A few days had passed, Freddie and the boys had been diligently rehearsing for the show tomorrow and were more excited than ever to get back out on stage. You'd had one little hiccup this weekend unfortunately. That Saturday night everyone had come over after their usual outing at the pub and once again crashed on the floor and about the flat, but come the next morning Roger completely forgot the landlady was coming over for her monthly rent payment and to check up on the place. Needless to say when she saw about twenty or so hung over kids in their teens and twenties strewn across the flat she gave us until the end of the week to find a new place to live. Freddie and you would never forget the look on her face when we peeked out the door to see what the shouting was all about—you didn't blame her. You all didn't quite have time to worry about that at the moment, the gig was more important presently and besides, to quote Tupp, "We've got til the end of the week, right, what's the fuss?".

Today you and Freddie were off to Imperial college to meet Ken and pile up the gear for tomorrow's show in Pete's Ford transit van. You felt a little bad for Ken, you overheard Mike talking on the phone with him last night about driving Ibex to the gig. Ken had been driving back and forth a lot this past month, not only chauffeuring Ibex around but he'd started school in St. Helen's and the commute was a bit much for being as involved with the boys as he was. Mike and Freddie spent a good fifteen minutes just trying to convince him to drive back down after just returning after the their weekend together. Poor Ken, he's a sweet guy.

Freddie and you had finally arrived just outside Queen's tower where Ken was waiting for the two of you on the lawn, he looked tired, maybe it was the cold. It was a pretty freezing day today, far too cold for early September even in London.

"Hey there, Ken," you said, a bit cold, it was rather frosty out.

"Afternoon—" replied Ken before Freddie interrupted him, shivering himself in his own fur coat.

"Oooh it's cold!" squealed Freddie rubbing his hands on his crossed arms.

"Its brass bleedin' monkeys out 'ere," Ken laughed, "Let's go inside, we've got some work to do," You stepped in to the foyer of the tower, your footstep's squeaks echoing as you walked, Ken continued on, "Now all the gear's up there at the top, I've got the van pulled 'round back, we haven't much time though, there's a class starting in 45 minutes and I told the professor we wouldn't be long".

"Don't worry Ken, we've got it, right Freddie?" you said, you knew Freddie wouldn't be too much help, he didn't enjoy lifting equipment and things, but at least you had to say something.

"Right," he nodded.

"Let's head on up then," said Ken as he lead you two down the corridor to a short broad stairwell.

It was a rather interesting building clearly, it seemed to have quite a history layered within it's brick walls. The staircase was an odd sort of metallic sheen that wound it's way up the tower and never seemed to end. As you climbed it got narrower and narrower. Freddie paused and held the wall a minute.

"You okay?" you asked, he paused a moment more.

He turned back and smiled, "Fine".

As you climbed higher you sort of passed this water tower looking object, bits of it had been strewn away and it made the landing look in a way sort of barn-like or some extravagant attic frozen in a time you couldn't tell.

The stairs grew narrower and narrower, now it felt like you were in some sort of castle turret or a secret cathedral passageway. It sort of reminded you a little of the staircase to the top of St. Catherine's.

Finally you began to see some light coming in from above, sort of reflecting off of the grey sky outside and bringing it in. Above you sat fairly gargantuan old, green bells. They were ominously sitting there waiting to be rung, but you couldn't tell what sort of mystic event would happen if you did.

From outside the windows you could see an absolutely gorgeous view, even on a cloudy day like this the view was incredible. You could see right over the top of Royal Albert Hall across the way and had it been a little clearer you might've been able to see the distant suggestion of Croydon. Glancing over behind you, you could almost see Wembley Stadium, what a wild view, you thought to yourself.

"Alright we've just got the kit, a few amps, and a few odds and sods here and there," said Ken interrupting your thoughts.

"And we're expected to get it all the way down there?" said Freddie rightfully shocked.

"Mike and Tupp managed to get it up here without a fuss," replied Ken.

