Title:
Everly
Author:
Froxyn
Show:
Doctor Who
Pairing:
Rose/Ten
Rating:
FRM (light)
Timeline:
A few weeks after Floodgate.
Synopsis: Doors open, but not always close. This is not necessarily a bad thing.
Author’s
Note: Sequel to Floodgate, bringing this
trilogy to a close. Thanks to fairygothmum for the beta!
The Doctor had been
pacing for ages...hands jammed into his trouser pockets as he circled the
console. Once in a while, his left hand would
make its way to the back of his head...fingers lightly scratching at his scalp
before returning to his pocket. After
every two or three circuits, he’d pause and stare at the door as if he were
waiting for it to open.
Which he was.
Donna had been gone
for a while now. She’d promised him that
she’d be okay...that she just wanted to go for a walk to clear her head. She still hadn’t told him everything that had
happened in that parallel timeline...and that worried him more than he let
on.
The important thing
was that she’d found her way back and was relatively unscathed. But, every so often in the three weeks since
their time on Shan Shen, Donna had needed some time alone. He understood...he truly did. Because there were still times when he needed
to be alone...to deal with his time on Midnight, or the death of the Master,
or...the loss of Rose. But, in regards
to Donna, it wasn’t every day that she’d had a Time Beetle stuck to her
back...thankfully.
He may have
understood, but it still worried him...and he still paced until she walked back
through that door. They may have been on
Earth...and they may have been in
He breathed a heavy
sigh and paused, glancing at the clock on the far wall that Rose had insisted
on installing years earlier. He’d give
Donna ten more minutes. And if she
wasn’t back...he’d go looking for her.
* * *
A little more than an
hour had passed when the Doctor stormed back into the TARDIS, water dripping
from his drenched suit...his not-so-white Converse squishing noisily against
the grating as he stomped up the ramp.
“Where the hell have
you been?”
He stopped suddenly
and glared at Donna, who was standing next to the jumpseat with her arms folded
over her chest.
“Me? Where the hell have you been?”
“I went for a
walk...I told you what I was doing,
“Shut up...” He interrupted with a whisper, his eyes
glistening as he wrapped his arms around her.
“Oi! You’re getting me all wet!” She complained loudly, trying to pull out of
his hug.
“Just...shut up,
Donna. Just for a few minutes,
please...” He held her tighter,
swallowing thickly as he closed his eyes.
“I thought I’d lost you.”
“What?” She asked, genuinely surprised by his
reaction.
“You were
gone...longer than you normally are when you go for a walk. And so, I went looking for you, but...I
couldn’t find you. You weren’t in your
usual haunts...” He pulled back and
stared into her eyes. “I was worried
that something had happened to you.”
A small smile played
on her lips. “You overreacted.”
“No...well, maybe a
little...” He ran his hand through his
wet hair, sighing as he gave a slight shrug of his shoulder. “Okay...maybe, I did. But, I’m responsible for you and – ”
She arched an eyebrow
at him and smacked the back of her hand against his chest. “I’m
responsible for me, Doctor. You need to
get that through that thick, brilliant head of yours.”
“You’re my
companion...”
She nodded slowly and
wiped the water from her hand onto her jumper.
“Yeah, but I can take care of myself.
Especially when we’re on Earth, in London, in my own time period. I’m not just going to disappear on you,
yeah?”
“Companions rarely
do.” He muttered, taking a step back and
peeling his drenched suit jacket off.
“What?”
He exhaled forcefully
and tossed the jacket onto the nearest coral strut. “Those who travel with me...they’re either
taken from me, decide that it’s in their best interests to stay home, or I
leave them for their own good. Rarely do
they just disappear...”
Knowing that the
first two instances referred to Rose Tyler and Martha Jones, respectively...she
tilted her head and leaned against the console.
“Who did you leave for their own good?”
He smiled softly and
loosened his tie. “Sarah Jane
Smith. She gave me an earful just a
couple of years ago when we crossed paths...and then Rose gave me an
earful...and Mickey decided that he’d chime in with analogies of current loves
and exes. All in all, it was a nice
reunion. Very me.”
