"Oh, it's so quiet," Rose said sleepily, through a yawn, as she stepped into the library.

"Too quiet," the Doctor grumbled to himself. He was fiddling with something in his lap, and Rose expected it was a TARDIS part. "Much, much too quiet."

She frowned and ran a hand through her hair, trying to get rid of the tangles. "Where is everyone?"

"We've parked in London. Your time. They're visiting their families and all that." He looked up at her finally. "Do you want to go and see Jackie?"

"Nah," she said, shrugging a shoulder. "I'm okay."

He arched an eyebrow. "That's not like you."

"I just don't feel like going to Mum's today, that's all. Can I sit down?"

"Of course," he said, patting the seat next to him.

She grabbed a blanket off the back of the sofa and curled up in the corner, draping it across her. "Fancy having a sofa day."

The Doctor rolled his eyes, but his lips twitched as he said, "My goodness, you're boring. Why ever did I ask you to come with me?"

Rose kicked his thigh lightly with an, "Oi!"

He chuckled to himself, and resumed tinkering with the part in his hands.

"So, um, don't you ever go with them? Any of them?"

"What?" he replied absently.

"To see Donna or Martha's family, or with Jack to see his bloke."

"Oh." He sniffed. "Nah."

"Why not? Seems to me like you were just complaining about how quiet it is in here. You must get…" She bit her lip, hesitant. "You must get lonely. I'm sure their Mums wouldn't mind you popping along with them for dinner or something - "

The Doctor laughed, and put the part on the coffee table, turning to face Rose. "I stay as far away as possible from Sylvia and Francine. Neither of them are fond of me. Not that I even want them to be." He gave a shudder. "I don't do families."

Rose eyed him suspiciously. "Right."

"Anyway, I'm used to being on my own, it's no big deal."

"Doctor…can we talk?" She got to her knees to move closer to him, then settled in by his side.

"We're talking now, aren't we?"

"Yeah, but I mean – look, we never really get a chance, the two of us, to talk just…with us. You know? I've been here nearly two months now, and I feel like, I dunno, maybe we ought to know each other better than we do."

"I think we know each other very well," he murmured.

Rose shrugged. "Still. Can we – I know you don't like sitting still for very long, but I just – I dunno, maybe it's daft, but I'd just like to spend some time with you. Just, like this. Talking. Would that be okay?"

He stared at her for a few moments, eyes guarded, then smiled and nodded his agreement. Rose exhaled the breath she'd been holding and smiled back.

"What do you want to talk about?" he asked her.

"Dunno. Silly things, first. Like…what's your favourite colour?" she grinned.

"Brown."

Rose tugged on his pinstriped jacket. "Right, should've guessed."

"And TARDIS blue, of course. But that goes without saying."

"Oh, definitely."

"You?"

"Red."

"Good choice."

"What about favourite food?"

He scratched at his chin in thought. "Ooh, they do these lovely pastries in a little cafe on Xenda. I'll take you there one day to try them, you'd love it. All sorts of fillings! Naturally, my favourite is one with a banana filling. Well, I say banana…"

"All right, I get it," Rose laughed.

He gave her a look. "I already know your favourite food."

She arched an eyebrow. "Yeah?"

"Of course. Chips! You don't stop going on about them."

"Oi!" She poked his arm. "Then maybe you should take me for some, sometime."

"Maybe I should, if it'll stop you moaning." He raised his voice in imitation of her as he continued, "'Oh Doctor, why do they do everything here on this spacestation but chips?'"

"I do not sound like that," she huffed, but she couldn't stop her lips from twitching. Her stomach growled at the mere thought of chips, however, so she hoped they could stop by a chippy at some point today.

He smiled. "Go on, where would you rather go next? To see the sights on some magnificent planet, or down the road here for a soggy bit of fish and chips wrapped up in newspaper?"

She sniffed. "They don't wrap it in newspaper anymore. And it wouldn't be soggy, thank you."

"If you say so," he grinned.

Rose shuffled closer to him on the sofa. "So, what's your favourite place to visit in the universe?"

