𝙏𝙃𝙀 𝘽𝙀𝘼𝙏𝙇𝙀𝙎 𝙄𝙈𝘼𝙂𝙄𝙉𝙀𝙎

𝐚𝐜𝐭 𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 • 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐫

era: 1966
name: iris

"rings, can you come get me?" my voice faltered as the familiar man answered the phone.

"christ, iris, i just dropped 'ye off! what's the matter?" i heard some commotion on the other line as i stared into the phone booth. "this is supposed to be-"

"-supposed to be good for me, i know." i interrupted. ringo sighed, and i could practically feel him roll his eyes over the phone. i frowned, looking down at my brown boots and pausing. "i just don't think i can do it."

i heard a car door slam on ringo's line, telling me he would be here shortly. "why's that, love?"

i felt a lump develop in my throat. "i don't want to be without you for that long..." i mumbled, feeling a bit silly for the proclamation. ringo had only just dropped me off—not five minutes prior. my therapist said it would be good for me to get away for a few days, but it was pointless. ringo was all i wanted.

"oh, iris... everything is fine, okay? i'll be over as soon as possible, a'right?"

i swallowed the lump, whimpering a small, "okay." taking a deep breath, i hung the phone back on the receiver and grabbed my bags. my train was already on it's way to liverpool, making me feel slightly better now that i knew i wouldn't have to go no matter what. i trudged back to the front entrance, waiting for ringo's car to pull up so we could go home.

the skies were grey that day. it was foggy and cold outside, so i bundled myself in one of ringo's sweaters. i knew he hated when i took his favorite one, but it was the one he wore the most, so it smelled like him. that one was always my favorite. it was dark grey with black stripes on it. it was horribly baggy on me, but it fit ringo perfectly. call me cliche, but i missed him.

that week, we spent so much time together. it would all have to be over sometime since ringo would be going back on tour. the bitter sting of tears would soon meet my eyes when i would have to say goodbye again. i didn't know if it was for him or me that i cried every time i saw him on the television. i reached about empty hand to his face and bitterly smiled. the fear of losing him to someone else haunted me every day. maybe it was dramatic. i didn't know.

my thoughts were interrupted by the honking of ringo's familiar car horn. "i!" he shouted my nickname with the unrolled window. "c'mon!"

i pushed past a crowd of people, weaving between children and parents. i said nothing as i got in the car, something i knew worried ringo. "so, what's the problem, love?" he pulled out of the busy lot full of travelers.

i bit my tongue. i didn't want to worry ringo more than i already did. "everything's fine, now." i wiped some remaining tears from beneath my eyes and propped my elbow on the window sill, cradling my cheek with my shaky hand.

"okay," he said. "what was wrong?"

"i just missed you, that's all."

"you always miss me,"

"you always leave me," i shot back before he could say anything else.

as we stopped at the red light, he widened his eyes and turned to me. "i do not always leave you! we've talked about this, iris... i'm in a band, i can't be with you every little second because of your own issues, christ."

that one stung. ignoring him, i turned to the snowy, dreary outside skies. i didn't want to provoke him anymore than i already did. ringo wasn't pleasant when he was upset. "look, i'm sorry... i didn't mean-"

"richard." i used his real name this time. it was an unspoken thing between us. if i used his real name, he'd be quiet real fast.

after a few moments of silence, he spoke again. "i just wanted to say, we won't be going on tour again. for a while, at least." he muttered. "john and paul decided, this last august show was it. i wanted to tell you when you got back."

my mood lightened a bit. "no more tours?"

"not for a bit, no."

smiling, i took his hand into mine and faced him fully. i knew if he had to choose, he wouldn't tour either, but since he had virtually no say with john or paul, he couldn't say much. i knew he wanted this as much as they did, as much as i did.

he meant the world to me. he always will.

"you know i love you, right?"

"oh, iris... you make me swoon!"

𝐰𝐨𝐰. 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐮𝐩𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫. 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐤𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐛𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐩𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐭!!! 𝐫𝐞𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧, 𝐬𝐨 𝐢 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐮𝐫𝐬 𝐬𝐨𝐨𝐧!! 𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞, 𝐭𝐡𝐨, 𝐫𝐞𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞!! 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐲 𝐰 𝐦𝐞 𝐲𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐠𝐨𝐧𝐧𝐚 𝐛𝐞 𝐚 𝐛𝐮𝐬𝐲 𝐧𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫 <33333