Agh, I just couldn't let it go. :D

Just as a warning to those who were faithful readers of "Eleanor Rigby," this one's going to be a little darker. The whole story deals with Ellie and Max in their forties or so, around where "Eleanor Rigby" left off, and how they've kind of hit a glitch. Like, they still love each other, but the "magic" isn't quite there anymore, you know?

It won't be completely angst, there will be funny moments/chapters, but it won't be nearly as lighthearted as the first one. I'm trying to make this more of a realistic sequel of some sorts.

It probably won't be forty chapters long, either. Probably being the key word.

I hope you still enjoy it. I really appreciated all of the feedback and reviews of "Eleanor Rigby," and it'd be great to hear from you guys again.

Disclaimer: I do not own Across the Universe of any of its characters. The only characters I own are Ellie, Max Jr., and Michelle (and perhaps a few other cameos).

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"Happy Anniversary to you! Happy Anniversary to you! Happy Anniversary dear Max and Ellie…Happy Anniversary to you!"

The group of friends whistled and clapped. Jude drummed on the table, singing in a rumbling bass: "And…many…more…"

Max Carrigan, a forty-year old man who still liked to act like he was twenty, gave his English friend a bit of a shove, an arm still wrapped freely around his wife, Ellie. He smiled in the glowing light of the fifteen candles in the cake made for them by their former landlady, now rock-and-roll superstar Sadie. The couple shared an amused glance, then blew out the candles.

"You know, it's not our birthdays or anything. I still don't know why you did this," Ellie coughed through the smoke, her loose, dark ponytail bobbing as she shook her head.

"Hon, you know neither me nor Jo could come on either of your birthdays," interjected Sadie, pulling out a butter knife and beginning to cut the dessert into slices. "It was hard enough getting here without being hoarded by paparazzi…we wanted to do something special while we were here."

"Besides," Sadie continued, raising a devious eyebrow. "It was a good excuse to get the kids out of the house."

"Believe me, they didn't need to be told twice," Lucy chuckled.

"Damn kids…" grumbled Max, rolling his eyes. "You'd think they assume adults get all the free time in the world."

"Oh, stop your griping and eat your cake."

"Gladly." He immediately brightened as a thick, moist slice was handed to him. Not even bothering to wait for a fork, he dug out a piece of it with his fingers and stuffed it in his mouth, licking the tips of his fingers as he did so.

His wife sent him a withering stare. He looked around, mumbling "What?" with such innocence, she couldn't help but crack a smile.

"Please excuse our table manners. Clearly we haven't graduated from the third grade," she said sardonically, handing him a fork.

"Yes, dear," he groaned, flouncing off to the living room, Jude and JoJo following once they got their cake. The three women sat around the table, conversing lightly.

"Speaking of birthdays…" Lucy started, taking a bite. "I've been wondering if perhaps it's time we got Michelle a car. She's always working at the diner or hanging out with friends, and I'm sick of driving her around everywhere."

"Any reason not to?"

"Well," she sighed, pushing blonde bangs out of her face. "We're a bit strapped for cash these days…everything's been getting progressively more expensive. But I'm sure we could find something we could afford. It wouldn't be anything fantastic, but she'd have to understand."

"And, then there's the gas money, car repair money, and the general freedom issue…"

"'Chelle's a good kid. She may be stubborn, but I'm sure she'd be safe," Sadie advised. "And I'm sure if she abused any of her freedom, you could take it right away from her and she'd whip into shape faster than you can say 'paying for your own gas.'"

Lucy grinned. "I suppose you're right. Jude's so lax, though. That's the problem. I'm not sure he'd be able to take that car away as easily as I could."

Sadie gave a small shrug, a gesture indicating a "what can you do?". She then noticed that Ellie had been mostly silent during their conversation. She turned to her, running her fingers through thick, untamable curls as she gave her friend a light kick under the table.

"Hey, cheer up, sweet pea," she said with a small smile. "It's your anniversary."

