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𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝚌𝚊𝚕𝚖 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫
𝐉𝐎𝐇𝐍 𝐃𝐈𝐃 𝐍𝐎𝐓 𝐅𝐄𝐄𝐋 𝐁𝐀𝐃 for making a bad first impression with gwen. she walked into the bedroom she shared with ivy and beth, whistling to herself without acknowledging the boy who sat carelessly on beth's bed. when she turned in his direction, john jumped up and scared her senseless.
ivy had been changing her clothes in the closet when she heard gwen's scream, smiling lopsidedly to herself as she tucked her yellow shirt into her tan skirt. ivy emerged from the closet, smoothing down the creases in her new outfit. she resisted the urge to laugh at gwen's stricken expression, "sorry, gweny. this is john lennon, he's friends with our neighbor, paul." she tossed a jacket at gwen, which landed lamely over the other girl's arm.
gwen turned her gaze to john, who casually flopped back onto beth's bed like he'd been in the room for a while. "hi," she snapped, then looked back at ivy, "where are you going? i've been trying to get beth to sleep for half an hour!"
ivy rolled her eyes, "beth is thirteen, she can sleep whenever she wants- all that matters is that evelyn and vivienne are in bed so i'm done, i'm going with john next door." she glanced at the boy, who was looking her up and down as he always did. ivy took in her twin's slumping shoulders, the dark circles under her eyes, and ended up sighing loudly. "that's it, you're coming with us," she stated, evidently bored with the idea.
gwen began to resist, but ivy had already started patting makeup over her face and fetching shoes. still not wanting to go, gwen pushed her arms through the jacket's sleeves.
ivy sat next to john on beth's bed, grabbing the sides of his head and staring into his soul, "you have to be nice to my sister now, okay?" he smiled delicately, at the clothes she wore that emphasized her blatant curves and genuinely serious expression. he batted his eyelashes at her, promising he would be nice. ivy believed him. gwen was still confused.
the three of them walked to the house next door, john continuously trying to convince gwen that she would have a great time. gwen was pleading with ivy to let her go check on vivienne one last time when john pushed the door open, revealing a loud party in all its glory.
and surprisingly enough, paul didn't hear ivy for a while. he was on the opposite side of the house with george and stuart, thinking about the crowd and the strange peacefulness of its deafening noise when he heard someone call out screw you, wanker. the person wasn't causing a scene- her voice was quiet but commanding and so she stood out. but paul remembered her all too well, remembered her voice and her sass, and he knew without having to look that somehow, ivy peterson was in his home, at his birthday party.
paul dragged george and stu to ivy, john, and an unnamed girl, who stood behind john like he was a protective shield. john was laughing his ass off, however, and his laughter seemed to be directed at pete best and some of his friends.
when he saw ivy's facial expression, john grinned defensively. "pete didn't mean nothing by it, ivy," he told her, nudging pete's shoulder for good measure. pete smiled at her, and her scrutinizing eyes shifted to look at him. he winked, and shockingly, she laughed.
"hey, mccartney," pete greeted, his attention stuck on ivy. she simply raised an eyebrow, holding his gaze before looking to paul.
ivy crossed her long arms over her sleeveless yellow shirt, exposing the tan of her confident shoulders. "happy birthday," she offered, her pink lips curving in amusement. she looked to stuart, knowing she hadn't seen him before. "hey, i'm ivy."
stuart greeted her in return, and paul and george shared a look. they could both see john was now quite comfortable around ivy, meaning he'd gotten closer to her.
paul didn't know why, why he couldn't work up the nerve to respond and speak around her. he cleared his throat. this was the second time he'd been near ivy and both times it was hard for him, why? "enjoy the party!" george exclaimed in order to pass the awkward moment. he seemed to direct his words at ivy's fearful sister.
the next time paul saw ivy was two hours later, after they were all loose and significantly plastered. ivy was pressed between the couch and pete, making out with him in such a way that paul had to avert his eyes. paul looked back at the pair, however, to see pete pull away and speak shortly- she only nodded her head, clutching his shoulders. pete picked her up spontaneously and ran her up the stairs, among her constant, mischievous laughter. stu said something remorseful and patted paul's shoulder before turning and disappearing into the crowd.
little did they know, george and gwen were already in paul's room, sitting on the carpeted floor and examining paul's records with careful precision. they were both quite shy and didn't know what to say, but they liked being in each other's presence, and so george held up a record by dion. "i haven't heard of him before," gwen replied contemplatively, when the door burst open.
pete tossed ivy onto paul's bed without bothering to check for other occupants, and gwen yelped at the scene, immediately reaching to cover george's eyes. he grabbed her arms for support as she led him out of the room, laughing embarrassedly the whole way.
george, hands in pockets, walked gwen home at one in the morning. he waved from the sidewalk and watched the property for a moment, even after she sheepishly closed the door, then shuffled back to his own house.
pete and ivy arrived on her front lawn at four, and they laid face up in the grass for nearly an hour, mumbling nonsensically to each other until they passed out.
