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“What the hell is all this?”
Rose turned from the library fireplace, where she was draping the mantel in pine garland. Jack peeked around from the large evergreen, where he was carefully placing multicolored fairy lights.
“We’re decoratin’,” Rose announced.
The Doctor crossed his arms, his brow furrowed. “Why?”
Jack jumped up from where he’d been crouching and sang, with a surprisingly strong voice, “Because she needs a little Christmas...right this very minute, candles in the window, carols at the Spinnet…” He danced over to a laughing Rose, taking her by the hand and spinning her around.
“Can it,” the Doctor groused as his companions danced, now both singing. Rose had a great voice as well, harmonizing with the not-Captain, and no, he wasn’t experiencing Captain Envy as he repeated himself, this time bellowing.
Rose and Jack’s voices cut off, surprised by the Doctor’s vehemence. They stared at him, still holding hands, their arms still around each other.
Jack quipped, “Whoa, Doc. Who put a sonic up your…”
“What the hell is all this? Who gave you permission to decorate my ship like this? I don’t do domestics, and the same goes for my guests!” The Doctor wasn’t exactly sure why he was being such a git about it. Quite honestly, he was starting to annoy himself. But before he could examine any of that, Rose was giving him a look of anger that reminded him that she was indeed Jackie Tyler’s daughter.
Rose let go of Jack and strode over to him, determined. “We’re havin’ some Christmas Christmas, Scrooge. I wanted some Christmas. And as soon I mentioned it to Jack, boxes of decorations and a tree appeared. So if you’re wonderin’ just who gave us…” She made air quotes, “‘ permission’ to decorate this room, I would reckon it was the TARDIS. If you don’t like it, you got legs. Walk past the door.”
The Doctor blinked. In the absence of an actual strike, she’d managed to administer a verbal Tyler slap. The TARDIS’ hum changed to a deep, threatening bubble as if to confirm Rose’s suspicions.
Jack let out a breath he’d been holding, watching the pair of them. “I have gingerbread biscuits in the oven, and I best get them out before they burn. And I need to leave you two alone before the sexual tension between you sets fire to the Christmas tree.” He smirked, pointing at the sprig of mistletoe above his head. “Suggest you put that to use.” Rose rolled her eyes at him, then pulled him down to give him a kiss on the end of his nose. He grinned, then kissed her on top of the head. “Off to decorate! Have fun Christmasing, you crazy kids.” He winked at them, then hurried out, leaving them alone.
“Chance that’d be a fine thing,” Rose mumbled, turning away from the Doctor to finish her decorations.
“What?”
“You gonna help me or are you just gonna stand there and pout?” She raised her eyebrow, and after a few seconds turned back to her job. “Poutin’ it is, I reckon. Didn’t realize you hated Christmas so much. Would it kill ya to let me have this for a bit? Just go… repair a circuit or somethin’.”
The Doctor asked, even though he dreaded her answer. “Are you homesick?”
Rose shook her head, scowling. “No. If I was homesick, I’d ask to go home for Christmas. I was just describin’ twentieth century celebrations to Jack, and I just started missin’ the holidays, that’s all. So we decided to have Christmas, and I reckon the TARDIS wanted to right along with us. We didn’t invite ya ‘cos you made it clear you didn’t wanna be distracted doin’ whatever it is you’re doin’.”
He recalled being rather terse with his companions, needing to be away from Jack’s flirting with Rose and her… flirting back.
“Oh, fine, whatever. It is your ship, after all…” Rose unhooked the pine garland from the mantel, frowning.
The Doctor couldn’t stand to see her upset. “No, leave it!”
Rose sighed. “There ya go again, runnin’ hot and cold. Make up your mind.”
“Well, I said leave it up, didn’t I? And whaddya mean, hot and cold?” He took the garland from her and busied himself rehanging it, not really wanting to see the look on her face as she answered him. He wasn’t sure if he actually wanted to hear the answer.
Coward every time, then.
Rose forged ahead, “Hot and cold. ‘You’re beautiful… well, then you say it’s ‘for a human’...’I could save the world, but lose you.’ Then there was ‘I’ll show you my moves’ an’ all that rubbish... Then you don’t, and you leave me hangin’.” He opened his mouth to explain himself, to refute all the true things Rose said.
Rose went on, “And then it’s like you think Jack and I are shaggin’ behind your back. I love him, but he’s like the big brother I never had and my best mate all rolled into one. You act like some big jealous git. It’s like you want us to think you’re above all the domestics, but you’re really like any other bloke. You lead me on and you just won’t act on it, but if I happen to look at a bloke you go off.” Rose took a big gulp of air at the end of her tirade, her eyes widening as she realized what she just unloaded. She turned to the mantle, her head down, but even in the dim light he could see her cheeks reddening. “Half the time I wanna know where we stand, really, and the other half I don’t even wanna think about bein’ rejected.”
The Doctor gaped at her as she snatched away the garland and plopped into the box. “I shoulda kept my mouth shut. Don’t know why I told you any of that. Guess it’s back to the Powell estate for the emotional little ape.”
The Doctor could barely settle on a single thought. Give him physics, give him advanced circuitry, give him a blooming Dalek, and he’d be able to work out the problem in seconds. But the thought that this beautiful human he loved ( can’t deny that, no matter how much I should) actually cared about him. Add in a dash of unreasonable anger at Christmas decorations and his mind was in a whirl.
He must have tarried a bit too long, trying to straighten out his tangled mess of emotions, because Rose was walking away from him. “No!” he blurted. How did we get from holiday decorations to her expectin’ I’m gonna throw her out? “Rose Tyler, I am most definitely not takin’ you back to the Powell Estate.”