Ellie returned the smile, but something in her big, brown eyes showed something was wrong.

"You look beat," Sadie continued with concern. "Everything alright?"

The African-American woman nodded slowly after a few moments. "Yeah…I'm fine. I've been working a lot lately, eight hours of sleep never seems like enough."

"Mm…well, welcome to the life of a mother, I guess," she said. She glanced at the clock. "I hate to say it, but me and Jo better head out. I told the guys to keep us on the down low until ten, but they said they were only positive they could keep us hidden until nine thirty. I love you all more than anything, but I'm not particularly fond of landing on the front page of Enquirer."

The two other women nodded. Sadie and Jo's hectic schedule and fame made it difficult to see them privately, so visits like this were precious. They had come earlier that evening and once Max Jr. and Michelle had left, the six went out to dinner at Katz's and then came back to the apartment for a small party. So, all in all, it had been a nice, long stay.

Sadie got up from the table and sauntered into the living room, motioning to her partner that it was time for them to split. A few protests came from the other two men, but the sultry songstress was firm. After kisses goodbye and promises to call, the dynamic duo rushed out the door.

Ellie had just begun to clean up the few dirty dishes when she saw her husband along with Jude slipping on their coats.

"Where are you going?" she asked.

"Just going out for a few drinks, that's all," Max answered, shoving a corduroy cap that was fraying and tearing from age over his mop of hair. "We'll be back in an hour or two."

"Don't worry, El," Jude assured, giving her and Lucy a kiss on the cheek. "We'll have 'im home in time for the traditional anniversary sex." He gave her a wink and a wicked grin.

She only smiled nonchalantly, but other thoughts were whirling in her head. She was secretly begging for Max to come home sober enough for them to have sex that both of them actually enjoyed. Her late nights at work and he rarely being less than hammered when she had a night off caused a serious dent in their sex life, and it was getting to the point where something had to give.

Max kissed his sister's cheek and gave his wife a quick kiss on the lips before trailing after his best friend. Lucy shot her a sympathetic look and gave her arm a squeeze as she passed her, picking up the cleaning duties. Ellie tried to help her, but the blonde refused.

"El, go relax. You could use it."

"So could you."

"You can wash the dishes on my anniversary, how about that? Seriously, follow the guys and have a good time for once."

She rolled her eyes and shook her head, merely shuffling into the living room and collapsing on the couch. She sighed and tuned out the song on the radio Lucy had turned on, becoming lost in her own thoughts.

Her best friend had a point. She did need to loosen up and have some fun. Besides tonight, she couldn't remember the last time she had gone out with any of her friends, let alone her own husband. She was always working, working, working, and when she got home, she was too exhausted to do much more than sleep. When Max Jr. was ten, Max lost his job at the construction company he had been working at for seven years. That had been a devastating blow to Carrigan's income and Ellie had been trying ever since then to make up for it by staying as late as she could at the diner. Even though Max swore this wasn't true, it seemed the family was living from paycheck to paycheck and they never had enough money for something.

Still, she was thankful for the roof over their heads, the heat and window air conditioning, the fact that she was the manager at the diner and not just a waitress, and the food that the Carrigan and Feeney family shared. And though her relationship with both her husband and her son felt like it wore thin sometimes, she was ungodly thankful for them, too.

The door to the apartment opened and in stumbled Max Jr. and Michelle, both laughing and talking.

"Hi, Aunt Ellie!" greeted Michelle, taking off her coat and adjusting the headband in her wavy, brunette head of hair. Despite Michelle and Lucy sounding very similar on the phone, she had inherited most of her father's genes. Although, she did have her mother's blue eyes. "Hopefully, we're not interrupting anything."

"Not at all. How was the movie?"

"Crappy," Max Jr. responded for her. Of course, he closely resembled his father, but he did have Ellie's brown eyes. Michelle sighed in exasperation, giving him a little nudge.

