It was an accident.
A pure and honest accident that neither of them had consciously initiated, but then again, it had happened whether conscious or not.
At the end of a long day, he'd bid her good night same as always, but a quick kiss to the cheek changed when they both happened to turn at the same time. He pulled back immediately with an apology quick to fall from his lips.
"M'sorry…" Rose froze immediately. That was not in the plan. He wasn't supposed to do that! She tried to come up with some witty retort, some jab at his intelligence, but her face was hot and her mind couldn't find the right words to say. She looked at him, mortified, and looked away.
He cleared his throat a bit uncomfortably and glanced back to the controls. "Guess uh... Guess I'll see you in the mornin', then?" He asked in a voice that sounded quiet, even to himself.
"Right." Rose nodded, praying her face would calm down. He was so quiet and Rose thought she saw him fiddle with that one odd switch- it did nothing but serve as a nervous outlet, and she knew immediately she'd only made the situation worse. "Right..." She watched him fiddle, feeling her stomach twist itself into uncomfortable positions, and she followed him closer to the panel. "Goodnight then, Doctor." Rose returned the gesture with a quick kiss on the cheek, turning her back to hide the redder blush.
His eyebrows shot to his hairline and it took everything in him to keep his ears from flushing completely red. "Rose, wait," He said quickly, then, realizing he wasn't sure even where to begin, switched gears. "Go get dressed. Something warm. We're going out."
"Out?" Rose turned back and stared at him, shocked. "What do you mean, 'out'? ...Shouldn't I get going? I'm sure you have New Year's to see somewhere..." She fiddled with her sleeves despite herself, feeling a warm glow burn in her gut.
"Nah, not really," he shrugged. "Seen the end of plenty of years in my time, an' the beginnin' of loads more. But uh... We could celebrate together this year. If you want, I mean."
Rose grinned. "Sure, sure- where are we going?" She leaned on the console, hoping it would keep her head on her shoulders, and stared at the buttons. "Are you just gonna whisk me away again now?" She knew she'd find something warm in the wardrobe; she didn't want to have to see her mum and explain this. "Or is something happening here again? More plastic?"
"No danger this time, maybe," he decided. "How about... I dunno. We could go to one of those big cities... London or Paris or New York... But I've been there, done that. Probably got a t-shirt. How about we do something a little different this time?"
"You been 'round here before?" Rose asked suddenly. "I mean, properly? No monsters to chase off... no aliens to save..."
"Yeah, course I have," he shrugged. "Nine hundred years, I've had time to get around a bit. It's not all chasin' aliens an' savin' planets, you know. Sometimes- an' I say sometimes very loosely because I should probably have said rarely- it's not about the runnin'. It's about seein' somethin' for the first time, marvelin' at the universe."
"Alright then, Doctor," Rose flipped the one switch she knew -the one that got everything started for flight- and she looked up at him with a wide smile. "surprise me. You're good at that." Quickly moving back to clutch the rail, Rose gave the Doctor her back and closed her eyes, trying to get her smile under control. She tried to tell herself that the kiss had been an accident, and then a reassurance that they weren't weird, but she could feel the beat of her single heart hard against her rib cage and it made her giddy. She tossed back one request over her shoulder, tilting her hips to shift her weight, "Just stay on Earth, please."
"Earth, right," he nodded, leaning against the console and crossing his arms over his chest as he pondered it. "How about... Christmas Island? Ever been there? Well... doesn't matter if you have, really. First place on Earth to ring in the new year. Fantastic little place, if I say so myself."
Rose laughed once, trying to hold it back, and nodded. "Fantastic."
"Alright, then," he said with a grin, looking markedly more relaxed as some of the tension dissipated into the air around them. "Christmas Island... Year 2086. Brilliant year, this one." He flipped a few switches and levers, clutching the side of the console. "Hold onto something!"
Rose tightened her grip on the bar, smiling to herself, and turned her face up to what would have been the sky. She let the TARDIS sweep her away from her London, from Mickey and her mum and those guys at the pub that tease her every weekend about coming home with them, but suddenly a great burst of speed shook her from her grip and she slid back across the platform.
Releasing his grip on the console with one hand, he instinctively reached out and caught her around the waist and pulled her close to his side. "Alright?" he whispered, checking her over for injury.
Rose opened her mouth to reply, fisting her hands in the lapels of the Doctor's jacket, but she met his eyes again and her voice shriveled away. She stared -it felt like an eternity- but suddenly she realized how strange she must have seemed to him; the silly human girl. She turned her eyes down, to the collar of his plum t-shirt, and she cleared her throat.
"Y-Yeah," She managed, nodding slightly. "I just lost my grip."
"I noticed," he said quietly, then cleared his throat as well and released his hold on her waist after the gentle thump of the landing was over. "Let's uh... Let's get out there, shall we? Only got three minutes before the new year rolls around. Don't want to miss it."
