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Rose Tyler saw John Smith on the lift every single morning. Rose always got off on the fourth floor of Torchwood Tower, while John worked in Research and Development on the sixth. Their relationship, was restricted to quick conversations as the lift ascended. In the time it took to get to the fourth floor they'd managed to get to know each other, as much as pair of people on a lift could.
Donna, the new temp in the cubicle next to hers, encouraged her to become friendlier with the handsome bloke in the brown suit. (Her exact words were "he's not my type, but blimey, Rose, why aren't you tryin' to pull that!"). It never moved past harmless flirtation, though.
One gray day in late February, Rose was on her way back to her desk when the fire alarm blared, making her jump. Donna stood up and asked loudly, "Are they testin' the alarms again?"
People were shuffling away from their desks, unsure if they should take it seriously since the whole building had just gotten an alarm upgrade. Yvonne was hurrying out of her office and ordering everyone to the stairwell. The break room on the sixth floor was actually on fire. Rose was caught in the wave of people exiting the floor and couldn't get back to her desk to grab her coat or purse.
It was really, properly miserably cold outside. She crossed her arms and rubbed them in a half-hearted attempt to stay warm, watching smoke pour out of a broken window above her.
"Hello, you look miserable. Here you go." She turned to look behind her and John was offering her his long coat.
"Oh! Oh, no, don't you need that?" Rose stammered.
"Nah... I'm fine!" John draped the coat over her shoulders and she gladly wrapped it around herself, snuggling in. She had to fight the urge to inhale his scent on the collar. "You left without your coat?"
"Purse, too. I left without anything but my phone." Rose giggled nervously and pointed at the smoky window. "You didn't do that, did you?"
His eyes widened. "No. Well....I don't think that was me. I did some work...improvements, of course, on the toaster oven, but I don't think...."
He considered it. "No, that light in the ceiling has smelled wrong for a couple of days now."
"I was joking. It smelled wrong?"
"It smelled....hot. Like wires burning. I don't think it was me," John finally decided. He shook his head, as if to convince himself.
"Not this time," Rose smirked.
"You heard about that other time? I didn't think the alarm went off...."
"Still joking," Rose said with a chuckle.
"Oh...right, then." He smiled. John Smith had a gorgeous smile. That smile, accompanied by the great hair and the sexy glasses served to fuel more than a few elevator fantasies. And now she was standing there wrapped in his coat.
John rubbed his hands together. "It's cold," he proclaimed.
"I told you! Here..." She started unwrap herself and he put out a hand to stop her.
"I'm not taking it back. Looks like the fire's about out, but it's probably going to be a while before the building opens back up. Want to...erm..get some chips while we wait? We'd be dry and warm."
"Chips and warmth?" Rose smiled, her tongue peeking out. In for a penny, she thought. "And you for company? Sounds brilliant."
John grinned and held out his hand, waggling his fingers. Before she had a chance to think about what she was doing she placed her palm in his. It felt like it belonged there.
When they got the chip shop Rose texted Donna quickly to ask her to let them know when they could get into the building.
It didn't take long for Donna to respond: "See, all it took was for someone to light a fire under the pair of you!"