"Ashes to ashes, dust to dust…."
It always rained at funerals, even in the beginning of September it always rained. The cloudy grey skies matched those of the clothes that the huddle of people wore as they paid their last respects to Marion Susan Prentice as she was laid to rest one final time. Jackie and her brother were huddled together in the mist of their grief under a large umbrella, similar to other family members who had attended the funeral.
The service had been short, and simple, that was all that the family had wanted. That's all Jackie had wanted. She had kept herself to herself ever since her mother died, and had just stayed in her room most of the time, neglecting what needed to be done in the house for a couple of days.
Which is where Rose had come in, she instead of her mother had insisted on doing everything that needed doing twenty four hours a day. And didn't stop until the Doctor found her half asleep at the kitchen sink late at night, or he found her curled up on the sofa still with something in her hand that she had been cleaning. And if she wasn't cleaning she was on the phone, if she wasn't on the phone then she'd be going somewhere with something to do. But what worried the Doctor the most was that she wasn't letting her emotions out and he knew that was worse than her crying a little bit. Which she hadn't done, she hadn't once not even today at the funeral.
He felt Rose cling on to him a little more firmly as the service finally came to a close, and people began to retreat back to Jackies flat for something to eat. He felt Rose shaking, he wasn't sure whether it was the cold or because of grief but he had a feeling it was a mixture of both, and so he took off his large black coat he'd found and placed it round her shoulders before taking her hand and walking back with her to the car.
The Doctor hated funerals, like I said it always rained at funeral, no matter where you were in the universe. It was sure to rain at a funeral, especially on earth.
He helped Rose into the car and took one last look at the church they'd been in, and at the grave stone that they had just departed from before he climbed back into the car. And they began their journey home. It was just himself and Rose at the moment, Jackie had gone with her brother leaving just the Doctor and Rose in this particular car.
The journey back was quiet a quiet one, the Doctor not finding much that he could say to Rose, knowing she would come to him in her own time, it was just taking her a while. And Rose too deep in thought to say anything to The Doctor.
And when she did say something it surprised him slightly by what she said.
"What?" he asked looking at her.
"I said can we go off somewhere? Not today but soon" Rose said
"Yeah course we can, but I think we should stay here for a few more days yet" the Doctor said knowing it would probably be in the next few days that Rose would crack and need comfort.
"Oh yeah, well we can't just run off just yet especially with Mum the way she is" Rose said "And anyway there's the will to sort out, but after that can we go somewhere"
"Yeah"
the Doctor
said pulling her into a hug and placing a kiss on her forehead "Of
course we can"
"Doctor?" Rose said quietly.
"Yeah?" he asked looking down at her
"I love you" she said quietly in his ear so that only he would hear and the undertaker wouldn't hear her.
"I love you too" The Doctor replied smiling at her, before kissing her forehead. "We can go anywhere you want"
"Thank you" Rose said cuddling up to him liking the feel of him against her.
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Rose was sitting on a chair as various relatives talked with each other, the mood in the house some what a bit more cheery than the sombre expressions that they had worn at the church and grave yard. Her mother and Aunt Lynn were talking quite happily as they normally did, and then there were her twins who were running round playing with little car trucks. And then her uncle and the Doctor were quite happily talking about some sort of engine, which left other friends and family just chatting about various topics, around the room.
And here was Rose, just looking out of the window at the estate as the mid afternoon suns shine over the estate drying the streets from the rain.
She looked over at her mother who had until her sister came the day before kept herself in her bedroom, just wanting to be alone.
Rose however hadn't let herself cry at any point in the last three days, preferring to keep herself busy with chores around the house as it seemed her mother wasn't up to it. She knew the Doctor was getting worried about her because of that. And she knew at some point she would crack, and she would really crack but she wasn't going to let that be now.
"Oi Ryan, Oliver, please stop running round, you're giving us a head ache!" Lynn shouted at the twins who had been going round and round in circles for the last twenty minuets.
"Sorry Mummy" they said at the same time.
"Tell you what why don't you go with Rose to the park?" Lynn said looking at Rose wanting to get permission, to witch she nodded feeling the need to get out.
"Ok, come on kids" Rose said looking at the kids "Park?"
"Yeah" they said starting to jump around.