"Right." Rose agreed, but she realized after a second that she was still clinging to his jacket like a child. She released him like she'd burned herself and, sliding out from between him and the console, she fled to the wardrobe to swaddle herself in some warmer clothes before she returned to the main room. Her mind was spinning, and it made her slow, and she hoped he wasn't waiting for her- she also hoped he wasn't thinking about the last five minutes, but she couldn't have everything she wished for, could she?
"Come on," he said, catching her hand as soon as she entered the room and fairly dragging her out of the TARDIS and into the hustle and bustle of the new year's crowd. "Only got thirty seconds left. Look." He kept his grip on her hand, using his free hand to point to the place in the sky where the fireworks were beginning to light up the night.
Rose's eyes widened. Flowers of blue and gold and dazzling jade lit up the sky, forming butterflies or falling like flower petals and disappearing just out of reach. It was like something out of a fairy tale. Her breath caught and she found herself gripping the Doctor's hand a little tighter.
"It's gorgeous." She murmured, "Absolutely brilliant..."
He glanced down at her with a smile. "It is," he agreed, though his focus was nowhere near the fireworks. The seconds ticked by before the crowd erupted into cheers of "Happy New Year," and cameras flashed all around them.
Rose laughed as confetti, music, and laughter and cheering erupted around them, staring around her at the sea of smiling faces. Everyone was drinking and kissing and cheering and the good mood infected her; she gripped the Doctor's hand tightly, looking up at him only to find he was already looking down at her with what could almost have been fondness in his eyes. She froze, her smile half-formed, and her eyebrows crunched together. "Doctor? You alright?"
She tried not to think about the kiss. She didn't want to be the silly, blushing little human girl too.
"Yeah, course," he said, glancing away as a man with a camera in his hands tugged at his sleeve and said a few words in a language the TARDIS didn't translate for them. He shook his head, but the man made insistent-like gesturing between the two of them.
"What's he saying?" Rose asked, leaning closer so that he could hear her over the crowds. "I can't understand what he's saying!" She looked up at him with questions in her eyes and frowned. "I thought the TARDIS translated everything!"
"That's because I was fiddling with the translation circuit earlier. Must've forgotten to hook it back up. He uh... He wants to get a picture for us."
Rose felt a seed of doubt in her mind; she hadn't seen him fiddle with it. "Then let's give him a picture!" She quickly lifted their joined hands, pressing against his side, and made a 'peace' symbol with her free hand as she waited for the flash to go off. Unfortunately, the man didn't look pleased; he motioned again and waved his camera enticingly at them, raising his eyebrows expectantly. Rose frowned deeper and looked at the Doctor. "What does he want? Why won't he just take the picture already?"
He raised their joined hands in evidence. "He thinks we're a couple. Wants to capture our first kiss of the new year," he managed, his ears going a bit red at the tips as he spoke to the man in the same language he'd used before. "He doesn't get it."
"Oh." Rose swallowed harshly. She looked around anxiously, trying not to blush again and embarrass herself, and then back at him. She dropped his hand carefully. "Well..." 'Once more couldn't hurt.' She thought, glancing at the photographer again. She took a moment to ready herself while he glanced back and forth between her and the man with a helpless sort of look.
"I suppose if he's not gonna leave us alone about it," The Doctor said, resting his free hand at her waist as he bent to kiss her lightly. Rose felt his hand before she really heard him, and she took the way he bent down a little as her opportunity.
Rose caught the Doctor's face in both hands, pulling their lips together, and sealed the kiss deeply as she pushed herself against him. She had the sense to close her eyes, but not before his gaze and the camera flash could half-blind her. She kissed him hard, letting one arm drift from jaw to the back of his neck, but eventually her lungs started to burn.
He wound his arms around her waist, keeping her close to him even when he pulled away, however reluctantly. The man with the camera smiled and handed him a ticket, then disappeared back into the crowd.
"Well, um..." He trailed lamely, staring at her with fascination.
Rose didn't say anything. She let her other hand rest on his shoulder, her right fingers still touching the back of his collar, and she kissed him again. It was softer this time, a sweeter apology for the violent clash of teeth and lip and tongue that had set the camera flashing once, if not a few times, and she let it go slow to make it last like the super nova he'd shown her.
A quick start, but then so slow, and so gentle.
And then she spoke. "Happy New Year, Doctor."
"Happy New Year, Rose Tyler," He whispered, resting his forehead against hers. "What d'you say we go check out our picture?"
"Definitely." Rose shared his smile and pulled away, letting herself fall down off her tiptoes and back to solid ground. Kissing him, she decided, was like flying in the TARDIS. She let him lead her, their hands reunited, and she couldn't quite manage to wipe her grin off her face.