FicWad

“Are they…” Dave trailed off, “Doing it?” he asked.
“What else would they be doing?” Scott asked, rolling his eyes as he came down the stairs of the Velvet Revolver tour bus, “I mean, yeah, I get that they’re in love and don’t get a lot of time together, but that doesn’t mean that they have to spend every spare minute they have, fucking each other,” Scott sat down beside Matt,
“It’s not even the fact that they’re both guys that bugs me,” Scott complained, “It’s the way they do it constantly, so that you can’t even go up there when they’re at it,”
“It could be worse,” Matt commented, “At least they don’t do it when we’re trying to sleep,”
“I think it’s sweet,” Dave said, “They both wanted each other since Guns n Roses began, but they each thought that the other one wasn’t interested,”
It had been Scott who walked in on Duff and Slash two nights before at a gig, when they’d tried to sneak a moment alone. They told Matt and Dave after that, but no one else knew. None of them had a problem with Slash and Duff’s relationship, it had caused a lot of shock, but they had no problem, except the fact that Duff and Slash seemed to be constantly having sex.
“Sweet my ass,” Scott muttered, “It wasn’t so sweet that time my mom took the kids and Mary spent the weekend on the tour bus with us,”
“Well that’s cause you guys were so noisy,” Duff said, appearing at the bottom of the stairs, running a hand through his dishevelled hair, “Sounds to me like you’re jealous,”
“Yeah well you’d be jealous too if you were away from your lover and getting no action whatsoever,” Scott retorted.
Slash appeared at the bottom of the stairs behind Duff,
“Well you can feel free to join us anytime you want. I quite fancy a threesome,” he joked, ignoring Duff’s glares
“You know what I mean,” Scott replied through gritted teeth.
“I know what you mean man,” Duff said, sitting beside him, “I miss Susan and the girls like hell and I know that Slash misses Perla. But that’s one of the benefits of this affair; we can stop each other from getting too lonely,”
“Yeah,” Slash agreed, “It’s kind of like…a distraction,”
“And you’re both ok with that?” Dave was amazed.
“Totally,” Duff smiled, “It’s kinda hard to explain. We are in love, but we’re even more in love with our wives. It’s a special relationship, the type that could only work on the road,”
“Yeah, as long as you don’t fuck it up by saying anything,” Slash said, opening a can of beer, “Cause when our wives are around, there is no relationship. We’re totally devoted to our families.
“Guys you can trust us, you know that,” Dave said. Matt sat staring at them.
“And I thought my relationship was complicated,” he said.
“You have no idea,” Slash laughed loudly, “But it works for us,”
The tour bus reached its destination and Scott, Matt and Dave got off. Slash and Duff held back.
“Does it work?” Duff asked doubtfully, “I mean, can we do it this way?”
“Do you want it to work this way?” Slash asked, packing his things up.
“Yeah,” Duff sounded unsure, “I couldn’t leave Susan and the kids, I love her too much, but I really like you too and I really want this to work as well,”
“Well I want it to work too,” Slash put the last of his things into the bag and stood up, “This can work, as long as we both know its only when we’re on the road, like we discussed,”
“I know that,” Duff said. Slash kissed him on the cheek.
“Quit worrying,” he said affectionately, walking out of the bus. Duff picked up his bag and followed.
They walked into the arena companionably together.
“I’m glad we’re doing this,” Slash said, throwing his arm around Duff’s waist.
“Slash!” Duff moved away.
“What? There’s no-one around,” Slash moved closer and put his arm around Duff’s waist again. Duff looked around to make sure they were alone and relaxed slightly.
“You know you need to loosen up a little,” Slash said as Duff pulled away again after hearing some voices.
“This is as loose as it gets in public,” Duff answered.
“You need to do something dangerous and risky,” Slash continued as they went inside the arena.
“Like what?” Duff asked warily, remembering that in the past, being risky had led to his pancreas exploding and to Slash nearly dying, numerous times.
“We’re all supposed to meet at the studio tomorrow at ten,” Slash said quietly, “Why don’t we meet there earlier, to, you know…prepare?”
Duff turned to look at him. Slash was staring at him, his eyes shining eagerly.
“Come on dude, I’m the first-timer, you should be persuading me,” Slash persisted.
