost reached his trailer when he spotted Mel lounging against it. He smiled at the sight, but his expression shifted into a frown when he noticed Rami and Eve wandering off together looking very friendly. Possibly too friendly. Mel made to smile at Ben, only to be confused when she noticed him frowning. She turned away just in time to spot Rami walking with her mum. She thought he looked rather excited. Mum must have told him, Mel mused. In which case they must be off for a long conversation about Papa. Mel’s contentment at this development turned to concern when she realised Ben was storming towards her looking less than pleased.

Ben seemed fairly calm when he hauled Mel into his trailer, but when he turned back to her after carefully locking the door she could see the anger on his face. "What the hell is going on?" he fumed. "With what?" Mel responded calmly, not quite sure where all this was coming from. "I just came across Rami looking very cosy with your mum" Ben growled. “Almost suspiciously cosy.” Mel sighed. "It's not like that, Ben, she’s married for God’s sake." Ben was not particularly soothed. "Well then what is it like?" he snapped. "Cos from where I'm standing it doesn't look good." "Oh my God, Ben, why do you even care so much?" Mel snapped back. "Because he's my friend!" Ben yelled. "And Lucy's my friend, and…" His voice trailed off as he realised something. "What?" Mel questioned, confused by the sudden change of mood. "I like you" Ben admitted. "I like you a lot, and I don't want to think you would allow something like that, but…" "Of course I wouldn't, Ben, I'm not an arsehole" Mel responded, hoping to reassure him. It didn't work. Ben was still cross, and now he was confused as well. "Why didn’t you stop it, then?" "Because she’s helping him!" Mel cried. "Helping him?" Ben questioned, even more confused. "How can she help him?"

Mel sighed. She'd really done it now. There was no way out of this conversation without letting Ben in on the family secret. "Alright Ben" she said eventually, suddenly much quieter and calmer. "I'm going to tell you something, so you'll understand. But you have to promise me, what I'm about to say does not leave this trailer." Ben smiled reassuringly. "I won't tell another soul, I promise." Mel took a calming breath. Here goes nothing. "My mum can help Rami with this role because she's Freddie Mercury's daughter" she confessed.

Ben was stunned. "She's…what?" he spluttered. Mel smiled reassuringly. "It's big, I know." Suddenly Ben stared at Mel wide-eyed. "So it's all true then…" Mel was confused. "What's true?" "The rumours about Freddie. That he had a lovechild." Ben explained. "How did you hear those?" Mel questioned. "Rami" Ben said simply. "He saw you, remembered the rumours, and guessed you must be Freddie's grandchild." Mel was stunned. "Shit. He worked it all out." Ben grinned. "God, he's going to be so pleased with himself tomorrow."

Suddenly Ben reached out and pulled Mel into his chest. She wondered whether he was trying to ground himself after all the big revelations. Not that she minded, of course, it was Ben after all.

"Thank you for trusting me enough to tell me the truth" he murmured into her ear. "Of course" Mel murmured back. They stood silently for a moment, thinking over everything that had just been said. "Can't believe you got so worked up about my mum" Mel commented. Ben smiled sheepishly. "Sorry." "Can't believe you thought her and Rami…" Mel trailed off as something else Ben had said suddenly hit her like a truck. "Wait. Did you say you liked me?" she asked, stepping back to look at Ben's face.

Ben's gentle smile disappeared instantly. "Shit. I thought you didn't notice." "So did you mean you like me as a friend or…?" Mel asked curiously, her heart suddenly hammering at the possibilities. Ben could feel his own heart race as he opened his mouth. "Well I do consider you a friend. But… I'd really like us to be more than that" he confessed. Mel smiled as she moved closer to Ben. "I'd like that too." Ben could have wept with relief. "So, do you want to get dinner tonight?" he asked, beaming. "I'd love to" Mel beamed back. Ben grinned. “Great! I’ll just grab my shit and then we can go.” True to his word, within five minutes he and Mel were walking towards the studio car park hand in hand.

***

Less than an hour later, Rami was sat at a table in the hotel restaurant, buzzing with excitement. Freddie Mercury's biological child was sitting in front of him! What a day. Eve smiled with amusement as his obvious enthusiasm. "So I suppose you have a few questions you'd like to ask?" Rami grinned. "Oh, hundreds." "Well, go on then" Eve encouraged. "I guess the biggest one is this" Rami said thoughtfully. "How exactly did a man like Freddie Mercury manage to father a lovechild anyway?"

*******************************************************************************************

Taglist: @wandering-at-midnight @fruityfreddie @trumanjo @ohmygoditsanthonyedwardstark @itsametaphorbriansblog @theedwardscollection @simplyvictoria-93 @kotoamor @j1224 @florenceivy @jennyggggrrr @mercurycrowley @xstrawverrymilktaex

(I’ve removed a couple of urls from the Though You’re Many Years Away taglist because the tags aren’t working)

#ben hardy fic #ben hardy imagine #ben hardy x oc #freddie mercury fic #freddie mercury imagine #bohemian rhapsody cast fic #bohemian rhapsody imagine #bo rhap imagine #rami malek #rami malek imagine #gwilym lee imagine #joe mazzello imagine #ben hardy x reader #queen fic #queen band fic #brian may imagine #roger taylor fic #roger taylor imagine #brian may fic

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bluesfortheredj · 5 years

Text

Standing behind Gwilym and Joe, you jump a little at the feel of Ben’s arm snaking its way around your waist gently, and when you look in his direction he gives you a wink that sends a jolt of electricity throughout your body. You smile up at him as you lean in closer to his body and he kisses your temple twice before giving your side a squeeze.

“Are you okay?” he whispers as he nudges his nose through your hair and grazes his lips against your ear. You give a small nod in reply as you try and focus on the two men in front of you, but it’s no use as Ben’s warm breath sets fire to your skin.

“You know we haven’t actually started to film yet, right?” Joe asks as he turns to face you both.

“I know,” Ben smirks.

Joe rolls his eyes before turning back to face the crew and you can feel Ben’s eyes drifting over your body as you stand next to him as still as possible. It was difficult to concentrate around him and it had been like this since day one when he’d given you a lingering hug after you’d been introduced. It was no hardship pretending to be his other half, it all came very naturally as his affections continued off screen as well, but you knew it was purely to keep in character and help you feel comfortable when the cameras did start to roll.

“What are you doing for lunch?” Ben asks as your break begins.

“I was just going to get a sandwich from the food van,” you reply, painfully aware of how boring your answer sounds.

“Mind if I join you?”

“Of course not,” you smile. Ben takes your hand as you start to walk off set then swings your arms in the thin gap between your bodies and you hear giggling coming from behind you both.

“Guys!” Joe calls out, causing you both to turn around. You’re greeted by the sight of him laughing as he holds his phone up and films you both, then the laugh of Gwilym as well when they notice that you and Ben are doing your best supermodel pouts down the camera. “Did you two plan that?”

You look at one another with the same facial expression then start to crack up as Joe ends the short video and uploads it straight to his instagram story. Within moments both of your phones are buzzing with notifications of being tagged in screenshots of the video and the captions make you laugh as you make your way to the van to get some lunch.

“Oh, they’re cute together,” Joe smirks as he watches the video again once you’d both disappeared from sight. Gwilym peers over his shoulder to take a look as well, and chuckles lightly as he nods.

“You’re right. They’re cute. I’ve got a feeling they won’t need plus ones to the premiere when it comes around...”

You chuckle quietly as Ben sits down on the armchair in the studio with your hand in his, then tugs you down onto his lap and proceeds to run his fingers up and down the side of your thigh delicately. You rest your arm around his shoulders as your free hand finds a comfortable spot on his chest and he looks up at you with a smile before leaning in for a kiss.

“Roger, concentrate!” Gwilym sighs in exasperation as Brian.

“I am, I am!” he laughs, turning his attention to the guys but keeping a tight grip on your waist.

There were no speaking parts for you which suited right down to the ground, as you knew you’d mess them up from nerves if you did have to say something, and to be honest having Ben lavish you with attention was more than enough for you. The scene soon ends but as you go to get up Ben stops you from leaving, and you give him a questioning frown. Joe, Gwilym and Rami all watch as Ben whispers something to you and you both start to laugh uncontrollably, then the guys raise their eyebrows as they see Ben’s hand stop on your thigh and give it a hard squeeze as he bites his lip while trying to stifle another laugh.

“We’re being watched,” you say quietly as you lean in to Ben’s ear, and he shivers as your warm breath ghosts over his neck.

“Shall we take this somewhere a little quieter?” he asks.

“I think we should,” you nod.

You spot Joe with his phone once again as you turn to get up but he quickly puts it down when he notices you looking at him, and as soon as you and Ben get to his trailer all you can hear is his phone going off.

“Joe,” you both say at the same time.

Ben lifts his phone out of his bag and rolls his eyes before handing you the device to see you and Ben on Joe’s story yet again with hearts floating around you both as he zooms in an uncomfortable amount. You laugh at the short video then hand the phone back to Ben with an embarrassed smile.

“Feeling slightly relieved that filming’s almost over now,” you chuckle.

“You are?” Ben asks, feeling a little dejected.

“No! Well, yes… No, I mean being spied on by Joe,” you ramble, falling over your own words as you try to clarify what you mean.

“Ah! Yes, in terms of that, I agree,” Ben smiles, “but in terms of not being able to see you everyday...”

“Oh,” you reply shyly, completely unable to elaborate on your response.

“Sorry, was that too much?” Ben asks as he sits down opposite you.

“No, not at all. I just didn’t expect it.”

“You didn’t?” he almost laughs as he raises an eyebrow.

“Well, it’s all acting isn’t it?”

“Partly. But I’ll be first to admit that I haven’t had to act much around you,” he says as a blush creeps up his pale cheeks, “it’s come quite effortlessly when I’ve had someone as wonderful as you playing my other half.”

You sit in a stunned silence as you take in Ben’s words and your eyes look everywhere but at the man sitting opposite you while you try to think of an appropriate reply. An increasingly worried expression appears across Ben’s face when you finally make eye contact with him, and you know you need to say something soon before he gets the wrong idea.

“I agree,” you nod.

“Yeah?”

“Yeah,” you grin.

“Well that’s a relief,” he sighs happily, “had me worried for a moment there.”

Time had passed at a rapid rate since that short conversation you’d both had and now you were only a couple of hours away from the premiere in a hotel room getting your hair and make up done by a team of incredibly talented people. There are three knocks on the door just as the last hair clip is slid into place, and Ben appears in the doorway as one of the team open it up.

“Hello- woah,” he gasps as you get up and walk towards him in all your preened glory.

“Don’t,” you blush, “I won’t be able to recreate this look at home.”

“I wouldn’t want you to,” he smiles, “you look just as beautiful in my sweatpants and old t-shirts when you’ve just woken up.”

He slides his arms around your waist and the people around you both suddenly aren’t quite sure where to look as he pulls you close and kisses you deeply. When you pull away you lift your hand and wipe a smudge of lipstick from just beneath his lip, then Ben pulls his phone out and waves it around in front of you.

“Sorry, could you just take a quick photo for us please?” he asks the woman standing closest to you both.

“Of course,” she smiles as she takes the phone.

Ben turns his body to face yours with one arm still around your waist and you mirror his action, then he lifts his free hand to place his fingers gently underneath your chin and kiss you. The woman is pressing the button on his phone over and over to capture the moment, then she hands it back with a huge smile across her face when Ben turns to her.

“Thank you,” he nods. He starts to swipe through the photos and chooses one when your lips are just about to meet and smiles are evident on both of your faces. You watch as he opens up the instagram app and selects that picture to be posted with the caption found my date to the premiere…

“You’re going to send the fans wild with that,” you laugh as he hits the share button.

“Not as half as wild as you’re sending me right now,” he winks.

Request: so I was thinking that yn played Rogers wife on the film and the fans(and cast) started to ship them(because both are super freaking cute!)even before the film (thanks to Gwilym and Joe ig stories for that)and found out that they actually started to date irl

@peachllobotomy

#ben hardy #ben hardy imagine #ben hardy x reader #ben hardy fluff #bo rhap imagine #bo rhap fic #bo rhap #bohemian rhapsody #bohemian rhapsody imagine #bohemian rhapsody fanfic

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walking-true-to-style · 5 years

Text

But We’re Best Friends! || J.M.

Pairing: University Joe Mazzello! X University! Reader

Words: 6.1K

Warnings: suggestive themes, swearing

Gender: unspecified

Request: @queenscoolcat

“If you still need an idea maybe you could write something where Joe is in love with the reader but he thinks they don’t feel the same way until reader kiss him and he just melts and is speechless”

Synopsis: Joe pleads with you to audition for USC’s performance of Rocky Horror Picture show. Partly because he loves seeing you acting, but also partly because he has the biggest crush on you. Though, he doubts you would ever feel the same. You two have been best friends since your Freshman year in college! He would never want to jeopardize that! Would you?

“You HAVE to audition!” Joe whines at you. You scrutinize the poster, the red lips and bloody font pop out at you immediately.

Rocky Horror Picture Show

“I don’t know, Joe. I don’t think that’s my… area of expertise.” You chuckle at his enthusiasm. His eyes widen at your words.

“What do you mean? You’re acting is amazing!” you bite back a genuine grin, your cheeks dusting a shade of red at his compliment. “I MEAN walking around in lingerie and being… sensual? Not really what I’m good at.” At this point Joe looks as if he was a kicked puppy in the rain.

“Please just at least audition with me! If you don’t get in, then at least you can say you tried, right?” he brings out his lower lip. How can you resist those big, brown, beautiful eyes. You press your lips together in thought.

You admit, it would be kinda fun to be in it- the costumes, the music, the general aesthetic were things you adore. Plus, this is your last year at USC, may as well give it a shot, right? You already know Joe will get a lead role- he always does. You really appreciate him being supportive and telling you that you’ll get in. But the fear lingers of showing your body off in front of many people. You decide that it’s worth it, if it means getting into your favorite show, and, like he said, if you don’t land a role, at least you tried.

“Fine, but you’re going to help me with the audition! Payback for making me prepare something the day before.”

“Deal!” Joe exclaims. He takes the pen and fills in your name under one of the few time slots available- Saturday, 7:30 PM. You won’t be going together, but at least you know you’ll have his support.

That day after classes, you go to Joe’s flat and immediately begin updating resumes, working on songs, and dancing around like there’s no tomorrow. Joe puts on a dance for you that is somewhere between the Charleston and the Funky Chicken. You can’t help but break into a belly laugh. “I sincerely hope you don’t have a dancing role.” you snort and throw a pretzel at him from the bag slumped at your side. He feigns insult and puts his hand over his heart. He makes mock crying sounds, inducing another hearty laugh from you.

“Show me what you have, then!” you shake your head, smirking.

“It’s late, Joe, I should get back to my place.” you turn to your side and start packing your backpack.

Joe cocks a brow at you, cracking a shit-eating grin.

“Backing away from the challenge, are you?”

“You know how my flatmate is about waking her up by coming home at “UNGODLY” hours of the night.” You zip up your bag, and Joe groans. Before you have time to get up, he slumps onto you, pinning you to the couch, knocking some of the wind out of you. “At least stay the night! They’re still gonna throw a fit either way.” he begs. You sigh, giving him an even “Okay, okay.” Still he doesn’t get off. You attempt to push him off, but he remains in his spot- total dead weight. You give up, seeing the futility of the situation and let him lay there for a while. However, as pins and needles begin poking at your legs, you ask Joe to get up. He apologizes and gets off you, offering a movie and to grab your extra clothes you keep in the event of nights like this. You nod, and he sets off to his room. On the way, he stops at his flatmate’s door and gives it a quick knock, realizing he didn’t exactly ask if you can stay. “Yeah?” his flatmate calls from inside. Joe enters to find his flatmate taking notes at his desk, face buried deep in a textbook. “Hey, sorry, but is it cool that (y/n) stays the night?” Joe asks. His flatmate looks up from his notes and turns to him.

“(y/n) practically lives here, so, sure?” Joe gives a guilty smile to him and ushers a “Thanks, Tom”. As he is about to close the door, Tom asks, “When are you gonna do it then, huh?” Joe looks back at him, brows knitted together.

“Do… what?”

Tom lets out an exasperated sigh.

“Ask (y/n) out, you idio-” “SHHHH” Joe comes back into the room and closes the door, shooting a glare at Tom.

“(y/n) can hear you!” he whispers urgently. Tom smirks and rolls his eyes, making Joe huff irritably.

“Sorry, jeez,” Tom sighs. “But seriously when are you going to do it. You make goo-goo eyes at (y/n) every time you two are in the same room.” Joe bites the inside of his cheek and shrugs. “I- I don’t know. We both have a lot going on between school and the show and-”

“Excuses, excuses. What is it about (y/n) that scares you? Cuz you act like a pussy every time I ask this.” Joe looks down sheepishly. “W- Well… (y/n) is just so...perfect and authentic and sweet….” he lists off the qualities he loves about you effortlessly. Though, he catches himself mid lecture on you and snaps himself out of his out trance.

“...but we’ve been friends way too long. I’d hate to ruin that, y’know? Besides, I highly doubt (y/n) would feel the same.”

At this point, Tom is almost ready to throw his psychology book at Joe. He rubs his temple before clapping his hands together and sitting back in his desk chair in mock therapy mode.

“Okay, then let’s weigh our scenarios. Hypothetically- just work with me here- you ask (y/n) out let’s say… after the show or some shit.” his roommate brings up his hand as puppets. Joe sits on the bed, folding his arms, ready to humor whatever silly thing his flatmate is about to do. “Oh, (y/n)! (y/n), you looked so gorgeous and sexy onstage I loooove you, will you go out with me?” he says in a spoofed version of Joe’s voice. Joe looks at Tom as if he’d grown a third head who continues nonetheless. “First scenario….” he changes into a version of your voice. “No, cuz I think of you as a brother! Besides, I think your roommate is much more handsome and-” “Okay, okay, I get it!” Joe lets out an exasperated sigh. Tom raises his brows and looks down. “Okay, second scenario- (y/n) says yes and you two date, fuck, marry, live happily ever after, so mote it be, blah blah blah.”

Joe pinches his nose and sighs. “Please, be serious.” he groans. Tom claps his hands together again and leans forward toward Joe, brows tightly knitted together. “Look, you love (y/n), right?”

Joe smiles to himself.

“More than I’d like to admit.” “You want to be more than friends?” “Well, yeah, but-”

“Has (y/n) ever left you for dumb shit before?”