"Earth."

"Oh, come on," she said, rolling her eyes.

"It's true! I love this planet. All you humans, so capable of so much. Terrible things, too, of course, but so much kindness, so much empathy. As you might gather from the demographics of this TARDIS, can't get enough of you lot."

She raised her eyebrows with a small laugh. "That sounds almost a bit dodgy, Doctor."

He bumped her shoulder with his. "Oh, you know what I mean. You humans make great companions."

"Yeah?"

"Yep!"

Rose couldn't resist teasing him. "And what about for companions?" she asked, lowering her voice.

"Hmm?" He looked at her blankly for a moment, but when she waggled her eyebrows he seemed to get it. "Honestly, Rose Tyler. The things you think of."

"What, and you don't? Come on, it must've crossed your mind that people might assume…well, you know."

"Assume what?"

"You and your spaceship full of friends. I know what my Mum thinks, for example…"

He wrinkled his nose. "Oh, and we must all take into consideration what Jackie Tyler thinks, because it must be true."

"I'm not saying that," Rose laughed. "But it's just - well, look at Jack. Flirts with everyone, don't he?"

"He has that Welsh fellow, now."

"True, but he's still a flirt."

"What's your point?"

"Don't Time Lords ever do that?"

"I flirt all the time!"

She gave him a funny look. "Yeah. You charm everyone. Usually to get yourself out of trouble. But it's not the same - anyone starts flirting with you back and you don't know what to do with yourself!"

"I resent that," he said, adjusting his tie. "I know very well what I'm doing."

"You reckon?"

"Yep."

She giggled, tucking her legs up underneath her as she adjusted her position on the sofa. "So what happened last week then, when that woman tried to give you her number and you were so shocked you stepped backwards and tripped over a bin bag?"

"'That woman' was your mother's friend! It's hardly a fair example."

"Oh, Bev will be pleased to hear that."

"Yes, well, if you could tell her to stop harassing me every time I drop you at your Mum's, that would be lovely. Doesn't she realise that I'm - " He broke off, his eyes widening.

She tilted her head, curious. "That you're what? An alien? Course she doesn't, can't exactly spread that around, can I?"

"I meant - no, you're right. Yes. Course not."

"Why are you going pink?"

"What?"

"You're blushing."

"No I'm not." He cleared his throat. "It's just, I was under the impression that your mother had told people that I was…"

Rose squinted at him for a moment before she realised. "Wait, you mean our cover story for why I'm away so much?"

He nodded.

"I told Mum to tell 'em that I was travelling with friends." She lifted a shoulder. "Which I am."

"But - hm."

"What?"

"Well, when I was on my way back to the TARDIS once, one of your neighbours started chatting and it seemed she thought we were together. I assumed your mum had said that for simplicity."

She swallowed. "I didn't know that. Why didn't you say?"

He shrugged. "Didn't seem important."

They were quiet for a few moments.

"I've made things awkward, haven't I?" he said, wincing. "Sorry."

"No, it's okay. I was just thinking that I'd have to have a word with Mum."

"You - " He hesitated. "You don't have to. I mean. If it's easier to just…leave it. I don't mind."

"Really?"

"Mmhmm."

She stared at him, nibbling on her bottom lip in thought. "Okay."

Briefly, his gaze flickered to her mouth, and then he was clearing his throat and saying quickly, "Do you want to watch a film?"

"Oh, um, sure. Yeah."

"You pick."

::

To Rose's surprise, he tolerated her film choice, some clichéd buddy cop comedy, and as they watched it together, the atmosphere soon lost its awkwardness of before. They sat close together as usual, with a bowl of popcorn between them, and traded jokes and comments back and forth as the unimaginative script of the movie played on.

"You know, Mickey used to have a go at me for talking through films," Rose said, throwing a bit of popcorn in the air with the intention of catching it in her mouth. Before she could, the Doctor moved his head closer and stole it from her, grinning as he chewed. "I was gonna say that makes you a better person to watch films with, 'cos you babble even more than me, but since you just stole my popcorn I'm rethinking that."

