Hey guys! I know I shouldn't have another story going but I couldn't help it! Anyway, let me know what you think of this. I'm not sure what direction it will take yet, but we'll see what happens.

Always wait five and a half hours...

Rose sat alone in her bedroom. She hadn't come out for over twelve hours. The TARDIS was kind enough to provide her with everything she needed to survive until she could face the Doctor again. Her whole life had been turned upside down. Mickey was safe in the parallel world, her mother was in London living her life...but what was Rose doing?

Up until recently she believed she was travelling with the man she loved, and who just might care for her in return. Now however, she wasn't so sure. He had abandoned her and left her to wait hours for him alone on a spaceship over three thousand years into her future. She had stuck by him through many things including his regeneration, but him allowing her to fall in love with him and then just dumping her for the first French courtesan that came along? That was unacceptable.

The Doctor didn't even seem to realise how hurt Rose was. He was too busy wallowing in his own despair to think about anyone else. How could someone he'd barely met have such an effect on him? Sure she was beautiful and talented, but she was also very confident and overbearing. Maybe it was the confidence that Rose lacked that drew the Doctor to Reinette, or maybe it was simply her looks. It didn't matter, because getting right to the point; Reinette was not the Doctor's to take.

Silent tears coursed down her cheeks as she tried to bury her sorrow into her pillow, but she already knew what she had to do. Tomorrow she would have to go to the Doctor and she would have to break his hearts just like he broke hers. She was going to leave him.

She had considered just about every other option and none of them ended well, but this way she would get to be honest with him and to say goodbye properly, parting as friends. She could do that...couldn't she?

The next morning Rose awoke early and started packing her most important possessions into her backpack. If she was really doing this then she was going to do it right. After her backpack was packed she headed for the kitchen to have a quick breakfast before cautiously approaching the console room.

When she entered the room the Doctor looked up at her and his eyes immediately widened, noticing the backpack slung over her shoulder and the look of determination on her face. His sonic screwdriver slipped from his grasp and landed with a clunk on the grating, but he didn't take any notice of it.

"Rose," he breathed, "why have you got your backpack?"

Rose looked him in the eye and nearly lost all confidence she possessed when she saw his worried face. Tearing her eyes away she spoke through the tears, her voice catching every few words. "I just...I have to go, Doctor".

"Why?" he whispered.

She let out a long, shaky breath. "It's just time, Doctor. After what happened on that ship I know I can't rely on you anymore," a tear rolled down her cheek as she tried to prevent herself from sobbing.

The Doctor automatically stepped forward to brush the tears from her cheeks, but she stepped back. "Rose, you know that's not true. You can always rely on me, I'll always be around".

Rose shook her head. "If all it takes to make you break that promise is some fancy French woman then I'd rather not take that chance," she spoke with surprising strength.

The Doctor looked slightly taken aback by that comment. "Rose, I apologized to you over and over for that. If I'd have thought there was any other way then I would have done it. She was going to die if I didn't save her.

"If you say it like that it sounds all well and good," Rose replied, feeling the anger in her stomach begin to rise, "but the fact is that you had a choice between your companion and a woman you hardly knew. You picked her, Doctor. She would have died if you didn't save her, but I would have died alone on a spaceship three thousand years into my future. How do you think it makes me feel to know that the man that I...that I've known for nearly two years and that I consider my best friend chose some other woman over me? What was it then, Doctor? Was she prettier than me? Was she smarter, funnier? Don't worry Doctor, I already know the answer to all those questions, and that's why I have to leave you".

The Doctor stood speechless in front of her, not being able to summon the right words. Finally, he managed to speak. "If that's what you want," he spoke quietly, as if defeated. "I know that no matter how much I argue with you you're still going to leave me. You're strong and stubborn and I admire that".

Rose let out a shaky breath. "Thank you for understanding, Doctor, and please don't be alone. Someone will come along to make you feel better again and you've got to take that chance, just please don't do to them what you've done to me".

The Doctor remained quiet for a moment as he set the coordinates and piloted the TARDIS. When she stood still once more he turned to face Rose.

