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Today was a Fairy Tale

In the countless days that followed, Rose felt as if she was walking on broken glass. She couldn't help but love every single second of it with all of her being. She knew it was only going to hurt her later, but it was already too late to turn around now. John was almost everything she had ever dreamed of having in a husband and lover. And he reminded her so much of the Doctor while stilling being his own distinct person. And yet, with each passing day, she was forced to remind herself that the Doctor would return. And the Doctor sneered at the merest mention of 'domestics'. She knew she would willingly travel with him as long as she lived…but would he ever hold her during the night, his hair matted with sweat and his hearts pounding from making love with her? Would he kiss her and tell her he loved her? Would he ask her to carry his child the way John had? Rose was certain he wouldn't. Only the faint hint from John's dreams that the Doctor did love her helped carry her on when she thought of the inevitable future.

"I'm going to the pub. I'll be home later tonight, yeah?" John called to her from another room. She could tell from his voice that he was currently tugging on his shoes, probably because he was running late as usual.

"Have fun, John!" Rose responded, smiling when she heard the door slam shut behind him without a response.

It made him all the more real, the fact that John had friends from his work at the university. Friends he was enough comfortable with to go to the pub on a Thursday night. Sure, she technically knew his colleagues too, but she always found it awkward to be around them. But she always ended up getting stuck chatting with their wives. All the women were snooty, all at least ten years older than her as well. It was no wonder that they didn't exactly click or have much to talk about. She could tell that most of the women looked down upon her. And the thing that really upset her was how they thought so little of she and John's relationship, him marrying a younger woman without proper education or breeding. Rose suspected they assumed that she was just a gold-digger. With a sigh, she thought of how she would give up practically everything – the enormous flat, the seemingly never-ending flow of money, and the lifestyle – just to have the Doctor call her his love when he returned. The very thought of losing John made her heart ache, but she knew that, once the days on the calendar had been crossed off, she would have to let the Doctor return. Even if it broke her heart in the process. Even if he hated her for following his instructions. She would let him return and do her best to warm herself with the memories of the love she had with the plain old John Smith.

Thankfully, John had listened to her and didn't mind at all that she didn't accompany him anymore.

Rose just rolled her eyes to herself, thinking back to the horrible 'nights out' she'd been to with the disapproving wives. The few times she had gone it had been a dinner at some rich bloke's house, a stuffy affair that always lasted longer than it should. That in itself she could live with, but again, their wives just rubbed her the wrong way. They pretended they were merely curious about how she had met John, but she could tell how they turned their noses up at her when they discovered she had come from a council estate. She didn't dare mention the fact that, according to John, she had initially been one of his students. Finally not able to take it any longer, Rose had gone to John with her concerns. He initially didn't believe her, saying that no one in their right mind could dislike her. However, once she explained the situation, John had been upset that anyone wouldn't respect her as much as they did anyone else. So, hesitantly, he had agreed that he wouldn't make her go to anymore of the events unless it was absolutely necessary.

Her phone suddenly rang, breaking her out of her thoughts. Rolling her eyes, Rose answered the phone. It was John, probably having forgotten something at home. He certainly could be scatterbrained sometimes. Almost in the same way as the Doctor. Rose sometimes wondered if the Time Lord would have forgotten his head if it weren't attached to his shoulders.

"Yeah," she finally answered, realizing that she hadn't said anything yet.

"I may have left the stove on from when I was making tea earlier," he replied sheepishly, a common occurrence with him. At least he always remembered to tell her if she was at home.

Rose wandered into the kitchen, smirking as she saw that John was correct and he had left the stove top on. Quickly flipping it off, Rose admired how domestic she had become. "You're going to end up burning down our home if you don't stop with that," Rose teased.

"Weeellll," John replied and Rose was sure he was sheepishly rubbing the back of his neck. "Listen, I'm almost there so you can give me a famous Tyler slap for being irresponsible when I get back," John joked, continuing on. "Oh and, Rose? I have something to say tonight and you can't say no this time!" John finished, the tone in his voice overly nervous.

"Okay..." Rose told him, wishing he would get home soon so she would know what he was alluding to. They only spoke for a few moments more, exchanging goodbyes before John hung up.