“You’re hardly a first timer after that thing you did yesterday,” Duff answered, smiling. Slash grew slightly uncomfortable
“We’re uh…not gonna be mentioning that again. I’ve got my reputation to think of,”
Duff laughed.
“Go on then,” he said, giving in, “I’ll meet you there at eight,”
“Cool,” Slash walked off
“Wow, so you and lover boy aren’t joined at the hip,” Dave appeared behind them.
“Nope,” Duff was grinning.
“It certainly seems that way at times,” Dave remarked.
“What do you mean?” Duff asked, “You’ve only known about us for two days,”
“Well when I think about it, for the past two weeks you and Slash have gone everywhere and done everything together,” Dave said,
“And that’s different from the past twenty years how?” Duff asked wondering if this was true.
“Good point,” Dave said as his mobile started ringing, “I have to take this,”

Apart from a rushed sound check, Slash and Duff didn’t see each other again until it was nearly time for the show. Slash was sitting in a corner strumming on his guitar.
“That’s nice,” Duff sat beside him.
“Thanks,” Slash muttered, continuing playing.
“Do you think we spend too much time together?” Duff asked.
“No,”
“Well…don’t you think it might be hard to return to normal after the tour?” Duff asked.
“No,” Slash looked up, “Dude are you trying to tell me something?”
“No, no,” Duff answered hurriedly, “It’s just something someone said,”
“Are we still on for tomorrow?” Slash asked.
“Of course,” Duff answered.
“Guys you’re on in five minutes,” a roadie interrupted.


The next evening, Brian was talking with Roger about what had happened with Duff.
“He was just so…different,” Brian said, “He’s changed so much,”
“Well twelve years is a long time,” Roger said down the phone, “People change,”
“I’m not letting him go,” Brian decided, “I’m sure I can convince him to come round,”
“How are you going to do that?” Roger asked.
“I’ll invite him to a party next week,”
“You’re having a party?” Roger asked in surprise, “First I’ve heard of it,” he said grumpily, he was getting tired of being left out of Brian’s secrets.
“I’ve only just thought of it this minute,” Brian answered, “I’ll organise something simple,”
“I think there’s someone else,” Brian said suddenly, “That’s why he was so distant,”
“Yeah, his wife,” Roger rolled his eyes, this was the third time Brian had been on the phone analysing the conversation, word for word, and Roger was running out of things to say.
“No,” Brian persisted, “I mean another man, as well as his wife. That’s why he didn’t want me. Or maybe he’s playing hard to get,”
“Maybe,” Roger sighed, “Or maybe he’s just not interested, like he said. People don’t always have to have deep hidden meanings to everything they say,”
“You can find out,” Brian told him, “You’ve always got on well with him,”
“Yes,” Roger answered sarcastically, “Because he’d tell me wouldn’t he?”
“Well he might,” Brian insisted.
“I’m not getting involved in this,” Roger said firmly.
“Please Rog,” Brian pleaded.
“No,” Roger answered, “Why can’t you just concentrate on being his friend?”
“Because I don’t want to be his friend,” Brian snapped, “It’s not enough,”
Roger could hear the strain in his friend’s voice and took pity on him.
“Look, I know it hurts,” he said, “But the sooner you accept that it’ll never be the same, the sooner you can move on. Surely you can see that. If he meant so much to you, why didn’t you to try to get in contact before?”
“Because I thought I was over him. It wasn’t until I saw him in the hotel that I realised I wasn’t,” there was silence for a few minutes before Brian spoke again, “I need to try one more time, he needs to know that I love him and I’m not giving up,”
“Ok,” Roger sighed. There was no point in arguing; he knew how stubborn Brian could be, “Just be careful,”
Brian hung up the phone and dialled Duff’s number.
“Hello?” Duff sounded out of breath.
“Hi, it’s Brian,”
“Oh, um…hey,” Duff sat up properly.
“Have I caught you at a bad time?” Brian asked.
“Yeah, I’ve…um…got my hands full,” Slash sniggered beside Duff. Duff moved away from the bed, so that Brian wouldn’t hear Slash.
“I won’t keep you then,” Brian said, “It’s just that um…next Wednesday there’s going to be a…umm…”
“Are you having a party?” Duff asked helpfully.
