#Fun fact: when they get REALLY deep into courtship they exchange food…from each other’s crops so it looks like a full on makeout session

[rose-of-pollux]

Aroace life is accepting that your pets will have more of a love life than you will.

For the record, I’m fine with this.

[lastbluetardis]

Chemical Potential, epilogue

Summary: Slightly homesick and stressed about her abysmal chemistry grade, Rose Tyler meets quirky James Smith, the boy who sits in front of her in their chemistry class. They become fast friends as James makes it his personal mission to help Rose get through the semester.

Ten x Rose University AU

This chapter: ~2800 words, teen

Notes: This was written for the lovely @thegreenfairy13 as part of the @dwsecretsanta gift exchange. Also tagging @doctorroseprompts.

That’s all she wrote, folks! I hope you've had as much fun reading this story as I've had writing it. I would love to hear from you one last time to know what you thought. And if you've been lurking this whole time or binged this in one sitting, I'd love to hear from you, too :)

AO3 | Ch1 | Ch2 | Ch3 | Ch4 | Ch5 | Ch6 | Ch7 | Ch8 | Ch9 | Ch10

Two Years Later

“Jeans… jumpers… socks…” James rooted through his suitcase one final time, sifting through the clothes to make sure he had everything he would need for a four-day trip.

“Nearly finished?” He spun at Rose’s voice and saw her leaning casually against door frame of their bedroom, her thick winter coat draped across her arm.

He nodded, zipping the suitcase shut. “Yep, just double-checking. I packed enough pants as though I'm planning to wee myself every day on this trip.”

Rose wrinkled her nose at him but giggled. “You're so gross.” She skipped up to him and draped her arms over his shoulder to peck a swift kiss to his cheek. Lingering with her mouth close to his ear, she murmured, “But now I know I can do other, sexier things to you to make sure you go through all those pants you've brought.” She nipped at his earlobe, making a shiver ripple down his spine, before she pulled back, an impish gleam in her eyes.

“You menace,” he said, his voice was hoarser than he'd like. She just waggled her eyebrows a him, and held out her hand. He hefted the suitcase off the bed and asked, “Is yours already in the car?”

“Yep.”

James followed Rose down the hall to where his Aunt Sarah was standing by the front door.

“Thanks for doing this,” he told her.

“Of course,” she said. “Now go. Have fun. I’ll see you two next week.”

“Kicking me out of my own house?” James raised an eyebrow.“Thanks for doing this,” he told her.

“Of course,” she said. “Now go. Have fun. I’ll see you two next week.”

“Kicking me out of my own house?” James raised an eyebrow.

“Oh, shut up. You’ll want to get on the road to miss the afternoon traffic. Don’t you worry about a thing. Just have fun.” She reached out to him, and he dutifully stepped into her arms to accept her embrace. “Good luck,” she whispered in his ear, giving him a squeeze that didn’t at all settle the butterflies that were suddenly churning in his stomach. Then she pulled back and kissed his cheek. “Go, go. Drive safely. Let me know when you get there.”

“Thanks again for taking care of the cats,” Rose said, skipping up to Sarah for a goodbye hug.

“It’s no trouble at all,” she said, kissing Rose’s cheek.

When Rose pulled back from his aunt, James rested his hand on her lower back. She leaned into his touch and beamed up at him with a smile that inflated his heart a few sizes.

“Ready to go?” he murmured, bending down to press his lips to the top of her head.

“Yep! Bye Aunt Sarah. Bye babies,” she cooed to the line of four cats pacing in the foyer. “Bye Gollum, wherever the hell you are.”

Sarah had driven in from Michigan earlier in the week along with her two cats in order to take care of their three cats while James and Rose went up to Cherry Springs State Park. It was one of the best places in the country to stargaze, and it was only a few hours upstate.

James was excited to spend a few days alone in the middle of nowhere with Rose so they could both decompress after this latest round of final exams. For James, since he was graduating early, it was his very last round of exams. This trip was a way for him and Rose to celebrate privately for a few days, even though his graduation ceremony wasn't until the springtime. 

And, if all went well, he and Rose would be celebrating something else, too.

James carried his suitcase to the car, tucked it into the back next to Rose’s, then settled into the driver’s seat for the next few hours. He kept his hand twined with Rose’s for most of the drive, and they passed the time listening to an audio book that neither of them was really invested in.

Four hours later, only narrowly missing rush hour traffic, he pulled into the parking lot of the guest services building.

“I’ll be right back,” he said. He saw she was unbuckling her seat belt. “You don’t need to come in with me.”

“I need to stretch out my legs. My bum went numb from sitting for so long.”

“Need me to rub it?” he asked, winking.

She snorted and smacked his chest lightly before she stood up out of the car.

It was a simple matter of signing a few forms then receiving the key to their cabin rental. When he returned to the car, he saw Rose bent over touching her toes. He was given a glorious view of her arse, and he let out a low, appreciative whistle.

She snapped up and whirled around, fire simmering in her eyes. It was extinguished when she realized who was ogling her.

