IF NOT FOR YOU {George Harrison}

Chapter 10

"Ye have a girl? I thought ye were sleeping yer way through Hamburg?"

Some color crept into his pale, lightly freckled cheeks.

"I get lonely."

I crossed my arms, glaring at him. I must have been a sight; snot running from my nose and swollen, red eyes, angry at a boy for cheating on his girl.

"Doesn't excuse that sort of behavior. I'm sure a lovely girl like...like-"

"Cynthia."

"-Cynthia, would be very upset if she knew about this!"

John slouched.

"I came 'ere to cheer ye up and I get scolded. Yer too much like me mum, Dash."

"And you're too much like Larry."

I whispered out my reply, and John glanced at me.

"Who?"

I shifted in my seat.

"Larry. My brother. He...you remind me of him."

His gaze softened and he mumbled, "He the one ye lost?"

"How did you know?"

He smiled, baring his teeth a bit.

"Astrid called this morning. She said ye might be a bit sad and need a friend."

I stood.

"She was righ' abou' tha'. Walk with me?"

John rose, and I locked elbows with him. We strode away from the bench.

He glanced behind us at the bench and chuckled.

"Good thing we're heading away from tha' bench. Last time we shared one, ye practically had me pants off in the middle of the street."

I rolled my eyes, glad for the distraction.

"As if it's anythin' new round here."

He snorted. I glanced at him. John was a few inches taller then me, just so that I had to look up when I looked at him.

"Are you or Paul taller?"

He glared at me and said, "Me!"

I smirked. "Ye sure? I could've sworn he was a half inch tall-"

"Nope, alright, let's move on from that."

I laughed. My eyes were still puffy and they hurt when I closed them too hard. I decided to blink really hard and distract myself with a different topic.

"Where'ere the others? Are ye the only one to respond to a lady in need?"

"Well, Paul's at the- I mean, Paul's rehearsing with Stu and Pete, and George would've come, but he's busy with that cow of a girlfriend. I think he was going to break it off."

I stopped.

"Really? He told me that she was a bit of a prat but I didn't think he was going to break it off. I thought it was more serious then that."

John smirked.

"You take quite an interest in his relationships, eh?"

I blushed, and I brushed some hair behind my ear.

"He's my friend, I want to know how they're doing."

"Sure, just a friend. Notice ye 'aven't asked about Cyn again. Ye don' give a rats ass about me, I spose."

"We've already talked about you and your girl. Not that we won't talk about that again, ye cheatin weasel."

He rolled his eyes, tilting his head a bit as he ran his middle finger over his left eyebrow, looking truly exasperated.

I stopped. That gesture was something I'd only seen Larry do.

"Damn, you're so like him."

He gave me a concerned look.

"Ye goin te cry again?"

I frowned. Any emotion is felt hadn't been of sadness, but of shock and disbelief. John was so much like Larry that it scared me.

"No. You just...John, have you ever met a man named Larry, or, better yet, Lawrence Jones-Kircherr? That's my brother."

He shook his head.

"Name doesn't come to mind."

I sighed.

"Yer scarily like him. He does the same thing when he's annoyed, and rollin' yer eyes ain't unnatural. But he always messes with his eyebrows. It's so obscure and ye jus did it."

He tilted his head. His eyes were set in a squint and he looked a mixture of confused, concerned, and compassionate.

"Thas so odd. Always done that, since I can remember. Me aunt Mimi, bless her soul, used to bop me with a newspaper every time I did tha, said I would lose my eyebrows."

"Oh, my condolences, I didn't know you'd lost an aunt."

"Oh, she's not dead yet. Jus need to start blessing her soul now before she dies and haunts me."

I laughed.

"She the one ye live with? George told me about her a bit, said she could kill ye with one of her stony looks."

He nodded, pulling me along to continue our stroll.

"Yep, thas me aunt Mimi. She loves me and I love her but we're too much alike and too different to get along well."

"Gotcha. Thas how Larry and I are. Two peas in a pod but I'm square and he's round. Meant to fit, but aren't shaped right. And yet we do."

I took a shaky breath and whispered, "Did. We used to be like that."

I closed my eyes and tried not to choke up again. John stopped. I felt him turn and then his hands on my upper arms. When I opened my eyes, I met two large amber eyes full of concern for a friend. We'd hardly known each other long, but there was something about him that made me feel like we were old friends.

"Ye alrigh', love?"

I smiled, tears blurring my vision.

"Jus gimme a hug and make me laugh again."

Without hesitation, he wrapped his long arms around my frame. His head rested on top of mine, and I felt the vibrations of his voice as he said, "Ye even cry like my mum."

That made me laugh. I laughed and sobbed and laughed and it was all into John's chest. He rocked me ever so slightly.

When, after a little while, I pulled away, I asked him, "How is it that we've known each other all of two weeks and ye've already seen me cry, laugh, and yell at ye?"

He smirked.

"Must be my charm."

"Or we're meant to be platonic soul mates."

He bopped me on the nose, wiggling his finger.

"No such thing as soulmates, Dashina."

"That is not my name."

"Well, it is now."

"Yer a right prick."

"I'm a right angel, s'what I am."

I stuck my tongue out at him and he crossed his eyes, sticking his tongue into his bottom lip.

A/N: this was quite a long chapter and I would've made it even longer but I needed something to start the next chapter off with. I love John and Dash's friendship. I apologize for any mistakes or continuity errors, it's 2 AM and I've been writing for hours. Anyhoo, thanks for reading!