Rose hoped it wasn't the same topic that John had brought up around New Year's. About trying to have a baby. Although he hadn't pestered her about it since, she knew he still wanted that with her. It wouldn't just go away immediately because she hadn't been on his side. At the a fore-mentioned dinner parties, John always just so happened to be interacting his coworker's young children. It seemed as if everyone was on his side about that as well. Even Jackie had gotten a faraway look in her eye when she had mentioned the dilemma, clearly imagining her grandchildren. Though Rose was positive that John had never betrayed her confidence and mentioned their disagreement about the topic of children, she was sure everyone knew he wanted children. You could just tell that he longed to be a father by the look in his eyes the time she had been holding one of his coworker's baby. She swore she could feel everyone's eyes on her stomach when she walked in, sizing her up for any change in her body and wondering when she would announce that she was pregnant, though she could just be paranoid. She couldn't even complain though, because whenever she saw John interact with any of the kids, her heart simply melted. She'd had dreams about having his child lately. He would be more than devoted to her, helping her through each and every stage of pregnancy with excitement. She was sure he would be one of those men who would insist they read all the silly books and go to parenting classes. Then, when the time came, he'd hold her hand and mop her forehead while she was in labor. Finally, after the baby was born, she could almost picture how his face would glow with an unearthly light as he held his son or daughter for the first time. Simply gazing in wonder at the new life in his arms they had created and loving her all the more for giving it to him. And, if Rose had her choice, she would give John as many children as he had wished for just to make him happy. But John wasn't real. She would always have to bring the Doctor back and once he had offhandedly mentioned that Time Lords and humans were not compatible in that way. She could never bear the Doctor's or John's children. Even if, deep down, she wanted to.

With a grimace, she pushed the thoughts to the back of her mind. No sense pining over what she couldn't have. Better to stay in the present. And right now, Rose was bent over John's desk in his impressive study. She was glaring down at the calendar, angry that the days kept going by so quickly. No matter how much she stared at the page, it refused to change to give her more days with John. Grimacing at the unbending dates, Rose noted that in exactly ten days it would be the three months' mark, the day she could safely open the watch and the Doctor would return to her. The day, three months ago, she thought would never come. Now that it was so close, however, she wished she had cherished the time she had with John more. Because she would open the watch on that date, there was no way she wouldn't, but it would break her heart int he process to lose her husband. But she would get the Doctor back.

Her Doctor. She just had to bring her Doctor back by opening a stupid fob watch. She hated the idea of abandoning John Smith now, after everything they had been to one another. She loved him and she needed him. But the world, the entire universe, needed the Doctor more.

Shaking her head to get rid of her thoughts, Rose laid her head down on top of the calendar that showed how time was running out faster than she thought it ever could. She had been on a time machine for years and never really understood the importance of time until right now. Allowing the tears to leak out of her tired hazel eyes, Rose gave in to her emotions. She let herself cry once more, mourning the loss of John Smith prematurely. She stopped trying to hold her emotions at bay and just let go. Once she had cried until her eyes were raw and red Rose felt her eyelids droop as she fell into a restless sleep.

Rose awoke to the shrill ringing of her phone, she had only been asleep for about ten minutes. She answered it without looking down at the caller ID, her voice foggy and thick with sleep and emotion. She was glad that it was Emma and not her mother on the other end when she heard her friend's familiar voice. She wasn't sure how she could lie to her mother about what was currently upsetting her.

"Hey, what's up? You weren't at work today," Rose muttered, hoping her friend wasn't sick. Rose had felt a little off the last couple of days, as if she were coming down with a stomach virus, and wondered if she had given it to Emma.

"I know," Emma whispered, her voice raw and scratchy, making it obvious that she had been crying recently. Rose suddenly came to full awareness, wondering what could have hurt her friend. Her mind ran through all the possible catastrophes until Emma finally spoke up. "It's about Paul..." she whispered in a low voice.

"Oh no, did you guys break up?" Rose guessed, wishing she was wrong when Emma quietly confirmed that she was right. "I thought he was a nice guy. Do you want me to come over now?" Rose asked, pitying her young friend as she thought back to when she herself had been naive and always believed every relationship she was in would end perfectly.

"He had been acting a bit strangely lately. But today was something altogether different," Emma sobbed into the phone, the break up apparently very recent. "He…he tried to hit me. And then I freaked out and was about to start yelling back at him and he just laughed and left."