"Well we can't go anywhere if you don't have your shoes on" Rose said making the five year old twins run off to get their shoes.
"You
alright with that Rose?" Lynn asked when Rose passed her.
"Yeah
fine" Rose said "We'll be back in about an hour"
"Thanks" Lynn said smiling at her, and Rose smiled back.
"Come on then kids lets go" Rose said ushering the kids out of the flat, dragging the Doctor along with her.
"Hey" he said
"You're coming" she said not wanting to go out alone with two very lively kids.
"Fine" he said grabbing his trench coat on the way out.
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"Right then you two, fancy an ice cream?" Rose asked the twins when she saw an ice cream van just outside the park they were at.
"Yes please" they said running over.
"Okay, go and get yourselves something then" Rose said smiling as they ran off towards the ice cream van excitedly.
"Well their full of energy" the Doctor said laughing as they pretended to be aeroplanes as they ran off of to where the ice creams were.
"Yeah" Rose said sitting down on the bench "They always have been, and they've always liked cars or aeroplanes to play with"
"I can see" the Doctor replied sitting down next to her on the bench.
"Poor things they don't even understand what's going on not really anyway" Rose said after a few minuets of silence.
"Well you never know they might understand more than you think" the Doctor replied
"Maybe" Rose replied resting her head on his shoulder. "And they won't have anyone to tell them those stories that she always made up at Christmas not anymore anyway, not now Gran has died"
"Yes they will" the Doctor said gently "Because they have you, you can tell them, your Gran would love that"
"It won't be the same" Rose replied
"Yeah, but it's better than nothing" the Doctor replied putting his arm around her.
"Suppose" Rose said looking down at the floor. "It's just… sad, she's not here anymore"
"I
know" the Doctor replied looking at her sympathetically "I'm
sorry"
"Yeah me too" Rose said feeling unwanted tears start
to come at the back of her eyes, and she tried to push them away but
couldn't and she found herself burying herself into the Doctors
chest.
"I'm
sorry" she said a few minuets of letting herself cry for the first
time.
"It's alright" the Doctor replied wiping away a tear that
was coming down her cheek "It's alright to cry Rose"
"But…"
"No buts" the Doctor said "You've been bottling all this up for three days now, that's not good"
"I know I just…" Rose said but didn't finish her sentence knowing that he knew just what she was saying any way.
"I know love, I know" the Doctor said hugging her to him feeling a little bit more reassured now that she had finally cracked.
"Rose?" came a little voice from behind them and they saw that the twins were standing behind them quite happily licking their ice creams. "Are you alright?" Ryan asked
"Yes I'm fine thanks" Rose said smiling at little bit at them at the concern that their concern.
"Why don't you two go and play over there. Show us how good you are at swinging on the swings?" the Doctor said
"Okay" they said together before racing off towards the swings like the Doctor had instructed.
"Can we stay on the TARDIS tonight? It'll be crowded with everyone else at Mums tonight" Rose said after a few minutes of silence.
"Yeah course we can" the Doctor replied placing a kiss to her forehead.
"Thank you" Rose said her head on his shoulder "I love you"
"I love you too" the Doctor replied quietly hoping that the twins hadn't heard.
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Jackie Tyler wasn't used to having quite so many family members in the same house, let alone in the same living room. Usually at Christmas they'd meet up at her mothers house, well that was going to change soon enough wouldn't it.
Her sister Lynn and her husband had gone out to get some things and Rose, the Doctor and the kids were still out at the park meaning she was left all alone.
She knew that she wouldn't be alone for long though, she could see Rose and the Doctor walking up the street with the twins pretending to be aeroplanes.
She looked at her daughter walking down the street holding hands with the Doctor; she could tell that they were more than just friends. She'd known that from the very beginning, there was something about the way Rose acted around him that told her something was going on. But it was now that it was more obvious, it had been since Shareen and Adam's wedding because ever since then Rose had looked happier than ever, and because of that even more beautiful. Whatever it was that was happening between them, she hoped she would find out soon.
As she thought this Rose and the twins walked through the doors, Ryan and Oliver still playing together and Rose looking slightly amused.
"Where's the Doctor?" Jackie asked when Rose sat down on the chair.