“Well, no, but I-”

“Do you value your friendship more than a hypothetical relationship?”

“Of course I do! But I-”

“Worst case scenario is that (y/n) rejects you and you still remain friends. My point is, there’s nothing to lose! So please do yourself and (y/n) a favor and do it before we graduate next semester.”

Joe weighs his options further. Though he doesn’t want to admit it, Tom’s is right. He just nods, thanks Tom for his time and goes to grab your clothes and a movie. Once he comes back he finds you curled up on the couch texting. You look up at him, giving him a sweet smile, one that sends his stomach into loops.

“I was beginning to think you passed out on me.” you tell him. A blush creeps onto his lips. He presses his lips together and hands you your clothes. Come on, just ask already he wills himself. Still he doesn’t. You notice his hesitation and get up to grab your clothes from him. “Everything okay, Joe? You seem tense all of a sudden.” Say something!

“Uh- yeah, I’m good. Just… stressed about the audition I guess?” you let out a breath in amusement at his anxiety. It’s just like him to worry about an audition, even one you know he’ll land. “You’re gonna be great Joe- look at the acting gigs you’ve had, even when you were a kid!” you lay a hand on his arm, and his anxieties melt away. He doesn’t understand it- You have this ability to both make him weak in the knees, yet feel completely at peace all the time.

“Thanks, (y/n). You will too.” he says to you, his normal demeanor returning. You give him a quick hug and he reciprocates happily. As you part, you let out a yawn. Looking down at your phone, you realize how late it is. 3:27 AM

“I think we should get some sleep before tomorrow, eh? Thanks for helping me out.” you say, sleep already creeping into your voice. “No worries, what are friends for?” you nod and go into the bathroom to change into your extra clothes. Joe watches you leave for a moment before returning to his room. Once you change, you come into his room and settle in the bed beside him as you normally do when you stay over. Swiftly, your tiredness overtakes you and you fall asleep.

The next morning, you wake up before Joe, who is out like a light next to you. You smile at him, watching his chest rise and fall. After a moment, you creep out of bed, quietly gather your things, and head out the door and go back to your apartment. Once there, you begin rehearsing everything Joe helped you with last night. Luckily, your flatmate had already left for work, so you could sing loudly. You practice some of your dancing and manage to get to a place where you’re comfortable with the movements and have memorized your song. Looking at the clock, you realize you need to get to the arts building in about 2 hours. You figure that’s enough time to get a shower in and make yourself half-decent.

7:30 hits and you are waiting anxiously outside the door of the theater, resume held tightly under your arm. Most of your friends are auditioning the next day, so you are stuck with several people you don’t know well. You go over the choreography to your song mentally, taking deep breaths in the process. You get a text before you go in from Joe. You open your flip phone and look at the message. [Joe]

Hey! You’re going to do great tonight! Break a leg :) I’ll pick you up after if you want.

You smile down at your phone and reply back.

Sounds good! I’ll text you when I’m out. I’m thinkin fast food honestly.

Soon after you get a reply.

[Joe]

Sounds good. See you then!

You place your phone back into your pocket and continue going over your audition material. A few names are called before you. You grow fidgety with excitement as your name gets closer and closer.

“Next is Whimic. (l/n), you’re on standby.” the girl bringing people back calls out. You get up and move to the lobby. As people come out, you spot one of your friends finally. You couldn’t mistake that grunge-y girl if you tried. “Nicole! Hey! How was it?” you trot up to her giddily. Nicole smiles at you and gives you a hug. “Hey, honey. It was okay. Be prepared to do some weird shit after your song, though. I had to spell my name as if I was having an orgasm.” she snorts. You laugh as well.

“Yikes, alright, I’ll keep my mind open, I suppose. What role are you going for?”

“Hopefully Magenta, but we’ll see what happens. I gotta head out, though. Meg is gonna be pissed if I don’t get back in time for date night.” You chuckle and give her one more hug. “No worries! Fingers crossed for ya!” you separate and Nicole walks away. “You too, babe!” she calls back. Soon after, your name is called to come in. You follow the person that called you into the house and greet the director, tech assistant, and music director with a smile. You set your resume and head shot down on the table and go to the accompanist. You show them where you’re starting on the sheet music you hand them and then move to center stage. Once there you turn around, you take a deep breath in and out and begin your slate.

“Hello, my name is (f/n) (l/n), and I will be singing “Big Spender” by Shirly Bassey” the accompanist comes in with your music. Surprisingly, you are able to move in time, despite how nervous you are. Still you push through, and as the first few bars of singing come in, your anxieties begin to melt away. The stage is your home and you feel as if you’re the only one in the theater. You move around the stage with a newfound confidence as the director scribbles down some notes. As you finish the song you strut back downstage. “Hey, big spender” you jut your hips in time with the pianist.

“Spend, a little time, with me.” you move your hips to the end of the song, finishing with a wink and turning on your foot to walk back upstage. As the song finishes, you turn back around and bow your head. “Thank you.” you project. The director smiles at you and the three members all usher a thank you to you as well.

“Before you go,” the director calls to you as you grab your music from the accompanist. “Do you mind just screaming at the top of your lungs for us?”

You are slightly taken aback by the request, but you understand it is likely for the show.

“Uh- yeah sure.” you offer. The director nods and sits back.

“Whenever your ready.”

You take a deep breath and let out the loudest scream you could. It bounces off the back of the theater’s walls and almost pierces your own years. Though, the three audience members seem completely unfazed. “Thank you. That will be all.” they say.

“Thank you for your time.” you bow your head and leave.

Once outside, you text Joe that you’ve finished your audition. He texts back an ‘Okay!’ and pulls up not long after. You hop into the car, giving him a side-hug.

“How was it?” he asks you excitedly.

“Really good, actually! Thanks so much for making me audition, honestly.” A wide smile plasters itself onto his face. “I TOLD you! Now let’s get something to eat! I’m starving!” he turns on the radio for you, letting you choose whatever station you want. You flip to an oldies channel and “Bohemian Rhapsody” plays in the middle of Brian’s first solo. You both mimic the guitar sounds, giggling the whole time.

“You know, this is the first song I ever downloaded on Napster.” he says, turning down the volume to speak.

“You CRIMINAL!” you retort jokingly. He laughs at your remark and gives you a small shove. He turns the music back up, and you both come back in with the operatic section- terribly out of key, as one does. You lean over onto his shoulder as he drives, sending electricity through his body. He melts at your touch, though you don’t notice, still singing dramatically.

You both pull up to the fast food joint and head in. You order your food and sit down, chatting about the audition.

“Did they make you do anything weird?” he asks you.

“It wasn’t the worst, I just had to scream at the top of my lungs.” you shrug. “I’ll make sure I keep that in mind.” he giggles. You continue to tell him about what went on, Nicole’s story, and Joe listened closely the whole time. Watching you speak so animatedly is something he loves most about you. In truth, you can likely turn the most boring lecture into the most interesting for him, so long as you are excited about the topic.

Suddenly, your buzzer goes off to grab your dinner. You both go up together, grabbing your trays and drinks. As you sit back down, Joe’s phone rings.

“Hello?” he answers. “Hey, Joe! You have a minute?” his agent chirps through the phone.

“Uh- yeah, what’s up?” He looks at you nervously. You cock a brow at him and he mouths the word “Agent” to you. You nod and let him continue.

“We have a movie offer for you, but you need to take the next few months off to film if that’s okay!”

Joe’s heart falls a moment upon hearing that. This offer will help him further his acting career, but that would mean he wouldn’t be able to do Rocky Horror, assuming he gets in, which you assured him over and over that he would.

“Uh- I’m not able to check my planner at the moment. Am I able to call you back?” You both exchange gazes at each other as you take a sip of your drink.

“No problem, but the sooner the better! Talk to you soon!”

“Yeah… Talk to you soon.” Joe hangs up the phone and slips it back into his pocket, sighing. “What’s up, Joe?” you ask him. He looks at you, eyes full of guilt.

“So… That was my agent.” he starts out.

“Uh-huh?” “And they’re offering me a TV deal.” Your eyes light up. “That’s amazing Joe! Are you going to take it?”

His grimaces at you, causing the light to fade from your sunny demeanor.

“Well, if I do it means I can’t do the show, so I can’t do the show- let alone audition.” His heart breaks at the expression this induces from you.

“I- don’t have to take it, though! I’d love to do the show.” he rambles. You shake your head and take his hand, giving it a firm squeeze. The action soothes his surging mind slightly.

“You should take it, Joe. You want to do film more, anyway.” you assure him, though, Joe catches your voice faltering a bit. He bites his lip anxiously.

“I’ll…. I’ll think about it.” You nod at him with an almost unreadable expression. He can’t seem to figure out where your head's at, but, when he asks you, you tell him you just want to see him happy. You both continue eating, changing the subject to Joe’s relief and are back to your typical silly antics. After dinner, he drops you off at your flat, waiting until you’re inside before driving back to his place.

Once home, Joe drops his keys into the bowl aside the door and slumps down on the couch. The only sound is the whirring of the AC and the incessant clicking of Tom’s keyboard as he works furiously on an essay due at midnight at the kitchen counter in an otherwise silent flat. After a few moments, Joe looks up at him and sighs exasperatedly before going into his room. He shuts the door and changes into some fresh boxers and a white t-shirt to relax in. However, that’s the last thing he can do right now. Staring at the phone in his hand, he continues weighing his options in terms of the deal. He gets up and paces back and forth, trying to come to some conclusion. He knows He’d feel incredibly guilty if he didn’t audition tomorrow, but he knows you would too if he didn’t because of you. Finally, he huffs and opens up his phone to make the call.

+++

“Joe! You’re gonna do great!” You assure him, helping him pull his luggage out of the trunk of your car. Joe pulls his other suitcase out and sets it down, letting out a breath as he does. You two are very early for his flight to New Hampshire to film The Hallow- nearly two hours before takeoff, but that’s LAX for you.

“I know, but I’m going to miss you.” he says with a sad smile. You look at him with a sympathetic expression on your face. You touch his arm gingerly, and Joe bites the inside of his cheek. It’s your softest touches and send Joe on high alert.

“I’m gonna miss you too, but, hey! Call me or text me when you can- oh! And I have something for you.” Joe’s eyes widen in shock.

Did you just confess?

“You- you do?” he says hesitantly. You chuckle at his words.

“Course I do! You think I’m going to send my best friend away without an early birthday gift since he’ll be gone? It’s in the back. I’ll grab it.” Joe snaps out of his trance. “O- Oh.” he deflates as you root around in your backseat. Under your coat, which you threw on top to hide the gift, is a small, green bag with ruffled paper in it. You bring it around back to Joe and hand it to him.

“I- I don’t know what to say.” he murmurs, thumbing over the colored bag. You grin at him and urge him to open it, giggling excitedly. Inside is a little white box with a locket inside with a shrunken down picture of you two from a Halloween party. You’re dressed as a dinosaur and Joe is in a makeshift Tim Murphey outfit. Joe is screaming as the dinosaur head on your costume “chomps” down on him. “It’s nothing much, but that way you have me wherever you go.” you tell him somewhat bashfully. Joe stares down at the photo, mouth slightly open.

“Thank you…” he finally says, though, his tone is more disappointed.

“Do you… not like it?” you ask him. His gaze snaps back at you, brows raised. “No- I do! I really do. Oh my god, (y/n) I love it! I just- No, it’s perfect. Thank you so much!” he wraps you in a big hug, squeezing you. Once you part you help him put it on, even if he will have to take it back off for security.

“Text me when you land, okay? Wanna make sure you get there safely!” you tell him. He nods, not trusting his tone anymore as a lump forms in his throat. “I will.” he pulls you into one more hug, this one longer than before. His eyes grow slightly misty as he pulls away and grabs his luggage to go into the terminal. “Thank you again for dropping me off, by the way.” “No problem! Now go catch your flight, dork!” you laugh. He nods with a smile before turning on his heel and heading in.

The following weeks, you two text nonstop, wracking up minutes like there’s no tomorrow. You tell him excitedly on the night the cast list comes out that you’ve been cast as a Transylvanian.

“That’s awesome! I told you you’d get in, didn’t I?” he tells you ecstatically on the other line. You grin at his enthusiasm.

“Nicole got in too! She’s going to play Magenta!” “She’s going to do great, but I think you may steal the show.” Joe chuckles. You scoff at him before following in his laughter. As the laughing dies down, there is a moment of silence between you two.

“Will you be back in time to see it?” you ask him. Joe thinks for a minute and checks the calendar.

“The premier is the 23rd of October… Opening night is, what, the 29th? Go through Halloween?” “Yessir.” you say. “Uhhh, I should be able to get back before then, depending on if they need me for press, but they probably won’t!” You practically squeal through the phone. “I’m so excited to see you again!” Joe bites back a smile, looking down at the floor.

“Me too, (y/n).”

“Please just don’t make fun of me onstage.” you joke. Joe scoffs at you. “Oh, have SOME faith in me! I’m not gonna make fun of you… much.” he laughs. “I gotta head to bed, though. They want me onset by 6 tomorrow morning.” You make a mock barf noise through the phone, making Joe laugh again. “I couldn’t agree more.” he snorts. “I’ll talk to you later then, movie star.”

“You too.”

“Goodnight. Love ya.”

Joe sighs happily. “Love you too.” The days crawl by without you. Joe finds the thing he looks forward to most is getting to text or call you when he can- not that shooting The Hallow isn’t fun- He loves everyone in the cast so much. He just misses you. He finds himself staring at the picture in the locket more than usual. His cast mates have teased him about it, which he brushes off playfully. They say he’s so lucky to have “a partner that cares enough to send something like that.”

“O- Oh we’re not- No we’re just friends.” he stammers, a rosy color dusting his cheeks.

“Really? The way you look at the locket made it seem like you two were a thing.”

He shakes his head rapidly. He knows you would never feel the same, though. He’s gone way too often for you two to be an item. Not to mention you’ve seen him at his absolutely worst, and he values being your friend more than anything else. But one can’t help but think…

+++

As the opening night creeps up, hell week commences, meaning the stress is up as everyone scrambles for last minute, tech, blocking, and costuming. After a particularly long rehearsal you swing by Nicole’s place to watch the newly released The Hallow to decompress. The whole time, you are at the edge of your seat, watching Joe’s character with much intensity every time he comes on screen. As the credits roll through, you get up to help Nicole wash the popcorn bowls you two used.

“I think it needed more gore.” she says. “Nikki, it was fine! You’re such a horror snob!” you snort. Nicole shoves you playfully.

“Would you have me any other way?” she cocks a brow at you, opening her arms out.

“Shut up.” You spray her with sink water, earning a yelp from her. She laughs and squeezes the sponge, water hitting your upper body.

“Oh- Hey, is Joe gonna be back for the show?” she asks, coming down from her laughing fit. “I think so. He said it may not be until closing night, though.” you replies. She hums.

“Hope so! I bet he’s excited to see you, especially with how you open the show.” she waggles her eyebrows at you. You look at her confused.

“Whaddaya mean?” you say, finishing up drying a bowl and placing it back in the cabinet. Nicole turns toward you and leans on the counter.

“What do you mean ‘what do I mean’? He’s TOTALLY into you.”

“He… is?” Nicole scoffs at you. “Honey, he’s really not that subtle. He looks at you like how I look at a high-quality matte black lipstick!” she laughs. You smirk at her comparison. Though, looking back, you can’t help but realize she’s right.

“Maybe…”

+++

Opening night hits and only a few things go wrong- mostly sound issues, but they’ve since been fixed. By closing night, you have grown much more comfortable showing your body in front of people by this point- call it literal exposure therapy. Closing night feels bittersweet as usual as you put on the rest of your makeup backstage. Nicole is beside you, finishing up her smudged liner before turning to you.

“How do I look?” she asks, striking a pose and fluffing her kinked up hair. You smile at her and give a thumbs up.

“Meg is gonna go crazy over this look.” you say. Nicole gives a triumphant grin. She pulls down her collar to reveal a small purple mark at the base of her neck, admiring her girlfriend’s work in the mirror. “I sent her pics during tech week. She already has.” she smirks. You roll your eyes at her, chuckling. You go into a changing room to put on a suit that Joe had lent you for the show and hat over your costume.

In the house, Joe takes his seat close to the stage where Transylvanians are supposed to sit a row in front of him. He waits excitedly for people to come out. The director and assistant stage manager come out, going through rules and initiating the virgin games. Tonight, virgins are split into teams and had to pass a dildo between their knees to teammates. Joe finds himself laughing quietly at the struggle. The team that wins are all given packets of mayonnaise as a prize. They all go back to their seats. The stage manager puts a chair center stage, and the show is about to begin. The lights dim and you step onstage, a spotlight hitting you. There are “whoops” and “hollers” by your friends in the audience. Joe smiles at you, even though you can’t see him with the light in your face. He can’t help but feel weirdly...warm inside seeing you in his suit. You pull it off very well, though. Not to mention how well you’re about to literally pull it off.

As the music begins playing, you begin to sway your hips. Already this catches Joe’s attention. You take off your hat and throw it to an audience member and run a hand sensually through your hair, really wanting to make a meal out of your last show. Slowly you untie the tie around your neck, rolling your head to one side. You slip off the fabric effortlessly and place it onto the chair. You face your back to the audience, still swaying as you unbutton your shirt. The fabric slipping down your arms at a pace that snails could beat. You sway your hips some more to the rhythm before you turn around, the only thing on your chest are nipple pasties shaped like the lips in the logo. Joe subconsciously licks his lips and throws his jacket over his lap, his cheeks growing more flushed than before. More “whoops” and “ow!”s emerge from your friends in the audience. Joe is paralyzed. He feels dirty watching this, but he can’t help but keep watching, eyeing your every movement. You shimmy out of your pants, revealing some rather skimpy black underwear and garters attached to fishnet stockings, and Joe clenches his jaw. As the song fades out, you strike a pose and blow a kiss to the audience. All your friends wolf whistle at you and yell your name. You bow and gather the clothes before you saunter backstage to put on a slightly less revealing set of lingerie on.

The show goes on without too many hiccups. You come back out with the rest of the Transylvanians for songs and dances. Once numbers finish, you find your spot in the audience. You all do your callbacks loudly. In quieter moments, you scan for Joe. Once you find him, you attempt to gauge his reaction. His gaze is fixed on the show, jaw clenched, expression unreadable. Huffing slightly, you turn back to the show. Obviously you aren’t going to get the reaction you’re looking for right now. However, Joe is not exactly paying too much attention to the show itself- the image of you strip teasing out of his suit is seared into his memory like a brand. Each time you’re onstage, though, his gaze is only on you. Your whole performance sends his mind reeling.

