YES IT IS
Authors: pennylane_fic, jenny_wren28 & lovelyrita_mm
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.
When we last left Maggie Sue and John, she left and he didn't even try to stop her after hearing why... this is what happens next...
Chapter Fourteen
As she approached EMI, she furiously wiped the tears from her face, which made her bag slip down her shoulder a little. She had to do this, she kept telling herself, there was no other way. Better to pull out before both she and John got irreparably damaged. She knew the future that was ahead of her if she stayed and she couldn't just handle that. She knew what kind of man John was, and while she absolutely loved and adored him for all the things that made him, well, John… they were also the things that were going to hurt in the end. What kind of an idiot falls in love with a man they know they are not right for? Pressing forward, Maggie tried her hardest to push the hurt look that John had given her out of her mind, knowing that if she dwelt on it too long, she would lose her nerve, turn around, and run back into John's arms. She knew if she did that, then there was no chance of her ever leaving again.
Shaking her head, Maggie felt the disdain for herself deepen as she thought back on how stupid she had been. She had known better and yet she had still stayed. She had literally played God with all their lives and futures and she had gotten lucky, but after that it should have ended. Instead she had indulged in a fantasy and hurt someone that she cared about. Someone she cared more for then any other person she'd ever met. How could she hurt John like that? God, she was an idiot, she needed to go back to him! She couldn't leave him like this. Stopping to turn around, she saw a flash of long dark hair out of the corner of her eye, and reality hit again. If she stayed, what would she do when Yoko came into the picture? She wasn't about to fool herself into believing that he would forget the woman he would spend the next decade just to stay with her. Would she have to do everything in her power to keep him from meeting Yoko? And what if they still met? He'd leave her. He'd leave her, and then she'd be all alone and living in the sixties. With that thought she turned right back around and continued to EMI, more determined then ever to leave.
Living in the sixties? Honestly? Was she crazy? Women were treated like second class citizens at best, and there was no way NASA would hire her now, during the space race, during this day and age. And even if they did, she'd make only half of what a less qualified man would make AND be relegated to secretarial duties. And she didn't even know if England had the equivalent of a space program! Plus no cell phones, no personal computers, and NO INTERNET!
Then there were also the fans. The gatebirds were already a bit nasty towards her, and if she stayed with John she'd have to deal with that forever, as well as deal with constant fame and scrutiny in the public eye. That was the last thing she wanted. She valued her privacy.
On top of that, they would have to create an entirely new identity for her, and hope that no one would discover that she really had popped out from nowhere. Not to mention she didn't know what would happen when her twenty-year-old future self saw a sixty-year-old Mrs. Maggie Sue Lennon who looked just like her when she was younger. And that was even assuming John wanted to marry her! For that matter she had no guarantees that he wanted to spend his life with her. He hadn't even told her that he loved her. She thought he did; he'd implied it in so many ways with looks and actions, the songs he claimed he'd written for her, and little comments here and there, but he'd never actually said the words.
She had.
It was all too confusing, and ridiculous, and she never should have even tried to make it work. No, if Maggie stayed, she would only be miserable and as much as she wished she could simply live in the moment and be content with what was offered to her, Maggie knew that she would only live to regret it, and even worse hurt both she and John in the end, and that was something she just wouldn't do.
Despite all this, despite the fact that she knew she was making the right choice, the logical choice, when she arrived at the front door of EMI, all she could do was stare at the doorknob. The sad truth still remained - she would have dealt with all of that. The drugs, the fans, the sexism against women, the lack of modern conveniences… all that, if only she could be certain that John loved her. If she could have been certain that she wasn't just his current fascination, that the Beatle with the shortest attention span of them all wouldn't get tired of her in a year. That he wouldn't cheat on her, or would, at the very least, try to be faithful. She would have stayed in a heartbeat if she knew that. She would have endured it all if she were secure in the fact that John loved her, because despite his history, Maggie found that she still loved him. Loved him more than she ever thought possible.
She loved him. And so she had to leave. She had to let him be free to be John Lennon, not constrained by her modern day ideologies and moral compass. If she reined him in, she'd have him, yet she'd still lose him.
