A couple weeks after Paul had gone to the F.H.O. with Barney for that rather unsettling meeting, he and John were in their kitchen dong the dishes. Of course, being them and all, they weren't doing a very good job of it. They were goofing around and John had soap in his hair, Paul had water down his shirt, and they'd broken a plate.

"John, that tickles! Stop tha- whoops."

Make that two plates.

Paul continued washing and drying the dishes while John swept up the shattered remains of the plate and tossed them into the rubbish bin. Just as Paul was finishing with the last of the dishes, moving across the kitchen to put away a bowl, the phone began to ring.

"Hello?" John answered the phone, then he paused. "Stuart?"

Paul froze, and there was a crash, and he looked down to see that he'd broken a bowl, now, as well.

John looked up, startled.

"Sorry," Paul mouthed.

John shook his head, "Don't worry about it," he mouthed back then returned his attention to the phone call.

Stuart? Stuart? Paul's head was spinning. Start should have been dead in April! What was he doing calling John on the telephone? It didn't make any sense and Paul's first thought was that he needed to talk to Barney.

A few minutes later, after Paul had cleaned up the remains of the bowl and John had talked to Stuart, John hung up and turned to Paul. "My, God. That was Stu. He said he was calling to make up and make sure there weren't any hard feelings between us."

"That's..good," Paul nodded. "But why now? It's been almost two years since you last spoke to each other."

"He said he had a health scare recently," John said. "He had something wrong in his brain, but they've fixed it now. He said he almost died, though."

"That's good," Paul said. "That he was able to be saved, I mean."

"Yeah," John nodded. "I can't imagine what it would be like to have, like, Astrid call and say that Stuart had died. It would be awful. I can't even begin to imagine what it would feel like to get that phone call.."

I can, Paul thought to himself with a frown.

~~~

Paul laid awake that night, his mind racing, his thoughts uncontrollable, until he heard someone moving around in the kitchen and he leapt out of bed and scurried off to the kitchen. "Barney!" Paul said.

At the same time, Barney spoke urgently. "Paul!"

"Stuart is alive!" They spoke in unison.

"You know already?" Barney said.

Paul nodded. "Yeah. He phoned John today. He said he had a health scare, that something was wrong in his brain which is right. That happened before. But the doctors managed to save him... So according to your prophecies or whatever, was he supposed to live?"

"No, that's what's hit me worried," Barney shook his head. "He was supposed to die."

Paul sighed. "I don't get it. If the Shadows want everything to be as it's supposed to be then why don't they just leave you alone?"

"Like I've told you before, they don't agree with out meddling." Barney sighed, too. "I mean, they're doing a hell of a lot of meddling now, but that's besides the point. They think we should let whatever is going to happen happen. They think we should ignore the prophecies and just let everything go rogue if that's what's going to happen naturally. So since they can't stop us, they fight us. They're trying to make everything that we're trying to fix go wrong. So, for instance, John. He wasn't at all what we were trying to fix when we were trying to fix the Beatles. But then the Shadows swept in, somehow managed to get John and Cynthia to stay together, and years later they made sure he was killed."

"How did they get John and Cynthia to stay together, though? And how did they get someone to shoot him?" Paul frowned.

"As far as John and Cynthia go, the best answer I can give you is that they used magic." Barney said. "I don't know how, but they did. Luckily, we were able to reverse it - that's why we don't fix everything with magic, it can be reversed by other magic. But as for how they made sure John was shots..I don't know. We've tried to use magic on that, too, to see if that's how they did it but they didn't. So it's set in stone, it can't be reversed." Barney sighed then he saw the horrified look on Paul's face. "With magic, I mean! It can't be reversed with magic! That's why you're here, Paul. You can reverse it."

Paul breathed a sigh of relief.

"I've get to get going," Barney said. "I've got to get back to Lilly. We finally both have a night off."

"Oh, did she talk to you already?" Paul asked. "About that thing she wanted to say to you in private?"

"Oh, yeah!" Barney said and he beamed, his face lit up so brightly that it seemed to illuminate the entire room. "She's going to have a baby! I'm going to be a father! Can you believe it? Me! A father!"

Paul grinned. "Congratulations! I'm so happy for you!" He fought back the thoughts that came to mind about his own children. Heather, how she would have to grow up without a mother and how Paul would never meet her. Mary, Stella, James, and Beatrice... They'd never even be born. But Paul pushed those thoughts to the back of his mind, into a box with a padlock on it where he stored all of the things he couldn't bare to think about.

He really couldn't afford to be thinking about his kids and how sad he got about them sometimes, especially not now. He was worried about everything with Stuart and the Shadows, and besides, he really was happy for Barney.

"Thank you," Barney nodded. "Thank you. "Well, I really do have to run. I'll see you soon. Oh, and whatever you do, be very careful whenever Stuart calls or if you happen to see him at any point."

"Why?" Paul said, his grin quickly turning to a frown.

"Because he was saved by the Shadows," Barney said. "God only knows what they're planning for him."

