Everybody hurts

[Rose Turner]

Outside of the hospital, Rose leant against the wall and exhaled deeply. In all of the years she'd worked at St Mungo's, no one had ever seen Rose sad, she was always able to hide her true feelings but it had simply gotten too much and now she was leant again the wall with a coffee in one hand and a cigarette in the other and tear-filled eyes.

Taking a long drink of the hot coffee, Rose slid down the wall and sat on the cold, dirty pavement and sighed wearily, inhaling deeply on the cigarette before setting the coffee cup down next to her so she could extract her phone.

Looking at the screen which was completely blank, Rose sniffed loudly and covered her face with both her hands, not realising she was no longer alone.

(ooc. Anyone want to be the first to see a sad Rose?)

[Alex Binns]

((ooc: Sorry, couldn't resist Alex poking his nose in. ))

Finishing up his shift, Alex said his goodbyes to those still on duty, heading out of the doors of Mungo's while pulling his coat on. He'd had one of those miracle days where everything had gone right, no emergencies had been brought in on his watch, he didn't have to give 'the bad news' to any patients- all in all an amazingly good day's work and he was thankful for this rare opportunity to finish his shift on time. Pausing, he fumbled in his pocket for his phone and only then did he see someone standing against the wall to the right of him.

Observing the blonde, he saw her slide down the wall and on to the pavement, sitting down defeatedly. He grew even more perplexed as she checked her phone and then this seemed to cause her even more distress. In fact, it took Alex a good few seconds to even realise it was Rose; he had never seen her like this, ever. "Oh god, Rose," he said quietly, the shock was evident in his tone. Without wasting a second he sat down beside her on the pavement, about to put a comforting arm around her when he paused, unsure as to what the best approach to this would be. "What's wrong?" he asked finally in a concerned tone, not quite knowing what else to say. The last person on earth he ever thought he would see like this was Rose.

[Rose Turner]

Lost in her sadness, Rose didnt realise she wasnt alone until she heard a shocked voice saying her name. She took a few seconds to try and compose herself but it was no use, she couldnt even pretend she wasnt feeling terrible, for once she couldnt hide how she actually felt.

"Alex..." she started, noticing his arm lifting then falling she leaned into him as close as she could and cuddled her arms around his waist, burying her face into his chest. "Its stupid...really stupid" she managed to murmur, letting herself sob softly into Alex's chest before pulling back slightly, still with her arms around him.
"I think Im being cheated on" she muttered, feeling stupid for being so upset about such a trivial matter.

[Alex Binns]

As Rose leaned into him he put a comforting around her shoulder, looking down at her as she buried her face in him. "Come on, I'll bet it's not stupid," he said quietly, "Hey, hey," he murmured, making a comforting, 'shhing' sound as he felt her sobs racking her body against him. As she told him she thought she was being cheating on, his brow furrowed and he pulled away slightly to look at her seriously. "How is that 'really stupid'?" Alex pointed out incredulously and then shook his head, "Somebody cheating on you? No, it can't be that way... or clearly he's an idiot and doesn't realise what a good thing he has," he said with a weak smile as he looked down at her before wordlessly pulling her back into his arms.

"Do you want to tell me why you think that?" he asked softly, not wanting to force her into telling someone but hoping he could help provide some kind of comfort. "I... look you can tell me, if you want because I know what you're going through. I haven't told many people really but I was engaged, once, and she cheated on me with one my best friends, I walked in on them and it hurts, it really does so you know, it's good to confide in someone," Alex said finally, looking down at Rose worriedly.

[Rose Turner]

"Its a stupid thing to cry over, so trivial and silly" she sighed, taking a long drag of her cigarette, a habit she only ever indulged in when she was extremely drunk or extremely sad.
"Ash...its Ash, he's cheating on me, Im sure of it." she nodded her head slowly, her lip trembling as she thought about her boyfriend, she wasnt usually one for relationships and favoured more towards casual encounters. This relationship with Ash was one of the only ones she'd bothered to invest in so it hurt all the more that it was going wrong.

"Whenever he comes in, he'd always ask for me to treat him but recently he's been in and asking for that slut Evelyn. She isnt even pretty! He's been asking that I not be told that he's been there but...I...I have access to files" she looked sheepishly, she wasnt supposed to access patient files if she wasnt treating them. "Then there's the unnatural amount of showers he's been taking and the scratches on his back that I didnt make" she bit her lip, listening to Alex's story.
"How did you get rid of this empty, sore feeling? In here" she held her hand to her chest, her eyes big and doe like as she looked up at Alex's face.

