I find the bed to be empty other than myself when I awake and I groan at the appearance of the sun streaming through the window that Paul never pulls the shades over and I turn to lay on my stomach with my head turned to the right as my eyes stay closed. Footfall meets my ears and the creak of the door opening follows and I peek open an eye to see who else but Paul enter with a red towel wrapped around his small waist and my eyes go big before he looks over and my eyes snap shut. I can't deny the whistling of his I hear next and I pull open an eye to see his back facing me as water runs down his shining skin and I watch him ruffle his wet, tousled hair and I look him up and down and thank God for him and that good looking body of his. I sigh and he turns to look at me and smiles that giddy grin of his
"Oh, hello. I didn't know you were awake, love." he comments in his normal voice that is far past familiar to me, and I wonder if you can memorize somebody's voice in a matter of two weeks? I already have, I decide.
"Hi, yeah, good morning." I mumble in my tired voice and he chuckles and steps out the room with clothes in his hand and then the door nearly closes behind himself. I would never want to give up mornings being like this, with him.
I trudge down the steps to downstairs and I find a ponytail on my wrist and I gather my hair up to secure it with the black thing I borrowed from Iz last night before we left and I find Paul and George in the kitchen, cooking oddly.
"I think you need to shave." I tell Paul after I noticed his shadow that I got to admit I like as I grab the milk for George who asked me to fill the glasses at the table as its eight in the morning. How am I even awake at this time, honestly?
"You know, I reckon you need to too."
"That's not nice to say to a girl, Paulie, especially if she's your girlfriend. She'll slap you silly after hearing a comment like that come from you." John who comes out nowhere it seems scolds his buddy as he walks in wearing his pajamas.
"It's not my fault her-."
"Don't you dare." I tell him and he laughs and then John does too and stops when I look to him and I place the milk back in the fridge before I sit by Paul. I sip from my milk and I feel his hand come over to my leg that I admit I need to shave, the both of them actually, and he rubs my exposed knee.
"Oh quit." I tell him and I move my leg away and catch his gaze and we exchange smirks as George comes over with a pan of sausages.
"You know, Paul, you don't wanna be losing this one now. What number will it be this week, John?" George comments cheekily as he sets the hot pan on a pot holder.
"It must be the seventh by now, George. Don't you agree?"
"Oh shut up, you two." Paul retorts, but in a friendly manner and I bite back my smile as I scoop some scrambled eggs onto my white plate and I feel his leg nudge mine. I nudge him back as I grab two sausages from the large serving in the pan and then Ringo appears with a mess of bed hair and we all say hello.
"Would you stop bumping my leg?" Paul asks in a harsh tone I can tell he's faking and I look to him as I hold my fork that has a fluffy piece of scrambled egg at its end.
"You're the one who started it."
"Ah, them two. Aren't they just the cutest pair, George?" John comments from across the table while Ringo scratches his head to my right.
"They sure are, John. They're about to make me gag on me brekky soon enough." George remarks with the humor pulling at his words and I chuckle to myself and take a bite of the egg and then I feel Paul's cold foot tickling mine and mine recoils. I see him grin big as he drinks from his milk and I give him a good glare.
"Are you lot playing footsie over there in that corner?" John asks as he stabs a bite of one of his sausages.
"Paul is trying to, anyways."
"That is not allowed in the kitchen. You know that!" John scolds in an old granny voice he pulls on the spot and a second of silence is followed by loud laughing coming from every one of us five people as we're all doubled over in laughter.
"Alright then, Granny Lennon." Paul remarks which makes us all laugh even more and I double over in laughter again as I hold my stomach and then I straighten back up to drink from my glass.
"You better watch that mouth of yours, son, or else I might be bringing out my cane on ya!"
We all are sent into another fit of giggles and then Paul looks to John with his grinning lips and says 'Ooo' to tease him and then we all scarf down our food after the laughs subsided and I watched as the boys' plates turn empty quickly. I couldn't help to shake my head at the sheer amazement of how fast they eat and how hungry they always seem to be.
"Enough of looking at your pretty self in the mirror. You're stunning. I know it and you know it. Now come on." Paul pulls me out of the bathroom as I look over my appearance after we all got dressed and I laugh as he drags me down the hall, but I stop and he looks to see why.
"It'd sound much more sincere of you if you didn't say it like that: so rushed and all."
