The Bet - Part Six

Part Six - Humiliation: Tyler Style

"You're not an alien in disguise, are you?"

Rose frowned at the Doctor, who was currently sat with his arms folded, a moody look evident on his face. She was still feeling really happy and shamelessly smug after her victory, but this didn't stop the confusion she suddenly felt at the Doctor's random comment.

"No..." she said slowly, prompting an explanation.

"Well you're certainly evil enough," he grumbled, looking away, clearly in a huff. After a pause, he asked, "Why do you need to go back to your mother's anyway?"

A few minutes earlier, Rose had requested a trip back to the Powell Estate and the Doctor had unwillingly obliged, realising that he really had no choice. He still had a horrible feeling in the pit of his stomach and just knew that whatever awaited him wasn't going to be good.

Rose just smiled and didn't answer his question.

He sighed. "Well at least I'll be able to have some tea this time around."

They sat in silence for the remainder of the journey and, when the TARDIS finally settled, the Doctor remained still, reluctant to move.

"Can't I just stay here?" he whined, resembling a little child.

"If you did you'd be burning with curiosity," Rose teased.

He huffed, shooting upwards. "I could easily leave you behind if this is too humiliating."

Rose stood still in shock after hearing this and looked straight at the Doctor. "What?" she asked quietly. "Would you really?"

Her expression was serious and she held her breath, waiting for his response. When he eventually smiled after a few seconds, Rose let out a long sigh.

"Nah, I'd never do that," he said, exhaling himself. "Even if this turns out to be one of the worst moments of my life."

"One of the worst moments of your life so far," Rose helpfully pointed out, earning herself a glare. "Sorry," she spluttered, laughing to herself. "But you did willingly sign the contract. You should have known what you were letting yourself in for."

He shrugged. "But I was still tricked."

She sighed. "We've already been through this..."

He shrugged again, kicking the floor with the tip of his shoe.

"What would your punishment have been for me, anyway?" Rose asked. "Y'know, just out of curiosity..."

He frowned. "I dunno. I've never really thought about it."

Rose looked at him carefully. "Did you always think you were gonna win or something?"

He didn't reply and realisation flooded Rose, along with a hint of anger.

"You did, didn't you?" Rose exclaimed, nudging him. "You self confident..." She trailed off, unable to think of an appropriate word. "Well, you deserve what's coming to you now."

They headed out of the doors and the Doctor gulped. "Well," he sighed under his breath, "here goes nothing..."

***

"Rose!"

Jackie's shrill voice made the Doctor automatically wince and he tried his hardest to smile when they both walked inside her flat.

"Two visits in one week!" she gasped. "What have I done to deserve this?"

The Doctor was going to make a rude comment but just about stopped himself; he was pleasantly surprised by his self control.

"Actually," Rose began as they took their seats, "there's something we need to tell you."

"Oh my God!" Jackie's hands flew to her mouth. "You're not pregnant, are you?"

Rose's face prickled. "No! Mum, for goodness' sake!"

Jackie relaxed a little. "It's nothing serious though, is it? You haven't caught some weird alien disease?"

The Doctor made a noise which Rose chose to ignore. "No. The Doctor and myself have made a little bet."

"A bet?" Jackie repeated.

"Yeah," Rose smiled, "We were wondering who could last the longest; the Doctor without his tea..."

"Oh! That explains why you wouldn't drink any of my tea the other day!"

Rose nodded. "And me without my chips."

"Oh! It's all making sense now! I was wondering why you two were acting so strangely." She paused. "Why are you telling me this, anyway?"

"Well, basically," Rose began, "the Doctor lost."

"No," he interrupted, leaning forward, "I was cheated into losing. It's not fair!"

"The Doctor lost and now he has to suffer his punishment," Rose said, smiling a little evilly.

"He lost? Blimey, I thought you'd have the advantage, being an alien and everything!"

The Doctor leaned backwards, sighing and placing his head in his hands. Now that he had two Tylers against him, he stood no chance.

"Yeah," Rose continued, "and now I thought you could become involved with what I have planned. But first, do you know if Mickey's about?"

"Mickey the idiot?" the Doctor asked, sitting upright. "Why do you need to see him?"

"You'll have to wait and see," Rose replied. She turned to Jackie. "Is he about?"

"Yeah," Jackie replied. "Give him a ring and he'll be by your side in a minute."

"Like a dog," the Doctor muttered under his breath.

"Right, I'll just be a sec," Rose said, walking out of the room and dialling some numbers on her phone. This left the Doctor and Jackie alone and he twiddled his thumbs, staring ahead at the television screen. Jackie had some rubbish chat programme on, currently involving two people arguing passionately on stage. There were even bodyguards and the Doctor chuckled to himself when they had to stop the fight that had suddenly broken out.

