Okay, so there's been all kinds of stuff happening, and the reason that I published this more quickly than the last chapter is kinda difficult to explain. I'll just say that I wrote this by myself, and I may or may not be writing the rest of it that way, too. I don't know, so we'll just see how it goes. By the way, has anybody else noticed how effing HOT it has gotten? At least where I live, I'm sweating sitting inside writing this real quick. I mean, come ON! I'm one of those people that burn, but never tan, so the summer is like my own personal hell. Literally. Okay, so that has absolutely nothing to do with this chapter, and before I can bore you with stuff that you don't care about, here's chapter three!

Holly:

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing." Rose walked out of the room.

"Hey! What'd I do now?" I followed her into our bedroom, where she was pulling things out of the closet in a frenzied state. "Hey," I repeated.

She looked over at me, her eyes resentful. "You really wanna know?"

I sighed. The truth was, I was kinda scared. Because when Rose got angry, even John Lennon cowered. "You know I do."

"Okay." She sank down onto the bed, staring at her newly polished toes. "They like you more."

I didn't expect that one. Who was she talking about? "Oh. Wait…who?"

"The Beatles!" She shook her head in disgust. "People love you, and you don't even realize it! Then again, you don't realize much."

I ignored that last part, not quite understanding what she meant. "Guys love you more." That was true. It wasn't because Rose was so much prettier than me (though she was beautiful in her own way), but because I came off as a little kid. You take the shortness, freckles, endless energy, and no swearing or drinking, and guys just don't take to it very well.

"Yes, before they know me. I'm a fucking bitch."

I looked at my best friend in shock. "Don't say you're a…that! You would punch somebody else for saying it, so why would you say that about yourself?"

"Why not? I am."

I thought hard about what I answered. Any way I had it, she was going to freak out in some way. "George doesn't seem to think so."

Yes! Her cheeks heated up and she twisted her face into a scowl. Oh, she totally still liked him. I still remembered her embarrassedly telling me that she had a crush on the lead guitarist in Pete's band. It was the only time she ever told me she liked someone. I wonder why that was? Even for Robert…oops.

Still, I was definitely on to something with the whole George business. It just might be the perfect way to help her get over Robert….

Rose:

The guys invited us to come watch them play tonight. Yay….

Okay, so maybe I was a little, itsy bit embarrassed about the way I acted this morning. Maybe. But what I told Holly earlier was true. Sometimes I was irrationally mean, getting to the point where I couldn't stop my mouth. And sure, it being John Lennon didn't help. I remember getting into all kinds of fights with him when I was younger. We were just too similar to get along.

"Hey, baby." Oh, God. We hadn't been at the place for five minutes, and already some idiot was trying to get lucky.

"What?" I stared him boldly in the eye, daring him to try anything. His gaze faltered, as I had clearly thrown him off guard. Ew. These guys were just getting uglier and drunker as the days went on.

"Er…do you want a drink?"

I snorted, holding up my already sweating bottle of beer. It had been the only thing I was looking forward to tonight, though I knew I would have to tone it down a bit. "Dumbass," I muttered, already disinterested and turning away.

"Rose." Holly gave me a reproachful look as the guy walked away, all dejected. "Be nice," she ordered. Bitch please. She could shove that one up her ass, because I was in NO mood to be nice.

I rolled my eyes, taking a light sip of my drink. I was about to change the subject with Holly when I heard yet ANOTHER guy behind me. "Well, hey there darling."

That was a new one. I whipped around, ready to cuss this loser out. "Fuck off, you-" I stopped abruptly, hating myself for not recognizing his voice.

George held up his hands in surrender. "Whoa!"

I blushed, unable to say anything. I could feel his eyes on me, but I couldn't think of a single word. Speak, God dammit! Just when I thought I would die in the flames of my own cheeks, Holly stepped in. "Hey, George!"

He looked over at me, smiling at her. "I didn't think you guys would come."

Over his shoulder, I could see a couple of girls eying him. They leaned in whispering to each other, and then all at once gave me the death stare. I wanted to yell something obscene at them, but I didn't think that was too great of an idea.

