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Rain splattered onto the window sill next to Rose. She was safe and warm inside, but the grey skies matched the state of her heart. She felt a bit silly. She was a born Londoner. Dreary weather was in her blood, generations back. Even more so, she had always rolled her eyes at those girls who got so emotional over missing their boyfriends. It sounded so 13 to even think it. But here she was, cursing the time difference and counting down the days until his return as she clicked through photos of John’s most recent fishing trip in Hawaii. “Miss you! Love, Your Doctor,” he had signed off the email with her nickname for him. He had one more week of work, then two weeks of relaxation planned into the program’s schedule while others on his team finished their duties. Rose had asked (ok, maybe whined a bit. But only a bit!) if he could come back a tad early, but the team’s leaders wanted to minimize costs and simplify travel arrangements, and since it was all paid for by the university, John couldn’t really argue. He had to wait to travel home with the team.
As much as it hurt her heart for him to be half a world away these last two months, she was so proud of him and happy for him that he had this opportunity. He was earning his doctorate, finishing up the last of a very prestigious research trip to the Mauna Kea observatories. It had a been great honor for him to be invited, and he was making vital connections for his career. Soon he really would be a “doctor,” and they would have a whole glorious summer together before they resumed teaching in the autumn.
She turned back to grading her class’s photo essays. These art students were some of the best she’d had, so it wasn’t too hard to stay positive and focused at work (well, sometimes it was still hard). But at home, the flat seemed so empty without his voice and manic energy and random dancing. Her life felt too quiet, used to his exuberant presence. They had been best mates through uni, dating for nearly two years, and living together for six months before he’d left for Hawaii, and yet he still surprised her every day in the best way.
Surprises… The idea struck Rose like lightning. She sat up straight and smoothed down her hair from where her fingers had been tangled in it. Before she could get too excited, she checked flight prices for the first week of her summer break. London to Kona… well, it wasn’t cheap, and she’d have to navigate the Los Angeles airport, but she could do it. Nine days to wait until then. Nine days sounded a lot better than three weeks, but she still wished it were tomorrow. Her finger hovered over the “book flight” button. A weather alert popped up on her screen, informing her that there was no end in sight to the spring showers for good ol’ London town. Boyfriends aside, it was definitely time to head to a more tropical island than the one she inhabited.
She squealed to herself as the confirmation screen loaded with a palm tree and a beautiful beach scene. She added “bikini shopping” to her schedule for after work tomorrow and returned to grading her students’ assignments, resisting the urge to just give them all top marks and look up travel videos. As sad as she would be to say goodbye to these talented young artists forever, these next nine days couldn’t pass fast enough.
While he was eating breakfast, John’s phone chimed with an incoming message. He jumped and immediately felt guilty, as he wasn’t sure who else in the rented beachside guesthouse was awake yet. His insides warmed however, when he saw “Missing you!” and a video of Rose winking at him and blowing a kiss looping on his screen. He smiled and asked if she had time to Skype. She did for a few minutes, so they caught up on their days (well, the previous day for him). And he showed her the beach view as he did every morning that they talked. Something seemed different about her, however. She seemed… perky. Not that Rose wasn’t usually perky. She was well known among her friends and family for being a ray of sunshine, in fact. But this was different. A sad thought crossed his mind that perhaps it wasn’t that she was any more perky than usual but that she had been unusually blue without him and was simply adjusted to his absence by now. A bolt of distaste turned his stomach at that. He definitely didn’t want her getting used to a life without him. Just as he was beginning to wonder if she actually was finding life without him more pleasurable than life with him, she snapped him out of his melancholy thoughts.
“Hey, you ok?” she asked, concern lacing her tone.
“Hm? Yep! You know me, always alright!” he responded automatically.
“Not distracted by a pretty girl on the beach?” she teased, keeping her tone light but unable to mask the tinge of insecurity from someone who knew her so well.
“Never,” he assured without hesitation. “Just wishing you were with me.”
“I know. Me too,” she sighed. “But it won’t be long now. You’ll see.”