"How long did this bet of yours last?" Jackie asked suddenly and the Doctor pulled his eyes to hers.

"Um, a day or two," he muttered quickly, slightly ashamed.

"Blimey, you're weak," she scoffed. "Anyway, fancy a cuppa?"

He was tempted not to answer but sighed heavily. "Go on then."

Jackie smirked. "Stupid question really."

The Doctor ran his hands through his hair and sat back, turning his attention to the TV once more.

***

There was a sudden knock on the door and Rose sprung out of her seat, placing her cup of tea on the table. The Doctor watched her go and quickly scooped up the mug, finishing the rest of hers himself. It was the least he could do in the way of revenge.

"Mickey!" Rose smiled, opening the door and letting him in. The Doctor suppressed an eye roll as he watched the way Mickey clung around Rose like a bad smell.

"Alright?" he replied. "Why do you need me? Are there some more aliens that I need to throw some vinegar on?"

The Doctor actually rolled his eyes this time, looking away.

"No," Rose replied, laughing. "Just come into my room with me."

"Wahey," Jackie smirked.

"What's going on?" the Doctor asked, turning around to face the pair.

"Never you mind," Rose answered, ushering Mickey away. "I need him to do some handiwork for me."

Jackie snorted and the Doctor felt his face growing hot. Surely he wasn't feeling... jealous? That was way beneath him and his normal behaviour...

The door closed behind them and the Doctor slowly turned around, rigidly sitting on the sofa. He didn't know what was worse; being left alone with Jackie or knowing that Rose and Mickey were getting up to something in the bedroom.

"So, what have you and Rose been doing lately?"

The Doctor took a deep breath to calm himself and explained about their trip to Maloa.

"Ooh, this Maloway sounds nice," Jackie said.

"Maloa," the Doctor corrected quietly.

"Whatever," she said, waving her arm dismissively.

"Yes, it was really-"

He trailed off when a loud wave of laughter suddenly came from Rose's room. The Doctor stiffened and his eyes flickered to the door.

"Sounds like they're having fun," Jackie muttered.

"Yeah..." the Doctor replied dismissively.

There was suddenly the sound of things moving around and the Doctor's eyes bulged. "What on Earth are they doing?" he frowned, heading towards the door. He knelt by the doorknob and pressed his ear to the wood. All he could hear was banging and occasional splutters and giggling.

Suddenly, before he could even register, the door opened and he fell forwards into Rose's room, face first onto the carpet. He quickly recovered himself and sprung upright, looking at Rose and Mickey blankly.

"Uh... Mickey just needs to pop out and get a few things," Rose said, eyeing him carefully.

"Oh, good," the Doctor murmured. "That's... good."

Mickey gave him a strange look and walked past. "See you in a bit, Rose."

"Yeah, see ya," Rose called, smiling as he walked out the door.

The Doctor stood staring at her for a moment, unable to make his body move.

"Something wrong, Doctor?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

He shook his head, stepping out of her way. "Nope. Everything's perfectly fine. Dandy, even."

"Good," she smiled. "What's on TV?"

She took a seat beside Jackie and they began chatting away, while the Doctor was a nervous mess. He wanted to pace around out of anxiety but managed to sit back down on the sofa, waiting for Mickey the idiot to return with whatever 'things' he had collected.

***

Another agonising hour later, there was a loud knock at the door and the Doctor nearly jumped out of his seat. Rose flew up and Mickey stumbled in, a large box in his hands. The Doctor's eyes immediately widened in panic.

"Just put it in there," Rose said to him, pointing to her room. She gave the Doctor a sweet smile and they both disappeared again, quickly bursting into laughter once more once the door was closed.

"I can't take this anymore," he said, placing his head into a pillow.

"Ah, don't be such a wimp," Jackie muttered.

"I'm not," he mumbled, his voice smothered by the fabric.

The minutes dragged by unbearably slowly and during the whole time the Doctor didn't emerge from the cushion. Jackie half wondered if he'd passed out because he was making very little movements, but her suspicions were soon proved wrong when Rose and Mickey burst out the door, smiles plastered on their faces. It made the Doctor feel a little queasy.

"We're ready for you now," she said ominously, and the Doctor wanted to be pulled into a Black Hole of some kind.

Jackie leapt up, hurrying towards the room. "Ooh, this should be good."

The Doctor followed reluctantly. "Fantastic," he muttered, quickly wincing; the sarcasm was most definitely contagious.

When he first walked into Rose's room he was a little confused; there was a large screen at the front of the room and it was connected up to Rose's phone. He perched awkwardly on the edge of the bed along with the others and Rose stood up, making a little speech.

