The summary sorta gives it away, but basically an AU story for the Doctor and Rose.

I had this posted before if it seems familiar. Enjoy and please review to let me know how you are enjoying it~

The Beginning

March 21, 2005

Rose Tyler huffed as she fell onto her bed without bothering to take off her high heels. Her pink and fluffy mattress brought her back to years ago when she was a teenager, back when she had so many dreams. She pushed that out of her mind, trying to welcome the oblivion that came with sleep, but found it impossible. She brought her hand up to her face and let out a soft sob, trying to stay quiet so that her roommate on the other side of the thin wall wouldn't hear. It seemed as if everything was crumbling down around her and that reality had just hit. Here she was, twenty two years old, and she hadn't done anything with her life. Even though she had so much of her life yet, she felt stuck. Stuck in this life that she despised.

After dropping out of school when she was sixteen, she had made the incorrect decision to never go back. It was her own fault really, for trusting a guy she had only known for a few months. Afterwards, she had gone to work at a shop and, at the time, didn't think she could go any lower than that. Little did she know what was coming for her.

"Rose are you in your room?" Rose's roommate Jessica asked as she threw the door open without waiting for a response. She stood in front of Rose's bed, which was basically all the room consisted of besides a small dresser, with her hands on her hips. "Umm…I have an appointment in twenty minutes," Jessica explained, pushing her long bangs out of her eyes as she did so. "Sorry it is so last minute and all, but on the bright side it is only half an hour tonight."

"Thanks for letting me know with some more notice," Rose responded as nicely as she could, holding back a wince at last week when Jessica hadn't realized that Rose was in her bedroom until she unfortunately decided to head to the kitchen for some celery. The celery was tasty and fresh, but it wasn't worth the awkward encounter it had led to. With a grown, Rose reluctantly excavated herself from the soft bed, shaking her head in an effort to stay awake.

She had known Jessica from high school and even then they hadn't exactly been friends. They ran in two completely different circles, though Rose assumed their social groups had collided after she dropped out. After the unfortunate incident that left Rose penniless, Jessica had reached out to her, offering her kind words of wisdom for the situation she was accustomed to. Even after that, Rose never imagined she would be living with her right now. Especially with the circumstances that they lived in.

Taking a few moments to make sure she looked presentable, Rose turned towards the closet. She knew that she had to change, but there wasn't really that much time and her body literally ached. So, Rose just shimmied out of her costume and left in in a pile on the floor before pulling on a t-shirt dress that she hadn't worn for ages. It fit her loosely and in some part of her mind Rose realized she had lost weight. Shrugging the thought away, Rose hoped the dress was long enough without tights as she made her way into the living room where Jessica was. "Oh, you look especially nice tonight," Rose politely replied as she took in Jessica's current attire. As she waited to see if Jessica would reply, Rose pulled on her favorite blue pea coat, secretly wishing it was warm enough to go without it in the middle of March.

"Thanks, Rosie!" Jessica finally replied with a smirk as she began to get her…supplies out. She walked over, her curly blonde bob bouncing in time with the clack of her stiletto heels as she did so. Turning her back to her roommate, she asked Rose to help fasten up the baby blue corset that was pulled as tight as possible to extenuate her waist. Rose immediately snapped the last button with a practiced friend and looked her roomie up and down when she turned around. It was cuter than usual, Rose could give her that. The pale corset was embezzled with a light pink bow just below her exposed cleavage, but, other than that, it was simple and classic. Her boy cut panties were the same color and design and she was now in the process of pulling up a short red dress that would barely cover up her undergarments.

Rose took Jessica's short reply and grunt of annoyance as a cue to get moving. With a groan, she realized she probably didn't have time to go back to her room and search through the mess of shoes to find her comfortable converse. As it was, she had almost forgotten that she had the red, strappy heels were on due to her feet going numb. But, of course, she could distinctly feel them again as she left the apartment with a shy smile at Jessica and looked down the never-ending stairs.

