John called her almost before she was inside her apartment.

"Hello. Um, it's John."

"Yes, I can tell." She smiled. His accent was very distinctive.

"Just wanted to make sure I did indeed have the right number."

"You do." She set down her bag and flopped on the couch, conscious that she should be getting some sleep now but not caring.

"So, er, when do you want to meet? Tonight, I mean. As in, o'clock. At the diner."

He was just so adorably awkward.

"I get off work at eight," she said, stifling a yawn. She didn't do a very good job of it, though, for immediately he began to apologize.

"I'm so sorry, I'm keeping you up," he said remorsefully.

"Oh, it's okay," Rose said through another yawn. A pause ensued that neither one of them seemed to want to end.

"Well, you should be getting to bed, and I have work to do and.. things," John said finally.

"Yeah. See you later, Doctor," she responded.

"Goodbye, Rose Tyler," he said, and hung up with a click.

With bleary eyes, Rose changed into pajamas and dragged herself into bed. and if she dreamed about a certain young astrophysicist, she didn't remember it in the morning.

At eight PM sharp, Rose threw off her apron as fast as she could, yelled to Wilson that she was leaving, and made her way outside. John was waiting for her, wearing the self-same pinstriped suit and camel-colored coat as the day before.

"You look nice," he said by way of greeting, holding out his arm for her to take.

Rose snorted.

"I look like I got three hours of sleep last night and had to deal with a lot of drunk customers at work," she sighed, rubbing her forehead where a headache was beginning to develop.

"Thank you for rescuing me," she added, taking his arm and drawing close.

"My pleasure, Rose Tyler," he responded gallantly.

"So how did your day go?" she asked him.

"Well enough, I suppose. This project I'm working on is a bit complex."

"Oh, a project? Tell me more," she prompted him, half-flirting, half-intrigued.

"Mmm, it's a secret. I'll tell you when I'm finished," he promised.

"Oh, a man of mystery!" she sighed dramatically, miming swooning into his arms. "You think you're so impressive!"

"I am so impressive!" he protested, all mock indignation.

Laughing, they made their way into the diner and sat down. This time, the waitress was slightly more prompt.

"Pot of coffee, please. With cream," John ordered.

She brought them a jug of cream almost as big as the pot of coffee.

"Ha! See? She thinks so too! You put an excessive amount of cream in your coffee!" Rose exclaimed triumphantly. The waitress gave Rose an understanding smile.

"My husband's the same way," she told her before walking away and leaving the pair to blush a bit at the implication that they were married.

"So!" said John, dispelling the awkwardness with a clap of his hands. "What shall we talk about tonight, Rose Tyler?"

"Black holes," she requested.

"Straight into the heavy stuff, huh? All right." He poured them both cups of coffee, unashamedly filling half of his with cream and copious amounts of sugar. "Here we go…"

It became their nightly routine - Rose would get off work, John would meet her outside, and together they would walk to the diner, drink coffee, and talk. Sometimes John would teach her about space and all it's wonders.

"Did you know there's a galaxy named after you?" he asked her once. "The Rose Galaxy. It's breathtaking." His wink made her blush.

Usually these lessons would end in him going on a long, technical tangent. He would pull out a dry-erase marker he seemingly always carried with him and scribble complicated equations on the nearest available glass surface. The theories he would ramble on about were far beyond her grasp of math and science, so Rose would lean back and smile at his enthusiasm, admiring every move he made. It was usually at moments like that when the waitress would appear to replace their usual pot of coffee and jug of cream, giving Rose a knowing look and conspiratorial wink before walking away, leaving Rose with a flushed face.

"Why are you blushing, Rose? Did I miss something? Is antimatter suddenly risque?" he asked one time. There was a certain look in his eyes that made her wonder if he really was clueless.

"Oh, no," she said airily, "I'm just terribly impressed by your expertise. Teach on."

He jumped back to his equations with a will, Rose gazing fondly at his back as he wrote and talked a mile a minute.

