Title: Love Doesn't Ask Why
By: angstytimelord
Pairing: Tenth Doctor/Brendan Block
Fandom: Doctor Who/Secret Smile
Rating: PG-13
Table: 5, 10_hurt_comfort
Prompt: 9, Love
Warning: past non-con.
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 Brendan Block, unfortunately. Please do not sue.

***

The Doctor blinked, rolling over and snuggling up against Brendan. His boyfriend's arms went around him, holding him close to that warm, pliant body. This was definitely his favorite way to wake up in the monring, wrapped in the arms of the man he loved.

After the horror of their encounter with the Master, the Doctor had wondered if he and Brendan would be able to get their relationship back on solid ground, but his lover had proved that he had much more courage than anyone might have thought possible.

Of course, he still hadn't been able to make love to Brendan -- but that would come in the future, he was sure. The love that they shared was too strong for the Master to completely obliterate it; the fact that they were still together was proof of that.

The Time Lord tightening his arms around his boyfriend, feeling a cold shiver travel down his spine. He didn't want to think about the Master, or what he'd done to both of them. Just the thought of Brendan enduring that kind of violation still made him cringe.

But they had survived, he told himself firmly. They had not only survived, they had grown closer after that terrible time. Maybe it had made them both a bit more vulnerable on a personal level, but they still found their strength in each other.

Brendan yawned sleepily and pulled him closer, those incredible dark eyes opening, the long lashes fluttering as he blinked sleep away. "Good morning," he murmured, his voice husky. "Why are you looking so serious, Doctor? Is something wrong?"

The Doctor shook his head, smiling and pressing a kiss against the slender column on Brendan's throat. "No, not a thing, sweetheart," he said softly, relaxing in his lover's embrace. "I was just thinking how all that's happened has drawn us closer together."

Brendan nodded, sighing softly as he did so. "Yes, it has, but I don't want it to happen again if we can possibly avoid it," he said, his voice rough with sleep. "I don't know how you managed to cope with all of the times he's done the same thing to you."

"I would say that I'm better equipped to withstand it, but I know that I'm not as strong as I might like to believe," the Doctor murmured, the shiver down his spine traversing over his body this time. "I know what it's like, Brendan. I've been through the same thing."

"If I hadn't had you, I doubt I'd have made it through," Brendan told him matter-of-factly. "I'd have lived, obviously, but I'd have been eaten up with thoughts of revenge. I'd have let what he did to me control my life. Which is exactly what he wants."

The Doctor nodded, sighing softly. "Yes, that's what he wants," he agreed, wishing that Brendan hadn't had to deal with his ageless enemy. "He wants that feeling of power, knowing that you've obsessing about him in the same way that he does about you."

Brendan's arms tightened around him, drawing him closer. "I know that he wouldn't have focused on me if I wasn't with you. But it's not your fault, Doctor. He'd use anyone who he thought could help him get to you. He's evil through and through, to the very core."

"That he is," the Doctor murmured, wishing again that the Master's evil hadn't touched Brendan. His lover was well used to dealing with people like that, but evil on the grand scale that the Master represented wasn't something anyone could face easily.

Of course, he'd done it several times in the past, too many to count. But he wasn't human; he'd seen much more of the universe than most of them had, and he was more able to adapt to all of the Master's schemes, even if they did manage to surprise him sometimes.

He was brought out of his thoughts by the gentle pressure of Brendan's soft mouth on his cheek, then his forehead, and finally his lips. The Doctor closed his eyes, giving himself over to the pleasure of his lover's gentle kisses, enjoying the feeling of being caressed.

"I love you," Brendan whispered, his voice soft and husky. "I've loved you from the first moment I saw you, I think. Even though I might have only thought it was lust at the time, I knew in my heart that it was more. I knew there was something special about you."

"I knew that you would be special in my life before I'd even spoken to you," the Doctor told him, gazing up into Brendan's eyes. "There was just something about you, Brendan. All it took was one glance, and then one smile -- and I'd fallen. At first sight, more or less."

"I wasn't planning on falling for you," Brendan said, his tone a little dreamy, as though he was reliving the day that they'd met. "I thought it would just be a brief affair. But once we'd gone back to the Tardis, I knew that I wanted to be with you."

"Aha!" The Doctor laughed, moving a hand up Brendan's back, caressing his smooth skin. "It was the ship, wasn't it? You were fascinated by the Tardis. Admit it!" He was almost giggling, feeling lighter and more carefree than he had in weeks.

"Yes, that was it!" Brendan said, laughing along with him. Sobering, he shook his head, looking serious again. "No, really, Doctor. Once I'd kissed you and touched you, there was something about you that tugged at my heart. I couldn't have left you even if I'd wanted to."

"I'm glad of that," the Time Lord murmured, raising his hands to tangle his fingers in Brendan's hair. "If you had, I doubt that I would have even wanted to take on another companion for quite a while. I'd have been gutted by the fact that I'd lost you."

"Would you have tried to convince me to stay with you?" Brendan asked, smiling slightly. He knew the answer already, he was sure; the Doctor would have tried everything in his power to convince him that he wanted to stay on the Tardis and explore time and space.

Or would he? Brendan had a momentary doubt; after all, the Doctor had made it clear that being with him was a choice that someone had to make of their own free will. He wasn't the kind of man who would try to coerce anyone into something they might not want.

But the Time Lord was nodding, his expression serious. "Yes, I would have," he said softly, his voice barely a whisper. "I would have felt ashamed of myself afterwards, but I'd have begged you to stay. I didn't want to lose you -- and I was half-afraid that I would."

"Why would you have thought that?" Brendan asked him, keeping his voice soft and gentle. "I know that I'm good at hiding my feelings sometimes -- but I didn't think I'd hidden them from you. I was sure that you could see right through any front I might have tried to put up."

"Because you seemed like a deer poised for flight," the Doctor told him, swallowing hard. "I was so afraid that you would just look at what happened between us as a one-night stand, and not want more than that. I should have had more faith in you, love."

"You developed that faith pretty quickly, as far as I can tell," Brendan said with a smile. "And it didn't take me long to decide that I never wanted to leave. I might not have fallen in love with you at the very first glance, but the attraction was there."

"As long as you did eventually fall in love with me, I have no complaints," the Doctor whispered, snuggling into his lover's embrace. He closed his eyes, breathing in the tang of Brendan's skin, the scent that was uniquely his. It had been a long time since he'd felt so comfortable.

"I love you more than I'd ever have thought it was possible to love anyone," Brendan said softly, raising a hand to run his fingers through the Doctor's hair. "I don't think I really knew what love was until I met you, Doctor. But I definitely know now."

"Love doesn't ask why or how someone came to feel it," the Doctor murmured, his arms tightening around Brendan's slender waist in a hug. "As long as that love exists, I don't need to question it. I'll be able to feel it, and that's more than enough for me."

"I'm going to make sure you feel that love -- in every way that I possibly can," Brendan told him, a smile curving his lips. "You'll never need to wonder if I love you, Doctor. You'll always know it -- because you'll be shown that love on a constant basis. I can promise you that."

"And I'll make sure that you always know how much you're loved, every day of our lives together," the Time Lord whispered, lifting his face to Brendan's. As their lips met, he could feel the other man's love surround him -- a love that he knew he would never have any cause to doubt.

***