InsaneJournal

The Doctor pulled his head sharply back when Rose came careening out of the TARDIS, and put his hands out to catch her if need be, though she seemed steady enough. Just her normal, spunky self, who he was starting to get used to having around again. Not that it was a trial at all, but it had been a long time, for him, since she'd been around in any sort of real capacity.

"You look lovely," he praised, grinning down at her and covering her hand through his as she hung on his arm, just as she'd used to. It hurt his heart to think of the past, but the Doctor had made a decision about the future. It was his. He was stuck here, and damn it, he was going to take advantage of his stationary life, at least once. And that once, as far as he was concerned, was given up entirely to Rose.

The Doctor made a face as he heard what she was talking about. "That doesn't count and you bloody well know it," he laughed, shaking his head at her. "Been to the year five-billion, halfway around the universe, and a G-force machine gets her excited," he sighed, clicking his tongue as he started to lead her toward the carnival.

"So what first, Miss Tyler?" he asked with a grin. "Food, rides, games?" he prodded. This was about her, and he was doing his best to make that clear.

"Yeah, but looking back on it...No wait," the Doctor frowned, remembering seeing Rose all blank and unresponsive. "Never mind, still not anything good," he admitted, shaking his head and dislodging his arm from her grasp to put it around her shoulders, tucking her next to his side where she was safe. He wasn't going to lose her again, if it killed him.

The Doctor laughed at her perfect day scenario and grinned. "I think we've done that once or twice," he deadpanned. Looking ahead in their path, the Doctor groaned. Bumper cars. And from the looks of them, they appeared to be made for midgets. Or at least, not Time Lords with legs. "You are evil," he complained, but went on with her anyway.

It was just as bad as he'd expected. Getting into one of the cars was like trying to fit in a shoe box, and the Doctor's knees were up around his ears, but he managed it. "You're finished, Tyler!" he hollered across the range, aiming his car for the front of hers.

"I'm just glad you never talked me into letting you at the controls," he shot back, shaking his head as he ran laughing after her. Just like old times.

The Doctor let out a groaned "Oooooh!" at her taunting, and slammed his foot down as best as he could on the gas, gunning after her. But, these cars were way too slow. And really, that was no fun. Digging in his pocket, the Doctor pulled out his sonic screwdriver and aimed it at the dashboard, flipping the setting. A second later, it was shoved back in his pocket and he rocketed after her, going far faster than the recommended speed limit.

His car hit the tail end of hers, spinning it around a good three-hundred and sixty degrees, and then cackled as he sped away. She was going to kill him, but that was alright.

Sneaky little humans. The Doctor definitely hadn't seen her coming, he was too busy trying to knock a goblin out of its car in retaliation for being stuck here in the first place. Not that Rose wasn't a huge upside to that, but he still liked having a working TARDIS, just in case.

"Yeah, you did," he laughed. Their ride was over, so the Doctor clambered out of his car, which took a lot more time and a lot less grace than he would have liked, and then offered a hand to Rose to help her out of her own bumper car.

"I want chips," he insisted, tucking her under his arm again and leading her toward the concession stands. Standing in line with her, the Doctor turned his face into her hair for a second, breathing her in. "Sometimes, I still can't believe you're actually here," he admitted. "I think, I'll blink and you'll be gone."

He knew about all that, of course, given that he was not only filled in on some finer, more final points by Donna after she'd been done with her own alternate reality, but well, he was from Rose's future. He knew how it all panned out. How she got the half human version of the Doctor, and he ended up, yet again, alone. But he couldn't think about that. Not here, where none of it seemed to matter as much.

The Doctor was meant to be alone. To not love, to not have a normal life. But here, just maybe...

He looked down at Rose and cupped her chin in his hand, turning her face up to his. "I'm here now. We're together again, and we're all safe. And Rose..." he brought his lips to her ear, just as he'd watched his alter-self do on that damned beach.

"What can I get you?" the gruff goblin voice interrupted him, and the Doctor shot the goblin a look that could have struck him dead where he stood. "Chips."

The Doctor was right in line with Rose's thinking. Death to the goblins. Immediately, if not sooner. How many times now had he been interrupted when trying to confess to Rose how he felt about her? Far too bloody many, as far as he was concerned.

But, he'd, hopefully, have another chance, and so smiled down at Rose as she recounted what they both fondly referred to as their 'first date'. "What can I say? I know how to show a woman a good time," he grinned cheekily, for a moment, reminding anyone that knew him of Jack, and then lead Rose over to a bit of grass somewhat away from the ruckus. He took off his trench coat and spread it out in the grass, just like he'd done on New Earth, now that he thought about it, and then sat down, taking the chips from her so that she could do the same.

"Flowers, huh?" he mused, sticking a chip in his mouth and then shoving his hands in his suit jacket pockets, riffling around in the space that never seemed to end, and always held the most random things you could think of. Time Lord technology, after all. Then he pulled out a single red rose and grinned, twirling it around in front of her face. "A rose for a Rose."

