VALERIE AND JOHN fell asleep curled up underneath three layers of blankets, all the while wearing long sleeved pyjamas.

No matter what Paul claimed, it was fucking freezing in that tiny basement room. Valerie had been giving him hell for it the past few days. Paul always made tea for her in the morning as a half hearted apology.

   "Ugh, I'm so cold. I want to get back home to my warm cozy bed, and Bowie, and my heater that actually works.". Valerie said, sniffling. Thought it was summer, Wales was rather rainy, and Rockfield was very cold. Not to mention, the heater in the basement didn't work at all.

    Being in the cold temperature had inevitably made her sniffly, and it didn't help that there was so much dust all around. It was also very problematic that she happened to get really horrible allergies around dust.

"Paul, that wanker. I'm going to cough on him when I get a chance." said John as he cuddled closer to Valerie, his nose nestled against her cheek.

    "And I'll sneeze on him. Together, we shall be unstoppable in giving him a cold." Valerie said as she shifted slightly to that she could kiss John's nose lightly.

     "You're adorable, you know that?" Valerie asked John, who flushed a deep shade of pink Valerie knew had nothing to do with the temperature of the room.

    "And you're beautiful, you know that?" John replied to Valerie who simply smiled at him.

     "You tell me that all the time. Now, can we go eat breakfast? I'm sure Evan has something ready by now. And I think walking around might warm us up a bit."

     "It's true. And yeah, sure. Just let me go to the bathroom." John replied, though neither of them made a move to get out of the bed.

"I'm actually kind of hungry." Valerie said as she tried to nudge John off of the bed. He simply curled up tighter underneath the blankets.

"And Freddie probably wants to start recording as soon as possible." Valerie continued to argue as she nudged John again.

"Fine, give me like five minutes." John said as Valerie got up from the bed to get ready for the day.

"Alright, no more than that, though. I'll whack you with a pillow if you aren't up in five minutes exactly." Valerie threatened as she ruffled John's hair and headed to the bathroom with her outfit for the day.
*****
The next few days had been spent finishing up Love of My Life, and working on You're My Best Friend. Roger and Freddie finally came to an agreement, which was good, because they needed him to sing the high notes. Freddie tried to get Valerie to do this, but she'd gotten a cold from sleeping in the basement.

     Her throat was very scratchy, and she was unable to sing too high.

"John, run the track again." Freddie called from where he was recording. He was recording vocals for You're My Best Friend, and her messed up on one of the lines.

From where he was in the sound booth, John nodded and started the tape again.

      Freddie was a perfectionist, so he made John repeat the track at least twenty more times before he was satisfied with how the vocals sounded.

      He'd finished recording the lead vocals and was going to start on the backing vocals with Roger and Brian. He was discussing how he wanted the harmonies to sound very profusely with the two of them, passing around sheet music he and John had written up the day before.

Valerie had come back into the studio after running to get a snack in the house. She sat on the couch in the sound booth and watched Roger and Freddie get into an argument about the harmony and how it would sound.

Valerie settled into the couch, quietly eating the bowl of blueberries that Evan had bought for her while she watched Freddie ask Roger to sing the harmony line he thought would work better.

"Did they fight like this all the time? I feel like they've started fighting a lot more." Roy Thomas Baker, their producer on the album, spoke from where he was discussing the soundboard with John.

      "Oh, they always argue." John said with a tired sigh as he reached for his mug of coffee only to find that it was empty.

      "They've probably started arguing more because Roger's car song is on the b-side of Freddie's song." Valerie added as she held out the bowl to Roy and John, offering them blueberries.

       "Ah, I see. Thank you," Roy said as he took some of the blueberries and turned back to the studio where Freddie and Roger had finally come to an agreement.

       "How come you never do hacking vocals with them, John?" Valerie asked as John took off the headphones he was wearing and settled into the couch next to her for a moment.

       "I can't sing. And it's not like I'd add anything to the track. I mean, have you heard the three of them singing together. It's bloody marvelous." John said with a laugh as he took a few blueberries from the bowl that was sitting in Valerie's lap.

     "Oh, you can sing."

     "Not very well,"

     "But at least you can sing. My dad is incredibly tone deaf. You aren't half as bad as he is." Valerie told John as he reached for more blueberries, throwing one up in the air and trying to catch it in his mouth but failing miserably.

      "That was terrible," Valerie said bluntly, a smile creeping on to her face.

      "Let's see you do better, yeah?" John challenged, arching an eyebrow at her as he leaned back on the couch.

       "Do I even have to prove it to you? We know I'm better," Valerie said, poising the blueberry in her hand and getting ready to throw it in the air when Evan came into the studio.

        "Valerie," he began,  and was gestured to be quiet by Roy who had just started the track for the harmonies, "someone's on the phone for you. Said it was important." Evan said quietly, and Valerie looked at John, worry creasing her forehead as she quietly hurried out of the studio with Evan.

      Evan and Valerie rushed into the quiet house, startling Paul who was reading in the kitchen. They ignored him as Valerie went into the nook where the only phone on the studio grounds was housed.

      Tentatively, she picked up the bright orange phone that had chipped paint, and she pressed it to her ear. "Hello?"  She asked into the receiver, leaning her hip against the wall in the narrow hallway.

       "Valerie? Oh, thank goodness. I was so worried when you didn't answer the phone at the house. Some man named Jim told me I could teach you here," Reyna,  Valerie's aunt, spoke on the other line, her voice crackling slightly. It took Valerie a moment to remember that Jim was in fact Miami and that he was probably over watering her plants like Brian said he would be.

       "Aunt Reyna? What's wrong?" Valerie asked, confused, but she feared she already knew. She just didn't want to say it. She wanted to let the silence sit for a moment.

