The Infernal Doctor

The Dress

           I couldn't stop thinking about what Tessa had said. She thought the Doctor loved me. That was absolutely insane! Preposterous! Unimaginable, and.....saddening. Why did it make me sad to think he couldn't love me, that it was impossible? I just shook my head, why did I care? What in the world was Tessa thinking? Me loving him....him loving me back? The Doctor and I were just friends. Tessa's speculation of us being in a relationship came back to me. Thinking back on our actions, it became obvious to me that our actions could be perceived as romantic to outsiders....or maybe we really were flirting. No, no! Rose, stop thinking like that. There is nothing romantic going on between you and the Doctor. Suddenly, I remembered something. Something from so long ago, something I had never even known until now. The memory was a bit fuzzy, but I remembered that detail very well. I was standing in front of the Tardis, a golden light surrounding me, engulfing me. We were on Satellite Five. The Bad Wolf Corporation. I shivered at those words, Bad Wolf. My mind was burning away under the weight of the entire time vortex running through my mind. The Doctor had a different face then, the first version of him I ever met. He took the time vortex from my mind, killing that version of himself in the process. He had kissed me. He had kissed me. He had kissed me. And during that kiss, he had absorbed the time vortex from my brain. Then, it was nothing but darkness, when I had suddenly woken up....with no memory of the time vortex running through my brain. Or the time during that, but now I knew that the Doctor had kissed me...but why? It was probably the only way to take the time vortex from my mind. No....I'm sure he could've have done it without kissing me. So why did he kiss me? This was too confusing, so I just focused on the next important thing: why had the Doctor never mentioned it, and more importantly.....why was I just now remembering this? Maybe I should ask the Doctor, I thought. He would probably know. I decided I would ask him later when we were alone, because right now we were due to meet the other inhabitants of the Institute. I was excited and nervous to be meeting the rest of the people who called themselves Nephilim, not knowing their true origin. I was sitting in my room, anxiously awaiting someone to come and fetch me for the meeting, when there was a knock at the door. I looked down at the fine blue dress I was given to wear. A woman with a scar across her face, Sophie, had came in earlier to help me get dressed. I had tried to decline, but shortly after I realized I didn't know how to put on the elaborate dress. There were so many buttons and apparently I was supposed to wear a corset with it. It was quite uncomfortable, but after a while I grew used to wearing it and how uncomfortable it was faded into the background. So, I had called Sophie back, and she had seemed astonished that I didn't know about wearing a corset or all those stupid buttons on that dress. I would've much rather worn jeans. This whole outfit was extremely uncomfortable and it wasn't even because of the corset squeezing my body...though it did have something to do with the corset. The corset was laced so tightly it was forcing my breasts up, and looking in the mirror I could see it was quite noticeable. Maybe I should just go back to the Tardis and get a pair of jeans. No, that was stupid, none of these people had ever seen, or even heard of, jeans. I walked over to the door and swiftly pulled it open, only to be met by a very attractive man with black hair and cobalt blue eyes. He was absolutely gorgeous. I heard myself murmur, "Hot damn." I heard a stifling laugh from behind the man. I got on my tiptoes and peeked over his shoulder to see the Doctor bent over laughing. I was wondering what he was laughing at, when I finally realized something. "Did I say that out loud?" I exclaimed. "Yeah, you did," he said, and I noticed he was British. My face heated, and I could feel myself blushing. He smiled, and I could tell he had a huge ego and I had only just added to it. He moved out of the way, allowing me to step out of my room, only to stop again. The Doctor jerked up from his laughing position and abruptly stopped laughing. I saw his eyes travelling over every inch of me, starting at my feet and working his way up, until finally pausing on my chest. I felt a smile spread across my face as I leaned against the side of the door. "Doctor," I said, still grinning. "Hmm?" He said, his eyes still on my chest. "My eyes are up here, but feel free to keep staring. I won't stop you." His eyes darted up to my face, but they quickly slid back to my chest, as if he had no control of where he was looking. I stepped forward, boldly, having no idea why I was. Then just as suddenly as I had made the decision, I was right in front of him, his face inches from mine. My lips quirked up into a sly grin; and I reached up, putting my finger under his chin and pulling up, forcing his gaze to meet mine. His eyes were smoldering and it took me aback, but I held his gaze. I felt his hands grip my waist, delicately yet firmly. My breath hitched but he didn't seem to notice....because he was staring at my lips. I heard someone clear their throat from behind us. We jerked apart like we were fire and ice. My face was burning as I turned around. The man had one of his eyebrows lifted in question, I just looked down, blushing. He cleared his throat, "Well, um, I'm Will. William Herondale." Will...Tessa had been about to say a name this morning. She had said Wi-. She must have been about to say Will. This was the man Tessa loved and the man who loved her back. That lucky girl. "Um I'm-," I started to say but he interrupted saying he already knew who we were. It seemed, despite being so handsome, he was also quite rude. He motioned us to follow. I stayed on one side of him and the Doctor on the other. I remembered the way he had gripped my waist, his heated gaze, the way my heart had practically rocketed out of my chest. Maybe Tessa wasn't that far off on her seemingly crazy theory. He had been looking at me so intently, as if it took everything in his power not to grab me and kiss me. I shook my head, what was I thinking? He didn't want to kiss me. Just because he had his hands on my waist didn't mean he wanted to kiss me. But maybe he did, came the traitorous thought. No, I couldn't be thinking things like this, giving myself false hope...err....I mean, making feelings out of nothing. I had no feelings for him, and he had none for me. Although, I had to admit....the Doctor looked pretty good. No, he was hot. Suddenly, I felt someone beside me, "What're you thinking about?" The Doctor asked me, his fingers curling around mine. "Um, nothing," I said a little too defensively. He grinned down at me, "Doesn't seem like nothing." "Oh, shut up," I grumbled. I looked ahead of us and saw Will, turned around, looking at us a bit sadly. I quirked my head to the side, wondering what could be wrong. I walked ahead of the Doctor, catching up to Will. "What's wrong," I whispered. "I have no idea what you mean," he said. "You were looking at us like a lost little puppy." He grumbled, before finally giving in and deciding to tell me. "You two, you just flirt, and it makes me sad that I can't do the same with the girl I love," he said, the agony plain in his voice. "We weren't flirting," at that he just rolled his eyes. "And the girl you love....Tessa?" He winced, "How did you know?" "She was giving me some advice yesterday, and she didn't specifically mention your name but I knew." "So she was talking about me? What did she say? Did she say how she felt about me?" I kept my mouth shut, not wanting to interfere. He just looked down, "You're not gonna answer me, are you?" I sighed, "It's not my place to tell you how another person feels." He just grunted, then rushed ahead of me towards two double doors at the end of the hall. The Doctor came up beside me and grabbed my hand, squeezing it in assurance. I assumed my distress over Will was showing on my face. "You guys ready to meet everyone else," Will grunted. We just nodded in confirmation, and he pushed the doors open, into an elaborate dining hall.