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She wasn’t entirely sure why she was nervous.
She shouldn’t be nervous.
Her dress was gorgeous, her hair was perfect, she had phenomenal makeup skills. She had been out for over two years now. There was no reason that her prom was going to be anything less than perfect.
And yet here she was.
Staring into her mirror.
Wondering how she had got here.
She sighed and added more eyeshadow to her eyelids, the sparkles catching the light exactly how she wanted them too. Her dress was pink—cliche, maybe, but she figured she might as well live up to her name. Besides, it was a lovely color and something about it had just clicked for her.
She didn’t have a date but her friends would reach the house in just half an hour. They’d eat dinner and take tons of pictures, and then they’d be off.
To prom.
She smiled shakily at her reflection, putting the eyeshadow away and reaching for the mascara. There was a sharp knock on her door and she frowned, leaning away from the mirror to look in confusion.
“Come in?”
The door swung open and she smiled.
“Hey, Uncle Doctor.”
The Doctor was standing in the doorway, his coat on over a pair of jeans and a striped t-shirt that looked almost too small for him. She watched as he kicked off his converse out of respect for her carpet before wandering over to sit on the ground underneath her windowsill.
“Your mother kicked me out.”
He said and she laughed.
“What, you weren’t helpful in setting up for the party?”
“No! He wasn’t!”
They both laughed as her mother passed by the open door, giving the Doctor an almighty glare. He somehow didn’t wither under her look, just stuck his tongue out at her. Her mother scoffed and disappeared, mumbling something about useless timelords.
She laughed softly at their antics before resuming her focus on her makeup.
It was funny, how easily their life had fallen into chaos when the Doctor had returned.
Her father, accepting his new brother-in-law with a ferocious kindness.
Her grandmother, constantly bickering with him.
Her great-grandfather, filled with an ecstatic joy.
Her mother.
Her wonderful, chaotic, meant for traveling the stars, mother.
The sadness behind Donna Noble’s eyes had all but vanished with his return.
And her?
Well.
She just loved having a fun, weird, definitely traumatized gay uncle who made her mother laugh harder than anyone else in the world.
“I like the dress.”
She glanced at the mirror, seeing that the Doctor was standing up now, staring at the dress with an interested look on his face.
“Yeah. Mom helped me pick it out. I wasn’t going to go for pink, but I really liked the dress.”
“It’s pretty.”
He said and she smiled.
“Obviously.”
She stuck her tongue out at him and he laughed, the joy in his eyes infectious. She grinned before blinking to check that her mascara had dried. She didn’t want it to smear this early in the night.
“Are you nervous?”
The Doctor suddenly asked and she frowned.
“Why do you ask?”
He gave her a knowing look and she sighed, grabbing her lipliner and turning to face him.
“Yeah.”
“Why?”
She sighed, glancing around her room till her gaze fell on her trans flag.
“I’m just…it’s still kind of weird, I guess.”
“Weird is good.”
She rolled her eyes at him.
“I mean, it’s perfect. I finally feel like me, but I’m still—”
“Scared?”
He interjected and she sighed, nodding.
“That’s normal.”
“Is it?”
She knew it was.
She knew everything he was going to tell her, down to his own experiences with gender.
They had had this conversation many times before.
“Yeah.”
She was shocked when he didn’t take the opportunity to ramble on. She had mentioned, once, to her mother getting him checked for ADHD. They hadn’t been entirely sure how Gallifreyan biology would work so the test never happened, but she knew.
She knew.
The Doctor got his feet and she looked up at him. He dug through his coat pockets—they were bigger on the inside, she knew—before finally brandishing his sonic screwdriver in the air.
She smiled, not entirely sure what he was doing.
“Here.”
She blinked in confusion as he held it out for her.
“What?”
“Take it.”
The Gallifreyan tech was heavy in her hands.
“Why?”
“To give you courage. And luck. And for protection.”
She laughed at that, spinning it around in her hands.
“And I’m also not going anywhere, so I hopefully won’t need it.”
He went to ruffle her hair and she shrieked, dodging him with a laugh.
“I just did this!”
She whacked him—normally at this point the two of them would rope the house into a giant pillow fight—before turning to resume her work on her lipstick, placing the sonic screwdriver in her purse.
“Hey.” The Doctor said, pausing in the doorway. “You’ve got this, Rosie.”
She smiled at her uncle.
“I know.”
An hour later she and her friends were piling into the car, laughing as they argued over the playlist. Donna Noble, Shaun Temple, and The Doctor all waved at them from the doorway to the Doctor’s house, which was really just all of their house.
Rose Noble stuck her head out the window and blew a kiss to them before she was gone, the car pulling out of the driveway and disappearing down the road.
Donna sighed, definitely not crying.
Shaun cleared his throat.
“You’re sure one of her friends is an alien?”
“Yup.”
Donna and the Doctor said in unison.
“And you’re sure she’ll be safe?”
“Yup!” “Nope!”
Shaun and Donna gave the Doctor a look and he waved his hands at them.
“She’s got the sonic. It’ll send me an alert if anything happens, and she’s a smart girl.”
Donna punched his shoulder.
“If anything happens to my girl—”
“We will take the TARDIS and figure it out. Who knows, maybe the alien just wants a friend.”
The Doctor smiled at Donna and she rolled her eyes at him.
“Right. Movie night?”
The three of them grinned at Shaun’s suggestion and hurried into the house, ready for an evening of relaxation—and potential chaos.
Just how they liked it.