"John! Why weren't you at school yesterday?"
John tugged his frayed school blazer tighter against his body as he jogged to catch up with his best friend; a wintry breeze nipped at his flushed cheeks, clothes flapping in the wind as he hurried along, cupping his hands around the flame of his lighter to keep it from going out as he attempted to light his cigarette. The sky above was ominously grey, a regular occurrence in the English autumn season. They were going to have to prepare themselves for the constant rain, and eventual snow in winter. Not like we aren't used to it, though.
Ringo was across the street, waiting expectantly with his arms crossed, smoking a cigarette of his own, shirt untucked and shoelaces untied. He looked jittery and uncomfortable at being in the cold like everyone else seemed to be, since everyone had gotten accustomed to the heat. They'd have to start wearing coats and scarves everywhere.
"Sorry, Rings." He puffed, slowing when he finally reached him, smiling apologetically. "I just.. needed to be alone for a bit. Y'know?" He lifted a hand to rub at his temple tiredly. "I'm sick of school and it's only been a week and a half."
"That's okay," the azure eyed boy smiled at him as they began their usual trek to the academy; "sorry, didn't have time to get us teas or anythin'."
"Aw, I woulda loved one!" John groaned. "Oh well." He wouldn't admit it, but he was feeling strangely warm inside already - when he thought of Paul. He'd apologised to him for what he said, and it seemed he'd actually accepted it. Could they possibly be entering better territory in their relationship? He didn't think Paul was the type to forgive easily. Well, John wasn't either. But it was harder for him to admit mistakes. Don't get your hopes up too much, Lennon, he told himself. Just cause he accepted the apology doesn't mean he's forgiven you nor wants to be friends. But.. it wasn't totally out of line. They had a few things in common. They should at least not argue all the time for the sake of their friends.
"Hey, what's got you so smiley?" Ringo's voice tore him from his reverie.
"Huh?" He lifted his head, blinking innocently at him. He hadn't realised he'd been smiling.. fuck. Ringo always notices everything, damnit! He forced his lips into a straight line. "'m not smilin',"
"Yeah, you are. What happened, eh?" A grin spread across the older's face, and he bumped his shoulder into his, taking another drag of his cig. "I know something's up. C'mon, spill the beans!"
"Nothin' happened!" John insisted, raising his eyebrows at him. It seemed to not have worked, however, since Ringo just stared back at him silently, smug smile painted all over his face. "Ugh, fuckin' hell, Ringo. Fine.. somethin' happened."
"What was it? Did you pull a particularly fit bird or somethin'?" His eyes glittered excitedly.
"No, no!" John shook his head with a grimace. "That's the last thing I wanna do right now. I meant.. I talked to Paul."
"Oh. Did you guys finally work shit out?" The azure-eyed boy's excitement turned to confusion and slight hope. He obviously doubted that they'd actually somewhat made up.
"I mean-" John shrugged, taking a long puff of his cigarette, expelling the smoke with a sigh. "sort of? I had.. said some pretty dumb things 'cause I was feelin' all spiteful. I- I apologised, and he took it with a grain of salt, I guess. That was it. Not us becomin' friends or anythin'.."
"John.." Ringo furrowed his brows, staring at him suspiciously. "what'd you say to him?"
"Uh-" John pressed his lips together, feeling his cheeks flush with embarrassment as he rubbed the back of his neck, trying not to show his nervousness. "nothing,"
"Ugh, you can never keep yer fuckin' mouth shut, can you, Lennon?" The older groaned, slapping his hands over his face before turning to glare at him; albeit, there wasn't any real anger in his eyes.
The auburn-haired boy faltered. His gaze dropped to the ground and he shoved his hands in his pockets, discarding his cigarette and stomping it out before continuing on.
Ringo seemed to relax and he let out a sigh, rubbing John's shoulder comfortingly. "'s okay. As long as you apologised to him. And, y'know what?"
"What?" The younger lifted his head.
"That's some development right there. John Lennon apologisin'??" He laughed incredulously. "Somethin' must've happened in yer brain."
"I guess it did. The arsehole side of me decided to step back for a second to let the slightly less of an arsehole side of me take over."