With the stairs conquered, Rose was more than a bit relieved when she hit the cool night air. She didn't necessarily have anywhere she wanted or needed to go at two in the morning on a Tuesday night. Preferably, Rose wanted to find a place to sit down and rest her feet or she would regret keeping these shoes on the next day. Disregarding common sense, she did what she always did when she had nowhere to be late at night. She made her way towards the old fashioned theatre, strangely named the Bad Wolf Theatre, that she always dreamed of performing at when she was younger and believed her dreams were within her grasp. She loved it there so much and so jealous of the few musicians who had been able to hold a concert there. It honestly wasn't even used that much anymore due to the age of the building. But, to Rose, that only made the theatre more beautiful and unique. She had found a way to sneak in ages ago and loved to just sit in the dark and take it all in. Her favorite thing about the theatre was the ornate ceiling that held its beauty even when the cream paint began to crack. And the velvety feel of the red curtains that were so heavy that she could barely move them on her own.

"Fuck!" she cursed as she tripped over a clearly unsafe crack in the sidewalk when her heel got stuck, jolting her out of her daydream of the Bad Wolf Theatre. "Shit, this will not be good!" she hissed out again as she leaned against the brick wall of the building next to her, ignoring the scratching against her shoulder even though her coat as she began to evaluate the damage. Wincing as she did so, she leaned down to examine her foot to see if she should try to put weight on it again. It certainly did not look good at all, at least at first inspection. The heel on her new shoes had broken off, leaving her with about half an inch of a jagged heel on her left shoe. Reaching out with her hand, she bit her tongue to hold back another exclamation as she winced when she poked her tender ankle. She just hoped it wasn't sprained and, with some ice and pain medicine, it would be strong enough to hold her weight. And, if that wasn't the case, she knew her boss Kelly was going to kill her. Rose seriously considered sitting down on the cold concrete before she thought better of it and just stared off into space fighting off tears, her back leaning against the brick building.

Rose braced herself against a wall and began to take off her shoe to examine it more thoroughly. She winced yet again as her fingers rubbed across her already swelling ankle. At the rate it was going it would be twice its normal size by the morning. "Excuse me, ma'am," called out an unfamiliar voice, startling Rose as she hadn't heard or noticed anyone approach. Immediately she looked down, squaring her shoulders to make herself look bigger than she actually was. She was accustomed to situation like this and hoped she could get away with ducking her head and scampering away to a public place. "Looks like you might need help," the stranger said again, the tone of his voice not as threatening as she had first assumed.

"I'm fine," Rose responded, instinctively looking the other direction as she jumped farther away from the man that was still approaching her. She was well aware of what she would look like leaning against a wall with her dress so short it couldn't be seen peeking out beyond her coat and towering high heels. Plus, she still had on her work makeup on and she was loitering around a street corner after midnight.

"There's no need to run away from me," the man continued in a soothing voice, a tone she wasn't accustomed to hearing. "I just thought you looked a little frazzled over here all by yourself," the stranger explained, taking a hesitant step forwards and moving his head closer to her so he could talk quietly. "Plus, there is a guy in the alley behind you that was eyeing you and I couldn't just leave you here to fend for yourself," he finally finished, legitimate concert present in his voice.

At those words, Rose finally glanced up at the stranger. It wasn't the thug she expected, instead she just saw a tall man with rather spikey hair standing a few feet away from her. She couldn't see his face or other defining features yet due to the dark street. "My heel broke," she warily explained, not really sure if she should thank him for stopping or anything.

"You can't just take them off?" the man asked as if that was the obvious thing to do. She didn't see his face, but she could tell from his voice that he was smirking. Did he seriously have the audacity to be trying to flirt with her with now?

Not at all in the mood, Rose just shot him a harsh look she wished he could actually see as she placed her ruined heel on the ground, automatically rocking back against the wall by accident as she stumbled on her uneven heel. "No, the ground is still wet from the rain this afternoon in case you haven't noticed…" she complained, digging her fingernails into her palm to take some of her mind off the throbbing in her ankle. "And I think I twisted my ankle," she finished off lamely, her eyes tearing up against her will.

"I'm sorry," the man answered in a rushed tone, suddenly sounding awkward. Suddenly, as if he had just realized something important, he spoke up in a louder voice that was tugging at something in the back of Rose's memory. "I'm John Smith, pleasure to meet you despite the circumstances."

