Ashes ~ (a TenRose Fanfiction)

Bottled Up

Hey shipmates,
Just a tiny interluding chapter :) So when this fanfic finishes, there's only a little bit left to go, I am going to continue with "Rose's Choice" and focus on that until it's finished. But after that, how would you guys feel about one shots? I personally love reading ones shots, but I just wondered whether you prefer more lengthy stories?
Ella :))

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~Chapter 25
-Rose's POV

He's right in front of me, led in my arms and struggling to keep his eyes open. I hold him tighter. Don't let go. Don't let go. "No! Please, you can't-" and then I begin to sob, and the Doctor uses the last bit of his energy to lift a hand to my cheek.
"Don't cry. Please, Rose" He says. But I don't stop, and I hold myself close, not letting go of him.
"But you can't!" I say again, shaking with tears.
"Rose. I need to say...t-thank you"
"Doctor..." I choke on my tears, barely breathing. The world around my begins to slow, and everything I see is just him. "I love you"
But he's gone. I shake his shoulders. "Doctor!" I shout, shaking him harder "Please! Doctor! Wake up!" I'm screaming now, and I shout out once again "Doctor!"

I'm pulled back to reality, shouting his name and covered in a hot layer of sweat. I sit bolt up right, one hand on the bed beside me, steadying me. Suddenly the bedroom door bursts open and I see him in the light from the doorway.
"It's okay, it's fine. I'm here" he moves forward across the room quickly, enveloping me in a tight hug. I realise I'm crying, and even though the details of my dream are slipping away, I know exactly what these tears are for.
"I just...I'm sorry about that" I say quickly, wiping my eyes with the back of my hand, still held tightly in the Doctors embrace. I can smell the wonderful smell of just him, beautiful and familiar.
"You don't need to be sorry at all" he says, and pulls back slightly to look me in the eyes.  He held me so I could fall asleep that night, but then he'd returned to the console room to do some work on the TARDIS. I don't mind, as I know he doesn't sleep like humans do, but tonight of all nights I could have done with his arms around me until the morning.
"You died again" my voice comes out choked and swollen from screaming.
"I'm right here now, it's okay" he says "And I'm not gonna disappear again"
"Good to hear that" I say, and take a deep breath.
"Have you been having those nightmares a lot?" He asks with concern.
"Every night" I say.
"I can probably fetch you something for those later" he says, and kisses the top of my head.
"Doctor, you can kiss me properly now" I smile lightly, and wipe away another tear.
"Oh yeah!" He flashes a big grin and brings his lips down to meet my own. I realise every kiss will probably feel just as amazing every time with the Doctor - because we've kept our feelings to ourselves for so many years it's all coming out now. The feeling of being so intimately close to the Doctor is like electricity wired in all the right place in my mind , and I try to focus on just the feeling of him, like its something I have to memorise completely to keep bottled up forever.
"I think it would be helpful," I say when we break apart "more than any other medicine, if you were to stay with me until morning"
"Well, I am a Doctor after all" he smiles, and presses his lips to mine again. I move so he can lie beside me, and he holds me close.
"Doctor?"
"Yes?"
"Aren't you going to get your pyjamas on?"
"Oh, yes - pyjamas, right. Yes, of course" he babbles, and moves over to the chest of drawers, pulls out some pyjamas, and goes into the bathroom to change. I sigh to myself at his closure from me, it's like we've taken a baby step to just "best friends who kiss often". But of course now we know how we feel, things have obviously progressed, even if only a little bit. He returns in pyjamas I recognise from Christmas all those years ago.
"You kept them?" I ask him, surprised.
"Your mother said I could" he says with a small smile, and clambers into the bed beside me. 
"Fair enough" I say, and curl myself around him, letting my thoughts wander slightly. "Remember back on the island? When it was really cold that night and we had no clothes?" I ask. The Doctor shifts beside me.
"Um, yeah - yes I do" he says.
"Well, if we could perhaps...replicate that position, I think I would sleep very well" I say with a smile.
"And what position would that be, Rose Tyler?" He says quietly. I grin and turn myself around so I'm facing away from him.
"The one where you cuddle me from behind"
"Well then yes, of course we can" I hear the happiness in his voice as we snuggle down together, perfectly nestled in our little cocoon of the Doctor and Rose.
"Night, Doctor" I smile.
"Night, Rose"