This is one day late, but at least I didn't forget it completely as I sometimes tend to do.
Rose decided to just break any tension, so she went in for a hug. She was up on her toes slightly, just like usual, and the sound and feel of his heartbeats was so soothing. He held her just right, and she was hit with the idea that this might actually be the most pleasant place to be in the universe – right here, pressed against the Doctor's chest.
"It occurs to me," he said slowly, and Rose deeply appreciated the way his words reverberated through his chest and into her own body, "that you went to bed not that long ago, just about unable to keep your eyes open." He pulled away, hands on her upper arms as he scrutinised her face. Rose suspected that by now she must look haggard beyond belief. "Nightmare?"
She nodded, knowing when she had been caught. "Yeah. I'm fine though, just a bit shaken I guess."
"Well, they'll do that to you." He spoke as if he really understood, and Rose was completely sure that he did. The war still haunted him, even aside from everything else he had been through, and he had his own fair share of nightmares, she knew.
"It was a bit worse than usual – everyone kept on drifting away and leaving me alone, and then you were there but then you turned to dust when that Dalek shot you." She stopped, taking a deep breath. His hand found hers, fingers lacing together in such a familiar way that Rose could have jumped for joy at the feeling.
"Do you want me to...? I mean, I could..." The Doctor was rubbing the back of his neck, not looking her in the eye as he spoke. "I could come and sit with you for a bit? I mean, I could just... be there, maybe me being with you would help alleviate some of the nightmares, if being alone is something that worries you." He was babbling, trying to cover up for how nervous he was about proposing this plan of action.
Rose considered. "I think that would be a very good idea, Doctor."
He used to sit with her sometimes when she fell asleep before, but that had been a long time ago, when he had been grumpy and northern and had those blue eyes that she still missed sometimes, if she was honest. Her first weeks on the TARDIS had resulted in some rather bizarre dreams, not all of which were pleasant, and just sometimes the Doctor would look in on her to make sure she was alright. He would sit in the chair on the other side of her room, or sometimes on the edge of her bed, chatting to her about aliens and telling her stories until she had drifted off to sleep. He was never there when she awoke.
After a while Rose had gotten used to the strangeness of her new life, and the nightmares had abated enough for her not to need him with her. Not that she didn't miss it, but she had never proposed continuing the ritual. At another moment Rose might have refused, maintaining that she was perfectly OK, but her nightmares had gone up a notch since she had been separated from the Doctor, and idea of him offering her company while she dropped off to sleep and her refusing said company was just unthinkable at that moment. She had found him less than 24 hours ago – there was no way she was really ready to let him out of her sight.
It was, Rose thought to herself as they head down the corridor towards her room, hand in hand, just too easy. Too easy, in a moment such as this, to slip back into the ways that were still habits to her, however long it had been. It was too easy to take for granted the fact that his hand could take hers so easily, not to count the freckles on his nose or marvel at being able to see his really great hair, which she could reach out and touch if she wanted to, after so long wishing that it were possible. She was feeling the need to remind herself every other second that this one, this particular moment, was one she should treasure, keep forever in a little box so that she could look in on it and remember how happy they were at this particular point in their lives.
When they reached her bedroom door Rose pushed it open without loosening her grip on the Doctor's hand, choosing instead to almost pull him through the door with her. It swung shut behind them, the TARDIS' doing no doubt, and Rose finally let go of the Doctor and turned around to face him.
In the bedroom with its soft, glowing light, the Doctor seemed heightened. Every aspect of him seemed sharper and more real – the colour of his hair and his eyes seemed to leap out at her, she was staring at his lips more than she should. Her mind strayed back to the moment she had first seen him in the street. What would have happened if that Dalek had not been there to shoot the Doctor? She sighed inwardly, knowing that any spontaneous kissing or other activity was now out the window, and she was back with her brilliant, cautious Doctor who was not going to cross that particular line without a proper argument with himself.
Tearing her eyes away from the Doctor – it was difficult, she had to admit – Rose pulled back the duvet and slid underneath it.
Without a word, the Doctor walked around to the other side of the bed, sitting on the edge and taking off his shoes. Rose had expected him to simply sit with her until she slept, as he had before, but his actions seemed to indicate he was going to lie in bed with her. Which was perfectly fine and dandy with Rose.
"Will Jenny be OK?" she asked. It seemed strange that the Doctor had another person on the TARDIS that needed him – Rose sensed that it was going to feel strange for a while.
"Yeah, the TARDIS will tell me when she wakes up." The Doctor unbuttoned his suit jacket and let it slip off of his shoulders. "She's better than any baby monitor – plus Jenny sleeps pretty well now."
He was lying under the duvet by now, still wearing most of his clothes – leaving no doubt in Rose's mind that they were definitely not going there, not tonight – and he maintained a little distance at first. Despite being quite tactile by nature, when moments occurred when they were coming close to the unspoken lines that had been drawn, he was careful and ever so slightly ill at ease. It was the only time where Rose was not entirely comfortable just to be with him, because she knew that both of their brains were going a mile a minute, analysing minute changes in expressions and shifts in movements. To be honest, he was over-thinking it. She didn't blame him.
She snuggled down so that she was facing the Doctor, head sinking into the pillows and eyes scrutinising his face as he did the same to her. He shifted a little, their noses almost brushing.
"Better?" he asked.
Rose scrunched up her nose. "Won't know that 'til I'm asleep, will I?"
"True." The Doctor pulled on his ear, a bit unsure of what to do next. "Well, I guess you'd better get on with it then."
Rose closed her eyes just as another thought struck her. "You don't sleep much, do you?"
"Nope."
"Then are you going to be watching me sleep all night? 'Cause I'm not gonna lie, that's kind of creepy. Watching for a minute after you've just woken up is acceptable, all night is bordering on weird."
The Doctor laughed at that, an almost giggle that made Rose's chest clench a bit. What she wouldn't give to be able to make him do that every other second. She opened one eye and peered at him. "You aren't going to be staring at me, are you?"
"'Course not. I can get a bit of sleep myself maybe, then catch up on some reading or something. Odd I may be, but creepy I most definitely am not."
This made Rose smile, and she closed her eye again. She was so ridiculously tired, already mostly asleep, but she remembered something else and struggled to cling onto consciousness long enough to carry out her next action. "Night Doctor," she said quietly, leaning over somewhat clumsily and giving him a kiss on the cheek. Once she was over on his side of the bed, he gave her a sort of hug, an arm around her waist, and from that moment it seemed the most natural thing in the world to snuggle in beside him. He rolled over a little until he was on his back, and Rose laid her head on his shirt covered chest. His arms wrapped around her almost automatically. Rose smiled – she was not letting go of him, not tonight.
By this point she was practically asleep, and her last thought before she completely lost consciousness was that happy idea that the Doctor did not seem opposed to this sleeping arrangement. In fact, if she could read her Doctor correctly, he seemed rather pleased with the outcome.