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"Come on Ronnie, pick up, pick up, if it’s switched off I swea- Ah fuck.", cursed John, as the voice on the other end of the line confirmed that Ronnie’s phone, was indeed, switched off. With a heavy sigh, he pocketed his phone and cursed his luck. “Next time I see her, I’m going to personally toss that charger of hers in the trash, it’s not like she uses it or anything”, he grumbled to himself. Running his hands through his short, dark hair, he frowned to himself. John knew he was being overdramatic as fuck right now but he was just so tired and frustrated and was trying very hard not to rip his hair out in the middle of the very crowded H&M he was currently in.
It was his son, Robert’s fifth birthday the next day and John had not yet bought his gift. Now, before any of you call him a shitty parent, John was supposed to go shopping ages ago but of course, his company had to surprise him with a two week long business trip to Bali, from which he’d returned merely three hours ago. Yes, he had brought back some souvenirs but they just didn’t fall into the “my son’s birthday gift” category, you know? What the fuck was Robbie going to do with a wooden fridge magnet in the shape of a heart that said “You are un-Bali-evable” against a backdrop of a beach anyway?
So, as soon as John landed back in London, he took a taxi directly from the airport and to the nearest mall to finally go buy his son's gift. After what must have been hours and hours of searching (and almost getting smothered by the sheer amount of weekend shoppers which didn't surprise him even a tiny bit, considering it was a Saturday evening after all), John finally happened to stumble upon a Disney themed t-shirt that he knew Robbie would like. Now, if only he could figure out the correct size…
“Fuck numbers, fuck math, fuck clothes”, he grumbled, holding up two t-shirts, which looked the exact same, mind you, as he tried to figure out the difference between a size 5 and a size 6. In his defence, it was Veronica who bought most of Robert’s clothes as John “didn’t have it in him”, Ronnie’s words, whatever that meant. And yes, he might have a bloody honours degree in Electrical Engineering but when it came to things like picking up the right size or measuring stuff, John was as clueless as a polar bear that had somehow found itself in the Sahara (The amount of times Freddie had to go and exchange any clothing that John would gift him was enough proof)
“Hey mate, um, you alright?”
A raspy but soft voice interrupted John’s train of thought. As he turned around to locate the owner of the voice, he almost dropped the t-shirt in his hand.
Now, John would love to go the cheesy way and say that ‘beautiful was the first thing that came to his mind the second he laid his eyes on the stranger’ and all that crap but that was absolutely not the case. The first thing that actually came to John’s mind on seeing the stranger was a sound resembling ‘angck’ because his brain literally short-circuited for a few seconds. The man that stood In front of him was the most gorgeous man he had ever laid eyes on. With blonde hair and the bluest of eyes, he exuded a kind of beauty that could only be described as cherubic. John was pretty sure he had hearts for eyes right now. John also seemed to remember that he was asked a question.
“Um yes”, he squeaked out and then, clearing his throat, asked with added boldness, “Why do you ask?”
“Well, it’s just that it’s been 5 minutes since you’ve been holding onto that t-shirt and glaring at it so…”, replied the man with what seemed like a teasing grin on his face.
Great, John thought, just great. He just had to embarrass himself in front of this handsome stranger. He could feel the blush slowly creeping up his neck. Amazing (not).
“Oh my god, I’m, um, really sorry. I swear I’m not usually this weird”, he rambled, “It’s just that it’s my son’s birthday tomorrow and I have to get him this t-shirt and I am practically illiterate when it comes to shopping and now I’m stuck because I don’t know his size. Is he a 5 or is he a 6 ? I don’t know, they honestly look the same and like I swear, I’m not a shitty dad, I can tell you that his favourite cartoon is Scooby Doo and he likes his milk warm but not too warm with exactly two and a half spoons of cocoa powder even in my sleep but this is just not my thing and-I’m just going to shut up now.“
John was as red as a tomato now. Typical, he thought to himself, always jumping at the opportunity to make a fool of himself. He really did not know why he was telling a complete stranger all this but it seemed like his mouth and his brain just did not want to cooperate.
