Authors Note: Written in response to the prompt "in bed together (no sex) e.g. one is tired/ill" by vulcanicity on lj. Been wanting to write Doctor/Sarah Jane for ages and finally got a small idea. Would have liked the prompt to have been a more major point but I think it works.
Disclaimer: I don't own anything to do with Doctor Who or the characters.
He had went back with the intention of doing as she asked: to say goodbye – even if she did not know who he was, but it was impossible. It had been simpler when he was younger and just walked away yet now that he had experienced those years without her and found out that he needed people like her and Rose it felt horrendous.
When he had arrived at her door on the day he was going to leave her she opened the door and tried not to look stunned as he realised that he had forgot how young and pretty she had been back when they had spent as much time together as was possible.
"Miss Sarah Jane Smith, I assume? My name is Mr Smith and I was wondering if you have a moment to spare."
"Mr Smith, really? I know somebody who likes to be known by that name. As long as it is only one moment as I do not think I am up to company for any longer." She warned and he noticed that she was paler than he recalled. It had slipped his mind that she had been violently sick twice in the TARDIS bathroom the last time he saw her. This made him feel even worse about how he had left it between them but he had been scared of what would happen if he had been braver and told the truth.
"The name is a coincidence I promise. I am simply relaying a message to say that it is too hard and..." She looked so confused when he locked eyes with her at this point and he lost his train of thought. Something must have flickered in his gaze because she began to look at him differently, as if she was trying to work out a problem in her head, then her features relaxed, taking a pause before talking.
"You are him, aren't you? But how? Why?!"
"I've regenerated a few times from your Doctor but I felt like seeing you right now, right here."
"Okay, whatever, I really don't think I can stand up for much longer so you can come inside as I find my bed before the other you appears."
He paused, wondering which was the better option, before following her into her home – she seemed to always have some sort of pull on him especially in this current body. When they stepped across the doorway to her bedroom he did not stop for a single second before laying next to her, both of them on their sides facing the best friend either of them could remember having.
They stared for countless minutes, trying to take in every little detail of this version of their partner. The Doctor would have given a lot if he could just stay with her like this for the rest of time, she brought out the best in him and he loved seeing her at this age when the whole of space and time was at her fingertips and she looked at him with wonder instead of pain and anger.
"Why does it feel as though my brain is being hit around by a hammer and why did you decide to visit today when you knew I would be like this?!"
"I know how you feel and I forgot you were ill, sorry." He had the decency to attempt to look sympathetic and she did her signature disapproving glare at him which made them both laugh a little. She reached over his shoulder for a bottle of water she had put there before he had arrived and as she pulled it back her arm brushed against part of his neck which caused them both to take a sharp breath in before trying to cover up the feelings that the contact had brought to the forefront of their minds.
"How would you know what it's like to be this sick? Do Time Lords ever feel this way?"
"You get mean when you're not feeling well. I will have you know that regenerating is not as fun as it looks. Come here," he said as he wrapped his arms gently around her and she continued to look at him seriously.
"Will this not change the future or anything?"
It wouldn't make a difference whether he showed up in this body or not. This was always going to be the last day for a number of years that they would see each other. He did not answer with words, he simply pressed his lips against her feverish forehead for longer than was necessary.
They were unsure of how long they stayed in this position for but they didn't care. Sarah Jane closed her eyes and pressed herself further against his body and he just held on tighter. He hated watching her suffer but he knew her day was only destined to get worse and it took everything in him not to wait and tell his past not to leave her. There was no way that could happen though – one day they would meet again when he looked this way as if to prove that as she grew older he carried on, looking younger than in her time with him.
Taking in the feel of her small body next to his own one last time he murmured into her soft dark hair, "I really should go now." Sarah Jane looked deep into his eyes and nodded, certain she would breakdown if she were to speak any words. She knew she would see her Doctor in a matter of hours but it had been nice to be with him in a way that was not surrounded by strangers or drama.
He stood up and as he reached the door to her bedroom he turned back and looked down at her while she continued to watch him, both wanting to say so many things out loud but neither was able. They weren't with the one they knew at these points of their lives.
"Goodbye, my Sarah Jane."