I'm going slightly mad // Hardzello

Chapter 86

Rami softly knocks on the door of their spare bedroom. When he doesn't hear anything he opens the door. He sticks his head around first to see if Joe is decent enough for him to see. Joe is curled up in the blankets. By the looks of it still fast asleep. Rami walks over before sitting down on the mattress. He places his hand on Joe's shoulder before slowly rocking him back and forth.
"Five minutes Ben," Joe mumbles before rubbing his hand over his face.
"You've got to get up Joe. We need to eat something before we leave to go to the venue," Rami says. Joe opens his eyes and looks at Rami with a confused look on his face.
"Am I- Am I really getting married?" Joe says before sitting up straight.
"Yes, you are. Today is the big day mate." Rami says before smiling at Joe. 
"I'll leave you for a few minutes to wake up. Lucy is making us some breakfast so come out when you are ready." Rami says before patting Joe's back. 

A few minutes later they are all sitting around the kitchen table. Joe has a plate of delicious-looking breakfast in front of him. He mindlessly moves his fork around the plate.
"Come on Joe. You have to eat something." Lucy says after keeping an eye on him for a while. A tear slips from the corner of Joe's eye. He tries to wipe it away as quickly as possible. 
"Joe, come to the living room with me." Lucy grabs Joe's hand in her own before walking towards the living room. From the corners of her eyes she sees Rami smiling at the two. She sits down and pats the empty space next to her for Joe to sit. She pushes Joe into her own chest.
"Tell me what is bothering you." She speaks quietly to him. 
"It's just- I want this to be perfect. I'm so scared that something will go wrong. This means a lot to me. I know it means even more to Ben. So, the nerves are just taking over right now." Lucy rubs her hand over Joe's shoulder.
"Everything will be alright. Me, Rami, Gwil and Chace will be by your side the whole time. If something goes wrong we will be right there to step in." Lucy says before softly shushing Joe.
"You promise?" Joe says.
"Pinky promise, Mazzy," Lucy says before lifting her pink in the air. Joe locks his pink through hers. 
"Now you have to eat something okay? We can't have you passing out during the ceremony." Lucy says before grabbing Joe's hand in her own hand again. She sits down in her previous seat.  She talks to Joe while he tries to eat. She hopes to distract him enough not to think about the food and the wedding too much.

***************

Later that morning they are sitting in a small trailer close to the venue. All the groomsman, the bridesmaid and the grooms are already styled and dressed. Chace, Joe's dad and Lucy are walking a quick route to check if everything is ready and in place for the wedding. Rami and Joe are left in Joe's trailer.
"Hey, Joe. Look at me. Take a deep breath for me." Rami is squatting in front of Joe. He has both of Joe's hands in his own.
"Everything is going to be alright. You need to get rid of the nerves so you can actually enjoy your day." Rami says while making eye contact with Joe.
"What if he decides not to marry me? What if he says no?" Joe rattles.
"Can I just remind you really quick that he is the one that asked you to marry him. He wants you to marry him, darling. He really does. Don't worry about that, okay? Ben loves you. More than anything." Joe slowly nods. He suddenly looks up when he hears a small knock on the door. Rami is the one to open the door. He shields Joe in his suit from the person on the other side of the door. Rami, Lucy, Gwil and Chace are the only ones that know from both of them what they are wearing. They want it to be a surprise for the others. With blocking the person from seeing Joe, Rami also blocks Joe from seeing the person. 

"It's Brian. Can I let him in?" Rami has turned around to look at Joe for permission. Joe simply nods so Rami steps aside to let Brian in.
"I will wait outside so the two of you can talk." Rami smiles and without waiting for an answer he closes the door behind him. Brian wears a normal suit, but with an extra-long jacket.
"Nervous?" He says as soon as he sees Joe rubbing his hands over each other.
"Very." Joe looks down at his own suit. He is still happy with the choice of the black suit with the shiny stones around the edges. Lucy said it looked really good next to Ben's suit too. It was hard not to tell each other about the attire they were wearing but they managed to keep it a secret. Brian has taken place next to Joe on the couch.
"There is absolutely nothing for you to worry about. Ben loves you. He really does. And I'll tell you a little secret. He is nervous too."
"Really?" Joe's eyes lit up as soon as Brian mentions Ben.
"Really. I think everyone is right before their wedding." Joe nods while looking back at the ground again.

