All Those Years Ago - Lennison Fan Fiction - Beatles Slash Fan Fiction

All Those Years Ago: chapter twenty-eight, 1974 (part B)

Ringo held the phone receiver loosely in his hand, listening to Paul tell about John and George revealing their relationship to him. Ringo himself had suspected that something was going on for quite a long time, picking up a lot of little things through the years, though he'd never mentioned it. He figured that if they wanted to tell him about it, they would. And they had, as a matter of fact. The news hadn't come as a surprise but he had been touched to be one of the first people they had opened up to.

If you're happy, I'm happy for you, had been his response, taking it in stride because, truly, all that mattered to him was their happiness.

Still, they'd told him before they'd told Paul, and he was uncertain of how his mate would react to that. There was some sort of complicated triangle going on there, Ringo could tell. He didn't believe it to be romantic or sexual from Paul's angle, but he knew how complex the emotional dynamic he and John had shared, even before Ringo himself had become a member of the band.

Paul was having such a strong reaction, Ringo had to wonder. He sounded more like a spurned lover learning he had been cheated upon than like a good mate who felt betrayed.

"So, you know," Paul was saying. "I don't know what to do about it. Can't believe it, even." He paused, and Ringo took the opportunity to speak up. "Well, it's not that bad, is it?"

Paul didn't say anything for a few seconds and then, "what?"

Ringo hurried to reply. "I mean, they've been good for each other, you know? They seem quite satisfied with the life they're living. They're just like any other couple I know, except they're a couple of blokes."

Paul didn't reply still, so Ringo went on, soothing.

"I can understand why they didn't say anything until now, can't you?"

"Yeah, I guess." Paul fell silent for a while and Ringo didn't know what to say anymore. He briefly thought about that drunken one night he'd shared with George in Hamburg. It had been a one time thing, Ringo wasn't that way. He didn't have a problem with gay people but that fumbling encounter with George wasn't something he was willing to share. He knew keeping a one time sexual encounter secret wasn't the same thing as hiding a relationship for well over a decade, but all the same he understood John and George's hesitancy and tried not to take it personally.

"You don't seem very surprised," Paul said, at length.

"Well." Ringo paused carefully considering his words. "It's not that I knew for sure, but I had a feeling about the two of them. Didn't you ever pick up on anything?"

"Ma'be I didn't want to see," Paul muttered in reply. "I mean, I always knew John was a little... yeah, but George? Certainly saw nothing come for George." He rubbed his temples, sighing. "I just didn't think about it."

Ringo found hard to believe that the thought of George and John being more than just mates had never crossed Paul's mind. He suspected that his friend indeed hadn't wanted to see it, whether or not that had been a conscious decision he had made or just a subconscious block.

Instead, he said, "The way they explained it to me, they aren't with other men, only with each other. I don't know if they're gay. I do know they're in love with each other though. And they both happen to be men."

"Yeah, I know, I know. I got that. They told me too." Paul didn't sound very convinced.

"It'll take some getting used to but I don't see my friendship with them being different now that I know," Ringo added, softly. And, yours shouldn't, either.

Paul bristled a bit at the implicit patronising. "Course not. Who d'you think I am, Rich? I don't care who they shag, they're still my mates! Sure, I'm pissed off they didn't tell me, but that's all," he defended himself, promptly.