Queen Of Hearts | Roger Taylor

IV

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He leaned against his car; one hand in the pocket of his jeans and in the other one was hanging a cigarette. He wore a yellow jacket and the button up he had underneath was almost fully open. Wasn't he cold?
"You just don't accept no for an answer, do you?" I rolled my eyes at him and walked to the passenger side of the car. He smiled and put out his cigarette, climbing in the driver's seat. "I don't want to die tonight, so please, don't drive like a maniac."

"I drive perfectly fine," he defended himself. No, he didn't.

He turned on the engine and pulled out of the parking spot, turning on the road. I leaned my head against the window, looking at all the lights that flickered on the side of the road. We were almost the only ones out at this time.

I turned my head, looking at Roger driving. He had one hand on the wheel, and his other arm was leaning on the side of the window, his hand on his chin. He eyes were focused on the road and he was softly humming to the rhythm of the music – sometimes his fingers would tap the steering wheel and then it stopped again for a few minutes. When he stopped in front of a red light, I quickly looked away before he could see that I was staring at him.

"Did you have a good work night?" he asked out of the blue.

"Yeah, it was fine," I answered. I played with a loose thread that was hanging from my coat.

We didn't say anything else as he kept driving. A few minutes later he took a right turn and drove into my street. I sighed as I that the light was already out. My brother must not be home, or he was already asleep. I grabbed my purse when Roger stopped in front of the door, ready to get out.

"Will you go out with me?" he suddenly asked. I turned around and looked at him with raised eyebrows. He had asked me this before, more than a year ago, but I figured he gave up after I told him no multiple times.

"What?" I said, disbelieved. "You're taking the piss, aren't you?"

He shook his head. I closed my eyes and leaned back into the seat. By the reaction he was getting, he seemed to already know what answer I would be giving him.

"Why not?" he asked, not even waiting for me to say the words.

"Because I am not going to fall for you like all the other girls do," was all I said.

I grabbed my purse and opened the car door, stepping out. He didn't say anything as I looked back one more time. While I was walking up the steps to the front door, I heard him driving away. I didn't look back again as I stepped into the building.

⋆


"Who's joining?" I asked my brother while I set up the water to boil. I had started making dinner, and he was setting the table, adding two more seats. I rummaged through the cupboard, seeing if we had any pasta left.

"Deaky and Roger," he answered. I nodded approvingly as I was thinking about the sauce I would make. I chose to just stick with some vegetables. "Can you please be nice to Roger?" he asked me. I turned around and looked at him as if he just accused me of doing something bad.

"Haven't I been nice?" I asked. Brian rolled his eyes and shook his head, laughing at me.

"No, Lo, you haven't. Roger is actually scared of you; did you know that?" he told me. Now it was my turn to laugh, since that was utter and complete bullshit.

"Oh, come on, just because I turned him down?" I questioned. A knock on the door broke our conversation, but he gave me the behave-yourself-look. He opened the door, and I could hear them greet each other. I finished the last of the pasta sauce before putting a lid on it.

The three boys walked back into the room, laughing at something once of them said. Deaky greeted me with a kiss on the cheek as usual, but Roger just waved and took a seat at the table. Now that I know what my brother had told me, I started to think he was right. I should be a little easier on Roger, after all, it had been a long time and holding grudges was over now.

Dinner went smoothly. We had a laugh and spoke about the normal things. I think I me and Deaky went through a whole bottle of wine together, which made me giddier than I wanted to be. But after all, class started at noon tomorrow so I could sleep in. Because I wasn't aware of our guests, I had no desert, but that wasn't a problem. We seemed to be enjoying leftovers till ten p.m., when my brother told me he would bring Deaky home. He had way too much to drink.

I cleaned the table and did most of the dishes. Roger just sat on the couch and flipped through the channels of the telly, not saying anything to me. I felt kind of bad that it had to be this way. I just wanted to make him a sweat a little, not make him scared of me and to act this way towards me. After I was finished with the cleaning, I sat next to him on the couch.

"How are you?" I asked him. This was the first time we spoke in the whole night.

"Busy." he answered. Wow, I got one-word answers.

"My brother told me things were going well with the band. Aren't you guys planning to record an album?" I asked. He nodded and drummed a rhythm with his fingers on the couch. I sighed and ran a hand through my hair. "I'm sorry if I was mean to you, it doesn't have to be this way, you know."

"This is not the same as with other girls," he said. I propped my knees up and looked at him. His blonde hair was getting longer.

" I think we're better off as friends." I said. I didn't want to get involved with Roger when I knew that something like this was never going to work. We clashed all the time.

"I'm not going to settle for that." was all he said. He stood up and walked out of the door without saying goodbye. I let my head fall into my hands, letting out a breath I didn't know I was holding. I didn't want to lead him on. That's why I was being honest, but he apparently didn't take no for an answer.

When my brother came back and asked where Roger was, I told him he went home shortly after Deaky. I didn't tell him about the conversation we had, because I knew that I was going to get lectured on how I handled it. I loved my brother, but sometimes he needed to stay out of my life and in his own.

We lounged around on the couch, watching some cartoons before I headed off to bed. I was tired and because class started later tomorrow, it would last until later in the afternoon. When I crawled under the covers after changing and brushing my teeth, I sighed and closed my eyes. Slowly, I felt myself drift off into a peaceful slumber.