Stafford Terrace, summer 1977

"Paula, I know it's crazy."

"You said that on the phone. Are we going to repeat ourselves?" Monica's friend shuffled slightly in her seat, looking at the Japanese decor around her, then peering at the grand piano.

Monica took a deep breath, desperate not to start an argument with her best friend.

"Because, since I've decided to stay, I wanted to see you once more until... well, until whenever we meet again."

"You've only known him a few days!"

"That's what my mum said when I rang home. As for my dad, if he says I'm still welcome back home then I know things are good."

"Are you completely sure?"

Monica nodded immediately, "What else have I even got going for me?"

"College applications."

She crossed her arms and sighed, "Paula, do you really think I'd stand a chance?"

"Yes, your portfolio is-"

"My portfolio is rubbish! I didn't even have time to make a strong one this year," Monica looked at her lap. "London has more open doors."

"It's A Level, nobody has time for anything," Paula shrugged. "Also, back home you had that stupid cafe job taking up most of your energy-"

"I'm going to put on some music." Monica hauled herself up, changing the subject.

"Does Freddie let you play music?"

"Oh yes, he said I'm welcome to put on whatever he has... but seeing as none of my stuff is here it'll have to be some classical... or the odd psychedelic rock..." she skimmed through his collection below his record player.

"What are you going to do about all your stuff back home?" Paula asked.

"Freddie says he knows some good international delivery services." Monica slipped Goodbye Yellow Brick Road from the shelf.

"What's that you picked?"

Monica held it up, displaying the front cover.

"Wait... Elton actually signed it!" Paula squinted to look more closely at the autograph scribbled across the illustrated front.

"Yep! Turns out they're besties." Monica looked more closely at the track list.

"I don't get how you're not starstruck."

"Oh, I really am! He talks about his encounters like it's no big deal!" She lowered the needle, and the energetic riff to Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting began to play throughout the room.

"Tobacco will calm your nerves." Paula dug out a box of Marlboros that she'd bought with her birthday money and legal ID a few days before.

"Oh I'm good thanks, but there's an ashtray over there if you need it." Monica pointed to crystal tray on the coffee table.

"Thanks," Paula put it between her teeth. "Does Freddie smoke?"

"Oh no, I asked the same thing and he told me he wants to keep his voice." She sat back down on the settee.

"Then why does he have it? It's obviously used." Paula gestured the leftover ash and butts.

Monica was hesitant, knowing the conversation was about to take an awkward turn, "The only person who uses it is his ex girlfriend, or his smoker friends who come round."

"His ex? He's still friends with his ex!?" Paula furrowed her brows in distraction as she dug her lighter out of her woven white cotton bag.

"That's beyond me, especially when he admitted he cheated on her," Monica shrugged. "About that... you know that retail worker Mary we met in Biba?"

Paula slowly took her cigarette out from between her lips when she realised, "...No."

"Keep your voice down, Freddie's sleeping!"

"That retail worker is his ex?"

"Yes, it was that Mary. Small world, eh?"  Monica picked her teaspoon up off the coffee table.

"That's really weird! Her telephone eyebrows must've been scaring him too!" Paula giggled, and relit her cigarette once again and asked, "How did you find out it was her?"

Monica covered her mouth, nearly spitting out her tea, "She was there the other night actually... at the club, with him! She left right before you reappeared to tell me you were leaving!"

Paula snickered, "Did she recognise you?"

"Oh, hell yes! She tried to get him to leave early!" Monica stood up, brushing off her cotton nightgown.

"Who still goes to the club with their ex anyway?" Paula took another drag, following her into the kitchenette, crystal ashtray in hand.

"They do, apparently," she dropped her ware into the sink basin. "Let's hope it doesn't become a habit while I'm here."

"I'll say," Paula leaned up against the sideboard and dug out a travel guide from her bag.

"What's that?" Monica shook the water off her hands into the basin.

"Seeing as you're staying a little longer, you should visit these places with lover boy on his days off."  She handed it to her.

Monica giggled, and briefly flipped through the brochure of locations dotted around the city, "Oh Paula..."

She winked, "I'm not going to need it again. At least your summer will be entertaining."

She hugged her friend, then walked back into the living area, "I should have some money left. If not, I'll find a job and make more. I've passed my test, so I can save up for a small car..."

"Why not get it off Freddie? He's rich, I mean look at the place!"

"I'm not a gold digger, Paula..." She trailed off as she studied the contents, and sat back down on her spot on the sette.

"Find anywhere interesting?" Paula stood in the dark corner of the room where she was previously.

Monica turned a page, getting back on her feet and pacing back and forth, "I think I'm going to find places in South Kensington first."

"Fair enough. Stay in that area and work our way out. It's better than a heap of a city like Belfast." Paula muttered, staring at the gold discs on the wall, puffing on her cigarette as Monica became lost in the brochure.

She was so distracted to the point where, over Elton's honkytonk piano playing, she didn't even hear patters of feet on the carpet, casually strolling into the room.

"Good morning, my baby...." a velvety British voice that crooned into Monica's ear took her by surprise as a familiar pair of tanned, hairy arms wrapped themselves around her.

