A/N: Sorry about the wait, I tried to update before I went away last Saturday but FanFiction would not let me upload! So, my reviews told me that you wanted to see Ben/Sophie/George drama – well here you go! There's a snippet included in this chapter. Enjoy!

Chapter 14

As agreed, Peter and I never told Ethel and Ringo, no matter how much they begged. As soon as Mal dropped us off at Ringo's, they wanted to know what had happened. Of course, they all knew about the sleeping drugs in the tea and the attempted (more like successful) touching, but that's about it. Not long after we arrived, Brian came down hurriedly and concernedly to ask us what the big emergency was. He was furious with John, the first apart from Mal to show that much anger towards him. Brian was not happy at all. He nearly took off to Kenwood to confront John but we convinced him not to. John's attitude towards it was strange.

"I can't believe he would do that," a Welsh accent cut through the room.
"Oh, it's believable, Ethel," I retorted.
"I feel so violated," Peter admitted, "I can't believe he would drug me with something so innocent as tea."
"There's something else I can't believe he did," I grumbled but Peter shot me a 'you didn't want them to know' look.
"Even I'm in shock," Ringo admitted, "John's done some pretty stupid things before but this takes the cake."
I wondered how the conversation over at George's house was going. Mal and Kylie would be filling them in. Ben would be bloody ropable, being a protective newfound-uncle. Adam and Jenny wouldn't be too happy either.

I glanced over at Jack, sitting silently in an armchair in the corner. This must be a bit much for him. I knew he always heard what was going on. His little nine-year-old mind must be swimming with confusion (did I mention it's his amended birthday in five days?). I abandoned the conversation to approach my adoptive son.
"Hey buddy, you alright?" I asked, perching on the arm of the chair.
"Yeah, I'm doing okay," he said softly. He seemed a bit upset. I don't blame him - he lives with eight adults/teenagers!
"Do you want to do something special?" I asked him.
"Like what?" he finally looked up at me, seeming a bit cheerier.
"Oh, I don't know, go to the playground?"
"Yes please!"
"Alright, get your shoes on."
I really was like a mother to him.

Jack, Peter and I walked to the park that was not far from the apartment building. Jack sprinted to the playground immediately. Peter and I sat on a bench and watched him. There never were moments just hanging out with Peter - this was a rarity.
"How are you feeling?" he asked. I knew he was talking about the incident with John.
"I'm alright," I responded halfheartedly, "A famous Beatle just had sex with me while I was asleep, but I'm alright."
"Was it your first time?" he asked the awkward question. Well, an explanation into that answer would open up a whole other can of worms. I knew they all strongly suspected about Ben and I doing it, given the plausible proof. The only person I actually confirmed it to was Jenny. I made a snap decision to tell Peter everything. He was like a father figure to me and I knew I could trust him.
"Peter, if I tell you all about my love life will you promise to A, not tell anyone and B not judge me?" I asked him.
"Of course," he replied sincerely.
"And I mean anyone, not Brian, no one. No one else knows the whole truth."
"I promise."

I took a deep breath. I know he promised not to but I knew he was about to seriously judge me - and I couldn't blame him one bit.
"Well, I know you all kind of suspected about me and Ben that night after the party - and it's true. We slept together. Ben doesn't really remember it; he was so drunk at the time. So basically I lost my virginity in 1964 in an apartment with seven other people there - I never thought that would be a truth."
"And I'm guessing that was the first and only time you and Ben got together," he supposed.
"Right," I confirmed, giving him a look asking how he knew.
"I've seen what's going on, Soph. First you two tried to hide your relationship. We knew. You seemed happy and it was pretty adorable. Then something changed after the party. We can see through your facade. You try to keep it up but it's obvious there's no real passion there."
"I try to make an effort but it's like Ben doesn't want to try anymore," I sighed, "I guess the whole incident was too awkward for us. It is a little awkward, admittedly, but I'm trying to move past it. Ben seems to still be hung up on it."
"Maybe you should give him some space. He'll come around."
"If I leave him alone we'll just drift apart. I'm dead scared about what his reaction will be like to the rest of it."
"Surely he will understand about John - that wasn't your fault."
"The other one was."

Way to shock someone. For a split second Peter was clearly confused before he realised what I meant.
"What do you mean?" he asked, slightly concerned.
"At the welcome home party… well, it's been going on a while, I suppose. George had been sort of harassing me and trying to crack on to me, and I really didn't like it," I revealed.
"I've noticed."
"Well something came over me at the party because George dragged me into the bathroom and… well, we, y'know…"
"Oh my God."
"Yeah, I know. And now John as well… I'm a slut!"
"No you're not," Peter consoled as he placed a comforting hand on my back.
"The only one I was really okay with at the time was Ben - it was the only one where I wasn't drunk or asleep. Now I feel like I've betrayed him."
"He doesn't need to know. No one does. Why did you tell me?"
"I needed to get it off my chest. It's been playing with my mind and plaguing my thoughts. I can't look at sweet Ben's face without thinking of my betrayal."
"Think of it as… you were on a break. When you and George happened, you weren't sure if you and Ben were still together, correct?"
Wow, this guy was a mind reader. He already knew a lot of the things I was telling him.
"Yeah, Ross," I responded, acknowledging the fact that he was echoing Ross from Friends.