“Yeah,” Brian said gratefully, “Well, Roger is. It’s just a small get-together at his house next Wednesday night. You can come along if you want. Not just you, I mean everyone in the band, it’s been a while since I’ve seen Slash,”
“Yeah, I’d love to come,” Duff said, “I’ll tell the other guys,”
Slash, who was standing behind Duff with his arms wrapped around him, started tickling him. Duff moved away, but Slash followed.
“Fuck off,” Duff whispered out of the corner of his mouth.
“What’s that?” Brian asked.
“Sorry, I was talking to a roadie,” Duff lied, “Umm…John. Look I’ve gotta go. Like I said I’m kinda busy,”
“Ok,” Brian said, “I’ll see you then,”
“Yeah. I’ll phone you later to let you know,” Duff hung up and glared at Slash who was sitting on the bed laughing.
“John the roadie?” Slash guffawed, “Couldn’t you have said something more interesting?”
“Like what?”
“I don’t know, the truth?” Slash stopped laughing, “You could have said you were talking to your boyfriend Slash,”
“I couldn’t tell him that,” Duff was shocked.
“Why not?” Slash asked indignantly, “It’s the truth,”
“It’s none of his business,” Duff said, “Anyway, why are you getting so worked up?”
“Because we both know why he invited you to the party…”
“Us, he invited all of us,” Duff interrupted,
“You, us, it doesn’t matter,” Slash said, getting worked up, “He’s still got feelings for you. And you never stop talking about him,”
“That doesn’t mean that I’ve got feelings for him,” Duff exclaimed angrily.
“It didn’t stop you from going to the party,” Slash shouted, he mimicked Duff’s voice, “I’d love to Brian,” he returned to his normal voice again.
“Everything that’s happened and you still go crawling back,”
“I do not crawl,” Duff spat.
“Yes you do,” Slash said bitterly, “You’d crawl, you’d do fucking back flips for him. All he has to do is snap his fingers and you come running,”
“That’s not true,” Duff said irately, “You know I’d never cheat on you,”
“You’re cheating on Susan,” Slash pointed out.
“And you’re cheating on Perla,” Duff retorted.
“Leave Perla out of this,” Slash said through gritted teeth.
“Well then you leave Susan out of this,” Duff said, “Can’t you see that you’re over-reacting? You have nothing to worry about,”
“Prove it,” Slash said, “Say you won’t go to the party,”
Duff didn’t reply.
“That proves my point,” Slash said, “I’ll go to the party with you, to see Brian. But until it’s over, we have nothing to talk about,”


Put down the phone after talking to Duff. He was feeling ecstatically happy. That thing with the roadie had been suspicious, but it didn’t matter. Duff was coming to the party next week. Nothing could quell Brian’s happiness. He decided to phone Roger.
“Hello?”
“I phoned him,” Brian said excitedly, “I told him you were having a party next Wednesday,”
“Me?” Roger exclaimed, “Why me?”
“Well I couldn’t hold the party could I? It’d look too suspicious,”
“And it wouldn’t if I held the party instead?” Roger asked dryly, but Brian wasn’t listening.
“We can invite Paul…and Anita. Maybe my kids and your two older ones and how about the We Will Rock You Cast?”
“Yeah,” Roger said wryly, “Because it’s not like they’d be performing that night. I’ll phone the caterers in the morning,” he sighed.
“Remember the parties Freddie used to hold?” Brian asked nostalgically.
“Yeah, he used to have piles of champagne, naked men and women, the works. Only the best for our Fred,”
“Yeah,” Brian sighed, “Right. We’ll start planning properly in the morning,”
“Brian let’s do this properly,” Roger decided.
“What do you mean?” Brian asked warily.
“You know, piles of champagne, strippers, the works, like something Freddie would have had,”
“Aren’t we a bit old?”
“You’re never too old for a party,” Roger laughed, “And it’s been such a long time since we’ve had a good old Queen do. We should invite Deaky and all,”
“Yeah,” Brian agreed enthusiastically, “It’ll be just like the good old days,”
“I’ll talk to you tomorrow Bri,”
“Ok,”
Roger hung up and started looking up John Deacon’s number. This party was going to be the party to end all parties, he decided, of course there was no way he was going to invite his children. He stopped for a minute to think about Freddie. He’d started thinking about him a lot more recently. He shook his head and dialled John’s number. He got through to his answering machine. John was probably asleep. It was almost midnight.
