Mood Ring // Starrison

2

"Paulie, shut up! You'll wake 'em!"

"Says the man who can't whisper for shit!"

George sluggishly opened his eyes to see two dark figures looming over him. He heard the sound of a camera clicking, which made him groan in protest.

"Johnny, they're waking up. Let's go."

"Alright. Whatever you say, Princess."

George heard the two men leave the room and let his body begin to wake up properly. It wasn't until he went to sit up that he realised he was trapped. During the night, Ringo had tangled his limbs with his own. George found this heartwarming and a huge grin lit up his face.

"Oi. Ritchie. Get up." George shook the peacefully sleeping man gently, careful not to untangle him too much.

"Y-yeah? What is it Geo?" Ringo mumbled groggily, groaning as he opened his eyes. "Ah, shit. Sorry." He noticed the mess of limbs and began to move away but George stopped him.

"Hey, it's alright. These things happen." George said with a smile, watching a blush fill Ringo's cheeks. "We better get up though, pretty sure those two bastards were taking photos of us again."

Ringo nodded in response and untangled his limbs from George's. Rolling to the edge of the bed, he stood up and stretched his arms. He padded off to the bathroom, noticing George standing up as he closed the door behind him. Turning on the shower, he stepped in and let the hot water run down his body. He began to hum a tune mindlessly, completely immune to the world around him.

Whilst Ringo was showering, George grabbed the card from the pocket of Ringo's discarded trousers. Taking the ring out too and leaving it on the bedside table, he held the card and read the contents with greedy eyes. Okay, he thought, turquoise means crushing. Maybe this means he likes me? No George, don't get your hopes up.

Ringo sighed as he got out of the shower, placing a towel around his torso and making his way back into the bedroom. Once inside he nodded at George, who blushed and quickly ran into the bathroom. Odd, he thought. He heard the shower turn on, so he grabbed the suit that was waiting for him in the wardrobe and put it on.

Making his way over to the bedside table, he noticed that the ring was there. Frowning, he wondered how it had got there. Maybe he took it out of his pocket and forgot about it. Regardless of how it got there he put it on his finger, following the rest of his rings. He noticed the little card next to it and scanned the words carefully. Was this his way to showing George how he really felt?

He heard the shower turn off and dropped the card with a jump, before rushing out of the room just as George entered.

"Well, speak of the devil." John muttered sarcastically as Ringo entered the room. "Want some tea?"

"Yeah, ta." Ringo smiled as he sat down on the sofa next to John.

"You two got awfully close last night, didn't they Paulie?" John placed the cup in front of Ringo with a smirk.

"They did, didn't they Johnny?" Paul chuckled from behind a rather large newspaper on one of the armchairs.

"Oh shut it, you two can talk." Ringo ended the discussion as Paul blushed and John glared at him.

"Alright boys?" Brian burst into the suite with a grin, waving a letter in the air. "Where's George?"

"Here." George answered as he sat down in the armchair opposite Paul, grabbing the cup from in front of Ringo and taking a large sip. Ignoring Ringo's cries of protest, he took another sip and put the cup back down onto the table. He smirked as he saw the ring turn to yellow, pleased he could make Ringo feel that way.

"Right, now that you're all here, I've got the plans for the day." Brian smiled. "In a moment we're going to head off to the studio, then we've got a party to go to tonight!"

"That's gear Eppy! We can all get absolutely rat arsed!" John laughed, eyeing the letter in Brian's hands with glee.

"No, John. We are not showing ourselves up at this party, understand? It's supposed to be a civilised event, not an excuse for you to get drunk and hit on everyone." Brian glared, hiding the letter from John's watching eyes. "Please, for my sake, behave at this party boys. You know how everyone will react if you don't."

"Of course Brian, I'll make sure John is on his best behaviour all evening!" Paul responded, winking at John. "He knows what will happen if he isn't."

"Eurgh, Paul. Too much information." George squirmed, noticing how John's face had reddened. "Alright Bri, we'll try our best. When are the cars coming?"

"Quite soon, I should hope. I'm warning you John, best behaviour." Brian replied.

"Alright, alright. Calm down Eppy, I was only kidding. Besides, Paulie here'll keep me in check nicely."

"Keeping you in check won't be the only thing he'll be doing tonight." George muttered.

Ringo turned his head towards him and burst out laughing.

"Okay then boys, so if you're all ready to go we'll head down to the studio." Brian announced. "There are two cars waiting for you downstairs. Ringo and John, you're in the first, you've got five minutes to get down there. George and Paul, the next one leaves in ten so please be prompt."

"C'mon Rings! You're stuck with me, so let's go!" John shouted as he bounded off the sofa, pulling Ringo along with him. "The car awaits!"

"Relax John, I'm coming! Paul, how do you deal with this all the time?" Ringo complained, trying to free his arm from John's grip.

"It's simple, Rings. I don't." Paul snickered as John managed to drag Ringo through the open door of the hotel suite.

"John? What did I say about you behaving?" Brain asked sternly, his glare so fierce that it broke John's grip and made an unsteady Ringo almost walk into the wall.

"I'm just excited to go out, that's all. Though I'm not entirely against being stuck in here all day, especially as Paulie's here too, I do like to go out every now and then." John answered, stopping in the hallway and waiting for Brian to let the two men go. "Can we go now?"

"Yes, fine." Brian turned to the other two men. "Now, George and Paul, the car will be here in five minutes. Please don't miss it. Mal will be waiting downstairs for you both and I'll meet you at the studio."

"Sure thing Bri, see you there!" George smiled. He made eye contact with Ringo and immediately began to sport a light blush on his cheeks. "See you two lads in a bit then?"

"Y-yeah, sure." Ringo replied distractedly, caught by George's gaze.

John hurried down the hallway and towards the stairs closely followed by Brian, who tutted loudly, and Ringo.

"Alright George?" Paul asked once the other men had left.

"Uh, yeah I s'pose." George replied.

The remaining two men walked down the hallway and stairs, smiling once they saw Mal waiting for them.

"Okay lads, ready to go?" Mal asked.

"Sure, let's do this!" Paul replied.