A/N: Helloooo, only me :D This chapter is set after The Idiot's Lantern. Hope you enjoy it! L x
Chapter 10
"Congratulations, Doctor," Rose says, smiling cheekily at him as they arrive back at the TARDIS after defeating the Wire. She takes off her pale blue jacket and pink headband, slinging them over the railing.
She looks at him expectantly, hands on her hips.
Uh-oh. He knows that look. What's she thinking?
"Thanks," he replies nonchalantly. He thinks over today's events for a moment, and then asks: "What for?"
"For managing to get it wrong again. For taking us to 1950s London rather than New York. You always get it mixed up don't you, eh?"
Anyone else, anyone but Rose, would probably say all that and mean it to be an accusation, an exasperation at his inability to land them in the correct place – anyone else would be ungrateful and annoyed. But the Doctor knew that Rose was just teasing him; she didn't really mind. That's why she's so brilliant. That's why he lo -
"And we still haven't seen Elvis," she adds, "Though, I reckon you're doing that on purpose. You're just worried he'll sweep me off my feet and I'll be all taken in by his singing, and chest hair and the, um, hip thrusts..."
The Doctor briefly looks a little worried. Then he shakes it off, and pretends not to be concerned with the thought that someone other than him would be able to impress Rose. He then wonders if it's normal that he feels so possessive. After all, as he'd told Rose over and over again, Time Lords don't get jealous.
However, he had just been about to suggest trying to find Elvis again, but now...
Maybe meeting Elvis won't be the next stop, after all.
"Nah," he says, clearing his throat, "He wouldn't...he couldn't...I'm far better," he reassures himself rather than her, "Anyway, I can sing quite nicely, and I have chest hair! Not quite so much, granted, but a fairly sufficient amount, I like to think."
"Hmmm, yeah you're right. I like your chest..." she trails her finger over his chest lightly, and he shivers despite his layers of clothing, "But...the question is, how well can you thrust your hips?" she teases, pressing flush against him briefly, before walking backwards away from him, giggling at how the Doctor's eyes widen at her words and movements.
"Er...weelll...I suppose I'd have to ask you, wouldn't I?" he retorts.
Rose blushes; despite her own teasing, he always manages to make her embarrassed. Hmmm. Payback..."Out of ten? I'd say...four?" she replies, trying to keep a straight face.
"Four? Four? I've never been so insulted in all my – tell you what. Why don't I prove..." he says, as he walks towards her dangerously, backing her against the console. Her heart speeds up and she can barely breathe due to their proximity. "...to you..." he continues. She smoothes her dress down, and looks at her shaking hands. After all this time, and all the times they had done this before, she still gets completely dizzy and nervous whenever he looks at her like that. "...just how good - "
He lifts her up, and... uh-oh, Rose thinks. " – Doctor," she interrupts, as he balances her between himself and the console. She has something to tell him, but she locks her legs around his waist nonetheless, which is rather distracting for the both of them. She clears her throat, "Doctor, I think..."
"What's wrong?" he asks, not letting go of her, but pressing a soft kiss to her jaw. He wants to kiss her properly. He wants to kiss every inch of her. He had seen her lose her beautiful face today, he thinks, as he traces her features with his hand, and he couldn't bear it. What would he do if he lost her? She's everything to him. And he almost lost her today. How long would they have before -
"I think...I think, just now, when you hoisted me up...you ripped my dress," she says, enjoying his touch, but smirking slightly.
- He pulls back to look at her, snapping himself out of his own thoughts about her inevitable mortality. "Oh. Did I? Sorry. Oh. I like that dress. Reminds me of - "
" – our little trip to Vegas? Me too. Finally got you to buy me something didn't I?" she says, laughing.
"Yep. Good choice, wasn't it?"
"Oh yes. Very pink," she smiles, "You have an eye for fashion. Just look at your own wardrobe...some rather wondrous pieces of clothing in there. Like that long scarf. Oh, and that multicoloured coat! Beautiful," she says sarcastically.
