The Direct (and Not so Direct) Approach (3/4)

[amberfocus]

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Title: The Direct (and Not so Direct) Approach (3/4)
Author: amberfocus
Characters/Pairings: Ninth Doctor/Rose Tyler, Mickey Smith, Jackie Tyler
Genre: Romance, Fluff
Rating: Teen for now
Betas: amyo67,jeprdyfrndly
Summary: Rose Tyler turns down the Ninth Doctor's invitation to travel with him twice. With a little gentle persuasion, and becoming an active presence in her Earthbound life, can he change her mind?
A/N: Written for the then_theres_us ficathon. AU from the end of the episode Rose.


Chapter One Chapter Two

Chapter Three




“Where were you?” Mickey demanded as Rose threw her purse down under her desk and sat down with enough force that her chair sank down and she had to pump it back up again.

His tone was so demanding that she glared at him. “What are you, my keeper?”

“I just…missed you at lunch,” Mickey said, his eyes going wide at her temper.

“Why? No footie match on the telly today?” she snapped.

“Well…”

“There wasn’t, was there?” she asked. “You know I’m getting tired of your sport, Mickey. I almost died a couple weeks ago and all you wanted to do was go down the pub and watch a match. What does that say about us? Really?”

Mickey was silent, staring at Rose in surprise for a long moment before mustering up the gumption to speak to his furious girlfriend. “I was worried.”

“Worried now, but you weren’t worried then!”

“A lot of things have happened since then,” Mickey said darkly. “You got involved with that…thing.”

“Don’t you dare call him a thing!” she said, her voice a low growl. “Don’t you dare!”

“Is that where you were? Is he back?”

“None of your business.”

“I think I have the right to know where my girlfriend is skulking off to when she’s supposed to be eating lunch with me.”

“Supposed to be? Supposed to be?” Rose hissed. “I don’t have to check in with you, Mickey Smith, if I want to do something a little different.”

“A word would have been nice,” he said sulkily. “And I don’t get why you won’t tell me.”

“Because I shouldn’t have to. It’s not like we’re married. It’s not like we’re ever gonna be.”

“What?” Mickey looked completely confused. “Who said anything about marriage? Why are you thinking about marriage?”

“Nobody. And I’m not. I’m just thinking about the future and the fact that I don’t think we have one,” she told him.

“Rose, calm down. It’s not like you need to ask my permission to go do something else. I just thought we had a standing date and I was surprised that you snuck out like that without telling me, is all,” Mickey said.

She crossed her arms over her chest and her eyes shot lasers at him. “If you must know, I got a better offer.”

“What?”

“I went to lunch with a friend,” she said. “My life doesn’t revolve around you.”

“I know, but—.”

“I’m just so tired of it. Day in, day out, nothing but work and footie, beans on toast and Mum constantly after me to get compensation from Henrik’s and really, Mickey, don’t you just find it all so—so boring?” she demanded.

“I was right the first time. This is about him, isn’t it?” Mickey asked, his eyes narrowing. “You’ve been different ever since you met him. It’s like your old life and the rest of us aren’t good enough for you anymore!”

“This is about everything!” she exploded. “Not just him, not just you, but everything!”

They were drawing an audience as one or two of the mechanics poked their heads in and the parts guy stood riveted to his spot. “No, it’s not. It’s about that Doctor and his offer to go traveling on his ship. I know you, Rose. Don’t even try to make it about anything else.”

“Well, maybe it is.”

“And why do you think he wants you along, Rose? I saw the way he looked at you. He’s half in love with you and you can bet his first matter of business will be to get you into his bed, “Mickey said. “And on a ship like that, where are you gonna run?”

“He’s not like that!”

“Every man is like that!”

“He’s not. He’s good and he’s special and he offered to pay me—.”

“To sleep with him—?”

She had to restrain herself from flying out of her chair and slapping him. “No! And if you even think that it shows how little you know about either of us,” she spat out.

“You’re mad at me because I made you turn him down.”

“You didn’t make me do anything, Mickey! I made the decision. I made the choice to stay with you. I made it and every day since then you have made me regret it. You have made me hate everything about my life with—.”

“Stop it, Rose, just stop it,” Mickey growled at her. “You are making a scene. This is where I work!”

Rose’s jaw snapped shut and she stared at him. “Yeah, it is,” she finally said. “And welcome to it. Tell Irvin I quit.”

“Rose!”

“And Mickey, it’s not just the job I’m quitting! It’s you!” She grabbed her purse, stormed out of the garage, and hit the pavement, hot tears of anger and rage about the futility of everything rushing through her head as she broke into a run for home.



