Till There Was You

The next day,the guys went to play The Maple Leaf center,that was sold out to a crowd of 36,000 screaming fans.One performance earlier in the day and one once the sun went down.After the show,the guys quickly snuck into an awaiting car,accompanied by Michelle and Pattie.Jane was absent among the group when she left earlier in the day to head back to New York.

The car pulled through the crowd of people and headed off towards the airport,where they boarded a plane for two in the morning,heading towards The Beatles next show.Atlanta Stadium in Atlanta,Georgia, a show that would lead them to play back to back shows for the next couple days.

Michelle stirred quietly in her seat.All the lights on the plane were off,except one which was irritating her.Her eyes fluttered open and adjusted to the darkness,gazing at the light at the front of the plane.Ringo's head hung lightly on her shoulder as he silently snored away in his sleep.It had been the first time in forty-eight hours that he actually got the chance to sleep.

Michelle shuffled around slowly,making sure not to wake Ringo,but failed.He stirred slowly,his droopy eyes opening and looking up at her, “I'm sorry,”

“It's alright,”He mumbled and began to rub his neck, “Me necks sore,”

“Here,”She whispered so she wouldn't wake either Pattie or George,whom was asleep across from her and Ringo.Michelle stood up and grabbed the pillow that sat in the other seats and passed it to Ringo.He smiled weakly and put it behind his head.Michelle ran her hand through his hair as he sighed heavily and closed his eyes, “Go to back to sleep—I'll be back,”She placed a kiss to his lips and stood up,making her way to the washroom.Michelle walked out of the washroom dusting her hands on her trousers and grabbed her water bottle from her seat.She noticed the light ahead was still on,and wondered if anyone forgot to shut it off.She looked down at Ringo,who finally got back to sleep and made her way towards the front of the plane.

John sat quietly singing a soft tune to himself.His best mate,Paul was asleep,cuddled up to the window across from him.His swift words sored across his notepad as he began writing his letter to Cyn and Julian,which he'd been meaning to since the beginning of the tour.

“John,”He turned his head and noticed Michelle leaning against the seat, “Your still awake?”

“Couldn't sleep,”John replied placing his pen down on his notepad, “If the lights bothering you,I'll shut it off,”

“No-I'm fine,”She said, “I couldn't sleep either-Do you mind?”She motioned to sit in the seat and John nodded,tossing off Paul's jacket and throwing it on the others.Michelle sat down beside him and ran her hand through her hair.She noticed the pen and notepad in his hand and cocked her brow, “What are you writing-A new song?”

“Not really—I'm writing to Cyn and Julian back at home,”John replied as he shifted his gaze to his notepad.He quickly read over the words he had written down,which weren't much. “I promised them I'd keep 'em updated while I'm over here,”

“Thats nice—How are they?”Michelle asked taking a quick drink of her water,and watched as John's body language revealed everything.He sighed heavily as his shoulders dropped, “John?”

“They're okay-Well since the last time I saw them,”John replied shoving his notebook and pen into his travel bag.He sat back in his seat and placed his hands in his lap, “The truth is basically—We're drifting farther and farther apart then what people seem,”

“You and Cyn?”Michelle asked.John nodded slowly.

“When we were teenagers,we were never apart,”He chuckled softly, “We're were horny little bastards in love at the time—But now it's different,I barely get to see both of them,”

Michelle furrowed her brow and placed her hand on his.She felt for him,and thats what worried her the most when the tour was over and Ringo had to go back to England to record another LP.They'd both never be able to see each other,their love would be confessed through postage and would eventually crumble.

“Do you love her still?”Michelle asked,almost regretting the question after she saw the look that crossed John's face.She cleared her throat and looked away from him, “I'm sorry-You don't have to answer that,” She glanced over at Paul who was still sound asleep.

