Pair Of Fools

Arrested upon entering a brand new planet? Okay. Forced to pose as the husband to the woman he actually has feelings for? Fine. But this? She has her arms around someone else and there is nothing The Doctor can do. A piece of him inside breaks. Damnit why not me? Am I not good enough? The man storms into the bathroom and closes the door. He stares himself in the eyes, looking into a mirror. Don't cry.

DWDWDW

Rose Tyler in the arms of another swings her legs and hold the man close. As the two pull apart, they look into eachother's eyes and grin.

"Jack I missed you so much!" Rose exclaims.

"You too! How are you? Where have you been?" a pause, " How is he?" He looks at her, excitement in his eyes. She fakes a smile before answering, trying to reassure him that she's alright. She should have known that Jack can read her like a book.

"I'm good, I've been all over the place you know. You should have seen this one planet, it had a beach where the sand was purple! I wish it hadn't been freezing out! It was still absolutely beautiful though, I still have some of the sand in the TARDIS." She gestures to the room. He narrows his eyes at her.

"You skipped a question, and we aren't going in there until you answer." He threatens, jokingly, but she knows he'll get the answer he wants sooner or later.

"Oh sorry! I totally forgot. He's good, yeah. Well, he's the Doctor, so." She pretends that she doesn't know what he actually means.

"You know that's not what I meant, come on kid, spill it."

"There's nothing to spill." She points to the room, pulls him close and whispers in his ear, "I'll tell you later." Unfortunately The Doctor walks out of the room at this exact moment, Rose pulled right up against Jack, his arm around her, her lips at his ear. Rose wasn't looking, but Jack saw the intense pain in The Doctor's eyes before he regained his composure.

"Jack!" The Doctor yells, and pulls him into his arms, away from Rose. "Rose we should eat soon, you might want to take a shower," He mentions subtly, she goes right for it. "Brilliant idea, i'll be back in a flash, don't have any fun without me boys!" She says with a wink before walking into bathroom. The shower turns on, and The Doctor turns to Jack, knowing Rose can no longer hear their conversation.

"I'm gone for 2 seconds, really Jack. Come on." The Doctor says, hurt in his voice.

"No, you totally misread the situation, man, I promise. I would never do that to you." The Doctor looks at him, and deems him to be telling the truth.

"Okay, so, how are you?" The Doctor asks.

"Oh no. Hell no. We are talking about you and Rose, right here right now." Jack says with a grin. The Doctor groans. That bastard is going to get me to spill, you tell a guy one thing, in secrecy might I add. Ugh, he's not going to be happy hearing how… not together me and Rose are.

"Me and Rose are fine." He says, curtly. Jack isn't having it, "Come on man, spill." Jack says, desperate to see how the couple are doing. Two idiots, been in love since they first met and they were too damn blind to see it, well up until I forced the Doctor to ask her out. let's see how the couple is. "Well, there is no.. me and Rose." The man in the pinstriped suit stutters out.

Jack stops. That can't be right. Rose is in love with this man, she wouldn't turn him down for the world. "She rejected you?" Disbelief evident in his voice.

"Well, ah, no. you see the thing is." The Doctor scratches the back of his neck. "I never, well. I never did.. ask her out." He finally spits out, much to Jack's relief.

"Oh you idiot! Come on man! You said you did, you promised no more games with her." Jack spits out furiously, no wonder Rose didn't want to talk about him.

"I just can't okay? Because what if… what if she said no? Then I'd be alone and the only good thing I have would be gone and I'd be alone again and I just can't. I can't go back to how things were because she is the only beautiful thing left that hasn't realized how wrong I am." The Doctor looks down at his converse.

I wish I could tell you that she feels the same way. "Look man, she would never turn you down. You've got it all! Looks, brains, charisma, the suit, I wish I could get some of that action." Jack says.

"Jack that's not the point, someone like her could never want someone like me." The man says sadly.

"Why would you think that?" Jack says, stubborn to prove to the two that they are with each other.

"Because dammit Jack I'm-" The shower turns off and the whole conversation stops.

"This isn't over." Jack whispers.

Rose walks out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped around her chest that falls halfway down her thigh. She walks toward her bag and grabs some clothes before turning to the men. "Didn't realize I'd be having an audience." She says, flushing.

"Oh I don't mind, baby." Jack calls as she scuttles back to the bathroom.

Oh Rose why must you be so damn flawless. Is the only thing the Doctor can think as he stares at her.

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Who is this mysterious young couple walking with their arms linked? Who is the man holding the other hand of the girl? How can the people who carry the most pain in the world smile oh so brightly? Would you believe it if I said that the young couple is not mysterious at all? That it is merely The Doctor and his Rose. Would you believe me if I told you just how much The Doctor loves calling her that? His Rose. Of course you would, because this mysteriously non-mysterious couple may not actually be a couple, but they are actually in love. Just as the seemingly intruding man who is holding the other hand of The Doctor's Rose is not actually intruding he is just merely pushing the mysteriously non-mysterious couple that isn't a couple towards each other so they can realize maybe this 'couple act' isn't really an act at all. How can a group of people so hurt and so damaged be so happy? They have each other. A simple answer, and yet it is so much more. The Doctor is happy because he has Rose, perhaps not the way he wants to have her, but it's enough for him. He can see the way she moves when she walks, he can count the minutes that she is asleep, he can watch her face light up in one of those smiles saved just for him. Jack is happy because he knows he is going to get this couple together whether they like it or not. He is happy to be holding the hand of his best friend while laughing at some bad joke made by his other best friend. Rose is happy because she has her best friend back, the one she hasn't seen in months. She is happy because she gets to admire her Doctor, hear him speak and laugh and watch him dance. How could the pair of fools not realize how completely in love they are with one another. The answer again, is simple, yet at the same time, complex. They can't realize they are in love with each other because they are just too busy being in love to notice that their feelings are 110% reciprocated. Like I said, pair of fools.