Disclaimer: I do not own any characters or things you recognize in this story.
AN: So here is a TenRose fanfic I did for school. I wrote it a while back, and thought I'd upload it. I had a due date and wrote it quickly, so I think some of them are a bit OOC. I'm sorry about that. Let me know what you think! Reviews make my week! Also, feel free to tell me what I need to work on. I'm young and every writer can use improvement! Thanks!
Tell Her Before it's to Late
A faint laugh rang out inside the narrow hallway. A familiar laugh. A laugh the Doctor never thought he would here again in his lifetime. Though he knew it was almost impossibly true he was actually hearing it, he spun around rather quickly, hoping he would see her, but fell down instead, bring Martha (who he had been holding hands with), along with him.
"Oi! Doctor! What'd you do that for?" She yelled at him in her London accent.
"Oh, Sorry, Martha, I thought I had, um..." He mumbled looking for a certain blonde, but his eyes did not find her.
"Never mind," He said grimly. He must've imagined her laughter…and in any case he needed to retain from thinking of her…He had Martha now, as a friend only, of course, but every time they went somewhere they had been together, his two hearts felt the pain of heavy grief.
He got up, dusting himself off, and helped Martha back onto her feet. He retook Martha's hand and they turned back the way they were originally headed…The same way the Doctor and his brilliant, witty, blonde companion had done just a year or so before…
He shook the thought of her once more from his mind and grasped Martha's hand harder hoping to forget.
The same laugh burst out again, and the Doctor was sure it was real, and it was her. He didn't care if Martha thought he was insane to go find the owner of that gorgeous laugh, and he turned around, slower this time. Martha irritated at the Doctor for making her walk back and forth, stood still in place, refusing to walk.
"Martha, what are you doing?" The Doctor questioned desperately.
Martha had never seen or heard the Doctor sound this way before, in a way that almost felt like pleading her to move, but she stood her ground.
"Tell me why we are going, and I'll go," She said stubbornly, wanting answers as to why a quick pit stop had turned the Doctor into a frenzy of nerves.
"Just follow Martha, I heard something, "he said, frantically trying to get her to move.
Martha, realizing she better listened to him, took his hand and resumed a fast pace down the hallway.
"What did you hear, because all I heard was laughter," She said confused by her alien friend.
"Well that's just it."
The Doctor came to a total stop, as he saw a blonde walking towards him. He hadn't seen her in over a year, and now there she was, standing directly in front of him. It took every single inch of will power in his 907 year old body not to run up and throw his arms around her. The only problem was, it didn't look like she wanted to do the same.
"Who is she?" Martha whispered.
The oblivious girl saw the Doctor and her face contorted into confusion as she took multiple looks behind her.
"Wha-how? Is this some Time Lord thing, I still don't know about?"
The Doctor smiled widely, not really listening to what she was saying as he finally lost it and gathered her into a hug.
She hugged back rather awkwardly and confused, and then pulled away quickly, a look of concern growing on her face.
"Are you ok, Doctor? I just saw you 2 minutes ago…probably less then that…" She said, eyes filled with worry, that something had happened in the short time they last saw each other.
"What are you talking about Rose-oh," The Doctor grew quiet and the smile slid from his face, while Martha's eyes flickered with realization.
"Rose? As in Rose Tyler? The one you blabber endlessly about? The one you lost-" Martha was cut off as the Doctor hissed her name to hush her.
Rose took a step back, furrowing her eyebrows together, " Wait, who are you?" She questioned, "and what do you mean lose me?"
"I'm the Doctor's companion, "Martha said, proud of her "title".
"What do you mean you're the Doctor's companion? I am, unless he's found someone in the last two minu-"Rose was cut off by the Doctor. But not the one in front of them, the one behind them.
"Rose, you have to see this! It's brilliant! Absolutely bril-oh," The Doctor stopped as he saw Martha and, well, himself.
