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Who Gives This Woman
A quickie for ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
onabearskinrug's prompt from her journal. MAD props to fannishliss for the title!!! :D <3
The church was full of her family and friends, and his. Some of them had to be his. Somebody besides Rose had to like him. The Doctor had paid for the place to be festooned in bunting and bright flowers and while everyone marveled at the expense, he felt the end result gave the church something of a carnival atmosphere rather than that of a wedding. Which was what he wanted. To the Doctor, the whole thing was a cruel, bitter joke.
He stood at the back of the church – not at the front, where he properly belonged – waiting for her to come up from the undercroft where she’d been getting ready. The vestibule was crowded with bridesmaids in taffeta dresses the color of his lost Gallifrey sky.
I would have taken you there and married you in a grove of silver trees. I would have married you in an alley by a dumpster if it meant I was the one who got to marry you. Why are you doing this to me? The reality of the situation was even harder to consider. I forced you into this.
“I’m sorry,” Jackie Tyler said in his ear. She still hadn’t been escorted to her seat. She was wearing a low-cut dress in the same color as the bridesmaids’. It had come with a little bolero jacket, but she’d thrown that right out to present as much skin as was acceptable for the Mother of the Bride. “I’d almost prefer it if she were marrying you.”
“So would I,” he sighed, refusing to make eye contact. “But I blew that, didn’t I?”
“You can’t blame her,” Jackie said. “You left her. You couldn’t just expect her to wait around.”
“I didn’t expect her to be so happy,” he said. “I thought she would wait for me.”
Jackie put her hand on her hip. “Did you give any indication that you would come back? None. Just dropped her off, and away you went. I suppose they’re happy, though. They act like it, at least when I see them, which isn’t often. Sound familiar?”
He nodded, but couldn’t find the words to answer her. A moment later an usher cleared his throat and offered his arm to Jackie. She patted the Doctor’s bum and went down the aisle. Shortly after she was seated, the groomsmen and the stupid groom came out and stood at the front of the church.
Where’d he get four groomsmen? I thought he didn’t have any friends besides Rose. Probably cost him an arm and a leg to get people to stand up there for him. The Doctor chuckled bitterly and rolled his head around on his neck, waiting for Rose to arrive so he could get this over with and be on his way. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to see her. It was that he didn’t want to see her happy with someone other than him.
The bridesmaids started down the aisle in pairs. Eight bridesmaids. Shareen was at the front, hair teased as high as a Texas oil magnate’s wife, wearing entirely too much eye shadow for anyone’s good. The Doctor had been given the dubious honor of giving Shareen a ride to the church, and she had spent almost the entire time applying coat after coat of eyeshadow until the Doctor could see clouds of it in the air. As far as he was concerned, she could get another ride home from the reception. He was leaving as soon as he brought Rose down the aisle. He was just starting to consider popping out before Rose even saw him when he felt a tug at the sleeve of his tuxedo.
“Hello,” she said. She was utterly resplendent in the billowing gown he’d sent her from the TARDIS wardrobe. Of course it fit perfectly. Made her look like a princess. He’d always intended for her to wear it to their wedding. The veil was made of antique Venusian lace – and the definition of ‘antique’ in this case was over three thousand years old. She was holding a cluster of red-orange Gerbera daisies. He made no attempt to hide his tears.
“You look beautiful,” he said.
“Thank you,” she said. “Ready for one more walk together?”
He offered her his arm. “I always preferred to run with you.”
She took his hand instead of his arm and gave it a squeeze. His stomach went into his shoes as he started down the aisle. He was standing there, his eyes fixed on Rose. At his first sight of her, to his credit, his face screwed up and tears began to fall.
“That’s a horrible look he has on his face,” the Doctor whispered to Rose. “Do I look like that when I cry?”
“’course you do,” she whispered back with a giggle. She never took her eyes off him.
“You’re happy, then?” the Doctor said.
“I am.” She was holding it together. No tears. He wondered if that meant he still had a chance.
“So if I asked you if you wanted to turn around and run straight out of here?”
Rose stopped in the middle of the aisle and looked up at him. “I would tell you no. I want him. I love him.”
Out of the corner of his eye, the Doctor saw him relax. He’d heard. Must have been weighing on his mind something terrible. It would have weighed on his, too. They continued down the aisle without another word, still holding hands. Their last trip together.
When they arrived, the minister spoke.
“Who gives this woman in marriage?”
The Doctor squeezed his eyes shut to rid himself of the last of his tears. He glared at him, waiting for the Doctor to release Rose.
“I do,” the Doctor said at last, reaching out to shake his hand. The hand that had started all the trouble. The hand that, had it never been cut off his own arm in the first place, never would have grown into his half-human twin, and would now be receiving Rose as his – the Doctor’s - bride.
He hated that damn hand.
onabearskinrug's prompt from her journal. MAD props to fannishliss for the title!!! :D <3The church was full of her family and friends, and his. Some of them had to be his. Somebody besides Rose had to like him. The Doctor had paid for the place to be festooned in bunting and bright flowers and while everyone marveled at the expense, he felt the end result gave the church something of a carnival atmosphere rather than that of a wedding. Which was what he wanted. To the Doctor, the whole thing was a cruel, bitter joke.