“Good heavens, Rose, what’s got you in this state?” Jackie Tyler stared at her daughter’s mascara tracked face as Rose plopped herself down on the sofa.

“Mickey and I had a fight. And I quit my new job. And we just broke up.”

“Oh, Rose,” Jackie said, torn between sympathy for her daughter and the more practical matter of whether or not she’d be able to meet the bills this month if Rose didn’t find something else right quick. Her instinct to nurture won out and she sat down beside Rose and pulled her into her arms. Rose immediately burst into tears again.

“It was awful. He was awful, I was even more awful and oh, Mum, what am I gonna do? I don’t want to be stuck forever!” Rose wailed.

“There, there,” Jackie said uselessly patting Rose on the back, trying to give her comfort. “It can’t be as bad as all that.”

“It is.” Rose pulled away from her mother and reached for the tissue box. She pulled one out and gave a very unladylike blow. She grabbed another and began to wipe at the black marks on her face.

“Mickey adores you. I’m sure if you just apologize to him, everything will be fine.”

“It’s not my fault! And I don’t want to apologize to him. I don’t even want him. Not anymore, not for weeks, not since…” Not since the Doctor had saved her life.

“It’s post-traumatic stress, Rose. You should go see someone. You could afford it if you’d go get compensation for—.”

“I don’t bloody want compensation!” Rose yelled.

Jackie blinked. “Well, if this is how you talked to Mickey, it’s no wonder he broke up with you,” she said.

Rose sighed and sank back into the couch. “I broke up with him,” she said more quietly. “And it’s not about Henrik’s or nearly dying. It’s about…Mum do you remember that man? The one who came here to talk to me the day after the explosion?”

Jackie looked annoyed. “The looker in the leather jacket?” she asked. Rose nodded. “I didn’t like him.”

“Why? He’s exactly you’re type,” Rose said snarkily.

Her mother glared at her. “You can drop the attitude right now, young lady.”

Rose sighed and stood up. “Forget it. I’ll figure this out on my own. I have to be an adult sometime.” She strode quickly to her bedroom and slammed the door shut behind her.



Rose spent a couple of days sulking and thinking and not at all feeling like an adult. Mickey had tried to call her several times, but she let her mobile go unanswered and deleted her voice mail without listening to it. She knew she was being unreasonable, but she didn’t want to get back together with Mickey. Better to make a clean break of it.

She needed to pull herself together and start looking for a new job. Jackie had dropped a few not so subtle hints about the fact that the butcher was hiring someone to work the front counter, and so was the Tesco. She’d rather go back to the chip shop. If nothing else, Mrs. Mavel in the flat beneath theirs was looking for someone to watch her kids during the day because Mr. Mavel had run off to France with a woman half his age.

Half his age. She was half the Doctor’s age. Had she been too hard on him? It seemed to be her week for overreacting. He had said he expected nothing from her, but he’d also flirted and more or less said if she wanted something from him he’d be happy to oblige. Maybe his offer to employ her was just that. Give her an income while she helped him to do whatever it is he did. But if she worked for him he’d be her boss and that opened up one big tin of worms.

The doorbell rang and Rose jumped. Jackie was out so she’d have to answer it. She got up and peeked through the peephole to make sure it wasn’t a serial killer or worse, Mickey. All she saw was a young man with a ponytail and a big bouquet of flowers. Not, she noted, the roses that Mickey would usually send when they’d fought in the past.

She opened the door. “I’m looking for Rose Tyler,” the man said.

“That’s me.”

“These are for you,” he said. He handed them over and she took them.

“Oh, they’re beautiful,” she said. “Thank you.”

“I just delivered them,” he said with a wry grin. “I didn’t send them.”

She smiled and he grinned back before scooting off down the balcony to the stairs. She shut the door and brought the flowers into the kitchen. Mickey was really stepping up his game if he was sending her an arrangement like this. It probably cost more than he made in a day. She recognized at least two orchids. She frowned as she set them down on the table. He shouldn’t be wasting his money on a girl who wasn’t in love with him anymore. Their relationship was beyond saving. She was going to have to talk to him, make it clearer if necessary. Still, she reached for the card, finally willing to see what he had to say. But the flowers weren’t from Mickey.

Rose

We need to talk, sort things out. I’m bad at words, but I think there’s some that need saying here. I’d like to take you to dinner at Harwood Arms tonight at 7:00 to talk. If you still don’t want to come with me, I’ll let you go.