Donna glanced towards
the hallway as the Doctor glanced at the monitor. “Reunions tend to be nice...most of the
time.”
“Yep...most of the
time.” He agreed, turning his head
towards her and offering her a gentle smile.
“I’m sorry for overreacting.”
“I need to ask you
something.”
His smile faded at
the sudden change in her demeanor.
“Okay...”
“The spider queen...”
“The Racnoss.” He corrected softly, lifting his hand to the
back of his head and lightly scratching his scalp.
“Yeah...if I hadn’t
been there...” She stared hard at him,
not really sure she wanted to know the answer to the question she was getting
ready to ask. “Would you have stopped?”
He hesitated for a
few seconds and then exhaled a slow breath.
“I...didn’t feel that I had much to live for at that time.”
“What’s that supposed
to mean?”
He looked into her
eyes and gave a nearly imperceptible shake of his head. “Donna...”
“See, when we were on
the planet of
“Shan Shen.”
“Whatever.” She waved a hand at him and then
continued. “I got to play with the Time
Beetle and ended up in a parallel universe...and things were shit. Everything was so shit because you weren’t
there. And you weren’t there because you
drowned that night. And I need to know
if that’s what really would’ve happened or if it’s something that crazy fortune
teller person wanted me to think would’ve happened.”
“What do you want me
to say?” He asked after a few moments,
his voice soft and thick.
“The truth. This is important, Doctor...really important. Just tell me the truth.”
He swallowed and
lowered his eyes as the tears welled again.
“I don’t think I would’ve.
Stopped, that is.”
Donna nodded, his words
confirming her suspicions. “I think that
my time in that Doctorless world was about more than some fun by the
Trickster’s Brigade. I think that I
needed to find someone there...and I think that when I did, it kinda...made a
door or something.”
He looked up and
furrowed his brow. “What?”
“I made a friend
there. And I met up with her
tonight...that’s why I was gone longer than usual.”
“Are you supposed to
be making sense right now?
Because...you’re not. Not in the
least. And...”
“Turn around.” She whispered, tears in her own eyes as she
gestured towards the hallway behind him.
“Just...turn around.”
He slowly turned, his
eyes widening as his fingers gripped the console to keep him upright. “Rose?”
Rose Tyler stood in
the doorway to the hall, tears streaming down her face as she took a step
forward.
And that’s when the
Doctor’s knees gave way and he landed on the grated floor. Rose ran to him, kneeling in front of him and
wrapping her arms around his neck. He
inhaled deeply, breathing in her scent.
Her scent that had been imprinted on his mind years earlier. Her scent that was hers alone, one that he’d
know anywhere.
His breath hitched in
his chest as he swallowed a sob, sliding his arms around her and crushing her
painfully thin body against his.
“Rose...”
“Doctor...” She whispered, gripping the back of his shirt
as she pressed her tear-stained cheek against his. “It’s me...it’s really me...”
“I know...” He choked out before pulling back to look
into her eyes. “But...but, how? How is it you and how are you here and – ”
She lifted a shaking
hand and gently wiped her fingers through the wet streaks on his face, sure
that he didn’t even realize that he was crying.
“Donna was forced into my universe...I put my foot in the door to keep
it open when she left.”
“I don’t
understand...” He whispered, his eyes
darting up at Donna. “How did you know
she was Rose?”
“I didn’t.” Donna shook her head as she fought back her
own tears. “She found me.”
The Doctor’s brow furrowed
as he turned his eyes back to Rose. “How
did you know who she was?”
“She was just someone
who needed help.” Rose gave him a small
smile as she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “You’ve lost weight.”
“I don’t like sharing
chips with anyone else.” He replied, his
left hand curling around her ribcage.
“You’ve lost weight too...too much.”
“Been too busy to
eat.” She answered, fingertips lightly
stroking the hair at the nape of his neck.
“Too busy doing what?
Because whatever you were busy doing wasn’t as important as – ”
“Finding my way back
to you was way more important to me, Doctor.”
She whispered before licking her lips.
“Can we talk about this later?”
“Rose – ”
“For the love of all
that’s holy...would you just kiss her already?”
