Chapter Text
You were getting pretty sick of the guys in The Cavern trying it on with every girl whenever they had the chance, no matter if you were on your own, with your mates and whether you were dressed in barely anything or completely covered up, no girl would ever be left alone. You and a lot of the other girls considered stopping going, but you just loved the place and the music so much that you just couldn't stay away. One night in particular was always special, whenever The Beatles were playing, the girls went absolutely wild for them and it tended to scare the creeps away when they realised they wouldn't be dragging any attention from the four boys on stage. You always loved watching them play, and while you waited for the current band to finish playing you smoked a cigarette outside. It was a pretty cold night and you hugged your jacket close to your body while you got through the cigarette as quickly as you could. There was another man smoking outside who kept looking your way but you tried your best to ignore him and prayed silently that he would leave you alone. A couple seconds later he started walking over and you hoped he was only going to ask for a lighter.
"Alright sweetheart?" His gruff voice mixed with the stench of alcohol only made you more uncomfortable.
You smiled and took a big drag, wondering if there was a way you could just go back inside without it looking suspicious.
"Fine, thanks." You replied, deepening your voice as though it'd get him to leave you alone.
He leaned against the wall beside you with his hand, entrapping you slightly in the corner you stood in.
"You here alone, beautiful?" He whispered, leaning in even closer.
You were alone. You knew better than to come alone so late at night to such a busy part of town but you didn't want to miss seeing the band play. You shrugged, trying to look nonchalant.
"My friends might still be here, not sure." You took another long drag, you were almost free.
"Well, why don't you come home with me?" He leaned in to put his other hand around your waist, grabbing you tightly.
You pulled back, slapping his hand and managing to maneuver away. He pursued you, gripping your wrist tightly and shoving you against the wall. All you could think to do was scream and try to kick him as best you could, everything became a blur. You began to close your eyes as the man's grip tightened on your wrists when suddenly you couldn't feel him anymore and you heard a loud thud. Opening your eyes, the man was on the floor holding his face and looking up at a figure that was now standing in front of you. In all the commotion you hadn't noticed the door opening a group of boys noticing your distress; one of the boys attacked the man from behind and managed to get him on the floor.
"Get the fuck out of here." The figure said, spitting on the floor next to the wounded man "Or I'll have to really hurt you."
The man got up from the floor, towering over his attacker easily and looked like he was going to throw a punch before three other boys gathered around him, and he eventually chickened out and ran away. You could hardly see through the tears in your eyes, your makeup running down your cheeks, and you hadn't even realised who your saviour had been: it was George, from The Beatles, you recognised his intense eyes from whenever you'd watch them on stage and you felt a little starstruck.
"You alright, love?" George asked, coming closer to you now and placing a hand on your shoulder, you flinched away as you still felt so overwhelmed from the situation. George pulled back, a small smile on his face.
"We didn't mean to scare you." Another spoke up, it was Paul "We came out for a smoke and saw he was bothering you and-"
"George went bloody batshit!" John interrupted, laughing to himself and you couldn't help smiling with him.
You wiped your eyes, took a deep breath and tried to compose yourself. You'd dealt with your fair share of creeps in the past but it had never gotten this far, and certainly nobody else had ever stepped in to help you.
"Thank you." You managed to get out, your voice was shaky and you felt like you had to sit down.
"He didn't hurt you did he?" Ringo finally spoke, taking a step closer and inspecting your wrists and face.
"No, luckily he didn't get the chance." You smiled weakly, looking up to George who gave you a small smile back "I don't know how to thank you."
"Don't mention it." Paul said quickly "We'd offer to walk you home but we're on stage in a few minutes."
"I know." You smiled "The only reason I'm here is to see you guys play."
"Wow, way to make us feel guilty love." John chuckled, and Paul gave him a light slap on the arm.
"We can take you back after the show, if you don't mind sticking around." Ringo suggested and you nodded.
