Mysterious Boy - McLennon

22.

John knew that Paul wasn't going to tell him what was wrong until they were comfortable and used to eachother. They had only been dating for a little while (fourteen wonderful hours), so why should he?

Well, because John just wanted to help.

Paul was a fragile boy, John had been able to see that from day one. When he saw Paul walk down that corridor, his face pale but eyes still managing to sparkle, he knew that was the face of someone so timid. Paul's heart, however, was the opposite.

There was the way Paul cared for Mike. Everywhere Paul went outside of school, Mike went. Mike was always with Paul, and Paul was always happy with Mike. Then there was John, who Paul also was always happy around. Paul's friends, George and Ringo, too.

But everyone else, Paul seemed to shy away from.

It wasn't his business to know, not yet anyway, but it was his business to care. He really did care for Paul, he always had done. He took the blame at the cigarette incident, because Paul had been so scared about his Dad finding out.

He really had been so scared. The fear on his face, it had shaken John, and the older felt he had to do the right thing and help Paul out.

Paul was terrified of his Dad finding out-

"John." There was a knock on the door.

"What?" John responded, his voice sounding harsher than usual.

"Your Dad's got stuck at work." It was his Mum, sounding fed up as usual. "I need you to look after Jackie."

"What...?" John whispered to himself, furrowing his eyebrows. He made his way over to the door, piling it open. "What do you mean?"

His mother was stood there, her red hair tied up in a short ponytail, rushed makeup slapped onto her face. She wore her nurses outfit, Jackie in her arms.

"I have to go to work now, and your fucking father thinks it's okay to ring me 5 minutes before I have to set off and tell me he's not on his way home, he's still at work." She stressed, seeming fed up. "Look, all I need you to do, is take your sister, take her to the park with Jules or something, and I'll... I'll pay you or something."

"You'll pay me?" John asked, his voice pissed off. "What do you mean you'll pay me? She's my sister!" John took the child form her arms. "I don't need paying to look after her."

"Fine." She raised her hands in the air. "Just take her, and your Dad should be home. Whenever he fucking feels like it." The woman muttered the last part, beginning to walk away from John's bedroom door.

There wasn't even a thank you. She just left, leaving John stood in his doorframe with the 5 month old baby.

Jacqueline just stared at him, her wide, green eyes looking at John with confusion. He couldn't help but smile at her, she was cute. He just felt bad that she also lived with a mother as shocking and unloving as their own.

"C'mon then, Jack..."

John walked back into her rumpus room, the baby still on his hip. He leant down to pick his phone up from his bed, grabbing it and shoving it in his pocket.

She hadn't even left him a bag with Jackie's things. He knew what she needed; a bottle, a dummy, a blanket, spare nappies.

John certainly didn't think that he'd spend his Saturday looking after his baby sister, but he knew he wasn't gonna spend it alone.

-

John, Julia, and baby Jackie had all gotten to the bus stop at 12pm. John was pushing the purple pram, Jackie's baby bay underneath it. He'd took the baby on walks often, but never on the bus.

He saw Paul turn the corner, and couldn't help but smile at the sight of him. He really did look gorgeous. His dark hair was being blown around in the air from the light breeze, and he really did look like he should be a supermodel.

"Hey." John called to him.

"Hi." Paul smiled, sweetly.

"Hi Johnny, hi Julie!" Mike called, enthusiastic.

"You have... A baby?" Paul asked, furrowing his eyebrows and big he and his younger brother stood infront of John and the purple pram.

"Yes, it's our sister." John nodded, before, kneeling down. He lightly stroked the baby's cheek. "This is Paulie." He spoke to her, and she began to smile.

"What's her name, Paul asked, also kneeling down."

"Jackie."

"Hello, Jackie." Paul whispered to the baby, and John found it hard not to aww at the sight. "You're a cutie, aren't you?"

"How old is she...?" Mike asked, looking rather unsure as he hugged onto Paul's shoulder.

"She is five months old, Mike."

"She's a baby?" He asked, voice sounding utterly confused.

"Yeah."

"I remember when you were a baby, Mikey." Paul grinned, climbing onto his feet. "Cute, you were."

Mike started to giggle, burring his head in Paul's leg.

"The bus..." Julia spoke, pointing to the vehicle that was driving towards them. She held her hand out, and it pulled to the side.

-

Mike and Julia had sat next to eachother, John and Paul both sitting at the front with the pram. Paul kept smiling at the baby, making her laugh and giggle. John just wanted to kiss Paul right away, tell him how sweet he was and how cute he looked doing that.

But today wasn't about finding his boyfriend cute, though Paul really was cute. It was about Paul being able to trust John.

Once they reached Sefton Park again, the first place both Mike and Julia headed to was the play area. They both ran ahead, leaving Paul and Mike alone with Jackie, who was now asleep.

"Well, at least we don't need to lie anymore..." John smiled, and Paul looked at him, giving a slight chuckle.

"You have no idea how relieved I am about that." Paul joked. "Have you told your parents?"

"Well... I haven't." John sighed, the two of them coming to a stop infront of a wooden bench facing the play area. "To be honest, talking to them is like talking to a chalkboard."

"Oh." Paul frowned. It was silent for a few seconds. "Same..."

"I don't think I've met your Da'..." John began.

"No." Paul cleared his throat, looking at the ground, before moving his gaze up to look at the trees. "You haven't."

"Maybe  should, sometime."

"Er... Yeah." Paul nodded. He tried to hide that he was biting his lip, but John could see. "Anyway, can we talk about something else?" 

From that point, it was clear that Paul's father was a tricky subject for him to talk about.

They began to talk about music again, seeing how Paul's eyes lit up when they talked about bands like Oasis, Nirvana, Green Day, My Chemical Romance. Then when they started talking about their relationship, Paul's smile grew wider.

They didn't talk about Paul's father again that day.