John didn’t miss the twinkle in her eye as she said the last bit. They rang off with their exchange of “I love you”s, but he couldn’t stop thinking about the change in her and the way she had been so confident that these last three weeks would fly by. He wondered if she was planning a surprise for his homecoming. His thoughts turned naughty astonishingly quick (though really not all that astonishing if he remembered he was a man in love with the most beautiful woman in the world and he had been away from her for two months). His pulse quickened, and he spared a glance to the clock on his phone screen and the photo of her there. He had time for a nice, long shower in his en suite before his presence was needed at the university. Yep, Rose was definitely wrong about this one: It was going to be a long three weeks.
Rose raced through LAX. Due to a delay leaving Heathrow, she had had just enough time to grab something to eat and make it to her gate for her flight to Kona… until the gate was changed.
“Ma’am,” a bored gate agent called out to her when she finally found the right place. “Please slow down. We’ve only just begun boarding and there’s no fire, so please have a seat until your group is called.”
Rose nodded, unable to respond verbally through her huffing and puffing. She collapsed into an empty chair and took a swig of her water bottle, then looked around the gate as she caught her breath.
A kid of about 10 looked up from her book across the aisle.
“They always tell you to be here earlier than you have to be,” the girl explained. “That way they have time for everyone to get on.”
“Yes,” Rose responded. “That’s a good plan. Can’t have everyone getting on at once, can they?”
The girl smiled. “You’re from England, aren’t you? I want to go there someday.”
“Best place in the world in my book, but of course, it’s home, so I would say that, wouldn’t I?” Rose smiled back.
“It’s very far away,” the girl observed. “Why go somewhere so far like Hawaii?”
Rose leaned in and the girl mirrored her. “Can I tell you a secret?”
“I’m great at keeping secrets,” the girl promised. “I’m the only one who knows that my best friend Lochlan likes James, but he’s too afraid to tell him. And I know Kimber didn’t really find the class fish dead. She forgot to feed him during her week to take care of him.”
“Oh. Well, I’m sorry to hear that,” Rose couldn’t completely hide her giggles.
“Point is, I know a lot of things,” the girl explained and pushed up her glasses on her nose.
Rose liked this one. And she was too excited to keep her secret to herself any longer. The only people who knew were John’s teammates, and she’d only talked to Donna, the one teammate of his from the university here that she knew personally.
“Well, if you promise not to tell—” Rose paused and the girl nodded. “—I am going to surprise my boyfriend. He’s working in Hawaii, and he doesn’t know I’m coming.”
The girl gasped. “That’s so romantic!”
“I thought so too.” Rose grinned. “Let’s hope he agrees.”
“Of course he will, unless he’s dumb or something. He’s not dumb, is he?”
“No, he’s very smart. He’s a scientist. He’s going to get his doctorate soon.”
“Yeah, he’ll love it. Just make him kiss you at sunset. All my life, I’ve always wanted to be kissed on a beach at sunset.” The girl sighed dreamily. Her sincerity kept Rose from laughing at the girl’s wistful tone, but she agreed. If Rose had anything to say about it, there would be plenty of sunset beach kissing. And she had a feeling John would be just fine with that.
The second day of John’s time off was starting out to be a dud. He had already done the things around the island he wanted to do alone and everything left on his list that he still wanted to do reminded him too much of Rose. His teammates had brought home an assortment of pamphlets and brochures: luaus and dinner cruises and hikes to see waterfalls and helicopter rides… all things that made him miss her more and wish she were there. He’d thought about asking her to come, but he knew she’d appreciate some down time at home after the end of term and didn’t want to ask her to make such a long journey just for him. He still marveled after all these years that a catch like her would want to be with a nerd like him, but he would do anything to keep her.
Which led him to the shops on the other side of the island. He hitched a ride in one of the team’s rental cars with a teammate, Barry, and wandered around from jewelry store to jewelry store with his heart in his throat. He’d told Barry he was going to get Rose a present, something nicer than the typical souvenirs he’d picked up over the last two months, something special. His teammate had suggested pearls, but they both knew it was a pretense. Barry headed off to his surfing lesson, leaving John to wander alone with his anxiety and denial.
