Continuing on where I left off last time! A lot happens in this chapter, so enjoy and let me know your thoughts!
Thanks!
The Whirlwind Weeks
It had been a month since their first date and Rose was disappointed that they hadn't even kissed yet. She worried that maybe she had read the signs wrong, that he didn't want the same thing as her. After every date he moved in so infuriatingly close like he was about to, but always kissed her cheek instead. He had taken her to what he considered to be the best food of London. They had sampled the infamous ice cream, brownies, coffee, chips, and even what he declared to be the best banana he had ever had the pleasure of eating. Every day Rose had off they spent together and they had even began hanging out between when Rose worked at the café and dancing at the club. As of late the paparazzi had only managed to capture a few pictures of them together, but even then Rose had her head turned so she was still the mystery woman spending time with John Smith.
Right now Rose had just finished up at the café and was waiting for John to pick her up. Every once in a while Rose would feel guilty for monopolizing his time, but the one time she had brought it up to him he had insisted he would like nothing else than to spend time with her.
"Why, what do you have planned for us today?" Rose laughed when she caught sight of John.
"Your choice!" John announced with an adorable smirk.
Rose couldn't help but just stare at him for a moment. "You know, even though we have seen quite a lot of each other I still have never gotten to hear you sing or anything. It seems kind of unfair that I have to listen to a CD to hear your songs."
"I can sing for you now," John exclaimed as he immediately began to screech out the latest auto tuned pop song in such a way that it sounded like he was just screaming.
After finally getting him to quiet down, Rose turned to him again with a sour expression on her face. "I was serious, you know," she said with a rolling of her eyes. "I really want to get a private little concert."
"Hmmm…" John mumbled as he suddenly turned the car around. "Well, I had something else planned for today, but I guess I did say you could choose just this once!"
"So you finally relent?" Rose giggled as they drove towards an unknown destination. "So…where are we going to have this little concert? Are you serious, you are actually going to sing to me?"
"Yep," John said in a quiet voice as he looked over at Rose with a confused expression on his face.
"Oh, this is just embarrassing," Rose whispered halfway to herself as she shyly glanced up at John, positive that her face was bright red. "I am acting like a silly little fan right now…it doesn't annoy you, does it?"
John just flashed his familiar smile before he responded again, completely at ease as usual. "Nah, it is adorable on you, Rosie," John said, saying the nickname that she always complained that she despised. "And to answer your question we are going to my flat. Its downtown…" John paused for a moment, clearing his throat as if he was acting for her permission. "That's okay, yeah?"
After a few moments of silence Rose remembered she was supposed to respond and spoke up, hoping her voice was calm and smooth. It had awakened a fantasy she didn't really want to think about right now, not that it wasn't entirely pleasant. She had tried to imagine what his flat looked like, but was never able to. Still, from the way he was acting it was as if he was asking her much more than if she was fine with driving all the way downtown to his flat. "Of course, is it all posh with a doorman and all of that?"
"Oi, Phil is really nice!" John proclaimed in a defensive tone. "Just because the building has a doorman doesn't mean it has airs."
"I was just kidding, no need to be all defensive," Rose whispered, surprised that he had snapped at her like that. She hadn't expected that at all and had no idea why he would get upset over the fact that she commented on the fact that he had money that was painfully obvious by how famous he was.
"Sorry, Rose," John mumbled halfway to himself. He had apologized, but she could tell his jaw was still tense when he spoke again. "I am just not comfortable with people commenting on my money like that…"
"I understand," Rose said even though she didn't one bit. John Smith still had some secrets, but she supposed that was how it should be considering all that she was hiding from him. It had been a few whirlwind weeks and she was always so tired when she arrived at work to dance and she was sure Kelly was starting to notice. Just yesterday Kelly had commented on her dancing with disapproval and told her to get her head in the game. Little did her boss know that Rose knew every step perfectly, but the fact that her ankle still hurt whenever she put weight on it made it hard to dance.