“Hey Deaky, it’s Roger. Remember me? We used to be in a band together once upon a time. It was called Queen. Call me when you get this,”


Scott could sense that something was wrong the next morning in the recording studio. Slash had arrived first and was irritable and snapping at everyone. Duff was, uncharacteristically, fifteen minutes late.
“Where’s Duff?” Matt asked as he tuned up his drum kit.
“How the fuck am I supposed to know?” Slash snapped, “What am I, his keeper? He does whatever the fuck he wants. We’re not joined at the hip you know,”
Matt was taken aback at this outburst. Slash was usually so quiet and soft-spoken.
“Sorry, I was just asking,” Matt said quietly. Scott raised an eyebrow at Dave, who shrugged. Slash sighed deeply, now he’d upset Matt.
“Look, dude, I’m sorry,” he began, “I had a row with Duff. I shouldn’t have taken it out on you,”
“Do you wanna talk about it?” Dave asked.
“Nope,” Slash looked down at his guitar, “It was just Duff being selfish and inconsiderate,”
Just then, Duff walked in, slamming the door behind him. Slash got up.
“I’m going outside for a smoke,” Duff made to follow him, “Alone,” Slash slammed the door behind him.
“Must have been some row,” Scott muttered to Dave.
“What was that?” Duff swung round.
“Nothing, I was just…” Scott started.
“There was no row ok? Just Slash being unreasonable,”
“Do you want a cup of coffee?” Dave asked, trying to change the subject.
“No, because having coffee in this studio is like a guessing game,” Duff answered, “Is it coffee? Or is it Tea? Or Bovril? Or perhaps the water that all three was washed up in,”
“Suit yourself,” Dave said moodily.
Slash came back in.
“Right, lets get this started,” he said.
“This is going to be an interesting recording session,” Matt remarked. Slash and Duff glared at him, but said nothing.
The recording session passed smoothly with neither Slash nor Duff speaking unless they absolutely had to.
“By the way,” Duff said when they had finished, “Roger Taylor is having a party next Wednesday and we’re all invited,”
“Cool,” Matt shrugged.
“What’s it for?” Scott asked. Slash muttered something about Brian and sex.
“What’s that?” Scott asked.
“So Brian can seduce Duff and have sex with him,” Slash repeated a bit louder.
“Well he can seduce all he wants,” Duff said tightly, “It won’t do him any good.
“Why would he want to fuck you?” Matt asked frowning.
“We went out together back in ’93. But he dumped me when the drugs and alcohol got to be too much. Then three weeks ago he tried to get back together, but I said I wasn’t interested,”
Scott noticed that Slash was busy tearing up bits of paper with a bitter look on his face.
“Is that what you and Duff were fighting about?” he asked.
“I don’t want to talk about it,” Slash muttered.

The next day, Duff’s frustration was growing. Duff sat in the airport waiting room and sighed. Slash was really over reacting. Surely he could see that Duff loved him and not Brian. He had no feelings for Brian whatsoever. But Slash? Duff was beginning to think that maybe, just maybe he was in love with Slash. Slash stomped in and sat down heavily opposite Duff. Duff leaned forward.
“Listen, dude,” Slash pressed his lips together into a thin hard line. Duff decided to continue anyway, “You have to believe that I don’t care about Brian. Him and me are over ok? You have to believe me,” Duff waited for a response, but Slash was not forthcoming. Finally he spoke.
“You say you don’t care about Brian, but ever since he came back into to your life it’s been Brian this, Brian that. Brian thinks, Brian believes,”
“That’s not true,” Duff said indignantly, “Brian always thought I talked…”
“See?” Slash interrupted, “There you go again. For someone that doesn’t care about him, you sure do mention him a lot,” Slash got up and stormed away.
Finally the plane for Germany arrived. Duff sat in an empty seat in the hope that Slash would sit beside him, but Slash sat in front of him, beside Scott. Matt and Dave sat beside Duff. Duff sat back and closed his eyes. He hated take off. In front of him, he could hear paper rustling.
“Scott, ask Duff if he wants a sweet,” Slash commanded. Scott turned around and offered him a sweet, which he waved away. So now the guitarist wasn’t talking to him? Well that’s very mature behaviour, Duff thought bitterly.
“Find out if he’s happy playing ‘Mr Brownstone’ instead of ‘It’s So Easy’ at the gig tonight,” Slash said. Scott turned around to Duff.
