A week had gone by since you'd met the band that were calling themselves The Quarrymen. And John Lennon. But you were about to meet him again.
"(Y/N)!" You heard from outside your bedroom window accompanied by the tap of stones on the glass. That would only be one person. The voice was easily identifiable as Paul's but the question was; were you really in the mood for company this late at night? Sighing, you walk over to your window, opening it fully. You rest an place on the windowpane, so you can lean out a bit and look down to see Paul standing on your garden. However, the McCartney boy was not alone.
Next to him stood John Lennon; hands in his pockets and an unreadable expression on his face. Now that was unexpected.
"Do you know what time it is?" You scold.
"Yeah sorry, but I've got amazin' news!" He whisper-yells.
"No need to keep it down now, Mac, if anyone was home they'd have been woken up anyway." You roll your eyes. He always thought he was very subtle when trying to get your attention but he wasn't and had often woken up your dad.
Both boys had smiles on their faces. Suddenly you're curious and also filled with dread considering who Paul is with right now.
"Can we come in then?" Paul asks. "It's cold out 'ere, y'know."
They see the window being pulled shut and you disappear out of their vision. John looks at the younger lad with a frown on his face, unsure of what was happening. You just disappeared without a word like you had given up on the conversation out of nowhere.
"What's she-?"
"Give 'er a second."
And a moment after the words left Paul's mouth, the front door swung open. You stood there, in your laziest clothes, with messy hair and arms folded. Honestly, you looked just as good as the other day, despite less effort. But maybe that was just his opinion.
"Come in then. Let's hear it."
"Hm? What?"
"Your news. The reason you woke up our entire neighbourhood?" You sigh. The realisation washes over his pink cheeks as he begins walking towards you. Lennon trails behind, silently.
Your friend happily moves past you into the house, meaning you're now face to face with John. Now after meeting him the other day you never would imagine that would be trying to enter your home accompanied by your good friend, who probably spent more time in your house than either of your parents.
"Found you." He whispered.
"Mac, tell me why John Lennon is following you into my house?" You loudly address your friend, who is now standing in your hallway as a way to not respond directly to his comment.
"Oh, well er, that's part of the news."
You give him an expecting look, as if telling him to continue but he just stares back blankly. Clearly getting no where with Paul, you turn back to look at Lennon. Fine, just this once you will let him in and you will be civil for the sake of your friend. But if you ever saw him in public, you'd pretend that he was nothing more than a tree or a bench and walk by.
"You coming in then?" You move out of the way a little more so that he can.
"Oh, am I invited?"
"Just get in the bleedin' house." You put a hand on his shoulder and shove him past you, to stand next to Macca. Both boys suppress a laugh as they go and make themselves at home.
Your house was often empty because of the nature of your parents jobs, making you quite a lonely person when Paul was busy, as a lot of your friends didn't like coming around this area. That just meant that you could play your records a little bit louder and have conversations late at night with the irritating neighbour boy. He really was your closest friend and you were likely his most trusted confidante.
"Right so, John's here because... I'm in the band!" Paul announced, doing little jazz hands.
"Oh good," You tried to use as much enthusiasm as you possibly could but clearly not mustering up much as Paul's face dropped slightly and he rolled his eyes. "I'm sorry. Well done, Mac, seriously I'm dead happy for you."
"Thank you. Oh and sorry about bringing John. I know you two didn't really get on and all, but he insisted." He told you as he threw himself onto the sofa. So Paul wasn't the least bit curious as to why he'd been so insistent?
Your eyes meet Lennon's, who was previously scoping out your living room. He watches your next move like the two of you are engaged in an intense game of chess and he's trying to predict what you'll do next. But he can't. And that's why he is here. You find him equally hard to read but you don't necessarily care to read him. In honesty, after the last time you'd been around him, you didn't care if you never saw him again.
"It's fine."
There was a silence that wasn't really uncomfortable for you as you were stood in your own home, but it made John feel uneasy. He was starting to think he shouldn't of come along with Paul but just found out where you lived and turned up by himself. He discovered that with the other boy here there really was no way of getting under your skin, he was your security.
"So we were also writing songs too. Turns out we're both pretty good at it." Paul boasted.
"That's good-"
"Actually, I can show you! Let me just nip next door, to mine, and I can get the lyrics we wrote. Won't be a second." He jumped back up off the sofa. This was very normal. The two of you would run between your houses to fetch various toys when you were younger.
