speechless | roger taylor

twenty

Elise was sat on her sofa, two days later, beside a very giddy John Deacon. She was laughing harder than she had in a while as he practically bounced up and down, begging her for the so-called juicy details of how Roger asked her out. John was always very much like a supposed 'girlfriend' when it came to those sorts of things, having grown up around his sister, Julie, and Elise for most of his childhood.

"Come on! If you don't tell me, I'll cry, right here and now," John whined, turning to face Elise and placing his knee on the small sofa.

"Fine," she said, "I'll only tell you because I don't want you crying."

"Wait, hold on—I want tea," he laughed, standing up and walking into the kitchen of her flat. She stood up and followed him, a funny smile on her face.

John was welcome to anything and everything in Elise's home, and vice versa. They both knew it as well by this point, and they both knew where everything was in each other's homes. John opened the smaller cupboard above her coffee machine and grabbed the small wooden box filled with almost every type of tea one could think of.

"What kind do you want, munchkin?" he asked, turning to her as she was setting the kettle on the stove.

"Mmm," she hummed. "Chamomile, please."

"Alright," he said, sifting through her collection of teas. By the time he'd finally managed on picking his kind of tea, the kettle began to squeal.

Elise winced at the sudden noise and quickly removed the kettle from the stove before moving to pour the boiling water into both of the mugs John had taken out, their teabags already placed in it.

The two of them took their teas and went back into her lounge, sitting down at her sofa once more. She slung her legs over his lap and rested her head on his shoulder, suddenly missing the closeness of her best friend. As she took a sip of her tea, John set his down on the small table beside him and turned his head to face the girl.

"What?" she asked, tilting her head and letting her hands with her mug in them drop to her lap.

"Details!" John giggled, his hands resting on her knees. Elise laughed and shrugged, not sure of where to start nor what to say.

"I'm surprised he didn't tell you about it," she said, "you two are almost as close as we are."

"'S true, but tell me!"

"When you three left, he made me sit on his bed and hold my hands over my eyes so he could 'prepare', I guess. Took him a bloody long time, but when I opened my eyes, he was on his knees in front of me with a velvet box in his hand. It was open and inside was my necklace," she told him, reaching up to touch the small chain around her neck.

"He said this really sweet speech and kind of made me cry and then asked me to be his. I don't think I've been that happy in a long time, Deaks."

"Yeah," John smiled. "You're practically glowing, love. Gonna miss us when we're gone? We have to leave the day after next."

Elise's heart dropped at the words coming from John's mouth. She'd forgotten that they were going to Ridge Farm to record their new album, and she honestly had no idea what she would do without them there. Sure, she'd been alone whilst John was out touring as she never really had any other friends, but to think of it now? She was sad that not only her best friends were leaving, but her boyfriend as well.

"Roger didn't tell you we were leaving so soon, did he?" he asked, noticing how her entire demeanour had changed from bright and happy to a little heartbroken.

"No," she said. "He didn't bring it up."

"Well—why don't you just come with us?"

She looked at the man beside her, expressions of confusion and happiness on her face. "Could I really? I wouldn't want to be a distraction, Deaky."

"Nonsense! We all love you, so why not?" he said happily, picking his mug up from the small table beside him. He held it up to his lips and smiled as the taste of honey flooded his system.

"If Freddie, Bri and Rog say its okay, then I'll come along," Elise told him, a smile forming on her face as well.

"Come on, then! We're going to go ask them."

-

Elise and John pulled into the car park of the studio after John had called an 'emergency' meeting with the band. They made a point not to arrive until they were sure that the other three were there, and Elise was almost panicking at the thought of worrying them. She quickly unbuckled her seatbelt and was suddenly over-aware of her sweaty palms. 

"You all right?" John asked, meeting her on the passenger side of his car. She nodded and held her arm out for him to link his with, and she giggled when he did.

"Let's get this over with, then," Elise said as the two of them made their way into the smaller studio. As soon as they walked in, her eyes landed on Roger, who was pacing the floor with a worried look on his face. She'd never seen him that worried.

"You're finally fucking here!" he yelled, his voice loud enough to make Elise flinch. His eyes softened as soon as they landed on her and he quickly rushed over to her, scooping her up into his arms. She giggled and wrapped her arms around her neck, careful not to hurt her. "I thought something had happened to you."

"'M fine, dear," Elise smiled, trying to regain her balance as he set her down. 

"What is it, then? Deaky said it was something deathly important?" Freddie asked. John sat down beside him on the sofa and shrugged, making it obvious to her that she'd have to ask. She glared at him and followed Roger over to a small armchair, crossing her arms as she looked at the four of them.

"Since Deaky is making me do everything, even though it was his idea," she said, her voice quite shaky. "Would you three mind if I tagged along to Ridge Farm?" 

Roger's face lit up at the idea of having her with him while they recorded their album. His hand reached up to grab hers and she smiled down at him, a gleam in her eye. He looked around the room as if to mentally ask what the rest of them thought of it, and by the looks of it, they were all as ecstatic as he was.

"I don't see why that would be a problem," Brian smiled warmly as Elise sat down on Roger's lap, his arms immediately snaking around her waist. "Wouldn't want you to get a phone call one night hearing that your boyfriend's dead because of us."

"Are you planning on murdering me?" Roger asked, holding his hand over his heart dramatically. 

"Well, no, but you never know."

"What about you, Freddie?" Elise asked, her voice soft. "What do you think?"

"Oh, darling! I wouldn't mind one single bit. Though, I'm not going to be the one to tell Paul. God knows he hates visitors," he chuckled. 

Her stomach churned at the mere thought of the unpleasant man, and Roger perked up from underneath her. "I'll tell him!" 

"I'll be there to make sure you don't snap his neck, then," Brian said matter-of-factly. Elise laughed and snuggled into Roger's arms, happy that they weren't completely opposed to the idea. 

"So, that was the emergency, deathly important news?" Freddie asked, slinging one of his legs over the other.

"Well, the only other news I've got is that the man I'm currently sat on asked me out two days ago," she laughed, playing with the bracelet on her wrist. 

"We already knew that, but he didn't tell us about how he came across it! Please, dear, tell us the details!" 

Elise glared at Roger, biting her lip in the process. "You told them the main point but you leave the details to me? I've already had to explain everything once today!"

"I'm supposed to be manly! How're they going to act when they find out how I did everything?" he retorted, a bright smile on his face.

"You two have been dating for a sum of two days and you're already acting like a married couple," John said. "I'm scared to see you two when you are married."

"Shut up!"

-