[Alex Binns]

"Look, if you of all people Ms Turner, are crying then it's not trivial or silly or stupid," he pointed out, watching as she took a drag of the cigarette in her hand. Something must be up, she was resorting to tobacco after all. Frowning as he saw the look on her face, he looked sympathetic, "Oh god, Rose, I'm so sorry," Alex said sincerely. He wasn't hugely fond of Ash, he knew his type, but he'd always thought that Rose and Ash seemed happy whenever he'd saw them about Mungo's.

"Evelyn?" he questioned with a slight frown, considering the woman in question for a moment and if she'd be likely to knowingly help Ash cheat. "Oh," he finally said then, having supposed mentally that yes she probably would, as horrible as he felt for thinking about one of his colleagues like that. Looking down at Rose as she looked sheepish he shook his head as if to say 'doesn't matter' about her accessing files she shouldn't have been- in the grand scheme of things it definitely didn't matter. "Come here," Alex said quietly, gently wrapping his arm around her shoulders once more as she explained. "You don't know for sure that he's cheating, Rose... could the scratches be from... I don't know something at work?" he suggested hopefully and then sighed slightly as he realised that probably wasn't likely.

"Do you want the comforting answer or the truthful answer?" Alex asked, a forced smile again as he looked down at her and saw how hurt she seemed. "Truthfully? You never get rid of it, it never quite leaves. But you move on, you try to move on. You move on, go about living your life not thinking about it and hope that, along the way, you find someone else that will treat you better than that," he said softly, "And sometimes you'll still think about it, you'll still wonder 'what if' you hadn't walked in on them, what if you'd remained completely clueless about everything, could you be a blindly happy married man now with a wife that was sleeping with your best man behind your back?" he commented, only realising then that his intended vague answer had turned into an answer about him. Grimacing momentarily at this he shook his head, to stop him feeling sorry for himself, and turned his attention back to Rose. "You deserve better than that, Rose," he said simply as if this were a fact.

[Rose Turner]

Rose shook her head with a mournful look, "I should've expected it really, I've heard all the stories about him but I genuinely thought they were just that...stories" she sighed loudly as she exhaled, "I guess I can claim it was my dumb blonde gene kicking in, how could I think that I could make him faithful? He slept with his best friends little sister...what decent guy does that?" she shook her head, Ash could be a decent guy but Rose was angry and upset and needed to vent.

Letting Alex cuddle her, Rose snuggled in close to him whilst making sure her cigarette didnt touch him, "Alex, he's cheating. The scratches are from some other girl, nothing work related...just him fucking around. Its totally over, I just have to tell him but the stupid part of me wants to hold on and hope that I've just imagined all of this. I want to ignore it all...but Im not a pushover, Im not a stupid girl like that. I'll never be happy if I let him have his cake and eat it too" she spoke to Alex's chest more than to him before giving a small smile, "Thanks Alex...you're a good guy. Maybe I should've pursued you when I had the chance, huh?" she gave a small giggle as she kissed the side of his mouth before leaning her head on him once more, she had always had a soft spot for Alex and they'd been intimate before but she had a feeling this new rush of attraction to him was purely the rebound of Ash breaking her heart.

(ooc. Sorry I took forever!)

[Alex Binns]

Alex shook his head, "No, Rose, no, don't start thinking like that. Don't say you should have expected it, that definitely doesn't excuse him from it," he pointed out and then gently rubbed her back in a comforting way as she sighed again. "Rose, I hate to be a traitor to my gender but lots of guys do that. But that doesn't excuse it either!" he smiled tightly and then shrugged, "Look, I'd say it was your right to think you could 'make him faithful' and... I don't know you seemed to both be so happy, when I saw you around Mungo's I mean, so I don't think it could be your non-existent dumb blonde gene kicking in because anyone would have been fooled, I'm sure."

"Alright, well, if you're sure then good, you've made your judgment now stick by it and just tell him. Rose, if you're sure, don't start reassessing and thinking 'oh maybe it's me' or that you've imagined it because... honestly... I literally walked in on my fiance and best man having sex and later, because I was so blinded by love or whatever, started hoping 'oh well maybe I just misunderstood the situation' when it was pretty damn clear. It doesn't get you anywhere, it just troubles you even more." As she explained how she wasn't a 'stupid girl like that', Alex nodded, saying simply, "I know," with a smile as she looked up at him. Then, chuckling at her words he replied in a prim, posh voice, "Well thank you, I do try," before smiling in a friendly manner as she kissed the side of his mouth and settled back into his arms. Parting from her for a moment he looked down, "Now, what do you say you get the rest of that tobacco in you and turn into the Rosie we all know and love again? Or do you need more Alex Cuddling Time... because I could fully understand that," he joked lightly, hoping to get even the semblance of a smile from her at his suggestion.