Title: Cherry on Top
By: angstytimelord
Pairing: Tenth Doctor/Owen Harper
Fandom: Doctor Who/Torchwood
Rating: PG-13
Table: VRD challenge - Red, 5_prompts
Prompt: Drink with a cherry in the glass
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 Owen Harper, unfortunately. Please do not sue.

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"The cherry fell into your drink!" the Doctor told Owen, swiveling on the barstool to face his boyfriend. They had decided to go out to a bar for fun, even though the Doctor didn't intend to let Owen get drunk. After all, the last time that had happened ....

He kept himself from visibly wincing at the memory. He hadn't expected Owen to get into an altercation with the man who had been ogling him, but he really should have been prepared for that to happen. His boyfriend didn't like it when strange men stared at him.

And he really couldn't be upset about that, could he? the Doctor thought with a smile. Maybe some would find Owen's possessiveness annoying and constricting, but to him, it simply proved that he was the first priority in the other man's life.

He liked the fact that Owen was possessive of him. It was good to have someone by his side who was so fiercely protective of him, in a way that only a lover could be. It gave him an inner glow to know that he could inspire that kind of love.

"I wanted it to," Owen told him, bringing the Doctor's attention back to the present. "I plan on showing you something with that cherry later," he said, winking at the Time Lord. "Something that you might find very interesting, if you're in the right mood."

"Oh? And what might that be, pray tell?" the Doctor asked with a laugh, lifting his glass and tossing back the last of the banana daiquiri. "Let me guess, you're going to tie the stem of the cherry into a knot with your tongue, aren't you?"

"How did you guess?" Owen lowered the glass, looking surprised and a little deflated. "Has someone else shown you that before?" He sighed, shaking his head. "I know, Jack probably did it, didn't he? And in record time, too, knowing that bastard."

"Yes, he did -- but he wasn't the only one." The Doctor wanted to laugh at the subdued expression on his lover's face, but he held the sound back. Was Owen really so dispirited at the thought of someone else having shown him that particular little trick?

"I should have known he would beat me to the punch," Owen grumbled as he took a sip of his drink. The Doctor had no idea what it was; he hadn't heard the other man order it. "No matter what, he's always going to have gotten there first, isn't he?"

"It's not a competition, Owen," the Doctor said softly, shaking his head. If Owen was going to develop some kind of misplaced jealousy over his past relationship with Jack, that could lead to trouble -- not only in their physical relationship, but in other ways as well.

"I know," Owen told him, looking down into his drink. "But Jack always gets there first with you. I know that what you had with him is over -- it just annoys me that no matter what I try to do, he's already done it. He's always there in the background."

"No, he's not." The Doctor shook his head, reaching for Owen's hand and twining their fingers together. "I don't have those feelings for Jack any more, Owen. You should know that. I'm with you now, and my relationship with Jack is far, far behind me."

Owen's eyes met his, his gaze riveted on the Doctor's face with an intensity that surprised the Time Lord. "I've been in love before," he said softly, his voice as intense as his gaze. "But never the way I am with you. Maybe that's what scares me so much."

"What are you afraid of, love?" the Doctor whispered, hoping that no one else could hear what they were saying. This wasn't something that he wanted anyone else to be privy to; it was between himself and Owen, not meant for anyone else's ears.

"That you'll go back to Jack," Owen whispered, the intensity of his gaze not abating. "Or that you'll find somebody more like him -- and you won't want to be with me any more. I couldn't deal with you doing that, Doctor. Not now that I've fallen head over heels for you."

"Owen ...." He hadn't expected this. Of all the things that his lover might have said, this wasn't anything that the Doctor could have anticipated. "You should know me well enough to know that I'd never do that." He reached out to cup the other man's cheek. "I love you too, you know."

"I know." Owen finally broke their eye contact, looking down at the cherry lying in the bottom of the glass that he still held in one hand. "But I can't help being scared. I was in love with someone before who said they wouldn't leave me, either. And they did."

"That isn't going to happen this time." The Doctor kept his voice firm, dropping his hand from his lover's face but still gazing at the other man. "I've wanted to be with you since the moment you woke up in that hospital on New Earth. And that feeling has only grown stronger."

"I believe you." Owen straightened up on the barstool, sighing and reluctantly disentangling his fingers from the Time Lord's. "It's just so hard to put my trust in anyone when it comes to my heart. But I'm trying, Doctor. I am. And you know how I feel about you."

"I know, sweetheart." The Doctor moved from the barstool, moving to stand beside Owen and slide an arm around his waist. "Now, are you going to show me just what you can do with that cherry -- or would you prefer to show me in a more intimate way?"

"Are you propositioning me, Doctor?" Owen asked, turning his head to look at the Time Lord, a small smile starting to tug at the corners of his mouth. "I think I'll take you up on that. And I won't even make you say pretty please, with a cherry on top."

"Then let's get back to the Tardis so you can get started on that demonstration," the Doctor said with a soft laugh. He waited as Owen paid the bartender, then followed his boyfriend to the door, his thoughts already turning to the evening ahead and the pleasant surprises that it would hold.

***