Chapter 10
Rose awoke slowly. She stretched out all of her muscles comfortably before opening her eyes.
"Hello,"
"Mmm, morning Doctor," she said, smiling lazily before suddenly looking at her Doctor again. "You're not wearing anything!"
"I'm wearing my pants" he assured, "Don't worry, we didn't do anything last night."
Rose relaxed visibly. "Thank God for that!"
Something flickered in the Doctor's eyes. "Don't you want to…?"
"Oh no I do !" Rose said, hurriedly, "I just want to be able to remember it. And I can't remember anything much from last night. And I have the most enormous headache,"
"Aww," the Doctor said, "I don't know. You humans and your alcohol."
Rose feebly hit him. "You drunk as much as I did!"
"Ah yes but that was after I'd arrived. Now come on, let's get up and see if the TARDIS has a hangover cure for you… and probably Jack as well,"
"Where is Jack?" Rose asked, allowing the Doctor to take her hand and lead her out of her bedroom,
"Probably in his room, still asleep. We left him at the pub last night. He was getting pretty comfortable with one of your friends,"
"Jessa," Rose said, immediately, " honestly !" She tugged on the Doctor's arm. "Now, where's my hangover cure?"
The Doctor and Rose were happily feeding each other breakfast when Jack finally stumbled in.
"Good night?" the Doctor asked,
"Mmm hmm," Jack mumbled. His face paled at the sight of the food on the table. "I think I'm gonna be sick,"
"The Doctor's got something that'll make it go away," Rose said, helpfully, "I had a terrible headache when I woke up but he fixed me right up."
Jack raised an eyebrow with a smirk on his face, before pouring himself a mug of strong coffee.
"Right Jack," the Doctor said, briskly, "What exactly did you do on that spaceship that caused it to blow up?"
The ex-time agent grinned. "I clipped a wire which disconnected the engines, meaning the Gwarf couldn't fly away and then activated a bomb that I'd discovered on there earlier. I then got into an escape pod and fell back to the planet with a bump. Gwarf and Slitheen nil, Captain Jack Harkness one,"
"Good work," the Doctor said, impressed,
"Thanks. I have my uses occasionally." Jack took a swig of coffee and eyed the Doctor. "So, what's your excuse?"
"What?"
"Why'd you leave Rose again?"
"Jack… it doesn't matter," Rose said, quickly,
"Yeah, it does," the Doctor said, softly, "I never did tell you, did I? Well, I had every intention of taking you with me but the TARDIS warned me of something. She said that humans and other aliens not native to the planet are banned from Raxacoricofallapatorius- it's a new rule since we were there last- and they're automatically thrown into prison. That's probably why I was apprehended so fast! Anyway, I was speaking to 'Margaret' and she doesn't know why it's a rule and she's going to try and remove it." He looked at Rose to find her staring at him. "Are you alright?"
"Yeah, yeah," Rose said, her voice cracking slightly, "I just can't believe how much of an idiot I was. You had a perfectly valid excuse and I didn't even give you a chance to explain!"
"Rose," the Doctor said, cupping her face with his hands, "It's OK, you were upset…"
"No it's not, Doctor," Rose said, almost in tears, "I didn't give you a chance, I just spat in your face. God, how vile am I? I'm supposed to love you!"
"Rose!" the Doctor almost shouted, "Stop it. You were allowed to be upset and I totally understood why you acted like that. If it makes you feel any better, I forgive you. And you're not vile at all; you're the most amazing person I know."
Rose stared through teary eyes at her love, who was willing her to understand. "Emotions can make us do funny things," he said, calmly, "We got through it and I believe it's made us both stronger. Everything's forgiven."
Rose nodded, smiling weakly. "Everything's forgiven," she repeated, before hugging the Doctor.
It was time to put the past behind them.
"So, what are you going to do until college starts again?"
Rose looked up from the telly at her mother's question. She and Jackie were alone in the flat; the Doctor and Jack were in the TARDIS.
"I dunno," Rose said, "We can't go off again; don't think we have enough time."
Jackie nodded. "Sticking on Earth then?"
"I guess so. I'll have to talk to the Doctor."
Jackie watched the television for a while before asking her next question. "What's going to happen with the Doctor? You won't be able to travel with him forever."
Rose sighed. "I know, we're just going to make the most of it. We've got years,"
"Unless you get killed."
