So I may have told one of y'all that Watch it Burn was my only current multi-chapter project. And that was a lie. The current plan is for this to be about 4-5 chapters.

But anyways, this chapter is an introduction into the fic and is shamelessly fluffy and almost without plot. Plot will appear in some form next chapter :) Good news is- I can't procrastinate much on this one as it is a secret santa gift for a friend on tumblr and I should probably at least get it halfway done before Christmas! Anyways, hope you enjoy. As always, this is unbeta'd so all mistakes are mine


Rose had just collapsed on her bed when the Imperial March started blaring from her backpack across the room. She groaned and rolled off the bed to grab the backpack she'd dropped just inside the door of her room. She fished her mobile out of the bag and punched the button to answer before flopping back down on top of her pink duvet.

"Why are you calling?"

"That was rude, Rose Tyler. I thought I was supposed to be the rude one in this friendship." Her best friend's voice rolled down the line and she could just imagine the affronted look on his face. He took great pride in being the rude one sometimes.

"I'd just walked in the flat and was about to pass out when that bloody Star Trek music you changed your ringtone to made me get up again so I think I have reason to be rude this time."

"It's from Star Wars, Rose, and I know you're just trying to get a rise out of me by getting it wrong." He sniffed. "Besides we've watched Star Wars and Star Trek enough times for you to know the difference."

Rose rolled her eyes. "Fine. You still haven't said why you're calling, John. I was up all night finishing that paper for lit class and all I want to do is sleep."

"Well it seems that someone forgot that we made plans to meet in the park after school today so that we could go get chips." Rose groaned as he continued, "So now I'm just sitting here by myself. Might have to go make friends with the squirrels. They probably like chips as much as you do."

"I can't believe I forgot, been looking forward to this all week. 'S just I'm so knackered that I barely remembered how to get home. Can we reschedule?"

"Go make yourself a cuppa and I'll be there in a jiffy." He paused, "Remind me not to use that word again. I'll be at yours in twenty minutes, don't fall asleep on me."

He rang off before Rose could protest.

She traded her jeans for a pair of yoga pants before heeding John's instructions and putting the kettle on. A few minutes later she was settled on the couch with a mug warming her palms, just waiting for John to knock.

Rose had been best friends with John Smith since he had appeared in her Year 3 class and proceeded to cause all sorts of chaos. The teacher had been at a loss and had assigned Rose as his buddy in the hopes that she'd be a calming influence.

That hadn't worked out as planned.

Rose became his partner in crime instead and they'd been in and out of trouble ever since.

She'd seen him become a gangly preteen, all arms and legs and floppy hair, had watched him grow into those limbs and start fussing over his hair more than she did, making sure it had the right amount of "sticky-uppy-ness" before going out in public. They'd faced crushes, disappointments, homework and anything else life tried to throw at them together. Now they were sixteen and people often assumed they were together, as in couple together, but they had never ventured towards that territory.

So what if they were constantly hanging out with each other and hugged a lot, Rose thought as she took a sip of her tea. She liked being around John, was comfortable around him. He was her best friend, for heaven's sake! That didn't mean she wanted to date him. Sure, she sometimes felt a swooping in her stomach that felt suspiciously like butterflies when he would grab her hand for some reason or another. And she might think that her best friend was really rather attractive (she'd never tell him but he had really great hair) but that was just an objective observation.

Rose was positive that she would know if she had a crush on John. There was no crushing going on, no matter what people tried to claim. Purely platonic, the two of them.

She giggled against the rim of her mug. Her thoughts were always scattered when she had not gotten enough sleep but this was one hell of a rabbit hole that her brain had led her down this time.

Rhythmic knocking interrupted her musings and Rose dragged herself off the couch to go let John in. He could never knock normally, it was always a song or "Shave and a Haircut" or something similar.

A yawn overtook her as she opened the door.

"That's the second rude greeting I've gotten from you today. And to think I was being a good best mate and bringing chips to you after your long day." He shouldered past her and into the flat, the smell of fried potatoes hit her nose.

"I think I might love you," she said as she followed, trying to grab her portion.

John held the chips over her head. "Only because I'm the only one who would bring you chips after you stood me up."

"I'll take it back if you don't give me those bloody chips. I'm exhausted and hungry and would probably kill you for them," Rose said after one fruitless jump to try and get the food.

"No murders allowed. Sit down and I'll give them to you."

Rose huffed and sat back down on the couch where she'd been waiting for him before looking up at him expectantly.

He was grinning. "You're so obedient when you're sleep deprived!"

"Oi!"

John just continued, "I mean I've seen you before you've had a cuppa in the morning and you're just incapable of functioning then. And grumpy. But this is different."