Every time he entered a jewelry store, he told the shopkeeper he was just browsing, but they all noticed he was only looking at engagement rings. When they tried to ask him about it, he got nervous and left, until a text from Barry, done with his surfing lesson, made him realize how late it was getting in the day. He shot a text back that he would just take the bus and not to wait for him, then he took a break from his quest-that-wasn’t-a-quest for some pineapple ice cream in a busy plaza. It seemed like couples surrounded him. Young families with chubby-cheeked babies, old soulmates still holding hands after all these years, teens showing off for each other with skateboarding tricks, and couples his and Rose’s age whispering and flirting as they walked. Two blonde sisters bounced ahead of their mum and dad, pointing to the ocean and skipping along. John’s heart lurched at how much the tiny sisters looked like Rose. He’d known for a while, maybe deep down since the day he met her, but seeing his potential future so clearly in front of him fortified the resolve in his heart. He wanted a life with her more than anything. He wanted it more than he was afraid of mucking it up. And he hadn’t missed the way her eyes lingered over certain diamond-themed magazine advertisements.
There had been one recently she’d gone so far as to dog-ear when she thought he wasn’t looking… He dashed over to a newsstand and flipped through the women’s magazines until he recognized the ad. This was the ring. He was sure of it. He purchased the issue and headed back to the jewelry stores. This time, the shopkeepers would have a very different customer on their hands. His heart was still pounding but he channeled his nerves into determination. And it payed off. He didn’t find the ring in the ad, but he did find one that was similar, and in his opinion, even more “Rose” than the one in the magazine. Better still, it was in his price range. His hands shook as he made the transaction, but when he checked the time as he left the store, her photo smiled back at him and calmed him, as always.
Ring acquired, he boarded a bus that would take him back to the guesthouse and watched out the window as a rainbow formed on the green, misty mountains. He broke out in a sweat again, however, when he realized the ring was really only the start. How would he actually propose once he got home to Rose?
When he got back to the house, it was time for dinner. He tucked the ring safely away in his room and joined the hubbub downstairs. The team shared about their research and joked around like the family they had become over the last two months. This part of the day always made him feel better, no matter how much he missed Rose. He’d sincerely miss these people and these evenings together between their daytime work at the university and night shifts at the observatory. He almost volunteered to go back to the observatory tonight even though he had all of the data he needed. But something stopped him in the way his teammates observed him.
“Hey John,” Donna, one of his colleagues from London, piped up. “Could you make a run to the Kona airport tonight?”
“Sure,” John agreed between mouthfuls of rice. “Who’s coming in?”
“Just a special guest.” Donna hid a smile behind her fork and exchanged glances with Barry, the teammate who had gone into the city with John earlier in the day. John furrowed his brow, ready to question what the big deal was, and why they wouldn’t say, but Donna caught sight of the time and rushed him from the table, saying he’d better leave now if he was going to make it on time.
“But how will I—?”
“Go to baggage claim,” she reassured as she put the keys to one of the team’s shared rental cars in his hand. “They’ll know how to find you if you take this.” She opened the fridge and handed him a clear plastic box with a lei intricately laced with small purple and white and pink flowers. This was clearly something special and not just the cheap kind available at every store and street corner. He just blinked at Donna, but she tutted at him and told him to get going.
A bit disgruntled at the way his team was behaving, he muttered to himself as he programmed the GPS and rolled down the window.
The evening air was refreshing, however, and his confusion melted away as he daydreamed about different ways to propose. He could take her to a posh restaurant, he could plan a picnic in the country, he could take her stargazing, he could take her away somewhere romantic… but where? He went through destinations in his head… Italy? France? Was Paris too cliché?
