Tomorrow Never Knows - Chapter Seven

Authors: lovelyrita_mm, jenny_wren28, & pennylane_fic

Starring: The Beatles and Maggie Sue

Rating: M for language, implied sex (though none of it is explicit) & implied drug use. Characters used in this story are either our creation, or are historically-based (ie, The Beatles).

Disclaimer: We don't own any of the Beatles, this obviously never happened, and is a complete work of fiction.

"I can't believe you'd stoop to snogging a fucking Stone." John's voice rang sharply out of the dark.

Maggie had just unlocked and opened the front door to their house. The living room was pitch black. After an hour of fruitless searching at the party, Neil had taken her home. She figured he'd either be here - or off somewhere screwing Yoko to get back at her. No, that was unfair. She couldn't truly believe John, her John, would do something like that. Nor could she believe John would think she would kiss Mick for the same reasons.

Maggie stood in the dark living room silently, not knowing what to say.

John switched on a lamp. He was sitting on the floor, cross-legged.

She tried, "John, I didn't..."

"I saw you!" He accused her with his voice and his eyes.

Somewhere she found her own voice. "How the hell did you know what you were seeing? You ran off too quickly!"

"You seem to know a thing or two about that as well."

Once again, Maggie had no idea how to respond to that - how to bring up her fears and concerns about Yoko, without sounding merely like a jealous harpy. John was always surrounded by hundreds of girls, and she'd never been that bothered by it. Well, not like this, anyway. John had always gone out of his way to be faithful to her. To question him for this now seemed like a huge slap in the face. The problem was, it wasn't just any girl, it was YOKO.

"I..." But the words still stuck in her throat.

"You, what, luv?" he said bitterly. "You decided to get back at me for daring to talk to another woman by kissing that wanker?"

"No! I didn't kiss him, I swear." The tears were starting to come. "I...I know it looked that way from where you were standing, but I swear I didn't." Maggie sank down to her knees, tears running down her face. "I was upset when I saw you and Yoko together, so I ran outside to get some air. Mick was there, and he hit on me, though he backed off once he saw how upset I was. Once he saw I was crying, he tried to comfort me, but he was still being Mick, and he'd just made me laugh when you appeared. You ran off before I could explain to you..."

John sat, not saying a word or even moving a muscle.

"I would never do that, I love you. I don't want anyone else, it's always been you, just you," Maggie cried.

John looked down.

"I gave up everything to stay with you." She sniffed and tried to wipe the tears away.

"Are you going to throw that at me every time we get into a fight? Because that is going to get old very fast," he said coldly.

"I'm not trying to throw..."

"Oh, but you are." He looked down again, and Maggie realized he was looking at a single pill, resting on the carpet in front of him.

Maggie went cold. "What's that?"

"I believe the scientific name is lysergic acid diethylamide," he gave her a grin, but there was nothing friendly in it. "As a science type, I'm sure you know what that is, don't you? You're just in time. I was about to take it."

"LSD? But you promised..." she protested.

"Well, we all know it's harmless or our little precious Paulie wouldn't have taken it. He's even giving public interviews about it now. He was the last fucking one in the band to try it, and now it's like he fucking discovered it."

Maggie remembered this incident from her original timeline. Then, George and John had been very heavily into acid - and for Paul, who'd only just tried it to come out and mention taking it in an interview – well, the band hadn't liked that very much.

"Have you been taking LSD this whole time, behind my back, when you said you wouldn't?" She was so tired. Tired of fighting this, of keeping John from being the womanizing drug addict she remembered from her time but somehow loved anyway.

"How many times, John?" Maggie was angry, but knew she sounded defeated. She closed her eyes.

"Not nearly enough, especially if I'm going to compete with Paul," John said, picking up the pill. "I can't let him get the edge on me, can I? Do you want to take some with me, luv? Or are you still too much of a square? Maybe you'd better just leave while I take this, so you don't bring me down."