Freddie sighed and picked up a tambourine. You grabbed the snare and it's stand while Ken grabbed the bass drum. Freddie then reluctantly picked up the bass pedal to feel like he was helping more and you smiled.

You lead the parade down the stairs, Freddie in the middle and Ken at the back. It was a rather precarious walk down the stairs, the poor lighting sort of hid the steps below you and so it was a bit of a slow process—especially for Ken.

On your way down Freddie and you sort of started humming along to Rock Me Baby by B. B. King, Freddie and the boys had been practicing that almost all day yesterday for the gig tomorrow. That humming quickly turned into singing, which echoed through the stairwell rather beautifully. Ken got in on the fun sort of tapping the bass drum with his fingers but mainly concentrating on trying to get it down the stairs. Freddie tapped the tapped the tambourine and sung lead while you and Ken got your harmony bits in here and there. It wasn't perfect mind you—in any sense of the word, but it was a good source of entertainment as you made your way down the tower.

Trips went like this up and down the tower for the next 35 minutes or so until eventually all the gear was packed into Pete's van. There wasn't too much hassle, you and Ken did most of the heavy lifting, as to be expected. All Freddie really managed was a music stand and a few drumsticks the voyages down, but neither you or Ken expected anything otherwise. Once on one of your trips a cymbal came crashing down the stairs and echoed in loud cacophonous clamors through the halls, but it didn't seem to stir up too much attention in the outside world.

The three of you made it out just in the nick of time, the next class was just beginning to make their way into their class on the third floor as you left. You and Freddie piled into the back of the van and next thing you knew, you were back at the Sinclair flat picking up Ibex and the gang.

Brian, Roger, and Tim were joining us there, after you'd mentioned something to Brian about him attending Freddie's gigs in the normal timeline, he invited Smile to come along. They'd been already staying up in Liverpool a bit and were up there now. Geoff's mom worked as a catering manageress up at the Dovedale on Penny Lane and had managed to hook Brian, Roger, and Tim up with a temporary stay up in the banquet hall when they were in Liverpool. Freddie was never too keen on driving up so you'd never been, but it sounded lovely enough.

You headed back to the flat to pick up the gang and grab the essentials for the trip. Nothing with this group was ever exactly quick, but you've have to try and hurry up so you could get there sooner rather than later. That was slowly seeming less and less likely as different people hadn't shown up yet and Freddie continued to come up with a million and one little last minute tasks for the two of you, which were fun of course.

At the last minute Freddie had decided that he wanted to be sown even tighter in to his white satin pants, might as well buy him a catsuit at this point, you giggled to yourself, he's got the figure for it. Miffer and his girl hadn't yet arrived so, you had a bit of time to sew Freddie in. Much of this process consisted of Freddie standing admiring or critiquing himself in front of the mirror as you tried your best not to stick him with the pins. Sadly to his dismay, poor Freddie got rather poked and prodded through this process. Left and right he moved about and squealed wildly almost any time a pin barely brushed him.

You watched the way he watched himself in the mirror, he always had a way of looking differently into the mirror compared to anyone else you knew. When he was looking down below at his legs and arms, he had a stance of confidence and almost showmanship, but when his gaze arrived to his face he'd sort of bite his lips and give almost this confused sorrowful look for a split second, but it was quickly washed over with him turning to you with some kind of statement in mind about either himself or the evening's events.

While you were stitching up the pants, as he ran about pantless, he had kept returning to admire the poster he made for the gig. Ibex was written along it vertically in big letters, full of big personality like Freddie.

Eventually you had his pants stitched up nice and tight and Miffer and his girl finally had come back along with the others. The whole lot of you piled up into the van in rather close quarters. It really was a rather tight van compared to the transit van you'd all travel in before, but you'd managed to fit everyone in.

