In which the illegitimate granddaughter of Beatle Paul McCartney finds herself in Liverpool in the early 1960s, falling hopelessly in love with John Lennon.
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19th October, 1960
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It took John the entirety of the next day to find what he was looking for, and he was not ashamed to say that in the end, he had stolen it. As much as he wanted to give Ruby an honest gift, he didn't have the kind of money which the jeweller had been asking for the bracelet which he currently carried in his pocket, his hand shoved in there too so he couldn't be pickpocketed.
John walked the short distance to Astrid's flat, hoping that Stu wouldn't be there - whilst he liked Stu and didn't mind embarrassing himself in front of him usually, he didn't want there to be an audience when he basically begged Ruby for forgiveness, and he knew Stu would probably judge him silently if he witnessed it even though he was unlikely to say anything to John directly.
He rapped sharply on the door and it opened several seconds later. Astrid stood there.
"Is Ruby in?" He asked her quickly, without so much as a 'hello'.
Astrid nodded, "yes... but she told me not to let you in no matter what you said to me."
"Astrid, who is it, luv?" Stu appeared behind the German girl and smiled when he saw it was John. "Alright?"
"I need to see Ruby." John's fingers gently clasped the bracelet in his pocket, hoping that he would indeed get the chance to give it to her. He just had to.
Stu looked awkward, biting his bottom lip. "John, she's um, not in -"
"Astrid said she was." John looked pointedly at his friend's girlfriend. "So which one of you is lying?" It was Stu, he knew. Stu was a bad liar and John had seen right through him the moment he had opened his mouth.
"Well she said she didn't want to see you -"
"And I say a lot of stupid things too," John interrupted, trying to keep his growing temper to a minimum, "lemme in, you two. I need to see her." Stu and Astrid exchanged slightly worried glances. "Please."
That one word was his last hope.
Stu and Astrid looked back to John.
"You're not going to hurt her again, are you?" Stu asked in a more quiet tone of voice, as if he was afraid of being overheard by Ruby. "She's been crying all night - we managed to drag her to the show last night, but she left after our first set."
So it had been her that John had seen dancing.
He knew it.
"I won't hurt her again." John promised, "not as long as I live." And he meant it.
He wondered when he had become such a sap, but in truth, he didn't care.
Astrid sighed, "okay, John," she said in her clipped accent, "come in." Her and Stu stepped aside to let him in. "She's in her room."
