"When I was younger so much younger than today, I never needed anybody's help in anyway. But now these days are gone, I'm not so self-assured. Now I find I need you like I've never done before."
Previously:
George grinned. "Y'know what's weird. I've known you for 12, 13 years and I've never seen your mum before."
Sam froze. "My mum?"
George nodded. "Yeah, like I remember meeting yer dad before when I was younger, me dad worked with him when he was a bus driver. But I've never seen yer mum before."
"Yeah, well my mum…"
"I wanna meet her."
Her eyes practically bugged out of her skull. "What?"
"Yeah, see if she's as weird as her daughter." Sam frowned. "I'm kidding!" George laughed. "But I do wanna meet her. She should know the type of people her daughter hangs around."
Sam tensed up. "Ah, well then…"
The boys had just finished their morning interview, answering tired-out questions and being their charming selves.
John yawned and collapsed on the couch. "Well, that surprisingly didn't kill me."
Paul playfully smacked John on the top of his head and sat next to him. "That's not nice!"
"So what are you boys going to be doing today?" Brian asked. "It's a free day, no shows until tomorrow night."
George laughed. "I think we know what Rings is gonna do today." He prodded the drummer with his foot, who had already passed out on the floor.
"Me and John are gonna go see a movie then go to Jane's house. Her place always gives us some inspiration." Paul answered. Jane Asher was Paul's steady girlfriend and an actress. He had met her earlier in 1963 when she interviewed them and was asked to pose for a picture with them.
Brian put his hands on his hips. "Are you crazy? You'll be mobbed! Do you remember what happened at the Palladium?"
"Don't worry Eppy, we've got that covered." John answered with a cocky grin. "We're going in disguise again."
"As what this time? A policeman or a photographer?" Brian shot back with a smirk. The both of them shrugged.
"I'm going out in a disguise too." George said.
"And where are you going?" Brian asked him.
"Out." George simply answered.
"With who?" Paul asked. Now this was turning into a serious interrogation.
"Sam."
John perked up. "Oh, Sam now." He said in a sing-song voice. "George, you dog you." Paul howled along with him.
George ignored the two. "Speaking of which," George turned. "Sam, you can come out now!"
The blonde came out of her room. "You guys are finally done? That was longer than the last one."
Brian nodded. "Yes. Uh, Sam," Brian straightened his tie out. "Where are you and George going?"
"To visit my mom." Sam said while putting stuff into her bag.
"Oh," Brian said seriously. "Right. Well be careful you guys." He exited to his room.
"We will." George called out to him. "C'mon Sam, let's go." The two left the hotel room.
"Oh, going to meet the family already?" John smirked.
"John," Paul said in a horrified tone. He stopped laughing and faced him. "You don't think Sam and George are…"
There was a pause as they gave each other an understanding gaze. "Nah!" They both said and broke into fits of giggles.
"Never would happen,"
"Not in a million years." John said. But they weren't too convinced.
"So are they separated then?" George asked as they stepped onto the train. Sam looked at him with a confused expression. "You're parents, I mean. I've never seen them together." Sam didn't answer and fixed her watch. Her smile turned did a complete 180. George apologized. "Oh, I'm sorry for asking, I was just—"
"No, no," Sam assured him. "It's fine. But to answer your question, I guess you could say that."
"Oh, all right then." George didn't push any further on the matter. "What are the flowers for?" He pointed at the bouquet she was holding.
Sam's smile returned and she looked down at the flowers. "Daffodils are her favorite."
"Mine too." George returned the grin. They stared at each other for a moment.
Sam broke the silence with a giggle. "You know, that disguise is quite ridiculous."
"What? You don't think it looks realistic?" George had on a brown Fedora hat. On his face was a mustache and goatee to match his hair. He wore a brown trench coat and gray slacks with brown loafers. To top the look off, he borrowed (more like stole) John's Buddy Holly glasses.
Sam looked him over. "Yeah, realistically stupid-looking."
"That doesn't matter. As long as nobody knows who I am, I'm okay with walking around looking stupid." George replied.
