Title: A Stolen Kiss
By: angstytimelord
Pairing: Tenth Doctor/Frank Martin
Fandom: Doctor Who
Rating: PG-13
Table: 100moods
Prompt: 67, Nervous
Author's Note: Frank didn't have a last name on the show, so I took the liberty of giving him one. Slight spoilers for Daleks in Manhattan & The Evolution of the Daleks.
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 Frank Martin, just borrowing them for a while. Please do not sue.

***

Well, here he was. Manhattan, in the early twentieth century. Maybe coming back here to find Frank had been a mistake, but the Doctor hadn't been able to resist doing so. The memory of the words he himself had uttered when they had first met wouldn't leave him alone.

"You can kiss me later. You too, Frank."

Such simple words. Silly, really. Silly enough to be taken as a joke -- and his companion at the time had never kissed him. Not that he'd wanted her to; she had already developed an alarming crush on him, one that he didn't want to go any further than a simple crush.

But Frank .... that was different. He hadn't been able to keep his eyes off the young man when they'd been walking through those tunnels; there had been something about him that had captured the Time Lord's interest in so many ways.

Would Frank even remember him? Or would he just be someone from the past -- a past that wasn't far distant for him, actually -- that he would have to dredge up from the hazy recesses of his mind? Or would the young man he glad to see him again?

His nerves were so horribly jangled; part of him wanted to turn and go back to the Tardis, to forget about what he'd come here to do. He'd rarely ever been this nervous about anything; the thought that he could very well be rejected was terrifying.

His heartbeats quickened as he approached the entrance to where he knew that the community of people Frank was with were camped out; he raised a hand, shielding his eyes and squinting. Was it his imagination, or was the very person he was searching for walking towards him?

"Doctor!" A shiver went down the Time Lord's spine; it was indeed Frank. He hadn't forgotten that voice; that soft yet somehow commanding tone had lingered in his memory ever since the day he'd left. He hadn't been able to lock that memory away.

The young man bounded forward over the grass, stopping in front of the Doctor and taking the Time Lord's hands in his. "I knew you'd be back. I just knew it. But I didn't expect you so soon," he exclaimed, a smile spreading across his features.

The Doctor didn't correct him; it might seem like only a few days to Frank, but for him, it had been several years. He hadn't aged noticeably, of course; that was one good thing about being a Time Lord. His aging process was considerably slowed.

"It's been a while for me," he murmured, his gaze searching Frank's face. "You forget, I travel in time and space." He hadn't wanted to say that, but there might be other people around; he couldn't exactly blurt out just what he'd come back for.

Frank shook his head, laughing apologetically. "I'm not sure that I quite get that -- but whatever. I'm just happy to see you back here again." His gaze met the Doctor's, his look open and ingenuous. "I think there might be some unfinished business between us."

The Doctor couldn't keep back a gasp of surprise; he looked around, hoping that no one else had heard. No one seemed to be paying much attention to them; they had all turned back to what they'd been doing before Frank had run towards him.

"That's why I came back," he said softly, his gaze riveting on the young man's face. "I didn't think you'd have remembered what I said to you -- but if I'm not mistaken, that's what you're referring to." He held his breath, hoping that Frank wouldn't quote the words aloud.

Frank looked around them, then flashed a quick smile at the Doctor. "Come on," he said, taking the Time Lord's hand and leading him in the direction of a small grove of trees. "I think we need some place private to talk."

The Doctor followed him, grateful that they would be well away from any prying eyes that might want to follow their movements. His hearts were pounding in his chest, his breath coming quickly. Apparently, those fateful words he'd uttered had been on Frank's mind as much as his own.

When they'd moved quite a way into the trees, Frank turned to him with another smile. "So .... I know why you came back. I haven't been able to think about anything else since the day you left. And I hope you're ready for that kiss now."

"I've been ready for that kiss ever since I left," the Doctor whispered, unable to speak in a louder tone of voice. "I wanted to kiss you before -- but we really didn't have much of a chance, did we? And then I had to leave so suddenly."

Frank laughed, nodding and leaning close to him. "I'd say that your friend wouldn't have given us a chance even if we'd had to leave. I backed off because of that -- but I could tell that you didn't want her in the same way that she wanted you."

"She never had me," the Doctor told him, his voice catching in his throat. "Never. And if I'd had to make a choice in that respect -- I would have wanted you. I did want you. I do want you, I mean. I mean --" He broke off, sounding flustered. "About that kiss ...."

He shouldn't be so nervous, the Doctor told himself. It was only a kiss, right? Only a promised kiss, a stolen kiss that he hadn't thought he would be able to claim. But later was now, and it was happening -- and he was sure that he'd never been so nervous in all the centuries of his life.

"You said that I could kiss you later." Frank was leaning even closer to him, those strong arms sliding around his waist and pulling him against the young man's body. "Well, it's later -- and I've been waiting to claim that kiss ever since you promised it to me."

Then his lips were on the Doctor's, taking away the need for any more words.

The Time Lord was sure that he could feel molten lava coursing through his veins; Frank's kiss was even sweeter than he'd imagined it would be. His mind couldn't possibly have conjured up anything like this; it was a kiss that literally took his breath away.

When they finally broke apart, they were both breathing heavily; the Doctor's hands were trembling, his knees rubbery and weak. But the nervousness had evaporated as though it had never existed, chased away by the passion that had flared between them.

"Wow," Frank whispered, resting his forehead against the Doctor's. "I don't think I've ever kissed anybody like that before. Shows you how much I wanted to do that." He raised his head, smiling into the Doctor's eyes. "And I think you wanted it, too."

"I wouldn't have come back if I didn't, now would I?" the Doctor asked with a smile. "I couldn't forget saying those words to you. And I wondered if you would take me up on them if I came back, so .... I did. And I'm glad I made the decision to come back."

"So am I," murmured Frank, leaning forward to brush his lips across the Doctor's mouth again. "Now, I think the two of us need to go somewhere and talk. Because unless I miss my guess, you want to ask me something that I might have a hard time saying no to."

"Are you so sure that you'd say no?" the Doctor asked, feeling his hearts speed up in his chest again. The nervousness was coming back; he had no idea what Frank would say to the idea of leaving here, becoming his companion -- and perhaps something more.

"Not sure at all," Frank told him cheerfully, taking his hand and leading him further into the grove of trees. "But I've got a pretty good idea of what it is, and in my own mind, I haven't said no yet. So why don't you just ask me, and we'll go from there?"

The Doctor nodded, following the young man without a backward glance. He was already forming the words he wanted to say in his mind -- though he had a feeling that when the moment came to ask the question, he would probably just blurt it out.

But at least he wasn't nervous any more, he realized with a jolt. That feeling had come and gone; it was as though something within him knew how this would turn out even before the question was asked. And this time, when his hearts thumped again, it was with anticipation, not anxiety.

***