Within You Without You ~ George Harrison/The Beatles

Re-Introduction: Times Have Changed

Constance Emilia Jones-Lennon, or Connie Lennon, wasn't an optimist, but being head-over-heels in love with George Harrison had taught her to look on the bright side of life a little more.

It wasn't her fault she grew up existing in the space between pessimism and optimism, that was the way of her upbringing. Motherless from the age of nine, working from the age of sixteen, for a long time life seemed to just be for existing. There were breaks in the existence though, breaks where she felt like a proper teenager, someone who didn't have to be in charge of running a house.

Those breaks came from her friends. The next door neighbour, her older cousin, the drummer she served a pint to, the boy on the school bus. None of them knew that those four would end up conquering the world, but they did, and there wasn't a soul on earth who didn't know the names of the Beatles. They weren't celebrities or heroes to her though, to Connie they were just her best mates, one of whom happened to also be the love of her life.

Fame came at a price though, and life couldn't be kind all the time. Whenever Connie was with George, she felt as if she was still the moderately happy teenaged girl from Liverpool, the one who's head was full of hopes and dreams for a successful future for both herself and her mates. He grounded her, made her feel like the world wasn't spinning just so quickly, but no matter how much Connie loved George, their love couldn't protect them from everything. As Beatlemania grew the two of them had to watch as their lives became less their own, their names and faces becoming a free-for-all for press and fans.

In a world where Connie had learnt all she had was her mates, sometimes she felt like she didn't even have them anymore, not even George.

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Word count: 326

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