"I'm gonna smack you if you don't stop jabbering and give me those chips right now, John."

Still grinning, he handed her the packet of chips with a flourish and then plopped down on the couch next to her.

"So what was this paper you were working on all night?"

"The stupid one about Frankenstein. Brilliant book, hated the essay topic," she said around a mouthful of food.

"You always hate the essay topics."

"There's so much I could say about these books and the topics never let me touch on what I want to say!"

"You could always ask for a different topic."

Rose sighed, rolling her eyes. "Too much trouble, John. Besides, you're probably the only one who could get away with that." She bumped him with her shoulder. "You're the genius that the teachers love, not me."

He just smiled down at her softly and went back to eating, not bothering to answer her.

They continued eating, only breaking the silence with an occasional comment. It was the kind of quiet that reaffirmed the strength of their friendship.

Rose finished her chips first and leaned forward to put the trash on the table in front of them. She settled back onto the couch, leaning her head on John's shoulder.

"Comfy?" He asked once he'd swallowed his bite of food.

"Sleepy," she responded, scooting closer to him. She threw her arm over his waist and moved her head into the little hollow between neck and shoulder.

John froze, breath stuck in his throat as Rose was suddenly closer than she normally was. His heart stopped for a beat and then went into overdrive. He desperately hoped that she was too sleepy to notice the pounding beneath her ear.

He stared down at her, unsure of what to do with his hands. One was still full of food and the other was awkwardly trapped between himself and Rose. Carefully, he extricated his hand from between them and placed it around her shoulders. He waited for her to shrug it off but she just cuddled closer, sighing contentedly.

"Just think of what everyone at school would say now," he teased quietly.

Everyone always assumed the two of them were a couple despite their denials. John had pretty much stopped correcting people; it had never bothered him that people thought they were together. Rose reacted to the whispered rumors more though, always taking the time to set things straight. Just best mates, the two of them, always just best mates.

"They can all sod off," came her muffled reply.

A chuckle escaped his mouth and Rose grumbled at him that if he was going to be her pillow, he had to stop moving.

By the time John decided that he could chance movement without being told off, she was sound asleep.

John quietly finished his food, content with just watching the top of Rose's head. He was trying to convince himself that it would be best to wake her up, tell her to go to bed and see himself out of the flat. It certainly would be what a best mate would do.

And he was Rose's best friend, but for the last year, he had started suspecting that she was something more than that too, at least on his end. He had no idea what went on in that head of hers. All he knew was that he was forever distracted by the way she'd smile at him and stick her tongue in the corner of her mouth, by the way she'd run her thumb over his when he grabbed her hand. He'd always thought she was gorgeous (well as soon as he started noticing girls that is) but lately he'd found himself comparing every single girl he saw to Rose and they all came up lacking.

Telling Rose any of this was terrifying though. There was a very, very good chance that she only felt platonically towards him and he refused to make things weird between them just because he had a teensy tiny crush on her.

(okay okay, it was a huge, ginormous crush but if he continued lying to himself, it would help him lie to everyone else about it)

So he was just going to keep being her best friend and doing his best to hide any sign that he wanted something more with her. The gossips at school could probably already tell that he was head over heels for Rose but no one really paid them any heed. It was good fodder for the hallways and lunch room but the rumors weren't ever taken seriously, especially where he and Rose were concerned. Their supposed relationship was old news and no one cared too much anymore.

John tightened the arm around her shoulders and rested his head on top of hers, inhaling the smell of the flowery shampoo Rose used. Maybe he could take a kip too and find out what it was like to wake up with Rose Tyler in his arms. Hopefully she wouldn't be upset with him taking such a liberty.

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Jackie was on her mobile when she walked into the flat, as she registered that it was strangely quiet she cut off her friend. "Gotta go Bev, I'll ring you later." Ignoring Bev's protest, Jackie snapped the phone shut and headed further into the flat.

Normally on Fridays, Rose and John were making some kind of ruckus in the flat, talking over the telly or arguing over a new set of rules they'd made up for an old board game. Coming home to a quiet flat was disconcerting.

As she stepped into the sitting room, her eyes zeroed in on the pair curled together on the couch. They were both sound asleep, leaning on each other. She took in the arm John had around her daughter and the one Rose had flung across his waist and smiled softly. Maybe the two of them were finally coming to their senses, they'd been dancing around each other for a couple of years now.

She knew John was terrified of her but that was good if he was interested in dating Rose. If he ever hurt her, he'd come to know that his terror was justified. Jackie grabbed a blanket and arranged it over their laps before heading into her room. Rose could do much worse than John Smith, in her opinion, so she was not going to get in the way of this possible new development.