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Chapter 29 - Tiffany's

Rose took a quick shower and was back out in the sitting room by the time breakfast had gotten there. She was back in her thin, cotton dressing gown that she had left on the Doctor's chest this morning.

"How many trips have you been on?" she teased him.

He embarrassingly put his hands on his hips and looked back at her. "Oh, I put that damn thing up for the moment. It shouldn't be doing that. It's like it has a short or something."

"End up anywhere interesting?" she asked him as she sat down at the table.

"Oh." he stuttered. "Let's not talk about it." he told he as he sat down next to her to eat.

She chuckled at him. "That was the funniest thing."

He laughed under his breath.

"Hey, your beard looks different. What did you do?" she asked him.

"I shaped it up this morning. Someone told me it was scruffy."

Rose leaned over and kissed him, "You look very handsome. Not scruffy at all."

He blushed a bit. He was happy she liked it.

The Doctor began. "I talked to Pete while you were gone."

Rose looked at him, "Oh, I hate to think what was said. You were so mad."

He smiled. "No, I was good. He gave me some good news."

"Good news. Do tell!"

He shook his head as he gritted his teeth. "No, I'll tell you tonight after my surprise. It's a reason to celebrate. Although, I don't know how you are going to feel about it."

"More secrets?" she asked him.

"No, dear." he smiled as he looked away deep in thought. "It's still rather unbelievable to me. I need to adjust to it before I can tell you about it." He looked at her. "Does that make sense?"

She nodded. "Alright. Tell me tonight, then."

He took a deep breath and looked out the window at the view. "I also asked him something else you probably should know about."

She smiled at him. "Are you going to tell me this, or just tease me with a commercial?"

He laughed under his breath at her. He lay his arm across the table as he sat in his chair sideways so he could face her.

He spoke. "No. I talked to Pete about something..." He was thinking hard to pick the right words. He had started tapping his hand on the table, nervously.

"See, Rose...I'm not from here. We've established that. I wasn't sure of the customs, or the way it should even be done." He looked her face.

"Do what? What are you on about?" Rose asked him.

He smiled nervously, and ran his hand across the table cloth. "I asked Pete...if he would give you to me."

The confused look on her face made him realize he wasn't explaining this well. It only made him more nervous.

"No, wrong word. Ugh. English is hard. It needs more words. I feel extremely limited!" he complained.

"Take your time." Rose told him as she took his hand.

He took a deep breath and started again. "I asked Pete if I could have you as my wife. That is the custom on so many planets, I guessed it was here too. He's the closest thing you have to a father. That, and I didn't want to talk to Jackie about it."

Rose was stunned.

"Is that alright?" he asked her seeing her face.

"Yeah." she said when she regained her breath. "So, you were serious last night?"

He smiled at her. "I told you I was. "

He continued, "We traveled all of that together, and I convinced myself that I'd get over it. I couldn't have you. Then you ended up here. I was without you. And it broke my heart so much that I decided I was finished with my life. There was no more reason to live."

"You mean you tried to off yourself? Like you did at the Thames?"

He shook his head, "Well, not really. I just didn't care. I did some really stupid stuff. If it hadn't been for Martha, I would have died. Well... twice. She was a medical student and brought me back."

Seeing the shock on her face, he leaned in and smiled at her. "She fancied me, too."

Rose rolled her eyes at him.

"I thought you were alright here. You were with your family. Safe. Happy. Probably getting on with your life, without me. I was so sure you had moved on and forgotten about me. Or maybe I just hoped you had to ease how badly I felt in your absence."

"And now, through some crazy twist of fate, I'm here with you. I can hold you. Kiss you. Tell you things I've probably never told another soul. It makes me realize can't imagine life without you."

"I've been to Hell. It was nothing like the hell I was in when I was without you. I'd be a fool not to do something to show you how committed I am to making this work with us. I don't want to ever be without you. I don't believe my soul could take it. My life would become shorter than it already will be. I want you to be happy. I want you safe. I want to make sure I am there with you when you laugh. When you cry. When you need someone to hold your hand. I figure if we get married, you will finally believe me when I say that I'm never leaving you. And I'll finally believe that you'll never leave me."

