A/N: Your cupcakes have been sent in the mail. They should arrive in about 60-72 years. Thank you! :3
By the time they reached the camp grounds, the rain had let up a bit. The sun was beginning to shine through the clouds. The campers and counselors, however, were soaked. Rose wrung out her hair, screwing up her face in annoyance. The Doctor was chuckling to himself while he watched everyone's reaction. He was a bit of an odd bloke, but his looks made up for that. Droplets of water clung to his hair. He shook his head and they splattered across her.
"Oi," she complained batting a hand at him. Everyone looked up as Steve pulled into a now very muddy road and jumped out from his car, completely dry. This time it was Midget who flipped him off, which drew out a laugh from everyone, except Steve who only glared at the man.
"Now, we may be a place we're you are supposed to enjoy your summer, but we do have rules. Rule number one: No fighting. We'd rather not get sued if you were pushed off a cliff, thanks. Rule number two: No bullying. Rule three: Lights out at ten, lights on at 9. And our most important rule: No relationships between campers and counselors." It was a bit odd, the way he said that with such a stern voice. It made Rose wonder...
"Have people ever done that?" She distantly heard Steve mention going to show them their cabins, but most of her attention was focused on the Doctor.
"Done what?" He pushed her lightly on her back to get her to start walking with the group.
"Had a relationship with a counselor."
"Yeah, last year," he admitted, but that was all he said. It must be something they didn't talk about. Trying to shake it off, she focused on the area around her. Besides the light fog that had settled around them and the damp ground, the place was pretty normal and boring. It was just a small ordinary camp site. Off to the right there was an archery set and a trail that led into the forest. To the right were six cabins. Not many campers must come here. The only thing she actually liked about the camp was the Doctor. And Steve. Steve was alright.
The rain had completely stopped by the time they reached Rose's cabin. The other campers had already been shown to where they'd be staying, and just as Rose had guessed, she was the only one who would be staying at the 10th cabin. The Doctor seemed amused by that, although he didn't do anything beyond sending her the occasional cheeky grin. She bit the inside of her cheek when they approached her cabin, toying with the strap of her duffel bag. The cabin looked a little older than the previous cabins. Not that that bothered her. Rose jumped, squeaking a little when Steve leaned close to her, making a hissing noise.
"They say this cabin is haunted," he whispered in her ear. Rose leaned away, giving him an odd look. Steve and the Doctor both laughed at her reaction. "Just kidding," he nodded towards the cabin. "Sort of. Anyway, it's a bit different than the other cabins so I'll let the Doctor show you how to work a few things. Lights out at 10." And with that, Steve walked away.
"Should I be worried about him?" Rose turned to the Doctor, who was staring up at the cabin. He turned to her when she spoke.
"Probably," he admitted. He did a little skipp-y thing and hurried into the cabin, dragging her along. She didn't know what she was expecting the inside to look like, but it was better than the outside, at least. The small amount of furniture that was there (a one-person bed, a bedside table, a lamp, and a dresser) looked new. The carpet was soft and clean and the cabin was 100% cob-web free.
"What's wrong with it?" She asked, kicking her shoes off. The Doctor nodded towards the room off to the left.
"Most of what is wrong is in the bathroom." He walked farther into the room, stuffing his hands into his pockets. "Come on."
She followed him into the small bathroom, where he explained that to turn on the hot water at the sink, you had to have cold on at full blast or else the hot water wouldn't work. The pipes in the cabinet below leaked, but it wasn't too bad. The shower curtain had a rip down the middle. There was nothing she could do about that. He took her back into the main room and rather unexpectedly hopped onto her bed. It made a loud creaking noise, and she nearly expected it to collapse under his weight. It didn't though, thank God.
"The beds a bit odd," the Doctor explained, wriggling about. The bed creaked with each movement he made.
"Lovely," she sighed, running a hand through her hair. He shrugged and got off up the bed, walking back to the cabin door.
"Well, night." He shoved one hand into his pocket, waving with the other.
"Don't let the demons bite," Rose added, grinning at the face he made.
"You're a cheery one," he snorted, then closed the door. Left alone in the silence of her own personal cabin, Rose sighed. Her clothing was still wet and she quickly stripped them off, changing into a really comfortable pair of plaid pajamas. She brushed her teeth, ran a comb through her hair a few times, and collapsed on the bed. The sound was horribly loud, but she suspected it couldn't be heard from outside. She crawled under the covers (which were wet from when the Doctor had lain on them), squeezing her eyes shut tight. The cabin kept creaking and it was honestly pretty creepy, but she tried to ignore it. She wasn't going to let Steve's claim about the cabin being haunted get to her. Evening out her breath, she forced herself to relax, and eventually, after what seemed like hours, she drifted off to sleep.
