Big thanks to lastincurableromantic for her amazing beta services and keeping me from forgetting who's said what in particular scenes. Also to Callistawolf, Scifigeekgirl and A Who Down in Whoville for helping me make sure that I'm keeping with the spirit of the movie.
Little bit longer of a chapter this time, but the flow works better than splitting it into two would. Enjoy.
In the aftermath of the Derby matchup, things became less strained between Rose and John. They began to turn everything into a friendly competition. Luckily that meant that no more trips to hospital. Instead, they challenged each other and began to have fun while doing it.
Lifting weight became about the number of reps. Running through the grounds became a foot race. And if sometimes she stole his knit hat and make him chase her, it just added to their growing closeness. They competed to see who got to the rink first in the morning and who could stay in a spin the longest. Several nights John fell asleep at the table during tea. Rose could not only keep up with him, but she pushed him to work harder to be more than he had been before.
Honestly, in the good times, working with Rose was the most fun that he thought he had ever had in his life. Rose had even stopped wearing her mouth guard to show she trusted him. But in the bad times he wanted to throttle her. Right now was one of the bad times.
Rose was strapped into a harness, and they were practicing overhead lifts and spins while she was in the air. She'd already made several remarks about the placement of his hands. He'd snapped back saying that she'd be lucky if he touched her there for anything other than skating. This of course had started her in on teasing him about his bedroom skills, or lack thereof.
Maybe she meant them in jest, but they rubbed him the wrong way. He wanted to tell her that he was impressive in everything that he did. The real problem was that he wanted to show her. His mind started running through various fantasies he'd had about Rose in the last few weeks and then those thoughts stopped him cold. He'd forgotten momentarily about Joan and for a moment there on the ice, his hands on Rose's body, he wished he didn't have anything holding him back. His concentration and grip slipped.
"Oi," she cried as she slipped slightly before the harness caught her. "Where's your head at, John?"
"I just need some air." He skated off the ice, put the covers on his blades and stepped outside. It was cold out on the early December day. The chilly air felt good biting into his lungs. His head was just beginning to clear when the door behind him opened.
"Are you alright?" Rose asked softly, real concern in her voice.
"I'm alright," he said without looking at her. "Thank you, Rose, but really I'm fine."
A soft sigh escaped her lips as she stepped in front of him. "Let me see your wrist." She pointed at his left hand. He didn't want to give it to her, but she reached out and took it anyway. If asked, he would deny that he felt the tingle creep through his body at her touch. Somehow this seemed much more intimate than the position they had just been in. Probably because this was just them, John and Rose, and not just ice skating partners.
Carefully, she manipulated his wrist back and forth and asked him to squeeze her hand. "This what you're like with all your patients?" he teased.
"None of them give me half the trouble you do." Rose looked up and gave him a bright smile. "And most of them have serious injuries they're recovering from."
"Are you thinking about going to medical school?" He was genuinely curious.
"Maybe one day, once my career is officially over."
"Well, you'd be brilliant at it." A blush crept over his face at his blatant honesty.
Rose smirked. "I think you have a slight weakness in your left wrist, probably your dorsal tubercle," she said, still holding his hand. "Most likely if you wear a soft brace in practice and do a few simple strengthening exercises, you shouldn't have any more issues with it."
Normally, he would have been upset that she would dare to say there was something wrong with his wrist, but the way she said it was so sincere, so without any shred of accusation that he knew she was doing nothing but trying to help. "Thank you," he said softly, adjusting his hand to hold hers. It was a perfect fit.
It was lightly snowing as Rose made her way up to the main house. Part of her was sad that she wasn't going home for Christmas. She missed her mum but things were just starting to go well between her and John as partners. Besides, her mum was used to her crazy training schedules and working over holidays, so she understood. Her mum didn't like it but she would deal and Rose had a trip home planned for just after the New Year.
Today was Christmas Eve and Wilf had been kind enough to invite her to a party for the company that had been owned by John's father. There wasn't much time left to get ready but she wanted to do this first. She had a Christmas present for John and wanted to give it to him in private in case he hated it.
What did you get a man who had everything and could buy anything that he didn't?
In desperation, she had gone with something small and personal. Coming up to his door, she knocked and heard a muffled response that she took as an invitation to come it. It became abundantly clear that it wasn't when she opened the door to find John standing by the window in nothing but a towel.
"Oh God," she blurted out, averting her eyes.
"Get out," John yelled angrily. "I didn't say come in."
