If I Fell│John Lennon/Beatles FanFiction

Chapter 87 - 26.June.1967

Chapter 87

June 26, 1967 

I wasn't sure how long I'd been sitting in my parked car trying to decide if I'd made the right decision. I didn't want anyone to get hurt and I didn't want anyone else to be involved, but what the hell else was I supposed to do? It was my only option—the only smart one, at least—even if he might bite my head off, which I was more than a little worried he might do.

My hands shook when I finally decided to do something because I damn well couldn't sit in my car for the rest of the day. I grabbed the envelope, clutching it in my left hand but refusing to look at it.

Maggie was still sleeping when I lifted her from the car seat, her little bits of growing strawberry blonde hair pulled into a fluff of a ponytail. I left everything else in the car and squeezed past John's Phantom V, which had once been black but was now yellow and had the color palette of the Sgt. Pepper album cover. An artist hand-finished the Phantom with a combination of Romany swirls and floral motifs, and topped it all off with a zodiac sign on the roof. John had revealed the new look of his car ahead of the album release.

I only gave the car a passing glance as it was hard to focus on anything for much longer than a second. But I was thankful it was there because if John's favorite car was parked at the house, it meant he was likely home.

Gripping Maggie in one arm, I used my free hand to grab the doorhandle and twist, not bothering to knock. But I hesitated before crossing the threshold. I looked over my shoulder as a shiver crawled down my spine. Wind tousled my unbrushed fringe, and I listened for a noise, for any sign I wasn't alone.

Was someone watching me? Could someone have followed me home?

No. No. That was an utterly barmy thought. No one was watching me, and it was daft to think that someone might be.

With a roll of my shoulders and a hold on Maggie that was tighter than it had ever been before, I walked into the house. I cleared the remaining wetness from under my eyes and strode toward the voices echoing from somewhere in the house.

George and John were in the den, both slouched on the couch, with the television on and a record playing, the contrasting sounds making it difficult to concentrate. A haze filled the room from what had to be non-stop cigarette smoking, and a patterned guitar rested against the coffee table.

John's eyes widened when he saw me standing in the doorway, his auburn hair fluffy, his glasses partway down his nose.

"Look who's here, Georgie, after she abandoned me last night without so much as a goodbye." John wagged his brow and grinned before sitting up and flicking ash from his cigarette into the ashtray. "The hell you wearin', Livvy? You just wake up or summat?"

I was still in my nightgown with a robe secured around me. It was entirely too humid outside to be wearing a heavy robe, but I hadn't thought to change, and I didn't much care.

When I didn't respond, John continued, still smiling. "Pleasure to see you here, but you told me you'd bring Mags on Tuesday, and I reckon it's only Monday. Unless I slept through a day."

George leaned forward, dropping his cig in the ashtray. "Hell, Liv. What 'appened to you? Ye'look—"

"Did you know?" I bit out the words. There was no plan for what I was going to say or how in the hell I was going to say it...my mind was on autopilot, and I didn't have much control.

"Did I know what?" John asked, his amused grin still there. But he pressed to his feet, his eyes narrowing as he looked at me. "Did I know you were gonna show up in the middle of the afternoon lookin' a bit mad and like you just rolled outta bed? No, you forgot to ring to warn me."