He was seriously considering diving into the pile of clothes at the clearance aisle when he saw the stranger give him an amused smile.
“Hey, calm down okay? I completely understand your situation and-“
“PAPAAAA”
John looked up just in time to see a ball of blonde hair running towards them and latching onto the stranger in front of him. Beaming at the boy, the man easily picked him up and placed him on his hip. The boy, who was clearly his son (same blonde hair and blue eyes, John noted), started babbling.
“Papaaaa! They have the new Frozen toy! The one with both Anna and Elsa. Can we please get it? Please, please, please? You know how much I love that movie. Pleaseeeeee?”
“Give me a minute love, I promise we’ll get it but first let’s see what we can do to help this pretty young man. Yeah?”, the stranger told his son and after ruffling the mop on his head, he turned towards John. “Now, what I was going to say before I was rudely interrupted-“, he looked pointedly at his son when he said this, who just giggled in reply, “is that maybe I could help you if you want? I do most of this little man’s shopping so I can be of some help? No offence mate but you look like you need it.”
“Oh no, no. I can’t possibly ask you to do that. You clearly have your own matters to attend to and I really don’t want to come in your way. Thank you for the offer though.”, replied John. This dude was gorgeous and nice? Someone please stop John from swooning!
“It’s really no problem. We would love to help you out, right Felix?”, the man asked his son, who was still clinging onto his dad’s denim jacket. The cute thing just nodded shyly along with his dad. They’re really adorable, thought John.
“And besides”, the man added, “I completely understand your situation. Things like this can be quite stressful and if I was in your position, I wouldn’t mind a helping hand. It’s really no problem.”
John just nodded his head. “Thank you so much! It would really mean a lot”.
The man just waved him off and said, “Hey, it’s really no problem. Now what exactly were you looking for?”
“Ah yes, well, it’s Robert’s fifth birthday tomorrow and oh sh- I mean, crap”, John realised,”I completely forgot to introduce myself! I’m, um, John, John Deacon.”, he said, extending his hand, silently praying that they weren’t sweaty.
“Nice to meet you John! My name is Roger, Roger Taylor”, said the man, Roger, while extending his own hand to shake John’s and flashing him an extremely charming smile. Roger’s calloused hands felt soft in his own, as he shook it with a firm, confident grip. He was looking at John with his piercing blue eyes, a strange intensity behind them. John suddenly felt warm and fuzzy all over. Shitty air conditioning, he thought to himself.
They slowly let go of each other’s hands and John then turned to the cute, little nugget still placed on Roger’s hips. “And what about you, little man? Aren’t you going to introduce yourself?”, asked John, bopping the boy on his nose.
“My name is Felix”, he replied timidly, immediately hiding his face in his dad’s neck.
“Don’t mind him”, said Roger, “He’s a bit shy with new people.”
“Oh that’s no problem, I’m sure we’ll become good friends by the time we’re done with this. Isn’t that right Felix?”, asked John. Felix just giggled and continued to cling to Roger and began playing with the lapels of Roger’s jacket .
“Right, now back to the situation at hand. You wanted to buy that t-shirt for your son but you just aren’t sure about the size right?”, asked Roger, pointing at the white t-shirt that John was still holding onto for some reason.
John nodded. “Yeah, this is his favourite character. The girl from that one ice movie, Freeze? Elisa or something?”
“It’s Frozen and her name is Elsa”, mumbled Felix.
“Ah yes, yes, that one”
“Hmm okay. Is it okay if you could show me a picture of your son so that I can guess his size. Not to toot my own horn or anything, but I’ve got a really good eye when it comes to stuff like this”, said Roger.
“Yeah sure, just give me a second”, said John, taking out his phone and opening his gallery to search for a picture. Once he found the right one, he passed his phone towards Roger.
“Here you go”, he said.
