Brian, Ruby and Roger spent their Saturday afternoon together, wandering in the many record stores of the capital and going to the cinema to see The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie. On Sunday, a friend of Harold and Ruth had dinner with them at the Mays' house; he was a photographer and just couldn't be separated from his camera. He suggested Harold, Ruth, Brian and Ruby to take a picture of them all together and they accepted. They gathered near one of the walls and smiled at the lens. Ruth was turning her back to Harold who had placed his hands on her waist, and Brian and Ruby were holding hands. Ruby was hugely smiling and was lightly resting her head on his shoulder, as he looked like laughing. Ruby looked really good on it, as her bruises had disappeared and her nose was just a bit purple; she also was wearing a choker and it hid the marks of John's hand that were still present. The day after, the photographer had brought them a big printing of the photograph, such as smaller ones, one for each of them. Harold and Ruth were so proud they bought a frame to protect it and Brian nailed it to the wall.

It was the fifth day Ruby spent at the Mays' house, and it was Tuesday. Brian slowly opened his eyes and saw Ruby, who was staring at him with a smile. She stroked his cheek with the back of her hand.

“Good morning, love.”

“Good morning, sweetheart!” he replied, kissing her tenderly. “Have you been awake for a long time?”

“Only a few minutes.”

“Oh, okay.”

“But I think we'd better get up, it's already 11.”

“WHAT? Wow, did we really sleep that long?”

“I think we did” she giggled. She kissed him and played with a lock of his curls. They both got up and hugged as soon as they were close to each other again. Hand in hand, they got out of the room and went down the stairs. They looked around them but no-one was here.

“Oh, that's right! I forgot they had to go visit a friend in Soho” Brian said. “They'll be back soon.”

“Maybe we should take this opportunity to take a bath and get dressed?”

“You're right dear. And maybe...”

He got closer to her and kissed her neck before going up to her ear.

“Maybe we could take one together.”

Ruby blushed and nodded. They climbed the stairs and Brian went to his room to pick up clean clothes and so did Ruby in her bedroom. She also took a clean towel and walked up to the bathroom. Brian arrived at the same time. They silently undressed in the bathroom after they locked the door and turned on the tap of the bathtub. They quietly waited for it to be filled, simply smiling at each other and cuddling. Once it was done, they turned off the tap and sneaked into the bath. Brian pressed his back against the edge of it, welcoming Ruby who sat between his legs, her back against his chest. He kissed her neck and smiled.

“Oh, dear, you're so gorgeous!”

“Don't talk nonsense, Bri.”

“When will you eventually admit you're someone good?”

“I don't know. Not today.”

She grinned and he rolled his eyes with a smile. They both dampened their arms, and Brian softly rubbed Ruby's back with soap. He took the opportunity to massage her shoulders. She grinned and closed her eyes, feeling Brian's delicate fingers relaxing her. Then, she carefully turned around and did the same on his back. They tenderly kissed and then washed each other.

“Ah, taking a bath is so good I'm too lazy to go out.” Brian laughed.

“Let's stay a little bit more.”

He rested his chin on her shoulder. His temple was pressed against hers, and she was gently stroking his curls.

“What's the secret behind your curls?” she said. “They almost seem unreal.”

He giggled and kissed her cheeks.

“Actually, I explained it to you once.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah, I told you that if one day a war is declared, I'll be able to hide my family in my hair. I could also hide you! I have to take care of the shelter until then.”

“Oh, Bri, that's so nice of you! See, I can't do the same, I'll have to let my family die under the bombs!”

They bursted out laughing, and Brian kissed Ruby.

“I'm happy that you live with us, dear. It also seems like we skipped steps in our relatonship, don't you think?”

“Why?”

“Oh, it's just that we've been dating for almost two months now, and we already live together.”

“Yeah, but that wasn't planned. I'm quite happy to be here too. I feel understood, y'know. I feel loved. I have no doubt that my mother loves me, but it's not the same, she forbids herself to show it.”

“That must be hard. I've been lucky with my mum.”

“You are. Your parents are really lovely. I'm lucky too that they're here.”

“You can be. You can also be very proud to have me.”

“Bri, you underrate yourself too much, y'know!” she laughed.

“Do I?”

He giggled and kissed her.

“I love you, Ruby.”

“I love you too, Brian.”

They smiled at each other and stroked each other's face. Then, they stood up and removed the plug of the bath. They let the water sink and empty it. Ruby took her clean towel and dried herself, while Brian was doing the same thing behind her. They put on their clothes as they were singing a song by Led Zeppelin. They unlocked the door and got out of the bathroom. At the same time, the entrance door opened and Ruth and Harold appeared.

“Oh, here you are!” Brian exclaimed. “How was your friend?”

“Quite good” Ruth replied with a smirk. “She says hello to you both!”

“Oh, thanks!”

Brian and Ruby went downstairs and greeted them.

“When did you wake up?” Ruth asked.

