I woke up the next morning feeling very groggy. Kicking the covers off of me, I stumbled out of bed to go into the bathroom. I saw my face in the mirror-but it was only half of it since my hair was flipped every-which-way it could possibly go. It looked like a movie-star do gone terribly wrong. Yawning, I reached for the hairbrush and smoothed it out. When it was looking back to normal, I got dressed and stepped outside. I found everyone clustered around the table with their heads together, snickering. Paul whispered, "Oh, here she comes, put it away," and Gwen nonchalantly slipped something under her shirt that left a huge, rectangular lump on her body. I knew right away that it was the newspaper that had the article Jerri wrote about me, Pattie, and Gwen, but I kept my mouth shut. In a couple of days, this could all be a funny memory.

"Hey guys," I said cheerily, going over to the table and sitting next to Pattie. "Having a good morning?"

Everyone there seemed to know that I had seen them looking at the newspaper, because they all had cautious, guilty looks on their faces. Looking both ways, Gwen took the paper out of her shirt and threw it to one side, as if she thought I wouldn't see. It was silent for a moment, but that silence was broken by a loud knock on the door. John looked up and went to answer it.

"Hey guys, it's Eppy!" he said when he looked through the peephole. He was grinning as he opened the door. "Hey Eppy!" he greeted.

"Hello Lennon," said Brian flatly. He sighed and walked over to the table.

"Hello Brian," said the rest of the band in unison.

"Hello boys," said Brian. "Boys-you do know your tour begins tomorrow night in Venice, Italy-right?"

All four Beatles looked at each other questionably. They all nudged each other until George spoke. "Well, Mr. Epstien, we all seemed to have forgotten about the tour in light of recent events." He nodded his head to me.

"I thought you said Germany," I whispered to John.

John shrugged. "Must've slipped me mind…"

"Ah, yes, heard about that," said Brian. He addressed me. "You are coming along, Miss Carter, is that correct?"

"Yes," I said. I saw Jane wiggle her eyebrows at me from the corner of my eye.

"Okay," said Brian. He looked up at the boys. "Boys, your job is to protect Eileen if someone tries to shoot her up. Got it?"

"Yes sir, Mr. Epstien sir!" shouted John, giving a military salute. "We will not let you down!"

"Oh, John, please don't screw this up," muttered Brian as he left the room.

"I forgot about the tour happening," I said.

"You're not the only one," said Ringo. "I need to start polishing me drumsticks." He got up to go to his room.

"I suppose we better start packing then," said George.

"There's one place I'd like to go before we all leave," I suddenly said.

"Where?" asked John, getting up and grabbing his hat.

"Alone," I said. John froze and looked suddenly disappointed and worried.

"Don't worry John," I said. "The big bad shooter's not gonna get me."

"Oh, we know you'll be okay," said Paul. "It's just that we're worried about what Brian'll say if he sees you walking around alone."

"Oh," I said. "Why is he so worried about me?"

John shrugged. "Dunno. I guess he doesn't want a death on his hands. He likes you, ya know."

"Yeah, I can tell," I said. "Well, I'm off guys. I won't be long." I took my coat off the rack and walked out the door.

"Hey! Gregory!" I shouted at the taxi coming up. Gregory let me in for free, as usual, and he began to drive.

"Where to, Miss Carter?" he asked.

"The Liverpool Cemetery, please," I said.

"Right up," said Gregory. I was glad that Gregory didn't question why I wanted to go to the cemetery. He was kind and patient and did his job well. The cemetery wasn't that far off. When we arrived, Gregory parked the taxi and let me out. I walked across the green grass and around the headstones to a white marble headstone that read the name: Elizabeth Carter. My mother. I walked up a little closer so that I was standing close to the stone. I had no flowers for her, but I don't think she would expect them from me anyway. She was never one for flowers. "When I die, don't you ever come near my grave with flowers of any kind!" she would always tell Charlie, Dad, and I. We would just laugh about it, until the day came that she actually did die. Charlie and I stayed true to our mother's wishes, but Dad brought her a single white daisy to bury with her anyway. I laughed at the memory, despite a single tear that trickled down my nose. Attempting a smile, I placed a small rock on the grass in front of her headstone. I stood there for a moment, the soft, cool breeze blowing my hair around. I suddenly heard footsteps behind me. I turned around, expecting to see John, but instead there was Ringo.

"Hey Eileen," he said walking up to me.

"Hey Ringo," I said back.

"Everything alright?" asked Ringo.

"Yeah," I said, sniffling a little.

"Your mum?" asked Ringo, bobbing his head towards the headstone.

"Yeah," I said. "Elizabeth Carter."

"I see," said Ringo. He was obviously having a hard time of figuring out what to say. He seemed a bit uncomfortable; he was leaning from side to side, shifting his weight frequently. "You spent a lot of time together, right?"

I smiled bittersweetly. "Yeah, loads," I said. "Every weekend, we used to ditch the boys and go shopping. She always used to get the weirdest stuff." I remembered with a pang that night that Jane and I went out. I didn't realize it then, but she had done the same thing my mother did.

"That sounds like fun," said Ringo. "I never did stuff like that with me dad."

"Why?" I asked.

"Well, my parents divorced when I was only three, and I was always gettin' passed between the two of them so much that I never got to spend much time with either of them."

"That's terrible," I said. "Everyone should be able to spend time with their parents."

Ringo shrugged. "Well, ya know. I was really never at home much either."

"Why's that?" I asked again.

