Rainy Day Woman ch. 2
Title: Rainy Day Woman Ch. 2
Rating: PG-13
Fandom: Doctor Who
Genre: Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Fluff, Reunion
Spoilers: All Who stuff
Disclaimer: Not mine!
Characters: Ten/Rose, Jackie, Pete, Tyler offspring, Mickey, Jake
Summary: The Doctor makes his way back to a wiser Rose, but things are not as cut and dry as he'd hoped. They have one weekend to decide where they stand, what they want, and where that leaves them.
Under the cut
"No."
"Mum."
Jackie shook her head. "No. Don't get me wrong, Rose, I don't hate the Doctor, but him? Come to the President's Ball tomorrow night? It'll be a disaster!"
Rose sighed as she followed her mother around the house that evening before dinner. The Doctor had gone to re-park the TARDIS, and Jackie was walking around the main level, directing the hired hands who were decorating and moving furniture. "He'll be on his best behavior."
"So the worst he'll do is…what? Smash in the windows? Bring about an alien invasion of massive proportions?"
"You said he could stay here."
"I did. But I didn't say he could come to the party."
"Fine. If that's the way it's gonna be, neither of us will go," Rose said firmly.
Jackie's eyes widened. "What?!"
Rose nodded. "We'll go t'dinner or something. Stay outta the way."
"But…everyone's expecting you!"
"No Doctor, no Agent Tyler."
"Rose…"
"Oh, my god," said a voice from the front door. "S'like lookin' at twins!"
Both Tyler women turned to Mickey Smith, who grinned widely.
"Don't mind me. I'm just gonna take my tux and my boyfriend to my room an' let the two of you fight it out."
"H'lo, Rose; Mrs. Tyler."
Jackie smiled as Jake walked in behind Mickey. "Hi, Jake. Come on in."
At that moment, the Doctor ambled down the stairs. "Right. TARDIS is in your room, Rose. She's pretty excited to see-"
"Oh, my god."
The Doctor blinked at the two men. "Mickey! Jake! Hello!"
Mickey turned accusing eyes to Rose. "You didn't tell me!"
"I wanted to tell you in person," Rose replied.
"You shoulda told me over the phone!"
"I was gonna tell ya when you got here!" Rose cried. "But you were too busy comparing me to my
mother."
The Doctor visibly twitched. "Right. I'm gonna go-"
"Oh, no you don't!" Jackie snapped. "You convince Rose to come to the party without you."
The Doctor gave her an innocent look. "Why can't I come?"
"You'll get us all killed!" Jackie told him in a high voice.
"BANG!" said a loud voice from the top of the stairs.
Jackie narrowed her eyes at the little boy with fair hair and big eyes. "Don't even think about it Gareth Peter Tyler! You get back to your room til supper!"
Gareth pouted and trudged off.
"What'd he do this time?" Jake asked.
"He threw dog poo at dad," Rose explained. "Apparently, it wasn't pretty."
Jackie turned to them in a fury. "Mickey and Jake! Upstairs and set up in your room! And be on time to supper! I'd hate to send poor Shelly up to get you, only t'have her walk in on you shagging again."
The two men rushed up the stairs, and Rose tried to hide a laugh.
Jackie turned to Rose and the Doctor. "Rose Marion Tyler, you will show up tomorrow night at the President's Ball-"
"With the Doctor."
"No!"
"Yes."
"Rose! It'll be a mess. Nobody knows who he is!"
Rose shrugged and took the Doctor's hand. "He's…he's my out-of-town boyfriend."
The Doctor turned to her slowly, giving her a few well timed blinks. "I'm…I'm what?"
Rose looked up at him. "Well, if the snogging didn't seal the deal on that-"
Jackie flung a hand dramatically to her eyes. "I don't need to know that you've been snogging an alien!"
"There's nothing wrong with that," the Doctor defended. "S'not like she snogged a Slitheen…or…or a Judoon…ooh. That's not pleasant to think about."