“I do every day,”John replied making Michelle look towards him.His facial features were serious, “But I know it's not going to work out,” Michelle nodded slowly as John ran his thumb over her mothers ring that sat on her middle finger.A sly smirk appeared on his lips as he glanced up at her, “Thats a nifty looking ring you have here—Where'd you get it?”

“Oh-This?”She asked raising her hand in the air for John to get a better view. “It was my mothers ring when she was younger,”She dropped her gaze and sighed, “She died giving birth to my brother and I—My dad gave it to me when I graduated from University,”A look of sympathy crossed John's face, “I didn't get a chance to know her,or how she was-But my father told my brother and I stories of her and apparently her and I are like splitting images,”

“Then your mother was really beautiful then,”John said causing a smile to spread across Michelle's face.John smiled aswell, “Aha—I made you smile,”

“Yea,”Michelle confessed shyly, “My dad talked freely about her like she was still alive,he's shown me pictures and all that—But it's not the same,”

John lowered his gaze and lost his train of thought.He swallowed down hard and felt what she was feeling.He knew what it was like to loose someone so close to you,especially twice.John lightly placed his hand on hers, “I know how you feel.”Michelle shot him a confused look,and John couldn't believe he was about to talk to her about his mum, “When I was a teenager—I lost me mum aswell,”He breathed in slowly and tried to erase the images from his mind, “She was visiting my Aunt Mimi and was hit by a truck.I don't really talk about it much,because I figure if I don't then it's not a problem,but she taught me alot-Showed me how to play and all that stuff,”

Michelle looked away from John quickly,she could start to feel the tears in the corner of her eyes welt up.Surely his situation was more hurtful then hers.He knew her,loved her then lost her so tragically. “I'm sorry John,”Michelle whispered wiping her eyes, “But you knew her and loved her—You knew how she was,what she looked like.Your situations more heartbreaking then mine,”

“No,”John replied flatly, “We've both lost someone we loved-Doesn't matter if you knew her or not,she loved you”John ran his thumbs across her cheeks and washed away her tears. “Now come on,love. You didn't come over 'er to start a crying fest,did you?”

Michelle shook her head, “No—Actually the light was irritating me,”

“You lied to me,”John chuckled poking her in the side, “You bloody lied to me,woman,”Michelle giggled in her seat and noticed a sleeping Paul stir in his seat.John covered his mouth quickly as Paul's eyes fluttered open, “Dang-Thought you'd sleep through the racket Paulie,”

Paul furrowed his brows and glanced at John then Michelle, “Whats this-Havin' a party without me,eh?”He rubbed his eyes sleepily and let his hand fall back into his lap.

“You missed out,son—Streamers and cakes everywhere,”John replied causing Michelle to giggle.

“Drag,”Paul muttered, “Whys the light on—And why you over 'er?”He nodded towards Michelle.She shrugged her shoulders and took a quick drink of her water.

“She's a lier.She wanted to be nice and keep me company-Crack a few jokes while you drool in your sleep,”John said as Paul scowled at him. “Which brings me to ask,did Ringo end up telling you about that bloke reporter we got earlier,Michelle?”

“Here we go with the stories,”Paul said folding his hands.

“I think he failed to mention it-Poor guy fell asleep as soon as the plane took off,”Michelle said twisting in her seat and glanced over at Ringo still sleeping.

“Well then-we were standing there while the lad was asking us questions,talking to Ringo mostly-Then he deliberately turns to Paul,forgetting about the rest of us,”John paused and glanced at Paul,who rolled his eyes, “Paul,why do you think the fans of Toronto are so fascinated by you?”John mocked in a reporter voice,pretending to hold a microphone towards Paul.Paul chuckled and swatted his hand away from him.

“I told him I didn't know-It wasn't my fault he said it was my looks,I tried to get Ringo involved,”Paul replied glancing at Michelle.

“Right—I bet he's kicking himself in the arse for insulting Ringo,”John chuckled.Michelle sat back,confused at what the two were talking about.

“What?”She asked.