"Well, we did! What time are you guys staring?" Holly chirped.

He glanced up at the stage, which I had barely noticed before now. It was dark, but I could just make out three figures moving silently about it. "Now." He grinned in that charming way of his, then turned around, calling over his shoulder. "Talk to you after?"

"Of course! See you later!" I felt Holly gently nudge me in the back, and I turned around to glare at her. She nodded towards George's retreating form, and I knew exactly what she wanted.

Summoning all my willpower, I choked out, "Bye!" But he was already gone.

George:

Rose hates me. That was obvious. She hardly said two words to me! Actually, she DID only say two words to me. Fuck and off. She hadn't even said goodbye. What did I do?

We started to play, and I couldn't help but glance over at her every couple of minutes. She was so much more grown up then the wild younger girl that I remembered. She had long, almost black curly hair, and her eyes were a deep blue. She was pale, making her dark features stand out even more. A couple of guys were watching her, but she didn't seem to care. Her and Holly kept up a constant stream of conversation, and every few minutes one of them would burst into a round of giggles.

During one song towards the end, I glanced over at her only to find that she was looking directly at me. I stumbled on my chord, earning a dark look from John, and when I looked back she was looking a different way, her cherry red lips set in a dark line. I wondered briefly what her lip stick was called, but pushed that out of my mind immediately. There were more important things.

Rose:

Holy shit! He was looking at me!

Paul:

I still thought it was weird that Pete Best's little sister had 'accidentally' found us. Though it was still great to see her. After we were done, the birds flocked around us. John had already sauntered off with his prey, and Ringo was chatting up a little one who was probably a good couple of years younger than him. I pushed my way through the throng, unexpectedly hitting the bar. George looked over at me from the middle of the crowd, then followed my lead. It was perfectly evident that there was something else on his mind, though I didn't really know what it was. It probably had something to do with Holly's friend Rose, because he kept looking at her the entire time we were playing. He even messed up a few times, and I thought John was going to haul off and whack him.

"Hey, Paul!" I had no idea where this came from. I kinda looked around, but seeing no one, I just smiled like I had a pleasant thought in my head and leaned into the bar.

"Paul!" There it was again! I looked around me, seeing all the girls who were shyly waiting for me to speak to one of them. But none of them had spoken.

Suddenly, something soft hit my head. I looked down to see a small dinner roll about the size of my fist. I looked around, and finally saw who had been calling my name. Holly was on the other side of the bar, sitting with a very melancholy looking Rose. 'HELP!' she mouthed, then pointed from Rose to George.

I cocked my head, not understanding. She pumped her hand in the air, waving me over. I sighed, standing up, and began to trudge my way through the hordes of girls.

"Paulie!" one slightly familiar blonde shrieked.

"I love you!" another girl shouted.

"MARRY ME!" That was from a bird sitting next to a rather agitated young man. I smirked at him and continued on to Holly.

"Hello, ladies," I called, ambling over as though I had seen them on accident. "I didn't even realize you two were here!"

Holly's eyes brightened, and even Rose managed to spare me a smile. Ah, the wondrous ways of Paul. Where did I get this blind charm? I would never know.

"Good show," Rose commented, nodding to the stage. I grinned. Compliments were fuel.

"Well, thank you." I caught Holly's eye, and she pointed once more to Rose, and then to George. He was sitting right where I had been moments ago, looking lost in his thoughts. The blonde girl that had yelled my name was sitting right next to him, chatting away. He nodded every few seconds, and even smiled once, but other than that I could tell he wasn't paying attention. "Rose," I began, catching on to Holly's scheme, "why don't you go sit over by George. He's been asking about you all night." A little white lie never hurt anybody, right?

"I'm fine." Her face immediately darkened. I had no idea what she was thinking, but they couldn't have been too merry of thoughts.

Holly sighed, obviously annoyed. "Rosie, come on. Sooner or later you're gonna have to move on."