Rose could feel her temper rising as she thought back to her own past. Jimmy Stone, the boy she used to think was her soul mate, had used her and abused her. She had given up everything for him when she was only 16, she had even dropped out of school and moved in with him. But he wanted more from her, he always did. Through it all, she never thought he would hit her. Until he did. That night she confronted him, having discovered that he had cheated on her. He finally snapped then, letting his true colors out in full force. Thankfully, she had escaped with only one black eye and a few bruises, but inside she had been broken for so long. He had made her feel worthless and unlovable. She thought she was healed with Mickey's help until she met the man who could feel the Earth move. He showed her the stars, but more importantly, he made her believe she was special. Sure, she wasn't smart as a whip and was far from perfect in many ways, but she was fantastic according to the Doctor. He had saved her life more than once. And she had saved his in return.

"Emma, do you want me to come over?" Rose asked once she realized she had been thinking a bit too long. She felt that she could really help her friend, having gone through a similar situation herself. "I know what you're going through and I can help," Rose admitted, hoping Emma believed her. Emma always seemed to idealize Rose's marriage to John, claiming that she had won the spousal lottery. She couldn't disagree, but wished her friend understood that it wasn't always smooth sailing.

"No, no. I need to be alone right now," Emma answered, unswayed by Rose's words. "But can you please call work for me and say I was too sick to call so I don't get in trouble for skipping?" Emma asked hesitantly. As she spoke, Rose could hear her voice quivering and knew her friend was going to hang up soon.

"You don't even have to ask. I will do that right now," Rose reassured her friend, wondering if she should go to her apartment anyway to make sure she was okay. "Are you absolutely certain you don't want me to come over?" she checked again.

"Yes! If you come I probably won't even get up to answer the door. I've got my ice cream and romantic movies," Emma replied, using the most typical heartbreak solutions there were. "I'll call you tomorrow," Emma whispered into the phone, obviously about to hang up.

Knowing she only had seconds left, Rose asked her final question. "Emma, what did he do to you? Please, just tell me. I need to know. I know you trust me, so please just tell me."

"He…he has been acting wonderful lately. But then, I don't know what happened. He said that he saw a meteor and wanted to go check it out one night," Emma answered, making the back of Rose's spine tingle at how odd of a coincidence that was. "Anyway, that was last week. Ever since then he has been acting a bit different. I thought it was because I mentioned him meeting my parents and he thought we we moving to fast, but then this happened. Out of nowhere, he just started yelling at me and hit me. He just stormed out and I haven't heard from him since," Emma explained, her voice becoming more and more frantic as she continued to talk. Before she started to cry again, Emma hung up, leaving Rose talking to no one.

Rose hesitantly put her phone down, deciding that it was her duty as a friend to go see Paul to give him a piece of her mind. No one treated Rose's friends like that. And to think she had thought he was a nice guy as well. What a shame. What a damned shame.

Pulling on her shoes and coat, Rose stormed out of the flat. She hardly noticed how nice it was anymore. She had grown so used to this life that there were moments when she forgot that all it was supposed to be was a hide-out. Instead, Rose had changed her mind about it over the last months. This was her fairy tale.

Except that the time for her to wake up from this dream was swiftly approaching.

"Paul Samson!" Rose shouted as she pressed the button to his flat, glad that she had a good memory and could recall exactly where he lived. She had arrived in record time

"Come on up!" Paul responded cheerfully, granting her entrance into his building. Rose stood still for a moment, a bit confused. She had definitely expected that Paul would not be so willing to let her in. Surely he knew that Emma had told him what happened between them.

Pushing her thoughts to the back of her mind, Rose marched up to his door, surprised that it was already open. He was standing in the doorway, just waiting for her with a repulsive smile plastered onto his face. That scumbag even had the audacity to position his arms like he was going to give her a hug. She shuddered in revulsion as her eyes skimmed up his suddenly despicable frame. Jimmy Stone had acted exactly the same way when she went back to their flat to gather her things after leaving him. He'd actually believed that a coy smile and a few chosen words of flattery were all it would take to make Rose forget what he had done to her and to lead her right back into his bed. When he'd tried to pull her in for a hug, she'd set Jimmy right with a sharp right hook. After that, he'd called her a bitch and stormed out, leaving her to gather up the rest of her thing in peace.

"Are you just going to stand there and act like you did nothing wrong?" Rose hissed, refusing to enter his tidy apartment. Instead she stood a few feet away from the door and him, prepared to give him a piece of her mind.

"Did what?" Paul asked innocently. Rose, however, had noticed something was definitely off about him. His voice didn't sound the same at all. It almost sounded like he was being possessed and someone didn't know exactly how his speech cadence usually was. His voice was so much stiffer and the way he held his body was subtly different as well. Rose figured a normal person wouldn't realize these changes, but her years dealing with aliens had taught her well.

