for the lovely lastbluetardis on tumblr on the occasion of her birth
Life in a new city was going swimmingly for Rose. She loved her new job, had made a few friends who she already adored, and her flat was much cheaper than the one she'd had back in London. Her love life was still non-existent at best but fixing that was fairly low on her priority list.
It was item number one on Jackie's list though.
"I'm just saying, Rose. You've got to find somebody. It's not good for you being all alone!"
Rose sighed and was glad that this was not a video call so her mum couldn't see her roll her eyes. She'd been trying to get Rose out on dates ever since Howard had started to come around more. Moving away hadn't changed a thing.
"I've got friends, Mum. I'm not a total shut-in."
"You need some good romance in your life, love," Jackie insisted.
"That's what movies and books are for."
"Not the same and you know it. Next time I call I want to hear all about whatever date you've gone on or I'm going to find a way to set you up. I'm sure someone on the estate knows a nice boy in that town."
Rose blanched. "Mum, you don't have to do that."
"Seems like I do. I just want my little girl to be happy!"
She didn't bother telling Jackie that she was happy because it wouldn't change a thing. She loved her mum and knew she meant well but this was one area that they often bumped heads.
"I know. I've got to go, I'm meeting a friend for dinner and I'm already late," Rose said. It was a lie but what Jackie didn't know wouldn't hurt her.
"Okay sweetie, I'll talk to you soon. Love you!"
"Love you too, Mum. Bye!"
Rose rang off and flopped back on her bed. She needed a plan or it wouldn't be long until her mum found the time to come visit her and set her up with the nephew of a friend of a friend of one of her neighbors.
Groaning, she rolled over and grabbed her laptop. Tonight she had a date with Netflix and a glass of wine and that was all the romance she wanted.
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
A week later, Rose had an armload of grocery bags and was struggling down the hallway towards her flat while cursing herself for waiting to do the shopping until she was literally out of food. She didn't hear the door open to one of the flats she was passing so she was not expecting someone to bump into her as they just as obliviously walked out without checking the hallway.
"Oh Christ, I'm sorry. Let me help you get those." The words tumbled out quickly, each one almost tripping over the next as the man bent down to grab the felled grocery bags.
"S'okay, I think I managed to keep hold of the eggs," Rose quipped, smiling down at her favorite neighbor and hefting the single bag she'd managed to not drop..
His head whipped up and a grin spread across his face. "Rose! Fancy running into you again."
John Noble stood, easily handling her load of groceries and smile not leaving his face.
"Maybe next time try not actually running into me," she teased. "Wanna help me get these inside?"
John nodded and followed her to the door of her flat. "How exactly were you going to unlock the door when you were carrying this much?" He asked jiggling his armload to accentuate his point.
"Hadn't thought that far ahead," Rose said. "Didn't mean to buy quite this much but the cupboards were bare."
"Done that a time or two myself," he said. Rose shot him a look over her shoulder and he amended his statement. "Alright, more than a few times. Getting the shopping done usually isn't high on my priority list."
She laughed as she turned the key in the lock and swung the door open. "Last time I was over you had two granola bars and a pint of expired milk and that was all."
"There were a few other things in the cupboards! I had sugar to lend you, if you'll remember."
"Because sugar is a meal on its own," she said, dealing out the sarcasm with a heavy hand.
"Could be." He gently kicked the door closed behind him after following Rose inside.
"Please don't tell me that you've eaten straight sugar as a meal." Rose set her bags down on kitchen counter and turned to stare him down.
Now that he wasn't occupied by the bags that he'd deposited on the table, John's hands strayed to his pockets and he rocked back on his heels. His tongue pressed against the back of his teeth as he considered the sugar problem. "I haven't but, in a pinch, it could at least give me the requisite energy to get to the store."
"You're ridiculous."
"I'm a scientist, Rose, I'm required to be ridiculous."
"Is that what scientists are for, Doctor Noble?"
"Course it is. Although now that you know our secret I might have to kill you." His smile was growing wider by the second and Rose couldn't help but mirror it.
"What if I bribe you with some of the roast I'm making tonight? That buy me some more time to live?"
"Oh, absolutely!"
"Come round sometime around eight and I'll make you a plate."
"You've got a deal."
They chatted for another minute before John headed out on whatever errand he'd been trying to start when he'd run into her.
Rose's smile stayed in place as she put away her groceries and started preparing the roast for the oven.
She'd met John the day she'd moved into the building. She'd been tired and sweaty and still had a couple more boxes to haul up the stairs because of course the lift was out of order that day. John had almost run into her on his way down the stairs and then offered to help her carry the rest of her boxes.