Other times, they would talk about their personal lives. Rose mostly took the lead here, telling endless tales of her family's quirks. To be fair, John talked his fair share as well - before coming to Nevada, he had traveled extensively. He would often amuse Rose and the waitress (whose name, they eventually found out, was Dana) with impressions of people he had met on his trips. The diner, almost always empty except for the three of them and the staff in the kitchen, rang with laughter.

Rose was never able to get much in the way of backstory out of John, though. Whenever she asked him about his parents or childhood he would neatly sidestep the question and change the subject.

But the real mystery was his work. Time and again Rose would try to wheedle information about it out of him, and time and again he would evade her.

"Later," he'd promise. "I'm not done with it yet. I'll tell you when I am."

Finally, on New Year's Eve, Rose stepped out of the casino to find snow in the ground and John waiting for her in an old blue Honda Civic with a peeling paint job.

"The epitome of class, you are," she told him with mock disapprobation as she slid in.

"'Epitome'? Well, I'm glad you get some educational benefit from my rambles," he tossed back, starting the ignition.

"So where are you taking me? And more importantly, will we be back in time for the New Year's Eve party my mum's throwing and you are not-optionally invited to attend?" she asked as they drove off.

"In regards to your second question, don't worry, we'll be back in plenty of time. I have a healthy respect for your mother." John had met her twice before. They were memorable experiences, to say the least.

"And the first?" Rose held her cold hands in front of the nearest vent.

"It's a surprise," he responded, the smile that Rose had come to call the I'm-so-impressive smile on his face.

Despite him being monumentally awful at driving, a fact Rose was not shy to point out, the pair reached their destination in one piece.

The destination itself was a large building, almost like a plane hangar. Rose was burning up with curiosity.

"Close your eyes. No peeking," he instructed her, taking her hand.

Rolling her eyes beneath her closed eyelids, Rose followed him in.

"Can I open my eyes now?" she asked as she felt him leave her side to close the doors.

"Hold on… Just a minute… okay." John returned to her side. "Open your eyes."

Rose opened them, and saw… a wardrobe, tall and boxy and blue.

"What is this?" Rose was utterly perplexed.

"This, Rose Tyler, is what I've been working on all this time," he said proudly.

"What, a cabinet?" she said disbelievingly.

"That's just the outside," he assured her. "The inside - well, let's just say it's pretty incredible. Think of it as the wardrobe to Narnia."

Rose couldn't help smiling at his dorkiness as he strode over to it and threw open the doors.

"Come on, look inside," he invited. Rose peeked in cautiously. There were rows upon rows of glowing buttons, levers, and switches.

"What do all these do?" she asked, stepping inside. Surprisingly, there was room enough for both of them as John followed her in and closed the doors.

"A wide variety of things," he said, beginning to push, pull, and flick them. Rose gasped as the box rocked slightly and began to make a tremendous amount of noise.

"What's going on?" she shouted over the commotion.

"A miracle!" he exclaimed triumphantly.

The noises stopped suddenly and John opened the door, ushering Rose out.

She couldn't believe her eyes. They were in the alley next to her apartment.

"What did I tell you, Rose? Plenty of time!" John, grinning nonchalantly, leaned against the blue box. "All the time in the world, in fact, because not only does this wonderful box travel from place to place - it also travels in time."

Rose burst out in laughter.

"I can't believe it! This is amazing!" she said.

"So am I impressive now?" he asked.

"Oh, most definitely," Rose said, and finally did something she should've done ages ago - reached forward, grabbed his tie, and kissed him.

He was hesitant and gentle, making Rose smile against his lips.

"Happy New Year's," she said softly when they broke apart.

She could practically see the neurons struggling to fire.

"So I take it that you'd be amenable to traveling with me?" he asked when he'd recovered full cognitive function.

"Yes, I'd be perfectly amenable," she said, poking him in the side. "But first, we have a New Year's party to attend."

They climbed the stairs up to the apartment, another pair of lovers with high hopes for the new year.