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Rose and the Doctor were in need of some downtime, particularly following Krop Tor. So of course, the Doctor had formulated a very good plan for maximum relaxation in a setting he'd always wanted to visit but hadn't ever and "there's a lake and it's in America and wouldn't it be lovely, Rose?"
Rose would have been happy floating in the vortex.
He was so excited she couldn't say no. (And he was the one always complaining that she got her way at the bat of an eyelash. Had he never looked at his sad puppy face in the mirror? Scratch that, Rose thought. Of course he has. And it's calibrated for maximum pity.)
She couldn't say no.
They ended up in America, as planned, in 2009, also as planned. They were in the forest in Michigan, where the air was cool and inviting. It was June, and the weather couldn't have been lovelier. They enjoyed their walk from their spot by a lake in the forest to a small grocery store to stock up.
Outside the store Rose stopped at a rack of brochures for tourist attractions. She had no idea what he had in mind for this holiday. "So are we staying at one of these resorts? This one looks posh." She held up a brochure for him to see.
"It is lovely, but we're camping! I have a tent, and...."
"Tent? We have the TARDIS, Doctor."
"We're camping! Granted, she'll be close by, with a loo and all...but we're going to have the authentic....more or less......experience. C'mon, Rose Tyler, where's your spirit of adventure!"
She wanted to say that she left it on an impossible planet no longer orbiting a black hole, but she didn't. That would have been unnecessarily mean. The Doctor was trying. They were both exhausted in every way a person could be from that horrible experience. So, instead of a snarky comment she grinned, "Right here where it always is, Doctor."
"Quite right!"
Once in the store, Rose was amused by the Doctor's enthusiasm for the breakfast aisle. "Ooh, now that looks intriguing!" he said as he scooped up four boxes of Golden Grahams.
"How long do you plan to camp, Doctor?" Rose asked, snickering.
"I'm stocking up. It might be a while before we get back to America, Rose," he explained with a sigh.
"You're going to need a trolley." Rose left the Doctor's side long enough to retrieve a shopping cart from the front of the store. His short attention span had him in the candy aisle looking at Twizzlers by the time she returned to him. She relieved him of the boxes. "So we're living on cereal and Twizzlers while we're here?" She asked.
"That's why we have a galley in the TARDIS. I'm just here for the local flavor. Oh, Rose Tyler, have you ever had a s'more?"
He really was going for the authentic experience (more or less). "Well, I've heard of them, but I've never..."
"Then point me in the direction of the marshmallows! The fat ones, not those mini things. What's the point of those? Other than cocoa, of course...." He was in full ramble mode as she followed him around the store.
Rose sensed a bit of a manic quality in his skittish behavior. More manic than usual, she mentally allowed. He was, as her mum would have put it, "dancing as fast as he could."
Rose understood the reason for the Doctor's skittishness. The events of Krop Tor had been excruciating. They had nearly lost each other and the TARDIS.
Things had taken a bit of a turn while they shared the small bunk room that night. They'd kissed. It had been a good, old fashioned proper snog with tongues and teeth nipping and sighing and he'd been backing her towards the small bunk. His hands had been so close to exactly where she wanted them, ready to cup and caress....
Then Danny Bartok burst in their room with some revelation that just couldn't wait. He'd been excitedly yammering away before he realized that he'd interrupted anything. At least he had the good grace to be properly embarrassed but by then the moment was lost. The Doctor had hurried after him as if nothing had happened and the next thing Rose knew there were definite plans for Ida and the Doctor to go below the surface.
Even though they had reunited rather enthusiastically on the TARDIS after it was all over, they only had time for a quick kiss before they had to bid farewell to the crew. Then after reassuring Rose again that the Beast had lied, he recommended she get some rest. She'd showered (alone) and came back to her bed (alone) wondering if they'd ever pick up where the left off. He had slipped into her bed late that night, and been gone before she awoke again.
She relished the memory of his arms around her, even though it had been for a short time. Rose had given up on picking up where they left off, however. It hurt, but she could see it for what it was: the Doctor, in the heat of the moment, was grieving for the TARDIS.
