Beatle Girl

The Waiting Room

You hear gasps all around you from the rest of the band and crew as they swarm around the guitarist. Three men, who you recognize as the rest of the band, laugh heartily around the swarm. You realize what you've done and you feel terrible. You immediately kneel down next to him and place a hand on his side.

"Oh my god, I'm so so sorry, I didn't think I was punching him!"

There's a man inspecting his face closely with his knees under the guitarist's head. He looks very similar to the rest of the band, though a bit older and lacking the signature haircut they share. "I think you might have broken his nose. We're going to have to take him to the hospital."

The band members laugh harder. "I'm so sorry, I really, really didn't mean to. This is all a big misunderstanding." You recognize the boy seems to be passed out in his arms as well. A lump swells in your throat. "Please let me go to the hospital with you, I need to apologize."

"I don't think that's necessary." The man says, picking the boy up by his underarms with assistance from security.

You frown, feeling moments away from crying. The whole 'is the guitarist really staring at me??' game was the most exciting thing you had going for you, and now you've fucked it all up. You curse yourself internally.

"Oh come on, Brian, she means well." The tallest says as the three of them come down from their laughter.

The man now completely holding up the unconscious guitarist, or Brian, glares at the band for a moment, before sighing and giving a simple "Alright, sure." They give a quick cheer and start to laugh again.

The man who stood up for you walks over and helps you up from your kneeling state. Now that you're standing face to face you really begin to take in his features. His eyelashes are remarkably long and his eyebrows are perfectly curved – he looks almost girlish. You feel immediately calm in his presence. "Thank you so much, I'm so sorry again."

"It's okay, love, really. It was a simple mistake." A smile grows on his face. "Just a really, really hilarious one. I'm Paul."

You tell him your name and he walks you over to the rest of the band – two boys you recognize as the lead singer and the drummer. Paul keeps a hand on your back as he introduces you to them. John and Ringo shake your hand politely.

"That was great work you did there. I mean really entertaining stuff." John says with a wide smile plastered across his face.

"You guys weren't all watching, were you?" You ask, hoping to get rid of some embarrassment.

"Oh, we all were, darling." Ringo giggles. "You know it's not too often George says he's going to ask out a girl – of course, we had to watch."

"He walked over there with such a suave attitude, like 'watch and learn, boys', and then he taps your shoulder and you punch him square in the nose!" John dissolves into laughter as he's talking.

"What do you mean? He was going to ask me out?!"

"Oh, of course. He's been talking about you since you started working here." Ringo shrugs nonchalantly, like that's not the most earth-shattering news you've gotten in years. You're completely taken aback. "I don't know if the feeling still stands, though."

"Alright, alright, stop it, boys." Paul intervenes. "The poor girl's mortified."

The rest of the group is already outside, stuffing a semi-conscious George into the passenger seat. The boys decide you'll ride with them to the hospital and insist you'll sit in the front with Paul.

—

The ride went really well. There's no doubt the boys are charming. But you were mostly thinking about what you were going to say to George the whole time. You question whether he even wants to see you – you broke his nose for fucks sake. What are you even doing here?

The feelings only grow as you're forced to wait in the waiting room with the crew while the doctors fix his nose. The boys seem practically unaffected – making jokes no one else really seems to understand and striking up conversations with the patients and workers. There's something so captivating about them that's hard to explain. It's as if everywhere they walk there's an eternal spotlight on them making every word, every gesture electrifying even when they're not talking to you. The bond between them seems unbreakable as well, like no matter how close you get to them or how much you learn about them, you will never even begin to feel like a part of what they are.

Their lively conversation the man in the corner with a freshly broken arm dies down and they make their way over to you. Paul leads the pack and is the only one that sits beside you. The other two stand in front of you, smiling softly. "So, where are you from?" Paul asks, crossing his legs and looking at you.

"The states."

"I knew I spotted an American accent!" Ringo exclaims, turning to John excitedly. In fact, all of the boys seemed intrigued. They lean closer, eyebrows raised.

"Where from?"

"I was born in Ohio, but I moved around a lot."

"Clearly if you made it all the way to Liverpool!" John adds in.

"Do you like it here?"

"Yes, I've grown to love it." You try your best to phrase this in a way that won't offend them. "It's much calmer here."

You moved here semi-recently, somewhere around 6 months, but it's felt much longer. You haven't made many (really any) friends yet, though you haven't tried very hard either. You miss your old friends more than anything. You wish more than anything that things hadn't gone down the way they did.

"It's no New York, I'm sure." John jokes, bringing you out of your thoughts.

"No," you chuckle, "nothing like New York."

"What brought you out here, anyway?" Ringo asks. You knew someone would, though you were dreading it.

Luckily, George's doctor comes out at that same moment with the news that his nose is fixed and that friends and family can now visit. Brian gets up and begins to explain the plan.

"Okay, boys. Here's what we're going to do." The boys gather around their leader, listening intently. "We're all going to go in first, without the girl. We'll explain the situation clearly and then he can decide if he'd like to see her or not."

Brian looks your way and they all turn toward you in unison. "I'll come out to get you once we know he's okay with it, alright?"

You nod, becoming nervous again.

"We'll put a good word in for you!" Paul reassures before they begin walking towards George's room.

You smile and wave, but the second they turn the corner a wave of fear rushes over you. You put your head in your hands and breathe deeply. "God, what the hell am I doing?"