AN: Hello! This is my very first Doctor Who fan fiction. :(( I was absolutely terrified of writing this, because I was scared of getting my characterization wrong. :) I do hope you enjoy. Unbeta-ed, unedited, so please forgive any mistakes.

Undeniable

Breathy hysterical laughs echoed throughout the control room.

Rose clung to one of the coral structures of the TARDIS as she wheezed air into her lungs in between giggles. They had, of course, been running for their lives. Again. It had happened so many times, and in the time she had been with the Doctor, scenarios wherein any breath could be their last was just so mundane and ordinary and normal for her that she couldn't believe it. She had begun to laugh at herself, for growing more and more in love with this kind of life when before she couldn't even have imagined it for a moment, and for growing to like him more and more everyday. When her eyes landed on his confused expression while he was leaning against the door of his ship, Rose suddenly threw herself into another fit of laughter. She didn't know why she was laughing that hard; after all, these things happened on a regular basis. Maybe it was just… something in the air that night.

With her tinkling sounds of happiness filling the control room, the Doctor couldn't help but think how utterly ridiculous and confusing these apes he came to love really are. But Rose's laugh was infectious, and he couldn't help the chuckle that grumbled in his throat as he watched his pink and yellow human almost collapse onto the floor.

"Oi! It's not that funny," the Doctor tried to say indignantly. But Rose's crouched state as she clutched at her stomach with laughter said otherwise.

"Oh… your ears!" she tried to say between breaths, only to burst into a ruckus laughter. The Doctor's hands went up to his ears defensively, and he could feel their tips begin to burn.

"How should I have known that the TARDIS would land us on a planet where ears of… larger size were a sign of a deadly sickness…" he grumbled. At this point, Rose had calmed, but she couldn't help the giggle that escaped her lips.

"But the things they did with your ears—"

"Don't even say it!" the Doctor cut her off, his face blushing into a lovely shade of pink, as he remembered the… activities and experiments the humanoids of Mepolius performed on or with or using his ears. The Mepoliusians had unbelievably small ears, and when they accidentally landed on the alien planet, well, the response they received wasn't at all surprising.

The Doctor waited for her boisterous laughter to die down, his pout never leaving his lips. But he couldn't help the smile that crept in his face as he watched Rose regaining her breath with a somewhat distant look on her face, her eyes set on somewhere inside the TARDIS.

It had been terribly lonely, those few years after the Time War and before she came running into the TARDIS doors to watch the End of the World, before he grabbed her hand in a frenzy as he led her away from the living plastics. Always sober to the miracles and joys of the universes during that dark a time, the Doctor submerged himself into sullenness as nightmares plagued his wake and sub-consciousness, memories of his lost planet and race haunting him to atone for his sins through self-blame and guilt. But with Rose's adoring eyes, with that teasing tongue poking through her smile, his heart thawed and he was again reconciled with the appreciation of life.

And oh, Rassilon, how he wanted her. She lit up every dark corner of his past, every empty hall of his ship, and, above else, she showed him how to live again. With everything she had given him, he still wanted more, still wanted her fully and completely to himself. It was completely unfair of him, he knew, but he couldn't help his desire to feel her lush against his body, to smell her scent and taste her skin, to fill his senses with her and only her. Unfair. Selfish. And more yet, he knew she didn't feel the same way. He was her guide to the limitless and boundless opportunities the infinite numbers of worlds have to offer, her friend, her teacher. And she was his companion to fill in the void in his chest that grew and grew into what seemed like an impossible case. A small act of recklessness could destroy this chance for her. But she and no one else, not even his other companions made him feel like this, made him feel like the Time Lord he used to be in his younger days. But that was all the bond between them would offer him, and despite his frustration and anger and desperation, he had taken it, for as long as Rose was there, he wouldn't ruin their friendship for anything.

He couldn't pinpoint what or how it all started that night, really; whether it was because of the way she slumped against one of the interior structures of the TARDIS or the dim light humming from the console, or probably it was the way her heaving chest slowed down as her face settled on for a soft smile.

But of it all, there was something in the way the light played shadows across her figure, of how her loose hair draped lazily on her shoulders then down to her upper back, or it was possibly the room temperature that suddenly shot up a couple degrees in the past few moments. There was a silence between them, with nothing but the sound of their breaths to fill the absence of sound between them, as the Doctor thought and watched Rose from his place by the door.

There was just something in the air, he had guessed, as he couldn't keep his eyes from watching the way she'd pull her golden hair to the back of her ears, and he stared at each little movement her mouth made. His grip on his leather-clad sleeves as he had his arms crossed over his chest tightened its hold, and the pace of his heartbeat quickened at the way she'd glance over to him every so often.

His breath hitched when she finally caught his gaze, and she blushed a pretty shade of pink and gave him a small grin to hide her embarrassment.

