AN: Here's a quick one shot!
John Noble was a fool.
Because he knew what he was doing was wrong.
They were in other relationships; she was engaged. But still, he hoped that one day they'd both have the courage to break up with their respective significant others. Instead, a few times a week they would meet, fall into bed together, leaving separately. And he would go back to his girlfriend.
Jeanne Poisson who was accomplished and so very clever. He met her at a company party and had been attracted to her achievements. She was a big name in his circle of friends, everyone saying nothing, but good things about her. He'd been a bit disappointed meeting her, realizing that she had gained her status in the company by her connections with the CEO, who was also French. That romance had long since fizzled out but John was still unsure of her methods. But after his friends had coaxed him to ask her out to dinner, he gave in. He just needed to get to know her to fully understand her, right?
Since then, he had been with Jeanne and while he certainly cared about her, he was definitely not in love with her. She was brilliant, but not for him. She seemed to think that you could win someone over by the opportunities you presented to them. She had given him many opportunities in the past, giving him priceless connections for his career, but it felt wrong.
Seven months after he met Jeanne, he was rather bored. She was too perfect, everything was too perfect. It didn't even feel like he was actually living. So one night, he told Jeanne he was staying late at the office and proceeded to head straight to a bar. There he met her. Rose Tyler. Perfectly imperfect. They started to speak, him complaining about his mundane romantic and professional life and her having doubts about marrying her fiancé and regretting not getting her A levels. They agreed they were both comfortable enough, but they weren't willing to settle for something less than they wanted.
After they had one too many shots, John took Rose back to his flat. They made love and John felt a spark he'd never felt with Jeanne. They continued their affair, never having the courage to end their other relationships.
But she never stayed until the morning. Each night, as they lay in each other's arms, moments before sleep claimed them, he'd ask one question. One question that would prove that she loved him as much as he loved her.
"Will you still be here in the morning?"
That first night, she smiled and laughed, asking if he was hoping for one more round before they had to go their separate ways. After that, she would smile regretfully, telling him she had to go to work early in the morning or she would have to meet her fiancé for brunch. Fiancé. Every time she uttered those words it just reminded him that they needed to stop seeing each other, that it wouldn't end well for either of them, especially her. Her fiancé did have a temper, after all. Despite her insisting that he would never lay a finger on her, never get violent, he still didn't trust the man.
But recently, she wouldn't even give him an answer. She'd stare at him for a few moments, her eyes conflicted, yearning and fearful before she would close them and drift off to sleep. That alone gave him hope.
It was only until his girlfriend found out that everything changed.
Jeanne had been pressuring him to move in together, not very subtly dropping hints to him. But every time he even thought of Jeanne moving into his flat, Jeanne sleeping in the bed that he'd only shared with Rose, made him sick to his stomach. His flat was their sanctuary, where John and Rose could forget about any other problems and just enjoy being together.
One night when he was over at Jeanne's flat, where they often spent time, Jeanne asked him outright if he wanted to take the next step in their lives together and share his flat.
He stiffened and blurted out "No."
Jeanne, who looked hurt and confused, asked him why. And he couldn't keep it in any longer. He told her everything. That he had a lover, and had been having an affair behind Jeanne's back. He told Jeanne that it was so much more than an affair, that he was in love with someone else.
She became quiet then, the information just sinking in. Then she threw anything in reach at him, her normally composed demeanor deteriorating, replaced with an expression of anger and hurt. She kicked him out and he never looked back.
He felt awful about Jeanne, how he didn't tell her he wanted to end their relationship before it got serious on her end. He was truly sorry for hurting her and stringing her along. But he was not sorry about Rose, he could never be. Rose allowed him to live in a way he never had before. Which is exactly why he called her and asked her to meet him at his flat. Tonight, he would tell her he was no longer in a relationship, let her know that a future was possible between them. And then he would ask her again, if she would be there in the morning, and hope that for once she would be.
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Rose Tyler was a fool. She never seemed to be able to have a normal, healthy relationship. And now, she was stuck with a man she no longer loved, unsure if she ever even loved him, because she was in love with a man who had been her lover for the past six months.
