Roses Are Red
Disclaimer: I don't own Doctor Who, obviously, nor do I own Thorne or the ideas surrounding her.
Actress: Sabrina Carpenter
Note: I hate this episode, like really badly, so this chapter isn't my best and I can honestly say that I just wanted this chapter to be OVER.
Dedication: This story is entirely dedicated to The Devils Puppet Master aka Lydia Faith who died of Brain Cancer on the 1st of February 2019 after a 7-year battle. I have been asked to write this story by her loving parents who wanted her last wish to be fulfilled even if she was no longer around to see it. Lydia was only 19 years old when she died, and she deserved so much longer. REST IN PEACE.
~{CA}~
Chapter 8: Father's Day
"Peter Alan Tyler my dad. The most wonderful man in the world. Born 15th September 1954."
"Come here, Rose. Come here," said Jackie softly, Rose had been so young when her mother had called her into her bedroom, a book sitting on her lap, and began telling her a story. The two had been settled on Jackie's bed as Jackie pointed at a picture of a middle-aged man and felt tears come to her eyes. "Who's that? It's your daddy. You weren't old enough to remember when he died. 1987, 7th of November. Do you remember what I told you? The day that Stuart Hoskins and Sarah Clarke got married. He was always having adventures. Oh, he would have loved to have seen you now."
"That's what Mum always says," said Rose, finishing her recollection. Thorne had been hugging her the entire time and doing her best to stop herself from sobbing as she listened on. "So I was thinking, could we, could we go and see my dad when he was still alive?"
"Where's this come from, all of a sudden?" asked the Doctor, intrigued but also rather sympathetic.
"All right then, if we can't, if it goes against the laws of times or something, then never mind, just leave it," said Rose, disappointedly dismissing it.
"No, I can do anything," he protested, motioning to the controls. "I'm just more worried about you."
"I want to see him."
"Your wish is my command. But be careful what you wish for."
And so, the Doctor kept his promise. First came the wedding of Peter Tyler and Jackie Tyler. They had managed to sneak in using the Doctor's psychic paper and were watching the wedding. Rose had Thorne's hand in a death grip as she forced herself not to cry as she watched her parents get married and, for the first time, saw her father.
"I, Peter Alan Tyler, take you, Jacqueline Angela Suzette Prentice—"
"I, Peter Alan Tyler, take you, Jacqueline Suzanne Suzette Anita –" Peter attempted.
"Oh, just carry on. It's good enough for Lady Di," laughed Jackie, a huge smile on her younger face.
"I thought he'd be taller," said Rose, quietly.
"To be my lawful wedded wife, to love and behold till death us do part."
"He died so close to home. I wasn't there. Nobody was. It was a hit and run driver. Never found out who. He was dead when the ambulance got there. I only wish there'd been someone there for him."
"I want to be that someone, so he doesn't die alone," said Rose, looking at the Doctor, pleadingly.
"November the 7th?" the Doctor confirmed.
"1987."
The Tardis landed on Waterley Street, November 7TH, 1987, as quietly as a mouse. It had parked, as best she could, between a telephone junction box and a road sign, behind a wall so as not to be seen from the road.
Slowly, and full of hesitation, Rose stepped out of the Tardis and looked around. She could hardly believe that she was there, standing in the same area where her father had died, on the same day.
"It's so weird. The day my father died. I thought it'd be all sort of grim and stormy. It's just an ordinary day," said Rose.
The Doctor and Thorne stepped out afterwards, neither really feeling the effects that Rose was. Thorne was only there for moral support for her sister.
"The past is another country. 1987's just the Isle of Wight," dismissed the Doctor. "Are you sure about this?"
"Yeah."
Jordan Road. The place where everything changed for Jackie, and Rose for that matter.
"This is it. Jordan Road. He was late. He'd been to get a wedding present, a vase. Mum always said, that stupid vase."
A green van came around the corner and Rose was focused on it, her entire demeanour as if in a daze.
"He got out of his car."
It pulled up onto the kerb.