~~~

It was late in August and Jim thought it would be w nice idea to invite Paul, John, George, and Ringo over for dinner again. "So, can you be here tomorrow at seven?" Jim asked Paul on the phone.

"Yeah, that should be fine," Paul said. "Ooh! Dad! You should have Brian over, too. We've been working with him for going on a year, now. You should meet him. I think you'd really like him."

"I don't know, Paul," Jim sighed, hesitant to agree. "You know what people say about him..."

"Dad," Paul sighed. "Come on."

"You've yet to deny it, Paul," Jim said.

"I don't confirm, nor deny, rumors about other people's personal information." Paul said pointedly. "And besides, I've already told you, it shouldn't matter! He's a really great guy."

"I don't know, son." Jim said.

"Please, dad," Paul pleaded with his father. "Just give him a chance, and you'll see that he's really just, like, one of the nicest guys you'll ever meet in your life."

"Oh, very well," Jim sighed.

"Thank you, dad!" Paul grinned.

So the next day at seven in the evening found Paul, John, George, Ringo, and Brian waiting on the front doorstep of the McCartney household. Paul rung the doorbell and smiled at the four people he was standing with.

"Paul, remind me again why your father has invited me over for dinner?" Brian raised his eyebrows.

"I never told you you in the first place, Bri." Paul pointed out.

"Okay, then why has your ft shed invited me over for dinner?" Brian raised his eyebrows.

"Because..he thinks that it's about time he gets to know you because, you know, im his son and im working with you," Paul said. It wasn't totally a lie. Someone had said that... It just hadn't been Jim.

The door swung open. "Hello," Mike greeted them all. "Come on in." He stepped aside and Paul, John, George, Ringo, and Brian all walked in and headed for the kitchen, Mike trailing behind them after he close the door. "I'm Mike, Paul's brother." He stuck out a hand toward Brian.

Brian shook Mike's hand. "It's a pleasure to meet you. I'm Brian Epstein. I've heard so much about you from Paul."

"All good things I hope?" Mike said, looking to Paul with raised eyebrows.

Brian chuckled. "Yes, all good things. I assure you."

"Ah! You're here! Lovely!" Jim walked into the kitchen. Paul couldn't help but notice that when his father's gaze landed on Brian, Jim's expression shifted. His smile was too wide, it was obviously forced, and Paul was nervous that Brian was going to notice. "Welcome to our home. You're Mr. Epstein, I presume?"

"Yes, hello, Mr. McCartney. Thank you so much for having me." Brian stuck out his hand and Jim lifted his own hand, hesitated for a moment or two, then shook Brian's hand. Jim kept the handshake extremely brief and when he let go, his hand twitched a bit.

Paul glanced sideways at John who was clearly using up every ounce of self control. John looked right into Paul's eyes and gave him a look that said, "This is ridiculous. And Paul nodded to him.

If Brian had noticed Jim's odd behavior, he wasn't showing it.

Soon, they were all sat around the kitchen table digging into their supper. "So, Mr. Epstein, Paul has told me a lot about what you've done for the band. Bit he hasn't told me much about you personally." Jim smiled and his lips were pressed so tightly together that they'd gone white. "Tell me about yourself... Are you married?"

Paul choked on his food, John's eyebrows shot up and his lip curled angrily, George and Ringo glanced at each other, and Mike sighed heavily, slapping his forehead.

Brian, however, was as cool as a cucumber. "No, I'm not," he said, and sipped his wine.

"Ah," Jim said. "Any plans to get married anytime soon?"

"No, I don't think so." Brian said curtly, his cheeks turning a bit red as he took another sip of his wine. "This wine is really very delicious. Where did you get it? I'm going to have to pick up a bottle very soon."

"I don't remember," Jim said. "Anyway, why do you think that is?"

Brian's cheeks went impossibly redder. "I - I guess you could I just haven't found that special someone. Besides, I don't think that I'm really the type to get married."

"Yeah? And why is that?" Jim had a death grip on the fork that was in his hand.

"I - erm - I don't kn-know.." Brian resisted the urge to dab his red and sweaty face with his napkin. Instead, he reached for his fork to take a bite of his food, then changed his mind and reached for his wine get again. He took a gulp of it, swallowing hard. "This is really just the best wine I have ever had in my life. I'm going to have to figure out where it's sold. Could you tell me what it's called?"