"What's wrong with you being my-"
"It's so domestic," the Doctor cut Rose off.
Rose quirked an eyebrow. "I'm sorry. An' snogging on my bed earlier? What was that?"
"That was…that was…"
"Too much information for me," Jackie said. "I've got things to do. Come and find me when you're done talking about snogging."
Rose watched her mother walk off and then turned back to the Doctor. "Well?"
The Doctor pulled at his ear nervously. "I'm…I'm not cut out to be anyone's boyfriend. I'm not…I don't do…"
"But you're willing to stay here and leave everything you've ever known behind if I tell you I want you to." She crossed her arms. "If you stayed…what would happen? We'd go back to the way we were, yeah?"
"No."
"Then, what? What do you want out of all this?"
"You," he blurted out. "I want…I want you."
"Do you want me?" Rose asked. "Or do you want an escape?"
The Doctor glared at her. "That isn't fair."
"Y'know what else isn't fair? Leading me on."
When she began to walk away, he followed her. "I'm not!"
"Then what is this?" Rose asked, turning to him again. "What are we doing?"
"I don't know!" the Doctor growled. "I don't know what this is, and I don't know what we're doing and I don't know what I want!" He stared at her for a long moment before turning tail and rushing away, up the stairs.
Rose closed her eyes and followed him. "So much for a vacation," she muttered to herself. "Doctor!"
"This was a stupid idea," he said quietly as he disappeared into her room.
She followed again, watching as he fished his TARDIS key out. "So you're leaving."
"Yes."
"Just like that, you're leaving."
"This was a bad idea," he said quickly. "I thought it was a good idea, but it isn't. I can't do this with you."
"You said you-"
"I do," he turned to her. "I do. But I don't know how to. Not that way you want me to."
They stood in silence for a long moment, Rose staring at the Doctor, and the Doctor looking down at the floor.
"Don't go," she said softly.
He glanced up at her.
Rose sighed and took a few steps closer. "I don't know what's happened. I'm…I'm sorry I wasn't there for it. Wish I was. But…you're here now an' I really don't want you to leave."
The Doctor deflated slightly and leaned against the TARDIS door.
"I didn't…I didn't really mean…that you'd be…I mean…s'just…people expect when two people are holdin' hands an' kissing an'…dancing." She got the last word out quickly. "People expect the words 'boyfriend' an' 'girlfriend.' They do. I didn't mean…"
He swallowed hard, but said nothing.
"Look, just…you said you'd stay the weekend, so just…just don't go. Okay?" Rose's voice broke a little. "Don't…don't go yet."
Slowly, the Doctor walked to her and wrapped his arms around her tightly. He rested his chin on the top of her head and realized he couldn't leave even if he actually wanted to. He leaned down and kissed her softly, his grip on her tightening just a little bit. Rose pulled him closer.
*****
Shelly didn't catch Mickey and Jake in mid-shag, but she did catch Rose and the Doctor post-shag.
Rose pulled the bed sheet over her head and curled up against the Doctor. He chuckled. "Time to get up, I guess. Supper?"
Shelly, who was completely red in the face, nodded quickly. "I'll tell Mrs. Tyler you're on your way," she said quickly, before fairly running out of the room, slamming the door behind her.
Rose moaned and didn't pull her head out from under the sheet.
"Oh, like you've never been caught in a compromising situation before," the Doctor muttered.
She merely moaned again.
He sighed and pulled the sheet over his own head so he could kiss her. "If we miss dinner, Jackie will kill me."
"Us."
"No," the Doctor replied, kissing her again. "Probably just me."
Rose reached up for another kiss. "I don't want to go down to dinner."
He sighed. "Neither do I. I could probably go another round, actually. We could lock the door and I could soundproof it. I've got equipment in the TARDIS for that and we could-"
She cut him off with yet another kiss. "Shut up."
"Well, okay."
They laid in silence for a moment.
"I haven't done this in a really long time."
"Didn't I tell you to shut up?" Rose laughed jokingly.
"A really, really long time."