Roger just stared at the screen for a few seconds, a weird expression on his face. It looked like he was trying his level best not to laugh.
“Um, well, I must say, you sure do make a sexy, uh, candle, I’m assuming?”, chuckled Roger, looking up from the phone and at John, his eyes twinkling in amusement.
To say that John was confused would be an understatement. What the hell was this man going on about?
“What do you-“, realization struck John before he could complete the question, his eyes widening.
He yanked the phone out of Roger’s hand and really, really contemplated stabbing himself with the clothes hanger when he finally got a good look at his phone screen. It was a picture of John dressed in nothing but a pair of white short- shorts and a sheer, white tank top with a poorly drawn cardboard cutout of a flame taped to his head (Freddie thought it looked more like a piece of flaming orange turd but that’s not the point), a weird pink drink in hand, his face twisted into an expression that could only be termed as ugly. The picture was taken during one of Freddie’s weird themed parties
“It was a ‘Beauty and the Beast but sluttier’-themed party. I was the candle dude”, blurted John. Fuck, why’d he say that.
“Uh huh”, Roger hummed, still looking at John with that amused smile of his.
John refused to look up at Roger as he continued to quietly go through his camera roll as he was sure that doing so would make him absolutely combust with embarrassment. After finally finding the right picture (and checking at least thrice to make sure that it was the same picture he had selected because god forbid, Roger finds the pictures from The Halloweiner Party of 2018), he handed the phone back to the other man.
Roger squinted at the picture, studying it for a few seconds then turned towards John with what seemed to be his signature smile and said, “Well, it looks like he’s the same size as Felix. This should be easy. Let’s get to work.”
After what seemed like ages, but in reality was only an hour or so, John was finally satisfied. They were waiting in line to get the items billed. John looked at the huge pile of stuff he’d gotten and yes, it did seem like a lot but it’s not everyday that your little boy turns five (Roger wholeheartedly supported that sentiment). And hey, John actually had fun.
Once they got past the initial awkwardness (and embarrassment on John’s part), the two men got along like a house on fire. Roger proved to be of great help, helping him pick out a few more things for Robert. Even Felix seemed to like and enjoy John’s company and warmed up to him in no time. He ended up convincing John to get Robert the same toy that he’d made Roger buy (“He really, really likes Frozen and I really, really like Frozen. So if I really, really like this toy, then he’ll also really, really like this toy”, he’d said and honestly? John couldn’t argue with that logic.)
“Ronnie’s going to flip when she sees the amount of stuff I’ve got”, claimed John, looking at the number of things piled into his trolley as they waited in line.
The minute John said this, he saw Roger’s smile falter a bit. Huh, that’s weird.
“Um so Ronnie, is she your wife?”, asked Roger, his voice taking a weird tone.
“Uh, ex-wife actually”, replied John. He swore he saw Roger’s face light up a little at that. “We were still dating when she got pregnant with Robbie and we decided to get married for his sake. We thought it would all work out after that but boy, were we wrong”, chuckled John, shaking his head. “It was not..a nice time? Things just weren’t working out and it was at that time that I also realised that I actually swing the other way, if you know what I mean. And so, long story short, we decided it would be better if we parted ways when we still were on good terms with each other, rather than wait for things to get more messy.”
“I’m really sorry to hear that mate”, sympathised Roger.
John shook his head. “Oh no, no. It’s so much better this way. Ronnie is still one of my best friends. We have joint custody of Robert. Everybody is happy.”
“Glad it worked out in your favour, not everybody get’s that lucky’, said Roger, clapping John on his back. John’s back felt tingly all of a sudden.
“How about you? A wife? Or a girlfriend?”, asked John, noting the absence of a wedding ring. He also noted how the tingly feeling disappeared the second Roger lifted his hand off his shoulder.
