A/N: My God, this chapter's huge! I just couldn't stop writing! I'd just like to say that I had the idea for this chapter way before I saw Spider-Man 3, and I wasn't going to change it because I loved the idea too much! Thank you greatly for your continuing reviews and wonderful words of support. This will be the last update for a few days now, so enjoy it!
Disclaimer: I don't own the songs!
1 week later
"Okay, I'm off," Rose said as she popped her head round the living room door, hands fussing with the ponytail she had just tied into her hair.
"Wait!" the Doctor called out before she could escape.
Rose paused and looked at him intently.
"Being your first night and all, do I get to know just what this new job of yours is?"
She smiled. "When I get back. I want to see how tonight goes first." She fussed with her white shirt and black skirt. "Does this look okay?"
The Doctor slowly gave her the once over.
"Doctor!" Rose cried impatiently.
He laughed. "You look great. So, If you're not going to tell me where you're working, how will I know where to pick you up from?"
"You won't. I'll get a taxi."
"At that time of night? On your own?"
"Yes! I'll be fine." She picked up her bag and swung it over her shoulder. "I promise I'll call as soon as I'm on my way back."
"But –"
"I. Will. Be. Fine."
The Doctor sighed in defeat.
Rose had the sudden urge to go over and ruffle up his hair. So, she did.
"Don't worry. I'll see you later," she said, kissing the top of his head.
xxxx
A little after 2am, Rose wearily pushed open the front door and stepped over the threshold.
"I'm home!" she called out, shutting the door and kicking off her heels. When there was no reply she made her way towards the living room, where a faint glow was streaming out into the hallway. Leaning on the doorframe, she peered in only to find the Doctor sound asleep on the sofa, the remote control for the television clinging on to his hand for dear life as his arm dangled over the edge.
Rose couldn't believe it. He was actually sleeping. The one and only time she'd ever seem him sleep was when his regeneration had gone wrong, and that now seemed like a lifetime ago. She crept over to the television and turned it off, plunging the room into near darkness. She then made her way over to the Doctor, crouching down near his head and double checking that he was actually asleep and that his slumber hadn't been caused by poisoning or anything dodgy. He didn't look ill, and she was quickly satisfied that he was fine when she watched his chest rise and fall gently.
Then, without warning, he twitched, making Rose jump, the remote falling out of his hand. He moaned slightly, and flung the arm that had been hanging over the edge of the sofa onto his chest. Then he settled and Rose had to put a hand over her mouth to stop herself from laughing out loud.
Bless him, she thought, looking at him tenderly.
Moving carefully, she got up and went to get ready for bed. When she came back down fifteen minutes later to get a glass of water, dressed in comfy pyjamas, her teeth clean and face freshly scrubbed, she couldn't help but check in on the Doctor again. After all, him sleeping was such a novelty, she wanted to memorise it in case it never happened again in her lifetime.
She sat by his head again, watching the soft expression on his face. It was strange seeing him like this. He was hardly ever quiet, always fiddling with something or shouting at the TV, telling Rose stupid jokes or trying to fix things that didn't need fixing, resulting in him usually breaking them and then muttering about what cheap tat they were. She supposed though, after a lifetime of constantly taking the TARDIS apart and putting it back together again, that it was a habit he would never break.
Rose yawned and rubbed her eyes. Time for bed.
As she got up, the Doctor stirred.
"Rose?" he said sleepily.
"Sorry," she said, kneeling back down. "Did I wake you?"
"No, I don't think so. Unless it was you that was tickling me."
Rose chucked softly. " 'fraid not." She brushed his hair back off his forehead and he smiled drowsily at her, taking her hand and giving it a small kiss.
"I'll let you get back to sleep." She made to get up but the Doctor reached out and pulled her back down again.
"No, I'm done," he said, pushing himself up and pulling Rose over to sit next to him.
"How come you were asleep, anyway?"
He shrugged. "Even Time Lords have to sleep at some point. I shouldn't need to do it again for a long while now, although saying that, I have been feeling rather tired lately. Maybe my body's adapting to the domestic, human lifestyle. I might be going to sleep every night now. Imagine that. Me, sleeping every night and waking every morning."
"Hmmm. With any luck you'll also find out how annoying it is to be woken up at the crack of dawn on a Sunday."
"But that's what weekends are for," he protested. "Doing the fun things you don't get to do during the week."
"No. Sunday is a day of rest. God said so. And I for one am not going to argue with him. Now, I'm going up to bed before I pass out."
"You can't. You haven't told me what your job is yet. And, you're in trouble for not phoning me like you said you would."
"Like you would have heard it," Rose said. "When I came in you were dead to the world."
"That's not the point. Now," he said, putting an arm around Rose's shoulders and pulling her against him. "What's your job?"