Donna groaned. “Seriously, for
the entire time I’ve known you it’s always been about Rose. Rose this and Rose that...and I understood
because of everything that happened and all.
And now you want to sit there, dripping wet on a steel-grate floor...which
can’t be comfortable at all...and
talk about the importance of food?”
Donna looked down to
find both the Doctor and Rose staring up at her. Rose grinned and playfully nudged the
Doctor’s shoulder.
“And I thought you could talk...”
“You have no idea.” He chuckled softly, licking his lips as he
turned his eyes back to her.
“But...she’s right.”
“About the floor
being uncomfortable?” Rose asked.
He gave her a
scowl. She answered with a wink...which
earned her the bright smile that she’d missed so desperately over the past
couple of years.
And then his lips
were on hers, kissing her tenderly. When
he felt her mouth open underneath his, he pulled back and cradled her face in
his hands as he stared into her eyes.
“I love you.” He whispered emotionally, eyes glistening as
he quickly continued. “I should’ve said
it so many times before...I should’ve told you when you asked me to dance. I should’ve told you when you kissed me. I should’ve told you during those two days
before we went back to
“I knew. Just like you knew before I told you.” She replied, covering his left hand with her
right and turning her head just enough to press a kiss into his palm. “We’ve always known, yeah?”
He nodded slowly,
leaning forward to brush his lips across hers.
“But, sometimes the words are nice to hear...”
Hearing the TARDIS
door open, the Doctor jumped up...pulling Rose with him. Instead of finding an intruder walking in, he
found Donna standing in the open doorway with a smile on her face.
“Rain’s
stopped...thought I might go check on Mum and Gramps.”
The Doctor slipped
his hand into Rose’s and leaned against the console. “You’ll be back, right?”
“Remember what I said
earlier?” Donna asked as she stepped out
the door.
He nodded slowly and
smiled. “You’re not just going to
disappear on me.”
“Right.” She grinned and gestured towards them with a
wave of her hand. “You two have a lot of
catching up to do and I’d really rather not be here to hear it. Besides, Gramps would have my head...and yours...if he found out we were in
The Doctor narrowed
his eyes as he shook his head.
“Donna...I’d never do that...not to you.”
Rose looked up at the
Doctor and squeezed his hand before smiling warmly at Donna. “That’s his way of asking you to stay. You know that, right? Sometimes, it’s better not to argue with him
and I know I wouldn’t mind getting to know you a bit better. Pretty sure you’ll tell me heaps more about
what he’s been up to than he would, too.”
“Hey!” He glared at her...but the smile in his dark
eyes completely ruined the effect.
She had a sneaking
suspicion that his glare was actually purely for show anyway.
Donna laughed loudly
and bid them a goodnight before closing the door, leaving them alone in the
TARDIS. The ship that was bigger on the
inside, but had seemed so small without Rose Tyler’s presence.
The TARDIS hummed
softly and Rose grinned, reaching over to place her hand on the cool coral
console. “I missed you too.”
The Doctor arched an
eyebrow at her. “You understood that?”
Rose smiled and
shrugged a shoulder. “When she lets
me...”
“She kept me
breathing...on the nights that were just...”
He swallowed hard and ran his free hand through his still wet hair. “I’ve missed you so much, Rose. So much that I can’t even...”
“I know what you
mean.” She whispered as he trailed
off. “I don’t think a word has been
invented that describes what I felt when you...when we said goodbye...”
He said nothing, but
nodded in understanding. She moved
closer to him, placing her left hand on his thigh as she stepped between his
legs. She looked down quickly and
frowned.
“Rose?”
“You’re soaking wet,
Doctor. We should get you out of these
clothes...” She looked up quickly, blushing
as he grinned at her. “I mean...you
could get sick and...I didn’t mean that we
should get you out of these clothes, but you should go...change...and dry off
and – ”
“I’m not opposed to us getting me out of these...” He replied softly, letting go of her hand and
hooking his index finger into a belt loop on her jeans. “So, if that’s really what you meant...it’s okay to say it.”
Her mouth dropped
open in surprise and he felt his hearts begin to race in his chest. He swallowed, glancing at her lips as he
pulled her closer to him.