There it was again. John neatly hit upon everything she'd worried about with drugs. John was a rock icon and at least in her original timeline had practically been a poster child for the 60s drug culture. She was just a science nerd who was always the one saying "no thanks" to his friends. The fact was, she did worry about bringing everyone down, so she tried to be unobtrusive about not partaking. She'd always thought John didn't care - but clearly at some level he did, and his opinion was the one most important to her. On the other hand, shouldn't her opinion matter to him?

Suddenly, Maggie found herself angry at the betrayal. "You promised you wouldn't take LSD anymore!" she shouted. Maggie grabbed her shoe off her foot and threw it at John, successfully knocking the pill from his hand. He clearly hadn't expected this and it made him just a few seconds slower than she at grabbing for the fallen pill. She ran and threw it into the kitchen sink, turning the water on full force, and stood there sobbing as it went down the drain.

Behind her, she heard the door slam. It was then she realized that they still hadn't brought up the one thing that had been the catalyst of their whole fight. Drugs, women, Mick - they were all just symptoms that something else was wrong. And she knew exactly what that something else was, even if John didn't. Yoko.

Maggie went upstairs and ran a hot bath. Miserably, she sank down into the large tub and cried until she couldn't cry anymore. She was contemplating trying to get out to find a tissue, when a knock came at the bathroom door. John peeked his head in.

"What do you want?" she hiccupped.

John hung his head. "If it's all right with you, I'd like to apologize."

She shook her head in the affirmative. She wasn't mad at him anymore, just deeply sad that everything felt like such a hopeless mess.

John quickly stripped his clothes off and stepped into the tub behind her, making room for her to nestle against his chest.

"I'm such a bastard sometimes, aren't I? I'm so sorry, luv. I don't know what got into me."

"Why?" was all she could think to ask. To be honest, the fight hadn't been surprising. What with Yoko's intrusion in their lives, in some ways it had been brewing for a while. Added to that, she was with THE John Lennon. She could never forget that though it was often easy to do so. It was sometimes hard for her to reconcile the gentle, insecure man she loved with the one who'd put Bob Wooler in the hospital on Paul's 21st birthday. True, John had never lifted a finger in violence towards her, and she felt that he'd mellowed considerably since his early 20s, but he could still cut just as effectively with his words. She didn't have to like it, or even put up with it meekly as Cynthia had for so many years, but she knew that this it was part of what came with being with John Lennon – the real one, not the fantasy of him.

For a moment, Maggie thought John wouldn't answer her. He was silent, his lips resting against her hair, breathing her in as he contemplated her one simple word. "When I saw you with Mick, all I could think was that you were somehow trying to get back at me," he said in a low voice. "But I guess I didn't know why - was it because I was talking to Yoko? Because talking was all I was doing. It hurt to see the accusation in your eyes, when you know I've done everything in my power to stay faithful to you. I know it's not a proud accomplishment, but I've never gone this long without slipping before. And I know I won't - I only want you. I know it's hard, but please trust me. Don't run away." He kissed her head.

"I do trust you, John. Believe it or not, I do. It's the women I don't trust. At least, not this one. Yoko...wants you. I can feel it. She's different than the others somehow." Maggie Sue knew this was the perfect opportunity to tell John everything, but she couldn't bear another argument tonight, couldn't bear to see the condemnation in John's eyes when he finally learned the truth about who Yoko was. John knew that he had been married to someone else in her timeline, post-Cynthia, but he didn't know much more than that - didn't know about how his and Yoko's actions had contributed to the breakup of his band, had alienated him from his friends and his son - how entangled he and Yoko had been. If he knew he could have that, as messed up was it was, would he still want it? Was he drawn to Yoko because of what they were somehow destined to share? Or if it hadn't been Yoko, could it have just as easily been someone else?

"Oh, luv, you're imagining things. Besides, Yoko isn't even a fan of the Beatles - and you know I only shag fans," he joked. "Are there any Beatle People around at the present time?"

She giggled in spite of herself.

"That's better, luv." He curled a tendril of her hair around his finger. "Will you forgive me for being such an arse tonight?"

Maggie shifted around so she could look him in the eye. "Are you still going to take the LSD? I assume you have more of it."