Rose looked at him uncertainly. "Promise you won't laugh?"
"I promise."
"I'm a waitress."
The Doctor's eyebrows shot up. "A waitress?"
"Yeah, what's wrong with that?"
"Nothing. It's just that you mentioned it was something you didn't know if I knew you could do. Anyone can wait tables. But not many enjoy it, and you said it was something you enjoyed."
"Well, I don't just wait tables."
"And so you also do…?"
Rose looked at her hands. "I sing."
The Doctor blinked at pulled back to look at her, his expression one of astonishment. "You do what?"
She looked up at him, her face deadly serious. "I sing."
"You can sing?"
"Yes, well, I haven't done it for a long time. I sort of lost my confidence. But when I saw the advert I thought I'd give it a go. And they liked me enough to hire me, so I can't be that bad. And the audience seemed to enjoy it tonight."
"Well, that's great!" the Doctor exclaimed, beaming at her. "I wish you'd told me."
"Like I said, I lost my confidence for a while."
"So what do you sing?" he asked, his eyes shining.
"They wanted someone who could sing twentieth century jazz. They seem to have a special fondness for it. Jazz, Blues, Swing; they love it"
"Oh, I love all that! This is brilliant!"
"Really?"
"Of course! Are you working tomorrow night?"
"Yes, but –"
"I'll come and see you."
"You really don't have too."
The Doctor looked slightly hurt. "Don't you want me there?"
Rose hugged his arm. "It's not that. It's just that I'll get all nervous if I see you there."
"Aww. Don't be. Tell you what, I'll grab a table at the back and blend in with the crowd."
"You? Blend?"
"Hey, I can blend!"
"All right," she sighed. "But don't put me off."
"I wouldn't dream of it."
xxxx
The next night, looking very dapper in a black suit and red-wine coloured shirt, the Doctor made his way into The Jazz Room and sat at a table at the back, as promised. Rose spotted him almost straight away and made her way over to him.
"Drink, Sir?"
"Hello you," the Doctor smiled. "It's very busy in here tonight."
"Well, it is Friday."
"When are you on?
"Whenever they call me. Do you want a beer?"
"Actually, I'll have a bottle of your finest white wine, please. And two glasses. I take it you are allowed a drink or two?"
"In moderation, yes. Back in a minute." She waltzed off through the tables.
"Is that your girl?" A man asked, leaning over from the next table.
"Pardon?" the Doctor said.
"Rose. Tell you something, the Mrs and I were here last night and she was incredible." He turned to where Rose was standing behind the bar, pulling the cork out of the Doctor's bottle of wine. "Rose!" he shouted. "Give us a song!"
The audience cheered and Rose blushed slightly. She made her way back over to the Doctor and put the wine and glasses down on the table. He was grinning at her.
"Stop it," she said, slightly embarrassed but happy all the same.
A man jumped onto the stage and spoke into the microphone. "Okay, everyone. On a bit earlier than scheduled due to obvious popular demand, please would you welcome to the stage, the beautiful, the vivacious, Miss Rose Tyler!"
The audience whooped again.
"Guess that's my cue," she said to the Doctor.
He winked at her, joining in the applause. "Go get 'em."
Rose made her way onto the stage and positioned herself at the microphone. She smiled at the crowd as the band started up. When she started to sing, the Doctor's jaw dropped.
"The very thought of you, and I forget to do
The little ordinary things that everyone ought to do
I'm living in a kind of daydream
I'm happy as a king
And foolish though it may seem
To me that's everything
The mere idea of you, the longing here for you
You'll never know how slow the moments go till I'm near to you
I see your face in every flower
Your eyes in stars above
It's just the thought of you
The very thought of you, my love"
Rose did a little dance with the announcer whilst the musical interlude was playing. The crowd were loving it.
"The mere idea of you, the longing here for you
You'll never know how slow the moments go till I'm near to you
I see your face in every flower
Your eyes in stars above
It's just the thought of you
The very though of you, my love
It's just the thought of you
The very thought of you, my love"
She finished to rapturous applause, the Doctor beaming at her with pride.
The band started up again, eager to get her to keep singing. They needn't have worried though. Rose was enjoying herself immensely.
"Don't mind telling you, in my humble fash
That you thrill me through, with a tender pash
When you said you cared, 'magine my emoshe
I swore then and there, permanent devoshe
You made all other men seem blah
Just you alone filled me with ahhhhhhhh…
'S wonderful, 's marvellous
You should care for me
'S awful nice, 's paradise
'S what I love to see
You've made my life so glamorous
You can't blame me for feeling amorous
Oh 's wonderful, 's marvellous
That you should care for me"
The band played alone then, building up into a crescendo.
