A/N: Thanks for the reviews for last chapter :) Much appreciated as always. This one's just a short one, but I hope you like it.

No Time Like the Present

-x-

"Rose, can I ask you a question?" he murmured, flicking channels over and over again with the remote to Jackie's TV in some sort of vain attempt at appearing nonchalant.

She sleepily lifted her head from his shoulder and answered the affirmative mid-yawn.

"Thanks," he replied. "Right. Well. I was wondering...well, not wondering...it doesn't, you know, bother me or anything, it just...quite spontaneously questioned itself in my mind, er..."

"Doctor, get on with it," she requested, fondly patting his knee.

"Yes, of course. Okay. So. Um...remember Adam?"

"Clicky-forehead Adam?"

The Doctor snorted in amusement. "Yes, that's the one."

"What about him?"

"Weellll..." He continued to face the television, not meeting her gaze. "Did you and he...ever...?" He gave a meaningful cough.

Rose started to giggle. "He was only with us like one day. Who do you think I am?"

This pleased and infuriated the Doctor in equal amounts. "So are you implying that had he been with us longer than 'one day,' you and he would have...?"

"No!" she laughed. "No, I'm not implying that at all. I only liked him 'cos he paid attention to me. And I wanted to show him that he wasn't the only clever person in that room," she admitted, sighing at herself for being so silly. "Didn't even fancy him." She wrinkled her nose up as she remembered. "He wasn't that great looking really, was he?" she pondered.

"Hmph," the Doctor muttered, before grumbling, "S'pose you've had prettier."

"And then he did that stupid thing on the – hang on, what did you just say?"

He sighed and turned his head, fixing her with a sceptical look. "You heard me."

She pressed her lips together to keep from bursting into laughter again. "Doctor," she said slowly. "You know that I haven't..." She widened her eyes theatrically then meaningfully waggled her eyebrows. "Since before I first started travelling with you."

The Doctor was quiet for a moment, opening and closing his mouth, searching for words. He apparently found them. "So...really?" He screwed up his face in thought.

"Really," she assured him, nodding firmly.

"Not even Jack?"

"Not even Jack," she giggled. Then, because he looked so pleased with her answers, she couldn't resist teasing him, "So, just suddenly came to you, did it? Needed questioning?"

He cleared his throat sharply. "Yes."

"You sure?" she continued, tongue touching the corner of her mouth as she gave him a flirty grin. "Sure you haven't been wondering about it for awhile?"

He glared at her playfully, before quickly wrapping his arm around her shoulders and settling her against his side again. "So," he began.

And she thought he was going to change the subject to something more innocent and less tempting and that that would be the end of the matter.

He didn't.

"Fancy resolving the issue?" he asked casually, once more looking back at the television screen.

She sat up alarmingly quickly, falling out of his embrace again. "You what now?"

He resisted the urge to chuckle and looked at her innocently. "Well, if it's been a long time..."

"So hang on, are you offering?" she asked in bafflement, thoroughly confused. And a little excited.

He shrugged casually. "If you want."

She closed her eyes tightly then opened them again. Nope, she hadn't just hallucinated. He was really there. Next to her on the sofa. Looking at her with mischievous eyes. Offering to have –

"Really?" she blurted out.

"Would you want to?"

"Would you?" she retorted.

He started to laugh, then, and grabbed a hold of her hands, dragging her towards him. "Isn't that obvious?"

Her mind boggled. "Erm, no, not really!" she said, her voice rising in her frustration. "And, by the way, great timing! While we're in Mum's bloody flat!"

He rolled his eyes. "You said she thinks we're...together...anyway!"

"Do you have an actual death wish?" Rose demanded, poking him in the chest. "Mum may have assumed that, but she doesn't want to hear about it!"

"Alright then. Let's go back to the TARDIS."

"Wh- but – wh – what?" she spluttered. "You can't just – oh my god, you have no idea!"

"No idea about what?" he asked curiously.

"How to – to...you know...seduce someone!"

He tugged at his ear sheepishly. "Weeellll...did I mention, it's been a very long time since I did this? Much, much longer than you. Give me some points for actually initiating something, in spite of that. I mean, really, logically speaking, it should be you seducing me. That's what I was expecting. And I've had to wait and wait and wait and now I've decided I'll be waiting forever if I wait until you do something - "

"Oi!" she shouted. "You realise how ironic you're sounding right now?"

He frowned at her. "It's not irony, it's just fact. Anyway - "

"You're the bloody Time Lord! It's your TARDIS I live in! You're the one that's s'posed to start things off, s'posed to let me know that it's alright for me to fancy you!"

He grinned. "You do, then?"

"Do what?" she exclaimed, exasperated.

"Fancy me?"

"Obviously!"

His grin widened. "Good."

"Doctor," she sighed, looking down as he entwined her hand with his tightly.

"Rose," he countered, ducking his head to make her look at him. He smiled at her tenderly. "Look, the thing is, Rose..."

She raised her eyes to meet his, surprised by the gentleness in his voice.

"I was sort of very nervous, about telling you that I..."

"What?" she prompted.

He swallowed thickly. "Want you."

Her breath caught in her throat, and she whispered mock-sternly, "You know, there were so many times you could have let me know that."

"I thought I had been!" he said, rather indignantly. "I thought you were just too blind to see it. Or that you...didn't feel the same and were ignoring it..."

"Don't be silly," she murmured. "Course I feel the same."

"Okay, well, that's good to know. So...so...do you think, maybe, at some point, we could...embark on that, er, journey together?"

She giggled. "'Journey?'" she smirked.

"Yeah. You know. Literally and figuratively speaking. Literally the journey from here to my bedroom; figuratively, the emotional journey of intimacy and...stuff. Look, Rose, I'm trying to be romantic here and utterly failing at it, so please can you just answer me yes or no to the following question: would you like to go back to the TARDIS to have sex?"

Rose grinned. "Hell yeah!"

He grinned back at her, pulling her up with him as he stood. "Well then. No time like the present!"

Rose Tyler was quite sure they'd never run so fast, and considering they ran for their lives on a weekly basis, that really was saying something.