"I don't think you are going to leave me." Rose told him quietly.

He sat closer to her. He cupped his hand on her cheek and stroked her cheek with his thumb. She leaned into his touch. "You know I love you more than anything Rose. I know you can feel that. I know you can tell how sincere I am. This is your decision. So many have already been made for you. I just hope you feel the same way. I don't want to wait. I know we had decided that. But, my life is already too short. I don't want to miss out on one day of us. Not one moment."

She leaned in to kiss him. She smiled and whispered to him. "Of course, my love. Nothing would make me happier."

He grabbed her face with both of his hands and pulled her in for a very excited kiss. They were both smiling so big that they had a hard time kissing one another.

The Doctor shot out of the chair, he was so excited. "You need to get dressed, Rose Tyler! Pete told me we have to go buy a ring. He told me I should already have had it, but I want you to pick it out. I hope that's alright. Is it?"

"Yes, that's completely fine!" She laughed at her mad alien. "I can't believe it. I could have sworn you were just drunk last night."

He took her hand and helped her stand up. "Did I do everything right? I feel like I'm missing something. I don't want to mess this up." He told her nervously.

"Well, there is one thing. But you don't have to do it if you don't want to." Rose told him with her thumbnail in her mouth.

"No, what is it? Tell me. I really don't know." he admitted as he rubbed his hand through his hair.

"Most guys get down on one knee and -"

"Oh! I did know that! Sorry. Okay!"

Rose laughed at his hysteria. She could feel that he was so excited that he was about to jump out of his skin. She couldn't believe she made him feel that way.

He took her hand, got down on one knee and looked up at her. "Rose Tyler, will you marry me?"

She leaned down and kissed him. "I will my Doctor."

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They went to Tiffany's. Rose still was in a state of complete disbelief. The Doctor declared it a day to wear a suit, and was in his favorite blue one. Rose noticed that he even had the tie pulled up properly. Not like he normally wore it with it loose and the top button undone. Rose had put on her dark grey skirt suit that demanded heels. The Doctor held her hand and she could feel his excitement more than any other emotion he had. The Doctor took her to the jewelry counter. He told her to pick out anything she wanted.

"Are you crazy? We can't afford this place." she whispered to him.

He smiled like a loon at her. "I can't wait to tell you my surprise tonight. Trust me. You can have anything you want. Your Dad pays me way too much for what I do."

"I bet he's never heard that complaint from anyone before!" she laughed at him.

"That's what he told me." the Doctor smiled at her.

Rose looked skeptical at him. "Are you sure?"

His smile was huge. "More than anything."

"Okay, well help me find something." she smiled.

They decided they liked a small ring that had a diamond in the middle with TARDIS blue sapphires placed all around it. It was perfect.

The clerk handed it to the Doctor, who slid the ring on her finger. It was the perfect fit. The Doctor couldn't help himself and kissed Rose.

The clerk cleared his throat to remind them he was still there.

They broke apart and laughed.

"Sorry, engagement ring." Rose explained.

The clerk seemed to understand. He nodded his head. "I suppose you would rather take it then, instead of having it delivered?"

"Yes, she will wear it out of the store." the Doctor told the clerk.

"Very well." He slid the Doctor the bill. Rose purposely didn't look at it. She didn't want to know. The Doctor handed him his debit card.

The clerk walked away with the card to finish the transaction.

The Doctor looked at Rose, "Candy and jewelry. The bank will think I'm a teenage girl using this card."

"You bought Tony some books on the cruise with that, too."

"Oh, that's true. So, the bank thinks I'm a teenage girl with the reading ability of a 4-year-old." he joked.

"If they only knew the truth, huh?" Rose teased him.

He laughed as he rubbed the back of his neck. "Yeah."

The clerk returned with the Doctor's card and had him sign the paperwork. He handed him a little blue box. "You know, forgive me. But you look a lot like Rose Tyler from London."

Rose looked shocked. The Doctor never wavered. "Yeah, she gets that everywhere she goes. I suppose everyone has a look-alike in the world, don't they? His is my beloved Delilah. Delilah Campbell." He said as he smiled.

"It's nice to meet you, ma'am."

