Stars in Your Eyes (Queen/Roger Taylor)

10. Roger

"Thanks a fucking heap, Fred," I hiss as I walk past my bandmate, whacking his shoulder as I pass. That prying son-of-a-bitch. He'd have the most epic fit if I pulled something like that, but does he have any qualms about butting into my affairs?

Drunk and pissed off, I fight my way through the crowd. The injustice of the situation stings. First, Skylar tells me that she wants to be friends. Then, when I least expect it, she shows up at a party where she knows I'll be. It's the one night of the year when no one wants to be alone, and she's annoyed that I brought a date!? That doesn't make me a slut, love, it makes me fucking human.

Around me, people are counting down to midnight, and I just want to find the front door. At this moment, I don't give a toss about Skylar or Theo or Theresa or anyone else. I just want to breathe some fresh air and smoke a cig. As the room erupts in a boisterous "Happy New Year!," I weave around snogging twosomes, wishing they would all piss off and go be festive elsewhere.

"You alright, Roger?" Deaky's arm is slung around his girlfriend's waist. I nod and continue my trek towards the front door, stopping only when I see Theo smoking a cigarette by the window. Narrowing my eyes, I march up to him.

"How's that hand doing, mate?" he asks with a self-satisfied smirk. I wonder idly where Skylar is since she's clearly not with him, but can only focus on the noise in my head.

"Leave her alone," I say in a low voice. I feel a resurgence of the protective caveman feeling that I got earlier when I first saw him across the room with Skylar.

"And why is that?" he asks, his grin widening.

"Just stay away," I repeat.

"Yeah, alright," he replies with a devious smirk. "But I can't promise that she'll stay away from me. In fact, she was saying--"

I lunge for him, not wanting to hear the end of the sentence. He tries to back up but hits the wall behind him. I almost have my hands on him when Mary appears out of nowhere and intervenes, throwing herself in between us.

"Take a walk, Rog," she orders, waving me away with a bemused look on her face.

"And you can fuck right off, Theo," she says sternly, turning his way. He starts to protest but she cuts him off. "Seriously, get out of our flat."

I'm already halfway to the door because, honestly, I'm over this. It's not worth it. Skylar doesn't want to be with me anyway, so what do I care if she shags Theo? Though it'll likely be a disappointing experience, as he'll probably last all of 30 seconds, but hey, that's not my problem.

As I'm about to open the front door, I look through the small side window and see you-know-who standing outside smoking. It's begun to snow, and she's not wearing a coat, so I imagine that she's slowly freezing to death out there.

With a frustrated sigh, I take two steps backward to the giant heap of jackets by the door, quickly grabbing my enormous fur coat, and, after a second's hesitation, I pick up a random one as well.

I pause by the door, trying to drown out all the noise in my head. A smarter bloke would turn around and re-join the party, taking advantage of the guaranteed shag before the night's end. But, apparently, that's not me because I reluctantly push open the door and walk out into the freezing cold.

Skylar doesn't turn around, deep in thought with her eyes focused on the pavement. I walk down the stairs and approach her silently. I open the navy blue pea coat in my arms to drape it over her shoulder. She looks up, startled.

"This isn't mine," she says, looking down at the coat.

"Doesn't make it any less warm," I reply, taking a cigarette out of my pocket. "Do you have a light?"