Not Just A Roadie / Queen Fanfiction

17 • Games

hello, hello, helloooo :)) just to let you know that all chapters will automatically start from Roger's perspective, even if the last chapter ends on somebody else's x

finally, finally, we made it to Dayton and not a moment too soon. it was way past nightfall by the time we got there, hindered by Freddie's exceptionally dramatic and childlike desire to stop off for a McDonald's.

"oh my god, Fred, do you want nuggets or a burger with your Happy Meal?" I snapped at him as we all tiredly trudged behind him into the rest stop Maccees. it wasn't even that late, scarcely 7pm, but we were all collectively knackered. bar Freddie, clearly.

in the end, we were all slightly chuffed with the McDonald's route, though we didn't utter a word of that to Freddie. I couldn't decide what was better: the fact that Reid paid for us all or that we went to the shop next door and bought four crates of beers between us for tomorrow night.

———

Reid was right, the Dayton venue was slightly smaller than the previous ones of this tour, but we made use of every inch of space on that stage. the crowd was happy either way, singing along and sloshing their drinks around in the mosh pit.

it was fair to say that by the time we'd bounded off the stage, we were all suitably knackered, yesterday's journey catching up to us. that meant that it was a perfect time to crack open those beers and laze around in the bus for the rest of the evening.

"I'm bored." Freddie whined as he lolled around the bus. how he still had the energy to move was too much effort to even think about let alone have.

"what do you wanna do, Freddie?" Paul asked, sitting at the table with a packet of crisps.

"I know, let's play a game!" even the thought of it made me want to fall forwards onto the floor and stay there.

"what game?" Brian asked, clearly as wiped out as I was. his legs were jutting out everywhere, lying at an awkward angle on his bed.

"heheh, how about truth or dare?" Freddie asked, sitting next to Paul and putting an arm around his shoulders.

"okay and afterwards, who wants to give each other manicures?" I asked, laughing at my own joke. somewhere in the bus I could hear Jenny suppressing a laugh.

"no, c'mon!"

somehow, for a reason that is still not coherent to me, Freddie managed to make us all sit around the little circular table at the back of Betty. outside I could still hear drunk people high from the concert singing our songs as they made their way out of the venue. I smiled to myself at the thought of going to a Queen concert. it was weird, we were the ones giving the performance and I'd loved to know what it was like to receive it.

"alright, who wants to go first?"

"Bri, truth or dare?" Jenny said lazily, rolling her eyes, avoiding a round of Rock, Paper, Scissors to start the game or something. I was very grateful for that.

"urrr, truth, I guess." he replied, leaning back in the small seat, his knees accidentally bumping into mine and Deaky's (who were sitting either side of him).

"nah, boring!" Freddie hollered, cupping his hands over his mouth for extra projection. not that he needed it, he was a showman. we'd all had a few drinks by this point, a couple of us on our third or fourth, so there was no filter as to what we were daring each other to do, apparently. that was made very clear to me when Jenny smirked and said:

"kiss me."

JENNY's POV

I wanted to see Roger's reaction. I wanted to see what he would do in response to me kissing another guy, especially his closest friend. had I been sober, I probably would've just asked Roger out after touring or something, but this was Drunk Jennifer, and there was no mercy when I was drunk.

"I'm married." Brian said, though I could see a smile creeping onto his face. "but then again, when has that ever stopped anybody?" he shrugged and leaned across the small table.

"just to confirm, I'm doing this on a dare, not because I have a romantic attraction to you. that'd be awkward and I love my wife." I laughed at how Brian felt he had to announce the situation. we all knew he'd never seriously cheat on Christine - his wife.

we both leaned in and our lips met. had to hand it to him, he was a decent kisser. a little haphazard, being drunk and all, but not the worst. the kiss must have lasted only around 10 seconds at the most, but when we parted and I stole a quick glance at Roger, he had a face of unmistakable thunder.

success, I'd made him jealous. Drunk Jennifer was such a bitch at times.

ROGER's POV

my blood was boiling, but i wasn't entirely sure why. how could he kiss her? how could he?

then it dawned on me why I was getting so het up about it. I still really liked Jenny. fuck.

the rest of the 'room' seemed to be pretty awestruck. they were all smiling and shaking their heads slightly. Freddie was openly laughing and in turn, everybody else followed, including Brian and Jenny.

the game continued on and I kept my mouth shut for most of it, unless spoken to. after a few rounds, Paul decided to pick on me and I chose truth.

"how many people have you slept with?" he asked with a sly grin. oh, come off it.

"what a waste of a go, Paul. we all know there's too many to count." my comment was followed by a series of laughs from Brian, Freddie and Deaky and I took another long swig of beer. I'd decided to get properly drunk after Brian and Jenny had kissed and so far my plan was going alright - 5 cans of beer in. Paul's cheeks flushed red with embarrassment and then it was my go.

by this time, everybody was getting lethargic from the alcohol and severe tiredness, the laughter of the game wearing off. however, god knows why, we were still playing. "....alright, Deaks." I didn't even say the three words.

he sighed, rolled his eyes and said "truth."

"have you ever thought about leaving Queen?"

Deaky looked suddenly very uncomfortable and he said into his lap "....yes."

"why?" I pressed. I was fairly sure that I already knew why, but my rationality was taken over by the 5 pints of beer I'd consumed.

Deaky's entire demeanour changed and he stood abruptly. "I'm going to bed," he announced and with that, left. the rest of us took this as our signal to end the game pretty sharpish as to spare Deaky his dignity about something he obviously did not want to talk about.

Reid and Paul left for their trailer and the rest of the band went to our designated beds, leaving Jenny to get changed and comfortable on her 'bed'. we'd managed to make a compromise for her, adding blankets and cushions to make it as bed-like as possible.

the entire time, I remained silent, not even telling Freddie where to go when I blatantly changed out of my jeans and shirt in front of the boys. too drunk to think, too angry to care.

this was a revelation more than anything. I'd admitted to myself that I liked Jennifer, and now it was time to never tell anybody that piece of information. there was no way she'd feel the same, I was just another heartbreaker in a rock 'n' roll band, coined the slut of the group.

I'd had a crush on her since day 1, but there was a difference between crushing on somebody and actually liking them. I hadn't had that feeling in a while.