speechless | roger taylor

nine

Elise sipped on her gin and tonic, her legs crossed as she listened to Brian and John tell her about their tour in Japan. She'd no clue where Freddie had run off to, but John had shrugged it off and said that he was probably going around making new friends and being his usual party-animal self, which just made her chuckle. 

"Freddie got this tiny hand game thing from one of our fans, I think it was called something like cup and ball. It took him a couple tries to get it in the cup but once he did, he was ecstatic," Brian told her. Her eyes lit up as she laughed, lightly hitting John in the shoulder. 

"That reminds me of the time we played badminton and you won," Elise told him, her eyes glittering like they never had before. "We'd play every day after school in my back yard, and one day, he actually won. I've never seen him that happy."

Brian laughed as John opened his mouth to protest. "She's so good at it! It's not my fault that the one time I won I got excited! I even remember the date," he said, nodding his head once. "It was her birthday, the twenty-seventh of July—she had just turned seventeen." 

Roger looked at Elise as John told them her birthday, his face contorted in slight amusement. "That's in less than two weeks," he said.

"It is," Elise shrugged. It wasn't that she hadn't wanted them to know, but more that she just hadn't felt like bringing it up. Of course, John knew, and she knew she had to inevitably tell Roger if she wanted him to be her date.

"You hadn't told us!" Brian exclaimed, a shocked look on his face. She chuckled at his reaction and shrugged once again.

"'S not really a big deal, I won't be here for it anyways," she told them. Brian and Roger looked at her with an expression that mirrored confusion, where John already knew that she'd spent every second birthday with her parents since she moved out. 

"What?" they asked.

"I'm going to my parents' house for a few days."

"You're saying, we just met you, and we can't even throw you the best birthday party ever?" Brian asked, taking another swig of his beer. Elise only laughed and nodded, watching as he fake-frowned. 

"I'm not one for parties anyways," Elise said.

"You're so much like Deaky," Roger pointed out. "When we first met him, he was shy as all hell. Never wanted to be at parties and wouldn't talk very much at large gatherings." 

Elise looked at her best friend and he chuckled, pushing his long hair from his face. "Just like you were when we were younger," John told her. 

Through the years of Elise and John growing up together, he had been the one to help her with her fear of speaking in a crowd. The only one she was ever really open with was John, up until she was nineteen when she decided that she'd need to spread her wings and try to make friends if she didn't want to end up third wheeling John's relationships her whole life.

"Little Elise was shy? Could never have guessed," Roger laughed, his hand absentmindedly falling on her thigh, just above her knee. She moved her hand from where it was in her lap and placed it over his, rubbing over his knuckle lightly with her thumb. 

"I'm not now, thanks to bubble here," she said, nodding her head towards John. She had come up with the nickname 'bubble' for him a while back, just because they always loved playing with bubbles. It just stuck.

"I thought you claimed that it was because you didn't wanna be third wheeling with Veronica and me!" John exclaimed, causing Elise to nearly choke on her gin and tonic.

"You weren't supposed to tell anyone that!" 

The four of them spent another two hours sharing stories and memories from when they were younger, making each other laugh harder than they ever had. John was telling them stories of how he and Elise used to race around the block on their bikes, and she told them that he'd fallen off when he tried to round a corner too sharp and fell onto a bunch of rocks, cutting his hand open. Elise never let him forget that. 

It was nearly two in the morning when Brian and John had finally decided to go home, leaving Roger with a slightly intoxicated Elise. John had offered Elise a ride home but Roger had insisted he could take her, mostly because he wanted to spend the extra few moments with her. 

"'M so tired," Elise mumbled, leaning onto the blonde beside her. "Will you take me home?" 

Roger chuckled and stood up, pulling her up with him. He snaked his arm around her waist and her arm went up around his shoulders, steadying herself. She wasn't drunk enough that she wouldn't remember anything tomorrow but mixed with how tired she was, she was scared that her legs wouldn't be able to carry her.

"Rog," she whined as they got out into the cold, making their way over to his car. "Can I sleep over?"

His heart jumped at her question, a sudden feeling of want rushing through his veins. It wasn't that he wanted to sleep with her—he revelled in the feeling of waking up with her beside him. "Of course," he said as they finally reached his car, opening the passenger door for her. She slid in and smiled at him as he shut it, walking over to his side and getting in.

The drive between the bar and Roger's flat wasn't very long, and it was filled with small hums from Elise as she listened to the radio. Her eyes gleamed as they passed buildings and trees, enjoying how everything looked at night, all lit up.

Roger held Elise by her waist as they made their way into his flat, the easily recognizable smell of cigarettes and the lasagna they had earlier hitting her like a tidal wave. He shut the door behind her and started chuckling as she fiddled to take her boots off. 

"Can I sleep with you?" she asked, her voice soft. "I like the way your hair feels against my skin." 

"If you'd like. Do you want to borrow some clothes?" he asked, taking her hand in his and leading her towards his bedroom. She was exhausted and he could tell. 

"Please? They're so cosy..." she trailed off, giggling. Roger couldn't help himself as he chuckled, pulling out a longer t-shirt from his closet. When he turned around, she was stood wearing only her black knickers, which were barely enough to cover anything. She was shameless—Roger had seen her naked before.

"H-here," he said, stumbling over his words as he handed her the shirt. She smiled and slid it over her head, looking down at the bottom of it, falling mid-thigh. 

"Can I ask you something?" Elise asked, tucking herself into his bed as he stripped from his outfit, quickly sliding on a red plaid pair of pyjama bottoms. 

"You just did. What is it?" Roger replied, causing a soft chuckle to fall from her lips. He turned the light off and slid into bed with her, his hand placing itself on her waist softly as she turned to face him.

"You remember how my birthday is in a little bit and I've got to go to my parents?" 

"Yeah?" Roger's fingers traced small circles on her waist and she closed her eyes, relishing in the feeling. 

"I might've told my mum that I was going to bring my boyfriend. My boyfriend, that doesn't exist..." Elise mumbled, trailing off. "Could you come with me? Pretend to be my boyfriend, please?" 

Roger could feel his heart begin to beat rapidly, Elise's eyes screwed shut. She was scared he'd reject her, but how could he? It meant he could hold her, kiss her, and do all the things he's wanted to since he's met her, without having to admit his feelings to her. 

Roger wasn't good at feelings—everyone knew that. Everyone except Elise.

"I understand if you don't want to. I mean, we did just meet and all, I'm just scared of my dad and how he'd react to me lying and—"

"Elise, of course, I will. You needn't worry," he told her, cutting her off. She opened her eyes and smiled, moving closer to him and burying her face in his bare chest.

"Thank you," she mumbled as his arm wrapped around her, holding her as close as he could. He was scared that this was all a dream and that he'd open his eyes, and she'd be gone.

"Anything for you, flower."

-

[ i've just been informed that elise is the name of a car so roger is in love with his car thanks ryn ]