This should go without saying but I do not own Doctor Who or any of these characters.
Rose Tyler was lying awake in her bed onboard the TARDIS. She got to travel with the love of her life and though the feelings were unspoken, she had started to let herself believe they had been mutual right up until recently. She couldn't maintain her hatred of Sarah Jane Smith for very long, she was actually a lovely person. Still, was The Doctor in love with her? Was he in love with Sarah Jane and not with Rose? The Doctor had said that he wouldn't leave her like he did Sarah Jane, does that mean he matured or was Rose special to him in a way the rest of his companions had not been. He almost said he loved her, but maybe it was only in a platonic way. Maybe he loved neither of them, maybe he would forget her one day. If any feelings he had for her were only platonic, what would happen if he met someone he really loved and brought her on board. That would be devastating. Yet it's possible.
Rose hated feeling like this. She hated thinking this way. The Doctor was her best friend and she wouldn't let anything get in the way of that. Even if he did fall in love with someone else, he was still her best friend. She decided to try to take her mind off things by grabbing some chips from the kitchen. Lo and behold, The Doctor was also milling about the kitchen.
"Up for a midnight snack, eh?" The Doctor smiled at her with his usual devastatingly handsome grin.
"Yeah. Just remembered we had some chips in here. They won't make me smarter, but I didn't want them to go bad" Rose tried to quietly reach for the back of chips sealed on the counter in a zip lock bag. They were a bit soggy, but they would do.
The Doctor was rifling through the fridge in his nightgown and pajamas. The same ones that Rose's mum gave her that had belonged to Howard. "You know what would be interesting, Rose? Being an android. No need to eat. No late night hunger."
Rose knew she was in for one of the Doctor's long rants. One of his long adorable rants that she could not keep up with but couldn't help but love.
The Doctor continued rattling on. " 'Course, I wouldn't want to be one of those clockwork droids. I heard that they will actually kill people to fulfill their programming. I've seen a few of them too. Really creepy things. You lot, the humans, resorted to using them instead of me electronic robots in the 51st century since they had become dangerous. Turns out, the clockwork ones were just as dangerous"
Rose was smiling. This was so typical of him. Just to get fixated on some totally random topic. Only he could think of murderous clockwork men because of rifling through a fridge. He grabbed a cold chicken leg and just started eating it.
The Doctor caught Rose smiling. "What?"
Rose replied, "Only you would think of creepy robots because you're hungry. What's with the cold chicken leg anyway? You have a microwave"
"No need." Chicken tastes fine cold
"Whatever" Rose was smiling again. This man made her smile too much. She felt sad again about whether he really loved her. She didn't eat more than five chips but she just wanted to go back to bed. "Well I think I can sleep now. Night, Doctor."
Rose headed back to her room without even waiting for a response. She nestled into her sheets and was able to fall asleep this time.
Rose, The Doctor, and Mickey stepped out onto what looked like an abandoned 51st century spaceship. Something smelled like a Sunday roast. Then on the 51st century spaceship there was an 18th century fireplace with a French girl named Reinette looking out of it. Who was literally in the 18th century.
The Doctor opened a door and disappeared, but Rose was also suddenly watching him. Like a fly on the wall or something. She couldn't talk or move. They were in the girl's bedroom. The Doctor was just talking to the child. Then he saw a strange creepy clock clown-like thing scanning the child's brain. Terrifying, but Rose could not do anything.
Suddenly, they were back on the spaceship and The Doctor was spraying the clown clock thing with a fire extinguisher. She was also back in her body. Then he disappeared behind the door again. She was with Mickey for a moment.
Then, just as before, she was back as an observer watching The Doctor and an adult Reinette. He was gushing over her. He was utterly flustered and clearly infatuated. He did not seem to have awareness of Rose being in the room. She couldn't move but she felt her heart sink. Her stomach felt sick but she could not throw up. Next thing she knew The Doctor discovered this woman was someone special. She suddenly kissed him intensely and passionately. Rose wanted to die. To rub even more salt in the wound, The Doctor declared proudly "I'm The Doctor, and I just snogged Madame de Pompadour." Rose felt like weeping. She was just an ordinary shop girl with no A-levels. How could she keep up with an uncrowned Queen of France? She was being delusional hoping for returned feelings.
Rose then saw the Doctor step back onto the spaceship, but she still wasn't back in her body and had no control over where she was going. She just sort of hovered above the Doctor, who just found a horse following him. Now they were back in France as The Doctor figured out where the horse had come from. He was hiding behind a fence watching Reinette. Hiding to watch her like an obsessed school boy. He gazed so longingly at her. Rose wished she didn't have to watch this but of course there was no way out. She had no control whatsoever.
Rose switched back into her body standing next to Mickey on the spaceship. She breathed a sigh of relief. Then she saw The Doctor but this time she could talk again. She pretended not to know what just happened."Oh here's trouble. What have you been up to?"