"I know that now," Rose explained. "And it's not like you have anything I haven't seen before. Or anything to be ashamed of." Lifting her eyes she watched a bead of water trail down his finely sculpted chest. How many times had she felt those muscles in practice? How many times had she thought about what his bare chest would look like? Honestly it looked better than what her imagination had come up with.
"Is there a reason you came barging into my bedroom?" John asked, breaking her from her perusal. "Or are you just going to keep staring?"
"Well, it's such a nice view," Rose said, catching her tongue between her teeth and grinning. Once again her eyes raked up and down his body and a deep blush spread across his face across his face and down his chest and torso. Sadly she couldn't track its progress below there.
God, it had been too long since she'd had a good shag. At least now she had fantasy fodder. She shook her head clear before she pounced on her sexy, smug, not available partner. "I got you a Christmas present. Just wanted to give it to you in private."
John visibly swallowed and let his eyes dip from hers to her chest. He took a step forward and Rose held out a small gift wrapped parcel.
"I hope you like it," she said softly as he reached for it. His long fingers lingered on hers for a second or two longer than what would have been seen as appropriate.
With a grin, he unwrapped the present and threw the paper to the floor. For a moment his entire countenance seemed lighter. At least until he opened the box. His brow furrowed and his mouth fell open. He plucked up a small pin in the shape of a 1960's blue Police Box.
"It's a pin." He sounded dumbstruck and she suddenly felt stupid for giving it him.
"It's my good luck charm. My granddad was a police officer in the '60s and he gave this to me right before my first race. I've worn it at every one since. Thought I might share the luck. Not that you need." Rose bit her lip as she waited for his response. He didn't say anything and she knew this was a mistake.
"You gave me a pin." He looked up at her and she was unable to read his expression. "Your lucky pin."
Rose cringed. "Sorry, it was a daft idea." She reached out a hand to take it back. "I just didn't know what else to get you. You don't have to keep it."
He took a step backwards so the pin was just out of her reach. "No," he said, now clutching it to his bare chest protectively. "I like it."
"You don't have to say that just to spare my feelings." She made another lunge for it and he easily dodged her.
"Since when have I ever tried to spare your feelings?"
Rose paused and looked at him for a moment. "If you're sure..."
"I'm sure," he replied with a grin. "Thank you."
She smiled back. "You're welcome. I'll see you later." Turning around, she made to leave.
"Wait," he called. "I have something for you, too." From a side table, John picked up a silver gift bag with dark blue tissue paper billowing out of the top. He held it out to her and said, "Merry Christmas."
Excitedly, Rose dug into the prezzie. The tissue paper joined the wrappings from his on the floor. From inside she pulled an old book, a very old book. A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. "Wow," she breathed out.
"You said you like Dickens." He shrugged. "It's the first edition with the illustrations by John Leech. It was part of my father's collection. I thought that it would be in better care with you than sitting in the library getting dusty."
"It's brilliant, thank you." Reaching out, she touched his arm, trailing her fingers down his skin until she reached his hand. This time he took initiative and pulled her closer. Anticipation surged through Rose's veins as he moved his other hand to her waist.
What would have happened next Rose would never know. Wilf's voice came from the other side of the door and the pair broke apart.
"Right," Rose said, clutching her book. "I'd best go get ready. See you later tonight, John." Without waiting for a reaction, Rose left John's room. Somehow she managed to cheerfully greet Wilf on her way back to her room in the guest house. All the while trying to figure out what the hell just happened.
A week after what Rose was calling the present incident, she found herself at another party. This one was Wilf's big New Year's Eve bash. That meant a second new dress in that short time frame. Thankfully, she had Donna to take her shopping and the funds to buy a few nice outfits with the generous allowance for living expenses that Wilf gave her.
It was too much, really, and she'd told him that, numerous times. Everything she needed on a daily basis was provided for her: food, shelter, a rink and an amazing coach. She didn't need living expenses. When she was training for her first Olympics she lived on much less. Her parents had to scrape together money in lots of creative ways. They had community fundraisers and they had sponsors. Rose had also done appearances for local business as well as campaign ads. Back then she wished that she could just focus on the skating. And now she could.
Subconsciously, her eyes darted around the room seeking John out. She quickly found him on the staircase talking to another man. Her heart skipped a beat. Since their almost… whatever that was... she had expected things to be awkward. But it really wasn't. John had seemed happier and had joked more freely. Well, the jokes were still sarcastic but lacked their former bite.
Donna's reactions were priceless. Their coach kept asking if he was being slipped antidepressants and if so, why hadn't he tried them earlier. It took a lot of self-restraint on Rose's part not to go to his room every night after practice and see if they could rekindle that moment. But he had a girlfriend, she reminded herself. Plus she didn't want to mess with their professional relationship.