He draped his arm around her shoulders and gave her an affectionate squeeze. "Oh, I'm just getting you back for stealing all my ice cream last week."

"That was an emergency," she said, ferreting through the bowl for any popcorn left that wasn't just unpopped kernels.

"How do you work that out?"

"Me, Martha and Donna were in drastic need of it." She threw a kernel at him. "Women's reasons."

"Ah. Fair enough. Synced up, have you?"

"Shut it," she laughed, nudging him with her elbow.

He hummed and nodded his head towards the telly. "Film's nearly over. You enjoying your lazy day?"

"I am. Why, you getting restless?"

"No, no."

"'Cos you can go tinker or wander about if you want. I won't mind."

"It's fine. It's nice, having company while the others are out."

She tilted her head to look at him properly. "Doctor, you are always welcome to come with me to Mum's for dinner, you know. Instead of just leaving after dropping me off. The neighbours must think you hate her, eh? If you're supposed to be my boyfriend according to them, or whatever." She grinned, sticking her tongue between her teeth, but he didn't laugh, which confused her. Instead, he stroked her hair back from her face and sighed.

"Just a bit worried I'd mess it up," he admitted.

"How do you mean?"

"Well. Jackie's hardly my biggest fan, is she."

"If you got to know her, maybe you two would get along."

He chuckled.

"You might!" Rose insisted, with a laugh. "Go on, come just the once. Next time I see her. Yeah? Promise I'll never bring it up again if you hate it. It's just, I don't like the thought of you moping about here by yourself whilst we're all out with our families."

"I don't mope about."

"You do." She stroked his chest. "You - you can be part of mine. Of all of ours. If you want." The expression on his face, after she said that, made her eyes water. "What?" she asked.

The Doctor cupped her cheek. "Nothing," he said, in a low voice. "I just…thank you."

"So you'll come?"

He nodded.

Rose smiled, and before she realised what she was doing, she'd leant forwards, closer to him, and without thought she followed the momentum through and pressed her lips to his. The Doctor grasped her upper arms instantly, presumably to push her away, and she flushed, ducking her head.

"I'm sorry," she said quietly. "I really didn't mean to do that, I just…Sorry."

The Doctor, still holding on to her, cleared his throat. "It's – Rose, I know what I said was - but I didn't mean - I don't, um, I don't do things like that."

"I know." Shame burned through her and she couldn't meet his eyes. She wanted to back away and run to her room to wallow in her embarrassment there, but he had a steadfast hold on her biceps.

"I mean, I haven't – it's – with a travelling companion, I can't, wouldn't. It's – it'd make things messy and complicated and, um - " he stammered out.

"No, I know, it's fine, I was just being daft. I don't know why I - "

" – I just want you to know that it's nothing personal, it's not – it's just, I've never done that. And I just can't. It's just one of those – rules, I suppose, that I've made for myself. Not that I've felt compelled to break it before, or – " he closed his mouth with a click.

Rose slowly raised her head, internally cursing her heated cheeks for providing such an outward visual of her mortification. "It's all right, Doctor. It's me that should be apologising."

He met her gaze and they stared at one another for a few moments. Rose watched as his Adam's apple bobbed. Then, abruptly, he released her arms and stood up. "I've just – er, I'll be back in mo. I've just got to – yeah."

He practically fled the room. Rose squeezed her eyes shut, regret settling heavy in her stomach. They'd been having such a nice time. Chatting and laughing and sitting so close together all throughout that film, and her side still tingled from where it had been pressed up against him, and then she'd gone and ruined it by trying to kiss him and what had she been thinking, anyway, she knew he would never make a move like that, knew that sort of thing wasn't in his nature, never mind the way he'd been looking at her, and still she had made a fool of herself and tried to –

Rose whirled around in surprise as the door to the library banged open, her eyebrows lifting up her forehead at the sight of the Doctor striding back in, towards her. "Is everything okay?"

