Debbie Doll | Ringo Starr ✅

2

"Aren't you going to wear a coat?" I asked him as I turned my head to see that he was lighting a cigarette.

He shook his head, "don't want to." He paused, turning to me. "Want a light?"

"I haven't got any cigarettes." I frowned, "daddy doesn't like me smoking them, so I don't get the chance to buy them much."

"Don't you go to school?" Ritchie asked, "you could buy them on your way."

I shook my head, "I know what I want to be, and you can't learn that at school."

"What do you want to be?" He asked, keeping focused on the path ahead of us and not looking at me like I was at him.

"Hairdresser." I paused, "you?"

"I drum in a band." He paused, "I want to make it big, but if that doesn't work then I'd probably be a hairdresser too -" He cut himself off and stopped walking, staring ahead of us at the back of a man - they looked about the same age - who was obviously flirting with some blonde girl.

"Who's that?" I asked.

"Shush," Ritchie hissed at me, "if he turns around, don't make eye contact. If he talks to us, then don't -"

"Ringo!"

At the sound of the man's voice, I instinctively looked up. I cursed myself for doing so, because as soon as the man and I made eye contact, he smirked. I sighed. He strode over to us and Ritchie turned to look at me just moments before he reached us.

"What did I tell you?" When the man reached us, Ritchie exclaimed, "John! Didn't know you'd be round here!"

"Aye," John, the man, said with a smirk, his eyes trained on me. I tried to resist the overwhelming urge to stare at him, but wasn't able to. The man was gorgeous. "Well, I had to come see her, didn't I?"

He gestured over his shoulder with his thumb at the girl who was walking away, her back facing us.

"Bet you did," Ritchie paused, "what's her name, then?"

"Her name?"

Ritchie crossed his arms against his chest and continued to eye John disapprovingly.

After a few seconds of thinking, John said, "don't matter what her name is, Ringo," he paused, this time looking directly at me and his smirk growing larger, "what's this girly's name, then, eh? Didn't know you had a bird."

"She's not my bird, she's my new stepsister." Ritchie furrowed his eyebrows, "John, stop looking at her like that."

John chuckled, "like what, lad?"

He was still eyeing me up and down like his next meal.

Ritchie just sighed, "just put her down, John." John didn't take his eyes off of me for another four seconds, and then he turned to Ritchie.

"What's her name, anyway?"

"This is Deborah."

I found my voice, "Debbie." I corrected, "Deborah makes me feel like my mother." I had been named after her.

"Oh yeah?" John crossed his arms against his chest and swiped his tongue across his bottom lip, looking at me like I was an object rather than a person. A chill ran through me. "Is she as gorgeous as you?"

I looked briefly at Ritchie, who was smirking. Somehow, he must have known what I was going to say next.

"She's dead." I deadpanned, feeling only a small ache in my heart.

The smirk fell from John's face and he paled.

"I'm sorry, Deb, I, um, lost my own mum a few years back."

The three of us stood in silence for several seconds, Ritchie was very obviously feeling quite awkward. Eventually, he cleared his throat.

"Right, well," he cleared his throat again, catching both mine and John's attentions, "come on then, Debbie, we'd best be getting on - Elsie and your dad'll be expecting us back soon -"

"You coming to the Cavern tonight, luv?" John asked, catching both Ritchie and I off guard.

"The Cavern?" I echoed, "as in, um, the club?" John nodded. "I've never been -"

"Our band's playing tonight." John said by way of an explanation, "you should come. It'll be me with the microphone, and Ringo behind the drum kit. You can meet the other two, as well; Paul and George."

"Oh, well -"

"You don't need to come, Debbie," Ritchie said in an odd tone of voice. John and I both glared at him.

I smirked, turning back to John, "I'l be there - Ritchie'll walk me, right, Ritch?" I batted my eyelashes at my stepbrother and he groaned.

"Elsie'd never let me out again if I didn't, I s'pose." He paused, this time looking directly at John, "thanks so much for putting the idea in her impressionable little head, John." His voice was dripping with sarcasm.

"See you tonight then, luv." John walked past us, the two of us looking over our shoulders just once. He waved at me coyly, and I smiled.

Ritchie groaned and grabbed my shoulder, pulling me along the pavement. "Come on!" He exclaimed.

We walked the rest of the way to the shop in silence, and didn't talk while we were in there. It wasn't until we were nearly back at Elsie and Ritchie's house - our house - that I spoke. "You're in a band?"

He scoffed, "don't sound so surprised." He paused, "we're getting big, y'know. Moving to London soon, apparently. Then you can have my room full time." He sounded so bitter talking about his room.

I opened my mouth, about to ask him what he meant, but was cut off by Elsie, who was standing on the doorstep of the house. "Where've you two been?" She called out to us, "your father's been worried sick about you, Debbie darling, you didn't tell him where you were going!"

Ritchie reached her first. He asked, "didn't you tell him, Elsie?"

I wondered why he called his mother by her name to her face. I would never be so disrespectful to daddy, but I didn't dare mention it to Ritchie.

"I did, but he said that Debbie should have told him first," she paused, "don't worry, Debbie darling, I've settled him down for you."

"Oh," I furrowed my eyebrows, "thank you so much, Elsie." Daddy was never angry with me, and he never scared me, so I didn't really appreciate what she had done that much since she was probably exaggerating the whole thing.

"Get inside, you two, it's cold - Ritchie, why didn't you take a coat?"