“Slash wants to know if…”
“Yeah, yeah,” I heard him,” Duff said, “I don’t really care,”
“Slash is still mad at you then?” Dave asked. Duff rolled his eyes.
“No, we made up yesterday. We’re best of friends now. Can’t you tell?” he asked sarcastically.
“Sorry, stupid question,”


Brian put down the phone. The party was almost sorted. He’d arranged for strippers and dancers, the caterers had been booked, he had a D.J coming out, John Deacon had agreed to come and best of all Duff was coming. It would be just like the old days. Brian was feeling so happy that he did a little dance. He skipped around the sitting room, pretending to hold up a skirt. He was in the middle of a fantastic pirouette when he spotted a very amused Roger standing in the doorway. Brian stopped so suddenly that he collapsed in a heap on the floor.
“Blimey, Bri,” he laughed, “Why are we hiring entertainers when we’ve got you?” Brian got up of the floor. He could feel his face burning with humiliation.
“I didn’t hear you come in,” Brian said, attempting to change the subject.
“Of course you didn’t,” Roger chuckled, “You were too busy dancing. The front door was open, so I let myself in,”
“Um…yes,” Brian was still blushing, “Could we just never mention this again?” he asked.
“You know me mate,” Roger said reassuringly, “I’m never going to let you forget it. I’ll remind you of it every chance I get,”
“What, you mean like the time you accidentally dyed your hair bright green?” Brian asked with a smile. Roger’s smile disappeared. Brian knew he’d hit a nerve.
“That wasn’t funny,” he said.
“Oh lighten up Rog,” Brian said, giggling.
“No,” Roger said irritably, “It was downright embarrassing. I had to go onstage with green hair. The bloody thing didn’t wash out for three days. The looks I got from people,” Roger shook his head.
“Oh come on Darling, it was hilarious,”
“No it fucking well wasn’t Freddie,” Roger turned and glared at the singer, “To this day, I’m still convinced that you put green hair dye in my shampoo. I know it was you because…” Suddenly the realization began to dawn on Roger.
“Fucking hell, Freddie? What…but…you’re…” Roger looked over to Brian, who had passed out on the floor, “Fucking hell,” Roger left the room and did something that he hadn’t done in a long time. He lit a cigarette.

Meanwhile, Duff was standing in Slash’s hotel room in Germany.
“Come on dude. This is ridiculous,” he begged, “I had no idea I talked about him so much, it doesn’t mean anything,” Slash ignored him and continued rooting in his suitcase. He wasn’t really looking for anything. He just didn’t want to look at Duff. He didn’t even want Duff in the room, but the attendant had forgotten to lock the door and Duff let himself in.
“Please?” Duff asked. Slash took out a t shirt and held it up under the light before putting it back in the bag, “This isn’t fair,”
“Fair on who?” Slash snapped, “You or me?” Duff hesitated, unsure how to answer.
“I love you,” he said finally. Slash stopped rooting in the bag and looked at him.
“Really?” he asked warily.
“Really,” Duff promised, “I wouldn’t say it unless I meant it,”
“Well, uh…thanks,” Duff was taken aback.
“Um…you’re welcome,” he said.
“Listen dude,” Slash sighed, “I need to sleep on this,” Duff checked his watch.
“It’s only six o clock in the evening,”
“I know, but, look I dunno, I need to think. I’ll talk to you tomorrow,”
“Right,” Duff moved towards the door and opened it, “I’ll leave you to it,” Slash nodded.
“Bye”
Outside the door Duff sighed. At least Slash was talking to him again.


Roger inhaled deeply on his cigarette. He was dreaming. He had to be. Freddie died fourteen years ago, didn’t he? Roger had been at his funeral. He’d been cremated. He stamped out his cigarette and went back inside. Brian was just coming round and Freddie was sitting on the sofa with three glasses of champagne in front of him.
“Is it really you?” Brian asked, getting up of the floor.
“In the flesh dear,” Freddie said with a smile.
“Wow. I don’t know what to say,” there were tears in Brian’s eyes, “I just can’t believe that you’re really here,”
Freddie came over and put his arm around Brian and guided him to the sofa. He put a glass of champagne in Brian’s hand.
“This will help you to get over the shock dear,” he said softly, “I found it in the fridge in a box labelled ‘Party’, but it was Moet et Chandon which is my favourite, and I couldn’t resist,” there was a twinkle in his eye, “I hope you don’t mind darling,”
Finally Roger found his voice.
