Feelings Long Buried - Roger Taylor

May 1978

Y/N never got tired of the view of Queen from off stage. Every show she watched, she was always in the same spot. It gave her a vantage point to see the passion of the boys, as well as the passion and reaction of the crowd. A perfect way to experience a concert, in her opinion. However, after July of the previous year, she tried to watch the crowd as much as she could. If she allowed her gaze to linger on the stage for too long, it would fixate on Rog. And that would undoubtedly cause a pit to form in her stomach.

Despite her best efforts, Y/N's eyes wandered to the drummer on stage. It was their last song of the Vienna show, and he was playing with as much passion as he could muster, how could she not look at him? "Don't Stop Me Now" filled her ears but it almost sounded like she was underwater. All she could see was Roger's blue eyes burning in concentration, his skilled hands playing the drums as if it were the last song he would ever play.

Shaking her head, Y/N crossed her arms tightly over her chest, attempting to stop the feeling of adoration from spreading.

The final notes of "Don't Stop Me Now" caused the crowd to erupt in cheers, and the members of Queen to take their final bows. Pushing all thoughts of Roger from her mind, Y/N pulled her gaze back to the band, and applauded with the crowd. John, Roger, Brian, and Freddie all took their time leaving the stage which caused a smile to tug at her lips. Always the showmen...

"Great show as always," she said over the still cheering crowd as they finally made their way off stage.

"Thank you darling!" Freddie smiled, when a glimpse of vibrant red caught one of the stage lights, and Y/N's attention; Roger's hand was bleeding.

"Hey," she said, with a much more serious tone, and caught his wrist. "What happened?"

The drummer looked down to his hand, and seemed to realize the injury the same time she did. "Oh, shit..." Roger muttered, sounding barely bothered. They both examined his hand with the rest of the band half paying attention around them, and learned that one of the many blisters given by his drumsticks had ripped open.

"Come on, they probably have a first aid kit in the green room," Y/N said and turned to walk off, Roger in tow.

"Ah, mum Y/N," Deaky teased with a loving smile. She offered a small chuckle in response.

In the green room, Y/N sat Rog on the couch and grabbed the first aid kit from the wall. Sitting beside him, she was sure to keep a sizable distance between them. She was careful in grabbing his hand, but it's not like Roger hadn't dealt with injuries like this before.

"It's been a while since you've had to do this," Roger commented. Though her eyes were trained on wrapping his hand in gauze, she could feel him paying close attention to her actions.

Y/N chuckled. "I know. You getting sloppy on me, Taylor?" she teased. A light laugh left his lips for a moment.

"You've seen me playing this tour, right? You know that's not the case," he said confidently, to which Y/N rolled her eyes.

"Yes, I've been offstage at every show, and you seem to be getting more reckless. Throwing your sticks in the air, and hardly ever catching them, mind you, squeezing in a drum solo into every song you can. Now looking at these hands, I'd say you're overexerting yourself," Y/N glanced up to his eyes as she pressed the bandage onto his bloody palm.

"I'm just taking risks, it's different. And besides," Y/N tightened the bandage and leaned back, able to look into his blue eyes as he spoke, "we all need a little risk in our lives, don't you think?" She expected Roger to say that in a teasing manner, but that wasn't the case. She had to study his eyes to piece together what exactly was behind them. Still, her heartbeat started to thud in her ears at the rhetorical question. There was a slight pull on the feelings she was trying so hard to push down, and it seemed to be getting stronger as she stared at him.