Chapter 3

Her eyes flutter shut and her mouth falls open in surprise and he takes the opportunity to explore. Feeling the water rising over their heads, he feeds oxygen into her mouth as he kisses her.

That double respiratory bypass of his does come in handy sometimes.

Her hands move to his hair and it's quite possible that she forgets that she should be drowning in water, because right now she's drowning in him. She's drowning in an inconceivable, undeniable explosion of love for the man attached to her mouth, and she thinks she's never been so happy.

She pretends this isn't a kiss of life, of sorts.

She pretends this is him, the Doctor, kissing Rose Tyler, because he wants to and because he can.

And so does the Doctor.

He wades his way through the water a few feet, as they start to float, the water rising above their heads. She feels him push her against a wall as he presses his body against hers, giving her the best - and possibly last - snog of her entire life.

And she thinks: there are worst ways to go.

She's fairly passive in the kiss, to be honest, as although he's kissing her properly, he's still aware that if she pulls back, just for second – if his mouth moves from hers for even an instant of time – she'll swallow a load of water. So he tries to focus on keeping her alive with his steady breathing, definitely not thinking about how her hips feel under his hands, or how her lips are so soft, or how she tastes of chocolate. Definitely not.

And then something's happening, and she's not really sure what because the Doctor's kissing her and that's all she's thinking about right now.

The Doctor senses something's different, something to do with the pressure and possibly gravity or something, but he doesn't care, because he's kissing Rose Tyler and –

Oh.

Oh.

They suddenly collapse to the floor in a heap, the Doctor on top of her, his lips still against hers, as the water flows out of the room somehow. And then they hear a throat being cleared purposefully. The Doctor pulls back slightly, resting his forehead against Rose's, and as her eyes flicker open he tells her that she was right.

"Honestly, if you wanted some privacy, all ya had to do was ask..." comes the teasing voice of Captain Jack Harkness from the doorway to the room.

Rose beams, and slaps the Doctor on the arm wearily. "Told you he'd come and save us."

"I am brilliant at saving you two, you gotta admit that. Makes this slightly awkward, though, eh Doctor? What was going on here, last kiss for the condemned man or something?"

The Doctor pointedly ignores this, heaving himself off of Rose, who explains with a huff that he was only feeding her oxygen. Jack scoffs disbelievingly and the Doctor stands, pulling Rose up to stand next to him. She sways a little, unsteady on her feet, and Jack steps forward as if to help her.

"It's alright," insists the Doctor, wrapping an arm around her waist to hold her upright. "I've got her." He then proceeds – despite mumbles of protest from Rose – to lift her into his arms.

Jack retracts a few steps, recognising that look of the Doctor's immediately. It was the same look he gave Jack whenever the Captain flirted with Rose. It was the same look he'd given him back when he had blue eyes.

Hands off the Blonde.

Honestly, this time? He was only going to help. Seriously. Rose looks exhausted – she nearly drowned, for God's sake - and he was going to offer to help the Doctor carry her home. He wasn't at all noticing the way her wet clothes were clinging to her body, or the way her hair was curling in lovely ringlets around her face. Not at all. Even Jack knows there's a time and a place.

Sort of.

Jack wonders, on their slow, silent walk back to the TARDIS, whether the Doctor finally told Rose how he feels about her. At that moment when it could've been his last chance, did he tell her? Jack can't decide. Although conversation between them is absent, the silence isn't an awkward one. And something actually twinges somewhere inside him when he sees the Doctor brush a wayward strand of hair out of her face as he carries her – bridal style – with her looking up at him, a content, relieved smile on her face.

They reach the TARDIS, and Jack unlocks the door, holding it open for his friends. Gently setting Rose on her feet once they're inside, the Doctor asks her if she wants to go take a shower.

"Bit exhausted for that, actually. It's funny how kissing you takes it out of me," Rose replies, smiling her teasing smile. She collapses onto the jumpseat with a happy sigh, closing her eyes.

Both her friends chuckle as she appears to settle herself there, and she opens one eye to regard them. "What? Look, I know I'm soaking wet, but all I want to do right now is sit here with you two and remember the fact that I'm still alive."

"You're going to freeze," replies the Doctor. "What you need is a nice, hot shower to warm you up." He's only saying this to be practical. It's not remotely imagining her in the shower. Definitely not.