I sat there smiling stupidly at how awesome Peter was. He was on my side (if there were sides to take) and he wasn't giving me crap about the crap that I had done.
"Now I feel so guilty," I confided, "I've cheated on Ben, I've succumbed to George and John… I'm a horrible person!"
"No, Sophie, stop it," he ordered, "Stop beating yourself up about it or you'll feel worse."
He was right. The more I stewed over it, the worse I would feel about myself. It just gave me a funny feeling every time I thought about it. I didn't come to 1964 to get laid (or for any reason, for that matter), but now look what's happened.
After a while Jack had had enough playing and we walked back to Ringo's apartment.
"I'm going to George's, want to come?" Ringo asked as we walked in the door. We all wanted to go. As crowded as our living arrangements got sometimes, it was easy to miss the others when there were only four of you.

We all piled into Ringo's two-door red car. Peter, Jack and I squished in the back whilst Ethel and Ringo were in the front. Peter kept giving me strange and bemused looks in the car ride there, silently questioning why I would volunteer to go to George's house after what I had just told him. Arriving at his house, we found the place in disarray - not the actual house but everyone's attitudes. I could tell that Ben and Adam were furious. As soon as I walked in the door, Ben rushed over to me.
"Are you okay?" he asked, showing obvious concern. Now he shows concern and interest in me. All it took was an incident involving John.
"Yeah, I'm fine," I said in a low voice.
"So it's true then?" Adam asked us.
"Yes, Adam, he really drugged us," Peter confirmed in a bored voice.
"I can't believe it," Jenny commented, "Why would he do that?"
Peter, Kylie and I shared a look whilst trying not to look at each other.
"I can't believe that just because his wife is out of town he thinks he can crack onto young girls," George interjected.
"Have you spoken to Brian?" Adam asked. We nodded.
"He wasn't happy," I told them, "He was pretty angry, in fact."
"He was angrier than the time he came home to find the aftermath of our party," Peter added, causing the others to wince. He was very angry when that happened - that was an indication of how angry he was now.

Having nothing more to say, Kylie made eye movements to me, summoning me to a nearby bedroom. We left the conversation to have a private and more in-depth one of our own.
"I can't believe he did it to both of us," she sighed, sitting on the bed, "I feel so dirty."
"I know what you mean," I agreed, "I feel like I have no dignity left."
"How could he do that to us?" she cried, tears forming. I sat on the bed next to her and wrapped my arms around her.
"It's okay," I comforted. She snapped her head up to look me in the face.
"Why aren't you upset?" she asked accusingly.
"Oh, I am, believe me," I said before muttering to myself, "More than you can imagine."
"What's Brian going to do about it?"
"I don't know. He was so angry that we were a little bit scared. He was going to go straight to John's house but we convinced him not to."
"I hope John Lennon rots in hell!"
These words were a bit sharp. Despite what he had done to us, I still had an uneasy feeling knowing that he was going to die in sixteen years time. I still held a shred of respect for him: the same respect I had before I knew him… when I knew him as a Beatle and not personally.

"I don't know if I can do this anymore," she muttered.
"Do what?" I asked, alarmed.
"Live in the sixties."
"You have no choice."

"Yes I do."
"Kylie! Sophie!" Peter called, interrupting the sombre conversation.
We got up and went back to the kitchen where the rest of them were milling about.
"Girls, we're going to walk down and get some fish and chips for lunch, do you want to come?" he asked.
"I will," Kylie surprisingly volunteered. I thought she would be too upset to go anywhere, but she was eagerly volunteering. I don't think she realised until the last minute that Ringo was also going. Talk about awkward.
As a cruel twist of fate, presenting more awkwardness, Ringo, Ethel, Peter, Adam, Jenny, Kylie and Jack all made the trek to the fish and chips shop… that left only three people at the house. I didn't realise who had shuffled out the door in the large group until I saw who remained - then I started to panic.

I believe this was a first. Never before had I been stuck alone with just those two. The awkwardness and tension was painful and overwhelming.
"What a coincidence!" George exclaimed. I feverishly shook my head at him in warning. Don't you dare say anything in front of him, George Harrison!
"What is?" Ben asked incredulously.
I death stared the life out of George, begging him through my gaze not to say anything. Ben was the only one (out of the three of us) who didn't know I had slept with both of them.
"Nothing," George eventually said nonchalantly, walking over to make a cup of tea.
I must've had a furious, teary look plastered on my face because the next thing I knew Ben was at my side asking me what the matter was… or as I like to call it, suddenly showing interest in me.
"It's nothing," I told him sternly, "I'm fine."

