Chapter Text
It was no mystery that Roger Taylor didn’t like Paul Prenter, not at all. It was also no mystery that Paul Prenter didn’t like Roger Taylor, not in the slightest.
Actually, the whole Band, except their frontman, didn’t like Prenter. Through the years of getting to know him and seeing what a complete arsehole and bad influence he was for Freddie, Roger, Brian as well as John had started to absolutely hate him.
In the early beginning of meeting him, Brian and John didn’t think that bad of him however though, they soon discovered Prenter to be the worst person they ever had experienced to meet.
Roger, unlike Brian and John, always had a grudge against that ‘bloody wanker’ for he somehow always knew that Paul was up to something; that he was just using his best friend; that he was just feasting on him, seducing him, making him do things the Freddie they all knew would never do.
The band met Prenter in the mid-70s already, though his influence on Freddie started to get more serious, more diseased, more obsessive during the time QUEEN recorded and then released their Album ‘Hot Space’.
It was all downhill from there.
And what happened on a cold rainy day in November 1982, not too long after the end of their 'Hot Space Tour', was climactic of the extreme.
The Band was about to meet to discuss how things would continue from now on. It was no secret that their new Album wasn’t that much of a success as their previous ones and that they were all drained and tired and in need of a good long break. Just a break, no breaking up, obviously.
That day they decided to meet at Brian’s and Roger’s place to talk about the band’s development, how to continue and other important stuff that was desperately needed to be talked about, John was the first one to arrive, which wasn’t surprising at all after all Freddie was pretty much always late.
“I’m getting it!” John heard Brian calling out from inside the house, while he was waiting in the pouring rain outside.
“Deacy, hey. How are you?” Brian greeted him smiling, as he opened the door.
“Come on in.”
“Hey mate. I’m good.” John smiled back before closing the door behind him and scraping his shoes on the doormat before hanging his wet jacket on the hallstand next to the frontdoor.
“I always forget how big this place is.” He joked while following Brian further into the house.
Brian just laughed at that comment but there was no way Deacy would have missed the taller man’s proud and happy expression.
Before the drummer and the guitarist moved into their own four walls, they still lived in a flat to keep the relationship they were in a secret and to not raise too much attention on it. Though, after almost eight years of being together, hiding became tiring and exhausting plus rumours had already been starting to spread and there would never be a way to stop them anyway.
Therefore, one day the couple thought ‘fuck it’ and finally bought their own house together. About bloody time, the rest of the band had said.
“I believe Freddie isn’t there yet.” The bassist added looking around the lounge before sitting down on one of the Sofas.
“Yep, you believed right.” Roger suddenly intruded as he appeared from the kitchen with two cups of tea.
“I bet his bloody pet his keeping him busy.” He added, with a facial expression which literally screamed for disgust and hatred the drummer felt towards Fred’s pet; Prenter, obviously.
“Love, we talked about this,” Brian said softly, putting his hand on the smaller man’s back, knowing very well how much his partner hated this man. Of course, Brian did too, but he thought he wasn’t worth getting upset about.
“Yeah, I know it’s just … that man…” He started but stopped quickly after, knowing he wouldn’t do anyone any good if he started with that topic now. Brian was right. So, instead, he took a deep breath and turned to John.
“Sorry. How are you doing?” Roger greeted him smiling at his friend now before handing him one of the cups.
“I’m good. Thanks. How about you guys?” The bassist asked while making himself comfortable.
“Enjoying the domestic life?”
Roger giggled and nodded.
“Yeah, not too bad, either,” Brian said, smiling widely, before thanking his boyfriend for the tea he made him as well.
“There’s not much to do now that the tour is over, really. Though, I genuinely think a little break is necessary, anyway.”
“Yeah, I agree.” John nodded while sipping on his tea.
“A break would do no one any harm. We all need it especially Freddie.” John sounded worried now.
In fact, all three were quite worried about their best friend, especially in the last couple of months he hasn’t been his usual self. Not the Freddie Mercury John, Brian, and Roger knew so well.
“True. What Freddie needs the most is a break from this rat.” Roger added obviously meaning Paul.
“He just needs to fuck off.”
John nodded, agreeing to one hundred percent with his blond friend.
“All that bloody idiot is doing to him, is being a bad influence and getting Freddie to do things he would never do.” He continued and everyone knew what he was referring to.
“We all can see that, right? I’m not alone here. He doesn’t do Fred any good. It was bad enough before the tour already but I feel like it’s getting worse, really.” Roger continued.
His heart started to race in fury only thinking about that man and what he was doing to his friend. It didn’t go unnoticed by the other two and so the guitarist put his hand around his shoulder once again, in the hope this would make his boyfriend calm down a bit.
“I swear, I’m going to address that topic today. And I don’t care if Freddie will like it or not. I can’t have some idiot destroy our best friend.” Roger went on, his voice was drawn with pure anger.
