Not Just A Roadie / Queen Fanfiction

22 • Art

JENNIFER's POV

oh my god.
oh my god.
oh my god!!!!!
he saw my drawing, oh that's so embarrassing. I really didn't want Roger to know that I'd been drawing him like an utter creep.

but...he seemed to like it, a lot. but now I look like the crazy girl who's obsessed with the drummer of a rock 'n' roll band.

which, to be fair, I was, but he mustn't know.

I still felt filthy after the other night and the thought of intimacy made me want to have an extensive sob, but that didn't stop my feelings for Roger from piling in. the way he was so caring, so kind, so soft when he wanted to be. it was a side of him that I'm sure not many people knew he had, being a drummer in a rock band and all.

ROGER's POV

the rest of the journey passed without incident, the paper was passed around with a mixed response. John responded by simply allowing his jaw to drop, Brian by nearly crashing into a fence and Freddie with a loud yell of "OH MY GOD DARLING, ARE YOU TAKING COMMISSIONS?"

overall, the bus ride was relatively smooth. albeit, the drive was a lot quieter than usual but we made it all in on piece, which was the important thing.

clambering out into the welcomingly open air, we pretty much headed straight inside and rehearsed for half an hour before we had to do all the usual checks.

the entire time, I couldn't get Jenny's fantastic drawing out of my mind and I just wanted to take it home and frame it. with this piece of artwork came a stronger rush of attraction to Jenny and I was struggling not to flirt with her. After all, flirting was kind of my strong point, but I had to remind myself that she was going home after this and so was I. but then again, now we had to work out a way for her to be home, but in a safe environment and not around that 'Russ' devil.

whereas usually we'd have Jenny in the audience for moral support and her entertainment, we'd all agreed that it'd be safer for her to stand at the side of the stage, where we knew she was safe and we could all see her (bar me from my drumkit but I trusted the lads to keep an eye out). plus, she'd be with Paul and Reid and although Paul was a cowardice little tit at times, we at least had enough faith to believe that him and Reid wouldn't let anything bad happen to her.

being forced to push our worries about Jenny out of our minds as to not falter our performance, we had a better time than I expected on the stage. Freddie pranced around more than usual and I kept seeing him steal glances in Jenny's direction.

halfway through the concert, I felt a twinge in my shoulder as I crashed the sticks on the cymbals enthusiastically in the middle of Bohemian Rhapsody. the twinge grew into a dull ache and I made a mental note to take some painkillers after the show.

FREDDIE'S POV

as per usual, the Chicago crowd were ecstatic and I expected no less from them. if you were going to a Queen concert, you had to expect feeling the electricity of the music from your head down to your toes.

between songs, I craned my neck over to Jenny at the side of the stage and she gave me many thumbs up and toothy grins. I was very glad to see her happy and feeling safe. I also prized her for tolerating Paul for that long, two solid hours. It amazed me how I did it sometimes, but then again we didn't spend all of our time together just talking.

when the concert ended and my throat felt like it as about to burst out of my neck and into flames before our very eyes, we bounded off the stage and into the arms of Jenny, who had hers outstretched.

"you guys were amazing!" she shouted and we all took an instinctive step back when she added, "and sweaty, hug me later when you don't all smell like a high school changing room?"

I loved her brutal honesty, I could see why Roger was falling for her so bad, even if he hadn't admitted it to anybody yet. I could see it from a mile off, whether or not that was my natural intuition or he was just that obvious, I didn't know.

What I did know was that I was very much looking forward to a drink and a sit down, I was fairly sure my feet were going to fall off pretty soon. still, I wouldn't change my job for the world.

ROGER'S POV

the performance that night was anxious but electric. I was extremely worried about Jenny the whole time, even though I'd had specific instruction not to be by both herself and myself. still, that didn't stop me. besides, she didn't know wat was going on inside my head.

———

the next three shows went by without incident. again, Jenny stood on the side of the stage instead of in the crowd each time and we went straight to a bar or to Betty at the end of each of our concerts instead of hanging around in the venue getting drunk. we got drunk in safer places instead.

San Diego had to be my favourite tour yet. we were flawless. except when Freddie's mic cut out for a second and he yelled "Shit! Sorry lovies, God the hospitality around here!" when it came back on. of course he was only joking around and thanked everybody who would listen afterwards. The audience seemed to know our music better than we did and started humming along even to Brian's guitar solos.

naturally, this made him very chuffed and didn't we know about it as afterwards we got several rounds of conversations that went a little something like this:

reid: you guys were incredible, did you see the crowd out there!?

brian: did you hear them singing along to MY solos? that was breathtaking!

paul: yeah, it was alright, I think we should stick to our routine next time though...

john: I'm sorry, who's routine?

brian: I was bloody brilliant thank you very much paul

Freddie: we can't just control what the crowd sings along to

Brian: when they sang along to my solo, I wanted to carry on forever, you know?

paul: it didn't follow the set

me: do's a favour Paul

paul: yeah?

me: fuck up.

brian: god, it was so-

freddie: not to be rude or anything darling, but do shut up. we're all very happy for you and chuffed ourselves and everything but I can't concentrate on getting shitfaced with your rejoicements down my lug.

"Urr, Fred, I don''t think 'rejoicements' is a word..." brian tried to chip in, but it was no use. Freddie'd already necked a shot of vodka and now the party was really starting.

we'd manage to locate a pub, which didn't compare to British pubs at all. there were all these casino-style machines in here and the girl at the bar couldn't hear what we were saying over the loud music and rowdy day drinkers left lurking around. it didn't feel like a pub at all, it felt like a cross between a club and a casino.

San Diego had epic people, but I really couldn't say the same for their places to grab a drink.

nonetheless, we still got utterly wasted here. and it was a safe enough place for Jenny to be away from filthy prying eyes