Title: "She Felt Pretty"
Author: Wish Wielder
Fandom: Doctor Who
Pairing / Character Focus: Rose Tyler, implied Doctor x Rose
Challenge: 15 Minute Fic
Theme / Prompt: #32
Word Count: 499
Rating: K / G
Summary: So, as she fixed her sash, she felt pretty. But it wasn't the prettiest she had ever felt.
Notes: A few years post-Doomsday, in Pete's World.
Disclaimer: "Doctor Who" and all respective properties are © the BBC. Megan D. (Wish Wielder) does not, has never, nor will ever own "Doctor Who".
"She Felt Pretty"Some days she didn't feel pretty. She couldn't help it; it was just something she ticked off as a girl thing. With all the pressure society placed on her gender, most girls had days where they just felt ugly. They didn't match to the standards, and thus the failure to conform left them feeling less than attractive.
Now, she wasn't as bad as some of her friends. Most days she was perfectly fine with how she looked; she would even go as far as saying she was very attractive. There were certain aspects of her person she wasn't crazy about, yeah, but overall she thought she didn't look half bad. She looked good enough to be a head-turner, at least, and didn't that say something in and of itself?
She never felt prettier, though, than when she was with him. No – when they were walking somewhere and another guy would eye her, giving her a good once-over, and he would squeeze her hand tighter or step closer, letting the opposing male know just who she belonged to – even if he never said it out loud. He didn't have to. He showed it, in his little glares and quiet actions. She was his, and they both knew it.
Maybe that's what made that day at the beach easier, when he had disappeared for good. She had finally been able to tell him – "I love you." – even though it had gone unspoken between them for so long. She had wanted him to hear it, just once. And he had tried to reply, but time had run out. "Quite right, too" was just as good as "I love you" in her book.
She hadn't felt pretty that day, either. Her face had been blotchy, her makeup had run, and really she was just a wreck of tears. She hadn't felt even remotely attractive, and she had hated herself for it. It was the last time they would see each other, and she was a mess. Despite it all, though, he had still smiled at her. His eyes had still roamed over her face, taking in every last bit of her and committing it to a memory nine hundred years long. And for a moment, just a moment, she felt like they were back on a street somewhere, and his arm had just slung 'round hers, looping their fingers together to give a comforting squeeze while his eyes dealt a possessive glare to some guy who had let his gaze linger just a tad too long.
It had been a split-second change, but it was all she needed to go from feeling hideous to like the most beautiful girl in the world. For him, she probably was – tears and all.
So, as she fixed her sash, eyeing herself in the mirror and making sure everything was in place for the big to-do her father had planned for her mother's forty-third birthday, she felt pretty. But it wasn't the prettiest she had ever felt.
A.n.: -whistles innocently- I actually had fun with this one. And really, that's about all I can say for it – other than the word is 'pretty'c