Never Gonna Be Alone
By: SilverLunarStar
Disclaimer: Don't own Doctor Who.
Note: I've had this idea rattling in my head for a while and what better way to finally make myself write than for a dear friend's birthday? A very happy birthday to my dear badwolfrise! No beta, all mistakes are my own.
The Doctor stepped out of the restroom only a few minutes after he'd stepped in, but when he looked around, he could not spot his pink and yellow girl anywhere. Shaking his head, he smiled fondly. Rose Tyler will never change; no matter how much time has past, she will always wander off. He pulled his mobile out of his pocket, striding toward the lifts when he realised they were clearing people off the third floor and into the lobby. Rose must already be downstairs.
"Doctor?" came her voice from the receiver.
"Surprised they made you clear out so quickly," he joked, stepping out the lift.
"Where are you?" she asked, bemused.
"Just came down to the lobby." He scanned the crowd and when he didn't spot her immediately, his unoccupied hand came up to tug at his hair, disheveling it from the proper updo he had painstakingly taken his time with before coming to the Royal Festival Hall to listen to the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. When they got to the hall early (he could have sworn the tickets said 5PM, not 8). There had been a new, smaller group that was going to perform and free tickets were being distributed. So, the Doctor and Rose being who they were, jumped at the chance. It had been a lovely show to experience, together, but now he was getting quite antsy without her by his side.
"Doctor," she laughed. "I'm still on the third floor. I just stepped outside."
As soon as Rose had said she was still upstairs, he whirled around, ready to get back to the lift when he was stopped.
"I'm sorry, sir, but you can't go back up," an usher stepped in front of the Doctor before he could even push the button.
The Doctor looked at the man, boy, from the end of his nose. "What's your name?" he asked, conversationally. The usher blinked and looked up, being a few inches shorter than him, with curly hair and a serious face, but he didn't budge.
"Tom, sir."
"Tom, I'm the Doctor, and my lovely… Rose is upstairs, you see, so I really must be getting back to her. She tends to wander off a lot, she does, so I better go before she does so again." A muffled, but still audible (to him), "Who's wandering off?" came from his mobile and he resisted the urge to stick his tongue out at it. "We just saw the show that ended and have tickets for the next." He was ready to pull out his ticket when he was interrupted yet again.
"I'm sorry, sir, but rules are rules. The only way you can go up is if you have a dinner reservation."
"But my wife's up there!" he exclaimed, fibbing. Well, only a bit. Technically, they were married in at least half a dozen galaxies in another universe. The Doctor gave the boy his best Oncoming Storm look, but even that didn't deter him. Could have been a royal guard at the Buckingham Palace in their original universe, the way he simply stood stoically in his way! Letting out a frustrated growl, he tilted his head back to his mobile, "Rose, I'm not being let back up."
"You could just take-. Oh, hang on." A voice on the other line that he couldn't decipher appeared and it wasn't until Rose's far away voice uttering, "Lovely to see you too, Mr Jacobs," that he knew they were doomed.
Mr Jacobs was an investor of Vitex and the Doctor knew she wouldn't be able to escape him so easily.
Sighing, he simply ended the call, shoving the mobile, and his hands into his trouser pockets, fingers brushing against a velvet texture. Noticing there was already a line forming for the next performance, the one they were actually here to see, he joined the queue. The sooner they began seating people, the sooner he would see Rose. Suppressing his still-ticking time senses, he rocked back and forth on his feet, turning to glare at the usher who wouldn't let him back up. He was still by the lifts, guarding them as if they were priceless treasures. And to him, they were. After all, they would bring him back with Rose. He could feel his chest tightening, his singular heartbeat slowing down until he remembered to breathe. No respiratory bypass in this body. He glanced at the escalators and stairs before him, also guarded by ushers, though much more friendly-looking, he doubted they'd let him in.
The Doctor inhaled sharply, his eyes stinging and feeling a little more than ridiculous that he couldn't seem to survive a few minutes without Rose. They had been apart for much longer and he'd been able to scrape through, if only just barely. He shoved his hands deeper into his pockets glad he'd worn his blue-and-red pinstriped suit, though he still clutched onto the velvet box as if his life depended on it. If he were being honest, it pretty much did.
The trinket inside the box held the answers to his future with Rose and if she didn't…
"Doctor!"
Whirling around, he caught sight of that future in a figure-hugging red dress, blonde tresses pulled up in a bun which revealed delicate gold earrings framing an elegant neck and face. His journey ended when he caught her sparkling honey eyes. His mind was completely and utterly blank. If asked later, he would not be able to tell what he had said.
All he remembered was striding away from the line to catch Rose in a hug, spinning her around a few times before placing her feet back on the ground so he could get down on one knee. He said words, she stared at him, shocked, eyes full of tears (happy tears, she'd later assure him), and a beautiful pink diamond on a gold setting adorning her left hand before she pulled him in for a snog. There might have been clapping, but he was oblivious to it all because Rose had just made him the happiest he'd ever been, assuring him as her culture does, that he would never be alone again.