Hi! It's been ages since last time I posted something new here on fanfiction. I haven't really read much fanfic in months either. But now I'm back!

A lot of things have happened. I have been to Liverpool. Yeah. For real! Liverpool, England, where it all begun! It was totally, completely awesome. And while I was there, I saw Paul McCartney live. It's six days since now, and it still makes me so happy to think about it. It also gave me a LOT of new inspiration for the fiction writing. I'm now an even more dedicated Beatles and McCartney fan.

All right, it's about time I get down to business, and let you guys meet Caroline Bradley, the OC of my new Christmas-themed Beatle-fic. It's perhaps a bit late to start writing a Christmas story on Christmas Day. I don't really know how much I want to make out of it, but there will probably be a few chapters.

Ready, set, go!

Chapter 1

New York City, December 1968

Caroline pulled her coat tighter around her small frame. It had begun snowing heavier now. The streets were almost empty. Hardly anyone seemed to be outside, and Caroline couldn't blame them. She'd much rather be inside now, curled up in the sofa with a blanket and a cup of hot chocolate, than hurling through the streets on the way to another exhausting shift at the café. She might not even come home to a warm and cozy flat. She had received a rather unpleasant letter a few days back, threatening to turn of the electricity if she didn't pay the bill. At least her 3 year old daughter would be safe and warm tonight. Little Ellie was staying with the neighbor, old Mrs. Kelley, while Caroline was working. Caroline couldn't even begin to think about the enormous pile of bills she had to pay. She continued through the bitter wind, until she reached the café where she had been working for the past year.

"Evening Caroline!" the café owner Jimmy greeted her, as she walked through the door. He was serving coffee to some customers.

"Hello Jimmy. I'll be right there. I just have to change." Caroline slipped into the back room, where Kirsty, one of the other waitresses was putting on her coat.

"Finally!" she exclaimed, as Caroline entered the room. "I thought you'd never show up. I don't have the whole night! I have a date in ten minutes. I can't be late for that. I wish you could learn to be here on time!"

Caroline resisted the urge to scream at her. Kirsty was seventeen. She knew nothing about life. She went to high school, and lived with her parents. She didn't have a three year old, a bunch of unpaid bills and a second job as a cleaning lady. And yet, she had the nerve to talk to her like that, for being a minute late.

Kirsty hurried out of the room, and didn't even bother to say goodbye. Caroline sighed, and took off her coat. Hot tears were burning in her eyes. She was tired of everything.

Three months earlier:

Caroline dropped the phone. It hit the table with a loud slam, but she didn't even notice. It couldn't be. There had to be a mistake. But her father's choked voice on the phone from half way across the continent left her with no doubt.

She picked up the phone again, clutching it in her hands, as if it was the last piece of reality left. "Daddy?" she said, her voice trembling.

"Oh Caroline!" Her father was crying now. Crying. Her father, in his leather boots and overall, back in Kansas, was sobbing loudly into the phone. Something broke inside of her.

The moment she had feared day and night since the day Thomas received the letter had come. Now, she couldn't look forward to the day Thomas would walk through the door again, with his crooked grin. She had heard his warm laughter for the last time. Thomas was dead.

The thought of him in a coffin, so many miles away from home, made her sick. She broke down on the floor, crying.

"Caroline?" Jimmy's voice took her back to reality.

She hurriedly wiped away the tears, and cleared her throat. "I'm sorry Jimmy. I'll be right out there."

"Is everything all right?" He took a step towards her. "Did Kirsty give you a hard time? Don't listen to her. I think I better have a word with her about acting like she owns this place."

He gave Caroline a hug. "Don't worry about it. You're my best girl."

Caroline started crying for real now.

"Oh, sweetie. Are you having a difficult time?"

Caroline nodded. "I work all the time. If I'm not cleaning, then I'm serving coffee. But I still can't pay those bloody bills. They are threatening to shut off the electricity. I don't have any money for Christmas presents for Ellie. And I hardly get to see her, because I work so much."

It all came bursting out, and so did the tears.

Jimmy gave her another hug. "I'll see what I can do about paying you a little extra. The truth is, business isn't going well at the moment, but I promise that I'll do everything I can to help you out."

Caroline nodded. "I understand. And I'm so grateful Jimmy."

Jimmy handed her a clean handkerchief. "Here. Wipe away the tears now, and we'll go and serve some customers."

Caroline managed a little smile, and nodded. "Sometimes I wish that a handsome prince could just swirl in here, and rescue me." She said. Jimmy laughed. "One day he will." He said.

Caroline dried her face, and looked at herself in the small mirror above the sink. Her eyes were a bit red. She brushed her hair, and smiled goofily into the mirror. The girl in there looked almost happy. She put on her apron, and hurried out into the café.

There weren't many guests at the moment. Jimmy was cleaning a table near the counter. He pointed to a man sitting at a table in the corner of the room. "Ask if he would like a refill on his coffee." He said.

Caroline nodded, and grabbed the coffee pot. She walked through the room, until she reached the corner table.

"Would you like some more coffee, sir?" she asked polite.

The man mumbled something, and nodded his head. He was wearing black trousers, and a knitted sweater. On his head was a black cap, and he had a mustache that didn't exactly look real. He kept his head down most of the time, but as she had finished filling up his cup, Caroline spilled some of the coffee. She hurriedly started cleaning it up, and apologized to him. He finally looked up at her, and she would have recognized those eyes anywhere. She had noticed them for the first time more than four years earlier, when she was watching the Ed Sullivan Show.

Paul McCartney was sitting there, right in front of her.

So? What do you think? Please let me know! :)