Feeling a sob escape from her throat, Maggie reached for the doorknob, twisted it slightly, and felt her vision blur.
"Wait!"
Maggie froze as she heard the familiar voice call out from behind her and as much as her brain told her to push open the door in front of her and leave before it was too late, she couldn't find it in herself to move.
"Maggie, Wait!"
Running up behind her, John clutched at his knees and bent over slightly at the waist as he tried to catch his breath. "Wait, please…" he gasped out. "Please, don't go…"
Steeling herself, Maggie stared at the doorknob. "John, I have to… I can't… We can't make this work," she said, trying to force back her tears.
Straightening, John reached for the doorknob, holding it closed and shaking his head, pleading with her in every way that he knew how. "Please. Please Maggie, luv, stay here, stay with me, be with me. I've just spent the two most miserable years of my life without you, and I can't do that again. I need you, girl. I… I love you."
Maggie's head came up on those final words. The three words she had been longing to hear. But how could she be sure? He'd say anything to get her to stay right now. Maybe he meant it. Maybe he did love her. But that still didn't change his nature. He'd love her right up until he started loving someone else. Turning away, Maggie swallowed thickly. Why was it that hard situations always seemed to be made harder? "John, please don't; you're making this harder then it needs to be…"
Her words were cut off as he grabbed her by the arm, turning her towards him roughly. "Look me in the eyes and tell me you don't love me," he demanded, his voice raw with the emotion that was welling beneath the surface.
Maggie could only stare down at her shoes.
"You can't do it, can you?" he said, his grip on her arm loosening as he felt that small glimmer of hope begin to shine once more. "You can't do it because you're just as mad about me as I am about you, and this nonsense about you leaving is just that. Nonsense." Ducking his head, John tried to look her in the eyes, trying to be truthful with a woman for once in his life. "I love you, and you love me… why can't that be enough?"
Gently, Maggie extracted herself from his arms, and moved away from him. "Sometimes love isn't enough." she swallowed. "Love isn't all you need to make a relationship work. Do you even have any idea of what you've asked of me? Do you have any idea of what you've asked me to give up and go through to stay here with you? You don't, and that's OK because I gave it all up gladly, with no regrets, because you are right, I do love you John, more then you probably realize. But I won't stay to be your current obsession. Someday you'll find someone else, a new obsession, and when you do, it will destroy me. Yes, I know I'm being a selfish coward, but self-preservation is a hard instinct to overcome. I'd rather watch you from a safe distance for the rest of my life then to lose you forever."
John didn't answer, finding that small glimmer of hope only to have it dissipate once more.
Closing her eyes, Maggie only hesitated for a second before opening the door and slipping inside. John stood outside, staring at the now shut door, hit with the knowledge that the woman he loved was leaving him. How many women that he had loved had left him over the years? Now it would be one more.
He hadn't lied to her when he told her how miserable he had been these past few years. Something had been missing in his life and no matter what he did he couldn't seem to find something to replace it, to fill this gaping hole that was deeply embedded in his heart. He'd tried drugs, other women, even wondering for a time if maybe he could make things work with Cynthia. But it was all hollow. Then she had come back and for a while there, everything was good, everything was perfect and he got a taste once more for what he had been missing. His heart had been whole once more. Now she was going to leave again, for good, and John knew that this time it would hurt more than it ever had before, and the wound would never heal.
Without thinking, John pushed open the door and raced after her. He knew "their" hallway instinctively and let his feet carry him where he knew she'd be standing. As he rounded the corner, there she was, standing in front of the photo that brought her to him, tears streaking her face.
Finding no time to waste, John charged towards her, hurling himself at her just as she winked out of reality.
* * *
A/N:
OH NOES!!!11!1!! Maggie Sue is gone!!!! Back to the future!!!! Did John catch her in time??!!!!??? Did he travel to the future with her???!!!!??? Do you think I could possibly use more exclamation points???!!!!!1!???? Find out all this and MORE next week!!!!!!!!!!11!!!1!
This is a complete story, so you won't be left hanging! We are planning on post approximately 2 chapters a week.
Also, we'd love to know what you think so far, so please drop us a line. :)