The next morning, I woke up in Paul's bed. Paul was sitting in a chair in the corner, sleeping. I was wearing Paul's t-shirt and sweatpants. I was utterly confused on what had happened and why I was here. It slowly started coming back to me, what had happened.

As I laid in bed, pondering why Gavin was acting like that, and what the guests must have thought, Paul yawned and squinted his eyes open.

"Oh, yer up!" he said. He came over and sat on the edge of the bed.

"How are ya feelin'', luv?" he asked.

"I'm fine, just a little confused that's all." I responed.

"I had Astrid (Stu's girlfriend) change ya before she left, if ya were wondering" he said with a grin

"Oh, okay. Are the guys still here?" I asked.

"Yeah, everyone of 'em refused tah go home, 'cause they wanted tah stay here until they knew ya were doin' okay" Paul's comment made me smile.

"Shall I make us breakfast?" he asked.

"Sure!" I responded.

"Okay, I'll surprise ya" he said.

"Sounds good, Paulie. Um, I might take a quick shower, will that be okay?" I asked.

"Sure, that'll be fine. There's shampoo and soap already in there, and you know where tah find the towels" he said.

I smiled and went into the bathroom. Before, I stepped into the shower, I noticed the awful bruises on my face. They were so tender and painful.

As I examined them, I heard a knock at the bathroom door.

"Hello?" I asked.

"Hi love, sorry to interrupt, but I forgot to tell you that you can just wear the outfit you slept in last night 'stead of yer fancy dress, if it'll be more comfortable for ya" he told me.

I thanked him, and he was on his way.

When I was finished showering, I came downstairs to find all four boys sitting at the table waiting for me to eat with them.

"Good morning! How are ya feelin' today?" Ringo chipperly asked.

"I'm doing fine" I said with a grin.

I noticed John wasn't saying much during breakfast.

"Is everything okay, John?" I asked.

"I'm fine!" he hissed. "I'm just a bit upset right now, that's all" he said while tossing his eggs around his plate using his fork.

"Gavin didn't hurt you last night, did he?" I asked.

"No." he simply responded.

"Spill it, Lennon" Paul said.

"Fine! Ya wanna know why I'm like this? 'Cause I hate that bloody Gavin, that's why. I hate him. I warned 'im ahead of time. That bloody tosser.." John fumed.

"But John, you haven't got to worry about him anymore.." I explained, "he's my problem, I have to deal with him"

"No luv! Don't ya get it? You're a girl. He's an abusive idiot.. he will try tah hurt you again, and you don't know how ta handle somebody like 'im."

I gave him a confused look.

"I don't know how to handle him? I've known him for 7 bloody years! Don't tell me I don't know how to handle him!" I yelled.

"Oh ya do, do ya? Fine! Next time he comes 'round tah beat ya up, good luck! 'Cause I sure as heck won't be there for ya!" He was yelling at the top of his lungs. Then stood up, kicked his chair across the room, and stormed out the front door, vibrating the whole house as he closed it.

I ran my fingers through my hair and let out a big sigh.

"What'd I do?" I whispered to myself.

"It's okay, luv, don't let John get you down, he's just got a bad temper, that's all. Ringo said

sweetly.

I've known John practically my whole life, and I've always known he had a bad temper, but he didn't ever let it out on me.. usually to Mimi or the boys, but never me.

"I better go after him" I said. "Thank you for the wonderful breakfast Paulie, I'm sorry I ruined it." I told him.

"Ya didn't ruin it lovey.." I smiled and ran upstairs. I changed back into my dress... it was the only thing I had besides my sleeping clothes.

Though I admit, it felt weird walking up the street wearing such formal clothing, but at this point I didn't really care, I just kept a keen eye out for John. I stopped by Mimi's house.

"Hi Mimi" I said with a smile. She smiled and examined my outfit.

"Hello, dear. Are ya goin' to a pahty or somethin'? Was John supposed to pick ya up?" she questioned.

"No, none of those things. I was just wondering if you've seen John lately." I said in hopes that he was home.

"I'm sorry dear, I haven't seen the boy in a few days" she answered. My face saddened.

"He's not in trouble, is he?" she asked with a stern voice.

"No, Mimi." I said with a smile. "Well, I better continue to look for him. Thanks, Mimi" I waved, and continued to walk up the street, which was gloomy and foggy.

"John!" I yelled a few times. No response.

I looked everywhere I knew I liked to go when he was feeling stressed or angry. Still no sign of him.

Just when I was about to lose all hope, I remembered one last place he mentioned to me when we were in high school. It was a small, unknown park him mom used to bring him to before she died.

I ran to it, only to find John sitting by himself in a patch of grass, with his knees bent, playing with the grass.

"Hi.." I said hesitantly. He looked up at me and then looked back down at his hands, tearing apart the grass.

"Are you still mad at me?" I asked as I sat next to him.

"Ya must think I'm the biggest jerk in the world." he said sounding a little disappointed in himself.

"John, I love you unconditionally. You know I don't think you're a jerk." I told him.

He continued to avoid eye contact with me.

"I understand that you're just trying to protect me" I said.

"I just don't want tah see ya get hurt, again." He said while finally looking up and me to meet my eyes.

"Listen, if you feel like helping me out with Gavin, that's fine. Just know that I've seen the worst of him.. I know what's he's capable of" I said.

"How do ya get messed up with a bloody fella' like Gavin?" he asked (now, most would find this question to be offensive, but I didn't think so, I knew him too well).

"It's simple. Deception. I thought he was a nice, caring person. That's how he portrayed himself to me. And then one day when we were on a date, he became really angry that I didn't show up on time to the restaurant he made reservations for, because I had to drive my friend to the airport. He forcefully grabbed my arm and brought me out of the restaurant. He pinned me up against the wall and..." Reliving this memory made my eyes well up in tears.

"I can guess what happened from there. I saw it for meself last night." John said.

"Yeah..." I said quietly. There was a long pause.

"I'm sorry." John said. He didn't say anything else after that, but I knew what he meant. Sorry for this morning, for being in this position with Gavin, for my grandma... "I'm Sorry" was a lot for John, and I really treasured those two words.

As we walked back home, it was very silent. John kicked a pebble up the road as we walked.

Then he took out a cigarette and lit it. I knew that when he smoked, it was because he was in deep thought.

I couldn't keep my eyes off of the cigarette.. this was the thing that killed my grandmother, and would slowly kill John, if he continued to smoke.

He noticed me looking at his cigarette, thinking hard.

"What's wrong? You've seen me smoke a million times. Lemme guess, pretty boy Paul told ya how much I smoke or somethin'? He asked.

I didn't even want to know how much he smoked... but I didn't want to find out. I took the cigarette right out of his mouth, threw down on the road and squished it with my blue pump heels.

"Ay! What was that for?!" he said frustrated.

"Sorry, John. But I refuse to watch you kill yourself." I told him sternly.

"Not you too! Mimi already gives me that crap at 'ome." he complained.

"You're Aunt is a smart woman, John. Maybe you should listen to her more often." I advised.

He shrugged and rolled his eyes.