Raspberry Rose

Rose hadn’t felt so emotionally and physically drained in a very long time. She answered the officer’s questions the best she could, but slowly, the task of thinking and remembering being too trying for her at the moment. All she wanted was to be left alone and to find the Doctor.

It had been hours since she had last seen him–long, hopeless, devastating hours. The last she saw of him, he had been brutally knocked unconscious during an ambush, and she had no idea whether or not he was alright.

What if he’s injured? she thought. Or regenerating? Such concerns had plagued her all night.

Just when she thought the officer would never be done asking questions, he put away his notepad and declared her dismissed. Relieved, she wearily made her way out of the building to the front patio, where the three criminals that had caused the chaos of the night were being securely bound and lead into prison cars. And standing among the group of officers, with dark, scalding eyes trained on the law-breakers, was the Doctor, alive and well.

Swallowing the urge to call out and run to him, Rose instead smiled with all the relief that was coursing through her, tears stinging her eyes. There had been times during the night when she had thought she would never see him again. His composure was one she had seen often, his entire countenance formed by dark feelings of disgust, malignity–vengeance. His gaze was locked steadily on the three criminals, and even from where she stood, Rose could see the hate seeping out of him. She wondered what he had gone through the last few hours, what he had to endure, what he had seen–did he even know that she was there? That she had been rescued and was still alive?

Suddenly, his eyes were on her. The harshness in his features instantly slackened into an expression of complete disbelief, the shadows in his eyes vanishing away with a glistening brightness that made her insides twist and melt, her skin prickling.

Before she even knew what was happening, he was sweeping her up into a twirling, clinging hug, his face buried in her hair. Rose couldn’t keep in the squeal of laughter, joy, relief and love all building up inside her she could barely contain it. She squeezed him back fiercely–her injured, and recently bandaged, arm screaming in painful protest–but she ignored it.

Once the Doctor finally stopped spinning her around, he simply clung to her, his arms locked in place around her waist, keeping her feet off the ground and pressed firmly to his chest. “Rose...” he sighed against her neck.

Not knowing how to put into words all she wanted to say to him, and feeling a bit too shy to even try, Rose merely bit down on her lip as she continued to grin and relished the absolute warm feeling of being held so protectively in his arms. It wasn’t until a few minutes later that he finally set her back down and loosened his hold. Hands still placed on her hips, almost as if too afraid to let her go, he stared intently into her eyes.

He opened his mouth soundlessly in attempt to speak. The look of despair flashing in his eyes took her breath away and made her cheeks burn slightly–she had never seen such emotion from him. Not like this.

“Rose, I –” He stopped, swallowed, then asked, “Are you alright? Did they do anything to you? Did they...” His voice dropped out and his eyes burned with a mix of utter pain and protectiveness. His fingers tightened around her hips as he watched her intently.

Shaking her head, Rose replied, “No, no, I’m fine. Nothing happened.”

“But I...I saw blood,” he told her, his voice laced with the horror of that memory. “I thought...Maybe...” His voice dropped down to a whisper, so intimate and desperate it made her shiver. “I thought you might be d–” He didn’t allow himself to finish, snapping his mouth shut and swallowing hard. “You’re sure you’re alright?”

She nodded, then gestured to her arm. “Tripped and got caught on one of those metal crates. Probably what you saw the blood from.”

He looked over the bandage on her upper arm briefly, a frown set firmly on his mouth. Shifting his gaze back to her, he murmured, “I’m sorry this happened. I never...I didn’t think...This planet’s not supposed to be...It’s never been dangerous here before. Least not when I’ve been here.”

Offering him a reassuring smile, she shrugged it off. “Normal for us, yeah? Gotten used to it. Besides, we came through alright. We always do. And it’s not your fault.”

The Doctor didn’t look so convinced, his dark chocolate eyes set firmly on hers, unwavering and unblinking. One of his hands moved away from her waist to her face and he carefully brushed her hair back, revealing a large bruise darkening her forehead. His frown deepened and he tenderly grazed his fingertips over the swell. Rose winced under the touch, her skin stinging in irritation.

His eyes dropped down to her mouth and his lips parted; he was close enough that she could feel the soft puffs of his warm breath hushing over her skin and she hoped he couldn’t feel her trembling. Her breath snagged in her chest and she waited, watching him carefully. His eyelids lowered slightly as he leaned in a bit more and he grazed his fingertips down her temple to her cheekbone.

“Ice cream!” he declared suddenly, snapping back away from her and flashing his usual brilliant grin.

Rose blinked in both confusion and disappointment. “What?”

“Ice cream!” he repeated. “Always makes everything better! And this planet has fantastic ice cream, Rose! You have to try it! One of the reasons I brought you here in the first place! To try the ice cream!” He took her hand in his and began leading her down the pathway through the courtyard. “Well, it’s not really ice cream, not like you lot have on Earth. But it’s similar enough.”

Shaking herself out of her daze from the intense moment just before, she managed a teasing smile at him. “And this ice cream’s good enough to come all the way to this planet for?”

“Oh, definitely!” he beamed.

They strolled in comfortable silence for a few minutes, hand in hand, on their way to the ice cream parlor. Rose watched their feet as they walked, smiling at the way the Doctor’s coat swayed around his legs, and almost giggled at the fresh squeak his new trainers were making.

“Maybe we should get in more trouble, Doctor,” she suggested. “Your trainers need breaking in. They’re squeaking like mice.”

“Oi!” he looked at her with a frown. “They’re brand new! Give ‘em a chance!” She giggled at him and he asked, “Don’t you like ‘em? I think they’re quite dandy!” He grinned fondly down at his new red sneakers.

“I fancy ‘em, yeah,” she approved, then tugged on his blue suit coat lapel and added, “Go nicely with the suit.”

