How can I let him?

Rose didn't know what to say.

"Wow, where did that come from?" she asked with a grin.

"Well John said I should do something before I went home and I wanted to know how you felt about it," Alec managed to explain, since he didn't know himself where it had come from. "So, do you want to think about it?"

"I suppose so then? It's a lot to think about but I like the idea. I told mum you might be thinking about another kind of ring," Rose replied.

"Oh. You mean one of 'Those' rings?" Alec smiled, thinking they should get going if he was going to be dragged around jewellery shops.

He got up and offered to help Rose.

"Yeah but it's too soon, for both of us," Rose replied. "Unless you don't think it's too early?"

"It might be? Maybe when we get into college? Let's finish here then go to the main shopping area?"

"It'll be too expensive around there. We need to go somewhere else outside the city centre. We can get a bus to another district, I know a few," Rose suggested.

"Great but John needs to be able to find us," he reminded her.

"We'll call home and tell him we'll make our own way back," Rose grinned.

John had gone off for a while then gone back to the flat after Rose had given him the spare key and said they'd probably call around five, wishing portable phones were cheaper, then Rose could have called him if he'd stayed out. He thought he should get into 'mobile phones' as they were being called, he'd probably make a fortune speeding things up a bit.

The phone rang just before four and he thought it was Rose and Alec calling but it was the police detective whom Rose had been waiting to talk to again.

"Is Miss Tyler there?" DI Shipton asked, sounding disappointed Rose hadn't answered.

"She's still out with her boyfriend," John replied. "Can I give her a message?"

"Yes, well someone went to that garage she complained about and no-one would admit they even knew her let alone called after her," John was told.

"What are they playing at?" John wanted to know. "I'm her boyfriend's brother, she's complained to us about them. Did your officers see Mickey Smith?"

"She mentioned him in her statement," the detective told John. "Tell her we can't do anything else if they say they don't know her."

"Yes they do know her," John insisted. "She's told us all about the problem. Can't a young girl walk past a place of business without being harassed?"

"I would hope so," Billy Shipton replied, knowing the time he came from, it was taken a bit more seriously but he'd had to adapt to the current times. "If she gets some names, we might be able to do more."

"She's hardly going to ask who they are when they're calling out to her," John reminded him. "Well it looks like I'll have to go with her and see who they are. I was her teacher when she lived in Scotland and she's still my younger brother's girlfriend, we came down for a visit," he explained.

"I see then? Leave it with me and I'll see what can be done," Billy replied, thinking in his time, it wouldn't maybe have been left to one uniformed officer to go see the garage owner who had shouted across the work area if anyone knew Rose Tyler.

Billy also thought if she'd been walking past long enough and she knew this Mickey, they would know her name, which meant to him that they fully intended resuming their sport when she returned to school.

John ended the call and meant to talk to Alec about it and was just going to resume watching TV and hoping Jackie wouldn't tell him off for switching channels, when the phone rang again.

Rose had found a working phone box and they had searched their pockets for some change in the district they'd ended up in after Rose was dying to tell someone Alec had bought her another ring.

"John, we're not in the centre of London," she told him when he answered cautiously, hoping it wasn't one of Jackie's friends or clients and they didn't think she'd got a new boyfriend. "We'll get the bus back home."

"Well if you're sure then?" John asked her. "The police just rang for you, I'll tell you when you get back."

When she and Alec got back, Rose was annoyed very little had been done about her complaint.

"Well that does it," John declared, looking at Alec. "We'll go round now before they close."

"Leave it John," Rose begged him. "I told Alec it would just make things worse."

"What's the worst Rose?" Alec wanted to know. "I can't go back knowing they're still bothering you."

"Alec's right," John agreed. "We can't just leave without trying. Well, well, what's that ring I see?" he laughed, seeing the middle finger of Rose's left hand.

She had moved the other ring Alec had bought for her to her right hand. Alec had wanted her to put one on her ring finger but Rose had disagreed in the shop. The store assistant had been amused as she thought the pair of them were cute and Alec obviously wanted to buy his girlfriend an engagement ring.

Rose was standing opposite John, who wanted a closer look at the ring and she was blushing.

"Well little brother, good choice. I see you chose another finger though Rose?" he asked her.

"We argued in the shop," Alec admitted.

