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Ringo couldn’t stop thinking about it. The band’s break-up was all over the news, all he could hear when he walked down the street, always pounding through his head each day woke up and didn’t go to the studio. He turned to everything and every drink he could to take his mind off it, but nothing worked.
The worst part was, he was dragging George down with him. George spent so much time pensively sitting on the couch, plucking away a sequence of notes that was almost a song but was always missing something. Ringo couldn’t help but blame himself.
But one day, George walked to the record player, casting a soft smile in Ringo’s direction as he placed a disk on the turntable. Ringo never expected to hear his own voice crooning through the speaker.
“Why this one?” Ringo asked as the song from his new album kept playing.
“Because it’s beautiful. You did well.”
“The critics don’t seem to think so,” Ringo said with an empty laugh, but George quickly hushed him.
Then George approached him, extending a hand.
Curious, Ringo placed his hand in George’s and gasped when George pulled him to his feet. He blinked up at him with wide eyes as George wrapped his arms around his waist and pulled him close. And he began to sway.
Ringo carefully rested his hands on George’s hips and felt George’s chest rise and fall in a sigh. With George pressed up against him, leading him on a slow journey around the room, Ringo was lost in a sea of feelings. The soft brush of George’s thumb tickled his back, and George’s hair cascaded around them both. When Ringo leaned his head against George’s shoulder, George’s contented hum sent vibrations directly into his soul.
After either a minute or a year, George nudged Ringo’s head with his own until they were looking into each other’s eyes, foreheads pressed together. George opened his mouth, but he paused in silence until only a breathy laugh escaped. He tilted his head closer until the tips of their noses met, followed by their lips. They never stopped swaying.
“I love you,” George whispered when their lips parted.
“I love you, too.” In that moment, everything was so simple. The rest of the universe floated away, and they held the entire world in their arms. With George, everything would be alright. Ringo didn’t know how to thank him for it.
So, he kept dancing.