Author's Note: Nine/Rose is adorable so I accidentally this.
Disclaimer: I own nothing but a Sonic Screwdriver toy. But if anyone knows where I can get a working TARDIS, I will kiss them on the face and hug them and never let them go.
She can't stand the nightmares. The darkness and the flames. Her world dying as she's held by something she can't understand. Everyone hating her because she cannot save them. But the dark tendrils wrapped around her wrists and ankles and waist and holding her and forcing her to watch as her world died. She always wakes up holding back a scream, her eyes streaming with tears and her chest heaving. Always with a rolling stomach and pounding head. This time, she doesn't see her family dying. She sees him dying. Her Doctor. She wakes up screaming, her legs twisted in her sheets and her heart racing faster than it ever has. She doesn't hear his boot-steps running, hitting the floor heavier than they usually do. Suddenly he's there, his bright blue eyes worried. Scared.
Rose is sitting with her head in her hands. She can't see him. Can't hear him. All she can think about is that in her dream, he died and she couldn't do anything. Her face is wet with tears and she's trembling. And she won't react no matter how many times he calls her name, trying to bring her back to him.
He sits beside her, gently untangling her legs, then tries to gently pull her hands away from her face. As soon as he touches her wrists, he knows he's done something wrong. Rose shoots backwards, back pressing against the headboard of her bed. He notices she's thrown her pillows off the bed. She spreads her fingers slightly, her breath hitching and her dark eyes very far away. She looks like she's seen a ghost. Rose moves her hands, and he can see her wild hair and hollow eyes and bright cheeks. She reaches out slowly, her fingertips ghosting across his cheek, and he can't help but reach up and gently press her palm against his cheek. Her other hand mirrors its position, and then she moves, flinging her arms around him and all but curling up in his lap as she cries into the crook of his neck.
"You—you're—you're alive," she sobs.
He gently holds her, murmuring that yes, he's alive. They're both alive, so very alive. She presses her ear to his chest, hears the double beats, and stops crying, slowly but surely. Yes. He's alive. She scoots away slightly, flushing as she realises that she was basically sitting in his lap and all but squeezing him to death. He won't quite let go of her, holding her and asking, "Well? What was the dream?"
"I... I don't ever remember how it starts," she whispers. "I just remember darkness and fire. Holding me back, holding me down, making me watch the world burn. Again and again, over and over. But they never kill me. Mum, Dad, Shareen, Mickey, you. All the people I—"
Rose cuts off with a hiccup, marring the word so far that the Doctor can't make out what she says. And she seems so annoyed, but doesn't say it again. She keeps on, "I always wake up, trying to scream. But you... You daft old man, you were in my dream, and you... You tried to help me. Tried to do something no one else had. And they killed you three times and I had to watch as they did so. I was screaming so loudly, and no one seemed to hear me."
He can't understand the pain in her voice. Why she's horrified about losing him. But he still continues to hold onto her. She looks at the expression on his face; the incomprehension. She suddenly starts laughing. "You daft man. You... can't understand why I was upset about losing you?"
Her laughter grows louder and louder, and suddenly her tears are from laughter. "You—you daft old man!"
The Doctor is—for once—completely uncomprehending. "Uh..."
That makes her laugh even harder. And when her laughter subsides, she takes his face in her hands and say soberly, "You are so stupid. I don't want to lose you because—"
She can't say it. The words literally won't come out. She lets out an annoyed huff. "Just look."
He understands what she wants him to do. Look in her thoughts, look at her dream. He does; her mind is soft and gentle, full of life and light but also riddled with pain. Her dream is particularly horrible, all darkness and pain. He feels her emotions. The shock. Pain. Loss. Fury. And something softer but just as fierce. Love. He hears her screaming in her dream, and it cuts off suddenly.
Rose is a bit shocked by the gentle brush of his mind against hers. It's gentle, but wild and alien. Ancient. She sees flickers of his thoughts and dreams, feels flickers of his emotions. Probably seeing a fair deal less than he's able to look at, but it's still... it's far more intimate than her earlier curling up against him and bawling like a baby. When his mind leaves hers, her eyes are still flicking back and forth slightly at the images dancing in her mind. She closes her eyes, and the images stop. She doesn't realise tears are flowing steadily until two gentle hands wipe away the warm tears. Rose takes a deep breath, opening her eyes. She both mentally curses and loves the Doctor's piercing blue eyes at the same time. Seeing right through her. Unsure of anything else to say she begins with: "Hi."
"Rose Tyler," he says quietly. "How?"
"How what?"
"How could you… how…" he can't put the words together, but she understands perfectly.
"How could I fall in love with you?"
The Doctor is surprised by her forwardness, but nods. Rose smiles. "How couldn't I? You're funny and kind and brilliant, and sometimes you're so dark and war-torn, but it's so fleeting now that I can barely see it. I can see a difference in you from when you first took my hand and said run. You're so amazing, that I can't even put words to it other than to say that I love you. And if you don't feel the same way… that's alright. Because I'll always be here, no matter what."
And he lays down as he wraps his arms around her, pulling his Rose close to him. Her arms circle around his torso. And as she drifts back to sleep, he whispers three words to the drifting girl. The Doctor knows he's in far too deep now, and that when she finally does have to leave, it will break him beyond anything. He'll miss her and possibly never feel the same way about anyone, because this is the kind of love that anyone in the universe can testify will never fade or wither. He enjoys this short time in his life where he is being held by this beautiful young woman, so full of life and love, and pushes away all thoughts of eventually being alone once more.
For once, he thinks it's worth the heartbreak.