Sam made a whiny noise. "But I have to walk around with you. That's so embarrassing!"
George spoke in the Queen's English accent and poked Sam on the nose. "Well, too bad little girl."
She laughed. Today is going to be interesting. "By the way, we're getting off on the second stop."
"Oh yeah then." They were silent the rest of the ride there. After about half an hour, the train met their destination.
"C'mon, let's go George." George followed Sam out of the train. They were pushed and shoved throughout the train station but in a matter of minutes they finally got out.
"So are we taking the bus to her place or…"
"No, it's really close by. We can walk there." Sam answered him. She pointed the direction. "It's that way." The two walked for some time until they ended up in front of tall, iron gates. George's jaw dropped as he read the sign on the gates out loud.
"Gilly Hills Cemetery."
John and Paul sat next to each other at the piano frustratingly pounding at keys to find a note. They had been down there in the cellar of the Asher residence for about two hours and already had gotten the basis of a song down. They just had to find that one note to fit; the one note that would complete it. The two of them were so close yet so far. Until…
"Paul that's it!" John exclaimed, nearly knocking the other Beatle off the piano bench.
"What? What's it?"
"That, that last chord you just played. Play it again!"
"Oh, you mean that E minor?" Paul repeated the note. "You think that works?"
"Yeah, yeah, hear listen." John put the loose leaf containing the lyrics up on the stand and started playing. He sang the song written and played the tune along on the piano, not forgetting to include the golden E minor.
Paul clapped his hands excitedly. They worked on the tune for a couple of minutes. "John that's it!"
"Wait, we need another opinion." John rain upstairs and down the hallway to a room.
"Peter! Open up!" John banged loudly on the hard wood door until the redhead opened up.
"Yeah? What is it John?" Peter was Jane's older brother.
"Me and Paul need your opinion on something." John answered. Peter followed him into the basement. "How does this sound?" They played the song again Peter, not missing a note or beat.
"So, how was that?" Paul asked, ever the crowd pleaser.
Peter shook his head and smiled. "Lennon and McCartney have done it again."
John and Paul high-fived each other. "America, here we come!"
Ringo woke up in a daze. "Wha? What's going on?" He looked around but he was the only one in the living room. He bent forward to stretch but stopped when he felt a sudden crack in his back. "Me back's killing me." Ringo looked down and realized he had been sleeping on the ground. "Well that was a dumb arse move of me."
Brian walked into the living room with an empty mug. "Oh, you're finally up then?"
"Yeah," Ringo rubbed his eyes. "Where is everybody?"
"Well, John and Paul went to Jane's house to write songs," Brian answered. He went into the kitchen and poured himself a cup of tea from the boiling pot.
"And the others?"
"Sam and George went out to visit her mum."
"Why'd he wanna do that?" Ringo asked, appalled.
"Dunno. They didn't say much before they left." Brian took a sip from his mug. "Would you like a cuppa?"
"Yes, please." Ringo said politely. Brian got out another mug and poured the hot tea in. He handed it to Ringo. "Ta."
"George is in or a real eye-opener when they visit her. Poor girl."
"Why?" Ringo blew over the mug and took a sip.
"Barbara Stratford is dead."
Ringo nearly did a spit take.
The two of them stood there in silence for a minute. George was trying to find the right words to say. "Sam. I—I didn't know. I—"
Sam ignored him. "Well then, let's go." She walked up to the gate and pushed a button. She spoke into the intercom. "Hey Mr. Ryerson. I'm here for a visit."
An old crackly voice was heard from the speaker. "Sam is that you? You haven't been here in awhile. Well come on in!" The gates automatically opened.
"Hey!" Sam greeted the old man at the guard house who presumably was Mr. Ryerson.
"Sammy!" The old man got out and gave the girl a hug. He playfully ruffled her blonde hair. "Just look at you! You're all grown up!"
Sam laughed. "Mr. Ryerson I keep having to tell you, it's not like I haven't been here since I was little. I was just here with my dad a couple months ago, remember?"
