AN: I've had this one laying around for a while, and I've finally finished it! I was thinking about bringing Jimmy Stone into the high school AU, just to add another layer, but decided against it. However, with this one, I will. Rose will be a bit darker, as she will be in a relationship with Jimmy at the beginning. This AU is inspired by White Blank Page by Mumford and Sons.

"Can you lie next to her

And give her your heart, your heart

As well as your body?"

His first thought was she was too young to be in this pub. His second thought was that she was beautiful, considering. His final thought before he crossed the crowd to join her was she looked a little on edge, dangerous, and like the slightest move might break her.

"I'm John Smith," he told her as soon as he sat down, his hand immediately going up to wave over the bartender.

"M Rose," she said, "An' I'm not interested." Her body turned away from him.

He ordered a drink and spun her stool to face him. "I didn't mean I was interested. I mean, I'm interested in you, but not as a shag."

She looked at him, her eyes swimming with confusion and then a warmth he was sure would make any man fall in love with her. "Okay," she said finally.

"Okay?" he asked.

"Maybe I'm interested, too. In you," she clarified.

His face broke out into a grin on it's own accord. It made him happy to see a small slip of her lips.

"D'you want anythin'?" he asked her.

"A beer?" she asked hesitantly, biting down on her lip like he might refuse.

He glanced at her, assessing whether he should give in to her. She barely looked old enough to drink. Finally, he said, "Only one. If you tell me how old you are."

She sighed. "M nineteen."

His mouth turned down into a frown. "One," he repeated. "An' that's it."

She looked at him and nodded. "Fair enough."

…..

When she left, she placed a chaste kiss to his lips, so fleeting it was more of a whisper. His lips tingled the rest of the night. He wondered if he might fall in love.

"And can you lie next to her

And confess your love, your love

As well as your folly?"

The next time he saw her, Rose was picking up chips.

"Mind if I join you?" he asked.

She frowned at him. "Would not. But I got somewhere to be, sorry." She waved, and threw him a half hearted smile over her shoulder.

He couldn't just let her go, he couldn't. He ran after her, down the cracked pavement, and brushed her arm lightly.

She turned to look at him.

"I was wonderin', would you like to go out to my lake sometime?" he asked her.

"You 'ave a lake?" she asked, looking at him incredulously.

"Yeah," he said. "An' on my property."

"Kay," she said finally. "But, you have to give me the address."

"I can't pick you up?" John asked.

She smiled apologetically. "I sorta have a bad livin' situation right now."

"Nothin' I can't handle," he told her seriously, reaching for her hand.

She squeezes his gently and then drops it. "I really gotta go now. Just...d'you have a pen?"

He reaches around in his pockets until he produced one and hands it over. She scribbles something on his hand that he can't make out, and then she's leaving once more.

It's her number.

….

She came. Rose Tyler is actually at his house, and when she's looking like that at him, he can't find it in himself to think he's wrong.

Her hair is brushed back into a ponytail, swishing softly against her neck. The only thing that strikes him as odd is that Rose has a soft pink jacket covering her arms and jeans on her legs.

"I thought you wanted a swim," he teased her.

"Will do," she tells him, smiling softly.

"Then what are you dressed like that for? It's sweltering!"

"S'nothing," she promises. "I'll take it off soon as we get down to the water."

He nods, and leads her to the back, the lake glittering like millions of diamonds are on the surface and Rose gasps beside him.

"I've never seen such beautiful water," she tells him breathlessly, then she's grabbing his hand and it's the first time he's ever heard her laugh, tugging him down to the water's edge.

Her laugh is so lovely, yet so heartbreaking. Her voice cracks every now and then like it's not used to laughter. He's going to solve that.

John quickly sheds his t-shirt and sandals and dives into the water, surfacing quickly to wait for Rose.

She's frozen suddenly, and he wonders what happened.

"Everythin' alright?" he called out to her.

She blinks something away. Suddenly she's tugging at her clothes, and is that a bruise he sees? But before he can study it, she dives in, and he thinks maybe it was just the shadows from the trees on her body.

She splashes his face, and he grins, thinking of a sudden plan. John swims up next to her and grabs her from behind, tucking her into his chest. Before she can protest, he's dunking them under the water together, and then she's struggling. He thinks maybe she can't swim, and he's an idiot.

He drags them up to the surface. She's shaking so hard, he thinks she might give herself a heart attack.

"Oh, Rose," he murmurs, pulling her close. "I'm sorry. Can you swim?"

"Yeah," she lets out. "Just not too keen on bein' underwater." Her breaths return to normal. She pushes on his chest and he realizes she wants down.

John places her down and she's running away from him. She reaches the shore and runs for the towels, scrubbing herself vigorously.

He rushes over to her to apologize profusely, but then his breath is caught in his throat. Her hair is clinging to her neck and shoulders, water is running in rivulets down her skin, and she has never looked more beautiful or more fragile.

He places his hand on her shoulder and brushes some hair from her face. "Sorry, Rose. Shouldn't have done that. Bit thick, me."

She laughed harshly. "It's my fault, not yours, John."