Her eyes widened, suddenly losing focus on the column about the V&A as she felt Paula's mortified stare boring into the couple.

Monica felt her cheeks burn against Freddie's soft lips as he affectionately peppered kisses on the side of her face, "You disappeared early before I'd even been given the chance to bathe you, you naughty girl..."

She stiffened in shock in his hold, letting the travel guide fall out of her hand with a thud, and Freddie chuckled . She glanced down to her right a little further to discover that he was stark naked and dripping wet from the shower, and that something hard of his was pressing into the side of her thigh.

"Freddie!" she whispered.

"Mmhmm?" oblivious to the third person in the room who certainly wasn't staring at his face, he began kissing her neck.

"We... uhm-Fred!" She hissed.

"Have you been smoking, darling? My my, you have been bold!" he purred, for the tobacco smell had rubbed off onto Monica's hair during her embrace with Paula not three minutes before.

"Freddie, stop! We have company-and I don't mean your cats!" She snapped under her breath, inching away from the feeling of his tongue and unable to take anymore.

The man opened his eyes and froze with dread once he saw Monica's friend from the club in the corner of his eye, staring back at him across the room with eyes like saucers.

He let out an embarrassed shriek, grabbing the towel draped around his neck and clumsily wrapping it around his waist before darting out of the living room.

Monica's eyes traced the thuds of his footsteps up the stairs, the slam of the bedroom door, and frantic footsteps on the ceiling, then the squeak of mattress springs.

"Well, he certainly loves you." Was all Paula said, killing the awkward silence.

"Well, I'm am sorry about that eyeful you just had." Monica set the guide down on the coffee table, cheeks still a rosy shade.

"Don't be! Did it hurt afterwards?" Paula spoke through a cheeky grin, the cigarette still sitting in between her teeth.

"That's an ambiguous question." She spat in response, baffled as to how her friend wasn't phased by her encounter with a fully nude Freddie Mercury only seconds before.

"I'm talking about your fanny." She retorted playfully.

"Paula?!" Monica gasped.

"What?! He's big, that's all I'm saying!" She threw her hands up in defence playfully.

"Yep, thank you for stating the obvious!" Monica began to busy herself by marching back into the kitchen and filling the sink up with warm water.

"You know, if you look closely in pictures, you can see him wearing it to the left-"

"Stop!" She laughed, splashing a small amount of water at Paula.

"Hey! Save the water fights for lover boy!" She threw her hands up in defence.

She giddily tackled her friend into the living room, "Stop calling him that!"

"But he is! Didn't you see how red and angry his-"

"Alright, thanks for visiting! Here's your stuff, I'll show you out goodbye!" Monica gushed, throwing her cotton bag into Paula's arms and dragging her through the house, to the front door.

"Wait! You will be careful, won't you?" Her eyes grew soft and concerned.

"Oh Paula, I will keep you updated." Monica hugged her once more.

"Call me tonight, the plane comes in then." She spoke into her shoulder.

"I will."

Paula pulled away, "If anything happens, you know you have an ear."

She nodded, "Promise me, you'll try and forget the address to this place and you won't tell anybody for at least ten years that you were here. Freddie would be mad if a flock of fans started to pilgrimage here."

"Oh Monica, you clearly love him already." Paula giggled and wiped a tear as she slipped away. "I won't tell anyone."

"Have a safe flight." Monica waved, and held back her own tears as she watched the last thing that reminded her of her home in Belfast walk down the steps, and she shut the door with a click.

Upstairs was a man waiting to be confronted.

She drew a sharp breath, walking past the living room where the Elton record was still spinning, and started to march up the steps, calling out, "Oh, Freddie? ...I know you're up there! You can't bury your head in the sand all day!"

The door was slightly ajar when she got there, a cat slipping through the crack as she reached to push it open.

There he was, laying belly down in his birthday suit, face buried into the pillow on his side of the bed.

She skipped over and jumped on the mattress, tapping his shoulder, "Hey..."

He lifted his head slightly, and eye peeping out for a split second, then hid his face again.

"Ahhh now, come on..." she crossed her arms.

"I didn't bloody see her! I was drying my hair, my head was covered in the fucking towel and my hearing was muffled!" Freddie whined into the pillow.

"Well, I did warm you that she'd be dropping by."

"I didn't expect her to be here so early."

"It's half eleven!"

He shyly turned his head away, cheeks pink.

She giggled, "Don't be liked that, I thought that you liked being stared at."

"I do, but not naked."

"Okay then, I though that when naked you liked being stared at by me." She settled into her side.

He grumbled, and lifted his head, "You little minx."

"Excuse me, you're the one who came downstairs, naked-and fully erect, only to eat-"

"COME HERE, I HAVEN'T FINISHED THE JOB!" He suddenly grabbed her and pulled her on top of him.

"FRED!" She squealed as he playfully began munching onto her neck.

He chuckled, and let her go so that she could settle under his arm.

He kissed her head, "How was she doing anyway?"

Her fingers circled his chest, "She was calmer than I expected... happy for me, I'd like to think."

He instinctively held her tighter, feeling a great need to look after her.

"You mad bastard," he told himself. "Do you even know what you're doing?"

