As Paul and John came back out, Paul greeted Isabel with a winning smile.

"Isabel, that gleaming look in your eye is enough to make any man fall to his knees -- it's as if the sun didn't rise until I saw you!"

Isabel peered down shyly, her long, dark hair masking her rose-colored cheeks. 

"You're laying it on kind of thick there, ain't ya, Paulie..?" John mentioned as he slipped on his jacket.

Isabel giggled at John's comment and they shared a quick sneer. Paul scowled, taking notice.

"I trust John treated you well while I was gone..!" he stated, sounding carefree yet appearing on edge.

"Well, the toast was a little dry but..." Isabel smiled, sneaking another taunting glance at John.

John hooted in response, speechless, as he jerked his body around in merriment.

"Dry toast!?" Paul exclaimed, shaking his head. "Well, I'm sure things are much less dry now that I'm here!"

"Pshaw! Give it a rest, Paulie, the only dry thing here is your act!" John retorted.

Isabel stifled another snicker. Paul tapped his foot, growing impatient with the banter.

"Yes, well, we should head to the studio, yeah..?"

"I thought we were going to work on a song here together!" John cocked his head in confusion.

"Let's just work on George's song," Paul declared. "I'll work on my song tonight, by myself."

It was at that moment that both John and Isabel fell silent. A nerve had clearly been struck.

"Thank you for breakfast, John!" Isabel perked up sweetly, turning to him. 

"Anytime, love," John casually dismissed her gratitude with the wave of a hand, looking downward.

"Ahem, yes, perhaps not any time..." Paul said, fighting the urge to roll his eyes. "But Isabel, do feel free to come along and watch as we rehearse, my dear!"

"Will Jane be joining us..?" Isabel inquired. She stared straight ahead, twiddling her thumbs, but shot a curt look at John, who raised his eyebrows back at her.

"No, she won't," Paul answered, his eyes deathly stoic. "She left early this morning."

"Oh," was all Isabel could mutter. An onslaught of questions ran through her head, but none of them passed her lips. 

"But never mind her," Paul expressed, now grinning. 

Isabel finally met Paul's gaze as he placed a delicate hand on her shoulder. She wasn't expecting this level of attention so soon after what had transpired between them the night before.

"You're all the company we need!"

~~~

"I'm back again," Gail stated bluntly. "But don't get any ideas, I'm here strictly for business..."

"More like you have unfinished business," George wryly mentioned.

"But that's none of our business!" Ringo added.

Gail rolled her eyes and let out an exasperated sigh. The truth was that she had already gotten mixed far too deeply into each of the boys' 'business' and she knew it.

"Speaking of which, I caught up with the happy wives yesterday..." Gail recounted, shooting a scathing look at George. 

George's eyes widened and then narrowed momentarily, mimicking Gail's expression of disapproval. 

"That's great!" Ringo said with a grin. "I'm not well-versed in girl-talk, but I do hope that Mo spoke kindly of me!" 

George coughed.

"Actually, she and I didn't get into much of a discourse," Gail remarked. "Pattie was too busy clucking my ear off..." 

Ringo's face crinkled as he let a loud laugh escape his lungs. Evidently, he was in a good mood today.

The mood quickly shifted, however, when Paul and John came strolling in. Their eyes seemed to simultaneously enlarge as they entered the room and detected Gail's presence. 

"I'm here on business!" Gail blurted, barely returning a glance at the two emerging bandmates. 

John and Paul remained stoic and mum, but then a beaming Isabel appeared from behind them, lightening the mood.

"Hi, Gail!" she chirped, striding confidently between the two lads. 

Gail smiled back at her, waving her fingers, "Hello, lovely!" 

In that instant, they all exchanged a quick smile, basking in a rare moment of serenity and relaxation. 

"Well, on that note," Paul began with a smirk. "Let's start work on the song!"

~~~

I want to tell you
My head is filled with things to say
When you're here
All those words they seem to slip away

When I get near you

The games begin to drag me down
It's all right
I'll make you maybe next time around

But if I seem to act unkind

It's only me, it's not my mind
That is confusing things
I want to tell you
I feel hung up and I don't know why
I don't mind
I could wait forever, I've got time

Sometimes I wish I knew you well

Then I could speak my mind and tell
Maybe you'd understand

I want to tell you

I feel hung up and I don't know why
I don't mind
I could wait forever, I've got time
I've got time
I've got time

Gail stood alongside Isabel in awe as they watched the band play. There it is, Gail thought, the same unique, ageless voices that had first captivated her all those years before. 

Paul contributed nothing more than vocals and hand-claps, but he easily stole the show in Isabel's eyes. With a swift swoop of his hair, he turned his head and winked at her, grinning widely. 

Isabel, once again, looked down as her entire face flushed red. When she looked back up, she noticed that George was feeling similarly flustered. She saw beads of sweat forming on his forehead, and he gulped, tugging at his collar as the song finished. 

"Well, that was bloody marvelous, if I do say so myself, lads!" Paul remarked, not appearing to have a care in the world. "What did you think, my dear..?"

Emboldened, Paul reached out to grab Isabel's small, dainty hand. He gently spread apart her fingers, his lips on the verge of pressing against each individual digit. 

"No!" Isabel suddenly let out a small cry. 

Her heart began to pound uncontrollably in her chest. She scurried off before anyone had a chance to react. Gail stood momentarily in shock, raising a hand to her gaping mouth, before following her out. 

Paul slumped down in his chair with a glazed look in his eye, defeated.

"Don't worry, Paul, she's just shy!" Ringo reassured him, proceeding to pat his back. 

