Break Me One More Time [McLennon]

in which paul is questioned again

"Well, I'm glad you two have finally met," Paul said. "Although, I'm sorry to have missed it, both because it must have made things very confusing for the both of you and because I would have loved to witness that."

It had been over a week since Paul's trip to the emergency room and while he felt as if he was perfectly capable of walking around at his will by now, John insisted he wait out the full two weeks of bedrest.

George shrugged his shoulders. "It would've been helpful to have had you there but I don't know why you'd have liked to bare witness. It wasn't all that interesting. It was a bit depressing, really."

"Oh... really?" Paul sounded rather disappointed.

"Well, I didn't torment George the way I did to you when we met for the first time," Barney said.

Paul scoffed. "Well, why not?"

"Didn't exactly know I'd be having a chat with him, now, did I?" Barney said.

"How'd he torment you when you first met?" George asked, looking back and forth between Paul and Barney.

"Oh, my god," Paul groaned while Barney laughed. "He made up these bullshit stories about the future and he appeared out of thin air and disappeared into with absolutely no warning at all and, mind, you, I'd just arrived in 1961 that same day. It was all quite a lot to take in. Oh, and let us not forget the ribs —"

"The ribs!" Barney cackled.

"The ribs?" George questioned.

"He used to just produce ribs out of nowhere using magic," Paul sighed. "Like, all the time."

"But... why?" George asked.

"I don't know," Barney said, shrugging his shoulders. "Thought I'd offer up some food when we first met, he didn't accept. I was waiting for him to try the ribs."

"I'm a vegetarian!" Paul exclaimed.

Barney looked at Paul for a long time, then groaned and exclaimed, "Fuck! I forgot! What a waste of all those ribs." He frowned, staring down at the floor. He held up his hand and there was suddenly a plate of ribs sitting there, balancing on his palm. "George? Ribs?"

"I... am also a vegetarian," George said, sounding almost apologetic.

"Oh, right," Barney sighed. "Oh, well," he said, putting his arm back down, the ribs disappearing into thin air as he did so. "Anyway, Paul, the meeting with the F.H.O. —"

"Yeah, I'll get dressed now," said Paul, moving to get out of bed.

"Whoa, wait just a second," George said. "You haven't finished your two weeks of bedrest and John would not approve —"

"Well, John is at the grocery store which is an hour away because we live in the middle of nowhere," Paul said. "And also I am a grown adult and I can make decisions for myself, thank you."

"Yeah, you're staying in bed," Barney said.

"What?" Paul said. "But you just said —"

"Yeah, time travel, Paul," Barney said. "I'll come get you in, like, a week. So, see you in an hour."

Paul rolled his eyes as Barney disappeared. "He thinks he's funny," he said to George.

George chuckled.

***

"There you are," John said. He handed Paul a mug filled with tea before climbing into bed beside him. He laid his head down on Paul's lap. "How are you feeling today?" he asked.