"Alec, I told ya, ya don't have to get me any other sort of ring," Rose replied, seeing John had a smirk on his face.

"Well I would have done if you had let me," Alec reminded her.

"You'll have plenty of time knowing you two," John laughed.

"Rose, we should talk about it," Alec agreed.

"When we finish college," Rose suggested. "Then I'll see if I can get back to Paisley, 'cos I'm not gonna wait until I'm twenty one, no way."

She turned into Alec's shoulder and he held her close, John patting her shoulder.

"We'll get you back somehow," Alec promised her.

John went to make himself scarce, going off into the kitchen. Alec took Rose's hand.

"I promise you Rose, we'll find a way."

"Alec, I'll just have to risk it when I'm eighteen. You go ahead and get in the college you applied to and I'll just settle for any I can get into. Don't worry about me Alec, you need to pass the exams that will get ya into the police, cos I'm not gonna hold ya back."

John came back out after a suitable length of time.

"You stay here Rose, while Alec and I go see these men round at the garage."

"I'll have to show ya where it is," Rose replied. "I wish ya wouldn't bother though."

"We can't just leave it Rose," Alec told her. "Why isn't Mickey sticking up for you?"

"You told him to stay away from me, remember?" she reminded him.

John had to smile. Alec was very protective of her but sometimes it backfired on him. Rose directed them to where Mickey worked, John insisting they took the car to keep her out of the way.

"I don't like this," Rose was telling Alec on the way, since they had to go around instead of using the shortcut she took with Shareen.

"You could just walk around this way," John joked.

"It's ten minutes longer by foot this way," Rose complained.

"Okay, I was just joking," John laughed as he saw a garage ahead and stopped across the road. "Stay here Rose, I mean it. Come on Alec, let's get this over with."

Alec gave Rose a kiss on the cheek and got out of the car, Rose taking the seatbelt off and clinging onto the headrest in front of her. Alec followed John, who strode up to the front of the garage, looking for a candidate to take up the issue of them harassing Rose.

"Who's in charge here?" John shouted over the noise of the radio and the men calling to each other.

"Try the office," Mickey called over, then remembered Alec from when he'd been warned to stay away from Rose. "Hey, I know you," he told Alec.

Mickey thought though that the teenager now looked older and had brought reinforcements with him, probably because his mates had been harassing Rose every night on her way home from school. He supposed he should have done something about it, especially after the police had been around recently.

"Well if you know him, you know why we're here," John told him.

"Hey Mickey, who are your friends?" one of the men joked.

"The office is through there," Mickey pointed to a door marked 'Office' and hoping to avoid explaining.

"Come on Alec," John turned to Alec.

"Hey guys, that looks like the same blonde in that car who walks past every night," one of the men called out, pointing to Rose in the back seat of John's car.

"Leave her alone," Alec suddenly warned them.

The men all began to laugh but Mickey stopped them.

"He's right, leave her alone," he joined in.

"Huh, you have room to talk," one of the younger men told him. "Bet you want her for yourself."

"Leave him Wayne," one of the others called out. "She used to torment him every night."

"That was years ago," Mickey objected, wondering why he was defending Alec. "She's grown up since then."

One of the men whistled and Alec was going to go for him but John held him back.

"Leave it Alec. Yes, she's grown up and she deserves some respect," John told them. "Not only that, she has a boyfriend and how do you think you make her feel, having to go past you lot every night? You should all be ashamed of yourselves."

The boss had noticed it had gone quiet except for the radio and got up to go see what was happening. He now wished he'd left the window uncovered so he could see his employees but they'd all object if he took down the calendar of scantily dressed women, well that and the law saying he had to display the health and safety rules.

Someone had found it amusing to place the poster so it obstructed his view of the work area. Well maybe he'd invest in one of those CCTV cameras. That would teach them he thought.

"What's going on?" he asked the nearest mechanic. "What are customers doing in here?" he pointed to where John could now see a sign saying no members of the public allowed.

"Are you the owner?" John asked him.

"Yes and you shouldn't be dealing with my mechanics," the man replied, getting laughter from the men. "Get back to work you lot or they'll be some changes around here," he added, thinking he should be more strict with them, especially after the police had warned him he was responsible for his employees' actions.

"Well, I've come to complain about the way your men treat a student of mine," John warned him, thinking he'd get away with being from around here and not from Scotland.