"You do like to tease me, Rose Tyler. But I'll have you know that at the time, it was...no, actually, it was never fashionable. You're right. It's all a bit horrendous rather than wondrous, isn't it?"
"I dunno. I kind of like that velvet jacket. Very dapper."
"You would," he laughs, "Dapper; yes I was quite dapper that time around. You'd have liked it. It has to be said though; I didn't have much taste in previous regenerations, however much I thought the contrary at the time."
"But you look nice now," she comments, eyeing him up and down rather obviously. She accidently licks her lips without realising, though.
The Doctor sees this, and chuckles.
"I have better taste this time around. In more ways than one," he says, looking at her intently.
"That's not a dig at your previous girlfriends, is it?" she says, laughing.
"What? No. Rose, I told you before, I've not..." Oh, how can he put this?
"...What?" she asks curiously.
"I've never...you know. Weeelll, not for years. Centuries."
"Well, for a man who's been out of practice for centuries, you're pretty good."
"Good at what?" he asks, grinning cheekily.
Rose takes a deep breath, a hundred glorious memories filling her mind. "Everything. Hip thrusting, even. You're a ten, really." she says earnestly.
"Ah, but that's only because of you," he chuckles, leaning his forehead against hers.
"Oh yeah?" she retorts.
"Yep. I'm only good because you're very, very brilliant." He presses a gentle kiss to her nose.
"Aw, thanks," she laughs, "I guess together...well, we are pretty hot, aren't we?"
The Doctor laughs. That's something he never thought he'd hear. But it's true. "Oh yes," he agrees. As if to start proving that particular theory for the thousandth time, he leans down to kiss her. He therefore feels quite bereft when she leans back from his mouth. "What's up?" he asks her. It's not like her to shun a kiss from him...
"Nothing. It's just...you know that it's not just...I mean, for me, this...us...it means..." she trails off, flushing at her words. She has the feeling she shouldn't have started that sentence.
"I know," he answers, staring at her with what other people can see is a passionate devotion for the woman he's looking at.
To Rose...well, she doesn't know. Perhaps she is blind. Perhaps he just needs to tell her.
"Good," she replies, relieved, and makes to kiss him. But this time, the Doctor is the one to pull back. "Doctor...?" she asks, confused.
"Rose," he murmurs, and he thinks he might just say it. But then he looks deep into her eyes and bottles it. After all, she knows, and he's not one of these soppy human guys who say it all the time, even when they don't mean it.
He means it. He knows he should say it. But he's such coward...
He changes his tactics. He lightens the mood. The moment is lost.
"Do you know, in the last – what...five months? – I've, erm, danced with you more times than I've ever done before? In nine hundred years..." he says instead, making Rose giggle in his arms.
"Really? I would've thought that with all that time to spare – and all those women out there – that would have been unlikely. You could've been the Casanova of the Time Lords. That's better than the Oncoming Storm. Imagine the Daleks calling you that..." she says. But she's secretly quite glad. It may be selfish of her, but she likes the idea that she is one of only a few, very special...
"I'm not Jack, Rose," he insists firmly.
"No. No, you're not. What was it you said it was like for him? Oh yeah – 'so many species, so little time,'" she giggles, "That's just wrong. I mean...aliens..."
The Doctor smirks at this, "Erm...Rose...?"
"What?"
"I'm an alien. And you're an alien; to me, anyway. This is, in actual fact, inter-species - "
" - Ok, ok, I get it," she cuts him off, and then thinks for a moment. "It's funny, though, 'cos I never really thought of us as being... like before, when I used to want to be like this, to...well, never mind. You know what I mean. I suppose it's 'cos you look human, so it didn't seem...wrong."
"You mean, you look Time Lord. Weelll, lady. We came first."
"Yeah, yeah, whatever..." she smiles cheekily when he gives her a pointed look.
"Anyway, it's not wrong. Weeelll, I suppose it is, strictly speaking – if the Time Lords were still around, I'd be...weeelll, never mind that. Too late now, anyway."
