⇾ 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐍𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓 𝐁𝐄𝐅𝐎𝐑𝐄 | 𝐏𝐚𝐮𝐥 𝐌𝐜𝐂𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐧𝐞𝐲 𝐈

𝘾𝙝𝙖𝙥𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙁𝙤𝙪𝙧 ➪ 𝘼𝙡𝙡 𝙂𝙤𝙤𝙙 𝙈𝙚𝙢𝙤𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙨

ꕥ May 3, 1966 ꕥ
Juliette's POV

I made it back to Caroline and I's place with tears running down my face. My head was still hurting so bad and I'd just walked all the way home, so I was anything, and everything but happy. I kept thinking about Paul.

I kept thinking about the look in his eyes as he was trying so desperately to help me as I was leaving. Deep in his mesmerizing stare, there did seem to be genuine guilt, but I still didn't want to admit it. He was a womanizer. He didn't have feelings for me. He just wanted the sex.

Well, there you go, Paul, I thought bitterly. You win! You got it!

I entered the apartment quietly, hoping to not be heard, but Caroline's door immediately opened and her head poked out into the hallway.

"Juliette!" she said loudly. "I was so worried!"

I stumbled my way over to the couch and collapsed onto it, pulling my knees to my chest. It was barely three seconds before Caroline was sitting next to me. "Where were you?" she asked nervously.

I gave her a terrified look. I really didn't want to say it out loud. I felt ashamed as she noticed tears gathering in my eyes. Fuck, I hated crying.

"Jules, what is it?" Caroline asked gently, reaching over to take her best friend's hand.

"You're gonna laugh at me," I said regretfully. I wanted nothing more than to take back the past twelve hours. I wished I'd never met Paul. I wished I'd never gone out with Caroline and Harry last night. All it did was make my life worse than it already had been.

"I won't laugh!" Caroline argued. "Come on, tell me."

I felt my cheeks turn a bright red before I had even opened my mouth to speak, just remembering what I was about to say out loud. "I had sex," I admitted and Caroline immediately broke out into a sympathetic look, and was ready to lean over and hug me, but I spoke again and she stopped dead in her tracks. "With Paul McCartney."

She pulled back away from me and I watched as her mouth fell open in complete and utter shock. Clearly, she had not been expecting that.

"You what?" she asked and Harry appeared behind her. She hadn't even noticed him come in and she was still staring at me in attempt to get me to talk, but I definitely wasn't talking about this with him standing right there.

"Oh, glad to see you're ba—," he began, but Caroline had already made it over to him before he could finish and was pushing him towards the front door. He quickly went to finish tying his tie and she opened the door and pushed him out.

"I love you!" Caroline said to him enthusiastically, placing a quick kiss on his lips. "Now, away!"

"I—," he began, but the door swung shut right in his face.

"He's going to hate you someday," I told her with a nervous chuckle.

"Well, he needs to understand that when you and I need to talk, we're going to talk. No boys zone! Now, tell me everything!" She plopped down in front of me with a smile.

"I really don't want to," I admitted, suddenly overcome with emotion. "I really wish I could take it back," I choked out, beginning to cry.

"Juliette!" Caroline said, reading over to wrap me in a bone-breaking hug. "It's okay! It'll all be okay!"

"Caroline, my parents are going to disown me," I expressed melancholically. "You know how they are about this stuff! They're insane!"

"Hey, what they don't know won't hurt them," Caroline replied with a cheeky grin.

I swallowed. "I'm terrible at keeping secrets. Especially if it's a big one like this!" I began to cry again and she leaned back in for another hug.

"Aww, poor child!" Caroline teased. "It's okay, girl. Just think. By next month, it'll probably be a distant memory. Just don't let your parents find out and it'll be good!"

I chuckled. "This is why they hate you. You're such a bad influence."

"Hey, how would you get along without your scandalous other half?" She smirked.

"Now, be honest with yourself, did you enjoy yourself last night? Paul McCartney has probably had sex with millions of girls. I bet it was amazing." She shuddered just thinking about it, giving me a teasing look.

I cringed. "Really didn't want to be reminded that I'm probably one of millions," I mumbled. "It was...it was fine, I guess."

In reality, it was more than fine. It really was amazing. I just didn't have to guts to admit it. I was still so upset over the fact that I was no longer a virgin that I didn't want to admit that I had actually enjoyed every moment of it. Admittedly, it was hard to remember every little thing, but everything I could remember? All good memories.

"Fine?" Caroline cocked an eyebrow. "He's like fucking Eros."

I rolled my eyes. "My head hurts. Have you got anything to help?" I asked with a frown. "I drank way too much last night. Clearly."

She laughed. "Been there! Come on, I'll give you something to help."

I stood up and followed her into the kitchen, cradling my head in my hands. "God, what a fucking night," I said. I groaned as she handed me a glass of water and a pill, a sympathetic look on her face. "We've got to work this afternoon too."

Caroline and I both worked at a fancy little restaurant down the road from here. We usually always worked in the afternoons, which was perfectly fine with us, and we were paid enough to where it paid the bills. We were both in search of a better job, but deep down, we really liked it there.

"Well, you better get some sleep then. Let that medicine kick in."

I swallowed the bitter pill and gagged slightly at the taste. "Right, thanks." I turned around and started to walk away, but she stopped me by calling my name. "What is it?"

"What did you say to Paul this morning?" she asked.

"What do you think I said? I told him exactly how I felt. He couldn't even remember my name!"

"Sheesh," she replied. "What did he say to you?"

I blushed. "He offered to take me out for breakfast. What a manipulative little—."

"And you didn't go?" she asked incredulously. "That would have been the perfect time to demand he take you to the most expensive restaurant in town! He has got the money, that's for sure."

I laughed. "I'm going to sleep," I told her.

"Have a nice nap, I-slept-with-Paul-McCartney."

"Okay, screw you," I laughed as I turned back around and started towards my room. I changed into a pair of janky sweatpants and a long sleeved pajama shirt, dead-set on being the most comfortable I could possibly be.

Then, I climbed under my covers and finally began to think. I flipped the lamp on my nightstand off and stared up at the ceiling. My blackout curtains didn't keep every little bit of light out, but it was definitely enough to get by.

I thought about Paul. Deep in his eyes, he had looked slightly upset. He genuinely did seem to care about how I felt, but I figured that was all apart if his act. His image maybe. Even so, I wondered how many other girls he had chased down after using them for sex. I wagered it probably wasn't a whole lot. I wondered if I was special. Maybe I were the only girl he'd ever chased down. I didn't know.

Oh, don't be preposterous, I thought, rolling over to face the wall where there were no windows and absolutely no light.

I closed my eyes finally, counting in my head in attempt to help myself fall asleep.

1, 2, 3, 4, 5...

By the time I'd made it to 258, I was fast asleep.