Thanks to my hard working Beta TheBigCat shes wonderful.
Ok guys Chapter 20 it was a blast to write I think its one of my favorites at the moment I expect some great reviews well that are you are going to hate me. either way leave a review a happy face, shoot leave me a leaf just leave me something lol.
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Allons-y
A week had passed since the dance in the media room. He could still feel Rose's head and how it had pressed between his hearts. The crying that followed after lingered, as well as the discussion they had held. He had shown her no new memories since that night, letting her adjust to the storm of emotions that she was facing.
Her crying had broken something loose in her and now he would see tears rolling down her face at random moments. More often than not she would run to her room when they started to fall. But twice she had welcomed his embrace and had let him hold her as tears poured down onto his chest. At those times, he just held her, taking as much comfort out of those embraces as he hoped she did.
At night, once she had long since gone to bed, he would find himself outside her door, head pressed against the wood, waiting for some sound to come from the room so he could reassure himself that she was still here and not stuck away in a parallel universe.
He was not resting like he should, and the few hours of sleep he did manage were plagued with nightmares of Rose. Rose bleeding, Rose passed out, Rose not breathing and nobody found her in time to save her. The images even played when he was awake. It was like a horror movie reel that just would not stop spinning and there was no way to eject. He would shake his head and manage to shove them to the back of his mind for a few hours, but they were always there.
The last couple of days had been great. With her by his side again, he felt like he could do anything. He knew Rose felt accelerated as well. They had been to five places in just the last couple of days, and had three glorious adventures in which they did the thing they did best- grab each other's hands and run.
Of course, the last adventure had gotten a little pear-shaped. Well, a little more than pear-shaped... more like a whole grove of pear trees. He had opened his gob one too many times on Fluteratious and got them both put in a cell, not for the first time. It wasn't his fault that the Fluteraions didn't know the correct way to eat a banana. Honestly, who ate it with the skin on?
Was it his fault that he had decided to teach the correct way the magnificent yellow fruit should be eaten? Surely it wasn't his fault that when he had finished showing the proper way to eat said banana, the peel had not made it fully into his coat's pockets and fallen to the ground. And it most definitely was not his fault that the queen had decided today was a great day for a walk and slipped on the peel; and went flying into the fountain in front of her. However, it still ended with him and Rose in a jail cell on a planet that fully believed in killing litterbugs. Real tree-huggers, right from the 60s, complete with harsh laws.
They had escaped, of course. Rose had snagged the sonic and hidden it in her shoe. Her shoe literally had a secret pocket. He was still wondering why. When she had pulled it out of its hiding place, he had thrown his arms around her in a celebratory hug.
The only problem they had was during said escape. Rose had fallen when running back to the TARDIS- tripped over a wall low on the ground and had gone down with a shriek of pain and curse words that would've made his hair go flat if it actually did that sort of thing.
He had scooped her up and carried her the last 30 feet to the Tardis, before carefully placing her on the jump seat and throwing them into the vortex. He gently picked her up and carried her to the med bay in order to look at her leg. She let him carry her with little amount of fuss- that was when the Doctor knew how much her leg really must hurt.
Rose's left knee was killing her- it hurt like hell. That damn Time Lord and his big mouth getting them arrested again! But she could not help the giddiness that had sprang up- it had been just like old times.
Doctor opens mouth- check. Thrown in cell- check. Escape from cell- check. Run for your life- big check. Being clumsy, falling, and getting hurt? Check. The whole list for the Doctor and Rose to have an adventure. And now he was carrying her to the med bay to fix her up. Just like he always had.
Crap. Her knee was going to heal quickly. It had twisted when she fell and she had heard the pop. How was she going to explain to this man that her knee would be fine in two days?
She could already feel her body healing the smaller cuts and scrapes on her arms and palms where they had met the ground, and her knee would start fixing itself at any moment.
Maybe she could play it off- act like she had not hurt it as bad as he thought. It'd never work. But if she told him the truth, he would poke her and prod her and run so many tests her head would spin. There had to be a middle ground. The Doctor was too smart for her to fool him for long.
She had already seen him give her odd glances out of the corner of his eye. Her hand was healing as fast as it had even before he got the sonic buzzing over her. He was beginning to question things.
She was in the med bay before she knew it. The Doctor placed her on a cot gently, and she released her arms that had been around his neck. How had they ended up there? She didn't remember putting her arms there. "Old habits," she muttered.
"What was that?"
"It hurts," she said to cover up her mishap.
"Well, we we'll take care of that," he told her cheerfully. "I've just got to get these jeans off of you and then we'll see what's what." The Doctor reached for her zip, and she slapped him away.
"Hey Spock, stop trying to take my pants off."
"But Rose," he whined, sounding like the world's most British toddler. "I have to get them off so I can see your knee."