Mr. Ryerson tapped at his temples. "Well this old geezer is definitely starting to lose it up in the old noggin. By the way how is your dad now? How come he isn't with you?"
"My dad is back home in Speke. I just wanted to take a trip down memory lane for a bit."
"Oh that's right. You guys moved there right after, the umm…"
Sam nodded before he could finish to save him the trouble of answering. "Yeah yeah." There went an awkward silence.
"Who's your friend here?" Mr. Ryerson hadn't noticed Sam's company.
"How rude of me. This is—"
Mr. Ryerson's eyes widened and pointed at George. "Wait, I know you! You're George Harrison from that Beatles group!" By that time, George had taken the stupid disguise off his face.
George nodded shyly. "Yeah, that's me. Pleasure to meet you, Mr. Ryerson." George shook the old man's hand.
"How could I forget you? My granddaughter is a really big fan. She would stop screaming when she saw you on the telly last night." Mr. Ryerson laughed heartily.
George smiled. "That's nice. You can tell your granddaughter I said hi. Sam is our personal assistant so she's traveling with us. I just came because I wanted to see where she lived before she moved."
Mr. Ryerson put a hand on Sam's shoulder. "I better leave you two then to go visit her." He turned to George. "Your friend here is the nicest girl you'll ever meet."
Sam blushed. "Mr. Ryerson!"
"You better take good care of her while you're out, all right?"
"Will do, Mr. Ryerson. See you!" The two of them walked off towards the graves. "A nice bloke isn't he?"
"He was my neighbor before my dad and I left. He was good to us. Helped us push through when mummy left. He was kind of like a second father in a way." She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "His granddaughter that he was talking about and I used to play with each other all the time."
"Ah I see." Lame. George thought. That's all you can say? But he really couldn't say anything. He's known Sam for so long and yet he didn't know much about her. He didn't know of her pass life before Sam moved to Speke and became his next door neighbor. Come to think of it, he didn't know her personal life. Sure he's met some of her friends before but nothing like he's learned from that quit chat with Mr. Ryerson. Up until Sam came on the tour and warmed up to them, she was known as 'the annoying girl who always stalks George.' After hearing what Mr. Ryerson and Sam said, George didn't know what else to say. He didn't know if he should comfort her, because she didn't seem sad, or ask her more about her younger years, afraid that he might depress her further. It was safe to stay quiet until he just had to blurt out,
"So how did she die?"
George retreated his curiosity in case he triggered some unwanted memories but Sam ignored the question. "Over there." Sam pointed towards a big, white statue of an angel and smiled sadly. "It's near there. Let's go." George followed her into a flat, grassy area filled with tombstones until they got to one in the shape of a cross. George read:
Barbara Stratford
August 14, 1920 - November 05, 1952
"Hi mum." Sam spoke to the tombstone. "It's been a while, hasn't it? Or at least it feels like it. I got you your favorite flowers." She placed the daffodils on the grass next to the tombstone. "A lot has changed since I've last seen you." It was quiet. But not the eerie quiet that freaks you out, but a peaceful quiet. Sam continued. "The biggest thing is that I'm the assistant for the Beatles!" She began talking animatedly as if she were having a real conversation. "We've been traveling all over England for a while now. I'm sure you've been hearing about them up there, haven't you? Oh I even brought one of them along with me to see you!" Sam grabbed George's arm and pushed him towards the grave.
George looked bewildered. "What?"
Sam nodded encouragingly. "Go on! Talk to her!"
George rubbed the back of his neck. "Uh…" He had to admit he felt weird talking to a rock but he still did it for Sam's sake. "Hi Mrs. Stratford." He looked back at Sam, who gave him a thumbs up. "I'm George Harrison. I play guitar in the band." George began to relax a bit. "I think you know me. I went to the school across from your daughter's when we were grammar school."
"She says you seemed familiar." Sam said.