Rose turned around. All she could say was a small 'oh'. Realization hit Rose hard, and she couldn't speak. This companion…she was her replacement. She thought she was going to be with The Doctor forever, how could this be happening?
The past Doctor stepped forward to look at the present Doctor.
"What are you doing here? You know how much this could wharf time! Am I really this stupid in the future?" He said, examining himself.
"I know. I didn't check dates. The T.A.R.D.I.S was about to break down, what was I supposed to do?" The present Doctor responded, defending he actions.
"Look at her," the past Doctor said, pointing towards Rose, who had taken to a corner, staring at it, simply wondering what she could've done to make him leave her, for that stuck-up snob.
"You heard her laughing didn't you? And you thought it was such a good idea to go and say hello?!" the past Doctor said lecturing himself.
"You'll understand in the future." The present Doctor's face wore grief and the past Doctor took a step forwards.
"…What, what happens to her? I don't see myself every leaving her, unless it was for own safety, of course she could just come back like she did last time, she can't, can't di-" The past Doctor rambled, but before he could finish the word 'die'. The present Doctor simply shook his head and said, "You know I can't tell you"
"Right, of course…well better be off!" The past Doctor said his face filled with worry.
Before he could leave though, the present Doctor grabbed hold of his shoulder, pulling him in to face him.
"Keep every minute with her in your memory, and cherish the time with her. Don't take her for granted, because one day..." the present Doctor told himself something he wished someone would've told him before she was lost…
"Alright Rose, we must be off!" The Doctor shouted to the corner. She turned around. She looked to the present Doctor and Martha, shaking her head.
"Why do you leave? Please tell me why you choose her over me? And you still talk about me? You loved Sarah Jane and how many times did you mention her? Does that mean you hate me or-or…" She stopped as the past Doctor took hold of her.
"Tell her. Sometime tell her." The present Doctor told himself, as he took one more glance at his Rose. Rose Tyler: The women who changed the legendary Time Lord inside and out. He pulled Martha along as he turned his back, going back to the T.A.R.D.I.S.
Martha didn't mention they still hadn't refueled. She knew enough to know he needed time. He headed down a hallway of the T.A.R.D.I.S Martha had never seen before. He walked into a room and closed the door behind him.
Martha walked towards the door. The small plaque read "Rose's Room". The normalcy of her door and sign astounded Martha. Her door and sign were high tech, like the T.A.R.D.I.S.
Not just the door was simply ordinary, so was Rose. The Doctor's brilliant Rose, know-it-all Rose, Smart Rose, Gorgeous Rose, and the one Martha never stopped feeling compared too was so… normal. Martha had half expected a supermodel killing aliens, the way The Doctor talked about her. But all Martha could be was Martha and she guessed that would just have to be enough for the Doctor.
The Doctor looked around Rose's pink room. It looked as though it didn't belong in the T.A.R.D.I.S because of the averageness of it. But that was his "Domestic Rose" The room still looked like it was waiting for her to come back. An outfit was hung on a drawer, pens and a journal lying on the floor, waiting for hand to pick them up and continue, and half eaten chips laying on the desk…Rose and her chips…
The Doctor sat down on the age of her bed allowing a tear to fall down his cheek thinking about her. Of course she wasn't dead, and it's not like she didn't have her mum and Mickey there, but they could never see each other again, well not without both their universes collapsing anyways. She was trapped in that parallel world and the Doctor couldn't help but feel responsible for it. The look on Rose's face today when she figured out what was happening, was one of the worst feelings he'd had in his life.
The last Time Lord lay his head down on her pillow, his hearts pounding, as he felt a wave of grief and guilt pass over him. How much more reminding? He loved Martha, just not the way he did Rose, and maybe after what he had told himself about "telling her", he'll take his own advice and tell her he loved her…
The thoughts of loving Rose brought drowsiness to him and he fell asleep to the comforting smell of Rose's cheap perfume that still lingered in the quaint room.