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Freya slams the tour bus doors open, ignoring the concerned shouts from everyone around her. 

Locking the door, she peeks an eye at her Phone screen for the first time in hours.

Miss you. Hope your concert went well- we'll be in bed by the time you read this. xx

Sent at 14:59 by MAMA & PAPA MERCURY

Brilliant concert, Sugar.

Sent at 19:22, by LIAM TRIX

I especially liked the part where you bent over toward your fans. It gave people such as myself a perfect view of your ass. My ass.

Sent at 19:24, by LIAM TRIX

ISTG, Queenie. Open the door! I'm freaking out, Bill is pacing, Reg looks like he needs an inhaler and Perrie is about to cry.

Sent at 19:26, by JENNIE

I'll find you. I'll be behind the stage as soon as I can. xx

Sent at 19:27, by LIAM TRIX

Freya starts tapping all over herself, placing her headphones on, and turning happy music up to maximum volume.

I'll find you, sticks in her mind like a melancholy mantra.

Liam knows what he is doing. 

He knows why she'll never be able to heal the wounds he inflicted on her young heart.

"Let's play a round of hide and seek, yeah? Go and find a hiding place, and I'll count till seventy. Don't come out until I find you, otherwise, our Soulmate Bond will crumble."

A fourteen-year-old Freya Bulsanya nods, eyes watering at the thought of losing her beloved.

"O-Okay. Do you promise to look for me?"

"I'll find you. I'd scavenge the whole bloody world for you, my little dove."

Nodding, the not-yet-famous young girl runs to hide in her soulmate's apartment complex.

Closing the washing machine behind her, Freya begins to giggle.

"He'll never look for me here."

An hour later, Freya is still hiding.

Two, she begins to worry.

Three...

"I've found you!" Liam laughs, opening the washing machine door and scooping her into his arms.

Walking back to his bedroom with her still held tight in his strong, steady arms, he whispers to his soulmate.

"I told you I'd find you."

And that he did.

Though Freya wasn't quite sure that that was what was best for her- she had, after all, noticed the changed sheets, stray panties, and silhouette of a woman leaving the apartment that day.

"Frey?"

"Queenie?"

"Love?"

"Canvas?"

Heaving in a large breath, the singer gathers herself and opens the door.

"Yes?"

"What the hell have you been doing in there for half an hour?!" Jennifer shrieks. "We were just about to call security to open up the door."

Freya smiles. "I'm fine-I'm working on a new song, and seeing the crowd like that inspired me. You know how I get- no distractions or I'll forget everything."

Crossing their arms, the band- plus Perrie, of course- take a few steps forwards.

Jennifer hugs her sister like her life depends on it.

"We know you're not writing a song, Queenie. We also, however, know how private and closed-up of a person you are. So, we'll leave you alone and let you get on with it...but know that we're right here. Perrie already told you that earlier, but I think you need to hear it again."

Looking around, the strength of the group smiles even wider.

"I know. And for that, I'm forever-"

A soul mark begins to tingle.

"-grateful. Excuse me, got to run."

Without another word to her bandmates, Freya begins to run like the wind-busing her years of school track running to her advantage.

The further she runs, the better she feels.. the further she goes, the less her soul marks tingle.

Running toward her car she quickly gets herself in and starts trying to calm her tired lungs down.

The driver, who wasn't supposed to be on duty until three hours later, sits up straight in his seat.

"Where will we be heading this evening, Miss Mercury? Back to the Hotel?"

"Erm, no. F-fly me to the Airport, Ben."

Looking into the rearview mirror with a large frown and knitted eyebrows, Ben stops in his tracks.

"The Airport?"

"Yes, you heard me right. The Airport. Get me there as soon as possible, please."

He nods rather reluctantly, putting up the sound wall as he drives away.

"Rosalia?" Freya asks as she calls her manager.

"Mercury? Where are you?"

"Could you please book me the earliest flight possible, back to England? I'm going to visit home. I'll be in Dublin in time for our concert in four days, I promise."

"A-alright."

"Thanks, bye."

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@!FeedBuzz! posted a picture and captioned it:

@!FeedBuzz!: A tired and swollen-eyed Freya Mercury was just photographed near her childhood home's train station. 

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"Mum, Da, I'm home!" Freya yells into the walls of her childhood home.

Annie comes bustling to the front door.

"My girl! Finally home, so that we can celebrate your birthday like we were supposed to!"

She pulls her daughter into an embrace.

"But- not that I'm not happy to have you here- you're supposed to be staying in New York right now, why are you here?"

Before the woman's daughter can reply, Michael Bulsanya-Mercury walks through the door, grunting as he cracks his middle-aged back.

"FreyZB? What on earth are you doin' here?"

Looking into her father's confused, concerned, and loving eyes is the last straw for her.

Freya begins to cry, hugging her arms around herself and trying not to think of all that's happened.

"I don't want to do this anymore," she cries. "Everybody watches my life like it's a reality TV show. Liam, who I've tried not to ever talk to again, has been harassing me for quite a while now. I've seen all of my other soulmates, who happen to be so fucking awesome and not at all suited to me. I only accepted two of their fourteen bonds before chickening out and singing badly in front of thousands of people...I'm letting everyone down, and I can't do anything about it because I never talk to anyone. He ruined me, and I let him."

While their daughter shouts and cries, the Mercury parents shed a few tears themselves.

"He ruined me. Ruined."

With that, she crumbles to the floor, sobbing harder than she ever has before as her parents shelter her underneath their arms, whispering words of comfort into her ear.

"We love you so, so much superstar. You will always be enough for us."

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June 2022

Edited 2023

A/N: Not gonna lie, this chapter kinda hurt to write.