"Yeah, Paul, don't take it to heart," George concurred. "She's just a quiet one, that's all..."

"She's not quiet," John piped up with a half-smirk. "She just knows when to shut up."

~~~

Isabel sat in a darkened storage closet, hiding her head, resting it upon her raised knees. For once, she wasn't hiding from John's icy stares or his snide comments. 

All of a sudden, the entire room illuminated. Isabel looked up to see Gail's grip on the lamp chain, her soft guise urging her to get up. 

"I can't go back there..." Isabel uttered gravely.

"Why not?" Gail asked.

"I'm hiding..." 

"What are you hiding from?" 

"Myself," Isabel replied. 

There was a brief pause.

Gail narrowed her eyes and brought a hand to her chin, "This has to do with your hand, doesn't it..?"

"W-what..?" Isabel's eyes widened in panic.

"Yesterday, when we were with Pattie, you refused to get a manicure..." Gail noted. "And you kept your hand balled up in a fist while she was applying lotion to your skin..."

"Yeah, so!?" Isabel's face darkened as she raised her voice.

"What are you hiding..?"

"Nothing! Just leave me alone!!" Tears began to stream down Isabel's reddened cheeks.

"Isabel, whatever it is you're hiding, you need to face it," Gail insisted. "And you need to face them."

~~~

"Maybe it's for the best that she ran off, mate," Paul said, gazing down at his toes. 

John furrowed his brow, perplexed, "Why would you say that..?" 

"I haven't been treating her right," Paul stated. "You were right. I should've been paying more attention. She's been in a dismal condition these past few days and I haven't so much as batted in eye in her direction..."

John bit his lip and shook his head, "No, I was wrong..."

"Come on, John, let's face it, I buggered the whole thing up. The poor girl was living with me and I couldn't take care of her. And then Jane showed up and --"

"Not about that," John huffed. "I was wrong about Isabel. She's wonderful, Paulie. I've been a straight up cad and I know it. She deserves better..."

"Better than me..." Paul moped. 

John shook his head yet again, "That's not true, Paulie. That girl, Izzy? She's a real one. She's the one who's going to stand by you no matter what. These past few days have proved that..." 

Paul looked up, "Do you really think she'd still go for someone like me after everything that's happened..?"

"Absolutely," John nodded. "If you want her and she wants you, then who am I to stand in your way? You've gotta go after what makes you happy..."

"Would this change of heart have anything to do with Gail..?" Paul asked. 

Before John could snap back at him, Gail and Isabel reappeared from the abyss.

"Isabel, let me see your hand..." Paul directed.

"NO!" Isabel screeched.

"Please, dear, let me in, if only just a little bit..." Paul pleaded, desperately pressing his hands together in a praying position.

Just then, Isabel held a fist to her mouth, quietly holding back her sobs.

"Come on, Isabel, you can do it!" Gail softly cheered.

"Yes, you've got this, Izzy!" John hollered.

Isabel sniffled and barely made eye contact with the crowd as she bashfully stuck her hand out, showing them all five of her fingers. 

All five of them gasped and winced at the sight. 

Her fingernails were bitten down to the quick. The nailbeds were inflamed and swollen, as indicated by the acute soreness she could feel in and around her fingers. All that was left were the pitiful, jagged remains of nail and flesh she had ripped with her bottom teeth. For the longest time, this was a source of comfort, identity and familiarity for Isabel. 

But it was more than just a habit.

"Oh, darling..." Paul croaked, unable to look for too long. John and Ringo continued witnessing the disgrace, speechless, while George stood more stolidly, unsurprised at the revelation. 

After the initial upset wore off, Paul adjusted his posture and looked Isabel straight in the eye. "Don't worry, darling, we're going to help you through this!"

Everyone else nodded and murmured in agreement. 

Isabel stammered, "Uh, no, you don't have to-" 

"I won't hear another word of it!" Paul insisted. "We're your friends, and we're not going to let you stand by and suffer!"

"F-friends..?" Isabel blinked twice in disbelief. 

"Oh, heck yes!" Ringo affirmed. "Would a friend not gift a fellow friend with an amazing camera!? That was a gift from the bottom of my heart!"

"And would a friend not cut through the fields and run errands with me?" George added with a light smirk.

"And what about us!? We're bloomin' breakfast buddies for life at this point!" John chipped in. "Like it or not, Izzy, you're stuck with us!"

"Yeah, believe me, Izzy, you won't be playing second fiddle to me anymore!" Gail suddenly showed up from behind, slinking her arm around hers. "From here on out, we're a team!"

"Thank you," Isabel wiped a tear with the back of her hand, immensely touched by the sentiment. "Thank you all!"

~~~

The boys rehearsed intermittently afterwards, but most of the morning was spent dawdling and lounging around. 

"Well, I guess you were right all along about Izzy, Macca," John confessed with a sly simper. "There's more to her than meets the I..."

Paul smiled briefly as he seemed to be the only one who caught the joke.

"No, that's not how Paul likes his tea! You're doing it all wrong! Two sugars!" Gail scolded the secretary.

"Alright, time for you to do your business elsewhere..." George said dryly. 

"No, wait! You know I can't handle when you guys...GET LIKE THIS!!!" Gail screamed in playful protest as Ringo carried her away on his back.

Serenity and relaxation.

~~~

NOTE: Well, it only took over a year and 9 chapters, but Isabel is finally accepted into the group! But don't get too comfy yet! There's more to the story than just this. So many exciting events and dramatic revelations yet to come, so stay tuned!!! ;)