I Miss You - McLennon AU

21.

8th September, 2021

Gin stayed the night, Mike giving up his bed for her. The teenage boy slept on the sofa downstairs, Paul and Jim in their own rooms. They planned on Gin staying for the long run, until she felt ready to go back home. She felt it would be a while, however. She wished to make up for the time she had lost with her brother and her nephews in whatever way she could.

Jim headed back to bed soon after their reunion, although before going, he made Gin promise that she would not leave again. The man had sounded heartbroken, and Paul had to admit that he cursed Gin for doing it once more in his mind at that.

But that was in the past, they were moving on, now...

He had found it in himself to try and forgive Gin. She  truly wanted to try and make it up to her family, in whatever way she could. Paul could tell she was genuine about how sorry she was.

The next morning, Paul had woken up to the sound of his alarm clock again. It was 7am. Wednesday was Paul's longest day, 8:40am to 4pm. As soon as he woke up, he instantly got out of bed, knowing that if he didn't force himself to immediately, he never would. Early morning were hell.

He brushed his teeth, had a shower, got changed, and hurried downstairs for some reason water and breakfast. Mike was just getting up as Paul arrived downstairs, having slept in a little. Mike was lucky, he could sleep in... He didn't have a bus to catch and he didn't have to travel for almost an hour into the city. His high school was only a five minute walk away.

"Good morning." Paul greeted Mike, who sluggishly made his way into the kitchen.

Mike made a grunting sound in response, and Paul laughed fondly at him. The younger boy slumped into a chair at the table, and lay his head down.

"Morning." Mike groaned, taking a short pause before continuing. "Christ, Paulie, that couch is horrible to sleep on... It's like laying down on a wooden log"

Paul chuckled, grabbing two glasses out of the cupboard.

"I can sleep on it tonight if you want." The older brother suggested, filling the glasses up with water.

"No, it's alright." Mike shook his head slightly, finally lifting it from the table. He yawned, before speaking again, this time his voice quieter. "How long is she going to be here for, you reckon?"

"Eh..." Paul thought about it, taking a seat at the table and placing the glasses down. He took a sip of his water, as did Mike. "I'm honestly not sure, Mikey... I guess until she feels ready to leave."

"Are you still mad at her?" He asked, clearly curious.

"Mad? Not really, not too much anymore anyway... I still feel a little betrayed, but to be honest, Mike, I had a night to sleep on it and well... Well, I think she just lost her way." Paul explained what he thought. "I mean she said that for three years all she could think about was what she had left behind."

"Then why didn't she come sooner?"

"As she said, she didn't know what she would say. She tried to ignore it, Mikey, but then the guilt began to really affect her." He took another sip. "She said something about her and Geoff arguing a lot because of her... Moodiness or something. I think it was him who in the end pushed her over."

"Yeah..." Mike agreed with his point, however the younger still had questions. "Do you think she will leave again?"

"No. At least, not without a warning. I think she's here for a while, personally." Paul admitted, actually finding himself smile a little at that fact.

It felt... Well, it felt as if he and Mike weren't alone anymore. There was a, pretty much, fully capable adult with them once again, someone they had adored through childhood. To Paul, it felt like he was part of a family again, and he was excited.

That was why he had woke up happy. It felt in some way like a new beginning.

"Well, I suppose I better get used to that sofa, then." Mike joked, and Paul couldn't help but chuckle at his brother's charm.

-

The bus journey felt somehow shorter today. The sun was shining throughout Allerton and Liverpool City Centre, and the birds were chirping to eachother from the tops of buildings and inside trees. It was charming, really.

Paul listened to music all the way there, Elvis, to be precise. Hearing Elvis' music brought an even bigger smile to Paul's face, obviously reminding him of John.

John, John, John...

He grew even more excited to arrive at college. John would be there. God, his family reuniting, having John back... In some supernatural way. He felt the happiest he had in a while in that moment, just thinking about everything he now had.

The bus pulled up, and he jumped off, making his way through the college gates and into the reception. He looked around for John, but there was no sign of him. He mustn't have been in a lesson just yet, or maybe he wasn't in on Wednesday's...

God, Paul sure hoped he was. Wednesdays were his longest day, in which he had every lesson. He needed a friend to get through it all...

A friend.

Paul stopped in his tracks at that thought, standing in the middle of the college's reception.

It felt strange having to refer to John as just a friend, After all they had been through...

The kisses, the longing, the dread of time inevitably pulling them apart.

Paul glanced up, trying to make the depressing thoughts go away. However at the sight of the area where he and John had first interacted positively in modern day, he felt them grow somehow stronger. Intrusive thoughts flooded through his head.

Where was John?

What if John didn't turn up today?

What if John was never even here?

At that thought, Paul began to walk, fast. He didn't care where he was going, he wasn't even heading towards his classroom, he just let his legs take him wherever. He turned the song he was listening to up, and slowly, the thoughts did leave his mind.

But not entirely. Planted in the back of his head, no matter how much he tried to ignore it, there was always the question lingering in the back of his mind: 'Why on earth was John Lennon here?"

Because deep down, even though he tried to pretend this was all normal, all Paul wanted to know was why in the world had be been so lucky as to get John Lennon back?

How did John get here? How did Paul get there?

Christ, this was all too much for Paul at 8:30 in the morning...