After that it didn't take long at all until John pulled up in front of one of the many nice looking buildings. Rose just glanced around as it wasn't often that she was in an area like this. While she was distracted with wide eyes sure that a woman she had just seen was one of her favorite actresses she felt John's hand on her arm and automatically turned towards him with a smile on her face. "This is so…cool…" she whispered, not knowing what else to say.
Thankfully John's smile just grew wider as he slung an arm around her shoulders and led her with him towards the entrance. Rose couldn't help but take advantage of her close position and took this moment to examine him up close. Rose had to constantly remind herself that he wasn't just John, but he was the famous John Smith as well. He sure did look normal, albeit more attractive than the usual guy, but he seemed to be completely himself when he was around her and that made her so proud.
"You have a package, John," the doorman, who Rose presumed to be Phil, said as they walked up to him. "And Jack stopped by, said that you had to have a chat by tonight."
"Yeah, yeah," John absently said as his eyes glazed lazily across the ornate entryway. She felt silly for gazing around like a little kid, drinking in the fancy apartment building. "I'll come get it later and if Jack comes by tell him I'm busy," he suddenly paused and spun Rose around to face the balding man with a mustache. "Phil, this is my lovely Rose. If she ever comes over and I'm not with her you can just let her go up."
"Nice to meet you," Rose shyly said to Phil as they awkwardly shook hands. She was surprised by what John had said. Not only had he called her 'my lovely Rose', but he had even said that she was permanent enough to be allowed to go up to his apartment whenever she wanted to.
"Same to you, Rose," Phil exclaimed with a smile. He shot her a wink that she was sure John hadn't noticed before they made their way to the elevator.
"That was sort of exciting…" Rose mumbled in the elevator, trying to stop herself from watching their reflections in the mirrored walls.
John mumbled something she couldn't fully hear under his breath that sounded suspiciously like 'you never fail to excite me'. Still, Rose managed to keep up her coy expression and asked him to repeat himself, only to receive an obvious lie about how clean the mirrors were.
They finally exited the elevator on one of the higher floors when John unlocked a door with the number ten on it. Rose waited for him to pull her into the room and once he did she just stood in the doorway, unsure if she was allowed to go wherever she wanted. Apparently John was confused by her behavior because he just raised one eyebrow as he closed the door behind her and grabbed her hand, pulling him with her until they ended up in a simple room with only a couch and a few chairs. There were several doors Rose wished she could peek in, but she supposed she would have time for that later. The thing that surprised Rose about his flat was that it wasn't overly large or anything and the decorating was very sparse. In fact, it looked hardly lived in at all.
"Do you want a cuppa?" John asked as Rose hesitantly sat down on the very comfy couch. It surprised Rose how nervous he seemed to have her sitting there at his flat. She presumed that he had entertained countless women and had no idea why he was suddenly acting shy.
"Sure," Rose announced as she made motion to get up as well. "I'll come help you."
"Nope," John said, popping his p as he usually did. "You just stay right there and sit. It'll only take me a minute and I can do it myself, honestly."
"But I want to see the kitchen…" Rose flirtatiously complained with a sigh.
"You can see it later, Rose," John said as he left Rose alone with her thoughts.
It was only a few minutes later when John returned with two steaming cups of tea. She stayed silent as he sat the cups on the table in front of them and heavily sat down next to her, looking at her for an explanation of her surprising silence. Rose took several deep breaths, hoping that what she was going to do next was the correct action. In one fluid motion Rose scooted over and straddled John's lap with her eyes still closed, sighing at how perfectly their bodies already seemed to fit together.
"Rose?" John whispered practically into her ear. His voice was low and husky, but the question was evident.
"Shhh…" Rose responded in equal tone, opening her eyes to see that John's eyes were now closed. She had never been this close to him and now she could clearly see the light dusting of freckles across his face. It took so much effort not to just reach up and trace out his features, but she managed to hold back. With shaky hands, she latched her arms around his neck and shifted against him to get closer, smirking at the immediate effect she had on him. She first rested her forehead against his, just pausing for a moment as she soaked in how perfect this moment was. Then she moved her lips achingly slow towards his, practically trembling when she felt his breath ghosting against her.
