A Man For All Seasons (Queen or Freddie Mercury Fanfic)

39. The Best of Us

Hello, everyone! Sal here! Sorry for the delay on this one, I know I always take forever, but this one really needed it. Hope you enjoy!

Side note: if you would like to join a totally anonymous Queen group chat, a couple of friends and me have a little thread going on an app called Twinme, please DM me so I can share instructions on how to get you set up and added to the group. No phone numbers, no emails, no nothing is shared, everything remains private. Would love to see you there!

Now, on with the show:

Julia

Cassidy watched Freddie climb up the stairs. She looked like she was thinking of following him, but thankfully decided the movie was much more interesting and stayed planted in front of the TV.

"Where's he going?" Dad asked.

"Just going to talk to Danny," I replied, praying I sounded somewhat casual even though my heart was still pounding so heavily that my vision shook with every pulse.

Scott nodded. "I hope he gets him to come down. It's been forever since I saw the little guy, I'll bet he's grown a lot."

"He has," I agreed. "He gets bigger every day. In another few weeks he'll be driving; in a few months he'll have moved out entirely."

"Is everything okay with him?" Shelley asked.

Before I could answer, Dad cut in again. "I think so, he's just not real happy about the haircut."

I blinked. "...What haircut?"

Dad folded his arms and nodded at Mom. "I think that's your cue, Honey."

She did not respond, her attention remaining fixated on the staircase where my prince had vanished from view. I wasn't sure if she was even breathing.

"Well," Dad sighed, "long story short, a little after we left the hotel, we took Danny to get a trim, and I guess they took more off the sides than he wanted."

I could feel my features harden. "Did either of you at least send a text first, or call, or by some other means try to consult me first?"

"In hindsight, we likely should have done that," he admitted, tossing another look Mom's way. "But we knew you were preoccupied, and Danny agreed his hair was a little too long, so she- we just thought it would be a nice thing to do."

"Oh... thank you," I forced myself to say. I tried to be grateful, told myself that it was generous of my parents to go out of their way to help me like that- but all I could muster was the sense that I had again failed Danny as a mother. Only a bad mom would let his hair get so shaggy, thank God his grandparents were there to sidestep me entirely and save the day.

Bad mom though I may be, I thought, I still wish they had asked my permission. He's my son, not theirs- and somehow I highly doubt that Danny asked for a trim so much as he was talked into one.

"So wait," Scott coughed, offering us a much-needed change of subject, "what happened to Stuart?"

"Let's just say we had a falling out," I replied quietly.

"So you're dating him now?" Scott nodded toward the second floor.

I frowned as if I didn't understand the question. "Did I say we were dating?"

"No- but are you?"

"We're friends," I stated, ignoring John's dubious sidelong glare; for until Freddie had revealed our secret to Danny, it would remain a secret for everyone else, including- or even dare I say, especially- my family.