Chapter Text
John closed his suitcase and looked around his room. Everything that he held dear to him was packed away into his suitcase, leaving the room just an empty shell to what it used to be. John didn’t want to go. He had pleaded and begged his parents but he only received replies that went along the lines of ‘it’s the only way to keep you safe,’ which John could understand if he put his mind to it, but he was so angry that he couldn’t justify his parents’ actions. He was trying to prolong this as long as he could, just standing in his room, not knowing when he was going to come back, or if he was going to come back. He was leaving his uni, his friends, his family… his life. He only had the chance to stuff everything into a bag before his life would be thrown away because ‘he wasn’t safe enough to live in society’. He slammed his fist on top of the suitcase, tears welling up in his eyes that he desperately tried to blink back. He didn’t want his parents to see how upset he was. So he stood there, letting himself calm down enough for the storm in his head to settle, before grabbing the handle of his suitcase, and walking out the room.
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The whole car ride there was silent. John was sat in the passenger seat whilst his dad was driving, not breaking his stare from out the window. As the car slowed, John turned his head to look out the front window and saw a large house. He realised it was the only house in the area. It wasn’t exactly a street, it was basically in the middle of no where, which John understood. He was sent there to be out of the public eye, so what place was better than somewhere no one can find him?
John sighed as they pulled up at the house, before getting out of the car. His dad also got out to help him get his suitcase out, but John already did it. He looked at his dad to see remorse in his eyes. It surprised John because he thought that he would be more than happy to send him away. Obviously not.
His dad took a step forward, and John could see that he was not sure whether to hug his son or not. John took a step forward and wrapped his arms around the older man. He could hear his dad crying silently, but didn’t mention it. Even though he was so angry and upset that his parents were making him do this, he couldn’t deny that he would miss them. So John held onto the hug until his dad had stopped crying. He pulled away with a soft smile.
“I will be back tomorrow with your guitar and the rest of your clothes,” his dad said softly with a small smile, his eyes still glistening with tears. John nodded in return.
“I’ll see you then,” his dad said, giving him a nod before getting back in the car.
John watched as his dad drove off before looking back at the house. He wondered how many others there would be. Would they be all older? Younger? What happens if he wasn’t like them? What if he didn’t get along with anyone? He shook his head, clearing the thoughts away before walking up the stairs to the front door.
He brought his hand up to knock when suddenly, the door was flung wide open. John just stood there with wide eyes, staring at the person stood on the other side of the door. He had shoulder length black hair, and he was grinning from ear-to-ear.
“Hi I’m Freddie. What’s your name darling?”
John stuttered over what to say in his head, forgetting his name for a moment, before replying.
“John. Urm… my name’s John Deacon,” he stammered, embarrassed at the way his voice sounded. He wasn’t sure whether it was his nerves, or that a good looking man was staring at him.
‘Good looking man? You can’t develop a crush already John, you’ve only just bloody met the guy,’ John thought, his cheeks reddening slightly at his train of thought. Either Freddie didn’t notice, or just decided to ignore it, as he gestured for John to come in before shutting the door behind him. John stood there awkwardly before following Freddie into another room. He was met with a man with brown curly hair sat on the sofa with a blonde man snuggled into him.
“This is Brian,” Freddie said, pointing at the curly haired one who gave a short nod, “And this is Roger,” he said, pointing to the blonde.
“It’s rude to point you know Fred,” Roger said in a whiny voice. Brian nudged him whilst Freddie gave him a playful disapproving look, crossing his arms.
“Can’t you shut your trap for five minutes whilst I introduce our knew housemate?” Freddie replied, quirking an eyebrow. Roger snickered and turned to face John, still not moving from his spot under Brian’s arm.
“What’s your name?”
The question was aimed at John and he gulped back his simmering anxiety. “John.”
“Nice to meet you John,” Brian said, paired with an enthusiastic wave from Roger.
Freddie rolled his eyes. “You’ll get used to him,” he chuckled, gesturing to Roger. “He’s a handful and he can get on your nerves sometimes,”
“All the time,” Brian coughed, receiving an elbow in the side from Roger.