"An' how does it feel to be back in the saddle again?"
The Doctor wrinkled his nose. "You're not a saddle."
She thumped him playfully on the chest.
"Oi!"
"You deserved that."
"Probably."
"Definitely."
"Right. Okay. Can we do that again?"
"The thumping?"
"No the other thing."
"Oooh, the thumping."
He grinned and pulled her closer, kissing her slowly.
When Rose pulled away she regarded the Doctor seriously. "Are we a'right?"
He blinked. "I…I think we are. Sex usually means 'alright' doesn't it?"
She shrugged. "Doesn't solve anything." She bit her lip. "You staying the weekend still?"
"And longer if you'll have me."
Rose sat up and pulled the sheet down off of the both of them. "For the weekend."
He looked up at her, solemnly.
She leaned down, pressing her forehead to his. "You don't want to leave your whole universe behind."
The Doctor closed his eyes.
Rose kissed him gently. "Come on. We should get up."
He didn't kiss back. "If you don't want me to stay, you need to tell me."
She gave him a hard look and got to her feet. "You really think that, don't you?"
The Doctor sat up, but stayed silent.
Rose shook her head and started pulling on her clothes. "That's so sad. You actually think that's true."
"You keep telling me you only want me to stay for the weekend," he said, getting to his feet and hunting for his own clothes. "What else am I supposed to think?"
"That you might regret staying here with me!" she cried, waving her shirt emphatically. "That…that you're going through a hard time, and you might want to do this now, but in a month? A year?" She turned away from him and shoved the shirt over her head. "I don't want you to hate me."
He finished pulling his trousers on over his pants and slowly walked over to her, resting his chin on her shoulder. "You really think I could hate you?"
Rose closed her eyes. "If you stayed with me…here…where you don't know anyone or anything…Yeah. I think you could."
"I know you," he whispered. "And your family. I can learn about here. I like learning. I'm good at learning."
"What if you hate what you learn?"
The Doctor didn't reply. He knew that she was right. He really needed to clear his head in order to make this decision. But he wanted to be with her. He'd wanted to be with her since she'd been taken from him. He loved her.
He kissed the side of her head and pulled away from her, picking up his shirt and putting it on. "Dinner, then?"
Rose turned around and nodded, walking to him and kissing him before pulling him toward the door.
*****
Jackie gave the couple an irritated look as they sat down at the table. "Took you two long enough. And I thought I had to worry about Mickey an' Jake."
"Sorry," Rose said softly as she placed her napkin in her lap.
Mickey watched the two of them as they basically set up each other's plates. They moved with perfect ease, serving each other just the right amounts of meat and and veggies, pouring wine into each other's glasses. Rose put the Doctor's napkin in his lap and he switched Rose's utensils around the way she liked them.
This was all done in solemn silence.
"Y'know, for two people who've just been reunited after a lengthy separation, you're awfully serious," Mickey pointed out. "What's goin on?"
"Apparently, I'm only staying the weekend," the Doctor said abruptly. "She can't take any more than that."
"Apparently, you haven't changed it all," Rose snapped quickly. "Rushing into things before thinking them through. If you stay here, you might hate it, and then what?"
"There's a whole different universe out there to see, Rose," the Doctor told her passionately. "How could I hate that? Or you? I could never hate being with you."
She looked down at her plate, poking her food with her fork. "Never say 'never ever.'"
He glared at her and got to his feet, storming out of the room.
Rose closed her eyes and listening as the front door opened and slammed shut.
Jackie gave her daughter a wide-eyed look. "What'd you do that for?! He wants to stay here with you!"
Rose opened her eyes and looked up at her mother. "He thinks he does."
"What makes you think otherwise?" Mickey asked. "He risked his neck to get here, yeah?"
"He's the Doctor," Rose pointed out. "He'll risk his neck for anything." She sighed. "Something happened. I don't know what, but…he's running from it, and I can't let him."
Pete chewed and swallowed a mouthful of food. "He ran to you. He loves you."
