No One But You

60. I'm Ready

Roger

"Ah yes, thank you Freddie," Maddie says, holding up a onesie for a child that looks exactly like one of his extravagant outfits from tour. I roll my eyes as I imagine our child wearing it. 

"I thought it would suit Freddie Junior," the man says, locking eyes with me as the name rolls off his tongue. 

Maddie chuckles, folding the small outfit neatly up and placing it back in the box. 

"This seems to be a common theme," she comments. "Everyone wants us to name our child after them,"

"Get in line," I comment, waving Freddie off. 

"Might I make a suggestion?" Brian says, leaning forward slightly but Chrissie places a hand on his shoulder, shaking her head. 

"Not now, dear," she says. 

Finally, someone with some sense. I make a mental note that Chrissie is on my anti-shit list while Freddie and the rest of these wankers are on my actual shit list. 

"Is Mary not coming?" Maddie asks, distracting me from my vulgar thoughts. 

The seven of us, meaning the boys and our significant others besides Mary, are gathered in mine and Maddie's living room. We had invited the lot over for a bit of a Christmas celebration. As much as I love my family, I was looking forward to today much more than I was actual Christmas a couple days ago. It was awkward with mine and Maddie's family's getting together but they got along it seemed which I'm grateful for. 

"She should be here later," Freddie responds, a tight smile on his face. I furrow my eyebrows at him. Something's off. I might not be a genius like Brian but I can pick up on social cues and I know that something is going on between Fred and Mary. They haven't been near each other since we came back from tour it seems like. Maybe they got in a fight, I dunno. 

"We have some news," John announces, holding Veronica's hand in his. Bother her and Maddie are insanely pregnant, I'm convinced one of them is going to burst any day now. "Ronnie and I are getting hitched this weekend," 

Maddie chokes on her glass of water next to me causing me to reach over and rub her back in small circles. 

"Hitched?" Brian asks. "Weren't you just talking about a proper wedding in a church? I mean on tour you quite literally said-"

"I know what I said," John cuts him off. He sighs heavily and runs his free hand through his hair. "It's just we want to be married when Veronica gives birth. We thought about having a proper wedding, as you put it Brian, but we just can't wait. So we thought we'd just run off and elope this weekend," 

"I think it's a wonderful idea," Freddie comments. 

"Is it a secret we're you're going?" Chrissie asks. 

Freddie smacks his face with the palm of his hand. 

"You should have gone when we were in Vegas! They have those little chapels where you can go," he comments. 

John rolls his eyes. 

"Ronnie wasn't with us when we went to Vegas," he points out. "But it's not a secret. We were just going to go the London courthouse. Nothing big. But we did want to invite you all. You're all we need anyways at a wedding. No need to make it bigger than it is," 

"I made this happen," Maddie comments, pointing between Veronica and John while she smiles. "If Veronica and I didn't grab lunch aha one day at uni, then who knows what would have happened," 

"It was fate," Veronica replies before turning to John and pecking him on his cheek. Their relationship makes me sick, but in a good way. They're both too pure for the world, even if John did get her knocked up. 

Chatter of John and Veronica's surprise wedding takes over the majority of conversation. I think everyone is just in shock because we all thought they would be the ones to have this big traditional church wedding with a thousand bridesmaids and groomsmen. Who would have thought they'd be the ones to run off and elope?

...

Madison

I'm in the kitchen preparing some snacks to bring out to everyone when Freddie comes shuffling in, an awkward look on his face. I furrow my eyebrows when I see him hovering near me like he wants to strike up a conversation. 

"Is everything okay, Freddie?" I ask him, pausing what I'm doing so I can fully direct my attention towards him. 

His eyes quickly dart back to the living room where the rest of the group is laughing over something. Before I can react, Freddie takes a step closer to me and wraps his hand around my wrist, pulling me out the kitchen door to the brisk outside world. 

"It's cold, Freddie," I complain, hoping whatever Freddie wants to talk about isn't that long. 

"I - I've had this...revelation of sorts," he says, shifting on the balls of his feet while he crosses his arms over his chest. He looks like Freddie but he doesn't act like him at the moment. This Freddie is very closed off and...scared it seems. 

"Yeah?" I press, mimicking his actions by crossing my arms over my chest so I can retain heat. 

"I'm gay, Maddie," he says, causing my mouth to fall open a little bit. "I thought about it for a while but I only just came to terms with it. And I told Mary when we came back from tour and that's why she's not here. Naturally we...broke up, but I still love her. I can't describe it but I love her more than anything. I'm just not..in love with her," 

My mind is still processing everything but I don't hesitate to reach forward and wrap my arms around Freddie's neck in an embrace. He pauses briefly before hugging me back, pulling me close to him. I always had a feeling there was something different about Freddie but I could never place it. Now it makes perfect sense and it makes me love the man even more. 

"Mary said I'm going to have a hard life," Freddie whispers in my ear. 

We pull apart slightly and I rest my hands on his shoulders and I look into his eyes. 

"You will," I answer, thinking about the slander and the abuse gay people receive daily. "But you have us. Brian, Roger, John..Chrissie, Veronica, me, and even Mary. We all love you and we'll always be here for you, Freddie,"

Freddie smiles sadly at me.

"I need to tell the rest of these losers," he half-jokes, causing me to chuckle. 

"Tell them when you're ready," I tell him. I'm honored that he told me but I don't want him to feel pressured into telling anyone because he feels he has to. 

Freddie closes his eyes and takes a deep breath before opening his eyes once more and nodding at me. 

"Okay," he says. "I'm ready,"