"I don't remember," Jim stabbed his fork into his food, taking a bite.

"Perhaps you could find the bottle after we've eaten," Brian said and finally took a small bite of his food.

Jim opened his mouth to say something, and judging by his narrowed eyes and pointed finger, Paul was sure that he was going to say something terribly harsh. "Dad," Paul said quickly, before the words could leave his father's mouth. "Could I have a quick word with you?" He asked, pushing back his chair and rising to his feet. He threw his napkin down on the table. "In private?" He added through gritted teeth.

"Yes, of course, Paul," Jim said and his voice was calm, but his eyes were still mean and accusing and focused on Brian.

Paul and his father walked into the sitting room. "Dad," Paul hissed, soft enough that no one in the kitchen would hear them. "You promised me that you'd give him a chance."

"I'm merely making conversation, Paul," Jim said softly.

"No," Paul huffed quietly. "You're being spiteful."

"Paul," Jim snapped.

"I'm sorry, dad, but it's true." Paul raised his eyebrows. "Just give him s chance, a real chance, and you'll see that he's a great guy."

"It's wrong, Paul," Jim shook his head. "What he does, what all those people like him do. It's wrong."

Paul swallowed, blinking back tears that began to form in his eyes. "You know what, dad? People are afraid of things that are new, things that they don't understand. People are afraid of change, but change is imminent and people need to bloody get over it. Just because you don't understand something, that doesn't mean it's wrong. It just means that you don't understand it." And with that, Paul turned on his heels and marched back to the kitchen with his head held high.

Paul was sure that he had never ever spoke to his father that way, but right now he didn't care. He was fuming, he was angry. He knew that he should have expected this sort of thing, homophobia was so common in the sixties! But it was disgusting! It was making Paul feel physically sick..

He dropped into his seat at the table and took a bite of his food.

"Is everything all right?" Ringo asked.

Paul nodded. "Yeah, everything is fine." He lied.

Jim walked back into the kitchen, taking his place at the table once more and returning to his food. The rest of the meal passed in a thick, agonizingly awkward silence that had everyone in the room shoveling down their food in desperation to escape.

Paul had never been a homophobe by any means. He supposed that when he was young (the first time, of course) he had been a little uneducated on homosexuality, but he'd never been hateful toward gay people. But he also hadn't been thoroughly disgusted by homophobia until he was older, because that's just the way the world was.

It was different now. He knew how the world would treat gay people in fifty years, he knew how they deserved to be treated... Like people! Because that's all they were and even though Paul had lived through this era before, he was suddenly having a very hard time getting over the discrimination that gays faced everyday.

If anyone finds out about me and John.. Paul thought and he shivered. It would be pure hell, especially once they were famous.

After dinner was finished and the plates had been cleared, Jim served everyone a slice of apple pie and more wine.

"Okay, everyone," Brian said, deciding he would try and break the ice. He felt a little better knowing that what he was about to say would be mostly directed at Paul, John, George, and Ringo. "I have an announcement to makes.. Boys, I've booked you a strings of gigs with really good pay, and there are going to be a lot of producers there."

"Really?" George grinned and Brian nodded.

"That's brilliant!" Paul said.

"Where?" John asked eagerly.

"Germany," Brian smiled.

Ringo clapped his hands together. "I've wanted to visit Germany again for a while!"

"Yeah, it'll be totally gear to go back," George nodded.

"Or, as Paul would say, awesome," John laughed, earning himself a glare from his boyfriend.

Jim, Mike, Ringo, and Brian all looked at John in puzzlement. "What are you talking about?" Ringo furrowed his brows.

John shook his head, still laughing. "Never mind, I'll tell you later, Ringles."

Not much later, Paul, John, George, Ringo, and Brian were bidding Jim and Mike a good night, thanking Jim for the meal, and then they were off. "Hey, Brian," John said. "Why don't you come over and have a couple beers with us? Relax a bit, yeah?"

"That would actually be lovely," Brian nodded. "Thank you, John."

So the three of them said goodbye to George and Ringo and headed to John and Paul's shared flat. Once they were there, John opened the fridge to get them each a beer. "Damn it," John cursed. "We're out of beer... Ugh. I'll go to the store and pick some up."

"You really don't need to do that, John." Brian shook his head. "It's fine. I'm fine."

"I'm going to the store, Bri," John said, clapping him on the shoulder. "I want some beer. I'm sick of being sober." He grabbed the car keys off of the counter and left the flat.

Paul and Brian sat in silence on the sofa for a long time before one of them spoke. "Why do I get the nagging feeling your dad doesn't like me?"

