written for the prompt "best friends" and inspired by the song "Mine Would Be You" by Blake Shelton
As always, nothing DW related belongs to me. I'm just playing with characters.
"Summer's going by too fast." Rose was lying on her back on the roof of their building, blonde hair fanned out behind her.
"Time's relative," the boy lying next to her said absently.
John Noble had been Rose Tyler's best friend since he had moved into the flat next door to hers. That had been ten years ago when he'd been eight and she was seven. Everyone on the estate and at school knew the two of them were inseparable and no one had been surprised when their friendship had bloomed into a relationship within the last year.
Now they were facing the reality of being in different cities in a few weeks. John was heading off to university, leaving Rose to finish out her last year of high school alone. The plan was for him to come visit as often as he could and for Rose to join him next year. They had the blind confidence that comes with youth that everything would work out according to plan.
"Are you saying that it's not going fast for you?" Rose asked, rolling onto her side to look down at John. Freckles stood out on his pale cheeks from a summer spent outside with her and his brown hair was a riot as always.
"Nope," he said popping his p and continuing to watch the drifting clouds. "I think if I ever get around to building that time machine I'll come back to this summer and make it last forever. I want out of here," he waved an arm to indicate their surroundings. "I want to go see things that I can't see when I'm stuck here but I don't want to leave you."
Rose swallowed hard, trying to ignore the feeling that she was just one more thing holding him back and tying him to this town. "Well you're not getting rid of me anytime soon, Doctor " she teased, faking bravado instead of letting him see her worry.
"Rooose, you know I won't be a doctor for years."
"Oh shut it. You know you love it when I call it that." She shot her patented tongue-in-teeth grin at him.
Before she could blink John had her pinned underneath him. "I love you," he said before proceeding to kiss the grin off her face.
The rest of the summer passed in much the same way. Both Rose and John were hiding their fears from each other, not wanting to mar the last few weeks they had together with negativity.
Then it was time for John to leave. There were tears and kisses and one last night of skin on skin where they clung to one another and pretended nothing could ever tear them apart. The day he left, Rose took him to the train station and kissed him goodbye and watched him roll away before locking herself in her room for the rest of the day, mourning the end of summer.
Everything seemed alright at first. John or Rose would call the other almost everyday and they would talk for hours, just like they used to. John came home a handful of times in those first few months and even though they had both changed, the connection between them remained as strong as ever.
After the Christmas holiday the phonecalls from John started to come with less frequency and he always seemed to cut them short. He stopped coming home as often. It was impossible to keep a secret on the estate and people started looking at Rose with pity in their eyes. She did her best to hold her head high and tell anyone who asked that John was just very busy with his studies and couldn't come back very often. The truth was, he had never offered Rose and explanation as to why the calls and visits were disappearing. She planned to ask him when he came home for his grandfather's birthday in a week.
He didn't come. Rose and John's grandfather, Wilf, had their own celebration and both tried to pretend everything was okay.
As soon as she left John's old flat, Rose stormed up to the roof and punched John's number into her mobile.
"Hello?" John sounded annoyed, like she had interrupted him in the middle of something.
Well that was fine because she was pissed too. "Where the hell are you?" Rose snarled into the phone.
"Out with friends," he answered shortly. "Why does it matter?"
Rose laughed humorlessly, "Why does it matter? Because you're supposed to be here. It's Wilf's birthday and you said you'd be home to celebrate it." Rose heard him curse but kept going. She had things she needed to say. "He waited all day and you didn't even call. He's putting on a brave face but it hurt him. You're his world, John and you forgot about him. And you know what, I could deal with you forgetting me, forgetting my birthday because I was expecting that when you left. It still hurt, but I knew it was a possibility. Always knew you'd outgrow me one day even though I held onto the hope that it wouldn't happen. But forgetting that you were supposed to be here for your grandfather..." She trailed off, running out of steam and trying to fight back tears.
"Rose, I'm so sorry. I honestly forgot. Things have been crazy here and-"
"Don't apologize to me. Call Wilf and tell him happy birthday and apologize." Rose took a deep breath to bolster herself before her next sentence. "And don't bother calling me anymore. You've moved on with your life and it's time for me to try and do the same. I'm not not going to hold you back, John, or make you feel obligated to come back here when you don't want to. You'll always be my best friend but...I'm going to need some time to adjust to the way things are now." Tears were streaming down her face now and she hated that John would be able to hear them in her voice. "Bye John."
She hung up as he started to talk, to try to explain. John stared at the phone in his hand trying to figure out how his whole world had just imploded. One of his mates stuck his head out the door of the pub and told John to get his skinny arse back inside but he couldn't do it. Couldn't go in and pretend that he hadn't just had his heart shattered. So he ran.
He ended up at the train station so he bought a ticket on the next train to London. It was two hours before it left and another two hours on the train so John had plenty of time to think about how he had been pushing Rose away and how he could possibly fix this.
When he got to the estate it was 2 am. His train had been delayed and even with the extra time he had no idea what he was going to say. The sound of Rose talking through tears and saying goodbye had haunted him all night, would probably haunt him the rest of his life. He'd been the cause of that pain and now he needed to make things right. He needed Rose.
He walked past his own door and knocked on the one to the Tyler's flat. An irate Jackie Tyler answered the door. He cringed, he hadn't accounted for this possibility.
