Work Text:
It was a stressful day in the studio, they were working on the orchestration of "A day in a Life" and George Martin was just not getting what either John or Paul wanted. Nerves were on edge, everyone about to explode and John with a raging headache.
"I'm gonna get some air." John moaned as he walked out of the studio. He went over to his coat in the hallway closet and grabbed his little pill box, taking a little yellow one that looked like the headache medicine he normally took, except it wasn't.
As he came back to the studio, it was empty, so he decided to try to worked out a few chords on the guitar, but colours suddenly began flowing out of the guitar. The d chord emitting a blue colour, the e chord a red one and the c a yellow. The colours floated and mixing together in beautiful combinations in front of him as the melody mixed and played itself. He got up and shook his head, feeling the floor suddenly flee from under his feet. A face suddenly appeared in front of him, the face was distorted, features seemed to not be mixed to a certain part, leaving them free flowing around.
"John, are you feeling well?" The distorted figure spoke in a strange voice that changed tone and pitch with every word.
John widened his eyes under his round glasses as he stood up quickly. "I need... I.." Was all that came out.
"Oh John, come on let's go get some air." George Martin guided John out of the studio to the roof of the abbey road studios, a place that was normally used as a place to smoke and just relax, despite it's safety problems.
A few minutes passed and the rest of the lads soon joined together again in the studio, moving about as they tried the arrangement, when suddenly Paul stopped in his tracks. "Where's John?"
Arthur, the assistant in the booth heard and spoke through the intercom. "John took a pill and he started acting weird, so George took him to get some air."
Paul felt his knees buckle as he widen his eyes. "Was it a little yellow pill?!" He asked shouting.
"Yeah" as the response came through the intercom Paul immediately set off running to the door.
"What's wrong?" Ringo alarmed.
"That wasn't a normal pill, that was LSD John took! And now he is on the roof!" The hallways seemed to go on for miles and miles as the distressed Beatle ran down. Racing through the staircase he eventually arrived up at the roof. The scene that appeared from behind the thick metal door was terrifying. John was standing on the edge of the building, his arms spread as he slurred his words, going on and on about flying and needing to fly away from all of "this",as the wind blow through his multicoloured shirt and hair. Standing back on the roof was George, shaking and worried, not knowing what to do.
"John." Paul called, trying to not sound alarmed or just trying not to spook John and make him jump.
"Paulie? Luv? Look at me!" John smiled to the London skyline in front of him, feeling a warmth within him as the sun called him away. "I'm gonna fly, the sun says that I can fly now, he says it's alright."
Paul slowly came closer and closer to where John was, being careful to not alarm him. "Johnny, my luv, I'm happy you can fly now, but..."
"He wants me to go, but I don't wanna go, not without you." His words were a bit mumbled, yet his voice sounds so pure, like a small child's telling their mummy and daddy that they didn't want to go to their weird aunty's house. The wind blow stronger, making Paul's tunic like shirt flow behind him as his heart was squeezed till he swore that he couldn't breathe anymore.
"Johnny, I'm sad that I can't go with you, but I have to tell ya, yer going the wrong way." Paul make his tone of voice a very soft, gentle one, like he was talking to a baby.
"But the sun king said that strawberry fields is that way." John put his arms down as he still looked at the horizon, being able to see a flow red light where strawberry fields "was".
"He doesn't know what he is saying John, how is he gonna know where strawberry fields is? That's our secret place." Paul was now right next to John, not touching him though, fearing that any harsh words or movements would make John jump.
"Paulie, the bunny in the hat says he is late, I don't want to make him any later." John's weigh shifted as a stronger wind blow, but he managed to keep himself standing still.
"John thrust me, come with me." Paul paused as he watched John pondered, so he began softly singing. "Let me take you down, cause I'm going to... Strawberry fields..."
"Nothing is real." John sung in a duet, turning on the ledge. "Nothing to get hung about." He sang again, now looking right into Paul's eyes, seeing the old forests of their longed for strawberry fields appear behind Paul.
"Strawberry fields forever" they sung together, letting the words echoed and bounce off their minds as they travelled into each other's gaze. Slowly John felt the pull of Paul's hazel eyes and before he knew it he was in his arms. Paul's flowery and cigaretty smell filling his soul as they hugged.
The clean one felt a huge relief as he had John in his arms. "Come on, I'll take you to strawberry fields mate."
In the distance George asked a bunch of questions, not knowing that the fuck just happened in front of him, but the lads ignored and walked down and out of the studio,to Paul's newly bought cavendish house. Walking down the avenue a purple fenix came flowing by them, congratulating him for going to strawberry fields. As they got to Paul's house the big shining red gates lid up their way, with trees and branches wrapped around it's metal the gate stood tall and long, going on forever on both sides.
"Strawberry fields." John spoke in awe as he looked up at the monstrous gate.
"Yeah mate, we're home." Paul smiled as his tripping friend, reaching for his keys and unlocking his gate.
As the gate opened angels sang and the instrumental chorus of their soon to be famous song, named after their favourite hiding place played in the distance.
They walked in, John smiling wide with a glow to his glassy eyes as they settled into Paul's leaving room. John sat down, smiling wide, but soon the curls on the corners of his lips undid themselves. His eyes losing their glow. Inside John's mind the room turned dark, gaining a heavy red light to it as the walls seemed to close into him and a dark, faceless figure appeared behind where Paul stood. "No, not him!" John threw himself on Paul, pulling him away from the yellow armchair he sat in.
"John what's going on?" Paul looked at him confused, not seeing the world like John was.
"He is trying to take you away! I'm not letting him!" John wrapped his arms around Paul in a protective embrace. The warmth that Paul emitted calmed him, but it was only when he looked into Paul's eyes and heard his calming voice that his world truly came down. The red colour fading into a pastel pink and gaining a salmon touch to it, the darkness fading out and being exchanged for a mellow light and the music from before played yet again in the background. "They are playing the song."
Paul smiled, hiding his current sadness. He wish he could see what John is seeing, feel what he is feeling, hear what he is hearing and he could. At that moment he did something that he had been trying to avoid for quite some time. He reaches into John discarded coat and diving into the pocket he grabbed a small yellow pill. Cutting it in half to take down the duration of the drug, he took LSD for the first time ever.
To this day him and John remember that afternoon, it changed them forever. They were within and without each other, floating and swimming in their imaginations. They were never the same again, they were so much better, more open and most of all connected.