Chapter 4

"Moving?! But… you can't just move!"

"Rose, it's dad's job. The whole family's going, it's not like it's just me."

"But what about us? What about TRAM? We need you!"

"Rose, I'm sorry, but there's nothing I can do. It's all planned. We're leaving in a couple of weeks."

Rose and Melissa were sitting on the swings in a park near Rose's apartment block. It was where they often came when they wanted to talk away from Tim and Adam. Melissa's news that her father's business was transferring him to Edinburgh had come complete out of the blue as far as Rose was concerned and it was clear that she was not only upset that she was losing her best friend, but incensed.

Jack stood behind his tree and waited; if he knew Rose, he knew she wouldn't accept this without a fight, and a moment later, he was proved right. She jumped down off her swing and grabbed Melissa's arm, pulling her off hers, too.

"Come on."

"Where are we going?"

"To tell your dad he's an idiot."

"It's not his choice!"

"Then to tell his boss!"

Jack followed at a safe distance, and on the opposite side of the road where possible. After about twenty minutes, Rose and Melissa stopped in front of a three storey office building. Melissa tried to convince Rose to leave well enough alone, but Rose's attention was caught by two men emerging from the office in almost identical business suits.

"Mr Ashton," she addressed Melissa's father, "have you thought about how the rest of your family feels about moving to Scotland?" Mr Ashton tried to tactfully avoid Rose's question and side-step around her, but she pressed on. "Mel's a member of our band! We need her! You can't just cart her off like this, it's not fair! Where are we going to find another bassist as good as her?"

Mr Ashton was beginning to lose his patience. "Rose," he snapped, "quite frankly, where you find your new bassist is not my problem. Now, please, get out of my way, I have a meeting to get to on the other side of town. Melissa, in future, tell your friends that if they want to yell at me, that's fine, but they are not to do it whilst I am working." With that, he pushed Rose roughly aside and got into his car, the man in the other suit accompanying him.

As the car moved away, Rose yelled, "I won't let you do this!" and shook her fist theatrically, before Melissa whispered something to her which caused her to reluctantly calm down and accompany her in the direction of home.

Jack allowed himself a small smile. He knew from one of the many conversations he and the slightly older Rose had had on board the TARDIS that Melissa's family did move to Edinburgh, so her outburst had had no effect.

Nevertheless, seeing her stand up to someone bigger and more powerful than her was the fourth time Rose Tyler made Jack Harkness proud.


A/N: Sorry I took so long, everyone! University is my excuse for everything these days, it's crazily busy and I have assignments and things so … yeah. Plus this idea was only vague in my head and took a bit of sorting out. Hopefully the final one shouldn't take too long.