Two years later…
School had started long ago and Paul and I had become close friends, the awkwardness of the night of new years behind us.
I sighed taking in the Sunday morning atmosphere. I tucked my hands behind my head as I was lying in the grass. I closed my eyes and smiled as the sun warmed my skin. My short sleeved shirt lifted up a bit exposing my belly. I heard the grass rustle next to me and I didn't even bat an eye. I knew who it was.
"Hey John." I said my eyes still closed.
"Am I that predictable?" He asked pulling out a few blades of grass as he sat down. I nodded and he sighed. "Well, I am getting old."
I opened one eye and rolled onto my side arching an eyebrow. "John, you're eighteen." He shrugged and I laughed sitting up and scotching closer to him.
He put his arm around my shoulders and squeezed my shoulder slightly rocking me. "How long have I known you?"
I counted in my head. "Six years." I chuckled a bit. "Damn, you are old."
He punched my shoulder lightly and smiled. "Shut it kid. I can still beat you up." I rolled my eyes and chuckled. He laughed and we both turned our heads to the sound of someone approaching us.
"Looks like you two are having fun." Cynthia chuckled as she approached us. "Sometimes I wonder how old you actually are Lennon." She said with a wink.
John laughed and patted the ground next to him, her dress pooling around her, she sat down next to him and he put his arm around her letting go of me. John started rattling off jokes and Cynthia and I were rolling on the ground as we laughed. We all heard the sound of high heels approaching but paid no mind to it. The heels stopped and we all looked up to find a very pretty curly red haired woman standing above us. She was wearing a poke-a-dotted red and white dress with red high heels on. She smiled at us.
"Hello girls." She said smiling brightly.
Cynthia and I waved smiling back at her. We both stood up leaving John on the ground alone. "Morning Julia." I said warmly.
Cynthia hugged her and backed away closer to me. "Nice to see you again."
We all looked at John waiting for him to greet his mom who recently resurfaced into his life, but he just stayed there on the ground pulling out chunks of the grass. Julia looked at John with nervous eyes. "Hello John." She said trying to get her son to look at her.
He briefly looked up at her and nodded. "Hi mum." He said coldly.
Julia sighed and looked back at us. "I went to Mimi's but she said you were all over here. I wanted to know if you all would like to come over for dinner. Bobby isn't home so you can bring the band if you would like." She said. She looked as if she was almost begging.
John looked with his eyes narrowed up as if to say something but Cynthia cut him off. "We would love to Julia." She said looking at John sternly.
John looked at Cynthia in surprised but then back down. I smiled at Cynthia and nodded. "Yeah, I'll give the boys a ring now!" I excused myself and ran inside to the study so I could avoid the awkwardness of the whole situation.
After ringing all the boys up the only one who agreed to the dinner was Paul. I silently thanked God for that because Pete was sure to start something if he came. I heard Cynthia and John come in and climb the stairs. The both walked into the study where I was and John collapsed onto the desk chair. Cynthia sat down on the couch and I leaned against the wall. We were all silent for a while until John spoke.
"Why did you do that?" He asked looking at Cynthia his eyes holding a look of confusion and anger.
Cynthia narrowed her eyes at John. "She's your mum John."
John scoffed. "Yeah, some mum to be gone for seventeen years and then just turn up out of the blue with a step dad and a bunch of fuckin siblings!" John said his anger rising. He was quiet for a moment. "She isn't my mum."
Cynthia sighed and looked at me and I shrugged. The doorbell rang and I ran down stairs to go get it. I opened the door to find Paul sitting on my front porch steps. He turned to look at me and smiled, standing up dusting off his pants. "Hey Penny, you okay?" He asked arching an eyebrow.
I nodded and motioned for him to step inside. "John's a little agitated right now. You wanna come up? It's kinda tense up there."
Paul shrugged and nodded. "Why not, I'm sure he'll be okay soon."
We walked upstairs, John and Cynthia hadn't moved and I sat down next to Cynthia and Paul took my place on the wall. "Hey John, how ya doin?" Paul said placing a hand on his shoulder.
John slapped his hand off of his shoulder. "I'm not a baby McCartney; I can take care of myself." Paul looked at John taken aback and stepped back. We were all staring at John; he sighed and stepped towards Paul. "I'm sorry, I just….need some time." He looked at us and sighed again. "I'll meet you guys at Julia's at five, I'm gonna take a walk." With that he walked out the door, down the stairs and outside.
Cynthia let out a long sigh. "Well, its four thirty, we should probably head over there now." I nodded and Paul shrugged.
"What about John?" Paul asked as we walked won the stairs.
I shrugged. "He said he would meet us. Let's hope he keeps his word, for Julia's sake."
Her house was only a few blocks over, close to the boardwalk. We climbed the front porch steps and Paul rang the doorbell. We heard some shuffling and the door swung open. Cynthia looked us over smiling wide but she suddenly frowned. She seemed out of breath. "Where…where's John?"