      She begged silently in her head for Reyna not to speak. Perhaps she was calling to tell Valerie she'd left some socks at the house when she came to visit a few weeks ago. Yes, that had to be it.

      "Oh, amor. I'm sorry. It's," Reyna trailed off, sighing deeply, "it's your dad. He's had a heart attack."  Reyna said, her voice growing quiet.

     Valerie didn't want to believe it. She had to be lying. What about the socks?

      "Is he okay?" Valerie asked, choking on her words.

      She heard Reyna hesitate, choosing her words carefully. Valerie held her breath. "He's in the hospital. We don't think he has much time left." Reyna said, calculating her every word.

       Valerie felt dizzy. She tried to focus on one thing, but she felt as if she couldn't get the right footing on the floor beneath her. "Can I talk to mum please? Is she there?" Valerie asked, clearing her throat as she started to sink to the floor, her knees coming up to her chest as she curled herself up as small as possible.

     She couldn't wrap her mind around how quickly her world had changed. One moment she was enjoying her time with John, and the next she was finding that her father was dead.

      No, not dead. He was in the hospital. He was still alive. He would make it, Valerie knew.

      "Reyna?" Valerie asked quietly when Reyna hadn't yet responded.

      "She's talking with a doctor right now. She wanted me to call you." Reyna said. Valerie drew in a breath, pinching the bridge of her nose as she closed her eyes and tried to stop the spinning.

       "Reyna?"

      "Yes?"

      "I have to go. I have to pack. I-" Valerie trailed off. She wasn't even sure if she could get a ticket to Madrid. But she'd have to try. She had to see her dad.

      "I'll be there as soon as I can."  Valerie said with finality, her voice surprisingly steady despite the fact that she was shaking as if she'd run around in the rain.

      "We're at the hospital in Madrid. It's right in town; not too far from the airport." Reyna told her, and the two of them exchanged more stilted conversation while Valerie scribbled down the telephone number to her dad's hospital room and all of the information she needed on a scrap of paper she tore from the phone book.

      Once Reyna hung up, Valerie was left in the hallway, still gripping the orange phone tightly in her hand. Her whole world felt off kilter, and all at once everything seemed to hit her.

     Her dad that she loved so dearly, that shared countless inside jokes with her,  that bought her her first set of paint brushes, that always assured her that her red hair was beautiful even when she hated it, that always got her through her worst times by singing in his horrible tone deaf way just to make her laugh. She realized finally that he might be gone soon and that she was here with her friends at a recording studio instead of with him.

     How selfish could I be? Valerie thought as she fumbled with the phone book,  flipping the pages roughly as she contacted Heathrow airport.

      She managed to get tickets to Spain for a flight at six p.m. It was currently one in the afternoon.

     Slamming the receiver down, Valerie finally crumbled. She sunk to the floor again, still shaking terribly as she started to cry.

     "Valerie? Are you okay? What's wrong?"  Evan asked as he hesitantly sank down to the floor next to her. She'd almost forgotten he was there.

      "My dad. I have to go." Valerie said, though it seemed she was stuck to the floor. She made no move to leave, simply crying quietly, biting her lip to try to stop herself from spiraling out of control.

       Valerie wanted to rush to the airport and try to get on an earlier flight,  but she found herself not being able to move. A part of her was wondering that if she sat here in the hallway long enough,  nothing would happen, and Reyna would call her back saying everything was okay.

      Valerie didn't even notice Evan had left until he returned with John and Brian, leaving the two of them in the hallway while he went to get the car ready.

       "It's your dad, isn't it." John said quietly as he helped Valerie off of the floor. She shook her head, as if denying it would make it go away.

      "I knew something was wrong. I just knew it." Valerie said weakly, tugging at her red hair in anger that she didn't convince him to go to the hospital sooner.

      "Hey, hey. It's not your fault. You didn't do anything." John said, and Valerie sobbed.

      "Exactly! I didn't do anything. I could've been there, but I wasn't. I could've made him go to the hospital, but I didn't." Valerie said, her voice shaking as Brian pulled Valerie off of the floor and into a hug.

      She refused to hug him back, trying with all of her strength to push him away, but eventually she relented and she let Brian comfort her.

      "This isn't your fault. You're going to make it back to see him in time. You can't sit here and think about what you didn't do in the past. Right now, you can pack your bags to leave and get to the airport. And then you can fly to Spain and see him. But you can't beat yourself up about what you can't control in the past." Brian said, his voice firm but soothing. Valerie wanted to argue with him so badly, but she didn't have the strength. She just wanted to see her dad.

       "You're right." Valerie said hoarsely, the words barely managing to get out.

     Brian nodded as he smoothed down her hair and kissed her forehead, hugging her one last time before he and John headed into the basement to help her pack up.

        "Do you want me to go with you?" John asked quietly once he, Brian, and Valerie were standing outside in the cold. Valerie had just gone to tell Freddie and Roger she had to leave. They hugged her tightly for a while before rushing her back out to the car.

        "No. I can't ask you to do that. Stay here, record, and don't worry about me." Valerie said, wrapped in a tight hug.

       "Call me once you get to the airport, please." John pleaded with her as he kissed her cheek. Valerie nodded, a small movement,  but a promise that she would.

      She set her suitcase in the trunk and kissed John one last time before she hugged Brian. Brian wiped away a tear of his own. He had grown close with Valerie's parents over the years.

     "It's going to be okay." Brian promised her as he gave her a tight squeeze.

      Valerie didn't want to look back as she set her backpack at her feet and sat in the passenger seat next to Evan.

      The moment she was buckled in, they started on their two hour drive to the airport.