“We should’ve made
love that night. Or the next
day...or...” He pulled his finger out of
her belt loop and edged his fingertips under the hem of her shirt. “We should have made love, Rose.”
“Why didn’t we?” She whispered, her voice trembling as she
rubbed her fingers against his thigh.
“I was trying to be
gentlemanly...or it was an act of cowardice.
I’m not really sure which, to be honest.” He stood up straight and sighed as her hand
shifted with his movement. “A mistake,
either way...”
“Doctor...”
“Dance with me,
Rose.” He whispered, rubbing his fingers
against her skin as she lifted her hand to his chest. “Let’s just start with a dance, okay?”
“Here?”
The TARDIS gave a low
rumble causing the Doctor to grin.
“I would take that as
a ‘not here’.”
She chuckled softly
and took a step back, trying not to gasp when his fingers slipped out from
under her shirt. “I know just the place
then...”
He took a step
forward, grimacing as his shoes squished wetly.
“Maybe I’ll change clothes first?”
Her laugh resonated
in the room...and warmed his hearts.
“Meet you there?”
“Give me ten.” He answered with a quick nod.
He started to rush
past her, but stopped suddenly and captured her lips in a warm kiss
instead. When his tongue slipped into
her mouth, she sighed and reluctantly pulled back. She licked her lips as she gave his chest a
soothing rub.
“Go change...I’m not
going anywhere.”
He gave her the
boyishly excited grin that had always been reserved for her before he turned
and ran down the hallway. She swallowed
back her tears...these of joy and not intense despair...and ran down the
hallway herself, hoping that the TARDIS hadn’t moved the room where she used to
go to just...unwind.
* * *
“You’ve picked up a lot
of cd’s since I’ve been gone.” She
stated when she heard the Doctor walk into the room, her eyes scanning the
spines of the cases. “And...you figured
out my filing system, just like I said you would. Clever Doctor and all...”
The Doctor chuckled and
smoothed his hand down the front of his jacket.
“Yeah, but I don’t understand how you came up with that particular
system. I understand alphabetical
ordering...I don’t understand using the fifth letter as the starting
point. And I really don’t understand
using the fourth letter as the secondary.
But, then that kinda goes along with the fact that you always bought
what was listed at number fifty-four on the charts...”
Rose laughed and
turned to face him. Her laughter faded
as she raised an eyebrow at him.
“Since when do you
wear blue?”
He looked down at the
blue suit with red pinstripes that he was wearing and shrugged his
shoulders. “The brown reminded me too
much of you...you always liked the brown.
After I lost you...I needed something else to wear once in a while. When it was too hard...you know?”
She smiled softly at
him and glanced at his feet. “I like the
maroon shoes.”
“
“Yeah...” She nodded as she gestured towards the
stereo. “Figured you would’ve replaced
that by now.”
“It’s yours.” He replied with another shrug. “Besides, it works perfectly fine. Had to rewire the speakers a few months ago,
though. Were you looking for anything in
particular?”
“Well, I was...but,
then I got distracted by the fact that the cd collection has pretty much
doubled.”
He chuckled softly
and looked into her eyes. “It’s in the
cd player.”
“Really?”
He sighed softly and
pulled his hands out of his pocket as he sat down on the edge of the
table. “I listen to it when I miss
you. I’m surprised that the TARDIS
hasn’t banned it.”
A sad smile appeared
on her lips as she walked over to him.
“Listen to it a lot?”
“Miss you a
lot.” He answered on a whisper. He cleared his throat and rubbed the back of
his neck. “I...think we need a new song,
Rose.”
She tilted her head,
silently questioning him as she stood in front of him.
“It’s beautiful and
it’s very us, but...” He reached out and
curled his hand around her hip, pulling her closer to him. “I cry like a blubbering idiot every time I
hear it now. And I think that it will
only serve to remind me of the time we lost...”
She slid her hands
along the lapels of his jacket, allowing her thumb to brush the side of his
neck as she moved her hands over his shoulders.
“Then we’ll find a new song. A
new song for the new us, okay?”
He nodded slowly,
glancing at her lips. “Why fifty-four? You’d never tell me...”
Rose blushed
lightly. “If you number the alphabet?”
