𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚋𝚘𝚍𝚢 𝚝𝚘 𝚕𝚘𝚟𝚎// john deacon

chapter ten - breakfast at valerie's

AT AROUND EIGHT, John and Valerie awoke still entangled with each other.

    John had his arm draped across Valerie, and she was curled into him, their proximity making her face heat up.

    She made a small noise as she woke up, moving a bit. She felt John's arm loosen around her, and she smiled, blushing even more.

"G'morning, Val. Sleep well?" John asked her, groggily, his words slightly slurred together in his tiredness.

      "As well as one can for sleeping on the floor." Valerie mumbled, not wanting to move away from John, and then scolding herself for feeling such a way. On the couch above them, Roger snored loudly.

     "Of course. Roger wouldn't be caught dead awake at eight in the morning." Valerie said with a slight smile,  finally moving out of John's arms to stretch.

     "Oh, I was comfortable." John mumbled as he sat up as well, clearly not approving of her decision to sit up.

"Me too, but I have to start making breakfast before Brian gets to the kitchen." Valerie said, consciously aware that her hair probably looked a mess. She reached up to smooth it down, but John beat her to it, lightly threading his fingers through her hair.

It wasn't a very efficient method of detangling, but Valerie was a bit too distracted by the fact that this was John Deacon; one of her best friends, that she didn't want to admit her feelings for.

   She blushed deeply as he lightly tucked a piece of her ginger hair behind her ear and lightly ran his thumb along her cheek. The two of them all of a sudden weren't aware of anything else except each other, their proximity growing with each second until Roger snored again and startled them.

      "Erm, right. Off to the kitchen now that you look presentable."  John joked lightly, red in the face, as Valerie smacked his shoulder.

     "It was a joke!" He exclaimed, and that made Valerie laugh.

"So silly! I know!" Valerie said with a giggle as she stood, John following suit. The two folded up the blanket quietly before they headed into the kitchen.

     "Alright, what's your favourite?" Valerie asked as she took a cookie from the plate she set the night before.
      
     "For breakfast? Erm, waffles with strawberries and honey." John replied after a moment, reaching for the cigarette packet on the table.

"You smoke?" John asked as he took a cigarette from the packet.

      "I hate to admit it, but yes." Valerie said as she tried to quietly take out her waffle maker, and a bowl for the mixture.

"I know it's not very healthy, but it's a guilty pleasure of mine." Valerie continued as she rummaged through the pantry for ingredients. After gathering them all, having John sit down at the table, she started to cook.

       John had started to smoke one of the cigarettes, and Valerie could care less about the smoke now in her kitchen. She was mixing ingredients as Brian walked in, his curly hair quite messy.

        "Morning, Bri. Sleep well?" Valerie asked, looking away from her work before continuing to mix.

       "Not at all. Roger came into my room at three in the morning and flopped on my bed, telling me that he wanted food." Brian said as he slumped in the seat across from John, nodding to him.

      "Oh, so that's whose foot it was." Valerie mumbled as she started to mix some ingredients.

John greeted Brian before taking another drag from the cigarette. Valerie had already tied up her hair and was mixing stuff together.

       "And for breakfast today, chef?" Brian asked Valerie jokingly, tugging at the sleeve of of her sweater as she passed by the table to get a cigarette.

      "Waffles with strawberries with some scrambled eggs, bacon, and bagels. Start on the tea, will you, Bri?" Valerie asked as she started to whisk some eggs pour them onto a pan she had been heating.

        John noticed that Brian had automatically lit her cigarette for her,  and the two sort of fell into a rhythm. Valerie seemed so at home in the kitchen, and Brian seemed so used to helping around. It could've just been a result of living together for a long time, but John almost felt a pang of jealousy at their closeness, which was odd because he wasn't sure why.

      Valerie had already set the eggs on the table,  and started on the waffles while the bacon was cooking. Roger finally came in and gave her a kiss on the head before sitting at the table. "Nice of you to join us, you pig. I figured after you smelled the bacon, your cannibalistic instinct would kick in." Valerie said as she shoved two waffles onto a plate and topped them with strawberries and honey.

     "Are you calling me a pig?" Roger asked incredulously, and Valerie nodded at him.

     "Yes, of course."

     "I hate you."

     "No you don't."  Valerie said, and Roger agreed with her.
*****
The group of four friends had all gotten dressed, and decided it was a perfect day to walk a few miles to the studio before they had to leave for the next performance venue.

John and Roger had all borrowed clothes from Brian's closet (though they had to roll up the pants), and Roger had taken one of Valerie's purple scarves to put along with his outfit. It suited him quite well, though Valerie would never admit it.

She and John were walking behind Roger and Brian, who were arguing about which way they had to turn at certain streets, and John and Valerie were making bets on who would win each argument.

John was already needing to owe Valerie £20, and she owed him nothing at the moment. "Oh, how is it that you know who's going to win?" John grumbled, and Valerie laughed, John's arm draping around her shoulders as they walked.

"John, I've known those two for many years. I know who's going to win an argument just by this gut feeling. I can tell when it's going to be Rog, and when it's going to be Bri." Valerie said, but John had sort of zoned out, sort of lost looking at Valerie.

It was starting to become a habit of his. Valerie could feel him tense up, and her cheeks flushed pink. She moved her arm and kept walking alongside him, the two falling silent.

"Roger surprisingly wins a lot." John remarked quietly, and Valerie hummed.

"Brian gives in to his annoying screaming." Valerie replied with a laugh as they stopped at a crosswalk, a small crowd forming around them before they continued.

"Ah, makes sense. As would I." John said, tugging at a strand of his hair. Valerie looked over and watched him for a bit, quite distracted, before she slammed into someone.

She toppled over onto the ground before John could react, and Brian turned around. "Val, what the bloody hell?" He said, helping her up from the ground.

"You need to pay more attention. I don't want to be driving you to a hospital before you even present your thesis." Brian said, continuing to ramble a bit as they walked.

Roger leaned over to Valerie and smirked. "Yeah, Val. Quit fawning over the bassist." He murmured to her, and she slapped his shoulder.

He ducked away and ran over near Brian, the two shooting looks at each other before Roger finally relented and turned away.

"What was that all about?" John asked, and Valerie blushed.

"Just Roger being an idiot!" Valerie replied, speaking loudly so Roger could hear.

He flipped her off.

"Ah, nothing new then." Brian said, and John laughed, causing Brian and Roger to lapse into yet another bout of arguing.