"Oh this and that. Became the imaginary friend of a French aristocrat, picked a fight with a clockwork man…. Oh and I met a horse" The Doctor seemed to have this proud look on his face as he talked. It was sickening to Rose, even though she knew she had no right to be sickened.
The horse appeared and Mickey and The Doctor argued about what it was doing there. Rose would normally go up and pet the horse. She loved animals, but even a horse couldn't comfort her now. She even zoned out on what the rest of The Doctor was saying at first. Only noticing Reinette again through a time window mirror thing. He mentioned how remarkable she was right in front of her. She was beautiful. Her face was gorgeous and her figure was full but still slim. Rose did feel slightly better when she heard he was the mistress of King Louis XV. At least she was somewhat taken, although obviously had a strong disregard for fidelity.
Suddenly, a clockwork figure appeared through the mirror and The Doctor sprang after Reinette. Somehow Rose remembered it had used a human heart on the ship. After some talking the four of them worked out that it was after Reinette's brain to fix the spaceship. It had been using multiple parts from different humans but for some reason wanted Reinette's brain specifically. It suddenly transported away.
The Doctor was shouting hysterically, "It's back on the ship! Rose, take Mickey and Arthur and follow it!"
"Arthur?" Rose asked
"Good name for a horse" The Doctor replied urgently.
Rose would normally find this cute. Normally she too would love the horse. She was so upset though. The Doctor had never put her safety in jeopardy like this. Not so readily. He had to know those things might be after her but Reinette seemed more important. She felt herself respond with, "No, you're not keeping the horse."
The Doctor was even more frantic. "I'm letting you keep Mickey, now GO GO GO!"
She was back on the spaceship for a moment but then out of her body again watching The Doctor and Reinette. He created a psychic link with her to figure out why the clockwork people wanted her. It was for a practical purpose but it still hurt. The Doctor never did that with her. He even called her "Oh, dear Reinette."
Then she was back in her body again and with Mickey, who was so excited to rub the situation in her face. "That Doctor, eh? Madame De Pompadour, Sarah Jane Smith, Cleopatra?"
Rose tried to protest that at least he only mentioned Cleopatra once. Then soon they were kidnapped by the clockwork figures. The Doctor truly risked her life over this French woman she just met. Whether or not he was in love with her she still couldn't believe he would ever put a stranger's safety ahead of hers like this. He couldn't even barricade that Dalek off a second time when it came to keeping her safe. He lost his mind when Cassandra had her body. He learned how to sculpt so he could make a statue of her that would save her life. A detailed sculpture he did just from memory. He was horrified when he thought she'd been turned so tone forever and even said she was pretty. He had even kissed her on the lips after that whole Roman ordeal, however briefly. Why did he stop caring about her all of a sudden?
Rose was unconscious and then back to being an invisible fly on the wall watching The Doctor and Reinette. He observed her mind and she invaded his back. This really upset him. She said he was lonely. As a little boy and now still. So she really must not have counted. Then she insisted he dance with her and whisked him away.
Rose then started waking up in her own body again. She was lying tied down in restraints by the creepy clock clown. It was just her and Mickey, they spared the horse. She instinctively called for the Doctor, but he didn't come.
Finally, the Doctor strode in. He was acting drunk and didn't even seem to care that this thing was getting ready to chop her up. It's like he was so happy about whatever happened to Reinette she didn't even matter anymore. How could he not care? All he seemed to care about anymore was this Reinette woman. He finally freed her and Mickey and then told them that the clockwork things were going to go after her when she's thirty-seven. Many more clockwork clowns had appeared by the time he said that, but then they transported out again,
Rose was still angry but she looked at The Doctor's face and felt empathy. She decided that if this is who he loved then she needs to help him save her. She found a time window and found Reinette when she was about thirty two and told her she had five years and tried to warn her. She tried to calmly explain everything. Reinette was a nice person. It wasn't her fault. She tried to instruct Reinette to keep her talking.
Next thing they knew, Mickey was calling out for Rose. Rose and Reinette entered the spaceship, Rose tried to stop Reinette but she wasn't having it. She followed. Rose watched Reinette listen to her own screams through the other time windows and felt compassion for her. She asked if she was okay.
Reinette then disappeared after saying "You and I both know The Doctor is worth the monsters." Rose hoped it was back to her own time and felt her jealousy rise again. This woman seemed to know that she also loved The Doctor. Now five years later she was screaming. If she died, The Doctor would be heartbroken and Rose would be jealous and also heartbroken for him all at once.
Rose got back to the Doctor and Mickey. The Doctor was running around, acting mad, and not making sense. Only thing that seemed to make some sense was something about how he needed to smash the time window that had thirty seven year old Reinette.
