Chapter 4
He raises an eyebrow. "Smouldering desire? Right, well, I was going for angry, but I guess your mean, insulting behaviour towards me just then turns me on too much," he teases right back. He's pleased with himself when she blushes.
"Oh yeah? Anything else that turns you on?" she asks, unsure of how and why they've got to this rather flirty point in the conversation, but revelling in it nonetheless. She's conveniently forgotten that she almost drowned and should possibly be resting right now.
He throws a sexy grin in her direction. "Oh yes. You in a soaking wet white top for a start."
She looks down at herself briefly and wonders why she never realised the potential see-through consequences of wearing this particular top today. She shakes off her embarrassment to continue teasing him. "Well, no wonder you wanted to snog me before I died. And isn't that a coincidence? 'Cause I happen to find tall, handsome men in wet pinstripe suits devastatingly attractive." As if to prove her point, she takes a few steps closer to him, and tugs on his tie. This does of course remind the Doctor of Cassandra's behaviour, and he briefly wonders if Rose is in her right mind, or possessed again. Never have they gone this far in their flirting. It's always been light and teasing, kind of: look but don't touch. And here she is, loosening his tie. He gulps. "But...you know. Better get it off. Wouldn't want you catching Time Lord pneumonia or something..." she smiles at him cheekily, amused at how he looks so...seduced by her actions.
"Well, that is what I've been suggesting all night. And as for the snog...that was to save your life," he retorts.
"Really," she states disbelievingly.
"Really," the Doctor insists.
"Felt pretty passionate to me."
"Well, I very passionately wanted you to keep breathing," he counters.
"Shame the sensation of it is fading from my memory, though."
"What, do you want another one?"
"Would you?" she asks, smiling wickedly.
He pretends to consider this. "Maybe on your birthday, if you're very good." Then he turns back into Caring Friend Mode. He nods towards her bedroom door. "Go on, in you go. Time to get changed before you ice up."
She winks at him as she turns to go inside, and can't resist adding cheekily, "Aren't you going to help me?"
His eyes widen for a moment, and he seriously considers following her, but before he has a chance to reply, she's laughing on the other side of the door.
Right. She was just joking. That's all. Playful banter. Plus, she almost died today.
It's a bit mean though, isn't it? Getting him all...flustered. And then just walking off. Mind you, he did sort of send her in there.
She almost died today.
He almost lost her.
And she doesn't even know that he...
He stands there, outside her door, contemplating how he can tell her, once and for all, how he really feels about her.
And in her bedroom, Rose leans against her door, trying to get her heart rate back to normal. She knows they had only been joking around, and he didn't mean any of that, but...she can't help but feel frustrated that he hasn't followed her in here anyway.
He can't just stand here, he rationalises. He turns to walk away, then spins right back around again. What happened today...they got lucky, in the end. But he doesn't want to ever get to the point where he runs out of time to tell her. He wants her to know.
He reaches for the door handle.
Rose wants to go back out there and tell him that she's not playing anymore, please can he just bloody well kiss her. But she knows that she can't do that. That would be...wrong.
Oh, but so very brilliantly right.
She turns and puts her hand on the door handle. But before she has a chance to open it, the Doctor pushes it open from the other side (without knocking, as usual). She stares at him in surprise.
"Doctor...?" she says.
"Rose. Hello. I thought, you know, to be polite and everything, you should get your birthday present early."
She takes a sharp intake of breath. "Well, it is a long way away. Don't know if I can wait that long..."
"Exactly. You've got to have something to dream about every night, haven't you?"
"Aren't you full of yourself..." she replies, smiling widely.
"Mmm. Ok. I'll take back that sentence and replace it with 'I've got to have something to dream about every night, haven't I?'"
"You don't sleep," she counters, her voice wavering slightly, such is her anticipation of what's to come.
"I might sleep now. Although, I have got quite good at daydreaming."
"Daydreaming? What sort of things do you have to daydream about? You could have anything you want, go anywhere you want."
"That's not strictly true, is it?" He smiles softly, and closes the distance between them swiftly. She reflexively takes a few steps back, hitting the bed with her legs and falling backwards onto it.
"Whoops," he quips, peering down at her.
At that, she frowns, and pulls him by his tie to land right on top of her. "Whoops..." she echoes, smiling devilishly.
"I think you did that accidently-on-purpose, Rose Tyler."
"So what if I did? What are you going to do about it?"
"Maybe I should show you just what my daydreams are made of, hmmm?"
"That depends. Only if it involves me. If it's about fixing some part of the TARDIS, I'm not interested."
He chuckles. "It definitely involves you..."
And with that, he leans his head towards hers, hovering a few inches over her lips and he's about to kiss her when –
"Am I interrupting something again?" asks Jack from the doorway, his hands on his hips and a wide grin plastered over his face.
The Doctor jumps up quickly, and Rose is about to tell him to just ignore Jack and kiss her anyway, when he bounds over to the door.
Jack expects him to push right past, embarrassed, muttering 'no' and he feels a bit disappointed in himself for announcing his presence like that. He really wants these two to get it on already – the unresolved sexual tension flying around on the ship is driving him insane. But he'd seen her door wide open while on his way to the kitchen to get a drink, and he couldn't resist. Now he wishes he'd stayed silent so that he could've watched the scene unfold, instead of cutting it short like this.
However, he is very surprised when the Doctor looks him straight in the eye, tells him "Yes" in answer to his question and slams the door right in his face.
Jack's momentarily stunned. He feels disappointed that he can't have a peek, but he's also ecstatically happy that the Time Lord's finally giving Rose what they've both wanted for so long. He smiles to himself, and walks away.
Back inside her bedroom, the Doctor lets out a deep breath, and after about twenty seconds of silently staring at the door, he turns back to face Rose. He's greeted by an empty bed. "Rose?" he calls. "How can you wander off at a time like – ohhh..."
She steps out from her ensuite bathroom, wrapped in a tiny dressing gown and not much else. "I decided that I should have a bath. You know. To warm up."
"Right. Yes, of course," he replies, unsure of what to do next. Should he just...leave her to it?
She sighs and walks over to him, taking his hand. He obviously isn't going to make the first move here. "It's a big bathtub," she tells him sincerely. At his confused look, she continues "I'm sure it'd be better with two..."
Realisation dawns. "Ohhh...yes. Yes, I'm sure it would."
She turns to lead him in there, but he spins her back around, grasping her arm in his other hand. "Wait. Rose...I...I just want to say..." he begins. Then, thinking words won't be good enough, he pulls her in for a passionate kiss. His arms wrap around her waist as her hands grasp his lapels, and this, this is the best kiss of her life, pushing their earlier one down to second place.
Finally, she pulls back, breathing heavily and leaning into his embrace for fear she can't stand up by herself. "Well said," she mutters, smiling up at him.
"I thought so."
"Promise me you'll do that every single day that I'm with you?"
"Oh, that's a promise I'm definitely going to enjoy keeping. So...bathtime?" he replies.
"Definitely."
And that is that.
A/N: Hey :D Hope you enjoyed the story. Please review! Thanks, and much love, Laura xxx