“The reporter insulted Ringo's looks—He asked Paul why the fans were so fascinated by him,which myself don't understand,”John chuckled, “Paul told him that Ringo was a favorite aswell and he told Paul truthfully that it was his looks—Should've saw the look on Ringo's face,”

“Aw-Poor lad,it was probably a joke anyways,”Michelle mumble dropping her gaze to her lap, “Besides,Paul has no charm whatsoever-So I'm with you on that one,John,”John smiled triumphantly and high-fived her.

“Wha'-Insulting me now are you?”Paul said looking over at Michelle,as a smirk toyed on his lips.He watched as a slow smile tugged at the corners of her lips and her eyes pierced into his, “Don't be offended—But it don't seem like my charm worked on you,”

“What?”Michelle asked as John looked back and forth between the two.

“But maybe I'm not trying hard enough,”Paul replied shooting Michelle a wink.Michelle shifted in her seat,and decided she would play along with Paul and the game he supposedly wanted to play.

“Alright,”She said and leaned on her knees, “How far are you willing to go?”

Paul's dough like eyes softened at her words and finally noticed that Jane was no longer at his side. Once she left his side earlier at the airport,he felt alone for once.But noticing Michelle's actions towards him,made him feel like he never had anyone to begin with.If he wasn't with Jane already,he would of already have Michelle.

Paul smirked and leaned back in his seat, “As far as your willing to take me,love,”He replied confidently.She cocked her eyebrow and stared at him for quite sometime.She had no idea if he was playing along,or if he meant what he actually said.The look on his face said it all,but Michelle didn't want to bring herself to believe that Paul still had feelings for her.

Michelle shook the thought away and giggled,as John wrapped his arm around her shoulders and pulled her close to him, “Alright now-Stop with the bloody flirting or get a room,”John said and turned towards Michelle and batted his eye lashes towards her, “Give a kiss,”

Michelle chuckled, “Even at four in the morning,you two are too much,”Michelle said dusting her hands and yawned, “Well-I'm off,sleep is calling me and I'm not rejecting it,”

“Oh-You'll reject me,but not this thing called sleep,eh?”John said as Michelle stood up and placed a kiss to his cheek.

“See-I didn't reject you,Lennon,”Michelle said and ruffled his hair.She turned to Paul and placed a kiss to his cheek. “G'Night mates,”

“Night,”Both John and Paul muttered at the same time.Paul bit down on his fingernails as he resisted the erge to rub his cheek where Michelle had kissed him.He watched her make her way back to her seat and sit next to Ringo.She snuggled up against him and placed her head on his shoulder,having thoughts and dreams consume her head.Paul sighed and thought of himself as Ringo,having her next to him.Feeling her shallow breath on his neck and feeling like there was no other.

John furrowed his brow as he watched his mate.His mind was tussled and he looked deep in thought about something John couldn't quite put his finger on.John leaned on his knees towards Paul and said the only thing that came to his mind, “You fancy her,eh?”

“What?”Paul asked quickly,as John tore him from his thoughts of Michelle.

“Michelle,”John through his head in her direction, “You have a school-boy crush on the lass,son,”

“I do not,”Paul replied, “She belongs to Ringo.”

John chuckled and shook his head, “She belongs to no one,mate.And yes you do,I've caught the way you were looking at her tonight and the other night,”

Paul twisted his lip and mumbled underneath his breath.He began tapping on his arm rest,gazing out the window to try and avoid John's conversation.

“You can try and avoid me all you want,son,”John said, “But remember Paul,shes with Ringo.Don't let your feelings get the best of you,mate,”

“I'll take a note of that,”Paul replied and watched John nod and shut the light off and snuggle into his seat.Paul sighed deeply and stared out the window as he hugged his jacket closer to his body.How could John notice the he was fascinated by her now.He always was.

Paul began biting on his fingernails once again and chuckled softly at what John,his best mate had said.

Don't let your feelings get the best of you,mate

Paul was surprised that John hadn't noticed that it was too late.