The long drive to the airport went quicker than anticipated and he found his way to the baggage claim area. He wandered, holding the lei like a homing beacon. He felt utterly stupid. How would he know who this mysterious visitor was? It’s not like he had had a lot of contact with the outside scientific community, unless it was someone he knew back in London…
That’s when he saw her. Oh, it was someone from London alright. Someone he knew every inch of.
She let out a little high-pitched noise of happiness when she spotted him and ran into his arms. He stood there dumbfounded until she was almost to him, then, on impulse, he picked her up and spun her around at the last second. He set her back down on her feet and stared at her, but before he could ask what she was doing there, she pulled him in for a passionate snog. He lost himself in kissing her back until an airport security guard cleared her throat and raised an eyebrow at them as a silent warning to move along. He remembered the lei, now fallen to the ground. He draped it over head.
“Hello, Rose Tyler. Welcome to Hawaii.”
“Mmm,” she hummed happily. “Aloha, Doctor.”
“I’ve missed hearing you calling me that.”
“I’ve missed everythin’ about you.”
“That too.” He picked up the handle of her luggage and rolled it to the rental car with one hand while hold her hand with the other. He could tell she was exhausted from over 20 hours of travel, but his brain and heart hadn’t stopped short circuiting from her presence. She’s here! She’s really here! She’s here in Hawaii! She’s here in Hawaii with me!
On the drive back, she told him all about her secret plan and the nine days of waiting and working out the details with Donna and the cuteness of little American girl she’d met in the airport in LA. He told her again about his teammates and all the places he wanted to take her. She fought her drooping eyelids but made it back to the guesthouse without falling asleep. She woke up more, however, after meeting the team and having late-night dessert with them.
Donna cleared their cake plates just as John was about to volunteer to take Rose’s bag up to his room.
“Actually, Rose has one more surprise for you.” Donna winked at her partner in crime (that is, criminally romantic holiday planning).
Rose turned to John and took his hand in hers. “I, um, it’s ok if you don’t want to and want to stay with the team, but I kind of booked us a little bungalow not far from here, just on the other side of the beach. I wasn’t sure how much room you all had here… and we could come back for team dinners if you want…”
He saw her blush and how the rest of the scientists were listening in, waiting for his response.
“Rose.” He rubbed the back of her hand with his thumb. “That sounds lovely.”
“Yeah?” She looked up at him shyly through her lashes.
“Yes.”
“Go on and get your stuff, John,” Donna urged, shooing him from the room for the second time that night. “You’re going to love it, Rose. I went and checked it out, you know. And if Lee could get off work long enough to come here, we’d have had it booked already, let me tell you.”
“Thanks, Donna,” Rose laughed. She enjoyed Donna’s presence so much and was always grateful for her when John had to attend those dry, long, pompous university events and took Rose along. Eventually, Rose was all caught up on John’s teammates and informed of the best stories to tease John about from his time here. They made sure she knew the important inside jokes and welcomed her into their geeky family.
“Alright, ready to go, love?” John asked as he appeared with his luggage in hand. Rose said goodnight to the research team and thanked Donna once more. The two headed out the front door, promising to return the team’s rental car once they had one of their own.
Both of them were so exhausted by the time they got to the cozy little beach house Rose had rented that they hardly had time to take out their contact lenses, collapse into bed, and cuddle together before falling asleep. The next morning, John had intended for the two of them to wake up together and enjoy a lazy, slow reunion snog that he hoped would turn into a lazy, slow reunion shag, but of course, he woke at his usual time—far too early for Rose to be awake. He let her sleep through her jet lag and travel weariness, unable to bring himself to kiss her awake despite how much he wanted to. He watched her instead, still marveling that it wasn’t a dream that she had come all this way. The next best thing to an early morning shag, he figured, would be to show his love with breakfast. He left a note on his pillow next to her and took the car to the nearest ABC Store to see what he could find.
Rose awoke slowly, in a fog. She rolled over to John’s side of the bed, but her heart sank when she didn’t find him there. Had it all been a dream? What day was it again? How long until her trip? Her mind cleared and she realized there was something paper-like stuck to her cheek. She lifted up from his pillow to see a Post-It and his handwriting: “Gone to get breakfast. Be back soon. Love you, Your Doctor.” A warm rush of happiness shot through her. Two weeks with her love in paradise. Life couldn’t get more perfect than this.
