Song: Do I Wanna Know by CHVRCHES
AN: This chapter is hella short but hopefully the chapter split will make sense when you read the next chapter
10:32am
She shivered as her bare feet hit the cold kitchen floor, an uncontrollable chill running through her fragile body as she self-consciously tugged the makeshift robe tighter around her figure. The draughty room was desolate neglecting the presence of the bedraggled brunette, despite the late hour of the morning. As she poured her morning coffee, her head pounding, mentally dissecting the events of the night before, the bags under her eyes were her only company.
We had made up. Kind of.
He loved me again.
Right?
4am had brought the awkward hello and the tearful apologies; with 5am came the drawn out conversations about where it all went wrong, with both sides taking the pains to listen to the other. At 6:30 am, they took a break from the tears, settling on a gloomy rendezvous in the kitchen to split a bottle of wine; his hand wrapped around her own the entirety of the short journey filled the brunette with hope. 7am culminated in a tantrum, both hurling insults at the other for their respective slights, real and imagined, as they stamped around the kitchen like petulant children. 7:30am resulted in angry kitchen sex. 8am was marked by more tears, talking and apologies. Eventually, at 8:30am, Roger had hoisted his beloved into his arms and carried her upstairs to their shared bed. Her lover hadn't even mounted the stairs before Victoria had fallen asleep, at once at comfort; that didn't stop him gently kissing her forehead and whispering that for her, he would be a better man, as he fell asleep with her in his arms.
Perfection, at last.
At least, until she had woken up to feel the mattress besides her cold, no presence in the room beside her. If it hadn't been for that hastily scrawled note that awaited her beside a glass of water on the bedside cabinet, she would have sworn she had dreamt the whole night. Although, in a room still strewn with Roxi's belongings, maybe it would been considered a nightmare.
Hey, I'm sorry I had to leave, but I'll call you later. Rog xx
No 'love, Roger'. No inclination to his feelings, to his whims, to his intentions. Once more, she was left in the dark as to where she stood with him.
Whether he had even ended things with Roxi. Whether he actually wanted to be with her. Or whether it had just been another cruel ploy to get her into bed when he was bored.
Although of course, that had been her decision. No matter what the drastically sobering up brunette wanted to pretend in the daylight, she would acknowledge her responsibilty for that at least. But still, seeing him there, across the kitchen from her, that tired, half-crazed look in his eyes, his hair messy, his shirt askew, had evoked something animalistic in her in that moment, despite the fact that he was mid scream, the words falling from his arrogant mouth pissing her off more than words can explain. It would be too simple to explain her motivation as a desire to shut him up; she had wanted him.
"I don't want to talk to you right now" the sudden drop of her tone to a whisper caught the drummer slightly off guard as the brunette glanced up at him through her thick lashes, chewing her lip nervously. It was 7:25am, and here they were, arguing, again.
Roger ran a terse hand through his hair, almost pulling the ends in frustration. They had come so far, and despite the fact that they were currently screaming at each other, they were also listening, and were closer to resolving their issues than they had come in months. He didn't want to end it now, to stop fighting with her. To stop fighting for her
"You're absolutely bloody impossible sometimes" the drummer exploded. "How can you not want to talk about this? To solve our problems for once, instead of acting like bloody children?" he cursed.
"Roger, you're not listening to me" Victoria gazed into the drummers light eyes, silently praying he would come to understand her desire. That familiar glint in her eyes slowly caused the drummers face to flicker in realisation. "I don't want to talk to you anymore" the brunette had whispered, seconds before the drummers mouth had attacked her own.
"Freddie said he left you some nachos in the microwave" The sound of Brian's voice almost caused Victoria to jump out of her skin, having thought she were alone in the kitchen. She screwed up her nose in disdain at the sight of the discarded, conjealed nachos in the microwave, instead grabbing an apple from the fridge before she turned to face the lanky guitarist.
"Have you seen Roger this morning?" She failed to hide the desperation in her voice, her face slowly crumbling as Brian awkwardly shook his head in response. She looked as though she could burst into tears at any moment, Brian reflected.
"I assumed he was with you" Brian suggested carefully. Victoria shook her head, blinking away tears.
"Do you have any idea where he might be?" she questioned, running a hand through her messy hair. Brian shrugged.
"I have no idea, we don't have anything to record today, and he didn't leave just now with Deaky" Brian responded, hot on Victoria's heels as she stormed into the living room, wordlessly throwing herself face down on the couch. Brian loitered in the doorway, concerned once more for his friends sanity. "What happened last night? I thought you guys were working things out?" Brian cautiously perched himself on the arm rest as Victoria rolled over, her baby blues ringed red as she blinked away tears, her lip quivering.
"W-we did" she gulped, her voice shaky from the cascading tears. "We-we fought a little, but we ultimately made up, and we talked about everything, and really fucking listened for once. A-and we made plans, plans for the future" she sobbed.
"See! That's a good thing. You guys managed to listen to each other and work things out, finally" Brian tried to encourage the sobbing girl. She shook her head determindly.
"You don't understand. Yes, we spoke over the issues and agreed to work on them and that we didn't want to give up on us, but we didn't go into any of the specifics, like where we were going live or how we are even going to compromise on things. He said we'd talk about that as soon as we woke up, and then I wake up, and he's gone" Victoria sobbed. Brian instantly saw the problem. She feared Roger were about to go back on his word, either having second thoughts about making it work with his love or not having good intentions when he made the promise in the first place. Whilst neither of them seemed likely to be true, Brian couldn't explain Roger's sudden disappearance.
"Maybe he went to get you guys breakfast?" Brian suggested, unconvincingly. Roger never left his bed before noon unless forced, especially when Victoria was there. Breakfast for him was a cheeseburger at 3pm. "You want a lift home?" Brian offered. Victoria shook her head, her eyes fluttering closed as she snuggled into the warmth of the sofa.
"I'm going to nap here for a few hours, until Roger gets back" she whispered with sturdy determination, yawning softly. Brian nodded, throwing a blanket over her shivering figure before heading towards the landline in the dining room, the number fresh in his mind.
18:04pm
"Victoria" a nervous voice disturbed the brunette's slumber. Groggily, her eyes fluttered open, startled to find it had already grown dark outside. Had it really been that long?
Brian was seated in front of her, his pale face drawn and anxious. His left knee bounced up and down nervously, his lip slightly chewed. A ball of dread formed in her lower stomach; it was rare for the guitarist to appear this disturbed.
"Is he back?" Victoria questioned anxiously, ignoring her pounding headache. Brian shook his head slowly, unable to meet her eyes. She could tell from his demeanour that he was concerned about the drummers disappearance, even if he weren't willing to voice it out loud.
"No, he's not back yet. I just thought you might want to head home. Freddie will be dropping Lola off at yours in about an hour or so" Brian reminded her. Victoria gulped, nodding slowly as she pulled herself from the sofa and began wordlessly gathering her few belongings, trying not to betray the fact that Roger Taylor had once more broken her heart.