The Doctor

Despite her irritation with the man, she felt her stomach sink at the last four words of his message. I’ll let you go. It hit her, hard, that she didn’t want him to let her go. She didn’t want him to disappear from her life. She’d meet with him, talk to him and get it sorted out. But the Harwood Arms… Well, he’d said he’d take her somewhere nicer then the chippy if they’d had time. She just hadn’t imagined he’d meant such a posh restaurant. Did she even have something nice enough to wear there?

She was just about to head to her closet when the doorbell rang again. Another delivery man stood at the door with a large flat box. “Rose Tyler?” he asked.

“That’s me.”

“This is for you.”

She took the gift box from him and he trotted off. She kicked the door shut behind him and looked at the card.

Rose

Not trying to buy your affections. This is from the three story wardrobe room on my ship. Wear it or not, but I thought you should have the option.

The Doctor

Rose smiled softly. The man knew how to work it, at least when he wasn’t putting his foot in his mouth, she’d give him that. She took the box to her bedroom and pulled off the long, velvet ribbon, opening the lid and moving aside the fragile gilt tissue paper. She gasped in surprise at the beauty of the dress. She pulled it out of the box and walked over to her full length mirror with it. Her mouth fell open as she saw how well it went with her skin tone.

It had a heart-shaped, strapless bodice that glittered with green and gold sequins. A light green satin ribbon tied under the bust to give it an empire waist. A large flower of the same color sat in the center. The skirt was made of starched, golden silk tulle that seemed to be shot through with pink. There were several layers of it and they swirled into a scalloped hemline.



She put it down on a chair and stripped off her clothes before pulling it eagerly over her head and awkwardly zipping it up the back. She stared at herself, her mouth dropping open. “I look amazing,” she said.

When the doorbell rang again she shook her head in bemusement and went to get it. A third delivery man was waiting with yet another box. She all but grabbed it and slammed the door in her rush to get back to her room and see what the Doctor had in store for her this time. She read the card first.

Rose

Forgot the shoes. And the necklace. Hope you like them.

The Doctor

“And it’s not even my birthday,” she said tearing the paper away from the box and ripping it open. A pair of delicate stiletto heels fell out as she upended the box. “I’ll be lucky if I can walk in these,” she muttered, but she was going to try. The golden shoes had winding straps that made their way across the top of the foot to wrap about the ankle twice. A handful of stars hung from the straps.



“Necklace,” she mumbled, digging into the box once again to pull out a golden necklace with a pendant that looked sort of like an oval with arms that met the chain on either side. A brilliant green emerald dangled from the bottom of the oval. It was perfect.



How a man who walked around in jumpers and jeans could have such exquisite taste and know exactly what suited her was beyond her, but he was definitely a keeper.

She rummaged through her dresser until she found a new pair of nude tights and shimmied into them. She put on the shoes, they fit perfectly, and carefully walked back to the mirror to put the necklace around her neck. She glanced at the clock. It was approaching six. She had enough time to do something with her hair and redo her makeup. To think that she might get to play dress up like this all the time if she went with him.

She hesitated on the threshold to the bathroom door. Was she letting him buy her affections? Was this a bribe? No, she’d like to think he was beyond that. He was treating her to an experience, that was all. And she’d let him. But she’d make it very clear that she was doing…whatever she was doing tonight on her own terms.

Carefully she arranged her hair the way her mother had taught her long ago, into a French knot. She pulled a few tendrils out to frame her face and used a fat curling wand to give them a bit more body. She applied her makeup with a delicate hand, passing on her usual eyeliner.

When the doorbell rang again, she was ready. She opened it and swallowed hard when she saw the Doctor standing there. She had half expected him to show up in his usual outfit, but instead he stood dressed in a deep gray suit and a golden, silk tie that matched the tulle of her dress. He looked slightly uncomfortable and self-conscious as he pulled at his tie a little.

They looked each other up and down and said in unison, “You’re gorgeous.” Rose giggled and the Doctor smiled, his eyes lighting up with joy.

“Your chariot awaits,” he said gesturing down to the ground floor level. Rose gasped in disbelief at the long, white limousine waiting below.

“You really went all out,” she said.

“Nothing but the best,” he says. “That’s my motto. And you, Rose Tyler, are the very best.”

Rose couldn’t help herself. She grabbed him by the tie, pulled him closer, and snogged the hell out of him.

Chapter Four

Comments

[jer832.livejournal.com]

Rose was hard on Mickey, and at first I thought that was unfair to him; but I think it was something that had been festering... he wanted to go to the pub to see a match the night she almost got killed. that's a little more than forgetting an anniversary. Yeah, I'd be pissed off just like that. Very realistic.