The Doctor had wandered over to the next aisle and was talking to a local person about restaurants while she was ruminating on the events of the day before. It was so hard for Rose to believe that just before arriving in Michigan, they'd been fighting for their lives on the edge of a black hole. Such was life with the Doctor.
Rose drifted over to a book rack at the end of the aisle. She spun it idly, knowing that any of the books on it could probably be found in the TARDIS library. Except for..... She burst out laughing quietly at something she knew the TARDIS would never allow to sully her shelves. "Blimey, she might not even allow it on board," she muttered with a snort. The title read "Love and Cherry Pie."
The cover art sent her into silent laughter. It depicted an extremely fit, shirtless man with spiky hair and sideburns, kissing the neck of the buxom blonde woman wrapped around him. His hand clutched possessively at her hip.
Rose flipped the book over to read the summary: "Cherry was an independent woman living on her father's farm, but she couldn't do it all alone. Her prayers are answered one day by the arrival of a mysterious stranger who proves to be the man she needs to take care of all her needs."
Blimey, it was trash. Utter trash. So she opened it to a random page.
There was a very descriptive paragraph of just how thoroughly Cherry's needs were being met. Rose blushed. She was by no means an innocent to this kind of reading material (or that particular way of need fulfillment even if she had to talk Mickey through it and they'd only attempted it once.) She dropped the book back onto the rack as if it had scalded her. She really did not need that kind of inspiration. She did not need to imagine the Doctor doing that very act, (even if she suspected she wouldn't have to talk him through it.)
"About ready, Rose?" the Doctor called from the cash register.
More than, she thought. She glanced back at the book.
She took two steps away, then backtracked. She snatched "Love and Cherry Pie" from the book rack. It was the very definition of an impulse buy.
Rose nonchalantly dropped it into the trolley.
*******
After a stop at an ice cream stand, the Doctor and Rose made their way back to the campsite, taking in the scene along the way. The Doctor pointed out a store and restaurant called "The Cherry Pit." "We have to stop there tomorrow. The bloke in the shop said the food was fantastic, cherry everything....and they have a huge gift shop. Cherry jam. Jam, Rose. Locally grown cherries in all sorts of jams and jellies. Can you imagine?"
Rose flashed her tongue touched grin. The thought of jam made the Doctor extraordinarily happy. The sight of her grin, absent since Krop Tor, made his hearts race. "Well, that's a must see," Rose commented, but he barely heard her, so lost in her smile was he. "I thought you were more into the bananas, though."
"Bananas are good," he confirmed with a grin, "and remind me to take you to Villengard soon, can't believe we've never been. But it's jam and jelly. Locally grown."
"I believe you mentioned that." Rose was still smiling, amused, and it gave the Doctor hope.
The disaster on Krop Tor had been horrific. The Doctor hoped that the time they spent on Earth, in America tucked away in a Michigan forest, would help them both recover. Granted, they could have done that in the vortex. Rose might have preferred it.
The Doctor had an overwhelming need to impress Rose, coupled with regret and embarrassment over the incident in their bunk room. He considered it. Regret was the wrong word. Regret implied that he did not want the snogging, and more, to happen. He had no regrets about snogging her, nor did he have any regrets about the of trajectory his hands when Danny had interrupted them. He was neither regretful not embarrassed about the actions he had fully planned to take.
The Doctor was embarrassed, and he regretted his inability to follow through on it once they were alone on the TARDIS again. Coward every time, it seemed. He wanted her. He sensed that she wanted him, if her pheromones were any indication. He had no idea why she would want him, but it seemed as though she certainly did. Things had gotten frantic on Krop Tor, and he was grieving his TARDIS, frightened about the life to which he'd doomed Rose. Lovemaking (it wouldn't have been just a shag) would have been desperate and tinged with grief, and he realized didn't want their first time to be that way.
He decided to communicate this to her with lovely scenery and relaxation, and then, perhaps, they could pick up where they left off. He was hoping she'd know that he never regretted kissing her, or anything else they did together.
"Doctor, you're a million miles away," Rose interrupted his thoughts.
"Oh, yes....well...just thinking."
"Of jam?"
"Perhaps. And....erm....the fact that we might have possibly landed on private property, but I can keep us hidden, if you'd like to stay there."
"What?" Rose gasped.
