Written for the first challenge at doctor_rose_las. I survived the first round, but with zero reviews-how am I supposed to know whether people like it if I get no feedback? *puppy dog eyes* Prompt was 'Phobia'.
~.o0o.~
Rose snuggled in closer to the Doctor, wrapping her arms around his torso and sighing in contentment. She was in her favorite grey flannel pajamas, and while she hadn't been able to convince the Doctor to change clothes for their post-adventure tea and cuddle in the library, he had at least removed his suit jacket and plimsolls.
She felt his breath stir the hair at the top of her head as he chuckled slightly. "Who would have believed Rose Tyler, Defender of the Earth, the big Bad Wolf herself, would be terrified of worms?"
"Oi!" she scowled, poking him in the ribs. "I have very good reasons for being afraid of worms. And besides, those weren't just worms, those were ten foot long sentient worms whose idea of a proper hello was to wind themselves around my legs and squeeze."
The Doctor stared down at her, incredulous. "Oh this I've got to hear. What possible reason could be a good one for being afraid of worms?"
Rose blushed slightly, and mumbled into the Doctor's shirt, picking at a button and refusing to meet his gaze. "I'm sorry Rose, couldn't hear that."
"I said," Rose grumbled as her cheeks became an impressive shade of cherry, "that Mickey dumped a bowl full of them over my head and down the back of my shirt when we were kids. They got everywhere! By the time I got home to Mum there were a dozen squirming worms in my knickers. I felt them crawling all over me for days after that."
"Besides," Rose said, using cheeky bravado to mask her embarrassment, "you can't honestly tell me, O Great Lord of Time, that you're not afraid of anything."
"Oh, I never said that," reassured the Doctor, stroking her arm and hair absently.
"Well, go on then," prompted Rose, "what are you afraid of?"
The Doctor took a deep breath, and let it out slowly. He was making a concentrated study of the ceiling above them, and for a moment Rose thought he wouldn't answer. When he spoke, his voice was soft, and sad. "So many things, and they all seem to happen in spite of everything I do to stop them. Losing my home, my people, my moral compass... you. I lost you, Rose," he said, looking at her, his eyes haunted.
Rose laid a hand against his cheek. "Hey, you got me back. I'm back, I'm right here, and I'm not leaving you."
"You can't know that, Rose."
"Yes I can, Doctor. Because you know what? Even if something happens to me again, I'll still be right here," she said, tapping the skin over his left heart, "and right here," tapping the skin over the heart on the right. "See? I'm not going anywhere."
The Doctor wrapped her in a tight embrace, which she was glad to return, and she felt him sigh into her hair.
Maybe tomorrow she could get him to change.