“E-D. Ed?”
He furrowed his brow. “You pick
music based on some guy named Ed?”
She laughed loudly as
she shook her head. “No...but, that’s
less embarrassing than what it really means...so maybe I should just let you
think that.”
He raised an eyebrow
and looked at her curiously. “Oh, now
you have to tell me.”
Her blush deepened
and she bit her bottom lip. He chuckled
and lifted his hand to her mouth, gently pulling her lip free from her teeth.
“It can’t be that bad...”
“Oh, it
could...” Rose sighed, shifting her gaze
to his left sideburn. “Your sideburns
are longer...”
“Rose...”
“Everly Doctor,
okay?” She blurted, moving to take a
step back from him.
He tightened his hold
on her hip, preventing her movement.
“Everly Doctor? What’s that
mean?”
She chanced a glance
at his eyes, relaxing slightly when she saw no laughter in them. “Promise not to laugh?”
He nodded without hesitation,
loosening his hold and slipping his fingers under the hem of her shirt. “I promise.”
After taking a deep
breath and exhaling slowly, she began...purposely not meeting his eyes. Just in case he laughed.
“When Shareen and I
were young...like thirteen or something, just starting to really notice
boys...we made up this thing where we decided that we’d call our latest crush
our ‘everly’. You know...like the person
we’d love forever or something? It was
stupid...and her everly changed every week.”
“Every week?”
She smiled softly and
shrugged her shoulder. “Her forever
meant something different than mine, I guess.”
“So...you had Everly
Jimmy?”
Rose snorted and
shook her head quickly. “Jimmy never
made it close to being everly.”
“But, you...and
he...well, you...”
Rose ran her fingers
through his hair and smiled as he leaned into her touch. “I was young and stupid...and I didn’t know
that the best thing was just around the corner.
I mean, when you’re a teenager...three months feels like years, imagine
what a couple of years would seem like...”
“Everly
Mickey...” He whispered, sliding his
hands to her lower back and pulling her closer still.
“Nope...I took everly
very serious. Mickey made me happy, and
even came close to being everly at one time, but...nope.”
“But, you said that
the best thing was right around the corner...”
“Yep...I met him in a
basement and we became friends very quickly.
Took me travelling and it wasn’t long before I loved him...but, he
didn’t become my everly until he took me to New New York.” She toyed with the knot of his tie as she
looked into his warm eyes. “Everly
Doctor...the only everly I’ve ever had.”
His eyes glistened
with a light sheen of tears. But, she
wasn’t worried...she could see the smile behind that sheen. Happy tears...good tears.
“Were you, um...did
you have a...someone? I mean...if you did…or…do, that’s fine...good, even. I wouldn’t have expected you to...well, I
mean...us seeing one another again, it was supposed to be impossible. So...it would be normal to...to move on
and...have you broken another man’s heart by leaving to come here? Mickey or...someone...”
“Only Mum’s.” She whispered, pulling a button free on his
jacket. “What about you? You and Donna...”
“God, no!” He barked out a laugh as he shook his
head. “In fact, I nearly didn’t let her
come with me because I was worried...I mean...I just wanted a mate, you know?”
She narrowed her eyes
at him. “You wanted to mate?”
“A mate...a, not to.
What is it with women hearing ‘to’ instead of ‘a’ in that
sentence?” He breathed a heavy sigh and
then cleared his throat. “Martha was
travelling with me before Donna.
She...she fancied me and...it just made things complicated.”
“I fancied you...”
He gave her a crooked
smile and glanced at her lips. “I
fancied you...that made it less
complicated. I didn’t fancy
Martha...loved her dearly, but...it was more of a familial love.”
“Oh...” Rose pulled another button free on his jacket
and smiled. “What you feel for me isn’t
familial, is it?”
“If it is, I’m just
an incestuous bastard...” He replied,
leaning forward to brush his lips across hers.
“Dance with me.”
She unbuttoned the
last button and glanced down when her fingers brushed against the front of his
trousers...and the hard bulge that couldn’t be disguised as anything other than
what it was.
“Is that a euphemism
for something else?” She asked with a
smile as he inhaled sharply. “Dancing?”
