Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

    It was the tail end of an already exhausting February 23rd. The band had spent all day in airports and on planes and dodging the nosy paparazzi. For anyone else, that alone would wipe out any plans of normal functioning for the next week. For the Beatles, however, it was just another day at the office. 

    Come 11pm, their plane finally landed in the good ol’ U of K. Upon landing, Brian had offered to drive George and Ringo back to the apartment complex that all 3 of them just so happened to live in. They, of course, took the offer, mostly because it was cheaper than renting a car for the evening.

    About half way through the drive home, George felt his weary eyes start to close. The city lights were starting to blur together like an artsy hipster photograph, and he started leaning on the windowsill of the backseat window.

    Ringo took notice of this and opted to move George from the window to his shoulder, hoping that it would be more comfortable for him. 

    “Hey, you two.” Brian said softly, turning the radio down, “we’ll be at the apartment soon. Just try and stay awake, ok?”

    “I won’t have any issues, Eppy. But I’m sure that today really knocked the wind out of Georgie’s sails.” Ringo whispered.

    “...I don’t have sails. I’m not a boat.” George dryly commented, still half-asleep.

    “It’s an expression, darling.” Ringo reassured him. 

    “Almost 21 years and he still doesn’t grasp common metaphors?” Brian inquired.

    “Be sensitive, Eppy. He’s wired like Linux, whereas you and I are more like Microsoft.”

    Brian paused as he took a moment to grasp what Ringo was trying to say. Luckily, it didn't take him too long to get it.

    “Ah. I see. Guess that makes a lot of things make more sense.” Brian exclaimed.

    Of course, George normally never liked Ringo jumping to his defense and explaining how his autism worked, but since the unholy combination of airports and paparazzi was more than enough to trigger sensory overload, he just let Ringo say what needed to be said. That, and it would save them at least 1 quarrel in their relationship. 

    However, by the time the conversation had finished, George was already fast asleep, and holding tightly onto Ringo’s arm.

    And pretty soon, Ringo found himself asleep as well.

Chapter Text

    It was finally 1am, technically now the 24th, when they finally got to the apartment complex in question. 

    All 3 of them opted to take the elevator up to their apartments. George and Ringo’s were on the 3rd floor, and Brian was directly above them on the 4th. It probably would have been more convenient to take the stairs, but with a shitload of luggage and a half-asleep, sensory overloaded George; the elevator was definitely the better option, as there was no way in hell that George could muster up the spoons to walk up the stairs.

    Somehow, the couple arrived at their apartment alive and with nothing stolen.

    The first thing on George’s weary mind was to unpack his suitcase, so he went to their shared bedroom to set his bags down on his side of the room.

    Ringo, for some strange reason, had been craving a cup of tea since their plane ride. So he decided to pop the kettle on to boil for a few minutes and left out 2 mugs: a blue one with cute little trains for him and a psychedelic painted mug for his sweetheart.

    With about a minute until the kettle was boiled, George made a sudden announcement:

    “Hey Rings? I’m gonna take a nap. Could you please wake me up when the tea is ready?”

    “Sure thing, babe.” Ringo hollered back.

    Upon confirmation, George closed the door to the bedroom. He decided to change into a more sensory friendly outfit: a pair of plain black sweatpants and a plain white tank top.

    He curled into the covers of the bed that he had missed for so long, and within seconds, he was sound asleep.

    The kettle started boiling, and Ringo jumped up from the couch to start assembling the perfect cup of tea.

    Just a splash of cream and a spoonful of sugar later, Ringo’s tea was finished. He had the faintest urge to wake up George, so that he could have some tea, but he pushed it aside, seeing as George was probably sound asleep by now. 

    So he decided to turn on the radio and chill with his tea.

Chapter Text

    Ringo’s phone started ringing at 9am, but he ignored it as he rolled over, facing the couch. He was still asleep at this point, and had no real intention of waking up and getting anything done.