"It better be a bloody good show." You smirked "After all I've been through to see it."
You all laughed and began heading back inside. While the other three headed to the stage to begin setting up their instruments, George stayed with you and led you to the bar.
"Let me get you a drink." He said, not waiting for a response and already taking out his wallet "And before you say it, I'm not hitting on you, but after what you've been through you definitely need some alcohol. So what will it be?"
You were a little stunned by his bluntness, but a part of you liked it, you were sick of so many boys pretending to do something nice to just get you into bed but George seemed 100% genuine.
"A vodka coke, please." You said quietly, taking a seat at the bar.
"Vodka coke please mate, and make it a double." George paid the bartender, handed you the drink then gave you a quick wink before rushing onto stage to set up with the others.
You'd already had a few drinks tonight but that whole encounter had almost entirely sobered you up, so you finished the drink fairly quickly and ordered another to drink while you watched the boys play. When Paul began talking into the mic, introducing the band and their first song, you made your way closer to the front so you could fully enjoy yourself. They played four songs and you danced and sang along, or at least tried to, to them all and every so often caught glances from each boy who would always give you a small smile as if they were happy to see that you were alright. Once they finished playing George gestured to you with his head to meet them backstage, so you made your way there as best you could with the alcohol beginning to take full effect. When you made your way to the boys they were all laughing together but stopped suddenly when they saw you.
"You alright?" Ringo asked, his hair was sticking to his forehead with sweat.
"Much better, thanks." You fiddled with the hem of your skirt, suddenly feeling a little awkward as you realised you were backstage with one of your favourite bands "The show was great, put me in a much better mood."
"Great!" John said a little too loud, he was clearly still on an adrenaline high from the show "Now let's you get you home young lady. And if any other lad tries it on with you, he won't know what hit him!" He was becoming theatrical, miming punching and kicking an invisible figure which made you laugh.
George stayed quiet but waited for you to leave through the exit before he started moving so that he could walk with you. It was cold, much colder than it had seemed before, and you wished that you had worn a thicker coat.
"Cold?" George said, looking at you with a serious expression.
"Yeah, I really should've worn something warmer, but it gets so bloody hot in that club." You chuckled quietly, looking down at your feet and then felt a warmth around your shoulders. George had taken off his coat and put it on you without saying a word, and when you looked up at him he just smiled and carried on walking quietly.
"I really can't thank you enough for saving me today George." You spoke quietly, something about him made you feel a bit nervous "I dread to think what might have happened if you hadn't been there."
"It's best not to think about it." He spoke quietly too, as though you were having a conversation secret from the other boys "It's a good thing we smoke so much or we might not have found you." He sounded like he was joking somewhat but his face and tone stayed serious "Honestly, I just saw red. I don't think I'm an angry person but sometimes I just go a bit mental, especially if someone else is getting hurt."
He looked at you now and there was something kind in his eyes, although his brow was so intense you realised that maybe he wasn't as serious as you had always thought. Whenever you saw them play everyone seemed to be having a really fun time, especially John, but George always appeared more serious and immersed in the music, you always figured he was just a very serious person but now you were doubting that. As you continued to look into his eyes he finally smiled and turned away, nodding his head towards the boys in front who were joking around in the street.
"I once got a black eye for Ringo y'know." George said "Back when he was our new drummer the crowd kept booing him and I just got so sick of it I told them all to piss off. Then later when I was coming out of the club someone punched me square in the eye, it was black for weeks." He chuckled at this and you saw the kindness in his expression as he watched the others.
"Seems like trouble just follows you around." You joked, hugging his coat tighter to you "He's lucky to have a friend like you."
"Thanks." George smiled as he pulled out a cigarette and lit it.
You looked ahead and saw the boys had stopped walking and had turned around to face you, John had his arms crossed and was tapping his foot as he pretended to be angry.
"Now if you two are quite finished whispering back there." He spoke in an exaggerated posh voice, holding his nose up in the air "Would you be so kind as to tell you where you acrually live? Because we don't have the faintest idea where we're going!"