"You'll wake your dad and brother." You try to reason so he wouldn't leave. Correction; so he wouldn't leave you alone with Lennon.
"I'll sneak in around the back. I've done it before" Paul shrugged.
Because he entered through the back door Paul for some reason thought he was some kind of stealth ninja that no one had ever heard. You could hear him rattling his keys from the comfort of your own home. Paul was not a quiet person. He liked a little bit of chaos and noise, but knowing him for as long as you did this would probably change one day.
"You can show me tomorrow."
"(Y/N), It'll take two minutes at most to sneak in and out. I'll be right back," He says while reading himself to walk out of the living room. "Might be longer if my Dad catches me."
"Mac-"
"No funny business, John. I don't want you upsetting her." He points at Lennon and gives him a serious look.
John gave him a nod and held up his hands in surrender. This was is the chance he'd been waiting for. He'd have you alone. Paul darted off, slamming the front door behind him hard enough that you heard the cabinets rattle. There was another pause. John smirked and took a step towards, opening his mouth to speak, you which alerted you into your own movement.
"Tea?" You made a b-line towards the kitchen.
"Woah woah woah, not so fast," He latched onto your wrist and pulled you back. Lennon very much enjoyed stopping you from leaving by taking a gentle hold of your wrist. This was the second time in as many meetings. "I didn't think It'd be this easy to find ye'. I expected a challenge."
"We already told ye' I'm Mac's neighbour, you hardly needed detective work, Poirot." You scoff and pull your wrist from his grip. Finally being able to turn on your heel, you go to the kitchen.
"I still asked around. Seems like everyone knows of you but no one really knows a thing about you. Except Paul, but he wasn't telling. He thought I was trying to find things to pick on you for. He's very galant though, your most ardent defender. I'm jealous, by the way."
You want to scoff again but fear that you've done it one too many times for it to have any effect.
"Jealous? James' Mum used to bathe us in the kitchen sink together. There's nothing sweet between us." You defend your friendship. There had been many occasions where people had assumed you were Paul's girlfriend. It no longer bothered him. But you always felt the need to correct them.
"James?" He repeated.
Whoops. Mac was gonna kill you for this one. But you'd always called him James, since you were able to talk. It was just habit. And that's what the school teachers called him. He wasn't even very old when he'd started going by Paul or Macca, but the habit had already stuck.
"His name is James."
"Is it?" John looked confused but found that he enjoyed your slight openness.
"You didn't hear that from me."
He smiled and nodded, despite the fact you weren't looking at him. He was somewhere behind you, but you dare not look.
"I actually asked my Aunt about you; she said I'd be lucky if a girl like you was interested in me. Your parents are charity and church people, aren't they?"
"Is that an insult to you or a compliment to me? But yeah, they are. They're away a lot, for good reason but it means I'm alone in the house for most of the year. That's why I'm so close with Macca and his family." You open up just a little. He coughs slightly and it rings over your shoulder so you know he was now directly behind you, likely leaning against the kitchen cabinets.
"Yeah, my Aunt knew Mary."
Paul's Mum was a staple in your childhood. But she wasn't there anymore.
"Well, that was all very nice of your Aunt to say but I'm actually not interested in you, so..."
You'd poured yourself the tea and were adding your sugar when you felt a presence close behind you. You smell his cheap aftershave again and remember the scent from how close he was the last time. Maybe that just meant that he had no sense of personal space.
"Yeah well, this is the first time my Aunt likes someone that I like. That means I might have to marry ye'."
Obviously your first instinct is to move and get away but that doesn't seem to be working. Your feet don't move and you can hardly turn around to face him because he's standing so close that you're scared your noses might end up touching.
"John-"
"What do you think, hm? We could try something out, couldn't we? I think the attraction is definitely there." He spoke slowly.
You spin around to face him, now stuck between the kitchen counter and John Lennon. He is a lot more unreadable then he was the first time you met him, maybe he'd been working on it. But despite being unable to read him, he made his intentions very clear. He was, for some reason, interested in you.
"Paul will be back soon." You shift the topic.
"Paul's a nice lad and all, but not really my focus right now. He isn't on my mind half as much as you 'ave been."
"John, I'm serious-"
"So am I."
You finally break free from him, sliding out of the space between you, and march into your living room once again but he's hot on your heels.
