AN: There was a positive response to the last chapter so I was inspired to go ahead and write the next chapter! I made an outline and I think that this story will be around twelve chapters. Also, the rest of the chapters will be like this one, where it starts with a flashback to their first relationship and then jumps back to the present time. I hope you all enjoy and thanks for reading! I'll try to get the next chapter up as soon as possible.

Ten Years Earlier:

Rose sighed, looking at the clock while waiting for her shift to be over. It was Friday afternoon and she couldn't wait to leave so she could hang out with Shireen and Mickey. Henrik's was fairly empty, only a few customers, and she was waiting at the register for them to make their purchases. She hated working there but she did not hate the money she earned at Henrik's. One of the customers approached the register and she glanced at the clock again. Fifteen more minutes.

Rose grinned at the customer, a man who appeared to be in his late twenties and was wearing a battered leather jacket over a purple jumper, and said, "Hi, are you ready to check out?"

The man frowned and replied, "Actually, I need your help. I can't decide which one of these dresses would be the best for...someone I know."

"Your wife?" Rose asked, looking at the dresses he had picked out.

The man quickly shook his head and said, "No, she's, uh, my cousin. I think she's only a few years older than you and I don't know what to get her for her birthday."

Rose smiled understandingly. "When's her birthday?"

"Uh, it's today." The man said, blushing slightly.

Rose giggled and told him, "Personally, I like this one the best," holding up a bright blue dress with a high neckline and low back.

The man gave her a wide, slightly goofy grin. "Fantastic! Thank you…" He glanced at her name tag, "Rose!"

"It's no problem. After all, it's my job," She joked and then winced. Seriously, how lame could she get? She found it hard to be her normal, confident self around him and she suspected it was because of his gorgeous ice blue eyes. "Will that be all or are you looking for anything else?" she asked him quickly.

"Oh, that's it, thanks."

Rose rung up the dress and the man paid for it, again giving her a wide grin. "Thanks Rose." The man turned to go, but changed his mind and turned to her again. "Um, Rose, sorry to bother you but can I ask you a favor?"

Rose looked at him confused but nodded her head.

"It's just, my cousin's birthday is tonight and my parents are expecting me to have a date because I may have told them I had a girlfriend to keep them from nagging me. But the thing is, I don't really have anyone I can take. Do you think you could come with me? Only if you want, of course," Rose remained silent through his rambling and her eyes widened in shock. He cursed himself, how could he be so stupid as to think she would want to go with him. She was beautiful and probably had a boyfriend. Worse yet, she looked so much younger than him. She couldn't be more than twenty and he was almost thirty. "Sorry, that was stupid. Forget what I said, I'll just-I'll just go now."

Before he could leave Rose, surprising both of them, called out to him. "Wait!" He turned to look at her, his eyes hopeful. "Yeah, that'd be nice. I mean, it could be fun, yeah?"

The man smiled then, his whole face lighting up. "Fantastic! Absolutely Fantastic! When do you get off your shift? I can pick you up here when you're finished, unless you'd rather stop by your home and change." He paused then, his eyes widening, "Not that what you're wearing isn't fine! You look nice, you really do!"

Rose giggled at his embarrassment and concern that he'd insulted her. "I'm actually off in ten minutes, so you can wait around if you want. And you're right. I should go home and change. After all, I can't meet your family wearing jeans. Do you think you could give me a ride to my flat?"

The man looked relieved and agreed to wait for her. Ten minutes, she clocked out and he met her at the entrance.

"Shall we?" He asked, holding out his arm for her, frowning when she didn't take it. "Rose?" He asked, worried that she had changed her mind.

"What's your name?" She blurted out, then flushed. "It's just, I didn't ask before and I can't pretend to be your girlfriend if I don't even know your name."

"My name's John, John Smith," he told her, grimacing.

"What, you don't like your name?" She questioned.

"It's so boring and plain."

Rose giggled and they both stepped outside. Rose frowned, seeing that it was raining and she didn't even have a hood. Seeing her frown, John grabbed her hand and whispered, "Run!"

Present:

"So should I get us some drinks?" John asked awkwardly, not wanting to think about the fact that Rose just wanted to be friends while he still wanted forever with her.