"Rose," John muttered under his breath a split second before their lips met. "What are you doing?"
Something in his voice tipped Rose off and she momentarily pulled away from him so that they could meet eyes. "Why do you look like that?" Rose asked, noticing how John's eyebrows were furrowed.
"We can't," John whispered in a strong voice, even having the audacity to send her a reassuring smile.
Rose's face immediately fell and she was positive she was burning red as well. "Why not?" Rose questioned, wishing her voice was as strong as his had been. She felt like a foolish little child perched on his lap like this and her mind automatically began analyzing everything again, trying to find out what she had misinterpreted. "You don't…you don't want me?"
"No," John said as Rose's blood ran cold. She immediately extracted herself from his lap and found a new perch on the other end of the couch hugging her knees. "Rose, that isn't what I meant!" John announced as he hit his forehead in annoyance and scooted over next to her again. "I just want to do everything right between you and me."
"Why isn't this right?" Rose asked as she loosened a bit when he reached out to hold her hands and rubbed reassuring circles onto her palms. "What did I do wrong?"
"Of course not, you are perfect, Rose," John explained, shushing her interruption before he continued. "I just don't want to waste anything between us like this. I want to do this right for you, Rose."
Rose just looked down, not really understanding what he was trying to say. "You don't…I thought you…I thought we were going to be together."
"We are," John replied in a calm voice as he reached out to stroke her cheek and lift her chin so that she would meet his eyes. "Trust me, Rose Tyler, you have no idea how much I want you. But I don't want to rush any moment with you. I want to take things slow, Rose. Is that okay?"
"I suppose," Rose answered with a hesitant smile. "But why?"
"There have been a few…issues in the past that I really don't want to get into at the moment," John told her and she knew he was telling the truth. "I don't want either of us to get hurt. But that doesn't mean anything I feel about you is any less, Rose."
Rose worried her bottom lip as she pondered over his words. It made sense, but she knew she wasn't going to get the whole story of the issues in the past at this exact moment. Instead she let him pull her in for a tight hug, hardly believing how different their whole relationship was turning out to be.
After several long moments, John pulled away and affectionately kissed the top of her head. "I promised you a private concert, we better get to it."
With that John left the room for the moment and returned to sit down next to her on the couch with a shiny acoustic guitar in his arms. As he began stroking out a melody she vaguely recognized of hearing on the radio she couldn't help but smile as he opened his mouth and began to sing in a smooth and nice voice.
Once he was done singing Rose just kept on smiling at him as he smirked down at her and ran his hand through his already mused up hair. "Wow…that was better than I expected," Rose said in a high voice.
"Thanks," John murmured in a slightly embarrassed tone as he set his guitar down and scooted over closer to him. "You are helping me write so many songs, Rose."
"Really?" Rose managed to squeak out as her mind began to wonder what sort of songs he was writing with her in mind. "I can't believe I just saw a private concert of John Smith!" she announced in a tone that would hopefully make him forget about her momentary panic.
"If you thought that was something I wonder how you will take seeing my other concerts backstage," John said in an offhand tone.
"Seriously?" Rose asked, hardly believing he had mentioned that so nonchalantly. "But I thought you traveled with your tour?"
John let out an adorable giggle before he replied again. "A lot of the concerts are around or in London, Rose."
"I've never been able to afford to go to a concert before!" Rose mumbled to herself excitedly, not noticing how John had shifted his position and expression. When she finally looked up and found him looking right at her very close to her, she opened her mouth with a stupid reply. "Huh?"
Rose barely had time to say another word before John had pushed forwards was kissing her. It surprised her, how quickly he had moved and it baffled her as well. He was the one who had stopped her advances less than an hour ago, why had he suddenly changed his mind? Not that she minded one bit. He had already wrapped an arm around her and was pulling her closer with the hand on the small of her back and wherever his hands touched her she felt like a fire was burning. And that didn't even halfway describe how she felt when his lips were pressed up against hers. It wasn't long before she felt his tongue against her lips, begging for entrance. With a sigh, Rose opened her mouth to his and relaxed against him as he fought for control in her mouth.
