Chapter 3 –

 

After a few blocks of searching for the perfect café, Rose had decided that she was indeed very hungry. She was going to stop at the next restaurant regardless of what the Doctor would say. She’d never been run around so much on a holiday in her life; she needed a proper sit down and something to drink, now.

 

They walked a short distance further down the street when Rose’s eyes fell upon the perfect little café. She was fairly certain that anything would be perfect at the moment, but it just seemed right. Cafe Coquille; quaint, perfect and quintessentially French. When they reached the entrance, she stopped firmly, planting the heels of her boots into the sidewalk. The Doctor had continued to walk and was jerked backward by her hand causing them to topple together. He’d turned in time to catch her in his arms. She could feel her heart race as his hands moved down to the small of her back to shift her so they could face each other.

 

“What’s wrong?” She could see the concern in his eyes, eyes that for that moment were only for her. A few moments passed, or maybe they were hours, Rose couldn’t tell; all she knew was that her breathing was speeding up steadily to match her heart. “Rose?”

 

Her stomach growled slightly and she remembered where she was. Food always did seem to ruin the mood. “Um, Doctor, you said yourself that you were hungry, so what about this place?” She stood herself up and brushed off her coat and repositioned his scarf; anything to divert eye contact, at least until she was sure her cheeks had returned to their natural color.

 

The Doctor removed his hands from her and turned to look at the store front beside him. Rose figured that it would be the perfect time to look up as well as the color faded from her face a bit. The Doctor’s eyes seemed to glaze like he was thinking about something; she recognized the expression as the one often used when he was trying to remember a calculation for the TARDIS, or where he’d misplaced his left shoe. “Doctor?’ she tilted her head sideways to get a better look at his face. she watched his eyes wander over the name of the café printed on the window. “Doc-” She was abruptly stopped when the Doctor’s hand shot out to hers and gripped it all too tightly and started walking again. But she wasn’t having any of that; she replanted her feet firmly into the concrete.

 

“Rose come on, I’m sure there is some place much better just down the clock.” He was pulling on her arm, but she wasn’t giving in; she knew he wouldn’t want to hurt her so he wouldn’t use his full strength, though it felt damn near close to it. She noted his voice seemed a bit panicked, but she couldn’t see anything life threatening about. No giant ducks, not shop window dummies and no three-eyed or otherwise alien threats; nothing that could possibly worry him.

 

“Doctor, c’mon. this is my holiday too and I want to eat. This place is here and I don’t want to have another bit like earlier where we wander around just to come back to the exact same spot. This place is here an-” This time she had no choice but to stop mid sentence when the wind was knocked out of her as the doctor rapidly switched from pulling her in one direction to full forcedly pushing her backwards in the opposite one.

 

Within another moment, she found herself backed up against the brick wall of an alley, firmly sandwiched between the Doctor’s body and said wall. His head was over her shoulder, peering at the opening of the alleyway though Rose’s own vision was blocked by his head. For the umpteenth time that day, her heart was racing and with every breath she could feel her chest push up against the Doctor’s own leather and wool clad body. His unique scent once again filled her nostrils and she drank it in as she completely forgot her surprise at being thrust into a wall. Intoxicated on him, her eyes drifted closed and she leant her head into his shoulder; she could feel them rise and fall in rhythm with is rapid breathing.

 

She relished in the feeling of their bodies so close, it would only take a bit of maneuvering and... She slid her hips slightly to be more even with his. Suddenly, she realized that the saying to be between a rock and a hard place could never in history have been used more effectively. He must have noticed because his eyes were suddenly piercing into her own; Rose felt her face once again set on fire at the ice in his stare. Before she could explore the intensity that lay behind the deep blue, his head turned away again before he pushed off of the wall, away from her body. Leaving her to catch her breath, he walked to the corner of the ally and glanced down the street in both directions, lingering slightly on his left before walking back to Rose seemingly pleased.

 

Without a word, merely a smile, he took her hand and walked her calmly away from the wall and out of the alley. Then still in silence, he opened the door and they walked in the café, hand in hand. Rose complied and followed him to a small table to the left and sat down on the white metal chair he pulled out for her before taking his own opposite her. He was still smiling in peacefully when a waiter came by and handed them menus. He gave the waiter a nod in response as they both took their menus.

 

Rose cocked an eyebrow. Well, if he wasn’t going to bring it up, neither would she. With the way he was acting, maybe she’d imagined the whole thing under disillusionment of hunger or at least she was sure that was what he would tell her. he was already hid behind his menu. Maybe she had imagined it, being pushed up against a wall out of nowhere and all. She watched over the top of her own menu as he shifted in his seat, finally settling on crossing his legged position. Then again, maybe she hadn’t imagined everything.