Title: Lovers After All
By: angstytimelord
Pairing: Tenth Doctor/Ross Jenkins
Fandom: Doctor Who
Rating: PG-13
Table: 4, 50ficlets
Prompt: 22, Lover
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 smiled to himself as he stretched and yawned, trying not to wake the man sleeping peacefully beside him. After waiting so long to finally be physically intimate, it was almost hard for him to believe that now he could actually call himself the Doctor's lover.

Last night had been the most wonderful night of his life, he thought, closing his eyes and relaxing against the pillows. He'd said as much to the Doctor after they'd made love, and those words had been the most entirely true statement he'd ever made to anyone.

He'd had other lovers in the past, of course. He'd even let two men be the more dominant partner a few times, though he hadn't enjoyed that as much as being the top himself. But no one he'd been with could begin to compare with the Doctor.

What was it about this man that made him so utterly perfect? Well, maybe he shouldn't use that word, Ross told himself with a slight frown. No one was perfect, not even the Time Lord. He had his flaws, just like anyone else in the universe.

He wouldn't have expected the Doctor to be like anyone else, Ross thought, looking down at the man sleeping peacefully in his arms. He was one in a million -- no, that wasn't the right phrase. He was a once in a lifetime sort of person.

When the Doctor had first appeared in his life, Ross hadn't expected them to become lovers. He hadn't even thought that this man would cause any ripples in his life; he'd just thought that the Doctor was an extremely attractive man who wanted to speak with him.

But when the Time Lord had spirited him away in the Tardis and explained that he was changing Ross' history, changing his future to save his life -- his entire world had turned upside down. It had taken him a while to assimiliate what the Doctor was telling him.

It had seemed crazy, irrational. But he'd had to accept what the Doctor said -- because there was really nothing else he could do. He trusted this man -- he hadn't known why at first, but something about him had seemed so utterly sincere that Ross hadn't been able to turn away.

There was no reason for him to disbelieve the Doctor. He'd heard so many tales about this man during his time with UNIT, and he'd known instinctively that the Time Lord wasn't someone who was going to feed him a pack of lies.

And he hadn't. He had taken Ross away from a life that he'd started to become disillusioned with, and given him a life that he never would have thought possible. And he'd also given Ross a future that he wouldn't have had if he had stayed where he was.

He had wanted to be the Doctor's lover from the first time he'd seen this man. The Gallifreyan had taken his breath away; he hadn't expected the Time Lord to be so attractive. All it had taken was one smile for Ross to willingly give his heart away.

He didn't regret that, not for one second. Especially not after what had happened between them last night. And now that they were lovers in the true sense of the word, the physical side of the relationship would only get better, he thought dreamily.

They could have such an amazing future ahead of them. There were so many places they could go -- any place in the entire universe, any time that they wanted to go to. There was so much to do, so much to see, so much to discover.

And he would have his lover by his side. They would continue to strengthen their bond, to grow closer as lovers and as people. The odds might have been against them finding each other, but they'd beaten those odds and become lovers after all.

Ross was absolutely sure that he was fated to be with the Time Lord, even if it might have seemed that it was highly improbable for them to meet and become lovers. He'd never been much of a believer in fate -- until now. But how could he not believe in the two of them?

They were meant to be. At first, he'd been a bit cautious, feeling his way along and not entirely sure that this life with the Doctor would be the right one for him. But once he'd thrown caution to the winds and stepped into this life, he'd known that he didn't want to be anywhere else.

This was exactly where he wanted to be -- and he was starting to feel that it was where he'd always been meant to be. He had been fated to meet the Doctor, to fall in love, to be this man's lover through time and space, for however long their eternity might last.

The Doctor stirred in his embrace, opening those incredible dark eyes and smiling up at him. Ross' heart turned over in his chest when he saw that smile; bowing his head, he captured the Time Lord's lips with his own in a kiss that took them both to a world of their own making.

***