"WE HAVE FOUND our new bassist!" Roger exclaimed as he bursted into Valerie and Brian's apartment. The two had made the mistake of giving him a key.

The band had been through about six bassists already, none of them having quite fit what they wanted. Seventh time is the charm, Freddie kept saying.

"About bloody time," Valerie murmured from where she was reading a textbook aloud to Brian, while they were both taking notes. He was wearing his glasses which, in Valerie's opinion, made him significantly more attractive. Roger said it just made him look like a nerd.

She shut the heavy text book that she and Brian shared, and she hefted it on the coffee table. She moved her legs from where they were propped in Brian's lap and she sat up and turned to Roger.

"Yes, Blondie? Is he invisible?" Valerie asked as she stood up to stretch. Roger rolled his eyes at her. Brian turned to look at them as Valerie went over and kissed Roger's cheek in greeting.

"It was a joke, Rog. Where is this bassist you just magically found?" Valerie asked. Brian stood up and stretched, nearly touching the ceiling of their low hanging flat.

"Outside. He's quite shy, but he's warmed up to me, I think. His name is John Deacon." Roger said, opening the door to let John in. There he stood, his hair falling into his face slightly. He looked shorter than Valerie thought he would be, but that was probably because he was cowering just slightly. Almost as if he were sheepish to be before Brian and Roger. He was taller than Valerie, though, she only being five feet and four inches.

      "Hello, I'm Valerie Cartaya. You can call me Val or Vallie." Valerie spoke finally, moving forward, her hand outstretched to that John could shake it. He looked at her and smiled, his posture straightening a bit. Valerie realized he was actually rather tall. Just a few inches below Brian's height.

      "Nice to meet you, Valerie. I'm John Deacon." John said, shaking her hand. Valerie smiled. He had a haircut sort of like Roger's, but it was a bit more neat. More formal, in a way, adding to his features and crinkly smile.

     "Nice to meet you," Valerie said, suddenly shy, backing away as Brian came forward, propping his glasses on Valerie's face before going to meet John.

      Valerie took the glasses off and set them with the textbook. She started to tidy up the living room a bit, realizing the blankets she had slept beneath the night before were strewn everywhere. She tiredly folded them up and neatly set them draped upon the couch.

      She swept the coffee mugs and wine glasses from where they rested on the mantle and table and set them by the kitchen sink. Valerie found that wine and coffee served as a good energy booster when studying became an all night activity.

      "Sorry for the mess. Please, do sit down. I'll get something for us to eat." Valerie said, gesturing for Brian, Roger, and John to sit, and to quit standing awkwardly in the doorway.

      "This is what happens when you are still studying at one am. I haven't been into my bedroom in 3 days except to change." Valerie spoke to the boys airily as she started to cut up some fruit. She and Brian always had an abundance of fruit and vegetables, more than anything else. Brian was vegetarian, and so Valerie was trying to have the same diet as him. It slimmed her up, a bit, along with her morning running, though no one thought she needed the slimming.

       "Why the hell are you up studying so late?"  Roger called to her as Valerie got some drinks from the fridge. Valerie took the plate of fruit she set up and set it on top of the textbook, perching the drinks around it.

       "I'd like to pass all my classes, thank you very much." Valerie said, plopping down on the couch in between John and Brian. She popped open her can of soda, and it fizzed as she took a quick sip.

      "Freddie should be on his way," Roger said, reaching forward to grab a piece of cut up mango. John did the same, hesitating slightly, as if he were unwelcome.

     "Don't be uncomfortable, you're part of the family now. Have the freedom that Roger does and raid my fridge of all the sweets I look forward to having at the end of the day." Valerie said, sliding off her shoes and crossing one leg over the other.

      "The dentist, that gets after me for eating unhealthy foods eats the more at unhealthily of all of us."  Brian teased Roger, leaning down to pick of Valerie's shoes. He went and set them by the door.

       "Oh, are you a no shoes house?" John asked, finally speaking. He noticed Brian's movements and because suddenly aware that no one else except him and Roger were wearing shoes.

