In My Life - George Harrison/The Beatles

Chapter Three: Meeting the Martyr

March 1956

After living next door to Paul for a few years, the two had bonded, becoming as close as siblings. They were practically inseparable, doing pretty much everything together. The fact that they lived in terrace houses only seemed to help that, since their rather tiny gardens were joined together by a gate in the fence, making it easy for Paul to go over to her house and vice versa.

Connie loved spending time with Paul, and one of the things she hated most was the fact that they went to different schools. It would be much more fun if they went to the same, and she could only imagine the havoc they'd cause, not that she was a troublemaker in her own school; she was too wary of getting the cane for that. Whilst Paul had gone on to the Liverpool High School for Boys, she had gotten into the equivalent for girls, something that left her feeling rather bored, since she made friends with lads so much easier despite the odd exception.

However, Paul and Connie had gotten in a habit of getting the bus and walking home from school together, since their schools were so close, and that Tuesday in the middle of March was no different. Connie, straight from her final lesson of the day, went running out of school with her satchel slung over her shoulder, getting to the bus stop just before the bus was about to pull off. She was never quite sure as to how she always almost missed the bus, considering she always left school in plenty of time, but once she'd paid her fare and climbed up onto the upper level it didn't really matter, especially when she saw Paul sat right at the back, his bag on the seat in front of him to reserve her seat.

Except it wasn't just Paul, as sat next to him was someone else, a boy of their age, maybe younger, with a mop of curly black hair and deep set eyebrows matching a pair of dark brown eyes. He was handsome looking, that was for sure, but there was a boyish charm to him, especially in his mischievous, joking smile he flashed as he was talking to Paul. However, once he saw Paul wave over to Connie and his eyes caught sight of the frizzy haired blonde grinning over at them both, his smile seemed to fade slightly, as if he was shy, and that made him seem really rather sweet in Connie's eyes.

"Alright Paulie," she practically cheered her greeting, moving his bag to sit down, putting her own on the seat next to her as she leant over to ruffle her best friend's hair. He pulled away, grimacing in fake annoyance, though he was actually glad to see her. "Good day?"

"Made better for seeing you, Lennie," he grinned as he prodded her arm, before he remembered the boy sat next to him. "Oh, George, this is my friend Constance, though I wouldn't recommend calling her that if you don't want a fight. Connie, this is my mate George Harrison, he's in the year below me,"

"Nice to meet you, George Harrison," Connie held her hand out for him to shake, and when he took hold of her hand she had to ignore the excited buzz that ran through her, unsure as to what that feeling was. As she dropped his hand, she frowned slightly, trying to remember where she'd heard his name before, and as realisation hit her, she gasped. "Hang on, are you the George Harrison who's dad came in and punched the history teacher after he gave you the cane?"

"Yeah, that's me," George smirked shyly, though Connie's exclamation left Paul laughing.

"I told you, they even talk about that at the girls school, your dad's a hero!" Paul exclaimed, hitting George's arm gently as if to establish his point. Connie smirked at the exchange, not used to seeing Paul banter with other lads, used to just having him to herself; It was nice to see.

"Well if me dad's a hero what's that make me?" George asked sarcastically.

"That makes you the martyr, obviously," Connie quipped back almost instantly, her remark making Paul snigger out a laugh whilst George merely smirked, raising his eyebrows slightly in amusement. "So, George, how'd you know Paul?"

"Well, I dunno, I was just on the bus one day and he saw I was sat on me own and he just attached himself to me," George shrugged slightly, smirking over at Paul as he retold the story. "Then when I told him I played the guitar he wouldn't leave me alone,"

"That sounds about right, doesn't it, Paulie?" Connie smirked teasingly at her best friend. "When he first moved in next door he found out I had a piano, then next thing I knew he was inviting himself round everyday so I could teach him the few notes I knew. He's a pest, that's for sure,"

"Yeah, but you still love me," Paul chimed in, sounding almost song-like. Connie let out a slight groan, though she found her gaze flicking from Paul to George.

It had only been a few minutes, but Connie liked George already. He was rather quiet, not like he was shy but rather that he was thoughtful, though he still seemed to have the same sense of humour that both Paul and Connie had; quick witted sarcasm. He seemed clever too, something about him gave off that vibe as well as the fact he went to the same school as Paul so must have passed the eleven plus exam that qualified his position there. The pinnacle of it all seemed to be that he liked music and that he could play the guitar, and upon mentioning that, Connie's interest in him really took off.

They spent the rest of the journey on the bus talking about music. The three of them discussed artists from Elvis to George Formby, and though Connie's favourite singers were Louis Armstrong and Ella Fitzgerald since they reminded her of her Mother, she couldn't help but agree how great the emerging genre of rock and roll was. Even after they'd gotten off the bus and began their walk home, the conversation was still buzzing, to the point that Connie actually felt disappointed when they parted ways with George as she and Paul carried on down to Forthlin Road.

"So what did you think to George?" Paul asked, almost as soon as the other boy was out of ear shot.

"He was sweet, a nice lad actually," Connie nodded. "Maybe I should trade you in and make him my best friend instead,"

"Watch it, Lennie, you'd have no one to walk home with if you did that," Paul reminded her, his tone light, though as they approached their houses, he turned to her, a small smirk on his face. "Y'know what?"

"What?" she frowned.

"I think one day, Lennie, you're gonna thank me for that," he continued, the same smile on his face as he thought about two of his best friends becoming mates, or maybe even more one day eventually. "I think one day you're gonna say, 'Paul, remember that day you introduced me to George Harrison, well that was the best thing you ever did for me',"

Connie hit his arm gently as she snorted out a laugh, finding his optimism utterly amusing. Except, what she didn't know was how right he actually was, and how in a few years time she would remember that day as one of the best days of her life.

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Word count: 1267

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Hi guys!

I hope you enjoyed this chapter, sorry if it's a little short but I think the content of it more than makes up for it not being as long as previous chapters.

I love the flashback chapters, especially this one since it's George's first appearance. Even though this story is technically an AU I like to base chapters around real life events (George's dad really did punch one of George's teachers according to Paul in an interview lmao) and the idea of them all getting the bus together seemed really cute to me so I hope you all liked it too!

I really enjoyed writing this so please leave me some feedback, and I should hopefully have the next part up soon!

~Olivia