"Rose," she answered as a reflex before she could stop herself. "Wait a minute…" she suddenly realized what she was missing. "John Smith…you aren't…" she exclaimed, her eyes widening as she tried to get a better look at his face.

"Yeah," he responded quietly before she had a chance to see his face in the light. As he spoke, Rose finally realized why his voice sounded so familiar. Just last week, she had listened offhandedly to his radio interview during the slow afternoon at the café she worked at. "That's me," he explained with a nonchalant shrug of his shoulders, no other explanation needed.

Rose was shocked into silence for several moments, not knowing how to respond to that. Here in front of her stood a famous bloke and she was just Rose Tyler. She knew his story, hell, everyone must know his story by how often it had been printed on the front page of the magazines. John Smith had ridden to fame two years, literally coming from nowhere. He didn't have any connections or reason why he should have been famous. Surprisingly, he hadn't even been trying to rise to fame when it happened. He had simply recorded a song for his girlfriend and, two weeks later that song was constantly blaring on the radio. The rest was history: two number one albums and a sold out tour had kept him in the lime light since then. Rose had always cynically assumed his rather clean-cut image and backstory was just a clever ploy from the marketing personnel. That all those stories were just there to hide from the public what a bastard he really was. Well, that and to help sell more albums. In her experience, she had never met or even heard of a man who would say the things that he sung about in his songs to a women. The only situation it would even be probable was if the bloke wanted to get into her pants and then leave her once he got what he wanted. John Smith always acted as if he was the one who wanted a relationship and that's what made him unique from the other artists. and she hadn't ever heard of him dating anyone. It was, as he was always quoted to have said, just him and his guitar. "Is this a prank or something?" she asked, not imagining a way that it could be seriously happening.

"Why would I prank you?" John asked in a teasing voice, but the question in it was evident as well. By now Rose had involuntarily moved towards him, more just to hear him than anything else. And perhaps it was a little bit the fact that she was drawn to him. "So, Rose, want to come with me while I figure out how to fix your shoe and ankle dilemma," John continued when it became clear that Rose wasn't going to answer. She could only stare stupidly up at him, wondering what he could possibly do to help. "After all, I refuse to leave you here all by yourself," John finished, finality in his tone that he wasn't going to leave her here.

"Okay," Rose responded. Knowing they shouldn't really stand around in the street any longer, Rose limped over to him as best as she could.

John walked up to her as well and hesitantly wrapped an arm around her waist to steady her. Rose immediately flinched away from his touch and stumbled forwards a bit, a curse slipping out of her lips. She felt her face heat up at her clumsiness in front of a famous bloke. And if her ankle wasn't twisted before, it definitely was now. Rose bit her tongue, unconsciously leaning back to brace herself against John's chest. "Can I pick you up?" John asked. "It would be a much more efficient way and I really don't want you to hurt yourself any more than you already have."

Apparently John wasn't waiting for an answer because he automatically scooped her up into her arms. Rose let out a squeak of surprise at the sudden shift. She normally would have protested, but her ankle wasn't really going to hold her weight at the moment and she felt a migraine coming on. "Ummm…" Rose began to say, biting her lip as she thought of what to say in conversation with this practical stranger carrying her down the street. John Smith had just picked her up. "I don't really have anywhere to go…"

"Oh, I didn't think," John mumbled, looking the other direction as an awkward silence developed. Not answering again, he began to walk down the street even farther away from where she lived.

"I have a flat," Rose said quickly. The last thing she wanted this rich guy to believe that she didn't have a place to live. Even worse than being a floosy was being a homeless floosy. "It's just that my roommate has a…guy…over," she lamely finished.

"Thin walls, eh?" John responded with his voice full of humor. It sure did help the awkward moment that he was making a joke about this.

"Where are you taking me?" Rose asked to change the topic. She really didn't mind being in the presence of him, but she still needed to keep her head on straight. "I mean, for all I know you could be a secret rapist!" she teased with a tongue in cheek smile.