Intermission hits, and Joe immediately gets up to get some air, feeling slightly lightheaded by your performance. Meanwhile you sit backstage with the cast getting ready for the second act. People in the cast come up to you telling you how good you looked. You thank them profusely and then continue to make yourself as decent as one can for Rocky Horror at your table.

“You looked SO hot up there!” Nicole exclaims, hugging you from behind. You grin widely at her in the mirror and hug back. “Thanks, Nikki. You look hot all the time!” you giggle. She lets go of you and sits in the chair to your left. “I bet Joe had a nice view.” she says with a shit eating grin on her face. Your eyes widen and your face goes red. “Oh god… I forgot he was coming tonight!” you groan, throwing a hand to your face. Nicole chuckles and rubs your back.

“It’s okay, babe.”

Not long after, the ASM calls for you places, signalling that it is time for the second act. “Thank you places!” you and Nicole yell in unison before getting ready for the next scene.

The second act goes relatively smoothly, with the exception of someone forgetting their blocking. You take your spot back in the audience, feeling yourself easing back into the environment. At the end of the show, you all take your bows and the audience members either come up to meet the cast or head out, feeling… different. You and Nicole take a picture together and laugh with your group of friends who are gushing about how good both of you did. The post-show adrenaline courses through you as you laugh and gush back to them about preparing for that opening. You look away for a moment, gaze interlocking with a pair of familiar eyes, and you utter a gasp. Joe is smiling at you from across the house. Seeing that he has your attention, he begins to make his way over to you. You excuse yourself from your friends and shimmy your way through the crowd, meeting him halfway.

“Great job tonight!” he grins at you.

“Thanks, Joe! Oh my goodness I missed you!” you exclaim, throwing your hands around his neck. He hugs you back tightly.

Without thinking, and full of adrenaline from the show and seeing his face again, you kiss him on the lips. It catches him extremely off-guard. You pull back and step away from him bashfully upon realizing what you’ve done. Joe just stares at you like a deer in the headlights. You bite the inside of your cheek anxiously, unable to figure out his reaction.

“Sorry- uh. I- I don’t know what came over me.” you stammer out, your cheeks becoming extremely flushed. Suddenly a finger is under your chin and Joe is staring at you with the most loving, sappy gaze you’ve ever seen. “Can you uhm…. Do that again?” he begs. You lick your lips hesitantly and nod. You both lean in this time, Joe melting into you completely, forgetting there’s a crowd of people around you. He holds his arms securely around your back and yours make their way around his neck. You move your head slightly to deepen the kiss, earning a small groan from deep in Joe’s throat. Nicole gives you both a wolf whistle and you both pull back immediately into reality, faces beet red.

“Bout time!” she snorts at you two as she makes her way over.

“About time?” Joe echoes. You press your lips together shyly, and Nicole breaks into a laugh. “(y/n) would NOT stop talking about you the whole time you were gone, dude!”

“That so?” Joe looks at you with a newfound confidence. You grow warm under his gaze. Nicole snorts and nods.

“Seriously the amount of goo-goo eyes this one makes whenever you text is fucking RIDICULOUS.”

“Thank you, Nikki.” you say abruptly as you shoot Nicole a desperate plea to stop. She obliges, still choking back some laughter. “You coming to the cast party, by the way? It’s at my place this year. Joe can come too if he wants.” she winks.

You look at Joe and he looks back at you for the ultimate decision. You shrug and look back at Nicole. “I think I’m gonna skip out this time ‘round. Next show for sure.” you tell her. She feigns insult, though, she knows exactly what your plans are for tonight. “Whateverrrr,” she laughs. “You lovebirds have fun.” she says and gives you a hug. As you part you snake a hand around Joe’s middle, and he brings an arm over your shoulder.

“You too, Nikki.”

Nicole points a finger gun at you and walks off with Meg, leaving you and Joe together. “All the time, huh?” Joe smirks.

“Just help me grab my stuff.”

Taglist:

@littlemisscaptainfandom A/N: I hope you liked it, Caro! Thanks for requesting!!!

#ziggy writes #queenscoolcat #queen #queen x reader #queen imagines #borhap #bohemian rhapsody #bo rhap imagine #joe mazzello #joe mazzello x reader #joe mazzello imagine #joe mazzello x you #joe mazzello x oc #joe mazzello imagines #borhap imagines #joe mazzello fic #borhap fic #queen fic

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fortomorrowmayrain-blog1 · 5 years

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red carpet bo rhap cast + y/n instagram aesthetic

feel free to send asks of aesthetics you may want to see! (i do queen and the beatles also✌️)

#bo rhap #bohemian rhapsody imagine #bohemian rhapsody #bohemian rhapsody movie #bo rhap imagine #bo rhap instagram imagine #queen #ben hardy #rami malek #lucy boynton #joe mazzello #gwilym lee

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sevenseasofrog · 5 years

Text

Lads ‘n Lasses

pairing: highschool!ben x fem!reader

summary: single sex schools are never boring

word count: 1,661

a/n: second part of the September chapter,, enjoy !!

here’s also some stuff that could make it less confusing (especially if you’re not familiar with lingo from north west england, i’ll probably add to this with each new chapter that comes out :)

St. Mary’s/ Mary’s- the all girls school the reader attends, quite middle class and full of students who like to make drama for their own entertainment, strong focus on languages and arts

Niamh & Maria - the reader’s two closest and longest friends

St. Peter’s/ St. Pete’s - the all boys ‘brother’ school to St. Mary’s, very laddish with a focus on rugby and science

Tram/Met - British version of an overground subway?

Shout - another word for a houseparty

Snide - unfair

Swear down - saying you are telling the truth

Chapter 2

The day went by fairly quickly without too much bother, you were mostly collecting new textbooks, discussing the course outlines and meeting your teachers for the year’s classes; so the workload was relatively light. You ate lunch outside, careful not to stain your white blouse with grass, and after lunch, you were given time to study in the library, not that there was much to study quite so early on in the term however, so really you just spent the two hours messing about, doodling and having hushed discussions with Maria and Niamh. What you didn’t mention however was the fact that you spent a solid chunk of this time scrolling through Instagram in an attempt to find any profile which could potentially belong to Ben. Eventually, you found it, and were washed over with a sense of relief followed by panic. Panic that you were becoming some sort of obsessive stalker, Christ, you’d only spoken to him for an hour that morning but were beyond convinced that there was more to Ben than you originally believed. These thoughts were rudely interrupted though by the school bell signaling the end of the day, which you welcomed with open arms. You peeled yourself off the chair which you had been sunken into for the past two hours and began to pack your bag, waiting for Maria and Niamh to do the same.

The three of you made a relatively slow exit out of school, continuing to discuss the events of the summer gone by and your hopes for the coming year. The sun was peeking through the leaves of the trees, which were still a luscious green and the air seemed to be filled with a strange nostalgia of summers gone by. Making your way towards the gate of St. Peter’s you stopped as you heard a voice.

“Oi oi, Fancy seeing you lot eh?!”

You stopped and were greeted by Lewis, he had been a long time friend who you loved dearly. As a friend, however, and unfortunately this feeling was not entirely mutual between the pair of you. He was always laid back and could have you in a fit of tears without trying, he had always come off as a bit of a jack the lad too, popular and well liked by everyone he met, as well as a cracking guitar player.

“Nice to see you too stranger!”, you shot back. Living considerably further away from school had never been too much of an issue. That was until you made a decent set of friends with people who cared about you however, and you had gone the last two weeks of the summer holidays relatively isolated- enjoying the peace of your own company. Three was now four, and you eventually reached the gate, where you were somewhat relieved to find Ben waiting for you.

“I was beginning to think you’d abandoned me” He looked up from his phone and gave a nervous smile, noticing that this time you were accompanied by a crowd.

“I would never!” You dramatically threw your arm to your forehead fake shock. “Honestly! one of you back me up I’m too nice for shit like that!” Turning around to see your friends looking rather amused.

“No! I believe that!” Ben threw his arms up in defence, “It’s just that it somehow took you nearly 15 minutes to walk no more than 200 meters down the road!”

“We’re slow walkers sometimes, Ok! we were gossiping about y’know…. girls n stuff!”

By this point the other four people around you really were looking at you with amusement smeared across their faces.

“y/n… did you know that you somehow manage to make yourself look like a real tit at times?” Niamh really was finding this whole thing a bit too funny, especially since she was quite to fast to catch onto the idea that you were eager to get to know Ben more.

“Right then, let’s go, I don’t really feel like hanging around here any longer…” Lewis spoke, “Tram?” he questioned.

“Tram”, everyone responded.

The walk with the four of you went extremely quickly, you had introduced Ben to everyone and he had instantly clicked into place with your friends. When you reached the platform Maria, Niamh and Lewis announced that they had to buy tickets, and swiftly made their way towards the bartered machines, once again leaving you and Ben alone together.

“You didn’t really think I would have left you did you?” a slight tinge of worry ran through your voice.

“Nah, I really can tell you’re not a bad person, well, not bad enough to abandon their new bestie at least!” He cracked a laugh, and a wave of relief passed over you. “Plus, it’s not like I don’t have your number… I could always have just terrorised you for the rest of time if you did”

“You cocky bastard!” You retorted, the pair of you smirking at each other. When the other three returned, you noticed how nicely you seemed to gel together as a group, and it was most rewarding to see that Ben had found a friend in Lewis after such a short space of time. When it arrived, the pair rugby tackled each other onto the tram, Ben nearly sweeping the taller boy off his feet, since Lewis had much more of a slender build, and was certainly skinnier than Ben, who almost appeared as a physical opposite. You had one boy with his blonde hair lightly gelled into a coif, while the other had a mousey brown, floppy bowl cut, and frankly looked a lot like he had stepped out of an Oasis gig in the 90s. You all found seats and continued with your chatter, the focus of the conversation mainly on Ben’s past life in Bournemouth, all of you asking questions and joking much more like a group of lifelong friends, rather than a few misfit teenagers and a newbie who most of them only met half an hour ago.

The time eventually came for the others to disembark the now quiet tram carriage. Maria and Lewis first, followed by Niamh a few stops later, leaving you and Ben alone yet again.

“It’s only like 4 more stops until we get off so you don’t have to put up with me too much longer.” You spoke, noticing the silence between the pair of you.

“Nah, you’re alright, I can cope with you for that long I reckon”, he looked up from his phone. “You managed to find me on instagram pretty quickly though” He flashed a grin.

“I’m not a stalker I swear down I just was really bored since I have double study every afternoon only I had nothing to study and no art coursework to do..” You blurted, failing to notice Ben’s ears prick up at the mention of art.

“So you’re an ‘artiste’ then?”

“Well, of sorts, I’m not amazing or anything but I like it enough to carry on doing it at school” Slightly embarrassed by his interest in your work, you ducked your head down, tucking a piece of hair behind your ear.

“You are such a bullshitter oh my god! these are amazing!” Oh God, He was now scrolling through your instagram page, waving his phone in your face displaying a drawing you had done over summer.

“C’mon then y/n, what other secret hobbies do you have, we’ve only talked ‘bout me today and I literally don’t know anything about you other than that we get on at the same stop, where you go to school and that you genuinely are amazing at art…” It was nice to see that he seemed genuinely interested in you, and wasn’t as self centred as some of the other boys from St. Pete’s that you had spoken to.

“Sorry to disappoint Benny Boy but art’s all I really do, unless you could class going out and about as a hobby, but a mon humble avis, I don’t think it really counts”

“Hm, I’m not so sure, there’s definitely more to you, I know it. I might be blonde but I’m not ‘that’ dumb”. With that, the both of you were laughing again, and the silence that was seemed more of a distant memory.

The slow moving metro eventually reached your stop and you both hopped off, making your way towards the stairs off the platform.

“So, are you walking or getting a lift home or…” You trailed off, unsure of where to go next.

“I’m walking, I live just off Harbour Road. Yeah. Pretty sure that’s what it’s called” He announced, re-adjusting his bag slightly.

“Coool beans my guy, I’m basically at the top end of it so we’re heading the same way”

“Looks like I’m gonna be seeing you more often than I bargained for then eh?”

“It does appear that way, your observational skills are just superb” You spoke, dragging out the the final word for comedic effect.

Another 20 minutes of walking later and you eventually reached the front pathway of your house.

“Well then, this is my stop. Not gonna get lost without me are you?” You announced with a grin.

“I’d like to think I’ll manage” He spoke, stretching his arms up into the warm autumn air.

“See you tomorrow then yeah? Meet me here at 7:15?” God. Please say yes, you prayed internally

“See you tomorrow at 7:15” Ben replied, giving a final smile before turning on his heel and continuing down the road.

You unlocked the door and were greeted my your Mother, and following this continued your evening as normal, all thoughts of Ben pushed to the back of your mind and forgotten.

That night however, although you did not remember when you woke up the next morning, dreamt of a boy with beach blonde hair and electric green eyes. Blissfully unaware of the waterfall of emotion and chaos he was about to install into your life.

hope you enjoyed !!

let me know if you want adding to the taglist :)❤️

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oohlovergirl · 5 years

Text

Roger’s Being a Flirty Little Shit, and You Get Flustered [Roger Taylor x Reader]

Pairing: Roger Taylor x Reader

Word count: 541

Contains: fluff kinda, I’m not really sure lol

A/N: A really quick blurb I just typed up! Was very fun to write & it was a really nice break from all the angst I was writing for When Things Fall Apart! Hope you enjoy!! Also just wanted to thank you so much for all the support with my writing. You guys are the best!

Roger had invited you to a little weekend getaway near the beach with the boys and some of their friends and girlfriends. And of course, you wholeheartedly agreed to go as you haven’t hung out with your best friend in what seemed like forever.

Having been waiting downstairs for almost twenty minutes, you are reminded once again of how long Roger took to get ready for anything.

“I’ll go get him,” you say to the others before storming up the stairs.

Opening the door to his room, you ask, “Rog? Are you ready? Everyone’s waiting for you––” you stop. You stop because you see his very naked chest and bare legs. His hands are about to pull down his boxers.

“Where are your clothes?” you shriek, shielding your eyes before turning around. He rolls his eyes while he laughs. You’ve known each other since you were babies, and although you’ve both seen each other unclothed on many occasions, you still get the same reaction every single time.

“I always forget that you’re such a prude,” he says.

“Am not!” you say even though you know for a fact that your face is burning beet red at the moment. Since you’re facing away from him, you don’t see the absolutely devious look that crosses his face.

“Really, you sure?” he whispers, suddenly behind you. His body now pressed way too close against your own, voice a little husky, his breath ghosting over the shell of your ear. You can feel him smirking.

You jump, and without even thinking, your hand slams back. And hits him. You hear a pained “oof” before hearing him thud to the ground.

“Oh my––fuck,” he groans. You whip around and see him clutching the front of his boxers, curled up into a fetal position. And you almost feel bad, but you can still feel your heated face and his hot breath on your ear.

“Well, that’s what you get, you perv!” you exclaim, hands resting on your hips.

“You were the one that barged into my room while I was changing! No warning! If anything, you’re the perv!”

“Wha––no––I was––you’re missing the point!” you sputter, and you think of smacking him again when you see his lips curl into a shit-eating grin.

You hear someone stomping up the stairs, and a few seconds later, an annoyed Brian walks through the door.

“Can you guys hurry up? We wanted to leave twenty minutes ago!” He stops in his tracks when he sees Roger rolling around on the floor clad only in his boxers. He looks back at you.

“S’not my fault! She punched me in the balls!” he yells. Brian raises his brows at you though his lips are beginning to tilt up into a smile.

“He––he was making me….flustered,” you say.

“At least, she knows how to defend herself,” Brian says through a snort before giving you a sly high five. Roger sees it though.

“Did I just hear that Y/N hit Roger in the balls?” Freddie yells from downstairs. You hear his laughter reverberate throughout the house.

“Oh, fuck you all!” Roger says, still on the ground.

“Can we please just go to the beach already!” John yells, exasperated.

Permanent Taglist:

@thefirstkillerqueen @hysterical-queen-trash @clara-who @ladycataztrophe @ghost-in-love

#roger taylor x reader #roger taylor imagine #ben hardy imagine #ben hardy x reader #ben hardy!roger taylor #bohemian rhapsody #bo rhap imagine #queen imagine #queen band #queen #roger taylor #roger taylor fluff #ben hardy #rami malek #gwilym lee #joe mazzello #brian may #my fanfic #my writing

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refiwrites · 5 years

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Y'allll i wanna go back to writing shit so send in some requests! I can do some bo rhap (including the cast!) requests and fantastic beasts!!

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assembledherethevolunteers · 3 years

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Day 4- Christmas Shopping

A/N: Hi, everybody! Not a request, but a prompt for @acdeaky ‘s writing challenge! I haven’t been able to take part in the first few days, but I am determined to take part in the rest of them. I hope you guys enjoy!

Pairing: Ben Hardy x fem!reader

Summary: You’re out shopping with your best friend (and crush) Ben for the holidays.

Warnings: Fluff, a dash of mutual pining

Taglist: @queenlover05 @theblossomknows

You locked arms with your best friend and put your head on his shoulder.

“You can’t be tired yet! We haven’t gotten the perfect gift yet.”

“Beeeen,” you whined. You couldn’t help it. Your feet were hurting and the rest of you was freezing. “We’ve been to nearly every shop in London. Not all of us get to work for three months and then take six months off.”

Ben nudged you, but shook his head with a smile, knowing you were joking.

That damn smile haunted you. You’d fallen in love with six years ago when the two of you first met through a mutual friend at a pub for drinks.

“Fair enough, how about we get some hot chocolate up here?” Ben nodded to a small cafe just a block ahead. “Then we’ll go to one or two more spots? There’s a small shop that my mum loves that we still need to go see.”

“Fine,” you untangled your arm from him, coming up with a plan. “But last one there has to buy the hot chocolate!” You took off running, even though you were weighed down by your bags of gifts.

“Hey!” Ben ran after you, trying to catch up, even though the streets of London were slippery, but there weren’t a lot of people around.

You were almost to the door of the cafe when you felt a pair of arms around your waist, pulling you away from the door.

“Oh no, you don’t!” Ben nearly yelled in your ear. “You don’t get to cheat and then win like that!”

You started laughing as Ben began to lift you off the ground.

“Ben!” You couldn’t stop laughing as he tickled you. “Ben! I can’t breathe!”

