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It’s a typical afternoon in the ice cream parlor. You’re enjoying a little sundae and a book as you unwind from the week, and a small crowd of men are barking up your tree. There’s three today, all making fools of themselves hoping to grab your attention with the same old lines you’ve heard a thousand times.
You look up, bored and annoyed from all the attention. A little ways away, hunched on a barstool sits a complete stranger. He stirs his milkshake, looking very bored himself, but then, as though he can feel your eyes on him, he looks up and catches your gaze.
Ringo’s heart drops.
The first thought to enter his mind is that yours are the loveliest eyes he’s ever seen. They’re bright and witty and his very soul feels bare before their light. You crinkle your nose in a little smirk as you look from your ensemble to him, then roll your eyes.
Can you believe these guys? They say.
You rest your chin in your hand and look at him wistfully for a moment. He has a rather funny face compared to those that you’re use to getting attention from, yet all the things that make his different give him a certain cuteness and friendly charm too. In fact, you almost wish he’d…
“Hellooo! I said, how about a movie love?”
A pair of hands come crashing down onto your table as one of the boys surrounding you snaps your attention back to the vicinity. His tone is dancing a fine line between aggressive and demanding, and suddenly you feel quite trapped.
Your eyes dart over to the young man at the barstools, a dash of fear hampering their brilliance. Truth be told, you’re not sure what you’re expecting to happen, but what you do know is that from the look the young man is making, he saw everything.
Ringo doesn’t rightly know what’s going to happen either, but he’s going to do something, that’s for certain.
It’s a short stomp from his seat to your booth, but it’s enough for him to have formulated a plan. He clears his throat loud as he can and makes sure to puff up his chest. He’s easily the shortest of the other men, but it doesn’t seem to deter him one bit.
“Hey now, what are you blokes doing with my bird?”, Ringo shoves back the lad who’s resting his knee on your booth seat and then backs up a little himself, giving you an exit route should you choose to bolt.
The ringleader of the boys looks from you, to Ringo, and back again in comical disbelief. He turns to you, “This guy? You can’t be serious love, he’s a dog!” The other two men howl with laughter, clearly in agreement with their boss.
Ringo’s stern face falters to a frown for just a moment, but only you seem to notice.
Well, that simply won’t do.
You stand up, shooting daggers, “Well that’s a fine thing to say to my man isn’t it?” You glance quickly at Ringo and smile, letting him know you’re on his side.
Ringo straightens back up and is about to give his two cents, when one of the men bothering you cuts in. “Oh forget him! What a girl like you needs, is a nice looking lad like me…”, he trails his fingers up your arms as he leans close to you.
Without even a moment’s hesitation, you raise your other hand up with the full intent of slapping him, but Ringo has already jumped to action. “Hey!” He shoves the creep off you and positions himself defensively in front of you, “I said leave her be! Now are you lot going to sod off, or are we going to take this outside?”
Ringo readies his fists, bracing them up front and even jerking forward a second, to show that he means it. His eyes dart between the three men, all larger and very obviously more muscular then him. He gulps, suddenly not very confident in this uncharacteristic act of aggression he’s putting on. But… He thinks of you just inches behind him and so he stands his ground, refusing to waver.
The other three look amongst themselves and then burst out into patronizing laughter. One even wipes a genuine tear from his eye. Then, as soon as things escalated, it all just… Dissipates. The three boys leave, not even bothering to give Ringo the time of day, and a trail of laughter follows them out.
Despite the slight ding to his pride, Ringo lets out a huge sigh of relief and scratches his neck. He turns around slowly to face you, moving out of your way once more.
“Sorry ‘bout all that, but um… Are you alright miss?” He looks up to your eyes for a moment, then casts his gaze away shyly. You’re even more beautiful up close. He didn’t think that was possible.
You smile brightly at your little knight. It’s nice to have someone else chase off the unwanted attention, especially when things get hairy like that. You couldn’t be more fine.
Without a word you step out and give the strange man a hug. You’re a mite taller then him, but you blame it on your heels. You pull back but leave your hands behind to hold his shoulders, “Oh yes, fine! Thank you!”
Ringo’s mouth hangs agape as he stands and stares back at you. He feels as though he’s been blessed by a goddess.
“I- uh… Y-yeah”
You daintily cover your mouth, trying to suppress a giggle. In the meantime, Ringo manages to recover. He dusts off his shirt and straightens the fabric, then his hair.
He clears his throat softly, then introduces himself properly, to which you do the same. Ringo repeats your name back to you, letting it roll of his tounge. He loves the way it feels as he says it.
“Really though, thank you for getting rid of those blokes for me”
“Oh uh, no problem yeah”, he chuckles, still a touch nervous.
You can’t help but smile. It’s so rare to meet a guy who’s so genuine with you after all. Hm…
“Say? How’d you like to get out of here?”, you grab your book and hold out your delicate hand to him. You look at him warmly, making a little grabby gesture with your extended hand.
Ringo looks from your adorable hand to your radiant face, as though he can’t believe you’re serious. Without even thinking, he hears himself respond. “S-sure!”, He clasps his hand to yours and grins back at you.
“Brilliant! I want to get to know my knight in shining armor after all!”, you give his hand an excited squeeze and bounce out the door with him beside you.
“So… Tell me about those rings!”
Ringo has to squint a bit as he looks up to see you in the open light. The sun is casting a halo around your hair, illuminating your face in gold. You’re absolutely radiant, he thinks.
He answers all you want to know about him, but all the while he just can’t stop thinking about how he can’t wait to get to know you.