~oOo~
Liam had stopped by the florist on his way over. When Rose was still in London, he'd stop by her office as often as his schedule would allow it. He always brought her lilies, never roses. She hated them, thought it was cliché unless they happened to be roses from some alien world. Still she always loved it when he brought her flowers.
Today he was feeling much lighter than he had yesterday. Late last night, he and Rose had had a long talk. Not everything was settled yet, but she had seemed pleased that he and Sophie were moving here. Pulling open the door to Pinnacle, Liam stepped into the lobby.
Joan looked up from her computer screen. "Well hello, handsome. What can I do for you?" she purred.
Inwardly he rolled his eyes. After his first wife, he could spot a gold digger a mile away. "I'm here to see Rose Tyler, please."
"I guess you're another one of her boy toys then. Judging by the accent, you're just her type," Joan snipped.
"That's enough, Ms. Redfern," Clara said, stepping out of the hallway. "Not that I don't pray nightly that you will stick your foot far enough down your throat to choke on it. That way I'd have a justifiable reason to fire you, but I don't want to do that at the expense of people I like."
Liam grinned. He liked Clara too. She was feisty, headstrong and in control. They had met when he'd visited in the spring, and Rose talked about her frequently. "Nice to see you again, Clara." He chuckled. "Having a little bit of an issue?"
"Oh, she's nothing I can't handle," she replied, giving Joan a hard stare. "Good to see you too, by the way. What's it been? Six months since you've visited?"
"Sounds about right." He gave her a big grin. "How've you been?"
"Good, you?"
"Can't complain. It's always nice to visit a beautiful place and see a friendly face." That was true. With all the animosity and tension around John it was nice to have someone who was happy to see him.
Joan cleared her throat and looked smug. "Your girlfriend's not here." Liam and Clara both turned to look at the other woman.
"Where did she go?" Liam asked.
Grinning like the cat that got the cream, Joan said, "To have lunch with the other guy she's whoring around with, of course."
Liam clenched his jaw. Of course she was. First chance that she got, of course Rose would go running back to John.
"That's enough, Joan. Just stop trying to stir up trouble," Clara barked at the receptionist.
"What? Unlike our boss, I'm not the one sleeping around," Joan said with a self-satisfied tone. The words had their intended effect. Liam was furious. This sneaking around with other men, even giving the impression of impropriety was not the Rose that he knew.
"Shut up right now!" Clara growled. "Pack your stuff. You're done for the day, maybe permanently, once I talk to Rose. This company has zero tolerance for that kind of harassment."
"Fire me and I'll sue you and this company," Joan snarled.
"Bring it on," Clara retorted. "Now get out before I have you removed."
"Bitch," Joan spat. Grabbing her handbag and with her nose in the air, she strode out of the office.
After a few awkward moments, Liam let the flowers he was still holding fall from his hands. "That was enlightening. I think I'd better go." He turned to go, but Clara's hand on his arm stopped him.
"Wait," she pleaded. "You can't take anything that woman says seriously. Ever since we hired that troll, all she has done is hit on every attractive man that's walked through the door and spread rumors around the office. "
"Doesn't make is less true that Rose is with the Do… with John, does it?" he asked, a hint of sadness in his voice.
Clara sighed and squeezed his arm before letting her hand drop. "John just got out of the hospital and was ordered to take it easy. Rose was just taking him lunch, as a friend. Told me she wouldn't be more than an hour. You know Rose, better than almost anyone. Does anything that witch said sound anything like the Rose that you know?"
Taking in a slow deep breath, he tried to let go of some of his tension. "No, you're right. Rose takes care of people, and she feels an obligation to John." That's what it had to be. He and Rose were together. They'd made that clear last night.
"Glad you're feeling better," Clara said as she reached down and picked up the lilies. "Did you want me to leave these on Rose's desk?"
"Yeah, and tell her I'll see her later. At home," he agreed, and Clara turned to leave. "Hey, do you have time for lunch? I hate to eat alone, and I think you need a break after the show that your receptionist put on. My treat."
Clara smiled. "Just let me grab my coat."
~oOo~
"And then Jack ran in," Rose giggled.
"Naked," Liam interjected with a grin. "Jack always tends to run in naked."
Rose nodded and addressed John and Clara, their lunch guests, again. "So Jack runs in and says 'who's in the mood for a game of twister'. The party dissipated rather quickly after that."
"Well, I'm pretty sure Ianto stayed behind for the shenanigans," Liam chuckled.
"Of course he would," Rose agreed.
Forcing a smile, John picked up his glass of wine. It had been two days since he'd been alone with Rose, since she had made her choice clear. When she came to check on him after that, Liam had come with her. Clara had come by yesterday since the happy couple had gone out to dinner. He hated this distance so much.
Clara shook her head. "And you let this man around your daughter?"
"Jack's good with kids," Rose protested.
Liam nodded. "Yes, he is and thankfully he never ends up naked around them."
