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John was rooted out from his sleep by repetitive noises that strangely sounded like… sobs?
At first, he thought it was a dream, his subconscious was probably playing tricks on him by giving him the illusion that he was awake while he wasn’t at all.
But suddenly the sobs were also coupled with moans and words spoken at random times. There was no doubt. All these noises could only come from one place.
He glanced worriedly at the bed not far from his to see the agitated silhouette of his singer, Freddie Mercury, in the dark. "No…No leave me- leave me alone!" He seemed to be pleading in a low voice dazed with sleep, while struggling intensely.
John's fatigue gave way to panic within seconds. What was happening to Freddie? Was he being assaulted? Had someone managed to break into their flat? Was this person going to kill him? Were they going to kill them all?!
"Freddie what's going on?" John asked with an unsure voice. No response was heard from the singer, who nevertheless continued to struggle and sob incessantly.
That didn’t fail to worry the bassist even more. But, that however allowed him to gradually dismiss the hypothesis of an aggression from his mind.
John, until then frozen, decided to get up from the warmth of his bed to go check on his bandmate. "Freddie?" He tried a second time. Still nothing.
When he got closer to next to the singer's bed, he constated that absolutely no one was around him. So this meant that...
"Is he dreaming?" Wondered the bassist internally, as Freddie clutched his sheets as if his life depended on it.
"Freddie, are you okay?" John tried again a third time, gently placing his hand on his friend's shoulder. But a flinch welcomed the moment his fingers brushed his skin, before he started wrestling again in a succession of "No", while trying to push away the unwelcomed touch.
"Freddie, it's me, it's John… it's Deaky!" Stammered the bass player, confused by such a reaction from his friend.
The moonlight faintly illuminating Freddie's exotic face made John realise that it was covered in tears and sweat. Not to mention the fact that he was extremely tense and that his open mouth that let him breathe out and breathe in frantically, underlined that he was completely out of breath, as if he had just finished a concert.
John's heart raced with emotion. He had never seen his singer cry, or even express the slightest pain before that night. Although he had only joined Queen a few months ago, it was something he hadn't even considered seeing one day. Freddie. The man he has always considered untouchable and invulnerable was sobbing in his sleep.
The bassist felt overwhelmed. He wanted at all costs to comfort his singer, to express his gratitude for all those times when he comforted him when he felt very insecure about his future in the band and wasn’t able to find his place among Queen. And for all those times when his shyness took over before the start of a concert and his Freddie would find the right words to restore his self-confidence. But yet, he didn't know how to act about it... He wasn’t even capable to comfort himself!
The first option he thought about was to wake the singer up and thus free him from his unconscious which was torturing him without any mercy. But that would have been no use considering how the singer reacted when John barely touched him.
So the bassist thought the problem upside down. He thought about what he liked to be done to him when he was overwhelmed.
He then remembered one of their first concerts. Or, at least, one of their first concerts where he was there, as an official member of Queen.
His face covered in make-up and the outrageous outfit - carefully chosen by the singer - that he wore seemed to be a facade to his shyness, which, however, had hardly hesitated to take over. When he had burst into tears under the blows of a panic attack, it was Freddie who had come to help him.
John couldn't remember exactly the reassuring words Freddie had whispered in his ear to soothe him, but he did remember all too well the gentle strokes on his back and the hug that followed. These physical marks had been able to calm the freaked out spirit of the bassist almost immediately.
Would this work on Freddie? Or would he push him away like he had a few minutes before?
The bass player hardly ever went for physical affection towards others. Not that he didn’t like physical contacts, but he never knew how they could interpret it. He always had this fear that it would be misinterpreted and seem out of place. He didn’t know how to initiate a hug, for example. He was afraid of appearing clumsy while doing such a thing.
But the sight of the helpless singer in his bed just below him broke his heart. He absolutely wanted to help him get out of there. Make him understand that he too could be there in case of distress and that no matter what he was trying to defend himself against in his nightmare, John was there to protect him, as he was sure Freddie would do the same for him.
These affirmations strong in his mind, the bassist delicately lifted the cover of the bed in which the singer was in the grip of his unconscious with trembling hands and slipped into his bed, trying not to wake him up.
He gradually got closer to a boiling Freddie as he was sweating and managed to slide a timid hand below his body, before adding the second above, and crossing them at the level of the singer's chest.
"You have nothing to fear, Freddie, I'm here…" He whispered in his ear before drawing him closer. The singer seemed surprised at such contact and immediately gripped the bassist arms around his body.
"It's only me, it's only John..." Added the bassist, while taking advantage of the few inches he gained on the singer to rest his head on his, his midnight hair tickling his nose. He wanted to make sure Freddie felt safe, that nothing bad would happen to him, even in his worst nightmares.
Suddenly, he felt the very tense singer's body, relax with the grip on his arms. He also noticed that this one snuggled even closer to him.
The bassist then checked to see if he had woken up, but no, he was obviously still sleeping, serenity having given way to panic.
John then hesitated to let go of Freddie and let him get a proper sleep after the nightmare he had to live. But with the way Freddie was sticked to him, he preferred to stay where he was.
No matter how confused he would be the next day, or how awkward it would be if Brian or Roger randomly walked into their room.
At the moment he just wanted one thing: protect Freddie at all costs.