“Only an hour ago.”

“Did you have breakfast?”

“No... We just took a bath.”

“That's great, because I bought something nice!”

They noticed a big box wrapped in ribbons on the floor behind her.

“What's that?”

“I thought that maybe you didn't want to eat something too heavy today, and I didn't feel like cooking.”

She grabbed the box and lifted up. She gestured to them to follow her to the living room. She placed the box on the table and untied the ribbons. She carefully opened the box. There were three big cakes inside of it. The first one was a simple chocolate cake with flowers drawn on it with sugar; the second one was a bigger cake, raspberry flavour, decorated with almond paste roses and cream; then, the third was a cheese cake.

“Damn, they look delicious!” Ruby sighed.

“I didn't know what kind of cakes you liked, so I bought different ones. Do you like them?”

“I do!”

Ruth smiled in relief and happily walked up to the kitchen where she took four plates and four dessert spoons. She gave them to Ruby who arranged them correctly on the table, in front of every chair. Then, Ruth gave Brian four glasses he placed on the table. Harold walked up to them, a smile on his face.

“Let's fill our stomachs!”

“Yeah!”

They all sat at the table, and Ruth came with three different knives to cut the cakes. She cut every cake in eight parts; Harold took one of each, Brian took one of the chocolate cake and another of the raspberry cake (so did Ruby) and Ruth took one of each. Harold laughed.

“That's funny how our choices are matching our partner's! Look, Ruby and Brian chose the same parts, and so did we!” he said to his wife. “Hey, maybe it's a sign!”

“If it's one, I'd love it to be real” Brian smiled.

Ruby smiled, kissed him on the cheek and playfully shook his curls. Harold ate a piece of his cake and suddenly raised a finger. He wiped his mouth with his napkin.

“By the way, I was thinking about something. Maybe we could go to the sea this weekend. We could go to Blackpool or... I don't know.”

“That'd be great!” Brian said enthusiastically.

“You can also ask Roger to come! Unless Ruby's going to be too embarrassed...”

“Oh no, no, Roger and I are really good friends! He's my classmate.”

“Oh, I see! Well, you can ask him, but PLEASE tell him not to take his drumsticks like he did last time we went to Dartford! The lad spent the whole trip drumming on the seats!”

“I promise I'll tell him!” Brian laughed.

At this moment, a car bluntly braked outside; the tires lengthily squeaked on the road. Brian rolled his eyes.

“I will never understand why all those people drive like idiots. I mean, it's better to be late than dead!”

“You know, Bri” Ruth started “in general, bosses don't care about that...”

“It's scary.”

Someone knocked on their door. Brian stood up and opened it. He saw a man he didn't recognise immediately.

“I KNOW SHE'S HERE, YOU BASTARD!” the man roared.

Ruby stiffened; obviously, he was going to look for her. The man pushed Brian out of his way. Harold ran to him, followed by Ruth.

“I guess you are John Franklin?”

“It's none of your business! Where's my daughter?”

Brian immediately ran to the kitchen when John didn't look. He hailed his girlfriend in a whisper. He could tell she was terrified.

“Ruby! Ruby! Come here! I'm going to hide you!”

She didn't reply or simply turned her head. She couldn't even move a finger. She was petrified. If he found her, what was going to happen?

“RUBY!” Brian called her a bit louder. “Come with me!”

This time, she gathered enough strength to turn her head. Brian ran to her and helped her to get up. Meanwhile, Ruth, Harold and John were arguing in the entrance.

“I ask you to leave right now, Mr. Franklin!” Harold said.

“I WON'T LEAVE THIS DAMN PLACE UNTIL I FIND HER!”

“Mr. Franklin” Ruth quietly said, “We won't let you have her, have you realised what you did to her? You broke her nose! And her wounds are still visible! It can be punished by law!”

“You, shut up!” he yelled, slapping her. Harold frowned and pulled him by the collar of his shirt.

“Don't touch my wife, you bastard!” he said with rage in his voice and eyes before punching him right in the face. Then, they started to fight violently, and Ruth was trying to separate them.

Brian and Ruby were still in the kitchen. Brian knew it wasn't going to end well. He quickly looked around, trying to find somewhere to hide her away from her father. He soon realised that if he wanted to reach the best places where he could hide her, he had to cross John's way. He started to shiver and cried in despair, running a hand through his hair.

“Bri...”

“Yes?”

“I'm terrorised, Bri.”

He could see the tears rolling down her cheeks. They jumped as they heard a vase breaking on the floor, as Harold and John were still fighting and roaring insults.

“It's going to be alright” he whispered. “Let's hide in the toilets!”

He grabbed her hand and pulled her behind him until they reached the door of the toilets. At the same time, John violently punched Harold, who fell on the floor. He rubbed his fist and looked for her.

“RUBY! GET OUT OF YOUR HIDEOUT! YOU'RE COMING TO PARIS WITH US!”

