Hey babes! Back with a new little fic for ya! For those who may have been wondering/waiting/wanting for the Doctor and Rose to finally get their stuff together, then you'll probably be excited about this fic. The prompt I used for it was: jealousy.
Enjoy!
He hates to admit that he loses track of Rose within five minutes of arriving on the vacation planet. He's been so good about knowing where she is whenever they land somewhere new, but for whatever reason, this time he can't find her.
He's sure she was still with him when they started walking around. But then he turned around and she wasn't there. He knows she's a grown woman and can more than take care of herself after all these years, but he wouldn't be him if he didn't worry about her. It's one of the few things that's remained consistent across regenerations.
This was supposed to be a mutually beneficial trip, though, the two of them together relaxing after multiple trips full of nothing but pure and utter chaos. It would sort of defeat the purpose if they didn't relax together.
So he decides to look for her.
He searches every place he can possibly think of, even asking anyone he runs into if they've seen her. He has to force himself not to get distracted in his search, to keep looking for Rose so that they can enjoy a nice, relaxing holiday together.
Familiar laughter has him spinning around and nearly tripping over his own feet. It doesn't take long for him to zero in on Rose, though he doesn't recognize the figure standing with her. He doesn't like it, though, if the uncomfortable twisting of his gut is any indication.
He hardly has time to dwell on the feeling, though, before his attention is pulled elsewhere, right to a woman with fiery orange hair. He smiles politely. "Oh, hello. Can I help you?"
"I love your tie," she tells him with a smile.
He glances down and then smiles a little bigger. "Thank you. It is cool, isn't it?"
The woman laughs quietly. "Very." She reaches out to brush a hand over the sleeve of his jacket. "I like this material too. I don't think I know it."
"It's tweed," he tells her honestly. "Very popular fabric among professors on earth."
"Are you a professor, then?"
"No. But I should be." He stands a little taller and tugs on the bottom of his jacket. "I'd be a great professor. Maybe I'll try it out one day."
"Maybe you should. I'd certainly pay attention to you."
"Well I hope you would. I'd have a lot of important things to say. I could even write them on a chalkboard, that's what professors do." He smiles. "Yes, I'd be a wonderful professor. Don't know what I would teach, though. Maybe a little bit of everything, just to make it interesting."
"Perhaps I could come and see this sometime."
He smiles at her. "That would certainly be a welcome treat."
"I would hope so. Now, do you, by any chance, know where the nearest shop for tea is? It's all my grandmother drinks."
He spins around, his eyes searching. "I do believe I saw one that way," he says, gesturing down one of the pathways. "Should be on the left-hand side, maybe four or five shops down." He looks back at the woman. "I hope you find what you're looking for."
She smiles at him. "I think I already have." She turns and walks away down the path, her eyes still on him for a few more moments.
"So…who was that you were talking to?"
The Doctor turns to face Rose. "Hello."
"Hi. So, who was that?" she asks again, gesturing with her head.
"Oh." He glances over his shoulder, the woman long gone. "That was, um, I believe her name was…" He frowns, turning back to Rose. "Actually, I don't think I got her name. She was a bit lost, merely asking me for directions."
Rose raises a brow at him. "That's all she was doing?"
"Yes." His brows furrow. "No? I'm sorry. Judging by the look on your face, I haven't answered correctly, but I don't know what the correct answer should be here."
"Did you really not notice?"
"Notice what?"
Rose sighs. "You really can be so thick sometimes, you know? She was flirting with you, Doctor. Had her hands all over you. And you did absolutely nothing to dissuade her."
"She was? Really?"
Rose throws her hands up. "Yes! And don't look so pleased about it."
"Why not?" he asks, shuffling on his feet and adjusting his jacket. "Isn't it a sort of badge to wear when someone else finds you attractive enough to show their appreciation? It was definitely the bow tie. I told you they're cool."
Rose groans. "Oh, it's ridiculous trying to talk to you sometimes. Do you know what it's like for me to see a girl flirting with you, and you actually preen at it when I don't know where you and I actually stand? And it's not the first time it's happened either."
The Doctor scoffs. "I do not preen."
"Maybe not how you did in your last body, but you still do it."
"I do not," he insists. "And you're one to talk, Rose Tyler," he says, remembering the unwelcome feeling in his gut from moments ago. "Getting all giggly whenever a remotely handsome bloke so much as looks your way."
Rose opens and closes her mouth. "I was not…I don't get giggly."
"You do. I saw you over there," he tells her, gesturing to where she'd been earlier. "You're always getting looks from people, mostly men, though there have been a few women. They're always…ogling you. They're looking at you as if you're merely another conquest, which they could be so lucky to have you, you're a remarkable person." He emphasizes his final statement with a quick, sharp nod of his head, shifting on his feet again and tugging at the bottom of his jacket.
Rose watches him, and then a slow smile spreads across her lips. "You're jealous."
He scoffs. "What? No. I'm not jealous. I'm a thousands-year-old Time Lord from Gallifrey, I have seen civilizations created and destroyed, I've traveled among the stars and seen things most people couldn't even begin to imagine. I don't get jealous."
Rose steps closer to him. "Yeah, you're jealous."
"No, I am not. It's merely that I don't want anyone else to look, speak, or think about you in any way other than as a mere acquaintance, and every time they do I get an unpleasant twisting in my gut and it makes me want to do something entirely reckless that I will probably regret after the fact." He takes a deep breath. "So no, I'm not jealous."
Rose smiles up at him, now chest-to-chest. "S'alright, Doctor. I feel the same way. Gotta keep the Wolf reigned in whenever someone so much as looks at you with flirty eyes before I do something terrible to time itself. I nearly bit Clara's head off when we first met because of her blatant flirting with you."
He can't help the small smile that tugs at his lips. "Rose Tyler, are you jealous?"
"Yeah, I am. I love you, Doctor, that hasn't changed in the last five hundred years."
"Even when you were married to my human self?"
She nods. "Even then. John knew that, though, never held it against me. He understood. He knew that I never stopped loving you, things just…adjusted to make room for him too. I'll always love him."
"I suppose it's only right that you do. You were married to the man, after all." He takes a deep breath. "So, what happens now?"
Rose smiles. "What happens now is that you're going to kiss me, and then we're going to take this one day at a time while still getting to re-know each other."
The Doctor smiles, taking a small step forward and cradling her face in his hands. "There is one thing that needs to happen first, though. Something I should have said a long time ago. I love you, Rose Tyler, with both my hearts. It broke them to leave you behind, and I never want to feel like that again."
"Don't make any more big decisions for me and we should be perfectly fine."
"I promise I will do my best. I'm going to kiss you now."
"Please do."
Leaning down, he presses his lips gently to Rose's, savoring the sweet moment that he's often dreamt about but never let himself believe would one day happen. It is so much better than his mind told him it would be, her lips moving effortlessly against his own. Her hands find their way to his hair and it takes everything within him not to take the kiss too far out in the open for fear of getting locked up for public indecency (something that is frowned upon in most societies throughout the universe).
Reluctantly pulling away, he rests his forehead against Rose's, his eyes still closed. The edges of his lips pull up. "I really should have done that a long, long time ago."
Rose laughs quietly. "Yeah, you really should have."
He gasps playfully, leaning back to look at her. "That was very rude."
She laughs again and leans forward to kiss him quickly. "Better get used to it."
He grins and pulls her into his arms, hugging her close and gently swaying. "Oh, I don't think that'll be a problem. No problem at all."
So? What did you think? Let me know in a review down below. I'd love to hear your thoughts.
Until next time,
Jellybean96 out!
