Long Away

Chapter 2

Freddie and Ben drank and talked for a long time. Well, Freddie did most of the talking, and Ben most of the drinking.
He made up a story of how he just moved into the erea. He hoped that he was either going to remember the details despite being as drunk as he was, or that Freddie was simply going to forget about it aswell. Meanwhile Freddie had told him a lot of things he already knew, like how he was roommates with Roger, and about the little shop they ran together at Kensington Market. For what it was worth, Ben had been able to put together that it was late 1970, but he was not sure how that information was going to help him.

He emptied another glass. He had lost count of how much he had been drinking a while ago. He groaned. "Are you alright?", Freddie asked. "Not really," Ben whimpered. He was sweating and his heart was pounding like crazy. "You did drink a lot," Freddie remarked with a worried tone in his voice. "Do you need some fresh air?" Ben nodded. Propped up on Freddie's shoulder, he tumbled towards the door. Everything was spinning. Ben made a mental note never to drink this much ever again. A second later he already forgot what he was even thinking about.

The moment he felt the cold winter air hit his skin, he let himself sink to the ground. Freddie closed the door behind them, drowning out the noise from inside the building. "Can you make it a bit further? There's a bench right over there." Ben looked in the direction Freddie was pointing out. "I guess." Ben struggled to get back on his feet. Freddie offered him a hand, but he refused. He had a different problem now. He let himself fall next to a bush and threw up. His thoughts started to clear as the nauseousness went away. What a great first impression he was making on the Freddie Mercury. He could kick himself in the butt. Embarrassed, he stood up and tumbled over to the bench. To his surprise, Freddie sat down beside him.
"So, is there a reason you got this drunk? Or is this a regular thing for you?"
Ben shook his head. "God, no. It's just..." He hesitated. What was he supposed to say?

"It's just that I'm from the future, I know you because you were famous, but now you're dead. I have no idea how this happened or how I'm supposed to get back to my time, so I figured I might aswell get wasted"?

"It's just that my life is a little crazy right now. I don't really know what I'm doing." At least that wasn't technically a lie. "Do you want to talk about it?", Freddie asked. Ben wished he could say yes. That he could just tell Freddie everything, and that they would somehow find a solution to his problem together. Instead, he shook his head. "I think I have to deal with this on my own. Thanks though. I appreciate the sentiment." "You've nothing to thank me for, dear," Freddie said. For a while they just sat there in silence. They watched as more and more people headed out of the pub. Smile's performance was probably over. Ben wondered when Freddie was going to leave. What was he supposed to do then?

"You don't happen to know a motel or something near by, do you?", he asked. Freddie frowned. "Do you not have a place to stay?" Ben avoided his gaze. "No," he said quietly. "How are you gonna afford a motel? Do you have a job? Savings?" Ben shrugged. Freddie shook his head, a bewildered expression on his face. "And what do you think you'll do then?" Ben shrugged again. "I don't know to be honest." "Okay, listen, dear. You can crash at my place for tonight. Anything beyond that I have to discuss with my roommate. But we are looking for another employee at our shop I told you about. You could start working there next week, if you want." Ben's eyes went wide. "Are you serious?" Freddie nodded. "I am serious. Drunk, but serious." They both laughed. "Thank you so much for that. How can I make it up to you?" "Oh well. Just be a better guest than Roger is a roommate. He never does his part of the chores."

"What is that about me?" Roger and Brian came walking towards them. "I was just telling Ben here what a nuisance you are." "Why thank you." Brian chuckled. Roger hit his arm. "I'm Roger," the nuisance introduced himself to Ben. "And this oversized poodle here is Brian." Ben smiled at them. "Nice to meet you." "Where is Tim?", Freddie asked his friends. "He already booked it," Brian said. "He's been acting weird all evening." "You ready to head home, Fred?", Roger asked. "Not all of us had enough booze to keep us from freezing." "Sure. Ben's coming with us, by the way." "Oh?" Roger gave Ben a questioning look. "I'll explain tomorrow, right now he just needs a place to sleep, okay?", Freddie said. Roger shrugged. "Fine with me." "Alright, I'm gonna head home aswell," Brian said. "It was nice meeting you, Ben." "You too." Ben shook his hand. Freddie and Roger both gave him a light hug. "Good night, guys." "Night, Bri." As Brian walked away, Freddie turned to Ben. "Can you make it by foot? Our apartment is only a couple blocks away." Ben got up from the bench. He still felt a little dizzy, but the fresh air had helped a lot. "I should be fine," he said. Freddie nodded approvingly. "Alright, let's get going then."

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Welcome back, everyone!
I hope you liked this chapter. I will try to upload twice a week from now on. You will get chapter three on Friday.
Until then,

Tay