Things We Said Today

Chapter 3 - 12/13 July 1968

A/N: So. This is from Paul's PoV, I felt I just had to address his cheating, and resolve it, so the chapter's not fluffy, and it is quite long so sorry about that, it kind of ran away from me, there were just a few things that needed to be dealt with. Oh and I guess there's quite a bit of swearing as well (and I've tried to use sixties slang as much as possible e.g. birds).

12th July 1968

Having cooked a full English breakfast together, followed by some 'couple time' just cuddling on the sofa, Paul found himself alone. Jane said she was tired from her long journey, and all the emotions of the day, and had retired to bed, this left Paul, downstairs – with quite the monumental task. Finding everything that belonged to either Franny or Maggie, gathering them up, delivering them, and then 'breaking up' with them. Something which he'd never been good at, he preferred just to let things peter out, he'd never been good at the confrontational side of break-ups, but he was going to have to start learning fast.

He'd never minded playing the field while Jane and he were just dating, he could convince himself that it was nothing serious, a perfectly open relationship, however getting married was another thing entirely.

He could commit to a long term, settled, serious relationship with Jane, the thing that had always been holding him back before was Jane's commitment to her work, firstly, but most important – and the real undercurrent in that concern – was that he wasn't sure if the future he imagined for himself, was the one Jane wanted. He wanted a busy, bustling home, with lots of kids mucking around, but whenever he talked to Jane about having children – even after marriage – it always seemed to be off, somewhere in the distant future. She hadn't wanted to have kids straight after they got married, or even seemingly a couple of years after, she didn't seem to understand that with all the strain in the band – and he admitted a bit of maturing that led him to actually want a family and to settle down – he wanted a family now, not as some off-distance possibility. That's why he kept his options open really, that's why he started up with – shit, Linda. He hadn't thought of that, although they hadn't really, technically been dating, and Linda was a free spirit, but still.

He groaned, as he packed Franny's shoes, and Maggie's jacket into separate bags, just look at the mess he'd got himself into. He supposed he would have to phone her, even if just to let her know he was getting married. 3 women on the go – well four if you counted Jane – at once, all at least semi-serious.

He admitted to himself that he'd got sort of, well bored, of the single life, that Jane constantly being out of town on acting assignments had offered him – sure it had been exciting at first – but the magic quickly wore off. Jane getting pregnant couldn't really have come at a more opportune time.

He made his way into the living room to find Franny's scattered script, and any remnants left of Maggie. Franny's script – or whatever it was – had been a close call, along with a few of Maggie's clothes, but Paul had been able to quickly explain them away.

When Jane had come storming into the kitchen, where he was clearing up the plates – which he admitted was a rarity for him, yet another thing that he was going to have to change when they got married – and waved them, accusingly in his face, he gently calmed her, and told her that Franny's script was leftover stuff from Apple which he was doing a last minute inspection on, and that Maggie's stuff had accidentally been left after a little do with some friends. He had felt a bit guilty for lying, but it's not as if Jane didn't have any idea what was going on, she just didn't want to be confronted with it in her home. Which it still felt slightly weird to refer to it as hers considering the little time she'd spent there recently, but he supposed a lot of things were going to have to change now that they were getting married.