“Just me,” he said, holding his hands up. “I’m sorry if I startled you.”

“Thought you might’ve been some wanker catcalling.”

“Nope. Only your wanker.”

Rose rolled her eyes fondly, then they both reluctantly got back into the car so James could drive them to their cabin. It was a small rental unit, only two bedrooms, a bathroom, and a kitchen, but it would suit their needs for the next several days.

They passed the evening uneventfully, walking arm in arm around the campground before retreating back to their cabin to make dinner with the food they’d packed. When the sun had set, they bundled up against the cool December air and went outside to sit on the porch swing. The air wasn’t unbearably bitter, but it did have a crisp sting to it that was made manageable with hats and gloves and, of course, a good cuddle.

James wrapped an arm around Rose and tucked her in to his side, enjoying the feel of her next to him. She turned her body into his, resting her head in the crook of his shoulder and wrapping her arms around his middle.

He rocked the swing slowly, using only the tips of his toes and heels. The motion was soothing, and managed to calm his sudden rush of nerves. The small velvet box that contained a small platinum ring seemed to weigh a ton in his coat pocket, where it had been resting all day.

The elation he’d felt when buying it hadn’t gone away, but nerves had cropped up too. He was fairly certain Rose would say yes, so he didn’t know why he was so anxious. Nevertheless, he was. And what was even more terrifying was finding a way to ask her. Surely he couldn’t simply blurt out, “Hey, so I was thinking… d’you want to get married?”

Soft, warm lips grazed his jaw. He hummed and looked down.

“Penny for ‘em,” Rose said gently, giving his waist a small squeeze.

“Oh, just thinking.”

“Obviously,” she said, sticking her tongue out as she grinned.

He rolled his eyes, then rested his cheek on top of her plum-colored beanie.

“I was just thinking… tomorrow’s one of my favorite days of the year.”

“Mmm,” she agreed, and he could hear the impish grin when she said, “It’s the day we went from study buddies to fuck buddies.”

He choked on a laugh.

That wasn’t quite true. Tomorrow was the anniversary of their first kiss, and the day they entered into their relationship. Becoming Rose’s boyfriend had been the best thing to ever happen to him. If he’d thought their first kiss had been brilliant—and oh, it had been brilliant—it was nothing compared to the rest of their courtship.

If he thought he had loved her when he’d first confessed his feelings to her, that was a mere drop in the ocean to what was in his heart now. He and Rose had grown even closer over the last two years as they fumbled their way through dating. The first few months had passed by like a dream as they spent nearly every waking (and sleeping) moment together. They’d gone on dates, told each other every little trivial fact about their lives, and started exploring a physical relationship.

Despite his inexperience, he’d caught on quickly and, to his unending relief, had not made a complete fool of himself the first time he and Rose had made love. It was slow and tender, full of laughing and teasing, and so perfectly them. Their ardor and desire hadn’t cooled a degree in the past year and a half; he desired Rose as much as he did their first night together.

Even when the high of a new relationship had worn off, the magic was still there. Even if some days were harder than others.

James’s stomach hurt when he remembered the strained month when Rose had hidden the fact that she’d been in communication with her ex-boyfriend, Jimmy. As it turned out, she had only been talking to him to repeatedly let him know that she was never coming home and that she wanted nothing to do with him. But James hadn’t known that, and he’d thrown some awful accusations at her, which led her to throwing some back at him. After spending two days apart, they came together and cleared the air, shedding many tears interspersed with apologies and affirmations of their never-ending love for each other.

That had happened just a few months in to their relationship and was one of their worst argument to date. But they’d made it through together and came out stronger on the other side.

Of course, they'd had disagreements and arguments since then, but nothing that a deep breath and a calm conversation couldn't sort through. More recently, however, some hiccups had arisen earlier in the month when James began receiving acceptance letters from the various graduate programs he’d applied to. Now that he had a stack of acceptance letters to sift through, it was becoming all too real that, come next August, he would be moving away from Rose for at least a year, until she graduated and decided if she wanted to join him in whatever city he ended up.

However, his wonderful, brilliant, compassionate Rose had reassured him that there was not a distance long enough that would ever make her stop loving him. The confidence and vehemence in her declaration had made him fall in love with her all over again. And, incidentally, had been the catalyst he’d needed to pull the trigger on the engagement ring he’d had his eye on for months.

 “Hey.” James was abruptly jarred back to the present when Rose knocked her elbow into his ribs. “I’m just teasing.”

“No, I know,” he answered quickly. “I guess I’ve got a lot on my mind.”

And here he was, back to wondering how the hell he was supposed to ask the love of his life to become his wife.

“Do you want to talk about it?” Rose offered. “Are you worried about grad school? Because you know that we’ll make it work, no matter where you decide to go. We’ll always be all right, you and me.”

He exhaled, his breath clouding in front of him, and he kissed the top of her head. “I know.”

“Always remember that I love you more than anything, James,” she said quietly, but the weight of her words resounded into his very soul. “I love you more now than I did two years ago. I fall in love with you a little more every day we spend together.”