She turned back to him, arms crossed, an armor against whatever he told her. “Good, cos I don’t wanna go back home.” She averted her eyes. “But I’ll stay outta your way, at least until I get over the embarrassment, which might take a few days.”
Her slumped shoulders and red cheeks made his heart stutter on his chest. He didn’t ever want to be the reason she looked like that. “No. C’mere. We have a mantle to decorate. Gotta get this garland on just right.”
Rose just stood there, wary. “Don’t patronize me on top of it.”
Giving her a smug grin, he told her, “Not patronizin’, me. You were doin’ a bloomin’ awful job of hangin’ this.”
Rose gaped. “Excuse me, was there an apology or somethin’ in there I missed?”
“And Jack couldn’t hang a strand of fairy lights on a tree if he tried.”
“Oh, now you’re gonna insult our efforts. That’s an unusual move, but honestly, not surprisin’. You can do better, I take it?”
“Course I can. But… it’d be easier if you helped.”
Rose shook her head. “Nah, don’t think I’ll be free labor whilst you give orders and criticize my every move.” She plopped down on the sofa. Something loosened in his chest. She wasn’t leaving in a huff, at least.
The Doctor draped the garland over the mantle, pausing to look back at Rose, who sat there, arms still crossed, eyebrow raised skeptically. “Whaddya think?”
“Fine, I guess,” she muttered. “What the hell just happened in here?”
“Not sure. Hadn’t planned to be decoratin’ for Christmas, but here we are,” he shrugged.
“Wasn’t what I was referrin’ to. Like I said, you coulda walked on by. Let Jack and me have our fun.”
The Doctor became very interested in fluffing the plaid bow on the garland. “Was jealous, me.” Then he took a deep breath and spoke words he was not used to uttering in any incarnation. “M’sorry.”
Rose expelled a huffy breath. “Apology accepted as long as you stop being a knob. I toldja there’s nothin’ between us. Or were you jealous that we were havin’ fun and you weren’t? Thought that was too domestic for you anyway.”
She had given him an out, he saw. He could agree that he was just lonely for the warm companionship between Rose and Jack. Really, that wouldn’t be a lie. The longer he stayed with Rose, the more he craved that “catching a taxi at two a.m.” life he didn’t think he could allow himself to have. It terrified him to want it so much, to want more with this beautiful human woman. She would be gone someday, a life with her would be over in the span of a second compared to a Time Lord lifespan, and that would be excruciating. On the other hand, not allowing himself to love her would hurt nearly as much.
How did a kerfluffle over Christmas decor turn into an internal battle of his hearts and mind?
Why was he making it so damned complicated?
Rose was sitting there, waiting for an answer.
“Nothin’ between you and the pretty boy Captain, then?”
“Of course not.”
“Thought he was your type.”
Rose smiled. “Nah. He might have been, at one time. But not anymore. I do love him. He’s one of my best friends. But even Jack Harkness couldn’t steal a heart that was already taken. I think you know who has it.”
“Can’t assume, me.”
Rose stood up and approached him, taking his hand. “Yeah, you can.” Her smile warmed him, burning away the loneliness he hadn’t wanted to admit was there.
She pointed, and the Doctor followed her gaze upward. A small spotlight over the mistletoe above them turned on suddenly, and the TARDIS’ hum took on a bubbling, amused quality. Rose chuckled, and the Doctor couldn’t help but join in. “I think she’s gettin’ tired of us.”
“I reckon you’re right.” He cupped her cheek gently, holding her other hand. They’d started this whole adventure hand-in-hand, and it only seemed right to continue that way.
“Is this really happenin’?” Rose murmured.
The Doctor smiled. “It is, Rose Tyler. You won’t have to ever worry about me rejectin’ you. But I’m not exactly a pretty boy.”
Rose grinned, rolling her eyes. “What if I happen to think you’re a bit fit? Gorgeous even?”
“With this daft ol’ face?”
“Happen to love that daft ol’ face,” she whispered.
The Doctor’s hearts sped up. “Then I suppose that would be fantastic, then.” He leaned down as she met him in the middle. Rose’s lips were soft and warm and kissing her was bliss. After a moment she let go of his hand to wrap her arms around his neck. The Doctor embraced her, pulling her against him and deepening the kiss. He forgot about her lack of respiratory bypass until she had to break away to breathe. Resting his forehead against hers, he murmured, “I’m actin’ on it, by the way. If you’ll have me.”
“I will,” she panted. She pulled him down again for another searing kiss.
***
The biscuits were out of the oven, perfectly golden brown and ready to be decorated. Jack hoped, however, he’d be decorating them alone. It seemed a good price to pay to see his friends finally get their heads out of their arses. At least, as he wandered from the gallery to the library, he hoped that’s what was happening. There was, of course, an equal chance that the idiots were staring each other down, arms crossed and scowling.
He pushed the library open enough to see into the part of the room where he’d left his friends.
Jack beamed. The Doctor and Rose had no idea he was there. They were far too busy snogging each other breathless. He chuckled quietly, watched for a bit as his friends made their way over to fall on the sofa together, still quite attached at the lips.
“Well, guess I’m decoratin’ the biscuits alone,” he whispered to the coral. “I’ll let ‘em have their private time. Not that I won’t ask to join in at some point…” Jack winked at the pair of them, mentally applauding as the Doctor’s leather jacket hit the floor. Then he turned and danced his way down the corridor, very pleased that Rose had the brilliant idea to decorate for Christmas.
Jack sang, his voice echoing off the walls. “Haul out the holly, put up the brightest string of lights I’ve ever seen…” And when he reached the galley door, he couldn’t resist clicking his heels together.
It was quite a while before the Christmas decorating was complete.