⇾ 𝐊𝐄𝐄𝐏 𝐘𝐎𝐔𝐑 𝐇𝐀𝐍𝐃𝐒 𝐎𝐅𝐅 𝐌𝐘 𝐁𝐀𝐁𝐘 | 𝐉𝐨𝐡𝐧 𝐋𝐞𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐧 𝐈

Chapter Twenty-One: There Ain't No Reason To Declare War on the One You Love

August 20, 1961

He led me down the streets for Liverpool like he had so many times before then. It was quite enjoyable. He would stop sometimes and point with our entwined hands to things he found amusing: people passing, childhood memories. His stories were beautiful. Finally, we made it to a gateway. For a moment, I was confused. All I saw was two big red gates.

"Strawberry Field," he said, smiling up fondly.

"How do we get in, or do we just stare at the gates?" I smiled amusedly.

He laughed. "C'mere," he said, tugging on my hand. I followed him and he led me back behind some trees.

"How long have ye been going here?"

"Strawberry Field? Forever, Donna."

I nodded. "Through here," he said, letting go of my hand to push himself and his guitar case through and opening in the fence. For a moment, I stood there, slightly confused. Finally, he smiled and paused a bar aside and held out his hand to help me in.

"What now?" I asked, looking around.

"Yer gonna follow me." He grinned a toothy smile, suddenly running and pulling me along. "Keep up, Donna!" he yelled amusedly.

"I-I'm trying." We laughed. I stumbled a bit before catching up finally.

He led me down to the edge of the field, a border between the open area and some trees. The grass was high and dusted against my legs, and I now regretted wearing the dress I had chosen. That's where he stopped. We were gulping for air, bent over and coughing as we laughed.

"Next time you are gonna run, tell me first," I wheezed, laughing.

"Sorry," he replied, laughing and gasping along. "So," he then began.

I turned to face him. "Yes?"

"Let's just...talk," he said, sitting against a tree and patting the ground next to it, motioning for me to sit.

"About...?"

"Everything."

~~~

We laid there until the blue sky began to turn gray, just...talking. No teasing, no flirting, just two friends, talking away the day. We ended up lying on the ground, looking up at the clouds, John calling out the silly shapes he thought he saw in them and us laughing about it.

"Look!" he called, pointing to the same cloud he'd pointed at three times already. "A heart!"

Hadn't he just called that one a cow? I laughed. "Clever Lennon." I paused. "What time is it?"

He held his arm up over his head to see his watch. "6:00 sharp. Ye hungry?"

I shook my head. "I'm just wondering how we're gonna get out here if it turns dark."

"Hmm," he said teasingly, sitting up and looking down at me. "Then we better get going, shouldn't we?"

I sat up too, frowning. "Dang, I really was enjoying myself, ye know."

He frowned. "Let's go eat something."

I nodded and time stopped for a moment as it occurred to me how close Monday was. Perhaps that's why he sighed so heavily and suddenly looked kinda upset, I don't know.

We stood up and then he stopped and sat again. "One more thing," he said and opened his guitar case to take it out.

"Oh, uh, okay," I stuttered, sitting back down.

"I wanted ta play ye a little tune, if you don't mind." He smiled. I nodded.

He picked out a few notes on the lowest string of the guitar and it seemed I remembered the tune, but I couldn't exactly place where I'd heard it. The familiarity doubled when he began to sing. "Lay down your arms / And surrender to me-." He looked at me nervously and I blushed and looked down to hide it. "Lay down your arms / And love me peacefully." The rhythm broke and the tone changed slightly. "Use your arms for lovin' me / Baby, that's the way it's gotta be / Ooh."

I recognized the song now. I had heard it circulating throughout my grandparents house all the time when I was younger. My grandpa would sing it to my grandmother as it spun on the turntable next to us, the fireplace bright with a warm flame. I found tears in my eyes that I fought to keep in. I couldn't even tell if it was from longing for that time or happiness that I'd finally found someone to sing it to me. I chose to focus on John's singing, rather than dwelling on past times.

"There ain't no reason for you to declare / War on the one that loves you so / So forget the other boys because my love is real / Come off your battlefield." John gave me a loving smile and I scooted closer to him, resting my head on his shoulder.

When he'd finished singing the whole song, I felt a sense warmth wash over me, comforting me from head to toe.

"What did ye think, love?" He whispered and the world around us stopped. The birds stopped chirping, the sun stopped going down, the earth stopped turning, the animals stopped bustling about, the wind stopped blowing, and the tall grass stopped swaying. All that was around just stopped and all that remained were him and I.

A thousand thoughts were swarming my mind, almost irritatingly, thousands of miles a minute, they spun, making me dizzy. Finally, they stopped and all I was thinking about was how his beautiful eyes were staring straight into mine, clouded with warmth and love.

All of this happened in a split second, when his lips met mine.

When he pulled away, I froze, overcome with too much emotion to comprehend.

"My dear Donna, I think I like you."

~~~

Hey, hey, hey! I'd like to pop in right here to say that the point of view will change in the next chapter, and possibly more than once, so that's your little heads-up!

Hope you're enjoying the story,
Lilly <3