"Very nice of yer arsehole side!" Ringo laughed. "Oh, and how was yer date with Cyn? Stu told me he'd seen you two walking from the diner,"
"Oh-" John grimaced. "That. I, uhm.. broke up with her. That's how it was."
His friend fell silent for a moment. "Jeez, 'm sorry. Well, you did say you didn't really feel anythin' for her, so that's good yer not leadin' her on anymore."
"Yeah. It's not right. She took it really well, though. She's lovely." He kicked idly at a leaf - as he glanced up, he realised they had made it to school already, kids swarming in from the bus or walking in, ready to start the day. He groaned and rubbed at his tired eyes. "Fuck, it's too early for this."
"It's always too early for school, honestly," Ringo laughed. "I-" He seemed about to continue talking, but cut himself off when he seemed to spot someone in the distance. His gaze lit up with happiness and he called out "Oi, Geo!" before hurrying away. John hurried after him to not lose him in the crowd, and saw as they got closer - George waiting impatiently by the gates, grinning widely when he spotted the two of them. Paul was also standing bedside him, looking distant and gazing at the crowd around him. At anyone but him and Ringo.
"Rings! John!" The youngest of the group ran forward to meet them; him and Ringo shared a brief hug while the almond-eyed boy greeted him by pulling him into a headlock and ruffling his hair like he usually did.
"Hey! I spent ages on this!" George protested, reaching up to try and style it back into its original quiff with a pout. John, being the little devil he was, watched on with a snicker.
"Come'ead, let's go before we're gonna get detention for bein' late again." Ringo gestured for them to follow as he began to make his way into the school. They all followed behind, the oldest of the four falling into conversation with George.
John fell behind near the back, a metre or so behind Paul. He felt suddenly awkward again, and he couldn't help but sneak a glance in his direction. The doe-eyes boy was gazing at the ground with his hands in his blazer pockets. He was wearing a jumper under his jacket and a thick black scarf, a new addition to his uniform, John guessed. He always wore the grey jumper with it but since it was getting colder, he was wearing a scarf too. His nose had been dusted pink from the cold, and his cheeks were beet red against his pallid skin. Why am I focusing on him so much? Who cares? He shook his head as if to clear himself of his thoughts.
"Helloo? John and Paul?" A hand was waved in front of his face and he snapped back to reality with a jump; as he stepped back, his shoulder bumped into Paul's and the two leapt away from each other like they'd been burnt. He felt his face flare up like he'd been caught doing something weird. George stared at them both with curiosity and confusion. "What's goin' on with you two?"
"Nothing!" The pair spoke in unison - causing them to glance at each other in surprise. Paul's cheeks flushed even more than they were from the cold and they immediately turned away and looked to the floor, John twiddling his thumbs anxiously and letting out a small cough. His cheeks burned even more and his heart was beating erratically. Jesus, what's wrong with me right now?
George dissolved into laughter at their expressions, looking even more interested than he was before. "What's with you guys? Yer actin' really weird. What happened??"
"Nothin'! Stop asking." Paul huffed, sticking his nose in the air and storming away dramatically. John almost found it amusing.
"I'll go after him," Ringo offered, running to catch up with the raven-haired boy. George turned to John with an even more confused expression.
"John, what happened between you two? Did you fight again or somethin'?"
"Oh, no no-" John shook his head quickly. "Well, uh. Some-some stuff happened and we did fight but I apologised. And like we sort of- made up. A bit. I dunno."
"Oh my god!" George exclaimed, grinning more widely than John had ever seen him do, revealing his sharp canines. "So you guys are friends now?"
"I wouldn't count on it," He sighed. "I'd say I just did somethin' stupid and he accepted my apology and that was it. Don't think we're gonna be anymore than reluctant acquaintances."
"Oh," George faltered, but he didn't seem to get upset; instead a sly grin ran across his face and his eyes sparkled as if he just found out a new idea. "well that's too bad then."
John watched the lanky boy in bewilderment as he skipped away happily, whistling a tune to himself as he went. I wonder what put him in such a good mood.
-
"Hey, John! Yer performance on Tuesday was gear, man! Yer a great guitarist."
The auburn-haired boy looked up from his desk with a blink of his tired eyes; Pete Shotton was smiling back at him from his seat in front of John and Ringo. He forced a smile, whacking his friend on the back.
"Thanks, Pete."