Rose, deciding that she had spent too much time running for her life from aliens, immediately came to the conclusion that she was being silly. She was just here to defend her friend. "You hurt Emma! She said you even hit her!"

"Well, she wasn't really getting it," Paul explained, his voice softening a bit and sounding more like himself, but that wasn't what got Rose's attention. What got her attention was that he seemed to be leaning in towards her, almost as if he was going to kiss her. He was leaning slightly over her shoulder, his face practically inches away from her hair. His sudden closeness made her bristle with a strange mix of anger and fear. Only John got to be that close to her and that was only when he wanted to give her a convincing reason to get even closer. If that wasn't odd enough, Paul sniffed sharply, as if he was smelling her. But it was nothing like the way that the Doctor might have to identify a substance, but the way a bloodhound on the trail might.

"Getting what?" Rose replied, acting as if nothing was out of the way. She decided that she was at least going to give him the benefit of the doubt. For the moment anyway.

Paul sniffed her hair again, not even trying to hide what he was doing. That was really beginning to creep Rose out and her sensors were on high alert. She was confident in her skills, but the Doctor and the TARDIS were not waiting to rescue her. He let out a dark chuckle before speaking up again. "That I don't want her. She isn't what I need. Not anymore."

"What do you need?" Rose whispered, needing an answer or an explanation for his odd behavior. Her heart was racing and her palms were slick with sweat, her adrenaline in full force. She backed up a bit from his door even more, surprised that he followed her and leaned in even closer to her. She knew she really should leave, but she felt frozen, needing to solve this mystery.

"I think you know," Paul murmured, practically whispering into her ear he was so close. Suddenly, Paul reached up and took her head into his hands, forcing her lips against his. Rose struggled against him immediately, taking several seconds before she was able to break away from his grasp. Now she knew exactly how John must have felt when Elizabeth had all-but-jumped on him over two months ago.

Her hand flew out on reflex and slapped Paul hard against his cheek, feeling pride when she left a mark on his pale skin. "You bastard," she snarled for his behavior towards her and Emma

"No, I need you," Paul said, his voice turning eerily cold as he tried to get a hold of her wrist, his nostrils flaring as he sniffed once more.

Rose was faster than Paul and pulled free of his firm grasp with a sharp tug, knowing for her safety she had to leave. The way he had said 'you' made her think that he was going to kill her. She ran like she hadn't in months, taking the stairs three at a time until she was outside his building. Once she was back onto the street, she began to run again, needing to be anywhere but there. She hadn't expected that at all. Her first thought was that he was possessed by an alien. However, judging from how he tried to come onto her, she supposed she was wrong about that. Finally hailing a taxi, Rose breathed a sigh of relief now that she was out of danger and on the way home. Rose knew that when she got home she would have to call Emma and tell her to never go anywhere near Paul again. But she would never tell her that he had tried to get with her, that would just break her friend's heart. Rose also debated telling John about the incident before finally deciding not to. It wasn't that she didn't trust her husband. It was just that John was too much like the Doctor when it came to being protective over her. The Doctor would have killed any man who dared lay a hand on Rose Tyler without her permission in a second without a bit of hesitation. And the Doctor simply abhorred violence. She wouldn't force him to that extreme – not for her own foolish mistake of going to Paul's alone.

Before Rose knew it, she was back at the flat, never more thankful to be back. The sun had set and the moon had risen, painting the Earth in a beautiful silvery glow. Her hands were shaking as she locked the door behind her, feeling as if she could collapse right then and there. However, her stomach had other ideas beyond collapsing. With a hand over her mouth, Rose bolted to the bathroom, emptying her stomach's contents into the porcelain bowl just in time. Her abdomen had been flipping ever since her encounter with Paul. Her hands shook and she could feel sweat beading on her forehead and upper lip as she vomited for what felt like hours.

Breathing heavily as she rested her head against the cool toilet, her stomach finally empty, Rose almost jumped out of her skin when she heard the faint sound of a key turning in the lock and then the front door creaking open. She tried to jump up, but before she could get to her shaky feet, she saw a familiar shape in front of her.

"John!" Rose exclaimed, relieved that it was him. She had been just about to call him, yearning for him to be hear her after her downright scary encounter with Paul. "What are you doing home? I wasn't expecting you home for a few more hours, what brought…" Rose began to say, but before she had a chance to finish her question she was forced to lean over the toilet, sick once more. John, ignoring her protests to please leave her be, knelt down beside her, rubbing her back and pulling her hair out of her face. His hands felt comfortingly cool against her skin and he whispered to her, asking her when she had started feeling sick and what he could do to help.