“That was the first cigarette I’ve had since 1988. You caused me to start smoking again,”
“Champagne dear?” Freddie held out a glass.
“Don’t you ‘champagne dear’ me. You appear out of the blue, you drive me back to cigarettes and then you take the alcohol that we’d put aside for the party,”
“There’s plenty more where that came from,” Freddie waved a hand dismissively, “And don’t give me that shit about having given up fags in 1988. If you’d really given up then you wouldn’t have had a packet with you today would you?”
“Well…you know…I get stressed sometimes…” Roger began guiltily.
“And for the record,” Freddie cut him off, “Yes, I did replace your shampoo with green hair dye,”
“You bastard!” Roger shouted indignantly, “I knew it all along. Fuck you anyway,”
“Roger no!” Brian said. He knew how temperamental Freddie could be and was terrified that if Roger offended him, he might leave and not come back.
“Oh don’t worry dear,” Freddie laughed, “Roger and I have been fighting since the moment we met, and you know that. I’m not going to let the little faggot drive me away now,”
“Don’t you want to know why I’m here?” Freddie asked in surprise.
“Well, it hadn’t actually occurred to me. I assumed you’re a ghost,” Brian said. Freddie doubled over laughing while Brian and Roger watched in confusion.
“Finished?” Roger asked impatiently.
“Ooh yes, I think so,” Freddie said, wiping his eyes, “I’m not a ghost. Far from it in fact, the truth is…well…I faked my own death,”
“But…the weakness…the weight loss. I don’t understand,” Roger stuttered.
“Cancer, my dears. The doctors told me that it was treatable, but I should consider retirement. But I’m Freddie Mercury, dear. I couldn’t retire. There’d always be this T.V show, that tribute gig. I’d never get a rest. I’d had enough. So I pretended it was Aids. Got the Chemo and all the rest and went to live, very peacefully in Zanzibar. Jim and Phoebe* knew about it. They helped me. I’d been planning my escape back there ever since I first came to London,”
“Why the hell didn’t you tell us the truth?” Roger demanded.
“I couldn’t could I?” Freddie answered impatiently, “You’d all have tried to talk me out of it,”
“Damn right we would’ve,” Roger shouted back, lighting another cigarette, “We’re supposed to be your friends. But you fuck off to the arse end of nowhere for fourteen years and let us all believe that you’re dead,”
“Do you think it was an easy decision to make?” Freddie retaliated.
“Freddie what the hell possessed you to do it though?” Brian asked, “It’s so…extreme,”
“You don’t know how tired I was of being in the spotlight. It wasn’t easy. I wanted to tell you both so many times, but the less people that knew the better,”
“Yeah well knowing you’d moved to Zanzibar would’ve been better than thinking you’d died. I missed you so much,” Roger said accusingly.
“We all have,” Brian said, letting tears fall freely down his face.
“What’s the worst part?” Freddie asked quietly.
“Knowing that you left and let us believe a lie,”
“Roger dear, come and sit down,” Freddie said. Roger stood glaring at Freddie.
“Why didn’t you tell us?” he asked furiously, “You could have done like Deaky, or Axl Rose. You don’t have any idea what you put us all through. It was just so senseless and bloody inconsiderate! It’s always been about you, what you want and what you need. What about the rest of us?” Roger stopped. He had tears in his eyes. Freddie looked down at his knees guiltily. There was silence for a while.
After a while Brian spoke.
“I’m sorry Freddie, he didn’t mean that, you know,”
“I did fucking mean it,” Roger snapped, “That bastard thinks he can just stroll back and everything will be ok,”
“You’re right darling,” Freddie said quietly, “I have been selfish and inconsiderate. I can’t tell you how sorry I am. IF I could make it up to you I would. And I don’t expect you to forgive me. I just thought I’d stop by and see you all. But I’m going to go now. Here’s my new address,”
“Freddie wait,” Brian stood up, “Don’t leave yet, please! I’ve missed you so much. There’s so much I want to talk to you about,”
“Well, I don’t know,” Freddie looked at Roger dubiously.
“Go on,” Roger sighed, “As much as you’ve upset me, it is good to see you again, you old tart,”
“Brilliant,” Freddie sat back down, “Now tell me all the gossip,”
“Why did you wait until now to come back?” Brian asked.