The Doctor stopped in front of the sofa, his chest rising and falling quickly with his breaths in and out. "No." He shook his head. "No, it isn't, really."

Her heart leapt to her throat. "Shit, look, if you want me to go home because of what I did, I sort of understand, but you don't have to do that, I swear I won't do that again - "

His brow furrowed and he shook his head again, even more vigorously. "Not what I meant. Not – I'd never take you home over something like that. Don't be ridiculous."

Rose sighed. "Then, what?" The Doctor just stood there, staring at her, until she lost her patience and stood up. "Then what, Doctor?"

"I don't know," he whispered. "I don't…"

The Doctor raised his hands, reaching for her, and Rose's breath hitched. Cupping both her cheeks this time, his thumbs stroking gently at her skin, he leant down. Rose gripped his lapels as he slanted his mouth over hers, returning his kiss cautiously, wondering if he would pull away again at any second. But then one of his hands dropped to her waist, his arm winding around her to draw her against him, and he deepened the kiss, showing no signs of pulling back. Rose melted into it, kissing him back in earnest, clutching at his jacket for support as he moved his tongue against hers.

Minutes later they were back on the sofa, only now, rather than their pleasant and mostly platonic closeness of earlier, they were in a far more intimate position.

"We shouldn't be doing this," he groaned, even as he slipped his hand beneath the waistband of her pyjama bottoms to grab her arse, hauling her more firmly into his lap. "We should really stop."

Rose rocked against him, whimpering as his mouth latched onto her neck, nibbling and sucking so hard that she was almost certain he was going to leave her with a good few hickeys by the time they'd finished. "Don't want to stop," she replied eventually, sinking her hands into his hair.

"We need to move this somewhere else, though," he pointed out, with a squeeze to her bum. "In case someone walks in on us."

"Thought you said they were out visiting all day."

"They are, but you never know. Better to be safe than sorry. Come on," he said, moving her off him and standing up, holding his hand out to her to pull her up and into him.

"My room?"

"Yeah."

::

She woke up slowly, stretching her limbs as awareness crept upon her, reminding her of how she and the Doctor had fallen into bed with one another yesterday evening. Smiling shyly, she counted to three in her head, preparing herself for wishing him good morning.

When she rolled over, however, she realised he was gone. A cold sensation travelled down her spine and settled in her stomach. At first, she tried to rationalise it to herself; it wasn't like the Doctor needed as much sleep as her, so he had probably just got bored waiting for her to wake up and gone off to amuse himself. Or maybe he had just wanted to play it safe, get back to his own room or the library or some other innocuous place on the TARDIS so that when their friends returned, they wouldn't see him leaving Rose's bedroom at a suspicious time of day.

But mostly she was worried that he regretted it, and the thought of that kept her in bed for another fifteen minutes, anxiety over what she would say to him making her feel sick.

::

He wasn't talking to her. Not like he normally did, anyway. It was all clipped answers and mumbles and Rose was furious. She'd only been in the console room half an hour, but this was intolerable. The others would start to notice if he wasn't careful. Thankfully, they had already departed for the shops on the planet Decora.

Finally, Rose had enough of him averting her perfectly normal conversation. "Look, we can forget what happened last night if you want. But I can't deal with this, you not even looking at me."

The Doctor rubbed at his eyes, still turned away from her.

"I mean it, Doctor. I just want things to go back to normal, yeah? If we can't – if you don't want to do what we did again, then that's fine, but I need us to still be friends, to be able to go back to how it was before."

He nodded, and she heaved a sigh.

"Whatever. I'm going outside to get some air. You decide what you want," she said, before storming out of the TARDIS doors.

::

Of course today had to be one of those days where they get themselves into trouble. Of course. Rose couldn't quite believe the speed with which the Doctor had found them a mystery to solve and a rebellion to start; but evidently he needed something to keep him occupied, so that he wouldn't be forced to talk about what happened last night. To be honest, Rose couldn't blame him, because as much as she needed answers, she didn't want to hear what she suspected he was going to say to her, so she'd avoid the topic all the while he did, too.