"I love him, too," Rose said quietly. "S'why I can't let him rush into this."
*****
It was after two in the morning when the Doctor silently walked through the double doors of Rose's bedroom. He didn't check to see if she was awake, or even present. He merely sat on the edge of the bed and pulled off his shoes. He'd walked around a little bit, regarding the differences and similarities with the London he knew with little interest.
Finally, looking around the room, he noticed that she wasn't there, but it didn't bother him. The house was huge. She was about, wherever she was.
And so the Doctor pulled off his socks and his suit jacket and lay on the bed.
Twenty minutes later, there was still no Rose. He sat up, and realized the TARDIS door was open just a crack. He got to his feet and walked over, pushing the door open more and stepping in.
Rose was lying face down on the grated floor of the console room, her eyes closed.
The Doctor approached her slowly, and knelt down. "Rose?"
"Hm?" Her reply was soft. She rolled onto her back and stretched out like a cat looking up at him.
"Hello."
"Hi."
"What are you doing?"
"Getting reacquainted," she told him, her toes pointing as she stretched more. "I've missed her."
The Doctor nodded. "She missed you too." He patted the floor and then sat down, leaning against the console.
Rose sat up and pushed her hair out of her face.
"I'm sorry I ran out," he said. "I shouldn't have."
"You were upset."
"Shouldn't have been," he told her. "You were right. Even if I stayed here…it wouldn't…it wouldn't solve everything. I'd still have to live with myself."
Rose crawled over and sat in front of him. "That's so bad?"
The Doctor's mouth twisted into a sad smirk. "With all the things I've done? The pain I've caused?"
She reached out and ran her fingers through his hair. "How long has it really been?"
He swallowed hard and stared at her. "Three hundred years."
Rose had no clue what to say to that. How do you comfort someone who hasn't seen you in three hundred years? "Bloody hell," she said. "I must be like a total stranger now after all this time."
The Doctor shook his head. "You re not. Because I never let you go. I couldn't." He rested his head back. "So many years of traveling and the one companion I can't let go of is the bottle blonde shopgirl what wears too much eye make-up and listens to Abba."
Her face twisted in mock anger. "Oi, you. This bottle blonde shopgirl what likes Abba and wears too much eye make-up got you invited to the President’s Ball tomorrow night."
He quirked an eyebrow. "Jackie gave in?"
Rose smirked. "Mickey said he’d rather talk to us than go to the ball, so he an I started talking about a double date instead of being here."
The Doctor wrinkled his nose. "A double date?"
She giggled. "Too domestic?"
"Just a bit."
"Well, we'll be attending the big ol' party and you can have your nibbles and mingle with important people you've never met."
"Brilliant," the Doctor grinned. "My favorite."
Rose smiled back at him, but it turned sad.
"What?"
"What happened?" she asked.
"When?"
"While we were apart."
"Oh...loads of stuff. Living suns and doctors and captains and poets. Cat nurses and big old faces. You know, the usual."
She closed her eyes. "You're so different."
"Three hundred years, Rose Tyler..."
"I know," she said abruptly. "I know. But if feels like...it feels like part of you is just missing."
"Well, it's been with you all this time, what did you expect?" he asked softly. "Couldn't exactly ask for it back."
"Now you've got it back, how come you're still acting like there's a hole in you?"
There've always been holes," the Doctor said. "I just used to be better at plugging them up and stopping them leaking.”
Rose shook her head. "You used to try and fill them. At least partly." She took his hand. "You're not anymore. You're just letting them leak all over the place."
"Doesn't matter…"
"Of course it does."
"It's just a few holes."
They sat in silent, the Doctor sitting like a discarded doll; legs and arms spread out, back slumped against the controls; one hand in Rose s. She was sitting on her knees between his legs.
"You can't fix me," he said abruptly. "I used to think you could, but you can't. No one can. So don’t try."
"I know I can't," Rose frowned. "Only person who can do that is you." She lifted their joined hands. "This is the only thing I can give you.”