XXX
Rose still wanted to go home when she woke up. The cabin was horribly cold and her head was aching. There was no clock in the cabin, so she wasn't actually sure what time it was, and to be honest, she'd completely forgotten what time they were meant to be up by. She sighed, shifting onto her side (and the bed creaked very loudly). Someone knocked on the door, yelling something Rose's brain couldn't understand while she was this tired. Rose fell from the bed and onto the fluffy carpet, and the door opened.
Mrs. Anderson stood in the open doorway. Upon seeing Rose tangled up among her sheets on the ground, she started laughing. "Sorry! I know it's early, trust me, I'd rather sleep in longer, too, but it's Steve who makes the rules. So, ya' gotta' get up!"
"What time is it?" Rose sighed, stumbling to her feet and walked sluggishly over to her bag. Mrs. Anderson closed the door and turned her back to give Rose some privacy while she changed back into her day clothes.
"Nearly 9:30. John and I decided to let you sleep in for half an hour. We're generous, aren't we?"
"John?"
"The Doctor. Ah- Mr. Smith. Sorry."
Rose nodded, grabbed her water bottle and moved to the front door, keeping a straight face. Inside, she was bubbling with excitement, wanting nothing more to speak to the Doctor. He made up for camp being so horrible. "Ready?" Rose nodded.
"Are you counseling me?" She asked when they were out of the cabin, pointing towards Steve and Mr. Hardy who had a bunch of kids with them. Mrs. Anderson shook her head.
"John is, actually, he was just really lazy this morning... which was actually the reason you got to sleep in. Like I said. Generous people."
Rose laughed, but said nothing else. Mostly because she had seen the Doctor and wanted nothing more than to run up to him and start talking like they had done the day before. However, Mrs. Anderson was still by her side, and running up to him was going to be odd in her point of view. They walked to the breakfast table, which was stacked with sausages and hot dogs and a lot of other meat and stuff. Another good about camp: it actually had good food. She took a sausage and a waffle and settled down on a blanket that was laid out on the ground so the campers didn't get wet and muddy when they sat down.
She picked at her food with the fork, feeling sick to her stomach. She missed the comfort of her bed at home and being able to sleep in as long as she wanted to. And, dare she say it, she missed her mum and her cooking.
"Hello!" Came the cheery voice of the Doctor. Rose looked up and...
And...
And oh he had morning hair. Sexy, fantastic morning hair that stood up in every direction. "Hi," she whispered, watching him as he sat down in front of her. He leaned back, using his elbows to prop him up.
"Wasn't ready to wake up this morning," he mumbled, tilting his head back and poking his tongue out like he was tasting the air. Forcing herself to focus on her food, Rose poked a bit of waffle with her fork and carefully put it in her mouth, chewing on it slowly. She looked up at the Doctor through her eyelashes. He was looking across the camp grounds, staring at a woman around Rose's age. Maybe a little older, in her twenties. She had blond hair that was up in a bun and she wore a counselors suit.
"Who is that? Haven't seen her about'?" Rose asked. The Doctor's head whipped to look at her when she spoke, a small blush rising to his cheeks.
"That's uh... that's Reinette, my... girlfriend."
"Oh." Rose pursed her lips, her heart sinking. He had a girlfriend? Well, of course he would, he was a good looking guy after all. And there was no reason for her to be jealous. Not that she was jealous. Not jealous at all.
"She's a new counselor. Just joined this year, but she's absolutely brilliant and great with the kids. She's more of a helper though... I mean, she doesn't actually lead any groups."
Ugh. He had that dreamy sound to his voice like guy that was totally in love with a girl. He looked over and his eyes lit up as he realized Reinette was coming over to them. Rose wanted to die right then. She would have gotten up and ran away, but she was hesitant, not wanting to be rude. And anyway, it was too late now.
"Hi," Reinette said happily, grinning at the Doctor. When her eyes settled on Rose, the smile disappeared, replaced by a confused frown. Not a bratty look, like Rose was expecting, just a generally confused frown. Rose hated to admit that Reinette was indeed very pretty. Her skin looked flawless and she had a light tan. Her cheeks had a rosy tint to them. Her brown eyes were alight with excitement. She was probably perfect in the eyes of any man. In Rose's eyes, she could pick out every flaw... if there were any physical flaws to even pick out.
