Stars could collapse around him, galaxies that spun for eons could dissipate and civilisations could disintegrate into stardust and the Doctor would not care the slightest. In fact it was all happening way, way above his head at that very moment but he didn't care the slightest because Rose Tyler was a sight more spectacular than intergalactic phenomena.
Her eyes were mesmerizing as her hazel hues reflected the spectacle above their heads. Stardust swirled and danced in her eyes and its companions were compassion and excitement. Whenever he gazed upon her, which was more often than he should, he was always met with enchantment. It wasn't just her eyes that had enthralled him but it was everything about her. From the way starlight bounced off her fine blonde hair - to her smile and how her tongue seemed to enjoy poking through teeth at the most impromptu moment, whether she smiled or pondered or just felt like doing so, it was all so mesmerizing. Everything about Rose Tyler captivated him in such a way that for the first time in his nine hundred years of existence, the Doctor would rather allow his eyes to study his human companion than look outside and watch as billions of years of history unravelled above them.
She was in his arms, a fact that hardly even surprised the Doctor these days. So often on their adventures throughout time and space, he and Rose often ended up having to share a bed or at least a room. His Time Lord physiology required hardly any sleep, so more times than not the Doctor found himself on strange planets watching Rose Tyler rest because when on new worlds, there was never anything better to do than keep track of every gentle rise and fall of her unconscious breaths.
This time however she was not asleep but instead just receded in his comfort, bodies melded and entwined as they both lapped up their precious embrace. Neither talked and neither needed to, their touch was enough to satisfy any qualms. His arms wrapped around her waist and hands snaked around her own so they could entwine each and every finger with each other's. She was settled on top of the Doctor, legs mingling and as he was strategically slouched against the cool metal wall, the Doctor was able to rest his head upon her own while she nestled into his neck. Warm cheeks furrowed into slightly cooler crevices on his neck, lips brushed sensitive skin but never truly touching as her eyes focused on the window leading to the outside, the cause of all the starlight in her eyes.
They were on Krop Tor, ensnared on the bitter pill that encircled the demon that was the black hole - the devourer of stars and civilisations. With the TARDIS lost and at the mercies to the perilous outside, hope was quickly disintegrating but the Doctor never said so out loud in fear that he might be the one to break down first. His old girl, the constant companion that he borrowed so long ago had vanished. Of course it wasn't the first instant of him losing her but with nothing except the vacuum of space and the always hungry black hole, well, the Doctor's hopes of finding her were beyond slim at this stage.
With no way to flee if ever needing to, the Doctor and Rose were stuck sometime in the fortieth millennia with a handful of humans who were over eager to discover the science behind what kept the bitter pill from falling into the foreboding mouth of its demolishing demon. Stuck in a time and place that they both felt estranged to, they had nothing better to do than take claim of a spare dorm and wait for the locals to escort them to dinner.
"It's beautiful," Rose murmured as outside two moons broke apart moments before gushing into the oblivion beyond, a firework display made from ancient rocks instead of modern pyrotechnics.
"Not as beautiful as you," the Doctor replied before eyes grew wide in shear horror of his choice of words. He hadn't meant to say it but he had been so wrapped up in his study of Rose Tyler that they effortlessly flew in soft syllables before he could control himself.
"Hmm?" Rose tilted her head, starlight no longer dancing in her eyes as it was replaced with his reflection.
"Oh nothing," the Doctor assured, a silent plea of relief escaped in the shape of a breath, pleased that he wasn't the only one who's focus was not on his words.
Rose went back to gaze outside the window, head burrowing back into his neck. Her warm breath tickled his sensitive skin but the Doctor didn't mind - in fact he quiet enjoyed it. With thumbs lightly brushing her nimble hands, the Doctor let his mind wander once more. As she moved on top of him - adjusting her body every now and then to stop her bones from growing stiff and muscles becoming knotted - the Doctor could feel even her slightest movement. Back muscles ripped as she twisted her torso so she could sink lower into his own, shoulder blades creaked after too long immotile and her heart beat thrummed a single tenuto rhythm so close to his own double staccato drumming. If he closed his eyes and focused his attention onto the auditory senses, the Doctor could hear their body compose a symphony of polyphonic biological resonances. Subtle bone creaks, muscle rolls, nonchalant breaths and gentle thuds of their three hearts - a beautiful composition that only the Doctor could hear.
"You're out of it," Rose's voice broke through to his wandering mind once again, although this time a playful nudge into his jaw was needed to stir him.
"What?" the Doctor blinked before tilting his head down to look at his pink and yellow companion.
"Oh nothing," she mimicked his earlier response; smile breaking out from cheek to cheek, complete with her tongue poking through shining teeth.
Sending her a soft smile, the Doctor tightened his arms around Rose and placed a tender kiss onto her forehead. "I'll get us out of this," he whispered into her strawberry scented hair, "somehow I'll find a way."
"I know you will," Rose mumbled, turning her head back towards the direction of the window so she could place a light kiss on his neck where her hot breath had teased not long before.
