Chapter 3

The last time Rose had the dream, she woke up to find the Doctor asleep beside her. She smiled at how peaceful and beautiful he looked, and began to trace the lines of his features just as she had once done so long ago when he wore a different face. She leaned down and kissed him passionately until he woke up and began to kiss her back.

"Not that I'm complaining, because that really is a brilliant way to wake up, Rose Tyler, but what was that for?" The Doctor asked her through a haze of arousal.

Rose smiled in amusement at the thoroughly snogged look on his face. "I had that dream again. The one about the building, yeah?"

The Doctor started kissing her neck and mumbled against her collarbone. "Yes, how could I forget? But do you really want to talk about that now? I can think of loads of other things I'd rather be doing." He sucked her right ear lobe into his mouth and tried to kiss her again but she pulled away from him.

"Doctor, not now. Please? I want to tell you about my dream. I think I finally understand why I keep having it." Rose said excitedly.

The Doctor sighed in resignation and sat up next to her. "Oh alright. So what do you think it means then?"

Rose bit her bottom lip and considered her words carefully. "I keep forgetting that you're not human, and that you're bigger and more important than any of us." He opened his mouth to protest but she put her finger over his lips to keep him from speaking. "Just listen for a minute, okay? I've been stupid. I keep wanting more from you even though I've never been brave enough to ask for it. I can face down daleks, cybermen, and a werewolf with barely a flinch but when it comes to talking about us…well, I guess you and I are the same in that way." He nodded sadly in agreement. "The thing is, I realized that the building is totally safe, yeah? But it terrifies me. There's nothing there, nothing at all. I feel suffocated and stuck, and just sort of like I can't breathe. And outside there's all of this chaos, and darkness, and danger but there's also beauty, and wonder, and love."

She stood up from the bed and began to pace a little bit. "What I realized in the dream this time is that all of that, well it is basically you. 'S not profound or anything because when I think about it, it's pretty obvious really." She paused for a few seconds to look at him and saw a strange expression on his face, but he didn't try to interrupt her. "Anyway, I finally found a way out of the building. I made it to the top and I sort of sprouted wings and flew to the TARDIS." She laughed then. "Imagine me as a bird? I could really wander off then." He smiled a little at that but he still looked tentative. "The reason I woke you up to tell you all this, is because I need you to understand that I know who you are, and I've seen what you're capable of, and I'm not going anywhere. You think that I am going to decide one day that I want the safety and security of four walls and a mortgage, but that's never gonna happen. Knowing you has changed me forever Doctor, and I could never go back to that. Not even if something ever happened to split us up. So please stop trying to protect me from whatever it is you think I need protecting from."

The Doctor looked like he was at war with a part of himself as he stood up and stepped in front of her. Then he seemed to come to some sort of decision, and his face gradually broke into the huge grin that Rose had always loved. Along with his eyes, it was one of the things about him that reminded her that he was still the same Doctor that she met in the basement at Henrik's, so long ago.

"You are brilliant, you know that Rose Tyler? I kept telling you that the dream didn't mean anything but look at you making connections that I didn't see." He beamed at her proudly.

Rose gave him a little smile in response but didn't say anything. She felt a small amount of satisfaction at his pride in her despite the hint of condescension in his words.

"I can't promise that I will stop wanting to keep you safe." The Doctor continued. "But I need you to know that you've changed me too. You have saved me in more ways than you could possibly understand. I've never let myself get this close to a companion, or anyone else really. I'm complete rubbish at talking about anything that matters, but I'll try to learn if you'll be patient with me. I'm over 900 years old and I know, well, pretty much everything. Weeell, not everything but I am more brilliant than just about anyone." He boasted, and Rose cleared her throat. "Anyway, my point is that while I know almost everything, I don't know anything about this -" He waved his hands back and forth to indicate the two of them. "And that terrified me, so I ran like I've always done. But I'm not running anymore." He swallowed and looked at Rose with more vulnerability than she had ever seen in him.

Rose placed her hands on his shoulders and looked up at him. "Doctor, I've been running too and I think you and me we'll always run, but as long as we do it together, we'll be okay." She shrugged then as if to say there was nothing more she could add to the subject, and moved in to kiss him again.

The kiss turned from gentle, to rough and passionate within moments. They reluctantly broke away from one another and slowly began to remove their clothes. Completely naked together for the first time, they took a few moments to just stare.

"You're beautiful Rose. I should have told you that a long time ago." The Doctor whispered reverently.

"You are too, I've always thought so." Rose said.

"Even when I had that daft old face with the big ears?" He asked her with mock disbelief.

"Especially then." She teased him with a tongue-touched smile.

He pretended to be offended for a few moments but then looked at her tenderly. "Rose Tyler, I think you would think me beautiful no matter what I looked like, but you have to admit that I am rather dashing in this body."

She smiled at him and touched his face. "Yes, rather dashing. And you're right I would probably think that no matter what but I'm definitely not in a hurry for you to change again. Now Doctor? Shut up and kiss me again please."

The Doctor licked his lips and raked his eyes over her body as he moved to obey her command. He brought his lips down to her shoulder blade, and slowly snaked his tongue down to her breasts. He lavished light and sucking kisses over each nipple until he was satisfied that they had received enough attention, and then moved back up to kiss her neck. Rose began to feel tortured under his touches, but she felt helpless to deny him this tender exploration. Finally, he brought his lips back to hers and she met them eagerly. Their kiss turned frantic as they both explored one another's bodies with increasingly urgent caresses.

The Doctor walked Rose to the bed and pushed her gently onto the mattress. He moved to lie on top of her and dropped his forehead to hers as he lined his erection up with her entrance. Rose opened her eyes, and was startled by the love she saw reflected back at her. In all the times that they had been intimate, he had never looked as open to her as he did in that moment. She muttered a desperate "please," and he nodded before gradually entering her. Once he was sheathed inside of her completely, he paused for a few seconds before beginning to move.

He made love to her slowly and reverently, almost painfully so, until she couldn't stand it anymore and pleaded with him to move faster. She met each of his thrusts and began to feel her orgasm build as they increased the pace. They both found their release at the same time, and Rose felt completely overwhelmed by the power of the emotions that accompanied it. The Doctor pushed his forehead against hers again, and gave her a lingering kiss before moving to collapse next to her on the bed. Rose turned her head to the side so that he couldn't see the tears forming in her eyes. He noticed anyway, and grasped her chin to turn her face so that she was looking at him.

He gently kissed her tears away. "Blimey, you know how to give a bloke a complex. Was it that bad, then?" He joked.

Rose laughed. "No, that was amazing. I'm sorry. It's just, no one's ever made love to me like that. I think you've ruined me for other men forever."

"Good." He smiled cheekily at her, and pulled her into his arms so that her head was pillowed on his naked chest.

Even though Rose knew that she had given him that last little piece of herself that she had been so afraid to lose, she felt more complete than she ever had, as she was lulled to sleep by the sound of his beating hearts against her ear. The next day she woke up to find the Doctor still there. She knew he wouldn't be able to sit still for that long every time, but the fact that he had intuitively understood how important it was that he be there this once made her love him just a little bit more.