Chapter Five - Rose
Author's Note: Sorry this took so long, I had some serious writer's block, but the next chapter should be up in the next 24 hours or so! I love reviews, so comment away and tell me what you think!
She shifted her weight and leaned on the console. Her feet hurt, her back was tight, and her eyes burned from exhaustion. She had been standing since she had left Reinette. The stress of the day was finally beginning to take its toll, and her thoughts kept straying back to her large, soft bed aboard the TARDIS. That would be the second thing she'd do once he came back. After a large cuppa, she'd sink into bed and sleep, for hours. The doors would be locked, so the Doctor couldn't come bounding in, chattering on about Xengola IV after five hours. Her body practically screamed for the rest, and she stood straighter, fighting the urge to collapse right there.
She checked the clock. Just over five and a half hours. Each second was agonizingly slow, and each one void of the Doctor's return. He had said he was coming, so he would. She wasn't going to give up on him, he had always come through hadn't he? The ship was eerily quiet, save for the faint sound of the engines. Thoughts, unbidden, threatened to overwhelm her and she tried to focus on the broken window. For once she understood why he never stopped talking, so many thoughts and emotions need an outlet. She wouldn't take that for granted when he came back.
If he came back. That thought nagged at the back of her mind and intimidated her. He had been so concerned about Reinette. After all, Reinette was far prettier and smarter than she was. Had he finally seen that his companion was, merely a shopgirl, with no A levels, no job and no hope of a better future? Would he move on, and leave her stranded at the Powell Estates, like Sarah Jane?
He said he was coming back, and she trusted him, with her life. Right now that was all that mattered. Rose took a deep breath and closed her eyes, in an attempt to shut off her mind from her betraying thoughts. Fear would only create problems that did not exist yet. She peeked at the clock, three minutes had passed.
"Rose!" it was his voice. She almost tried to convince herself it was a dream, but his footsteps were quickly coming down the hall. She met him at the hall and ran into his arms. A sigh of relief involuntarily escaped her, and she grinned.
"How long did you wait?" he asked, letting go and looking at her anxiously.
"Five and a half hours!" Rose laughed slightly. It hardly seemed like any time at all, now that he stood before her. The doubts she'd had before fled, as she watched him shake hands with Mickey.
"Right, always wait five and a half hours." he was jumping with energy and looked excited. She knew that look. He'd had an idea and he was about to put it into action.
"Where've you been?" she asked, attempting to match his excitement.
"Explain later. Into the TARDIS, be with you in a sec." he dashed off again and she watched him. She pressed her lips together and tried not to be disappointed as she watched him head back through the hall. He was calling for Reinette, and in a moment disappeared through the revolving door.
She shoved her hands in her pockets and headed back to the tardis. She wasn't going to acknowledge that it hurt. It hurt that he chose someone else, someone more refined than her. But this wasn't about her, and it wasn't why she stayed with him, so she would forget about it. Walking back into the tardis she leaned against one of the columns near the door, and got ready to wait, again.