He froze at the touch of her lips, body stiffening as her delicate lips lingered. When she moved them away from his skin, the Doctor let his tense body relax and arms already so tight against his companion tightened further. He felt her hands grow clammy so gently he pried their digits apart so his fingers could draw circles on her arms. At first Rose tried to capture his lean fingers back into her own but she soon gave up, content to let him do his own thing. The Doctor traced circles with a feather-light touch up and down her arms. Although she couldn't decipher his touch, the Doctor traced the same repetitive circles over and over again in circular Gallifreyan
'I love you'
She never knew what those circles meant and he hoped she never did because more often than he should, the Doctor found himself tracing those words over her arms or on sticky notes in the TARDIS. It was his way of coping when verbally those three words were so hard to compose - as if an unbreakable wall had been established around those words that filled so much space in his hearts - unable to break free in the form of voice. For now he had to make do with tracing his feelings onto the material of her jacket.
They stayed like that for a while, the Doctor's hands busy painting confessions and Rose had let her own hands rest on her stomach as they no longer had anything to do. She had closed her eyes and her breaths deepened and the Doctor was about to nudge her off him in case she had decided to nod off while on top of him. Just as he began to tilt their bodies so she could easily slide off, Rose came back to consciousness, squirming at his movement.
"I was real comfy until you did that," Rose tutted lightly.
"Sorry boss, promise not to move again," he moved a hand up to tousle her hair.
"Good," eyes still closed she gently rolled over until she was in the same position as before except her front was flush with his. Her new position made her look like a cat lounging on her favourite tree branch and a smug smile lit up her face. With the change, the Doctor had to slide down the metal wall and rest his head on the grey pillow. He couldn't help but blush a little when he thought of what it must have looked like - Rose splayed out on top of him. He visualised it and couldn't help but like what he saw.
Lightly the Doctor placed a hand on the crook of her back and another in her hair, slowly kneading her blonde locks which in response, Rose made a sigh that sounded almost like a purr.
With Rose drifting off to sleep, the Doctor let his tongue slip up once again. Words tumbled from his mouth before his brain could kick in and shut him up, "Rose Tyler, oh you are so beautiful."
Cheeks reddening as he clamped his jaw shut, the Doctor watched his sleeping Rose reacted. Her body tensed and eyes slowly flickered open. She tilted her head so her chin rested on his chest, hazel eyes locked onto his brown. Although she no longer looked out the window, stardust still danced in her eyes. A smirk threatened to make an appearance on her lips as she studied her red faced Doctor.
"You're looking as if you just insulted me," Rose chuckled lightly.
"Well, I guess I was just—" the Doctor was cut off with Rose's lips pressing against his own. It was a simple kiss to say thank you and when she went to pull away the Doctor wouldn't let her, drawing her lips back to his own once more. This time it was tender, lips brushed hesitantly, not knowing if it was too much or not enough. Both savoured the taste of each other, reciting the texture of the other's lips to memory. Both their hands wandered to brown and blonde hair, entangling each digit as they deepened the kiss, tongues cautiously exploring one another as the two of them made the most of the ecstasy that was kiss.
The Doctor felt lust hidden away for so long rise slowly to the surface, kisses growing hungrier as they made up for all the kisses stolen from them. His lips moved from Rose's mouth to her neck, sucking on her sensitive skin which elicited the soft moans he was hoping for. He was just about to move to her collar bone when the aura of desire they had so hastily created shattered into a million pieces as the door to their quarters slid open.
"Dinner is—" Danny Bartock's voice cut short when he saw the two of them, entangled in each other's hold.
Rose and the Doctor flew apart when Danny froze, both their cheeks crimson although smugness dripped off the Doctor's facial features.
"Dinner is in habitat three - that is if you, um, if you want it," Danny ran a hand through his thick black hair, dark eyes wide with the embarrassment for walking in on them.
"Thanks Danny," Rose grinned, "We'll be out there in a minute."
Nodding, he left them, promptly closing the door behind the strange guests, allowing sexual tension that was always between the two of them to build.
"So, um"
"Yeah," the Doctor averted his gaze from Rose who was bumbling away beside him. He had always imagined what it would be like to kiss her properly since the other times she hadn't been herself. He recited the sweet taste of her lips and the sound of her soft moan when he had sucked on her neck to memory. A sly grin not being able to shove off his face, the Doctor nudged her lightly "Come on, let's go try out the protein rations." He held out his hand, an offer for her to take it and he couldn't help but breathe an audible sigh of relief when she took his hand in her own. Giving her hand a gentle squeeze, the Doctor lead them off the bed and out into the creaking corridors of the base in hunt for a feed.
Stars could collapse around him, galaxies that spun for eons could dissipate and civilisations could disintegrate into stardust and the Doctor would not care the slightest. He wouldn't care because beside him he had Rose Tyler, the one he believed in but never told and the one whose lips tasted like stardust and all the nicest things. They might've been stranded on Krop Tor, the TARDIS lost to the mercies of space although the Doctor didn't mind. They stood on top of the bitter pill as it circled endlessly around the demon high up in the sky. The Doctor didn't worry about the demon above because beside him was the one he believed in; his pink and yellow girl from Earth with stardust in her eyes and both his hearts entwined around her own. She was his angel, his saviour and his goddess, the beacon of light shining with such luminosity that just a touch from her hand was all he needed to scare away the demons that ran so high up in the sky.