    George, on the other hand, had been up for the past hour with a horrible headache and colder than he was the night before. It was February, so there was no reason to turn the A/C on. And sadly, the blankets were offering no help whatsoever. So, yeah. He was not in the mood to do anything either.

    Ringo’s phone rang again, and he begrudgingly picked it up.

    “Yes?”

    “Hey, it’s John. I’ve been trying to call you, but to no avail. Anyways, we started recording an hour ago and were wondering where you and George were.”

    “Ah, sorry. Slept in. Hazza was exhausted last night and fell asleep before I could make him a cup of tea.”
    “I don’t care about all of that. Just get to the studio asap.”

    “Ok…”

    Ringo hung up, sighing.

    “Hazza, wake up! We’re late for recording!”

    A groan emitted from the bedroom.

    “I don’t wanna wake up and do shit either, but it’s kind of a necessity.” Ringo quipped as he opened the bedroom door.

    To his dismay, George was sitting on the bed, curled up in heavy blankets, and shivering madly.

    Ringo sighed as he sat on the bed.

    “How.. long have you been awake?”

    “An hour.” George said, his voice hoarse. “I couldn’t sleep after my alarm went off.”

    “Ah. Were you… feeling shitty when you woke up?”

    George nodded, curling further into the blankets. Just from the redness of his cheeks, Ringo could tell that George had a fever. He just wasn’t sure how bad it was.

    “Well, if it’s of any assurance, I can tell just by looking at you that you have a fever. Your cheeks are red. Like, actually red. Not pink. Red.”

    George pulled the blanket down from his head so that Ringo could see his face better.

    “Damn.” George whispered.

    “And does your throat hurt?”

    George nodded.

    “How much, on a scale of 1-10?”

    George held up 9 fingers.

    “Shit…”

    As Ringo was contemplating his next move, George was on his Nokia (he never liked smartphones. Granted, he had never used one, but he wasn’t one for fancy tech anyways. For him, an old-fashioned cell phone and an MP3 player were all he needed). As soon as he saw the missed texts from John and Paul, he bolted out from the blankets and ran to the closet.

    “Wait. Where the fuck do you think you’re going?”

    George emerged in a pair of mom jeans and a beige turtleneck, motioning at Ringo to put his coat on.

    “We’re late! Hurry up! John and Paul are gonna kill us!” George anxiously yelled as he struggled with his black winter coat.

    “I already told them we’ll be on our way. And there is NO WAY you’re going today. You just told me you were sick!”

    “That doesn’t stop me, and it shouldn’t! It’s not like Brian gives us sick leave or anything!”

    Ringo sighed.

    “George, you need to rest. You’re already ill, and I doubt you’ll be able to handle the sensory input of the studio. Not after that meltdown in the airplane bathroom, anyways.”

    George stopped in his tracks.

    “I completely forgot about that. And besides, I don't wanna test John and Paul. They’re not very… patient.”

    Ringo moved to the front door to put his coat on.

    “Well, you’re not driving. You sleep in the car. I’ll drive through somewhere to get breakfast. And no, you don’t get to debate me on that.”

Chapter Text

    It was noon now, and John and Paul made a sudden decision to go out to lunch. George was alright with this. He wanted to practice anyways, and having them gone would alleviate a lot of his stress around that. Ringo also decided to stay behind, but added that maybe the two would join them in about an hour.

    John and Paul arrived at a small cafe where their manager, Brian, was waiting for them with their table.

    As they sat down, John looked Brian dead in the eyes.

    “So… party tonight?”

    “That’s why I invited you two out first. If we can plan something without George and Ringo knowing about it, it’ll be more of a surprise.” Brian explained.

    “Never seemed like the type to enjoy surprises.” John quipped.

    “Never was the type to enjoy parties.” Paul added.

    “Fair. How should we do this?” John asked impatiently.

    “Well, I was thinking a fun little shindig. Invite everyone we know, have a few drinks, maybe a board game or two.”

