A/N: I saw the movie 'Across the Universe' in theaters and absolutely fell in love with it and with the Beatles. So this idea came to me tonight. I felt like they could have used the song 'Yesterday' in the movie, so I put it in where I thought it could go. If you've seen the movie, you'll recognize the scene. Lines may be a little altered, I don't have the best memory! Lyrics in italics.
Disclaimer: I don't own this song or 'Across the Universe'. Darn.
Yesterday
Jude loped down the street, his eyes fixed on the ground and his shoulders hunched up against the cold. Nothing seemed to be going right lately. It was getting harder and harder to live in the war-affected United States, especially in New York City, where anything could happen. Yeah, anything could happen – bad or good. And everything seemed to be bad at the moment.
The Liverpool native glanced sideways at his friend, JoJo, an African-American guitarist with a dream and a true love, both of which had recently been lost in one fell sweep. JoJo had been a member of a fairly successful band, but the lead singer, Sadie, another of Jude's friends, had decided to go solo and left everyone else in the dust – including her boyfriend.
Jude couldn't decide which situation was worse – JoJo's, or his. Jude supposed he still had his Lucy, but he knew that every day they drifted further apart. Their current interests were just too different – Lucy was growing more active than ever with her rebel newspaper association; Jude was just trying to get by, immersing himself in drawing. It was all he knew how to do.
JoJo stopped in the street, and Jude realized that they'd arrived at his and Lucy's building.
"Good luck," JoJo said after an awkward silence. There was no need to ask what he meant.
"She's probably out fighting the cause," Jude said bitterly, looking up at the dark windows of the apartment.
"Looks like you've been fighting the cause, too, man," JoJo said.
"I don't have one. That's the problem," Jude replied demurely as he waved a half-hearted goodbye and headed inside. He trudged up the stairs, not expecting to find Lucy home, but half-hoping she would be there. He didn't know why; every time they were together these days, they were arguing.
Reaching the apartment, he unlocked the door and pushed it open. He didn't see Lucy, or any sign that she'd come home yet that afternoon. Except – except that his sketchpad and drawings were no longer scattered around the table as they'd been that morning. Instead, they were stacked in a neat pile right in the center, beside the bowl of fruit.
Hardly daring to hope, and yet hoping all the same, he hurried across the room to the bedroom and pushed the door open. It swung slowly, and Jude stared, his heart dropping to his feet.
The bed was neatly made, not messy the way Jude had left it that morning. And the dresser…the drawers were thrown haphazardly open, as if someone had come and gone in a hurry. They were all empty.
No…
Jude sank to the floor, his mind a whirl of emotions and a lump forming in his throat. He should have known. He should have done something. He should have seen that she was slipping away from him, that he was losing her to the cause. He should have…he should have tried harder. Almost without thinking, his mouth opened and his thoughts turned into a song.
Yesterday,
All my troubles seemed so far away,
Now it looks as though they're here to stay,
Oh, I believe in yesterday…
Of course, it hadn't been yesterday. This had been coming for a while now…but it felt like yesterday that they were all together, laughing and singing. Sadie and JoJo, happy, not hurt and confused like they were now; Prudence, dear Prudence, depressed, yes, but sweet all the same; Max, Jude's first and best friend in the States and Lucy's older brother, who was now a soldier in Vietnam; and of course Jude himself, and Lucy, young and in love and carefree.
Suddenly,
I'm not half the man I used to be,
There's a shadow hanging over me,
Oh, yesterday came suddenly.
Why she
Had to go I don't know, she wouldn't say
I said
Something wrong, now I long for yesterday.
But he did know why Lucy had left. She wanted someone who believed in action, a radical who wasn't afraid of the war and wanted to stop it. Someone like Paco. A vile, metallic taste filled Jude's mouth at the thought of that…that Don Juan. Even now, he could imagine them plotting some new plan to get their anti-war position out. Paco would lean across, put his hand on Lucy's knee…No. He couldn't think like that. Jude breathed deeply, and the feeling of loss welled up inside, so strong it made him emit a single choked sob.
Yesterday,
Love was such an easy game to play,
Now I need a place to hide away,
Oh, I believe in yesterday…
Why she
Had to go I don't know, she wouldn't say
I said
Something wrong, now I long for yesterday.
Yesterday,
Love was such an easy game to play,
Now I need a place to hide away
"Lucy…come back…please," he whispered to the silence, even as a sinking feeling inside him said she was gone forever.
Oh, I believe in yesterday…
A/N: So...see the little button right down there? Do me a favor and click on it. You know you want to.