"I'm Rose Tyler," she said quietly. She rose to her feet, nodded toward her plate, and left to dump it in the trashcan. She felt sick all over again now. Looking back, Rose considered going back over to the two, but Reinette was sitting in the Doctor's lap now, pointing to a map or something she'd placed in front of them. The Doctor's arms were wrapped around Reinette's waist and he was pressing kisses into her hair. Swallowing her frustration, she turned around to leave, and nearly crashed into Mrs. Anderson.
"Sorry, Mrs. Anderson, sorry! Wasn't paying attention to where I was... uh... sorry."
"Call me Kaylee," she smiled, then shook her head. "You're fine."
Rose stared at her for a few seconds, studying her for the first time. Kaylee had cherry brown hair that went to her collar bone, and her skin was incredibly pale. She was fairly skinny with bright blue eyes. She was also much taller than Rose had realized. Before, she had been too focused on wanting to see the Doctor and to go home. It hadn't registered in her head how tall Kaylee was.
"I'm guessing you've met Reinette, then?" Kaylee asked, nodding towards the couple. The Doctor was now resting his head on Reinette's shoulder.
"Sort of," Rose muttered, shrugging.
"Didn't like her?"
"No, I did, she was pretty nice, I suppose."
"You suppose?"
Rose simply shrugged. Kaylee bit her lip. "Not many counselors like her. Except the Doctor of course. He's completely in love with her, it's ridiculous. She's all he ever talks about when he's around us. Reinette this, Reinette that. Except last night, of course..."
"What did he talk 'bout last night?"
"You."
"Me?"
"Yeah, he seemed pretty happy to have met you. He kept repeating your conversations until eventually we sent him to bed with a teddy bear. Literally, we found this old stuffed bear in the back of the counselors cabin and put it in his bed when he fell asleep."
Rose giggled, starting to feel better. Kaylee was nice, and it seemed that the Doctor at least enjoyed her company. He wasn't annoyed by her. The sound of a child crying suddenly attracted their attention and Kaylee heaved a long sigh, rubbing her forehead.
"Not again," she muttered, spinning around on her heels. "I'll talk to you later, Rose!"
They both waved goodbye and Rose prepared to go talk to Steve about activities they'd be doing later when a hand settled on her shoulder. Instinctively, Rose turned and smacked the person across the face. It was only until after her palm connected with flesh did she realize who it was.
"Ah! I'm sorry, Doctor!"
The Doctor sat up from where he'd fell to the ground, rubbing his now bright-red cheek. He was grinning from ear-to-ear as he stumbled to his feet again. "You called me 'Doctor'," he laughed.
"Well, yeah." Rose snickered as he continued to rub his cheek.
"Ow," he muttered quietly. He quickly shook his head and turned his attention back to her. "Why'd you leave?" Rose was surprised to see a rather hurt expression on his face (and not from the slap). Could he have wanted her to stay?
Rose fought for a good answer, but came up with nothing. She lamely settled for, "I don't know." To Rose's surprise, he looked crushed when she said that. She quickly added, "I just thought maybe you and Reinette... I dunno', I thought maybe you wanted to be alone with her or somethin'."
The Doctor shook his head. "I was fine with you being there."
"Was Reinette?"
"Don't see why she wouldn't be..."
After that, it sort of descended into an awkward silence. Rose shuffled her feet, kicking at the ground, while the Doctor stood with one hand shoved into his pocket and the other rubbing the back of his neck.
"Er, anyway," he smiled brightly, clapping his hands together. "Steve wanted to do some archery and some paintball games for the older kids today; which do think we should do first?"
She put on a thinking face, frowning. "Hmm... well, you're the counselor, shouldn't you be choosing."
"I'm no good at choosing," the Doctor pouted, crossing his arms over his chest. Rose couldn't help but laugh.
"Well, I'd say archery, since personally I wanna' get the stuff I can't do very well done first?"
"Oh, and you're the master of paintball then?"
"Oh, yeah, definitely!"
He chuckled, stuffing his hands back into his pockets. "Well, archery first then! Just gotta' round up the campers and we're set. Allons-y!"
A/N: Ugh. School. Three more days. I can't do it. Well, anyway, I hope you enjoyed! :3 Cookies for reviews! (And the cookies arrive sooner than the cupcakes! ^^)