Hey guys next part! How good am I?! Nah I just thought I better update this one as I have an enormous heap of homework and assignments. You know teachers, you tell em you've got heaps of assignments and they say Oh great add this Essay and this report on top of that narrative. Anyway :P I hope you like it, it's been distracting me for ages but now that I've updated something I can have just a little bit of peace for the afternoon. Thanks for everything, please review ;)
Rose spent much longer then she needed to in the bathroom fixing herself up. Was it her fault that an incredibly attractive and charming man had just kissed her? She thought not. Was it her fault that she'd kissed back? Well...probably. She turned the tap off and sighed deeply. A knock at the door startled her and she totally blanked for a moment "Uh I'll be out in a moment, sorry for taking so long" she added guiltily even though she knew that if someone had really urgently needed the bathroom they would have gone to one of the many others in the castle.
"Yeah don't worry I don't need the bathroom, take your time" came John's voice and she felt adrenaline course through her, there was no way of getting out of it so she'd have to face him sooner rather than later.
She opened the door and stepped out slowly to find him leaning against the opposite wall with his head down in deep thought "Uh it's free now if you need to..."
"No" he lifted his eyes to look at her "I needed to apologise; I uh...wasn't thinking straight I suppose. It doesn't often happen to me but you were just so worried about people treating you differently and I thought if they thought that you were with me then maybe they'd leave you alone".
"So you think being with you gives girls a free pass to keep their lives private?" she asked both puzzled and annoyed.
He heard the annoyance in her voice and flinched noticeably "If I'm perfectly honest then yes it usually means that, not that I've had enough girlfriends to properly test that theory but I should hope that if people see that someone is important to me that they'll just let it go respect my choices".
"So you want me to pretend to be your girlfriend for the weekend?" Rose asked hardly believing her luck. Was that desperate? Insane maybe? Yeah possibly but no one would ever have to find out.
"Well yeah...I uh...I wanted to make this weekend easier on you...you know being stuck here with all the snobs and aristocrats" he grinned at her and she couldn't stifle her giggle quite quickly enough.
"Alright Sir Smith" she joked "Maybe this weekend would be easier if I consented. Just one thing though..."
"What is it? Anything, ask me anything?" he beamed at her.
"What am I supposed to call you?" she asked giggling again at the look of confusion on his face.
"Oh well you could call me honey or sweetie, my friends call me the Doctor but you don't have to, hmmm..." he was lost in thought for a moment "I don't really mind unless you're insulting me" he grinned "So love, what would prefer me to call you?"
Rose blushed and smiled at him "Well I don't really mind, dear, love, sweetie, honey...anything but babe really" she said trying not to shudder at the name that Jimmy used to call her.
"Alright then beautiful" he smiled softly offering her his arm "Are you ready to charm the pants off some posh people?"
"Now that one I like" she winked before taking his arm "I do hope that's not a euphemism".
"Of course not" he paused before opening the door to go back outside "One more thing...it's a bit awkward but kissing...uh..."
"I'm fine with it Doctor" if she was ever truly sincere in saying anything in her life that was it.
"Oh...good then no problem then" he leaned forward and kissed her snaking his arms around her waist. He really liked it when she used his nickname though he'd never admit it.
Her hands found his great hair again and she kissed him back keenly. Rose was lost, the kiss was all she could think about and how she wished it were a real kiss between them. It felt real, how much more real could someone snogging you senseless feel? Jimmy would flip if he saw Rose right now, her mouth glued to Johns. He could get lost for all she cared, John seemed amazing and hadn't given her any inkling that he would become violent if he lost his temper and that was enough for her to maybe even start falling for him a little bit. Too soon? Maybe. Did it matter to her? Not at all.
He pulled back from her much to her disappointment and grinned at her pouting face "You think they'll believe that?" he asked her with his voice husky.
"Yeah" she breathed, trying desperately to find her voice again "Yeah I think they will". They stepped out of the door with Rose on Johns arm. Donna made eye contact with Rose and shook her head smiling. Rose just shrugged and then smiled at John who was still grinning goofily at her.
"Alright so what now?" Rose asked once they reached the bottom of the stairs.
"Well we need to circulate and socialise, I'll answer all the questions and you just have to agree. Don't worry I'll attract as much attention away from you as possible" he smiled and she nodded.