The Doctor grinned at Rose's reaction to his little magic trick and shrugged. She'd clearly been away too long if she wasn't still used to him pulling random things from his pockets. That was going to have to change.

"I do miss that," the Doctor chuckled, pulling up a stalk of grass and sniffing it before tossing it aside. He leaned back on one elbow, getting comfortable and cozy with her right next to him like she was supposed to be, and shoved another chip in his mouth. "I don't miss having Cassandra hanging out inside you. Or inside me, for that matter," he said with a wrinkle of his nose.

After eating another couple chips, the Doctor twisted on his hip and laid down, with his head in Rose's lap, looking up at her with his standard cheeky, far too pleased with himself grin. "Hi."

The Doctor grinned, his mind following the same track hers had gone, and so he was fairly confident about what that blush was about. "While it was nice to know that I still had it, I would have rather it been you," he admitted, reaching up to tug on a lock of her hair.

He opened his mouth for the chip, taking it out of her fingers with his teeth, and then chewed idly, far more interested in the feeling of her fingers snaking through his hair. Time Lord or not, he was male, and loved being petted. Particularly by Rose.

The Doctor's eyes flew open at her question and he almost came up off of her lap before she explained her question. She wasn't second guessing him, which was nice, not that he'd made any sort of intentions known to second guess, but still. It had given him a bit of a panic.

"No idea," he said, settling with a little shrug and snatching up another chip to pop in his mouth. "I think that everything is pretty much at the whim of this Jareth guy. We'll have to go on a roller coaster or two tonight though, just in case." While he talked, his ungreasy hand was wrapped around her knee, hanging on to her, like he was worried that just the weight of his head in her lap wouldn't keep her from being ripped from his side again.

The Doctor chuckled. "Oh, the scrambler ride is a given, didn't you realise that?" he teased, shaking his head a little at her remembrance of one of their many encounters with less than savoury races. "I still think the funniest thing was when you got a whole whack of spit in your face," he admitted, and then rolled quickly to avoid getting smacked. It had been so long ago, and yet the Doctor couldn't help but cherish those memories. They were so much happier than the later ones.

Laying on his stomach now, the Doctor propped his chin up on his hand and ran a finger along Rose's knee in a thoughtfully idle pattern.

When he looked at her again, there was a serious, but hopeful look on his face, and he sat up, sitting close to her. "Why were you trying to find me, Rose?" he asked quietly. "Not the dimensions breaking down...before that."

She'd missed the life. Even though the first thing she said had been about missing him, the vast majority of it...They all loved the life, even when they left it of their own volition. They loved the danger, the terror, the majesty of it all. And the Doctor, well, he was a free ride. You'd think after as many years as he'd been bouncing around the universe with his companions, he'd be used to it.

But it was Rose, and so it was different.

What she'd said on that beach, clearly, had been something that she was sure she was never going to have to live up to. Something that would never be called into court. Something that she never really expected him to return, despite what had happened the second time around. He should have known better.

Sitting back, the Doctor shoved a couple of chips in his mouth and leaned his elbows on his bent knees, hanging his hands between them, looking out blankly at the amusement park. And somehow, now that he knew it wasn't returned, for as unfair as it was, he was able to say it. But that was his life. Pain and loneliness. And one of these days, he'd square with that.

"I love you, Rose."

The Doctor watched her shadow in the fading light and closed his eyes when he saw her form freeze, unable to look at her. Instead, he just plucked a blade of grass from the ground between his feet and twirled it around in his finger tips, focusing on the world around him. The ability to see the past, the present, and the future, and what made up everything in the universe. That was his life, that was the weight on his shoulders. That was something that she could never share.

Rose's sputtering, normally, would have amused him to no end, and would have been enough for hours worth of teasing and mocking. But right then, it only hurt. She couldn't even respond to his admission like an adult. But what had he expected?

The Doctor shrugged. "Well we're all with the reminiscing and the like, and I know where you stand, so don't worry about it, but I figured it was only fair to get it out there. Sorry that it makes you uncomfortable."

Okay, so he'd thought this through. He'd thought, like he usually did, of every possible outcome, and weighed his options. One thing he had never expected, however, was for her to start screaming at him. Screaming and declarations of affection generally didn't go together. At least, not that kind of screaming, anyway.

"I...da...It was...I was trying to lighten the mood!" he finally got out edgewise through her ranting. Okay, so it had been a bit stupid of him, but she wasn't the only one that had been wrestling with a breaking heart on that beach. At least she'd only done it once.

The Doctor let out an 'oomph' of air when she attacked him, and looked up at Rose - not like she'd dribbled on her shirt - but like she'd lost her damn mind. "Whatdja do that--"

For a second, he just lay there with her lips working over his before his brain caught up with what was happening. Then his arms were around her and he was returning that kiss with everything he had in him, holding her as close as he possibly could, not caring if all the universe had assembled to watch them making out. She tasted so sweet, so pure, that the thought of losing that, even for a moment to catch his breath, was heartbreaking.

