Author's Note: I own nothing, etc. I wrote this a long time ago and thought I'd publish it. May rewrite later.
The Doctor opened up the TARDIS door and stepped out. He took a deep breath of air and smiled.
"Here we are!" He said, "Bad Wolf Bay! Vacation destination of the United Kingdom."
"A British beach?" Rose stepped out behind him. She had to admit, this place was beautiful, but it didn't look like anything special. "We could go swimming anywhere in the universe, and you take us right down the street. We're not exactly known here for our beaches." She was clearly unimpressed.
"Come on, give it a try! We were in the neighbourhood. The sun is shining and we're here anyway. And it's got to be nearly thirty Celsius, besides!" The Doctor fanned himself. The dark jacket really didn't help a lot. He took it off, revealing his long green sleeves beneath it.
"And that's not weird to you?" Rose countered, "It's never that warm this time of year! Not unless you're in Africa or somethin'."
"Come on, Rose! Let's make the most of it! This is fantastic! And look, we've got the whole beach to ourselves! Go get changed, we're going swimming!"
Rose sighed and went inside, changing into the best-fitting swimsuit she could find. It wasn't like she spen an awful lot of time swimming before the Doctor came around, and it still wasn't an incredibly common occurrence.
When she came back outside, the Doctor was already changed. His sunglasses were clearly at least fifty years out of date.
"Hey skinny," Rose gave his pale body a quick once-over, "You should probably put on some sunscreen."
"Nah."
"No, really. Your ears especially are already looking sorta red…"
"Not the ear jokes again."
Rose laughed. They really were starting to burn. "Suit yourself."
The Doctor shrugged. He obviously didn't care about a little burn. Maybe Time Lords didn't have problems with sun exposure or something.
"Shall we, Rose Tyler?" He offered her his arm. His overenthusiasm was obvious. She knew the beach didn't excite the Doctor at all, and she appreciated him even more. He was trying to show Rose a good time; she'd been feeling pretty down lately. Not that she was one to complain- it wasn't every day one got to have adventures through space and time- but she did sort of miss her mum. Not enough to go back though. Either way, Rose was glad the Doctor was trying to cheer her up. She knew firsthand how hard it was for him to have any fun.
Smiling, she took his arm, "Indeed, good sir."
They took their time getting to the water. There was quite a bit of wet intertidal sand separating the TARDIS from the ocean, but Rose didn't mind. It felt good on her feet, and just the evenness of it all made the whole beach seem almost surreal. The sound of the waves crashing against the land was soothing compared to all the strange new alien sounds she had experienced lately. The salty smell of the air was intoxicating. Having the Doctor walking besides her completed her picture of perfection.
Eventually they got to the water.
"Let's go in!" Rose wasn't a big fan of swimming, but it was unnaturally warm for March. She wondered what year this was and if Global Warming actually was a thing.
"In? Like, swimming?" The Doctor seemed hesitant.
" 'Course! Why else would we be dressed like this at a beach? Come on!"
"I don't swim, Rose…"
"Me neither!" She was already crashing through the waves into the water. It was very cold, but she didn't even care. She was having fun. Rose waded in until the water came up to her waist and turned around to wave the Doctor in. "I saw you looking!" She teased.
The Doctor assumed an innocent expression, "No, but really." He took a step closer to the water, so the waves would just touch his feet. He gave a sudden jump backwards after the first wave hit. "Blimey, it's freezing!"
"Don't be a baby!" Rose laughed. She waded back closer to shore and splashed him until he shivered, "Now you have to come in! It's the only way to warm up!"
"You win this round!" A quick breath and a running jump later, the Doctor was in the water next to Rose. "Bloody cold," he remarked.
"I'm already used to it," Rose grinned, "Then again, I actually weigh more than a kilo…"
"Oi, watch it! I've got two kilos at least…" He splashed her playfully.
"You really wanna go there?" She splashed him back.
The Doctor pretended to take a moment to consider, "Yeah, I actually do." He started splashing again, this time making sure to get Rose's hair wet.
The two splashed each other back and forth like little children for a while. At one point, Rose caught a big mouthful of water from a wave and the Doctor laughed. She started laughing too. Nothing made her happier than the rare occasion she caught the Doctor enjoying himself.
Rose was surprisingly the first to get cold and when she did, she and the Doctor went back to shore and laid together in the sand. They talked a lot of nonsense and laughed more until they were dry and even after that, Rose still didn't want to move. She was having the perfect day.
Eventually they got tired of talking and just sat together.
"Doctor?" Rose asked eventually, breaking the silence. She propped herself up on an elbow and looked down at him, "We talk a lot. But I hardly know anything about you. You never really say anything that means anything… You trust me, don't you?" It sort of bothered her that he kept to himself so much.
"Of course I trust you, Rose. With my life." He looked back up at her.
"You can tell me things, you know…"
"Nah, you don't want to hear tales from an old coot like-"
"Doctor," Rose was serious, "I want to listen. I want to understand you. Because you need somebody, and I'm never gonna leave you. You got that?"
"Rose, I… I know," he said quietly.
"Good."
It almost scared Rose how deeply she cared for this strange man. Almost.
She found her eyes locked with his. She couldn't look away at that moment if she tried. His gaze was so intense and appreciative, but there was also… Was that just a hint of sadness she detected? Who was this man?
As Rose looked down at him, she found their heads getting closer and closer together. She let them. She wanted this. She could see that he did too.
Their lips couldn't have been more than a centimetre apart when the Doctor turned his head to look away. He didn't say anything.
"I'm sorry," she whispered, pulling her head back. That was really stupid. Rose didn't even understand why she did that. What was she thinking?
She sat back and looked out at the ocean, the two of them sitting together in silence once more.
Finally the Doctor stood up. He seemed to be back to his normal self. "Come on! That was a nice little detour, but we've got things to do and people to see. Back to the TARDIS, Rose!"
The cheer she could hear in his voice she knew was not genuine. She sighed and stood up, following him back to his little blue box. She'd crack his secrets at one time or another.
Rose couldn't help but smile when she saw how red the backs of the Doctor's ears actually had become during the day.
Back inside the TARDIS, Rose looked back out on Bad Wolf Bay one last time. It had been a perfect day. But now the sun hung low in the late afternoon sky and it was time to move on.
As Rose closed the door on Bad Wolf Bay, she couldn't help but wonder about the next time she'd see it. She hoped that day would be even better than this one.