"Brian, I am so so so sorry about my dad," Paul said quickly with a sigh. "He had no right to act that way, and I feel like it's kind of my fault because, well, I kind of convinced him to invite you."

Brian nodded slowly. "It's okay. It's not your fault, don't blame yourself... Do I even need to ask why he doesn't like me?"

Paul shook his head slowly. "Brain, I'm not going to lie and say that there aren't rumors flying around about you. And I'm not going to lie and say that the rumors that are flying around don't put your career at risk.."

"I know," Brian said. "I spend every hour of every day of my life worrying that someone is going to do something, or that you boys are gong to decide you could do better and...I don't know what I'd do." He sniffled.

Paul looked over to see that Brian was in tears. Brian Epstein was actually in tears! Paul couldn't remember a time when he'd ever seen such a thing. He wrapped a comforting arm around Brian. "That is never ever going to happen, Eppy. Absolutely no chance."

"Paul..I am gay, you know." Brian frowned, wiping his eyes. "That's a big deal in this business - in any business, for that matter! And I know it! I know that better than anyone..."

"Doesn't matter," Paul shook his head. "Me, and John, and George, and Ringo..we don't give a fuck whether you're gay or straight or whatever honestly. We care that you're a damn good manager, and one of the best people any of us has ever known. You don't have to worry about us firing you, not even a little bit."

"You're absolutely sure?" Brian said hopefully.

"Yeah," Paul nodded. Then he made a split second decision, and maybe he should have consulted John on this first, and maybe he should have consulted Barney, but he just went for it instead. "Yeah, I'm sure.. Besides it's not like I can really judge, now, can I."

Brian looked at him with wide eyes, his eyebrows raised high on his forehead. "Really? You?"

Paul laughed and nodded.

"I always thought you were kind of a..I don't know, you're too nice for the word womanizer, but..." Brian shrugged.

"I guess you could say I'm bisexual," Paul said.

"Oh," Brian nodded. "Okay. I guess that makes more sense."

"Yeah, listen," Paul said. "Could you me a solid and, like, not tell anyone about this?"

"Of course," Brian nodded quickly. "Am I the only one who knows?"

"There's one other person but that's sort of...complicated." Paul smiled. "Just don't mention it to anyone, okay? Let's just keep this whole conversation between the two of us, yeah?"

"Yeah, of course," Brian nodded.

The front door opened. Brian and Paul stood up and turned to see John walking in with a pack of beer. "You would not believe the line I had to wait in at the liquor store!" He exclaimed.

~~~

Brian, John, and Paul talked into the early hours of the morning. It was nearly four by the time Brian went home, and Paul and John began readying themselves for bed. They stood in the bathroom, John pulling on a white t-shirt and Paul standing in front of the mirror brushing his teeth.

"I'm excited to go to Germany again," John grinned.

Paul nodded in agreement.

"It's going to be awesome," John said mockingly, a smirk spread wide across his face.

"Shu' u'!" Paul huffed in exasperation, his voice muffled by the toothbrush in his mouth.

John chuckled.

Paul spit out the toothpaste into the sink and rinsed his mouth out with water. John wandered over while Paul was wiping the excess water off of his mouth and wound his arms around his waist, loosing hugging him. John pressed his face into the curve of Paul's neck, sharing in his lover's calming heat. "Hi," Paul giggled.

"Hello," John chuckled again.

"I love you," Paul smiled.

"Love you, too, babe," John said, turning his head and pressing a chaste kiss to the smooth skin of Paul's neck. Paul sighed contently, reveling in the warmth that spread through him when John's lips touched him - in that moment, everything was perfect and tranquil...Paul felt as if he were floating as John pressed the side of his face to to the placed where Paul's neck met his shoulder again. "Hey, maybe when we're in Germany we can spend one day with Stuart. It'd be really great to see him again after all this time, don't you think?"

Paul's mouth was suddenly very dry and he couldn't seem to remember how to speak. He stood there, his mouth hanging open like a dead fish, for several moments before he managed a very hoarse, "Yeah."

John looked up. "You okay?" He frowned.

"Yeah," Paul croaked. "Just tired."

"Yeah, me, too," John nodded. "Come on," he placed a gentle kiss to Paul's shoulder. "Let's go to bed, my love."

Paul nodded and allowed John to pull him toward their bedroom, allowed himself to be pulled into bed and covered by blankets and cocooned in his lover's body...but his kind was racing with fear.

What was going to happen when they met up with Stuart? What if Stuart was working with the Shadows? What if the Shadows had said they'd save his life, but only if he agreed to assassinate John Lennon?

A million different what ifs were were blowing around in Paul's mind as he was dragged down into a dark, uneasy world of sleep...