"You broke all the rules," Rose mutters, echoing his words from a while ago.
"Yep. That I did. And you know what?" he says, leaning his forehead against hers again, enjoying the feel of her quick breaths fluttering over his face. They are both silent for a moment, as she brings her hand up to stroke his cheek.
"What's that?" she eventually replies, breathing shakily. He's trailing a hand down her arm and she shivers involuntarily. And the way he's looking at her...she gets the impression he wants to tell her something.
"I'm bloody glad I did," he grins at her.
"Good...me too," she replies, and shifts against him slightly. They both chuckle at the sound of her dress ripping again. "Oops."
"Now, do you want me to fix your dress?" he asks, moving his hands to feel for the tear.
Rose reaches for his hands, currently around her calves, and moves them up to her bum. "Nah, it's ok. I'd prefer it if you just ripped it off, to be honest," she says seductively.
"Really? But it's so nice! You've only worn it twice," he insists, swiftly becoming amused by his accidental rhyme.
"Doctor, honestly," she sighs over-dramatically, "Look, you can buy me a new one tomorrow if you like."
"Hmmm. Yes, ok, that sounds like a good idea."
"Quite."
He reaches into his pocket and pulls out his glasses, putting them on in one swift motion. He looks at her closely, as if examining something, and Rose flushes under his gaze. He smiles, and pushes a strand of her golden hair behind her ear. It's an intimate gesture she's so used to, and yet Rose still struggles to breathe.
The Doctor uses one hand to locate the zip of her dress, his right hand remaining on her bottom, squeezing gently. On finding the zip, he promptly ignores its function, instead ripping the seam apart. He proceeds to tear the front of her dress open, revealing her pink bra.
Rose gasps; her eyes dilate. She kisses her way up his neck, and when he runs a hand down her chest teasingly, she accidently bites his ear. He leans down to her and captures her lips passionately. Moving his hands to stroke her ribs, he makes her shiver delightedly.
Suddenly, she grabs hold of him by his hair, and presses her body upwards, every inch of their bodies now touching one another. His hands tighten around her waist and neither of them can think straight when they finally take things further...
***
...She breaks their kiss briefly to inhale some oxygen.
"Blimey," the Doctor gasps feverishly, "Who would have thought it? Rose likes it rou - "
She puts a hand across his mouth to cut him off.
"Doctor?"
"Yrmfs?" he says, the word muffled by her hand.
"Shut up," she grins at him. She moves her hand away.
"Ok," he says, nodding in agreement.
And as the universe spins around them, she doesn't let him speak for quite some time, until there are stars in their eyes for the fourth time tonight.
***
She's so beautiful; so perfect, he thinks.
"You're so beautiful; so perfect," he tells her.
"Mmmm," she mumbles into his chest in response. She's almost asleep. She's exhausted.
"I could've lost you today," he murmurs into her hair softly.
"Didn't, though. All's well that...etc" she replies, shifting to get comfortable. She's too tired to talk. Why won't he just let her sleep?
He traces patterns on her hip lazily. Patterns that mean things. Things he can't seem to speak aloud.
"I...Rose, I can't believe...I can't believe that I actually almost tried to stop myself from - " he stops when he sees that Rose is already asleep. "Ah. Typical human. Always falling asleep at the most important bit..." he mutters to himself, and then chuckles lightly.
And then, he does what once was the most improbable of things.
He falls asleep with the woman he loves more than anything in the whole wide, scary universe, vowing that he will always keep her safe.
No matter what.
Because she is his. And he loves her. Ripped dress and all.
A/N: Hiya again :D Hope you liked the chapter. Hope it wasn't too...you know...I just couldn't resist putting the stuff with the dress in ;P lol. Thanks for all your reviews so far. Let's keep 'em coming, yeah? Lol :D I know, I know. I'm greedy. Mwahahaha...
But I love you all,
Laura xxx