The day progressed quite quickly after that, Rose soon learnt most of the people there were rich, famous or had some sort of title, usually a combination of all three. When afternoon came several of the guests said their goodbyes and went back to their own various estates and mansions. Only about fifty people were left and they were the guests who would be staying for the whole weekend. Rose noticed there were little groups amongst them like there was a large group of attractive young men who were no doubt the Doctor's friends and co-workers. Then there was the female equivalent of them who stared daggers at her for even being near him.
"Hey you know how we practiced?" she whispered in his ear.
He didn't need telling twice, he didn't even say anything he just swept her up into his arms for another breathtaking kiss. When they broke apart she glanced at the women who all looked very ruffled and annoyed especially one blonde.
"Who's the..." Rose started to ask but he cut her off.
"My ex-girlfriend" he looked over at her with serious eyes "I don't know why she's even here she broke up with me".
"Why would she do that?" Rose asked seriously before she realised what she had just said.
He smirked at her "Well it's nice to know you think that's a totally ridiculous thing to do then" he poked his tongue out and continued "She wanted more from me and I wasn't willing to give it to her".
"What did she want?" Rose felt like she was maybe being a little bit intrusive but she was playing his girlfriend after all and quite enjoying it.
"Well...you know" he looked at her awkwardly and she just blinked up at him "Oh for goodness sake Rose what do two people do together to show their love?" he hinted
"Ah so you wouldn't sleep with her" she understood and he nodded "Why not?" she asked frowning "Look at her she's beautiful".
"Well I don't sleep with every beautiful girl I meet" he grinned at her "I have to confess something".
"Ok" he sounded serious so she allowed him to continue.
"I haven't slept with anyone since my wife died" he blurted out quietly enough that others wouldn't hear but still loud enough to make to her backtrack. He looked sadly at her and she smiled at him with more emotions then she probably should have shown.
"That is so..." she paused and she could feel his tension "Admirable" she squeezed his arm slightly and he relaxed.
"Oh thank you I thought you were gonna be like well I know this is only pretend but I'm not having that and you'd walk away" he still looked slightly worried.
"Hey don't worry" she smiled at him and placed a hand on his cheek "If you thought I was that kind of girl then you mustn't really know me Doctor".
He leaned into her hand slightly and she felt the warmth of his cheek radiating into her hand "Thank you, just so you know, I don't go through women like toilet paper they just use me over and over again".
"I know you already said"-
"Yes but I'm really serious now, I care what you think and I promise you that I not a shallow womaniser like Donna might have made me out to be".
"I know Doctor" she smiled at him "I knew as soon as I knew you were John that that just couldn't be possible and that she was just trying to protect me".
"Rose what was she trying to protect you from? She wouldn't tell me, she said that if you wanted to tell me you would".
"Someday maybe" Rose patted his arm and smiled "But not today alright? Let's just enjoy the weekend pretending to be a couple and then maybe if you see me at the restaurant or something then we can chat".
"I'd really like that" he nodded his head enthusiastically and she grinned at him.
After that the afternoon was a blur of champagne, wine and socialising, oh and just a few kisses here and there. Rose found that she really liked kissing him so much that she wondered if she could stop when they didn't have to pretend anymore. Of course they were going to have to pretend for the whole weekend. Rose felt content being even his pretend girlfriend; he had this protective side that made her feel wanted unlike when she had been with Jimmy. Sure Mickey had been a very protective person but he was more of a best friend then a boyfriend and she didn't feel quite as safe as she had with John the past few hours of the party.
John looked over at Rose who was sitting on one of the benches waiting for him to return from his 'short' conversation with Lady Christina Desouza who was obviously after him. He had already told Rose that although she was beautiful Lady Christina was a little too wild for his tastes and enjoyed doing daring and somewhat illegal things.
An older women walked over and sat with Rose and she smiled at her "Hello Rose, John hasn't introduced us but I'm Sarah-Jane Smith, his older sister" she smiled and held out a hand.
"HI" Rose smiled and shook her hand "I'm Rose obviously" she laughed.
"So you're his date I presume?" she asked politely.
"Yeah well I work for Donna so she invited me, he's just pretending to be my boyfriend in order to make people shut and respect me pretty much" she smiled holding back another laugh.