"How can you say that?" he asked, brows furrowing.

She doesn't answer just crushes herself against his chest. Her arms come around to his waist and the towel falls down around the ground. Without thinking, his hands stroke her hair.

"I thought I could do it," she sobbed against him, "I...can't."

"Can't do what, Rose?" he asked, confused. "Be in the water? That's fine."

"No," she said harshly. "Be clean."

"You are clean!" he insisted. "The lake's not dirty."

She pushed back from him, letting out a frustrated noise. She crashed her lips onto his, bruising and demanding from him.

His body responds back immediately, reveling in the taste of salt and vanilla and Rose. His lips curl around hers welcomingly, and he rests his hands on her waist.

When her forehead rests against his, he frowns. "You're runnin' a fever," he says, placing his hand against her head.

"No," she insists, "Just the sun."

Then his eyes travel further down, and they widen at the sight in front of him. Bruises in the form of fingerprints dot Rose's collarbone, upper arms, and chest.

"Rose?" he questions.

"He loves me," she insists to him. "He does. Just gets carried away."

Suddenly a twisting sensation goes through his heart and clenches his stomach. He feels nauseated. "Who?" he asked, although he has a feeling he knows already.

"My boyfriend," she whispers.

He grabs her arm gently, turning it over to inspect for more bruises and finding track marks decorating her delicate, pale skin.

Rose jerks away from his grasp. "S'nothin'," she says.

"Does he do that to you?" he asked, voice rising, "Or d'you?"

She whimpers.

"No reason to be scared," he tells her. "Just tell me."

"He forced it into me, but now I need it," she murmurs and backs away from him.

"Rose-" he starts, but she interrupts him.

"Don't start!" she yelled. "I'm sorry I did this to you! I'm sorry I can't give you everything! I can't even be clean for a day! I tried, but I feel the need of it poundin' through my veins." Angry tears poured down her face and she ran from the lake.

He knew he should hate her, for what she had done, for what she was doing. But it was too late for that, he was already in love with Rose Tyler. She had forced her way into his heart, and he couldn't do a thing about it.

"And can you kneel before the king,

And say I'm clean, I'm clean?"

She was sitting on a park swing. Her hands were running up and down the chains, but her feet weren't moving off the ground.

John sat in the swing next to her. "You didn't have to leave like that."

"Didn't I?" she asked, looking at him. Her eyes were unfocused, and it was clear her boyfriend had supplied her with something else.

"Rose," he said gently, gathering her hands in his lap. "You can't stay with him. You can't."

"I don't have any choice," she said brokenly. "I have no where else to go. He'd stop me."

"Stay with me," he offered.

"No," she said firmly, shaking her head violently. "I'm not puttin' you in danger."

"You're not puttin' me in danger, Rose. I'm a grown man, an' I can take care of meself."

She shook her head at him and ran.

"But tell me now, where was my fault

In loving you, with my whole heart?

Oh, tell me now, where was my fault

In loving you, with my whole heart?"

He didn't see her again for two weeks. That wasn't for lack of trying, Rose just didn't want to be found. John even tried calling her, only to be greeted with her voicemail. He was about to call the police, worried something might have happened when she walked into the pub they had met each other.

"Rose!" he called, waving her towards his side.

She looked nervous and slowly made her way towards him. "Hello," she said quietly.

"Have I done somethin'?" he asked her. "Haven't seen you for a while."

"Just been busy," she replied, fidgeting with the sleeves of her long sleeve shirt.

"Rose," he said quietly. "I-"

But whatever he was about to say was cut off by a new patron slamming the door against the wall. The owner, Donna, was about to shout something at him when the patron in question stomped over to them. From the way Rose yelped, he figured this was her boyfriend in question. Without thinking, John pulled her gently by the wrist closer to him.

"What d'you think you're doin', whore?" her boyfriend asked. "I asked you to come to the pub to pick me up a pint, not to chat with the local elderly."

John's blood boiled. How dare he talk to Rose this way. "That's no way to talk to your girlfriend," he said cool-ly.

"Since when is it any of your business how I talk to my girl?" he sneered. "I didn't ask for input."

"I'm givin' it anyways," he said angrily.

"Rose, come here," her boyfriend demanded.

"Jimmy, please," Rose pleaded. "Don't do this here."

"Shoulda thought about that before you took your sweet arse time, shouldn't ya?" Jimmy said menacingly, holding his arm out to hers. "I won't ask again."

"She won't-" John started to say, but Rose silenced him with her eyes.

She shook her head at him fearfully, her lips drawn together in a tight line. She tugged gently on his hold of her, and John didn't want to let her go back to that prat for the life of him, but he knew it would only be worse if he didn't.

John sighed and released her wrist. She rushed to Jimmy's side.

"Let's just go, please," she whispered.

"Fine," he spat. "But don't think this isn't over."

"A white blank page, and a swelling rage, rage.

You did not think when you sent me to the brink, to the brink.

You desired my attentions but denied my affections, my affections."

"There's just not a thing for it, Jack," John sighed later that night. "I had her with me, we kissed, I love her, but she still went back to that stupid ape."