He didn't have to tell her that it was enough. She already knew.
Rating: PG-13
Fandom: Doctor Who
Genre: Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Fluff, Reunion
Spoilers: All Who stuff
Disclaimer: Not mine!
Characters: Ten/Rose, Jackie, Pete, Tyler offspring, Mickey, Jake
Summary: The Doctor makes his way back to a wiser Rose, but things are not as cut and dry as he'd hoped. They have one weekend to decide where they stand, what they want, and where that leaves them.
Under the cut
"No."
"Mum."
Jackie shook her head. "No. Don't get me wrong, Rose, I don't hate the Doctor, but him? Come to the President's Ball tomorrow night? It'll be a disaster!"
Rose sighed as she followed her mother around the house that evening before dinner. The Doctor had gone to re-park the TARDIS, and Jackie was walking around the main level, directing the hired hands who were decorating and moving furniture. "He'll be on his best behavior."
"So the worst he'll do is…what? Smash in the windows? Bring about an alien invasion of massive proportions?"
"You said he could stay here."
"I did. But I didn't say he could come to the party."
"Fine. If that's the way it's gonna be, neither of us will go," Rose said firmly.
Jackie's eyes widened. "What?!"
Rose nodded. "We'll go t'dinner or something. Stay outta the way."
"But…everyone's expecting you!"
"No Doctor, no Agent Tyler."
"Rose…"
"Oh, my god," said a voice from the front door. "S'like lookin' at twins!"
Both Tyler women turned to Mickey Smith, who grinned widely.
"Don't mind me. I'm just gonna take my tux and my boyfriend to my room an' let the two of you fight it out."
"H'lo, Rose; Mrs. Tyler."
Jackie smiled as Jake walked in behind Mickey. "Hi, Jake. Come on in."
At that moment, the Doctor ambled down the stairs. "Right. TARDIS is in your room, Rose. She's pretty excited to see-"
"Oh, my god."
The Doctor blinked at the two men. "Mickey! Jake! Hello!"
Mickey turned accusing eyes to Rose. "You didn't tell me!"
"I wanted to tell you in person," Rose replied.
"You shoulda told me over the phone!"
"I was gonna tell ya when you got here!" Rose cried. "But you were too busy comparing me to my
mother."
The Doctor visibly twitched. "Right. I'm gonna go-"
"Oh, no you don't!" Jackie snapped. "You convince Rose to come to the party without you."
The Doctor gave her an innocent look. "Why can't I come?"
"You'll get us all killed!" Jackie told him in a high voice.
"BANG!" said a loud voice from the top of the stairs.
Jackie narrowed her eyes at the little boy with fair hair and big eyes. "Don't even think about it Gareth Peter Tyler! You get back to your room til supper!"
Gareth pouted and trudged off.
"What'd he do this time?" Jake asked.
"He threw dog poo at dad," Rose explained. "Apparently, it wasn't pretty."
Jackie turned to them in a fury. "Mickey and Jake! Upstairs and set up in your room! And be on time to supper! I'd hate to send poor Shelly up to get you, only t'have her walk in on you shagging again."
The two men rushed up the stairs, and Rose tried to hide a laugh.
Jackie turned to Rose and the Doctor. "Rose Marion Tyler, you will show up tomorrow night at the President's Ball-"
"With the Doctor."
"No!"
"Yes."
"Rose! It'll be a mess. Nobody knows who he is!"
Rose shrugged and took the Doctor's hand. "He's…he's my out-of-town boyfriend."
The Doctor turned to her slowly, giving her a few well timed blinks. "I'm…I'm what?"
Rose looked up at him. "Well, if the snogging didn't seal the deal on that-"
Jackie flung a hand dramatically to her eyes. "I don't need to know that you've been snogging an alien!"
"There's nothing wrong with that," the Doctor defended. "S'not like she snogged a Slitheen…or…or a Judoon…ooh. That's not pleasant to think about."
"What's wrong with you being my-"
"It's so domestic," the Doctor cut Rose off.
