A/N: Well shit. I know I said this story was put on hold and now guess what? It's not on hold anymore. I have my partner in crime, Catie to thank for that. So here I am, new and improved, back with this story. I promise to update and keep this story going until it's finished. Yay! LOL! Oh and I'd like to say thank you for the 35 reviews so far—that is amazing! I am forever grateful! :D Okay anyway, before I start talk-writing you guys to death, here is chapter 3! Oh wait- let me just say that the votes are in for who Holly should fall in love with and it is….. Oh hey! No, no I can't tell you! You gotta read and found out….. All right, here is chapter 3!
(The bottom P.S was written originally when I first started writing this chapter, last year.)
PS: XoChan….. there was something you said in your story. You know, which Beatle you would marry, kiss, etc. I'm using that same kind of idea for a sentence in this chapter, hope you don't mind!
Disclaimer: Nope, don't own. Okay, bye.
…
Continuing Story of Quinn Collins: Chapter Three: A Mall and a Dark Place:
(Third Person POV)
He was watching from the park across the street; he had been there for just over half an hour now. He grimaced when he saw the four men and two girls step off the bus and walk into the mall. He would rather not interact with these people but it was his mission-his order and he would obey it. In the end, he would be given the ultimate reward; to be immortal- to be one of them. It was something he had always wanted- ever since Makos had taken him in when he was just a child wandering the streets alone.
With a sigh, he walked towards the mall. He had to begin his mission.
…
(Quinn POV)
"What's this?" I heard John ask from across the story. He was holding up a DVD. He was staring at it like it was a foreign object from Mars and the young cashier behind the counter was giving us quizzical looks.
"It's a movie," Holly replied, before I could even formulate a reply. She was leaning dangerously close to him so he could see down her dress if he wanted. Of course, he did. I almost barfed.
Why in hell is she flirting with John? MY John.
Fine, I know I didn't own John Lennon. As much as I very much wanted to own him- okay, I'm stopping now. I just meant that it happened to bug me that my best friend (who was a flirt, a well-known flirt) was practically trying to stand on top of John in the middle of the goddamn HMV! I closed my eyes and slowly counted to ten in my head- as much as I wanted to reach out and slap the heck out of my best friend right now, I had to maintain myself. When I opened my after counting to ten, I immediately shut them again. Holly was touching his arm and playfully tugging at his hair. I had my hands down by my sides and balled into fists.
One….two…three….four….
"Quinn?"
I opened my eyes and spun around. Paul was looking down at me with a quizzical expression on his way too handsome face. I looked over to Holly and John and he followed my gaze, sighing when he saw them. Holly had John laughing. I turned back to Paul so I wouldn't go over there and embarrass myself in the middle of the store.
"You know John's like that," Paul offered with a shrug.
"Yeah," I replied. "John being like that doesn't bother me. Well-it does but it's expected. Holly, though- she's a flirt. But she knows I lo-like John."
"You like John?"
"No, Paul," I said dryly.
"No!" Paul said with a slight huff. He grabbed me and brought me into the corner of the store where no one would hear us. "I mean, do you really like him? Not in the he's a Beatle sense. I mean do you really have feelings for him?"
Oh now this was wonderful!
What, now I had to tell Paul my feelings? Since when did he become my new girl best friend? I mean, how ridiculous does this sound? I was standing in the corner of the DVD store with Paul McCartney in front of me, asking me if I had feelings for one of his best friends. Wait a second- oh no, no it couldn't be. Paul couldn't have feelings for me. Could he?
I looked into his eyes to see if I could sense anything. His beautiful hazel eyes didn't betray any secrets or feelings but I could help feel weird butterfly things in my stomach. What if Paul really did like me? Or was this just my over-active and paranoid imagination driving me wild like usual? I couldn't know for sure. But now Paul was staring at me with an expectant expression. If he didn't like me then I could just answer the question straight but if he did like me then how could I express my love for John in front of him without hurting him? I sighed and looked into his eyes.
"Well…. I mean…. I guess…. I don't know, Paul."