“Wasn’t meant to
be...” He murmured, eyes darkening as he
combed his fingers through her hair.
“But, thinking about it now...I think if we dance, truly dance...music and steps and all that goes with it? I really think that it’ll just end up with me
undressing you and laying you across this table...”
He licked his lips
when she gasped, sliding his hand to the back of her neck and shifting closer
to the edge of the table. “And...I have
to admit that I’m dangerously close to doing that right now.”
“Doctor...” She breathed, slipping her hands under his
jacket.
The sound of her
voice, thick with desire...the sensation of her hands through the material of
his shirt, trembling as he’d fantasized so many times before...
“God, Rose...” He groaned and covered her mouth with his,
crushing her against his chest as he pushed his tongue between her lips.
He felt her fingers
fumbling with his tie as he pulled his hands away from her long enough to get
rid of his jacket. He wanted to smile at
her as the tie finally slipped from around his neck, but that would mean he’d
have to relinquish her mouth and tongue.
And he had no desire to do such a thing.
Until he realized
that she was wearing a pull-over shirt...and not a button-up blouse.
He grumbled softly as
he tore his mouth from hers and gripped the hem of her shirt. He licked his
lips in anticipation as he waited for her to finish with the button she was
currently trying to undo on his shirt.
His smile finally surfaced when he heard her curse under her breath.
“Rose, leave it...”
Her eyes snapped to
his...hers full of frustration, his full of amusement. “This needs to come off!”
He gave her a nod and
let go of her, gently pulling her hands from his chest. When she gave a frustrated groan, he winked
and reached around to grab the collar of his shirt. Realizing what he was going to do, she
grasped the sides of his shirt and untucked it for him.
And then he pulled it
over his head...but had forgotten to undo the cuffs. He looked helplessly at his wrists, his eyes
widening when he heard Rose mumble ‘fuck it’ and jerked the shirt off his
arms. He winced at the sound of the
material ripping. After all, it had been
one of his favourites...one that Rose had picked out for him on a shopping
excursion they had taken on Jasperia not long after they’d returned from Krop
Tor.
He forgot all about
the ruined shirt when he felt her mouth cover his right nipple.
* * *
Rose smiled lazily as
she stroked the Doctor’s fingers…resting back against his chest, stretched out
between his legs as he reclined against the arm of the sofa, a thick mink
blanket wrapped around their bodies. She
had fond memories of this sofa…lying down and reading a magazine or a book
while she listened to a random cd, waiting for the Doctor to finish whatever he
was working on to come join her.
She had a feeling
that her memories of this sofa would only grow fonder now. Now that they’d spent a good part of their
evening making love on it. She lifted
his hand to her lips, kissing each of his fingers as he pressed soft kisses
into her hair. Her eyes drifted around
the room, coming to a rest on a box in the corner.
“Doctor?”
“Mm?” He replied with a sated murmur.
“What’s in the
box?” She asked, moving her lips to the
inside of his wrist.
“What box?” He whispered as he slid his free hand to her
stomach.
She swallowed hard as
he circled her navel the tip of his middle finger. “The one in the corner.”
He looked in the
direction that she’d waved in and smiled.
“Oh…that box.”
She turned her head
to look up at him. “How many boxes do
you have?”
He chuckled and
lightly kissed her lips. “There’re boxes
stored all over the TARDIS. But, that
one…well…that one’s special.”
“You’re still as
confusing as ever, aren’t you?”
He grinned and gently
nudged her forward, giving himself just enough room to climb out from behind
her. She licked her lips as she watched
him walk across the room, not a stitch of clothes on his body. She bit back her groan as he bent down to
pick up the box in question.
He gave her a knowing
wink as he carried the box back over to the sofa, gesturing for her to shift
over with a tilt of his head. “Come on,
hurry up…it’s chilly out here.”
She bit down lightly
on the tip of her tongue, stopping herself from suggesting ways to warm him up,
and moved down just enough for him to get back under the blanket with her. She furrowed her brow when he unceremoniously
dumped the box onto her lap.
“Hey!”
“You wanted to know
what was in the box…so you have to open it.”
She laughed softly as
he nudged her shoulder with his.