"No." He was quiet for a minute. "It wouldn't have been any good tonight anyway. It's not a good idea to trip when you're not in a good place. I know you don't approve, luv, but when it's good, it's a fascinating experience. It's something I wish I could share with you. If you ever wanted to try it, I would take care of you..." He was tentative, afraid to start another fight while they were still making up from the last one.

"I know you would." It really wasn't even a question of whether she trusted John to take care of her. She did trust him. It was just that she was born in a time when she knew what the repercussions of taking LSD were. That and… and it just… Maggie tried to put her thoughts together. "Taking acid…it's just not me, and... I don't think I'm brave enough to try something that takes so long to get out of your system. The idea of a bad trip..." She couldn't truly explain why she found the idea so off-putting. Maybe it was a result of being raised in the Just Say No era. Maybe she'd been programmed, or just had never been rebellious enough. Or maybe as a scientist, she'd been too afraid of doing something to damage her brain. She ran her finger over his arm, watching the water droplets scatter.

"But if I did try it, it would only be with you. I trust you," she said. He hugged her, knowing she meant what she said, and feeling pleased by it. He stayed silent, letting her continue. "It's....it's not the drug itself I necessarily have a problem with, because I know someone like Paul can take it or leave it. But trust me, I know that you will get caught up in it if you're not careful. I'm not trying to keep you off drugs just because I'm a prude or because I'm trying to be a buzzkill. I just..."

"I know, luv, I know," he soothed her. "You're always just looking out for me, and for Apple, and for the Beatles. I don't know what I'd do without you."

They were silent for a few minutes, though he continued to play with her hair.

Finally he said, "I'm well aware, by the way, of what you gave up for me by staying here. Or rather, what I took from you. I took your career away; I took your modern technology away. I took you away from everything you loved, just because I couldn't stand to be without you. God, I'm such a selfish bastard. I wouldn't blame you for leaving me. Just do me a favor, and don't leave me for Mick. I'd never hear the end of it," he said dully.

Maggie cupped his face with her hands, making him look at her. "I could never do that." Then she kissed him playfully and added, "Besides, the Stones are a shite band; they'll never amount to anything." John grinned at her, until she continued, "The Who, on the other hand..." John found the ticklish spot on her side. She only managed to gasp, "Keith Moon is kind of crazy, but maybe, Pete…" before the tickling was too much and she couldn't speak anymore.

"All right, all right," she wheezed. "I give in, you're the only 60s rock legend for me."

"That's better!" John stopped tickling her and moved her so she was on his lap, making some of the water splash out of the tub.

Maggie studied his face and then kissed him again, gently. "You didn't take away everything I loved. You're right here, aren't you?" He smiled at that. "I'm sorry, John - I do trust you. I guess I'm just as afraid of losing you as you are of me."

"You never have to worry about that, luv." Maggie wanted to believe him, and ultimately her brain decided that she had no other real option right now. It was growing significantly fuzzy, as John's strong hands stroked her body, one of them cupping a breast gently. He kissed her softly, and sensing her responding to his touch, kissed her more deeply, parting her lips with his tongue. His hands and then his tongue wandered along her slick, wet body, caressing her, teasing her. He pulled her closer, but no matter how close they were, it never felt like it was close enough. He had nearly lost her for good and he never wanted to let her go. Every time they fought, every time he pushed, he was afraid that this might be the time she decided that he wasn't worth it. And frankly, HEdidn't believe that he was worth it. She'd promised never to leave, but he knew he was fully capable of driving her away. He could never let that happen. As their bodies joined, he kissed her with every ounce of passion that he had.

Maggie knew this wouldn't be their last fight, or the last time hurtful words were exchanged. She knew better than John did what he was like, and how easily he could wound. But this was her home, her reality, now, with him, and she didn't ever want that to change. Kissing him back with everything she had, she tried to squeeze the thought of Yoko out of her head. John was hers.

For now, her brain told her. For now - and for how long?

A/N: Thanks for reading! The next update will be next Sunday! We love comments, so please tell us what you think!