Long Away

Chapter 3

Ben woke up with a violent headache. He must have partied pretty hard yesterday. He could not remember a thing. He reached for his nightstand, but there was nothing there. Confused, he forced his eyes open. Then it hit him. This wasn't his bedroom. It was Freddie and Roger's living room. He was lying on a sofa, covered in two blankets, and still wearing the same clothes as last night, save for the jacket. On a coffee table in front of the sofa someone had placed a glass of water for him. He just stared at it, too weak to move.

The realization of what this all meant started to hit him. He was in the 70s. How this was possible, he didn't know. All he knew was that he was away from his friends and family, the life he'd known, possibly without a way back. Tears began to form in his eyes. Was he never going to see his parents again? His brother? Gwil, Rami and Joe? The thought of that was too painful, so he pushed it away. This wasn't getting him anywhere. He needed to figure out if there was a way for him to get back to the present. Or future. Whatever. He tried to remember the last thing he did before he woke up in that pub yesterday. His memory was all blurry. He knew he had been preparing for an upcoming audition. It was going to be today or tomorrow... No, he had already been on his way to the audition. He was driving in his car and then... Nothing. Ben cursed under his breath. Why couldn't he remember what happened?

A door to what must have been someone's bedroom opened. Ben quickly wiped away the tears on his face. Roger stepped out into the living room. He was still in his pajamas, and his fluffy hair was a bit messy.
"Morning," Roger mumbled.
"Morning." Ben sat up to drink his water. Roger walked over to the bathroom, leaving Ben to himself again. He used the time to fold the blankets he had been given and placed them neatly in a corner of the sofa. Then he took his glass to the kitchen sink to refill it. The kitchen was in the same room. The apartment wasn't anything big or fancy, but it was nice enough for two people to share. Except now, they were three people, and despite not taking up a bedroom, Ben already felt like a bother.

Roger walked back in and joined Ben in the kitchen.
"Sorry, what was your name again?", he asked him.
"It's Ben."
"Right. Do you want anything, Ben? Tea? Coffee? Eggs?"
"Whatever is the least amount of effort," Ben said.
"Don't worry about that," Roger said, "I'm making breakfast for Freddie and me anyway. If he doesn't get his coffee right when he gets up, he is unbearable."
"I'll have the same as you two then." "Alright."
"I'm just gonna use the bathroom real quick, if that's okay?"
Roger nodded. "Of course. I do think we have a spare toothbrush somewhere, let me check."

Roger found everything Ben needed in the bathroom cabinet. As Ben went through his morning routine, he realized that sooner or later, Freddie and Roger were going to ask him why he had no other place to stay, no job and no belongings. As much as he hated the thought of it, he was going to have to lie to them. By the time he was done, Freddie had gotten out of bed aswell. He was leaning against the kitchen counter and watched Roger prepare scrambled eggs, while sipping a cup of coffee. He looked up when he saw Ben coming out of the bathroom.
"Good morning! Did you sleep well?"
Ben nodded. "Good morning to you too. And thanks again for letting me stay here."
"It's not a problem, darling," Freddie assured him.
"Fred, will you set the table?", Roger asked. Freddie made a face and proceeded to drink his coffee. Roger glared at him.
"Who's the bad roommate now?"
"I can help," Ben offered.
"Thank you. The plates are in here."
Roger pointed at a cabinet. Ben took out three plates and placed them on the table.
"See, I have a replacement right here. You'd better be careful, Freddie," Roger joked.
"Okay, okay." Freddie set aside his cup and finished setting the table with Ben.

Just as the three of them sat down to eat, the phone rang. Roger sighed and got back up to go answer it.
"I just talked to Rog about hiring you at our shop," Freddie said. "If you still want that, you're good to go."
"I do. Thanks." Ben took a sip of coffee. "I should probably go and buy some clothes from a cheaper shop first though. I literally have nothing."
Freddie looked perplexed. "Really? How come?"
Before Ben could think of an answer, Roger shouted angrily into the phone.
"Are you joking? You have the nerve to call me about this on a Sunday morning instead of telling me in person? What is the matter with you? Does Brian know?"
Ben had a feeling he knew what this was about. If it was, he had an idea that might just save his ass. Roger waited for the person on the other end to say something, his eyes glistening with rage.
"Whatever. Don't bother calling again."
He slammed the phone into the mount and took a deep breath before sitting back down with Ben and Freddie.
"That was Tim," he explained. "He just informed me that he's leaving the band."
Freddie's eyes widened in disbelief.
"You are kidding."
Roger shook his head.
"I am not. That bastard thinks he's too good for Smile. He already joined some other group, Humpy Bong or something. What kind of name even is that?"
Roger was fuming.
"What are you going to do now?", Freddie asked. Roger shrugged.
"I don't know. I have to talk to Brian."

Ben nervously cleared his throat.
"Maybe we could start a new band?"
He immediately regretted his suggestion. Freddie and Roger looked at him with peaked interest.
"I mean, I always wanted to be a singer," Freddie said. "What about you, Ben? Do you play any instruments?"
"Uh... Well... Do you need a background guitarist? I'm not as good as Brian though."
"I don't know," Roger said. "Got anything else?"
Ben chewed his lip. Why did he say that? Yes, it would make everything a lot easier for him if he could be a part of Queen, but they were an iconic band as they were, and he didn't want to mess that up. He wasn't good enough at anything. Unless...
"I could write lyrics for you."
Roger didn't seem too impressed. "I suppose. Do you have anything you can show us?"
"I do better if I have music to work with," Ben said apologetically. Freddie got up from his chair.
"Wait a second."
He dissapeared into his room. A minute later he came back out with a piece of paper in his hands.
"I have been working on this song for a while," he explained. "I have the sheet music, but I'm stuck on the text. Can you write something for it?"
Ben studied the paper. He wasn't that good at reading sheet music.
"It's called Seven Seas Of Rhye," Freddie said. Relieved, Ben nodded.
"Yeah, I think I can figure something out."
"Great!" Freddie clapped his hands excitedly. "I am going to call Brian."
Roger raised an eyebrow at him.
"You've been waiting for this, haven't you?" Freddie smiled mischievously.
"Maybe. This Tim was never that good anyway."

***

Hey guys!

Thanks for reading! As you can see, the chapters will have better formatting from now on. You can thank Itsametaphorjoe  for that.

I have been writing a lot faster than I thought I was going to be, so I am thinking about uploading even more frequently. Let me know if you want me to!

Until next time!

Tay