"You can't force her to do what she doesn't want to do," he sighed. "She's her own person."

"I know that," he said. "But I can't help but fear for her every single night, Jack. I love her."

Jack shook his head. "Have you told her that?"

"How can I have? Every time I wanna tell her anything, she leaves."

"Have you even asked her what happens? Or did you just try to make her leave?" Jack asked. "I'm not denying he's a real asshole for abusing her, John. But you can't go about her relationship with him this way. Talk to her about it. She obviously believes she would hurt him by leaving, and even though he hurts her, she is a compassionate person, from what you've told me. You're only causing her stress, John."

"What do I do, then?" John asked.

"Like I said, talk to her. Really talk to her."

John sighed. He nodded, and waved goodbye to Jack and Donna. "See you guys later."

….

He couldn't sleep later, so he dialed Rose's number. She answered on the third ring.

"John?" she mumbled sleepily.

"Yeah, listen, Rose. I was wonderin' if you wanted to have a coffee tomorrow afternoon?" he asked.

She was silent for a good minute.

"I promise I just wanna talk," he assured her. "No funny business."

She laughed at that. "Coffee, yeah. Sounds good."

"See you tomorrow, then," he said.

"Yeah. Night, John."

"Night."

"So tell me now, where was my fault,

In loving you with my whole heart?

Oh, tell me now, where was my fault,

In loving you with my whole heart?"

He had started to get a bit antsy when Rose hadn't shown up to the coffee house. Then, he thought back and remembered he probably wasn't specific enough for her to know when to meet up.

He grabbed the mobile from his jacket and quickly dialed her number, tapping his foot impatiently with the rings. No answer.

He drummed his fingers on the table and fiddled with the phone. Maybe Jimmy had gotten wind of Rose meeting up with him? Maybe she had gotten used last night?

His blood boiled in his veins as he thought of that useless piece of skin she called a boyfriend. His grip tightened on his mobile, and he snapped the cover open with enough force he was surprised it didn't snap clean off.

He dialed again. There was no answer once more. He growled and threw the phone into his jacket pocket before setting off towards the direction Rose left from the pub.

…..

That was when he heard the sirens.

He didn't think, John just took off at a dead run for the sound. His heart and mind raced with the fear and negativity of situations that all involved an injured or dead Rose.

When he finally met the ambulance and police cars parked outside a dingy flat, he had to force himself to remain calm.

"What happened here?" he asked tersely.

The police officer that was pacing the crime scene dillegently, paused and looked at him. "I'm really not at liberty to discuss that, sir."

"Please," he said brokenly. "I just need to make sure-that it's not…"

The officer searched his face quickly. "It was a young woman, aged nineteen, badly beaten. That's all I can tell you."

"And where did the git go, then?" John asked, temper flaring.

"I couldn't tell you that, if I did know, sir. You know that."

His fists clenched. That meant Jimmy had probably run out, then. "Where did they take her?"

"Royal Hope," the officer answered. "Now step away from the crime scene, sir."

He glanced at the officer once more before he turned on his heel and sprinted towards the nearby hospital.

"Lead me to the truth, and I will follow you with my whole life.

Oh, lead me to the truth, and I will follow you with my whole life."

He barked out her name to the poor nurse stationed at the E.R. and was annoyingly denied contact unless he could prove some sort of relation to her.

"Husband," he barked out, thinking of the first thing that could pop into his mind. "Now, let me see her."

"But-" she protested.

"I will find her myself," he promised.

"Room 2130, but she's unconscious and the police are about to arrive for the investigation, Mr. Tyler, so I would suggest you wait here until we hear word-"

"Not a chance," he cut her off, already pushing through the doors and through the halls.

When he got to the room, his breathing stopped. Rose was connected to so many machines, and she was bruised from head to toe it seemed from the skin exposed. She looked even more fragile than the night he first met her.

It was at that moment security burst through the door. "You're supposed to show proper id before you even get through these doors!" the man he presumed was the boss exclaimed. "Why Lynda let you through, I'll never know, but-"

"John," Rose murmured, her eyes fluttering open.

"Ma'am," the man started. "D'you know this man? He's claiming to be your husband, but he didn't show proper id."

"Yes," she cut them off, with a wave of her hand. "He's fine. Was probably just worried about me, poor thing."

The security looked warily between the two of them before muttering, "Bloody lovebirds. Let's clear out, everyone."

"Why'd you tell them you were my husband?" she asked confusedly. "And how did you know where I was?"

"Because you never showed up for coffee or answered your mobile," he answered. "Heard sirens and followed them, and the officer informed me someone with your description had been taken here."

"Seems I can't get rid of you, can I?" she teased, her tongue in between her teeth.

"Rose," he said seriously. "Where did Jimmy go?"

"I don't know," she said honestly. "I honestly don't want to know. I've thought for so long that he loved me, and maybe he does, but I don't want that kind of love."

"What kind of love do you want?" he asked her.

"Yours," she answered simply. "Some day. Not now, but you bein' here is enough."

She reached for his hand and he clasped hers firmly.