CHAPTER TWO
'A FAVOUR'

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BRIAN AND I HAD KNOWN EACH OTHER SINCE THE START OF UNIVERSITY. I can't remember how our friendship began exactly, only that ever since we met we've been nothing but inseparable. I never had a lot of friends in school; getting to know people and forming lasting relationships with them had always been a challenge for me. But when I met Brian, it felt like I finally had a true lifelong friend who I could rely upon, someone who would be there for me no matter what. Even if he did wind me up and got on my nerves most of the time...

'I knew there was a reason why I took Physics and not Chemistry...' Brian murmured as he flicked through the pages of my textbook, scowling at it every so often when he read something he couldn't get his head around.

Propping my head up with my arm, I felt my eyelids getting heavy again, 'Sometimes I wonder why I did so myself.'

'To keep your parents happy.'

'More like to keep them from disowning me...'

Brian chuckled lightly, 'I don't think hey hate you that much, Heidi.'

'You know perfectly well what they're like, Brian,' I reminded him, 'They seem like the perfect parents on the outside, but underneath it all, they're the most controlling and obsessive people I've ever met. Y'know, just the other day my dad phoned me up wanting to know how everything was going - which really meant just my grades this term. All that seems to matter to my parents is that I'm doing well in school, that I'm being successful. No word about how I'm doing, though. Honestly, I could be in hospital dying and they probably wouldn't care less.'

'Now you're just being dramatic.' Brian said.

'Well, I'd be willing to put money on it,' I put bluntly, 'Anyway, enough about my control freak parents. How's band rehearsals going? I haven't asked you about it in ages. Haven't split up yet, I hope?'

'No, not yet,' Brian laughed, 'But yeah it's going good. I mean, it's hard to get time to rehearse with all of us studying, of course, but when we do, we just get better and better. We've been approaching record companies with our demo tapes in hope they'd be interested in us, but so far, we've not had much luck...'

'I wouldn't let it get you down, Bri,' I said as optimistically as I could, 'Someone will recognise your potential eventually; you've got the skill, you've got the talent. It may take some time, but in the end, you'll get there.'

Brian smiled sweetly at me, 'Thanks,' before pausing for a moment, nervousness building up in his voice, 'Listen, uh, there's kinda something that I wanted to ask you...'

'And that would be?'

'A favour.'

I shrugged casually, 'Of course. Fire away.'

I could tell just by Brian's body language that he was worried, which in turn, was making me worried about what he was going to ask me.

'Well, you see, I, um, have this friend...' he began, twiddling his thumbs as he spoke, 'Who's in a sort of sticky situation...'

'What kind of sticky situation?' I asked.

'He's...just recently been evicted from his flat in Kensington and has been struggling to find somewhere to live in the area since. We both know how expensive it is living in London, right?'

'Yeah,' I answered in a suspicious tone, 'But what has this got to do with me?'

'Well, I was wondering if maybe you'd, I dunno, be willing to perhaps share your place out and put a roof over his head. Y'know, just until he finds somewhere else...' Brian elaborated.

Something about this seemed a bit...off, 'Okay...And who exactly is this 'friend' of yours? Do I know him?'

Brian swallowed hard, 'Um, yes, actually you do. It's...it's Roger.'

My eyebrows quickly furrowed, as I didn't really expect that name to come out of his mouth, 'Roger...as in, Roger Taylor. Your drummer?'

'...Yeah.'

I stared at him blankly for a few seconds in silence before replying, 'Then the answer's no.'

I started collecting my belongings and putting them into my satchel as I got ready to leave, whilst Brian looked at me with a frown on his face, 'Oh come on, Heidi, it'll only be for a while. It's not that big of a deal.'

'I said no.'

'Y'know, I don't get what your problem is with Roger. He's a nice guy once you get to know him.'

'Yeah, right,' I rolled my eyes, aware that Brian knew damn fine how much the blonde irritated me, 'He's nothing but a chancer, and the last person I'd ever want to live with.'

'You're just saying that because you know he fancies you.'

Feeling my cheeks heat up, I replied through gritted teeth, 'Whether he 'fancies' me or not is irrelevant, Brian. If it were Freddie or John, I wouldn't have minded. But Roger? Seriously? Actually, there's a point - why can't he stay at one of their houses instead? Or yours, for that matter?'

'Freddie and John have full houses and my place is a bed-sit, there's no room. Christ, if my landlord found out that someone else was living there she'd go ballistic. I don't want to be evicted too. But your house - well, it's massive. You have it all to yourself, there's plenty of room for the both of you.'

