Title: Three Hearts Beat As One
By: angstytimelord
Pairing: Tenth Doctor/Ross Jenkins
Fandom: Doctor Who
Rating: PG-13
Table: 4, 50ficlets
Prompt: 23, Heart
Disclaimer: This is entirely a product of my own imagination, and I make no profit from it. I do not own the Tenth Doctor or Ross Jenkins, just borrowing them for a while. Please do not sue.

***

Ross rolled over in bed, sliding his arms around the Doctor and pulling the Time Lord's slender body close against his own. Closing his eyes, he heaved a sigh, one of contentment and peace. This was how it was supposed to be with the two of them.

He'd known when he first came out into time and space with the Doctor that he would be putting himself into some dangerous situations, and that it wasn't going to be all about seeing new places and having fun. The Doctor had warned him about that.

But he hadn't quite been prepared for the fact that trouble seemed to follow the Doctor around. It was almost as though every place they went, every new planet they found to explore, there was some situation there that went from bad to worse, catching them in the middle of it.

Now, they were safe in the Tardis, away from the danger that had awaited them in the last place they'd been to. They were as they should be, wrapped in each other's arms after having made love, and the Time Lord was sleeping next to him.

He'd been asleep too, but his thoughts had woken him. Maybe it was just because he was human and therefore worried more, or maybe there was some sixth sense that had told him to wake up so he could hold the Doctor, and watch his love while he slept.

Ross didn't know what had woken him, and he didn't really care. He was just grateful that even after the words they'd exchanged when they'd first returned to the Tardis, they'd apologized to each other and made it up, and that they were still secure in their emotions.

For a few moments, when the Time Lord had told him flatly that he'd put himself in the path of too much danger, Ross had been worried that his lover was too angry at him for them to make it up, and that he'd lost his places in the Doctor's hearts.

But that feeling hadn't lasted for long, thank goodness. He'd simply stood there, his mouth open, his fear and uncertainty more than likely written on his face, saying nothing. When the Doctor had looked up at him, all the annoyance had disappeared from the other man's face.

He'd moved across the floor of the control room to wrap his arms around Ross and pull the young man close against him, laying his cheek against Ross' hair and heaving a sigh. The words he'd said had come as a surprise to Ross at the time, but they probably shouldn't have.

"I'm sorry, sweetheart. I didn't mean to make you feel that I'm angry at you. I'm not. I'm angry at the situation that you had to walk into. I know that you didn't have any choice -- but it frightened me terribly to think that I could have lost you."

Ross had almost wanted to cry at those words; he'd known that the Doctor loved him, of course, but he hadn't realized that the Time Lord's love for him went so deep that he would be moved to actual physical fear at the thought of losing him.

He was ensconced far more deeply into the Doctor's hearts than he'd known -- and the Time Lord had burrowed just as deeply into his own heart. He knew that if he ever lost this man, his heart would shatter in his chest -- or perhaps even cease to function entirely.

Without the Doctor, his heart would be broken into such small, minute pieces that he would never be able to put it back together again. And for a few moments, when he knew that the Time Lord had been angry with him, he'd been sure that they were going to part.

If that had happened, where would he be now? Ross shivered at the thought; he didn't want to give one moment to the idea of being away from the Doctor, of losing the man he loved more than life. That hadn't happened -- and he fervently hoped that it never would.

The Doctor stirred slightly in his arms, sighing and snuggling closer against Ross. The young man smiled, tightening his arms around his lover, holding the other man against him and feeling the beating of those dual hearts next to his own single one.

He'd grown so used to hearing those two heartbeats that he didn't think he would ever be happy with anyone who didn't have them. They weren't two hearts, but three -- and that felt perfectly natural to him. One heartbeat against his own would seem strange to him now.

The Doctor was all that he wanted -- and needed. He would never yearn for anyone else in his life; his heart was exactly where it belonged, and Ross knew that it wouldn't stray, or even take a look at anyone else. The Doctor was the only man for him.

They might argue at times, but they would always fall into each other's arms in the end. He had no doubt at all of that. Smiling, Ross closed his eyes, letting himself drift off into sleep again with the man he loved clasped closely to him, their three hearts beating as one.

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