Truth was, I was not fine. I was becoming overwhelmed by this frightening situation. This was way too awkward for my liking. I was standing in a room with just my two lovers and myself… no, not lovers, but the two I had slept with, including my supposed boyfriend. A wave of nausea rushed over me as I panicked about what would happen if Ben found out.
"You really don't look okay, Soph," Ben said concernedly, studying my face.
"You really don't," George agreed, equally concerned.
"I'm fine!" I yelled before repeating it in a much softer voice, "I'm fine, okay?"
"If you say so," Ben mused.
They didn't look very convinced but they dropped the topic. George continued to make his tea, suddenly deciding to make two more for Ben and I.

A moment later, the others returned, the seven of them all bursting through the door. Adam, Jenny and Ringo were each holding a wrapped tray. I suspected that some of them picked up on the tension in the room and Peter shot me a knowing look. I quietly slipped away into a random bedroom. A few seconds later, Peter came to check on me.
"How are you going?" he asked, "That must've been rough."
"It was," I responded.
"I didn't realise it was you three who were left behind until we got to the shop. If I had noticed, I would have stayed behind."
"Thanks."
"How was it?"
"Awkward. George started to make crude comments on it but I had to stop him before he revealed anything to Ben. It almost turned very sticky."
"I can imagine. Did anything get revealed?"
"No, luckily. If only George kept his bloody mouth closed."
We chuckled a little before heading back to the kitchen to join the meal.

The next day, Queenie had left the building, meaning we could move back into Brian's apartment.
"Did you miss us?" Adam exclaimed dramatically as he burst through the door.
"It was oddly quiet, yes," Brian admitted.

"Aw, well we're back now," Adam cooed as he slung his arm around Brian's shoulders. For a split second he looked uncomfortable but then I saw a small smile make an appearance.
"Have you done anything about Lennon?" Peter asked.
"Cynthia and Julian have returned now and he's using them as a shield," Brian explained, "I don't have many options."
"You mean you're going to do nothing?" Peter asked incredulously.
"What am I supposed to do, honestly? Yes, I am very angry about it, but I don't see what I can do to fix the problem!"
"What he did was a crime, Brian," Jenny pointed out.
"Yes, I know that. Do you want me to have him arrested, do you? Is that what you want?" he turned to ask me, Peter and Kylie. In all honesty, despite what he did to me, I didn't want him to be arrested. That would change history, surely. The Beatles as I knew it would cease to exist without John.
"No, Brian, I don't want him arrested," I replied, "But I also want him to realise that what he did was wrong."
"He'll know when we're through with him," Adam said ominously.

It felt good to be back in my usual 'bed', sleeping in a room with six other people. In the middle of the night I got up to go to the kitchen for a drink of water. The apartment was dark and I tripped over something in the kitchen. Turning the lamp on (we had a dim kitchen lamp so we wouldn't wake everyone else up with a bright light), I saw that it was Adam's mattress that I had tripped over… with Adam fast asleep in it. He does that occasionally. Sometimes he moves his bed into the kitchen when we're asleep and puts in back before we wake, thinking we don't notice, but we do. We don't know why he does it. We just assume that he has a problem with the way one of us sleeps. After silently getting my glass of water, I went to turn the light off. As I did, I heard Adam mumble something in his sleep.
"No, no, not Bobby!" he exclaimed in is slumber. Who was Bobby? I wondered.

The seventh of October marked a very special day for a very special little boy. Although his actual date of birth was in June, today was the day that Jack was turning nine! Brian, being the amazing guy that he is, gave Jenny and I some money to go out and get him some presents. He didn't have many toys, being the only child amongst a large group of adults, so we thought he definitely needed some. In the morning, we all gathered around the sleeping boy (whose bed was actually the lounge) to wake him up. Jenny shook him gently.
"Hey, Jack, wake up sweetie," she said.
He slowly emerged from his slumber, rubbing his eyes and appearing startled that all eight of us were hovering over him. He looked confused.
"It's your birthday!" I exclaimed.
"My birthday is on June 29!" he protested.
"Yes, but given the time difference, today is exactly one year since you turned eight," Peter explained, "Do you understand?"
Jack nodded.

Kylie came out of the kitchen carrying a tray with the special breakfast that we had made him – pancakes and chocolate milk. He looked excited and was even more gleeful when we told him he could stay where he is to eat it. After devouring the meal, we brought his presents out. It was obvious that he was not expecting it. He was very excited to unwrap his toy train, Tinker Toys and gumboots. Although, being from 1993, he was used to more modern toys, he was getting the chance to be a kid again. It made me happy to see him playing with his toys. It's easy to forget that he's only nine.