    “Who the fuck plays board games anymore?”

    “Well, he’s not really one for video games.”

    “Fair.”

    “Do you have any ideas, John?”

    “I’ll buy the alcohol, and a lot of it! Everyone will have a drink or two, and it’ll be a good night!”

    “For you, John.” Paul piped up. “If we’re planning a party for George, it kinda has to be something he can tolerate. So, no. No alcohol, no loud music, no ragers. He can barely handle the regular type of parties we already have. You’ve seen, Brian. He’s not good at parties.”

    “Now that you bring it up, you’re right.” Brian agreed.

    “And he’s already not feeling well. Probably tonsillitis, it’s a yearly thing for him. But if he’s sick, or has had some sort of poor reaction the day prior, it’s only worse and harder for him to handle it. So, yeah. Big, crowded party for someone who’s sick and still recovering from having been in a fucking airport is not a good idea.”

    “But Cynthia already got a babysitter for Julian! AND I bought a shit ton of alcohol!”

    “I’m down for a good time, no matter what happens. But we’re not wasting alcohol, so you bet your ass I’ll be partying with you tonight!”

    Paul sighed into his chai latte, already regretting what was to come later that night.

Chapter Text

    8pm arrived, and Ringo heard a knock at his door.

    “I’ll get it.”

    Ringo opened the door to Brian, who was dressed in a casual suit and holding a case of beer.

    “Oh, there you are. Did you get my text?” Brian asked.

    “What text?”

    “John’s hosting a party at my place. He ordered a lot of alcohol.”

    “Oh. THAT text.”

    “Did George get a text?”

    “Yeah, I think so. Hey, George?”

    George sighed a bit and wrapped a fuzzy blanket around him. He met the two at the front door, and Brian couldn’t believe his eyes.

    To put it bluntly, George looked about the same as he felt. The fuzzy blanket did practically nothing to stop his shivering, yet the fact that he was only really wearing a pair of Betty Boop pajama pants proved that he probably was sweating his ass off. And the bags under his eyes and his paleness didn’t help matters whatsoever.

    “What’s up?” George asked.

    “John’s hosting a party. And now that I think about it, you’re really not in a state to join in.”

    “If it has John as the host, then yeah, no. I’ll opt out.”

    “That’s fair. What about you, Ringo?”

    Ringo looked at George.

    “I mean…”

    “You don’t have to ask for my permission.” George bluntly spat out. “Go. Have fun. Don’t worry so much about me, ok?”

    “...if you say so, dear.”

    Ringo tenderly moved George’s bangs out of the way and kissed his forehead.

    “If I’m not back by 2am, blow up my phone, ok?”

    “...why would I do that?”

    “My request.”

    Ringo left with Brian, and George decided to pop the kettle on and brew a mug of tea.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

    Truth be told, the party was nice. Ringo definitely had his share of fun chatting with pretty much everyone he knew. Yes, the music was loud, but it wasn’t loud enough that it got on his nerves. 

    Ringo sipped at a beer and laughed at one of Paul’s stupid jokes.

Chapter Text

    By 2am, the party finally ended, and Ringo was more than comfortable walking back to the apartment on his own.

    As he walked back, it had fully clicked to him that it was in fact the 25th, and he really had to try to make this a good day for George.

    He walked into the apartment and turned on the lights.

    “Hey, Geo. I’m back.”

    After a bit of scanning, he didn’t find George anywhere in the living room. Not on the couch, not curled up in one of the chairs, just… not in the room.

    He just sighed and walked to the bedroom, slightly confused as to why he couldn’t find him in there.

    “So, if you’re not in the living room, and also not in the bedroom…”

    Bewildered, Ringo made his way over to the kitchen, and started questioning why this wasn’t a possibility in the first place.

    Sure enough, Ringo found him in the kitchen, curled up on the floor and fast asleep with a mug of tea within arm’s length. 

