Disclaimer: BBC, 'she-had-a-chance' and……that's about it really…

"Rose, Sir"

Rose made swift and moody steps towards the kitchens, to get the list of her morning chores.

House maid Chores.

She let out a low and heavy breath before walking into the kitchen. The atmosphere was busy, the cooks and the housekeepers were exchanging trays and dishes to get the last of the school boys' breakfasts onto the table in time. Rose stepped sideways past Robert, a nice guy with very little to say but one of the fastest workers in the establishment, and then over to where Jenny, her cleaning partner, was washing some pots.

"Alright then, Jenny?"

Jenny smiled at her but kept on cleaning. "Bad news Rose, we've got the floors today-"

Rose groaned.

"-then I'll be doing the main hall dusting while you polish the banisters. And that's only before lunch time." She added with an apologetic grin. Rose patted her on the shoulder and put in an encouraging face. "Well, I'll get the buckets, shall I? You finish up in here quick and then join me, yeh?" With a nod from Jenny, Rose left the kitchen.

As soon as she was outside, Rose's steps slowed as she mauled over the earlier events. It was all so incredibly frustrating! The entire charade was getting worse and worse, and there was nothing she could do. No, there was something she could do, just she wouldn't. Rose hardly thought that the Doctor would thank her if she shoved the fob watch that contained his true self into his, sorry, John's hands and made him open the damn thing so that they could get the hell out of nineteen thirteen. Not that the idea hadn't crossed her mind a fare few times over the past month…

Rose came to a halt and opened the broom cupboard and got two buckets and scrub brushes, and then walked towards the servants backdoor. Rose shook her head as she pushed the door open with her hip, why did he have to pick a place where there was so much… social standard setting? Why, when he had the whole of time and space, did he have to pick somewhere where she had to call him –her doctor- sir? It was absolutely ridiculous, she thought while pumping water into the buckets. They just had to be somewhere where seeing someone in their pajamas is considered indecent. Rose rolled her eyes at that, could've just chucked them back into the middle ages, they didn't seem to mind too much back then. Still… she was glad she got a quick glimpse. She hadn't seen him in striped pajamas since he'd regenerated and the sight of it made her giggle slightly, which was why she'd turned so quickly, in attempt to hide the huge grin. The buckets were full; she dumped a scrub brush into each of them and then walked back inside.

Rose and Jenny spent two hours scrubbing the hard wooden floors in some of the smaller room and were later in one the longer corridors next to a staircase. As much as Rose would hate to admit it, the violent scrubbing that she was giving the floors was helping her reduce the suppressed load of emotions. So when the Doctor, John, walked pass them she was able to smile up at him as he drifted by. "Morning, Sir." She said pleasantly.

He took a few more steps before slowing down and replying distractedly, "Yes, hello." and then proceeded to walk up the stairs.

Rose and Jenny watched him ascend before turning back the floor. "Head in the clouds that one-" Jenny said with a devious smile. "-don't know why you're so sweet on him."

Rose grinned and continued to scrub. "He's just a good bloke and all. Treats me nice, even if I am his…" she ran her tongue along her teeth with her mouth closed, the frustration was coming back. She scrubbed the floor harder.

"Family housekeeper?" Jenny offered with a cheery smile. Rose gave a bark of laughter… housekeeper, now she felt old.

"Ah, now then, you two." said an authoritative voice. Rose and Jenny stopped laughing and looked up. Two seniors, Baines and Hutchinson, stood over them. Their facial expressions begging to be wiped off via a good smack courtesy of Rose's right hand. "You're not paid to have fun, are you? Put a little backbone into it." Said the one called Baines.

"Yes, sir. Sorry, sir." Said Jenny.

"You there," Hutchinson called, addressing Rose. "What's your name again?"

Rose bit the inside of her cheek to stop herself from saying something that she knew she'd regret. "Tyler, Rose Tyler… sir."

"Well then, Tyler." He said, taking a step forward. "How about you come out around the back of the school tonight? There's a shed I'd like to show that's in great need of cleaning, and I'm sure that I'd do a jolly good job in supervising."

Rose could've sworn she'd felt a vein pop somewhere, and there was definitely a twitch in her neck that was going off. "No need to trouble yourself, sir. We'll handle it while you're in class, doing your studies."

Baines and Hutchinson merely laughed and continued down the hall. Rose clenched her jaw and tried to focus her attention on the floor that was likely to have a hole worn through it if she continued to scrub the same spot so hard. Oh, the Doctor was going to get an earful the second he changed back, that was for sure.

---

Rose hitched up her dress and ran up the stairs. She didn't care if anyone saw her like this, as long as she got to him. She heard two boys giggling over seeing 'Mr. Smith' being taken to be looked after by the Matron after having fallen down some stairs. Rose looked wildly around for some kind of confirmation; Jenny just looked at her, "What? Didn't you know?" Without another word, Rose was running towards his study. As soon as the door came into view she ran quicker and rushed in without thinking.