“Okay…there better not be anything alive in here…”
“Why would there be
anything…oh, just open it, Rose...”
She laughed again and
carefully removed the lid. She dropped
the lid onto the floor and exhaled a barely audible sigh as she peered inside.
“Wow…these are
beautiful.”
He waited until she
pulled out one of the trinkets and cleared his throat. “Happy Christmas, Rose.”
She looked up at him
in confusion. “What?”
He swallowed and glanced
at the object in her hand. “That…well,
that’s your Christmas present from me…well, the present from Christmas before
last…”
Rose stared at him
for a moment and then pulled out another item.
Tears filled her eyes as he whispered ‘Happy Valentine’s Day’.
“Oh my God…Doctor…”
“They’re presents for
you.” He stated needlessly, realizing
she’d already figured it out.
“Birthdays, Christmases…”
He smiled as she
pulled a crystal dragon from the box.
“That’s to commemorate the third anniversary of the day we spent on
Clowsida. Remember?”
She nodded slowly as
a tear slipped down her cheek. “We
argued about whether a cloud was in the shape of a dragon or a flying monkey.”
His eyes sparkled as
he reached over and wiped the tear from her skin. “I realized you were right…it was a dragon. If it’d been wearing a fez, it would’ve been
a flying monkey.”
“There was definitely
no fez…” She chuckled wetly and dug back
into the box. “Mum thought I was
crazy…buying stuff for you. But, I’d see
something and I’d just have to get it, you know?”
He nodded in
understanding, opening his mouth to respond…but not getting the words out
before she picked up an item that looked like a pyramid made out of amethyst.
She examined it
closely and then swallowed. “Is this a
plipton?”
“Yeah, I picked it up
for your birthday a couple of months ago and…”
He narrowed his eyes as a thought suddenly occurred to him. “How did you know it was a plipton?”
“Um…” She moved the box to the side and handed the
plipton to him before squirming out from under the blanket. “I’ll be right back, yeah?”
“Rose?”
She heard the
concern, the fear, in his voice and looked over at him as she picked up his
ruined shirt from where it had landed on the floor earlier. She slipped it on, not worried about the torn
cuffs, and ran her hand through her mussed hair.
“I’ll be right back,
I promise. Just…just stay there, okay?”
He nodded numbly,
confusion rushing through him as he curled his fingers around the purple object
in his hand. She gave him a warm smile
and then ran out of the room.
She’d be back. She promised.
He swallowed thickly
and tried to calm the pounding of his hearts.
She promised…and she
would never intentionally break a promise.
* * *
She ran back into the
room just a few moments later, stopping suddenly when she found him staring at
the cd rack…his left hand scratching the back of his head and his right in the
pocket of the trousers he had put back on.
Trousers and nothing
else.
And she thought that
the sight of him standing there, barefoot and no shirt, was probably just as
sexy as him standing before her completely bare.
“What are you
doing?” She asked, smiling as he looked
over at her.
“Thinking about
coincidences and parallels.” He replied,
allowing his eyes to take in the image of her wearing only his shirt. “I think that shirt looks better on you than
it ever did on me.”
“Yeah?”
He nodded slowly and
slipped his left hand into his pocket.
“Yeah…even with the torn cuffs…”
“Sorry ‘bout
that…” She offered with a grin, letting
him know that she was anything but
sorry. “Coincidences and parallels,
huh?”
“What’s my lucky number, as you used to call it?”
“Twenty-three.” She answered with no hesitation. “Why?”
He swallowed and pulled
a cd from the rack and walked over to her.
“This was number twenty-three on the charts for the week of the
twenty-fifth of April, 1987.”
She furrowed her brow
as she took the cd from him. “The
twenty-fifth?”
“I, uh…I was in
“Doctor…” She whispered softly, instantly knowing that
he’d come to see her as a newborn.
“I missed you so
much, Rose. I…I never made contact and
you never saw me. But, I had to see
you…just glimpses of you.” He cleared
his throat and glanced at the cd in her hand.
“Turns out that number twenty-three for that week was a pretty huge
album.”
Rose nodded, fingers
gripping the cd case tightly as he reached up and brushed his fingers through
her hair. “Yeah, I used to listen to
Mum’s copy…hers was on cassette though.”
