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George left the bar after Ringo. It had been their first performance with him as their official drummer, and the boos and shouts from the crowd had to have bothered him enough to drive him home early for the night.
So George got up as soon as he noticed Ringo leaving, hoping to be able to console him at least a bit before he caught a cab and was out of there in a pissy mood. He practically ran outside, and began searching for Ringo up and down the block, coming up with nothing.
“Hey, now, it’s not my fault.” That was Ringo’s voice, and George turned his head.
“Do you even know him! Do you even care?!” George followed the voice to a small alleyway, where he saw a group of guys. One of them was grabbing hold of Ringo’s shirt collar, and the other two were standing behind their leader with crossed arms.
“Of course I know Pete! We’re friends, he’s a great guy…”
“Hey, cut it out!!” George shouted at them as he started his pursuit. “He didn’t have anything to do with that!”
The guy in the middle let go of Ringo and turned to look at George. “Oh, George. Georgie, we used to like you, y’know.” Now, the three of them were headed right towards him, but as long as they left Ringo alone, he could deal with it.
“I don’t know why you’re bothering him. It’s not his fault he’s better than Pete.” The one that had been holding Ringo against the wall latched onto his hair.
“What did you just say?”
“Looks, fellas, it’s nothing personal. We all loved Pete, but Richie’s just a better drummer.” He pulled George’s hair. “Ah!!”
“We thought you were the sane one, George! You were the only one that would ever give Pete any real recognition! John and Paul were always too busy fucking each other in the arse, but you!”
“What are you talking about?!”
“We were wrong about you, George. You’re just as crazy as the other two!” The guy landed a punch right on George’s eye, and George cried out.
“Leave him alone!” Ringo shouted, but he was too scared to move from the brick wall behind him.
“You abandoned your friend, your bandmate, for schnoz over here who can’t even reach the drums without a step stool!” George tried to pull away from the grasp at his hair, but an immense pain spread throughout his scalp.
“He didn’t do anything to you!”
“You’re lucky he sits behind the drums. Else he might scare away all the birds.” George glanced over at Ringo, who was frowning, something close to tears in his eyes.
“We were the ones that chose to fire Pete, yeah? Don’t be fucking rude to him!”
The guy stared into George’s face. “I’ll be rude to who I want to be, yeah? He’s fucking ugly and stupid, and the rest of you must have been on something to choose him over Pete!!” With one final blow to the stomach, George was thrown to the ground, and the three of them scattered down the alleyway.
“George! Are you okay?!” Ringo ran over to him, kneeling to the ground, and as he turned George over onto his back, they locked eyes. George could finally see up close his red, shining eyes.
“God, I’m so sorry. They’re just pricks.” Ringo shrugged and helped George to sit up. He glanced down at the ground to hide the tears that had fallen from his eyes.
“It’s no big deal, Georgie.” He wiped them away. “Thanks for helping me out, though.” But then he caught a glimpse of George’s swollen eye and ran his thumb along it. “Oh, love! That’s going to be bruised in the morning…”
George smiled at him warmly and shrugged, and the two began to stand up. George could feel how awkward it was getting, and he sighed and hugged Ringo. Ringo startled but hugged back, anyway. “You’re not ugly, Richie. Or stupid.”
“George, it’s okay if I’m not as attractive as the rest of you lads. It won’t hurt my feelings.” He laughed, but it felt dry, and George knew very well that his feelings were already hurt.
“You don’t have to be tall to be attractive, Rich. I think you’re rather pretty…” Then, the arms around his back disappeared, and he cracked open his eyes. “I didn’t mean to say that… I mean, like that. You are pretty, but I don’t—”
“You think I’m pretty?” The colour drained from George’s face, but before he knew it, a pair of lips were on his, and Ringo’s hands were cupped on his jaw. The kiss ended quickly, but he was still in shock. “I hope I haven’t made you uncomfortable, Geo.”
“That was my first kiss.”
Ringo smiled. “Really?”
With Ringo’s hands still on his face, he nodded. “Can we do it again?” Ringo leaned in and kissed him once again, this time, they kept kissing. And kissing. And suddenly, there were hurried steps at the end of the alleyway.
”Oh, Christ!”
”I fuckin’ told ya, Macca! Leave ‘em alone!”