John turned back to his book, picking up his pen and twirling it in his fingers - he'd been scribbling away and drawing random faces to pass the time during class, bored out of his mind as always and not paying attention to anything Mr Martin was saying. He'd only been listening at the beginning of class when the teacher said "Stay back at the end of the lesson to collect your results for your performance!". After that, he simply tuned out, like always.
He'd been doing his best to keep his mind off Paul. He didn't know why the kid was invading his mind so much, and it was beginning to frustrate him. He'd never thought about the boy this much than he had been that day. He kept instinctively looking over to him, wondering about tiny things like "that's a nice pen. I wonder if Paul would like it" or "does he have a favourite movie? I wonder what his favourite type of ice cream is."
God, shut up, John! He clenched his teeth in annoyance, crossing his arms over the desk and glaring down at his work book. You sound like a stupid dizzy bird.
His breath hitched in his throat at a sudden realisation; fingers freezing in their twirling movements, the pen sliding from his grasp. He didn't even notice. I'm not catching feelings for him, am I? He shook his head quickly, clenching his eyes shut. No way! That's the worst thing I could possibly do. You're not liking Paul, okay John? ANYONE but Paul. He hates your guts. And is probably as straight as a bloody ruler. Don't start falling for him now.
He lifted his gaze, trying to expel the constant amble of thoughts of Paul away and focus on what's around him. He turned to glance at Ringo, seeing him chatting idly to George, who still looked as excited as he did before they went into class. What was up with him? John tilted his head in curiosity. He's had some epiphany or something after I told him about my apology to Paul.
Speaking of the droopy-eyed boy - he was listening intently to the teacher on the other side of George, chewing on his bottom lip in concentration as he stared ahead before writing something down with knitted brows. John felt his heart jolt strangely while gazing at him, cheeks flushing hotly; he quickly looked back down at his book, pressing his lips together to try and keep a straight face. Jesus christ, stop it Lennon! You're NOT gonna start liking Paul.
"Guys! Class has ended, let's go up and get our grades!" Paul turned to them with an excited glint in his eye, nudging for George to get up as he rose to his feet. John tried not to think about the (unfortunately cute) excitement in his gaze as the three of them scrambled to follow the raven-haired boy. There were quite a few people having lined up already, waiting to collect their scores - so of course, everyone was pushing to get there first so they could leave the class quicker. Mr Martin stood next to his desk, handing out the papers with the results from their task as quickly as he could, looking frustrated at all the bombarding. Eventually, the four of them got to the front, Paul being the most eager to find out what their grades were.
"Ah, the 'Fabulous Four!'" Their teacher greeted them with a pleased smile. "You four displayed quite the performance on Tuesday. I'm very impressed."
"Fabulous Four?" George echoed, looking confused.
"I like it!" Ringo grinned. "Maybe shorten it to 'fab', though."
"Fab Four! That's fun!" John laughed. He tried not to pay attention to the fact that Paul's lips quirked up in a small smile.
"Here are your grades, Mr Harrison, Mr Starkey," Mr Martin collected their paper and handed it to them, Ringo taking it was a thanks before peering at it.
"What is it?" The four of them crowded around him to see.
"A+!" George exclaimed, turning to look at their teacher in confusion. "Really?"
"Yes. You two had a very good work ethic, and good songwriting and performance." He smiled at them encouragingly. "You both worked well with John and Paul for the final bit."
"I knew you two would get it!" John smacked them both on the back in congratulations.
"What about us?" Paul piped up.
"Here-" The man handed them their paper. John couldn't really bring himself to feel very excited about it, but seeing how much the doe-eyed boy was itching to know made him more interested himself.
"An A.." Paul spoke out loud, brows furrowed.
"Shit! Can't remember the time I got an A!" The older's eyes went wide in shock. An A?? Wow, working with Paul gave me a good grade. Obviously. I can tell he's very determined to get good grades.
"Language, Lennon." Mr Martin corrected him sternly. John smiled sheepishly and apologised with a duck of his head. "The reason it's an A and not an A+ is because of your work ethic. I had to take off a few marks, because of the fact that you two couldn't get past your disagreements to work on your assignment."
Paul faltered. He seemed disappointed by the mark, and even more disappointed that marks had been taken off because they couldn't get along. John felt a bit bad. The boy was at the academy on scholarship and he would have to maintain perfect grades to be able to stay, while John didn't have to really bother.