Joe looks down at his own hands before looking up at Brian.
"I don't think it is my place to ask, but it has been on my mind a lot. Back when I told you that Ben and I were a couple you told us that being in love with your best friend can really hurt you. After that, you became really sad. I kept thinking about it. I know it's not my place b-" Joe rambles but he gets interrupted by Brian: "It's okay, Joe. You trusted me with your feelings so I think I should trust you with mine. Do you promise not to tell anyone?"
"I do." Joe gets even more interested in the story with the second. Ben takes a deep breath before he starts talking.
"I- I fell in love with Roger around the time John joined Queen. I hid it for everyone because I didn't want to ruin our friendship. Because if that happened it also would be the end of Queen. I ignored my feelings and started dating various women so they could distract me. I ended up falling madly in love with Anita. I really do love that woman. I guess that my, how do you say that these days, little crush on Rog never really disappeared. The only one I ever admitted this too was Freddie right before he passed away." Brian mumbles the last part. Joe can see that Brian feels relieved that he has finally told someone. 
"That sounds difficult. Does Ro-." Joe can't finish his question before the door is opened. Rami walks in with Chace.

"I'm sorry to bother you guys. Brian, the doors are closing. You're sitting on the left side when you walk into the room. You'll see Roger sitting in the same row." Rami says. Chace's eyes get a little wide when he sees Brian. He tries his best not to let his excitement shine through.
"Thank you, Rami. I don't think we met before, did we?" The last part is dedicated to Chace.
"No, we haven't, sir." Chace politely says.
"Please, just call me Brian." Brian holds out his hand for Chace to shake which Chace does eagerly.
"Chace," Chace says to introduce himself. Brian shakes Chace hand a little longer. He wants to start talking again but is stopped by Rami.
"You two can talk later, but Brian you should really head inside now." He says. Brian nods and turns towards Joe.
"Have fun." He smiles before walking out of the room. Joe watches the door until the grey mop of curls is out of sight. His thoughts about what Brian told him completely disappear when Chace starts talking.

"Hey, brother. How are you doing?" Chace asks while sitting down on the couch next to Joe.
"Nervous." Is all Joe manages to say.
"I just went around with your dad. Everything is in place and ready. He is checking in with Gwil and Ben and then he will come here." He smiles while running his hand over Joe's leg.
"You're getting married, brother," He says. Rami stands in the corner to watch the two interact. He can clearly see that the two are best friends. 
"I can't believe it." Joe whispers.
"Well, I think it's time for you to start believing it. Because within approximately an hour you'll have a ring on your finger." Chace waves his own hand with his wedding ring in front of Joe's face which causes Joe to softly chuckle. The door opens once again, this time Joe's dad walks in.
"Everything is ready. There is no need to worry about that." Joe's dad walks through the plan once again. After that Chace and Rami need to get ready. Before they leave Rami squats down in front of Joe.
"Let go of the worries. You're going to have so much fun. Enjoy your day." Rami says before rubbing his hand over Joe's leg. 
"Have fun, mate." Chace simply says. He pats Joe on the shoulder before following Rami out of the door.

"We will wait for ten minutes and then we will follow them." Mr. Mazzello says before sitting down on the chair next to Joe. The latter grabs his dad's hand immediately.
"Hey, Joe." Joe hums while looking up at his dad.
"I'm proud of you." His dad simply says.
"What for?" Joe asks.
"For everything. You've come a long way. With your career and your relationships. I've never actually told you how proud I'm to have you as my son." His dad rubs his thumb over the hand he is holding.
"Thank you, dad. That means a lot more than you would ever imagine. I love you." Joe carefully lets his head rest on top of his father's shoulder.
"I love you too, Joe."

***********
Hey guys!

14 more chapter to go before this book comes to an end. It's crazy how long I have been writing this book for. We are now at 27K reads too. That is absolutely amazing! Thank you so much!

Take good care of yourselves,

Goodbye,

Xx Itsametaphorjoe