He Needed Me

Chapter 5

The Doctor made a blech face, feeling impossibly full, but one stoney glare from Rose and he went back to meekly nibbling. She’d been fattening him up, doing her best to help him gain the near stone he’d lost since she’d been gone. It wasn’t his fault, really. He just hadn’t been hungry. And on the TARDIS it was nearly impossible to keep track of proper time. Plus Martha hadn’t exactly been keeping track of his eating habits for him and he’d forget.

Oh, but not Rose. They had three squares a day, either in the TARDIS or wherever they landed. Although in the last week they’d been to a total of 2 planets. And that was another thing. She was constantly keeping track of him instead of the other way around. So while he sighed and rolled his eyes quite a bit, he secretly loved it. It was nice that she was as determined to look out for him as much as he tried to look out for her. She sat down in front of him with her own stack of pancakes and dived right in with a grin. Resting his chin in his palm, looking wistfully at the marmalade, “No, Doctor.”

Sticking his lip out a bit before making a grab for the jar, “It’s my ship and I’ll-...”

She was just a hair fast since she was closer, the jar disappearing into her lap, “And I’m the one who has to put up with a hyper Doctor for 6 hours. You can’t steer the TARDIS, you can’t even sit still. Just bounce and chatter NO.”

Frowning, “I never sit still anyway.” And unconsciously he was squirming around in his seat with energy.

She shuddered at the very thought of giving him even more of an excuse to bounce off the walls, “N. O.”

His face twisted into a full on pout, “Come on, Rose...they’re so boring without a bit of something on them.” Waving and pointing in accusation, “And you have syrup on yours which is only ten times worse! Mine is just innocent fruit, water and sugar. Yours...” He jabbed a finger at her pancakes accusingly, “...is high fructose corn syrup, an evil twentieth century concoction if ever there was one.”

Not wavering as she took a bite and started chewing, “I can handle my sugar. You can’t.” He pouted and crossed his arms. She swallowed and sighed with a roll of her eyes, “Put cinnamene on it.”

Curling his lip, “It has to be sweet.” Rose rolled her eyes again, “Sides, I let you get your own way all the time.” She raised a challenging eyebrow, “Who picked the last five outings before? And got to see her mother whenever she-...um...” Rose’s slight flinch at the mention of her mother made him hesitate and he instantly felt horrible for bringing it up. He glanced down with a grimace for a moment before putting on his lost little boy expression. No grown man should be able to look so adorable, “Pretty please?”

What was he, two? She pushed past the slightly painful reminder of her mother so far away, knowing he hadn’t meant it. Raising an eyebrow and knowing if she didn’t give in a little he would be pestering her for hours. Literally, “Alright then, how much sugar can you handle?”

Puffing out his chest a bit, “Just as much as the next person.”

Raising the other and clarifying, “Before you revert to a six year old who’s just escaped from a candy store.”

He slumped and after a moment spread his forefinger and thumb an inch or so apart. She nodded and scooped out a spoonful of marmalade, giving his plate a dollop and letting him spread it how he liked. His grin was back, eagerly eating once more even if he was sure his stomach was about to explode. Finally done, he leaned back in his chair and put a hand on his full belly. Rose’s eyes strayed to the last two pancakes sitting by the stove and the Doctor knew he’d have to think fast before she forced him to eat those as well. Thankfully he was a genius, “So, where we off to today?” Rose firmed her eyes on him, distracted, “Anywhere. Anywhen. Your wish is my command.”

Thinking to herself, “I dunno...the library could use a good cleaning...”

Whining and not even trying to hide it, “Ro-ose.”

She gave him a cheeky grin, telling him she was just joking and he relaxed. Her eyes brightened, remembering he once promising her a trip to see a fantastic place that had dogs with no noses, “You promised me Barcelona.”

He’d been meaning to take her there for quite a while. Just before his regeneration in fact. His grin spread, “Brilliant!”

He bounced to his feet, full stomach forgotten, and strode for the console room, “Mum wants to see us for Christmas.”

The Doctor froze, hand on the doorframe and not turning around. He picked up that she wasn’t exactly asking permission. If anything her tone held a touch of warning, “You know-...”

Rose leaned back in her chair, not turning around either and stopping him before he could start, “Nothing’s impossible.” Typical Doctor. Just after that fabulous kiss he forgot all about what she’d said about the TARDIS changing her. Or how she’d gotten here for that matter. But she wasn’t fooled. He hadn’t forgotten. He’d just tried to pretend it hadn’t happened. Denial was the order of the day when it came to things that made him uncomfortable. And as much as he’d missed her, she also made him uncomfortable. She was more forward than he was used to. She knew what she wanted and she was brave enough to go for it, “I know how to get us there. Don’t remember the science but I still know which buttons to press and toggles to flip.” Rising and dumping the dishes in the sink, “I’m warning you now so you can prepare yourself for it.”

