The End (Beatles Fanfiction)

Chapter 4

RINGO

"I don't think that sounds right, that chord there." George let his guitar hang loose at his chest and leaned over the piano. "You aren't switching fast enough. Try this," he played a chord, "then this," another, "and this, and this. It sounds smoother."

"Alright," I said, and George nodded, moving away from the piano. I replayed the chords one by one as practice.

"Mhmm. Yeah, that sounds better," George affirmed. He rubbed his eyes tiredly, and looked away for a moment.

"George? You alright?" I asked, concerned. George turned to me. He looked as if he hadn't gotten much sleep.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just a bad night," he answered.

We didn't say anything for a bit of time.

"Let's try it?" I finally asked, and began to play, without waiting for an answer. George fell in time with me on his guitar. I focused on the piano, trying not to fumble up the chords.

"I'd like to be," I began to sing, "Underneath the sea, in an octopus' garden, in the shade."

I saw Mal walk up from the corner of my eye, and George nodded in my direction.

"Listen to this, la," he said to Mal, who crossed his arms intently.

I continued to sing. "It would be nice, in paradise, in an octopus' garden, in the shade."

Mal chuckled, and George smiled. "That's a nice song, Ringo. Very nice song."

I hadn't made up any words for the next part, but I kept on playing, humming the melody along. I noticed John had walked in, Yoko on his tail. He gave a small wave and walked over to the drumset. I heard a steady beat fill the room, giving the song rhythm.

"I'd like to be, underneath the sea."

I heard a child giggle, and light footsteps rushing through the studio. Heather ran over to the piano, with Paul behind.

"In an octopus' garden, with you," I finished the song, accenting the you with a point in Heather's direction. She laughed, and looked at George, who took off his guitar and set it next to the piano.

"Good job, Ritch," he said with a crooked grin. "I'm sure the other lads will let it pass." He leaned down to Heather and gave her a warm hug.

I looked at Paul, who smiled at me. "I like it," he said. "An octopus' garden, eh?"

"Yep," I returned, and stood up from the piano.

Paul became serious, ready to work, and he took Heather by the hand and led her over to where his bass was set up. He sat down, and whispered something to Heather. She nodded and ran off to another part of the room, her blonde hair bouncing, to go play, perhaps.

"Alright, boys," Paul said loudly to us. "Are we recording today?"

"What else would we be doin'?" John retorted as he picked up his guitar. Yoko sat down next to him, on the floor. I walked over to the drums and picked up the sticks.

"Before we start playing," Paul said, as he leaned his arm on the top of the piano and we turned to him. "I wanted to ask you something." His fingers fiddled, the index dancing with the thumb in slight anxiety.

"Alright," George replied, which provided a glare from John. George didn't look at him.

"Well, we haven't done anything live in three years, you know," Paul began. "And I was thinking, maybe we can do it again. Perform live, I mean."

GEORGE

There was a long pause. The four of us looked around at each other.

"Are you daft?" John spoke up. "You do realize we stopped touring for a reason."

"Yeah," I agreed. "The fans are crazy. And all the people who hate us are even worse. You know, with the whole Jesus thing." I nodded to John.

"Yeah, but maybe everyone's put it behind them," Paul said, "It's not like John was trying to insult anyone-"

"Yeah, we know that, but the blokes out there don't!" John interjected. "D'you really want to get us hurt at a show? Or killed?"

"It does seem dangerous," Ringo added.

"It's not like it has to be on a big scale or anything," Paul elaborated. "We could just have a small venue, make it a surprise show."

Everyone looked around again, rethinking the situation.

"Where would we do it, then?" I asked.

"I don't know, somewhere surprising, somewhere unexpected," Paul answered.

"We could go back to the Cavern," Ringo said thoughtfully. "No one would expect it."

"No, no, somewhere spontaneous," Paul explained, waving his arms. "Unnanounced." He thought for a second. "Like the roof."

"The roof?" John blinked. My eyebrow raised.

"Yeah, the Apple roof. Why not?" Paul was smiling. "It's big enough, it's accessible, it'll make a commotion."

"Oh, it'll make a commotion, alright," John replied. His eyes were gleaming. I hadn't seen him this excited over something in a while. "The whole city will stop."

"The whole world," I mumbled, shocked.

"How about it?" Paul looked around. "Can we do it?"

A pause.

John spoke first.

"In the words of the esteemed James Paul McCharmly," he quipped, "why not?"

Everyone grinned, excited. Paul clapped his hands together.

"Great!" he said. "The Beatles: live on the Apple rooftop. Next week?"

Everyone nodded. I felt like a little child on Christmas Day. I was opening the best present ever.

We were going to play live. And we were going to make a scene.

[the story gets more interesting, I promise.

I'm just trying to get all the background info laid out and stuff.

But the next chapter will be better.

PEACE AND LOVE L***}