“Shaz!”
“Sorry” she giggled and began to dance around Gabrielle, humming the tune she’d been singing before.
Gabrielle rolled her eyes. Some thing never will ever change. “Calm down. Stop that”
Shaz stopped and pouted “What’s wrong with you” she paused and jumped up on the bed “Oh wait! I know! I’m In love! La la lalalalalla”
Gabrielle sat down on her bed “I’ll tell you a secret if you calm down”
Shaz stopped jumping on the bed an thought about it for a minute. “Ok” she said with a shrug and sat down with a might bounce next to Gabby. “What’s the secret”
Gabrielle pondered this for a minute, to buy time she stuck her pinkie out “Do you pinkie-swear never to ever tell anyone”
“I promise” Shaz chirped
“Never Ever?”
“Never ever” she nodded, latching her pinkie on to Gabrielle’s “Oh wait” he face darkened “You didn’t kill anyone did you?”
“What?” Gabrielle pulled a face “No! Of Course not!”
The smile was back “Ok, wot then?”
“You can’t tell anyone” Gabrielle repeated. Oh. She was going to regret this. She shouldn’t tell her. Telling her would be the end. Everyone in Liverpool would know. Her life would be over. His life would be over. It wasn’t worth it. But then again maybe it would be worth it. No. NO.. Yes…
“Erg!” she said aloud
“Erg?” Shaz repeated “Erg?”
“No, shut up” Tell her. Don’t. Tell her. Don’t. Tell her. Don’t “I um.. I …erm nerble… had god… Paul”
“Paul?” she repeated, and slid closer “What? Get it out or I’ll start singing again”
Gabrielle took a deep breath. Her pinkie finger was starting to hurt. “Ok. You can never tell anyone. *EVER* Because I will kill you if you do”
“Eep” Shaz Giggled “Promise, now what?”
“I…”
“You…”
“I had sex”
Shaz blinked and then took a very deep breath, drawing her mouth into a tiny O and making her eyes go wide. She leaned back a little and stayed like that for a very long time without breathing.
“Shaz?”
“You did?”
Gabrielle nodded “Uh huh”
“In Hamburg?”
“Uh huh”
“with” her mouth slid into a shit eating grin “Paul”
“Um. Yes”
She made a really loud shrieking sound then and grabbed Gabrielle arm, still shrieking “You are *SO* Lucky”
Gabrielle was bewildered “I am?” she asked “Why?”
Shaz shrugged and flopped back on the bed “because he is such a nice guy, you know”
“Oh” Gabrielle nodded “Yeah, he was really good about it”
“Right” she nodded “I’m calm now. You have to tell me everything. How did it happen”
Gabrielle blushed, something that only happens on rare occasions “I… well, I was drunk”
“Yeah” she nodded eagerly
“And he was drunk”
“Oh come on” Shaz stood up and started pacing “There’s more to it then that. You mean he hasn’t been in love with you for ages and you only now noticed it and realized you love him to but didn’t want to do anything about it because George is your best friend”
Gabrielle pulled a face “No! You’ve been reading Lady Chattery’s Lover again, haven’t you”
“That’s beside the point” said Shaz with a flippant hand motion
“Yeah. The point it we were both drunk and it happened”
“So you’re not in love?”
She gave her friend a sympathetic look “Sorry no”
“Ok. So what d’you remember”
“Um” Gabrielle blushed again. Damn it. “It was nice”
“Nice?”
“OH fuck off!” she laughed “Bloody Christ you sound like him the morning after”
“Right. So did he kiss you first”
“I” she hesitated. Did he? She couldn’t remember. “I think so, I was changing, it think and he came over an kissed me”
“You were in your nuddy pants!” Shaz squealed
“No” she rolled her eyes again “I was changing me top”
“Oh , right” she continued “Well, then, did it-”
“Shaz” she interrupted her “If you want to know, go ask Paul if he’s free to fuck you tonight. Because I’m sure he won’t say no.”
Shaz rolled her eyes “What time are they getting home?”
“They are home”
“Really!” she started for the door
Gabrielle groaned “Shaz, Get dressed!”
Shaz however was singing “They’re home they’re home, they’re home, they’re, homeeeee” she stopped suddenly “Why didn’t you tell me?”
Gabrielle made an exasperated sound “I didn’t know! They thought I was in London for some fucking odd reason and got in around noon yesterday. They’ve been set up to play the Cavern tonight”
“Why?”
Gabrielle answered by throwing one of Cynthia’s skirts that she had borrowed at Shaz and then walked into her closest to find something to where. Oh. Wow. She’d been so used to wearing leather short things and black that color was almost blinding. And everything was shockingly modest too. She didn’t remember owning so many sweater sets and ankle length skirts. It was amazing. Gabrielle contemplated cutting a good three feet off her skirts with a pair of sheers but that would do no good.
“Why!” Shaz repeated
Gabrielle stuck her head out of the closet and frowned as Shaz started taking her clothes off to change. “Why what?”
“Why are they playing the Cavern?”
“Because they’ve just come in from Germany and Rory Storm’s been back for a while and he wants them to play or something , instead of him… I dunno”
Shaz seemed to accept this “What’re you wearing?”
Gabrielle shrugged and clicked her tongue “Everything I own is fucking prudish”
“You’ve had sex, you aren’t a prude”
“I don’t care” she shrugged and started to undo her sweater, she had a mini skirt that belonged to Cyn somewhere in there, she was sure. A dark green one. “What matches green?”
Shaz was tucking her blouse in. She looked up and pulled I face “I don’t know…. Oh my god” she trailed off. Gabrielle looked down at herself “What?” she asked “Have I torn something”
Shaz was still staring at her. “fucking hell gabby” she whispered “You got really thin”
Gabriel looked down at herself unable to see the change “No I didn’t, I’m the same”
Shaz look up at her face “Yes you fucking did. What *happened* to you. IT looks like someone could fit both of their hands around one of your legs.”
Gabrielle rolled her eyes “You’re a nutter. I’m fine. Look” she waved her arms about in the air “I’m not breaking? I’m fine, you see. I’ve always been a really thin. It’s just like that”
Shaz shook her head “You’re eating before we go, before I start to see yer ribs, d’you know what I mean”
Gabby rolled her eyes and finished changing. She found a brush on her burrow and did her hair so it didn’t stick up and headed for the door. Shaz followed complaining that white and cream don’t match.