Contrasting Tranquility |COMPLETE|

Chapter Seventeen

"Be careful, lest in casting out your demon you exorcise the best thing in you."

-Friedrich Fietzsche

"I think I'll stay at Sarah Jane's tonight." she walked him back to the TARDIS.

"Are you sure?" the Doctor opened the door and looked behind.

"Yeah. I think I'd like that. Need myself some lady time, you know? I'll see you in the morning?"

The Doctor's mouth twitched upwards. "Not if I see you first. Good night, Rose." he leaned and pressed a kiss on her cheek.

"Night."

He entered the time machine and closed the door behind him. The Doctor's palm flew over one of his hearts. Who knew a human could make him feel this way? Only Rose wasn't just a human. She was more than that; warm, compassionate, beautiful and understanding. But most of all, she was fantastic.

To think that she'd managed to do what others never even dreamed of. She came back to him; crossed parallel worlds, brought herself back into existence and decided to stay. What could he have ever done to deserve such a thing? Such kindness.

And he couldn't wait to repay it.

How was it that her charming words managed to manipulate him in such a way? Manipulated? Was it truly just that? Or was it that she'd managed to hit where it mattered; said what he wanted to hear?

He wanted to whistle, but the stupid grin on his face forbade it. So he opted to jump to the console room, throw off his coat and make his way to the ensuite of his bedroom. A nice hot bath would do the trick.

He looked at his reflection in the mirror as he stripped and checked his face closer. The Doctor ran a hand through his hair to ruffle it a bit. This regeneration had always been a bit cheeky; he noticed it. But for some reason, standing in front of the mirror right now, he felt a bit self-conscious. Was this normal? Had it always been normal but he just didn't care enough?

What if she... what if. Oh...look at him, acting like a teenager. Rose wasn't like that.

Stepping into the bathtub, the Doctor surrendered to the bliss of relaxation. His tension melted away, his muscles embraced the warmth, and he leaned his head back with a contented sigh. Everything about today happened so fast, too fast; even his sophisticated brain had a hard time catching up. And maybe that was okay. Maybe not overthinking was the way to go. Because if he submitted, he'd fuck it up again.

His fate was in the hands of this one woman. And it was scary.

He left the bathroom an hour later and made his way to the library, where he'd pick out a book to read, slowly, and fall asleep on the couch. Tonight, he decided, the nightmares wouldn't bother him.

-

The Doctor was awoken by movement. His olfactory system was the first one to kick in; there was a sweet smell of vanilla. Then the skin receptors. He felt weight over his chest, legs and hotness against his neck.

He opened one eye and scrunched his nose. Something was tickling it. A soft groan against his ear made him attempt to turn his head. His brain finally jumped alive as it took all the details in.

The Doctor's brows drew together.

"Did I wake you?" Rose stifled a yawn. Her voice was hoarse. "Sorry. Didn't mean to."

"What are you doing here?" he tightened his arm around her.

"Couldn't sleep. Snuck out and came to you."