You laughed, both you and George doing a little run to catch up with them.
"Sorry." You started and both Paul and Ringo laughed as John kept up his character "It's not much further, if we keep going straight it's the next right."
"Right! Thank you so much for gracing us with that information!" John glared at you with one eyebrow lowered and the other raised, then burst into laughter.
"God, calm it down Lennon she's gonna think you're crackers." George gave John a light punch on the arm.
"Or worse, she might know you're crackers." Paul snickered which resulted in John chasing him down the street, leaving you walking with Ringo and George.
Ringo was a lot shorter than you thought he'd be, but it didn't look wrong, if anything it made him seem a lot friendlier, as you always thought that drummers were angry people. He had doleful blue eyes too which made him look quite sad, but he countered that with his constant smiling and joking.
"So do you go to The Cavern a lot, then?" Ringo asked with his hands in his pockets.
"I try to. Me and my friends used to go quite a lot but they started getting sick of how crowded it was, so it's just been me on my own the last few times. Not sure if I'll keep that up though, don't think you guys will be around to save me next time." You laughed but it was bittersweet, you didn't like to think about how dangerous it was to be a woman on her own late at night.
"Maybe you can start coming with us. Even if we're not playing we like to go there quite a bit." Ringo smiled "If you want to 'course."
"That'd be lovely." You smiled back then began turning the corner onto your street.
Up ahead you could see John still chasing after Paul like a couple of children, Paul would duck behind a lamppost or a bin and John would run after him. You chuckled, it had been a while since you'd been around such carefree people. It wasn't long before you were in front of your house and you stopped.
"Well, this is me." You said, going into your bag to find your keys. "Do you... want to come in?" You asked, but you weren't even sure why you asked, it wasn't a common occurrence for you to ask men back to your house, let alone four men. George and Ringo looked at each other blankly then turned back to face you with a smile.
"If you're sure. Won't your parents mind?" George said as Ringo ran after the other two.
"I live on my own." You said as you began walking up the steps.
"In here? You must be bloody minted!" George looked up at your house, it wasn't grand by any means but was certainly too big for one person.
"It was my parents' house, my whole family lived here at one point. They're gone now, though..." Your voice trailed off as you looked down at the floor, you didn't really like talking about your parents' death.
George put a hand on your shoulder but this time you didn't flinch "I'm sorry, didn't mean to upset you. We can just go home if you want, you really don't owe us anything."
You let out a heavy sigh and put on a smile "Don't be silly, it's the least I can do. The house is far too empty with just me anyway" You tried to shake off your sour mood as you unlocked the front door, the rest of the boys finally appearing.
"You live here? You must be bloody minted!" John shouted, earning a glare from George, but you just chuckled as you went inside.
The boys followed you into the hall where you shucked off your shoes and George's coat which you hung up on the wall. The boys followed your lead, Paul elbowing the rest of them to take their shoes off. You could tell they were admiring the house, you were very lucky that it got left to you in your parents' will and that all you had to do was pay the bills, but still it always felt so empty just by yourself. Paul found a family photo on the wall by a mirror and smiled at it.
"These your folks?" Paul asked and you walked over to him, looking at the faces of your parents and siblings who all looked so happy.
"Sure is." You pointed at yourself in the picture, about 14 years old at the time with massive glasses and long hair "And there's me."
"No way." Ringo chuckled "She looks nothing like you!"
"Are you sure this is your house?" John asked in yet another strange voice, moving his face to yours as if inspecting you.
"I'm pretty sure, yeah." You shoved his face away playfully "So do you guys want a drink of something? I've got tea and coffee, might even have some brandy aro-"
"Brandy please." John said flatly, making a beeline to the kitchen in search of alcohol.
You and the rest of the boys followed him, each of you chuckling together as you began to feel that your house was finally starting to feel like a home again.