Ben chuckled and set you down while you caught your breath. You smacked his arm.

“You know I hate that!”

“And you know I hate to lose,” Ben replied matter-of-factly.

“Well, I technically beat you, so you’re buying,” you stuck your tongue out at Ben before walking into the cafe.

Ben followed you inside, not arguing about buying. He’d been planning on it anyway. He just wanted a reason to hold you close like that.

Ben shook that thought out of his head. Six years of friendship, and he wasn’t going to ruin it over a crush that he was sure was not reciprocated.

“Two hot chocolates, one with a shot of peppermint and one with a shot of caramel, please?” You ordered at the counter.

“Ah, you know the way to my heart,” Ben told you as he handed over his card to the teenager behind the counter.

You looked away, hoping that the look on your face didn’t give anything away.

The two of you walked down to the end of the counter, waiting for your drinks.

“So, where else do we need to go?”

“Just one or two more places. Nothing more than two blocks away.”

“Perfect.”

“Two hot chocolates,” another teenager slid the two cups towards you and Ben.

You both grabbed them, thanked the person behind the counter, and made your way out of the cafe.

“Alright, lead the way,” you nodded down the street.

Ben took you down to an antique shop that had some interesting things in the window, even though you’d been there with him a few times before.

“Trying to find something for your mum?” You asked just before going in the door. Smiled wide at you.

Ben didn’t say anything, but followed you in.

“Ah! Mister Jones!” The woman behind the counter greeted him. “We got that necklace shined up for you.”

“Necklace?” You frowned at him. “You already got something?”

“Why don’t you come look at it?” Ben put his hand on the small of your back and led you towards the counter. “Could we see it, please?”

The woman smiled wide and then walked to the backroom. She came back with a small box that was a dark maroon color.

“I think we did a good job with it. You two tell me what you think,” she opened the box and you gasped.

It was a simple gold pendant in the shape of a rose. It was small and delicate. It was almost the same necklace that your grandmother had when you were growing up. It had mysteriously gone missing after she passed, even though your family was certain that one of your cousins had sold it.

“Merry Christmas,” Ben told you sheepishly.

You felt tears come to your eyes and you looked at him. “You didn’t.”

Ben rubbed the back of his neck and you noticed a slight blush on his cheeks. “I did. I remember you mentioning a necklace like that that your grandmother had and…”

You threw your arms around Ben and pulled him in for a kiss.

It was clear that he was thrown off by it at first, but he then wrapped his arms around your waist and pulled you closer, kissing you back.

His lips were just as soft and sweet as you imagined them, including the bit of caramel from this hot chocolate.

The woman behind the counter laughed. “Alright, alright you two, that’s enough of that.”

The two of you reluctantly pulled apart, but kept a hold of each other.

“Sorry, ma’am, just um…a bit excited, that’s all.” You told her.

“I can see that, love. You’ve got yourself a good man here, it seems.”

You looked at Ben, grinning from ear to ear.

“Yeah, I really do.”

The two of you finish up at the antiques shop and left, still not sure where that left your relationship.

“So,” Ben began. “That kiss?”

“Mhm,” you responded.

“Are we going to talk about it?”

You shrugged. “We can talk about it. Or,” you pulled Ben to a stop and looked up at him through your lashes. “We can go back to yours and do it some more.”

Ben cleared his throat and then called for a cab.

#ben hardy #ben hardy imagine #ben hardy x reader #ben hardy oneshot #ben hardy fluff #ben hardy x you #ben hardy fanfic #bohemian rhapsody #bo rhap #bohemian rhapsody fanfic #bohemian rhapsody cast #ben hardy x female reader #acdeaky’s december writing challenge

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killerqueenunderpressure · 4 years

Text

borhap boys as quotes from my snap stories:

joe: two weirds! I love them

gwil: every day I wake up at 3 am and I have no blood in my arm

rami: if you die, you can be my friend

ben: you have to be drunk to buy corn?

part 1/?

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rogers-sweatbands · 5 years

Text

Where I Want to Be: Chapter 4

Chapters: 1 (x), 2 (x), 3 (x)

A/N: I am fully aware how long this chapter took for me to get done and I’m sorry I didn’t drop it sooner. Thank you so much for reading and please know how much I love y’all!!! Let me know what you think of this chapter xoxoxoxo

Warnings: unwanted kissing (very brief)

Word Count: 8921

Chapter 4-

John couldn’t believe what he had heard after Freddie hung up the phone, genuinely thinking he was fucking around at the beginning of his call. There was no way a label liked their demo, and there was absolutely no way it was EMI records at that. Having EMI pick them up would have been well past a miracle. However, they were interested in Queen and once the paperwork was signed that Thursday, it would be official. John never thought that Queen would have been much more than a side hobby when he first joined. It was a fun outlet to escape the other stresses that life held and it gave him an excuse to continue playing the bass. However, here he was about to be signed to a label of the greats, a label that represented Elton John for Christ’s sake. To say he was floored would be an understatement.

The boys decided that a celebration that night was in order. Although their marking of the occasion was a bit premature since the paperwork hadn’t gone through yet, they couldn’t have cared less. Getting signed was a huge deal and they needed to celebrate it. Walking into The Laughing Fox that night felt indescribably different. It had been the first place they had all played together as Queen, it was only fitting that they go there to raise a glass to whatever their future had in store… a way for them to remember their humble beginnings. In the matter of an hour, several pints had been slammed down by each of the members, Mary taking photographs of their celebration with a large smile. In that moment, the world seemed absolutely perfect…. they never wanted that feeling to end.

Although six chairs were packed around the small table, only five of them were filled. They didn’t seem to notice at first, all of them focused on how exciting the news of the day was. However, as they all came down from their exhilarated highs, the empty sixth seat began to weigh more and more on the group. While Lane was one to run a few minutes behind on occasion, she had never been the type to be more than fifteen minutes late… but for a celebration like this, she absolutely would have been on time.

“Where’s Lane?” Brian finally asked, eyeing the empty stool across from him quizzically.

“She had other plans that she couldn’t get out of. She’s coming by afterwards!” Mary responded with a large grin.

“What could she possibly be doing other than being a complete nuisance to us? Not like she has other friends.” Roger snorted.

“Believe it or not, Roger, unlike you, Lane actually does have friends outside of us!” She glared at him with a frown. “And she’s actually on a date with a guy from work. Seems like a decent enough guy. Not that you know what that’s like.”

Roger and John’s faces fell slightly, however, neither one of them announced their disheartenment. They locked eyes momentarily, frowns spreading across both of their lips.

“Is it that guy George?” Brian asked, taking a long sip from his beer. “Met him when I went by the bookstore she works at. He seemed… alright.”

“Yeah! He asked her out last night to go for dinner or something… said it was really out of nowhere too. Didn’t really seem like her type but she didn’t want to turn him down since he’s been so nice to her.”

“Yeah, don’t really see her with a highbrow guy like that,” Brian chuckled. “He looks like he’d be too high maintenance for her.”

“What’s he look like?” Roger asked cooly, trying to ignore the anger that was bubbling in his chest.

“Very preppy. Gave off a lot of ‘I-was-born-into-a-fuck-ton-of-money’ vibes.” Brian spoke, trying to recall anything else he could remember about her date. “Pretty sure she said he went to Cambridge for archaeology and… I think English?”

Mary nodded. “Yeah, he definitely is smart. That’s her type though… someone who’s just as witty.” “I think you mean bitchy,” Roger retorted with a smirk.

“She should be coming after they finish up dinner. Maybe if we’re lucky, you’ll get to meet George. He can teach you a thing or two about manners.” Mary’s eyes narrowed in on Roger.

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By the time Lane and George reached the exterior of The Laughing Fox, she was quite ready to bid the man goodnight. To say the date was awful would be a drastic understatement. From the moment George had picked her up that evening, he hadn’t stopped making snarky comments. Whether they be about her appearance (“I’m glad you didn’t wear those awful clogs and went with something more attractive”), the wait staff at the restaurant (he had told her that she didn’t “need to thank the help” after she had thanked their waitress for bringing their food), and by insulting her alma mater by saying his degree was more powerful (“but that also just comes with being a man”). While she wasn’t expecting their date to be one for the books, she had never thought that George would be this… awful… insipid… repulsive. He had been decent enough to her at work that she thought he’d at least possess some basic manners, however, he had completely proved her wrong.

“Well… this is me,” Lane spoke awkwardly, maintaining her distance from George.

“Oh, I can walk you all the way back to your apartment.”

“I know, I have plans to meet my friends here though… no need to walk me back if I’m just heading out immediately afterwards,” she chuckled slightly, trying to ease the tension.

“You aren’t taking me home with you?” George asked genuinely. “I did buy you dinner after all.” Lane paused for a moment, staring at the man with narrowed eyes. “Just because you bought me dinner doesn’t mean you have an automatic invitation into my apartment.”

“It was an extremely nice dinner. A woman is supposed to thank her date for something like that.”

“I did, George. I thanked you several times this evening. I’m not a prostitute, buying me dinner doesn’t mean you’re going to receive any sexual favors in return.”

“Well, you certainly dress like one,” his jaw clenched as his eyes raked down her body. “It’s not polite to lead a man on.” “I never lead you on. You asked me to dinner and I agreed… that was all.”

He took a step towards her, closing the distance between them as her back was pressed to the cold brick outside the pub. “You lead me on, you little minx. Now give me what I deserve.”

George held her wrists tightly, forcing his lips onto hers as she wriggled to get out from under him. The brick was digging into her back as she tried to find a way out, wanting to disappear into the crowded pub to get away from him. Lane wanted him gone and now, her head swimming as she tried to figure out a way to get him to leave her alone. She wound her eyes shut as she lifted her knee quickly, driving it directly into his crotch. His mouth detached from hers as he released her wrists and fell to his knees on the sidewalk.

“You bitch,” he sneered, his hands moving to grip the front of his trousers. “You’re going to regret that.”

Lane stared at him for a moment, her eyes widening before she ran into the pub, praying that he wouldn’t follow her once he was able to compose himself. She could feel the tears stinging the corners of her eyes as she descended the stairs into the dimly-lit space, her teeth gnawing at her bottom lip as she made her way to the bathroom. She needed to pull herself together before joining the rest of the group, not wanting to be the one to ruin their special night. Getting signed was a huge deal for the boys, she didn’t want that to be taken away from them. As she stood in front of the mirror, Lane tightly gripped the sides of the sink, taking her frazzled appearance in. She forced herself to take a few deep breaths before plastering on a smile, making her way to the bar so she could grab a pint before settling down at their table.

She slid into her seat between John and Mary quietly, not wanting to disturb the heated debate taking place regarding a rugby match that was playing in the corner.

“How was your date?!” Mary whispered excitedly, her hand squeezing Lane’s. “Tell me everything.”

Lane shrugged, pretending to be invested in the conversation going on around her. “It was alright.”

“Only alright? Didn’t he take you to that French café you’ve been dying to go to?”

She nodded in response, taking her lip between her teeth as she picked at her nails. “Yeah. It was nice, I guess.” Her voice quivered slightly as she tried to cough back a dry sob. She could feel everyone’s eyes fall onto her as she shifted nervously in her seat.

“Did something happen?” Mary probed gently, her tone growing with worry.

“He was a total cunt. No surprise there,” Lane forced a small laugh, trying to play off the evening’s events as a normal shitty date. “No need to dwell on it though, this is supposed to be a fun night!” She smiled up at them before taking a small sip from her pint, her gaze falling to the scratched tabletop.

The table was silent as they watched her for a few moments, Lane fidgeting in her seat as their gazes burned through her. She could feel her eyes welling up again, though she desperately tried to blink her tears back.

“Lane,” Brian spoke, her gaze not bothering to lift up as she muttered a small hum in response. “What happened?”

“He was just a shitty guy… again, no need to dwell on it.”

“You’re crying, love, there is a need to ‘dwell on it’.”

Lane’s hands lifted to rub at her eyes as she wished to be anywhere but The Laughing Fox in that moment.

“Did he say something?” Mary asked, taking her friend’s hand in hers once again.

Lane paused for a moment before a sad chuckle passed her lips. “I mean… yeah… but words don’t mean anything to me. That wouldn’t’ve affected me at all.”

“Then why are you crying, Lane?”

Lane shook her head, removing her hand from Mary’s before shifting to stand. “I shouldn’t have come tonight. I’m… you guys have fun.”

“He touched you, didn’t he?” Roger spoke through gritted teeth.

Lane felt herself stop in midair, her eyes widening as she looked at him.

“He did. That fucking bastard, I’m going to fucking kill him.” Roger pushed himself back from their table, his fists clenched at his sides.

“R-Rog, that’s really not necessary-”

“Damn right, it’s fucking necessary. He isn’t going to know what hit him.”

“Roger, it really isn’t-”

“Lane, I swear to God, he doesn’t get to do that and get away with it-”

“It isn’t necessary because I already handled it!” Lane yelled, her chest heaving as she stared at the blonde. The group’s eyes widened as they looked at her, their jaws dropping. “I… I handled it myself.”

“You… what?” Roger’s eyebrows cinched as he stared at her surprisedly.

“He… well… when he-when he pressed me up against the wall outside… I… uhm, I just sort of drove my knee up into his crotch and ran in. I handled it myself.”

“That’s spectacular!” Freddie praised, his jaw still dropped from her previous announcement.

“Lane, that’s unbelievable. I can’t believe you did that!” Brian added on, lifting his glass in her direction.

Lane blushed as she settled herself back into her seat, eyeing Roger cautiously as a low grumble came from his chest.

“Bastard deserves to rot in Hell,” he mumbled, tossing back the rest of his pint as he climbed back onto his stool.

“Agreed,” John spoke, anger still bubbling in this chest. However, he did his best to mask it, not wanting her to see that side of him.

She sent John a soft smile, her eyes twinkling up at him. He felt his cheeks redden under her gaze, his lips mimicking hers as he bumped his elbow against her upper arm gently. Lane rolled her eyes before laughing, elbowing him in return before challenging Brian to a round of darts.

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By the time last call was announced at a quarter to three, the entire group had begun to feel the significant effects of their evening binge. Mary was half collapsed onto Freddie, Roger had been lying face-down on the table for nearly thirty minutes, and Lane was a lost cause. Her shaken demeanor had developed into a giggly, touchy persona over the course of a few hours (and a lot of tequila). Her head rested on John’s shoulder as she attempted to gather her thoughts on evolution, her words slurring together as she discussed the topic with Brian.

“‘M just saying, the fact that creation was taught in schools at one point is a fucking joke!” She cried out.

“Well some schools actually do still teach creation,” Brian corrected her, his eyes beginning to blink more and more slowly as time wore on. “But you’re right… it’s fucking bullshit.” “What do you think, John?” She hummed, shifting her head so she could look up at him.

John chuckled as he looked down at her, her pupils blown from the combination of alcohol and exhaustion that wracked her system. She’d dozed off a few times on his shoulder, however, every time he suggested he walk her back to her flat she slapped his chest. “Not sleepy,” she swore, the phrase normally punctuated by a small yawn. “Only reason why I’m laying here is because my head’s so heavy.” John wrapped one of her curls around his index finger, allowing himself to grow more and more distracted by her presence.

“John?” She asked again, her eyebrows meeting in the middle as she studied him confusedly.

He hummed, eyes meeting hers once again before he shook his head. “No, you’re right, love. It’s a total joke.”

Lane smiled widely before shifting her gaze back to Brian, listening to him continue his rant.

The bell in the corner of the bartop was rung for the second and final time, the entire group slipping off their stools as they made their way out of the pub. Lane was leaning against John’s chest, his hand supporting her as she stumbled her way up the stairs to greet the cold, early morning air.

“Don’t need help,” she reassured him, however, she made no effort to move his hand from her waist. “‘M not that drunk.”

“I know,” he smirked, trying to fight back a laugh as she staggered slightly. “Just holding you close to… to keep myself warm ’tsal.”

Lane giggled as she looked up at him, shivering slightly in his embrace. “Getting chilly now… I don’t like the cold,” she pouted, curling more into his side.

John shrugged his jacket off, draping it over her shoulders before wrapping his arm around her again, fearing she’d topple over any moment.

“You’re going to get cold now-” Lane started, shifting to take the coat off.

“No, Lane. I’ll be fine. Promise.” “Pinky promise?”

Lane held her pinky in his direction, her stone-faced complexion proving to John that she was, in fact, being serious. He chuckled quietly before shaking his head, lifting his free hand to intertwine his pinky with hers.

“Pinky promise,” he whispered, leaning down slightly so he could make direct eye contact with her.

She gave him another large smile before releasing a small giggle, John’s grin only widening at her expression. They stared at each other in silence for a moment, both of them grinning like madmen. However, the quietness was quickly interrupted by Roger complaining about having the spins, perching himself on John’s other shoulder.

“John, ‘M afraid I can’t see very straight,” he laughed, rocking back and forth between both of his feet.

“It was probably the ten or so shots you had after you had all those pints, Rog,” Deaky commented, trying to shrug the blonde boy off his shoulder. However, his grip tightened even more as he attempted to steady himself. “Hey Brian, do you mind… handling Roger tonight? Lane’s completely knackered and I should probably be getting her home.” Brian studied the three of them tiredly before nodding. “Yeah, c’mon then.”

The tall brunette peeled Roger off of John, muttering a short goodbye before disappearing down the sidewalk.

“Ready?” John asked, waiting for Lane to nod slightly. He led her down the sidewalk, the echo of her heels against the concrete punctuating the early morning air. Lane giggled to herself once again, clasping a hand over her mouth excitedly before looking up at John.

“What is it?”

“Knackered,” she imitated, butchering his accent severely. “It’s a funny word.”

“Of all the words in the English language, that’s the one that gets you?” He chuckled, shaking his head at her.

“Technically it’s slang,” she corrected him with a pout. “No need to make fun of me, John.” “Not making fun of you, promise,” he hummed, giving her a reassuring smile. “Thought it was…” John paused momentarily as he tried to find the word for it. Cute. Adorable. Perfect in every way. “Thought it was funny.”

“I am funny,” she agreed. “I tell a good joke.”

“Do you?” John teased, holding back the smile that was threatening to make its way onto his lips.

“What do you call a magic dog?” She stopped in her tracks, crossing her arms across her chest as she stared at him with a sloppy grin.

“What?”

“A LAB-ricadabra!” She giggled, throwing her head back happily.

John shook his head at her, his eyes rolling as he wrapped himself back around her to continue their journey.

“It was good right?!”

“Of course, love. Very funny.”

