𝚃𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚂𝚊𝚢 𝙸𝚝'𝚜 𝚈𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝙱𝚒𝚛𝚝𝚑𝚍𝚊𝚢

Are You Ready For Love?

The group made light conversation for a while, mostly about how excited they were. Freddie laughed when Elton explained his outfit debacle from earlier and Roger told of his own panic when he was convinced the car had a scratch on the side.

"Turns out it was just from a bird that flew by!" He finished, earning a glare from Freddie.

"Well half an hour ago you said it was from my rhinestone purse!" He said. "So don't you think you have something to say to me?"

"Fine, sorry Fred."

Elton laughed at his friends bickering, but he was interrupted by the doorbell ringing again.

"I think it's Rod!" He exclaimed. "I'll be back!"

He ran back into the hall and flung the door open. There stood Rod Stewart, with a present tucked under his arm and a big smile on his face.

"Happy birthday!" He exclaimed, giving him a hug. "Where do I put your present?"

"Oh Rod, thank you so much for coming." Elton beamed. "I made space for presents on the table through there, you can get yourself settled for now while we wait for everyone else."

Rod nodded and went through to the main room where Queen were sat. He greeted them happily as he put his present with theirs and was soon joining in their conversation.

Elton meanwhile found it almost impossible to join them. He wanted to, but he found himself looking at the door what felt like every ten seconds.

"Elton love, what are you doing?" Rod asked, noticing this. "Pre-party jitters?"

"I'm alright!" He replied, not wanting to admit his friend was right. "Just waiting for everyone else!"

"He's panicking." Rod told Brian adamantly.

After what felt like an eternity, there was a knock at the door. When he opened it, Elton was graced with the sight of The Beatles stood agitatedly on the doorstep. Paul was holding a single present in his hands, presumably from all of them.

"Hey, guys!" Elton smiled. "You do know I have a doorbell."

"Sorry Elton, we were in a rush; we thought we were going to be late." Paul said, trying to catch his breath.

"It's quite alright."

"Are you two forgetting your manners?" George asked. "Happy birthday, Elton!"

"Yeah, happy birthday mate!" Ringo chimed in.

"Thank you, you two." Elton said, his smile returning. "At least some people know how to act."

"Sorry." John said, feeling a little embarrassed. "Happy birthday."

"All is forgiven, darlings!" The singer exclaimed. "Now come on in! Presents go on the coffee table, there should be room on one of the chairs somewhere and feel free to make some casual conversation while I greet the rest of the guests!"

The Beatles walked through and joined everyone else. Elton stood around waiting again, but he was starting to get nervous; David hadn't turned up yet.

"Darling, I thought you'd only invited us!" Freddie called from in the other room. "You said Bernie wasn't coming but other than that the guest list was all sorted!"

"Well you thought wrong!" Elton chimed. "Mick and David aren't here yet!"

There were murmurs of excitement from the party guests, but Elton didn't join them. He just stared intently, moving between the window and the door. Eventually, there was another knock.

"Elton mate, I might need some help here!" A voice shouted through the letterbox.

When Elton opened the door, Mick Jagger was stood on the doorstep holding a large box.

The singer laughed as Mick struggled. "I'll take that from you."

"Thanks." Mick smiled. "It's from me and the rest of the stones."

"How sweet!"

As he put the present on the table, Mick snapped his fingers as if he'd remembered something. "They might be coming later, I'm not sure."

"Well whatever happens, I'll be sure to thank them for the present."

Now he was among friends, Elton seemed to relax. He sat himself on the big comfy chair in the corner of the room, offering to grab the beanbag in his room for Mick to sit on (he'd ended up on the floor).

For a long time, the group talked about all sorts of things, mostly what they'd been up to. Elton told the exciting story of when John performed with him at Maddison Square Garden, John explained how that same day he was so nervous he was sick ten minutes before he was due to come on, Rod told of the day he engaged in a still ongoing prank war with Elton and everyone else listened intently, asking questions and adding to the conversation.

"So I'm stood here thinking, what the fuck am I supposed to do when this muppet made me come here just because a single of mine he was featured on got to number one?"

"Oh Elton, the things you do sometimes!" Freddie laughed. "Elton?"

No response; the singer was staring out the window, looking like he was panicking again. It only took a twinkle in his eye for everyone else to figure out why: David hadn't turned up yet.

"Mate, it's been half an hour since we got here." Roger said reluctantly. "Maybe you should start without him?"

"No way!" Elton said defensively. "I'm not starting without him!"

"Roger does have a point." Paul said democratically. "I know you're good friends, but he might not turn up at all."

Ding dong!

It was the doorbell again. Our hero rushed to answer, excitement rushing through him.

"Coming!"

He flung the door open and there stood David, decked out in his Ziggy Stardust attire. He even had the eyepatch!

"David!"

"Elton!"

The two of them squealed like two little girls at...well, a birthday party. They jumped up and down excitedly before Elton hugged David tightly.

"And so it begins." John whispered to Paul. "The day of reckoning."

"This isn't a sequel to The Shining, John!" Paul hissed. "Let them have their fun."

"I'm so glad you could make it!" Elton said, his voice muffled as he fell deeper into the hug. "I was starting to get worried!"

"Sorry, I was wrapping your present."

"It's alright, you're here now." He smiled. "That's the important thing."

"Now, what do I do with this?" David asked, motioning to the present in his hands.

"Oh yes, about that..." Elton said. "There's no more room on the coffee table."

"It's alright, it can be piled on top of Mick's or something."

"Come on then." His friend said, taking his hand. "Let's go through."

So, hand in hand, Elton and David joined the group. After David put his present down, Elton clapped his hands.

"Right, now we're all here, we can finally get to what we're all waiting for!" He exclaimed. "The presents!"

A couple of them clapped and cheered, namely Freddie and David, but everyone else just smiled. They weren't as excited as Elton made them out to be; they just wanted to party hard. For now though, they watched their friend excitedly reach for the large pile of gifts, but it was a drag. A well known drag that they turn the sound down on and say rude things about. Hopefully things would get a little more interesting soon.

******

Are you ready? Are you ready for love? Yes I am! Now everyone's here, what will happen next? What presents will Elton get? You'll have to find out in the next chapter! But for now, I hope you enjoyed reading and I love you all so much ❤️