Cynthia smiled lightly. "He will be here later. He wanted to take a walk." Julia's eyes dropped. "I promise." Cynthia said placing a hand on her shoulder.
Julia smiled a bit and stepped aside. "Well, let's not dwell on John's absence. Won't you come in?"
We all walked in and Paul was immediately drawn to a banjo sitting in the corner of the room. He smiled and touched the neck. "Julia, I never knew you played!" He said excitedly. Julia chuckled and walked over to Paul nodding.
"I love to play." She paused, picking up the instrument and started strumming. I stood there and watched as she strummed away at a very southern American poppy tune. Paul grabbed me and started dancing with me as Cynthia laughed and I grabbed her hand. We all started dancing like idiots and laughing tremendously as Julia strummed and stamped her foot.
As Paul, Cynthia and I were dancing I saw someone standing in the doorway out of the corner of my eye. I stopped and focused in on the person. It was John. We all stopped including Julia. She smiled ear to ear and ran over to John dropping the banjo.
"John you finally showed!" She said wrapping her arms around his neck.
He stood there and slowly let his arms wrap around her waist. He was a little taller than Julia so she was resting her head on her shoulder. I saw corners of his lips slightly twitch into a small smile. I smiled at the scene and tapped Paul. Let's go. I mouthed and we all walked out including Cynthia who was crying at the scene.
A few minutes later I heard John and Julia come in. They were holding hands. I smiled and Cynthia ran to the bathroom to fix her smeared makeup. Julia told us to sit down at the table and she pulled out the most magnificent looking chicken I had ever seen. My stomach growled and I realized how hungry I actually was. Paul licked his lips from his spot next to me and John sat down next to Cynthia who had come back from the restroom. Julia set the chicken in the middle of the table next to mashed potatoes and corn on the cob. She sat down at the end of the table and smiled.
"Dig in!" She said lifting her hands showcasing the meal for us.
John didn't hesitate; he and Paul dove in like sharks on a reef. Cynthia and I watched as Paul and John swallowed their food without chewing. John paused and looked up at us arching an eyebrow, chicken was handing from his mouth. "…What?" He asked with a full mouth of food.
"Eww!" Cynthia said laughing.
Paul was about to say something but instead let out a giant belch quickly covering his mouth his eyes wide with surprise. We were all silent until Julia started laughing and we all followed her laughing, John almost falling out of his chair. Julia lifted an eyebrow. "You boys are crazy."
"I conquer!" I said still laughing.
After dinner we were all dancing again, this time Paul was playing a guitar that was in the corner of the room. John was dancing with Julia and I was dancing with Cynthia. I looked up at the clock and saw it was eleven. We were having so much fun I had lost track of time. I tapped Cynthia's shoulder.
"I gotta go it's eleven." I said over Paul's strumming.
She nodded. "Me too. Hey Julia, we have to get going, it was a lovely night. Thank you for having us over!" She said giving her a hug. Julia smiled and I gave her a hug too.
"You all can come over any time you want! My door is always open!" Julia said with a smile.
Paul stood up and set the guitar down. "I gotta run too. Dad's gonna have a fit."
John walked over to us and smiled. "I'm gonna stay for a while. Cyn, tell Mimi for me." Cynthia nodded and kissed John. We all walked out and down the side walk. Cynthia walked in the other direction towards John's house. Paul and I walked alone.
"Can I walk you home?" He asked.
I nodded and looked up at the moon. "Ooo, full moon. That's when all the lunatics come out." I said winking at him.
He rolled his eyes at me. "You're weird."
I smiled and we were silent for a while, I broke the silence. "Hey Paul?" He looked at me. "Do you think you guys are gonna make it big someday?"
Paul chuckled. "I dunno, I mean I've dreamed about it but I doubt it will ever happen to us. I mean, to get famous like Elvis or somethin, would be really cool but no one cares about little old Liverpool."
I sighed. "Yeah, that would be cool though. You never know though." He chuckled and nodded. We got to my house and he walked up the steps with me. All the lights inside were off and I expected to get hell tomorrow morning for being out so late. I turned and faced Paul who was smiling.
"Well, see ya tomorrow Penny." He said sticking out his hand for a shake.
I arched an eyebrow and smiled. I hugged him instead and pulled away. He was looking at me surprised and blushing like a strawberry. He cleared his throat and rubbed his neck. "Yes, well, goodbye Penny." He said awkwardly as he descended my steps.
"Bye Paul!" I said chuckling as he jogged away towards his house.
Hello! I hope this chapter was enjoyable! I will be updating my Your Voice story soon I've just been trying to start this one up a little bit. There will be a chapter up soon, but yes surprisingly I DO have a life outside of Fan Fiction. ;)
~Stay Classy