Only one chapter after this. This fic has taken a while, but I've been quite busy and it's been nice to have something to take my mind off things. I've enjoyed it, I hope you have too.
Martha seemed to be on the urge of saying something for the next ten minutes or so, and it was only after much persuading and a continuous chant of "spit it out, spit it out!" from Donna that she finally decided to speak her mind.
"Do you think we'll... all stay friends? After this is over?"
Rose had not really considered it, if she was honest with herself. She had been focussed purely on the events of the day up until now, her brain stuck in the moment with no thought to the future. She looked around at the other four people who sat around her, their faces blank as they submerged themselves in thought. She had become quite attached to them all – some more than others, she admitted. She had come to love Jack's wild stories and his ability to make everyone feel good about themselves, Martha's sharp eyes and dry sense of humour that made her such a delight to be around, Donna's straightforward manner and strong attitude that covered up the sweetness underneath. As for the Doctor, Rose was unwilling to discuss what her feelings about him were, even in her own head. The only thing she would allow herself to think was that, since he had turned up, she had felt happier than she had done in a long time.
Inside her, Rose felt a sudden swell of sadness at the thought that, when this day ended, they might leave the school and never acknowledge each other again. She might have some regular friends on the days when she wasn't in detention, but these people... they were different. Talking to them now, sitting cross legged in a circle like five-year-olds, felt almost instinctual. As if they had known each other all their lives, but hadn't realised it until now.
"I will." Rose was more certain of this than she had realised. "I mean, I want to. It depends on you lot, of course, but I really want to stay friends with you lot."
Martha smiled at her. "I agree. I know some of us are generally more solitary," – she glanced at the Doctor – "and some like to hang with a slightly more popular crowd," – she jerked her head towards Jack – "but this works. Definitely."
Donna elbowed Jack – quite hard, by the pained expression on his face. "Well I'm definitely in, you?"
"Well, I'm not saying that you're the sort of people I'd normally hang out with," Jack started, and Rose raised an eyebrow. "But," he carried on when he saw the mutinous looks being thrown at him like knives, "I promise that I will stay friends with you all. I give you my word."
"And what about you?" Donna rounded on the Doctor, an accusation in her voice.
He started, but managed to maintain what cool he possessed, and answered smoothly but seriously. "I promise."
"You'd better," replied Donna, eyes narrowed at the tall, skinny boy. Her air of command and the way the Doctor looked down at his shoes as though he were sheepish made Martha, Jack and Rose laugh. Donna was not taking any crap from the Doctor, it appeared, nor from Jack or anyone else who she happened to come across.
And with that the conversation was over, slipping very suddenly into the dancing.
Oh, the dancing. Why had Rose never thought that they should do this before? It was absolutely fantastic. Martha found some old records and the record player, making quick work of the speaker system controls in order to blast the music all through the library. By this point they were all beyond caring if Saxon heard them or not – they were in full "Rebellion" mode, a fully armoured tank could not have stopped them.
Rose had great fun sliding down the banisters and jumping off the end, leaping about and waving her arms without a care in the world. Martha turned out to be surprisingly skilled at dancing, and could even moonwalk, a feat which garnered a round of applause and a yell of "fantastic!" from the Doctor. Jack proved to be just as smooth at dancing as he was when he spoke, even managing to grab Donna and dance with her for a few minutes, twirling her gracefully in and around the shelves and stacks of books. Rose was astounded to hear a giggle from Donna, a sound that she had not heard yet from the girl nor expected to hear, especially since Donna had been so scornful of Jack for the entire day. And yet here they were, dancing around for all the world to see. At least, if the world's population had bothered to come and take a look at them. Of course Donna shrugged him off after a little while, mumbling about boys and their ridiculous notions, but there was a slight smile at the corner of her mouth that she did not seem to be able to disguise.
As for the Doctor, his dancing was quite hilarious, utterly endearing, and surprisingly attractive all at the same time. Despite the waving of his skinny limbs and him pretending to play instruments and sing, he had rhythm, and Rose had to remind herself to stop staring at his hips, before he noticed and presumed she was staring at another part of his anatomy and began to tease her mercilessly. She found herself dancing with him more than the others, never quite touching and yet never far away enough to maintain that they were dancing apart.
The record finally ran to the end and the needle lifted, silence filling the room and pressing in on Rose's ears after so much sound echoing about the room for so long.
Every single one of them collapsed breathlessly, sprawled out on chairs, over tables and, in Donna's case, on the carpet. For a few minutes there was no sound apart from 5 sets of lungs pulling in air, desperately trying to regain some sense of normality. The Doctor was the first to recover – the exercise seemed not to put the same strain on him as it did the others – and he sat on the edge of one of the desks with a half smile on his face. The joy and euphoria he had felt a few moments before had not quite flowed out of his veins yet, and he was just about buzzing with barely contained happiness.
"You'd better get back in there, you know," Jack said casually to the Doctor, nodding his head towards the cupboard that had become the Doctor's makeshift prison. The Doctor did not move except to arch one eyebrow. Rose wasn't quite sure why she found that tiny movement so attractive, but she most definitely did.
"Not that I was to shove you in a cupboard or anything," Jack protested, and Martha giggled, "or, maybe I do, I dunno, but Saxon'll be back to let you out at some point, and if he catches you outside then you're done for."
"I suppose you're right," the Doctor groaned, stretching his arms above his head before jumping up from the floor. He had so much energy, that boy. He never walked if running was possible, he jumped up rather than stood up, he talked so fast it began to garble together in a string of incomprehensible syllables if you weren't properly attuned to his frequency. They watched as he began to wander off across the library. "Where do you think you're going?" Donna shouted after him.
"Well I've gotta climb back through the ceiling somehow!" he called over his shoulder.
A few precariously balanced tables and a bruised elbow later ("well it wasn't balanced properly you idiot, haven't you ever built a tower before?!") the Doctor had managed to pull himself into the ceiling and was on his way back to captivity. Rose walked along the library floor, twisting her head towards the ceiling and tracing the path the Doctor would be taking with her eyes.
"I know that look." Rose swivelled to see Martha standing a few feet behind her, smiling to herself.
Donna walked up to stand beside her. "Me too. What are you planning, missy?"
Rose grinned at the pair of them – oh, she was definitely staying friends with these two, they didn't miss a trick – and looked over at the cupboard door, then at the library desk, and back to Donna and Martha. "I think... some breaking and entering."