"What?" Rose said with exasperation seeping into her voice as the Doctor watched her lips form the word she spoke that he did not hear. He blinked. It was as if he didn't register her words, his pulse in his ears as they drowned out everything else. He couldn't take his attention from the curve of her shoulders as they were left exposed by her small purple dress, nor from her shapely legs as they lay sprawled out in front of her. It were as if all logic and sense came tumbling and crashing down as he stared at her, every reason he had thought of to keep their friendship intact and his boundaries in check vanishing within a fraction of a second. When the Doctor didn't answer her question, Rose blinked a couple of times, and stood from where she sat.

"Well," she began awkwardly just to break the silence, "I'll be off to clean myself up and head to bed, yeah? More aliens to run from by tomorrow, I bet." Rose gave him a weak smile before trudging further into the TARDIS and to her room, the sound of her brisk footsteps waking the Doctor from his trance. For a second, the Doctor's eyes remained on the place where Rose sat, and he snapped his gaze to her retreating figure. When she turned to give him one last glance, her steps slowed to a stop upon seeing the look on his face.

She had never seen the Doctor so tender, so vulnerable before. It was a side of him he never really let anyone see, moments like these rare to even her. It was a part of him that both scared and intrigued her to no end, and now that she was faced with it, she was absolutely clueless as to what to do.

There was something in the way he looked at her that was different, and there was something in the way that he held himself that made her breath hitch. Or maybe there really just was something in that time, when everything felt like it all slowed down to a stop, the light dimming to a gentle glow, and all sounds were but echoes in an empty space, with just him and her, left alone by the universe to decide as to what to do with this new air that both vivifies them and suffocates them.

The Doctor took long strides across the control room and halted a few feet away from Rose. He proceeded to take slower, smaller steps as she watched his eyes flicker from her eyes to her lips. She could see his hesitation; she could see something akin to desire shattering the waver in his step. She could see a deep conflict within him as he moved towards her, and she wanted to ease him from it. But she was left paralysed at this sudden and surprising shift in the atmosphere and in his demeanour, and all she could do was wait with anticipation to see what would happen.

He left a couple of inches to distance their bodies before he stopped in his tracks, and he could see the quickened rise and fall of her chest. Her gaze was drawn to his mouth as she stepped into the space between them, leaving nothing as their bodies touched. The moment her fingers brushed against his, it slightly startled her when he ducked his head and moved his mouth closer to hers, the craving and the possession clear in his eyes that sent shivers down her spine. There was a sudden surge of boldness about him, and she wanted more of it.

The Doctor stopped a breath away from her face as doubt seeped into his gaze, his eyes glancing again from her lips and her brown orbs. Rose frowned when he turned his head from her and took a couple of steps back.

"I—I'm sorry. I didn't know what I was thinking. I—" he stammered, shaking his head, till she rolled her eyes and pulled at his leather jacket, bringing him down to wrap her arms around his neck.

She would've laughed at the shocked expression on his face if only she weren't so annoyed at him. "But I thought—"

"Stop being such a stupid Time Lord," she cut him off again, and this time, he grinned manically as he enclosed her waist tightly with his arms.

He sobered from the giddiness of the moment seconds later, though, and couldn't help but ask, couldn't help to know, if she felt it too.

"Do you feel it?" he whispered with fear and anticipation. Rose caught it, and she gave him a reassuring smile.

It was, without a doubt, something unusual and new that had made them loose themselves into the moment on that starry night on the soils of an alien planet. It was exciting, terrifying, that they didn't know what else to do but to give in.

Instead of answering him, she pulled him down and gently, slowly, and pressed her lips against his.

He was stiff and unresponsive at first, but she felt the beginnings of his signature grin tugging at his mouth as he kissed her back. He was so careful when he touched her, as if terrified he would break her. When they parted for air, she wanted to laugh. Oh, how the mood shifted from light teasing to this. The moment was so light, so perfect, that she couldn't believe it. But instead of a chuckle, what escaped her lips was a contented sigh.

Another look of doubt creased his forehead as his arms dropped from her sides. She huffed in irritation and crossed her arms across her chest. What was going on in that head of his now?

"I haven't ruined anything, then? This is… this is alright with you? Is this what you want?" he asked when Rose invaded his space and wound her arms around his neck once more. The wolfish tongue-in-teeth grin on her face was contagious, and he couldn't help his hands from cupping her face to feel her soft skin.

She gave him a teasing look in response. "My Doctor," she said to herself as she ran her fingers through his closely cropped hair, her nails scraping against his scalp. She had a hungry look gracing her features, yet her smile was soft and easy. "You don't know how long I've wanted this."

The Doctor blinked, and his grin was more sure and confident. "Fantastic," he said to her as he was led into the TARDIS, his hand in hers, as they kept their eyes glued on each other's eyes.

It was something in the air, they supposed.

AN: How was it? :) Please leave reviews! I'd love to hear, or read, rather, from you! :D