Title: Right Here, Right Now
By: angstytimelord
Pairing: Tenth Doctor/Ross Jenkins
Fandom: Doctor Who
Rating: PG-13
Table: 4, 50ficlets
Prompt: 47, Coming Out
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.

***

"Did you have a hard time coming out when you were younger?" Ross asked the Doctor, absently stroking the Time Lord's hair as they lay in bed. "I'm guessing it was pretty much the same on Gallifrey as it would be on any other planet."

The Doctor raised his head from Ross' chest to smile up at his young lover, shaking his head and smiling. "Actually, it was quite different on Gallifrey," he said, his tone conversational. "I didn't have to come out. Our sexuality was never something that defined us."

"Do you mean that being gay was accepted?" Ross asked, blinking. "There are millions of humans who'd give a lot to find a planet like that. Considering all that we've been through to be accepted, that would be like paradise."

"Ah, you're not listening to me, love," the Doctor admonished him, shaking a finger at his boyfriend. "I said that our sexuality was fluid. No one was defined as being straight or gay. There was no black and white, no lines drawn in the dirt."

"So .... you could say that Gallifreyans were all bisexual?" Ross hazarded, wondering if he understood his lover correctly. "I can see that. It's probably the best way to be. You know that old saying, it gives you double the chances of being turned down for a date."

The Doctor nodded, relaxing into Ross' arms. "Yes, that would be the way that humans saw us," he said slowly, sighing. "I don't like to express our sexuality in just one word, but if I had to, that would be it. Let's leave it at that, shall we?"

Ross nodded, wondering just how to phrase his next question and deciding that he could simply say what was on his mind. "So when you told your parents that you were attracted to a man for the first time, they just accepted it with no problem?"

"Of course they did." The Doctor's voice was soft, as though he wasn't quite there, and Ross couldn't help but think that he was lost in his memories. "But you know, I've been married and had children, too. And I've been involved with women. In different bodies, of course."

"What about in this body?" Ross blurted out before he could stop himself. "I mean ...." He sighed, taking a deep breath before he spoke again. "I'll be really honest, I don't like thinking of you being with other people in this body. Even though I know you have been."

"You don't have to worry about losing me to anyone else, Ross -- particularly not a woman," the Doctor said softly, sitting up and fixing his boyfriend with his dark, intense gaze. "I've only been with men in this body. And the only person I intend to be with from now on is you."

At least for the remainder of your life. The words were unspoken between them, but Ross could feel them hanging in the air. Clearing his throat, he searched his mind for another question to ask to keep the conversation from getting maudlin.

"So coming out on Gallifrey was nothing like it is in my time on Earth." He tried to keep his tone light, hoping that the Doctor would do the same. "I wonder what it's like in the future on Earth? It must have gotten easier at some point, right?"

The Doctor laughed, nodding as he splayed one hand across his boyfriend's chest. "Yes, I think it did. Just ask Jack. He never seems to have a problem with his sexuality -- and apparently, in the century that he comes from, neither did anyone else."

"Too bad I didn't grow up in that time period!" Ross laughed, almost wishing that he had. But then, if he had, then he wouldn't have been where he was when the Doctor had needed him. And he would never have met the Time Lord, or been his lover.

No, he was best exactly where he was, being the person he was. If he had changed anything about his life, then it wouldn't have led him to this. And if he wasn't with the Doctor, an intrinsic part of who he was would be missing.

"I'm glad you didn't," the Doctor said softly. "If you had, then you wouldn't have been there on Earth for me to meet. And I would never have known the happiness loving you gives me." He leaned forward to brush his lips against Ross' mouth, their breaths mingling.

It almost shocked Ross at times how the Doctor seemed to zero in on what he was thinking; no one else had ever been able to do that before. But the Time Lord was no ordinary man -- the discussion they'd been having was proof of that.

"I'm glad that I'm right where I am, here and now," he murmured against the Doctor's mouth, rolling the Time Lord over onto his back. He had every intention of showing his lover just how glad he was -- and he could tell from the sparkle in those dark eyes that the Doctor agreed completely.

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