A-Levels and Aliens
Surprise! Bet you weren't expecting a chapter this fast were you? My flight got cancelled yesterday 'cause of the Terrorist threats so I'm not going anymore. It's a darn shame 'cause I was going to see some of my family, most of which I haven't seen for at least five years. It annoyed me just a little so blame that for the end of this chapter. And me happening to listen to sad songs at the same time.
Disclaimer: Nothing you might recognise belongs to me
True to his word, the following day Matt stopped his odd behaviour and was perfectly friendly to Rose once again. All of their friends noticed immediately and were naturally curious about what had happened. However after a break time of pestering, Rose quietly told them they had solved the problem and could they not bother them about it anymore. After that, the remaining two weeks of that half term passed quickly and happily. Rose was pleasantly surprised on returning home on the final Friday at just how fast the half term had passed. She walked into the TARDIS, beaming and intercepted the passing Jack for a hug.
"You're in a good mood," he remarked, hugging her back,
"Yep! It's the holidays. No more work for an entire week!" she said, excitedly as the Doctor came in, "Can we go travelling again?"
"Yeah, yeah," the Doctor said, distractedly, rubbing the back of his neck as he always did when he was uncomfortable.
"What's wrong?" Rose asked, suspiciously,
"Nothing," said the Doctor, quickly,
"OK…" Rose replied, letting him know this wasn't the end of it and then left the room.
"You've got to tell her, Doctor," Jack said, "It's not fair. She knows something's wrong, she's not stupid,"
"I know," the Doctor sighed, "It's just difficult. I don't know how she's going to take it."
Rose dumped her school bag on her desk in her bedroom and fell back onto the large double bed that she and the Doctor usually shared. She breathed out gustily and covered her face with her hands. The Doctor wasn't telling her something and it was very unusual. The couple always shared everything with one another as they knew they could trust the other to keep it a secret, even from Jack if necessary. Whatever the Doctor was keeping from her must be important or serious and she really didn't like it.
"Can I come in?"
Rose sat up with a jerk at the Doctor's voice. "It's your room too," she shrugged.
The Doctor took that as a yes and delicately entered the room and closed the door before lying down next to Rose. She lay back down on her side, propped up on one elbow and looked at him. He stared back seriously.
"What are you keeping from me?" Rose asked, directly.
Her partner gave a wry smile. "Can't hide anything from you, can I?"
Rose shook her head. "I know you too well," she said, "The past couple of weeks, you've been acting weirdly, particularly in the last week. I've noticed you can't keep at anything for a long time, you keep getting bored and you go into sort of daydreams where you just seem to blank out for a while,"
"You're very observant. Would make an excellent detective," the Doctor tried to joke.
Rose didn't smile. "What's wrong, Doctor?"
He sighed and slipped an arm around her waist to pull her closer to him. "I'm getting suffocated," he confessed quietly, "I'm a Time Lord. I'm meant to travel all through time and space, it's in my blood and, well, we've been here for getting on two months now and it's beginning to affect me,"
"So, you want to go?" Rose asked, "Leave Earth?"
"Yes. Don't get me wrong, I love Earth but…"
"…you're not meant to remain on one planet," Rose finished,
"Exactly," said the Doctor,
"So what are you gonna do?" Rose asked cautiously, "Will the travelling we do over my holiday be enough or what?"
"No 'cause we'll be staying on Earth and I need to get back out there amongst the stars."
Rose's breath hitched as she realised the full implication of his words. "You've got to leave me here, haven't you?"
The Doctor nodded his head slowly. "There won't be enough time if we try and fit it in your week off and the only other option is for you to quit college,"
"No," she said, instantly,
"That's what I thought," the Doctor continued, "So, you know what that leaves."
Rose nodded wordlessly.
"I'd make sure I'm back by Christmas, you could ring me to bring me back like your mother did. And we'd still be able to talk on the 'phone," the Doctor offered, "I'm sorry Rose. I've just got to get out of here before I go insane,"
"Too late," Rose muttered bringing a delighted grin to the Doctor's face. He watched her face closely as she mulled it over in her head.