"I can think of better ways to warm up," Rose deadpans, a cheesy cliché often used by her ex-Time Agent friend, who's eyes widen.

"Woah there, Rosie. That's exactly what I was about to say," Jack tells her. "You up for the job, or shall I step up?" he asks, winking at the Doctor, who – to his friend's great amusement – is actually blushing. And glaring at him quite profusely.

Ha. 'Time Lords don't blush' indeed. This proves that particular theory of the Doctor's – construed and insisted upon one night when the three of them accidently got as drunk as skunks on spiked lemonade, and Jack had groped him rather unsubtly – wrong. Again.

"Go to bed, Jack," sighs the Doctor.

"What, on my - "

"- Yes, on your own."

"Charming!" Jack exclaims, mock-affronted, but he nods all the same. "Night Rose," he says, walking over to her. She opens her eyes and returns her friend's hug goodnight, whispering a "thankyou for saving our lives" into his ear.

"My pleasure," he replies, and as he lets her go, her eyes drift shut again and she folds her legs up to settle onto the jumpseat more fully. He looks at her for a moment, smiling softly, before spinning around and stepping towards the Doctor. "As for you," he murmurs, quietly so that Rose doesn't hear him. "Tell her. Before or after you remove her wet clothes; I don't care. Just tell her." And with a friendly, encouraging grin, Jack says goodnight and leaves them alone.

The Doctor stands still for a moment, staring in the place where Jack had been standing, his mouth opening and closing like a fish. Tell her. Right. Clothes. Hmmm.

"Rose? I don't think that that's the best place for you to fall asleep," he says softly lifting her legs up and onto his lap as he sits down next to her.

"I'm not going to fall asleep. I'm just resting my eyes a bit. They're sore after the water and everything."

"Still, don't you think you'd better go to bed? You've had a long day."

"I..." she begins, opening her eyes to look at him intently. She swallows nervously. "I'm not that tired. I'd rather...I want to stay in here with you."

He smiles at her. "Ok," he whispers, pulling her closer. Rose snuggles against him.

"Can I ask you something?" she murmurs.

"Yeah."

"What are you thinking about right now?"

The Doctor tenses and he coughs uneasily. "Weeelll. Um...I'm thinking about where I can take you next," he lies.

"Really?" she replies, sounding awfully disappointed.

He scratches his neck. "No."

"Oh?" She sits up properly to send a questioning glance his way.

"I was thinking about you, actually."

"Yeah?"

"Yep."

"What about me?" she asks, shivering slightly.

"Weeellll..." he begins, then notices her shivering. "Come on, Rose. Let's get you out of those clothes, you're freezing."

She raises an eyebrow. "You were thinking about taking my clothes off?" she asks innocently, fighting the urge to laugh hysterically.

"Ye - no! What? No, no, no, no, no. That's not...I just meant, you know, you should get changed and that, and then we can carry on...talking," he stutters.

She loses her internal fight, and bursts out laughing. "You're so adorable when you're embarrassed," she chokes out in between giggles, ruffling his hair.

"Oi, don't laugh at me. Rose. Rose, it's not funny. Come on, stop laughing. Now. Rose. Rose."

Rose laughs harder.

"Please Rose. Stop laughing at me!" he exclaims. "Honestly! Humans!"

"Time Lords!" she replies matching his distasteful tone, still laughing manically.

"Right. Only one way to resolve this. You've done it now," he warns. Then as quick as anything, he's thrown her over his shoulder in a fireman's carry, and is sprinting down the corridor with her.

"What? What are you...put me down you...silly alien!" She considers smacking him on the bum, but promptly decides that she shouldn't, because that would be wrong.

As if him carrying her like this, with his hands on her bum to hold her steady, isn't...

"Why should I?" he counters, slowing to a walk as he nears her bedroom.

"Well. Because you're quite old. You might damage a hip or something..." she teases, and he puts her down immediately.

"What did you just say? Did you just insult my age? Rose Tyler. How very dare you." He fixes a look on his face that says 'Oncoming Storm' to many alien species across the universe. But not to Rose Tyler. To Rose, it actually looks quite...

Well. Sexy.

"Why Doctor, where's this look of smouldering desire coming from?" she laughs.