Ruby and Brian got inside the car, waving at Ruth, standing at the doorstep. The old lady was hugely smiling at them and they smiled at her in return. The two car doors slammed and Brian started up the car; Ruby was staring at Ruth, smiling, her fingers clenching on her old backpack in which she had put the white stained dress. The boots she had taken back were on the back seats. Then, the car drove away, leaving Hampton Hill. Ruth's last words to Ruby before they left sounded in replay inside her brain. “Please come back again before I pass.” She felt uncomfortable at the idea that maybe it was the last time she had seen Brian's lovely mother. She tried to think about something else.
“Mum's never been that happy since the day she met her grandchildren. Congratulations!” he giggled.
“I was happy too. I've missed her a lot.”
“You're thinking about what she said? Don't pay attention to it, y'know, old people tend to say that all the time.”
“What if it was true?”
“No, I don't think so.”
He shrugged and turned on the radio. Freddie's voice came out of the speakers; it was The Show Must Go On. Brian turned it off immediately.
“I don't want to hear that. I'm not ready.”
Ruby looked at him, worried. She tenderly rubbed his shoulder.
“You will one day, love” she whispered “you just have to wait.”
“I don't know, he was like my family.”
“I know, sweetheart, I know. But you have to carry on.”
“D'you want me to carry on as if nothing really mattered?”
His eyes gave her a sidelong look, and he suddenly bursted out laughing.
“Sorry, honey, I guess I'm not in a normal state.”
“Have you ever been?”
“Ha, ha, ha, very funny, Ruby Riley!”
They laughed and then, Brian focused on the road, whilst Ruby looked out through the window, watching the landscapes pass by. About fourty minutes of silence later, Brian's car parked in front of a huge house in a Tudor style. A large stone stairway led to a small patio next to the door. Brian got out of the car, followed by Ruby, whose eyes were caught by the house.
“Beautiful, isn't it?”
“Oh Lord, yes...” she whispered in amazement. “That's the kind of house I'd love to own.”
“Well you can come and live with me.”
“I can't, May is in Paris, and my job too anyway.”
Brian shrugged with a grin.
“It's up to you.”
They climbed the stairs and Brian took his keys out of his pocket, unlocking the front door. They went inside, and Brian grabbed Ruby's hand, showing her around the house. After that, they sat on a huge couch in the living room.
“Do you want something to drink? Something to eat?”
“No, Bri, thanks.”
“Alright. I'm going upstairs to change my clothes and take my new telescope and my astronomy books. It won't be long, but make yourself comfortable. You can watch TV if you want. Here's the remote” he said, giving her the remote. She smiled at him and watched him climb the stairs. She sighed and noticed she was still holding the backpack.
“Shit, I should have left it in the car.”
She shrugged and opened it; she took out the many photographs and looked at them with a smirk. Brian looked so handsome on all of them. Even when he rolled his eyes because Roger photobombed them. She started to think about Roger. What was he doing at this moment? How was he? How had his life been? She sighed and remembered the time when he was his classmate. Especially the first time they met.

It was the first day of the fourth week. She was in Biology and, as usual, nobody was sitting next to her. She wasn't paying attention to what the teacher was saying and was drawing the Beatles on her paper instead. Then, the door violently opened, showing a tall young man with long fluffy blonde hair. He had obviously been running and was all sweaty and out of breath. His baby blue eyes stared at the teacher and his small mouth panted “Sorry for being late, I got lost.” The teacher had rolled his eyes and told him to get in. Still out of breath, he slowly walked through the classroom, holding his bag tightly against him. The only free seat was next to Ruby.
“Can I sit there?” he said.
“Sure, do.” she smiled.
He thanked her and sat next to her, placing his bag on his knees before resting his head on the table.
“Did you really get lost?” Ruby asked. He looked at her, a bit puzzled and giggled silently.
“No, I didn't. I was at the record store, but I just didn't see what time it was.”
“Did you find something?”
“Yeah, I bought the first album of this new band, Pink Floyd.”
“They're awesome, you won't be disappointed. My brother and I will see them live in a few weeks.”
“Wow! So you like rock'n'roll too?”
“I do.”
“Awesome! By the way, I'm Roger Meddows Taylor.”
“Nice to meet you, Roger. I'm Ruby Riley Franklin.”
“Ruby? I prefer Riley. Do you mind if I call you Riley?”
“I don't.”
“You can call me Rog if you want” he smiled, his chin resting on the table.
Then, they started talking about their favourite bands, and they drew the Beatles on Ruby's paper. After class, they went to a record store and stayed there, looking at the new albums, for at least three hours. That's how their friendship started; music gathered them.

Ruby smiled after remembering this day. She put the photographs back inside the backpack. She could hear Brian walking upstairs, going from one room to another, and it had been this way for five minutes. She scratched her cheek and let her hand fall on the backpack. A sound of a piece of paper being crumpled. She frowned and noticed that there was something inside the inner pocket. She unzipped it and took out an envelope.
“What's that?”
She opened it and saw photographs along with a letter. First, she read the letter. The handwriting was unknown.

