Pausing at her door he rapped softly. She didn't hear him, above the music she never did. Turning the knob he crossed the thresh-hold to find her at her piano, just where he knew she'd be, fingers flitting expertly across the keys. There the Doctor stood, in quiet contemplation of her room. It had changed over time, since she first arrived, another book case had been added and the walls were covered in posters of paintings and various bands or solo artists. Some from times before, others from time to come. It had her scent now, the smell of her deodorants, something only he could smell that marked her distinctly as human and something else that again only he could smell that marked more specifically as Rose. It intoxicated him at times. She had made it hers, this room, not only through decoration but just by living in it. He could feel her here even when she was out, as if the very atoms that constitute the walls had absorbed the essence of her. And he knew that when it came time for her to leave him, no companion after her would ever be aloud to enter it.
Quietly, as not to disturb, he made his way to her bed and sat. He remembered the very fist time he'd heard her play. Passing through her room in much the same manner as he just had he had placed himself on the side of her bed and lost himself in her music. He had heard the song she was playing that very day on a cd she'd bought and he hadn't found it all that good. But, as he heard her move through the notes as if she meant every one of them he felt that both his hearts might implode with it's beauty. When he came back to reality he found himself laying back against the bed where he had sat, rose laying at his side. "I must have looked like that, I think." She had said. "When I first heard my Nan play. She'd been diagnosed with lung cancer about three weeks before." She smiled sadly in thought, "When she saw how hard I had fallen for the piano she made it her mission to teach me as much as humanly possible before she died."
He loved listening to her play, sitting there back towards him he loved to hear her empty her heart into the instrument, defenses down. Sometimes, if he listened intently enough, he thought he could see into her soul, and what he saw there was nothing short of beauteous. Her kindness, her selflessness everything about her. He had felt love for every one of his long term companions, but it was always a friendship love. It was during these peaceful respites from time, as he listened to her play, that he felt closest to her of all and he knew with no amount of uncertainty that he not only loved her, but was in love with her. The word 'love' itself, in fact, seemed to fall short as far as he was concerned. Standing, he crossed the distance to her and as he did so felt the certainty dawn on him in both it's glory and it's promise of loneliness for the future. He would never love anybody as much, or in quite the same way as he loved her. His hearts grew heavy with the need to touch her.
Approaching he saw that her eyes were closed. He knew they would be. Tonight she was alternating between two pieces she had once told him were by a man named Micheal Nyman. They were from the soundtrack to a movie called 'The Piano'. It had been an impulse buy from an audio/visual entertainment store named JB HI-FI in Australia during a brief stop in the year 2007. 'The Heart Asks Pleasure First' and 'The Sacrifice' quickly becoming her favourites. She knows them by heart.
He stood, a man torn, and watched her fingers move. He was her protector. He took her on as a companion and in doing so made a silent promise to her mother that he would protect her. Not just from death, but from some thing else. As strange as it may sound he was also supposed to be the protector of her virtue and how was he supposed to do that when he was one of the most immediate threats to it. He wanted so much to protect her but god did he want to touch her. Every time she hugged him he wanted to never let go, he wanted to enfold her deeper still into himself so that they could never be separated. He wanted to kiss her and, yes, he wanted to make love to her. He wanted to do these things because that's what those in love do with each other but he didn't want things to change. What if she didn't love him back. He was terrified of the thought that she would one day discover his feelings for her and leave him thinking that he was, after all, just a pervert 900 year old alien that liked them young.
Young. There's another reason why you shouldn't be here, in this room. You're about eight hundred and eighty years her senior. Without his consent his hand traveled forward. All he could do was watch as it found her hair, his fingers moving lovingly through it's silk. He was amazed as she continued to play then lent back into him seeking out his touch, her head resting against his stomach. His nerves played with their electricity at the points of contact, traveling up his spine and around his brain to imprint her on his mind. His hands slid over her shoulder blades and down her back as he went down on both knees behind her, his forehead settled against her back, his arms circled around her waist holding her.
They stayed this way for a while, she alternating between her two favorite piano pieces, pouring her happiness into each note and he behind her trying to memorise the feel of her and soaking her in through her music. The last few notes of 'The Sacrifice' echoed through the room and their bodies alike. Sitting still in their silence she took a hand, kissing his palm and lies it above her heart, he can feel the effect his touch has and i thrills him to know that she feels the same.
"Everything I can do", He started, "Go swimming on a water planet, hike alien forests, fight alien wars and save planets, I could do anything, and my most favorite thing to do in the entire universe, Rose Tyler, is listen to you play."
She turned then, lifting her legs over the piano stool settling one on either side of him. Taking his face in her hands she lay his head on her breast, loving the feel of his hands on her waist as they pulled her body into to his.
"All the things I could do with you", she replied, "Swim with you on that water planet, trek with you through that forest, fight that war and save that planet, we could do anything, and my most favorite thing to do in the entire universe, Doctor, Is play for you."