AN: What's this? An update?! Almost on time?
Okay, sorry, couldn't help myself :') But yep, I'm updating almost on time! My planned chapters are starting to run short, probably around six more to go (okay, so that's not really short, but still).
I'll try to be more regular with updates, but I can't promise anything, my teachers are giving me hell.
About the chapter: BE WARNED, it starts rather cheery/funny, but ends up quite angsty/hurt-comfort. Tons of John/Rose ahead, though!
Your opinions mean A LOT to me ;) (seriously, I NEED them)
"Okay, now you could do four times 50 metres in 45 seconds, arriving around 36 to 38. Check how you bend your arms and keep using your legs." John said, smiling a bit to show that he wasn't ordering her around.
Rose felt a slight blush rise to her cheeks.
"I don't know how to arrive when you told me to.. I mean, how can I know I'm not going too fast or too slow?"
John looked surprised.
"You never done this?" He asked curious. This kind of exercise were the most used in trainings and since she'd also trained with him, she should have tried them.
"Yes, I have, but I'm usually quite far back, and I also have always somebody before me, so I just need to keep up with them in order to arrive in time. I've just never done this alone" She said, blushing lightly.
John was surprised by just how cute this girl was: she never was rude, or brusque and she had this something that made it impossible to dislike her.
"Well, that's not a problem: let's start with the basics. I like to call this ability «time sense». Makes me feel like a superhero" He said smiling proudly.
"Oh, you think you're so impressive" she teased with a smirk.
He pouted.
"I am so impressive!" He said, faking offense and turning slightly his back to her.
"Oh, don't be a baby" Rose replied bumping her shoulder with his and giving him a tongue-touched smile to which he couldn't help but answer.
"Can I speak, now, miss?" He said turning to her again.
"Yes you shall, mister" She shot back.
"Usually, long time swimmers have this ability, even if they're not aware of it. I think you shouldn't have any problem arriving with the right timing, but it'll be okay if you don't get it right at the first try. Just swim and see what happens" He said, grin giving way to a soft smile.
Rose just nodded, tense, before kicking off from the wall.
When she arrived, 50 metres later, John smiled at her.
"37.3" He simply said, and Rose beamed at him.
"I made it!" She said throwing her arms around his neck, caught in the joy of the moment.
John, shocked for only a fraction of second, wrapped his arms around her and squeezed her lightly.
Pointless to say, the full physical contact, skin to skin, curves against taut muscle, made them both shiver.
Blushing, Rose retreated back slightly, an apology on the tip of her lips, but John interrupted her.
"Great job, doll" He said playfully and the girl was surprised by the nickname, already planning to have her revenge.
Again, before she could answer, he talked.
"Now let's complete the exercise, shall we?" He smirked down at her, victoriously.
She just scowled at him, putting her googles back on and sticking playfully her tongue at his back.
"Seen that! Let's make the four series six, shall we?" He bantered playfully, not meaning it.
"No way!" Rose answered laughing, sprinting off the wall before he could get another word in.
John shook his head smiling: this girl will drive him crazy.
Rose reprimanded herself mentally; she needed to control her reactions better! Of course, John didn't seem to mind the hug, but still...
She thought that he had shivered, but it must have been her imagination. It was always like this when she had a crush.
She groaned.
Bloody hell. No. She couldn't allow herself that. Most people around her told her that John had a big-no, an enormous crush on her, that he was smitten, but she didn't want to get any hope: she wasn't exactly lucky with love.
With a strong last stroke she turned and pushed from the wall again, her feet slipping a bit.
She was getting better, and her trainer was noticing too. She wasn't the last one to start anymore and she could keep up better.
Thank god John was farther ahead, or she wouldn't have heard the end of the whole 'a wrong turn over can make you fail a competition' speech.
Sighing to herself, she took a decision: she wouldn't question her relationship with John anymore; she'd just go with whatever she felt was right and enjoy what they got. After all, John was the best mate she could ask for.
"And there's this crazy theory in physics that says that time and fate are connected. Meaning that, should we change how we measure time, it would change our fate too. " John said excitedly, and Rose couldn't help but smile: he was so adorable (or better, adorkable) when he started off on some tangent about a theory he liked, or a book he was reading, or anything, really.
This time it was the turn of a theory he had read in an essay.
She contented herself with nodding and listening to the sound of his voice: she had understood the basic ideas, but these words went over her head.
A soft not-yet-vernal breeze was making her hair float around her as a timid sun peeked over the blanket of clouds, heating the day a bit.
The boy's voice was hypnotic and suddenly Rose found herself wondering what it would be like to fall asleep to the sound of it, maybe cuddled up in his arms...
"Rose? Are you still listening?" John squeezed her hand and his voice broke through her reverie.
"Yes of course" She answered too quickly and the boy eyed her suspiciously.
She smiled innocently.
"Please, go on" she asked and let out a relieved breath when he started talking again: thank god he hadn't noticed anything too strange.
So much for «just going with it».
"And then it all connects because of this! That man was a genius. Well played, Mr. Winters" He finished, smiling proudly as if this was his own making.
Rose's ears, however, had picked a name that was familiar.
"Wait, you said Winters?" She asked suspicious.
John nodded.
"Matthew Winters, brilliant physicist. He and his wife passed away some time ago... He worked with my dad." John said, expression changing from proudness, to melancholy and finally to sadness.
Rose tucked away this changes to question him lately, too busy mulling over what she might have just found to ask him now.
"Why do you ask?" He asked suddenly, making her jump.
Rose fiddled with the hem of her jacket.
"Well... Time's last name is Winters... And she used the past tense to talk about her dad, so I was wondering if maybe..." She trailed off at John's expression: a mix of surprise, disbelief and sadness.