"OK," she finally nodded, "You need to go. I'm fine with it as long as you come back for Christmas,"
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah, it'll be selfish of me to expect you to stay here all year long. You don't have anything to do whilst I'm at college anyway so I'm not surprised you're getting bored,"
"You're amazing, you know that?" the Doctor said, giving her a quick kiss,
"So I've been told. Is Jack going with you?"
"Yes, he's been feeling it too,"
"OK," Rose whispered, before snuggling closer to him, "I'll miss you," she said into his chest,
"Ditto," the Doctor replied, wrapping his arms more securely around her body, "But we'll have our week of travelling first. Just like in the summer, anywhere you want to go, we'll go there. It'll be fun."
And it was fun. They first re-visited Australia for the warmth and they had an interesting encounter with a kangaroo, which left Jack with a phobia of them. The Doctor managed to get them seats in the Sydney Opera House, which Rose found to be quite an experience. They enjoyed themselves so much that they opted to stay there for a second day when they tried various water sports.
The next day, Rose decided she wanted to go to Spain and the Doctor, with a mischievous grin, directed the TARDIS to Barcelona. The resulting pillow fight lasted almost two hours and ended with both Rose and Jack sitting on top of the Doctor amidst a sea of feathers. They refused to get off him until he promised to finally take them both to the planet Barcelona, just as soon as Rose had completed her A-Levels and they could travel properly again.
The rest of the week was spent visiting many other places, including a brief and cold trip to the North Pole to show Rose that Santa Claus didn't live there. She was still a bit confused about the Doctor's previous comment about her red bicycle but once again he didn't give her a straight answer.
The final day was spent sunbathing on a deserted beach where no other humans could get to. It gave Rose a chance to just spend some alone time with her two guys before they left her for a while. Most of the day involved them lying in companionable silence, chatting and generally having fun in and out of the water. The Doctor was most indignant to be woken up from his snooze by having a bucket of cold sea water poured over his face and then discover he couldn't chase the laughing Rose and Jack because they'd buried him in a load of sand. Quite how they managed to do that without waking him up, none of them ever knew.
Finally the time came when the Doctor said they had to return back to the Powell Estate. The guys had decided to not leave until the following morning so the Doctor and Rose spent the night in each other's arms, not sleeping very much as they didn't want to miss a moment of one another's company.
The next morning came all too soon for their liking. Rose dressed quickly and the three of them ate breakfast together for the last time for a few weeks. Finally, it was time to say goodbye.
"You take care of yourself, alright Rose?" Jack said, hugging her tightly,
"I will Jack. And you do too," Rose said, her lip trembling as she looked at him, "I'll miss you." She gave him a quick kiss on the cheek before hugging him again and then taking the Doctor's outstretched hand.
They walked together out of the TARDIS and stood in the cold November morning.
"Call me whenever you need to," the Doctor said, "You've got the number. Day or night it doesn't matter."
Rose nodded, putting on a brave face but her teary eyes giving her away. "I'll miss you,"
"Me too," replied the Doctor, wrapping her up in his arms, "It's going to hurt so much to not be by your side but I have to,"
"I know. I hope the next few weeks go by really quickly,"
"Yeah," the Doctor said, memorising her face, "I love you, Rose." He kissed her desperately which she responded to hungrily, tears making their way down each of their cheeks.
"I love you too," Rose replied afterwards, "Come back to me soon,"
"I promise,"
"Go on then," she said, leaning in for one last kiss.
The Doctor looked at her for a moment, his eyes seeming to search her soul before releasing her hands, smiling at her and making his way back into the TARDIS.
Rose hugged herself, ignoring her tears and watching through increasingly blurry eyes as the TARDIS began to dematerialise, the engines rasping away.
And then everything was silent.
They had gone.
Review please. Constructive criticism is gladly received
