One Hundred and Eighty Two Days ~ (a TenRose Fanfiction)

Letting go of the Past

-Rose's POV

I got the job. The audition was much more relaxed than I thought, and Mike was actually a really nice guy. I settled with singing a bit if Jar if Hearts, and sure enough, I beat the other 6 people I was up against. I sit on the sofa, swinging my legs as Mike tells me about the job.

"Now" Mike says on the other end if the phone "you start tomorrow, 6pm-7.30pm. Just start if with your audition song and you'll be good to go"

"Okay, thank you!" I say, and we say our goodbyes and I end the call. The Doctor comes in from the bathroom, dressed in his pinstripe suit and with his hair all spiked up...just how I like it. I mentally sold myself. I need to stop these thoughts.

"You look happy" the Doctor says, walking over and jumping into the seat beside me.

"I am" I say with a smile.

"Who was that on the phone?" He asks.

"Just..my boss" I grin widely.

"What?" He asks "Rose...did you?"

"I got a job!" I exclaim excitedly.

"A job? What job?!" The Doctor says with an ecstatic grin.

"I singer, at a local pub. I auditioned but didn't want to tell you unless I got the job..and I did!"

"Oh, Rose!" He says, pulling me off the sofa and into a massive hug. "Well done!"

"Thanks!" I say. He begins swinging me around in his arms. I squeal through my giggles and he sets me back down on the ground, his hands lingering on my waist. For a moment my body feels so tense because of his touch, just the feeling of his hands on me sends electric feelings through my veins.

"I never knew you could sing" he smiles.

"I..I don't know what to say" I say bashfully.

"You're too modest"

"You're not" I tease and he laughs.

"That is true" he pulls away, walking toward the kitchen "Ill make some tea...let's celebrate!"

***

-The Doctor's POV

We have a lovely meal, this time the lasagne is not forgotten, and everything is fine until the end. I ask once question and suddenly Rose turns quiet.

"So, have you done any singing before?" I ask. She swallows hard and stares down at her empty plate. A few seconds if silence pass "Rose?"

"I...I need to tell you something" she says. Slightly surprised at the change of atmosphere, I nod encouragingly. She takes a deep breath "Yes, I've sung before...and it didn't go well."

"What happened?" I ask. She brings her eyes to mine and I notice they're watering. Sympathy rushing through me, I grab her hand on top of the table.

"There was a man...my boss." she stops for a second, looking down at out hands, a fear dropping down her cheek. She quickly wipes it away with her spare hand and takes a deep breath.

"You can tell me anything." I say.

"I know..It's just-" she hesitates a second "this is very hard to talk about"

By the way she's speaking I can tell this is very serious "You don't have to say, If you don't want to"

"I do," she nods and wipes away another tear "His name was Jimmy Stone. I thought he was amazing. Back then, I really wanted to get into singing, y'know, as a proper career. But things went wrong..." She trails off, an obvious lump in her throat. The tears brimming strongly in her eyes and her wavering voice break a part of my hearts.

"What went wrong?" I ask gently, rubbing my thumb against her hand to soothe her.

"He beat me" she suddenly says, bringing her gaze back to mine. I see the pain in them immediately, and anger rushes through me. A part of me breaks inside as she says the words. He hurt her. He beat her. My Rose. My precious Rose.

"What did he do to you? Was it bad?" I say.

"H-He hit me. Several times. He broke one of my ribs and I had two black eyes." She says.

"Oh, Rose. I'm so sorry" I say full heatedly.

"It's fine now, it's over."

"No, it's not fine. He hurt you, Rose. If I could get to him I'd teach him a damn good lesson."

"He's in prison." She says through her tears "Don't worry"

A part of me breathes a sigh of relief, and the other half is still questioning, "Did he ever...touch you?" I say very carefully, not quite meeting her eyes. She shakes her head.

"He tried to. One night, he took me to a hotel. It was supposed to be a night where I'd do my first ever gig. It was in a nearby restaurant, but he made it feel special. After I sung, he took me back to my room and..." She stops a second, and I squeeze her hand to will her on, even though I dint know if I want to hear the next part of the story "He tried to touch me. But I kicked him hard, but not quite hard enough. He fell to the ground and played unconscious, so I got up to leave but he dragged me to the ground and kept hitting me. I-I couldn't stop him."

"How did you escape?"

"The woman underneath our room heard me screaming" she says, now properly crying. I realise my eyes are slightly glassed over too. I get up from my seat and walk over to her. She gets up and I wrap her in a warm hug. She sobs into my arms and I hold her close. "I'm sorry." She whispers, after a while"

"No, I'm sorry. I should've been there" I admit.

"You didn't even know me, Doctor" she says through her still choked up voice.

"But I should've."

"It's the past, and I should've let it go ages ago."

"It doesn't matter. What's important is that I will never, ever, let anyone near you like that again. So we let it go tonight. Because you're safe now" I say. She nods into my shoulder and whispers a thank you.

"I'm so glad I met you" she says. Her words warm my hearts, and all I want to do I pull her even closer, and tell her those three words. But I can't. Ever.

"I'm so glad I met you too" Is all I manage to say.

"A man once told me something," she says against my shoulder "It was snowing, and I was walking back home on new year, and a man spoke to me. I can't quite remember what he looked like now, or any of the details...But I remember what he said to me. He told me I was gonna have a really great year" she says, and I can feel her smile "And y'know what? He was right. He was so, so right. I met you, and Jimmy was put behind me, all in the past. You saved me." She says.

"I saved you?" I ask.

"You took my hand in that store and took me away from the past."

"I may have saved you. But you saved me, too." I say, and pull away to stare her in the eyes. I notice she's still crying, but more gently now. I wipe away a tear and let my hand rest on her cheek "I was such an angry man, born in battle after the time war. But you saved me." I say.

"We saved each other. And we always do" Rose smiles and I press my forehead to hers.

"And we always will"