"Something the bloke in the shop mentioned.....anyway, I can set up a bubble of protection with the sonic and no one will be the wiser. Do you want to stay by the lake?"
"Well, of course I do. S'gorgeous there. But I don't want to spend the night in the local jail, either."
"The shimmer I set up around us should extend around the TARDIS and about fifty meters out into the lake. I wouldn't want to go out any further into the lake anyway. We'd have total privacy."
Rose looked skeptical, and the Doctor was a bit offended. "Really, we'd be invisible?" she asked.
"We would be invisible," the Doctor reassured her.
"I suppose we'll stay. But I'll bet you a fiver we're being released from the local lockup twenty-four hours from now," Rose said with a definitive nod.
"You wound me, Rose Tyler," the Doctor returned. He pouted. He really was slightly wounded, even if she was taking it as a joke.
Rose let go of his hand and linked her arm with his, resting her head against his shoulder. "I know you'll keep me safe, Doctor, you always do," she murmured. Her words were enough to warm him and make his hearts race again.
He looked down at her and her eyes locked on his. She smiled and squeezed his arm with her free hand. "I don't always," he said, equally quiet. "I think I failed at that spectacularly just yesterday. And I'm sorry, I'm so sorry." They stopped in the shade of a tree along the path. She reached up and placed her finger gently on his lips, shushing him.
"Stop. We're fine. It's okay. Let's enjoy ourselves. I believe we have some relaxing to do, my Doctor." She cupped his cheek gently. He nodded.
The Doctor leaned forward and kissed her forehead, his lips lingering in the lightest, softest caress. "We do," he agreed.
They walked on in companionable silence for a bit, hand in hand again, sharing the burden of the shopping bags. She looked pleased but he was in turmoil again. That would have been an excellent time to tell her, he thought. Coward every time. He sighed. She gave him a curious look.
Before he could begin talking they reached the TARDIS. They approached it from the back and through the trees they could see the small lake. "S'beautiful, Doctor," Rose smiled.
"It is, isn't it. It's a lovely place for us. Well....best get the tent up. Let's stow this food." Rose relieved him of the shopping bags and set off for the TARDIS. She looked back and made his hearts flutter with her smile.
*******
The Doctor wanted to surprise Rose with the tent so he insisted she take the camp chair and relax while he set it up. That was perfectly fine with her. She fished her book out of the bag and stretched out on the chaise lounge.
The title and cover art made her giggle again, along with the fact that the Doctor had actually paid for it. He'd been too distracted with thoughts of cherry jam to notice. That was deliciously ironic, given the title of the book. She snickered again.
It had been ages since she'd read one of these romance novels. Shireen's mum was addicted to them.
Many times Rose, Shireen and Keisha had nicked several and huddled in one of their bedrooms or sat on the roof of Bucknall House reading out loud and squealing with laughter. They were thirteen at that point, she remembered. Rose and Shireen could never read the sex scenes aloud with a straight face. Keisha had been entranced, as if she'd expected the actual act to be as dreamily wonderful as the books made them out to be.
Eventually, it did happen for each of them, and they agreed that it was nothing like these silly books said. Things changed by then, and she was regretfully with Jimmy and didn't see as much of her friends. As she opened the book she resolved to make a better effort to contact Shireen and Keisha when she visited Mum.
She glanced up at the Doctor. He had an impossibly small canvas bag containing the tent. She wondered how big the thing was going to end up being. They might be closer than he expected tonight. She hoped he didn't implode. Or regenerate from the tension.
"Nope," she murmured. "That would be me."
"Pardon?" the Doctor asked, his arms awkwardly filled with tent poles and ropes.
"Nothing," Rose smiled. He glanced at her curiously and continued his work.
The Doctor had been quiet and weird on the way back to the TARDIS, as if he'd been on the cusp of saying something. Maybe he had, she wondered. Maybe he was about to tell her what was really going on in his head in the bunk room on Krop Tor.
Or maybe she was delusional. She sighed. She didn't think it was a particularly loud sigh, but the Doctor looked back at her and asked, "What?" He appeared to be genuinely confused. She smiled reassuringly at him. He shrugged and went on with the tent after staring at her for a beat.
Rose finally opened up the book and began reading about Cherry and her handsome farmhand with the really great hair.