"You look pretty jealous watching your friend over there," he said, pointing his finger at Holly. I nodded. It was true.
"Yeah but just because he's my favourite Beatle." Quickly I added, "No offence, I love you all."
Paul just smiled. "You don't have to lie."
I crossed my arms and gave him a half-annoyed stare. "I'm not lying! And since when are you so interested in who I like and don't like, Paul McCartney?"
"Whoa!" Paul has his hands raised in surrender. I guess I was getting a little snippy now. Well hey, I guess I was jealous. Sue me why don't you. I shook my head and looked down for a moment, gathering my wits.
"I'm sorry," I finally said. "I didn't mean to snap like that. Maybe I do like John like that. But it's not like it's going to go anywhere. I mean, first of all, he's a Beatles. Second of all, he's from 1965 and kind of, well- dead by now. And third- he's like fifty years older than me."
Paul nodded in understanding. "But you like him?"
"I like him."
"Okay."
Before I could read his eyes or even formulate an answer, Paul had turned to see Ringo who was running towards us excitedly. I smiled, pushing the recent conversation with Paul to the back of my mind. I would have to deal with that later. Ringo was kind of jumping happily in front of us and Paul and I wore matching expressions of amusement. I took the CD from Ringo's hands and looked it over. It was one of the Beatles Cds- A Hard Day's Night and Ringo was excited. I couldn't help but laugh.
"Look! Look!" he said, pointing at the CD in my hands. "They make records so small!" Suddenly his face turned pensive and he cocked his head to the side.
"What?" Paul asked him.
Ringo twisted his mouth in confusion. "Well- how do you suppose you play on of those things in a record player?" He had taken the CD from me and was now intently studying it. He looked back up and his blue eyes were filled with yet more confusion. "It's pretty small, isn't it?"
I nodded. "It's small because it's a CD. It doesn't go in the record player, it goes in a CD player." He, if it was possible, started looking more confused. "Don't think about it too much, it'll just hurt your head. And go put that back and don't look at any more Beatles things!"
Ringo turned and headed back to the CD section with his head hanging a bit and a hurt puppy dog expression on his face. I couldn't help but laugh. Paul was busying himself with some music. You know those stations where you can play the newly released Cds so you can see what they are like before you buy them? Well, that is where Paul was; earphones over his ears and a strange expression on his face as he listened to some stupid rap crap. I shrugged and decided to head over to George before facing the inevitable and going to see Holly and John. I don't think I was cooled off enough yet to see them without growling at my best friend.
Oh John Lennon, see what you do to me?
I ignored the thought and looked around the small store for George. He was kneeling closer to the ground, looking at the rows and rows of television shows on DVD. I couldn't read the expression on his face clearly- it was a mixture of confusion, shock, surprise and pleasure. My mood brightened considerably as I got closer to him- George seemed to radiate happiness and it made me feel kind of nice. I knelt next to him and then ended up sitting on my butt with my legs crossed. George smiled at me and I felt my heart melt just a little bit. God, I loved him. Like, okay this is how it would go. There's this game or scenario thing- Which Beatle would you marry, screw, make-out with or cuddle with? Now, I would definitely marry John- and umm screw John- but anyway- probably screw Paul, make out with George and cuddle with Ringo. The point is- George was awesome and I loved him!
"What's up Georgie?" I asked, leaning against the bare wall. He looked over a few more DVD titles before answering.
"Just looking at these- umm-?" He looked to me for the answer. Man, that boy looked sexy when he was confused.Oh God, I was such a fucking horndog!
"DVDs?"
George nodded and smiled. "Yes… umm… DVDs. They're gear!"
Gear! Haha British talk! Yeah I get amused too easily.
"Yup! I love them!"
George smiled at me again but was soon intrigued by something on the shelf again. I sat there watching him for a few minutes before finally deciding to go and see Holly and John. Maybe I was reading too much into this. I mean, I knew that Holly was a natural flirt and it was just something she did. I doubt that she sat around thinking that she would flirt with John just to hurt me. She probably didn't even know that I liked him like that. If I did in fact like him like that. That was another story entirely. So back to my main point- I don't think Holly was doing it on purpose and since John was attracted to anything that moved- I calmed down a little bit.
