A/N: I wrote this based off of two things: the cover image, and the song "Kiss Me" by Ed Sheeran. I strongly suggest you give the song a listen before reading this or even better, while your reading the dancing scene. I promise it'll make the story sound a hundred times better! This is my first fanfic, so I hope you enjoy it!

"Rose! You… you look… beautiful," the Doctor managed to stutter. Rose smiled back at him from the other side of the console room, obviously pleased with his reaction.

"Thanks! The TARDIS helped me pick it out," she said, looking down at her dress.

The Doctor had promised her a night-out and told her to wear something nice. He wouldn't tell her where or when the night-out would be since he wanted to keep it a surprise. But the surprise he was going to give her was nothing compared to the one she gave him just now. Rose always looked beautiful, but this… this was different.

Rose was wearing a light blue, strapless dress with a full skirt that came down just above her knees. It floated around her toned legs and accentuated all of her curves in a way that made the Doctor's jaw drop. Heels the color of the TARDIS clicked on the console room floor as she walked towards him. A small gold chain with a TARDIS blue tear-drop pendant rested on her collar and caught the light of the glowing console. She stopped in front of him and leaned against the console, still smiling up at him. Her hair was pulled into a loose bun, with ringlet curls falling out of it and around her face. The Doctor was captivated.

"So, where're we going?" Rose finally asked.

The Doctor broke his gaze and returned to his usual, bouncy self. "Well that's a surprise, Miss Tyler!" He jumped back to the control panel and pulled a few levers. The TARDIS lurched and Rose clung to the panel as they hurtled through the time vortex. Once they landed, the Doctor ran to the front doors and waited for his companion to join him. She got half way down the ramp before stopping short.

"Hold on! Aren't you going to get dressed?"

The Doctor looked down at his blue suit and converse. "What d'you mean? I am dressed! Besides, I think my blue suit matches your dress quite nicely."

Rose sighed dramatically and smiled at him. He did look nice in his suit, so she couldn't argue. She continued down the ramp and wrapped her arm in his. "Can I see my surprise now?"

"My goodness, you humans are so impatient!"

"Oi! You're one to talk, Mister I'm-gonna-eat-a-biscuit-five-seconds-after-it-leav es-the-oven!"

"They were chocolate chip, Rose! Besides, I thought my Time Lord genetics would prevent me from getting burned too badly. I guess I was wrong…" The Doctor grimaced at the memory of a burned mouth. He couldn't even taste the biscuits for days afterwards due to singed taste buds. "Anyways! Any guesses as to where we are?"

"Out of all of time and space? Can't say that I do."

The Doctor smiled down at her with anticipation about her reaction to the surprise and placed his hand on the door handle. "Well then, take a look…"

He pulled the door open and held it for Rose as she walked through excitedly. Her feet had barely left the blue box before she stopped in her tracks. A gasp escaped her lips as the full effect of the room around her sank in. "Oh! ... It's lovely!"

The Doctor closed the TARDIS door behind him and grinned at her astonishment. "The year's 3150. We're on a space ship above Earth. And this," he said, gesturing at the huge room around them, "is the grandest dance hall in the universe."

Rose turned in a circle, trying to see everything at once. The dance hall was huge. Large, Romanian-looking pillars stood along the walls (they had parked behind one of them) and the wooden dance floor sparkled from being brushed with gold flakes. White-clothed tables were scattered along the edge of the dance floor and many had large vases of orchids on them. Several bands and orchestras were gathered along the far wall to her right, waiting for their turn to play (an orchestra was playing at the moment) and on the far left wall, there was a marble staircase that lead to a second floor. Waitresses were coming down the staircase with every appetizer and drink imaginable. As Rose looked up to see what was on the second floor, a light caught her eye. She looked straight up to the ceiling and gasped again at what she saw.

The ceiling was completely clear, allowing the light of a million stars to shine through. Rose couldn't believe how beautiful it all was.