Thirty minutes later the Doctor was right next to her, crooning "Rose Tyler!"
Rose startled. She'd actually been lost in the book. Cherry and Drake the farmhand were on the brink of fulfilling that unresolved sexual tension when the Doctor's voice had interrupted. "Oi, blimey," she gasped.
"Sorry! Just wanted to let you know...." He gestured toward a small tent. "Our castle awaits."
"Can we both fit in that?"
"Just wait. C'mon Rose, come see!"
She stretched and stood up, placing her book open face down on the chaise lounge. He gave it a glance, then a harder look. He picked it up, closing it and losing Rose's page. "Oi! Rude!" she protested.
"You were on page 47," he said absently, looking at the cover art. He wrinkled his nose. "Well, he's unrealistically pretty. I suppose she's conventionally attractive, but....'Love and Cherry Pie?'...."
Rose was mortified as he opened to a random page and started reading. His eyes became huge, and he gulped. "Well.....erm...."
She snatched the book from his hand.
"I can't believe that is your holiday reading. We have a whole library. What about Harry Potter? The Illiad? Little Women?. .... I even have the complete works of Homer from the planet Illiad....."
Rose put the book firmly on the chair and demanded, "Show me the tent!"
****
So the Doctor showed her the tent. He was quite pleased when she was impressed.
The tent was bigger on the inside. He could stand up in it without having to bend over. There was a queen sized air mattress in the corner, a small camp light that glowed too brightly to just be battery powered, and overhead, a celling fan. The Doctor aimed the sonic at the fan. It came on, filling the room with a pleasant breeze.
"S' like something out of Harry Potter," Rose finally proclaimed. "You got the idea from 'Goblet of Fire,' yeah?"
The Doctor smirked. "Good old JK got the idea from me!"
Rose burst out laughing. She had no doubt it was true, but it was all so fanciful.
The Doctor pulled a fluffy duvet from a small trunk by the wall. "Between this and the fan to move the air about, we should be quite comfortable tonight. Do the accommodations......erm, meet with your approval?" He waited, hardly breathing, for her reaction. He was proposing bed sharing in a space that could have easily fit two single mattresses. He hoped he wasn't pressing his luck, that his intention was clear.
He had no idea what to say if she questioned it.
*****
Rose looked around the tent interior,
picturing two mattresses instead of the one queen. He could have easily fit two, but he didn't. He intended for them to share. That set her heart racing. She nodded before her mouth started speaking, but she finally got the words out. "That's...that works for me."
Then she mentally winced at her eloquence.
******
They hiked in the woods for a while, admiring the scenery. It was refreshing to be outside, and a relief to be out of the confines of that horrible base. Rose breathed in the fresh air and sighed, "You picked well, Doctor. I feel like I can breathe out here."
The Doctor beamed. "I hoped you'd enjoy it."
"I'll admit I was skeptical. I would have been happy floating in the vortex but I'm glad we ended up here. And I'm glad you wanted to impress me," Rose added with a grin.
The Doctor's left eyebrow arched. "Rose Tyler, whatever makes you think that?" His mouth quirked into a smile.
They stopped walking by the lakeshore. Rose squeezed his hand. "I had a suspicion," she answered. Then her smile softened. "I also think you feel like you have to make it up to me.....the last couple of days, I mean."
His lips pressed together in a small, rueful smile. "Of course I do," he murmured.
"We both made the choice to stay, even when the TARDIS was fighting it. She knew something was horribly wrong and we both ignored it. If I had said I didn't want to stay would we have?"
"I wouldn't have stayed," he sighed.
"You wouldn't have wanted to stay to satisfy your own curiosity?" Rose asked with a knowing grin.
The Doctor smirked. "Okay. You have me there. Really, though.....if you'd been adamant, we would have left. But I don't think the choice was ours to make at that point anyway."
She cupped his cheek gently. "Then what could we have done?"
The Doctor shrugged. "I don't know. If I could have spared you all that terror, I would have."
"I know. I hope...." She trailed off, looking away.
"What?" he prompted.
"I hope we don't ever have to experience that again. The feeling of being separated, I mean. I thought I'd lost you. Between that and what the Beast said...."