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It took nearly double the time it normally would have to get Lane back to her apartment, John having to stop every few minutes or so as Lane pointed out random things on their walk. “Look at those flowers growing over there! Can we go smell them?” she’d asked him, batting her lashes until he agreed. And although they stopped to smell every flower on their walk home, there was no place he’d rather be.

John paused on the front stoop of her apartment, watching her quietly as she gazed at the stars in sheer wonderment. “Look! There’s Orion!” She pointed excitedly, shaking John’s arm until he looked up as well. “And right over there is Sagittarius… that one’s mine.” He looked down momentarily to see her squint up at the sky, her bottom lip pulled between her teeth as she desperately studied the twinkling lights above her. “And there! There’s Leo… that one’s yours.”

Her gaze fell down to meet his again, giving him a soft smile as John desperately tried to mask his reddening cheeks.

“You know my birthday?” He asked softly, scratching at his chin as he tried to hold back a giddy laugh.

“Yeah, you told me it a few weeks ago. Guess I just remembered it or something…” Lane’s cheeks flushed as well, embarrassed that she had remembered such a trivial detail about him and blurted it aloud.

John studied her for a moment, his chest warming as he watched her look back up at the stars, his jacket wrapped around her tightly. She looked absolutely perfect.

“John,” she called, pulling him from his trance. He hummed quietly, carding a hand through his hair as he shook his head.

“Would you mind walking me to my door? I’m still a bit… shaken up from before.” Lane wrapped her arms around herself as she bit her lip.

His face fell as he remembered the earlier events of the evening, feeling the anger bubbling inside him once again. “Yeah, of course.”

Lane teetered up the few stairs to enter her building, the two of them remaining silent as they walked up to the third floor. She paused in front of her front door, biting her lip once again. “Would you like to come in?” She asked quietly, her voice barely above a whisper. It was late, really late, but Lane couldn’t stand the idea of being alone in her apartment. Especially with the threat of “You’re going to regret that” ringing in her ears.

And although it was nearing four in the morning and John was about to fall asleep, he nodded in agreement. “Yeah, I’d love to.”

Her face lit up before she turned to unlock her door, allowing him inside her flat before flipping the light on in the front hallway.

“Make yourself comfortable,” she smiled as she led him deeper into the apartment, laying his jacket across the arm chair in her living room. “‘M sorry it’s a bit of a mess. I wasn’t expecting company.” John waved off her comment as he walked around the space, eyes falling onto an open easel and half painted canvas in the corner. “I didn’t know you painted.” Lane shrugged before tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. “It’s a hobby of mine, I guess… I painted a lot of the art I have hung up.” She gestured to a framed canvas hanging next to her overflowing bookshelf, a field of multi-colored wildflowers covering the majority of the piece.

“Beautiful,” he commented, sending her a large smile before walking over to examine it.

“That’s a field from back home… I’d go read there a lot in high school.”

He hummed as he studied the painting further, head tilting in curiosity. “Why’d you sign it P.E.W.?”

“Oh, that’s because Lane is a nickname… my name is actually Penelope Elaine,” she laughed, rubbing at the back of her neck. “Started going by Lane when I was thirteen or so. I never really liked my name… thought Penelope was too much and Elaine was too stuffy. I decided Lane suited me best.” “I like your name,” he smiled warmly. “Penelope is cute.”

Lane blushed and rolled her eyes. “Always reminded me of The Odyssey and how much I hate Homer.”

“So you hate it because of its literary connotations?” John chuckled, shaking his head lightly. “That’s a very you thing to say.”

“I was never a big fan of the Greeks,” she teased with a smirk.

“From what I remember, she was quite intelligent though.”

“She was. However, she was hopelessly in love with Odysseus and waited twenty years for him when he was thought to be dead! He was her achilles heel.”

“So you’re saying that her being a hopeless romantic is a bad thing? That it was her ultimate downfall?” John cocked his head as he looked at her, loving how seriously Lane took the subject. “I’m saying that love made her blind. One hundred and eight suiters attempted to take her hand in that time! She delayed all of them just because she thought there was a slim chance her husband was still alive. I’m not saying that her fidelity was wrong in any sense, I just don’t know how realistic that would be if it were applied to real life.”

“So you’re saying that you’ve never personally been married to a king who leaves to fight in a war for twenty years? Is that not relatable enough for you?” He teased, Lane’s cheeks further reddening.

“Shut up!”

-----------------------------------------------------------

John found himself propped up on Lane’s couch, sitting semi-awkwardly while she took a shower. She had muttered something about wanting to wash George’s touch off of her but didn’t want to leave it until she was alone in her apartment. He knew she was scared, although she never would have admitted that to him. She was one to always keep a strong front put up, one who would always attempt to keep a stiff upper lip even when she didn’t have to. John didn’t want to push her to talk about it, knowing that would get him nowhere. He told her to go shower and that he’d be there when she got out.

However, in the time she was in the shower, John was trying to avoid letting his mind wander to what she was doing in there. He had always been able to withhold his more private feelings of Lane until he got home, but up until that point, he had never been with her in any sort of an intimate setting (if you could call it that). He did his best to distract himself by looking around the room, trying to figure out something that could occupy his thoughts (and would help him get rid of the tent that was beginning to build within his trousers). He stood and made his way over to her bookshelf, admiring how many books she had managed to cram into its wobbly structure. All of the spines of the novels were well worn, many of them cracked slightly from their obvious love over the years. He felt his lips pulling into an involuntary smile when his eyes reached Shakespeare’s Sonnets: The Complete Set, forever thankful for the day he had ran into her at the tea shop. Although John would have never told Lane this, he had gone and picked up a copy for himself, dog-earring Sonnet 138 when he reached it. He had found a new love and appreciation for William Shakespeare in the month he had known her, finding himself voraciously reading almost everything the man had published so he could always have something to discuss with her (not that she would ever allow a lull in their conversation). He loved how passionate and opinionated she was about almost any subject, enjoying being able to sit there and listen while she rambled about anything under the Sun. She was truly a sight to see and he was more than happy to sit back and observe.

His gaze moved up to the higher shelves, the books being replaced with dozens of photo albums that had been carefully curated from her early teen years to the present, each carefully marked with the year on its spine. John plucked the most recent album off the shelf before returning to the couch, settling the book onto his lap before opening it. It opened with images of Lane and others laughing and covered in confetti, “New Year’s Madness in Berlin” written carefully in cursive along the bottom of the image. John thought she looked absolutely stunning, not that she didn’t always look that way. He could hear her laughter distinctly as he looked at the photos, the ringing sound making him smile before he began to flip through the album. He loved how detail oriented she was, always marking the date with her caption on the bottom of each image, sometimes a pressed flower or ticket stub being placed beside them. His heart swelled when he reached her graduation pictures, seeing how happy and relieved she looked in her cap and gown. When he turned the page, he was surprised to see a small letter placed next to a picture of her holding a bouquet of delphiniums, tears very prevalent in her eyes as she stared down at the arrangement with a small smile.

Lane,

We know how hard today must be for you, but know that you are never walking alone (whether it be today or any day). We are always here, lifting you up and cheering you on. You’re going to do great and amazing things, P.E.W..

“I would not wish any companion in the world but you.”

-The Tempest, Willy Shakes

All our love,

Harper, Freya, Leo, and Rex

She had penned a short caption at the bottom of the page, a flower pressed beside the tear stained writing. “They remembered how much delphiniums meant to me. Today was hard, but these made it better… it’s hard to remember the lighter side of life, especially on days like today.” John couldn’t think of a reason why it would have been a hard day for her. He remembered how happy he had been at his own graduation, relieved to know that he never had to sit through another examination again. Maybe it was because her experience had been that much better than his, seeing how happy she was in every picture from her final semester at school. From their annual university pub crawl, celebrating St. Patrick’s Day in Dublin, her third-year formal, and pulling her last all-nighter in the library before her Japanese literature final, she always had a smile on her face.

When he turned the page, “Notre Dernier Été” was written largely at the top, pictures of her and her friends from university covering the pages as they took stereotypical tourist-y photos around Paris. Ones of all them “holding” the Eiffel Tower (“It’s not as heavy as it looks!”), Lane holding a french fry across her upper lip like a moustache (“Starting to blend in with the locals nicely”), and a picture of her mimicking the Mona Lisa with the painting in the background (“Got us kicked out of the Louvre… totally worth it). He found himself chuckling at each one, the pictures growing increasingly more funny as the book went on. Images of her in a beret, singing into a baguette, playing the guitar while sitting in front of the Eiffel Tower filled the pages, John smiling as he watched the journey of her summer holiday.

However, when he turned to the most recent page, he felt a small blush rise to his cheeks. She had arranged some pictures of her with everyone at The Laughing Fox, entitling the section “New City, New Friends” with a small heart beside it. His eyes fell onto a candid of them together, him laughing at some stupid joke she had made. He was thankful Mary managed to capture the moment between them, loving the way Lane smiled up at him in the photograph.

“I quite like that picture of us,” Lane spoke suddenly, John jumping in surprise before realizing she was standing behind him. “It’s proof that you think I’m funny.” “You are funny,” he confirmed, closing the book as she rounded the couch. His breath caught in his chest as he watched her, coughing a bit at the fact that she was in an oversized jumper and what appeared to be nothing underneath it.

“I’m aware,” she smirked, taking the album from him and putting it back. “Did you enjoy looking through those pictures while I was gone?” She teased, John’s cheeks reddening.

“Oh, I’m sorry if I shouldn’t have. I was just-”

“John, I’m kidding! That’s what they’re there for. I’m surprised you picked this year’s.” “Why’s that?”

“Oh, never mind,” She laughed awkwardly, eyes widening at herself. “The older ones are more boring anyways.”

“I’m sure they’re great! Let me see.”

“No, you’re not missing out on much. I promise.”

“I think that’s something for me to determine,” he smirked before walking over to the bookshelf. “Let’s take a look.”

Lane did her best to cover the albums with her small frame but failed miserably, John plucking the album from 1969 out from behind her. He shifted the album over her head, chuckling to himself as she attempted to grab it.

“John,” she stated seriously, hands moving onto her hips. “Give it back.” “You said it was boring. Clearly, if you don’t want me to see it, that must not be the case.”

He quickly shifted to open the album, holding it out of her reach..

“John, please,” she whispered, looking up at him pleadingly.

John almost choked at her expression, his pupils dilating at her words. He shook his head of his thoughts. “You said it was boring.”

“It is.”

“Then let me see it if it’s so boring.”

She groaned quietly before hiding her face in her hands. “You know what, fine. I’ll be in the kitchen making tea. Enjoy!” Lane stormed out of the room with a small huff, John watching her confusedly before he moved to his original spot on the couch.

The album began like her most recent one, however, her hair was significantly longer, falling right above her waist. The first photo was of her laying in the grass, her hair spread around her head in a golden halo, various wildflowers woven into it. John didn’t know why she wanted to hide the album from him, she looked absolutely stunning. He turned to next page and immediately snapped the album shut, hearing Lane cackle from the next room.

“Get it now?”

John remained silent as his eyes widened, trying to process what he had just seen. It was almost the same photo as the first, however, the image had been taken from farther away. The photographer was standing over her, Lane’s body selectively covered with wild flowers from head to toe, the rest of her body completely bare. If he had thought she looked stunning before, he thought she looked absolutely remarkable now.

“D-Don’t know what you’re talking about,” he stammered slightly. “It’s… art.”

Lane ran back into the room, mouth agape as she studied him. “What did you say?”

He swallowed thickly as he looked back at her, trying to think of anything but the image he had just seen. “It’s art.”

“So you get it! Thank God,” she said excitedly. “So many people take these pictures the wrong way.”

“Do they?” John’s voice was strained as he shifted a throw pillow onto his lap. “Don’t see how that could happen.”

“You’d be surprised,” she giggled as she sat down next to him, picking the album back up and resting it on top of the pillow. “That’s why I’m so scared of people going back into my older albums… among other things.”

“Other things?” John froze as he thought about what else could be in her album, not sure what would top nude photos of herself.

Lane paused momentarily as she bit down on her lip. “Well my past is a bit… different.”

“Different?”

“Well… I moved when I was fifteen.”

“Moving isn’t an abnormal thing,” he chuckled, nudging his knee against hers.

“No, I know that… it’s just that I moved to a different kind of place.”

John looked at her questioningly as she stood up. “It’s easier if I just show you.” She carefully grabbed the album from 1966 before opening it, sighing quietly before moving to stand in front of him. She handed him the album wordlessly, John confused as he stared at the picture. A much younger version of herself stood in front of a sign labeled ‘The Farm’ wearing a large smile, doodles of flowers and peace signs surrounding the image. He shot her a puzzled expression, not understanding what she was trying to show him. Lane sighed before turning the page for him, shifting so she could sit down next to him.

“Well… I moved to The Farm when I was fifteen.”

“I figured that much, but I don’t-”

“The Farm was… is… a commune… in New York.” Lane’s eyes fell to her lap as she spoke, hair falling in front of her face. “Moved cross-country the summer after my freshman year of high school.”

“You lived on a commune?” The sentence unconsciously fell from Deaky’s lips without thought, Lane’s shoulders falling at his comment.

“I’m not like that anymore though… not that living on a commune is bad or anything but-”

“No, Lane, it’s okay. I don’t think it’s weird,” he reassured her, moving his hand to rest on her knee. “I was just… surprised, is all.”

She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear before meeting his gaze, giving him a nervous smile. “I don’t tell very many people about The Farm,” she admitted quietly. “I’m always afraid of how they will react when I talk about it… not many people are too keen on being friends with the ‘dirty hippie’.”

John’s heart broke a bit as he watched her, seeing the obvious hurt within her hazel eyes. “I don’t think you’re a dirty hippie.”

“Well you haven’t seen all the pictures,” Lane chuckled dryly. “Or heard about anything that happened while I was there.”

“And I’m telling you that no number of pictures or stories about you and The Farm would make me think that.” John’s hand squeezed her knee gently before he shifted so he could flip through the photo album. Lane looked undeniably happy in every one of the images. Pictures of her dangling upside down in a tree, running through an open field of flowers, sitting around a large bonfire with her arms wrapped around the people next to her… The Farm looked to be like her own personal paradise.

He paused on a picture of her standing arm and arm with a tall, bearded brunette, chuckling gently at the funny faces they were making at the camera. A small caption was scrawled along the bottom in an unrecognizable handwriting, the blunt all caps standing out against the looped font Lane had been using for the other pictures. “ME AND MY SHADOW,” it read, crudely drawn stars on either side of the phrase. A small arrow had been drawn next to it, pointing to a short caption Lane had added on: “We stick together like glue.”

“Who’s that?” John asked, pointing to the man curiously.

Lane smiled slightly at the picture, remembering the day vividly. “That’s my brother Kenny… he’s who moved us cross-country.”

“I didn’t know you had a brother,” John smiled as he flipped through more pages. “Are you two close?”

“Very.” Lane’s tone was tight as she watched him look through the album. “Kenny’s my best friend.”

“He should come visit soon. I’d love to meet him.” Lane felt her breath catch in her chest, always hating when Kenny would come up among new friends. She hated going into it… she hated to bring the room down. “That’s not going to be able to happen,” she spoke quietly, moving to pick at her cuticles.

“Why’s that? Work or something?”

“Kenny… he was drafted into Vietnam in December of ‘69.”

“And he’s still over there?” He looked up from the book, pausing on an image of her and Kenny sitting on the front bumper of a Volkswagen van.

Lane remained silent for a moment, avoiding John’s gaze. “He died while he was there… a freak accident or something. Happened during my first year at Oxford.”

John’s face fell at her comment, wishing he hadn’t brought it up in the first place. “Lane, I’m so sorry. I-”

“It’s alright. You didn’t know, don’t blame yourself.” She waved her hand at him sadly. “It’s been almost three years now… about time I got used to talking about it.” She forced a small laugh before finally looking up at John.

He was silent for a moment, eyes softening as he looked at her. “My dad died when I was eleven… it’s been ten years and it’s still difficult for me to talk about it sometimes,” he spoke quietly, swallowing hard. “I know my pain isn’t the same as yours, and that we all deal with things differently… but I understand what it’s like to lose someone from your family.”

Lane felt her eyes well up for the third time that evening, hands moving to rub away the tears that had spilled over onto her cheeks. “Kenny was all I had,” she started, voice quivering slightly. “Our dad left when I was born. He didn’t want a second child and my birth completely set him off. Dropped our mom at the hospital and… he was never heard from again. Mom changed a lot because of that… she didn’t want much to do with me since I was the reason he left. Kenny had to grow up way faster than he should have, suddenly being responsible for the child my mother didn’t want… she finally left one night when I was fourteen, leaving Kenny as my sole caretaker. He was only twenty at the time, had so much ahead of him… but he stepped up to the plate and he made it his mission to raise me in the best way that he could. That’s why he moved us to The Farm.” She leaned over and pointed to the van in the image John had been looking at before. “We lived in that van my entire freshman year of high school before we moved. He didn’t make enough money to pay rent on an apartment, so he’d park it in random parts of San Francisco and would walk everywhere. That way, I would always have a place to go after school and a place to sleep when he was on the night shift. He worked four jobs to make sure he could provide for us… I always offered to get a job so I could help but… he’d wave me off. He always put my education before anything. Always told me that I needed to put my brain first, he’d take care of the rest.”

John listened to her silently, his heart crumbling as she continued, her arms wrapping around herself protectively.

“We moved to The Farm the day after I finished school that year… Kenny had met a few guys through one of his jobs who told him about a ‘free-minded paradise’ on the East Coast. They told him about how you could live there for free as long as you did your share of work… and how it was strong community that really benefited young people like us. We drove there and made it in four days, Kenny sometimes driving well into the early hours of the morning before pulling over to sleep. He knew that if he were going to continue to take care of me, it was the best chance he was going to get. He never made a selfish decision in his life… he always lived his life to benefit others… I can only wish to be half the person he is… was.”

“He sounds amazing, Lane.”

“He was… he’s still the best person I’ve ever known.”

“I can see where you get it from,” John nudged her knee, making her chuckle. “Knew you had to get it from somewhere.” “Ken was a much better person than I am… but he did his best to teach me. He probably wouldn’t give Rog as much shit as I do.” “Rog deserves it, you know that!” His eyes crinkled as he gave her a large smile.

“No, you’re right,” she laughed, tucking her hair behind her ear. “Kenny would’ve given him shit too.”