I told George I would leave him to look at his DVDs and made my way over to my best friend and my- John Lennon. They were standing a tiny bit apart now but she was still standing in a very flirty position- and he should be wearing a bib to catch the drool! I mustered up everything I needed and plastered a smile on my face as I approached them. Holly noticed me first and moved away from John finally. She welcomed me with a happy smile.
"Hey," I offered, keeping the smile on my face.
"Hi!" Holly squealed happily at me, half-jumping and squeezing my arm. I made an effort to smile back at her and gladly, she didn't notice the fakeness of it. I had never seen her this excited since she got her coach purse. She leaned in so she was out of ear shot of John and whispered, "He's hilarious! Pretty dirty too! Did you see the effect I was having on him?"
No, I'm blind, actually.
They might as well have put a billboard over them with a huge blinking arrow pointing at them. I mean, Holly was preening and prancing just to get him to keep trying to look down her shirt and as a result, John was practically exploding in his pants. Yeah, gross, I know. If it was her with anyone else I'd normally say "Hey! Go get a room!" but not this time. John was mine. Yeah, maybe I was being a little obsessed but I liked him! And I saw him first! God- she wouldn't even know the Beatles names if it wasn't for me. This was the girl who once asked me if Elvis was dead.
"Yeah…." I managed to choke out. I looked over her shoulder to John. He was making a face at me. He knew this was bothering me. Bastard. I smiled straight back at him. Two can play at that game.
"You know, Holly," I said, loud enough for John to hear. "I know you like flirting and that John here is pretty- cute."
"Pretty cute?" Holly cried, interrupting. "Is that all you have to say? Every time you describe him you say that he is sexy and the hottest man ever. You practically drool every time you see him."
I could have killed her. She wasn't helping. John chuckled, his eye-brows raising in amusement.
"That's beside the point," I said through gritted teeth although I still kept the fake smile. "As your best friend, I think I should tell you when I see you going down the wrong path."
Holly's mouth twisted with uncertainty. "What do you mean?"
"I mean," I said, looking at John as I said the rest, "You shouldn't waste your time flirting with John. He's a man-whore, you see. And he'll just end up hurting you in the end." I looked over to the other side of the story where Paul was. He took the earphones off his head, pretty shocked by what he had just heard. I turned back and smiled. "Why don't you go flirt with Paul? I saw him staring at you before!"
John's smirk was wiped completely off his face and I smiled directly at him. Holly was smart enough to notice something was going on between us and she skipped over to Paul. John looked angry as he walked towards me but then he stopped, just smirking at me again. I stood firmly with my arms crossed and stared up at him. He wasn't scaring me. Okay, so he was scaring me a little but I wasn't going to show him that. And damn the cocky bastard, I was growing more attracted to him by the second.
"What?" I asked him, staring into his eyes with a smirk of my own. He looked down at me and then just shook his head.
"You're a little bitch, you know?" The words might have sounded a bit harsh to anyone listening in but the tone was purely teasing.
"And you're a man-whore bastard," I said without skipping a beat. Again, he just shook his head and chuckled, bumping my arm slightly with his. "So you love me right?" he said in a girly voice, imitating Holly.
"Shut-up."
"Aren't I sexy?" he continued, leaning forward so he was looking straight into my eyes. I was trying to glower at him but a smile kept tugging at my lips and threatening to make me laugh. "Don't you just want to drool over me?"
"Oh fuck yourself!" I said and smacked him on the arm, hard enough to send him back a few steps, meanwhile laughing like his psycho laugh.