He banged the walls and made his way to the kitchen. No-one was there. He turned around and noticed the door of the toilets wasn't well closed. He rushed to the door and widely opened it. He found Ruby, curled up into Brian's arms, covering her ears with her hands. Brian looked at him with a look of terror. He held her tighter. But John wasn't touched at all. He punched Brian and grabbed her arm. She screamed and tried to freed himself, hitting him in the arm. Unfortunately, she wasn't strong enough. John dragged her to the front door, but Ruth wrapped herself around Ruby.

“You... Won't... Have... HER!”

“Get out of my way, you slut!”

“Mr Franklin, Ruby is an adult! She can live her own life! If paying a flat here is too expensive for you, she can live here! We'd love to keep her with us! We can pay for her studies and you won't need to pay us back!”

“She can't take care of herself! And I don't want her to stay with your sheep-haired child!”

“Don't insult my son! Mr Franklin, please, calm down, maybe we can talk and take a decision quietly around a cup of tea! Don't you realise how much you terrorise her? She can't sleep much at night due to what you inflicted to her! Are you ready to separate two human beings who deeply love each other? Are you really that cruel? Be sure that if you do, she'll hate you for the rest of her life!”

“Stop talking you old witch! I'm taking her with me, period! And I'm warning you, Brian May, if you dare send her a letter or anything like that, I'll come back and slaughter you!”

“Mr Franklin” he cried. “Please, let her stay here, she's happy with us and we're happy with her! I couldn't stand losing her, I beg you!”

“Oh, are you even a man? Men don't cry, idiot!”

Brian bursted into tears, trying hard to hold it back.

“I love your daughter, Mr Franklin, I really do!”

“Are you really going to cry like that all day? It's nothing more than a teenage romance! I can bet that in one month, you'll be fucking another girl!”

Harold grabbed John's hair and pulled him back. John let Ruby go, and she immediately ran into Brian's arms. They kissed, trying to calm down. “He won't separate us, I promise” they were repeating to each other. Harold put his hand around John's throat and pinned him to the wall.

“NOW, FRANKLIN, LEAVE THIS HOUSE OR YOU'LL HAVE SERIOUS PROBLEMS WITH JUSTICE!”

“You have no power over me, May!” he roared despite the pressure against his throat.

“Brian, quick, bring her upstairs!” Ruth whispered to her son.

“OH NO HE WON'T!”

As Brian was rushing to the stairs, John freed himself and caught Ruby by the hair. He abruptly pulled her back, forcing her to let go of Brian's hand. She screamed in pain and didn't even try to free herself. John dragged her outside, but was stopped by a hand on his shoulder.

“Don't touch my Ruby!”

And Brian punched him back in the jaw, but John was still holding her hair. Then, his hand went down and he grabbed her arm, clenching his fingers firmly around it. John slapped Brian and made him heavily fall on the ground.

“You'll never see her again! You won't hear about her! She'll be in Paris, and she'll have a successful career, while you'll be here, drowning in your stupidity.”

John reached the car and opened one of the back doors. He threw her on the back seats and locked the car.

“Harold, please, do something!” Ruth was crying. “Take her back! He's going to kill her!”

“I'm afraid I can't do anything, honey...”

“What? Of course you can!”

Harold sadly nodded. In the car, Ruby was banging on the window, yelling Brian's name; her face was red and her voice was trembling, due to her crying. Prudence was sitting in the car too but didn't say a word. She kept looking down, avoiding to watch the scene. John got into the car and started it up. Brian stood up and ran after the car.

“RUBY! RUBY! NO! PLEASE, CAN SOMEONE STOP THIS CAR! MY LOVE'S IN HERE! “

People passing in the streets didn't move. Brian cried in despair.

“RUBY! RUBY! RUBY! NO! DON'T GO!”

Brian's screams were tearing Ruby's heart. She could hear him through the window. She banged against the back window, yelling his name louder and louder. He was still running after them. He was begging for help, but nobody helped him.

“BRIAN! BRIAN! BRIAN!”

She screamed until she lost her voice. Outside, Brian tripped over a can and fell on the floor. John accelerated and Ruby watched Brian becoming more and more distant. As for him, he knelt down and helplessly watched the car driving away. The last thing he saw was Ruby's face behind the window. He screamed in pain and buried his face in his hands. Tears were crashing on his thighs. “Ruby, no... My Ruby...” He lifted up his chin and absently stared at the road on which the Franklins' car had disappeared.

It was the fifth day Ruby spent at the Mays' house, and it was Tuesday. It was also the last. Brian Harold May was kneeling down in the middle of a road, his eyes lost in the horizon. He had just lost his love. He had lost his Ruby on a Tuesday. His eyes were blinded by tears. Cars were tooting behind him, and the drivers were going out of their cars to yell at him. But he didn't hear them. He simply opened his mouth and whispered in a trembling voice:

                                                    Goodbye, Ruby Tuesday...