Carry On (A Beatles Fanfiction)

Chapter Two

Chapter Two:
Sienna's room was definitely bigger than mine. You could fit like three beds in there. Her large bed was neatly made  and her walls were coated with posters. It was one of my favourite places in the world, but my mind was so distracted I hardly noticed how much I loved her room.
"Okay. You have any idea what that was about?" Sienna asked once the door was closed. I shook my head.
"Not a clue. My parents were the first ones acting super weird and now your family. I'm lost." I said, turning my palms upward.
"It's gotta be connected somehow, I just don't know how." I said, staring at my favourite poster in her room of John Lennon. He'd been long dead, but he was always my favourite.
"Well he doesn't have the answer." Sienna joked, nodding her head at the poster. I smiled.
"Yeah I know." I giggled.
"Let's just forget it. It's probably adult stuff. Might be over by the time dinner is on the table." She said, sitting on the edge of her bed.
"Probably." I agreed.

***************

Half an hour later, we were called back down. Sienna and I just ended up watching videos on YouTube to kill time and to distract myself. My mind was still on whatever was going on and it bugged me. Dinner smelled wonderful as we came back down.
"Sorry about all that, girls." Sienna's mother apologized as we entered the dining room.
"Oh don't worry about it. We kept busy, didn't we, Ash?" Sienna smiled at me. I sat down next to her and nodded.
"We did." I replied. I fell quiet again through dinner. Sienna was talking about school and stuff. I was included in the conversation of course, but I never had more to say than the occasional yes or no. As the meal finished, I sensed I was being watched. I looked to my left and yes, Sienna's grandfather, Paul McCartney, one of my favourite people was staring at me. I don't think it should've made me feel weird, but it totally did.
"So your dad is a record CEO. And your mother?" He asked me suddenly.
"Um, she's a model." I said dumbly.
"A model. Interesting. And what is it you want to do?" He said.
"Well, not model if that's what you're saying." I said, allowing a small joke as a cheeky smile tugged at my lips. He just looked at me with a mysterious smile.
"I love music. I want to play music one day I think. Whether that's write songs like dad or play them as an artist or maybe write and sing. We'll see. I also like to draw too so...you know who knows right?" I said. I drew a little but I preferred singing and playing." I said. He just nodded.
"Well it sounds like you've got some ideas." He simply said. I looked to Sienna and she gave a half shrug. Such unusual questions from a worldwide legend indeed. I cleared my throat.
"Umm yes. I do." I replied, picking up my plate and bringing it to the kitchen.
"Thanks honey. So how do you like our guest?" Sienna's mother smiled as I put my plate down for her.
"He's nice." I said, starting to help her.
"I'm sensing maybe he scared you a little?" She asked me.
"What? No. Oh no. Nothing like that. It's really amazing to meet him. Just everyone has been acting so weird today." I confided in her. She pursed her lips and nodded.
"I know. I'm sorry for that. There's nothing to be concerned about. He means well." She said. I nodded.
"I'm not worried." I smiled. I left her after that. Sienna wasn't in the dining room anymore, no one was so I followed the sound of her voice back to the living room.
"Hey where'd you disappear to? You're missing concert pictures." Sienna said. I looked over to see a slide show playing on the television connected to a laptop. They were from the last Paul McCartney tour, I could tell. I slowly sat down.
"Who takes all these?" I asked.
"Usually I do." Was his answer. I just nodded.
"Well I'll let you guys enjoy this. I'm going to go help your mother." Sienna's dad said to her mostly. I didn't even hardly notice. Sienna started talking again as the slide show ended.
"So tell me, is touring as a soloist now better than when you were with a band?" I asked him curiously.
"No. Not at all. It was always more fun with band mates. I've got a crew sure, but with band mates you form lasting relationships." He answered, looking at me again with a funny expression.
"I-I bet you had some great times back in the Beatles days then." I said, tucking my hair behind my ear. Sienna looked pleased that I was finally having a good conversation with him.
"Yeah. Too many to count really. Your grandfather always was the backbone of all the havoc." He said with a light laugh. I froze at what he said. Once he realized, he froze too.
"Oh...I wasn't supposed to say that." He said, looking shocked with himself. Sienna's mouth was literally open.
"What did you say?" My voice squeaked.
"Nothing." He tried to wave it off.
"M-My grandparents have been dead for years. I'm sure you have me mixed up with someone else." I said, suddenly feeling stunned like a deer.
"Of course. Because that's what you've been told." He said softly.
"What do you mean? What's going on here?" Sienna asked. He looked uncomfortable like he wasn't supposed to be talking on the subject.
"I shouldn't say anymore. Your mother will have my head." He said to his granddaughter.
"So?" Sienna said.
"Do-are...are you saying that my grandfather was..." I trailed off.
"John. Lennon. Yes." He finally came out with it. It was my turn to have my mouth fall open.
"Wha-how...why was I never told?" I said.
"It's a very long story." He said. I felt like laughing and crying all at the same time. Laughing purely out of shock. This meant only one thing. I'd been lied to for my entire seventeen years on this earth by my own parents!
"I-I have to go home." I said, standing up slowly.
"It's not even totally dark yet." Sienna said, standing up too.
"I-I'm sorry. I have to go." I said, feeling myself shaking.
"I'm sorry, Ashley. This is my fault. I shouldn't have blurted it out." Paul said. I let out a breath.
"No. You did me a favour actually." I said in a strange tone of voice I'd never used before.
"I'll tell mom I'm taking you home then." Sienna said, running off. I felt like I might cry much more about then just standing in the living room.
"If it's any consolation, your parents hid the truth from you to protect you." He broke the silence.
"How did you know? You knew dad when he was little then because of ..." I trailed off. He nodded.
"Yes. I was like a second father to him. But once he met your mother, he changed. He wanted his own life and didn't want to be followed by his family name. I knew he had a child of his own but by then he'd cut all ties and changed your family name. I had no idea it was you until I saw your father earlier today." He explained.
"So the small talk, the questions about what my parents did for a living, you knew already?" I asked.
"I didn't. Your father got his break in the record industry after you were born. Same for your mother." He explained.
"God...why did they think lying to me would be protecting me?" I said, tugging the ends of my hair, something I did when I was stressed.
"That I don't know. You'd have to ask them. I personally think it was wrong but I have no say in the matter." He said as Sienna came back.
"The limo is out front." She said, looking worried.
"Thank you." I said to Paul. He had just changed my life forever. He just nodded as I left with Sienna. Her mother was by the door.
"I'm so sorry Ashley." She said of her father's behaviour.
"Don't be. Thank you for dinner." I said softly before putting on my boots and coat and leaving with Sienna. I was quiet for the entire ride. I didn't know what I was going to say or do when I saw my parents. I was angry and upset so I knew it wouldn't be pleasant.

