Funny How Love Is (Maylor AU)

Chapter 1

Dedicated to my sister, Natalie, who inspired me to write this too.

It was mid-October, and midterms were slowly creeping up for the students at Imperial College London. This term, though, it wasn't only the students who were growing anxious, but some of the professors as well. One of those professors was Brian May. He was a relatively new professor at the college, and certainly one of the youngest—being just shy of thirty years old—but his education and his knowledge of astrophysics were astounding and gave him more than enough reason to be in the position he found himself in. He had trouble remembering this sometimes, though, especially around this time of the year.

"Alright, class," he timidly addressed the hall of students before him, pacing back and forth in front of the chalkboard scribbled with notes that someone who wasn't in the class would just dismiss as nonsense. Hell, even some of the students in the class couldn't tell you what it meant. "Your test is exactly one week from now, and it will cover everything we've studied—"

A hand instantly shot up, attracting the professor's attention that had previously been locked on the floor tiles in front of him. He opened his mouth to respond, but before any words could come out, his attention was stolen by the hall door bursting inward, a disheveled blonde appearing in the doorway and saying, as he pointed over his shoulder, "Hey man, do you happen to know where I can find..." His voice trailed off as he stuck his hand into his jacket and pulled out a crumpled piece of paper, unfolding the creases with one hand as he read off, "...Christine Mullen? I guess she's the headmaster or mistress or something."

Brian stared at the stranger, raising a suspicious and confused eyebrow.

The man was young, possibly a little older than most of the students in his class. He was adorned in a bizarrely patterned suit jacket, a white button-down whose top few buttons were undone, and a pair of pink, sparkly sneakers. He held in one hand a pair of drumsticks, and in the other, a collection of papers that looked as though he'd dropped them and quickly gathered them without reordering them or checking to see if they were all still there. His big blue eyes hid behind a pair of amber shades, staring right back at Brian as he struggled to formulate an answer to his question.

What even was his question? Brian thought, having lost all sense of the situation as he attempted to figure out the man standing in his class's doorway.

The stranger snatched the pair of sunglasses off his face with the hand that held the drumsticks and looked out at the group of students whose eyes were also glued to him. He smirked, loving the attention he was receiving, and slipped his sunglasses into the pocket of his suit jacket. "Oh, I'm sorry," he apologized insincerely, "Did I interrupt something?"

The professor shook his head, snapping himself out of the daze he'd fallen into, and finally found his voice. "Uh, actually, yes. I was just about to tell them what to expect for their exam."

"Exam, huh?" the stranger repeated, a disgusted expression temporarily appearing on his face as he went on to disclose, "I always hated exams. They're such a drag. Speaking of which..." He walked forward and set his belongings down on Brian's desk, the professor watching in astonishment as the stranger shoved his hands into the pockets of his pants and dug out a pack of cigarettes and a lighter. He extracted one of the white sticks and brought it up to his lips, lighting the end without skipping a beat and taking in a deep breath.

He met Brian's shocked gaze and nodded his head in what he thought was understanding, holding the pack out to the professor as an offering. Brian quickly shook his head no and brought his hands up to further illustrate his refusal. "No thanks, I don't smoke," he declined, earning a nonchalant shrug from the blonde who seated himself on the edge of the desk and went for another drag, leaning back and using his arm for support as he scanned the large classroom that still was staring at him with wide and curious eyes. Some of the students had even begun to whisper to one another, asking each other about the strange man and what he was doing there.

Brian rested his hands on his hips, wanting to inform the intruder of the school's smoking policy—well, more so his classroom's policy—but only being able to get out a baffled, "And who are you, again?"

The blonde's head snapped in the professor's direction and he chuckled, forgetting that he hadn't introduced himself. He plucked the white stick from in between his lips and extended his free hand out for a handshake. "I'm Roger," he answered with a charismatic smile, "Roger Taylor. I'm the new music instructor here."

"Music instructor?" Brian repeated, ignoring the polite gesture as he tried to wrap his head around the information he'd just received, "That doesn't make sense. We don't have a music program here."

Roger clicked his tongue. "Well if that was the case, I wouldn't be here. But I am, so..." He smashed the cigarette butt into the surface of Brian's desk and hopped off, grabbing his things and saying, "It was really nice meeting you, man, but I was supposed to meet with the head lady about ten minutes ago. If you can't tell me where she is—"

"Down the hall, up the stairs, and to your right," Brian rambled off, very familiar with the location of the headmistress's office. His cheeks grew a faint shade of red, and he hoped his students and the new music instructor wouldn't notice.

Roger winked and did a quick, appreciative salute, turning around and leaving the classroom—but not without waving to the class first and wishing them luck with their exam. When the door clicked shut behind him, Brian found himself frozen in place. He couldn't move; he couldn't speak. It was almost as if Roger had put him in a trance.

"Uh, Professor May?" a student spoke up, startling Brian back to reality.

"Y-Yes, John?" he stammered, crossing his arms over his chest and straightening his posture to try and seem like he wasn't as unsettled by the unexpected visitor as he truly was.

"So, what exactly is going to be on the test?"