I waved to Holly—who was now flirting shamelessly with Paul-signaling her to bring herself and her drooling puppy dog with her. Ringo and George, laughing hysterically at something on a DVD cover saw me and came over as well. I sighed, closing my eyes for a moment. I was in the mall with my flirtatious best friend and the Beatles and I was close to checking myself into the loony bin. But I obviously wasn't going to do that so instead I rounded up the five of them and lead them outside of HMV towards Old Navy. After all, this wasn't 1965 anymore and these suit-wearing Beatles needed to get some new clothes if they didn't want to draw attention to themselves. As we walked into the store and I saw the expressions on their faces, I couldn't help but wonder what I'd gotten myself into.
I took a deep breath and silently prayed that this would go smoothly. Who knows, maybe it would end up okay.
Yeah right.
…
After a pretty crazy excursion in Old Navy, the six of us managed to make it out of the store alive and in one piece. Lucky that Holly and I had enough money between the both of us to buy the boys 2 outfits each. You know, you could claim to be the biggest Beatles fan in the world but you would actually have to spend time with them to know that John wouldn't wear checked patterns(stubborn little-), Paul hates plaid, George looks extremely malnourished in skinny jeans and that Ringo seemingly really likes the idea of guys wearing pink shirts. So after the hour we spent in the store, helping the four of them pick out outfits and repeatedly dragging John away from the blonde sales girl, we were finally done. I desperately wanted to go home and take some Advil- perhaps maybe 10-and relax. But no, John wouldn't have any of that.
"We only looked at two stores," he said, leaning against a big wooden chair outside of the store. He had his old navy bag wound around his wrist and the sunglasses that he just HAD to have (the ones I gave him weren't his style) were resting on his head.
I looked at him with a tired expression. I could feel myself practically wilting. "So….?"
The other Beatles seemed to pick up on what he was thinking because they suddenly crowded around me like a gang of children, pleading to be taken to another store and be shown around this "bloody strange place" as Paul put it. These were the Beatles-the best musicians to have ever existed? The ones that were begging me to take them around the mall. Christ, did they have teenage girls trapped inside their bodies or what?
"Come on," Holly said, nudging me with her hip. I turned to look at her. Her eyes were sparkling with excitement and she did a little dance as she waited for my answer.
Well great. I'm glad someone is having a good time. Too bad she's too oblivious to see that I'm fucking tired!
I couldn't help but feel jealousy surge through me and I didn't want to admit it but I felt a little territorial. After all, these were my Beatles and before she was flirting with my John and then my Paul. All right, fine, that does sound a little insane and perhaps later I might look into a good mental institution but I couldn't help it. This was my favorite band and I bet-no I know- that Holly couldn't even name five of their songs or even any of their albums. But I should have known better too.
Ha. Look. Even my subconscious makes Beatles references. Nice. Loony bin anyone? No? Just me? Ok.
But as I was saying before I was rudely interrupted by—myself-Holly was always the type to want what other people had, namely me. If I had the cool toy, she would want the cool toy. Or if I got rollerblades for Christmas well then by God, she just had to have rollerblades too. And because I like the Beatles and for all intent and purposes, they were mine, she wanted them too. And it didn't really help that she would flirt with just about anybody. I couldn't blame her though. She was an only child after all and so she kind of attached herself to me and followed me. Regardless, she was trying to take my Beatles. It made me repeatedly want to say, "Step off, bitch." But she was my best friend and I couldn't very well do that so I just stood there and tried not to spontaneously combust as she looked at me with the look I knew all too well.
"Okay," I said finally, surrendering to the puppy looks I was receiving from the Beatles. "I don't think there's any more stores you guys will like, though. And I don't want to risk you guys being noticed. How about-" I paused to look around, trying to find something that would make them happy. Ahh, yes! That would do. "Let's get some ice cream!"
This seemed to go over well with them and I sighed happily, leading the way to the ice cream place, La Paloma. It was a small place but it had the best ice cream in the world—literally. It was expensive as hell and would probably land me in debt but if it would keep the Beatles from being bored and Holly from trying to flirt one of them to death, I was happy. After getting the shitload of ice cream—John and Ringo wanted three scoops on a cone while Paul and George wanted two scoops in a cup with chocolate sauce-we were all situated at one of those round tables in the food court-type area. A few lines into a meaningless conversation, I felt a tap on my shoulder. I turned and my breath half caught in my throat.
