Midnight Tea

"Hey," Rose murmured, as she stepped into the TARDIS kitchen.

The Doctor lifted his eyes from his mug and greeted her with a warm smile. "Can't sleep?" he asked softly.

"Nope," she affirmed, rubbing her eyes. "I'm tired but I just can't seem to drop off. What are you doing?"

"Just thinking."

"Can I come and think with you?"

"Be my guest," he chuckled, gesturing at the seat opposite him.

When Rose sat down he offered her a sip of his tea, which she took gratefully. Then she pulled a face. "Bleh. I always forget that you have way too much sugar in your tea," she informed him.

He took his mug away from her. "I have a perfectly reasonable four sugars," he corrected primly, but his eyes sparkled with mirth in response to her teasing.

"Of course you do," she replied, rolling her eyes. "So, what were you thinking about?"

"Ooh, lots of things. This and that."

"What specifically were you thinking about?"

"Oi, nosy," he reprimanded teasingly. "Might be personal."

She arched an eyebrow. "Go on, tell me. I'm bored."

He heaved a put-upon sigh. "I might've been thinking about you, a little bit."

"Oh yeah?" she grinned.

"Mmm."

"What about me?"

"Oh just…things." He fixed his gaze on her steadily. "Rose, earlier today you did something remarkable."

Rose laughed uncertainly. "I did?"

"Yep," he answered, popping the 'p.' "By telling that girl – Pamela - to go for what she wanted. To live her life for herself and not for anyone else. To choose to spend her life with the person who made her happy, not someone her parents and position in society dictated she should. It was inspiring, really, the way you spoke to her."

"Oh. Well, thanks."

"You're welcome."

"So that's what you were thinking about?"

"Yes." He paused, and swallowed hard. "Well, also…"

"What?"

"What if you do that, too?"

"What's that?"

"Meet someone and – and just, you know. Run away with them, like Pamela did." Rose burst out laughing, and the Doctor shifted in his seat uncomfortably. "What? Why are you laughing?"

"Doctor, I already did do that, in case you didn't notice. Which was why I could tell Pamela, from experience, that she wouldn't regret it."

His eyes widened. "Oh." His brow furrowed thoughtfully. "But the point still stands, because it could happen again, and - "

"What, you seriously think some other bloke could give me a better offer than all of this?" Rose giggled, gesturing around them to indicate the TARDIS.

He cleared his throat sharply and looked solemn.

Rose stopped giggling. "What is it? What's wrong?"

"'All of this,' as you put it, can only go so far, in terms of giving you – let's say, fulfilment. In life. Your life. I mean, 'all of this' is all very fine and dandy for now, but what if one day you decide that it isn't enough, hmm? The thing is, Rose - "

"Alright, alright, that's enough," she interrupted him, standing up. He looked up at her in confusion as she walked around the table and nudged his thigh with her knee. "Budge up."

"What?"

She sighed heavily and plonked herself down on his lap, sitting sideways to face him. "When are you gonna get it into your head that it's not my deluded youthful self making rash decisions when I say that I'm staying put with you, but actually a perfectly rational declaration of fact?"

He opened and closed his mouth a few times but didn't reply for a long moment.

"Doctor, you said once, to me, 'you can spend the rest of your life with me.' I'm holding you to that, so there. Unless, of course, you were lying just to placate me -"

"No, Rose, I – I meant it. I also meant what I said after that, remember?"

"I remember. But Doctor, that doesn't matter - "

"I beg to differ," he scoffed.

She wrapped her arms around his neck and looked right into his eyes. "Shh. The important thing is that you make the most of me while I'm still here," she smiled.

He sighed. "Yeah."

"You won't leave me like you left some of the others, like Sarah Jane?"

He shook his head gently from side to side.

"You've learnt from past mistakes, then?" she smiled encouragingly.

"Yes." He paused, his hand seeking hers, pulling it from around his neck so that he could entwine their fingers tightly. "And also – well." He swallowed and met her eyes. "I can't let you go, and you know why. You must know why – I think, I think you maybe, perhaps, possibly…feel the same."

Her smile grew wider. "Yeah?"

"Yeah," he smiled back.

They stared at one another for a few moments, quiet and smiling. Then Rose breached the gap between them, slowly tilting her head forwards so that her lips could brush his. She pulled back almost immediately and whispered, "Can we do this?"

The Doctor had closed his eyes when she kissed him, and upon her question he leisurely opened them. His free hand reached up between them to cup her cheek, his thumb stroking tenderly at her soft, make-up free skin. "I want to," he whispered back, which may or may not have been an appropriate answer; neither of them cared. She simply took his response as approval and kissed him again, applying a bit more pressure; his lips yielded to hers and parted slightly as he started to reciprocate.

Rose slid a hand into his hair, tugging gently at the strands, whilst his went to the back of her neck. After a couple of minutes, as she panted for breath, he moved his mouth from hers to the column of her throat. It quite surprised him, therefore, when she suddenly stood up, moving away from him.

"What's, what's wrong?" he mumbled, his voice hoarse.

She laughed and grabbed his hand again, smiling reassuringly. "It's okay, I just…I thought maybe we could go for a walk."

"A walk?" he retorted, confused. A walk was the last thing he had in mind to do. "A walk where?"

"Oh, I dunno," she replied, looking mischievous. "Just down the TARDIS corridor a bit."

He frowned at her suspiciously. "You're up to something."

"Obviously," she replied, rolling her eyes as she hoisted him up and started leading him out of the room. "Come on."

"And where exactly is the destination of this random walk?" he asked curiously, but he was subsequently shocked into silence when she turned around and pinned him to the wall, her mouth passionately returning to his. In an instant his arms where around her, pulling her tightly against him, his hands trailing up and down her back before settling on her bum.

But within moments she was pulling away again, leaving him looking rather dazed and confused, "Doctor," she murmured.

"Yeah?" he replied, half-smiling at the mischievous expression on her face.

"Race you to my room." With that, she took off, running down the corridor.

"Oh, now that's – that's - " he spluttered. The sound of her laughter drifting down the passageway made him grin. "Rose Tyler," he whispered to himself, before following the sound of her singing We Are The Champions.