Rose turned to her Mum in shock. "What's wrong?"
"I'm just scared for you, sweetheart. I don't know if you'll ever come home again sometimes,"
"Mum… oh Mum," Rose said, standing up and giving her a hug, "The Doctor looks after me, I'm fine,"
"He's not always going to be there for you…"
"I know," said a quiet voice from the doorway. The women turned to see the Doctor leaning against the frame. "I won't always be there to protect Rose but she can look after herself. She's strong, Jackie, stronger than when I first met her. You should be proud of her,"
"I am," Jackie sobbed, "I'm just scared she's going to die and you won't be able to prevent it. I've heard and seen the type of things you two tackle and it's all so dangerous!"
"It is," the Doctor confirmed, a sad smile on his face, "But Rose does and can cope with it, I realised that when I first left her just over a year ago. I can't promise that she'll never die or get hurt but I can promise I'll do my utmost to prevent it."
Jackie sighed and blew her nose. "Alright Doctor. I trust you. Just please try your best. Now, who wants a cuppa?"
Both the Doctor and Rose confirmed their wish and Jackie left for the kitchen. They looked at one another.
"Come with me," Rose said, leading the Doctor into her bedroom, "I've got something for you."
The Doctor sat on her pink bed while she scrabbled in a cupboard before coming to sit next to him.
"I got you this last Christmas," she said, holding out a small package.
The Doctor slowly unwrapped it and gasped as she saw a handsome leather writing set. "It's beautiful,"
"I just thought you might like it as I've seen you writing sometimes in the TARDIS," Rose said, shyly, "I left you a message."
She watched as the Doctor opened it and looked at the first page. There, in Rose's curly handwriting were the words " Love can touch us one time and last for a lifetime and never let go till we're gone. Love you Doctor, always have, always will. Even if I never see you again I hope you know my love for you will never die ."
He turned to Rose with tears in his eyes, fortunately not masking the pure love that shone brightly. "I love it Rose," the Doctor said, "And I love you. And I know."
Rose smiled at him, her eyes echoing his, before capturing his lips for a kiss, opening her mouth as she felt the Doctor's tongue probing for entrance. She ran her hands through his hair gently and his hands tightened on her waist.
"Teas, up!" Jackie called, breaking the moment but not their love. That was constant.
Rose sat on the bin outside her block of flats watching her two boys dart in and out of the TARDIS for reasons unknown to her. She was extremely happy- she couldn't remember being this happy before. She had a fantastic man who loved her and she loved him back, a brother who cared for her and would do anything for her, a very supportive mother and amazing friends. It was brilliant.
"Are you ready?" Jack asked, coming towards her with the Doctor,
"Where are we going?"
The Doctor placed his hands on her hips and looked up into her face, his knee buckling grin firmly plastered on his face. "I am taking you, Rose Tyler, on two weeks of fun. We're getting in the TARDIS and going anywhere on Earth that you fancy. You up for it?
"It sounds amazing!" Rose said,
"It does, doesn't it?" the Doctor replied, picking Rose up and taking a step backward allowing her to wrap her arms and legs around him.
"Jack, are you coming?"
"If you want me," Jack said, a little awkwardly, not wanting to get in their way,
"Of course we want you!" Rose cried, extending a hand to him,
"Sounds good to me, then. Count me in!"
Rose squealed as the Doctor twirled her around while Jack watched in amusement.
"Are you off then?" Jackie asked, appearing from the stairway suddenly,
"Yup," the Doctor said, "We'll be back in two weeks. You've got the TARDIS 'phone number if needs be,"
"Alright. Have fun you three. Try not to get into any trouble!"
"Huh, trouble finds us!" Jack said, laughingly,
"I hope it doesn't this time," the Doctor said, pulling out his TARDIS key with difficulty as he was still holding Rose, "I want to enjoy the next two weeks without running for my life!"
"I though you enjoyed that," Rose said, grinning slyly.
The Doctor shook his head and poked her.
"Let's just ignore any trouble then," Jack said,
"Deal!" the three time travelers spoke as one, before entering their ship.
"See ya, Mum. Love you!" Rose waved, before the door closed and the TARDIS began to disappear.
Jackie kept waving, knowing they would be able to see her on the console screen. When they had completely gone, she sighed and began to walk back to her flat, not noticing the figure on the outskirts of the Powell Estate.
"What the HELL ?"
Matt had seen the TARDIS.