For most of the day they were apart, anyway - she'd partnered up with Jack, for a change, and they'd been over the other side of town for hours.

Predictably, he'd noticed something was up. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing."

"Come on, you can tell me," Jack said, linking his arm through hers. "What's bothering you?"

"It's nothing. Really. Just…" Rose tried to come up with an excuse. "It's my mum, that's all. She's been on at me about how long I'm gonna be doing this travelling thing for, stuff like that."

Jack whistled. "Jackie still not convinced this is the way for you to live your life then?"

"Ha, nope. Thinks the novelty will wear off and I'll soon leave him. Him and you lot, I mean." She cleared her throat. "Obviously, that's not gonna happen."

"You belong on the TARDIS, Rose," Jack agreed. "Don't let anyone tell you otherwise."

::

Later, Rose and Jack had got separated, and when she managed to find the Doctor, he was on his own, too. He had a stormy look upon his face and barely said anything as they crept carefully along the street, trying to get back to the TARDIS without being caught by the guards of the military leader they had pissed off.

"Ugh, you know what, I've had enough of this," she said after a few minutes, and grabbed his hand, pulling him into an alleyway to hide from the guards more discreetly. Once they were obscured from view by a rubbish bin or two, she dropped his hand.

"Right. What's your problem?"

"You don't expect me to discuss this right now."

"Course I don't. But you have to face it at some point, and to be honest, you're being a bit of a dick about all this. If you didn't want it, me, then you shouldn't have slept with me last night - "

"Shush!" the Doctor hissed.

"What, embarrassed by me now?"

"Don't be ridiculous," he snapped. "It's just that now is really not the time for - for - for domestics."

"Well pardon me for talking!"

The Doctor glared at her, and she was about to say more, when they heard footsteps. He shook his head, telling her with his eyes to keep quiet. The footsteps grew closer.

He backed her into the wall and shielded her from potential guards with his body.

"You don't have to do that," she whispered in frustration. "I'm not an idiot, I can take care of myself."

"You're also not really wearing something that blends into the background," he retorted, voice low. "I am camouflaged, with this brown suit and that brown wall; I doubt they'll notice us as they pass. So stand still and be quiet."

She huffed, and pressed her back against the wall, putting as much distance between their bodies as possible - which, given the way he was crowding her, was barely three inches. She looked up at him to find him watching her closely.

"If you regret it now," she whispered, feeling brave. "Why did it feel so good last night?"

He closed his eyes.

"'Cos it did. Didn't it?" Rose continued. "I know you think so too. It was amazing. The way you kissed me." She paused, warring with herself, nibbling on her bottom lip as she considered her next words. "The way you…felt. Inside me."

With a groan of either annoyance or arousal – Rose couldn't tell which in the dim light, couldn't see the look in his eyes when they fluttered open – he leant down and captured her mouth in a fierce kiss. Rose grabbed the hair at the back of his head, angling him just right for her to deepen the kiss, and when his hips jerked into hers, pressing her against the wall, she groaned.

He clutched at her waist, but drew his head back, panting. "Rose…it's - "

Her phone started to ring. She pushed at his chest to get him off her as she fumbled quickly for her mobile, worried the guards would hear it. It was Martha.

"Where are you? We're almost back at the TARDIS, are you all right?"

"Yeah," Rose whispered. "I think so." She watched the Doctor step carefully to the edge of the alley, poking his head out. Then, he gave her a thumbs up. She sighed in relief; the guards had gone. "Think we can get back okay now. See you soon."

"Bye!"

She hung up, and pocketed her phone. "TARDIS?" she murmured to the Doctor.

He nodded. "It's all clear. Let's go before they patrol back in this direction."

::

"I'm starving," announced Martha, once they'd all returned to the TARDIS. "I'm gonna go and cook some dinner."

"I'll come with," said Jack, slinging his arm around her shoulders. "Could use something to eat before crashing for the night."