She lifted her head from his chest, noticing that he'd gone silent.

"Are you okay?" She whispered, turning his head to face her.

He looked back, simply wetting his lips and pulling her head down.

She felt his fingers running up and down her hipbone as they kissed, then lingering across her bare arms in such a static way that the air in her lungs became thicker.

The rising temperature of his bare skin on her lips made her want more, so she slipped lower.

She kneeled beside him as his hand continued to tenderly trace up and down the curve of her figure laying across the mattress before caressing her bottom.

"You tease..." he laid his head back onto the pillow as she opened her lips, outstretched tongue..

Her chocolate waves fell around her face like a curtain as her head bobbed up and down on him lightly, but it was enough to the point where he had to have her. Within ten seconds he shivered with the desire to reciprocate the disorienting adrenaline rush she was giving him each time he felt her tongue slithering on him, the kisses of her sweet pink lips like pinpricks...

Wild and hot, he frantically ravished her hips, tugging her body away from his side.

She lifted her head from him breathlessly, "Wh-What are you-"

Before she knew it he'd positioned her waist so that she was straddling his head, and she placed her knees either side of his face as he pushed the skirt of her nightgown up.

She quickly went back to what she was doing as his hands feverishly grabbed onto her thighs, his fingers spreading her folds between her legs and slipping his tongue in between.

She let out a gasp and threw her head back as her hand involuntarily continued rubbing his shaft, "Oh god... Fr-Freddie..."

He continued to lick, and she took him all into her mouth deeply as she felt her legs tremble.

Whatever she did next had driven him around the bend.

"Oh fuck!" He hissed, sucking onto her in response to his sudden urges. "I can't make it stop, I'm sorry..."

She flew off of him the moment she could taste his seed leaking into her mouth, wiping the corners of her lips as she watched his hard dick unloading onto his stomach, twitching uncontrollably.

"Oh!" Blushing, she swallowed what she had briefly caught.

His mouth flew open as he moaned, releasing her from his bite. She rolled onto her back and stared at the ceiling, underwhelmed that she wasn't brought to orgasm this time.

They laid diagonally opposite from one another, their chests heaving up and down.

"...I'm... I'm so sorry I came too quick" he finally whispered again once he caught his breath, his hand reaching up and setting it on her bare stomach affectionately.

"I-I can't believe I made him do that... what he sees in me I do not know" she thought as she dizzily hauled herself up, eyes panning up and down his exposed body. She was still baffled that she, an average girl who wasn't a hunky stud muffin, nor a female model or socialite, somehow magnetised this gorgeous, sexy man and still managed to satisfy him in the process.

She wiped the corners of her mouth with the back of her hand and sat hunched up, staring into space as he continued paying with her hair.

"You miss it, don't you?" He finally whispered.

"Miss what?"

"Home."

She turned to him, "I don't know, but what I do know is that I want to be here."

He sat up and pulled the duvet up to cover himself, "that's exactly how I felt when I first moved here... I was anxious and conflicted, but I really wanted to be here."

She looked into his eyes, "You're not from a terror-ridden country like I am though, are you?"

"...I was the one who sort of egged our mum on." He giggled uneasily.

She nodded silently.

"There were people being slaughtered in the Zanzibar countryside, rioting in the streets... right below our apartment." He continued. "I remember one night when couldn't get to sleep... it was one of my last nights in Stone Town actually."

"Doesn't sound different to Belfast." Was all she could say.

He took her hand gently, "Imagine if I didn't persuade my mum to take us on the plane to London... imagine if we'd gone to live in the motherland instead... Mumbai was the original plan actually, not London. My God! If that happened, I'd become the singing for actors to mime over in Bollywood movies."

She laughed, and it was the first time he'd heard her laugh properly that morning, "I'd pay to see a Bollywood movie with you in it."

"You know what one of the worst things would've been, other than if I was never able to pursue my dreams?" He murmured.

She settled back down and listened, pulling the duvet up to her chin.

"If I didn't move here in the first place, I wouldn't have met you, would I?" He whispered.

She smiled, leaning up above him, "Why are you so smitten with me?"

"I really don't know," he smirked. "But, it feels like I was meant to make you happy."

"Well," she blushed. "A few days in and you're already doing a great job."

He giggled, "You're so cute when you're bashful, dearie."

"I probably don't scream and run out of embarrassing situations like you do but-"

"SHUSH!" He threw a pillow at her.

She laughed, her elbows shielding her in defence, "If we're going to make this work we need to stop making fun of each other."

He kissed the side of her face, "I suppose you're right."

"Can you keep a promise that long?" She rolled to face him.

He nodded, leaping onto her once more, "Can you?"

She bit her lip, "well, as long as you don't walk into the living room naked again, yes-"

"Oh shut up!" He scoffed, pinning her onto the bed.

She reached her arm over to the bedside table, not taking her eyes off his once as her hand grabbed the return ticket to Belfast sitting in the envelope.

She'd ripped it in half before he could even ask what she was doing.

"Kiss me, you fool" he hissed under his breath.

"I'm pretty sure that line is mine-"

But his mouth tenderly met hers before she could even finish her sentence.