“But,” Freddie interrupted, “he’s lovely. I’m sure you’ll get along. As for Brian, he is basically just a giant poodle that is really clever, so as long as you can put up with him talking your head off about some space crap, you will be just fine as well.”
John smiled at Brian softly, who returned one to him.
“Right,” Freddie shouted, making John jump and the others laugh. “I will show you to your room.”
John followed Freddie out of the room, and up a winding staircase.
“We’ll share a room, if that’s okay. You can have a room to yourself if you want, but we usually pair up because it can get lonely without a room mate,” Freddie stated.
“No that’s fine. I don’t mind.”
John followed Freddie until they approached a door. Freddie opened it, before going in, John venturing inside after him. It was quite a big room with a bed either end. He could already tell which one was his. It was just a bed and a bedside table, as well as a set of drawers. It was the same on the other side except it was covered in stuff. The drawers were obviously full, some still open, the bed had obviously been slept in, and there were posters hanging up over the bed.
“Make yourself at home,” Freddie grinned, whilst John put his suitcase on his bed. He took out a few of his clothes, before placing them in the drawers.
“Hey you don’t have to do that now. You can come downstairs and chat with us if you like?” Freddie insisted. John didn’t really want to go down and talk with strangers, but he knew he had to make a good first impression, so nodded to Freddie, and closed his suitcase.
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“So what’s your power?” Freddie asked, eyebrows raised in question.
“Errr ... telekinesis.”
“That’s awesome darling. Mine’s healing,” Freddie replied, a wide grin spreading on his face.
“Mine’s telepathy,” Brian spoke up from the couch.
“What about you Roger?” John asked, turning his head to the seat beside Brian where he was sure Roger was a second ago.
“TELEPORTATION!”
John screamed at the voice behind him, eliciting chuckles all around the room, before he turned around to see Roger with a shit eating grin on his face.
“Shit you scared me. A warning would’ve been nice.” John muttered.
“Roger that joke got old after the third person. You need to come up with something a lot more elaborate,” Freddie declared in fake disapproval, a hand on his hip and his eyebrows raised so high John was sure they would reach his hairline.
Roger huffed before appearing back next to Brian, snuggling into his side. John didn’t know how Brian didn’t even flinch when Roger appeared next to him, but guessed he must be used to it.
“Well since Roger has already gave such an extravagant show of his abilities, would you like to show us yours and then we’ll show ours as well,” Freddie suggested, giving an encouraging nod to John. John looked at the others, receiving a smile from Brian and a thumbs up from Roger, before taking a deep breath. He spotted a lamp on the side table next to Brian, and focused all his energy onto it. The others watched as the lamp was lifted about three foot in the air, before landing back down perfectly.
“Huh that’s pretty cool,” Roger said, his eyes wide as he kept his gaze on the lamp. Brian nodded as well.
“Errr who’s next?”
“BRIAN!” Roger yelled, jumping slightly from his seat.
“Rog calm down. Your going to scare him off before we’ve even eaten dinner,” Freddie scolded, earning a snicker from Roger.
‘He’s annoying but you’ll get used to it,’ Brian’s voice sounded in John’s head, and he whipped round to see Brian giggling.
“Did you just speak to me in my head?”
“Yeah, I can speak to people telepathically, but I can’t read thoughts,” Brian told him.
“That’s so cool,” John said, giving Brian a wide smile. “What about you Freddie?”
Freddie smiled before he went into the kitchen, returning with a knife. John gave him a worried look, feeling his body tense. Freddie only flashed him a smile, then made a small cut on the back of his hand. He showed it to John, who then saw the cut close up and seal itself.
“Oh my god,” John gasped.
“I know, it’s cool isn’t it.”
Whilst John was thinking about how awesome Freddie’s power was, he only just heard Roger whispering to Brian: “Can I carry on with my idea now?”John turned to see Brian huff, but no Roger next to him. John and Freddie gave Brian a questioning glance, before a high pitched shriek erupted from the kitchen.
“Roger what do you think you’re doing?” came a man’s voice. John started to get nervous at the prospect of meeting another person, but tried to keep his nerves in check, especially at how the other two housemates were giggling quietly to themselves, obviously due to whatever was happening in the kitchen.