"Well look who it is," she didn't quite snarl at him but it was a close thing. "I don't know what you did to Rose earlier but she's been miserable all night and won't talk to me. Not that she hasn't been some kind of miserable for months while you ignored her. She wouldn't yell at you for forgetting her birthday and not ever visiting but I sure as hell would." She crossed her arms and leveled a glare at him that warned a slap would follow if she wasn't satisfied with his reasons.
"Mum, leave him alone. I'll deal with this, you go back to bed." Rose was standing in the hallway, arms wrapped around her middle. She was in set of pink flannel pajamas and her face was devoid of makeup.
John tried to remember the last time he'd seen her without her battle paint. She'd started wearing it when she was eleven and never left the flat without it. Even when they managed to spend a night together she didn't take it off. She'd wake up with mascara smudged around her eyes like bruises and disappear into the bathroom. When she returned it was without smudges but still with makeup on her face.
Now she was facing him without her mask and it was an dagger to the heart to see the puffiness around her eyes from the crying she'd done.
Reluctantly, Jackie backed off and Rose walked to the door and slipped past John. Assuming he would follow, she headed for the roof. Her head was spinning, she hadn't expected him to show up. Now he was here and he hadn't said a word since her mum had opened the door.
What did he want? Why was he here? She pushed the door to the roof open and went to sit on the raised section in the middle. John followed silently.
"What are you doing here, John?" She asked after a minute more of silence. There was no venom in her voice, no anger. She didn't have the energy to be mad.
"I don't know where to start," John said. He was standing in front of her. His hand went into his hair, tugging on it. Rose almost smiled at the familiar gesture. "I've been an idiot, Rose. Well, more of an idiot than usual. A selfish idiot." He smiled self-deprecatingly. "Six hours to get here and that's all I could think about: how much of an idiot I've been. I've been pushing you away and I knew was doing it but I couldn't stop.
"I was running, Rose. I got to school and every time I talked to someone I realized I started talking about you. Or I was thinking about something to do with you. You were everywhere. And it terrified me." He glanced up, meeting her eyes.
"You never said anything."
"What was I supposed to say? 'Rose I can't stop thinking about you even though you're two hours away and believe me I've tried.' Yeah, that would have gone over well."
He took a breath, reining in the sarcasm. "But it's true. I couldn't get you out of my head. Someone would ask what the craziest thing I ever did was or about my favorite memory or what I missed most about London. The answer was always you.
"When I was here, it was normal for you to be everywhere because you were here. But away at school, I wasn't expecting it. I didn't know you had become my everything, Rose. I just didnt realize. I knew you were my best friend and I loved you but this hit me hard and it scared me. You know how I got when I realized I was in love with you; I ran. I did the same thing this time except you weren't around to knock sense into me. I thought if I got some distance that you would stop being everywhere and I could feel in control again." He fell silent again and caught sight of the tears in Rose's eyes.
"No, please don't cry. That's why I'm here. I couldn't bear knowing that you were crying and it was my fault."
"John, I've been your best friend much longer tham I've been your girlfriend," she kept talking as he made a face at the term. "You could have talked to me, told me you needed some space, some time, anything. But you just cut me off instead and it hurt. You hurt me." The tears were gone, but Rose's voice was still shaky as she continued. "I told you earlier that I halfway expected you to move on from me while you were gone. I'm a reminder of where you're trying to get away from. But I thought you'd have the courtesy to tell me. The silence was the worst. It wasn't just a breakup, it was losing my best friend and feeling like he didn't care at all anymore."
"That's not true. I was so wrapped up in what I was feeling that I didn't consider how it would affect you. That's where the selfish idiot part comes in. You're still my best friend though and I've also come to realize that you're the love of my life. There's no one else for me, Rose. I said it earlier, you're my everything. I can't take back what I've done or the pain I've caused.
"I'm not a good bet, Rose. I run from my emotions and don't talk about the stuff that matters half the time. But if you'll take me back, I promise I'll try to be better. You're the best thing that's ever happened to me and I just want to make things right." John had moved closer to where Rose was sitting while he talked and grabbed her hand, lacing their fingers together. "I love you. I know I don't say that as often as I should but it's true."
Rose squeezed his hand. "I already knew all that about you, Doctor. Have done since you were eleven and ran away when I told you you were my best friend." John smiled at the use of his nickname, figuring it was a good sign. "So of course I'll take you back. I only let you go because I thought it was what you wanted. I love you too, you know."
John's smile turned into a full on grin that was matched by Rose. He leaned forward and kissed her lightly.
"We're quite the pair aren't we?" Rose asked, linking her arms around his neck so he wouldn't go far. "Although, I'm not quite sure how I feel about being the craziest thing you've ever done," she teased.
"Ooh, I'm thinking I might be about to do something even crazier," he said, manic grin in place.
Rose knew that look. It usually meant trouble. "You know half the estate is probably eavesdropping behind the door right?"
"Well they'll get an earful then. Rose Tyler, how would you like to get married? To me. Not right now, obviously. We have to get through a bit more school first or your mum will kill me but I want to spend forever with you." He babbled as Rose's mouth dropped open.
When she didn't say anything he started talking again, "Rose? Are you going to say anything?"
Her smile was like sunshine when it broke out on her face. "Yes you daft man, of course I'll marry you." She paused and stuck her tongue between her teeth for a moment, "Been planning on it since I was seven, was just waiting for you to catch up."
He once again kissed the teasing grin off of her face and decided then and there that he would do everything in his power to make sure he would always get to do so.