The Blue Danube [OLD]

- 𝔱𝔥𝔦𝔯𝔱𝔶 𝔢𝔦𝔤𝔥𝔱. ﾐ

They had so much money, more than he knew what to deal with - it wouldn't matter if John stole a couple thousand pounds, it would barely dent the amount they had. He wouldn't be able to tell anyone where they were going, of course. Not even Cynthia, even if she was in support of their choice; it was too dangerous. He loved her, but not in the way he was meant to, and not enough to stay in the life he was always so unhappy with. Never fitting in with any of them, no matter how hard he tried. He could never be a stone-hearted aristocrat, he didn't have it in him to do so.

The only problem - convincing Paul. And George and Ringo too, quite frankly. He didn't want to go without any of them. John didn't want to pluck them from their lives, away from their family and friends and take them away into an entirely new world... it just wasn't fair. What if they didn't want to leave? If he asked, would they ever be committed enough to go through with it? What if they agree at first, but pull out at the last minute? It was a terrifying thought. He desperately wanted them to come with him, away from it all to a place where they could truly be happy. But Paul had a family who loved him. His father, albeit being strict and hard-working - did love him, and wanted the best for him. Mike! His brother! As if Paul would just up and ditch his brother; it wasn't right. Both George and Ringo too- they had families who loved them, and Ringo was also middle class. They also had a better situation for their relationship, they weren't from such wildly different social statuses, and had excuses to hang out, unlike Paul and John. They had too much to lose if they left. Even if George and Paul were working-class and struggled to make a living, having to begin working before 10 years of age and beg and steal and strive to survive; they've been doing so for their entire lives and made it that far. They would manage perfectly fine, just as they did for all those years before.

His heart truly ached at that - he yearned so desperately to escape, to run away from it all and create a new life where he was truly in control of his own, he had no duties to the royal family, none of that bullshit that he couldn't bring himself to ever care about, and a place where he could truly be content with his lover. Someone he actually was in love with now. He had been doing so for the majority of his life; sneaking away god knows how many times, to the heart of the city where he would blend in with the crowd, pretending he was just any other regular citizen, a place where he felt truly at ease and that he belonged. It was time to make the final leap of faith and abandon his hell of a life for good.

But what was the point of it, if Paul, George or Ringo weren't with him? Without them, it felt like a total waste. There wasn't any use in running away if they weren't going to be there every step of the way.

John blinked, gazing for one last prolonged moment into the storm outside before turning away, his footsteps echoing through the cold, empty halls of the silent manor; eyes to the floor, shoulders hunched in despair. There's no escaping my fate.

-

"Alright! Is every last thing in place? The orchestra, the food?-" Mimi was darting about the entire manor in a flurry of red silk and anxiety, making sure every last thing was in its proper place.

The front doors were propped open to welcome the guests into their (not so) humble abode, the front greeting area all dressed up with tables of flowers and a place to leave wedding gifts; off to the left, the first door in the hallway, was where the ballroom was situated, and maids and waiters stood near it, ready to greet people inside, take their coats to the coatroom and check them off the list to make sure there weren't any unwelcome intruders. George was among that group, dressed up impeccably in his spotless uniform, hands behind his back, staring expressionless in front of him. Him and John had shared a glance, his friend's eyes soft with sympathy, but they weren't able to talk when others were around, so they just shared a polite nod before John continued on his way.