Changes

Chapter Thirteen - Wedding Bells

     It has been two days since the renewed love-triangle feud between John, George and I.

     I was determined not to focus much on that and leave it for another day. Today was the day John and I renewed our vows along with Ringo and Maureen's wedding. John and I were too excited and full of ecstasy to even think for a second about our current issues.

     I stood at the back of the church, with my fathers arm linked around mine. In front of me were Maureen and her father, her two friends (her bridesmaids) and Y/F/N and Jane as mine. They started walking to the doors and down the aisle as a calming piano played. The music suddenly changed, to announce the brides to walk in. Everyone stood up as Maureen and I walked down the aisle with our fathers.

     Moments passed and it was time for our vows,
     "Richard, you may begin your vows to Maureen."   The priest led us during the ceremony.
     "Mau, what I'm about to say is a little cliché but you are the best thing that has ever happened to me. There's something I'd like to play for you ..."
Just then, Ringo grabbed an acoustic guitar that was lying on top of the grand piano. He carefully placed his fingers and began to sing,
     "Only you can make all this world seem right
     Only you can make the darkness bright
     Only you and you alone can thrill me like you do
     And fill my heart with love for only you -"

     As Ringo finished singing, our friends and families in the piues applauded along with John, the priest and I.
     "Maureen, I vow to be a loving, caring and supportive husband to you no matter what you are going through. Forever and always. I love you."
     "I love you too!" Maureen whispered, as a few tears fell down her cheek from overwhelming joy.
     "Your vows, Maureen?"
     "Richard, although I can't put in song how deeply I feel about you, you are the best thing that has ever happened in my life. I vow to be the wife you deserve, which is caring, hard working and a great mother to our kids."
     "Beautiful words, Maureen." The priest complimented. "Your turn, John. Please say your vows to Y/N." He and everyone else in the house of God directed their attention to John.
     "Y/N, words can't describe how much I love and cherish you. You are my everything. I'm sorry I didn't prepare a song for you, but I'm sure I can whip up something!" He smiled, cheekily and started to walk over to the guitar.
     "Oh, John, you don't have to!" I tell him, starting to feel a little anxious as to what he was going to do.
     "Two of us riding nowhere
     Spending someone's hard-earned pay
     You and me, Sunday driving
     Not arriving, on our way back home -"

     I just decided to enjoy John singing to me rather than join in, figuring it'd make him upset and confused. This was a song him and Paul wrote together in the late 50s-early 60s about their friendship, but I could see he was taking this in the context of a romantic relationship between him and I (I get shivers thinking about McLennon from my world. Never in my life would I tell them that!).

     Everyone clapped at John's song as he came and stood in front of me again, holding my hands gently.
     "I love you, my angel. Now and forever." John finished.
     I decided to head straight into my vows before the priest could tell me to do so,
     "John, you have been my guiding light since before we met. I know that sounds crazy but everything about you has got me through life. Your charm, wit, intelligence, kindness, and how caring and loving you are to not only who you hold close but to your fans and just people you nod to on the street. You gave me the ability to love myself and be open about who I am and I love you for that. I vow to be the same way to you and more, because you are everything to me like I am to you. I will be by your side till my last breath."
     "Beautiful speech." The priest complimented me.          "Do you, Richard Starkey take Maureen Cox to be your lawfully wedded wife?"
     "I do." He replied, proudly with a big smile on his face.
     "And do you, Maureen Cox, take Richard Starkey to be your lawfully wedded husband?"
     "I do." Maureen replied, softly with a matching smile to go with it.
     "Do you,  John Lennon, take Y/N Y/L/N to be your lawfully wedded wife?"
     "I do." He smiled, making eye contact with me.
     "Do you, Y/N Y/L/N take John Lennon to be your lawfully wedded husband?" I took a deep breath, feeling a knot in my stomach and looked deep into his brown eyes. I hadn't felt this way before, but I said I do anyway. "You may kiss the brides!" The priest shouted. We kissed, and Ringo kissed Maureen with the crowd applauding us filled our ears.
     "I don't remember the applause being so loud last time." John chuckled to me.
     "Yeah, me neither." I smiled.