"I'm sorry, darling. I think you're very pretty, which you already know," he pauses to wink at me and I smile as he parts his lips to continue. "But, we really have to be going. There's a stop we need to make."
"You don't work for another hour though!" I complain as I spot the clock above the fireplace George and Ringo sit in front of and they look behind at us to flash smiles.
"We have to make a run to the record store."
"You make it sound urgent with saying 'have to'." I note as I bend my legs to put on my shoes and I grab the olive green button up jacket off of a hook over the mat where the shoes sit. I only get to fasten a few of the buttons before Paul grabs my hand again to pull me out the door into the cold rain that hits us hard.
"That's 'cause it is. I've been so busy with work and you since you've been here that it's about time I go to the local one to check out the new ones they've got in. I'm sure you'll like some of the ones they got too."
"Oh, Paul. You and your music."
"Mmhmm, it's my life." he remarks as he pulls out a simple, black umbrella from his car that he previously opened and now locks again.
He pops it open and walks over to stand beside me as I press my hair down and let the back of the jacket down that I was holding up so my hair won't get drenched with the heavy rain. The loud honking of a car meets my ears and we both look in that direction as a bright red car passes and stops to talk to a pack of smiling girls wearing fashionable dresses as their shiny hair is curled and flowing onto their shoulders all while a pink umbrella is over them.
Paul pulls me around the corner, across a few walks and even deeper into the heart of the busy as well as vast town until he leads me to a gray building with a red door and then heats hits me and he folds it up and I offer to carry it.
"Nice, eh?" he asks as I begin to hear soft music coming from what I think to be the back of the building and he drags me up a flight of stairs to find a floor with shelves dispersed throughout.
"Why the..."
"The downstairs is the music part of the store where instruments are and you can get repairs done. Then up here is where the real magic happens." he explains after I lost my train of thought and I glance to a couple smiling together as the guy holds a red almost paper envelope in his hands, and I guess that it's a single.
"The real magic, huh?"
"Mmhmm. I love spending time here. Back at your home did you ever like to visit music stores that they have there and just look through what they have?" he inquires as we make our way over to a white shelf set into the carpeted ground and I walk up to his side to flip through them that sit at my waist.
"Yeah, pretty often actually. I'd probably spend at least one day each week at this shop downtown where they sold photography, paintings and other art from local artists. But I would just stop over on my way home from college to check out what they had for my favorite bands and sometimes I would head home with something new."
"Ah, so I've found myself a music loving kind of girl, is that right?" he inquires as he pulls a shiny, pitch black album from a colorful sleeve that I don't pay much attention to.
"You could say that."
He grins at me before placing the record back and I leave him with the warm handle of the umbrella held in my hand and I see a sign above the kind of shelf that reads 'Rock & Roll' in unique script. I stop to find the beginning of the alphabet as pieces of thin wood separate the groups and I find 'B'.
"You must be the biggest fibber I've ever met in my entire life." his voice that I've come to know comments from behind me as I flip a record towards me to find the new and seemingly untouched cover of their first record. I look from his giddy face on the record, frozen in time, to see his placid look from behind.
"I am not. I was just trying to keep our cover up, that's all."
"Lets hope so, now." he remarks as he sticks a single near his armpit to hold between his arm and muscle for the moment as he searches through the thick but pleasurable clutter before us.
"I think I'm one of your biggest fans."
"Oh, is that right? I might just have to put you to the test with that one." he remarks and I giggle as we meet eyes and I'm surprised that he didn't wear his shades here, but it is only nine in the morning and few people are here.
"Remember, I do know more about you guys than most people and yourself."
"You know, Court, you might not want to be so proud of that 'cause it sounds awfully creepy at first, darling."
I laugh and take the record out that is smooth to the touch and I flip to look at its back to see the price that is still just jumble of nonsense numbers, but I stick it under my arm like Paul has done. Who wouldn't buy it and be able to claim they have an original that is in perfect condition? After all it is one of theirs I need for my record collection, one that is coming along slowly.
"I didn't mean it that way."
"I know that, love. I'm just teasing you to get a laugh out of ya," he pauses as his eyes are eager on my own and a smile spreads onto my face. "Ah, there it is. I thought I'd maybe get it to come."
"I'm one of your biggest fans, okay?"
"Alright, Court. You can take the title." he agrees and he bumps his shoulder against mine as I flip to the back to read the lineup of songs and I flit over to him to see his tongue sticking out at me and his eyes going all wobbly. I laugh and don't care who hears.