********************

I dropped my bag at the door once I got in.
"Ashley. What are you doing back so early?" Dad said, looking up from his work in the living room. I felt emotions raging.
"How dare you." I said in a low voice.
"Excuse me?" He said, irked at my tone.
"You lied to me. You-you and mother lied to me!" I said, my blue eyes welling with tears. Dad then swore strongly. Something he'd never done in my presence.
"What did he tell you?" He demanded, getting up.
"The truth." I said boldly. Mother came down the stairs.
"What's going on down here?" She asked. A tear spilled over.
"You both have been lying to my face since I came into the world. What harm would it have done to know the truth?!" I cried. Mother looked at dad.
"She found out. HE told her. I knew this would be a bad idea." Dad said.
"He only knew who I was because you got out of the car." I cried. Mother tried to go for me.
"We're sorry honey." She said. I backed up.
"How could you do this to me?" I cried.
"We were trying to protect you." Dad said.
"But why? Sienna knows who she is and she's fine! Why should I be any different?" I exclaimed.
"Ashley, there's differences. We didn't want you to be followed around by people just because of your name. We wanted our own life, own path not made for us by predecessors." Dad said.
"That still doesn't justify it. I don't care if I had millions of people following me around. I still should have known! Haven't you always told me that family is the most important?" I cried.
"Yes, but this is different. Your father was angry for many years after his father died. Felt it was his own fault." Mother tried to explain.
"He got shot, point blank by a crazy man. How was that his fault?" I demanded.
"That doesn't matter Ashley. We have our reasons for not telling you. But now you know. Let's just leave it at that." Dad said before walking away and slamming the door of his study closed.
"So basically you guys chose to not tell me the biggest secret of my life because dad had his own daddy issues?" I said in a bitter tone.
"Well..." Mother searched for an answer.
"Well that's selfishness if I ever heard of it." I sniffed.
"Ashley, now that's not..." Mother started.
"Save it. Nothing you can say can make this better. You lied to me for basically nothing. And I'm never going to forget this. Sienna shouldn't have been the one to introduce me to the music and the era you held back from me. I just can't believe you lied." I cried before running up the stairs and slamming my door shut too. I fell against the closed door sobbing my eyes out. Who did you turn to when your own parents went behind your back and lied about who you really were for your entire life? I stared at my one ceiling to floor poster of the Fab Four with blurred vision from my tears. The four of them smiled into the camera looking like they hadn't a care in the world. I looked right at my grandfather.
"Why?" I asked.
"If you were here now would you be happy with what dad did?" I sniffed. He wouldn't answer. Of course not, he was an image on a poster. Still crying, I changed into black yoga pants and a grey plain t shirt and put on my headphones. I hit the shuffle button on my iPod as I curled up in my window seat. The first song that came on was Anytime At All from the A Hard Day's Night album. One of my favourites. Curling up in a ball, I closed my eyes and let the music wash over me.

**********************

I woke up to the should of birds chirping.
"I must've slept straight through the night." I thought, opening my eyes. To my utter surprise, I was outside!
"What the...?" I said aloud. I was in some sort of park laying on a park bench like some homeless person. I sat up immediately.
"How did I get out here?" I thought. I watched as people walked past giving me odd looks. Then I realized something. First off, it was bloody cold outside and secondly, everyone walking past was dressed like they were attending some kind of decades party. The women all in dresses, the men in suits...
"What's going on?" My mind screamed. A man walked past with a newspaper and he tossed it in the trash by the bench. So I pulled a total Marty Mcfly and reached into the bin for the newspaper. I scanned the heading, my heart pumping. And then I saw the date. December 8, 1963!!!

A/N- Hope you like it. Comment and vote if you like :) stay tuned as to what happens next!