" 'S magnificque, 's what I seek
You should care for me
'S elegant, 's what I want
'S what I love to see
My dear, it's four leaved clover time
From now on my heart's working overtime
'S exceptional, 's no bagatelle
That you should care for…
That you should care for…
That you should care for me"
As Rose finished, she brought the house down.
"Thank you ladies and gentleman," the announcer said as he came back to the microphone. Rose took a bow and hopped off the stage.
"Rose will be back later, but for now I give you, Mr George Valentine!"
Rose made her way through the noisy audience and back over to the Doctor. She sat down and poured herself a glass of wine whilst her companion just stared at her in amazement.
"That was fantastic!" he finally said, looking at her with an awe-struck expression.
Rose smiled bashfully. "Thank you."
"I tell you, I could listen to you all day. Honestly I could. I can't believe that voice came out of your mouth!"
Rose was now blushing profusely. "Stop it! You're making me go red."
The Doctor grinned at her. "Dance with me."
"What?"
"Dance with me. I love this song." He stood up and held his hand out to Rose. "Madame."
She giggled. "Sir," she replied, taking his hand.
He led her to the dance floor where couple were swaying along to 'Night and Day.'
"You do realise I'm supposed to be working." Rose said as the Doctor took her in his arms.
"It's just one dance. Besides, you're their star."
"I've only been here two days."
"Doesn't matter."
Rose rested her head against him, pulling him closer as she did so. She neglected to tell him that she'd chosen those songs for him. Feeling like she was floating on a cloud, Rose had the sudden urge to kiss him. But she restrained herself for now. After all, she was at work. So she settled for breathing in his scent and enjoying the gentle caresses his hand was giving her back.
Unbeknownst to her, the Doctor was fighting the exact same internal battle, and all too soon the song finished. Rose pulled away reluctantly.
"I'll see you in a bit," she said, giving him a seductive smile and walking over to the bar.
He sat back down and poured himself some more wine, watching her proudly as she worked and striking up a conversation witht the couple on the table next to his.
At half past one, the customers reluctantly started to make their way home. Rose's boss came up to her and handed her her coat and bag.
"But I haven't even started clearing up yet," she protested, worried that she'd done something wrong and was about to get fired. But her boss, Leon, just smiled at her kindly.
"You were wonderful tonight. And your man's waiting for you. Go on, get on home."
"You sure?"
"Yes. Now shoo before I change my mind."
Rose beamed at him and walked over to the Doctor.
"We're good to go," she said, pulling on her coat.
The Doctor held the door open for her and took her hand once they were on the street. "Walk or taxi?" he asked.
"Walk. It's a nice night." At that point, it started drizzling. They both laughed.
"Can I just tell you again how amazing you were?"
"You may," Rose said, pulling his arm around her for a bit of extra warmth. He happily obliged.
A few minutes later the rain had got progressively worse. They sheltered under the awning of a near-by shop. Rose took out her phone and called for a taxi.
"It'll just be a few minutes," she told the Doctor once she'd hung up. She shivered, and he pulled her into him, wrapping his coat around her. "Thanks," she said, gratefully. She looked up at his face. "Did I tell you how suave you're looking tonight?"
He grinned. "Thank you. New suit."
"Ah, thought so."
There was a short hiatus, after which the Doctor piped up; "I was so proud of you tonight."
Rose was touched, her eyes welling as he looked at her with nothing less than love.
"Well, I've always been proud of you," he continued. "But seeing you up there tonight, having fun. It made me really happy."
"It made me happy that you were there."
He smiled, and suddenly found that his mouth was mere millimetres from Rose's.
"Rose…" he said hoarsely, his mouth suddenly dry.
She rubbed her nose against his affectionately. Her breath was hot on his skin and he trembled underneath it. His hearts were racing and he couldn't think. Which was why he'd opened his mouth and confessed his secret to her before his brain had caught up with him.
"I love you," he whispered.
Rose froze, her heart thumping against her chest, a million butterflies fluttering wildly around her stomach. She looked into his eyes and saw how scared he suddenly was. Time to fix that, she thought. Finding her voice, she leant into his ear. "I love you, too." Then she took him by surprise and kissed him.
The Doctor's brain immediately woke up, and before he knew it he had melted into her, his hands making their way up to her face.
Rose moaned against him as he deepened the kiss, his passion for her pouring out of him. When he finally pulled away, she was dazed and breathless.
"Wow…" was all she could get out, grabbing onto the lapels of his coat as her legs threatened to give way.
He kissed her cheek and smiled against her. "Wow's about right." And then he was kissing her again, so engrossed in each other were they that they didn't realise that the taxi had pulled up until the driver called out of the window.
"You two lovebirds call for a taxi?"
They hesitantly pulled apart. The Doctor turned and flashed a smile at the driver.
"Yes, we did."