A comfortable silence fell between the two of them, heads shaking slightly. The kettle let out a loud screech from her kitchen, both of them jumping in surprise. “Shit, forgot I even put that on,” she breathed, hand clutched over her chest. “Want some tea?”

John nodded. “Please.”

-----------------------------------------------------------

Lane flipped through the remainder of the photo albums she had on her shelf as she and John finished the kettle. He was basking in the sound of her voice as she told him stories and anecdotes from her teenage years, loving to hear about the unknown side of her. The wild child who attended war protests in Washington, D.C., who took insane road trips every summer with her brother and their friends, who attended Woodstock and managed to be “sober enough” to have nearly perfect memory of it… John never thought she could become any more interesting than she already was.

He didn’t want to admit it, but his favorite album was the one from 1969. John hated how much he loved the newly found artistry she found once she turned eighteen… the kind that made him hold a pillow tightly across his lap as he did his best to focus on the stories she was telling rather than the photographs in front of him. He paused on an image taken of her the day before she left for university, her guitar placed on her lap as she gave the camera a wide smile.

“I didn’t know you played guitar before tonight.” “Well, you didn’t know a lot of things about me before tonight,” she giggled, nudging his arm. “But yeah, it was a gift for my sixteenth birthday. They had thrifted it and repaired it heavily before giving it to me… one of the best gifts I’ve ever received.”

John nodded, turning back to the image. He stared at the acoustic for a moment, looking at the images she had painted on it over the years. The face of the instrument had been adorned in various flowers and other designs, the whole thing looking very Lane. “You still have it?” “Yeah! Let me go grab it, hold on.” Lane jumped off the couch and ran to her bedroom, offering it to John when she returned. “It looks a bit different now… I repainted it a few times during college.” He smiled up at her as he admired the work. “This is awesome! Never heard of anyone doing this to a guitar.” “Well you know me, never one to do the usual thing… plus, I never liked the look of the bare wood. Thought it was boring.”

He chuckled before handing it back to her, admiring Lane as she strummed quietly. “Play me something.” “Oh no, I couldn’t do that.” “And why not?” “Because you’re a professional musician who’s being signed by EMI records and I taught myself by watching other people in drum circles. Not going to happen.”

“C’mon, I’m not going to judge you! I bet you’re amazing.”

“Deaks,” she spoke, her tone stern as she drummed her fingers on the top of the instrument. John smirked at her, cocking his head to the side. “Penelope.”

“You know, calling me a name I hate isn’t helping you make your case.”

“You called me a nickname, only thought it was fair. You almost exclusively call me John.”

Lane rolled her eyes as she shook her head. “You’re never going to drop this, are you?” “That’s correct, Penelope Elaine. I’ll be calling you by your full name until you play for me.” “You’re an annoying piece of shit. You know that, right?” “I’m aware.”

Lane sighed as she looked down at her lap, adjusting the guitar slightly. “Alright. I’ll play for you under two conditions.”

“Which are?”

“One, you can’t judge me.” “I already said I wouldn’t do that, love.” “And two, you play me something afterwards.”

John paused momentarily, cocking his head to the side. “Well I play the bass so-”

“I know for a fact that you can play the guitar. Don’t play dumb.” Lane’s face deadpanned as she looked across at him.

“Fine. I agree to your conditions.”

Lane nodded wordlessly as she looked down at her fingers, laughing quietly. “Don’t know what I should play.”

“Play anything.” “Wow, that was really helpful,” she teased, looking up momentarily.

He raised his hands in defense, giving her a small smile. “I’m just trying to be of assistance.”

Lane rolled her eyes before shifting the capo, plucking the strings a few times. “You promise you’re not going to judge me?” “Yes!”

“Okay, okay… here we go.” Her eyes fell as she began to strum quietly, a curtain of blonde hair falling in front of her face as she began to sing along. “Stars shining bright above you, night breezes seem to whisper I love you, birds singing in the sycamore tree. Dream a little dream of me.”

John’s cheeks reddened at her choice of song, wishing she’d realize his feelings for her. Deep down, he knew she didn’t pick that song for the reason he wished, to admit her love for him… however, as he felt a swell in his heart, he pretended that it was. As she finished, she looked up at him bashfully, biting her bottom lip before setting the guitar between them.

“Lane, that was amazing!” John smiled breathlessly, trying to comprehend how beautiful she looked in that moment. Golden curls flowing past her shoulders, her too large jumper completely engulfing her form, her hazel eyes somehow still sparkling despite it nearing six in the morning. She had never looked more stunning.

She blushed, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. “I wouldn’t call it amazing… but thank you.”

“No, trust me. That was… perfect.”

Lane cocked an eyebrow at him suspiciously, running a hand through her hair. “Well go on then, your turn.”

He suddenly felt his face fall, now regretting their deal. While he did want to hear her play, the idea of having to pick a song made him want to pull his hair out. “U-Uhm… do you… like The Beatles?” Lane rolled her eyes before laughing, kicking his shin lightly. “John, sweetheart, everyone loves The Beatles.”

“I just wanted to make sure!”

“I’m kidding!” She giggled, nudging the guitar closer to him. “I have every Beatles record… I love them.”

“Do you have a favorite album?” “Are you trying to stall so you don’t have to play for me?”

“No!” John rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. “I was just wondering because I could… I don’t know, play a song from that album. But that sounds lame, I’ll just p-”

“Oh no, John, I’m sorry. That’s really sweet of you.” Lane smiled, tilting her head slightly. “But picking a favorite is pretty hard… I’m quite fond of their earlier stuff though! The ‘I Want to Hold Your Hand’ single was the first record I ever bought with my own money… the B-side was ‘I Saw Her Standing There’ and I remember playing those two songs on a constant loop until Kenny bought me the full record. He was so sick of hearing those same lyrics for hours on end.”

“That was really sweet of him.” “It was definitely to benefit his own sanity though, believe me.”

John laughed before placing the instrument in his lap, shifting the pillow to his feet. “‘I Want to Hold Your Hand,’ aye?” He asked, watching her nod quickly. “Think I remember the chords for that one.”

“If you don’t, I can always help you, love.” Lane’s voice dripped in amusement as she sent him a teasing smirk.

John rolled his eyes as he chuckled slightly. “Pretty sure I can handle it on my own.”

Lane settled back into the cushion behind her as she watched him intently, John’s gaze falling as he played for her. He tried to mask his blush as he sang along quietly, never being a big fan of his own voice. However, as he finished the song and looked up at Lane, her reaction made him want to do it more often.

“I’ve never heard you sing before.” “I know… I don’t like to do it all that oft-”

“Please do it more. Your voice is quite lovely.”

“Thank you.” John’s face flushed a deeper shade as he set the guitar down on the coffee table in front of them, his bottom lip being taken between his teeth.

A short silence fell between them before Lane yawned quietly, her eyes blinking up at him. John shifted to check the time on his watch, shaking his head at the time.

“What is it?” She asked quietly, stifling another yawn with her sleeve.

“It’s nearing half six already,” he laughed, shaking his head at how much time they’d spent together. “You should probably get to bed, Lane.”

She nodded slowly, rubbing her eyes. “Would you like to stay over?”

John’s heart stopped beating for a moment as her words hung in the air. “Pardon?”

“Would you like to stay over? I don’t want to kick you out when it’s so late… well… early, I guess.”

John wanted nothing more than to stay over, even if that meant he slept on the couch. However, the fact that he had rehearsal in a few hours hung over his head, ruining her offer.

“I wish I could but… I-I have rehearsal later and I should probably go home and shower beforehand.”

Lane nodded before giving him a small smile. “Don’t worry, John. I completely understand.” She shifted herself off the couch, reaching her arms above her head as she stretched slightly.

“Thank you for tonight, Lane.” “I should be the one thanking you. I’m the one who invited you in because I was so…”

John waved off her comment before he pulled her into a hug. “Don’t worry about it. I didn’t mind one bit.”

Lane wrapped her arms around his neck tightly, nuzzling her nose into his chest for a moment. “Call me later, alright? I want to make sure you made it home okay.” “Right, because the half a block is such a treacherous journey,” he chuckled, nudging her arm gently.

Lane rolled her eyes before pushing him towards the door, stopping herself when John was leaned against it. “I’ll see you later, yeah?” “Of course.”

“Goodnight, John.” “Sweet dreams, Lane.”

As John walked home that morning, he swore that no feeling could have ever topped the way he felt in that instant. As he flopped face first onto his bed, his mind could only be consumed with one thing: Lane… and he didn’t want it any other way.

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innuendostyles · 4 years

Note

Can u do another famous reader thing but they’re doing Spill Your Guts and she keeps getting asked about Ben cause of the flirting on IG

heres the shameless ig flirting!

“let’s take a quick look at what we’ve got” james announced, a nervous smile on his face as he looked at you with raised brows. you nodded and took a deep breath, grimacing as you saw some of the plates.

“hot sauce, bird saliva, there’s… a giant water scorpion” the entire audience groaned and your face turned up in disgust.

“we’ve got some jellyfish” james said and your eyebrows raised, “is that real? holy shit”

“oh but wait ‘cause there’s bull testicles” the audience chuckled and you added, “oh yes, ofcourse! just some casual bull testicles!”

“and our last three… salmon smoothie, bug trifle and the one they’ve all been waiting for…” the audience jeered him on, “…cod sperm!”

you groaned and contorted your face, “what have i agreed to” you whined, jokingly.

“okay so, we’ll have y/n ask me a question first… oh god i am so not ready for this” he concluded.

“so if you wanna pick my forfeit meal for me, y/n.” he breathed deeply, looking at all the substances in front of him. you spun the table so the hot sauce sat in front of him.

“great.” he said, straight-faced.

you picked up the small card on the table that sat next to you and eyed the question before you chuckled and covered your mouth with the card to stop you from cackling.

“this is a good one,” you said. “james.” you deadpanned, “what is my worst song?” you asked with a smile. “come on, it’s not that hard!” you giggled.

“yeah, it’s not you answering the bloody question!” james bantered.

the audience were shouting encouragements and you looked at james with a raised brow as he looked down at the sauce. he grimaced as he sat back on his chair.

“okay, y/n, you know i am a massive fan of all your work and i have endless amounts of respect for you and your music.” he began, “but, i’m gonna have to say….” he moved his finger to his chin as if to look like he was thinking. he named one of your very old songs, one from your first album.

“i hate that one too, its alright, james” you teased.

“i never said i hated it!” he defended with a chuckle.

“my turn” he smiled slyly, before turning the table so that the salmon smoothie was in front of you.

“oh god” you muttered.

he picked the card up and gave it a once over.

he chortled as he read it and the audience wooed in anticipation.

“if you answer this, i’ll drink the bloody smoothie myself” he joked.

your eyebrows shot up as he read the question, “y/n, your new world tour is almost here, but which city are you least excited to perform in?” he covered his own face with the card as he rocked back and forth in laughter.

“oh that’s unfair!” you complained jokingly, “i’m excited for all of them!” you whined. you couldn’t answer the question, simply because you didn’t have an answer, so you picked up the smoothie and took a sip. you purposefully blocked out the sound of the audience groaning as you drank it. you moved the cup away from your mouth and spat the sip out in the bucket next to you. you washed your mouth out with the water provided and shivered as you were hit by the aftertaste. the audience laughed and you frowned playfully.

you picked up a card for james after you selected the scorpion as his forfeit. you gasped as you read his question and repeated his earlier statement, “if you answer this one i’ll eat the scorpion for you”. he shook his head as he realised how bad the question must have been, and still appeared to be shocked as you asked him “who has been the most boring guest on the late late show?” his face contorted as he chuckled in terror.

“i’m gonna have to eat the scorpion… i have the answer, though.” he wiggled his brows before eating the scorpion. his reaction was hilarious, but before you knew it the cod sperm was in front of you and james was laughing at your face as you eyed it.

james giggled for a while before he showed the camera the question, the audience wooing as you got more and more nervous. “this could be an exclusive people!” james shouted before asking you the question. “who was the last person you kissed, y/n?” you gasped dramatically.

the public didn’t know about you and ben yet, though they’d probably seen the shameless flirting on their instagram feeds. “but wait, wait, wait- before you do anything, let me bring someone out who could help your decision…” as you looked up you saw ben walking towards the table, a smirk on his face. the last time you’d seen ben was before you came on stage.

you’d asked him to come with you to the show so that you could both go out for a meal after. you looked at him with raised brows as he sat down on a chair next to james.

“were you in on this? you little shit” you chuckled.

ben held his hands up in defence, “no idea what’s going on love, just got asked to come out here.” he said with an innocent smile.

the last person you kissed happened to be ben, in the green room just before you came on, he swept you into his arms seconds before your name was announced.

you didn’t really want to announce your relationship with ben when you two hadn’t agreed prior, especially not when you were both unprepared to answer questions. so you picked up the cod sperm and looked directly into ben’s eyes as you placed it into your mouth.

you gagged as you tasted it, watching ben and james laughing and clapping, “you’ve basically just given us the answer, y/n” james joked, to which you flipped him the bird, playfully. ben applauded you as you grimaced at the taste.

“now y/n, to spit or to swallow…?” james quipped, you spluttered as you heard him asking, “why don’t you answer that one for us ben?”

ben just chortled as his eyes found you again, knowing the answer perfectly well.

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p4nkow · 4 years

Text

Maybe someday

A few days ago I rewatched this movie I grew up with which is called “Life as we know it” (I highly recommend you to watch it if you haven’t) and it gave me the inspiration to write this one shot.

Summary: as Lucy and Rami finally leave for their late honeymoon, they ask Y/N and Ben a huge favour — they have to watch over their daughter, Sophie, for one whole week as they’re away. The only problem is that Y/N and Ben can barely stand each other.

Let me know what you think, I’d love to read your comments!

Anxious. Organised. Schematic. Hater of surprises.

If you had to describe yourself with simple, concise words, those’d have been your choices. Everyone who knew you was well aware of the fact that you tended to plan everything. It wasn’t something you liked to do — plan your life in its very details. You just couldn’t help it. Moreover, it helped you to make your schedule clear as well as your mind.

So when Lucy and Rami told you they had to talk to you, the level that your anxiety had reached could’ve been easily imagined. Their party had been awesome — it had given you the chance to meet old friends and to have a little chitchat with those you hadn’t seen in forever.

It’d have been perfect if it wasn’t for Ben.

Oh man, saying that you didn’t get along was not enough. One of the most important things that’d influenced your relationship was the fact that he’d screwed up your first blind date. First and last date, of course. It didn’t take a genius to understand that he had no wish to be there.

Since that day you’d met him quite often — it was impossible not to when your best friends were married and with a one-year-old child. That’s right. Rami had finally summoned the courage to propose to Lucy and now, almost a year and a half later, they had the most beautiful child you’d ever seen.

Sophie Malek was a feast for the eyes and you loved her. Before her you never understood the endless love people showed towards babies, but damn. It was impossible not to love her.

Ben did love her, too. That’s one of the few things that you appreciated about him.

He was just perfect when around her — always caring and careful about her needs. He’d always play with her and the sight of a grown-up Ben playing with duckies and princesses was quite funny. Funny, yes, but cute. Those were the only times when you were in a cease fire. You just couldn’t bring the little Sophie in your war of jabs.

“What’d you guys need to tell me?”

Rami and Lucy exchanged a look and you didn’t like the little smiles painted in their faces. They were pulling a scam on something and Lucy’s words did nothing but increase your suspicions. “Just wait a bit longer.”

Now that the party was over, it was only you, Lucy, Rami and the little Sophie sprawled in the couches of their living room. “How old are you, Soph? Huh?” The little girl had just learned to show her age with her fingers, raising the index finger at her mom’s question.

Lucy was your best friend, your wingman, your partner in crime, the sister you never had. Your friendship had been going on since high school and now she was a mom. God knows you cried your eyes out the day she gave birth.

The unlocking of the door brought you back from your thoughts and you sighed deeply at the sight of Ben. Even though there was resentment between the two of you, you couldn’t deny that he was good-looking. Extremely good-looking. The leather jacket he was wearing on top of his black shirt made him look even more attractive and you hoped he didn’t catch you staring at his black trousers which fit him perfectly. But why the hell did he always wear black?

“I put the garbage out. I hope I guessed right your can.” He didn’t seem to notice your presence as he closed the door behind him, so you just ignored him.

Then he spotted you sitting on the couch right in front of the couple and gave you just a simple nod. Unfortunately there was no room for him on their couch, so he was forced to sit on yours. He made sure to sit as far from you as possible, though.

“You smell so much of feminine scent that I’m about to throw up.”

Ben gave you one of his smirks and you truly wished you could punch him in the face. “You’re just jealous that it isn’t yours.”

“I pity those girls”, replied in kind. Your words did nothing but amuse him and you rolled your eyes.

“Guys.” Thank God Rami saved the situation as Lucy tried to hide her giggles in Sophie’s neck.

“You wanted to talk to us?”

Rami nodded at Ben’s question, surrounding Lucy’s shoulder with his arm. “Yeah, uhm...”

“Do you remember how we never got to leave for our honeymoon, right?”, Lucy came in his help.

“I remember your complaints about it, yeah.”

Lucy’s smile grew even bigger at your words. “We’d organised this big trip to Europe but then...”

“Sophie happened”, Rami concluded.

You remember it clearly, but still you didn’t understand what was their point. When you turned towards Ben for a quick look, you were glad to see that he was just as confused as you. “And?”

Lucy and Rami exchanged another look as Sophie squeezed her duck. “We’d love to do that trip. As a gift for our first anniversary.” Oh no. Now you knew exactly where this was going.

“’f course you understand that we can’t take such a trip with a one-year-old child.” Ben widened his eyes at Rami’s words. He was starting to understand too.

“So we wanna ask you”, Lucy started saying but she was interrupted by Rami. “We beg you.”

“Yeah”, Lucy nodded. “We beg you to take care of Sophie as we’re away. You guys are the only ones we trust.”

“Shit, man”, Ben murmured as he slipped his fingers through his hair. It was something he did when he was nervous. Right now he was extremely nervous and you just couldn’t believe what’d you just heard.

“I’m sorry, what?”

Lucy narrowed her brows in worry. “Y/N, please. You know we cant trust our parents.”

“And we can’t trust Joe”, Rami added. Sophie limited herself to follow your conversation with a curious look.

You, on the other hand, still had to process their request. So you turned towards Ben only to find himself staring at you, horrified. “I’m sorry”, he said by picking his tongue out, licking his lower lip. “I’d love to do that. Really, I’d love to. But with her?”

“Oh so you don’t believe I’d be able to take care of a child?”