John heard Roger stutter for an answer, before Roger appeared again but stood facing Brian. Brian was yanked from his seat and ran up the stairs following Roger, who was leading him by the hand. John noticed that Roger had a slight limp as he ran, but decided not to bring it up. He didn’t want to dig into everyone’s lives on his first day.
A man came into the room then. He was a bit taller than John, and much older, and John guessed he must be the owner or something, especially as he obviously held some power, John concluded, from the way Roger has ran away from him, after doing god knows what in the kitchen. The man approached him and held out his hand.
“You must be John. I’m Jim, the owner of this house, but you can call me Miami,” he said in a gentle tone.
John took his hand and shook it, giving a short nod. After their hands broke free, Freddie thought it was as good as time as any to but in.
“So what was Roger doing?”
“Stealing the alcohol from the cupboard,” Jim muttered, dragging a hand along his face.
“Again?” Freddie asked. John knew this must not be the first time, but it did confuse him why the alcohol was banned, especially because they were all adults.
“Are we not allowed alcohol?” John questioned.
“You, Brian and Freddie are. Not Roger,” Jim responded.
“Why not?” John wasn’t sure if he was pushing the boundaries, but he was curious, and if he was going to live with these people, he thought it was in his own right to know how things worked.
“He’s an angry drunk,” Freddie said. John noticed Freddie’s mouth open, wanting to say more, but saw Jim give him a warning look.
“Dinner will be ready soon. I suggest John that you unpack and settle in,” Jim said with a smile, before turning and walking out the room.
Freddie took his hand and they made their way back up to their bedroom. John started to finish unpacking, Freddie flipping through a book on his bed, when a question came to his mind.
“Hey Fred?”
“Yes darling?” Freddie asked, his eyes not wavering from the page he was looking at.
“Is there anyone else that lives here?”
John looked at his roommate and saw that his eyes had flicked to look at him over his book. The atmosphere in the room grew tense, and John feared he had angered the other man.
“No.”
John didn’t know if he was going to continue, and Freddie’s manner had changed in such a way that brought his anxiety to the surface. ‘Had he stepped over the mark? Was he not meant to ask such things? Was he-’
“There used to be, but they all moved to the other house in Cornwall,” Freddie stated, interrupting John from his thoughts. That still gave John not much information, and he was still too curious to let it go.
“How come?”
Freddie let out a heavy breath. “They didn’t feel safe here.”
A beat passed as John absorbed the information. He knew he should’ve left the conversation, but words just kept tumbling out of his mouth.
“Why?” he asked quietly.
Freddie only looked at him. John didn’t mean to be insistent, but he just wanted to know about the place he was building his new life in.
“Cmon, dinner should be ready now,” Freddie said, his cheerful persona back.
John nodded and followed him out the room. It made him feel a bit uneasy, knowing that other people had said that this place was unsafe. He saw no cause for it to be, so wondered what could’ve convinced them to think that. He shook his head, tearing his consciousness from his thoughts and into reality, before following Freddie down the stairs.
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They sat at the dinner table, Roger and Brian on one side, Freddie and John on the other. They were given a plate of pasta each, and John didn’t realise how hungry he was until he took his first mouthful.
Brian and Roger were quietly talking together, and John watched Roger giggle sweetly because of something Brian had said to him.
“Hey... urm... are you two together?” John asked, regretting it instantly as soon as he was met with wide eyes from the other people in the room. Maybe he shouldn’t have asked about it at the dinner table. He made eye contact with Roger, who had disgust painted on his face. John gulped.
“Yeah. Is that a problem?” Roger spat, standing up, stopped from going any further by Brian grabbing his hand. John automatically leant back, his anxiety spiking. He knew that he was going to end up causing some sort of tiff between himself and someone at some point.
“Woah why are you so defensive? It was just a question,” Freddie aimed at Roger, eyebrows raised. John silently thanked Freddie for not taking up the defensive side.
Brian pulled Roger back down onto his chair, Roger mumbling a small apology as Brian gave him a sharp look, which softened the moment Roger uttered his defeat.