“No to both”, replied Roger with a shake of his head, “Felix was actually the result of a one night stand. But he’s far from a mistake or an accident. He’s the best thing that’s ever happened to me and I wouldn’t trade him for the world.”, said Roger, looking at his son fondly, who was busy running around, sucking the candy that John had bought for him.
“His mum, Dominique, and I are on really good terms too.”, Roger continued, “She’s honestly an amazing woman and is also one of my best friends. We actually tried the whole relationship but like you said, I guess it wasn’t meant to be. She’s too cool for me, I can’t keep up”, joked Roger. “So now I'm just waiting for the right person, you know. Someone who can put up with me and all that jazz.”
John nodded. He completely understood where Roger was coming from, well, he was in the same situation himself. The dating scene isn't exactly thriving when you have a pretty demanding 9 to 5 job and a 5 year old son. He had to think about Robert too. Freddie had tried to set him up with a few of his friends after the divorce and as lovely as they were, they just weren’t his type. Yes, he had his share of one-night stands but in the end, he’d just given up and accepted the fact that his version of a romantic night is going to be just him, a bottle of wine and Netflix documentaries for a really long time. Why get fucked when you can get mindfucked? John had told himself, as he drank directly from the bottle, watching a jellyfish prancing around.
Trying to ignore just how pathetic that image was, John broke out of his train of thought and tried to pay attention to whatever Roger was telling him but it seemed near impossible. Why, the man in front of him was absolutely stunning and John would have to be blind to not stare at him! He tried not to look at Roger’s lips for too long as he heard him talk. They looked so pink and kissable and John’s eyes were instantly drawn to it. He was, after all, but a mere mortal. And it just wasn’t about his looks anymore. Roger was just so kind and helpful and charming and John realised that he might as well wear pigtails and put on a skirt if he was going to sound like a schoolgirl.
John tried to bring himself to calm down. Firstly, he reasoned with himself, he met this man merely three hours ago, which is a pretty short amount of time for him to form an opinion about someone, right? Next, he might, no, he will never see this man again. Roger saw John in distress, and being the sweetheart that he is, offered to help him and now that he’s done, he’ll naturally part ways. That’s all. And besides, he might not even be into guys. He never did mention anything along those lines.
John’s conversation with himself was interrupted when he heard Roger calling his name.
“John, you okay there? You spaced out for a bit”, Roger asked him, concern evident in his big, blue eyes. John wanted to melt.
“Uh yes, yes, I’m good. Just a bit tired”, replied John, rubbing his neck and pretending to yawn.
“Oh well, we’re next in line to get our things billed so we should be done in some time. You can relax after that.”, noted Roger, giving him a small smile.
Soon, it was their turn. Roger got his items billed first as it was less in number, just a t-shirt that said “Proud mom of an awesome astronomer” (When John asked Roger about it, he just laughed and shook his head, telling him it was for a friend) and Felix’s toy. Once he was done, he went to go get Felix, who was still running around, probably hyped up on all the sugar from the candy, letting John bill his stuff.
Once he was done paying for his purchases, John turned around, shopping bag in hand, and was pleasantly surprised to find Roger and Felix waiting for him near the entrance. They were busy whispering something to one another and John could hear Felix giggling. John couldn’t help but smile. They made for an extremely endearing picture and it briefly reminded him of Robbie.
As he made his way towards them, he could see Roger turn towards him, his eyes lighting up the moment he spots John. As Roger waved him over, flashing him a bright smile, John couldn’t help but be mesmerized by it. His smile was like a spell, magical and alluring and immediately putting John at ease. He instantly found himself thinking that he wouldn’t mind if it was the only thing he got to see for the rest of time. Trust John to want to wax poetic about somebody he just met.
“Hey look Felix, John’s here!”, exclaimed Roger as John finally reached where they were standing.
Felix turned towards John and gave him a wide, toothy grin that seemed to light up his face, which John couldn’t help but coo over. He just really loves kids and besides, Felix was an adorable little munchkin.
“You guys didn’t have to wait for me you know”, said John, standing a few feet in front of the two Taylors.