"Well" Sarah-Jane raised her eyebrows "You should well privileged then, it's not every day he'd do that for someone".
"He's a very nice man" she nodded "I met him a few days ago in the park".
"Ah I thought you must be that Rose" she nodded and took another drink from her glass.
"Which Rose might that be?" Rose asked intrigued.
"Oh I shouldn't really say anything but...well John hasn't shut up about you since the day he met you, he never said anything to Donna of course because she would do her nut at him if she knew he was saying those things about one of her employees".
"What did he say about me?" Rose was shocked and now she was determined.
Sarah-Jane sighed "Well you know I really shouldn't...he said you were the most beautiful woman he'd ever seen and that he'd bet that you were a fantastic kisser" she blushed.
"Well..." Rose giggled "Um...well me being his fake girlfriend and all has given him plenty of opportunities to test that theory".
"And has he?" she laughed.
"Yep just a few times" Rose nodded and they both burst into fits of laughter as John came back over.
"Alright what's funny?" he asked innocently making them laugh even harder.
"I..." Rose spluttered but she was shaking with too much laughter to speak.
Sarah-Jane tried to compose herself enough to talk "Just a joke among friends nothing to concern you".
"You seem to be having fun" John smiled at his sister "I can't remember the last time I saw you laugh this much".
"Well we all have responsibilities" Sarah-Jane nodded before making eye contact with Rose and snickering once more.
"Annnnywaaaaay..." John drawled out "May I have my date back Sarah-Jane or are you guys having too much fun?"
"Oh no its ok" Sarah-Jane stood up and Rose did too "I'd wager we'd have more fun than you did over there" she nodded towards Lady Christina who kept eyeing Rose with a look of utter distaste.
John sighed "Christina, always trying to get me to go on some adventure with her" he shook his head "Anyway Rose" he beamed at her "How are you enjoying the party? You've met all the siblings now haven't you?"
"Well unless you've got another one hiding around then yes" she grinned and looked around "Is it terribly rude of me to ask where your parents are?"
She saw John immediately tense up and he mumbled something about getting a drink before wandering off and nodding to Sarah-Jane as he went. "I'm sorry" Sarah-Jane patted her arm "He's just a little sensitive about our parents. They died in the same fire that killed his wife and he has never quite gotten over the guilt I suppose. He blames himself for it, one of his experiments was very fragile and when something fell over it caused a chain reaction which then in turn caused the building to blow up. Luckily for us we were all out buying more ice-cream for dessert, we'd decided we'd do it that day instead of the servants" she sighed "John always says if he hadn't have balanced the acid so close to the corner of the table then none of it would have happened".
"So he blames himself?" Rose felt heartbroken for the man and brushed away a single tear that fell down her cheek.
"Yes" Sara-Jane nodded wiping away her own tears "You can still hear him muttering to himself about it sometimes".
John watched in the distance as Sarah-Jane told Rose about what had happened. He was surprised to see her crying and when she embraced Sarah-Jane he felt his heart melt for her, he couldn't help it, he was falling in love with this girl and there was nothing he could do to stop it even if he wanted to.
"I really like your brother Sarah-Jane" Rose smiled at her when she pulled back from her embrace.
"I know you do" Sarah-Jane smiled softly at her "you two together, even when you are just pretending it just seems so real...you fit perfectly and I think you both know it".
"I have a past though Sarah-Jane" Rose sniffed and smiled sadly wiping away her tears again.
"So does he Rose, do you really think he'll care that you have a past if you're able to accept his?"
"I would never blame him for what happened to your parents and his wife, I may not know him well but I know that he would never deliberately harm anyone".
"I'm sure he'd be glad to hear that" Sarah-Jane looked past Rose to where John was returning "You enjoy the party Rose and make sure he takes care of you".
"Will do" Rose grinned and waved as Sarah-Jane went back to blend with a group for women her age.
"So..." John managed a small smile.
"I'm so sorry, I didn't know about your parents" she blurted.
"It's ok you couldn't have known" he offered her his arm and she took his hand in hers.
"You shouldn't blame yourself John" she squeezed his hand and he looked into her eyes before sighing deeply.
"Sarah-Jane?" he asked her exasperatedly.
"Yeah she's worried about you and so am I" Rose stroked his hand with her thumb.
