All In Good Time - A Time Travel Beatles Fanfiction

Track 2 - I Saw Her Standing There

"Sure, sure. Ritchie, show her to the loo, would ya?"

Lainey leaned against the bathroom door and dug for her phone. No bars. Of course not. What did she expect? She tapped her mother's picture and waited. Nothing. With the phone back inside her purse, she rubbed her hands over her face and tried to think. It was nearly dusk, and there wasn't much she could do tonight. If the spell didn't wear off by tomorrow, she'd get herself back to Abbey Road and look for the little gypsy woman. All she had to do was keep her mouth closed and ask the Beatles if she could crash on their couch for the evening. At that thought, Lainey gave a little hysterical laugh. No one would ever believe this.


Ringo was waiting for her outside the bathroom, a lit cigarette in one hand, his eyes narrowed. No doubt he'd heard her laughing like a maniac. "All right?" he asked.

"You betcha." She gave him a thumbs up and walked down the hall with her head high.

Four pairs of eyes watched her enter the living room. George sat on the sofa strumming a guitar, a cigarette dangling from his lips. The others stood near the doorway having a low conversation, no doubt about her. She plopped down on the sofa close to George, taking the opportunity to study him. It was like seeing a teenage boy version of her mother.

George glanced up, his fingers stuttering on the guitar. Lainey tried to ratchet down the intensity of her expression. She was probably freaking him completely out. She hugged her purse to her chest and smiled at him. "You're going to be an awesome songwriter," she murmured.

George lifted a brow, but he didn't respond.

"Don't let anyone make you think otherwise." Lainey jerked a thumb toward the doorway. "It's easy for them, they have each other. But you'll show 'em."

George's hands stilled. "Who ARE you?" he said around the cigarette.

"That's what I'd like to know." John strode across the room, a passport clenched in his hand. He began to read. "Elaine Louise Spencer, United States of America, date of birth 30 November...1992."

Lainey snatched at the passport but John jerked his arm away and flipped a page. "It gets better. Date of entry in the UK, today's date, 15 July...in the year two thousand and twelve."

"Who are you, Homeland Security? Give it to me!" Lainey leaped from the couch, grappling with John. He held the passport over his head and fended her off with one elbow.

"John, cut it out. Just give it back to her." Paul wedged himself between them, his back to John. "It's probably a movie prop or summat. Right Lainey? Tell 'im."

Lainey searched his eyes. Of all of them, Paul seemed to be the one she could explain things to. She certainly couldn't say anything else in front of all of them. Especially not Neil, who stood at the door glaring at her like he wouldn't be happy until he'd ditched her at the nearest police station. She swallowed. "That's right. I'm in a movie. Set in 2012."

John smirked, but he didn't protest when Paul snatched the passport and held it out to Lainey.

She shoved it into her purse and zipped it closed. Then she pressed her fingertips to her forehead. If only her head weren't exploding, she could figure out how to get out of this situation without ending up in a hospital room or a jail cell.

"Are you going to call your mum or what?" George asked.

Lainey glanced at the rotary phone on the table beside her. "I can't call her on that phone. She's in Oxford. I don't know the number. And even if I did, that phone's not going to work."

No one said anything for a long moment. Finally Ringo shuffled over and picked up the receiver, holding it to his ear. "Works all right." He held the phone out to Lainey. "Give it a go."