He can tell this isn't working. Maybe you expected him to be more frustrated, given that he usually had a lot of luck with women.
"Don't follow me around like a curse, it's weird. I'm starting to think you have a problem."
"(Y/N), come on. Just consider it?"
"I don't need to consider it, it's a bad idea," You stop by the window and look out of it, to see if Paul is on his way back yet. "You didn't just let him into the band to get close to me, did you?"
John stops smiling, as if that was the most serious thing you'd said yet.
"Nah, he's in because he's talented. The lad can play three instruments and picks up new ones like it's nothing. That's the sort of skill I want in my band." He told you, shrugging.
You nodded softly. That was the best possible answer you could've gotten.
"He could be a huge benefit to you."
"And I, to him, I'd argue." He replied. John's wit was the best thing about him, easily. He was very quick. But so were you.
"We'll see about that, won't we?" You always seemed to present him with some sort of challenge, and Lennon loved that.
As you stand by the window, John carefully pulls you away from it and you back into him. He couldn't help it, you were so small in comparison to him. At the very last second, before you hit his chest, he manages to get you to turn around. He was close, like the day you'd met, when he had to stop you from killing Pete. You still didn't like Pete.
"You're driving me mad already. You know I'll just get more persistent. I'll keep asking and asking and asking and asking and aski-"
"Can ye' shut up? Is that possible?"
"No absolutely not, but I'll learn for you,"John chuckled and you fought the smile on your face. "See? I make you laugh, don't I? What would be so bad about a couple of dates with me? Hm?"
You look down, trying to avoid eye contact whilst also trying to come up with reasons or an excuse to get out of John's grip and put a distance between the two of you.
"If you followed Paul to my house in the hope that you'd convince me to be your next girlfriend, I'm afraid you've wasted your night, Lennon. I'm not trying to play hard to get, I just don't think it's a good idea."
"Actually I followed Paul to your house in the hope that I'd convince you to let me take ye' out because I fancy you," He corrected. You sighed, he clearly saw the falter in your composure. He was quite charming but not in the typical sense. Yes, he'd asked to take you out and everything but he'd gone about in the most Lennon way possible. "Or maybe in hopes that you'd let me kiss ye'?"
"Lennon-"
"It's alright, love. You can tell me to piss off, if you want. Or you can stop talking and let me do this..." He hushed you, quietly, fixing his hand on your waist.
The millimetres between your lips were not enough to stop you pushing Lennon away with some force when you heard the door open. Once his balance was back, he had to laugh. You'd launched him. There was something intriguing about you that had been on his mind and this evening was only adding fuel to that fire. John had no doubts that he was going to be thinking about you as soon as he left your house.
Paul was back and you didn't want him to think he'd been let into the band for anything other than his own talent. You were sure it couldn't have been entirely because Lennon had been looking to ask you out, but Paul might take it that way if he walked in on this.
"Got it!" Paul skipped into the room, holding a tatty piece of paper in his hand.
"Let's have a look then." You spoke quite loudly, due to the shock from what had almost just occurred before he'd walked it.
You took the paper to have a look, as Lennon got his balance back behind you. The words were scruffy and barely intelligible. But you could make out the title; 'She Loves You'. The lyrics were pretty standard but you hadn't heard the song or anything yet.
"It's not done yet, we're gonna go down Penny Lane and sit at the park, then hopefully we can finish it. Do ye' want to come?" Paul asked, taking the paper back from you.
"No, I'm gonna get to bed. I hope you finish the song though, lads. And congrats again." You smile, taking a quick glance at Lennon.
There was another few minutes of chat between you and Paul, as he usually had something new happening that he wanted to tell you about. Then the two of them started to head towards the door. Paul then fastened his jacket at the zipper and said his goodbyes before eagerly yanking open the already abused door, ready to keep writing.
"See ye' later then, (Y/N)." Paul waved.
"Bye Mac."
Paul hopped out of your house and started walking towards the road. You imagined he thought Lennon was right behind him but John strolled into your vision with his hands tucked into his coat pockets.
"I'm not giving up, just so you know." He tilted his head to the side a little.
"Out my house, Lennon."
"I'll see you soon." he says, quite surely.
"No you won't." You scoff at him, following him with your eyes, unable to think of anything clever to say anymore.
"Oh, I will. I know where you live now."
He too stepped out of your house and smirked, planning his next moves already. Jesus Christ, you were going to have to move.