I do not own Doctor Who.
He opened the door soundlessly and stepped inside. He walked over to the edge of the bed and looked down at her sleeping form. He tried, he really did, to contain his excitement, but he couldn't take it any longer. He had intended to wake her gently with a kiss, but he was bursting with too much anticipation. With a swift leap, he pounced onto her and grinned. With a groan, she rolled onto her back and looked up at him. His smile widened and he began to bounce lightly on the mattress.
"Doctor, I'm trying to sleep! It's – it's four in the morning!"
"Come on Rose! Get up, get up, get up!" he cried cheerily, springing off her and making his way to her closet to rummage for clothing.
If it had been anybody else, she would've kicked them out and locked the door. But as she looked at the half-man before her, she couldn't help but let out a strained laugh. He was as a child on Christmas morning, waking his parents, eager for the tightly wrapped gifts under the tree.
"Doctor, what is it? What's going on?" she asked, slightly worried.
He tossed a sweater and matching bottoms in her direction and waited impatiently as she slipped them on over her refreshingly thin summer pyjamas.
"It's done, Rose, it's finally done!"
"What is?"
Rose slipped on a pair of shoes and he grabbed her hand with a grin. She hadn't seen him this happy in months. Since the other Doctor had left them in Pete's world a year ago, the metacrisis Doctor had moved in with the Tyler family. The first month was pure bliss. They were so busy making up for lost time, that they didn't even notice the world going by around them. He took her on romantic dates and they kissed each other senseless; they did all the things they hadn't allowed themselves before. They spent countless hours wrapped in each other's loving embrace and endless nights staring up at the stars, imagining. The ground would grow cold beneath them, but there they lay, night after night, their sleeping bodies illuminated by the dazzling brilliance of the celestial bodies they could no longer visit.
The next month had him a little bit on edge. Nothing seemed right. He was supposed to be elated, but he was beginning to get bored and it worried him. Rose's vacation time was over and she had to go back to work. He joined her at Torchwood, but it wasn't what he thought it would be. He had been hoping for excitement and adventure, like he used to have. As it turns out, alien attacks don't happen as often on the slow path. With the TARDIS, they had somehow managed to always land in the middle of everything. On a linear progression through time however, those moments were rare.
The third month brought a threat of invasion from a species called the Nod'jtax. They arrived with their fleet of spaceships and their mighty battle cries, but in the end, a threat was all it was. After a couple of hours of peaceful and incredibly dull negotiations, the Doctor's hope for fun retreated before it even had a chance to start. He had felt like a little boy who had had a cookie dangled so tantalizingly in front of him, only to have it snatched away and eaten right in front of him by the universe.
He loved Rose, he truly did, but he couldn't stand their life anymore. He put on a good show for her though, locking his dreams and fears away in his single heart. But she was smart. She could see him sulking miserably when he thought she wasn't looking.
The fourth month he began to hate the universe. Why couldn't he have both? Why couldn't he have his cake and eat it too? He was either a lonely traveler who was never bored, or a loved, immobile man whose life had no purpose. Couldn't he travel and have love? Couldn't the universe give him just this one, after all he had done for it? The Doctor had been musing on this one day, running his hands through his hair in frustration, when Rose whisked him away to the storage closet by the stairwell. He was surprised but said nothing when she declared between kisses that she was going to take him on an adventure. And she didn't just mean in that closet.
She had begun saving every penny she earned as soon as she had noticed his despondency. And after a long talk with her newfound father, he gave her a substantial amount of money to add to her funds, with only one admonition: use it to make things right. They packed their bags and left on a two month voyage through the unknown. Well, relatively unknown. They camped out in the Amazonian rainforests and ran into some men with guns. His lungs ached with delight and his legs screamed in pleasure as they weaved through the trees; his feet pounded the ground as they ran for their lives. He hadn't realized exactly how much he missed the danger until they were safely in a nearby village and all he wanted to do was run back to the guns and knives beg them to take him, simply so he could escape.
Next came castles, and the vast arctic tundra; deserts and temples, and beaches and monuments. Anywhere and everywhere they traveled together: the Doctor and his Rose, Rose and her Doctor. And when her wallet became empty, like a slap to the face, they returned home. Back to domesticity. Back to his prison cell.