“Not a bit too loud, you don’t think?” he asked quite seriously. “Stand-outish?”

Rose snorted in laughter. “Since when have you cared about being noticed?”

“Well, nobody wants to draw too much attention. That’s just awkward.” He wrinkled his nose at the prospect.

“You don’t ever seem to be uncomfortable when you get a lot of attention,” she pointed out.

“Who said anything about me?” he blinked. “I’m just thinking of your own welfare.”

Rose gasped and punched him playfully in the arm, to which he merely grinned in response.

“So it’s alright then?”

“Yeah,” Rose said, looking him up and down. “I like it. Looks good on you. Gonna keep with the brown one though, yeah?”

“Do you want me to?” He was staring at her curiously, a hint of seriousness in his eyes.

“Yeah,” she answered honestly, softly. She smiled shyly. “Like that one too.”

“Then I will,” he resolved with a smile.

Once they finally reached the ice cream parlor, the Doctor bought a cone of raspberry ice cream for Rose. He didn’t get any for himself, explaining that he didn’t want to risk getting any on his new blue suit.

Hand in hand once again, the pair returned to their casual exploration of the local parks and courtyards as Rose ate her ice cream.

“Mmm this is delicious,” she purred, taking a large lick of the pink cream.

“I knew you’d like it,” the Doctor beamed proudly.

“Are you sure you don’t want any?” Rose held out the cone in front of him, tilting it in offering.

Just as the Doctor opened his mouth to make a response, the clump of ice cream slid off the cone and landed with a gooey splat right on his shoe.

“Ohhhh!” the Doctor moaned, looking truly put out. “Right on my new trainers!”

Rose bit down on her lip, trying to suppress a smile. “Sorry, Doctor. Guess it’s a bit melted from the sun.”

The frown on his face was so deep that Rose felt a pang of guilt, feeling genuinely bad for him. She had no idea that he cared so much for the appearance of his clothes.

“Pink doesn’t look very good with burgundy,” he stated in observation. He gave his foot a good shake in attempt to free it of the ice cream clump.

Pulling out a wad of napkins that she had gotten at the ice cream parlor, Rose knelt down in front of him. “Gimme your foot. I’ll try to get some out.”

“Er...Rose, you don’t have to–”

Grabbing his foot, she pulled it in closer. She carefully lifted his pant-leg out of the way and began dabbing at the gooey splotch with the napkins. “It won’t stain. Just gotta throw ‘em in the wash.”

He gave no response, remaining completely silent and still. Normally he would be talking up a storm, complaining about his new shoes being ruined or blabbering on about the odd mix of pink and burgundy colors, even tease her about cleaning his trainers. But he didn’t speak a word–she had never seen him so quiet.

Just as she was going to inquire about his silence, strong fingers clasped around her arm in a firm grip and hastily pulled her up to her feet. The instant she was upright, warm lips pressed in against her mouth. The kiss wasn’t chaste, but it wasn’t too insistent either. It was only deep enough for his tongue to flicker across her top lip, tugging gently. It ended before Rose even knew it had happened; she had hardly realized she was on her feet before it was over. Yet despite it being the shortest snog she had ever received, it left her feeling dazed and breathless.

The Doctor leaned back slowly, his breath rushing out over her mouth, and he lethargically opened his eyes. Half-lidded, he started at her, the chocolate orbs of his eyes darkened with a smoldering look that made her stomach melt into a hot puddle. Almost immediately, his eyes widened, realization flashing in them, and he pulled his hands away as he took a step back.

Rose was struggling to find her voice, to collect her thoughts, wanting to break the ice that had suddenly captured them. The possibility that he might be regretting it stung her like poison.

“Hmm,” the Doctor hummed thoughtfully, his eyebrow arching ponderously, as he ran his tongue over his lips. “You taste like raspberry.”

A searing blush rushed to her cheeks and she couldn’t bring her mind to function properly.

“Raspberry Rose!” he suddenly declared, excitement lighting up his features. “Now there’s a nickname for you! Only, roses don’t taste anything like raspberry. They don’t taste good at all, actually. Taste like...well, flowers. Gross ones. They might smell nice but they definitely are not something you want to eat.”

Finally finding her voice, Rose tried to interject. “Doctor–”

“And that’s rather rubbish of me to call a rose a raspberry,” he went on. “That’s not even possible. It can’t be both a raspberry and a rose.”

“Doctor?” she tried again, beginning to smile at his rambling. It was something she’d always found incredibly adorable, even when it was just annoying that he’d do it when he was embarrassed or didn’t want to linger on something. Like now.

“But Raspberry Rose does sound nice,” he continued. Not once had he let his eyes fall on hers, darting in every other direction. “Has a bit of a ring to it, don’t you think? Of course, I couldn’t use it since it’s so technically incorrect and just unreasonable. Bit sticky, too. The ice cream, that is. And roses and raspberries aren’t sticky either. Mind you, sticky’s not so bad. But when I say that I don’t mean it’s not bad on shoes.” He stuck out his foot and wiggled it around as he wrinkled his nose. “Don’t like sticky on my trainers. Did I ever tell you about that time when–”

Seeing that he wasn’t planning on stopping any time soon, Rose gave up on allowing him to get back to the point, and took matters into her own hands. Stepping in against him, she took hold of his tie and roughly pulled him in for a good, thorough snog. Clearly she had taken him by surprise, but much to her relief, he didn’t pull back. But she didn’t allow him enough time to respond, either, as much as she wanted to.

Yanking back from his mouth, she opened her eyes to look at him, pleased to find him looking utterly dazed.

“Doctor?” she grinned.

“Y-yes, Rose?” he breathed, blinking a few times to regain something of his composure.

She tugged teasingly on his tie and glanced at his mouth again. “Jus’ shut up.”


Fin