“We all know what he is doing to him. We ignored it for far too long. I won’t have it. Not anymore.”
Brian and John once again agreed, even though they were both worried and wondered as to how Roger would want to make Freddie understand what kind of a man Paul Prenter really was.
“We are with you, love but you need to calm down now, okay? This won’t do you any good either and you know that.” Brian said gently, his arm still around his shoulder.
The guitarist expected his boyfriend to object but the drummer surprisingly just nodded, knowing Brian was right. Once again.
“Anyway, how are Veronica and the kids, John?” Brian asked eventually after a few seconds of trying to calm down his boyfriend and to change the topic.
To Brian’s and John’s amazement Roger’s expression turned from the pure disgust of the thought of Prenter into a soft smile while thinking about John’s family.
“They’re fine. Ronnie sends her regards, by the way. Said it’s been too long and we should meet for Dinner some time in the future,” He smiled before sipping on his tea again.
“Fantastic idea,” Brian replied and Roger agreed.
“Actually, there is something else-” John went on, looking rather excited at the two men.
“- we’ve got some news.”
“Some news?” Brian asked, frowning, wondering what would follow.
“Come on, bloody tell us, Deacy. Don’t leave us on tenterhooks.” Roger joked as John just smiled instead of saying something right away.
“Actually, I wanted to wait until Fred’s here but it seems it’ll still take some time until he arrives,” John started.
“Anyway, Ronnie is expecting again.” The bassist beamed, radiant with happiness while these words left his mouth.
“No way! Congratulations, mate!” Roger was the first one to stand on his feet and to hug his best friend.
“That’s such great news! Congrats, Deacs.” Brian said, smiling widely before hugging him as well.
“Jeez, you two must have been pretty busy. A break really won’t do you any harm then, I suppose. Good job, Deacy. ” The drummer joked, though absolutely happy for him and Veronica.
“That would be number four then, right?” He went on, smiling before sitting down again.
“Yeah. Number four,” John laughed and nodded.
“Thanks, guys.”
The boys talked a bit more about it; that they definitely would have to meet for Dinner some time soon so they could give Veronica their good wishes in person as well as about Roger’s plan to convince Veronica that he would be the best choice for a godfather for their new baby.
Even though Brian and Roger were more than just happy for the bassist, knowing they would probably never be able to have kids running around in their own house made them a bit weary. Maybe one day, they thought. There must be a way.
However, those sad thoughts were quickly shoved aside as finally, the doorbell rang.
“I reckon, this must be Fred,” Brian said, looking at his watch.
It was almost 4 pm and they actually intended to meet at around 3 pm but this was typical for their lead singer and they didn’t expect anything else, to be honest.
“Fucking finally,” Roger exclaimed as he was about to get up from where he was sitting to open the door though only to find that Brian was quicker and already on his way.
“About time, Fred. Deacy is already –“ Brian said while opening the door but stopped talking halfway at the sight of the man next to his friend.
“Brian, Darling. How are you?” Freddie greeted him before getting in, closely followed by no one other than Paul Prenter.
Damn it.
Brian gulped, Roger was so not going to like having Freddie’s “Pet” in their house. Needless to say, that the guitarist himself and John, at that matter, didn’t like having him around either. All he was doing was causing troubles, disagreements, and fights.
“Sorry, we are late, my Dears. We were busy and time really seems to fly sometimes.” Freddie went on while entering the lounge where Roger and John were waiting.
“What the fuck is he doing here?” Roger said upon seeing Paul.
“This is a band meeting. There’s no need to bloody bring him along.” He added, clearly pissed, looking from Prenter to his best friend.
John suddenly tensed up. He knew this was not going to end well. He looked over to Brian who had the same thought on his mind and the same expression in his face as the bassist; he was just as tense.
“Well, he kind of is a part of the band, Blondie,” Freddie said as if it was nothing, while Paul gave Roger the evillest look, he was capable of doing.
“Not for me he is fucking not.”
“Give him break, rainbow. It’s fine. It’s not like I brought along the devil himself,”
‘No, you brought along worse.’ The other three men thought.
“Also, in case you didn’t know but Freddie invited me to join. He wanted to.” Prenter remarked, his evil grin not leaving his face as he walked towards the blond to give him a slap on his shoulder, though the drummer didn’t let it come so far and immediately shoved Paul’s arm aside.
“Indeed, I did,” Freddie reassured.
“Well, this is my house and I don’t want him here.” Roger spat out.
“Not everything is about you, Roger. Oh, and by the way, I’m right here. You don’t have to talk about me in the third person.” Paul said, his voice amused about that fact that Roger was clearly getting madder with every passing second.
“Shut your damn mouth, will ya?” The drummer replied.
“If you really want him to go, then he will go but I’m going to join him.”
“Oh, don’t be so fucking ridiculous, Fred.” Brian finally said after watching that scene for far too long without saying anything.
