Living on the Streets - McLennon AU

31.

(A/N - Lots of chapters coming now :))) )

4th April, 1957

"Ah, Paul! Where are we going? What happened?" George asked, being dragged away from the street that John lived on.

"Hurry! We need to get back into the city George..." Paul had his hand firmly placed on the younger boy's shoulder, hoping that the boy would just follow his lead.

But it wasn't that easy, the other boy was eager to know what had happened.

"N-No!" George complained, stopping in his tracks, forcing Paul to stop too. He shrugged Paul's hand off his shoulder.

"George-" He pleaded, just wanting to get as far away as possible.

"No! Paul... Please! Just tell me what is going on..." He demanded, his concerned eyes burning straight through Paul. "What happened?"

He took a deep breath.

"He knows." Paul said, looking down to the ground in guilt.

"John?" The other boy nodded. "What- What does he know?" George raises his eyebrow.

"That we don't..." He sighed. "That we are homeless."

George's face fell, his mouth wide open in shock.

"But how?! We- We were being so careful!" He panicked, obviously confused.

"I told him..."

"What...? Why would you do that?" George asked in a frustrated tone.

Paul's eyes flew straight up to meet the other's.

"Look I swear, I swear to you George... I didn't mean to! I was just singing to him, and everything- It just all got on top of me!" He told the other boy, panic rushing through him.

What if George hates me now?

"Paulie, It's alright..." He reassured him, seeing how much of a... weak state Paul was in. He spoke in a calmer voice this time.

George had hardly ever seen Paul like this before, usually he was always so confident, always the person to 'parent' the younger boy, but it was as if he'd lost all of that in the last 24 hours. Ever since-

"No, no... It's not. And I'm so sorry." Tears were again forming in his eyes.

"It's okay. I know you didn't mean to..." George placed his hand comfortingly in Paul's shoulder, rubbing it to calm him down. "But, what we need to do now is get as far away as we can, yeah?"

Paul nodded.

"Yeah..." He wiped his eyes.

"C'mon" George said, leading him forward and again towards the city.

After around 15 minutes of walking down the hidden backstreets, the arrived back into the city.

"I only have £2, George... I'm sorry." Paul sighed, having calmed down a bit now.

"It's alright, but that money is goin' towards your food, not mine."

"But-"

"No buts, Paul..." George insisted. "You've been so good to me these last few months, and everythin' you do is for me... So please, for once, put yourself first."

Paul didn't feel like arguing with George, he didn't have enough energy for that. So he just nodded as the two walked into the cafe.

"Go and sit down, I'll bring you something to eat, yeah?" Paul did as he was told, walking over to a table and sitting down.

It was like the roles had switched. George was now 'parenting' Paul. It shouldn't be like that... But somewhere deep down, he knew that it's what he needed. He needed somebody to help him, and that somebody was George.

Paul began to re-think the last 30 or so minutes.

He was so scared that John and Mimi were out looking for them. What if they were? And what if they'd brought police too?

Paul hated the idea of that. He shivered at the thought.

Why did I tell him?

Oh God, what have I done?!

Paranoia had truly got the best of him.