"And crossed the road…"
Thorne grabbed her sister's hand and held on as tightly as she could.
"Oh, God. This is it."
Peter removed himself from the van – the Doctor took Rose's other hand – not seeing the beige car coming around the corner at breakneck speed. The driver shielded his face with his arm as he drove, full force, straight into Pete sending the vase flying into the air before it crashed into the ground in the middle of the road.
"Go to him, quick," whispered the Doctor.
But Rose was frozen. Sirens approached from somewhere nearby and Rose realised that her chance was gone.
"It's too late now. By the time the ambulance got there, he was dead. He can't die on his own. Can I try again?"
The Doctor indulged her. Glancing around the corner, the Doctor and Rose spotted their past selves standing by the kerbside. Thorne had a bad feeling, the type dogs got before a storm, and knew that something was going to go wrong… she just couldn't figure out what.
"Right, that's the first you and me. It's a very bad idea, two sets of us being here at the same time. Just be careful they don't see us. Wait till she runs off and he follows, then go to your dad."
Once again, Pete parked at the kerb.
"Oh, God. This is it," said Past Rose.
"I can't do this," said the current Rose, timidly.
"You don't have to do anything you don't want to, but this is the last time we can be here," said the Doctor, misunderstanding her.
Then, without warning, Rose sprinted forward just as Pete got out of the van.
"Rose! No!"
Dashing past her earlier self, Rose forced her father out of the path of the beige car, the vase rolling away, unbroken, and the earlier Doctor, Rose and Thorne vanished. The Doctor could only look on in shock until he felt something on his arm.
"…D-Doctor…"
Thorne fell into his arms, her entire being slowly becoming more and more transparent as the seconds ticked on. Shocked, the Doctor held onto her, watching as Rose came back over to him and realised what she had just done. Before Rose could reach her sister … Thorne had disappeared.
~{Roses}~
Pete took a deep breath, steeled his resolved and sprinted out of the Church, clutching the vase to his chest. He didn't stop, even as a creature spotted him and began flying towards him, he didn't stop until he was around the corner and the car appeared once more. It was only then that Peter Tyler, father of Rose Tyler and Husband of Jackie Tyler, stopped and closed his eyes, waiting for the impact which came seconds afterwards.
"Goodbye, love," he whispered, listening as the vase shattered near him and the creatures vanished.
"Go to him. Quick," said the Doctor, now returned, in St Pauls Church.
This time, she did. Rose ran to her dying father, and this time the driver stopped at the scene. In his final moments, Pete died gazing lovingly into the eyes of his grown up daughter, who he knew would be alright.
"The driver was just a kid. He stopped, he waited for the police. It wasn't his fault. For some reason, Pete just ran out. People say there was this girl, and she sat with Pete while he was dying. She held his hand. Then she was gone. Never found out who she was.
"Peter Alan Tyler, my dad. The most wonderful man in the world. Died the 7th of November, 1987," whispered Rose.
The Tardis had relocated to outside the Tandoori across the road. Thorne had settled outside of the blue box, her knees hugging her chest as she looked at her hands. Without a second thought, Rose sprinted towards her younger sister and swallowed Thorne in a tight, sorrowful hug.
"I'm sorry!" said Rose, sobbing. "I'm so, so, sorry."
"Hey, it's fine," laughed Thorne, "I'm back now and besides, it wasn't as if I didn't expect it."
"Come on, girls," ordered the Doctor, "I believe it's Hot Chocolate and Bananas for everyone."
Thorne held onto her sister, stopping her before she could fully enter the Tardis and asked: "Did you manage it, then? To be with him when he left?"
"Yeah… I did…"
"Good, he shouldn't have had to die alone."
~CA~
Note: I hate this episode, like really badly, so this chapter isn't my best and I can honestly say that I just wanted this chapter to be OVER. It's not up to my normal standards I understand but there is a reason that I wrote this chapter instead of just skipping it.
For those asking who Thorne's parents are: I'M NOT GOING TO TELL YOU. I love that you're interested though and I'll give you something to chew on, One of her parents is revealed in the Next Book in the series.