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rose tyler woke up earlier than usual that morning, and for some reason, she wasn't able to fall back asleep. she tossed and turned in bed for a while before she finally decided to get up.
it didn't take her long to get dressed, going quietly so as not to wake her brother tony, who was spending more time at rose and tentwo's place.
once rose's hair was done she opened the door and immediately upon entering the hallway, heard voices coming from the living room. she stopped and began walking slowly to try and hear what the hushed voices were saying. for some reason, it made her nervous as she approached the doorframe, being careful to stay hidden.
she saw her husband sitting with an unfamiliar man wearing a bow tie. rose couldn't quite explain why, but her heart began to beat faster when she looked at him.
"why are you here?" tentwo, who had slowly started going by john smith, asked. he was talking in a hushed voice, but he sounded distressed.
the other man shifted uncomfortably.
"my time is running out." he whispered. his voice felt familiar to rose, but she was sure didn't recognize whomever it was.
"don't tell rose. she'd be devastated." tentwo pleaded.
"i know." the other man whispered. it was obvious he was going to start crying. "i just wanted to see her. one last goodbye."
her husband began tearing up hearing his friends voice.
"i understand, and i'm sorry. i'm so sorry." he sighed. "rose is in our room. i can go get her for you?"
she saw the other man nod.
"yeah, alright. i won't tell her who i am." rose didn't stick around to hear the rest. she quickly and quietly made her way back to their shared room, calming her breathing and picking up. a hair brush.
she began pretending to finish her hair as tentwo opened the door.
"hey love, are you alright?" his brows furrowed as he noticed her tears. she quickly wiped them, but she hadn't even realized she was crying.
"yeah, sorry i had a nightmare." they weren't uncommon. "what's up?"
"oh, a friend of mine is at the door. his names john also, i met him at the shop." rose didn't say anything to let on that she heard them talking. "thought you might wanna meet him. that alright?"
"yeah, yeah i'd love to meet him." rose set the brush down and followed her doctor out the door. as she walked in view of the man again, her heart was speeding up.
"john, this is rose, rose this is my friend john." her husband looked at the man pointedly. "i'm going to make some breakfast and tea for everyone, is that alright?"
rose nodded. she sat down next to the where the man, john, sat.
"hello." her voice was soft and john smiled at her. it was pained.
"hello rose. it's so nice to meet you. i've-i've heard so much about you." his voice cracked.
"y-you too. so, you're a friend of my husbands then?" rose tried to make polite conversation, even though her heart felt like it was going to explode.
"yeah. we met at the shop a while back. i was buying jammie dodgers. love a good jammy dodger, me."
"you look very familiar." rose furrowed her brows as if she was trying to figure it out. she felt her head start to hurt as she tried to work it out.
he shook his head.
"we haven't met. not from around here, but, john here speaks very highly of you so i thought i'd pop in." the man, john, stood up straight, but immediately hunched over.
"are you alright?" rose rushed over to help him stand up. he nodded, but was grimacing in pain.
"i'm alright. don't worry about me." john glanced towards the kitchen. "but listen. my time is running out, i won't be here for much longer. i've got to move on."
rose shook her head.
"i don't understand." she whispered. "why are you telling me this?"
"he doesn't want me to tell you this." he sighed and brought his hand up to her cheek but hesitated. "that's not the point, the point is-"
he stopped. he opened his eyes and there were tears he couldn't contain.
"i couldn't leave without saying goodbye." john leaned forward and pressed his forehead to hers. rose wasn't sure why but she couldn't bring herself to pull away.
"goodbye?" rose whispered. "we-we've never met."
"not with this face we haven't." he whispered. rose gasped.
she yanked away.
"d-doctor?" she whispered. he smiled, but it was pained.
"goodbye, rose tyler." the doctor sighed. rose couldn't move.
he turned and walked away before she could even process what had happened.
"wait!" rose was frozen. she couldn't move as she watched the doctor, not her doctor, stumble out of her house.
"rose? what's wrong?" tentwo asked as she called out. he rushed over from her. "rose?"
"that was him wasn't?" she turned towards her doctor with distress on her face. "that was him?"
tentwo didn't say anything, but the look on his face said it all. rose couldn't comprehend why a doctor who had never met her wanted to say goodbye to her in his final moments.
"he's still me, you know." tentwo whispered to her as if he could read her mind. "he still loves you."
rose couldn't say anything, but the tears on her face spoke volumes. tentwo sighed.
"go to him." he whispered. "he's regenerating. he needs you."
rose didn't hesitate. she grabbed her coat.
"i'm coming back." she told tentwo as she rushed out the door. he nodded.
"doctor!" rose cried. she heard a guttural moan and say him lying outside the tardis at the end of the street.
she rushed to him and threw his arm around her shoulder, hoisting him up.
"it's alright doctor. i've got you. let's get you into the tardis yeah?" she pulled and he did his best to support himself against her as they hobbled in. "it's alright you're almost there."
he groaned.
"it's alright i've got you." rose mumbled. "i'm here, i'm here doctor."