You and Freddie found yourselves in the middle as usual, Freddie always enjoyed being right in the middle of the action and was very sociable with the whole group now a-days. You chatted away with Peggy, Helen, and Sîan for awhile while Freddie struck up a conversation with Geoff, Paul, and Ken up towards the front. They were on about bands while you girls were on about them, just giggling back and forth at little stories. What you loved about everyone here is how much they loved to laugh and joke around with each other about old stories. Freddie had reminded you to bring the camera with you, so you pulled it out and began snapping photos of everyone while you journeyed down the M1.

Mike and Tupp were in the back having a smoke and laughing about, Ken driving up front was rolling down the window just enough to not be annoyed by the smoky air filling the van. Miffer's girlfriend was busy telling him some long extravagant story about her mum. Paul was having an absolute ball trying to make Freddie laugh, which was easy enough. Freddie'd turn back to you every so often and say something along the lines of "Would you believe this?" or "My god that couldn't possibly have happened!". Sîan was chatting away with Bruce off just behind you, clearly having a good time, all smiles. Ken and Geoff were discussing business to do with the gig up front.

"Y/n, get a'load of this," said Tupp as he took a long drag from his cigarette and attempted some sort of fancy exhale. You snapped a photo and smiled.

"Those'll kill you know," said Ken up front.

"One drag of a fag isn't going to do shit Ken," replied Tupp.

"One too many will," Ken quipped back.

"Well, live fast, die young," retorted Tupp taking a drag. You snapped another photograph.

Tupp went back to talking with Mike and you turned your attention to Freddie who was egging you on to take a million and one photos of him posing in all different sorts of positions, he was always more flamboyant with you.

"Give me your best Elizabeth Taylor," you started, and he posed, tilting his head ever so slightly and dropping chin, "Oooh," you remarked, "Now Ava Gardner!" you egged him on. He was rather good at this really, should've been a model.

"Have you got any props in that bag of yours," he asked, still posing this time his chest out.

"Nothing but a sewing kit and a sweater," you replied. Tupp and Mike were watching the two of you from behind, sort of finding it humorous.

"Here Fred, try this," Tupp laughed taking off his ascot and handing it to Freddie.

"Ooh!" Freddie exclaimed as he snatched it up and began to wave it around and then tie it around his own neck, "Hand me that guitar," he called out to Mike to which Mike handed him the guitar, "Now this is rock n' roll".

You and Freddie went on like this for a bit entertaining yourselves and everyone else with a bit of fun on the ride. Mike, Tupp, Paul, Pat, and Helen joined in a little on the fun. They were pulling out all sorts of little things they'd brought with them, not that there was a lot. You all just had fun fooling around with the camera.

"Hey you know what," started Helen, "We should stop off and get a photo of the whole lot of us," she suggested, "We've been driving long enough and I don't think we've even got a photo of the group".

"Sure why not," said Tupp, "Hey Ken, could we stop off a minute," he shouted to Ken at the front.

"We're running a bit late as it is..." Ken trailed off.

"Oh come on, Ken," said Geoff, "Just humor him".

"Alright then," he replied reluctantly. Freddie got all excited as the van pulled over off the motorway.

It was exciting seeing this little piece of history, you'd seen photos of Ibex in it's heyday before, but you didn't recall any photos from the journey to this gig. Come to think of it, you couldn't remember stopping to take the photos you had remembered seeing back home. Maybe that was your doing. At least now things were slightly back on track you supposed.

Everyone piled out of the little van, much smaller than the usual transit van Richard stole from Heathrow, insane anyone could fit in it. Freddie spun around on the gravel a little bit and smelled the outside air, it was a much warmer day out here in the countryside than back in London. Helen and Pat lit up a cigarette as Tupp peeled off his shirt to look real tough.

Tupp and Mike sat themselves up on the bonnet with Helen and Pat, Freddie and yourself stood off towards the side with Sîan, Ken, Miffer and his girlfriend. Bruce, Richard, Flogger, and Geoff crouched below the whole lot of you.

"I can take the photo if you like," suggested Paul to you as you were finding your place next to Freddie.

"Really you wouldn't mind?" you felt bad, you should be the one taking it.