Finally deciding that her stomach felt stable enough to move from her position of kneeling in front of the toilet, Rose leaned back against John's waiting chest. Her muscles were watery and she felt as if she had just run a marathon. Rose was so thankful that John was here and taking care of her. He even continued to rub her back and ran a hand across her sweaty forehead, checking her for a fever.

"I need to clean up," Rose mumbled, sure she looked as terrible as she felt. Perhaps rinsing her face and mouth out would make her feel marginally better. "Can you please leave me alone for a minute?" Rose requested, suddenly embarrassed John had seen her throwing up. However, she was relieved when John listened to her for once and left, leaving her alone to gather her wits.

Once she felt a bit better, Rose flushed the toilet and washed off her face in the sink. She took a drink of water, grateful when it stayed down. She also brushed her teeth, trying not to gag as she did so. A large part of her longed to run a cool bath to remove the day from her skin, but she wasn't entirely certain she would be able to get in and out of the tub on her own. Her legs seemed to want to deposit her on the ground. Still shaky from her encounter with Paul and soon afterwards sickness, Rose made her way into the living room couch, certain that he was in there waiting for her. Just as she had suspected, John was sitting there, aimlessly flipping through channels on the telly. He practically leaped to his feet when he saw her enter, concern written across his face. "Are you feeling better? Did you eat something? Do you want me to get you any medicine?" he asked, his face and voice frantic with worry for his wife. Her normally pink cheeks were pale and she looked more than a bit haggard.

"No, no, I'm feeling fine now. Don't worry about me so much, I'm not that fragile," Rose weakly protested, motioning for John to sit down again. As soon as he settled onto the couch, Rose crawled onto his lap, leaning her head against his chest and relaxing against him. She was so relieved that he was here with her and not at the bar with his mates. His arms immediately wrapped around her waist, steadying her against him. One hand began stroking her back while the other ran up and down her arm as he lightly kissed her throbbing temple. Rose sighed in contentment, feeling at home. After such a stressful day, it was nice to be able to know she was safe at the moment. "Why are you home so early anywhere?" she repeated her earlier question that she had never gotten an answer to.

"Jason, that bloke you don't like," John explained animatedly. "was being rather annoying tonight, so I decided I'd rather come home and be with my lovely wife," John said, pressing a kiss to the top of her head again. "Good thing too, it looks like you needed me here."

Rose was about to say that she was fine and he shouldn't worry about her so much, but then she thought about it and bit her tongue. With scarcely more than a week left of this life, she wanted to spend every second possible with John. She wasn't going to complain about how he was here taking care of her. This way she would have more to remember him by. She knew that she was being selfish before when she'd briefly considered keeping him for herself. She knew that she had to open the watch and allow the Doctor to return to the universe, even if it did break her heart into a million pieces.

"I don't think that's true," Rose muttered, her tone becoming teasing as she smiled at him with her tongue between her teeth, feeling better already. "You are the one who needs me. What would you do without me here?"

"Precisely, I have no idea what I'd do," John teased in reply, kissing her on the cheek as she thought back to the calendar she had been staring at earlier on in the morning.

Wishing she hadn't thought about it again, Rose thought about the dates, looking beyond the countdown to the last few days she had left with John. There was something about today's date, something that she hadn't thought of. Because, caught up in her life with the human Doctor, Rose had forgotten how many weeks had really flown by. While the days had come and gone as expected, something hadn't. She did the arithmetic in her head. Three times. No, that couldn't be right. Already near tears, Rose knew she was lying to herself. The damned date was right.

"Actually, I have to go to the bathroom again," Rose lied as she pushed herself off of John's lap.

Practically running to the bathroom, Rose locked the door behind her, staring in fascinated awe at her own reflection in the mirror. Watching herself in the reflective glass, Rose looked down, wishing it wasn't even a possibility. But it was. Very likely right now. "Damn," Rose sighed once more, wishing she had something hard to bang her head on right now. Because this was not part of the plan, it in no way was ever part of her plan. She did and yet didn't want this to happen. But now it was all that she could think about. It was bad enough that she had fallen in love with John Smith, but now she was almost positive that she was carrying his child.

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Spoilers:

"One week exactly," Rose answered slowly, as if she wasn't sure if the words were the truth or not. She knew without a doubt that the hours were running out, she just didn't want to accept that it was so soon, especially right now when she needed John the most.