Beatle Girl

The Mark of a Good Night

"I hope so."

—

The boys go backstage shortly after. You find your place in the front row, standing next to Maureen and Brian. Cynthia stands in the back with a book. Maureen provided both you and Brian healthy servings of alcohol which you chugged with her. Brian refused to join, however. He holds his glass close to his hand, now, paying close attention to the stage.

"You're nervous too?" You ask Brian, voice a bit hushed.

"Not really. They can mess up here and it'd be fine." He takes a sip of his drink. "It's the Cavern performance I'm nervous about."

You nod and join him in staring at the stage. Their instruments and mics wait for them patiently.

"I guess I'm nervous about the album being released." He adds after thinking for a moment. "I don't know how successful it will be."

You don't feel the need to comfort Brian or tell him it will all work out. He doesn't seem like the type to respond well to false promises. "We will see."

He smiles. "We will."

The boys walk on stage a few moments later and they're met with welcoming applause from the crowd. You and Maureen shout through giggles. George and Paul notice the two of you immediately and chuckle at your enthusiasm. John keeps his eyes on the guitar, messing with the tuning.

Paul is the first to the mic. He taps it lightly, causing three loud thuds to echo through the room. "Hello, everybody." The crowd cheers and Paul smiles, hand hovering over his bass. "I'd just like to thank all of you for being here and for helping with the album. We couldn't have made it here without you, really. You've made our dreams come true."

The crowd cheers again. You and Maureen look at each other with teary eyes. "That was so sweet!" She says, frowning.

The rest of the band nods and says thank you in unison. The cheering slows down. Paul looks back at the band and once he gets their approval he goes directly into playing I Saw Her Standing There. It's a song you know quite well now — you scream the lyrics with Maureen as the two of you jump around.

You quickly notice Brian's lack of energy in comparison to you and Maureen. You move to jumping around him. He laughs, eventually caving in and joining. The three of you dance childishly over the next three hours, grins on your faces.

—

Around ten songs (and six drinks) into the performance, George moves to the main mic for his second lead song. You begin cheering wildly, as you did the first time. This time though, he looks at you directly and motions you forward. He wants you on the stage.

Maureen and Brian look at you with shocked faces. Both of them were pretty plastered as well so their expressions were more exaggerated and jarring than usual. The Cavern's security guard, Mal Evans, was right behind you. He was an intimidatingly tall and generally large man, but you have gotten to know him lately and he's nothing but kind. You turn back and give him a look, and he lifts you onto the stage with ease.

George takes your hand and guides you to where he is standing. You rack his face for any clue of what he's doing but come back with nothing. He introduces you to the crowd, your hand still in his. The crowd claps for you causing you to blush and cover your face with your free hand. He ends your introduction by saying he'd like to dedicate this next song to you.

He strums his guitar, looking you in the eyes. "You'll never know how much I really love you / You'll never know how much I really care..."

The whole band joins in and suddenly you smile, feeling less scared now that you know what he's doing. You begin to dance along with his words, like putting a hand up to your ear as he sings "Do you want to know a secret?" The crowd laughs and claps.

The first chorus comes to a crescendo as he reveals the secret: "I'm in love with you." You know George didn't write the song and he wouldn't say it yet, but he looks deep into your eyes as he sings it and it feels too real. You stop dancing for a moment before remembering the crowd and starting again. The next time the line comes around you mouth the lyrics with him. He chuckles and quickly turns back to the crowd, blushing slightly.

Just before the song ends, he swings his guitar onto his back and pulls you into a kiss, dipping you over his arm. You're surprised by his confidence — you've always seen him as the shyest one when performing — but you justify it by remembering he knows everyone in the crowd quite well. You give in to the confidence fully, too drunk to have any shame, really. You kiss him deeply. He pulls the both of you back up and you both cheekily bow for the applauding crowd. You wave goodbye to him and blow a kiss as you walk back to the edge of the stage and let Mal bring you back down.

Maureen and Brian stand waiting for you, laughing loudly. You look at them, confused.

"We're not laughing at you, hun." Brian manages to say. "Paul and John just had the funniest looks on their faces during the kiss."

"Oh, you should have seen them! I don't think they knew he was going to do that at all."

"I certainly didn't know!" You say, laughing a bit at the thought.

"Did you like it though?" Maureen suddenly stops laughing, making sure you weren't mad. "I thought it was really sweet."

"Yeah, I had fun." The boys start their next song and you all resume dancing. "I'm sure I'll be embarrassed by it in the morning, but you know."

"That's just the mark of a good night." Brian shouts over the music before singing along. You liked this side of him, and you already love Maureen. This is a good night.

—

The performance ends with raving applause. Brian instantly takes the three of you back to their dressing room, knowing you both couldn't wait to see everyone. You open the door to find them sweaty, taking off their jackets and fanning themselves with lyric books. You and Maureen barely process this fact, however. The two of you run into the arms of your respective members.

"You did so good, baby!" Your arms are wrapped around his neck and his around your waist, yet you stay looking up at him for clear eye contact. He seems taken aback by the term, but you don't notice. You press kisses all over his face, leaving your lips tasting of salt but you couldn't care less. He chuckles, letting you continue for longer than you'd think. Eventually, he cups his hands around your face and gently pulls you away.

"God, you're so drunk." He pushes hair out of your face, looking at you endearingly.

You smile widely. "Maybe a little."

"Did you have a good time?"

You nod, more focused on looking at his face than responding to his questions. You're still smiling and looking at him so lovingly. He laughs, pulling you into a hug.

"What do you say we hit a bar after this, boys? Really celebrate?" You hear Paul say to the room. You try to lift your head up to say yes but George stops you.

"No, love. You've had too much to drink." He looks down at you, caressing your cheek. "The driver that dropped you off is still here. You need to go home and get rest, and water. Promise me you'll do that?"

You frown. "Okay."

"You promise?"

You nod. He kisses you on your forehead and leads you to the door, explaining what he's doing to everyone else. They all say goodbye to you and you give a weak goodbye back. George walks you all the way outside and into your cab, not letting you leave until he knows you don't need anything. You're quickly delivered to your home, where you spend the rest of the night sleeping soundly.