AN: Bonjour. Well, this writing challenge is officially 33.333333...% over. I find myself both relieved and bummed out. I still have a lot to go, but it's kind of weird seeing how much has been done. A big thank-you to all those that read, reviewed, followed, and/or favorited, especially Truebluetardis and Raineh14 for their reviews. I hope you guys enjoy this one.

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Doctor Who. It'd be more accurate to say that it owns me, but that's beside the point. Ahem. I do own Ketaaye, but that's seriously not as awesome.

10ROSE 30-DAY OTP CHALLENGE

DAY 10- Wearing Animal Ears

THEY were at a party. Not just a small, have a few friends over and drink party, but a giant, planet-wide nonstop party. With strobe lights and awful music and way too many people. The Doctor was miserable, stuck in a corner wearing light-up cat ears, trying to ignore the fact that almost every man in the room was looking at his Rose. This was unsuccessful, of course, and he couldn't stop worrying. And it was all Jack's fault.

*~*~EARLIER THAT DAY, AT THE POWELL ESTATE~*~*

"WE'RE sorry, Doc, but we really can't come with. There's a lot of stuff here that needs us, lots of aliens that need to be neutralized- no offense, of course- and Torchwood hasn't been right since the 19TH Century. Thanks for the offer, but it's just not gonna happen. If you ever want to go to a party planet or the 51ST Century, though, sign us up. We'll keep in touch, 'kay?" Jack and Donna made to walk away, but just as they started, Rose looked up at the Doctor with the biggest, saddest eyes imaginable.

"Doctor," she said, stroking his arm a bit and looking up through her eyelashes at him. "Wouldn't it be great if we went to a party or somethin' with them? I mean, if we're not gonna get to see them for a while…"

Now that the Doctor knew what Rose was trying to do, he stepped away and began adamantly shaking his head. "Nope, no, nononono! You don't get to do that, and my answer is no. All of the party planets are awful, they're just loud and bright and all of the people there are, well, loud and bright. The 51ST Century is worse. We're not going, Rose, and that's final." Rose looked up at him one more time, her eyes holding all of the pleading of all of the worlds.

"Ugh. Jack! Donna! Want to go to a party?"

Jack and Donna ran back, smiling like fools. That was easier than I thought. Rosie must really have him whipped. "Why, Doctor. I thought you'd never ask."

*~*~BACK TO THE FUTURE~*~*

SO, yeah, totally Jack's fault. Now he was here on Ketaaye in the 51ST Century, drinking punch that was more than likely spiked, trying not to regenerate from the boredom. The lights were blinding, and in all sorts of bright colors, as the immense dance floor was bathed in pink, blue, green, and dozens of other colors, flashing in time to the computer-generated "music" blaring through the giant speakers. Jack and Donna had disappeared almost as soon as they all arrived, which dashed Rose's hopes of spending more time with them. Unfortunately, this opened the door for several men, women, and other alien genders to spend time with her. And he hadn't been able to talk with her for three hours because every time he looked towards her, a hoard of party-goers were flocked around her, all vying for her attention. He hated it. He was able to take courage in the fact that it couldn't get worse.

Just as he finished this though, good ol' Captain Jack sauntered up to him with two drinks and a smile. "Hey, Doc. Have a drink. I was thinking that after you had some alcohol in your system, we could have a little chat about you and Rosie."

Well, it wasn't the first time he'd been wrong. So much for optimism, this was going to be torture.

ROSE was dancing (big surprise) and she had looked over to where she knew the Doctor was, and noticed Jack go join him with alcohol in hand. Seeing the Doctor take said alcohol and down it in one fell swoop caused her eyes to widen, before she chuckled a bit to herself. What on Earth could Jack have possibly said? Oh, well. I just hope we don't have to drag him out of here drunk and unconscious. She continued dancing for a bit, before a familiar red head bounced its way over.

"Hey, Donna. Wotcha?"

The ginger handed the blonde a bright pink drink that bubbled and seemed to glow a bit, before downing a blue concoction of her own. "Tryin' ta get drunk. Anyway, I thought it might be nice for you an' me to have a chat. What do ya say?"

Rose hesitated a bit. She had had a great time getting to know Donna better, but they were still basically strangers. And after their talk yesterday with the Doctor and Jack, she was genuinely afraid that a similar line of inquiry would ensue. But I trust Jack. And if Jack trusts her, so should I. She downed her drink the same as Donna, and replied, "I'd love to."