"It lied," the Doctor interrupted.
"Anyway....my thoughts are just a jumble right now. I'm glad we're here and it's gorgeous."
When her eyes locked on his, he felt a thrill all the way down his spine. Her gorgeous eyes held such want, and so much unspoken. It seemed that neither of them could say exactly what they wanted to say. Oddly enough, knowing she was as nervous as he was gave him the courage to forge on. "It is gorgeous," he agreed. He nuzzled into her hand, still tender on his cheek. "Rose," he sighed. He leaned forward, eyes closing as he heard her breath hitch. His lips brushed hers, but she didn't respond. He pulled away. "I...sorry, if....."
******
His lips made contact with hers and she froze, because she was expecting more fumbling and rambling and maybe he'd get to it and maybe he wouldn't. To have him just go for it blindsided her, and she couldn't move for a second.
She felt the loss of his touch as he jerked back, looking hurt. He was mumbling an apology, and that wouldn't do at all. Her brain, finally in gear, got her hands to work and they slid into his hair and pulled him closer.
Rose silenced the Doctor. This time he was the one pausing for a bare second before his lips were moving against hers. She nipped at his lovely bottom lip and heard a low growl emanate from his throat.
Kissing the Doctor became quite the immersive experience, and it quickly escalated into the same heated snog as they shared on Krop Tor. His tongue flicked lightly at her lip, and her hand slid into his hair, pulling at the soft locks. He pulled her more tightly against him. She opened to him, and she discovered that being throughly snogged by the Doctor was rather like being devoured. Sweetly, slowly, tenderly devoured.
*******
They kissed until she was breathless, and he realized his respiratory bypass had failed him. They panted, forehead to forehead. "For the record, Rose Tyler, I never regretted anything we did on Krop Tor. My only regret was not continuing once we returned to the TARDIS."
"Doctor, it's fine," she panted.
"No it isn't, I didn't want our first time kissing....or anything else...to be done in desperation there on that base. I hoped you'd understand that. But I think you doubted me, and I'm sorry. "
"You've nothing to apologize for. I could have asked you....but I didn't want to...."
"Frighten me off?" He gave her a knowing smirk.
Rose burst out laughing. "Yeah," she agreed.
"I am rubbish at this. Just know that."
Rose grinned widely. "What makes you think I'm an expert?"
He matched her smile. "Well...perhaps you're not. After all you tricked me into buying that dreadful book. Were you needing an instructional guide? A manual?"
The laugh bursting forth from Rose filled him with such joy that he forgot his worries and fears. For once, he wanted to drop that heavy mantle of responsibility and loss and just lose himself in her. He'd never wanted someone so damn much in his many long lives.
He pulled her into an embrace. Her eyes were warm with mirth and the love he saw there took his breath away. He had to ask her, "Are you sure you want this.....you want me?" he breathed.
"I am. Are you sure you want this?" Rose asked him.
"Oh, yes. There's something else I'm sure about as well." Her hands slid up his chest, each one covering a pounding heart. He felt that contact all the way down his spine. Without any hesitation, he murmured, "I love you."
Rose gasped. For a brief second he thought he'd gone too far but she looked up at him, tears springing to her eyes. "I know. I love you, too."
He grinned widely. "Brilliant!"
The Doctor kissed Rose again, long and well, until once again they were interrupted.
"What the hell are you two doin' on my property?" a gruff male voice asked. "All I need is a couple kids thinkin' this is a damn make out spot!"
"Oh!" Rose exclaimed, unable to keep from laughing.
"Run," the Doctor recommended.
******
They were faster than the property owner, and they crossed the threshold of the area the Doctor had marked out for them well ahead of him. Rose breathed, "He can't see us. She looked back at the confused man. She mouthed, "Can he hear us?"
"No," the Doctor spoke aloud. "He absolutely cannot hear me thanking him for his wonderful hospitality."
Rose doubled over laughing at the Doctor and the confused land owner. She could only imagine what the man was thinking, what with them vanishing into thin air. Eventually, the man muttered about the damn kids and wandered away.
