can you please do poly! queen where john is feeling super insecure and down (maybe the press called him replaceable or not as talented as the others) so the boys work super hard to cheer up by planning a romantic night all about him with lots of cuddles and kisses and comfort words!
It was nothing John hadn’t dealt with before. But sometimes it hit him hard and he didn’t know how to deal with it all. Some random fuckhead writes an article about Queen and barely mentions John? Yet again? How else was he supposed to react?
Freddie gets to be “talented”, “charismatic”, and “everyone wants a piece of him”. Brian is “one of the greatest guitarists in the music scene”. Even Roger, who didn’t always get quite as much said about him as Freddie and Brian was labelled as “the secret showstopper hiding in the background”.
John was nothing. He was an obligatory sentence for those who might be curious about the fourth band member standing in the shadows in the two page spread concert photo chosen for the article. John’s was the only face that wasn’t visible in the photo.
It was unfortunately common, except maybe in Japan, but usually John got a little bit more than a half hearted sentence. Maybe that’s why it hurt so much this time.
He tried not to let it get to him, though. One of the downsides to dating your three bandmates who also happened to be your roommates was that they tended to get to know you pretty well, and could figure out quite quickly when you felt like shit.
So John hid the magazine, put a John-like neutral expression on his face, and slipped out of the flat as quickly as he could so that he didn’t have to interact with the others any more than necessary. No sense in worrying them if he didn’t have to.
Well, maybe John should’ve tried a little harder to be less neutral. Maybe he should have forced himself to respond when Freddie asked him how he was doing and if he would be joining them for lunch. Maybe he should’ve kissed Brian back when Brian handed him a cup of tea. Maybe he should have cracked a smile when Roger whispered a joke about Freddie’s robe conspiratorially in John’s ear.
But really, even if he had done all those things, they still would have figured John out. Because after John got back home, after he ran out of things to do and places to go to procrastinate returning to the flat and try to get his mood in check before he saw the others, his boys were already waiting for him.
The small bag of groceries they didn’t even really need dropped to the floor in surprise when John walked in to see every blanket and pillow in the flat piled together on the floor, the little coffee table filled with candles, fake flower petals, and bowls of what looked like some of John’s favorite comfort foods and snacks. Freddie was kneeling by the table, seeming to be adjusting it all in what was probably his attempt to make it “perfect”. Brian and Roger were on the blanket pile, holding even more fake flower petals and giggling at Freddie’s antics. But their heads all turned in unison as the door opened.
“John, my love, you’re home!” Freddie said, clambering to his feet and hurrying over to pull John into his arms. It was much more dramatic than Freddie usually ever was when it was the four of them, unless he was doing it on purpose to make them laugh. It was so different than the romantic candles and flowers that John couldn’t help but feel a bit intrigued.
“What’s going on?” John asked, pushing Freddie away gently to lean over and pick up his bag, only to have Freddie immediately snatch it away from him.
There was a soft kiss to John’s temple before Freddie whirled around and headed towards the kitchen. “I’ll take this, I need to grab the wine anyway!”
John shrugged, deciding to just take off his shoes and jacket so he could crawl onto the blanket pile with Roger and Brian. He was immediately welcomed with kisses and hugs and Roger pulling him down onto the pillows to tickle John for a bit before Brian took pity and rescued him.
It was already putting John in a good mood, but when Freddie walked out of the kitchen with a bottle of John’s favorite wine and four glasses, he wondered how much better it was about to get.
Though he of course had a slight suspicion, he wasn’t stupid, John still wasn’t quite sure why the others were doing this for him. And it certainly was all for John, especially obvious when Brian put on one of John’s favorite films that Brian always bitched about. There was shepards pie from a nice little restaurant John liked, plenty of his favorite candies and crisps, and it turned out that when they finished the first bottle of wine, there was a spare in the fridge.
It was when Brian and Freddie were in the kitchen, grabbing the second bottle of wine, and cleaning up some of their dinner so that they could all cuddle up on the banket pile without making a complete mess, that John turned to Roger and asked him what was going on.
“We knew you were a bit off this morning, dummy,” Roger said with a smirk. “And then we found that stupid article you must have read. You didn’t hide it very well. As if you forgot you lived with Freddie fucking Mercury, and he would snoop through your entire room to figure out what was making you sad so that he could fix it.”
John snorted. “Oh, so this is all Freddie’s fault? And you had nothing to do with the blanket pile or remembering my favorite candies that I can only find at one little shop?”
It was pleasant to see Roger blush, never wanting to admit to his own romantic side. It may not have been very rock and roll, but it was certainly one of the reasons John was able to fall in love with him so quickly. “Yeah, yeah, whatever.”
As much as he hadn’t wanted the others to find out that he was upset, he couldn’t help but feel grateful that they did. With his head on Roger’s shoulder, Freddie’s head in his lap, and Brian’s hand holding his own, there was no where else John would rather be.