It was Travis O' Conner, a boy from her and Holly's class at school. He was tall and well-built with dirty blond hair and to-die-for blue eyes. He looked like he could be the captain of the basketball team or something but he was really the quiet, shy kid in class. I don't think I ever heard him speak before or if I did I really didn't remember. He was either always looking down at his desk, drawing furiously in his notebook or on his cell phone, talking in hushed tones to someone. Either way, he was a nice guy and definitely cute. He didn't look like he was going to say something any time soon so I did.
"Hi," I said, smiling up at him. He looked kind of nervous but tried to smile.
What, was he nervous because of me?
"Hi," he finally said and we both chuckled. He looked behind him as if expecting someone to be watching and then turned back to me, looking slightly at ease now. "I saw you here and I was wondering…."
It seemed like he was having trouble getting the words out and I felt kind of bad for him. I knew what it was like to be nervous. Still, I couldn't help but feel a certain stirring inside when I looked at him. I mean, he was really cute. Finally, after taking a breath, he finished his sentence, the words coming out in a jumble.
"….if you would like to go out with me."
Who, me? Okay well obviously me.
I was in shock. I had never really been asked out before. (Yeah, that's sad right?) And those times kissing John in 1965 didn't really count in this era. So, excuse me but I was kinda floored and I must have had my mouth hanging open or something because Travis started looking nervous again. I quickly regained my composure and smiled at him. I turned to look at the others for a split second. Holly looked thrilled for me, Paul, George and Ringo were smiling. And John? John had a weird look on his face and his eyes darkened ever so slightly. I gasped internally.
John Lennon jealous because someone asked me out? Oh no way. No fucking way.
I full out smiled at that. When I turned back to Travis, I was sure I looked pretty happy because he seemed to relax a little. Giving him my best smile, I said,
"I'd be delighted to go out with you."
He looked relieved and I smiled. "Good. I mean-great! How about tomorrow night at Boston Pizza? 7:30?"
I nodded. "Sounds really good!"
"I'll pick you up."
And with that, he was gone, leaving me to smile like an idiot as he walked away. When I turned to the others, they all were chuckling and had smiles on their faces. All except John. He still had that scowl on his face and his eyes darkened a bit more since I looked at him last. Part of me cheered because I made him jealous (serves him right for flirting with Holly!) but another part of me felt a stab of worry. Why was he looking so serious?
"John, are you all right?"
"What?" he looked up at me as if trying to make out what I said. "Oh—yeah I'm fine. Ice cream sometimes bothers me." He pushed his half-eaten ice cream away from himself and looked down at his hands.
I didn't say anything, figuring he was just in a mood. After some more chatter and when all the ice cream was finished, we left to catch the bus back home. I was happy to finally end this day- all I wanted to do was relax- and I was happy to be going on a date with Travis but something about John's expression gave me a weird feeling in my stomach. I quickly dismissed it, choosing to think about other things. For example:
What the hell was I going to wear tomorrow night?
…
(Third Person POV)
He couldn't believe he had actually gone through with it. He felt the digust and horror that flowed through his body when he thought about what he was going to have to do tomorrow night. He wanted desperately to be part of the group and was working hard to make sure everything went smoothly. This was something he was just going to have to endure. There was no other way to get what he was after. He needed to get close to her, needed to make her trust him enough to let him into her home. After all, it was Makos' order and he would never disobey his master.
He simply would have to go through with it.
He had to go on a date with Quinn Collins.
…
A/N: DUN DUN DUN! OMMG! That was crazy wasn't it? I'm glad to be writing this again, let me tell you. And the real kicker of it is that this chapter is longer than the first two. I came back and I came back with a bang! Now please, tell me what you think and please review—remember people, I'm still a review whore. So please press that little button and review. Okay? Okay great.
Oh and P.S. Check out mine and CrazyCatie's collaboration if you haven't already. It's called In Spite Of All the Danger. And it's kick-ass.
Go review now. Thank you. :P