"It wasn't crappy, actually, it was anything but. You just have no sense of depth."

"I go to movies be entertained, not to have moral shit thrown at me."

His cousin muttered inaudibly under breath as she left to go say hello to her mother, grumbling something about "boys and their lack of wanting to learn anything." Ellie grinned. There were moments when the two teenagers acted very much like their sibling parents. Michelle had Lucy's passion and Max Jr. had Max's apathy. This definitely caused many arguments. However, it wasn't always like that. Michelle would fight until the sun came up, but her mother would choose her battles wisely. Max Jr., being slightly more mild-mannered than his father, would either give up or give in eventually, something his father would never do.

Her son looked around the empty room, then at his mother. "Where's Dad? Isn't it like, your anniversary or something?" She laughed a little at his unintentional ignorance.

"Yes, it is our anniversary or something…he went out with your uncle. God knows when they'll be back."

"Wow..." Michelle said as she reentered the room, a plate with a piece of cake in her hand. "What an asshole. If Jake ever did something like that to me, I'd end it."

Lucy shot her daughter a death glare as she came into sight from the kitchen. "I'm sure your aunt appreciates your relationship advice, but could you be slightly less rude about it?"

"Luce, it's fine, I know she was just kidding," Ellie cut in, chuckling and getting up from the couch. "Don't worry, 'Chelle. I've got a pretty good reign on him."

"Of course, of course." Michelle looked down her feet, guilt seeping through her body. "I'm sorry, I wasn't trying to say-"

"I know, sweetheart. No harm done." She kissed the top of her head, then looked up at her friend. "I'm going to bed, I'm beat. But I'll see you all in the morning?"

She gave Lucy, Michelle, and Max Jr. a kiss then padded into the bedroom she shared with Max. She got ready for bed, only pulling on a t-shirt over her bare form for pajamas, and settled into her bed. As she stared up at the dark ceiling, she could help but hear Michelle's words swirling in her mind:

"Wow…what an asshole. If Jake ever did something like that to me, I'd end it."

She couldn't believe she was being affected by what her sixteen-year old niece had said without thinking, but she had to admit, Michelle had a point. Why had she let her husband go out with his friend on their anniversary night? Didn't she deserve some alone time with him?

Ellie cursed herself for not having the balls to say anything, although she remembered at the time, she hadn't seen anything wrong with the situation. Honestly, these days the couple saw very little of each other.

She rolled over onto her side, the only light in the room coming from the moon peeking through the blinds. The dull, somewhat numb ache in the pit of her stomach, her consistent weariness, and the fact she was oblivious to letting her husband hang out with friends on their anniversary night could only mean one thing. She had finally hit what every married couple was doomed to experience. That stuck, drifting period when you still genuinely care enough for your spouse that getting a divorce seems silly and out-of-the question, but the only aspects of life the two of you have together are living under the same roof and sharing the same bed. That feeling that nothing and everything is wrong, and you don't know why.

She loved Max and she couldn't imagine herself being married to anyone else. But that was part of the problem. Why couldn't she? Was Max truly her soul mate or was he the only one who would even be interested in her?

Aside from these things, Ellie mostly wondered:

Why the hell am I questioning everything all of a sudden?

She supposed it was partly because that after fifteen years of marriage, she was finally coming to the realization that she and her friends weren't twenty-one years old anymore, living vicariously through life without a care in the world. No money for rent? No problem, Sadie could take care of it for this month. Having a really shitty day? Go out for a party at Café Huh? or maybe trip out with a few other tenants back at the apartment. Most problems, albeit Max post-Vietnam, could be solved with LSD, parties, or occasional phases when they actually had to work.

But it wasn't 1969 anymore. It was 1985 and while the friends had desperately tried to keep up with the times, the world was changing at completely different speed. Prudence, dear Prudence, was traveling with a local circus the last they'd heard. The last any of them had seen her was six years ago. Jude had seen a pretty Asian girl, although she did have a few bruises on her face, on the subway. When they had met eyes and her lips turned upward ever so slightly, he knew it was her. But when he tried to catch her at the stop, she was gone.