That's when all the secrecy started. The Doctor emptied out a shed behind the Tyler mansion and his project began. He spent his every waking hour in that blasted shed. Rose thought she was losing him. He never brought her sweet little presents anymore, or searched the house wildly to find her just to say 'hello'. She had to fight just to get him to come to bed. And even then, she knew he got up in the night and went back outside, returning just before she was due to wake up. She could see in his face that he was tired. Not just because he needed sleep, but he was tired of her. It was her worst fear, and with every cell of her being, she could feel it coming true. She was pretty sure she preferred it when she was trapped without him. At least then she knew he loved her. With all his time spent in his sanctuary, he was oblivious to the tears she shed in his absence. He was oblivious to what he was doing to them, their relationship. He had placed so much importance on his 'project' that nothing else even entered his mind. And it was finally finished. He was done. The grand unveiling could now commence.
He dragged her behind him down the steps and through the grass. The ground was damp from the previous night's rain, and a misty fog could be seen in the distance. Dawn was on its way, but night still gripped the sky, not wanting to go just yet.
They stopped in front of the shed and he pushed the key into the lock, a wild look in his eyes. He pushed the door open and she hesitantly looked around the spacious wooden structure. She was worried at what she might find, what mystery was lurking in the dark, what secret was more important to him than her.
"So where is this stupid project of yours then?" she snapped. She hadn't intended to sound so snippy, but she was jealous. Jealous of an inanimate object.
His eyes widened slightly at her tone, but dismissed it as being the words of a half-asleep mind.
Idiot.
"Well, I was planning on waiting until morning, but I just had to show you now!"
With a spring in his step, he walked to the center of the room and pulled back the dreaded sheet. And there it stood.
"I apologise in advance for any glitches, I still haven't worked out all the circuitry… so… do you like it? I did it for you, you know. For us."
She stared at it, gaping. It was sleek and blue, with darkened windows, protecting it from curious onlookers. She turned on him and he jumped back. She could only guess that it was from the look of pure rage on her face. "A car? Are you serious? All this time, you've been pushing me away, and ignoring me, all for what? A piece of metal? I can't believe you! Typical human bloke, you are. Don't expect to be let back inside. You can sleep in here with your precious machine." He had tried to interject several times, but she wouldn't let him. She pushed past him harshly and began to march back to the house. He ran up behind her and grabbed her wrist.
"Rose wait I –"
"No, Doctor, no. I'm tired of waiting." Tears began to pool in her eyes and she yanked at her arm, but he wouldn't give.
Now he was the one to raise his voice. "Rose Tyler, you are going back in there and I am showing you what I have made. Now!"
They walked back in and she stared at the bloody thing with incredible loathing.
"Let me finish this time, okay? This isn't just a car. Oh, no Rose. It's much more than that." He smiled cheekily and continued with giddy enthusiasm, "It's bigger on the inside."
He took out a key and inserted it into the driver's side door. Not breaking eye contact with her, he pulled it open and motioned for her to get in, following behind her. She huffed and did as she was told, forever grateful that she had. She looked back at him, speechless. She had so many questions, so many thoughts, that she couldn't even make a sound.
"It was the other Doctor. He gave me a piece of her before he left, before we even landed at the bay. We both knew what had to happen, but we also knew what would eventually dig itself up from within, no matter how hard I tried to bury it. I had convinced myself that I could live a domestic life and that I would, for you. For my sweet, sweet Rose. But I can't, and I'm sorry if that hurts you, but I can't stay in one place for the rest of my life. It's not as long anymore. My days are numbered and I want to live them with you, where we're supposed to be. The Doctor and Rose Tyler, in the TARDIS, just as it should be. I even got the chameleon circuit to work!"
The tears that had been threatening to fall now slid down her pink cheeks in infinite streams. He noticed and wiped them gently with his thumb.
"Don't cry, Rose. I'm sorry if you don't like it. I thought –"
Her lips were suddenly silencing his. It was salty and wet, her joyous tears coating her mouth. She had been so foolish to think he would abandon her. Of course he loved her. As he would until the day he died, which he knew would be the same day as her. Because he refused to live without her again. Never again.
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