The Doctor looked up at the ceiling with her. "There's a special light field that surrounds the glass so that we can see all of those stars. Brilliant invention, really. You see, usually stars aren't actually visible from space because…"

He rambled on for a few minutes about how the ceiling worked and something about starlight, and Rose listened to every word. Not that she really cared about how all of that worked, but because the Doctor cared about it. It made her so happy to see him get excited about things like this. He showed her how vast and exciting life could be, even in the little things. No, especially in the little things.

Rose watched the Doctor's face as he looked at the ceiling and rambled on. She smiled at the excitement she saw there. When his explanation was over, he smiled back at her. Rose looked down and grabbed his hand. They laced their fingers together and Rose said, "Thank you. For this. For everything. It's beautiful and wonderful… and I wouldn't trade it for the world."

"Neither would I." He watched her for a few moments and was still taken aback by her beauty. Not just from what she was wearing and how her golden hair fell gently from that bun, but the look on her face. She was happy and smiling… and that was the most beautiful thing in the universe.

Rose couldn't help but notice the way he looked at her. It was as almost as if… as if… no. It couldn't be. She was just being ridiculous. He couldn't love her. Maybe admire or find her attractive, but never love. She was just a shop girl from 21st century Earth. He's a Time Lord who's seen so much of space and time… so many things more exciting than her. But still, maybe there was something more to that gaze…

Her eyes flickered to his lips and back up again. To her surprise, she saw his do the same. Suddenly, they're eyes met in a way that shared a thousand unspoken words between the two; feelings never considered mutual and desires they never thought plausible. Rose glanced at his lips again. Was this actually going to happen?

But just then, a waitress came up and offered them champagne. Their gaze broke and both stared at the tray she was holding for a moment before realizing what she was asking.

"Oh! Um… thank you." Rose finally said and took a glass off the tray. The Doctor took one too and sipped from it, trying to distract himself from what just happened. Did she actually feel about him the same way he felt about her? Damn this delicious champagne for stopping him from find out!

Rose sipped from her glass as well and glanced over to an empty table near them. That interruption wasn't going to stop her from finding out what would have happened just then. She glanced down and realized they were still holding hands. With a smile, she walked over to the table and brought him along with her. They sat down and sipped on their drinks for bit, watching the couples dance in front of them. There must have been over a thousand people in the room, all dressed in extravagant suits and dresses and expensive jewelry. They danced to the music with finesse and skill. It was an incredible sight, but Rose noticed that most of it was just for show. Most of the couples weren't trying to be closer than they needed to be… it was strange.

The music stopped and a few of the couples left the dance floor. A new singer took the stage and the music began. It was a slow song… Rose thought it was beautiful.

Suddenly, she noticed the Doctor was standing in front of her and she snapped out of her focus on the music.

"Miss Tyler? Would you like to dance with me?" he asked, holding out his hand in the most gentlemanly way possible.

Rose placed her hand in his and stood up. "I'd love to," she said with an endearing smile.

He clasped her hand gently, as if she were a porcelain doll… even though he knew that was not at all the case. She had fought and saved his life more times than he could count. There were few people braver than his Rose.

He led her onto the dance floor, almost shaking with anticipation. So long had he wanted to do this with her. Sure, there was the time they danced in the TARDIS, but that was just platonic. He was sure it hadn't meant anything more for Rose, even though it secretly meant the world to him. But this was different. The way she looked at him earlier and how their hands were held differently this time… not in the same dragging-along grip they usually had, but gentle and full of meaning.

The Doctor stopped in the middle of the dance floor, several feet away from the other couples around them. He turned toward Rose and considered for a split-second how to hold her. Would she be uncomfortable with him putting his arms around her waist? He didn't want to scare her away no matter how badly he wanted to hold her like that.

But before he could make a decision, Rose wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled herself closer, smiling up at him. He smiled back, relieved that she felt the same way, and rested his hands on her waist, pulling her even closer than she had. He felt her head rest against his chest and breathed in the scent of her strawberry shampoo. She was lovely… even lovelier than usual, which he never thought possible. In that moment, as she was rested in his arms, the Doctor wanted nothing else in the universe. All the adventures, all the people he met and the places he saw, nothing compared to this moment with her. 900 years and he had never loved someone as much as he loved this girl.