John just let out an adorable chuckle that Rose knew she would have to commit to memory. "There is this old diner I used to hang out at when I was in school," he explained, motioning his chin slightly to the right in the direction it was at. "They have the best apple pie in London."

"Ah," Rose responded with a curt nod. She had already caught a glimpse of a 50's style diner a few blocks away. In the past, she was sure that she had walked past the building, but she had never been inside or had a conscious thought about it. "Would have taken you more of a caviar man or something," Rose joked, not even entirely sure of what caviar actually was.

"Nah, I'd rather go for a banana," he answered, looking down at Rose with a smirk. "Bananas are good, Rose," he finished.

Rose was silent for a moment as she watched the diner come closer. He seemed so much more down to earth in the few minutes she had known him and the fact that he was famous seemed surprising every time she thought about it. "Have you ever had these banana chips?" she asked, licking her lips at the memory of the sweet and salty treat.

"Banana chips?" John asked, surprise coloring his tone. "Well they sound unappealing, but I suppose I'd have to give them a chance."

"Oh," Rose exclaimed, letting out a short giggle at his tone. "I don't mean chips like chips. I mean chips like crisps," she emphasized, furrowing her eyes as she tried to think of an intelligent description. "They're sort of like dried bananas."

"Well, why would they ruin such a perfectly fine fruit," John exclaimed, mocking horror. "I bet they even take out all the nutritional value. Probably isn't even any potassium left in the poor things."

The sudden sound of the diner bell jingling as he opened the door surprising her, she hadn't realized they had walked that far yet. She supposed she had been too caught up in their silly conversation. "This is nice," she muttered to be polite, her eyes roving around the small diner. It certainly wasn't the worst establishment she had been in but it wasn't anywhere near the best either. The paint seemed to be chipping off of the walls and a strange odor she couldn't place filled the whole area. All of the tables and chairs looked rather old with bright blue tablecloths. There seemed to be a clock on every available area on the wall and they were all set to different times with no indication as to why. The strangest of all was the counter that looked like a console to some machine. Except that none of the levers and switches didn't match up in the slightest. And the lighting inside the diner had a strange orange glow about it. Well, she could say this place had charm.

"It's called the TARDIS," John exclaimed, jerking his head towards the blue sign behind the counter. At the sound of the bell, a redheaded woman whose head had been resting against the counter asleep jerked awake with a squeak. "Donna, nice to see you working hard," he said to the woman, a smirk on his face as he addressed the woman more casually than she had expected him to. Obviously he was more acquainted with the place than she thought.

"I didn't expect to see you here tonight, John," Donna replied with a sarcastic eye roll before her gaze fixed on Rose. She immediately began to feel self-conscious. After all, she barely knew this famous guy and he had just carried her into a restaurant he was obviously well acquainted with. Plus, although she was studying the counter and trying to figure out why the levers were there, she was fairly certain that John was staring at her. "Oi, spaceman!" Donna shouted out, causing Rose to jerk her eyes over to the redhead. "What'd you do, abduct her or something?"

"No," Rose quickly answered, turning her gaze to John as far as she could a moment later. "Can you maybe put me down?" she questioned, feeling quite awkward as it was.

Thankfully, John rather awkwardly sat her down on a barstool smack dab in front of Donna. She took a moment to reposition herself, but when she did get comfortable John sat down next to her and was clearly trying to have a conversation with Donna through hand gestures and facial expressions.

Upon noticing Rose's attention, both individuals shrunk back a bit embarrassed that they had been caught. John then spoke up, breaking the silence in the room. "This is an old friend," he explained, smirking as he spoke the last word. "Donna Noble," he finished as Rose sent Donna a shy smile, suddenly wishing she had washed off some of her heavy makeup. "And Donna this is Rose..." John began, suddenly lost for words, his mouth slightly gaping open. "Rose…"

"Tyler," she finally finished, realizing she had neglected telling him her last name. "Rose Tyler."

"Rose Tyler," John suddenly spoke up, clicking her name off her tongue with a crazy smile on his face.

Unable to resist herself, Rose returned a toothy grin right back at him.

Just getting is started! Let me know thoughts and predictions.

Gabrielle