"Now run along, I have work to do." Mr Martin waved them off. The four of them made their way out of the classroom; George and Ringo drew ahead while John lingered outside the door, feeling awkward.
"Paul?" He spoke up, coughing nervously - he twiddled his thumbs as the raven-haired boy paused and spun around to face him.
"Yeah?"
"Sorry about.. the grade. I know y'probably have ta keep up good scores. I didn't mean to bring down yer average." He felt his cheeks burn, but he tried his best to keep a cool demeanour, shoving his hands in his pockets.
"What? It's fine, really." Paul waved him off, looking as unaffected as ever. "'s not gonna happen again." With that, he turned to catch up to their friends.
"Hey Lenny, Paul!" Ringo greeted them as they came up behind the pair. "See you at lunch, Paul, yeah?"
"Yeah." Paul agreed before breaking off from the group to go to his next class. John had maths with Ringo and George now, so the four of them made their way to it. John shoved his hands in his pockets again, chewing on the inside of his cheek. He had to find a way to stop himself from catching feelings for Paul. How on earth would he do that, though? He couldn't let himself start liking him. He's the worst person he could ever like. He wasn't a bad guy, but it was a very bad idea to fall for him. Someone that until the past few days he disliked immensely. Or so he thought..
He'd have to find a solution soon.
-
"Hey, I wanted that!"
John held out the last carton of chocolate milk in front of his friend with a sly grin. George glared at him from eyes that seemed almost totally obscured by his dark, alarming brows, reaching out to snatch it from him - of course, he was unsuccessful and the smug boy plucked it out of his reach, holding it high above his head.
"Too bad! All mine now."
The auburn-haired boy let out a snicker at seeing George's petulant pout, crossing his arms with an annoyed huff. As he did so, he noticed that Paul's gaze bore into his side, making his laughter dissolve into fake coughs as he turned away, heart racing fast and stomach lurching oddly.
"Jesus, don't tease him that much, John!" Ringo joked, resting a hand on the frustrated boy's shoulder, smiling warmly down at him. "I'll share mine with you, if you want, Geo."
"Oh, thanks, Rings!" He grinned at him. All his anger melted away immediately, replaced by affection sparkling in his eyes. Jesus, they're really both in deep, John thought.
Deciding to fuck with them a little bit, he made a vomit noise and pretended to shove his fingers down his throat - this caused Ringo to step away with wide eyes, glaring at his best friend and making a cutting motion at his throat, cheeks beet red. George looked pretty embarrassed himself, looking down at the ground with a nervous rub of his neck. John grinned devilishly at the blueberry-eyed boy, sending a wink his way.
Paul was understandably watching the interaction with a confused furrow of his brows; John turned to him and shrugged his shoulders as if to say "I dunno!" making the younger's lips quirk up in a smile. It lasted only a second, though, since he quickly pressed his lips together to mask it and looked away, cheeks dusting pink for some reason.
"Anyways, 'm gonna go get a sandwich." The almond-eyed boy spoke up, gesturing to the cafeteria counter before making his way to the sandwich section.
"We'll go get a table!" Ringo called after him; he sent a stupid face their way and a thumbs up, making them laugh before they disappeared into the crowd of kids in the boisterous cafeteria.
"Now, let's see.." John muttered under his breath as he turned to the sandwiches. Deciding on just a ham, cheese, and lettuce, he picked it up and went up to the counter to pay for his food and drink. Once he'd done so, he squeezed his way through the crowd of kids to find his friends; he eventually spotted them at one of the tables at the very back, so he weaved his way through passersby to get to them.
He'd just reached the table, about to sit down next to Paul, when he heard a familiar voice call his name.
"Oi John! Come sit with us!"
He whirled around to see Stu, Kevin, both Pete's, Colin, and a few other guys were sitting on the biggest table, a few girls sitting with them. When he made eye contact with them, Pete Best and Colin stood up and made his way over to him, Stu looking awkward as he followed. One of the girls in particular was eyeing John up, but it just made him uncomfortable, standing there like an idiot with his food in front of the table where Ringo, George, and Paul were watching him uncertainly.
"Hey Ringo!-" Colin started as they jogged over; they fell short when they spotted them with Paul and George.