"SO, Doc. What's the deal with you and Rosie? I mean, last time you and I talked, you were grumpy and possessive, and you had already claimed her. Now I hear that you two just got together a month ago? What gives?"

The Doctor took a deep breath and downed another drink- his tenth since Jack joined him- and replied, "I dunno, Jack. I was just… well, scared. I didn't have any idea about how she felt about me, and I thought that if I told her, she'd want to leave. And I just… I could never lose her. I've lost so much, but losing her would break me." He looked at his empty glass sadly before ordering yet another drink. God, I wish I could get drunk. Sometimes I really hate being a Time Lord.

Jack blinked in disbelief, in equal parts due to the Doctor not being wasted yet, and the fact that he was actually expressing his emotions. "Doc, don't take this the wrong way, but you're an idiot. Everyone that's seen you two knew from the beginning that you had the hots for each other. How could you not know?"

"I'm sorry, Jack. I had no idea until she told me a week ago. She was having a nightmare, and I tried to help and… she told me. I was shocked." The Doctor shrugged before chugging his fourteenth drink. It was finally starting to affect him, which was why he was being so open.

"Well, while I'm not happy it took you so long, I'm just glad you've told each other, and that you're making progress. How'd Jackie react when she found out?"

The Doctor struggled to think a bit- Jack had been giving him much stronger drinks since he hit five, though he didn't know it, and they were starting to make things a bit fuzzy- before he remembered what had happened when Rose's mum had found them on the couch. "She just said that she knew we'd been together the whole time- not that we were, of course- but she just hugged us and said that we had to come visit more often, and she said something about me being her future son-in-law, but then I said okay and-"

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN, 'FUTURE SON-IN-LAW'?" Thankfully, the club was extremely loud, so only the people close by were startled by Jack's outburst.

The Doctor, however, was decidedly close enough, and his eyes widened before he started sipping at his twenty-first drink. This one was bubbly and pink, and a bit luminescent. He couldn't remember what it was called, but he knew that it was the strong drink Jack had ordered him (yes, he finally realized the mix-up). "She said that we especially needed to come by more often if I was going to end up her son-in-law, so I said that'd be great. What's the big deal, Jack?"

"Wh-what's the big deal? You basically insinuated that you'd like to marry Rose. To Jackie flippin' Tyler."

The Doctor shrugged again. "So, I would like to. Not today, but sometime. Preferably soon, if I'm being honest. Can you order me another drink? I want to go see Rose. Rose is great, did you know that. I mean, she saved me in so many ways, and she saved you. She killed a million Daleks, and she loves me. How could I not want to marry her? I might propose. That's what I'll do. Wait, I need a ring for that. Jack 'ave you got a ring I could use?"

Jack blinked in surprise at the Doctor's sudden decision to get married, before moving his half-drunk glass away and stepped closer to the Doctor to stop him from reaching for it. "Well, I do have a ring, but it's for Donna, so no, you can't use it. In fact, I really think you should wait a while for that, Doc. At least until you're sober."

The Doctor sighed and pouted like a child before nodding his head sagely. "Well, I guess you'd know more about it than me, I mean- wait. You've got a ring for Donna?" Jack nodded a bit hesitantly, and the Doctor beamed at him. "That's great, congrats, Jack. Anyway, I bet you're right. I'd just like to go find her to say hey, alright?" The Doctor stood from his barstool, with some help from Jack, and started stumbling towards where he thought Rose and Donna had headed. Jack rolled his eyes, downed his drink, and walked after the Doctor, grumbling a bit as he went.

"SO, Rose. What's the deal with you and the Doctor? I mean, he said you two fell in love in three days, so why the wait?" Donna and Rose had moved to the bar across the immense room from the Doctor and Jack. I sure Jack can get some decent information from that Spaceman. Our plan had better work…

"I dunno, Donna," Rose said, sipping from her (third) drink a bit and sighing. "I honestly didn't think he felt anything for me except for us bein' friends, and I thought that if I told him how I felt that he'd just write me off as a hormonal human and make me go home. It was really better to love him from a distance than to risk losing him completely."

