Back again! These are interesting.
This one will be pretty short, I think, and mostly just Mickey and Rose, because it is the precursor to the chapter where Rose and John finally get together!
That's right!
THE BREAK-UP.
(Honestly, not all that dramatic because tbh these two sort of just fell out of love. In fact, Rose fell out of like. She was never in love with him.)
Disclaimer: If I owned this stuff, there would have been more TenRose. A lot more TenRose. And possibly ElevenRose. And TwelveRose. NineRose. Other Doctors/Rose. Just... Rose.
Sorry for not being hilarious. I tried my best.
Let's get started!
Age 19
Rose knew that it was time for this to happen, but she couldn't bring herself to knock on the door.
She and Mickey had been dating for... six years? Something like that. And it was nice. It was safe. It was comfortable. She knew her place in the universe, and it was next to him, keeping him in line and showing him what's what and all in all being a fantastic girlfriend. They'd been together longer than any of their friends. They were each other's first times. Everyone they knew pretty much assumed that they'd get married someday.
But now... They didn't see each other as often. In fact, since they'd started college, Rose hadn't seen Mickey at all. Sure, they'd texted and called and Skyped, but they hadn't spoken in person.
And now she was standing outside Mickey's dorm room, preparing to break up with him. Weeks without actual, physical contact, and she was going to make their first meeting as college students incredibly awkward by dumping him.
Oh yeah. Girlfriend of the year award was definitely coming her way.
Rose took a deep breath and let it out before raising her hand to grasp the knocker-
The door opened.
"Hello," the man said, raising an eyebrow. "And who might you be?"
Rose blinked. "Um... you're not Mickey."
"You're right, I'm not." The man held out his hand to shake. "Jake."
Rose reached out and grasped the outstretched hand before shaking it firmly. "Nice to meet you. I'm Rose."
Jake's eyes widened and he grinned. "Ah. So you're the Rose. It's a pleasure." He let go of her hand and called over his shoulder, "Yo, Micks! Your girlfriend's here! Come talk to 'er!"
There was the sound of something dropping, and then Mickey ran out of the bathroom, towel wrapped around his waist. Rose felt her cheeks heat up and looked pointedly at the ground. No matter how many times she'd seen him naked, she never felt quite comfortable with it.
"Um, maybe put some clothes on, Mickey?" Jake suggested, laughter in his voice.
"Ah, Rose doesn't mind, does she?" Mickey glanced her way, grinning. Rose couldn't meet his eyes, and the grin faded to a worried look. "On second thought... Can you give us a minute, Jake?"
Jake looked between them, then nodded slowly. "Er, yeah. Sure I guess. I'll just... head on out. Be back in an hour or so?"
"No, it's fine," Rose assured him. "I won't be long."
"O-kay then," Jake said, sidestepping past Rose and into the hall. "You two work out your... stuff, yeah? I'll be at the vending machines, buying a couple of... things."
"Great, you do that," Mickey said distractedly.
Jake rolled his eyes and walked away, leaving Rose and Mickey staring at each other across the threshold.
"So..." Rose began, sticking her hands in her pockets. "How's college been treating you?
Mickey leaned against the frame of the door and crossed his arms. "It's been treating me fine, but something tells me that's not why you're here."
Rose sighed and ran a hand through her hair. "No, it's not," she conceded after a moment. "I actually... I decided something important."
"Oh yeah?" Mickey asked. "What's that?"
Rose took a deep breath. "Okay, so, I've been thinkin' about this, and I'm pretty sure that it's the right decision, so... yeah." She exhaled and finally met his gaze. "I think we should break up."
For a moment, Mickey said nothing. Then: "I think you're right."
Rose blinked. "Seriously?"
"Yeah." Now it was Mickey who was staring at the ground, purposefully avoiding her gaze. "We've been together for a while, but it's not really amazing, is it? I mean, I love you," he told her. "I do. I've loved you since we were kids. But you..." He swallowed. "You don't feel the same."
"Mickey-" Rose said, reaching out to him, but he held up a hand to stay her movement.
"It's okay, I know," he continued, looking at her again. "You like me well enough, but if we're being honest, you've never been in love with me. You love me as a friend, but your feelings for me romantically?" He chuckled, voice low and filled with self-pity. "Never progressed beyond like."
Rose pulled her arm back until her hand was resting on her opposite shoulder. She couldn't deny it. "Yeah," she replied softly. "That about sums it up."
There was, of course, the whole other realization as well... but should she really tell Mickey that part of the reason she had broken up with him was because she had realized she was in love with one of her other best friends?
"Are you going to tell him?" Mickey asked.
Rose frowned. "Tell who what?" she answered uncertainly.
Mickey rolled his eyes. "Rose, everyone knows you're in love with John."
"What?!" Rose yelped defensively. "I- you- what do you mean, 'everyone knows'? I didn't even know until a day or so ago!"
A dry laugh emerged from Mickey's mouth. "Well, trust me, it's not hard to see. The two of you are mad for each other." Mickey leaned a little further forward- just enough to kiss her on the forehead. A goodbye.
Then he pulled back and punched her arm lightly. "Go get him, sweetheart."
Rose stared at him for a moment, then leaned over and hugged him.
"Thank you, Mickey," she whispered. "Thank you."
The hug lasted a few more seconds before Rose let go.
"You're amazing, Mickey," she said, smiling at him, before turning around and running down the hall.
Mickey stared after her, smiling softly before sighing and rubbing a hand over his eyes. "I know I am, Rose," he whispered to empty air, ignoring the dampness in his eyes. "I know."
End of Extra 7
I'm surprised at how well this one turned out. Didn't take me too long, even considering I kept getting interrupted by pesky little human problems like needing to eat. Y'know, stupid things like that.
Anyway, RFF! Love to know what you think of the story.
The word of the day is VERDURE! Unsurprisingly, it has much to do with green stuff. You know, verde, verdant- all of those lovely words that mean green things, with the V-E-R-D root. So it means the color of vegetation. Ish. That's sort of what it means.
That's all, then. Lulu out!