Her eyes flicked back up to him on the stairs. His grin lit up his entire face. Just as she was about to walk over and grab his attention, another woman walked up beside him and wrapped an arm around his waist. The woman was elegantly dressed in a floor length red gown. Her light brown hair was pulled up in an elegant bun. When the woman kissed him on the mouth before moving on to greet other guests, Rose knew this must be the girlfriend.
Rose needed to rein in the jealousy that coursed through her veins. She also needed to remember that he wasn't available and that he could be incredibly difficult to be around. He was rude, arrogant and more than a little bit of a diva. And that their skating partnership was more important than any physical attraction she felt.
The air in the room felt heavy, and it was suddenly too noisy. She needed a moment to herself. Quietly she slipped into Wilf's office. Taking a deep breath, she closed her eyes and tried to clear her head.
John's eyes skated across the crowd, not really sure who he was looking for. Okay, that was a lie. He was looking for Rose when he should be trying to find Joan. Yes, he definitely should be looking for Joan, after all she had cleared her busy schedule to come and see him. She was even going to stay for two whole weeks and they were going to on a getaway next weekend when Rose went home to visit her mum.
A soft sigh escaped his lips. He was fairly certain the purpose of Joan's visit wasn't just to see him. No, Joan was here to meet Rose. He had lamented about her to Joan in emails and phone calls at first but recently had barely said a word to his girlfriend about his skating partner. Oh, he gave Joan progress reports, but he didn't want Joan to know that his feelings towards Rose were shifting. Well, his feelings for Joan were shifting, too, in the opposite direction.
Across the room he saw Rose dart into his grandfather's study. Curious as to what she was doing, John made his way down the stairs. Several people stopped him on his way across the room. After a quick hello to each of them, he politely excused himself. It took three times as long as he wanted to for him to get to the office.
The door swung quietly as he stepped out of the foyer. Rose was standing on the other side of the room with her back to him, studying some family pictures. "Hello," he called softy.
"Oh, hello, John," she said, turning to face him. Her dress was strapless, dark blue and had a smattering of silver sparkles trailing from her right shoulder to her left hip, giving it the effect of a clear, starry night. He rather liked the night sky. Her blonde hair was worn down and was loosely curled. A lamp glowed behind her and she looked... well, ethereal. Like a goddess.
"This room isn't usually open to the public during parties," he said, stepping closer to her and shutting the door.
"Well, I'm not exactly a stranger. Am I?" She pointed to one of the pictures on the wall. "These are your parents, yeah? Your mum was really beautiful and your dad was a knock out. Easy to see where you get your looks from." Catching her tongue between her teeth, she smiled.
His heart skittered at that smile. Over the last few weeks he'd grown quite fond of that smile. This woman made him feel things that he didn't even know he was capable of feeling. "Yes, that's Mother and Father. You would have liked Mother, was a lot like you, full of life. Father, well, let's just say that his looks weren't the only thing I inherited from him."
Rose stepped over to Wilf's desk and picked up a photo of John when he was thirteen. "Ah, so he was a tough nut to crack but completely worth the effort."
It felt like all the air had been sucked from his lungs at her bold statement. "Rose, I... you..." His mind went completely blank for a moment before he could calm his thoughts enough to speak again. "Rose Tyler, you look beautiful tonight."
"You're not so bad yourself, John."
He took a step forward, not really sure what he was planning on doing but knowing that he needed to be close to her. However, he didn't expect her to move away quite so quickly.
"We should get back to the party," she said softly when he tried to get close to her again.
"Right," he replied, not sure what was causing her reticence now when things had been heating up between them in the last week. "Rose, is something wrong?"
She shook her head and looked sad. "John, let's just go back to the party. I'm sure that your girlfriend must be looking for you."
Oh, he had completely forgotten about Joan again. That tended to happen when he was around Rose. He was torn because on one hand he wanted to forget Joan and focus on the gorgeous woman in front him. On the other had there was an old sense of...loyalty that he felt towards Joan.
"Come on," Rose called, opening the door to the office. Once back in the foyer, she took two flutes of champagne off a passing tray and tried to hand one to him.
He waved her off. "I don't drink."
"Why not?" she asked, taking a sip from one of the glasses.
"I've never had a drink in my life." He shrugged. "I don't expect you to understand."
Joan's voice called out from across the room. "There you are," she called, coming up to him and kissing him. It was more aggressive, more possessive than she normally kissed him in public. Quickly, he pulled back. "Ah, yes, good. Joan, this is Rose Tyler. Rose, this is Joan Redford."