"You as well?" the boss scratched his balding head. "It was bad enough with the visit from the police. So, you're the teacher of the girl the police came about? What was her name?"

"Her name is Rose," Alec jumped in, feeling offended they hadn't the decency to learn her name.

"Now Alec," John gave him a friendly warning. "Yes, I am and you're upsetting her and she told me about it," John continued, hoping Alec wouldn't give the game away they were half brothers as well.

The garage owner was getting tired of this but he couldn't watch his employees all the time, not without help. He turned to the foreman.

"Right, I'm holding you responsible for when that girl walks past. If you lot don't watch out, I'll put a CCTV camera in here then I'll know when you even have to go take a leak, got it?" he warned them all.

He got a chorus of "Yes Boss," from the men, Mickey glad he didn't have to deal with his workmates the next time they shouted after Rose when she went back to school.

"Now, get back to work, all of you and you, her teacher, tell her to keep to the other side of the road and if my men bother her again, she tells you," he turned to John, who'd thought it wasn't going to be this easy.

John did a mock salute and thanked the man and hoped he wouldn't check with Rose's school. Pleased with himself, John led Alec back outside but Mickey followed them.

"It's partly your fault," Mickey called after Alec. "You warned me to stay away from her."

"I'm pretty sure that didn't include defending her," John answered him. "If you were hoping she'd agree to be your girlfriend when she came back?"

"Well the first I knew about it was when he told me to back off," Mickey pointed to Alec.

"Well I didn't want you bothering her," Alec replied.

"Maybe so but she had to put up with those men instead," Mickey reminded him as he walked off.

"He's right," John told Alec as they went back to the car.

"What was I supposed to do?" Alec asked him as Rose waved to him as she got out of the car.

"I know it's difficult, being so far away," John replied as Rose waited by the side of the car.

"How am I going to cope?" Alec wanted to know.

"Rose won't let her head be turned," John grinned at him. "Now go show those men over there that Rose really is your girlfriend."

When Alec had gone up to Rose and kissed her, which caught her by surprise, they got back in the car.

"You shouldn't have any more trouble with them," John told her as he drove off. "I think that Mickey-boy will stick up for you if they do. I thought he was Mickey the idiot but I think he cares about you."

That was what Alec was worried about. Would Rose get lonely when he went back home? They wouldn't see each other again until Christmas and that now seemed a long way off. Before they knew it, it was time for Alec and John to set off back to Scotland. Rose was walking to John's car, her arm around Alec.

"Can we have a few minutes?" Alec asked John as they crossed the playground.

"Give me your things then," John grinned, knowing this was difficult for both of them, now they'd finally made a commitment to each other.

"So, promise not to go off with Mickey then?" Alec teased her as they stood by the swings.

He led her to sit down, taking her hand and playing with the ring.

"I can put this on my other finger," Rose smiled.

"Rose, I'll be back before you know it," he tried to cheer her up.

"It'll seem forever," Rose turned to him, Alec trying to put both arms around her as Rose moved the swing as close as she could get it. "I love you Alec, nothing will make me stop loving you."

After kissing again, Alec helped her up.

"I love you too Rose. I'm looking forward to spending Christmas here from now on."

"You won't be with your family," she reminded him as they saw John waiting in the car.

"I'll be with you," he replied as she turned towards him and they hugged.

John turned away but he knew Alec wouldn't leave on his own.

"Come on Alec, we have to get moving or we'll get back just in time for school."

"Will ya get into trouble at school for telling them you two are brothers?" Rose wanted to know as she walked Alec to the car door.

"Nah, I'll tell them we only just found out and not mention we were already cousins. Don't worry about it eh?" John smiled.

"Yes Rose, don't worry so much," Alec agreed as he opened the car door. "You know he can talk his way out of anything."

Rose had to smile as they hugged again and Alec had to be the one to break it and get into the car, even though he knew Rose was upset he was leaving again.

How many more times could they keep doing this, he wondered as he wound down the window.

"Bye you two," Rose told them, standing back.

"We'll keep working on a way to get you back," John called over to her. "Won't we Alec?"

That made Alec even more determined to do something, though facing Bob himself was out of the question. Rose was waving until they turned the corner, then she stood for a moment. She was just setting off over the playground as Mickey was coming the other way, with one of his mates Rose only knew as Jimmy.