She stretched and put on her glasses so she could take in the view. Donna had been right. This little beach house was utterly adorable. She parted the white sheer curtains to reveal a blindingly bright day and shimmering ocean down a steep hillside. Tall seaside grass dotted with black lava rocks turned to fine tan sand which turned into white and teal water, eventually stretching out into darker and darker blue. Kids with a kite were already running through the sand, and boats—increasing in size the farther away they were—sailed across the horizon.
Rose peeled herself away from the idyllic view to get ready for the day (she was particularly eager to shower and change into fresh clothes). She emerged clean and ready to explore the rest of the house right as she heard John get home with breakfast.
“Good morning, love,” she greeted as she entered the kitchen where he was standing with his hands full of grocery bags.
“You’re awake!” He beamed and traced his eyes over her pink tank top and denim shorts. She noticed him checking her out and cleared her throat.
“Looks like you’ve been busy.” She gestured to the bags in his hand as he blushed at having been caught ogling her. And he hasn’t even seen my new bikini yet. She tried to hide a smile as she the thought crossed her mind. He always made her feel sexy, even when she was fresh out of the shower and not wearing any makeup.
“Ah, yes.” He set down the bags on the kitchen counter and began unloading various pastries and fruit and boxes of tea and cereal. He handed her a hot cup of the famous local coffee and took a bottle of orange juice for himself out of a drink carrier. “I got a little carried away… We are going to be here two weeks, after all.”
“Good thinking,” she praised and took a muffin, the coffee, and a bowl of fresh-cut pineapple. He grabbed a donut, his bottle of orange juice, and a banana.
“Have you seen the view?” he asked as he led her to the dining area.
“Only out our bedroom window. ‘S incredible.” She noted he was passing the table and chairs indoors and reaching for a door she had yet to open.
“Then let me show you this!” He opened the door for her, juggling his breakfast in one hand, and revealed a breathtaking scene of a sunny balcony with a table and chairs for two overlooking the beach. A tall palm tree stretched overhead, providing just enough shade. “I explored a bit this morning before going out for breakfast.”
“You know what?” Rose mused, settling into her chair and observing their surroundings, then turning back to her boyfriend.
“What’s that?”
“I think this is going to be the best holiday we’ve ever taken.”
“Oh Rose Tyler, you have no idea.” He grinned at her. She took it to mean that he knew more about the island than she did and already knew she would love it, but he couldn’t stop thinking about that ring hidden in his luggage. He had worked out a plan while he was driving to get breakfast. Forget the overly predictable fancy dinner or kneeling down on one soggy knee in the sand or all the clichés. If he waited until later in the trip, or even this evening, he was not only afraid he would slip and give too strong of a hint, but that she would see it coming and he’d get flustered and ruin it somehow. Or he’d chicken out and disappoint her. So he had plans to get it over with early on in the afternoon so they would be able to enjoy the rest of these two weeks without having to make it to a reservation on time or a thousand other things that could go wrong if he waited until later.
“What do you think about seeing a waterfall?” he asked around mouthfuls of banana. “There’s one in particular I’d like to take you to not far from here.” He nodded to a brilliantly green mountain covered in greyish blue mist.
“Sure.” She took a sip of her coffee as she realized she hadn’t really thought through her plans for what they would do when she got here beyond a vague list of things she thought they’d both enjoy and where he had already mentioned wanting to take her. Back in London dreaming about this, she’d just been so eager to be with him, it hadn’t really mattered what exactly they’d be doing together on which days. “Is it a long hike?”
“Nah. Well, not too difficult, but it is pretty cool higher up in elevation so we might need jackets. And we can take water and snacks in my backpack.”
“Snacks?” she giggled. “We just ate breakfast!”