Rose quirked an eyebrow. "I'm sorry. An' snogging on my bed earlier? What was that?"
"That was…that was…"
"Too much information for me," Jackie said. "I've got things to do. Come and find me when you're done talking about snogging."
Rose watched her mother walk off and then turned back to the Doctor. "Well?"
The Doctor pulled at his ear nervously. "I'm…I'm not cut out to be anyone's boyfriend. I'm not…I don't do…"
"But you're willing to stay here and leave everything you've ever known behind if I tell you I want you to." She crossed her arms. "If you stayed…what would happen? We'd go back to the way we were, yeah?"
"No."
"Then, what? What do you want out of all this?"
"You," he blurted out. "I want…I want you."
"Do you want me?" Rose asked. "Or do you want an escape?"
The Doctor glared at her. "That isn't fair."
"Y'know what else isn't fair? Leading me on."
When she began to walk away, he followed her. "I'm not!"
"Then what is this?" Rose asked, turning to him again. "What are we doing?"
"I don't know!" the Doctor growled. "I don't know what this is, and I don't know what we're doing and I don't know what I want!" He stared at her for a long moment before turning tail and rushing away, up the stairs.
Rose closed her eyes and followed him. "So much for a vacation," she muttered to herself. "Doctor!"
"This was a stupid idea," he said quietly as he disappeared into her room.
She followed again, watching as he fished his TARDIS key out. "So you're leaving."
"Yes."
"Just like that, you're leaving."
"This was a bad idea," he said quickly. "I thought it was a good idea, but it isn't. I can't do this with you."
"You said you-"
"I do," he turned to her. "I do. But I don't know how to. Not that way you want me to."
They stood in silence for a long moment, Rose staring at the Doctor, and the Doctor looking down at the floor.
"Don't go," she said softly.
He glanced up at her.
Rose sighed and took a few steps closer. "I don't know what's happened. I'm…I'm sorry I wasn't there for it. Wish I was. But…you're here now an' I really don't want you to leave."
The Doctor deflated slightly and leaned against the TARDIS door.
"I didn't…I didn't really mean…that you'd be…I mean…s'just…people expect when two people are holdin' hands an' kissing an'…dancing." She got the last word out quickly. "People expect the words 'boyfriend' an' 'girlfriend.' They do. I didn't mean…"
He swallowed hard, but said nothing.
"Look, just…you said you'd stay the weekend, so just…just don't go. Okay?" Rose's voice broke a little. "Don't…don't go yet."
Slowly, the Doctor walked to her and wrapped his arms around her tightly. He rested his chin on the top of her head and realized he couldn't leave even if he actually wanted to. He leaned down and kissed her softly, his grip on her tightening just a little bit. Rose pulled him closer.
*****
Shelly didn't catch Mickey and Jake in mid-shag, but she did catch Rose and the Doctor post-shag.
Rose pulled the bed sheet over her head and curled up against the Doctor. He chuckled. "Time to get up, I guess. Supper?"
Shelly, who was completely red in the face, nodded quickly. "I'll tell Mrs. Tyler you're on your way," she said quickly, before fairly running out of the room, slamming the door behind her.
Rose moaned and didn't pull her head out from under the sheet.
"Oh, like you've never been caught in a compromising situation before," the Doctor muttered.
She merely moaned again.
He sighed and pulled the sheet over his own head so he could kiss her. "If we miss dinner, Jackie will kill me."
"Us."
"No," the Doctor replied, kissing her again. "Probably just me."
Rose reached up for another kiss. "I don't want to go down to dinner."
He sighed. "Neither do I. I could probably go another round, actually. We could lock the door and I could soundproof it. I've got equipment in the TARDIS for that and we could-"
She cut him off with yet another kiss. "Shut up."
"Well, okay."
They laid in silence for a moment.
"I haven't done this in a really long time."
"Didn't I tell you to shut up?" Rose laughed jokingly.
"A really, really long time."
"An' how does it feel to be back in the saddle again?"
