ʟɪʟʏ ᴏғ ᴛʜᴇ ᴠᴀʟʟᴇʏ ! ʇɹɐǝɥ ɹǝɥ uᴉ lᴉʌǝp | GEORGE HARRISON

09| fab

roxie jumped when she felt a presence behind her. it was only george. she gasped, murmuring, "christ, you scared me." she tightened her scarf around her neck, not wanting to be caught alone with george under any circumstances. john was around somewhere, probably watching her for more blackmail. at this point, john had her wrapped around his lanky little finger. she should've known not to do drugs with the beatles.

"sorry," george replied, patting her back. the simple gesture made her nervous; john wouldn't like that. "when are we leaving?"

they would soon leave to record more of paul's new song when i'm sixty-four. before roxie could answer, though, paul came into the living room. "change of plans. it'll just be me going into the studio today. george says you lot'll come in the second of january." paul hurriedly spoke, grabbing his shoes.

they weren't too eager to return to the studio, anyways. they loved being around roxie. "so, i finish strawberry fields then?"

paul shortly nodded, leaving roxie, george, john and ringo at home as he stepped out into the rainy london mist. most of them hadn't left the house in days because of their schedules. they had to do something other than nurse fading highs. george slumped back on the couch, tired from helping ringo clean the mess from the night before. roxie sat a solid three feet away from him. john had her pinned down under his hold; anything he wanted her to do, she'd likely do it.

"so, whatdoyouallsay?" john jumbled all his words into one, hopping between the two, ringo not far behind the couch. "shall we venture into london? go ice-skatin'? make a snowman?"

"with what snow? it's raining like mad out there!" ringo interjected from behind the three.

john opened his mouth to say something, but was cut short. "why don't we just stay in?" george frowned, taking his jacket off and propping it on the coatrack. "ringo's right. it's too rainy to go anywhere-do anything. we could watch a movie. or sleep." sleep sounded right difficult since roxie was wide awake.

"that's all very well, george, but we have a record to make. why don't you and ringo get your little notebooks and crayons and draw while i come up with more songs? i need to get my genius running again." john bluntly remarked. roxie was sure that didn't sting them as much as he meant it to-or didn't? she couldn't tell whether he was joking or not. the sarcasm in his voice made it indifferent. george and ringo probably heard it millions of times. she didn't feel she had to say much. she didn't want to butt into anything that might make the blackmail worse.

"we don't have crayon notebooks!" ringo defending himself. "we use colored pencils." he crossed his arms defensively. george rolled his eyes.

john looked at roxie beside him, expecting her to be smiling, but her face said anything but that. she didn't want to have anything on her plate-no scandal or gossip to be spread. john could do her a huge favor and just forget about the kiss! she knew he wouldn't, but it would take some stress off her plate if he did. "hey, you okay?" george placed a reassuring hand near her thigh. she twitched at his touch.

"yeah," she said, almost too quickly. "you?"

"fab."

✰

the cold, stiff london air drifted into the opened window. the room was dark. the only source of light was the sombre, gloomy moonlight and a dim lamp. roxie knew her time with the beatles would be over in a year-maybe two. she wondered if by then, john would still hold the fact that she kissed george against her. she wondered if maybe something would happen and they would no longer be friends, but still, be forced to work together for the movie.