After the last of the boxes were in her flat, John told her he lived just down the hall and invited her to dinner so she didn't have to try and unpack her kitchen or find the nearest takeout. They ended up at a chippy two blocks over once he'd realized he didn't have enough food in his flat for a full meal for two and their friendship was solidified by the time they went their separate ways in the hallway that evening.
Now they grabbed dinner together every other week or so and hung out in one of their flats whenever their schedules aligned and Rose counted him as one of her closest friends.
She mostly tried to ignore the fact that he was gorgeous and the knowledge that she would snog him if he ever showed any interest in being snogged by her.
It was all a moot point since she hadn't noticed an ounce of romantic interest from him.
At quarter to seven, Rose was startled away from the novel she was reading by her phone trilling the ringtone she'd set for her mum. She marked her place in her book and accepted the call.
"Hey Mum, wasn't expecting a call until tomorrow. Everything all right?" Rose said.
"Course it is. I have a date with Howard tomorrow night though so I thought I'd call early. Not interrupting anything, am I?" Jackie replied.
"Nah. Got a roast in the oven and a bit until it's ready so I'm just waiting around."
"Seems a shame to keep my famous roast recipe all to yourself. Could be feeding it to a date that you're trying to impress."
Rose suppressed a sigh as her mum went straight into where they'd left off in last week's call. At least she had John coming over as an excuse to get off the phone fairly quickly, even if he wasn't due for another hour or so.
She sat straight up as an idea hit her. Jackie wouldn't be coming to visit for quite some time so if Rose just told her what she wanted to hear…
"Actually, I do have someone coming over." Not a lie.
"Really? A date?"
"A casual one, yeah."
Jackie snorted. "Nothing casual about inviting him back to yours for a Sunday roast."
"He lives down the hall, Mum, he's been over often enough that it's not weird."
"So, you've been seeing him for a while and haven't told me?" Jackie sounded offended and Rose quickly backpedaled.
"We've been friends since I moved in but we just recently decided to give the dating thing a go. We're taking it slow so I didn't want to tell you yet."
"You let me harp on you about finding a date when you were already seeing someone?"
Rose laughed. "I did, didn't I?"
"Wasting my breath on you," Jackie said with a laugh of her own. "Now go on, tell me about your bloke."
Rose gave her a few details about John - name, occupation, general description - before moving on to ask Jackie how things with Howard were going. She really didn't want to give too many details about her fake relationship with her real friend in case she tripped over them later.
She rang off half an hour later saying that she needed to finish getting ready for her date and sat still on the sofa, worrying at her bottom lip. Rose felt like she could probably keep this fiction up for a bit but she was going to have to fake a breakup at some point before it blew up in her face.
A knock at the door interrupted her musing and she headed to the door with a smile, knowing it had to be John, even if he was early. She let him in and pointed him in the direction of the corkscrew so he could open the wine he'd brought.
Yeah, she could definitely continue making up a story about dating this man. She was just never going to tell him. No harm done.
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
Three months into the lie that was starting to get too elaborate for Rose to keep up, she got a phone call that changed the game just as she was walking into her flat after a day of work.
"Hey Mum."
"Hi sweetie, guess what?" Jackie said, obviously excited.
"What?"
"I'm about to get on the train to come visit you finally! Surprise!"
Rose let out a squeak. "When do you get here?"
"A few hours. You could sound more excited, you know."
"Course I'm excited! Haven't seen you in ages, just thinking about how much cleaning I have to do before you get here," she said.
"Well get on it. This trip is a treat from Howard and he's paying for a hotel room so don't worry about finding me a place to sleep."
"Sounds great."
"I'll call you when we're getting close so you can come down to the station. Feel free to bring John, I'm looking forward to meeting him finally!" Jackie said.
The blood drained out of Rose's face and she felt her heart drop through to her stomach. "Yeah, I'll see if he's free."
"Oh, they're boarding. Gotta go, ta!"
Jackie hung up before Rose could say anything else, leaving her daughter to stare at the phone in horror. She was in so much trouble.
Knowing she only had a limited amount of time, Rose took a deep breath and headed back out into the hallway on shaking legs. Time to face the music.
She stood in front of John's door for a solid minute before getting the nerve to knock. The door swung open and she watched as his welcoming smile shifted into a concerned expression.
"Rose, you look like you've seen a ghost. Are you alright?" He reached out and put a hand on her shoulder, steadying her.
She took a deep breath. "I need your help."