“Well it’s my sixtieth birthday in September. And anyway, I’ve heard about this tour with Paul Rodgers and I’ve decided that I’d quite like to tour myself, if you’re up to it,”
“So you’re only back to do another tour?” Brian asked.
“Oh no dear,” Freddie protested, “I came back because I realised that I’m hitting sixty. I’m getting on in life. I wanted to come back and see everyone again before it really is too late. I can’t wait to see this musical,”
“You’ve heard about the musical?” Roger sounded surprised.
“Well we do have the internet in Zanzibar,” Freddie pointed out, “I’ve been following everything that’s been happening,”
“Have you ever seen my website?” Brian asked.
“Yes,” Freddie took a sip of champagne, “You use it to moan and whine about everyone and everything. Some of it is interesting though,”
“I do not moan and whine,” Brian sounded outraged.
“Yes you do,” Freddie was adamant, “I don’t like this, I hate that. You haven’t changed a bit. So is there any other gossip for me that isn’t on the Internet?”
In the next two hours, Brian and Roger filled Freddie in on everything that had happened in his absence, including what happened with Duff, which Freddie found extremely interesting.
“Ok dears,” Freddie stood up, “Phone Deaky and tell him to come over here as fast as he can, tell him it’s important,”
“I don’t know if…” Roger began. Freddie’s eyes narrowed and he picked up the phone.
“If you two won’t do it, I’ll phone him myself,” Roger jumped up and grabbed the phone.
“It’s ok, I’ll do it,” he said anxiously. Hearing Freddie’s voice on the other end of a phone after fourteen years could be the worst possible thing for John.
Brian smiled. One thing hadn’t changed anyway. You didn’t say no to Freddie before he left and you didn’t say no to him now. The doorbell ringing interrupted them.
Brian went out to answer it. It was Duff.
“Hey dude, can I come in?” he went into the sitting room without waiting for an answer. He stopped in his tracks when he saw Freddie, who smiled at him.
“Why hello dear,”
Duff paled and looked at Brian for an answer.
“It’s a long story,”
“Are…are you a ghost?” Duff asked uncertainly.
“Sort of, yes,” Freddie said with a twinkle in his eye.
“Right, well,” Duff said, “I’ll come back when you’re not busy,”
“No, no, please stay,” Freddie begged, “I’m not a ghost. I grew tired of the showbiz lifestyle, so I faked my death and moved back to Zanzibar,”
“Ok,” he said doubtfully, “I can understand that. I’ve often considered it myself,”
“Deaky’s on his way,” Roger said, “He was none too happy though,”
“Lovely, the more the merrier,” Freddie said happily, “So what can we do for you dear?” he asked Duff.
“Well…um…I’m having a bit of trouble and…”
“Man trouble?” Freddie interrupted,
“Uh, yeah,”
“Can I get you anything to drink?” Freddie asked, “Tea? Coffee? Coke? Juice?”
“Tea would be nice,” Freddie got up and left the room. Duff sat down beside Brian.
“Whoa,” he said.
“I’m sorry,” Brian said, “He can be a bit overbearing at times,”
“I just can’t believe he’s here,” Duff said, shaking his head.
“I can’t believe he’s making the tea himself,” Roger remarked as they heard banging coming from the kitchen, “This is a man who can’t even boil an egg,”
“Darling how do you turn on the microwave?” Freddie called.
Roger rolled his eyes in mock annoyance.
“I’d better get in there,” he said.
“So what did you want to talk about?” Brian asked
Roger came in, followed by Freddie, and handed Duff a cup of tea and then Duff told them everything about what had happened with Slash. Brian sat with a pained expression on his face throughout the whole story.
“Do you love him?” Freddie asked when Duff had finished.
“Yes, yeah I think so,” Duff said. Brian got up and left the room.
“How did you and Brian meet?” Freddie asked. Duff grew thoughtful.
“It was at your tribute gig,” he said fondly, “I came off stage and Brian was standing there. He said he’d enjoyed our performance. We chatted for a while after that and it sort of went from there. He wasn’t like anyone I’d ever met before,”
I’ve never met anyone like him since,” Duff said quietly, suddenly he remembered where he was, “Did I say that out loud?” he asked
“Don’t worry, we won’t say anything,” Freddie smiled.
