Title: Warmth of the Sun
By: angstytimelord
Pairing: Tenth Doctor/Ross Jenkins
Fandom: Doctor Who
Rating: PG-13
Table: 4, 50ficlets
Prompt: 34, Warmth
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.

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Ross blinked as he awakened, looking up at the ceiling with a feeling of disorientation. That feeling went away quickly as his senses told him where he was -- right where he belonged, in bed with the Doctor on the Tardis, a dim, silvery light all around them.

That had been hard to get used to at first, the fact that it was never completely dark on the ship. At first, he had wondered if it was some sort of holdover from the Doctor's childhood fear of the darkness, though he didn't know if the Time Lord had ever been afraid of the dark.

He was sure that his lover had never been afflicted with that fear. When he was a child, he'd had a fear of the dark for a while, but he'd grown out of it. In fact, when he'd been with UNIT, he'd actually liked going to sleep in the dark. It had felt comforting and safe.

But there had always been an element missing in his life as a soldier. He'd never felt quite at home in that life; he'd tried his best, but there had always been something that he was reaching for, something that he couldn't quite put his finger on, but that he knew he wouldn't find.

It wasn't until he'd met the Doctor that he realized what was missing from his life -- a sense of warmth that he'd never found with anyone else. The Doctor had reached out with the warmth of the sun to envelop his heart, to let him know he was loved and needed.

He'd never found that warmth in any other aspect of his life. Yes, he'd had family who loved him, and good friends, and he'd even thought that he'd found that warmth in relationships. But they'd always fallen short; they'd never touched his heart in the way that the Doctor did.

He had never fallen for anyone the way he had for the Doctor -- he hadn't thought that it was possible to love someone so fiercely, so completely, with every fiber of his being. If anyone had told him that he'd fall in love so deeply, he would have scoffed at the very thought.

And if anyone had told him that he would find that warmth in his life that he'd always sought within one man who had become the center of his universe, he would have laughed and told them that they'd read too many fairy tales. You couldn't find everything embodied in one person.

That was exactly what had happened to him, Ross thought with a smile, glancing down at the man in his arms. The Doctor was sleeping with his head pillowed on Ross' shoulder, his breathing soft and even, a slight smile on his lips.

He'd found everything he wanted in this one man, the man who was sleeping so peacefully in his embrace. He wouldn't have thought it was possible before he'd gazed into those dark eyes, telling himself that he could fall into those fathomless pools and never want to come up for air.

Would he ever have believed that the elusive warmth he'd always wanted and never found had existed if he hadn't met this man? Ross didn't think so. He would have gone through his life thinking that it was indeed a fairy tale, not meant for anyone to actually experience.

He would have believed that so many of the things he'd seen since he'd been with the Doctor didn't exist if he hadn't seen them with his own eyes. Even though he worked for UNIT, he'd always maintained a healthy skepticism about some of their claims about aliens.

Yet here he was, in love with an alien, he told himself, a soft laugh bubbling up within him. He had to keep it back, not wanting to wake the Doctor, but a smile curved his lips and his eyes sparkled with the laugh that he couldn't utter aloud.

Who would have thought that he would indeed have found all that he searched for in one man? He'd always told himself that there was no such thing as true love, that people found many different loves in their lives, or more often than not, lived without that emotion.

He'd let all of those thoughts fall by the wayside the first time he'd looked into those beautiful eyes. It had taken him a while to realize exactly how he felt, and to accept that he was in love. But once he had, he'd thrown himself into that emotion with his entire heart and soul.

The warmth he'd felt from the Doctor from that first time they'd looked into each other eyes had amazed him; he'd known at the first second they'd touched that he had found that elusive element in his life that he'd always been searching for. There had been no doubt in his mind.

Even in the first moment that their eyes had met, when it had first hit him that this was the man he'd heard so much about and had almost doubted was real, he'd been able to feel that warmth, reaching to enfold him in its welcoming embrace.

And now, here he was -- in the Doctor's bed, and in his hearts. Ross snuggled down against the pillows, gathering the Time Lord into his arms and closing his eyes as that warmth surrounded him, lulling him into a deep, contented slumber in the arms of the man he loved.

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