The Doctor wrinkled his nose. "You're not a saddle."
She thumped him playfully on the chest.
"Oi!"
"You deserved that."
"Probably."
"Definitely."
"Right. Okay. Can we do that again?"
"The thumping?"
"No the other thing."
"Oooh, the thumping."
He grinned and pulled her closer, kissing her slowly.
When Rose pulled away she regarded the Doctor seriously. "Are we a'right?"
He blinked. "I…I think we are. Sex usually means 'alright' doesn't it?"
She shrugged. "Doesn't solve anything." She bit her lip. "You staying the weekend still?"
"And longer if you'll have me."
Rose sat up and pulled the sheet down off of the both of them. "For the weekend."
He looked up at her, solemnly.
She leaned down, pressing her forehead to his. "You don't want to leave your whole universe behind."
The Doctor closed his eyes.
Rose kissed him gently. "Come on. We should get up."
He didn't kiss back. "If you don't want me to stay, you need to tell me."
She gave him a hard look and got to her feet. "You really think that, don't you?"
The Doctor sat up, but stayed silent.
Rose shook her head and started pulling on her clothes. "That's so sad. You actually think that's true."
"You keep telling me you only want me to stay for the weekend," he said, getting to his feet and hunting for his own clothes. "What else am I supposed to think?"
"That you might regret staying here with me!" she cried, waving her shirt emphatically. "That…that you're going through a hard time, and you might want to do this now, but in a month? A year?" She turned away from him and shoved the shirt over her head. "I don't want you to hate me."
He finished pulling his trousers on over his pants and slowly walked over to her, resting his chin on her shoulder. "You really think I could hate you?"
Rose closed her eyes. "If you stayed with me…here…where you don't know anyone or anything…Yeah. I think you could."
"I know you," he whispered. "And your family. I can learn about here. I like learning. I'm good at learning."
"What if you hate what you learn?"
The Doctor didn't reply. He knew that she was right. He really needed to clear his head in order to make this decision. But he wanted to be with her. He'd wanted to be with her since she'd been taken from him. He loved her.
He kissed the side of her head and pulled away from her, picking up his shirt and putting it on. "Dinner, then?"
Rose turned around and nodded, walking to him and kissing him before pulling him toward the door.
*****
Jackie gave the couple an irritated look as they sat down at the table. "Took you two long enough. And I thought I had to worry about Mickey an' Jake."
"Sorry," Rose said softly as she placed her napkin in her lap.
Mickey watched the two of them as they basically set up each other's plates. They moved with perfect ease, serving each other just the right amounts of meat and and veggies, pouring wine into each other's glasses. Rose put the Doctor's napkin in his lap and he switched Rose's utensils around the way she liked them.
This was all done in solemn silence.
"Y'know, for two people who've just been reunited after a lengthy separation, you're awfully serious," Mickey pointed out. "What's goin on?"
"Apparently, I'm only staying the weekend," the Doctor said abruptly. "She can't take any more than that."
"Apparently, you haven't changed it all," Rose snapped quickly. "Rushing into things before thinking them through. If you stay here, you might hate it, and then what?"
"There's a whole different universe out there to see, Rose," the Doctor told her passionately. "How could I hate that? Or you? I could never hate being with you."
She looked down at her plate, poking her food with her fork. "Never say 'never ever.'"
He glared at her and got to his feet, storming out of the room.
Rose closed her eyes and listening as the front door opened and slammed shut.
Jackie gave her daughter a wide-eyed look. "What'd you do that for?! He wants to stay here with you!"
Rose opened her eyes and looked up at her mother. "He thinks he does."
"What makes you think otherwise?" Mickey asked. "He risked his neck to get here, yeah?"
"He's the Doctor," Rose pointed out. "He'll risk his neck for anything." She sighed. "Something happened. I don't know what, but…he's running from it, and I can't let him."
Pete chewed and swallowed a mouthful of food. "He ran to you. He loves you."
"I love him, too," Rose said quietly. "S'why I can't let him rush into this."