"I only hope that you'll have a fantastic life, Rose. I know you won't want to hear from me again and I know it will kill me, but if it's what you want then who am I to deny you?" he sighed and Rose kept quiet to let him finish. "I never meant to hurt you and I most definitely wouldn't have let you die on that spaceship. I would beg you to forgive me but I see the damage is already done," he blinked quickly and shook his head slightly, as if trying to resist tears, which for once, he failed to do. "Goodbye, Rose Tyler," he said as the hot tears rolled down his cheeks and he turned away.

"Doctor"-

"Just go!" he almost howled, "I deserve to be alone!"

Rose looked at him for a moment and considered her options. She was leaving because she didn't think he cared about her at all, but now that she was about to go it was like he was literally falling to pieces, like he was burning or something.

Cautiously, she approached him from behind and wrapped her arms around his middle, her anger all but gone. He tensed when she touched him, but soon turned in her arms and hugged her back.

After several moments Rose let go. "I'm sorry Doctor, I don't want to do this but I know it has to happen sometime. You said it yourself, you can't spend the rest of your lifetime with me, and that sucks, it really does, but I'm not the only human in the galaxy that could be your companion. Find someone please, for me?"

He shook his head. "No one can be you," his voice was raw with emotion, "I don't want anyone else".

"Oh Doctor," she reached up and cupped his cheek, "I have to go. Isn't this better than saying goodbye when I'm old and grey, or before that when I can't run anymore? Now you can remember me as I am now".

The Doctor looked deep into her eyes and saw the same vulnerable emotion reflected back at him. He closed that gap between them and crushed her lips beneath his.

Rose froze for a moment, before wrapping her arms around his neck and reciprocating keenly. Yes, he might have been a jerk only the day before, yes, she still had to leave, but who was she to deny them both the thing they had wanted to happen since before either of them cared to admit?

Eventually Rose broke away and rested her forehead against the Doctor's, breathing heavily. "Please don't go," the Doctor whispered.

Rose pulled back to look him in the eyes, "I have to, I'm doing this for you," she reached up and kissed him again before letting go of him.

The Doctor watched as she picked up her backpack and made her way out of the door, pausing only to give a small wave before disappearing from view. He'd be fine, surely. Plenty of companions had left him, right? What was so different about Rose? Sure, she was beautiful and smart, funny and witty, but absolutely nothing special, and nothing he couldn't find again.

The Doctor sighed in frustration. He didn't know who he was trying to fool with those thoughts, but it certainly wasn't himself. The truth was that he loved Rose with every fibre of his being. He wanted nothing more than for her to be by his side through the centuries, but alas the universe was not so kind.

As Rose walked along the road she felt the weight of her decision being lifted off her shoulders. The Doctor would not visit her or even see her unless she wanted him to, and she knew deep down that in the future she would look back and be grateful that she made the decision to leave.

Her life of traveling the stars was over. It was time to settle down and live life like any other human. It would be hard, perhaps at first, but she was sure she could conquer it.

Of course, that was before things started to happen. First, there were the ghosts that turned out to be Cybermen, and for some unknown reason, Jackie got caught it the crosshairs and was transported to another universe. Rose didn't know how it happened, but it was explained in a blue envelope left on her doorstep. She knew the sender of course, and it hurt her that he didn't deliver the news in person, or comfort her, or even see her, but she knew that he was only doing what she had wanted, and what was best for her.

Barely three years after she'd left the Doctor, Rose was beginning to question whether or not it was the best thing for her. Daleks controlled the streets and at one point Rose was sure she saw a flash of the pinstripe-wearing alien she had grown to love and care for.

After the Daleks had gone and the Earth had been returned everything went quiet, far too quiet. It seemed as if the Doctor had left, finally leaving the Earth to fend for itself.

Of course, Rose never knew what the Doctor had been through since she left him. She didn't know about Martha or Donna, or even his regeneration. She would never know that her mother and Mickey were both back in the other universe, and she would never know about the clone he had wanted so badly to grow old with her in the other universe...or so he thought, but as the TARDIS materialized on that cool autumn afternoon, the timelines were re-arranged and the Doctor's life would never be the same.

Update may be a while. I thought I better warn you guys. Anyway drop me review and let me know what you think of it. I couldn't really resist posting it, but as I said updates will be a while.