    “Of everywhere you could have slept while I was gone…”

    Ringo squatted down and gently moved George’s hair out of his face. As his fingers rested gently on George’s forehead, he found that his fever was still going strong, so he lightly shook George’s shoulder.

    “Hey, there. This must not be too comfortable.”

    George slowly woke up and began to sit up.

    “Didn’t even realize. What time is it?”

    “About 2am.”

    “...oh.”

    “Come on, then. I’m sure the bed will be much more comfortable.”

    George nodded in agreement and walked alongside Ringo. Once they made their way into the room, George climbed under the covers and quickly fell back asleep. Ringo sighed and joined him, falling asleep not too long later.

Chapter Text

    Well, this was one way to jumpstart my birthday, George thought to himself.

    It was 11am, and George and Ringo were sitting in the waiting room of an urgent care clinic.

    Now, it’s important to note that George absolutely did NOT want to be awake whatsoever. However, Ringo wanted to get George into a doctor to figure out exactly what was going on.

    At this point, they had already been waiting for 3 hours. Ringo’s phone was at 17%, and George had read through almost every magazine in their seating area. Out of complete boredom, Ringo mindlessly rested his hand on George’s forehead, only to find it just a tad bit warmer than it had been when they first went in.

    “If you weren’t heading in soon, I’d give you some Tylenol.” Ringo whispered.

    “No, it’s really no big deal. I understand you want to be helpful, but really, don’t worry about it.”

    “Harrison?”

    George stood up.

    “Do you want me to go with you?” Ringo asked.

    George shook his head and walked back with the nurse.

****************************************************************************

    20 minutes later, George re-emerged with a positive tonsillitis result and a prescription for penicillin. 

    “Hey, Rings, if we head to the pharmacy now-”

    “I didn’t have breakfast yet.”

    “...what?”

    “Yeah, we kinda left in a hurry, so I couldn’t get anything to eat.”

    “Oh. Do you want McDonalds? I’ll pay.”

    “Sure. And don’t worry about it.”

    “If you’re sure…”

    Once the two got into the car, George just couldn’t stop thinking about the earlier offer.

    “How often do you pay for stuff for me?”

    “Love, if you’re trying to imply that you’re a burden,-”

    “It’s not that. It’s that… you do so much for me, but I just want to do something for you, like you do for me.”

    “That’s sweet, dear, but it’s your birthday, so you really don’t need to worry about it, ok?”

    George resigned and nodded.

    “Do they have oatmeal at McDonalds?”

    “I think so?”

    The two pulled into the drive-thru and began ordering. In the end, Ringo left with a sausage burrito and iced caramel mocha, and George left with some fruit and maple oatmeal and a strawberry banana smoothie.

Chapter Text

    By 4pm, the duo had been at CVS for 3 hours, and Ringo was getting impatient. With the extra time on his hands, he managed to buy George some essentials: Soup, ice cream, tea, and ginger ale.

    He had also managed to sneak away long enough to buy a smaller birthday present. However, George seemed to pick up on his secretiveness.

    “Oh, is that for Mo?”

    “...is what for Mo?”

    “The lipstick. I think she likes that brand.”

    Ringo tucked the lipstick deep into his jacket pocket.

    “Well…. It’s not her birthday.”

    “So, it’s an early gift? To avoid the rush the week of?”

    Ringo sighed.

    “If it gets you out of my ass, then yes.”

    George nodded, and a number was called from the pharmacy window. George sighed and slowly stood up. As he went to retrieve his penicillin, Ringo shot Paul a quick text.

R: Turns out George has tonsillitis.

P: Staying in, then?

R: Yeah, not much of a choice.

P: That’s only fair. 

    George stood in front of Ringo with the medicine, and Ringo took that as a cue to start heading out.

Chapter Text

    Come 6pm, there was still no plan for how George and Ringo wanted to spend the evening. 

    “I’m just gonna throw some ideas out, Haz..” Ringo called out. “Give me just a thumbs up or thumbs down, ok?”