“Why didn’t you give him another chance?” Roger asked, “He misses you like crazy and I think you miss him too,”
“After he dumped me, he just disappeared, you know?” Duff took a sip of his tea, “He changed his phone number, moved house He didn’t want nothin’ to do with me. I tried to contact him so many times. Twelve years has passed. I’ve moved on. Brian can’t just stroll back into my life after twelve years and pick up where he left off,”
“I think you should go and talk to him though,” Freddie said thoughtfully, “You still love him in some way. You wouldn’t have come here if you didn’t,”
“I just wanna be friends with him man,”
“Talk to him then,” Freddie urged, “Tell him that”
“Yeah, I will,” Duff left the room in search of Brian. He found him sitting in the conservatory.
“Hey,” he said softly, sitting beside Brian, who continued staring straight ahead, “You ok?”
“Yeah,”
“I’ve missed you, you know,” Duff whispered.
“Really?” Brian whispered.
“Yeah,” Duff smiled. They sat smiling at each other before Brian leaned over and kissed Duff gently on the lips. Duff jumped up in shock.
“Dude, what are you doing?”
“Shit. I’m sorry, I thought…when you came to me to talk about your problem with Slash and then you said you missed me,”
“I meant that I missed your companionship. I missed being able to phone you up and talk about things, like this evening.
“Why do you lead me on like that and then send me away?” Brian asked furiously.
“I didn’t mean to lead you on,” Duff said, “I don’t feel that way about you anymore. We’ve discussed this,”
“You discussed it,” Brian said, getting up and leaning against the window.
“What do you want from me?” Duff asked tiredly.
“You,” Brian said, turning around, “I want you,”
“Well you can’t have me,” Duff snapped, “You had me twelve years ago and you disappeared from my life completely. You can’t just stroll back into my life and pick up where you left off dude. I’ve moved on,”
“What if I haven’t?” Brian asked, “What if I’ve decided that I want you back?”
“So I should just drop everything and come running back with open arms just because you’ve decided that you’re ready to have me back?” Duff fumed, “Life doesn’t always go the way you want it to Brian, not even for you,”
“Well you obviously haven’t got much of a relationship with Slash,” Brian said.
“What makes you say that?” Duff asked.
“Well if it can’t survive this, what kind of a relationship is it?”
Duff thought for a moment. Brian had a point. If his relationship with Slash was as strong as he believed, they could get through this. It would just take a little work.
“Look,” he said to Brian, “Let’s not fight. We’re still friends, right?”
“We were never friends,” Brian spat, “You know that as well as I do,”
“Yeah? Well maybe that’s what the problem is,” Duff turned and walked out.


When he got back to the hotel, Duff went straight to Slash’s suite. The light was on under the door and he could hear the T.V. He knocked on the door.
“Dude it’s me,” he called through the door, “I’m gonna keep knocking until you let me in and hear what I have to say,” Slash opened the door and let him in.
“I went to Brian’s house this evening and told him everything,” Duff began, choosing not to mention his encounter with Freddie, “Something he said inspired me. Slash, if our relationship can’t survive this, then what sort of a relationship is it?” he paused to give Slash a chance to talk. But Slash didn’t utter a word.
“I realised that we can make this work,” Duff said, “We’ve just gotta try. I love you dude, you’ve gotta believe me,”
“What about Brian?” Slash asked him, “What are you and him? Friends, lovers?
“I suggested being his friend. But he said that we’ve never been friends. Being friends isn’t good enough for him. We aren’t anything,” Duff said, “But I don’t care. I can get by without him. We’re different; we were friends for about twenty years before we became lovers. It’s you that I need,”
Duff ran out of things to say. He tried to read Slash’s face to see how he was reacting, but Slash’s face remained blank. Finally he walked over to Duff, pulled his head closer to his own and kissed him, hard and heavy on the lips. When they finally pulled apart, breathless, Slash said:
“I love you too,”
“Really?” Duff asked. Slash nodded.
“Really,” He grinned at Duff, “You wanna sleep here tonight? Not that we’ll be sleeping much,”
Duff didn’t answer; instead he pulled off his t-shirt and lead Slash over to the king-size bed.



*(Phoebe was Freddie Mercury’s personal assistant Peter Freestone. ‘Phoebe’ was Freddie’s nickname for him. Jim is Jim Hutton. Freddie’s lover until he died)