The Doctor turned to Rose, expecting her to pick up where they left off now that they were literally in their own bubble of privacy. Instead, she shot him a look full of mischief and mirth plopping herself on the chaise lounge. She picked up "Love and Cherry Pie" and opened it to page 47. Drake and Cherry were just beginning to disrobe and head toward the pond for some skinny dipping when the Doctor plucked the book out of her hand.
"Ah, well. Let's see what we have here. 'Drake's pectoral muscles glimmered with droplets of water. Cherry's eyes followed...."
"Doctor!" Rose hopped up, laughing.
"Have a seat, Rose, I need to see what Drake can teach me. After all, if we're embarking on this new phase of our lives....." He gave her a slight push toward her chair. Rose was laughing too much to protest. She sank down. "Erm....where were we? Drake and his unrealistic pecs....ah, here we go. 'Cherry's eyes followed one particular droplet as it slid sensuously down his lower abdomen...' Oh, Cherry's rather impressed with what she sees. I'm sure the water's cold, he can't be that impressive. At any rate, I'd rather not imagine her view, and I rather suspect I could beat him in that department...."
"Doctor!" She popped up enough to snatch the book away.
She opened it again, only pretending to read. The Doctor removed his suit jacket. Her eyes peered over the top. Surely he wasn't going to....
He was unbuttoning his shirt. The man who was known to wear multiple shirts as his armor against the world was actually removing a layer. Her hands were beginning to tremble.
The Doctor carelessly dropped his shirt onto the ground. Rose's eyes were saucers. He looked back at her, grinning wickedly. He divested himself of his Henley.
She glanced down at her book...blimey, all the thrusting.....then looked back up at the Doctor who was now completely shirtless and undoing his belt. Rose could not keep up the pretense of coolness any longer. She stood up, locked eyes with him, and grabbed the hem of her Union Jack T-shirt.
******
Whatever part of the Doctor's impressive brain that was still capable of rational thought sent the message, "Well, I did wake up craving a blonde in a Union Jack after all..." After that, his mind went blissfully blank as her t-shirt was thrown carelessly onto the chair.
Then the Doctor blinked and she was there beside him. He eyed her appreciatively.
"Ah. So there is a bloke in there," she smirked as his hands ghosted along her ribs. She shuddered with his hands so close to where she needed them.
"Were you doubting it?" he asked. She chuckled and shook her head. The Doctor pulled her closer, both of them reveling in the feeling of skin on skin.
Rose slid her hands up and into his really great hair. Their lips met again and it was bliss.
Eventually they returned to their original idea of getting undressed as quickly as possible. Once they were bare and both had had a good look, they eyed the lake and with a grin they ran into it together.
Being in the water was not as romantic as Drake and Cherry made it out to be.
"Bloody hell! That's freezing!" Rose squealed. She was already pulling him back to shore and he wasn't resisting.
"Welllll.....June is not skinny dipping season in upper Michigan," he decided. "Normally temperature variations don't bother me, but....blimey!" They stepped onto the sandy shoreline. "To the tent?"
She nodded, teeth chattering. They both burst out laughing as they ran for it.
The laughter was replaced by sighs as they fell onto the air mattress together. Those sighs mixed with gasps as their lips met and gentle hands caressed delightfully bare skin.
Rose decided lovemaking with the Doctor was rather better than anything she'd read in a book. He'd said the words she thought he might never say, and she had told him what was in her heart. She wondered why they'd ever been afraid. Soon all she could think about was how good he felt.
The Doctor discovered how it felt to lose himself in another person completely. Before every clever thought was replaced by intense bliss, he mused that it felt so right, so inevitable. He vowed to cherish every moment he had with Rose Tyler.
*****
The bubble of privacy around their campsite was remarkably efficient. Had it not been there that evening, anyone traipsing through the woods would have seen a tent, lit from the inside, and the shadows of two bodies embracing. They would have heard the sound of laughter interspersed with moans and sighs in between voices taking turns reading from a scandalously trashy romance novel.
"Oooh, maybe we should try that one," Rose gasped, giggling.
"Oh, trust me, Rose Tyler, my plans for you do include, but are not limited to, that."
"Carry on, then."
"I intend to."
The next day, while shopping at the Cherry Pit, it was rather hard for them to stop laughing as they ordered the cherry pie. The Doctor also made a large addition to his jam and jelly inventory.