~oOo~
A loud metallic clang echoed around the small cell, and both Liam and John bolted upright. "Up and at 'em, boys," a police officer called, sticking a key in the lock of the jail cell. "It seems like the two of you have a few friends in high places, and everything's been taken care of. The DA has decided to drop all charges against you, Mr Donnelly, since you weren't the aggressor."
Stepping aside, the officer let Liam out of the cell. "As for you, Mr Smith, if that is in fact your real name, as long as Mr Donnelly declines to press charges, you will only be issued a citation for disturbing the peace." Blocking the door, the officer fixed John with a hard glare. "I'm keeping an eye on you. One toe out of line, John Smith, and I'll know it."
John nodded his head slightly; it wasn't as if he wanted to make a habit out of fighting anyone. "Got it. Can I go now?"
Silently the guard, Officer Roberts according to his badge, stepped out of the way. "If you'll come with me, you can collect your personal effects and your ride will take you home."
After the two former detainees had collected their personal belongings, they were directed towards the lobby. "On a scale of one to ten," Liam murmured, "just how furious do you think Rose is?"
"No less than a fifteen," John shot back with a dry chuckle. He would much rather face Officer 'I've got my eye on you' or the seduction attempts of that Redfern girl than face a justifiably angry Rose Tyler. "If we make it out of this police station alive, it will only be because she doesn't want to risk the jail time herself."
Liam sniggered. "It's not like she'd have to do the dirty work herself though. Never underestimate the power of Rose's friends and family. I wholly expect a full dressing down from Jackie and Sarah Jane when I make it back to London." He shuddered but smiled.
It was a shame, John thought, that they had met under these circumstances. If things had been different, he would have like to believe that they could have been friends. Well, as long as the man didn't have aspirations on Rose Tyler, yes, they could have been amiable associates at the very least.
Stepping into the lobby, it was hard to miss Rose Tyler. She was standing in jeans and a purple jumper with her arms crossed over her chest. Her body language screamed that she was not to be messed with, and her eyes shot daggers at the two men. Fair enough, they deserved that.
Both men cautiously approached her. However before they could reach her, Rose turned on her heel and stalked outside. Her black SUV was parked just outside of the station. Still not bothering to turn around, she slipped into the driver's side seat. Liam motioned to John to take the front. Fearing for his safety, John declined and both men climbed into the backseat. Tension filled the air of the vehicle as Rose drove the few blocks to John's flat.
Rose pulled up to the kerb and unlocked the doors, not shutting off the engine. "I'll call you in a couple of days, John," she said, still keeping her eyes fixed straight ahead of her.
"I'm sorry, Rose," John started to say but Rose cut him off.
"I will call you in a few days, John. Now please, I need time."
John nodded to Liam and opened the car door. "Talk to you soon then, Rose." He shut the door without waiting for her response. A moment later Rose and Liam drove off. Her house was close enough that he could almost see her turn into the driveway. Somehow he knew that it was exactly six minutes thirty eight seconds; he stood there staring in the direction they had gone.
Finally he turned and walked up the stairs to his temporary home. Inside he pulled out both his laptop and his journal. Idly he flipped to a page where he'd been working through a recurring dream. He ran his fingers over the messy scrawl.
That bloody fireplace. I HATE it. Crying. Tears. Robots? Versailles? Makes no sense... Regret. Mistakes. I live the same mistake over and over. The Doctor in the blue box again. And monsters. Hideous. Beautiful. Masks? Roses roses roses. Pink yellow roses.
Birthdays and anniversaries. But she never says thank you. I left her. Why would I leave her? A horse and a window. No, that's wrong. It's a mirror. Tick tock tick tock. The clocks have stopped. More tears. So so sorry... Always so sorry...
Sorry. Sorry. Sorry. She has to know...
The Doctor had hurt his Rose, and it had driven her away. Somehow the man who travelled the stars was unable to find a way to win her back. Thankfully, John was not the Doctor, and he would find a way to make things right with Rose. She hadn't cut him off completely, instead had just asked for a few days apart. Plenty of time for him to figure out a way back into her good graces. He wouldn't lose her; he couldn't let that happen.
In the meantime he would do what he came here to do in the first place: write. Opening his laptop, he opened his file and resumed work on his book, the story of a war revenged solider who had lost everyone and everything he cared about until he met a young woman who made him see that life was worth living once again.