*****
It was after two in the morning when the Doctor silently walked through the double doors of Rose's bedroom. He didn't check to see if she was awake, or even present. He merely sat on the edge of the bed and pulled off his shoes. He'd walked around a little bit, regarding the differences and similarities with the London he knew with little interest.
Finally, looking around the room, he noticed that she wasn't there, but it didn't bother him. The house was huge. She was about, wherever she was.
And so the Doctor pulled off his socks and his suit jacket and lay on the bed.
Twenty minutes later, there was still no Rose. He sat up, and realized the TARDIS door was open just a crack. He got to his feet and walked over, pushing the door open more and stepping in.
Rose was lying face down on the grated floor of the console room, her eyes closed.
The Doctor approached her slowly, and knelt down. "Rose?"
"Hm?" Her reply was soft. She rolled onto her back and stretched out like a cat looking up at him.
"Hello."
"Hi."
"What are you doing?"
"Getting reacquainted," she told him, her toes pointing as she stretched more. "I've missed her."
The Doctor nodded. "She missed you too." He patted the floor and then sat down, leaning against the console.
Rose sat up and pushed her hair out of her face.
"I'm sorry I ran out," he said. "I shouldn't have."
"You were upset."
"Shouldn't have been," he told her. "You were right. Even if I stayed here…it wouldn't…it wouldn't solve everything. I'd still have to live with myself."
Rose crawled over and sat in front of him. "That's so bad?"
The Doctor's mouth twisted into a sad smirk. "With all the things I've done? The pain I've caused?"
She reached out and ran her fingers through his hair. "How long has it really been?"
He swallowed hard and stared at her. "Three hundred years."
Rose had no clue what to say to that. How do you comfort someone who hasn't seen you in three hundred years? "Bloody hell," she said. "I must be like a total stranger now after all this time."
The Doctor shook his head. "You re not. Because I never let you go. I couldn't." He rested his head back. "So many years of traveling and the one companion I can't let go of is the bottle blonde shopgirl what wears too much eye make-up and listens to Abba."
Her face twisted in mock anger. "Oi, you. This bottle blonde shopgirl what likes Abba and wears too much eye make-up got you invited to the President’s Ball tomorrow night."
He quirked an eyebrow. "Jackie gave in?"
Rose smirked. "Mickey said he’d rather talk to us than go to the ball, so he an I started talking about a double date instead of being here."
The Doctor wrinkled his nose. "A double date?"
She giggled. "Too domestic?"
"Just a bit."
"Well, we'll be attending the big ol' party and you can have your nibbles and mingle with important people you've never met."
"Brilliant," the Doctor grinned. "My favorite."
Rose smiled back at him, but it turned sad.
"What?"
"What happened?" she asked.
"When?"
"While we were apart."
"Oh...loads of stuff. Living suns and doctors and captains and poets. Cat nurses and big old faces. You know, the usual."
She closed her eyes. "You're so different."
"Three hundred years, Rose Tyler..."
"I know," she said abruptly. "I know. But if feels like...it feels like part of you is just missing."
"Well, it's been with you all this time, what did you expect?" he asked softly. "Couldn't exactly ask for it back."
"Now you've got it back, how come you're still acting like there's a hole in you?"
There've always been holes," the Doctor said. "I just used to be better at plugging them up and stopping them leaking.”
Rose shook her head. "You used to try and fill them. At least partly." She took his hand. "You're not anymore. You're just letting them leak all over the place."
"Doesn't matter…"
"Of course it does."
"It's just a few holes."
They sat in silent, the Doctor sitting like a discarded doll; legs and arms spread out, back slumped against the controls; one hand in Rose s. She was sitting on her knees between his legs.
"You can't fix me," he said abruptly. "I used to think you could, but you can't. No one can. So don’t try."
"I know I can't," Rose frowned. "Only person who can do that is you." She lifted their joined hands. "This is the only thing I can give you.”
He didn't have to tell her that it was enough. She already knew.