"Oh he's gone to get a Chinese for us all he'll be back soon, that ok?" Rose replied
"Yeah no problem" Jackie replied smiling slightly at her daughter. "Rose…"
"Yeah?" Rose asked turning round to face her mother who just came up and hugged her daughter not wanting to say anything. Jackie thought that maybe just maybe if there was something going on it would be a secret from her, at the moment at least.
She knew that Rose would tell her in her own time, but she would quite like to know if her thoughts were true. She just hoped they hadn't done anything stupid.
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They walked back to the TARDIS in silence after the Chinese; they'd been able to have a few jokes thrown round the dinner table. This resulted in a few smiles from various members of the family, which was good considering the day's events.
Rose after all the chatter at dinner went very quiet and was obviously in the mist of her thoughts. And so the Doctor left her too it, he let her think. He knew that thinking was good, especially after something bad happened like this.
They entered the TARDIS and Rose went straight over to the door leading to the rest of the ship. "I'm going for a shower" she shouted to him before going off into the corridor.
"Ok" he replied to himself knowing that she wouldn't have heard him now.
Feeling the need for a cup of tea was in order he walked through to the kitchen and began making the cups of tea.
Cups of tea always helped when there was something wrong or in Roses case a hot chocolate. He found that if after a particularly bad experience they would head straight for the kitchen in search of cups and then they'd talk after a few minutes of silence.
He walked into their bedroom after a few minutes of waiting for the kettle to boil with the hot chocolate and a cup of tea. He found her on the bed looking up at the ceiling still in the mist of her thoughts.
He sat down next to her feeling her cuddle up to him instinctively; she sat up and took the hot chocolate from him.
"Thanks" she said after taking a sip.
"That's alright" the Doctor replied. "Are you alright?"
"Yeah it's just…" Rose said but broke off and after a minute carried on with her sentence. "We didn't rush into this did we?"
"No why do you think we did?" the Doctor asked knowing instantly what she was talking about.
"No of course I don't. I just wanted to make sure you didn't" Rose said sitting up and little bit.
"I don't, I never have, and I never will" he replied
"Same here" Rose replied and they smiled at each other for a moment. The Doctor noted that it was the first proper smile she'd given him since her Gran had died.
"I love you"
"I love you too"
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Rose woke up in their bed in the TARDIS; she turned over in bed and felt the usual warm body that was next to her. She opened her eyes slightly and saw him sleeping quite peacefully next to her except for the occasional loud snore.
He always denied the fact that he snored, every time it was mentioned he always said that he didn't. It was times like this that she was very tempted to grab the video camera and video him just to prove her point. Laughing slightly at the expression he would have on his face if that happened, she snuggled closer into his body.
And that was where it happened
She saw the light in the corridor outside their bedroom flicker on and off. She could feel the warmness of the blankets going away, as something like a wind swept past her and she found herself standing in another place.
She didn't know where and she certainly didn't know why but she found herself looking at a forest. Just an ordinary forest, the trees had green leaves and brown trunks, just like normal.
She could see someone going into a tent, she couldn't make out who it was but there was something telling her it was someone familiar. She tried to walk forwards but found that a white light had engulfed her and taken her somewhere else completely. She was standing inside what looked like a cave. On one of the walls there was some drawings and writing below. She couldn't make out the drawings properly, but from what she could see it looked like Rose. Just a Rose, a red Rose and what looked like a dagger behind it. Then the pictures were gone and replaced with a man. A man in a long trench coat, he was just standing there in the rain completely still.
And then he turned round, and she knew who it was instantly. But instead of the happy, lively, chatty man she normally knew she saw something quite different.
He wasn't smiling he wasn't frowning his face was completely expressionless as if all his emotions had been wiped away by something, and that something must have been something bad. Then she found herself back in her room, next to a very sleepy Doctor who was still snoring loudly.
Snuggling down next to the snoring Doctor, she thought, and thought. She wondered about what she had just seen.
And then she wondered about their future. About what could have happened that made the Doctor like he was. Something bad must happen to them, she just didn't know what. And how could she tell the Doctor? What if telling him was the thing that made him upset in the first place?
What would ruin their Utopian life?