The two swayed softly to the music in silence, simply enjoying each other's closeness. Rose had wanted him to hold her like this for so long. All this time they had been running and exploring and searching for the best things in the universe, when the one thing Rose wanted more than anything had been standing there in that pin-striped suit the entire time. She closed her eyes and took in the moment, never wanting to forget it. She listened to the song lyrics playing in the background:

And your heart's against my chest, your lips pressed to my neck…

Yes. That's what she wanted more than anything. To plant kisses along his neck, up his jaw, and gently on his lips. She had thought about it more than once, but she never thought she actually would. But this was different… this whole situation was different. Maybe she actually could….

Slowly, Rose lifted her head off of the Doctor's chest and gently pressed her lips to the base of his neck. Her hands left his neck and ran through the hair on the back of his head.

The Doctor was thinking about the look they had exchanged earlier when he suddenly felt those warm lips on his neck. His knees weakened immediately and he felt like he was going to collapse from that simple gesture. But his determination to not ruin the moment kept him upright. He sighed deeply, shaking slightly as he felt her lips leave his skin and gently place themselves further up. Yes, that look earlier definitely meant something... he thought.

Rose felt the Doctor shudder against her warm breathe and goosebumps covered his skin. Better kiss those away, then… she thought as she kissed him again, this time closer to his jaw. She could feel his rapid heartbeat as she did so. Rose worked her way along his jaw, until finally she reached his chin.

The song continued in the background:

Kiss me like you wanna be loved

This feels like falling in love

We're falling in love

The Doctor couldn't take it anymore… he wanted to return the favor. Rose was placing that last kiss on his chin as he removed his hand from her waist and placed it on her cheek instead. Her lips left his chin and he swooped down to meet them.

This girl was his everything; his reason for living, his joy, his love… and he kissed her like he wanted to communicate each of those things through their lips. The taste of her lipstick and sweet champagne filled his mouth. So long had he wanted to know what his Rose tasted like, and he wasn't disappointed with the result. He kissed her slowly, never wanting to break apart.

Rose nearly melted when his lips captured hers. She leaned even closer to his body, wanting to eliminate all of the space between them. His hands left her face and wrapped themselves around her waist. He held her tighter than felt possible, but made sure not to hurt her. It was just enough to tell her that he never wanted to let her go. After a moment, their lips pulled away from each other so they could catch their breath.

The Doctor leaned his forehead to hers while he breathed in. Their eyes remained closed as the entire world around them ceased to exist any longer. Rose caught his lips again, kissing him harder than before. Her tongue gently traced his lips, and the Doctor parted them to gave her entrance. She softly traced the outline of his tongue the same way she did his lips and a whimper escaped his throat. He returned the gesture by running his tongue along the edge of her teeth, trying to memorize every outline. This kiss was everything perfect they had hoped for. She bit down gently, nibbling on his tongue. He wanted it to last forever, but they both ran out of breathe and had to break apart again.

Rose's eyes fluttered open as she breathed in and suddenly remembered where they were. She pulled back from the Doctor's embrace and he opened his eyes to see what was wrong. The entire dance hall was staring at them. The other couples around them had stopped dancing and watched as Rose blushed furiously from embarrassment. The Doctor had forgotten until now that public display of affection was not accepted at these sort of danced. In fact, he was pretty sure it was a law. He opened his mouth to say something but quickly shut it again and resorted to tugging on his ear nervously.

"Rose?" he whispered in her ear.

"Yes, Doctor?"

"It seems we've overstayed our welcome. We should…" his sentence trailed off as Rose turned back to face him and gave her best tongue-touched smile. That peeking tongue of hers could stop armies… he was sure of it.

Rose reached down and grabbed the Doctor's hand, lacing her fingers between his. She leaned forward and brought her lips to his ear. One word was whispered. The one word that started this all and meant more to them than a thousand to anyone else…

"Run."