“Yes we are. We have been for about two years now.” Brian said in a much nicer tone than Roger, before giving the blonde a blinding smile, which was returned, as well as a small kiss on the lips.
Freddie made a gagging noise. “Darlings I suggest you get a room if you’re going to carry on like that, otherwise I’ll end up throwing up this dinner before I’ve finished it.”
A piece of pasta hit Freddie straight in the middle of his forehead.
“Roger I wouldn’t start with that again if I were you,” Freddie warned, a playful smirk plastered on his face. John guessed it must be a regular occurrence, due to the eyeroll Brian gave them.
“It’s not like you can catch me anyway Fred,” Roger smiled with a smug look.
Freddie laughed before throwing a piece of pasta back at Roger, aiming for his head. When the food hit the wall behind Roger’s chair, John was confused for a moment, until he heard Roger laughing behind him, and realised he must have teleported. John kept forgetting that they all had powers. He was so used to keeping them to himself so no one he knew had them, and he supposed other people were the same, because presenting powers in public was not a good idea. So it was sort of a bit odd for him to see other people use their powers with no care. It made him feel appreciated in a way, knowing that he didn’t have to hide away one of the elements that made up his identity, and that the other people in the house honestly didn’t give a shit if he used them.
He was so lost in thought that he missed the warning Roger shouted before pasta smacked him straight in the chest. Roger burst into laughter, Brian was trying desperately to contain his, but Freddie was just staring at John with a slight worried expression.
“You alright John?” Freddie asked him.
John gave him a confused look. “Yeah I’m okay. “
“Good,” Freddie responded before his mouth broke into a shit eating grin and he broke into laughter. John joined in on the laughter, letting all the tension filter out of his body. This was the most relaxed he had been all day, and he delved into it, not wanting to let go. But he knew that he would always do or say something that would make him tense again.
“Boys calm down,” came Jim’s voice from the kitchen. “Freddie you better hurry up. You’re on dish duty tonight.”
Freddie pouted. “I’m pretty sure it’s Brian’s turn,” he whined.
“Nope,” Brian smirked. “I did it yesterday.”
“Urgh I hate you all,” Freddie muttered, causing Roger and Brian to cover their faces with smug smiles.
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As Freddie did the washing up, the rest of them stayed in the kitchen with him, offering company, and keeping an eye on a cake Jim was making. Whilst Freddie was at the sink, John was sat at the small table in the corner, Brian was leaning against one of the counters, and Roger was sitting on top of the counter next to Brian, spooning the rest of the cake mix into his mouth.
“Deacy,” Freddie announced, a huge grin panning across his face as he waved the sponge in his hand. Everybody raised their eyebrows, confused by Freddie’s outburst.
“That’s what I’m going to call you,” Freddie said, pointing the washing up sponge at John.
“Why?”
“Well I guess you need a nickname. I have nicknames for the others,” Freddie grinned.
“What do you call Brian and Roger?”
Freddie continued to wash a plate before scowling at Brian.
“You can’t tell me what to do Brian,” Freddie said. “And don’t swear at me dear. It’s not polite.” John guessed that Brian must be talking to Freddie in his head, and he found the whole encounter quite funny. He watched as Brian stuck his tongue out at Freddie, which made Freddie splash him with water in response.
“Well,” Freddie said, interrupting his thoughts. “I call Brian either Bri or poodle man.”
John laughed and Brian huffed, crossing his arms.
“And I call that one over there blondie,” Freddie continued. At the nickname, Roger looked up from the bowl.
“Hm?”
“Nothing dear.” Freddie assured him with a grin. Roger shrugged, before focusing all his attention back on the cake mix. John found it funny how focused he was. He noticed that whilst Roger was eating the cake mix, he was in a little world of his own.
John cleared his throat as silence landed upon the conversation.
So... urm Freddie. Why are you here?”
“Well my parents didn’t want a kid with powers so I was in a children’s home for a while until I was kicked out at 18, then I lived with my friend Tim for a while, and then came here when I was 20,” Freddie said, still washing the dishes.
“Oh. I’m sorry,” John uttered quietly. John was embarrassed by his question. He just wanted to get to know everyone better.
