speechless | roger taylor

eleven

Elise had barely slept that night, tossing and turning every ten minutes due to the nerves for the day ahead. She swore that she'd seen every hour on the clock that night. She'd managed to drift off at some point, only for her alarm to wake her up about thirty minutes later, causing her to groan.

She slid her legs from her bed and slid her slippers on, yawning tiredly as she got up. It was nearing on seven in the morning, which left her an hour and a half until Roger would arrive to drive her back home.

Elise tiredly sat down on the armchair beside her telephone and pulled a smoke from her pack, placing it between her lips and lighting it before she dialled John. She fiddled with the ring on her left hand as she waited for him to pick up. She knew he was awake, mostly because he always woke up with Veronica before she had to go to work.

"Elise?" John asked as he picked up the phone, "are you alright?"

"Yeah, yeah. I'm fine. Just needed to talk to you before I go, you know?" she stuttered, taking a drag of her cigarette. "Nerves are killing me."

John was the only one that knew Elise's full reasoning of why she invited Roger to her parents. Freddie and Brian knew that he was acting as her boyfriend but neither of them quite knew why, whereas John knew how scared she was of her father.

"You'll be okay, munchkin. If anything goes too foul, you could always phone me, you know that," he told her, "Roger will keep you safe."

"Can we have a sleepover once I get back? Do you think Vera would mind?" Elise asked, her voice small once more. She butted her cigarette in the ashtray beside the telephone and sighed, running a hand through her messy hair.

"I don't think she'd mind that much," John laughed. "I love you, you'll do great."

"I love you too. Do you have Brian's number, by chance?"

"I'm his bandmate—of course I've got his number," he said, the sarcasm evident in his voice.

Elise rolled her eyes playfully as he gave her his number, wishing her well at her parents before hanging up, leaving her with Brian's phone number written on her hand. She made a mental note to call him once she arrived at her parents, thanking him for the brilliant night she had last night.

She made her way into her bedroom once more, stripping from her pyjamas and sliding into a clean hoodie and the pair of joggers Roger had lent her and she had "accidentally" forgotten to give back. She pulled her hair up into an extremely lazy ponytail and considering she'd be stuck in Roger's car for nearly three hours, she wanted to be as cosy as possible.

Her mum had promised to pay Roger whatever it had cost for petrol and despite him telling her she really didn't have to, she would anyways. Roger had joked with Elise that she definitely got her stubbornness and persistence from her mum, and she'd always laugh, arguing that she was most definitely not stubborn.

Elise's train of thought was interrupted by three quick knocks on her door, signalling that Roger had arrived. She took the cigarette she had between her lips and held it between her index and middle fingers as she opened the door, a small smile on her face as her eyes fell on the blonde in front of her.

"I haven't actually woken up this early in quite a long time," Roger said, "I'm surprised I'm even standing."

She laughed and moved to the side, inviting him in. "I didn't sleep last night, so if I fall asleep on the way there, I'm very sorry."

"'S okay. My sister always falls asleep on road trips, it's not something I'm very worried about," he told her as he stepped in, his eyes raking over her outfit. "You're wearing my joggers again."

"I am. I hope you don't mind—they're just so cosy," she chuckled, holding her cigarette out for him to take.

"I don't mind at all," he told her, taking a drag of her smoke before passing it back to her. "Have you got everything ready?"

Elise nodded and butted her cigarette, leaving it in the ashtray as she led him to her bedroom. She had already put her shoes on before he had got there, making sure that as soon as he arrived, they could get up and go.

Roger helped Elise carry her few bags down to his car, locking her flat door behind her before they had gone down to the car park. Within fifteen minutes of Roger being at her flat, they had left, pulling onto the motorway.

Elise's fingers tapped nervously at her thighs, a habit she had picked up from Roger over the last week. He was always tapping at something if his hands weren't busy—something Elise thought came with being a drummer. He glanced over at her fingers as he drove, a small smile playing on his face.

"You took up my habit," he pointed out, making Elise snap from her daze.

"Hmm?" she asked, looking at the blonde man beside her.

"You've taken up my habit of tapping things."

"Oh," she said, suddenly becoming aware of her actions, "I guess I have."

The rest of the trip was quiet. Elise had fallen asleep once they had left the outskirts of London and the only audible noise was the hum of cars racing past Roger's and the soft whispers of the radio. He hadn't turned it up as he knew Elise didn't get much sleep, and he wanted her to be as rested as she could be.

"Elise," he whispered, shaking her knee lightly as he drove into a small town near Cardiff where her parents lived. "Love, you need to wake up."

Elise opened her eyes slowly, adjusting to the brightness of the sun shining through the clouds. "We're here already? I've been asleep this whole time?" she asked, her voice groggy.

Roger chuckled, his fingers tapping against the steering wheel. "Yes we are, and yes you have."

"Oh, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to sleep the whole way—I hadn't really even realised I was asleep," she apologized frantically, pulling down the visor and making sure she didn't look too overtired.

"Don't worry about it," he said, turning onto the street where her parents lived. "That's the house, yeah?"

"Yeah, that'd be it," Elise sighed. Her heart began to race and she fiddled with the ring on her left finger once more, her nervousness extremely visible as they pulled into the driveway.

"I don't know what's got you so nervous, but if you want to talk about it, I've got you, yeah?" Roger said, placing his hand on her knee once he had shut off the transmission.

"Thank you, Rog. I'm sure you'll find out sooner or later, and I'll tell you once it comes up," she smiled, her hand placing itself over his.

"What're fake boyfriends for?" he chuckled, a small pressure weighing on his heart. He wished it wasn't fake. "Come, let's get inside and relax."

"Yeah, yeah. Okay," Elise replied, unbuckling her seatbelt. "Thank you again, Roger."

"Of course, petal."

-

[ sorry this chapter is such a filler and a bit short, and I know I wanted to double update today, but things got in the way and I couldn't. stay tuned for tomorrow (today,,, it's 2am)'s chapter! hope you're all enjoying so far x ]