"Not at all," he smiled as you handed him the camera and got into position, everyone looked to Paul, "Okay, and a one, two, three!" Paul snapped the photograph.

"How 'bout a few more Paulie!" called out Tupp.

"You got it!" Paul responded and Ken sighed.

"We've really got to go—" Ken started.

"Relax Ken," said Helen, "We're going to get there just fine".

"Alright, one, two, three!" Paul took another photo and you all posed. A series of photos went like this, you all posing, things getting more and more excessive.

You all ended up taking about 20 photos in just the oddest of poses, progressively getting more and more silly.

"Alright can we shove off?" asked Ken, getting up off the bumper.

"Just one more photo" said Tupp. Ken rolled his eyes and turned around back to sit in his position and sighed, crossing his arms. Tupp and Mile then decided to stand up on top of the bonnet for the last photo but just as Tupp was starting to gain his balance, he promptly fell right on top of Ken who slightly dodged him.

It was all silent a moment, a little snicker from Sîan, but other than that silence as he got up, everyone sort of holding their breath.

You all thought Ken was going to go off, but then next thing you knew, Ken was laughing and helping him up, "Way to cock that one up," he laughed.

"Aw fuck off Ken," replied Tupp, laughing and wiping the dirt off his bum. The whole group of you started laughing.

"Shall we?" Ken gestured towards the van.

"Oh alright," said Tupp as he picked up his shirt off the ground and walked back towards the car.

You all piled back up into the van and were once again off down the motorway headed for Liverpool. You still had aways to go but Ken was more relaxed and so were you, you were having an absolute ball. It was a fun drive up there, with this whole lot the journey was the best part of the experience. 

_______

I hope this chapter was at least a little interesting, I was worried too much of it would sound like filler. I just like to really try and bring you into the moment. I realize I may have made Ken's emotions a fairly large component in this chapter, but I didn't mean to, that just sort of came about because I was thinking about just the impact of things he does for the band. Tupp got a little more wild in this one than usual, I hadn't really written him as wild ever, but he was wild..so was everyone really. I've included the photo of Ibex that was from their journey back from their end of August concert, just so you can kind of get a feel for the energy I suppose. In the top left photo going left to right its: Flogger, Freddie, Peggy (behind Freddie), Tupp (without his shirt), Pat, Mike, some random girl who hasn't had her name written anywhere, Sîan, Bruce, and Ken. Then in the photo at the top right going left to right it's the same lineup plus Miffer and his girlfriend. And finally in the bottom pic its the same lineup minus Miffer and his girl but Richard Thompson is also there turning away from the camera. I wish there were photos of their Liverpool gig. If you're wondering about what the van they were driving to this concert looked like, its the one in that color photo of Brian and some of the boys in West Kensington. (Type in Brian May Addison Gardens into google images and you should get it).

Just a few more fun things that I won't include in this book ever but are just a good to know of "where are they now" type of thing. Ken and Tupp are both managing bands now. Ken is still managing the band he helped begin to manage while living in Liverpool called Deaf School. Tupp managed to pass all his college courses with perfect scores in everything from philosophy to French in despite all the late nights with Ibex. He was in (and may still be) a band called Colour, he currently manages a band called Andy Fairweather Low & The Low Riders. I don't know about Geoff, he may have become a school principal if I remember correctly but that may be the wrong Geoff Higgins. Bruce Sanderson sadly passed away within the next few years due to the tumor he had (eye's the one with the eye patch in the photo). Paul Humberstone professionally paints storefront signs now. Paul Fielder, Flogger, has sadly passed on as well. Mike has been in radio a long while and is currently the creative director for UKRD.  I'm not sure what became of Miffer or Sîan or Helen. Pat passed away back in 2015. It's crazy to know where they are now. 

It'll probably be a little bit before I can publish another chapter just because the end of the semester is coming up and I've got all sorts of exams and essays due, but we'll see if I can squeeze in another chapter just before finals...I'll just have to see. Anyway, thanks for reading