       "You can keep yours on, John. It's no worry. Valerie and I just walk around barefoot a lot, it being our flat." Brian replied. There was a knock at the door, and Brian opened it with effort, the hinges creaking slightly. It was a rather old flat in desperate need of a paint job and a new door.

       "Hello, darlings. Sorry I'm late. Glad you met our bassist!" Freddie exclaimed
*****

     "So.... your first performance all together. You excited, John?" Valerie asked. Brian, Roger, and Freddie were in the kitchen, attempting to make a meal for Valerie. She and John were sitting on the couch.

"After all you do for us, we can do something nice for you... for once." Roger said. Valerie had insisted on getting better acquainted with John, as she had only seen him a bit in the past few weeks.

      "I'm very nervous. But yes, I'm excited." John replied, smiling weakly at Valerie.

    "You'll enjoy yourself, I promise. It'll be a lot of fun." Valerie said, patting John's knee reassuringly. John smiled lightly at her, and Valerie grinned back.

"Vallie, darling, where's the pepper?" Freddie called into the living room, followed by Roger shrieking slightly and a burst of flame from the stove top.

"Brian should know. It's right by the stove!" Valerie called back to them. There was a moment of silence from the kitchen before they all started to argue. Brian, who lived with her, rarely went into the kitchen. And when he did, it was to get a drink or a snack, even a salad. She did most of the cooking.

"Now you can see why I do most of the cooking," Valerie told John, who grinned at her, the corner's of his eyes crinkling adorably as he gave a light laugh.

"Yes, I can. You'll have to do the cooking, next time. I suppose this meal won't be quite as delicious as they promise." John said with a slight roll of his eyes. Valerie, already, could tell John wasn't the super social type. Maybe he was warming up to her, finally.

      "We have finished, Ginger!" Roger called into the living room, using the nickname he had made up for her because she called him Blondie.

"Yay, I'm looking forward to it." Valerie said a bit sarcastically. She stood up from the couch, John following after her. She came into the dining room/kitchen and sat down in a chair, her plate set before her.

It was actually rather good looking. It was a fluffy flower tortilla with cheese and grilled chicken stuffed inside of it. Roger had made rice and beans, and Freddie had attempted to make guacamole. Valerie has said quesadillas were her favourite. Brian had even gone out of his way to make homemade tortillas using her, now passed, grandmother's recipe.

       "Okay, wow, this looks better than I thought it would. Sit, eat your own food! It makes me feel weird with you four watching me!" Valerie said to them, laughing a bit as she cut her quesadilla into fourths, opening it up and spooning beans and pressing rice into it. She looked up and saw them all staring at her, John with a bit more amusement than the rest of them.

       "What? I can't be the only one that does this. Back when I lived in Mexico, before my family moved to Spain when I was 18, my grandma would do that all the time." Valerie said, speaking of her past with such fondness, it made even John's heart ache to go back to Valerie's pat.

      "Just try it." Valerie said to the boys as she bit into the quesadilla, stunned at the flavours that exploded in her mouth.

       "Why! This is amazing!" Valerie exclaimed through a mouthful of food, grinning at them. Brian gave her a smug look, and Roger smirked at her.

      "And you doubted me." Roger said challengingly as Valerie rolled her eyes, eating a forkful of beans.

"Of course I did. The beans taste rather sweet. What did you put in them, it tastes delicious." Valerie asked as she ate some rice that tasted a bit more savory and almost a bit spicy. Freddie and John were talking quietly at the end of the table they were on a Roger hesitated.

       "I accidentally put sugar instead of salt in the beans... but I fixed it!" He added quickly as he sipped one of the sodas John had been told to grab from the fridge. He didn't feel comfortable moving around Valerie's flat, but Brian told him it was no big deal.

       "Yes, you did. They taste amazing." Valerie said, continuing to eat and laugh and talk with everyone, the minutes until she show started ticking closer. It was about an hour before when everyone decided to leave for the venue.

The band had been renamed Queen. And, as Freddie liked to say, this was their official coronation.