"They did have a daughter. With brown hair and everybody talked about her eyes.."
Rose was surprised and felt almost guilty now.
"God... Of course she was so reluctant with talking about her father.." She said cringing.
He disentangled his hand from hers and put his arm around her shoulder, pulling her into him.
"You couldn't have known, Rose.." He said, looking guilty and Rose swore she felt him press a kiss to her hair.
"What should I do now?" She asked, more to herself than to John, sitting down on the small wall that separated her garden from the sidewalk. They had arrived, but Rose needed the boy's help and support now, she was so confused.
John sat next to her with a pensive face.
"About what?" He asked confused.
"With Time... How should I behave? Should I tell her I know? Should I act differently?" She said without even breathing once, eyes pleading John to comfort her.
He took her hands and squeezed them, then began caressing the back of her hands with the pad of his thumbs in small, reassuring circles.
"I think you shouldn't do anything. Just behave how you normally would do around her. This doesn't change who she is for you, she still is the same person you met some weeks ago. When she's ready, she will tell you herself." He said, surprisingly informed on the subject.
Rose's eyes, that had been fixed in his the whole time, dropped slowly to their still entwined hands.
Taking a quivering breath, she spoke up.
"I don't know if I can do that... I mean, I'll probably feel guilty and sad every time I mention my parents. I can't even imagine how that can feel.." She said, finally looking up in John's eyes: they were staring ahead, painfully clear and still incredibly sad. He seemed in another world
"Don't do that." He said brutally, surprising Rose.
She made to take her hand away, shocked, but he held on and resumed his circling motions.
"Don't do that" He repeated, this time softer.
"She probably has coped at least a bit with their death, and is okay with you talking about them. And if still hurts her, treating her differently, as if she were ready to break at any moment, won't help. She would probably just distance herself." He went on, looking as if, instead of talking about what he thought was good he was speaking from personal experience.
Rose was suspicious about this: it was time to ask about it. It couldn't be a coincidence.
"Listen... I don't mean to be-" She started, but was interrupted by a car stopping in front of them.
She groaned and disentangled their hands quickly: she knew what would happen if he saw her like this.
At John questioning look, she turned towards the person that had just gotten out of the car and spoke up.
"Hi Dad"
John's paralysed state was hilarious and Rose started laughing.
As her dad approached them, he was wearing a wide grin.
"You can relax, boy. I'm less dangerous than her mother" He said playfully and John relaxed slightly, while Rose was clutching her stomach, still laughing.
The boy glared at her, but it only served to make her laugh harder.
Rose's dad stuck his hand out.
"I'm Pete" he said smiling.
John took his hand and shook it.
"Nice to meet you. I'm John Noble" he answered.
"Oh, so you're the famous John!" Pete exclaimed surprised and it was Rose's time to freeze at the boy's smug.
"I have a feeling we'll get along well" Pete concluded, saying goodbye and going inside the house.
John, as much as he had felt terror at meeting Rose's dad, was glad for the interruption.
Seeing her feeling so guilty made him think about his 'secret', or better, his omission. He would have to tell her, sooner or later.
"Well... Before my dad interrupted I was trying to say something. And since it seems to be dad-day, you never told me anything about your dad.." She said, cringing because of the fear of the answer.
He sighed internally, seemed that that soon was right now.
With the softest voice possible, he answered "My dad died five years ago" and watched as her face crumbled, guilt and shame clear on it.
"No, Rose, please, don't feel guilty, please" He pleaded before she could even open her mouth.
She shook her head and John was surprised to see her eyes glisten.
"How can I? It's the second time that I somehow hurt one of my friends! And why? Because I'm insensitive and tactless." She scolded.
"Rose, that's not true." He said, taking both her hands in his. When she refused to look him in the eyes, however, he lifted one hand to her cheek and cupped her face, tilting her head until her eyes, still full of unshed tears, were fixed in his.
"As I said before, you couldn't have known. And you didn't hurt me, I promise." He whispered in his most convincing voice, but his friend seemed still unsure.
"Why didn't you tell me?" She asked, regretting it soon after.
He had to think about the answer for a couple of minutes.
"I'm not sure... I guess that when you were happy I didn't want to ruin your happiness and when you were sad...well I didn't want to sadden you more." He answered, eyes dropping from hers. Her hands squeezing his made him go on.
"I know it's stupid, it's just... It's something that only makes others uncomfortable around me and reminds me of happy times, but also painful ones and it's easier to just forget, sometimes. I'm so sick of people treating me as if I was made of thin glass, pitying me and I guess I didn't want me to look at me like that too.." He said in a single breath, so much passion and nostalgia behind his words.
Rose disentangled their hands and started playing with his fingers.
"Do you miss him?" She asked tentatively after some silence.
"Yes." He answered immediately.
"Yes, I miss him often, but it's easier now. I'm glad for the happy moments we had together, I'm glad for how he taught me a lot of things, I'm glad for the passion for science I inherited from him. I'm glad I had the chance to know him and be loved by him." He said the last words lifting his eyes and fixing them in hers, letting her see the truth in them.
"That's why you love «Doctor», so much" She whispered, more of a statement than a question.
"That's why I love «Doctor, so much" He confirmed, and this time Rose dropped her gaze to lean her head on his shoulder.
John took the opportunity to caress her hand slowly, praying that he hadn't messed this up.
"Wish you had told me sooner.." She sighed finally.
He pressed a soft kiss to her hair in apology, and when she pressed closer to him, cuddling into his side slightly, he felt something shift inside of him: he had done the right thing telling her, because she was his anchor, his best friend, the one that would stay at his side, no matter what.