⇾ 𝐈𝐓'𝐒 𝐎𝐍𝐋𝐘 𝐋𝐎𝐕𝐄 | 𝐉𝐨𝐡𝐧 𝐋𝐞𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐧 𝐈𝐈

Epilogue: Forever

July 8, 1964

John and I finally made it to Blackpool at around eight that night.

On our way out to the car to leave the register office, we were met by the lenses of cameras and faces of journalists.

We were too chipper to be upset about it, though, so we of course stopped to talk to them.

"First off, congratulations, Mr. and Mrs. Lennon," said the first journalist.

"Thank you," John replied, nodding with a smile.

"How does it feel to be the first to be married out of the band?" he asked. "Or just, married in general."

"Hmm," said John. "It feels great, of course," he replied finally. "Y'see, Donna and I are very much in love and nothing will ever change that, and now everyone knows that, so that's very good."

"You never actually told the world you were engaged, John, so tell us, how long were you engaged?"

"Ah, since May," he replied.

"And you've got to be in Liverpool in a mere two days, so where are you guys headed for a little honeymoon?"

I made the bold decision to reply this time. "Well, if we told you, we wouldn't get a whole lot of privacy, would we?" I cocked an eyebrow.

"I guess you wouldn't, right," said the journalist. "And how do you feel, Donna? Being married to one of the biggest people in the world right now?"

"Well," I said. "To me he's not some big famous person, you know. To me, he's just John."

"Is that so?"

"Yes because I've known him long before he was famous, so I've always just seen him as John, you get it?"

"Yes, that makes sense. Has success changed him?"

"Oh yes, he's just awful now." I wrinkled my nose playfully and John poked me in the side just enough to make me squirm. "Only kidding, of course," I said.

"One last question." We both nodded in approval, urging him to go on so we could get out of here as quick as we could. "What do you think about all of the people protesting the marriage?"

"Hmmm," said John, keeping a tight hold on my hand. "Just let them know that we don't need them to be happy for us because everyone we care about is happy for us already and that's all we need!"

"Well, I'm happy for you too," said the journalist with a chuckle.

"And I thank you," responded John with a curt nod.

Now we were checking into a hotel. I had changed out of my wedding dress and into a plain white dress before we'd left. We both had a backpack with us and that alone held about all we needed for one day. Our bags for Liverpool were in the trunk of the car.

John had a hat and some sunglasses on, even though to was dark. He was trying to keep himself as disguised as possible. I didn't really have to hide much because the people didn't have as many pictures of me, which quite frankly, was surprising.

As soon as we'd gotten to the room, we both threw ourselves at one another, joining together in a tight hug.

"Donna, I love you so much," John cooed, lifting me off the ground and into his arms.

I threw my arms around his neck, wrapping my legs around his waist to keep myself from slipping back down onto the ground. We stayed that way for a few minutes, just rambling about how much we loved each other while John swayed me from left to right in his arms consistently.

Finally, he pulled back. "Can I kiss you?" he asked dopily.

"Of course you can." Before he could lean in all the way, I put a finger to his lips. "Forever," I said.

"What a tiny big word," he said thoughtfully. "Forever."

"What a beautiful word."

He finally managed to fit his lips onto mine and for a moment, the breath was knocked out of my body. By the time I felt myself fall onto the hotel bed and we managed to strip each other of every article of clothing on us, making sure that there was no single molecule of air between us, I was too overrun by ecstasy to even think straight.

My mind was stuck turning the same word over and over again. Testing it, getting used to it.

It was the beginning of our forever, and I was ready to face it head-on.

Forever.

Book three is up now!