He stood at the back of the church – not at the front, where he properly belonged – waiting for her to come up from the undercroft where she’d been getting ready. The vestibule was crowded with bridesmaids in taffeta dresses the color of his lost Gallifrey sky.
I would have taken you there and married you in a grove of silver trees. I would have married you in an alley by a dumpster if it meant I was the one who got to marry you. Why are you doing this to me? The reality of the situation was even harder to consider. I forced you into this.
“I’m sorry,” Jackie Tyler said in his ear. She still hadn’t been escorted to her seat. She was wearing a low-cut dress in the same color as the bridesmaids’. It had come with a little bolero jacket, but she’d thrown that right out to present as much skin as was acceptable for the Mother of the Bride. “I’d almost prefer it if she were marrying you.”
“So would I,” he sighed, refusing to make eye contact. “But I blew that, didn’t I?”
“You can’t blame her,” Jackie said. “You left her. You couldn’t just expect her to wait around.”
“I didn’t expect her to be so happy,” he said. “I thought she would wait for me.”
Jackie put her hand on her hip. “Did you give any indication that you would come back? None. Just dropped her off, and away you went. I suppose they’re happy, though. They act like it, at least when I see them, which isn’t often. Sound familiar?”
He nodded, but couldn’t find the words to answer her. A moment later an usher cleared his throat and offered his arm to Jackie. She patted the Doctor’s bum and went down the aisle. Shortly after she was seated, the groomsmen and the stupid groom came out and stood at the front of the church.
Where’d he get four groomsmen? I thought he didn’t have any friends besides Rose. Probably cost him an arm and a leg to get people to stand up there for him. The Doctor chuckled bitterly and rolled his head around on his neck, waiting for Rose to arrive so he could get this over with and be on his way. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to see her. It was that he didn’t want to see her happy with someone other than him.
The bridesmaids started down the aisle in pairs. Eight bridesmaids. Shareen was at the front, hair teased as high as a Texas oil magnate’s wife, wearing entirely too much eye shadow for anyone’s good. The Doctor had been given the dubious honor of giving Shareen a ride to the church, and she had spent almost the entire time applying coat after coat of eyeshadow until the Doctor could see clouds of it in the air. As far as he was concerned, she could get another ride home from the reception. He was leaving as soon as he brought Rose down the aisle. He was just starting to consider popping out before Rose even saw him when he felt a tug at the sleeve of his tuxedo.
“Hello,” she said. She was utterly resplendent in the billowing gown he’d sent her from the TARDIS wardrobe. Of course it fit perfectly. Made her look like a princess. He’d always intended for her to wear it to their wedding. The veil was made of antique Venusian lace – and the definition of ‘antique’ in this case was over three thousand years old. She was holding a cluster of red-orange Gerbera daisies. He made no attempt to hide his tears.
“You look beautiful,” he said.
“Thank you,” she said. “Ready for one more walk together?”
He offered her his arm. “I always preferred to run with you.”
She took his hand instead of his arm and gave it a squeeze. His stomach went into his shoes as he started down the aisle. He was standing there, his eyes fixed on Rose. At his first sight of her, to his credit, his face screwed up and tears began to fall.
“That’s a horrible look he has on his face,” the Doctor whispered to Rose. “Do I look like that when I cry?”
“’course you do,” she whispered back with a giggle. She never took her eyes off him.
“You’re happy, then?” the Doctor said.
“I am.” She was holding it together. No tears. He wondered if that meant he still had a chance.
“So if I asked you if you wanted to turn around and run straight out of here?”
Rose stopped in the middle of the aisle and looked up at him. “I would tell you no. I want him. I love him.”
Out of the corner of his eye, the Doctor saw him relax. He’d heard. Must have been weighing on his mind something terrible. It would have weighed on his, too. They continued down the aisle without another word, still holding hands. Their last trip together.
When they arrived, the minister spoke.
“Who gives this woman in marriage?”
The Doctor squeezed his eyes shut to rid himself of the last of his tears. He glared at him, waiting for the Doctor to release Rose.
“I do,” the Doctor said at last, reaching out to shake his hand. The hand that had started all the trouble. The hand that, had it never been cut off his own arm in the first place, never would have grown into his half-human twin, and would now be receiving Rose as his – the Doctor’s - bride.
He hated that damn hand.
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what a sad story -- but I'm happy for Cloen and Rose. :( :)
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Poor Doctor. Jealous of himself. At least a part of you got a happy ending.
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Get it? ha ha ha. I'm a dork. :b
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You are glorious and I love you madly! :-D
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And the love is mutual, my darling twin! :D
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You have me sufficiently excited :-) I can't wait to read it!!!!
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So bitter and sad and yet - so, so beautiful. Ohh, honey - ho you have broken my heart. Thank you...
*HUGS*
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P.S. I'm feeling punchy. Sorry for the weird review. I loved the fic.
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May I direct you to cracky horror instead?? :D
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