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The next morning they got up and wound up going to Jackie's quite early. But part of that was because they had to baby sit the twins whilst the others went and sorted out the will. So during the morning they wound up taking another trip to the park to keep the twins out of trouble. So the morning passed quite easily, and they all came back quite happy with what had gone on.
They'd all gone off to do their own little things, in their own little ways in the after noon.
Rose was sitting on her bed, in her old room twiddling with the ring on her finger; thinking about what had happened the night before.
Jackie cam into the room a moment later and sat next to Rose on her bed.
"Rose?" she asked after a few minutes of silence
"Yeah?" Rose asked looking up at her mother.
"You really love him don't you" Jackie said and she didn't have to answer for her to know the answer. Lynn who was standing outside the door with a cup of tea, smiling to herself noticed that Rose was twiddling with her ring on her finger.
"Are you…" Lynn asked coming into the room and sitting next to Rose.
"What?" Rose said
"Are you and the Doctor…?" Lynn said sitting next to her on the bed and touched her ring discreetly, as the man in question turned up at the door. Fortunately for Rose he seemed to notice the situation and also walked into the room.
"We…
Doctor…" Rose said getting up and closing the short distance
between them before taking hold of his hand.
"What have you
done?" Jackie asked looking between them "Doctor what have you
two been up too?"
"Well you see Jackie… we kind of got…" the Doctor said after a minute and Rose interrupted him quite quickly.
"Engaged!" Rose said "We got engaged"
"What!" Jackie said looking at the two of them.
"Mum we're engaged" Rose said coming towards her sending an apologetic glance at the Doctor who looked just as shocked as the other two in the room.
"You're engaged?" Jackie said looking between the two of them.
"Yeah" Rose said before the Doctor could say otherwise. It looked as though the predictable reaction would occur, but instead she reacted by going over to them both and pulling them into a hug.
"Oh that's brilliant" Jackie said releasing them from the hug "I knew there was something going on between you two. Oh it's been obvious for months hasn't it Lynn"
"Oh yes" Lynn agreed "We'll have to get some of those wedding magazines from the shop, in fact I think it will still be open it's not that late yet…" Lynn said as the two older women walked out the room excitedly.
"What…" the Doctor said looking at her with not exactly the best expression.
"Sorry" Rose replied "I just got scared"
"Well we need to go and tell them the truth" the Doctor replied "We can't get married twice"
"Yeah
I know but…" Rose started but stopped
"But what?" the
Doctor asked
"Look just let me work out how to tell the best way and then we'll tell them"
"Rose…"
"Please" Rose said making the two of them go into silence before he replied.
"Fine" the Doctor replied "I don't like this but fine"
"Thank you" Rose replied giving him a quick kiss on the lips before going into the other room.
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She was sitting up on the roof top of the flats. She used to come here when she was a kid, just to think or to have some peace and quiet from the flat.
That was one of the reasons she was up her now, after she'd told them that they were engaged Rose had been whisked off into the city to look at dresses. And then there were the discussions of where everything was going to happen.
Except it wasn't going to happen, because it already had done it had happened six months ago. The Doctor was right, they really should tell them.
And that was when the man in question came up; he unfortunately for her didn't look in the best of moods.
"Ah here you are" he said forcing a smile "Tea's ready"
"You alright?" Rose asked
"Oh yeah brilliant" the Doctor said sarcastically "I'm just great Rose, fantastic even. I now have ten thousand women fussing over me, just great that is" the Doctor said and the carried on "I don't do domestic Rose I just don't" the Doctor said. "I never have"
"If you don't do domestic then why the hell did you marry me in the first place?" Rose shouted. She looked at him and saw his face soften slightly from the annoyed look that he had a moment before.
"Rose…" he said trying to reach for her but she'd turned around and ran away into the distance.
TBC…
Preview of chapter four:
That was when he'd known he'd loved her, the day that she'd done that. And he'd almost told her, he came so close.
But he didn't he just couldn't tell her. Because he was a time lord, the last of the time lords, and he had to live on alone, live through the curse of the time lords.
AN: Oh I had to leave it there.
Will they make up? Or is it the end?
Guess you'll have to wait and see.
Sorry it took so long to update- but I'm in Scotland once again so it's been more difficult to update quickly.
Hope you're liking this let me know what you think with a review (hint)
Thanks
Beres.
