Rose steeled her nerves and walked into the library. Mr. Smith was still bouncing between shelves.
"I intend to clean all the shelves, before reorganizing the books. You can just set them on the table." He startled at her voice.
"Ah, Miss Prentiss, I just don't want to make more work for you."
"Thank you, and Marion is fine if you'd like." It wouldn't feel right to have his voice call her by the wrong name, but it was better than being wrong and formal.
"You can call me John." He stepped closer to her, though she didn't think he was aware he was doing so.
John Smith, Rose held back a laugh. Should've known.
John looked down at his feet. "Have you had a chance to explore the town at all?"
"No, I just arrived this morning, so I was only really looking for the school." Rose's heart fluttered at the intent she hoped he had in asking her.
"If you'd like, I could show you around today? After classes are over?" He peeked up at her, trying to gauge her reaction.
Rose smiled brightly. This time she would not make him ask twice. "I would enjoy that. Thank you."
"Good, it's a date then." His smile quickly turned into a deep blush. "I-I mean, uh."
Rose laughed and put him out of his misery. "I'm looking forward to it."
"I'll meet you here, then? After work?" His smile melted her heart, even if he didn't know why.
Suddenly, a chance to fall in love with him all over again didn't seem so bad.
~.~
After several hours of pulling books off of the shelves and dusting every inch of the library, John walked in with a bounce in his step. It was nice to see that he had kept the Doctor's boundless energy. Luckily, his energy was contagious because Rose was pretty exhausted, but that would not keep her from their "date."
"Are you ready to go, Marion?" He started to reach out and offer his hand but hesitated. Rose reached out to take his hand anyway, allowing herself to take comfort in the idea that their hands fit perfectly no matter what memories he had.
"Ready," Rose said with the tongue touched smile that spread to John's face. He tightened his grip on her hand slightly, feeling a little more confident. Rose had to remind herself that this was 1913, and while it wasn't inappropriate for a single man to escort a single woman through town, it was odd for them to display such closeness, especially after only two brief meetings.
As they exited the courtyard, Rose turned to look at John. "Tell me a little bit about yourself. I know you teach history, and you're well read. What else do you do?"
"Well, the school keeps me pretty busy, but-" John hesitated, unsure if he should finish his thought. He liked Marion, and he wasn't sure how she would feel about his fanciful dreams.
"Oh, don't keep me in suspense. You can tell me."
"I've been having these odd dreams, and I've been writing them down. They're all a bit silly, really." He brought the hand not holding Rose up to rub his neck.
"What are they about?" Rose nudged him with her shoulder, bringing them closer together.
"I dream that I'm not human. I have two hearts and a magic box that travels through time and space. I go around changing history and saving the day." He shook his head. "Like I said, it's just silly, but, but sometimes I think how magical life would be if stories like this were true."
"I don't think it's silly. I think you teach about history at its best and worse. Of course there are things you would like to see for yourself and things you would like to change. It shows you have a good heart and a creative mind." John stood a little taller at her praise. Rose wanted to tell him then that life really was that magical. Their life was that magical, and that it was better with two. Three now. But she settled for, "You said you write all of these dreams down?" She tilted her head towards him, showing him the face that the Doctor could never say no to.
"Yes, would you, would you like to read through them sometime?" He gave her a soft smile.
"I'd love to."
A bell rang in the distance. "I suppose that's our cue to head back for dinner. We'll be a bit late."
They turned around, and John switched to Rose's other hand, so he was walking by the road. They ended up only being last in line for dinner, but not late enough to annoy the cooks. The two shared a sly smile at their good fortune. Rose nearly rolled her eyes, remembering another time she went undercover with the Doctor and got stuck as a dinner lady.
The matron from earlier, Redfern, Rose remembered, waved to John. Inviting him to sit.
"Marion, er sorry, Miss Prentiss, you met Matron Redfern earlier with me." John set down his meal and pulled a chair out for Rose before sitting down himself.
"Yes, briefly. How has your day been?" She felt an odd mix of guilty and jealous. She knew Matron Redfern had been growing close to John before she arrived, and Rose wasn't happy about that, but she knew that she had gotten in the way, and it must have hurt to see John turn away from her so fast. Still, Matron Redfern hardly seemed like she would fit the Doctor's life, and John wouldn't be around forever.
"Oh, pretty well, thank you." Matron Redfern replied stiffly. "Have you settled in nicely?"
"Yes, I made a lot more progress than I thought I would on cleaning up the library. The school has a rather nice collection, though it could do with a little more fiction." Rose chuckled.
"Well, it is a school. The boys are here to learn, not daydream." John tensed subtly at the Matron's proclamation, probably thinking of his own fiction writing. The Matron seemed to realize John didn't agree. "Perhaps that's a little harsh. We do encourage the boys to think creatively, and I enjoy reading fiction myself, but their focus should be on reality."
"That's understandable." Rose nodded, accepting her clarification, and John relaxed a little.
They passed the rest of dinner in pleasant small talk, both women trying their best not to appear jealous. Eventually, Rose excused herself to go to her room, and John offered to walk her. "It's your first day, I want to make sure you remember your way back." He had said. Rose waited until they were out of the faculty dining room and out of sight of Matron Redfern before taking his arm. Rose was almost disappointed when they reached her room, despite needing the rest. Though she no longer needed to sleep every night, the day had been emotionally taxing.
"Um, I was wondering, if it wouldn't be too… forward. Would you- um- do you- do you like to dance?" Rose smiled, remembering a time when the Doctor had big ears and a leather jacket. Funny how much she had to reminisce on now. Being back in this universe with the Doctor, sort of, made her feel like she was 19 again.
John was moving his hand all over the place now. One would gesture wildly while the other tugged on his ear or rubbed his neck. "Because there is this dance thing tomorrow night. It's nothing formal, but it- I suppose it could be fun, and it might be fun to go together if you have any interest in that kind of thing."
Rose giggled and took mercy on him, grabbing each of his hands in hers. "I would love to go to the dance with you."
"Good, great, um, I'll let you get some rest now. I'll see you tomorrow." He began backing away from her door, not ready to lose sight of her, but eventually he had to turn the corner, and Rose closed the door.
John couldn't believe his luck. Marion had actually said yes! Wait, he thought, do I even know how to dance? When was the last time? He found himself wandering around town. It wasn't as nice walking alone, so he found himself wandering into the local pub, but he walked straight to the backdoor when he heard concerned voices. He found Matron Redfern, Martha, and a maid he thought was named Jenny, maybe Genevieve, looking at a meteorite. He explained to them what it was and offered to escort the women back to the school, but only the Matron accepted.
He found that maybe walking through town alone wasn't the problem, maybe he just already missed Marion. How ridiculous, she's only been in my life less than 24 hours. Must just be tired.
