As It Should Be

He tries not to notice that she is always drawn to his right side when they stroll down the street. Her left hand always laced within his right, even if it requires some sneaky sidestepping. It is the hand she idly strokes with her thumb and presses soft opened mouth kisses to at night while they lie in bed. He pretends he does not notice and tries to live out this human life with the woman he is undoubtedly and uncontrollably in love with. All while she pines for another.

Another who bares his face, his memories, even his odd little quirks; but he is gone now. Off traveling through space and time with someone else while the pair of them are trapped in a completely different universe.

Most nights they find themselves lying back on the grass and gazing up at the night sky. Often, Rose will sigh and draw his hand up to her lips before moving it to rest over her heart. The new Doctor turns his head to see her sad eyes searching the stars. He knows what she is looking for; how she hopes she will catch a glimmer of that damned blue box among the stardust and clouds.

His human heart could hardly take the harsh feeling of rejection, the feeling that he, in her eyes, may never be the man she had grown to love. However, she still had the ability to warm him from the inside with the glint of a rare smile, or how the sunbeams bounced off her sleeping form in the morning hours. He believed that somewhere buried deep down inside that she love him as well. Maybe not as much as she loved her Doctor, but enough to gibe him the faintest bit of hope that in time she would view him as hers as well.

They have been trapped here almost a year now, perhaps the longest year of his very long life, and yet again she is sitting cross-legged on a quilt on the lawn. Fresh raindrops are leaving their reflective beads clinging to the blades of grass; causing them to glisten in the moonlight. The Doctor stands propped up against the doorframe. From his standpoint it is hard to tell if the damp trails clinging to her cheeks are tears or from the rain, but it really doesn't make a difference. The pained look behind her once bright eyes hurts him just the same, and he has decided that he has had quite enough heartbreak for one lifetime.

"You should come inside Rose," the Doctor says, stepping out into the light rain with his hands stuffed inside the pockets of his trousers.

"Just a while longer, yeah?" she whispers, not taking her eyes off the sky.

"Right," he nods curtly. "You just sit there then, just sit there and make yourself sick. But you know what, Rose?" the Doctor knelt down beside her and brought his lips mere inches form her ear. "He is not coming back," he said, making it a point to stress each and every syllable. There where days where he had not been happy that he had absorbed Donna's brash tone, but now, this exact moment, was not one of them.

"He's gone, Rose. Off gallivanting around the universe and more than likely doing it with someone new. Because as irreplaceable as you are, Rose; you and I both know how much he hates to be alone. He will always be moving on, and doing it with somebody new. Throughout all eternity."

The trails on her cheeks were now most definitely tears, but he didn't care. Sure, he had been a bit harsh, perhaps a little too harsh, but at the time, he thought it was the only way. Moreover, if being blunt was what it took to make her realize that all they had now was each other, than so be it. Nevertheless, it still bothered him that his words had wounded her, it always hurt when he knew he was responsible for the state she was in.

The Doctor wove his hand under here damp tresses and let it rest on the back of her neck. He sighed and pressed a chaste kiss to her temple.

"I'm sorry Rose, I'm so sorry," he whispered, leaning his forehead against her cheek.

"I know I'm not him, not your Doctor, but in so many ways, so many ways Rose, I'm the same. And it breaks my ever so human heart to both watch and live your own heartbreak."

Rose sat speechless and kept her eyes focused on the sky as the tears flowed freely from the corners of her reddened eyes. The Doctor swallowed and solemnly nodded, running a hand through his rain-ridden hair.

"Right then, I'll just be inside if you should decided to come in."

She didn't budge, not one bit. She refused to even look at him, and that hurt. He could almost deal with her quietness, that the only affection she had shown him recently was paid to his right hand, but being denied a look into those brilliant eyes, no matter how sad they had been as of late, crushed the small amount of hope he had deep down inside of him.

The Doctor, now hiding his own silent tears, stood and slowly made his way back inside.

The night dragged on and it was times like this that he wished he could jump in the TARDIS and skip ahead to happier times. But there was no running for him now; even if he did grow his own TARDIS he was almost positive Rose wouldn't want to join hi m. And without her, what was really the point?

So he slept, he slept and prayed to all the gods in the universe that she would be sleeping by his side when he woke in the morning.