~oOo~
Leaning against the door frame, Rose watched as Liam packed away the last of his belongings. There was a flight from Montrose to Denver leaving in three hours, and he wanted to be on it. Too much time away from Sophie, he'd said. More like not enough distance between him and Rose. Not that she could blame him one bit for wanting to get away as soon as possible. Even though this breakup really wasn't anyone's fault, it was still painful.
"I'm sorry," she said softly.
Liam zipped up his bag and looked up at her. "Yeah, me too." Sticking his hands in his back pockets, he walked over to her. "I wish this didn't have to end, but all good things… you know."
"I do," she replied, holding back from laying a comforting hand on his arm. She didn't want to send mixed signals. "I wish things had worked out differently. Maybe if I hadn't come here, taken this job, then we'd still be us."
Shaking his head, Liam reached out and cupped her cheek. "None of that. We decided together that Pinnacle was the best place for you, and we both knew that we could grow apart in that time. It wasn't what we wanted to happen, but hey, it's not like you have a time machine in your basement that we could use to go back and change things." Both of them grinned, and Rose gave a small laugh.
"Even if I knew who to fly her properly, it's not like we can go back and mess with our own timelines. Not without risking the reapers." Reaching up, she wrapped her small hand around his larger one on her cheek. "Nothing is worth that, trust me." She pulled their hands down and held them for a moment before letting go. "What are you going to tell Sophie?"
"I guess that depends on if you want to cut out of her life completely." Liam took in a deep breath and held it while he waited for her to respond.
"Don't be daft, Li. I'd love to still be a part of her life, to be there for her if she needs me." Rose wiped a tear from her eye, and he slowly exhaled. "It's just you're her dad, and I don't want to confuse her. She's been through so much already. You both have."
Liam nodded and looked away. "That makes things a little easier, I guess. I'll tell her that you still love her and care about her, that you'll still be there for her, just not the way that we had originally expected that you would be." Walking back over to the bed, he sat down on the edge of it. "Just, if you promise her something you can't go back on your word. I know that you wouldn't normally break a promise to her, not if you could help it. But you'll be travelling with the Doctor now…"
"I still haven't decided that yet," Rose protested.
"Sweetheart, we both know that you will and that you probably should." He chuckled dryly. "I've heard about the time travelling alien who can change his face since I was a little boy. When she used to watch me when Mum and Dad would go out, Sarah Jane used to tuck me into bed and tell me about the Doctor. I used to imagine what it would be like to go too."
Standing, Liam stood up and began to pace. "Those were good dreams for me to have when I was a kid, but it's not where my life has taken me, it's not where I need to be." He stopped and looked at her. "That life though, it's where you need to be. You were always meant to be greater. Rose Tyler, Universal traveller, saviour to many and meant for so much more than the life I could have given you. I was just lucky that I got to have the time with you that I did."
"I wouldn't have missed it, you know, my time with you." Tears were flowing down her face. "I wouldn't change one second I had with you, Liam Donnelly. Thank you for loving me, for supporting me and for letting me be me. I love you. I hope... I hope we can still be friends."
"Come 'ere, you," Liam muttered as he enfolded her in a hug. "I will always love you, and I doubt that I'd ever want to stop being your friend." His arms tightened, and he rested his chin on the top of her head. "I'll talk to Mickey; we'll form a club. Jack will, of course, lie and tell everyone that the two of you had a thing just so he can join in, and we'll feel bad for him because he doesn't have the pleasure of being your ex-boyfriend. So we'll have to let him plan the parties. There may be a gentlemen's club or two involved; don't tell Martha. "
Rose giggled. "You're an idiot, but I'll miss you all the same."
"Of course I am, and of course you will." He pressed a quick kiss into her hair and let her go. "We better get going to the airport if I'm going to make my plane. Especially if I'm going to make you stop at one of those gaudy little tourist traps on the way there and spend your hard earned money on useless gifts for Sophie, your mum and everyone else back home. It might help ease things over with them when I tell them how you broke my heart and left me for an alien who's hiding as a human."
She knew he was joking to lighten the mood, but there was a truth behind those words that stung just a little. "Come on then. Maybe I'll buy you something pretty too, to take away the pain of me dumping you. Although, I'm sure you'll find someone brilliant in no time flat. Someone you deserve."
"I'll take some time to lick my wounds, but I'm sure there's someone out there. Hey, maybe you can find someone from the future or whatever and bring her back here to live with me in the 'olden days'. That sounds like a brilliant plan."
Rose shook her head as they walked downstairs side by side. "Sure it does. Don't worry, I'll make sure she's pretty and clever and not opposed to the squalor that is the early 21st century. I mean, what good is a time machine if you can't use it to form love connections?"