"Sure, I'll just have a glass of wine," Rose replied just as awkwardly. She made her way to one of the booths that lined the walls of the bar. While waiting for John, she couldn't help but think about what had just happened. She was extremely proud of herself for holding it together, for trying to offer John friendship when she knew that she had never really gotten over him. Sure, she'd had other relationships since theirs, but she didn't feel the same way about those guys as she did about John. Over the years and through failed relationships Rose had continued to tell herself she couldn't forget about John because he was her first love. But now that he was back, she couldn't help but yearn for him. But he'd agreed so quickly to her suggestion of friendship, she pushed back any thought of getting back together. She didn't need another broken heart. Besides, he had broken up with her, so obviously he didn't have romantic feelings towards her, right?

John tapped his foot impatiently, waiting for the drinks he ordered. It was a Friday night, so naturally the bar was packed. He just really needed some of the scotch he ordered if he was going to make it through this night. Although Rose offered to be friends, he was sure that by the end of the night she would leave and be out of his life once and for all. He couldn't blame her; after all he was a right arse to her. But he still clung to the hope that they would be able to salvage a relationship of any kind after this night.

John made his way back over to Rose once he got their drinks and handed her the glass of wine.

"Thanks," Rose said, smiling, "and don't worry about paying for the wine, I can pay for my own drink."

"Nonsense" John replied, "Jack set us up on a date and here we are so I'm paying." Rose opened her mouth to protest but John cut her off. "Rose, don't worry about it."

Rose gave him a shy smile and the two fell into a rather awkward and uncomfortable silence.

"So, John spoke first, "How have you been?"

"Good, I recently got a job as a journalist for the paper."

"Oh, congratulations! I bet your mum is ecstatic," John said, beaming at her.

"Yeah, she's been telling all her mates at the salon. Actually, it was Sarah Jane who helped me get the job," Rose told him. "Sarah Jane's been a mentor for me for a while now."

"I'm sure she's a great mentor, she's brilliant," John said fondly.

"Yeah, she's been great."

The two fell silent once more until Rose spoke up again. "So what about you? What've you been up to?"

"Well, after Doctors Without Borders…" John trailed off and rubbed the back of his neck when he saw Rose cringe when he mentioned the program. He knew she was thinking about the circumstances surrounding her breakup, but continued anyway. "Well, after I got back, I got into teaching for awhile. But now I'm back to working at the hospital."

"That's good. That you're practicing medicine again, that is," Rose told him. "I can't really see you as a teacher anyway. I mean, you're brilliant and a genius, but I guess you'll always be a doctor to me."

"Yeah, I missed it." And for the third time the two were at a loss for words.

"Rose," John said suddenly, reaching for Rose's hand before changing his mind and resting his hand awkwardly on the table. Rose bit her lip and slowly reached out to take his hand tentatively. "Listen, I really am proud of you. For going to university and working for the paper. I always knew you'd be successful."

Rose smiled at him and squeezed his hand. "Thanks, and I'm glad Jack set us up. I missed you," she told him shyly, blushing and looking away.

John felt like his heart would burst out of his chest as it swelled at her words. "Oh, Rose, I missed you too. And I really want to be a part of your life again."

"Yeah?" Rose asked, unsure.

"Of course. You, Rose Tyler, are fantastic, absolutely fantastic," He said, giving her his signature bright and slightly goofy smile.

Rose flushed at this, trying to tell herself that she was blushing from his compliment and not his smile had always been extremely attractive to her. Like she always told her mate Shireen, her weaknesses were a good smile and nice bum and John just happened to have both.

Before Rose could say anything, a loud and familiar voice called out. "Oi! John! Have you finally gotten yourself a girlfriend?"

Both John and Rose turned towards the direction of the voice and John groaned. Of all the people that could interrupt his first night with Rose in nine years, of course it would be Donna Noble. He was really going to need another glass of scotch now.

Donna approached the two and her eyes widened as she realized who the blonde was. "Rose? Blondie, is that you?" Rose nodded smiling at her. "Come here, you, it's been ages!"

Rose stood up to give Donna a hug and then Donna pulled back to look between her and John. "Rose, I had no idea you decided to give my daft cousin another chance!"

"Donna!" John protested, looking offended.

"What? You are daft! First you end things with her and now you don't even have the decency to tell me that she decided not to dump you on your sorry arse. I can't believe you didn't even mention to me that Rose was back in your life, much less that you too are back together."

John said nothing and sighed. This was going to be a long night. He looked at the loud, ginger woman who had crashed his not so blind date. Maybe two more glasses of scotch would be more appropriate to ensure that he'd survive the night.

Up Next: Another Family Meeting