Donna patted her hand sympathetically for a moment before hauling off and smacking her arm. Rose began to tell her off, but was silenced by Donna raising her hand and adopting a "no nonsense" look on her face. "That is the stupidest thing I've ever heard. You've been in love with him for what, a year? Two? And you wasted all that time being 'just friends' because you thought he wouldn't like it? Who cares what he thinks? You need to do what makes you happy, Rose. And with being with that emotionally-retarded twig makes you happy, go for it."

Rose's face had passed from indignation to shame and finally to hope as Donna's unorthodox pep-talk continued. She puffed out her chest a bit, gulped down her drink, and adopted a look of determination. "You know what, Donna? You're right. I love the Doctor, and I'm sick of not knowing what we are and what he thinks. I'm gonna go talk to him right now." She went to stand up, but was stopped by Donna's hand grabbing her slightly sore arm (that woman had a serious slap).

"Now, sweetheart, I'm real glad that you agreed with my talk, but maybe- just maybe- you should wait til you're a bit more sober before you spill your guts to Spaceman, alright?"

Rose nodded, a bit embarrassed, and sat back down. Someone came by with a bunch of light-up, cat-ear headbands, and placed one on Rose's head before being sucked back into the crowd of dancers in the middle of the room.

Donna snorted a bit when the buzzed blonde tried to look at the top of her head. "It suits you. And, come to think of it, I think Spaceman has a pair just like 'em. You two match, isn't that sweet."

Just as she finished her sentence, said matching Spaceman sauntered up (drunkenly staggered) to the ladies. Jack helped Donna off her stool, whispered something in her ear, and they were on the dance floor again in a flash. Rose smiled up at the Doctor, who returned it with a megawatt grin of his own, before sitting in the stool next to Rose's and laughed when it swiveled. Rose giggled, too, but at the Doctor more than the chair.

"Rose," the Doctor began, in a decidedly slurred and dramatic manner. "Did you know… that I just got questioned by Jack… about our relationship? Not mine and his, of course, but ours as in you and me," he finished, gesturing between them sloppily. "I didn't know he cared. It was so sweet. Odd, but sweet. He actually is planning on proposing to that rude ginger girl- ohh, think of that. I, who am rude and not ginger, met a woman who is rude and ginger. Isn't that just the thing?" He stopped for a moment to ponder this momentous new development and grin like an idiot. "Hm. Anyway, what did you and Donna talk about?"

"Well, kind of the same stuff, I guess. She, um, gave me some interesting advice, and I… I think I liked the sound of it." She grinned up at him bashfully and set her drink aside.

"And what advice might that have been, Miss Tyler?" The Doctor grinned at her, his more loving and hopeful.

"Well, uh, she said-" Just as Rose was about to tell him, Jack and Donna stumbled back to them, markedly more inebriated than when they'd left to dance.

"Hey, you two lovebirds. Not that this party isn't fantastic- get it, Doc? Fantastic? Cos you, oh, never mind- but anyway, we were wondering if we could get a lift back to Earth. Donna and I have something we want to tell her family." He looked down at Donna with the biggest smile imaginable, but it disappeared as she kissed him. Rose looked over and saw a sparkle on her left ring finger, and clutched the Doctor's arm as she squealed with joy for their friends. The newly engaged humans parted, and they all made their way back to the TARDIS, with Donna and Rose near fainting over the ring, and the Doctor continuingly congratulating and interrogating Jack on the proposal. Not that he was trying to see what he should do if he were to propose to Rose. Nope. Maybe. Or definitely.

"THANKS for everything, Doc, Rosie." Jack embraced his fellow time travelers as Donna did the same.

"Remember what I said, Rose. Don't waste any more time," Donna whispered in Rose's ear as they hugged. Rose and the Doctor waved goodbye before they disappeared into the Vortex.

"So, how did your half of the plan go? Did you find anything out?" Jack and Donna joined hands as they walked back to their flat.

"Yeah, actually. The Doc told me why Rose couldn't remember anything about the Bad Wolf, said her mind would burn from it. Wouldn't that be awful, though, having to choose between forgetting something that defined you, or having your mind burn?"

Donna could tell that what happened to Rose had really upset Jack, so she reassured him by squeezing his hand, not used to the weight on her finger that bound them. "It would. But we don't need to worry. Nothing like that's gonna happen to you or me, and the Doctor can sort things out with Rose. Let's just go home, for now, alright?" And so they did, and they were as happy as can be.

AN: *Rapunzel voice* I am a despicable human being! But I had to reference Journey's End. It just... I could not resist. And I am ashamed.