Bits In Between

By Lumendea

Chapter Thirty-Five: Nail Painting

Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who or any of the spinoff material, and I gain no income off of this story, just the satisfaction of playing with the characters.

An: Takes place between The Doctor Dances and Bad Wolf. Something a bit lighter today.

…..

The gentle hum of the TARDIS filled Rose's room alongside some random music she had streaming from the 25th century thanks to the TARDIS's entertainment links. Rose was seated on her bed alongside Jack Harkness and watching her as she carefully painted the nails of her left hand a shade of blue that matched the TARDIS.

"What?" Rose asked. She glanced up at him and raised an eyebrow. "You're staring at me."

"I love you," Jack said. He shifted a bit uneasily. "Both of you. I'm not sure what form that love is going to settle into yet," he admitted calmly. "But I'm happy it's there."

"I love you too," Rose answered. "You're family."

And he would be. Jack, who he was right now, might have a bit of a crush on her and definitely had one on the Doctor, but he'd grow and change. The better man he wanted to be, was trying to be would become second nature though he'd never lose his flirty edge. But he'd be happy. Rose didn't know much about his past, but his willingness to discard his birth name told her a lot. There hadn't been stability, for whatever reason, and now he had it.

"Family is good." Jack's voice quivered just a little.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Rose asked. She focused on the small nail polish brush in her hand to give Jack a moment. "I'm happy to listen."

"Not today," Jack said. "But… maybe someday. I think I'd like that someday."

"Someday then," Rose said. She finished with her pinky and grinned. "I love how fast this dries. No sitting still out of fear of smudging or awkward hand positioning."

Jack laughed, the rich sound filling Rose's room. "You poor, twenty-first-century summer child. How did you manage?"

"Didn't paint them often," Rose admitted. "Usually only when with Sharon and Shareen." She chuckled. "We painted Mickey's nails once when we were teens. He was a bit drunk and panicked the next day."

Jack shook his head. "Poor repressed boy." Jack shifted on the bed and held out his right hand. "I have no such hang-ups."

Rose smiled and rolled her eyes as she changed her position so she could more easily paint Jack's nails. "In his defense, Jack, rough side of town in the early twenty-first century. Bit of danger in not fitting the mold."

Jack gave her a soft look and nodded in understanding. "Fair point." He studied the bottles of polish. "Oh, do the red! It'll contrast with your TARDIS blue."

"What are you two up to?" the Doctor's voice asked from the open door. A bit of grease was smudged on his cheek.

"Manicures and talking about boys," Jack answered immediately. "Don't worry; Rose still has a crush on you."

The Doctor turned red and glared at Jack. Rose groaned but turned to give the Doctor a soft smile. She didn't want to outright say it was true but allowed her affection to show in her eyes. The Doctor's blush faded a little as he met her gaze before he cleared his throat.

"Should've known you'd slip off, Jack. Repairs-"

"Tinkering," Jack corrected. "I'm happy to help with repairs, but you were tinkering."

Rose grinned. It was good to see Jack so willing to tease the Doctor like that. It told her that he was really getting comfortable being on the TARDIS. He wasn't as… nervous about being kicked off. The Doctor's lips quirked into a smile despite the teasing at his expense.

"Fine, tinkering," the Doctor admitted. "But I'm wrapping up, so you two wrap up here, and we'll go and find trouble."

"Sounds fun," Rose agreed. "Fast drying, so I just need to finish his hand."

Jack smirked as the Doctor walked off. "Find trouble, Rose," Jack said as he turned back to Rose. "I know just where you'd like to find trouble with your crush."

"I hate it when you do that," Rose groaned. "Seriously, Jack, crush?"

"I hate the sexual tension," Jack retorted. "Seriously, Rosie, it's gonna kill me. Just straddle him when he's-"

Rose grabbed one of the freshly laundered socks in the basket beside her bed and shoved it into Jack's mouth. She didn't even care that it ended up with a line of red nail polish on it.