The Doctor stares at the flower bouquet gripped in his hands, a beautiful bouquet of deep red, burning yellow, blooming white, luscious lavender, and pale pink roses, bursting into life.
He breathes in deep, exhaling out. All he had to do was go up to Rose, and hand her the flowers, then take her out to dinner somewhere nice. Maybe Paris in 1933...Or maybe she would like New York better. Or maybe just a quiet area for them to spend time alone together...
His thoughts are interuppted when the opening of the TARDIS doors come, that familiar creak that he adores. He peers up from his perch on the seat in the console room, watching as Rose's golden hair pops up, her face next, her usual cheery smile appearing. "Hello, Doctor!"
"Rose!" He calls out, setting the bouquet behind him as he gets up to hug her. The Doctor spins her in his arms, and she giggles. When he lets her go, Rose glances up at him. "So, Doctor? Where to today?"
The Doctor pretends to ponder this for a moment, tapping a finger to his chin. "Weeeeell, I was thinking..." He disappears from her view when he back to where he last was, picking up the bouquet in one of his hands. He hides it behind his back, striding back over to her. "The birthday girl should choose."
Rose stares blankly at him, and when he produces the flowers from behind his back, she bursts out in laughter. "Doctor, it isn't my birthday! Well, at least not for another nine days. But thank you for the wonderful present." She teases, leaning up on her tiptoes to peck a kiss on her cheek. He blushes, saying, "Your mother told me it was your birthday, though."
"She's just been trying to get me to spend more time with her. She thinks if it was my birthday, you would leave me to spend the day with her."
The Doctor laughs, kissing her forehead and rustling her hair. "Fat chance, Rose Tyler. But, is there anywhere you would want to go?"
Rose doesn't answer, her eyes trained on the flowers in her grasp. The Doctor turns to her, lifting her chin up so he can peer into her eyes. "What's wrong?"
He can see her hesitate, then, "Each flower has a different meaning, and I love these, but they die so easily."
The Doctor waits for her to say more, confused as to where she's getting to.
"These flowers, symbolize...Well, don't you dare laugh, but, they're...Us. And I don't want them, us, for our time together, to stop. Or shrivel into lifeless petals."
The Doctor immediately understands what she means, and, smiling, pulls her in for a hug, Rose holding the flowers out away from them so as to not crush them. He kisses her forehead again. "Oh, Rose Tyler..."
DWDWDWDWDWDWDWDWDWDW
That day, he had come up with an idea, a plan.
Each day after that, for nine straight days, he would give her a single flower recently plucked. This time, it wasn't only roses. There was a tulip, a daisy, an iris, an amaryllis, an aster, a calla lily, a carnation, a lilac, and a gardenia. Each one, an assortment of colours.
On the next day, Rose's birthday, he gave her one single bright red rose, a layer of ten petals encircling the center. It was the most beautiful flower the Doctor had given her yet. But this one was a fake flower.
She looks up at him confused, holding the evergreen stem of it between her fingers. "Doctor?"
The Doctor looks into her amber eyes, smiling. "You said that those flowers I gave you a few days ago were us and our time together. Most flowers, usually, they die and shrivel. Not this one. This is us."
He kisses her cheek, and when he pulls away, he can see tears in her eyes. Rose smiles up at him. "Forever?"
"Forever isn't long enough, Rose Tyler. How about eternity?"
She rolls her eyes, because they're basically the same thing, but instead of pointing it out to him, she grabs his blue striped tie and pulls him close, pressing his lips to hers.
Rose lets go, beaming up at his blushing face. The Doctor runs a hand through his hair, an uncontrollable grin on his face. "So, anywhere and everywhere, where do you want to go?"
Rose smiles, hooking her arm through his.
"Anywhere's fine, as long as you're with me."