“So you didn’t fall in love with me during that week I spent at a conference in California?”

She smacked his chest. “You arse.”

He giggled, and suddenly he didn’t feel nearly as terrified anymore. Leave it to Rose to manage to calm him down when she didn’t even realize he was panicking.

They lapsed back into a comfortable silence, rocking together on the porch, until a few minutes later, Rose squealed. “Ooh, shooting star!”

James looked up and scanned the skies in the general vicinity she was pointing to. He finally saw the fading streak of light disappear into the darkness. He looked down at her and saw she had her eyes closed in concentration.

A moment later, they popped open.

“Did you make a wish?” she asked, snuggling back into his side. Even though he hadn’t, he nodded. “What’d you wish for? Unless you’re worried it won’t come true.”

His mouth went a little dry as a knot clenched in his belly. This had been the opening he’d been praying for all night.

He swallowed, buying himself time to figure out what, exactly, he wanted to say to her.

“I wished for a hundred more years like the last two we’ve had,” he whispered into her ear, slowly worming the hand not holding her into his coat pocket. “I wished I would always fall asleep and wake up beside you.” He managed to one-handedly remove his glove inside his pocket, then grabbed the velvet box with trembling fingers. “I wished to love you and be loved by you forever.” He took the box out of his hand, flipped it open, and held it out in front of Rose. She gasped, a hand flying to her mouth. “But more than anything… I wished to become your husband, and that you’d become my wife.”

James pressed a hard kiss to the side of her head, then let go of her so he could slide off the swing and kneel before her. Tears glistened in her eyes, lining them with silver as he looked up at her, trying to slow his heartbeat. It was thudding in his ears, making him a little dizzy.

Rose was staring at the sapphire and diamond ring nestled into the silk padding of the box. Her gaze kept darting between his face and the ring and back again.

“I don’t think you can have that many wishes on one shooting star,” she said faintly, but she was wearing that teasing grin he loved so much.

“Well, I figure we’d see more than one this weekend,” he drawled, trying to not panic that she hadn’t yet given him an answer. “I’ll cash them in later. So what’d’you say, Rose Tyler? Will you do me the extraordinary honor of marrying me?”

A little sob bubbled up her throat, and suddenly she was in his arms. She’d launched herself off the swing to crash into him, her arms wrapping around his neck as she hugged him hard enough to almost be uncomfortable. “Yes! Yes, yes, yes!”

He exhaled a shuddering breath, and then he was hugging her as tightly as she was hugging him. He buried his face into her neck, his eyes prickling with emotion. Love, relief, more love, and a pure, unending joy.

Rose pulled back first, her eyes red and puffy and her cheeks wet with tears. It made him feel better about the moisture he could feel burning behind his eyes. She sniffled, then broke into tiny, beaming giggles, and he couldn’t help but echo the sound.

They were soon laughing somewhat hysterically on the front porch of a rural, northern Pennsylvanian cabin in the middle of the night as a cold December wind picked up around them. But James didn’t feel the chill, not when he was the happiest, luckiest person on Earth.

“I love you,” he said, brushing a strand of her hair away from her face where it got caught at the corner of her mouth. “So much, Rose.”

“I love you, too,” she replied. She ripped off her gloves and shoved them into the pockets of her jacket, then wiggled the fingers of her left hand. “Put it on me?”

He did. The fit was perfect, and Rose cooed in admiration at the beautiful ring adorning her finger.

“This is so perfect,” she sighed. “How did you know that this is exactly what I would love?”

“I creeped on your Pinterest account,” he admitted sheepishly.

Rose burst out laughing, but she continued holding her hand out in front of her, admiring the way the porch light shimmered off the gemstones.

“I love it,” she said, turning her head to look at him. “I love it.”

“I’m glad.” He leaned forward to brush a kiss to her cheek.

His lips glided down her jaw before skating over to cover hers. She parted her lips for him automatically and tilted her head to the side to free up their noses. He sighed against her mouth and wrapped one arm around her shoulders as his other went to her hair. His fingers met with her hat instead, making Rose grin.

He yanked her hat off and dropped it to the side so he could twine his fingers through the silky strands of her hair. She groaned when he scraped his fingernails across her scalp.

“I love you,” he murmured between frantic kisses. “I love you. I love you. I love you.”

“Love you, too,” she panted when he pulled her head back gently to give attention to her neck. Her hands went to his hair—he’d somehow lost his hat, too—keeping him where he was as he bit and licked and sucked at her neck. “Forever.”

“Forever,” he agreed, latching his mouth to the corner of her neck and shoulder.

She shuddered in his arms, but he couldn’t tell if it was from arousal or the cold. A steady breeze had picked up and was biting through their clothes.

“Want to go inside?” he mumbled into her skin.

“Yes please,” Rose gasped, arching into his touch and gripping his hair tighter when he nipped her again.

James chuckled, then planted a parting kiss to the red mark he’d been making on her neck. After pushing himself to his feet, he reached down and helped Rose stand, then he guided her inside the bright, warm cabin.

The End