I felt like I was hearing something I shouldn't, but there was no way I could turn around. "Shut the fuck up, Holly," Rose growled. Uh-oh. "What would you know about it?"

Holly looked a little intimidated, but she held her ground. "Robert was my friend, too, you know." At this, Rose threw her hands over her ears and began humming one of the tunes we had been playing this evening.

I gave Holly a questioning look. She raised her eyebrows. "Robert was our friend from high school. One of our best friends, actually. He and Rose went out, and apparently they were 'in love'-" air quotes there "-but he left town right after graduation. We haven't seen him since."

I bit my lip. Carefully, I reached over and unstuck one of Rose's hands from her ear. She stopped altogether with her blocking out, reaching over and taking picking up her beer smugly. "You know what the best cure for a broken heart is?"

The girl nearly choked on her mouthful of beer. "HOLLY! You TOLD him?"

Holly took a step back, her hands in the air, trying to act all innocent. "I thought he could help-"

"It's none of his fucking business!"

"Hey!" I interrupted, putting my hands between them. Rose looked up at me, her eyes burning. "I know EXACTLY what you need."

I could tell she wanted to go off on me, but, swallowing some of her pride, she took the bait. "And what is that?"

"Alcohol," I announced. "Alcohol and sex."

Rose:

I stared at him, unsure if he had really said what I thought he said. "And you know this because…?"

He grinned at her. "Because they fix everything."

I considered freaking out at him, but I figured that was best left for Holly, Queen of the Prudes. I tapped my chin. "Are you coming on to me?" I asked. I glanced at Holly. She was staring at me with an open-mouth, and I could almost see her shaking with 'Don't do it, Rose!'s.

Paul chuckled, shaking his head. "Nope. I was thinking more like…" He turned purposely and nodded at George. The girl he was with was more talking at him than with him, and he wasn't paying her any notice. Why not? I mean, what did I have to lose? It could be fun, you know, seeing what it was like with a boy that I used to have a crush on.

I looked down at the beer in my hand, deciding, for once, to be spontaneous and just do it. I handed the drink to Paul and stood up.

"Okay. Fine. But if this doesn't work then I blame you."

I heard Paul laugh, and if I would have looked behind me I would have seen him and Holly high five. But I didn't. Instead, I focused on my target, getting ready to turn on the charm.

"Hey, George," I said as soon as I was within hearing distance. He looked up in surprise.

"Oh! Rose! I thought you'd left." The girl beside him cleared her throat, looking like she wanted to scratch my eyes out. I smirked at her. "Right, this is…" He trailed off, looking at the blonde for help.

"Sally." The girl put her hand on his shoulder. "Georgie…"

He glanced quickly at her. "Yeah, this is Sally. Listen, we were just about to leave, so…"

Oh, God. There was never a time in my life where I have felt stupider. I seemed to shrink inside myself as they hopped off their bar stools, hand in hand. "Okay. Yeah, I'm sorry. I get it."

George gave me a soft smile. "But I'll definitely see you around, right?"

I wanted to crawl in a corner and die. Now Sally the Slut was smirking at me. "Maybe."

He nodded. "Right. You're busy…I understand. Tell Holly I said bye, will ya?"

I gave him a slight inclination of my head. Nothing more. He smiled and nodded once more, then left. Sally led him out the door, still clutching his long, slender fingers. The moment his dark head disappeared around the corner, I began to feel alone.

I had no idea what to do. I could feel Holly and Paul's eyes on me, so I looked over at them. They both had the most piteous faces, and that right there was the last straw. It was a wonder that I hadn't done it before, but I was doing it now.

I bolted.

And I'll never know how lucky I truly am that I had a friend like Holly, because she followed me.

Okay, well, that's chapter three. I know I'm just setting up a little bit of the plot…okay I'm setting up the whole plot. But I don't know how long I want the story to be. So tell me what you think, and what you want to happen next, and I'll try to follow through! Where can you tell me this? Oh, it's very simple. Just scroll down a bit and find that button that holds the secret to my happiness. Then what? REVIEW!