"I was sick all the time," said Ringo. "I can't tell you the amount of times the doctors said I would die." He chuckled at his memory. "After a while, we all stopped believing them."

"Oh, wow," I said. "I'm glad you're not dead."

"Thanks," said Ringo, blushing a bit. "If I ever told Gwen that, she'd flip. Did I tell you that we're serious now?"

"No, you didn't," I said. "Good for you."

Ringo smiled. "I'm really sorry about your mum, Eileen," he said suddenly. "She didn't deserve what she got."

"Thanks Ringo," I said, looking up at him.

"That man is seriously evil," said Ringo. "Anyone that would do that to an innocent woman, and then start to go after her family is just twisted."

"That's why I'm so scared," I said. "I mean, what if he starts to go after Dad or Charlie next?"

"You think he's after all of you?" asked Ringo.

"Of course," I said. "Ringo, you didn't see the hatred in his eyes when he saw me for the first time without his mask since the day he killed my mum. He knew who I was, and he knows my family, too."

"None of us'll ever let him get you or your family, Eileen," said Ringo. "We'll put ourselves on the line for you."

"Well don't," I said. "I don't want you endangering your lives for a silly girl that just stumbled into them."

Ringo put his hand on my shoulder. "Eileen Carter, you are not a 'silly girl'," he said, looking more serious than I had ever seen him before. "You are my friend-all of our friends, and we will protect you and stick by your side, even if it kills us."

Without thinking, I sprung up and gave Ringo a kiss on the cheek. "What was that for?" asked Ringo, stunned, turning red and touching his cheek lightly.

"For being such a good friend, Ringo," I said, looking right into his eyes. "For being there for me, always. For being here for me now." I looked back at my mother's grave. "I just wish she'd be here for me now." Then I broke down. I flew into Ringo's arms and he let me cry into his shoulder while he ran his fingers through my hair and patted my back, murmuring comforting words softly in my ear. What he was doing wasn't like a lover, not like John, but like a friend. A friend who I knew would always be there for me, no matter who would be next in my family to die, no matter if he would die trying to prevent it from being me. I knew John would do that, but Ringo was loyal too, and had saved my life once before as well as John.

After a while, Ringo let me go, and I stood still, sniffling and blinking tears from my eyes. A single tear drifted down my cheek, and Ringo wiped it away. I smiled up at him and he smiled back. I could definitely see, especially now, what Gwen saw in this man. He was as caring, tender, sweet person that you could easily get addicted to. It was silent for a long time, but a rustle in the bushes broke the silence. Both of us whipped our heads in the direction of the bush, but we saw nothing.

"Probably just the wind," I said. But there was no wind now.

"We should start getting back Eileen," said Ringo. "We still have to pack for the tour." Ringo leading the way, we both walked back to where Gregory was waiting in the taxi.

When we got back to the hotel room, we found Pattie and Gwen looking distressed, gawking at Brian, who had a rather stern look on his face. "But why?" screeched Gwen. "We've had as much relations with them as Eileen has!"

"I told you, Miss Stanly, this is final," said Brian. "You two can't go."

"Don't feel bad girls," said Jane. "I can't go either."

"That's because you have theater tour!" said Gwen again. "This isn't fair!"

"Gwen, just listen to Brian," said Pattie. "It's not worth arguing over, you know we're not going to get to go anyway."

"That's right Miss Boyd," said Brian. "And mind you, the only reason Eileen is going is because we can't have her left here all alone for the shooter to get her."

"They can't come?" I asked, walking into the tempest.

"I'm sorry Miss Carter, but they can't," said Brian.

"How come?" asked Ringo.

"It'd be too much," said Brian. "I can understand Eileen going because it's just one girl, but three girls? Do you know how much trouble that would cause us? The boys'd be swarmed with fangirs who'd be wanting blood because their heartthrobs are with these girls."

As much as I would love my two friends to come along, I had to agree. "Guys, he's right," I said. "It's mostly for your own safety."

The girls bowed their heads in defeat. I felt bad, but it was only for the best.

"Aw, cheer up," said Jane. "Like I said, I can't go either. I'll write to you all about my theater tour!"

"Okay," muttered Gwen.

With that, we all took off to pack. It took a while, but we were finally done and ready to go. "I'll write," I said, saying goodbye to Pattie and Gwen.

"It was really nice to meet you Eileen," said Jane. "Especially under the circumstances," she added with a wink.

"Yeah," I said, still not forgetting how we met.

Jane checked her watch. "Oh my! I have to leave now or I'll be late! Bye girls! Keep in touch!" She gave each of us a hug, kissed Paul, and skipped off.

"See you," said Ringo to Gwen. Gwen stood on tiptoe (which was funny to see because that made her taller than Ringo) and they kissed goodbye.

"Bye Pat," said George to Pattie. He pulled her into a huge kiss that must've lasted a minute. I laughed and gave each of them a hug.

"Let's go," said John, grabbing my hand and leading me off with the others. I gave my friends a last wave goodbye and walked out of the room.

*Pattie's P.O.V.*
The hotel room was very empty and quiet with everyone gone. I glanced over at Gwen, and instead of looking upset like she did a while before, she had that familiar mischievous gleam in her eye. On no, I thought. What now?

"We're gonna get on that tour," said Gwen.

"Gwen, you're mad," I said, my head in my hands.

"I've been told that before," said Gwen before she went off to her room. Whatever she was planning, I hoped it didn't involve stupid costumes again.