George nodded. "Right then. Let me just say Sam is in good hands while she's touring with us. And she's been a really big help to the band. Without her, we wouldn't be able to function. Actually, I was the one who initiated the visit. I just thought you should know who your daughter is hanging out with, make sure she isn't under any bad influence or anything."
George looked back at Sam for an answer from her mum. "She says you can stop sucking up now." They both laughed. "But she thinks you're a nice guy."
"Well Mrs. Stratford I think nice is a contagious virus," George put a hand on Barbara's tombstone, feeling more confident. He smiled at Sam. "'Cause I caught it from a nice girl."
"I can't believe you put that ridiculous disguise back on." Sam whined and took a bite of her chips. The two had gone to eat at a local diner. The place was cramped and noisy, but at the same time quite homey.
"We are out in public again, you know." George took a sip of his soda. "I'm not really in the mood to be mobbed by birds."
George watched Sam wolf down her cheeseburger and chips. "Gosh Sam!"
"What?" She said with her mouth full.
"You eat like a pig."
She swallowed down a big gulp. "Ugh! I haven't eaten diner food in a while and I am starving because I haven't eaten anything since breakfast." Sam said defensively.
"But slow down. You're gonna give yourself a stomach ache."
"Oh all right." Sam complied. They ate in silence until,
"You know I never answered your question."
"What question?" George asked.
"You asked how my mum died."
George almost choked on his sandwich. He gulped it down. "I was just wondering. You don't need to answer. I was being nosy—"
"No, no it's fine. I haven't talked about it much and keeping it bottled inside won't do me any good." Sam took another bite. "You really wanna know?"
"If it's not too much trouble." George said with that adorable perplex expression.
"She was murdered." Sam said bluntly.
First I learn she doesn't even have a mum anymore and now I know that she was murdered. Shock after shock! George thought. "What? H-how?"
"A teddy boy knifed her when she was walking home from work." Sam said distantly. "I remember calling her at work, telling her to hurry up because I wanted to show her a picture I drew for her at school."
"And then?"
"She was late. My dad and I went out to look for her. We saw people gathered around and ambulance. I saw my mum's body being wheeled in on a gurney. I remember running towards her body and my dad was talking to the paramedics. I wanted to stay and was going ballistic but my dad pulled me away." George saw that she had balled up a napkin in her clenched fist.
"But?"
"She didn't make it."
"And that's when you moved?"
"Yeah. We couldn't afford the house we were living in anymore. My parents were both equal in income and that was just enough to pay for our old house."
"Oh. I'm sorry to hear that Sam."
"Hey you asked."Sam laughed sadly. "But I get by. It happened so long ago. Besides, my mum wouldn't want me to stay sad." Sam got up suddenly. "I'm done. Are you ready to go?"
George nodded. "Yeah, just about." Before Sam seemed like an idiot who wouldn't stop smiling but George figured it out. Her smile was like a mask hiding away the pain. It amazed him that she didn't feel like throwing a fit right then and there. Sam was strong.
The two split the bill and left the diner. They walked along the dark streets, the street lamps dimly lighting the sidewalks. They hadn't realized how long they've been out.
"You can take that disguise off now. No one'll see you." Sam stuffed her hands in her coat pockets.
George looked around. "Yeah, I think it's safe." He tore off the mustache and goatee and stuffed them into his pockets. But he kept on the Fedora hat and John's glasses. They suit him better. Sam thought.
She looked up at the guitarist and on instinct she hugged him. "Ah! What was that for?" George hugged her back.
"Thanks. For coming with me." Sam smiled at him and laid her head on his shoulder as they kept walking.
George laid his head on Sam's and kept his arm around her back. "It's no problem. Now let's go home." The two continued walking to the train station in comfortable silence.
It hadn't occurred to Sam that he said home.
A/N: And that, my dear readers, was chapter 7! Came quicker than I expected. I hope you enjoyed the little Sam/George fluff. I guess I've been in that mood lately. Thank you for reviewing the last chapter. I greatly appreciate it. I hope it wasn't too long a wait for you. I made sure I didn't slack on this chapter. Thank you all for reading and please review!