Ever since she was a little girl she had dreamed of her own fairytale romantic happy ending. But real life got in the way. After her mum's fairytale ending came to a tragic end with the death of her father and her friend Mickey's parents' marriage fell apart, she was skeptical of the whole idea.
Eventually, she forced herself to forget about finding true love and focused on her friends and the boy that showed interest in her. When she was seventeen, she met Jimmy Stones. He romanced her straight out of school, just before her A levels, persuading her to come with him around the country so he could play music gigs. She agreed, because she thought she was in love with him.
For the past three years she had been with Jimmy, supporting him at his venues, playing the role of the supportive girlfriend. But she was tired of it. She wanted more than to be known as Jimmy's girlfriend or fiancé. Rose thought there was more to life than Jimmy Stones. But it wasn't that easy. If she left him, she'd have nothing. Her mum had passed away a year ago and she lost contact with friends from moving around so much. She had no A levels, no chance of getting a job that paid enough to support herself.
So she stayed with him.
One night, Jimmy had gone out with his friends, leaving her at their dingy flat, telling her he needed to spend time with the guys. But if he thought she was going to stay in the flat all night until he got home, he didn't know her at all. So Rose decided that she could have fun without him and went out to a bar Jimmy had played at a few nights before.
That's when she met him. John Noble. He was sitting alone at the bar, nursing a drink and she was instantly attracted to him. He looked older than her, but he was slim and a little bit pretty. So she started talking to him. Her eyes were instantly drawn to his lips as he spoke to her, his tongue occasionally visible. She suspected that tongue was rather talented and when they had a few more drinks than they should have, she went with him to his flat and was proven right.
Since that night, she had gone to his flat to see him whenever she got the chance. She knew he had a girlfriend and he knew she had a fiancé, but when they were together, they were just John and Rose.
Every night, after making love, he would ask her if she would be there in the morning. She always wanted to say yes, but there was always something stopping her. She knew that if she stayed the full night, their affair would be so much more than a fling. It already was more than one. Rose was in love with him. And she was pretty sure he loved her too.
But his girlfriend provided him with so many opportunities for his career that she never could. Rose would never be as accomplished as Jeanne and she knew it would only be a matter of time before John realized that too.
So she never answered his question the way she so desperately wanted to. But lately, it had gotten harder and harder not to let herself give in. Rose knew he could sense her reluctance every night, but he never pushed her to stay. John was always respectful like that.
One night, while watching Jimmy perform, she got a call from John. Normally, she would let it go to voicemail, silently telling him she couldn't come over that night. But Jimmy was occupied with his performance, so Rose decided to answer.
When she spoke to him, he sounded pleading and desperate. He told her he needed to see her that night. She knew that Jimmy would eventually notice her absence, but she went anyway.
When she met John, he immediately pulled her into a searing kiss. She was surprised, but eventually responded to him just as passionately.
When she asked him what was wrong, why he was acting like this, he told her that he had told Jeanne about them and they had broken up. Rose was silent for a moment, simply staring at him while John held his breath, wondering how she would react.
Instead of speaking, Rose pulled him into a kiss. This time when they made love it felt different. John felt so much more free, his guilt about Jeanne no longer pressing in the back of his mind. When they collapsed onto each other, John was nervous. Slowly, he cupped her face with his hand and asked her the question that seemed all too familiar to them.
"Will you still be here in the morning?"
Rose smiled at him and slowly got out of his bed. John's heart sank, thinking that she was going to leave him for the last time, to go back to her fiancé.
Instead, she pulled out her phone and made a call. Right in front of him, looking at him straight in the eye, she called her fiancé telling him that she wouldn't be back that night or any other night. That she would pick up her stuff another day. Her fiancé asked why she was doing this so suddenly, she explained that she was in love with another man. John's face lit up at her admission and he mouthed that he loved her too.
When she finished the call, she got back into their bed and they made love again. And this time, John didn't ask her the question. Because he knew that she would still be there in the morning.
And she was.