The first week of living with John went smoothly and Paul couldn't be happier. He was back with his best friend, he was making music with the people he was closest to, he could see his dad again, and he was young again!

      He was still having some trouble comprehending that no, this really wasn't a dream and yes, he really had John and George and his dad back. He just kept telling himself that no, it wasn't real. It was just too good to true! But then he stopped and thought about it and just grinned to himself as he realized over and over again that yes, it was all real. He had his best friends back.

      He was keeping his eye out for anything that he hadn't noticed the first time that he lived his life like Barney had told him to, but he hadn't noticed anything yet. That is, until Paul and John got back to the flat late one night and Paul put the kettle on to make some tea and John was leaning against the counter.

      "So," Paul said. "How's Cynthia?"

      "How should I know?" John laughed.

      "Well, she's your girlfriend." Paul said.

     "Not since before we went to Hamburg," John said, sounding puzzled.

      Paul whipped around to look at him. "WHAT?!"

     John stared at him, brows furrowed. "Paul, you know that I broke up with Cyn before we left for Hamburg.... Seriously, what's up with you lately?"

      "Nothing is up," Paul shook his head. "Sorry, just tired...I guess." He turned back to the stove and remained calm on the outside, but on the inside he was freaking out. John didn't break up with Cyn when we went to Hamburg, Paul thought. Something is wrong. Something is seriously wrong. This is very bad.

     "Ugh," John said when he opened the cabinet to find a snack. "We've been living off of cereal and peanut butter sandwiches for the past week. I can't wait for tomorrow."

      "Life of a musician," Paul laughed. But still, his mind was racing. "And what's tomorrow?"

     "Oh, I didn't tell you?" John said and Paul shook his head as he poured the now boiled water into two teacups. "Sorry. Mimi wants you, me, and George to come round for dinner tomorrow."

      "Not Pete?" Paul said and handed John's teacup to him.

     John laughed. "She doesn't like Pete,"

     "She doesn't like George, either," Paul pointed out and sipped his tea.

     "Yeah, she says she's coming round to him," John shrugged. "Not sure I believe her, but she's making an effort to get to know the friends I'm closest to so I'll give her that. And anyway, it's Mimi. If she really hated him, there's no way in hell he'd be coming over for dinner. So will you come?"

      "Of course," Paul nodded.

~~~

      That night, it took a long time for Paul to fall asleep. John was snoring away but all Paul could think about was how John had broken up with Cynthia... They were supposed to be getting married the following year!

     Eventually he did fall asleep, though. And then, at around three in the morning by someone standing beside his mattress and hissing, "Paul. Paul. Paul."

      Paul woke up and looked up to see a figure standing over him. He jumped and yelled loudly, but then his eyes began to adjust. "Barney?" He whispered and raised his eyebrows at the blonde man standing over him. "What the hell are you doing here? John is going to wake up!"

      "No, he won't," Barney said and wiggled his fingers. "Magic, remember? Now come on, we need to talk." Then he turned on his heel and left the room.

      Reluctantly, Paul peeled the covers away from his body and clambered out of bed, then followed Barney out of the bedroom and I to the kitchen. Paul sighed. "Would you like something to drink?"

      "A beer would be great," Barney replied.

      Paul opened the fridge, grabbed a beer, and turned around only to find Barney already holding a beer.

      "Magic," Barney said and took a swig of beer.

      Paul rolled his eyes and out the beer he was holding back in the fridge. "What do you want, Barney?"

     "Oh, come on," Barney said. "I'm trying to help you save your best friend from being shot - remember how you felt when John died? Yeah, I'm trying to stop that feeling from ever happening. Why are you being cold with me, Paulie?"

      "Because you woke me up at three in the morning," Paul sighed. "And I'm freaking confused right now, okay?"

     "Ah, so you've noticed something!" Barney grinned. "Go on! What is it?"

     Paul frowned. "John broke up with Cynthia. That's not supposed to happen."

     Barney's face fell. "Oh. That. I thought you might've noticed something important but okay, if you must know, I made sure that John and Cynthia broke up - don't yell at me! Let me finish! - because I had to. The order came from higher authorities. John and Cynthia couldn't be together because that was wrong. So many things around the Beatles didn't happen the way they were meant to, Paul. That's why you're here. To fix those things."

      "And what was so wrong about John and Cynthia?" Paul frowned.

      Barney laughed. "What wasn't wrong about John and Cynthia? I mean, come on! You saw the whole thing! You saw how terrible their marriage was, Paul, and I know why everything went to shit. It's because it was never supposed to happen. They were supposed to break up before you went to Hamburg because in Hamburg John was supposed to realize something - something big - and he couldn't be dating Cynthia when he realized that. So, this time I simply made sure that it went as it was supposed to."

      "But how did you make them break up?" Paul asked.

      "Magic," Barney smirked.

     "Okay, so if you can do that then why do you need me here?" Paul asked. "Why can't you just alter everything so that it's the way it's meant to be or whatever?"

      "Because we're only allowed to interfere so much," Barney said. "If we fix everything with magic, it could all fall apart so easily."

     "Why?" Paul said. "And who's we?

     "We are the F.H.O.," Barney said.  "The Fixing History Organization. We do as the name implies; we help history pass as it's supposed to when help is needed and when we can't do that, we try to fix it. And if we only used magic to fix everything, it could fall apart because by bringing you here, everything you change is solidified. If we fixed all of our problems with magic, well, magic can be fought with magic and there are people working against us."

      "Who? And why are they working against you?" Paul asked.

      "You ask a lot of questions, you know that?" Barney sighed. "Listen, I can't tell you everything. Not yet. I've already said too much, but I like you. Just remember to keep looking out for things you never noticed before, okay?"

     "Wait," Paul said before Barney could disappear. "What did you mean when you said that John had to break up with Cyn because in Hamburg he was going to realize something? Something big? John and I always told each other just about everything, and - "

      "Like I said, Paul, I've already said too much," Barney said. "However, I'll give you this last piece of information; John told Stuart a hell of a lot more then he ever told you until you got back from Hamburg. So where you are now - well, when you are - John tells you just about everything. Except this one tiny little completely detrimental thing."

      Paul's head was spinning. He thought that he had been John's best friend even when Stu had been around... That didn't matter now though. "Barney," Paul said. "What is John keeping from me?"

      "With my plan and a little bit of luck, you'll find out all on your own soon enough," Barney smiled and winked. "See you around, Paul." And then he was gone into thin air, leaving Paul to stand in the kitchen, alone, in the middle of the night, and ponder over everything Barney had said.

~~~

A/N: aaaaand there's chapter 4 for you! So I probably won't be updating until I get back from Portugal and that'll be in the 25th so it's a little while from now. I'll see what I can do about updating once or twice while I'm there but I'm making no promises. I hope you're all enjoying so far and I'll talk to you all when I get back!