Giving her best fake smile, Joan held out a hand. "Britain's very own speed demon."
"In the flesh," Rose said, pressing one of the champagne flutes into Joan's hand.
"Thank you." Joan held up the drink and barely suppressed a roll of her eyes as she took in the sight of the other woman.
Rose tugged at her dress. It wasn't nearly as expensive as Joan's, but it was still better than she had worn at any event growing up.
"What should we drink to?" Joan tapped a well-manicured nail against the glass.
Rose raised her glass and clinked it against Joan's. "Let's drink to the little people."
Joan took a long sip of her champagne as she looked appraisingly at Rose. "I saw you skate in Tornio. It's a shame what happened in the 3000. That must have been devastating for you to crack under the pressure. Especially for someone as young as you were."
The tension between the two women was palpable, and John managed to extricate himself from Joan's vice-like grip on his arm. He was just about to come to Rose's defense when she spoke up.
"You know at the time, yeah, I was pretty devastated. At sixteen with all that pressure on me, it's hard not to be overwhelmed by it all. But I tell you what, I managed to pick myself up and finish the race in spite of the disappointment. Tells you a lot about a person's character, I think."
John rubbed at the back of his neck. "And with that, I think I'll just go over there." He pointed across the room to a buffet table and started walking away. "There's a little too much catty-ness coming from the pair of you."
"You're different than I expected," Joan said, eyes narrowing.
Rose smirked. "And somehow you are exactly how I expected you to be."
Glowering at the other woman and refusing to break eye contact, Joan said, "I heard you've been giving John a hard time."
"If you mean not pandering to his mood swings or letting him walk all over me, then yeah, I've been giving him a hard time." Rose shrugged and pointedly looked away.
"I don't like to see him unhappy," Joan replied tersely.
Rose snorted. "Have you seen him lately? He's been smiling and joking, doesn't look unhappy to me." Without waiting for response, Rose stepped around the other woman and walked away.
From the other side of the room, John had been watching the exchange between Rose and Joan. This wasn't what he had expected to happen. Joan had never once shown the slightest bit of jealousy over his skating partners before. True, when he was skating with Martha, Joan had only been a friend. A good friend, an old friend, but still, she had only been a friend.
Even now they had only been casually dating three years and in that time he'd gone through thirty seven partners. None of them stuck around long enough for Joan to be jealous of. Not that Joan had anything to be jealous of before Rose. John had been so focused on his skating that he'd never even looked at another woman.
As it was, he barely looked at Joan. She had chosen to go to New York six months into their relationship. There had only been a few visits over that time. Most of them had been her coming to Scotland because he refused to give up time in his training regimen for international flights. A few days here or there he could spare, but he wasn't willing to give Joan weeks. The Olympics were more important.
He scrubbed a hand down his face and tried to force himself not to think about Joan. Instead he scanned the crowd and looked for someone to talk to. His eyes automatically locked onto Rose. She was standing in the middle of the room, surrounded by what seemed to be every single man at the party. And a few that were decidedly not single. That was fine. That was lovely. She was free to do as she liked.
For the rest of the party, John was not in the best of moods. The fact that he knew he was a grumpy git meant that everyone else would see it, too. If it wasn't for the fact that it was New Year's Eve and if his grandfather hadn't made it clear that he was supposed to stay until midnight, he would have slipped away hours ago. Probably go to brood in his room or to make his way to his building and skate. On the ice was one of the few places he felt even a modicum of happiness.
Thankfully, time passed quickly and the countdown to the New Year started. "10…9…8…7…6…5…4…3…2…1 Happy New Year!" everyone in the room shouted. Joan grabbed John's face and kissed him. Hastily, he turned away and kissed the cheek of the woman on the other side of him. He made his way around the room kissing the cheeks of all the woman in his vicinity.
Rose was taking a bolder approaching and kissing all the men on the lips. It was all in fun and meant nothing. They weren't even proper kisses, just a mashing of lips. It was fun and carefree and Rose found that she was giggling, half out of glee and half from the champagne. She turned to kiss the next party guest and found herself face to face with John. It was if time stood still as they both looked stared at each other. Rose's gaze dropped to his lips and he licked them and smiled. Oh, how she wanted to kiss him.
Never before in his life had John wanted to kiss someone as much as he wanted to kiss Rose right now. What if he kissed her and she kissed him back? What if he kissed her and she slapped him? Just as he was about to chuck it all and kiss her, she leaned in and angled her head in just a way…to kiss his cheek.
"Happy New Year," she murmured before turning away.
John swallowed, not sure what had happened. "Happy New Year," he whispered to her retreating form.