“I highly doubt it, yes. Let’s face the truth, ‘kay? We can barely stand each other.”

“And so what? It’s Sophie we are talking about.” You forced yourself to keep your tone low not to scare the child.

Ben exhaled deeply and quietly murmured something, so you moved your gaze back to the couple. “I’ll do it.” Now it was personal — you had to show that prick that you could take care of a baby, differently than he thought. With or without him.

Lucy’s smile was still uncertain as she looked at Ben. He seemed conflicted as he rubbed his hands, looking at you first and then at Sophie. His shoulders rise and lower as he sighed deeply, starting to nod his head ‘yes’. “Yeah, I’ll do it, too.”

Rami let out a relief laugh and he placed a kiss on Sophie’s head. Trying to ignore Ben, you stood up from the couch and leaned towards the baby. “Come to auntie, Soph.”

The baby reached up to you and you gladly picked her up, meeting Lucy’s eyes while doing so. “I owe you one.”

She surely did.

“Auntie Y/N will take care of you as mommy and daddy are away”, you whispered as you smiled back at her.

Sophie’s attention was caught by something behind you, her eyes widening in excitement. You knew who she was looking at even before turning around. It was crystal clear that Sophie loved Ben almost as much as he did. He gently caressed her cheek with a sweet smile on his face. “Hi, love.”

“Don’t make me regret it.” Your words were nothing but a whisper as you talked to Ben.

His jaw clenched as he fixed his green eyes on yours. “Sophie’s our priority now.”

“Yeah, exactly”, you said quietly. “So work your shit out.”

“Hey, Soph. What a bad aunt is auntie Y/N, right? She even swears in front of you.”

You rolled your eyes at Ben’s words and, making sure that Sophie wasn’t looking at you, you mouthed “Fuck off.”

Day One - Monday

Part of the deal was to move at Lucy and Rami’s place for the entire duration of their trip. It was mostly because you didn’t want Sophie to feel completely disoriented as her parents were away.

You murmured a series of “Huh-huh”, “‘kay” and “Yeah” as Lucy showed you were to find the diapers, the baby bath tub, the meals and the toys. She even revealed you a tip on how to calm her down when she was nervous.

Turns out that Sophie loved the noise of the kitchen hood.

For the whole time Ben chatted with Rami in the dining room, giving a look at Sophie sleeping in the playpen every now and then, and you truly hoped that he’d have given you some help in this. Things presaged nothing good.

“I’ll FaceTime you every night”, Lucy promised.

“You already said that.”

“The emergency numbers are on the kitchen peninsula.”

“I know, Luce. You showed me.” Your words came muffled at her ears as you hugged her. “Do I have your permission to kick Ben in the balls if he misbehaves?”

“You behave.” Lucy wiggled her nose as she giggled and turned towards Rami, who was standing right next to her.

He leaned towards you to give you a hug and he whispered to your hear “You have my permission.”

His words made you giggle and you gained a glaring from Ben. “What?”

“You smell of baby puke.”

You held back a middle finger as you waved at Lucy and Rami who were now walking away.

As their car disappeared from your sight, you silently closed the front door, trying not to wake Sophie up, and then turned towards Ben. “What?”, he asked by raising a brow in a questioning look.

“We need a schedule.”

Ben slowly blinked, giving you a confused look. “’m sorry?”

“Come with me.”

Five minutes later you were both sitting at the stools of the peninsula, one facing the other, with a beer on one hand and the awareness that it was going to be a very long week.

Ben took a sip of his drink as you twirled a marker between your fingers, looking at the blank white board. “Hopefully we’re gonna make it before Sophie turns two”, he commented with a smirk.

Half an hour. You’d been in his presence for half an hour and you already wanted to punch him. Nevertheless you ignored his comment, starting to write on the board as you said without looking at him “I work three days a week: Monday, Wednesday and Friday from eight to twelve. This means that you’ll have to take care of Sophie all by yourself.”

When you looked up at him, his brows were narrowed. “What now?”, you asked in annoyance.

“I want free days, too.”

“I don’t have free days.”

“Yeah, but you go to work. Those ones count as free days.”

Sighing deeply helped you to keep calm. “Okay, then. What do you suggest?”

“Sunday night.”

“I’m not spending a Sunday night all by myself, Ben.”

His smirk was a hint on what his next comment was going to be. “I’m pretty sure that you spent lots of Saturday nights all by yourself, love. When was the last time you got laid?”

“Mind your own business”, you immediately replied.

Ben giggled at your reply and you tried not to stare at his lips as he took another sip of his beer. “And what if I don’t take any other free days? Only this Saturday night.”

His suggestion was reasonable — you bit your lower lip as you thought about it, narrowing your eyes. Why’d he do something like that?

That’s what you asked him. “Why?”

He limited himself to shrug at your question. Not that you were expecting an answer from him. “Fine, then. You got this Saturday night.”

A few moments of silence passed as you wrote on the board and the marker made a shrill sound at every word. “We didn’t think this through.”

Here we go again.

You couldn��t help but throw at him an annoyed glance, sighing deeply as you placed your elbows on the counter and leaned towards him. “Ben.”

“Share the place, both sleep-deprived? ’t sounds like a compelling psych experiment.”

“We cannot draw back now, ‘kay? We’re pretty deep in this.”

His green eyes stared at you for a few moments, still processing your words. It wasn’t a problem of yours if he had an issue with you. Both of you had agreed to do that — how could you say no to Rami and Lucy?

Ben exhaled deeply and leaned towards the back of the chair, moving his gaze away from you. You’d won the argument for now.

There were lots of other things to plan and to write down on the whiteboard and you were about to say it when a little squeak, followed by a little crying caught both yours and Ben’s attention. He gave you a disoriented look and you hurried to stand up, leaving the board still unfinished as you moved in the other room.

“Hi, honey. Hey.” Sophie was standing on the playpen, her beautiful eyes a bit teary.

Ben’d followed you to the room. “Hey, look at the sleepyhead.”

His expression had completely changed — he seemed another person when talking to Sophie and you could barely believe he was the same man who’d earlier told you you smelled like baby puke. Sophie reached up to him and he was about to walk towards her, but you placed a hand on his shoulder and said “Wait, don’t pick her up.”

His brows narrowed in confusion. “Why?”

“Because she needs to learn how to self-soothe.” Ben looked at you like if you were mad.

“She needs to what?” His yes were narrowed and they seemed even darker than usual.

“Self-soothe”, you repeated. “Soothe herself.”

Ben stuck out his tongue and gestured towards you. “And why’d she do that?”

“I read it, Ben. It’s important. Let’s just give it a minute.”

The way he shook his head made you believe that he thought you were nuts; nevertheless, he did as you said. So you were both standing right in front of the playpen, waiting for Sophie to calm down all alone.

But she didn’t, so an idea came up to your mind. “Five little ducks went out one day, over the hill and far away”, you started to sing in an uncertain voice. You looked at Ben with the corner of your eye and he had an amused smile on his face. “Mother duck said, ‘Quack, quack, quack, quack’ but only four little ducks came back.”

“One, two, three, four. Four little ducks went out one day...” Ben’d started to sing along with you as you tried to impress Sophie with your dance moves. “I don’t remember it”, he whispered to you.

Sophie wasn’t particularly impressed by your singing skills, given that she was still softly crying. The sight of her teary eyes’d become unbearable so — unlike what you’d told Ben — you leaned towards her and picked her up. “I think she’s hungry. Yup, I’m gonna feed her. Let’s go eat, love.”

“I though we weren’t picking her up!”, you heard Ben saying as you walked away.

Day Two - Tuesday

Sophie’d fallen asleep in your arms. Her beautiful blonde hair made her seem angelic as she dreamed and you gently grazed her cheek. You didn’t want her to wake up because of you, but it was impossible not to caress her when se looked so peaceful.

Eventually you forced yourself to let her sleep in peace and you decided to get some work done. You’d been highlighting titles over titles for an hour when you heard the front door unlocking.

Shortly after Ben came into your view and you placed a finger on your lips, silently telling him not to wake Sophie up. His eyes immediately went to the baby sleeping in your arms and his features relaxed at that view. Then he looked up at you with an expression that you’d never seen in his face. Not when he looked at you.

But he quickly looked away, carrying the bags into the kitchen before joining you in the dining room.

He sat far from you, but on the same couch. You could feel his gaze following your movements as you tried to get your work done, and when you looked at him you noticed a strand of golden hair that had fallen on his forehead.

“What you up to?” His words were nothing but a whisper.

You gave a quick look at Sophie before turning your gaze to him. “Some paperwork.”

“Right, work.” His tone made you narrow your brows.

And even though the grey sweater that he was wearing made you feel things, you ignored those feelings and asked “Why did you say it with such irony?”

“You run a bookstore.” As if it was an explanation.

“And what with that?”

If Ben’d realised that his words might’ve hurt you, he didn’t show it. “It’s a bookstore.”

“I love my job, you asshole.”

Then you suddenly realised that Ben was just teasing you. The little smirk on his face couldn’t be misunderstood. “Language, love. Last thing we need is Sophie’s first word to be ‘asshole’.”

You shook your head in amusement and even though you were trying so hard not to, your gaze fell to his lips. It’d happened many times for you to think about his lips, how soft they seemed to be. Usually Ben’d dampen those moment with a jab of his or a perv comment just to drive you nuts. But not this time.

“Ben?”

By hearing your whispers Ben moved his gaze from your lips to your eyes. “Yeah?”

You didn’t want to ruin the moment, but you did it anyways. “Do you smell that?”

His brows narrowed in confusion. You nodded towards Sophie, who was still sleeping peacefully, and Ben leaned towards the baby to sniff on her. “Oh my God.” His face twitched in disgust and he quickly leaned back.

“Did she finally—“

“Oh yeah, yeah, yeah. I think she... She sure did.” The expression on his face was hilarious.

“Ben”, you said with an amused smile.

When he turned towards you, in his face there still was a disgusted expression. “What?”

“Don’t be a pussy. It’s just poop.” Ben sighed and you giggled.

But then it was time for you to change her diaper. Sophie laid in the changing table, looking at the two of you with a little smile on her face. The problem was, neither of you had the courage to face all that poop. “Remind me again why we agreed on this”, you whispered.

Ben gave you the typical ‘what’d I say?’ look but said “Because we are great friends and now Rami and Lucy owe us a big one.”

“And because we love Sophie”, you added.

Ben slowly nodded at your words, a tiny smile appearing on his face. “Yeah, we love this little one.”

“And because uncle Benny’s the best”, you started by taking a step away from him. “He’s gonna be the one to change your diaper. Right, Sophie? Isn’t he the best?”

“What?”

“Oh c’mon, Ben.”

Ben threw his hands in the air. “Why me?”

“Why me?”

Ben sighed again. “Let’s make a team effort, ‘kay?”

You just couldn’t say no when he showed you his puppy eyes. Bastard. “Fine”, you gave up. “I’ll undress her.”

As you unbuttoned her bodysuit, Sophie gave you a big smile. “You’re lucky I love you”, you whispered to her and you heard Ben giggle behind you.

When she was finally free from her leotard, you turned towards Ben. “Your turn.”

“Already?”

“Yeah, already. C’mon.”

He stood right next to you. “It’s a weird smell, right?”

“Why do you always complain? Go ahead.”

“Fine, fine. It can’t be that hard, can it?” He gave you a hopeful look and you giggled.

“It’s something you can take off the checklist”, you said as you tried to hold back a laugh.

“Yeah.” He carefully approached his hands on the diaper but it was crystal clear the fact that he had no idea how to do it.

“What are you doing?”

“I don’t know. It’s not a bra that I’m taking off a girl, it’s a diaper.” The way he underlined the last words made you laugh.

“It’s not a surgery, just undo the tabs.”

Ben’s hands, so big compared to the little Sophie, were now following your instructions. As soon as the tabs were undone and Sophie was finally free from the dirty diaper, the smell came to you even stronger than before. “Oh my God.”

“What’d I tell you?”, Ben asked with a disgusted expression.

“It’s burning my eyes.”

“We have to clean her up.”

“Yeah, I know.” Trying not to throw up, you quickly took Ben’s place. “Can you please me hand me the baby wipes?”

As you gently held Sophie’s feet up not to dirty her and to clean her better, you hurried to get rid of all that smelling poop. “She didn’t eat enough to produce that”, Ben commented as he watched you.

“Stop it or I’ll throw up.” You gave him a quick look from above your shoulder and Ben smiled back at you. “Another one, please.”

Wiper after wiper, you finally managed to get her clean. Yours and Ben’s reaction did nothing but amuse Sophie, who was giggling with the biggest smile on her face. “Are you having fun, huh?”

“She’s as wit as her mother”, Ben whispered.

After getting rid of the dirty diaper and having Sophie clean and fragrant, you picked her up from the changing table. “What do you say, Sophie? You want uncle Ben?”

“Didn’t hear that”, Ben tried to cut himself off.

“I did hear it, though. Go to uncle Ben, my love.” Sophie reached up to him and Ben grabbed her, giving her the biggest smile you’d ever seen. As you tried to tidy up the room, you heard Ben saying as he walked away “Say Uncle Ben. It’s easy, love. B-e-n.”

Day three - Wednesday

The house was silent. Too silent. That’s why you tried to close the front door as quietly as possible — maybe Sophie was sleeping. Or maybe Ben was. All the bags and books you took home from work were long forgotten on the table as you checked every room of the ground floor to find them.

As you walked upstairs the theme song of Peppa Pig came crystal clear to your ears. It was the hint you needed to know exactly where they were.

“Wow, that was a really good episode.” Who was Ben talking to?

But, more importantly, was he really talking about Peppa Pig?

“Y’know, what I really love about Peppa is that even when everything seems to go wrong and they scr— blow, they blow things up, this funny man keeps saying ‘Oh dear’ or ‘Look out’.” His words made you giggle but you tried not to make any noise. “Auntie Y/N should follow my example, don’t you think? I’m such a good uncle, right Soph?”

You were now standing against the doorframe, watching Ben sprawled on the soft ottoman as he talked to Sophie in a very serious tone, gesturing towards her. The little girl seemed to follow his conversation, letting out little squeaks of excitement every now and then.

“Too bad that aunt Y/N is way better than you.”

Ben turned towards you by hearing your words and gave you a lazy smile. “How long have you been there?”

“Long enough to hear you talking about Peppa Pig. Oh dear!”

You loved to tease him.

“Oh, shut up.” Despite his words, Ben was smiling in amusement.

You took a few steps towards the baby, kneeling in front of her. “Hi, love. How did uncle Ben treat you, uh? Was he good?”

“I’m the best. Look at her, she’s ecstatic.” Sophie squeaked in excitement, trying to say something as she proved Ben’s point.

“What do you think of a bath? Would you like that?”

Once again, Sophie mumbled some incomprehensible words. They made sense to her, though. “Is that a yes?”, you asked Ben, who limited himself to shake his head as if saying ‘I really have no idea.’

Not being able to decipher Sophie’s words, you took them as a yes. Sophie was now in Ben’s arms as you prepared everything to bath her. Every now and then you threw them a few looks from above your shoulder only to find Ben being completely focused on her, trying to make her giggle by tickling her.

“How was work?”, he asked you as you both waited for the tub to fill up.

You bit your lower lip and gave him an amused look. “Oh, now you care?”

“I was just trying to make conversation”, he quickly replied and shrugged.

His words made you sigh deeply, shutting the faucet and checking the water temperature. “’t was fine, I guess. A bit exhausting. Thanks for asking.”

Sophie loved water. Literally, she loved it. She got all excited when taking a bath and started to spray the water everywhere. Needless to say that both you and Ben were soaking wert as you tried to clean her up. “C’mon, Soph. Just wait for a second”, you almost begged.

“Where the hell is the bloody duck she loves so much”, Ben murmured as he looked for the toy everywhere in the bathroom.

“Language, Ben.”

Ben laughed. Hard. It was probably the first time you heard him laughing like that and you loved that sound. “That’s rich coming from you.”

You mimicked him and gave him a look as you held Sophie. He was sticking out his tongue like he used to do, a proud smile on his face as he held Sophie’s duck. “Look what uncle Ben found, love.”

Sophie became even more excited at the sight of her toy, trying to take it from Ben’s hands when he came closer to you. “Would you hold her? I need to remove all the foam with the shower head.”

He didn’t hesitate to answer “Yeah, sure.” So he gently grabbed her and lifted her, holding her far from his body as he waited for you to wash her.

“Look, Sophie. Uncle Ben’s afraid of getting wet.” If Sophie protested when Ben got her out of the tub, now she was relaxing under the jet of the water.

“I’m already wet.” Dangerous choice of words.

“Then”, you started in an angelic tone. “You wouldn’t mind if I did this, right?” You splashed a bit of water in his face.

Ben was tempted to retract from the jet but Sophie needed to be cleaned. So he bit his lower lip and said in an amused tone “You’re lucky I’m holding the baby.”

“Or what?”

You giggled at the look he gave you and you wrapped Sophie in her bathrobe, taking her from Ben’s arms and holding her close to your chest. “You can’t revenge now. I’m holding the baby.”

“I will have my vengeance, in this life or the next.”

You gently rubbed Sophie’s back, leaving a few kisses on her cheeks as you told Ben “Nice movie quote.”

Day Four - Thursday

“Okay, Sophie. I’m almost done, hold on.” The baby food you’d lovingly prepared for the little girl looked nothing like Lucy’s. It tasted good, though. You made sure of it before taking a seat in front of her, ready to feed her.

“She’s not a food critic, she’s a one-year-old”, Ben commented as he watched you. He was leaning against the stool, his arms crossed in his chest as he gave you a sceptic look. Each passing day did nothing but confirm you that he only wore black. The dark hoodie he was wearing was a proof of that.

“She might not be a food critic but sure as hell she doesn’t like my cooking.” And it was true — no matter how much you tried to make her open her mouth and eat her food, she just wouldn’t. “C’mon, Soph. It tastes so good, you’ll love it.”

Ben loudly giggled from where he was standing. “She had the guts to tell you that your cooking sucks.”

“My cooking is amazing. You ate almost half of the roast beef that day at the party”, you protested.

Ben raised a brow. “Did you cook it?”

“’f course I did.” You tried again to feed Sophie but all you managed to do was to get her dirty. You groaned in frustration and sighed deeply.

Five seconds later your attention was caught by the ringing of Ben’s phone. He took it from his pocket and gave a look at the screen before moving his green eyes on you. You raised your brow in a silent question and he bit his lips, walking out of the room and getting the phone out in the backyard.

