Any Time At All - McLennon and Starrison

Twenty

    George's POV

    The three of us stood in shock after Paul pushed me out of the way and rushed out of sight. We all thought something was wrong, but didn't think it would make him this upset. We began to move in silence as we brought our things into the room, closing the door and locking it behind us. It wasn't long until we started to hear Paul crying off in a different room of the suite.

    "Should we check on him?" Ringo asked slowly, looking at the two of us with sadness in his eyes. I looked to John, who looked like he was about to freak out on us. He was frozen, staring off into space with a look of sadness and fear on his face. I tapped his shoulder lightly, trying to get his attention.

    "John? You there mate?" I asked, waving my hand in front of his face. He quickly blinked and looked at Ringo and I, his expression just a bit softer. "Yeah, sorry," he mumbled, looking away from me. Ringo eyed him curiously, waiting for him to register what was going on.

    "Oh sh*t, Paul!" He exclaimed suddenly, running off to find him. Ringo and I followed, a bit confused at how worried he seemed over Paul. We found him at the bathroom door, knocking softly and whispering something we couldn't hear. It was quite the sight for me at least. John was never this gentle with anyone, not even Paul most of the time.

    "Paul? Do you want to talk?" I asked, pressing my ear against the door. His crying had gotten quieter since John had found him, but he wasn't responding or making a move to open the door. Ringo looked at John and I with sadness in his eyes, concern for one of his best mates clearly being the only thing on his mind.

    "We're here for you Paul, we want to help you," Ringo said softly, moving to stand next to John against the door. Paul only sobbed harder at that, which took us by surprise. Ringo had a look of guilt in his eyes as he mumbled a 'sorry' through the door, and I gave him a pat on the back as to comfort him. John just sighed and turned his back to the door, blinking fast and looking up at the light above our heads.

    John turned back and pressed his hand to the door, clearly in his own world. He closed his eyes and rested his forehead on the door, taking deep breaths every few seconds. He opened his mouth to say something, but bit his lip and opened his eyes, pulling away from the door with a look of remorse on his face.

    "Let's just leave him alone," he mumbled, walking past Ringo and I into the main room of our suite. Ringo looked at the door Paul was still locked behind and then to me, almost asking me what we should do. I just shrugged and sighed in defeat, waving my hand and gesturing away from the door.

    "Why is he so hurt? Did we do something? Was it because of that letter?" John kept asking these questions to no one in particular as he paced around the room. I eyed him curiously, still quite shocked at how worried he was. I walked up to him and put my hands on his shoulders, stopping him from pacing. I shook him just a bit to get his attention, snapping him from his thoughts.

    "Calm down John, just give him a little bit and then we'll talk to him," I explained, still holding him by the shoulders. He nodded and sighed, sitting next to Ringo who was now on the couch. I made my way to an empty armchair, possibilities of what could be going on with Paul spinning in my mind. He had been so happy and excited, and he just went down in an instant.

    "Do you think it was that letter?" Ringo eventually asked, breaking the tense silence that was hanging in the air. John just shrugged and started biting his nails, not looking at either of us. Ringo gave me a look and nodded towards John, signaling that something was definitely off with him. I just nodded and crossed my arms, looking down the hall where Paul was still locked in the bathroom.

    "What's got you so worried John?" I questioned, trying to not sound like I was suspicious of him. I was surprised when he suddenly looked up, a fearful look on his face. I raised an eyebrow at him when he didn't answer, and he just sighed as a response.

    "It's nothing, I'm just a bit concerned is all," he replied, glancing down the hallway for the hundredth time. Ringo chuckled a bit and rested his hand on John's shoulder, making him turn back to us. "That's an understatement John, you're shaking." He pointed to John's leg, which was slightly bouncing up and down as he sat. John put his hands on his legs to stop them from shaking and continued to look down the hall.

    "You're never this worried about anyone John," I jumped in, trying to get him to fess up. I didn't know exactly what it could be, but I had a theory that was based on his behavior towards Paul that had been somewhat obvious the past almost two months. He just shook his head and his face started to get red, which only gave me more evidence to my theory.

    "I'm fine, nothing's wrong. I'm just worried about him," he defended, crossing his arms with aggravation starting to show in his voice. Ringo prodded at him like a child, poking his shoulder before moving to his side, where we all knew he was a bit ticklish. He flinched at the contact and smiled a bit before moving away from Ringo. "I will gladly kill you if you keep doing that."

    "Come on John, we know something's up. Just tell us," Ringo whined, sounding like a child as he did so. I looked at John, whose face was turning more and more red by the second. "Nothing's up." I rolled my eyes at him and crossed my legs, waiting for him to crack.

    "But it's so weird to see you like this. We're your best mates, you can tell us anything," Ringo said, looking at John with sad, puppy eyes. John huffed and turned away, his attention on the soft crying coming from down the hall. "I can't tell you this," he eventually mumbled, looking down at his feet.

    "Of course you can John, you can tell us anything. We aren't out to hurt you." Ringo turned him around to look at him, but John just kept looking down, avoiding our gazes. "You would be if I told you," he said, sadness clearly showing in the tone of his voice. Ringo and I looked at eachother, our expressions softening as we realized how scared John was of whatever he was hiding.

    "Did you do something John?" I asked, raising my eyebrow at him. He frowned at me and crossed his arms, looking away. "No, I didn't do anything," he said in an angry tone, his voice raising loud enough to try and get us to leave him alone while being quiet enough that Paul wouldn't hear.

    "Then why are you getting so defensive?" Ringo asked, raising his voice just a bit too. I could tell they were both getting frustrated, and I was a tad afraid that they would make eachother angry before we were able to get anywhere.

    John stood up suddenly, his face red and frustrated. He clenched his fists and stared down the hall, clearly trying not to get angry for Paul's sake alone. He opened his mouth to say something, but Ringo interrupted before he could get any words out. "Why are you so afraid of talking to us John?"

    "Because I love him!"

    Hello everyone! First off, thank you so much for one THOUSAND reads! It blows my mind, and I'm so grateful for every one of you reading this story. I unfortunately will not be posting the next chapter on Sunday like I usually would though. Something happened in my personal life that hit me really hard, so I'm going to be trying to handle that on top of schoolwork. I'm really sorry about this! I'll post the next chapter on Tuesday!

    Stay safe and healthy everyone <3