"What are you two doin' hangin' out with these losers?" Pete laughed incredulously. Stuart just looked like he wanted to be anywhere else but there.
"Hey arseholes! We're right here, y'know." Paul spoke up with a curl of his lip, glaring at them.
"Shut up, fag." Colin sneered. Paul grew even more enraged and leapt to his feet to stand nose to nose with the other.
"Say that again."
John's heart sank when he saw Paul's hands draw into fists; he stepped forward, not wanting a fight to break out. People were already beginning to stare and stop what they were doing to watch - they didn't need to start fighting and end up in detention. John would be suspended for sure.
"Just piss off, the lot of ya." He crossed his arms, staring them down as he stood next to the furious doe-eyed boy.
"What?" Pete Best tilted his head mockingly. "So it's true. You two have become friends with the pooftas."
"Fuck off!" George stepped up, Ringo following behind. Everyone was watching them now, eager for a fight to break out as ever. I can't let this escalate, John thought hurriedly.
"Pete, stop it. Let's just go-" Stu started, staring at the boy imploringly.
"Piss off, Stuart! Unless you wanna join his side too?" Colin glared at him.
"What?" The boy's eyes widened incredulously. "Just stop being a dickhead, alright? This is stupid!"
"I knew there was somethin' about you, John. You've probably taken a likin' to this one, eh?" Colin shoved Paul with a hand, glaring at him with a new venom in his eyes that he'd never seen directed at him before. "Couldn't resist his pretty face."
"I'll make you wish you had a tougher one!" Paul snarled. John saw him lift his arm in the nick of time, about to punch; he shoved his way between them and stopped his swing with his palm.
"Paul! It's not worth it."
"Piss off!" Paul elbowed him away with a death glare his way, storming away from the scene, looking as if steam was practically spilling from his ears. George and Ringo followed behind him, the latter shooting a middle finger in their direction before they left the cafeteria; this caused the spectators to go "ooooh!!" excitedly.
"So you've really become one of them, eh?" Pete laughed scornfully.
"No, I haven't." John stared at them, feeling eerily calm. It was time to stop lying to himself. He wouldn't be friends with them anymore; he cared about his friends too much. "I'm just not an unsympathetic, spineless arsemonger, that's all." With that, he left the scene, not looking back.
When he entered the hallway outside the room, he saw that Paul was pacing fervently, glaring at the floor with resentment smouldering in his gaze; George and Ringo were sitting on the floor, up against the wall, the latter looking defeated while the former cursed under his breath. Probably muttering about how much he wanted to tear their guts out or something.
As soon as the raven-haired boy spotted him walking towards them, he stormed up to him and scowled, throwing his hands up in frustration.
"Why didn't you let me punch him?"
"Paul, for fuck's sake!" John growled, rolling his eyes. "We don't need to start any more fights. It's over and done with. They're tossers, yeah, but not worth getting detention over." He let out a long sigh. "If I get in one more fight, I'd get suspended. Already been suspended once, if it happens three times 'm expelled."
It seemed Paul was going to say more, but instead his mouth just fell closed and his anger seemed to fizz out, shoving his hands in his pockets with a disgruntled murmur.
"Let's just eat here, how about that? It's too cold to go outside."
Ringo smiled warmly at them all; it was comforting to John in a way, and he sat down across from them, resting his sandwich in his lap while he began to try and open his carton of chocolate milk. Paul eventually sat down a metre or so away from him with a reluctant sigh, resting his head in his hand.
"How'd you get suspended??" George gazed at John with wide, admiring eyes as he took a sip of Ringo's drink.
"Oh.." John couldn't help but smile sheepishly. "I was caught - with a girl in the bathroom, y'know.. just before class. By some younger kid who told on me 'cause we were in the only stall that had toilet paper left and he was annoyed. I'd already been caught with like 4 other slip ups those past 2 weeks, so they suspended me."
"Shit!" George dissolved into laughter. "Player John!"
"I remember that!" Ringo snickered. "Ye were pretty happy about being suspended though, 'cause then you could have a few days off school and fuck around."
"It is fun," John agreed with a grin. "but I'd rather not get expelled just yet. Mimi would literally chop me up into little bits, put it into a bag, and send it to me ghost with a note that says "this is YOUR fault, John Winston Lennon!""