    George nodded, setting a cup of tea on the bedside table.

    “Wanna rent a movie?”

    Thumbs up.

    “How about dinner? You pick.”

    George waved his hand around in a “so-so” motion.

    “Not hungry?”

    George nodded.

    “Does Olive Garden sound appetizing? They have soups.”

    Thumbs up.

    “Sounds good, luv.”

    Ringo pulled up the website and George sat on the bed next to him.

    “Do you like the chicken gnocchi soup?”

    George nodded, and Ringo added it to the order. He also ordered himself the chicken parmesan and zeppolis for the two of them to share.

    “My treat. Happy birthday, btw.”

    George signed “thank you” and began scrolling through Redbox for a movie. He stopped scrolling on “The Muppets Take Manhattan”, and Ringo gave a thumbs up.

    “Why don’t you take a shower before the food gets here, and we’ll start it up while we eat?”

    George nodded and carefully stood up, grabbing a pair of pink silk pajamas.

    “And how’s the tea? Is it helping with your throat?”

    George nodded and closed the bathroom door.

Chapter Text

    An hour later, the food arrived, and George had just finished up his shower routine. As he walked out of the bathroom and into the bedroom, Ringo was setting up all of the food on a tray table on the bed.

    “Can I pop in the movie now?”

    “Sure, if you’d like.”

    Ringo nodded and popped the DvD into his laptop’s DvD drive, which just so happened to already be plugged into the HDMI port. Once the DvD was in and loading, he handed George a lighter t-shirt and pair of pants.

    “You really don’t wanna bundle up right now. When the fever breaks and you’re wearing something heavy, you won’t like it.”

    George just nodded and changed yet again. When he came back out, the movie was on the main menu and his soup was piping hot. He sat down on the bed and marveled at the effort that Ringo had put into everything.

    “Hey, before we start the movie: I want to give you your birthday gift.”

    Ringo handed George a small wrapped box, and George slowly took the wrapping paper off. Inside was a tube of red lipstick, and George nearly cried as he took the cap off and twisted the product up.

    “Do you like it? I know you were telling me how you weren’t entirely comfortable presenting masculine, and that you wanted to try something new.”

    “...you were listening?”

    “Of course.”

    “...this is the most thoughtful gift I’ve gotten in a while. Thank you so much.”

    “Of course.”

    Ringo started the movie, and the two quickly tucked into their dinner.

===============================================================================

    George had fallen asleep about 2/3rds of the way through the movie, after finishing all of the soup and a few zeppoles dipped in raspberry sauce. As he slept, Ringo just smiled, wanting to relish this moment and how he might never experience something so peaceful again. He lightly brushed George’s hand, and he groggily woke up.

    “Hey Geo?”

    “...hm?”

    “Was this the best birthday ever?”

    “Mhm.”

    “I’m glad.”

Chapter Text

Mayo Clinic. “Tonsillitis - Symptoms and Causes.” Mayo Clinic , 2018, www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/tonsillitis/symptoms-causes/syc-20378479 . 

“McDonald’s Menu: Our Full McDonald’s Food Menu | McDonald’s.” Mcdonalds.com , McDonalds, 2019, www.mcdonalds.com/us/en-us/full-menu.html . 

“Olive Garden Menu Prices (Updated February 2022).” Real Menu Prices , 4 Nov. 2015, realmenuprices.com/olive-garden-menu-prices/. Accessed 23 Feb. 2022.

“Ondemand Movies the Muppets Take Manhattan.” Www.redbox.com , Redbox, www.redbox.com/ondemand-movies/the-muppets-take-manhattan?queryId=1dca1519a9481307 .  Accessed 23 Feb. 2022.

“Tonsillitis - Diagnosis and Treatment - Mayo Clinic.” Mayoclinic.org , Mayo Clinic, 2018, www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/tonsillitis/diagnosis-treatment/drc-20378483 .