"Some Call Love a Thief"
A Whovengers One-Shot
It starts out as nothing more than great conversation and good company. Rose is lonely and even if he isn't the Doctor, he understands her in a way that no one else has before.
He lost someone too. Not to an alternate universe or anything so outlandish. He doesn't tell her exactly how he lost her, but Rose knows that it must have been bad. Probably as bad as when the Doctor was separated from her.
He talks about her sometimes, about their life together before. His face transforms just as hers does when she talks about her Doctor. Becomes all hard lines, anguish shining through every inch of his skin. She never knows what to do in these moments, but she understands what it's like to feel so guarded. So, she reaches out and takes his hand. It isn't much, but he never pulls away. She thinks he's okay with the small comfort.
Slowly, but surely, they grow closer. Jackie takes an immediate liking to him and invites him to dinner every other day of the week. No matter how busy he is, he always accepts the invitation. It's how Rose knows that he's just as lonely without her as she is without him. She secretly looks forward to those nights. Because afterward, while everyone else clears out of the kitchen, they stay to clean up. Those minutes are filled with secret touches, lingering looks, and waiting.
Always she is waiting.
The change comes in the most unexpected way. They're lounging on a blanket outside in one of Rose's favorite places. It's quiet, miles away from London and Torchwood. They can see the sky, the stars, the universe. And in some ways, it's almost like being back with her Doctor. She smiles fondly as she thinks back on the memories of their adventures.
That is when she knows. She's careful not to look at him, but her body betrays her. She seeks more of his heat, her side pressing more firmly into his own. She can feel his eyes on her, but she stares resolutely at the moon. Praying, hoping, that he hasn't noticed anything different.
"Rose?" he whispers. She shudders as his warm breath caresses the side of her face. Her eyes fall shut and she knows she's in trouble.
Her heart begins to race even before he's touched her. He is so close and she is losing what little control she has left over herself. She isn't sure how much longer she can last, how much longer she can hold back.
"Are you sure?" he asks her. His voice is already husky with desire. How he ever thinks she could say no to him, she'll never know. The control snaps. She feels nothing but him. He fills her heart and she knows.
Her response is to grasp her trembling hands around his neck and pulls his lips to her own.
Their mouths meld together. Teeth clashing. All repressed passion, wild abandon, and heat. She's never felt anything so good. She has never felt anything so right. And for the first time since she met the Doctor, she forgets him. All that matters is this man, his arms, his lips.
Reality fades away and all Rose can do is cling to him as they make love again and again beneath the stars.
She expects to break his heart. Surprisingly, she doesn't. It's him who breaks hers when he leaves. Abandons her just like the Doctor did. This time, it is worse and she knows she will never recover. Not a second time.
It is quick. Almost painless. But it hurts more than she ever imagined it would. One moments he's there, gripping her hand with all the strength he has left. In the next, his hold slackens and tears flood her eyes. She can see nothing. She can feel nothing.
He's gone and all he has left behind is a huge, empty space. In her heart, in her mind, in her very soul. Of all the loss she's experienced in her life, this is the worst. He saved her. Made her better. What is she supposed to do now? They have spent the last 70 years together. Two broken souls they were and as a team, they had formed something beautiful. Something that transcended every fantasy she'd ever believed could be possible. In the blink of an eye, it has all disappeared.
He has broken her heart. And this time, there is no one waiting to fix her. Because the only person that could have done it is gone.
Rose dreams of him all the time. Every single night, he is there. Full of smiles and comfort and love, all for her. Every night, he shatters her heart all over again. None of her dreams have happy endings. Because she wakes up and he is never there in the flesh. He doesn't take her into his arms and kiss away the nightmares. It's all she can do just to roll over and cry herself to sleep again.
She isn't adjusting to this new, lonely existence. She knows she never will. Now more than ever, she can feel the full weight of her age on her shoulders. It is pressing down on her harder and harder every day. It won't be long now before she sees him. A fact which she relishes with all of her being.
For now, she can only wait. She amuses herself with her grandchildren. They are the only real joy in her life. Most days they make her feel, almost, young again. She loves them, kisses them, embraces them. She wonders is she is smothering them but they don't seem to mind. In fact, if they could have their way, they would be at her house every second of their lives. Secretly, she wishes for the same thing.
Because all good things must end. They all go home in the end. When the silence descends on her two-story dream house, the walls close in on her. Threatening to suffocate her.
She thinks it appropriate when she feels the cold fingers of death reach for her in the middle of the night. She's retired to bed early after a day filled with laughter. It is the best day she has had in a very long time. But she is tired. So tired.
She does not fight against her demise. She welcomes it and smiles her beautiful smile. For behind the blinding light, she can make out his face. He is young again, his face what it was when they first met. And she realizes as she leaves the shell of her old body, that she is young too. She feels a second of respite, of freedom. Then, his arms are around her. It's like he never left her at all.
All the years they have been apart melt away and all that matters is that he is here. Whole, alive, and as handsome as ever. He's so warm and she sighs into his kiss. Moans his name when it becomes more.
He is all she has ever wanted and now they have forever. The forever that she has always wanted.
A/N: So yeah I definitely teared up writing this Brose fic. I have to say that it's one of my most favorite pieces and I really hope that my fellow Whovengers addicts enjoy it too.