June, 1961

​"Paul! Paul, you've forgotten..." was all that Jim could shout, seeing the car drive away from their side of the street on Forthin Road. He shook his head and walked back to the front door, holding the notepad that his son had forgotten tightly in his hand. After closing the door, he made his way up the stairs, rubbing the backs of his index fingers under each of his eyes.
​ He was witnessing his first child's dream come true before his eyes. He didn't necessarily enjoy the music he and his bandmates were playing, or even the tunes they were writing, but he was proud of him nevertheless. This was the furthest Paul, his eldest son, had been away from his family and Jim was unsure if that's what would be best right now.
​ He slowly pushed Paul's bedroom door open and shook his head, glancing at all of the rock 'n' roll records that were scattered around the room on the bed, dresser, and even on the floor. He leaned over to place Paul's notepad on his bedside table, but then his curiosity got the better of him.
​He wanted to know what was going on in his son's mind, what he was writing about, what was the driving force. He looked around the room, feeling as if Paul was somehow watching him. Clearing his throat, he opened the notepad and starting to flick through the pages, grinning now and then.
​"What a talented young man," he mumbled, scanning over each of the pages.
​ Although Jim had hoped for a promising, academic career for Paul, he was starting to get a rather big name for himself and his other bandmates throughout the city. Jim understood Paul's interest in music and, being a musician himself, loved the fact that this was another thing he and his son had in common, even if it wasn't the same genre of music. He knew it kept his son happy and out of trouble...for the most part...and he was happy to help when he could, often giving up the dining room for the band to rehearse in.
​ He found himself getting towards the end of the pad where the pages were blank and began to close it until something caught his eye. At the back of the book, on the very last page, there were more song lyrics.
​ Jim squinted at the pages and wondered why Paul had skipped a few pages and written this at the very back. He was intrigued, even more than before. As he looked closer at the page, it read:

​"I wish I could bubble wrap my heart,
​ In case I fall and break apart,
​ I'm not god, I can't change the stars,
​ And I don't know if there's life on Mars,
​ But I know you hurt the people that you love
​ And those who care for you,
​ But I want nothing to do
​With the things you're going through,

​This is the last time
​ I give up this heart of mine,
​ I'm telling you that I'm a broken man,
​ Who's finally realised,
​ You're standing in moonlight,
​ But you're black on the inside,
​ Who do you think you are to cry?
​ This is goodbye,

​ I'm a little dazed and confused,
​ But life's a bitch and so are you,
​ And you wrote the book
​ On how to be a liar and lose all your friends,
​ Did I mean nothing at all?
​ Was I just another ghost that's been in your bed?"
​
Jim widened his eyes as they trailed along the text, arching a brow at the use of a swear word. However, he couldn't stop reading more. His head was telling him to read on, find out what had really been whizzing around in Paul's mind.
​ Underneath the second verse was 'back to chorus' written in brackets. Jim quickly looked back up and reread it again.

​ "This is the last time,
​ I give up this heart of mine,
​ I'm telling you that I'm a broken man
​ Who's finally realised,
​ You're standing in moonlight,
​ But you're black on the inside,
​ Who do you think you are to cry?
​ This is goodbye,"

​Further toward the bottom it read:

​ "Turn on the radio, honey,
​ Because every single sad song,
​ You'll be able to relate,
​ This one I'm taking,
​ Don't get all emotional, baby,
​ You could never talk to me,
​ You're unable to communicate,

​ This is the last time,
​ I give up this heart of mine,
​ I'm telling you that I'm a broken man
​ Who's finally realised,

​ This is the last time,
​ I give up this heart of mine,
​ I'm telling you that I'm a broken man
​ Who's finally realised,
​ You're standing in moonlight,
​ But you're black on the inside,
​ Who do you think you are to cry?
​ This is goodbye,

​ This is goodbye."

​ By the time Jim got to the last part, he was perched on the end of Paul's bed, blinking as he stared at the lyrics before him. He was amazed by what he had just read. Paul really did pour everything he had into his song lyrics. But, more for Jim, this was the first song of Paul's that he felt he really understood.
​ He could pinpoint exactly what it was about, who it was about, everything.
​ He took a deep breath and closed the notepad, placing it on the bedside table before staring down the floor. He hoped to God that Paul was feeling better going on this trip. But, knowing that he was such a family man, being away in Hamburg might not be the best place for him right now.
​ He turned to look at the bed, wishing that Paul was there so he could give him a rub on the shoulder and tell him everything was going to be alright. He still couldn't quite believe what the McCartney's had just gone through, but it was fairly obvious based on the lyrics in the notepad, that it was a distressing time, and his heart ached for Paul.

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I'm so happy to be writing again!!! This is only the prologue and I'm going to try my absolute best to keep up with it this time.
The song is 'Bubble Wrap' written by McFly (Tom Fletcher, Danny Jones, Dougie Poynter, and Harry Judd).
Thank you so much for reading and please let me know what you think! :)