Unable to partake in the conversation any longer, John pushed back from the table and wandered out onto the back deck. He took in a deep lungful of cold air. The chill burned his chest and it felt like tiny needles piercing in his skin, but it was still preferable to sitting inside and watching Liam drape his arm over Rose's shoulder. Watching him hold her close, drop kisses on her temple and call her sweetheart. All of those little acts that Rose accepted so easily from that man twisted the knife in John's gut.
Why had he agreed to come today?
Well, the answer to that was easy. Rose had asked him. He'd known it would be a good idea but he couldn't say no to her. Even if it was hard to be here with her and her fiancé, it was still infinitely better than not having her around at all. He was, however, grateful that Clara had been invited as a buffer. Hopefully, either it would get easier to deal with Rose and Liam together, or Liam would go back to London soon. Although the trip to London wouldn't be permanent, but maybe it would last long enough for him to finish his novel.
Finishing his novel, that's what he'd come here to do. Finish it and go back to traveling. This was the first time since his first week here that he'd thought about leaving. He was almost halfway done with the first draft. In a few months it would be time for him to go. Part of him had thought, well when he thought Rose was available, that maybe it was time to stop running, to put down roots. Now…
The back door opened. "It's freezing out here," Rose said softly, and he turned to face her. "You forgot your jacket. I wouldn't want you getting hypothermia again."
"Thank you." When he reached out for the coat she was holding out to him, his cold fingers brushed against the warmth of hers and that familiar electric tingle spread through him. How could she not feel that? Or if she did, how could she choose someone else?
"How are you feeling?" Rose asked. "Any residual pain?"
If it were anyone else asking he'd be tempted to snap at them, but Rose said the words with such sincerity that even if he wanted to be mad at her, he couldn't. "Few aches, and it still itches where the doctors stitched me up, but for almost dying less than a week ago…" He sucked in a breath. "Well, I think I'm doing quite well."
"Don't talk like that," Rose murmured.
"Like what?"
"Like you almost dying was no big deal." Her hands trembled slightly. "I was so scared when I found you lying on the path. You were so cold. I thought… We were so far from the road. I thought you weren't going to make it."
He tugged her to him. "Come here, Rose." Her arms snaked around his waist, and he rested his cheek on the top of her head. "I'm fine, perfectly perfect in every way." He felt the wetness of her tears through her shirt. "I'm so sorry I make you cry."
From inside Liam watched as the two hugged, and his entire body stiffened. It was time for him to make another move, one that John couldn't ignore. In that instant, Liam decided that tomorrow night was perfect for a grand gesture, one that he hoped that John Smith witnessed.
~oOo~
The next night, Clara plunked down on a stool next to John. "Barkeep," she called with a cheeky grin, knowing that the bartender, Roger, hated when she called him that. "I'll have a whiskey sour and another one of whatever my friend is having." With a nod, Roger turned to make their drinks.
"You didn't have to do that," John mumbled as he swiveled away from the worn bar. Immediately, his eyes narrowed in on a high table in the back corner where a petite blonde woman sat with a tall dark haired man. "But thank you."
With a loud thunk, Roger set down two glasses on the bar. "Make sure this one doesn't cause any trouble, Clara."
She gave the curmudgeonly older man a two finger salute. "I shall do my best." Clara sniffed at her drink for a moment before following John's gaze to Rose and Liam's table. She liked her boss very much and knew more about her than anybody else in town, except for Liam. Not that anyone would ever get a secret out of her. Her eyes zoned in on the man at the table. There certainly was something to be said about Liam Donnelly. "It's easy to see what she likes about him," she muttered softly to herself.
John turned to her and asked indignantly, "What did you say?"
Shrugging, Clara took a big swing of her drink. "What? I mean just look at him; he's a bit fit. Broad shoulders, beautiful eyes, his jaw could cut glass, and those hands: big, strong and masculine." She shivered. "And don't even get me started on those luscious locks of his. I just want to run my fingers through them."
Instinctively, John ran a hand through his own locks. "I have nice hair, really great hair even." He paused. "Hold on. A bit fit, that's not really American slang now, is it? Where did you say you were from again?"
"Georgia," Clara replied with a roll of her eyes. John managed to catch the slightest hint of blush creep across her cheeks. "And I'm a big fan of Harry Potter and BBC America, thank you very much, and maybe I've just been spending too much time around my Brit of a boss." With a shrug she took another drink. "I just think that Liam is hot, alright?"
John eyed her carefully before sucking down half of his banana daiquiri. "How would Rose feel if she heard you talking that way about her fiancé?" There was a condescending sneer in the way he said the word fiancé. Not that it was any big secret to anyone in this town how John Smith felt about Rose Tyler and her lover.
In one quick gulp she finished her drink. "It's not like she and I don't talk about guys like this when we're at lunch or whatever." Her phone began to vibrate in her jeans pocket, and she fished it out and quickly checked the caller ID. Harkness. Damn it. "You should hear the things she says about you and your cute butt. No offense but it's a little skinny for my tastes, but to each their own. Sorry, I gotta take this." Without waiting for John's reply, she walked outside and answered her phone.
