Love Me Do

~ 42 ~

Paul's POV

The darkness felt hazy on my eyes as I lay in my bunk bed, my hands behind my head.

The muffled sounds of John chattering on the phone came through the door as though he were standing beside it, but I couldn't quite make out what they were talking about.

He'd been non-stop on the phone lately, talking to his girlfriend, Cynthia Powell, who was in Australia at the moment, trying to find inspiration for paintings and pursuing an art career.

Closing my eyes, I finally heard the sound of John hanging up and heading towards the room. where he would take the top bunk.

The sound of the door creaking open hurt my ears and I pretended to be asleep, hoping John wouldn't want to talk.

"Paul?" He whispered, closing the door behind him and climbing to the bunk above me.

I heard his weight cause the bed to groan, but I pretended I hadn't heard him speak.

"Paul." John repeated, sounding annoyed. "I know you're awake."

"Whatta you want?" I moaned, rolling onto my side as I answered John.

"Could you hear me and Cyn on the phone?"

The question made the gears in my brain swirl, but I shrugged.

"No.. why?"

A sigh came from above me and I furrowed my eyebrows.

Was something wrong?

"Well, Cyn want's kids."

I was taken aback by this, my eyes widening in the darkness.

"Really?" I asked, sounding much more awake and interested. "W-what have you said?"

"I don't know.." John answered, heaving himself into another position. "What can I say? There's no reason to say no, is there?"

"Of course there is!" I argued, wondering when John got so soft. He'd hardly been able to stand up for himself the past couple months. "You're young, famous. Come on John, you're not ready for this. You may love her, and she may be ready, but you're not! You've got a great number of reasons, I mean, what about Kaylee?"

The words popped out of my mouth before I could stop them.

In the darkness, my hands clapped over my mouth and I cringed.

Even reminding myself about her pinched my insides, but it was a lot worse for John.

"Yeah.." John replied, making me relax a couple. Maybe he hadn't heard what I'd said properly. "I'm not ready."

The silence engulfed the room, my nerves tittering on the edge.

I felt my eyes begin to close before a whisper brought me back to my senses.

"What would she say.."

I knew perfectly well what he meant.

"John," I whispered, hoping I didn't sound like an idiot. "You're not over her.. Are you."

A quiet sniff confirmed my suspicions, I didn't even need an answer.

"No." His voice cracked.

I knew that this was a moment of truth; If John could say it, even with a girlfriend I knew he loved, so could I.

"Me neither, John."

===

"Get the bloody phone, will ya, George?"

"What if it's Cynthia? You get it."

"Ringo!"

"Aww come on, guys."

All 3 of us boys glared at Ringo until he got up from the couch, leaving us to watch the news on TV.

John had been rather quiet and timid since last night, but he'd been that way since 7 months ago, and no one could really blame him.

George had his suspicions on Cynthia, but the rest of us thought she was doing him good.

"Oh, hey Brian." Came Ringo's voice, leaving us boys to lift our heads and glance at one another.

What could Brian want?

"..Oh, really?.. Hmm.. Yeah, I guess.. That's disappointing. Ok, see ya later on. Bye!"

The click of the phone ignited a fire of questions, Ringo's face breaking into a cheeky grin.

"Ya should've picked up the phone then, you toads." Ringo teased, but the bombardment of questions broke his cheery persona. "Alright, alright."

We waited until Ringo had sat down, before we all leant forward.

It had something to do with our manager, Brian Epstein, who rarely ever called, since we with him almost every day.

"Well," Ringo started, yawning as he left us hanging. "I hope you didn't get your hopes up about Japan. Because it's cancelled."

I let out a groan, as did the others, but John seemed quite content.

Maybe he was excited to get back to Cynthia; or maybe satisfied he'd be able to try get his head together.

"W-where are we going now?" George asked, tilting his head.

"Back to England," Ringo responded, as though George were stupid. "Ya know, you make me question this band sometimes, George."

Laughing, I leant back in my seat and gazed at John from the corner of my eye.

Well, it'll all be better as soon as we get home.