⇾ 𝐈𝐓'𝐒 𝐎𝐍𝐋𝐘 𝐋𝐎𝐕𝐄 | 𝐉𝐨𝐡𝐧 𝐋𝐞𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐧 𝐈𝐈

Chapter Ninety: What Are the Odds of That?

oMg oMg enjoy😭

July 6, 1964

I was aware of the thousands of people around me. I could feel John arm around my waist and I felt that's what kept me sane.

It had been a challenge to get to where we were now at all. The crowds were huge and more violent than they usually were. For a split second, it didn't seem like we were going to get there at all. When we finally did, we only had time to be rushed into the cinema. We got a brief moment of quiet to regain our composure.

I noticed that John's bow tie was slightly crooked and gave him a little smirk before I fixed it back into place.

"Thank ye, love," he said with a dopey grin.

We were standing in a foyer, the boys up front and being stared at by all the more royal guests—if you must—along with, of course, the press.

Out of the blue, Lord Snowdown, of all people, decided to ask a question: "What in the world is a grotty shirt?"

Jane, Maureen, Pattie, and I, who were all standing together, looked at each other with amusement etched into each of our faces. The two royals standing in front looked at the boys expectantly, and the Princess shook her head.

John decided to speak up. "It means simply, grotesque—just a word we used to describe a shirt in the film."

The two royals then explained that they'd seen it in a review and were curious to know what it meant.

After a while, someone new came up to our little group and told us exactly where we'd be going to watch the film. He led us down a hallway and finally into one of the rooms where there were already hordes of people seated. They all seemed to be respectable people and didn't explode into screaming like we'd all been expecting.

In the crowd were a few familiar faces: royalty and musicians, among them the Rolling Stones.

Down below, however, things were different. We were up in the royal row, down below was everyone else. They were all shouting up at us, but eventually the yelling faded into a rendition of "Happy Birthday," dedicated to Ringo, whose birthday was, in fact, tomorrow.

We all looked over to Ringo, whose face had turned red, but he was smiling nonetheless. We all joined in, laughing, and everyone cheered when the song was over.

Not even ten minutes later, the film began to play.

~~~

I remember everyone screaming during the film. I remember having to leave halfway through to calm myself down in the bathroom. I remember John leaning over to me and asking if I was alright about a hundred times. I remember saying yes every time.

It was a good movie. We all got a good laugh out of it and I was proud of the boys for how it had come together. They all seemed pretty proud of it too, which was viewed as a success all around.

We left before the rest of the people so the boys could get out to the room before the crowds.

"How was it, how was it, how was it?" John asked me optimistically, bouncing up and down like a little child.

"It was great!" I responded. "I loved it."

He smiled. "Yay, yay, yay, yay!"

"John, get your arse up here," Paul said and John turned around and joined the other three, smacking Paul in arm just as the rest of the people began to come in and there was simply nothing Paul could do about it.

After the boys were bombarded with questions and they were content with the fact that everyone seemed to enjoy the movie, we were snuck back into another car to be taken to a party just down the road at the Dorchester Hotel.

Once we made it there, John kept his arm around my waist and danced us over to the counter to get a drink.

"You know what happened last time I drank?" I asked him with a cocked eyebrow.

He leaned against the bar and scratched his chin sarcastically. "You were sick for a week straight?"

"Correct!" I tapped him on the nose. "So what makes you think that giving me something is a good idea."

The bartender sat two drinks in front of him and he passed one to me with a sly smirk. "Well, if you just give up, you'll never get better, now will you, Donna?" He raised his glass and motioned for me to do the same. I rolled my eyes, but complied, lifting my glass and clicking it to his.

He took a sip of his and I did too, tentatively. The champagne burned its way down my throat, but I still smiled at him in approval.

"Now, let's go socialize." He took my free hand and we weaved our way through the sea of people around us, searching for someone to talk to.

"John Lennon." We turned around and were face-to-face with none other than Mick Jagger.

"Mr. Jagger," greeted John, bowing teasingly.

"Nice movie," commented Mick. "And who's this?" Mick added, shifting his gaze and gesturing to me.

"Donna," I squeaked nervously, blushing when my voice ended up sounding like a chipmunk.

"My fiancé," John added matter-of-factly. "You'll have to forgive her. She gets nervous around new people." I managed to kick him in the back of the leg, making him stumble slightly.

"No need to be nervous, love," said Mick to me. "I don't bite."

"Right."

"How's everything going with the Stones?" asked John optimistically in attempt to start up a conversation.

"Oh, fine, fine," replied Mick.

"I heard through the grapevine that your fans started to go at it with our fans just earlier," said John, an amused smile on his face.

"That right?" asked Mick. "They really must think we don't like one another, don't they?"

"Apparently so," replied John. The two of them laughed and we bid Mick a goodbye and a thank you before going to find another person to chat with.

"Hey, hey, would you listen to that, Donna?" John stopped me and pointed up to the ceiling.

"Huh?"

"Listen."

I did. I stopped and listened, realizing only now that they were playing music. The song John had heard was "Words of Love." I smiled fondly when I heard it.

"Hear it?" asked John.

"I do," I replied. "John, we gotta play this at the wedding."

A new look dawned on his face—a thoughtful one. "Donna?" asked John.

My face broke into the same look his did. We both seemed to walk through a waterfall of confusion.

"Yes?" I asked.

Both of us paused.

"Let's get married tomorrow," we said in complete unison, grinning when we realized we'd both had the same realization.

What are the odds of that?