'Not enough for him and his oversized ego.' I huffed, 'I'm sorry, Bri. I'd like to help, but it just wouldn't work. I can barely stand him during the rare occasions when I am around him, never mind if we were to live in the same house. We're just too...different. I need to go.'

Getting up from my chair, I swung the strap of my bag over my shoulder and began to walk away, but before I could Brian said something which quickly stopped me in my tracks.

'Those bills won't just disappear as if by magic, Heidi...'

Grinding my footsteps to a halt, I didn't dare turn around and face the guitarist, as I knew he'd see straight through whatever excuse I tried to make. Looking down at the floor, I heard Brian walk over to me and felt him place a comforting hand on my shoulder. When I eventually worked up the courage to look at him, he gave a sympathetic smile and lead me back towards the table again, where we both sat down across from each other.

'Look, I don't mean to pry into your personal affairs but you've obviously been having some financial problems lately.'

'So I'm a bit strapped for cash at the moment,' I shrugged, 'It's payday's on Thursday, I'll have the money then and I'll pay the bills. It'll be fine.'

'Heidi, some of those bills have been sitting there for weeks,' Brian noted, 'You can't just ignore them forever, you'll end up in an even worse situation than you already are.'

Deep down, I knew that Brian was right. I couldn't go on living like this, it wasn't healthy for me. That's why I was so tired all the time, because the stress of my current predicament was preventing me from getting a decent nights sleep.

I was living my parents old house. They moved away from London a few years ago but kept the house and let it out until I went off to university when it was passed down to me. They helped me out with the household expenses at the start, which I was grateful for, but as the years went by they slowly let me take the reins. I managed for a while, using my basic wage I earned from working at an old antique shop across town to pay the bills, but recently the cost of living here had been getting on top of me and I didn't know what to do.

I couldn't approach my parents and ask for assistance. I stupidly told them that I had a decent paying, part-time job doing secretarial work for an estate agency - not working in a antique shop. And if they found out that I'd lied to them, then I truly would be up shit creek without a paddle. Then again, I was already about halfway there anyway...

'I didn't mean to upset you, okay?' Brian said softly, noticing how quiet I'd become, 'I just thought that maybe you and Roger could help each other out. He would help you out with the expenses, you would be giving him somewhere to stay. It's a win win, in my opinion.'

I looked up at him and sighed, before staring down at my hands again, 'I dunno, Bri...'

'Okay, listen,' the guitarist said, sitting forward in his chair, 'We've got a gig down at The King's Arms this Saturday night. You will be there, won't you?'

I smiled weakly, 'I come to all of your shows, silly. Of course I'll be there.'

'Good,' he beamed happily, 'You don't have to make a definite decision about the Roger thing right now, but if you do decide to go ahead with it, you could always talk to him about it then and see what he says? It wouldn't hurt to try. Please, just...think about it. Yeah?'

Looking into Brian's pleading eyes, I could see just how desperate he was. Of course he wouldn't want one of his bandmates and closest friends living on the street, would he? Neither did I really. And at the end of the day, Roger staying at mine wouldn't just benefit him, it would also benefit me too. He may be an overconfident womaniser and all-round pain in the backside, but I had to look past the negatives and think of the positives which greatly outweighed them.

Giving in, I bit my lip nervously, 'Alright, fine. I'll...I'll think about it.'

'You will? Oh, thank you, Heidi, that's wonderful!' Brian exclaimed, earning a few disapproving looks from other people in the library after his sudden outburst.

'It's not a definite yes, though,' I reminded him, 'So don't get too excited.'

'You say that, but I know you'll agree in the end,' Brian replied knowingly, 'Trust me, you won't regret it.'

As much as I wanted to believe him, doubt still plagued my thoughts as Brian sat there and continued to help me with Chemistry, whilst I just prayed to god that his certainty of me having no regrets if I went ahead with this was right. 

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Hey guys!

Thank you for all the positive feedback on the first chapter, I hope you enjoyed this one too. I've decided to give them all titles in this fanfic, which is different from what I usually do, but at least now it's much easier to distinguish between them haha! Also, Roger will be appearing in the next part, if you were wondering, so yeah get ready for that. But in the meantime, if you liked this chapter please leave a vote/comment as they really are appreciated - I always love hearing what you think.

Thanks again!

- Anna :-)