One Day in a Record Store • Roger Taylor

23

A/N: this book is #1 in the Roger Taylor tag ??? thank you!

A few days had passed since Dylan and Grace joined the boys on the bus. The first little bit on the bus they felt a bit awkward and out of place, but those feelings didn't last long as the boys were quick to invite them into whatever game they were playing or stupid argument they were having.

Everyone had gotten to know each other quite fast and not before long it was as if they'd known each other for years.

Although Dylan had promised Grace she wouldn't repeat anything she'd said about John, her and Roger still tended to sit close on the bus and in between him being annoyingly flirty and her shyly telling him to be quiet, they'd watch Grace and John and just make stupid comments about them to each other, which would sometimes result in the two of them laughing out loud and leaving everyone else in confusion.

Everyone knew what, or rather who, they were talking about despite them whispering, but they didn't really care. Especially considering they'd have to hear everyone else's snarky comments about them out loud.

The comments were understandable though, and they knew that. Anyone who would have seen them together but not actually known them would've thought they'd been going steady for a while despite the fact that technically they were just friends.

They were always holding hands and Roger was always trying to embarrass her with cheesy (or dirty) pick-up lines. And it had quickly become a thing between them to exchange a kiss for good luck before Roger went on stage.

"C'mon, you sap," the other boys would say to him each time as they walked on without him, to which he would just shake his head in response before giving Dylan a wink as he followed them on.

They were now back down in San Diego for their last few shows in California and seeing as they had a free day between their last show and the next, the boys decided they wanted to get drunk.

So that night after the show, Dylan, Roger, Freddie, and Brian made their way to the closest bar, while Grace and John were out on their first official date, as the boys had finally peer pressured nervous John into asking her.

Since Roger and Freddie tended to be the biggest drinkers out of the four, Brian and Dylan were put on babysitting duty. Dylan didn't mind as she wasn't big on drinking anyway, but Brian was a bit annoyed by being made the sober one amongst them again.

"You guys owe me big time one day," he told them.

"Yes, dear, but today is not that day," Freddie told him as he led the way towards the bar.

They all sat at the bar conversing and laughing, Freddie and Roger slowly getting more tipsy while Dylan and Brian just kept downing more sugar and caffeine to keep themselves awake.

Everything had been smooth sailing until one by one the boys made their way into the crowd, eventually leaving Dylan by herself. It had started with Freddie wanting to go socialize while Brian wasn't there to stop him. After a while, neither he or Brian had returned so Roger took it upon himself to go look for them, despite Dylan telling him not to, though he either couldn't hear her or was too buzzed to listen as he made his way into the crowd.

At first, Dylan had just walked the perimeter of the crowd, hoping to see any of the boys she was with, but after failing to do so, she just went back to her seat at the bar, figuring one of them was bound to come back for more drinks at some point.

She'd been sitting there playing with the straw in her drink and looking out into the crowd for any sign of her friends when another guy around her age sat down next to her.