“It’s fine Deacy honestly,” Freddie assured, turning from the dishes to face John. “It happened a long time ago, and it’s a common question to be asked. I don’t mind.” Freddie gave a reassuring smile to John before turning back to the dishes.
“Well… what about you Brian, if you don’t mind me asking?”
Brian gave a small chuckle. “My parents thought they could cure me, so they sent me here.”
John raised his eyebrows. Everyone knew that there was no cure for people with ‘’special abilities’, so found it quite strange for Brian’s parents to think that.
“I can tell what you’re thinking and your probably right. I don’t think they were that dumb though, I think it was more of an excuse to kick me out. But at least they waited until I was out of highschool. I was the youngest when I first got here,” Brian said.
“How old were you?” John asked. He was sure all of them were older than him, so knew that if Brian had been here since highschool, he had been here a while.
“I was 17,” Brian replied.
As John turned to Roger, who had gotten off the counter to put the bowl away, the atmosphere in the room went dark. John didn’t understand what was happening, but as he opened his mouth to ask Roger the same question he had asked the other two, he heard Brian’s voice in his head.
‘Don’t do it John.’
John didn’t understand what he meant by that. Stop doing what exactly? He was only asking a question, and like Freddie said, it was a common one as well. So John ignored Brian.
Roger turned around in John’s direction just as John asked him the question, breaking Roger out of his head.
“Why are you here Roger?”
Roger stopped. He stood rigid and stared at John wide eyed. If the room could get anymore tense, it did, and John just wanted it to swallow him up. He didn’t know what was happening, and thought maybe Roger hadn’t heard him correctly. So John reached out to touch his arm. And then blinding pain. John only just became aware that Roger had twisted his arm in such an angle, he was sure he could break it. John didn’t know what was going on, and his breathing quickened as his anxiety was sent through the roof. In his panic, John saw Brian run over to them and stand directly in front of Roger, making eye contact.
“Roger you need to let go. There’s no danger here,” Brian said in the gentlest voice John had ever heard. He felt the grip on his arm loosen a little.
“It’s okay Roger. There’s no danger,” Brian repeated. Roger dropped his arm and John spun around in time to see Roger look at him with the utmost hurt in his eyes, before vanishing. The next thing John knew, he was slammed into the wall behind him, fists in his shirt. Fists that belonged to Brian.
“What the hell were you doing? Did you not listen to Freddie at all?” Brian snapped, his face only inches away from John’s.
“Brian I didn’t tell him. I thought it would be better if we told him together,” Freddie said, placing a hand on Brian to calm him down. Brian let go of John’s shirt and stepped back with a sigh.
“Sorry John. I thought Freddie told you,” Brian mumbled.
“I guess we’ve got some explaining to do,” Freddie announced, looking at John, his face holding the most seriousness John had seen on him all day.
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Brian and Freddie sat on the sofa, whilst John sat on the coffee table so he was facing them. He was so nervous about what they were going to tell him. He was just utterly confused about this whole situation and felt as if he’d been dragged into everybody’s lives. And he blamed himself because he didn’t listen to Brian when he warned him.
“Errr... okay... Roger got here when he had just turned 17, so a few months before Fred came, and I had obviously been here for two years before that.”
Brian paused. He glanced at Freddie who gave him a nod, urging him to keep going. Brian took a deep breath.
“He wasn’t... I don’t know how to exactly explain it... but it was like he was feral. He saw everything as an act against him.”
John gave him a confused look. “Why?”
“Well... we don’t know what happened to Rog before he came here. I don’t know who sent him, because it more than likely wasn’t his parents, but the only person that knows anything more than me is Jim, and that’s because he’s got his file. But, from what Roger’s implied, and from what I’ve heard from Jim, Roger was one of those kids that got ‘trained’ so that they could use their powers as a weapon.”
John watched as Brian rubbed his eyes before taking a shaky breath.
“We eventually got him to ‘normal’ so to speak, but there are certain things that can launch him back into that mindset. Like a switch is flipped. Thus what happened today,” Brian continued.
“So how do you stop it from happening?” John questioned, his voice coming out a lot quieter than he anticipated.