A pair of shorts appeared next to Rose and she silently thanked the TARDIS. "Close your eyes and turn around," she said aloud. He pouted but did as she asked.
She never used to have a problem with him seeing her in her underwear- well, at least when she was hurt- but the Doctor guessed it was one of the many things that had changed since Rose had come back to him. He wished she would hurry up. He really wanted to make her knee feel better.
"Done," she said. "You can turn around now."
He did so, and picked up her leg gently, examining her knee. The Doctor was sure it was not broken, but it was swollen and tender to the touch. She winced a little when his hand came up to brush the bruise on the higher part of her knee. It was nasty looking, but not as bad as he thought it should be. He held it for a second as he thought.
He could fix it with the sonic in five seconds, but knees were tricky. They usually healed better on their own, with less stiffness in the joint. He waved the sonic over it to ease the pain Rose was in.
He turned and went to the cabinet, pulling out some bandages to wrap it up. When he sat back down and took her leg in his, he gasped. The bruises on her knee had already started to fade from the black and blue to a yellowish hue of healing.
He looked up to see Rose concentrating on the wall in front of her very hard. He said her name twice, but she pointedly ignored him and continued to stare at the wall. He stood up and dropped her leg, stepping in front of her. Now she gazed at his chest with the same interest as she had in the wall, but still refused to lift her eyes to meet his. He tilted her head up with a slender finger. forcing her to look at him. "Rose. Why does your knee look better than it did five minutes ago?"
Rose tried to turn away, but the Doctor held her chin firmly. She was a crap liar and they both knew it. Her thoughts were racing, trying to come up with some excuse and her heart was beating rapidly.
Rose didn't know whether it was from the question or the fact he was touching her, but their faces were now inches apart. She had a sneaking suspicion it was both. Her first thought was to push him away or hit him again, but she could not bring herself to do it.
Her anger had started to abate over the past week, and she didn't feel like hitting him. It would be a step backwards and they had been having such fun this week. She could start to cry again- he might leave her alone.
But he wouldn't forget.
His hand had moved from her chin and was gently cupping her cheek. Her thoughts disseminated in all directions again.
The Doctor's hand moved from Rose's chin to her cheek. Her eyes were wide and full of unspoken panic to his question. He had said he would not push her, but this quick healing was not normal. What if her being brought back through the other universe like she had been had done something to her- something unnatural? He knew fast healing was good, but if that was happening what else was he missing? Would she be ripped away from him again?
Rose could see the worry in his eyes, even as her thoughts scattered from his touch. Maybe she could reassure him, and he would leave it at that. She could ask him not to press her until she was ready.
Rose automatically wet her lips nervously before she spoke, but froze again when she saw the Doctor's eyes slide to her lips at her action. They rose to meet hers again so swiftly that she almost believed she had imagined it. But his eyes while still wanting answers had turned a bit darker. It was a look she knew well, but he had never acted on it.
He tilted his head and was closer than ever before. His eyes fluttered shut. Rose leaned in a bit without knowing it, her own eyes shutting. Their lips were seconds from brushing. Her eyes slammed open, her mind gathered words quickly and pulled back, shaking her head to clear the fog.
"I heal a bit quicker now," she said in a rush. "I don't want to go into the details, Time Lord. Just wrap me up where I can go to bed. All the running has made this human tired."
He jerked up, right when her cheek had moved from his hand, and stood, trying to clear the haze that was filling his head. Rose was talking but he could not hear a word.
His thoughts were still filled with how close he had been- that they had been. Their lips had nearly touched; he could still feel her breath against his mouth.
He did not start out of his thoughts till Rose said Time Lord, and it felt like ice cold water had been poured over his head. She had not called him that name all week. 'Spock' had been a favourite, and even 'Doctor' on occasion. But never 'Time Lord'.
Rose smiled internally as she finally caught his attention, throwing him outside of whatever thoughts he was having. She knew it was about them. Not that there was a 'them'.
But it was nice for him to feel a bit like she always had when they had gotten close before and he had pulled away and pretended it had never happened. A bit childish on her part, but still nice.
She repeated what she had said and he dutifully wrapped her knee up and did not press her for answers.
He lifted her in his arms and Rose kept her arms firmly glued to her stomach this time. The Doctor carried her to her room and placed her on the bed, leaving her, only to return a minute ltter with an ice pack for her knee. He softly bid her a good night and left her, closing the door behind him as he went.
She stared at the door for a long time after he left, fighting the emotions coursing through her body. He had almost kissed her, like she had wanted him to all those years ago. And this time, it had been her that pulled away.
How the roles have reversed, was her last thought before sleep claimed her.
Four hours later, she woke up screaming and sobbing. She had forgotten to grab the jacket from her closet before falling asleep.
