Stop Crying Your Heart Out - McLennon AU

39.

4th May, 1963

It was now 6pm, and John had calmed down and stopped crying not too long before. Julian was fast asleep in his Moses basket, clearly getting too big for it.

The two men were cuddled up on the couch, John's head rested on Paul's chest, listening to every single beat of his heart. There was some weird TV show on, but John wasn't sure what, he was more concentrated on his boyfriend.

But it was the knock on the door that made him jump.

"Hey, calm down, hun." Paul soothed, slowly sitting up. "I'll just go and get it, yeah?"

"A-Alright."

When Paul stood up and headed for the door, John headed for the kitchen to clean his face. Whoever it was, John certainly didn't want the person to see he had been crying.

"Oh hello?" He heard his boyfriend say, in a cheery and slightly nervous voice, from the corridor.

John couldn't help but lean back to see who it was, the flannel of water still pressed to his face. When he saw George and Ringo stood there, the younger of the two looking slightly unsettled, he cursed to himself.

"Fuck." He mumbled.

John knew exactly why they were there, and he was terrified. George still remembered what he'd saw, and Ringo believed him too.

Oh God, what if they hate me? Like in my dream...

The man threw the flannel back in the sink in stress, hearing Paul lead them into the living room. He knew that Paul would also be shitting himself, after all, he was the one who was originally so worried that same morning.

After a few seconds of staring into the sink, his hands gripping the counter tightly, someone walked into the room behind him. He knew who it was.

"What are we gonna say?" John asked, keeping his voice low, not turning around.

"I don't know... But we can't lie." The younger sighed. "We just have to be honest. I mean, like you told me this mornin', we've all been friends for years... I honestly don't think they'd throw that away."

"Yeah..." John spoke, turning his head around. "God your perfect red lips look so, so kissable right now."

"Mhm... Yours do too." Paul spoke, looking longingly at his lips. "But not yet, don't want them to walk in again do we?" He joked.

They both slightly chucked, Paul leading the way back into the living room.

Ringo was stood, looking inside of the Moses basket at the baby, whereas George was sat on the couch and biting his nails, staring intensely at the ground. He didn't even notice the two men enter the room. Ringo however, did notice.

"Hey." He smiled, turning away from Julian.

"Hi." Paul returned, noticing John's loss for words. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah. Yeah 'm fine." He nodded, raising a hand to be back of his head. The eldest moved towards George, making him jump slightly when he sat down next to him.

John and Paul took that as their queue to sit down too, taking a seat on the other couch, trying not to sit too closely together.

"So, what is it that you came here for?" Paul asked, still trying to hide his fear.

"Well, Geo wanted to say somethin', actually. Didn't you?"

The youngest nodded slowly, lifting his head up.

"I- Uh... I was very drunk on Saturday night, so I mean if this isn't true, then I'm sorry. B-But guys, I'm pretty sure I know what I saw..."

He does know.

He did see it.

But John wanted to wait for him to say it, wait for him to say how he'd seen two of his best friends snogging in an alleyway, absolutely no care if anyone caught them.

"Did you... We're you two makin' out?" He asked, his voice low.

Paul looked to John, who nodded. They looked like two schoolboys who were being scolded by the headteacher.

"Yes."

"W-" He stopped himself, looking back at the ground. "Are you two... Together?"

"Yes." John replied this time.

"Lads, please don't be mad... We just- We cant help it if-"

"Hey, Paulie, calm down." Ringo smiled. "We're not mad... Are we Geo?"

"No. Not at all." He shook his head.

"We just thought it would be better to talk about it. You know?"

The two boys looked relieved.

"You don't think it's disgustin'?" Asked John

"Lenny, of course not." George now smiled, feeling more relaxed. "Oh God, I've been at Ritchie's all mornin' and afternoon thinkin' of what to do and to say. Infact, I haven't been to my flat all day."

"Because you were worryin' about what you were gonna say?"

"Yeah." He now chuckled.

"Georgie if anyone should be worried, it'd be us." Paul teased.

"Yeah, I know. I just want sure what to say just incase I was wrong."

"Yeah..." John spoke.

After a few seconds, Ringo spoke up too.

"How long?"

"Like two weeks, I think." Replied John. "But it just felt so right, you know? I mean, at the beginning, I hated myself for it and I thought Julian was going to grow up to hate me, but I realised that isn't true."

"Of course that's not true." The elder replied.

"This... This shouldn't be awkward between us all." George spoke. "I mean, we're still the same as before, right? Those four boys who have been friends for most of school, even though we were all in different years?"

"Yeah." John and Paul replied, eagerly.

"Of course." Ringo smiled.

"Yeah, the last thing we want is for this to be awkward." Paul spoke.

"But boys, you really need to be careful." Ringo spoke. "I mean, anybody could have seen you, not just George."

"Yeah, yeah we know." John replied instantly.

"So we're you together like most of Saturday night? Because to be honest, we hardly saw you." George laughed.

"Oh God yeah. To be honest, Paul probably got as drunk as you, Geo." John smirked. "At one point he almost fell from a stool at the bar. And when we got into the taxi he was talkin' utter nonsense."

They all laughed, all of the previous worries going away. They all told jokes and everything, just like they used to, and John couldn't have been happier.

He was glad that it wasn't just his and Paul's secret anymore, and was even more glad that it was George and Ringo who knew. After all, they deserved to know, they were all best friends.

In a way, he was glad George walked in on them too, knowing that it would have been a long while before he and Paul had fully confessed. But George and Ringo were supportive, even if George was asking tones of questions.

And if John thought he was happy before, then he was even happier now.