“Me, Brian and Jim have come up with a list of things that we’ve found, so far, trigger him. One is anything to do with what happened before he got here. So for example, talking about his parents, who looked after him, who sent him here, why he was sent here etcetera etcetera,” Freddie said.
“Number two is unexpected loud bangs. He’s fine with it if he knows they’re coming. I mean, he’s a bloody drummer. But if it comes out of nowhere and it’s loud, it triggers him.” Brian said.
“Number three is anything to do with fighting or being in danger. Also, if his anger gets too high, he can’t manage what’s happening. So we avoid heavy confrontation as much as possible because it doesn’t end well for us,” Brian finished.
“So what happens if he does get triggered?” John asked.
“We have a set of rules. Don’t touch, don’t make eye contact, tell him there’s no danger, then when he’s back again, just leave him. He can’t cope if you bombard him after,” Brian continued.
“But you made eye contact with him,” John said, confusion furrowing his eyebrows.
“I’m his boyfriend. For some reason, I ground him. I always have, even before we got together and were just best friends. I think it’s because he trusts me, and I let his rationale side come to the surface enough for him to flip the switch back,” Brian replied.
“One more thing,” Freddie spoke up. “Don’t give him commands. It’s a way to manipulate him because he’ll do it without even realising until after, and so we only do it in extreme cases.”
John nodded. All of this information was a lot to take in, and he knew Freddie would probably have to go over it again with him if he was going to remember it all.
“Right,” Brian yawned, standing up from the sofa. “I’m going to bed. Good night guys.”
Freddie and John said goodnight to Brian before Freddie decided he would go to bed too.
“Goodnight Deacy,” Freddie said with a smile.
John stayed downstairs by himself, trying to absorb the information he had just been told. He was living under the same roof as someone that was basically a ticking time bomb, and John didn’t know how to feel about it. He had basically seen two different people in Roger. Most of the day, he saw Roger as a playful person, one that would make jokes that would lighten the mood and who made a good boyfriend to Brian. But then when he was attacked, he saw Roger as a man he knew could snap his arm with the flick of the wrist, and that scared John. He didn’t want to walk on eggshells around Roger, but knew he now had to be careful with what he said and did.
He wasn’t sure how he felt about Brian. Brian still kept him at an arms length, and John could tell that Brian was wary about Roger being with new people. He could feel Brian trying to suss him out all day. So John thought he really had not much of an opinion on Brian, and wouldn’t be able to until the older man was able to trust him.
But as John sat downstairs, his mind kept drifting to the dark haired man who he shared a room with. From the moment John got here, Freddie was the one by John’s side the whole time. John felt like he really got along with him. But John felt guilty when his brain started to think about how beautiful Freddie’s smile was, and how nice it would be to press his lips against it. Even if John had only just met the guy, he started to feel as if he was slowly starting to fall for him.
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As John climbed up the stairs and to his room, he passed Brian and Roger’s room, and could hear noises coming from inside. He stopped by the door, worried about what was happening. And then he realised what the noises were. They were sobs. John felt his heart stutter at the sound. He then brought his ear closer to the door. He could hear Brian murmuring a mantra of “it’s alright. You’re okay.” John realised that Roger was upset, and it became clear to him that it was due to the events that happened previously in the evening.
John came away from the door and ventured into his room. He got changed into his pyjamas and sank down onto his bed, head in his hands. He could feel the tears slipping out of his eyes, and he tried to stifle them with his hand, but they just kept falling.
“Hey what’s the matter?”
Freddie’s voice made him jump, and John’s hand flew to his chest, taking a deep breath.
John looked over to Freddie’s bed to see the other man sat facing him.
“I feel like I’ve made a bad impression,” John stuttered.
“Darling you haven’t. I promise. If you think this is bad, you should’ve seen the last people to come,” Freddie whispered, before moving to sit beside John. “I promise you John. It will be okay.”
Then suddenly, Freddie’s arms were around his body, and John couldn’t do anything but melt into the hug, letting the tears fall. And as John sat in Freddie’s arms, crying his eyes out, he realised that maybe this might be more than a crush, and he smiled into Freddie’s shoulder.
Maybe the day wasn’t as bad as he thought.