I Will [Paul McCartney/Beatles Fanfiction]

four

"Wake up!" Carmen woke to Carlton's voice and her blanket being cruelly ripped away from her. As she was going to protest, Carlton reminded her, "You've got your interview today, remember? I'd think they'd want you to be awake and functioning while you're there. Coffee's brewing downstairs, and that Ed Sullivan or whatever has some reruns on in ten minutes, so up and at 'em, come on." When all she did was pull her pillow over her head in declining response, he sighed, "If you hurry, I won't play any of my music today and you can play yours."

That got Carmen's attention. "Fine. I'll be down in five."

Of course, though, it took more than five minutes, and she ended up missing the beginnings of the Ed Sullivan rerun (it was an episode featuring Joan Rivers). The coffee finished and Carlton enjoyed a nice cup of it before washing out that same cup and filling it with the water he'd use to water the bushes in front of the Daltons' house. For a day in September, it was actually pretty warm out, so he didn't bother getting his jacket. The time Carlton spent watering the first bush was full of daydreams about what he'd do if, by some miraculous event, he met Richard Wagner. The second, however, was when he became aware of someone watching him.

Looking up, he saw a boy waiting at the end of the driveway dressed in plain clothes, the only thing setting him apart being the infamous signature hairdo. Of course, Carlton hadn't thought much of his hair; he was completely oblivious to rock music, after all. He was just, well, creeped out by this stranger that was intently staring at him.

"Can I help you, sir?" Carlton called out.

Paul snapped out of the daze he was in. He had been planning to call Carmen the night before (pun intended), just chickened out because he didn't want to seem needy or desperate, and he'd tried to call earlier that morning, but there was no answer. So, like any other completely normal human being, he decided to just show up at her house unannounced. He'd also been planning to go knock and invite her to join the lads for coffee, but once he saw Carlton come outside, he froze. Now, here he was.

"Erm," Paul tried. "Good morning, Mr. Dalton."

Carlton raised an eyebrow skeptically. "Good morning."

"Er, I'm not...weird, don't worry. You just... You scared me. I was wondering, uh, if Carmen was home?"

His eyebrow raised further. "You don't happen to be that Paul guy she was rambling about, do you?"

"Yeah, that would be me." Paul was about to compliment the house again, but remembered that Carmen had said he didn't like it anyway and stopped himself.

Carlton briefly scanned him up and down disapprovingly, then said, "Have a good day." And with that, he turned and opened the door, almost making it inside before a voice stopped him.

"Whoa, whoa, wait." That was Carmen, much to Paul's relief. "Paul, is that you?" She appeared in the doorway, smiling slightly. "Well, hey. What are you doing here?"

She was dressed very professionally, hair pulled back, as though she'd been up for hours and spent all those hours getting ready, but Paul could still tell she'd only recently woken up.

"Uh, I was wondering if you'd like to come with me and the boys to get some coffee?" he asked politely.

"Oh, I'd love to, but I've got to leave for my interview in a few minutes. Maybe tomorrow or later today or sometime?"

"Yeah, sure. I'll give you a call."

"Sounds good. Oh, wait, you've met my brother, then?"

"I have." Paul flashed a forced smile at him, who was now standing behind Carmen with his arms crossed. "He seems like a lovely man."