"This had better be important, Jack," Clara muttered, her accent slipping slightly.
…
From across the room Rose could feel John's eyes boring into her. Why did he have to show up here tonight? It's not like they hadn't seen each other today and every day since he'd come back from hospital. Well, if she was honest, there had hardly been a day that they hadn't seen each other since he arrived. Still tonight she needed to focus on the man sitting next to her.
"I was thinking," Liam said, taking her hand in his and brushing her knuckles against his lips. "Maybe this spring we could go on holiday, Morocco or Thailand. Two weeks with just our rucksacks and a healthy dose of wanderlust."
She smiled slightly and leaned her head towards him. "That sounds marvelous. Why not wait until summer and we can take Sophie? It'll be fun, yeah?"
"Well, I was sort of hoping that it would be more of a honeymoon. A March wedding would be nice, wouldn't it?"
Her hand started trembling in his. "What? That's only four months away. That's so soon, too soon." In her chest she could feel her heart beating rapidly. What was happening to her? This was what she wanted, wasn't it?
"Rose, look, I know that we decided when you came here that we wouldn't hold each other to the engagement, and I know some things are different now. However, the one thing that I know that hasn't changed is how I feel about you." Keeping ahold of her hand, Liam scooted out of his chair and kneeled before her on the ground. Pulling an all too familiar ring box out of his pocket, he asked, "Will you marry me?"
The world around her started to spin, and there was a distinct blackness creeping into the periphery of her vision. Her stomach churned, and she felt like she was going to vomit. Last time he'd asked she hadn't had the slightest bit of hesitation. This time she wanted to run.
So she did.
Violently pushing out of her chair, she grabbed her coat and headed outside, only barely managing to side step John as he tried to catch her. Once outside she took in a giant lungful of air. What was wrong with her? She had been sincere when she had told Liam she wanted him and Sophie here. A hand wrapped around her shoulder and she turned, burying her face in the chest of a man she presumed was Liam. She was wrong.
"Shh, I've got you," John whispered, enveloping her tightly in his arms. "What did he say to you? I swear, if he said anything to hurt you I'll…"
"Oi, get your bleeding hands off her," Liam yelled as he ran up to the pair. "Rose, sweetheart, let's go home and talk. I'm sorry if I pushed you too hard." He reached over and tried to touch her but John shifted to move himself between Rose and Liam.
"I think you've done enough damage for tonight," John snapped. "Why don't you just leave her alone?"
Liam made another grab at Rose's arm. "Stay out of this. Despite what you think, you are not in a relationship with Rose. I'm pretty sure she's made that clear herself. She's spoken for and we don't need you sticking your big fat nose in our business."
Somehow Rose managed to extricate herself from John's arms. "Calm down, both of you." Neither man paid any attention to her.
"It's my business if I say it's my business. I warned you, Donnelly," John raged. "I warned you to never hurt her and look at her. She's out here in the snow, in tears. All week you've been pushing her into something she obviously doesn't want to do. So back the hell off."
Liam mouth twisted into a snarl. "Don't act like you know anything about her or her life with me. You're not the man that's been there for her for all these years, loving her, supporting her, putting her needs above your own. No, you're the kind of guy who lets her pick up after you while you chase anything in a skirt."
"How dare you," John yelled and balled his fist. Before he could strike, Rose screamed at him to stop and Clara appeared out of nowhere, coming between the two men. She pushed John and he stepped back but didn't lose any of the fight that was in his eyes. "You don't know anything about me." John ignored Clara and Rose's attempts to stop the fight, and he stepped towards Liam again.
Turning to Liam, Rose begged him to stop. He gently moved her aside instead. "I know more about you than you do, and I know a damn sight more about Rose than you ever knew. I treat her like my equal, not some pet to be tossed aside when I'm done with her. Not like you'll do to her, just like you do to everyone else."
John roughly pushed Clara out of the way just before his fist collided with Liam's mouth. With a growl, Liam dropped the ring box that he had been holding and retaliated. His large fist connected with John's eye socket.
"Please stop it," Rose cried, hating seeing the two men come to blows. Scooping up the ring box before the heel of one of the men's boots trampled it, Clara shoved the box containing the engagement ring into Rose's hand and pulled her further away. Liam pushed John to the ground and landed a solid punch in John's stomach before John twisted and ended up on top of Liam.
Rose watched for a moment as the wiry man who had turned himself human pummeled the man whom she had been engaged to before she had to turn away. How could they? She felt herself retching. Her dinner made a reappearance just as blue lights appeared at the end of the street.
"Let's get you out of here," Clara said, rubbing circles on Rose's back. "You can sort out those morons' legal troubles in the morning. You don't need to see them in handcuffs. At least not when you don't get to enjoy it." A small laugh escaped Rose's mouth as Clara led her back to her SUV. They did their best to ignore the harsh words the officer was yelling at the two men who engaged in the brawl. There were a great many things Rose needed to think about before she saw either one of them again.