"She would!" Ringo laughed even harder, George choking on his drink a little and dissolving into a coughing fit.
John noticed that Paul had been strangely silent throughout the telling of the story, eyes dark with an emotion he couldn't really identify as he gazed at the floor.
"Hey, Paul-" Ringo's laughter died out, and he gazed at the ebony-haired boy. "you alright? You don't have any food."
"Oh-" Paul lifted his head, the troubled emotion in his eyes waning as he half-smiled at the other. "I didn't have enough fer food today."
The four of them fell kind of silent for a few seconds, George and Ringo glancing at each other; an idea began to form in John's head and chewed on his bottom lip nervously, gazing down at his sandwich. His heartbeat picked up the pace as he tore it in half, feeling his palms sweat a little as he held out a half to Paul.
"Here. If you want," he offered. John felt his cheeks burn hotly at the fact that he was being such a sap. Stop being so bloody obvious, you twit!
Paul stared at him incredulously, like he'd just grown three heads and asked the time of day. C'mon, take it, don't make me look like an idiot.. He seemed guarded and reluctant to take the sandwich, but eventually he just let out a huff, glaring at him and taking it with an uttered 'thanks', refusing to look at him as he took a bite.
He felt Ringo and George watching them with great interest but he kept his gaze fixed determinedly on the floor, taking a sip of his drink, pressing his lips together to try and keep a neutral expression.
"Glad to see you two gettin' along," The azure-eyed boy grinned impishly, George's eyes sparkling with delight at the scene before them.
"Shut up!" Paul and John spoke in unison; this caused them to quickly direct their gazes to the floor again, the latter's stomach fluttering erratically as he tried to focus on literally anything else other than the pale-skinned boy next to him.
"Whatever you say," George giggled. "anyroad, d'ya hear about what Emily and..."
The words he was speaking faded into the background as John fell into thought, staring down at his half-eaten sandwich. What were they going to do now? Those kids in that group were their friends, technically. Not all of them were so bad. Kevin, Pete, Colin, yeah.. a few others too. But not all of them were gonna just stop being friends with them because of that fight. It was going to be extremely awkward at the party on Friday, though.. were the arseholes gonna start rumours about them or tell everyone what happened? A lot of the popular kids were as fickle as a feather and would turn against them if they thought they were poofs. It wasn't like they were exactly best friends, anyway. He liked some of the kids, but he didn't like them. The extent of his friendship with them were talking about birds, smoking, pretending to look cool, and going to parties to get smashed and bed a girl. Nothing meaningful. Only Stuart, Ringo and George were the people he had actual meaningful relationships with. Maybe Pete Shotton too, he wasn't the worst guy and they'd actually had more fun together than he did with the others. But that was it.
Maybe the party would be more bearable if we brought George and Paul along.. he thought to himself. He'd hate to say it, but he actually wanted both of them there, not just George. If anything happened, the four of them could leave and just hang out somewhere else. It would be more fun with them. They could just talk shit about the bullies there, drink a few beers, pig out on chips or something then fuck off.
"Hey, guys?" He spoke up.
"And- yeah?" George stopped mid-sentence, the three of them turning to look at John curiously.
"Sorry to interrupt yer riveting story," John chuckled. "but I wanted to ask if you and Paul would come with us to the party on Friday. Everyone's goin' to Colin's and gettin' drunk then going down to the beach after and gettin' chips."
"Good idea!" Ringo brightened, smiling at the two. "What do ya say?"
"Yes!" George agreed immediately. "That'll be gear. We can get pissed and make fun of the tossers! Paul?" He turned to his best friend.
"I dunno.." The boy's eyes flashed reluctantly. "I'm not so into parties."
"C'mon, pleaseee, Paulie?" George begged with a pout. "Just this last one. We don't have to stay long, I promise. Let's just have some fun."
John gazed at him as he chewed the inside of his cheek nervously. He really wanted him to say yes.
"Ugh-" Paul huffed in defeat. "fine. But if there's another damn drunken fight, I'm out."
"I swear on me mum that I won't!" John jokingly made a cross symbol over his chest; this made Paul almost smile again, but he quickly looked away to the floor with an embarrassed look.
Maybe the party won't be so bad after all.