"Welcome to Tyler cinemas," she laughed, "Today we have a special screening involving somebody present here today."

The Doctor felt close to tears.

"Luckily, Mickey helped sort out this screen, being the technology geek that he is," she continued.

"Oi," Mickey interrupted, throwing a teddy bear at her.

She laughed. "But anyway, I'll shut up and get on with it. I just hope this works now..."

She knelt down by her phone and, after flicking with a few buttons, the screen came to the life and the Doctor instantly wanted to curl up in a ball and roll away down a very large hill.

He was currently seeing himself asleep in the TARDIS, leaning on what he assumed was Rose's shoulder. As if that wasn't bad enough, he was muttering things and he felt his face growing hotter by every humiliating second that passed.

"Ugh... I love you," he muttered, frowning in his sleep. "No, don't leave me..."

He felt as though an egg was being fried on his forehead and it didn't help with the present company all laughing breathlessly.

"No, my tea!" he shouted loudly, resulting in another eruption of giggles. "I'll do anything... tea!"

There was a pause and he wriggled around on the screen, looking in discomfort. "Please don't go... yes, that's right... mmm."

He was making some strange noises and the Doctor placed his head in his hands. It was a similar story for about two minutes before the focus moved to the TARDIS floor and the screen suddenly turned black. He sat in silence, completely humiliated and mortified, while everybody around me was nudging and snorting.

"Doctor!" Mickey gasped. "That was classic, man!"

"Aww, a sleeptalker!" Jackie added. "Bless him."

"And he denied it all!" Rose spluttered. "But I got this evidence!"

The Doctor sat quietly, still in disbelief. This was the last thing he had expected and it was worse than he could have ever imagined.

They eventually calmed down and all let out long breaths, wiping the tears from their eyes.

"Blimey, that's made my day," Jackie sighed.

"Legendary," Mickey muttered.

"Yeah, gives a new meaning to the 'stuff of legend,' eh, Doctor?" Rose smirked.

The Doctor eventually managed to think coherently, despite the embarrassment, and remembered his old policy of denying everything.

"That wasn't me," he murmured.

This resulted in another wave of laughter and he winced, but still stood his ground. "Rose made me do that. I wasn't really asleep. It was all a joke."

Rose snorted. "Yeah, sure."

"Don't give us that bull, Doctor," Jackie added. "But thanks for the laughs."

He stood up and quickly walked out the room, heading back to the TARDIS. However, just as he reached the bedroom door, he turned around, brandishing his sonic screwdriver, and aimed it directly at the phone. A high pitched buzzing suddenly filled the room and Rose's phone exploded in a puff of smoke.

"Doctor!" she exclaimed. "That was new!"

He couldn't help grinning. "Ha! It deserved that."

"I'm gonna throttle you!" Rose screeched, running after him. He quickly headed for the door, sprinting towards the TARDIS.

"Bye Mum!" Rose called, slamming the door behind her.

They rushed all the way to the TARDIS and Rose eventually caught up with him when he was fumbling with the TARDIS key.

"Doctor!" she exclaimed, hitting him lightly on the back. "That wasn't very nice! I'll have to get a new phone now!"

"Oh yeah?" he replied, spinning around to face her. "And humiliating me like that was nice?"

She snorted. "Sorry, but it was funny... you've got to admit it."

His face remained blank. "I was not amused."

They walked into the TARDIS together and the Doctor sighed, turning around to face Rose. "I've decided to pretend it never happened, anyway." He made a show of ripping up the contract and let the two pieces of paper flutter to the floor.

Rose smiled. "Good luck with that. I'll just have to remind you about it every single day for the rest of my life so that you don't forget."

He sighed. "Well, at times like these, all you need is a cup of tea and some pie. Fancy some?"

Rose nodded, heading towards the kitchen with him. As they walked, she pondered something. "Y'know, I think it's not just tea that you're addicted to... you seem to be showing an unnatural love for pie, too."

"Ugh, Rose, please don't start this again," he moaned. "I am never, ever making a bet with you again."

She grinned. "Glad to see you've learned your lesson."

They both settled down in the kitchen and the Doctor reached for his purple flask again, whose home had recently been the cupboard. He kissed it and soon poured himself some tea.

"I've missed you," he cooed.

Rose rolled her eyes and started gathering the ingredients for the pie. She paused suddenly and frowned. "Hey, Doctor, can't we just get some chips? It's a lot less hassle."

He nodded, swallowing his mouthful of tea. "Sounds good to me."

She rushed out the TARDIS, smiling to herself. The Doctor had his tea back and now she was about to be reunited with her chips; nothing had changed at all.

And, truthfully, that suited her just fine.

The End

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