"Sorry…" John breathed out when he momentarily pulled away from her to catch his breath.
"Don't be," Rose responded in an equally breathy tone, kissing him again with the same intensity he had before.
They continued on that for some time until both of their shirts were unceremoniously dropped onto the ground and Rose's hands were attempting to reach his belt buckle. It was then that John stopped and grabbed her hand, pulling it back up and placing a gentle kiss onto her palm.
"Yeah, we should stop for now," John muttered in an annoyed tone as he pushed himself off of her and pulled his shirt back on. However, he seemed to notice Rose's upset expression and leaned in and kissed her on the tip of the nose, then trailed down to brush his lips across hers.
"Okay," Rose pouted, sitting up and leaning against John again, suggesting that he attempt to show her how to play her a few chords on the guitar because she had always wanted to know a bit of how to play it. It was only when John leaned down to pick up his guitar did she notice the table. "We forgot all about the tea!" Rose announced, only to dissolve into giggles over the absurdity of her statement.
…
Rose still felt like she was in a John induced haze when she returned to her apartment to get ready for the work she was beginning to dread. Surprisingly John had barely pouted when she reminded him he couldn't come up to her flat and she suspected that he actually did need to talk to his manager, Jack.
"You home?" Rose asked as she pushed open the door to see Jessica lying on the small couch, squinting at the television.
"Why would anyone want to be a secretary?" Jessica randomly asked as she spun her blonde hair into a loose bun. "I mean, how can anyone sit at a desk for eight hours a day and barely make any money?"
"Hello to you too," Rose mumbled sarcastically as she wandered to the kitchen to get a snack. "Not everyone would consider your job glamorous either, Jess."
"Hmm…when did you get so wise, Rosie?" Jessica joked with a wink. "But I love my job and I know you understand why."
Rose hummed to herself with a knife covered in Nutella stuck in her mouth for a moment before she turned towards Jessica on the couch. "I suppose…I mean, sex is fantastic. But not all the times, sometimes it is just awkward or uncomfortable."
"You just say that because you haven't had any in over a year," Jessica said, causing Rose to blanch when she realized her roommate was right. "Plus, being a call girl isn't as bad as people make it up to be."
"Maybe you should make your diary into a book, Jess," Rose countered back as she wondered what time it was. "Call it the 'Secret Diary of a Call Girl' or something captivating like that."
"Perhaps…" Jessica sleepily muttered, not considering Rose's suggestion for a moment. "By the way, shouldn't you be at work by now? It's five past nine."
Rose's eyes widened when she glanced at the clock and realized that Jessica was right. Dropping her makeshift dinner into the sink, Rose flew to her room and got everything together in record time, ignoring the protesting of her ankle. She ran out the door without bothering to say goodbye and prayed that Kelly would take pity on her.
By the time she arrived at her job she was half an hour late and Kelly was waiting for her at the door with a sour expression on her face. "Where in the hell have you been?"
"Sorry, it won't happen again," Rose responded, glancing down at the floor. She needed this job, she really did. Without it she had no idea what she could do to keep her head afloat.
"It better not," Kelly announced with her hands on her slender hips. "Now get out there and don't you make a single fucking mistake tonight."
"Yes," Rose muttered, biting her lip as she did what Kelly ordered. Her ankle was still throbbing, but she hoped that the promise of icing it would be enough to keep the pain at bay.
It seemed as if everything was going perfectly until halfway through the second song when Rose definitely heard something crack. She tried to smile through the pain, but she knew it wouldn't be enough. She swore she felt Kelly's eyes on her as she lost her footing and felt her body collide with the girl next to her. Just as she was about to push her way off the stage she felt everything sliding around her horizontally when she realized she must be falling, only to be consumed by darkness.
Oh no, how is everything going to work out?
Enjoy!
Gabrielle!