When the kiss broke, the Doctor's bottom lip pushed out in a little pout before he grinned up at her. That was not like Cassandra's kiss, the only thing he had to go off of as far as wondering what it would be like to kiss Rose. It was a thousand, trillion times better, and if she never left the circle of his arms again, it would be too soon.

One hand's worth of fingers combed through her hair, ran along the line of her jaw, investigated the curves of her face, as if he were memorizing her, and all the while through her rambling, that same cheeky grin that had always driven her a little bonkers was on his face. The Doctor wasn't entirely sure that he'd ever stop smiling, as a matter of fact.

"I'm glad all the same," he assured her, leaning up to press a kiss to the tip of her nose, shifting to get his legs out from under him and into a way less awkward position than what they'd been pushed into. But still, he kept Rose on top of him, holding her close with one arm wrapped tightly around her waist, his hand coming to rest on her cheek as he stared into the eyes he loved so much.

"Tell me again, Rose?" he almost begged. He needed to hear it without the tears, without the pressure.

Hearing her say those words was like nothing that the Doctor had ever experienced, not in all the universe, not in over nine hundred years. It was like a part of him that he thought long gone and broken, had been put back together and replaced. His arm around her waist tightened and he closed his eyes, drawing her face down to his for another kiss, his hand going into that hair that had haunted him for so long.

"Bahhh," the Doctor complained, making a face up at her and shaking his head. "I've been hit by more mothers..." he grumbled, shaking his head. It was always the mothers, no matter what he did, or what his relationship was with their daughters...Always the mothers. Then again, with Jackie, he couldn't decide which was worse. When she hit him, or when she kissed him.

They lay there for a few more minutes, and then the Doctor grinned, shifting and dumping Rose off of him, looking down at her now as she was pitched onto her back. "Come on, Rose. Let's go ride some coasters," he suggested. He needed to move, needed to yell recklessly, needed to run. Pulling her to her feet, he threw his coat back on and shoved their trash into one of the pockets before grabbing her hand, kissing her quickly, and then running full-tilt back toward the park.

The Doctor scoffed away her worries and skid to a stop in line, Rose's hand still in his own. For just a minute, he could pretend that he was human, and that this could actually work out happily. He could pretend that he had one life to live, and he could spend it with Rose. He could pretend that their happiness wasn't a soap bubble; ready to break open into nothing at any second.

Pulling Rose in front of him, the Doctor pressed his chest to her back and wrapped his arms around her waist, burying his face in her sweet smelling hair and breathing her in. He couldn't let himself think about all that would happen, all that time would do to them. He couldn't let himself mood swing her into anger and resentment. He wanted to be happy, damn it, and after nine hundred years and countless planets, galaxies and races saved, it was his turn.

It was their turn before he knew it, and the Doctor walked behind Rose, not letting go of her until he actually had to, and then climbed in the coaster after her, pulling down the safety harnesses and making sure that she wasn't going to fall out. Because that would be so Rose, and he was far too happy to have a near death anything. He didn't even want a near bruise experience today.

The Doctor chuckled and wrapped his arms around her as well, liking the feeling of Rose sitting in front of him in his lap, safe and sound. "Yeah, but I'll bounce right back. You won't. So you're staying safe," he insisted, brushing her hair aside with one hand to press a soft, tender kiss to her neck.

Of course, that being said, the first thing he did when they went down the first hill was let go of her - with one hand - to throw his arm up in the air recklessly. He didn't scream, just laughed as they whipped around turns and went down embankments, holding on to Rose securely with one arm and reveling in the satisfaction of things finally being the way they were supposed to be. For the first time in hundreds of years, he was completely content.

The ride started to wind down, and the Doctor chuckled suddenly and leaned forward a bit to rest his chin on Rose's shoulder. "I wonder what Jack will say..." he smirked.

The Doctor got out, all arms and legs and awkwardness again, and then brushed himself off, not even noticing that his hair had gotten to the point that it usually did when he was upset or thinking very hard. That is to say, it was everywhere. He didn't follow, but walked next to Rose with his hands shoved in his pockets and a cheesy grin on his face, bouncing on the toes of his trainers with every step. He was a happy Doctor, that was for sure.

"Neither, actually. I was wondering what he'd have to say about the time and dimension flux in this place. I mean with the landscape changing and the goblins..." he trailed off, clearly teasing her, and bumped her with his elbow. "Yes, us, you dumbo," he said, and then made a face. "Blimey, I sound like Donna."

Shaking that off and the bad feelings that came with it, the Doctor looked around. "What's next, Rose?" he asked, bouncing again. "Just no more bumper cars, I beg you."