No One But You

44. The Taylor cont.

I'm an idiot. I keep forgetting to put chapter names out of habit, so if you see me update a chapter several times that's why lol 

...

Madison

Roger, his family, and I sit at their dining room table having a beautiful lunch Winifred cooked for us. She really is a wonderful cook. Much better than myself. Roger cooks every now and then and now I know where he gets his skills from. I should convince him to cook more often.

"This is delicious," I compliment Roger's mum. She gives me a warm smile. 

"So," Roger's dad says abruptly. "What did you say you do for a living?" he asks me. 

"Oh I'm in school at the moment. I used to be a math tutor at a school near my old house," I tell him. 

"Maddie's quite brilliant," Roger pipes up. "She's going for astrophysics,"

"That's so cool," Clare says from the other end of the table. She has a curious expression on her face. "Do you know what you'll do with that degree?" 

I shrug. I wish I did. "I'm still learning about all of the possible job opportunities. I'm fascinated in research so I might concentrate on that," I explain.

"I think it's wonderful you're still in school," Winifred tells me. "I'll be honest, when Roger first told me about you I was a little concerned that you would be one of those...other girls. The ones with no future," 

"Mum," Roger groans from besides me. Winifred ignores him. 

"But you're beautiful and smart. You have a path in life. And it's obvious to me that you two really are in love," 

I blush and glance over at Roger whose face is also slightly pink. 

"Yeah, I suppose we are in love," he tells me fondly. I don't want to get too sentimental or mushy, especially at his parents house, so I just smile. Winifred, Michael, and Clare all don't say anything but I can feel their eyes on us. Judging from Roger's past, I don't think anyone has captured him as I have. The thought warms me. 

"So, how did you two meet?" Clare asks us, causing Roger to break his stare away from me. 

"Well we first met at one of our gigs I believe," Roger says. "Maddie was friends with our bassist, John, as well as our lead singer, Freddie-"

"I wasn't terribly close with Freddie," I interject so the story doesn't get mixed up. 

"Right," Roger says. "She had met Freddie at one of Smile's gigs. She convinced him to come talk to us about singing or some shit. And like fate he filled our missing hole when that son-of-a-bitch Tim left," 

"Watch your language," Winifred scolds him. Clare snickers. I even think I see a smile forming on Michael's face. 

"He fucking left! The piece of a-"

"Roger!"

"Sorry, sorry," Roger says, holding his hands in the air. "Anyways, Maddie became friends with us through that. She hated me at first then we wound up dating and here we are," he hastily finishes the story. I roll my eyes. 

"I didn't entirely hate you," I argue. 

"You hated me. I could see it in your eyes," 

"You did used to be a bit of a tool, Rog," Clare snickers. Winifred glares at her. I get the idea that when Roger is here, things aren't as neat and orderly as Winifred tried to make it appear when I first arrived. "What? He did! But I must say you've really shaped up," 

"Thank you, Clare," Roger responds. He seems proud of himself. 

"We have this young lady to thank for that," Michael speaks up. He's a gruff man but how he says it warms me. 

"I can't take all responsibility," I say. I couldn't possibly. I don't know if I'm the sole reason for Roger...calming down if you will. 

"Yes she can," Roger says. 

"Rog," I whisper. 

"Maddie you are the sole reason for my lack of fuck ups lately," 

"You should have seen him when he was still living here," Clare says. "He was an absolute nightmare. Always going out to parties and coming home wasted, if he even bothered to come home at all. We were all worried when he moved out," 

"Let's not talk about that at the table," Winifred says. She clears he throat and stands up. "I'm going to go put up a pot for tea," she announces before walking out and into the kitchen. 

The rest of the afternoon goes by rather quickly. Roger's family has an interesting dynamic. It's not what I pictured, but it makes sense. I can easily see Roger growing up here, especially when I finally get a glimpse at all of the pictures on the wall. Clare shows them all to me, against Roger's wishes of course. 

He was an adorable baby. And a small one at that. He was the smallest in his class. Clare told me, when Roger was out of the room, that he put on this 'bad boy' persona to make up for his height. I don't think he's terribly short now but I could see how he might be self conscious back in primary school. 

"I like this one," I say, pointing to a picture of Roger form when he was about five or six. He wears a vest and a bowtie and I want to die from cuteness overload. 

"I'm thinking about bringing that look back," I hear Roger say from the doorways of the kitchen. He walks over to Clare and I. 

"I think you'd look dashing," I tell him. 

"You'd need to cut your hair first, Rog," Clare tells him. 

"No way. The mane stays," he argues. 

"It's starting to get a bit long there. It's going to be longer than Maddie's soon," 

"That's my end goal," Rog says with a cheeky grin. He puts a hand on my waist. "Are you ready to leave?" he asks quietly. I nod. 

The three of us walk back into the kitchen where Michael and Winifred are. 

"We're going to head out," Roger says. 

Winifred gives him a sad smile. She rushes over, giving him a big hug. 

"Please call us more often," she begs. 

"I will," Roger says, his voice strained from how tight his mother's hug was. "I promise," They let go and Winifred does over to me and gives me a hug as well. 

"It was so nice to meet you," she says. 

"It was so nice to meet you as well," I respond. She lets go of me and just smiles as she looks at my face. Her eyes have an unrecognizable feeling behind them. 

"Madison, it was a pleasure," Michael says. He holds out his hand again to which I shake. "I do hope we'll be seeing a lot more of you,"

"I hope so too," I reply. 

"Make sure to keep this young man in line. So far you're doing a wonderful job," he laughs. 

"It's not easy," I joke. 

"Nothing with Roger is," Clare mutters. She hugs me as well. "Keep in touch," she says when we pull apart. "Roger give Maddie my number so we can keep in touch and talk shit about you," 

I laugh. I like his family a lot. I think we'll get on great.