“So was
mine…originally, I mean. I got the cd a
few years later.” He sighed softly and
placed his palm against her cheek. “So,
you’d know the songs…and you’d know the one that spoke to me?”
“Yeah…” She leaned into his touch, dropping the cd
onto the table and lifting her hand to his chest. “In Your Eyes…”
“I come back to the
place you are.” He whispered, lowering
his mouth to hers and kissing her softly.
When he straightened,
they smiled at each other and he shrugged a shoulder. “Purely coincidental…but, so very us.”
“Definitely us.” She agreed, her smile brightening.
Taking a step back
from her, he tilted his head. “So…what
was so important that you had to run off when you did?”
“What? Oh…oh, yeah…”
She glanced down at her left hand, fingers still curled around the
object she held.
She took his hand in
her free one and led him back over to the sofa, sitting down and pulling him
down next to her. When she paused, he
looked at her curiously but didn’t say anything…she was obviously trying to
collect her thoughts.
Finally, she took a
deep breath and looked up at him.
“There was this guy at
Torchwood when I worked there…his name was Kaflanatak.”
He arched an eyebrow
at her. “That sounds very not…English.”
She chuckled softly
and shook her head. “He was a
Regallitraxian.”
“Oh…” The Doctor’s eyes widened.
“Kafla knew that I
wasn’t…well, he knew I was missing someone terribly. And he used to bring me coffee and we’d talk
for hours…” She exhaled softly and
shifted nervously. “He told me about his
people and their customs. And…one day he
asked me to picture a color in my mind.
So, I did…and he put this rock in my hand and covered it with his. When I opened it a few minutes later…”
She uncurled her
fingers and lifted her hand, revealing a small pyramid-shaped object resting in
her palm.
“It was TARDIS
blue.” She lowered her voice as she
watched his eyes start to glisten.
“That’s how I know what a plipton is.”
He reached out,
fingers shaking as he carefully lifted the plipton from her hand. He ran his thumb along the smooth edge and
watched as she pulled the purple one from the box that was still sitting on the
sofa cushion.
“We watched the
sunset on Rastra Three. That was the
night that I’d realized that I’d fallen in love with you. The sky turned a brilliant shade of purple
and you said that it was the most beautiful thing you’d ever seen.”
Rose nodded,
remembering that night very well. “And
you said that it was the second most beautiful thing you’d seen.”
“You were always the
first, Rose.” He whispered.
“Does this mean we’re
engaged?” She asked a couple of seconds
later, grinning at him.
“I’m rubbish at
weddings…especially my own.” He replied,
his eyes sparkling as he curled his fingers around the blue plipton. “But, I’ll marry you. If you want to get married, I’ll marry you…”
“I think I’d be pretty
rubbish at weddings too.” She stated as
she leaned over and placed a kiss above his left heart. “What do you think about us just…being
together?”
“For how long?” He answered after a moment.
She smiled adoringly
at him and reached up to run her fingers through his incredibly mussed
hair. “I’m thinking you’re still my
everly, Doctor.”
“My Everly
Rose…” He whispered, returning her
loving smile as he captured her lips once more.
* * *
Donna entered the
TARDIS cautiously.
She made her way down
the hall to her room and paused at the Thinking Room. The door was open and she peeked inside,
grinning at the state of the room.
An open box on the
sofa, the stereo on but with no music playing, a broken lamp on the floor…and
clothes strewn about. A shoe here, a tie
there, Rose’s jeans draped over the back of a chair in the most haphazard
way.
Donna was sure that
they’d been hastily thrown across the room.
The lights dimmed in
the room and she heard the distinct soft hum from the ship. She ran her fingers along the doorframe and
nodded proudly.
“We did good,
girl.” She glanced down the hall when
she heard a loud giggle.
A loud male giggle…which was followed closely
by a loud female giggle.
Donna had never heard
that particular sound from the Doctor.
Oh, she’d heard him laugh and chuckle and snort…but, she’d never heard
him giggle.
She looked up at the
ceiling as the TARDIS hummed again.
“We did real good, girl.”
~ End