Chapter 3 - Good Morning

Rose woke reluctantly, her previous nightmares about the Wire having been replaced by dreams of the Doctor. Wonderful dreams.

They were really married. Oh, she didn't entertain any notion of white picket fences or any of that nonsense. No, it was just she and the Doctor, roaming the universe, hand in hand. But they belonged to each other.

Rose opened her eyes, seeing the Doctor clearly in the light of her bedside lamp. He looked so peaceful. He still held her, just the way she'd fallen asleep. She couldn't remember the last time she'd slept that comfortably. She'd been partly wrapped in his arms when they'd visited Stonehenge, too, but their mattress had been made of straw. This was much better.

And she could almost still feel his kiss. She bit her lip guiltily at the thought; she'd practically stolen it from him, tricked him into it. She'd just been so desperate to feel - to feel him. She reached up, gently brushing his hair from his eyes. To her surprise, his eyes were immediately open.

"Sorry, didn't mean to wake you," she said, withdrawing her hand.

"Wasn't sleeping," he said, touching her face. "Didn't wanna wake you."

Rose smiled, bringing her hand back up, mirroring his position. What she'd give to lie like this, with him, every morning. Maybe he'd be willing to, just as friends. But, oh, how she wanted more.

"Feeling better?" the Doctor asked.

"Yeah, much," she answered honestly. "You?"

He smiled a brilliant smile, reached up for her hand, and pulled it to his lips. He placed a gentle kiss to her knuckles, then rolled out of the bed. "Oh, much, much, much," he said, coming to his feet.

So, he was either happy about what had happened, or he was going to pretend that nothing had happened - most likely the latter. Possibly both...

He reached for his shoes and tried to put them on while standing next to the bed, hopping slightly in place. "You, Rose Tyler, are going to get yourself ready for a day of fun-filled exploration. No more attempts at concerts. I'm going to make you breakfast, and then we're going off into the unknown. How does that sound?"

"Wonderful," she replied.

With that, he grabbed his jacket and tie and was off. Rose was glad she'd suppressed her comment about how domestic his making her breakfast sounded. She'd pushed enough boundaries last night. They were friends, best friends. And no matter what, she was never gonna leave him, and he'd promised the same to her.

She smiled as she climbed out of her bed. She wasn't about to tell him, but that actually sounded pretty "married" to her.

The end.

Of course, that darn "Impossible Planet" is looming ahead of them. Hmm.

Tune in next time for, "02 09 Gravity Schmavity". (If you have prompts for "The Impossible Planet", I'm considering finally writing a story for that episode, and could use the help...)