The Doctor was sitting in a chair and looked up at her surprised, while the school Matron stood behind him, one hand on his shoulder, the other in his hair. Rose tried to ignore this and instead looked right at the Matron.

"Is he alright?" she asked, concerned again. The Nurse paused as Rose's sudden entrance before speaking calmly.

"Excuse me, Rose. It's hardly good form to enter a master's study without knocking. "

Rose dug her own nails into her side to (for the second time that day) stop her self from mouthing off… too much.

"Yeh, right- sorry. The door was practically opened anyways, I'll make sure I to knock next time 'round." The Doctor didn't say anything, he merely looked worriedly at her then shifted his eyes over the where Joan's hand was resting on his shoulder, as though afraid that she would leave if he moved. Rose looked at the floor quickly, disappointed by his reaction before looking back at him. "Are you alright? I heard you fell down the stairs." She said softly. He looked uncomfortable and mumbled his reply. "No, it was just a tumble, that's all."

Rose nodded slowly. "Right- good… I'll just—" she waited for him to say something, he didn't. "-tidy your things." She said and moved over to his desk.

"I was just telling Nurse Redfern-- Matron, um, about my dreams." He said conversationally. "They are quite remarkable tales."

Rose's eyebrows shot up and she spun around a little too fast. The weren't paying attention, instead he was starting to explain his dreams to Joan. "I keep imagining that I'm someone else, and that I'm hiding—"

"Hiding? In what way?" asked Joan, interested.

"Um, er... almost every night..." he laughed a little, embarrassed. Rose wanted to vomit. "This is going to sound silly—"

"Tell me." Joan coaxed. Rose rolled her eyes; she might as well have been invisible.

"I dream, quite often, that I have two hearts."

"Well then, I can be the judge of that."

Rose walked around them, worried and watched Nurse Redfern take out her stethoscope and place it over his chest. Rose turned away briefly and squeezed her eyes shut and only turned back around when the Nurse confirmed that he only had one heart. Rose wasn't sure if she was relieved, or disappointed.

"I have written down some of these dreams in the form of fiction... um... not that it would be of any interest…"

Rose's head snapped around, oh no he wasn't!

"I'd be very interested." Said Joan quickly.

"Well... I've never shown it to anyone before." He said as he got up and walked over to his desk.

"Yeah well guess whose drawers I'm going through when you're in class." Rose muttered under her breath as she stacked some books.

"Journal of Impossible Things" Joan read after he'd handed her a black leather journal. "Just look at these creatures!"

Rose turned her back and made a face while pretending to straighten a picture on the wall. They continued to faun over the journal but The Nurse caught Rose's attention suddenly. "-quite an eye for the pretty girls."

Rose tried to tidy nothing in particular behind them, in attempt to get a glimpse. "Oh no no, she's just an invention." The Doctor said defensively. "This character, Susan, I call her, Susan. I believe that she is supposed to be my charge or something of the sort."

Rose looked at the back of his shoulder confused as they carried on. "Ah, that's the box, the blue box, it's always there. Like a...like a magic carpet, this funny little box that transports me to far away places."

"Like a doorway?"

"Yes."

Rose sighed, just what she needed, another woman who understood everything right off. Perfect. She pretended to clean a little longer until The Nurse left, carrying the journal. Rose looked over to at John who was starring dreamily at the floor with his hand placed over the right side of his chest. He wouldn't even notice…so she ran after Nurse Redfern.

"Ma'am!" she called after the Matron. "Ma'am the book!"

Joan turned to face her. "Oh I'll look after it, don't worry. He did say I could read it."

"Yes, but, it's—" Rose smiled innocently. "Silly." She said, channeling John's words.

Joan watched her silently. "They're just stories…"

"Who is he Rose?" Joan asked seriously. Rose's smile dropped. "What?"

"It's like he's left the kettle on. Like... he knows he has something to get back to, but he can't remember what." She said looking over Rose's shoulder at the door. Rose gave a small nervous laugh. "That's just the way he is, you know… bit—"

"You arrived with him, didn't you? He found you employment here at the school, isn't that right?" Joan cut in.

"I used to work for the family," Rose recited awkwardly. "But um, he needed some help while coming to work here and no one else was available so… "

"Well, I'd be careful." Joan said. "If you don't mind my saying, you sometimes seem a little familiar with him. Best remember your position." She then turned to leave. Rose watched her go, an eyebrow cocked and a finger pointed at Joan's unaware back.

Author's note: wooo! First chapter, up land loaded! I'll update soon… I hope. Let me know how you like it! Oh, and here in lies a shameless bit of 'self-advertising' I wrote a one-shot called 'Memoirs of a School Teacher', which is about when John Smith made the infamous 'Rose' journal entry… if anyone is interested…