     Yes, there was applause at our first wedding during our kiss but from the feeling of each other and realizing we were finally married turned out anything exterior to us in the moment. This felt different in some way. I was sure I would feel better soon, though.

     As we walked down the aisle, I made eye contact with George and he seemed happy, but in his eyes I could tell his heart was breaking into another million pieces on top of the already shattered millions. I hadn't seen him look this sad since the first wedding when we cried in the parking lot.

     As the afterparty went on, everyone was having fun and congratulating the four of us. Ringo made a speech about how happy he was to be with Mo and about John and I. John didn't want to do a speech since he made one at our last wedding and this was more Ringo and Maureen's night than it was ours.

     Later during the night, I saw George sitting at the bar, drinking slowly out of a beer bottle. I decided to settle things with him while the mood was bright. He had already finished a bottle so I wanted to talk to him before he got drunk and would forget the night.
     "George," I tapped his shoulder. He turned around and smiled meekly.
     "Y/N," He replied, tapping his nails on the half empty bottle. I decided to take it away from him, not wanting anything horrible to happen to him. It would ruin the night for everyone.
     "I wanted to talk to you about the night before." I told him. He knew exactly what I was talking about, but brushed it off like it never happened.
     "Love, I don't know what you're talking about." He smiled cheekily. I could tell he was hurting deep down and that broke my heart.
     "George, I'm being serious. I think we should talk and settle where we stand so we can move past this, hopefully." I protested. He looked deep into my eyes, his smile fading away. He patted the seat next to him and sighed. I sat with him, not knowing where to begin.
     "Anything to drink for the blushing bride?" The bartender asked me, eagerly.
     "No, thank you." I smiled back as he walked away from me and George. "I'm really sorry about everything. I'm sorry I led you on when I didn't mean to when I was going through a hard time." I told him. He simply nodded and looked away into the distance of our friends and family dancing. It looked as though he was thinking of what to say. After a long moment of silence, George finally looked at me again.
     "You have nothing to be sorry for, Y/N. If anyone should be sorry it should be me. I'm sorry I kissed you and caused more tension between you and John. I'm glad you two resolved it." He replied, not breaking eye contact. I could tell he was sincere.
     "I forgive you." We smiled at each other. I brought him into a heartwarming hug which we both felt was well needed.
     "Dance with me?" George asked, standing up from his seat and holding his hand out for me to take.
     "Yes," I chuckled, taking his hand.

     He walked with me to the dance floor and then spun me around. All eyes were on us, but we didn't notice. It was just us in the moment as we couldn't help but smile and laugh with each other. Suddenly, we noticed everyone clearing the floor for Ringo and Maureen to do the traditional husband-wife dance. I then noticed John come to my left side, since George was on my right, holding my hand. He looked down, then looked at me with a glare. I let go quickly, and smiled at John, reassuring him everything was okay.
     "Let's dance." I told him. He calmed down immediately and nodded as we joined our friends.  Paul was performing a slow song for us. I recognized it immediately, but as a slow jazz ballad.
     "Who knows how long I've loved you
     You know I love you still
     Will I wait a lonely lifetime
     If you want me to, I will -"

     Something that caught us all by surprise, the slow ballad that would eventually be on the Beatles' self-titled album (also known as The White Album) transitioned into a hard rock song. Paul jumped off the stage and John let himself out of my arms. Ringo, Maureen and I looked at each other, bewildered as they started dancing. I began to laugh as I knew this as "The Magical Mystery Tour dance".

     The night went on smoothly and fun but John and George didn't speak to each other once which put an unsettling feeling in my gut.

     A/N:

     I'm so sorry I haven't posted a chapter in so long. School has been so busy and with personal stuff in between that, it's pretty hectic. I hope for those of you still in school are enjoying the school year so far and for those of you who aren't - I hope life is good lol. But overall, I hope that all of you are well mentally, physically and emotionally, and safe. Thank you so much for being patient and waiting for the chapter. I hope you're enjoying the story so far!

     Sincerely,

     Gracie <3