The Doctor looked up at the clerk, "I heard on the news that she was killed. Was it on a cruise ship? Is that right?"

The clerk nodded. "Yes, sir. Terrible thing. The media hounded that poor girl right up to her death. I've not seen anything about it. Her family isn't talking."

"Yeah, probably in shock. It's a terrible situation. I hope they can find some peace with everything." the Doctor told him.

"I hope they can. Well, thank you Doctor Smith. Miss Campbell. Congratulations and I wish you both the best." the clerk told them.

They left and got back in the limo. Once the car had started moving again, Rose asked him, "Delilah? Where did that come from?"

He brought her hand up to kiss it. "It's from a song I like. It's also part of Earth's history about a woman that made a man cut his hair. It fit."

"Campbell?" she asked him.

"Ah, let that be a mystery, Rose. It will make you feel better." he teased her.

Later, back in the limo, the Doctor rose her hand and kissed it. "I have an idea, Rose Tyler. Hang me your phone."

He pulled her hand up between them where you could see the ring. He held the phone out to take a picture of the pair of them. Rose saw what he was getting at and smiled like a loon. He was laughing at her when he took the picture.

He handed her back her phone. "Send that to your Mum. She might have a stroke."

"Wouldn't Dad already have told her?" Rose asked him.

"No, I asked him not to." He rubbed his beard. "I wonder what she will say."

"About your beard?" she teased.

"No, about you engaged to an 'out of towner.'" He joked.

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As the Doctor predicted, Jackie flipped out. The Doctor had told Shakes to time how long it would take the phone to ring.

"I guess 1 minute, 17 seconds." The Doctor told Shakes. "What's your guess?"

Shakes scratched his chin. "I say 1 minute, 30 seconds."

The Doctor looked at Rose. "What do you say, love?"

She shook her head at them and smiled. "I'm not getting into this."

Rose sent the message and Shakes looked at his watch.

The phone rang.

The Doctor laughed. "Ha! 47 seconds! That was quicker than I thought." he laughed.

Shakes slapped his knee.

The Doctor laughed at the one sided conversation he heard.

"Yes, Mum. I'm happy."

"No, mum. He didn't put me under some strange alien spell."

"I'm not talking about his anatomy with you!"

"I'm not talking about that with you either."

"No, we can't announce it because remember, I'm dead on a cruise ship!"

"Oh, I don't know. Let me see what he thinks."

She rested her hand on his thigh. "Mum wants to know if she can call Harriet and Caroline Shepherd."

"I don't mind. It's up to you." he told her. "But remember, you are dead. No one else."

"Yeah, Mum. But just them. Remember, I'm dead!"

Jackie apparently was so happy she didn't tell Rose off at her remark.

"I mean, it Mum. That's it. Bye!"

"What part of my anatomy was part of that conversation?" the Doctor inquired.

Rose wouldn't even look at him. She held up her hand and told him, "Trust me. You don't want to know. Ugh. Mum is crazy."

The Doctor laughed under his breath at Rose's oblivious embarrassment.

Rose looked at the Doctor. "Dang. I wish I could call Melissa and tell her. I've not talked to her all week."

He quickly took his hand out of hers and rubbed her thigh instead. The best he had been able to guess, she could only feel his emotions when their skin was touching. He didn't want her to feel his emotions if she was talking about Melissa. Jake still had no idea where she was.

"Really? What do you think she's up to?" the Doctor asked her.

"Ah, who knows? Probably working. She works all the time." Rose excused.

"Really? Telepathic duties keep her that busy?"

"Nah, she has her hands in a lot there."

"Like what, exactly?" the Doctor asked her.

"Everything. She has to talk to everyone about anything they see. She's a psychiatrist you know, for the place. Everyone comes into her office at some point or another."

The Doctor looked over at Shakes, who nodded his head at him.

Why hadn't he thought of Melissa? It made sense! Rose would have told her everything! And he had felt Melissa try to probe his mind after the kidnapping. She could be getting information from the entire place and funneling it to someone else.

The Doctor rubbed his beard and looked out the window of the limo. "Hmmm. That's interesting, sweetheart. I didn't realize that."

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