Ok I was not going to post this till Tomorrow but since its my My Beta's Birthday you all get a present. So woot. Happy Birthday to a great Beta TheBigCat. I hope she has a great day.
Guys your reviews this last chapter amazing thank you so much please pretty please keep in up. To all that followed or Favorited over the last couple of days Thank you as well. they make me very happy. To all that are reading I thank you as well.
chapter 22 guys I really hope you like it. Allons-y
It looked as if Rose had got brooding Doctor this time. He had been in the kitchen, eating his jam- luckily with a spoon this time and not his fingers. His eyes had been so dark, his shoulders slumped. Tension radiated from his whole body, making the room heavy with the weight of it all.
He had taken one look at her, his gaze lingering on the jacket for a split second, and just like that she saw his eyes lighten just a bit, his shoulders straighten and a small smile play across his face. Then, just like she expected, the Doctor beat a hasty retreat down the hall, calling over his shoulder to meet him in the media room when she was ready.
His whole demeanour had rapidly changed when she had walked into the room. He was back to being the bouncy Doctor that Rose knew so well- or used to know so well, at least. She had really expected him to hide away today; but instead she had found him on her first try. That was new.
Rose quickly ate her breakfast and hurried to the media room. She was eager for the new memory today- she loved watching herself on screen; so young, so carefree.
Somehow, she managed to end up in an entire different hall then the entertainment section that she had been shooting for. It held only a single blue door with beautiful silver and gold writing that she couldn't read. Her hands traced the symbols before she opened the door; curiously wondering what the TARDIS was trying to show her- she had obviously led her here for a reason.
The door swung open quietly, and Rose took a couple of small steps into the door, swiftly closing behind her. The lights in the room began to brighten and she found herself in a bedroom hosting a king-sized bed with black sheets and blue comforter. It completely took up the centre of the room. Dark chestnut bookcases surrounded the room, and tables filled with projects half-completed were in every direction. A mirror caught her attention, and she walked towards it. A couple of pictures of just her graced the edges. They were smudged and fading, almost as if fingers had traced over them a thousand times. She had to stop and take a breath as she gently touched each one.
She wandered over to the bed and ran her fingers gently down the edge of it. She could smell him now. She was in his room- she had known the minute she had seen the door, but had still doubted it. Why did the TARDIS want her to see his room?
A drawer opened slightly night to her. She peeked inside, and raised an eyebrow. Well, at least now she knew why he was not commenting on his jacket. She slowly reached in and picked up a grey shirt. Her old grey shirt; the one she had worn on her first trip through time and space. The one she thought the wardrobe had lost the first time she had changed. The Doctor had it in his bedside table and it looked like it had been handled quite a bit. Rose brought it up to her nose and sniffed. It smelled of him now instead of her.
He had missed her; even kept her shirt there after he had left her and the other him in that parallel world. Tears welled up in her eyes and for the first time Rose felt that maybe; just maybe, he had regretted his choice that day. She could feel the walls around her heart soften just a bit.
The Doctor had lost her that day every much as she had lost him, but he had still chosen to leave her. He had been the one to walk away. But she knew part of the blame lay with her; maybe he wouldn't have walked away if she hadn't kissed the other man so ardently. But he had said the words she longed to hear. Granted, those words he said had been in friendship and done in a way so this Doctor could run without saying a word.
She started to wonder what had happened to him after he had left them on that beach. For the first time Rose thought about him, instead of how hurt she was feeling.
He was traveling alone. Rose knew that much from the week she had been back, and from the feelings she was getting from the TARDIS at the moment. He had been on his own for a while. Rose's heart hurt just a bit more at the thought of him being on his own once again.
The man whose jacket she was currently wearing had never done well on his own, and this version of him was no different. The Doctor was completely and utterly rubbish if he was by himself. He had left the other him on the beach with her because he needed watching. But she had a strange feeling that he had it all backwards .It was this him had needed watching.
And as kind and forgiving as he was being towards her; as much as he was trying to help her, she was beginning to wonder why was he trying so hard to fix her. Was it possible that he was just as broken as her?
Rose wasn't sure. He could hide his feelings better than anyone she knew. He had over nine hundred years of practice at it, after all. She vowed to herself as she put the shirt back in the drawer that she would really try to get better for both their sakes and that she would watch him a little more closely then she had been doing so far. Maybe she could see if she was right, if he was just as damaged as her. If that was the case, she owed it to him to make him feel better, the way he slowly was making her better.
She turned and walked back out the way she came, before stumbling upon the media room. The Doctor was sitting there on the couch head in his hands, looking dejected. An air of despair penetrated the room.
Rose sighed softly. He was hurting. She didn't know what from, but she had a feeling she had caused this by taking such a long time to get here.
Rose decided right then and there. They were going to be friends again. Best friends. The stuff of legends. Shiver and Shake, Sir Doctor and Dame Rose, saving the universe, one planet at a time! Her anger was still there; she still had questions and a lot of healing left to do, but Rose knew that she could do this. That they could do this.
They had been friends once, and friends helped each other. That had been what he was trying to do since the beginning, but she had been so stubborn and so mad that she could not see. Now that it was working, things were starting to become very clear. He had been her friend all along; letting her yell at him, cry on him, ask him to stay. It was time to return the favour.
She walked up to the couch in front of him, and took his hands from his hair. Rose slowly brought them around her back and pulled him against her for a tight hug. He was startled but his hands automatically tighten around her and his head buried itself on her shirt. Her hands gently scratched the nape of his neck in a comforting motion. He exhaled loudly and relaxed more fully into her embrace. She could feel the tension evaporating from his body- tension he had carried for a long time.
She slowly started to withdraw and was surprised when he pulled her back and into his waiting lap continuing to cling to her for a few more moments, before easing her of his lap and onto the couch next to him. He grinned a little at her. "Hello." He paused. "Not that I'm complaining, but what was that for?"
She smiled back slightly. "You looked like you needed a hug, so I gave it to you. S'what friends are for, yeah?"
"Yeah," was all he could manage to say, his breath even catching on that single word.
The Doctor shook his head a bit just to clear it. He had been feeling so down. The jacket that he had been jealous of all night was now covering Rose during the day as well. He was not sure it that was a good thing- her being comfortable enough for him to view her in it, or a bad thing, like it was new armour he would have to break through.
He sighed just a bit and concentrated on the problem at hand. He was pretty convinced that she had run and hidden from him again. Rose still had not turned up in the Media Room. He had been waiting for an hour already. The Doctor was going to force himself to rise and go look for her when she turned up, and then she had pulled him in for an amazing- but unexpected- hug. Now she was calling him her friend again. Friends with Rose Tyler.
He liked the sound of that.
He had absolutely no clue what had brought this on, but for once in his very long life he wasn't going to question it. He was just going to rejoice in the fact that they were friends again. He pulled Rose to his side just like he used to and put his arm around her gently. She smiled up at him, her grin slightly shy and he grinned right back.
"I have another memory if you want to watch it," he told her. "Two, actually."
She nodded, and the lights dimmed. Rose unconsciously snuggled closer to his warmth and his arm tightened around her. He felt her jump as they both watched just two words appear on the screen.
Bad Wolf.