“You know what!? That’s fucking it.” Roger was fuming, so instead of saying something else and doing something he would regret later, he took the packet of cigarettes which was lying on the table and left the room.
“When I come back this man should better be bloody gone.”
Brian and John shared a worried look. The guitarist wanted to follow his boyfriend to make sure he was alright but he also knew that in times like these Roger just needed to be alone for a second to calm down. The curly-haired man looked back from where Roger had just left the room at Paul and Freddie in front of them.
“Was that really necessary?” He asked the two men.
“Rog is right. This is a band meeting which means between the four of us. It always has been only the four of us. Rog said it and John and I are going to say it again. Just leave Paul, will you?” Brian said eventually, trying to be as reasonable as possible with the man standing next to one of his best friends.
“It’s not my fault that the blonde princess is overreacting, I didn’t do anything. You better get your boyfriend under control before blaming me,” Prenter explained, his voice just as amused as it was before; trying to get away with it by sounding innocent.
Brian wouldn’t want to believe his ears.
“Quit talking about my boyfriend like that, understood?” The guitarist said calmly though yet his voice was full of annoyance.
“Seriously, mate, it’s better if you just fuck off already,” John added slyly which caused Freddie but especially Paul to look at him with a rather surprised expression.
“You are not needed here anymore,” The bassist quickly added.
“Alright. Alright. I’ll leave.” He eventually gave in, holding up his hands jokingly in surrender, obviously not taking any of this serious.
What confused Brian and John, even more, was the unpleasantly satisfied tone Paul used while doing so.
“I will see you later then,” Paul turned his head to Freddie, smirking at him before leaving the lounge.
No one noticing that he was taking the same way Roger had been taking instead of using the front door to piss off.
It took a couple of seconds for Freddie to comprehend what just happened, clearly, he seemed utterly confused.
“What the hell, Darlings? Where does all the fury come from all of the sudden?!” The singer asked as soon as Paul had left the room.
“All of the sudden?!” Brian repeated his voice before laughing bitterly.
“You are high again, aren’t you?”
“Well deducted, love. Does it matter, anyway?”
“I never thought you could get that low,” John added, sounding rather disappointed but hurt and worried at the same time.
~~~
Roger took another puff of his cigarette, trying to calm down and hoping that as soon as he would finish that smoke and would return to the lounge, Paul would be gone.
He was standing outside on the terrace, which was partly roofed, thankfully because otherwise, he would be soaking wet by now for it was still bucketing down plus, he promised Brian to not smoke inside the house, anyway so smoking inside was no option either.
He was mad and angry but more so was he hurt and disappointed. He knew Freddie for so long now. They’d even shared a flat and they’d worked together in the tiny stall down at Kensington Market before they were able to make a proper living so many years ago and now it seemed like this arsehole of a man with the name Paul Prenter seemed to be more important to Freddie than any of them.
Of course, they all still loved the singer, he was still their best friend also did they all knew Freddie wasn’t to blame for what was happening right now, it was mostly Prenter’s fault. That snake, who was taking advantage of him and his fame.
God, Roger could throw up at the thought of him and what he was doing to Freddie.
“Hiding outside, aren’t we? Can’t handle the pressure, huh?”
Roger almost jumped as got ripped out of his thoughts by that familiar but disgusting voice he sadly knew pretty well by now. The drummer turned around, facing the source of the voice.
Prenter, who else.
“I thought I told you to fucking leave my house?” Roger said, taking the last puff.
“What’s so hard to understand?” He continued, throwing away the cigarette's end.
“Oh, and please while you are at it, do me a favour and disappear out of our lives completely.”
Paul just laughed at his comment.
“You can’t always have things your way. Fred wouldn’t want me to just disappear he made that clear enough a couple of times. That won’t happen. Sorry to disappoint you.”
“As fucking if. Tell that to the fucking marines!” Roger spat, facial expression full of disgust again.
“What do you want from him?! You’ve done your part! You bloody turned him into someone he is fucking not. What else do you want?!” Roger raised his voice, though it was drowned out by the sound of the rain that was pouring down.
“The question is what does he want and I think we both know the answer to that,” Paul replied, though not as confident as before.
“What does he want?!” The drummer fake-laughed.
“Are you fucking serious?! Fred didn’t ask for you to be part of his life. You were the one. You are the one who searched for love and comfort, it wasn’t him. Fred’s already got people who love and care for him; a family. You fucking don’t. You destroy him. You fucking misuse him, you make him do things the Freddie we know would never do. So, tell me, why are you doing it?! Is because you never had someone to fucking love you? Tell me, what is it you bloody want?” Roger was screaming at top of his lounges now.
The last part of Roger’s ‘speech’, if you can call it that, really must have been the final straw for Prenter because upon hearing the comment about him never having someone in his life who truly loved him, Paul saw red. He hauled off and punched Roger in the face with all the strength he got.