“Oh, it was no problem”, shrugged Roger, with a shake of his hand but then added with a bit of uncertainty, “Um, unless you didn’t want us to?”
John immediately shook his head.
“Oh no, no, nothing like that. Just surprised, that’s all.”
“Haha, yeah”
There was nothing but radio silence as the two men looked at each other, unsure of what to say. John began toying with the last button on his shirt, a nervous habit that he’d picked up at a young age. He did not know what to say or what to do. All he knew was that he didn’t want to say goodbye, not so soon. He really wanted to see Roger again but he wasn’t sure if that was also what Roger wanted. Maybe he should ask him for his number? Surely, he wouldn’t say no to that? Or would that make it seem like he was hitting on him? Lord, he didn’t even know if Roger was into men. But he could always meet him as a friend? Did Roger even want to be his friend?
Lost in his own head, John did not see Felix slink away from Roger’s grasp and move towards him. He was only broken out of his reverie when he felt Felix tug at the leg of his trousers. He looked down at the boy, curious to see what he had to tell him. John could feel Roger’s eyes on them, looking at them with confusion. John turned his attention towards Felix and gave him a small, questioning smile.
Felix opened his mouth and,
“Papa called you a Disney princess and said that you are really very pretty and he-“
John had never seen anyone react as fast as Roger Taylor did when he heard his son’s words. With a speed that would honestly put even Usain Bolt to shame, Roger immediately ran over to them, covering Felix’s mouth with one hand and scooping him up with the other. His face was so red, it resembled a beetroot.
“Um, funny thing, haha, I just remembered, Felix has an appointment with the dentist, like right now and we have to, uh, leave, like right now”, was all Roger said and before John could even realise what was happening, they were gone.
John just stood there, still staring at the spot the two blondes occupied just a few seconds ago, clutching his white shopping bag. His mind was in a whirl. Roger had called him pretty. Roger had called him a Disney princess. (This particular statement made John’s stomach all fluttery). And then what did he do? He fucking ran away.
John was just so confused and frankly, that seemed to be his constant state of mind as of late. Felix’s words were running through his head. Did Roger actually think he was pretty or was the kid just taking the piss? No, no, Felix was too shy to do that. And why in lord’s name did Roger just run away like that? That made John frown a bit. He didn’t even get to say a proper goodbye.
John was suddenly interrupted by the sound of the phone ringing. He vaguely remembers throwing it into his shopping bag, so he stuck his hand into the bag and began rummaging through the stuff in order to fish his phone out. As he peered into the bag to get a closer look, something caught his eye. It looked like a bright pink post-it note. What was that doing in his bag?
He was somehow successful in fishing it out without crumpling it.
“Oh hello, what have we got here”, he muttered to himself, as he turned the note over, noticing black ink. There was something written on it.
I didn’t have to see you dressed as a candle to know you’re hot ;)
I’d love to see you again, call me? xxxxxxxx
- Roger Taylor :)
John let his jaw drop as he stared at the note in hand. He could feel his stomach churn (the good kind, unlike the ‘I had tikka masala from the Indian takeout down the road for dinner yesterday’ kind), the butterflies already beginning to flutter in his tummy and for what seemed like the thirty-ninth time that day, he felt warm all over. He pinched himself once just to make sure this was reality and not a side-effect of him having slept for only 4 hours the previous night.
Once the initial shock had worn off, he broke into a big smile, his eyes crinkling in mirth. He really couldn’t believe this was happening. No, seriously. What were the odds?
The butterflies must have surely reached his head now as he didn’t know what else to do other than stare at the note, a dopey grin stretching his face, showing off his little tooth gap. He was vaguely aware of the fact that the phone had stopped ringing and that he should’ve picked it up long ago but he chose to ignore it. He was a little too elated to care at the moment. The only thing on his mind right now was that if it all worked out, then maybe, just maybe, he would no longer have to worry about updating his Netflix watchlist.