Carry On (A Beatles Fanfiction)

Chapter Forty Two

A/N: I've been away again, my apologies... summer gets busy. Anyway, here's an update for you lovely readers. It's shorter, but very important. We're nearing the end of this story and there's a few loose ends to tie up before everything is said and done. What do you think? Will Ashley remain with the guys? Will she ever return home? Will she ever see John again? Feel free to leave comments. Enjoy!

Chapter Forty Two:

I should have been tired that night, I'd had a full evening with the lads. We'd gone to dinner and an old film, for me. For them, it was brand new but I had a nice time just the same. For the next week and a half, the five of us played tourist. It was fun, it kept me distracted from everything else, though I don't think it was a good idea to bottle it inside. There was still the major issue of the letter. After our moment in the police station parking lot, John and I had seemingly returned to the way we'd been before this entire mess began. Only, it wasn't the same. We didn't tease one another as much and that felt weird. I think Paul was still a little at odds too, I just wanted to fix it all. I slowly recovered from my fright at the ball, it took a while for me to process it all and analyze just how lucky I had been. It still scared me on occasion, especially at night, but I was getting better. No one spoke of it, which was probably for the best. But the one other thing no one spoke of was the letter. Paul knew the gist of what was in it to some extent, John obviously knew the full extent of what was in it, George and Ringo merely knew that I'd given it to him. John seemed like he'd pretty much forgotten about it in those ten days, which was highly unlikely, given his reaction to it. I knew the moment would come soon when I would have to address it. I didn't know still if he believed me, I hoped he did, but I had given the man such a heavy load to carry and he was only 23. I'd given him the exact time and location of his murder... I'd been over it in my head a hundred times, regretting I'd done that. But he seemed to be his usual self to some degree. But I knew John better than that. Beneath the smile, the jokes and those dark eyes, there was a storm just waiting to burst out.

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One night, I was having a hard time falling asleep. It had been another full day in Paris. I had purchased a beret and wore it all day. The lads kept referring to me as 'mademoiselle' and I thought it was cute. I was okay, I should have dropped off to sleep without a problem, but I was just completely wide awake. I wasn't even thinking about things that would stress me out. After a few hours of laying there, wide awake, I gave up on trying and got up. I changed into a plain black dress and shawl. I planned on maybe going on the balcony for a while and maybe the cool night air would make me sleepy. So I did, I stood on the balcony for quite a few minutes, just looking out over the skyline. Suddenly though, I heard harmonica music floating down. It was a slow, sad sounding tune and I wondered where it was coming from. I craned my neck upward. It seemed to be coming from higher up in the hotel. Eyeing the fire escape to my left, I decided to climb and see if I could find the player. I don't know what came over me, but I climbed up the fire escape, keeping my eyes peeled. As I reached the rooftop of the hotel, I caught sight of someone sitting on the edge of the building overlooking the city and playing such a sorrowful song. It took a moment for my eyes to adjust to the dark, but once they did, I saw it was John. Somehow I figured. I didn't want to scare him so I just stood there until he stopped playing. He must've known he wasn't alone though, because he turned around to see me standing there.

"Ashley, what are you doing up?" He asked me.

"I-I heard music. I was curious." I found myself tongue tied.

"I didn't wake you, did I?" Was his next question. I shook my head.

"Couldn't sleep." I said honestly. He shrugged.