Sophie finally ate the first spoonful of her meal and as you slowly fed her, your mind started to run wild. Who was he talking to? Was it one of his dates? But then you convinced yourself that it was none of your business.

“Good girl, Soph. Do you like it? Is it good?”, you whispered as you wiped her mouth. Sophie clapped her hands in excitement and it made you genuinely smiled. “Where’s mommy? Say mommy. Mommy”, you repeated slowly for her to understand.

A few minutes had passed before Ben came back into the room. “Did she eat?”

“Just a little bit”, you replied without looking at him.

“She doesn’t like your cooking for real, huh?” Ben was just teasing you but, for a reason that you didn’t know yet, you were pissed at him.

So as you put away the plate on the sink you limited to say “Huh-huh.”

“Y/N?” As you heard him calling you by your name you gave him a quick look. His brows were narrowed in a frown.

“What?”

“What’s wrong?” It was probably the first time that Ben was concerned about you.

You sighed and you turned towards him, drying your hands. “Let’s establish a rule.”

“What rule?” He gave you a confused look.

“The week’s almost over. Let’s spend it peacefully.”

He gestured with his hand while saying “Is that the rule?”

You were starting to get used to the tiny lines forming around his eyes whenever he narrowed them in a confused expression. “No. The rule is that we don’t get to bring dates here in this house. Not around Sophie. I know it’s hard for you to hold on for a whole week, but you’ve got this Saturday night off.”

It was for Sophie’s sake, right?

“Wha— is it because of the phone call?”

You shrugged. “Maybe.”

Ben quickly rubbed his eyes, taking a step towards you. “It was Joe.”

Oh.

You stuttered before saying “It’s the principle that matters.”

“Fine. No dates here.”

A nod is all you gave him as a confirmation before turning towards Sophie. Giving her a better look you said “Ben.”

“Hum?” He followed your gaze to the kid and his eyes widened. “She’s making the look.”

“Yeah, that’s the look”, you confirmed. Not shortly after Sophie started to cry. Loudly and uncontrollably. “Your turn”, you told Ben as you stepped aside.

You heard him sighing as he picked her up, rocking her gently on his chest as he tried to soothe her. “C’mon, be good for uncle Ben”, he whispered as he started to walk around the room.

Your gaze ran over the kitchen and it fell on the hood. “I’ve got an idea.”

Ben limited himself to give you a questioning look and you gestured towards the hood. Still, he didn’t understand. Right, he wasn’t with you when Lucy told you that Sophie loved the noise of the hood. “C’mere”, you whispered as you turned on the extractor fan.

“What are you doing?”, he asked, but he did as you told him.

Now Sophie was softly crying and you tapped Ben on his shoulder, making him sign to lean closer to the hood. The kid’s attention was immediately caught by the noise. Even though she’d stopped crying, her eyes were still a bit teary. It was working.

“Rock her”, you whispered.

Ben looked at you. His green eyes were fixed on yours and you suddenly realised that you were close. Maybe too close. Your chest was touching his arm and his face was just a few inches away from yours. Once again your gaze fell to his lips and for the first time you didn’t care if you were staring at him.

But then Ben cleared his voice and moved his gaze to Sophie. As he gently rocked her he started to sing in a soft voice, trying to get her to sleep “But I’m a creep, I’m a weirdo.”

You had to cover your mouth not to burst out into laughter. “What are you doing?”

“Everybody loves Radiohead.”

Day Five - Friday

“You went groceries literally three days ago. I can’t believe you forgot all this stuff”, you complained as looked at the shelves.

The three of you had gotten in the supermarket not even fifteen minutes ago and your shopping cart was already full. “’s not like I know what’s on Lucy and Rami’s pantry.”

Ben was pushing the cart without paying attention to what you put in it — his eyes were for Sophie only. She was in a good mood and Ben did nothing but improve the situation by playing with her.

“Does she like peaches?” You gave him a quick look from above your shoulder.

Ben was in a good mood, too, given that he gave you a big smile. Maybe you should go often together to the grocery store.

“Why don’t you ask her?”, he proposed.

Opening a jar of peach jelly, you made her smell it. She wiggled her nose in a disgusted expression and she shook her head. “You don’t like it, huh?”

“Huh-huh”, she replied and her expression made you giggle.

“Told you”, Ben said. “She’s as wit as her mother.”

Sophie smelled at least other three other flavours before picking her favorite — apricot. “Really? Apricot?”

“Apricots are a gift from God.” Ben’s words surprised you.

You had a stupid smile on your face as you said “D’ya like them?”

“I love them.” He underlined the word ‘love’ and you shook your head in amusement.

“Y/N?” Hearing that someone was calling you by your name, you turned your back to Ben to face the stranger.

“Nick?” One of your friends from college — whom you hadn’t seen in forever — was standing right in front of you.

“Wow, I thought I was wrong”, you heard him saying as he hugged you.

You couldn’t tell why, but you felt uncomfortable.

“It’s me”, you said with a nervous smile.

Nick’s gaze moved behind you and you followed him. “Is she—?”

“Huh?”

Nick cleared his voice. “Is she your daughter?”

“Wha— no! No, no. Ehm, she’s Lucy’s. And he’s Ben.”

“His husband”, Ben added with a polite smile.

You parted your lips in a confused expression as he shook Nick’s hand. “He’s not—”

You couldn’t even finish your sentence that Ben asked him “College mates, right?”

Nick nodded. “Yeah. Haven’t seen each other in forever, though.”

“Yeah”, you confirmed. The truth was that you were still trying to process Ben’s lie.

“How long have you guys been married? I didn’t know anything about it.”

Ben smirked at Nick’s question. He moved next to you and put his arm around your shoulders, giving you the biggest smile you’d ever seen on his face. His cologne smelled so good that it almost made you forget his lie.

Did he want to play that game? Fine by you.

As he held you close to him, your arm surrounded his hips and you faked a smile. “Oh, just for a few months. It was a small ceremony”, Ben said with a fake smile and you pinched him. A low, deep groan came from his throat but your actions had the opposite effect you wanted to provoke.

Ben was amused.

Even though Nick was still there, you’d almost forgotten about him. “Oh, it sounds so cool. I’m so happy about you guys.”

Thankfully you both didn’t get the chance to answer him because Sophie started to squeak in excitement at the sight of a dog. You took the chance to slip away from Ben’s grip and you approached the kid as you said to Nick with an apologetic smile “’m sorry, Nick. We’re kinda in a hurry. It was nice seeing you again.”

As Nick walked away you nudged Ben. “Idiot. C’mon, push the cart.”

“Don’t be such a bossy, wifey.”

You playfully pushed him away when he tried to come closer to you and then you asked “What was that?”

Ben smirked. “I was just making sure you wouldn’t bring any dates home.”

Since when Lucy and Rami’s place had become home?

Even though you’d spent the last week together, the grocery store gave you the opportunity to fin out new things about him. Like the fact that he likes cereal with no milk or thwart he would gladly mop the floor a hundred times rather than loading the dishwasher.

Once gotten home, you also found out that he hated making two trips while carrying the bags. And he made it very clear by complaining the whole time.

“What do you want for dinner?”, you asked as you hoped you were guessing right where to put all the food you’d bought.

Ben was taking care of Sophie as you tidied the pantry. His voice came muffled as he proposed from the other room “How about we order a pizza?”

“Yeah, fine.”

Where the hell did Lucy put the mayonnaise?

You were still trying to unload the groceries in the kitchen when you heard Ben’s voice. “Y/N?”

The tone of his voice made you worry. “Yeah?”

“She’s walking.” Maybe you misheard him.

“What?”

“She’s walking!”

The bags forgotten right in the middle of the kitchen almost made you stumble as you hurried to move to the dining room. Ben had his back to you, his arms arms stretched out towards the baby.

Sophie was standing on her own feet and a big smile was printed on her face. “Oh my God she’s walking.”

Ben gave you a quick look by hearing your whispers and you noticed a big, enthusiastic smile on his face. He was genuinely happy and for the first time ever the idea of Ben as a dad didn’t seem too abstract.

“Come to auntie, Soph. Come.” Her attention was caught by you and Ben quickly moved behind her, ready to catch her if she fell.

Step by step, Sophie came to you and hugged you with so much love that you almost cried. You couldn’t help but kiss her and as you still held her in your arms you told Ben “FaceTime Lucy. She’ll kill us if she misses it.”

Five minutes later, the three of you sat on the carpet and Lucy was waving at you with a toothy smile on her face. “Hi my love! Hi Sophie!”

“Where’s Rami?”, Ben asked her. He didn’t want his friend to miss it.

“Ugh”, Lucy gave a quick look behind her, probably looking for his husband. “He’s probably taking a shower. How are you guys? How’s my baby?”

“We’re fine. But you gotta take a look at this.” You just couldn’t hold the excitement in your tone. Lucy was beyond excited at your words — you could see it from her eyes. “Just wait a sec.”

Ben stood up as you gave him a pat on the shoulder and he moved right in front of you, far enough for Sophie to take a few steps on her own. The camera was now turned towards him, showing his arms stretched out towards the baby. “Come to uncle Ben, Sophie. C’mere”, he encouraged her.

Lucy narrowed her brows. “Y/N what—”

“Just wait”, you cut her off. “C’mon, Soph. Go to uncle Ben.”

Sophie’s eyes gave you an excited look and she clapped her hands. She slowly leaned towards the sofa, holding on it as she struggled to get on her own feet. When she finally did, Lucy’s eyes were widened and her lips were forming a perfect ‘O’ before whispering “Oh my God.”

When Sophie started to take little steps towards Ben — who’d the biggest smile on his face as he made sure Sophie wouldn’t fall — Lucy said out loud “Rami! For the love of God, Rami! Come here!”

Her excited tone made you chuckle and you heard a loud thud from the other side of the call. Ben heard it too and gave you a quick, confused look before moving his gaze back to the baby.

Rami was now standing right next to Lucy, his hair wet and his eyes widened in confusion. But then he saw his daughter walking on her own feet and he looked at Lucy with so much love that it almost made you cry.

Inevitably your gaze fell to Ben, who was now hugging Sophie and whispering “You did really good, love. You did great.”

The sight of a sweet, soft Ben made you think about your situation. Maybe, after all, spending all that time together had improved your relationship. Or maybe you were just fantasising.

Day Six - Saturday

It’d been a hell of a night. Sophie cried for most of it and it was impossible for you to understand why, given that she still couldn’t talk. Both you and Ben tried to calm her down with anything, but not even the hood kicked in.

Eventually she fell asleep at 8AM and as she rested peacefully in her bedroom, you realised you might as well stay awake. As you were about to make you a coffee, you heard footsteps approaching you.

Ben was rubbing his sleepy eyes, trying to force himself to stay awake. His hair was messier than usual and the shirt he used as pjs was wrinkled.

“Did you check on her?”, you asked in a low tone. To be honest, you felt like shit.

He cleared his voice and nodded his head ‘yes’, taking a seat on the stool of the peninsula. “She’s sleeping.” His tone was just as low as yours.

Sophie had worn you both out.

“Would you like a coffe?”

By giving him a look from above his shoulder, you noticed he was nodding. “Yeah, thanks.”

Five minutes later you were sitting one right in front of the other, just like the very first day. This time he hadn’t the strength to throw jabs at you, though.

“Thank god it’s Saturday.” His sea-glass eyes stared at you for a few seconds.

The hotness of the cup of coffee was warming you cold hands. “Yeah. We did it, right?”

“Yeah... but I’m never doing it again.”

You narrowed your brows at his tone. “Why?”

Ben gave you a condescending look. “If you haven’t noticed, running a baby’s not like running a bookstore.”

“Are we back at it again?”, you asked in an annoyed tone.

Ben started to gesture. “They’re a mess. They pee on things. They bite and they poop a lot.”

“They’re babies.”

And then Ben snapped. You knew that sooner or later he would’ve, because it was Ben we’re talking about. “I had plans this week. Business meetings. I gave up everything to give you a hand with it and play this part.”

“I never asked you to do it! I never asked for your help. And ‘play this part’? Are you serious, Ben? That’s what this is to you?” Hopefully Sophie wouldn’t wake up. As much as you were both trying to keep your tone low, you were in the middle of an argument.

“We’re living in the same house, watching over a kid that isn’t ours and we’re acting like we’re married but we are not.”

“So you’ve been pretending, huh. Have you been pretending with Sophie?” Bet stuck his tongue out, slipping his fingers through his hair as he usually did when he was nervous or upset. And right now he was both. “No, I love Sophie.”

“So just me, then.” It was destroying you the fact that your words sounded like a whine, but you were hurt.

Ben narrowed his brows in a confused expression and his lips parted. “Y/N—“

“You know what, Ben? I shouldn’t have said yes. I should’ve known that you and I aren’t the ideal pairing to take care of a baby. I knew we weren’t a good pairing at all when you left me alone in my fucking car two years ago.” You finally had the chance to tell him how much he hurt you when he screwed up your first blind date. He had to know how much it had influenced your relationship.

“It’s been two years ago!” He threw his arms in the air.

“Yeah, and look at us now. You could’ve just told me you didn’t feel like it, but no. You had to be a dick.”

“’m sorry if I didn’t feel like going to a blind date a month after I broke up with my long-term girlfriend.” Now he was being sarcastic.

And now you were really mad. “How the fuck was I supposed to know!” Your tone was higher than you expected so you took a deep breath to calm down, not wanting to wake Sophie up. “It was my first date in a year. I never let Lucy set me up for dates but for the first time I did. I did and I regret it. Look how it ended up.”

“I told Rami not to do it.”

“I don’t care, Ben. You could’ve managed it better. All you did instead was calling another girl as you were with me, because all you care about is getting laid.” Even though your tone was low, your words were ice cold.

Ben slowly shook his head, his hurt expression quickly replaced by the one you knew so well. “You shouId get Iaid yourself. Except to have sex, you gotta find somebody who can stand you first.”

“Fuck you.”

“Yeah”, he muttered as he stood up.

“You know what? Take all the fucking Saturday as your free day because I can’t even stand looking at you right now.”

And he did. The day went by and Ben hadn’t come back yet. You were trying to convince yourself that you could do it on your own for another day. Sophie seemed to understand that your mood wasn’t one of the best and she behaved like she never did before. She even ate all her meal, which was new to you.

Lucy called at some stage in the evening and she showed you the amazing architecture of Florence. It seemed like they were having a good time and there was no point in making them worry, so you didn’t even mention Ben.

But she did. “Where’s Ben?”

You rubbed your nose, trying to find a believable excuse for his absence. “He went to the grocery’s.”

“How many groceries are you guys buying? It looks like you spend whole days at the mall.”

“No, uh — we ran out of ketchup. We’re having burgers tonight, ketchup is essential.”

She seemed to notice that something was wrong — here brows were narrowed and her eyes were giving you a condescending look. Yet, she didn’t say anything and you closed the call a few minutes after.

It was night by now and Sophie was finally sleeping. You, on the other hand, just couldn’t fall asleep. That’s why you spent almost half an hour channel surfing, ending up watching Love Island. In extremis...

But then the click of the look caught your attention and even though you hadn’t yet turned towards the front door, you knew it was Ben. His cologne couldn’t have been mistaken.

You gave him a quick look from above your shoulder only to meet his beautiful, puppy eyes. Even though you were still pissed at him, you couldn’t keep ignoring your feelings.

He sat right next to you, remaining quiet for the first few seconds. It was him who broke the silence. “I’m sorry.”

“I’m sorry, too. I shouldn’t have said those things” you whispered as you turned towards him.

His elbows were resting on his thighs as he rubbed his hands together. “You were right, I’ve been a prick. I should’ve talked to you back then. You would’ve understood the situation.”

“Yeah...”

“And I’m sorry I’ve been distant all this time. I knew I fucked things up that day in your car and when I realised it I... it was too late. I just wanted you to like me back, but you wouldn’t have. Not after how I treated you.”

“But I did! I still do, Ben.”

And it was the truth. No matter how many times you’ve tried to convince yourself that you despised him and that you just didn’t get along. You liked him.

His green eyes were staring at your lips for the umpteenth time that week, but this time was different because Ben placed his own on yours. His hand was resting on your neck and the softness of his touch gave you the goosebumps. When you leaned towards him to deepen the kiss, his touch became even more secure as he come closer to you.

You’d fantasised many times on how it’d feel to kiss Ben, but now that you were really doing it, it exceeded all expectations.

When you leaned back from his lips, a big smile appeared on his face. One of the smiles he reserved for Sophie only. You snuggled against him, his arm surrounding your waist as he kept your body close to yours.

There were tons of situations yet to be clarified, but you both stood quiet for the rest of the night, bodies close but hearts even closer.

Day Seven — Sunday

Last day. On one hand you were sorry to leave Sophie — you’d gotten used to her habits and rhythms, but on the other hand you couldn’t wait to go back to your old life.

Scratch that.

You couldn’t wait to go back to your new life with Ben.

“You done? They’re almost here”, Ben told you as he held Sophie.

As you put the duck away, the one that Sophie loved so much and that drove you insane, you nodded your head ‘yes’. “Yeah. The house should be okay.”

And now the three of you were waiting on the porch for Lucy and Rami to come home. Sophie was beyond excited to meet her parents again and she showed it by walking around the house. Ben had to follow her everywhere, given that she wasn’t still 100% steady on her feet.

“Here they are!”, you told Sophie who was walking around the dining room. “Mom and daddy are here, Soph!”

She clapped her hands, making Ben chuckle as he accompanied her to the front door where you were standing. His green eyes met yours as a loud thud came from Lucy and Rami’s car, who were now shutting the doors and hurrying inside.

Lucy’s eyes immediately went to her daughter, who was standing on her own feet right in front of you. She hugged her, kissed her and held her close to her chest as she whispered lovely words. Rami left a soft kiss on her head before looking up to you and Ben.

When he noticed that you were standing right next to each other with bigs smiles on your faces, he narrowed his eyes and smirked. “What did I miss?”

“Uhm — nothing, really.” But the look Ben gave you made you chuckle. Rami was more than sure that he missed a lot, especially when Ben’s arm surrounded your waist.

“Oh wow”, Lucy whispered as she stood up, holding her baby in her arms. “You guys need to fill me in on what happened between you two.”

“Sophie happened”, you said with a sweet smile, looking at the baby who was in awe for her mother.

”Y’know”, Rami started saying. “You’d make great parents. Sophie loves you guys.”

“Yeah”, Ben murmured. “Maybe someday.”

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