"But why are you? You hardly know me".
"Yes you're right I don't know you that well but I know that you're a good person" she smiled.
"Rose Tyler you have a lot of faith in strangers".
"I really don't have that much faith in strangers" she admitted "I just...I get a feeling about some people and you and your family are definitely the kind of people I'd like to get to know".
"And what about Jack?" he asked with his eyebrows raised.
"Jack, well he's very handsome and a total flirt..."
"And you like that?" he asked sounding a little uneasy.
She patted his arm "Don't worry darling I have no eyes for anyone but you" she grinned and he laughed but actually began to wonder if she really liked Jack or if she actually liked him, surely not though, they hardly knew each other.
The evening air was cool and everyone started to retire to their rooms inside before they had dinner. John showed Rose up to where she'd be staying "Thank you" she turned to him outside the door "Today was fantastic".
"You're acting like this is just a date" he grinned "You will be at dinner right?" he sounded adorably hopeful and it made her smile.
"Of course I will" she planted a soft lingering kiss on his cheek. He reacted straight away and captured her lips with his own. She gasped and he grinned against her mouth in satisfaction.
"Sorry" he stepped back and shrugged unapologetically "You know...practice" he grinned wickedly.
Rose stepped forward again and pulled him to her again kissing him tenderly. When they broke apart it was his turn to look dazed and it was her turn to grin "Practice is good, though I never thought I'd enjoy it so much".
"You didn't think I was a good kisser?" he kissed her lips again.
"You know that's not what I meant" she laughed and kissed his cheek one last time before turning to the door and going inside leaving him gawping after her.
Dinner was served in an enormous ballroom with tables off to the side. An orchestra played while couples danced around to the room; to Rose this looked like the epitome of class and sophistication. She felt so underdressed next to all those women with their freshly done hair and different ball gowns and evening dresses. Something told her that a lot of these women were very competitive about who had the most expensive and beautiful clothing.
The same blonde girl that Rose recognised as John's ex came swishing over to her in a beautiful golden dress. "So you're John's girlfriend?" she asked but it sounded like more of an accusation.
"Yep that's me" Rose smiled at her politely.
"Can I give you some advice?" again it didn't really sound like a question, more of an order.
"I'm guessing you're about to" Rose kept the sweet smile on her face the whole time.
"Alright listen, you may think that you have the perfect romance with him but you don't alright? I know that, no one like you" she gestured to her in disgust "will ever be with someone like him" she looked over to where John was laughing with Sarah-Jane "He may say he doesn't mind your poverty or your poxy taste in clothes but I know better than that, I've seen many girls like you crash and burn and you seem alright so I thought you deserved the warning".
Her words hit Rose like blades through her chest "What is your name?" her voice shook slightly and she held back her tears.
"Reinette darling" the girl smiled down at her from her six inch heels.
"Well thank you Reinette" Rose smiled at her sweetly "Don't worry I wasn't staying anyway" she pushed her way out of the room and ran up the stairs. She turned and saw John looking at her through the crowd but she just smiled through her now cascading tears and fled.
When she had made sure everything was packed she raced downstairs again and out to where the valet was waiting for her. "Not staying the weekend then miss?" he asked sounding disappointed, he'd really liked her.
"No sorry uh...tell Donna...just tell her I had a family emergency" Rose smiled stiffly and hopped into the driver's seat. The engine roared into life and she took off down the track towards the gates.
John raced outside to see the taillights of a car in the distance "You there" he called to the attendant "Who was that?"
"That would be Rose Tyler" he boy said sadly "Too bad really I thought she was staying longer, nice lady, really nice".
"Yeah" John sighed "Did she say why she was leaving?"
"She said to tell Donna that she had a family emergency".
"Did she say to tell me anything?"
"No sir, only Donna sorry sir" he smiled sympathetically.
John walked backwards a few steps and waited until the car drove out of sight completely. Sitting on the steps he rested his chin on his clasped hands 'What had he done now?'
Alright so Rose seemed to be having a great time...just a little insecure about herself after the whole Jimmy thing but we'll come to that later. Hope you liked it and I just wanted to say that I know that there was a lot of kissing but I couldn't help myself when I had an excuse to make them flirt and kiss ok? :P Thank you guys, stay awesome! ;)