The familiar warmth of her hand stroking his caused his eyes to flutter open. Rose was seated by the edge of the bed, her head rested in the crook of her arm on the mattress and her thumb idly tracing lines on the back of his hand. The Doctor looked to the window, still dark, but the moon had shifted significantly. Two maybe three in the morning, if he had to guess and although late, she was indeed there beside him. Gently he squeezed her hand causing her to stir and look up at him through tear stained eyes.

"I'm not mad you know," Rose whispered.

"Rose, I never-"

"No, let me finish," she said, cutting him off. "I do realize he isn't coming back, but I can't just let him go. Some part of me keeps looking, whishing and hoping for that blasted blue box to drop out of the sky and out pop a daft old man with a new but all too familiar face. And I'm sorry, because I think some part of me will always be looking."

"But it is me who's here now, Rose," the Doctor said, situating himself to be closer to her. "I'm still the one you fell in love with."

But you're not," she argued, turning her face away from him and releasing his hand.

"I am, Rose, I so am." He slid his legs over the side of the bed and hopelessly grabbed hold both of her ands. "Look at me," he pleaded. "Please Rose, please look at me."

She turned her head slightly, but still managed to avoid his desperate brown eyes.

"I remember it all Rose, and it's not fair. I remember the first time I took your hand, I remember how willing you were to leave it all behind, kissing you and saving your life, the fear and excitement behind your eyes when I regenerated, and your smile Rose, god how do I miss that brilliant smile of yours. But worst of all I remember losing you and not getting the chance to tell you how I felt, how I still feel."

Rose had turned and looked him full on now, fresh tears trickling down her fair skin.

"I cried that day Rose Tyler, I cried out of lost love for you. Of all the things I have seen, all the people I have lost, it was you that made me wish, in that moment, that I could rip the universe apart just to be with you. For you I cried, and tonight-" the Doctor paused, brushing a few strands of her golden hair behind her ear, softly caressing her cheek. Rose closed her eyes and leaned in to his touch.

"Tonight Rose, for you, I wept again," he whispered, bringing his head down to rest against hers. "Losing you once was hard enough, please, please, don't let me lose you again. I don't think I could-"

"Shut up," Rose whispered.

"What?" The Doctor pulled back and blinked in a state of shock. Rose smiled softly as an almost forgotten brightness began to shine behind her eyes.

"I said, shut up." Inching her way forward, here hands came to rest on his shoulders, and gently she placed her lips over his.

She felt soft and warm, and although it was so long ago, he welcomed the familiar feeling he had yearned for. She stirred up a flame in him that he feared he would have never felt again. She explored his mouth with such a loving sweetness as her hands lightly ruffled his hair. He tightened his grip around her, not wanting to ever let here go; partly in fear that she would suddenly change her mind and go right back to her sulking ways. But even after their kiss had come to an end, she rested her head against his chest and for the first time in a long time, she hadn't automatically reached out for his right hand.

She pulled out of his embrace after a few moments and placed her hands softly against the sides of his face.

"I can't promise you I'll ever stop looking, and I can't promise you I won't ever get upset or even stop loving him. But I can promise you that I will try. Because Doctor, I think I realize it now, that I do love you, and when it comes down to it, in the end, that's all that matters."

She leaned in and kissed him again, soft and slow, and when she pulled back, he was wearing that schoolboy grin neither of them had seen in far too long.

"What?" She asked, arching an eyebrow.

"It's just…well_" he beamed.

"Well what Doctor?"

"In all of our time together, well all of our time together here anyway, you've never once called me Doctor, and now you've gone and done it twice."

"Well that's you now isn't it," she laughed. "My Doctor."

He swept her up and kissed her once more, and he could feel her smiling against his lips. "Oh, Rose Tyler, I am so your Doctor."

As the morning sunlight crept through the gaps in the curtains, the pair of them were still entwined in each other's arms. His fingers contently running up and down the length of her soft bare back and her fingers tangling themselves in his hair, sending chills down his spine each time she raked against his scalp. It was not that he wished that he could stop time completely, allowing them to bask in this perfect moment of happiness forever. A moment he never wanted to let go of. He pressed a kiss to her temple; realizing that as sweet as this moment was it would indeed not last forever, and time would go marching slowly on, and he was okay with that. Perhaps one day they would have their own adventures in their own TARDIS, or perhaps not. Either way they would be together, and for that, he couldn't be happier.

Rose and her Doctor, forever.

As it should be.

A/N: Hasn't been through a beta yet, so any mistakes are mine and mine alone. Hope you enjoyed, let me know. It makes me happier than watching a Ten marathon when you do!