His voice distant and strainfully interested, obvious effort put into the question to camouflage his unease, “How is old Jackie?”

She resisted the urge to roll her eyes, “She’s fine and so is me brother, Tony...Mickey found himself a girl and Pete’s doing more of the same.”

Looking over his shoulder at her back, rubbing his ear as he sighed. She hadn’t said it but he knew she was irritated at him, “I don’t do-...”

“Domestic. Yeah, I heard you the first hundred times.” She was starting to know him too well, already prepared for his usual arguments. He’d gotten better about it with his regeneration but he’d been free of that domestic scene for a while and she knew he was trying to put it off. Turning around with her arms crossed, walking right up to him and meeting his eyes squarely, “But you love me, and for me you’ll learn again.” He opened his mouth to deny that fact and she covered his lips with her fingers, the words catching in his throat, “Don’t say something you’ll regret later, yeah? Just let it be for now. I know how you feel, even if you can’t say it yet.”

She lowered her hand and a strange look crossed his face before he turned back around. He moved a single foot before pausing, head ducking and voice near a whisper, “What if I never say it?”

A slow smile spread across her face. She’d had a lot of time to puzzle over the enigma that was the Doctor. She felt like she was one of the few people who actually understood his quirks and his fears, “You will...even if it’s just to tell me goodbye.” He whipped around to stare at her, large brown eyes impossibly wide, “You were going to say it that day but the opportunity was gone. Now you’ve got all this time, back no longer pressed to the wall and... it’s like I said. I can wait.” She reached out for his hand and after a moment of hesitation he took it, smile spreading across his face as he started to lightly bounce, “So. Barcelona.”

***

Rose groaned and eased herself down into the bath. The temperature was perfect, the bubbles were an inviting scent and the lights were dim. It was exactly what she needed at the moment. Only the Doctor could take them to a supposedly peaceful planet where nothing supposedly ever happened and stumble across an alien plot to sell the whole world as pleasure slaves.

She chuckled softly to herself, scooting down in the tub until the bubbles came to her chin, “Only him and our rotten luck...” It’s not that she minded because she didn’t. She’d long ago expected the unexpected to happen around him and she was relieved not to be stuck living a normal life.

She’d gotten into her usual amount of trouble (she was jeopardy friendly after all), the Doctor made a big speech and the bad guys had been sorted out so maybe their luck wasn’t so horrible. He’d even taken her shopping, showing her that Barcelona really was brilliant (they really did have dogs with no noses). Back to normal. Too much back to normal. She hadn’t noticed it at first but the Doctor had fallen back on their old friendship like a security blanket, completely ignoring anything not strictly platonic.

Blowing lightly on the white fizziness around her, “What you so afraid of...?” The door opened with a crash, Rose yelping and hands reflexively going to cover her breasts though she paused halfway through the motion to see the Doctor with his usual manic smile and running his mouth a mile a minute. Tilting her head a little, “Doctor?”

He was completely oblivious to his surroundings, just jabbering away while sitting on the closed toilet seat, waving his hands around every so often, “...I was thinking we could take a trip to the Black Nebula. We-ell, we couldn’t actually go into the Black Nebula. Kill us in an instant, after all. But there are quite a few planets...” Back when she’d first started traveling with him they’d had a discussion of personal space since he seemed to have no concept of it. She’d been startled awake at three in the morning more than once by his previous regeneration until she’d taken to chucking stuffed animals at him. Looks like his next regeneration didn’t either. She sighed and got up, knowing that a few suds would hardly cover her, reaching for a towel and completely ignoring that his musings had ground to a stunned halt. His half squeak caught her attention, “Rose?”

She could feel the blush on her skin, telling anyone with eyes she was not nearly as cool and collected as she pretended. He could see everything. She knew it and now he knew that she knew. But she firmed her chin and grasped for courage with both hands. She looked him dead in the eye as her blush faded and raised a challenging eyebrow as she wrapped the towel round herself, “If you didn’t want a show, you shouldn’t barge in when I’m naked.” She wasn’t embarrassed anymore and his gaping jaw more than amused her. And she saw it. His eyes darkened to liquid pools of want an instant before he turned with a stuttered apology and fled the room. Maybe she should have given him a longer flash. Or snogged him. She stood there for a moment, arms crossing over her chest as she puzzled through his reactions. Deciding that just standing around wasn’t going to solve anything, she slipped into her bedroom for a change of clothes. With resolve, she was going to corner that man and get the answers she wanted, one way or another.