“Dear Ruby (or Riley, I never know),

I regret we've never been truly introduced to each other, though we met for real one day.
I am terribly sorry for all the things that ever happened to you because of your crazy father (if you allow me to say so). I'm sorry for what he did to your lovely face (remember, we met the day after) and I'm disgusted because he should have been punished for that treatment. Unfortunately, I guess you didn't have enough time to sue him.
If you read those words one day, I'm sure that you won't understand why I wrote them for you, though we weren't friends. But I feel like we are. Brian and Roger's friends are my friends. I've heard that today is your birthday, so happy birthday! (I forgot to write that down first haha, stupid Fred!) But now I'm in the band, I witness everyday what Bri and Rog are going through, and let me tell you one thing: it's not beautiful. It's not beautiful at all. It's like they'd lost everything, like their whole universe had collapsed. Isn't that terrible to feel that way? I wish you never did. But darling, I beg you to come back to England. Brian misses you terribly and I hate seeing him cry. He can't spend a day without pronouncing your name at least one thousand times. Please come back to him and make him happy (be happy too, by the way). If you're reading those words and that you still haven't seen him again, go to him. Run to him. Fly to him. Take a rocketship if it's needed and fly to him. Land on his sad moon and cheer him up. Just smile at him, and the sun will shine right over him again.

Everybody here misses you. And in a way, I miss you too. I miss the things we never lived together.
Please come back to Rog and Bri. Especially Bri. Even his wild hair seems sad.

I hope you're okay and that you're loved where you are now,
Be happy.
Freddie (Bulsara)

PS: Your white dress is awesome. Your boots and your blue coat are too.”

Ruby's eyes widened and filled with tears. She immediately protected the letter from the tears that escaped from her eyes. She buried her face in her hands and silently sobbed. Even Freddie thought about her back then. Now, did he know that it was him who brought them back together? She jumped as she heard hurried footsteps in the stairs. She quickly dried her eyes and tried to hide she was crying. Brian appeared in the living room, holding a heavy telescope upon his shoulder. He looked really nice now he changed his clothes; he was wearing a white shirt stuck in a black pair of trousers. He was smiling at her and as soon as he saw her face, it faded away.
“Ruby? What's going on?”
She broke down in tears and buried her face in her hands again. Brian quickly put down the telescope and ran to her; he knelt down before her and stroked her cheeks.
“Ruby, tell me what's wrong.”
As a response, she simply handed him Freddie's letter. He took it and sat down next to her, his eyes on the paper. He frowned and when he finished, he sniffed.
“Fuck.”
And then, Brian sobbed again. Really, what a day! She put her arms around him and kissed him as she tried to calm herself. After a while, they were calm enough to speak.
“I didn't know about this letter” Brian said. “He was there at your birthday, when we gathered at home. He slept at home for two days. It was him who took the pictures of the family that my mother gave you. He said he didn't want to appear on the pictures because he didn't know you that well.”
“He never told you about that?”
“No. You know, Freddie was quite mysterious. He could keep a secret, even if it could hurt him. What a man...”
“He also left pictures in the envelope. I haven't seen them yet.”
She grabbed the envelope and shook it, letting the pictures fall on her knees. She took them and looked at them, Brian bending over them too. On the first picture, there was Brian, asleep on the couch of the Mays' house, with a sombrero on his head. There was a small sign on which someone had written “Ole!” Ruby laughed as soon as she saw it and Brian frowned.
“What the hell! That can only be Fred and Rog! Those bastards!”
“Come on, you're so pretty with a sombrero!” she laughed.
She put it aside and looked at the second picture. It was Freddie walking in the living room of the Mays' house with Ruby's white boots; next to him, Roger was wearing her blue coat and the sombrero and almost couldn't stand still, as he was laughing.
“Oh, I remember that!” Brian exclaimed. “My mother was dying of laughter on the couch. That was the only time that your clothes left the bedroom.”
“Rog looks adorable here.”
He nodded with a smile and they looked at the third picture. It was a blurred photograph of Brian and Roger playing in their rehearsal room at the Imperial College. Brian's hair was a bit longer and he was focused on his guitar while Roger was playing with his sticks. Then, there was a last picture. It was a picture taken before the band's first concert with Freddie. Brian and Roger were nervous but still managed to give a huge smile at the camera, one arm around the other's shoulder, and Freddie could be seen behind them, with crossed eyes and his tongue pulled out.
“Tim took that picture” Brian smiled. “He came to our first concert with Freddie, even if he had just left the band.”
Ruby smiled and kissed his temple.
“Freddie was a nice guy” she said. “I didn't know him, but this only proves me I'm right.”
Brian nodded and hugged her. They shared a long and tender kiss, playing with each other's hair. Then, Ruby gathered the pictures and the letter and put them back inside the envelope. She put it in the backpack and zipped it.
“Let's go to your house, now, love” Brian whispered. “I guess you want to change your clothes too.”
“I do. Let's go! Do you want me to help you to carry your books?”
“Yes, please.”
She stood up and took his astronomy books; meanwhile, Brian lifted up his heavy telescope and put it across his shoulder. They walked up to the door that Ruby held so Brian could go out. They closed the door and went up to the car, putting the telescope in the trunk. They got in the car and drove away from Brian's house.