Chapter 7: A little help,

The next thing I know in the morning is the sound of the door opening and lots of footsteps traveling inside of our home.

Then, my door opens and in walks three raggedy looking boys, hair hanging over their foreheads, arms outstretched.

I get out of bed and run into their arms, becoming one huge hugging fest. We sway back and forth in the hug and we don't let go for what seems like years.

I bury my nose in their jackets that smell of fresh air, and never want to leave.

All too soon, we let go and I stand there and run a hand through George's hair.

"What did you do to your hair?" I say, curious.

"It's a mop-top, as Brian calls it. It's gonna be our signature look. What do you think?" John says, beaming.

I smile and let out a little laugh. "It's definitely going to take some getting used to," I say. "So where's Pete and Stu…"

"Stu left us for his girlfriend and for art. And Pete's gone. We'd like you to meet someone too…"

John turns towards the door and in walks a boy with a matching haircut, a little bit shorter than the rest of them, with blue eyes that sparkle and a nose that looks to be too big for his face.

"Is this…"

"Ringo Starr. Ringo, this is Stella." He holds out his hand and I shake it.

"She's a little bit strange compared to us." John says to Ringo with a wink.

I blush a little, in spite of myself.

"Well, shall we head downstairs then?" George says, leaning against the wall coolly. "Mmhm." John and Ringo say in unison, and walk out the door.

When John sees that Paul and I don't follow, he turns around and stops in the doorway.

"You guys alright?" We nod, and John backs away uncertainly.

"Okay, but hurry up. I want to get out of this place… it gives me the creeps."

Then he disappears down the stairs.

Paul jams his hands into his pockets and turns to face me.

"You wanna follow…"

"Yeah…" I say awkwardly, and we walk down the stairs.

To my surprise, I don't see any police, and my Mum is sitting on the couch, holding a clipboard and pen, smiling at me.

John and George are sitting next to her, and Ringo is un-wrapping a chocolate kiss from the glass dish on the table.

"So these are your friends, yes?" She says, looking around. "Nice boys, aren't they?" I notice that all of them have their hands folded in their laps like gentlemen.

"Now, I believe that there is some signing in order," She pushes the clipboard in my direction.

"You won't be in my care any longer."

I look up over the document in my hands at the faces looking back at me.

"Who will I live with?" I say unsteadily.

"Well, if you sign it, you will be living with the Harrison family, who I believe is in the kitchen…" She peeks around the corner, and to my surprise, five people come out.

An older couple, followed by three teenagers, who look to be older than George by at least four years.

The woman's face breaks out into a smile at first glance, and she gives a little wave. I wave back, looking from her to George.

He stands up and motions his family to come closer.

"Stella, this is my Mother, Louise." He says, and the woman pulls me into a hug. I can hear snickering behind me, and George's face goes red with embarrassment.

"And this is my Father, Harold." The skinny man holds out a hand and I shake it, which makes him beam.

"And my siblings," he rolls his eyes. "This is Harry, Peter, and my sister Louise."

I smile, but George scowls.

"Don't worry about them… they're gone most of the time. All out of the house with their OWN lives…" he shoots an angry glance at the three of them.

The woman whispers something in her husband's ear, and he pulls her close, both beaming at me.

"Guys… can I talk to you for a second? Excuse us," I say, dragging John, Paul, George and Ringo into the kitchen.

"What's going on here?" I whisper, looking around at their grinning faces.

"Well, we tried calling the cops, and apparently burning your child is not a crime in this fuckin' town. So, we just went to a, well, I'm not sure what you call it… and asked if we could borrow some documents, and then got together with George's family, and pretty much took off from there." John explains. "Isn't it great?"

I think about it a second.

"Yeah, it's absolutely amazing! But how did you get my Mother to sign the documents? She wouldn't just sign me over like that… would she?"

Ringo shakes his head. "No, she was really crazy at first, chucked a coffee coaster at me." He points to a mark on his cheek that's already turning purple.

"But we bribed her."

I raise an eyebrow. "With what?"

Paul pulls a ticket out of his pocket gently and hands it to me.

I feel the ticket around in my hands. It has a picture of a sandy beach where the sun is shining, palm trees everywhere, and hidden behind them is a cruise ship.

"You guys bought this!" I ask, not looking away from the shiny ticket. "With the money you earned in Germany?"

"No, actually, it was only one of us."

I look them over. All of the boys are wearing new leather jackets and boots, and look to be well fed, except for Paul. He's wearing the same thing he always does, and he looks to have lost a few pounds from last time I saw him.

"Paul…" I say, looking up into his big brown eyes, which seem to twinkle. I look down at the ticket and then back at him, letting the smile break loose on my face.

I jump into his arms and meet my mouth to his, giving him a long kiss. He moves his arms around me and I do the same to him, and we sway back and forth.

The other three boys fall silent behind us, and I can tell they're in shock.

We release each other, and he runs his fingers through my hair. Then we start to giggle.

"I think I love you too." I whisper, and we're about to kiss again, when John clears his throat. We turn around to face him.

"Sorry to break up the party guys, but we should really have the papers signed so we can get the hell out of here. You can kiss all night… it's new year's eve."

We go back into the living room and take a seat, in my case on Paul's lap.

My Mother shoves the clipboard in my direction. "Come on, then. We don't have all day."

I take it, and with shaky hands, write my name down on the paper.

Then the next, then the next, then the next.

Once I'm finished, I feel for Paul's hand and wrap mine around his.

"Now we all have to go to the stupid place again and sign another five hundred papers in front of another person. Great." John moans.

"We'll come back for your things, dear." George's Mum says, scruffing up my hair. I take a deep breath and follow everyone out the door and into the car.