She tried to ignore the two of them, not fancying a confrontation over Alec's and John's visit the other day to the garage. She should try making Mickey admit to himself maybe he should have stopped his workmates calling over to her.

She saw Jimmy nudging Mickey and whispering something then laughing as they passed. Then Jimmy spoke out loud.

"Hey Mickey, is that the blonde who got you into trouble at work?"

"Be quiet," Mickey replied, looking embarrassed.

"But Mickey," Jimmy protested, getting him a dig in the side.

Then Mickey turned to call after Rose.

"He's right, you should have heard everyone at work and it's yours and your boyfriend's fault."

Rose wasn't going to take the bait as she carried on walking past the swings where she'd sat with Alec earlier.

"It was bad enough you sent the police round," Mickey added, trying to get her to answer.

"She sent the cops?" Jimmy laughed. "You never told me that bit."

"Stop it Jimmy. You have no idea Rose, do you? You walked past the garage every day since you were old enough to walk home on your own, then you grow up and start winding me up every night. The guys noticed and then you went away."

"She did?" Jimmy asked him. "Where did she go?"

"It doesn't matter where she went, she came back, all grown up then she got herself a Scottish boyfriend who told me to stay away from her. Then she wondered why I didn't stick up for her when everyone else suddenly noticed her. Do you know how that made me feel?"

Rose had stopped, debating whether she should take the bait or not. Normally, she would have done but she'd just let Alec leave again and it hadn't been easy. All she needed was Mickey Smith trying to make her feel sorry for him and relent.

She still remembered what he'd said when she was leaving to go to Scotland and she was now sixteen. Well what did he expect, that she'd come back and agree to be his girlfriend? She decided to turn around and make it clear to him that was never going to happen.

Thankfully, Jimmy had walked off as Rose turned to face Mickey.

"What do you expect Mickey? That I wouldn't get a boyfriend while I was away? Well I did and I love him so you can forget what ya said before I left. You heard what was said in the garage, from the cops and from Alec's brother. I'll go back to the police if I have to, I don't have to put up with it or find another way home."

She knew if she went back to the police station, she'd not get much help but it was worth the threat.

"So if you'd not met anyone, you'd still never have agreed if I asked you to be my girlfriend, would you?" Mickey asked her as Jimmy shouted for him in the distance.

"Don't make me choose between you and Alec, Mickey. There's no choice and sorry, no, I probably wouldn't. Who knows when I'd got older but not now. I'm not in the mood Mickey, I just had to let him go home again."

"Then don't you want anyone who's around all the time?" Mickey wanted to know, ignoring Jimmy whistling and calling his name.

"Stop it Mickey," Rose shouted at him and turned away, running to the door of the flats and almost getting the code wrong.

She went upstairs, slamming the door behind her and leaving Mickey standing there. He wondered what she expected when she'd come back, all grown up and looking the way she did. He supposed this Alec was very lucky she was so loyal to him and went to join Jimmy.

"Still no luck then?" Jimmy nudged him. "Face it mate, who stands a chance with someone like her?"

"Her boyfriend," Mickey admitted as they walked off, Mickey trying to forget her.

How would it be easy when she still passed by the garage every day?

Jackie wondered what was wrong with Rose when she got home and went to her bedroom, so she knocked on the door and opened it, seeing Rose laying face down on the bed.

"What's wrong sweetheart?" Jackie wanted to know. "How many times can ya let him go Rose?"

She sat at the side of Rose, rubbing her back. Then Rose moved towards her.

"Rose, ya can't keep doing this," Jackie told her.

"I have to Mum, I have to keep letting him go, I can't go back with him, can I?" Rose reminded her.

"That's all my fault, I know that. I should never have given Bob so much control," Jackie admitted.

"Just what did ya agree to Mum?" Rose tried to dry her eyes.

"I didn't know what I was doing, I swear I didn't. He tried to tell me it was part of being a family, that he wanted to be a father-figure to ya. He said you were too young to have a boyfriend and he was always saying so and trying to split you and Alec up."

"Yeah and we know why Mum. Why couldn't ya see what was going on?" Rose wanted to know. "Now, I have to keep saying goodbye to Alec 'cos we can only see each other during the holidays. He wants to come down here but how can I let him?"