“You won’t be making fun later when you want some nibbles!” he teased. “Plus, what’s a hike without trail mix? Can’t have that.”
Of course, he needed the backpack for another reason, but he couldn’t tell Rose what he was planning on hiding in the inside pocket. He was careful to wait until she was busy in the bathroom pulling her hair back in a ponytail—when he was sure her attention was elsewhere—to shove the tiny box in the inside pocket, careful to zip it shut and cover the pocket with their jackets. He tossed in the water bottles and snacks he’d purchased at the store that morning. He even anticipated her reminder to pack the sunscreen so she wouldn’t have even one excuse to open the backpack herself. He guarded the bag carefully all day, trying to prevent her from needing to dig around in it without arousing suspicion from being overly weird about it.
The cool mist on the mountain kept them from getting too sweaty, and he was right that the hike was mild enough that they wouldn’t feel sore from it the next day. A few other couples passed them along the way, but John seemed content to stroll along, so Rose didn’t rush him, despite her excitement to see the waterfall. The wait was well worth it, however. They heard the rumble long before they approached the lookout point, but they were overcome with awe when they turned around a moss-covered corner to reveal the raging waters only feet away.
Rose pushed up her sunglasses to see it better and to avoid getting water droplets on them. She could hardly take her eyes off of the waterfall, but she noticed he was rummaging around in the backpack and was afraid he was going to miss the moment. “Oh John, look! The sun’s coming out from behind the clouds and it’s making a rainbow!”
The rustling beside her stopped and she turned around to see if he was looking, expecting his arms to wrap around her from behind at any moment and not feeling them.
But when she glanced up, he wasn’t there. He was on one knee. Rainbow diamonds of mist floated around him as he smiled up at her nervously.
“Ohhh,” she exhaled shakily as she realized what was happening. A crowd of fellow hikers was gathering on the outskirts of the lookout point several feet away, just out of earshot with the roar of the waterfall drowning out his next words from being overheard.
“Rose Marion Tyler, you are everything to me.” He opened the ring box and she gasped. Her hands flew to her mouth. “I’ve wanted to do this for a long time, probably since our first real date after being best mates for so long. Falling in love with you has been the greatest adventure of my life. You are the future I want, and I realized while we were apart to never take that for granted. What do you think about spending the rest of our lives together? Rose, will you be my wife?”
She nodded and wiped at her happy tears, causing their audience to clap and cheer. Their cheers increased as she pulled him up and snogged him thoroughly.
“Yes, yes. I love you,” she finally answered when she needed a breath. “Marry me.”
He nodded and kissed her again, but cut it off short when he remembered the crowd nearby.
“Oh, I suppose I should give you this.” He separated them and opened the ring box once more, this time sliding it on her finger. It was just snug enough that she wasn’t worried about it coming off but also wasn’t worried about it getting stuck or being too tight. “What do you think?”
“It’s… perfect,” she answered breathlessly. She admired it in wonder. “How did you know?”
“Saw your magazine, you’d marked the page.” He shrugged. “Lucky me, I have an eidetic memory, eh? Found it in a shop yesterday, as a matter of fact. Had no idea I’d need it so soon, of course. Thought I’d have weeks to work out the details, until I got home.”
She laughed, positively radiating delight. “Our surprises worked out well together, didn’t they?”
“Oh yes.” By now, the other hikers had simply moved around them and were paying more attention to the waterfall than to the newly engaged couple, so he dared to kiss her again briefly. They parted and moved to the railing overlooking the waterfall. Several other hikers offered their congratulations and to take their photo, which of course, John and Rose said yes to. The happy couple took a few selfies too and hiked back down the mountain to text out their favorite photo to their family and friends to announce the good news.
“She said yes!” Donna crowed to the lab full of scientists. The team gathered around the photo on Donna’s mobile where Rose was looking at the camera, holding up her hand with a glimmering ring and a smile that outshone even the diamond. John was kissing her temple and holding her tight, eyes closed in bliss.
No one was surprised when they saw very little of John and Rose for the next several days. After all, they were lovers in paradise.