Next thing Rose knew, she was like a fly on the wall again. She was watching The Doctor found Arthur and rode him through the proper time window. He looked so sexy on that horse. Then he jumped through the window and the glass shattered but oddly, neither he nor the horse was cut or injured. Then he winked at Reinette. A gorgeous beautiful wink that Rose would never have for herself.
Then Rose was back in her body. Mickey was saying something but she didn't know what. All she knew was that he burst through that time window with no way back. No way back to her. He left her. She just stared at what used to be the window. Unable to move. She felt a tear roll down her cheek. The Doctor she thought she knew would have at least taken her with him. She just lost the love of her life forever. Maybe he was never who she thought he was. Just like Jimmy Stone.
Mickey kept asking her how they were gonna get off the spaceship, but Rose was frozen. Her heart was completely shattered. To make matters worse, her mind was bombarded by images of Reinette taking The Doctor's hand and leading him away.
Then suddenly she saw him again. The Doctor was back! He came back through the Fireplace door. He was still talking to Reinette through the fireplace, but she hugged him tightly anyway. He wasn't in love with her but at least she had her best friend back. Then the next thing she knew he was looking through the fireplace calling for Reinette again. He didn't hear her so he went back for her. Rose could feel her heart crumbling once more.
Rose was a fly on the wall again. He saw The Doctor receive news that Reinette died from illness when she was fourty-three and he tucked a letter in his pocket. He seemed so sad.
Then she was in her body again on board the TARDIS. The Doctor came back, saying he did not know why the clockwork droids wanted Reinette. Mickey asked her to show him around the TARDIS but once again she seemed to be overhead observing The Doctor as he read the letter. He was so sad. The letter didn't say much, only that she wanted him to hurry back to her. She couldn't even comfort him because she wasn't in her body. That, and because she had realized that he never loved her as she wanted to be loved. Not at all.
Rose was in her own body again. She apparently just showed Mickey to his room. "Alright, then good night." She gave him a hasty goodbye, knowing she was about to fall apart. She ran out of the room sobbing.
Rose finally woke up, it had all been a terrible nightmare but she was still sobbing. Sobbing loudly at that. She still wasn't sure what was real and what was a nightmare.
The Doctor's room wasn't far and he heard the sobs. He knocked on the door gently. "Rose, can I come in"
Rose did not answer. Hoping he would just go away.
"Rose? I heard you crying. What's the matter? Please let me come in"
Rose still didn't answer.
The Doctor ignored the lack of express permission and simply entered. "Rose! What's the matter?" He quickly went to her side and wrapped his arms around her.
"J-Just a nightmare I think. That's all." Rose tried to speak through the tears, but her words were incoherent.
The Doctor didn't fully make out her words but he ran his fingers through her hair and gently looked down into her eyes. "Rose. I care about you so much. If you can't talk, will you let me try something else? Will you let me see into your mind just for a little bit? Just nod if it's okay."
Rose wasn't sure how to respond. He'd see how she really felt for him. She wasn't ready for that. She really wasn't but she also needed him so badly. Show vowed to herself not to look back inside his mind. Even if it was just a dream, he might feel just as violated as she did by Madame de Pompadour if he did.
The Doctor put his hands around her face. "You're okay Rose, I've got you". Then The Doctor stayed silent for a long time. He released her after what felt like an eternity. "Rose, look at me." Rose looked up, still with tears in her eyes. "First of all, you're not gross or pathetic to be crying like this. Second of all, that was one hell of an inaccurate nightmare. I would never ever fall in love with someone that way. I would never fall in love with someone else and leave you to deal with that kind of danger. I would never be so calm while clockwork droids were about to dissect you. I could go on and on about how that dream would never happen in real life" He paused for a moment before he continued speaking. "It hurts me that I will outlive you so it's hard to say things like this. But here goes, no one, and I mean no one, has ever meant as much to me as you do. Not even close. To be honest with myself and you… I don't believe anyone ever will. Not Sarah Jane, not Cleopatra, and certainly not Madame de Pompadour."
Rose finally stopped crying so hard. There were still tears in her eyes but she wasn't weeping anymore. "You really mean that? Cuz I feel the same about you. Also, in real life, I would've wanted to keep the horse"
The Doctor wiped her tears and kissed her forehead. "More than I've meant anything in my whole nine hundred year life."
Rose did not know for sure if this meant he loved her in a romantic sense, but she was now at peace knowing that no one could challenge her place in his hearts. She did start to regain her suspicion that the romantic feelings were mutual though. They might remain unspoken forever, but they were together and that's what mattered.
The Doctor just held her there until morning. Rose fell asleep in his arms. Finally feeling at peace. When Rose woke up in his arms, she smiled and him and The Doctor gave her a huge smile and that same sexy sexy wink she saw in the dream. Only this time, in real life, it was for her.