Sadie and JoJo managed to not change their style and still become famous. With the British Invasion, music producers at the time were desperate for an authentic rock sound that was completely American.

They tried to call as often as they could, but when the friends tried calling back, they had to get through publicists, agents, and secretaries before they could get five minutes with one of them. The other four had grown up, started family, and moved to Brooklyn, where the rent was half as expensive and the apartments were twice the size.

Ellie groaned inwardly, thinking she had no reason to be dissatisfied. She needed to get over her petty problems and face the fact that she was a responsible adult. She thought she had done that years ago, but apparently, the thought hadn't hit her until now.

But she could still have her fun. This was her anniversary, for Christ's sake. Wheels spinning in her head, she leaped out of bed and searched on her nightstand for a piece of paper and pen. Once she found them, she scribbled this note:

Meet me in the shower.

-El

She smiled as she left on the bed, heading towards the bathroom that was connected to their bedroom. She pulled her t-shirt off, turned the water to pleasantly warm, and stepped in, exhaling in relief as the soothing liquid ran over her tired body.

One thing Max could never resist was making love in any kind of water. Whether it be in the shower, the ocean, or a pool (late at night, of course), he loved it. Hell, if it hadn't been for the shitty shower at Sadie's place and his lack of observational skills, the two of them wouldn't have met. That wasn't entirely true, they would've met eventually, but their first meeting wouldn't have been nearly as interesting.

She hummed a little song about nothing as she stood in the shower, perfectly content for the first time in a while. This would be it. This would be the spark that would get them out of that dreadful drifting stage and back to where they were, the careless twentysomethings who wanted nothing but love.

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Ellie shivered as the cold water rained down her head. She furrowed her brows and bit her lip in frustration. She had no idea how long she had been in here, but she knew it had to be more than an hour.

Where was he?

There was no doubt he was home, as she got in the shower around eleven. He had work tomorrow morning and so did Jude, so they would've had to have gotten in before midnight.

Was he playing hard to get? This wouldn't be anything unusual, but leaving her waiting in this increasingly freezing shower was cruel, even for him.

After about ten more minutes, she furiously shut off the water, stepping out of the shower. She wrapped herself in as many towels as possible, trying to warm up her shaking body. Then, with a huff, she opened the door and stepped into her bedroom.

The sight she saw made her blood run cold. Max was passed out on the bed, still in his clothes and snoring loudly. The note she had left remained carelessly tossed over on the other side.

A million thoughts ran through her head at once. At first the most prominent one was: That asshole. Does he even give a shit about us anymore?. But then she deduced that he was so tired (or quite possibly hammered) that he just hadn't seen it. As much as she hated to admit it, this was probably what had happened.

She pulled on her t-shirt again and a pair of sweatpants, crawling into bed. She could always try again in the morning or the next night, but she already knew she had lost her motivation. That spark she had had earlier was now just a fizzle in her stomach as that dull, yet numbing ache was slowly replacing it.

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Generally, chapters will be much longer than this one, but this is mostly set-up.

I've already written about six chapters, but I'll see how this chapter fares before I post the next one.

"…now rock-and-roll superstar Sadie." – Yes, Sadie and JoJo are superstars. They deserve it.

"Max lost his job at the construction company he had been working at for seven years." – Because of the song, it made sense to me that he should be pretty handy with tools.

"Prudence, dear Prudence, was traveling with a local circus the last they'd heard." – This is seems like the path the character would take. I'm not promising anything, but she may make a few appearances in this story.

By the way, I know at the end of "Eleanor Rigby", I had the Carrigan and Feeney families living in different apartments, but it makes life so much easier to have them living in the same place. So deal with it. :D

Hope you enjoyed this first chapter! Please read and review.

~TMOLM2010