Rose hesitated at the console, watching the Doctor as he silently fiddled with a few buttons. She really needed to talk to him. Glancing at Donna, she wondered if she could hint to the other woman that she wanted her leave without her jumping to conclusions or feeling pushed out. But Donna was already plonking down on the jumpseat, chatting with the Doctor about their latest close call, and Rose fidgeted, disheartened by how easily Donna could cajole the Time Lord into talking and laughing, when he could barely even look at her.

She knew it was silly, and unfair, to get upset about it. But after his disappearing act this morning, and his harsh words, and then his sudden kiss not even half hour ago, she needed him to let her know where they stood. Heaving a sigh, she made a point of telling them she was going to the kitchen to help Martha and Jack, and didn't wait for a response in case there was none.

::

Watching Rose leave the room, the Doctor leant his bum against the console, closing his eyes.

"What's going on between you two, then?" Donna asked, folding her arms.

He looked at her in confusion. "What?"

"You and Rose? You've barely spoken, today. What's happened?"

"Ah. We, er, we had a difference of opinion."

Donna smiled softly, sympathy in her eyes. "Lovers' tiff? Don't worry, it'll sort itself out - "

"What?"

"I said don't worry - "

"No, the - before that. We - that's not - Rose and I aren't lovers."

He frowned when Donna laughed.

"Oh. Oh, you're serious?" she said, sobering.

"Why would you assume - "

"Because you look at each other with big puppy eyes all the time. And you're always holding hands, I mean, it's sickening, but also sort of sweet."

The Doctor tugged on his ear. "Right. No. We - no."

"Why not?"

"Sorry?"

"Why aren't - oh my god. You didn't reject her, did you? That's not why she's been moping around all day, is it?"

"I - no. No, not exactly." He shook himself, then. "Look, I don't want to talk about it."

"Well we're halfway there now, you might as well tell me the whole story," Donna said eagerly. "Come on, what does 'not exactly' mean? If you've broken that poor girl's heart I swear to god - "

"Donna, I don't do relationships, and I definitely don't do talking about relationships. End of discussion." He turned his back to her, pretending to input something onto the console screen.

"Oi! You can't ignore this! This is huge!"

"You don't even know what happened."

"Okay, but I'm betting it went something like, she tried to kiss you and you backed off. Am I right?"

He sighed, hanging his head in defeat, and murmured, "It went a bit like that at first, yeah."

"At first?"

"Oh, blimey." He turned around to face her again, wincing. "Donna, I messed up."

Looking concerned, she patted the space next to her on the jumpseat, and the Doctor grumpily sat down. "Tell me what happened."

He inhaled deeply and then let it out in a harsh release of breath. "Last night. While you lot were still out doing your visits." He paused, rubbing at his eye. "Rose and I…we went to bed together."

Donna gasped, and clutched his arm. "Oh my god."

"It was a mistake. I shouldn't have - but I just - " he broke off, shaking his head. "I don't know what to do. I don't know how to - how to cope with all this." He gestured vaguely with his hand. "All this, this stuff." Donna was quiet for a few moments, and he glanced at her warily. There was pity in her expression and he sighed again. "You know, don't you," he murmured.

"How you feel about her? Course I do. I've known for ages."

"Right."

"Does she?"

"No." His eyebrows drew together. "I mean, last night was…" He let out a whoosh of breath. "It was perfect, but I don't think she has a clue that I - the thing is, that doesn't matter. It just can't matter. It can't happen."

"But if you care about her so much, then why can't you just let yourself be happy with her?"

He shook his head. "I'm supposed to - "

"Screw 'supposed to!' You have to do what feels right. And if it feels right to you to take a step back from her, to deny your feelings, then whatever. But I don't think it does, does it? I think you know that it doesn't feel right. That what felt right was what happened last night."

"It'll complicate things…"

"Yes. That's what love is. Complicated. And amazing. Blimey, I'd be dancing for joy if someone looked at me the way you two look at each other."

At this, the Doctor smiled. "There's someone out there for you, Donna."

"I know there is. Just gotta find 'em. You, however, already have your someone and she's sitting feeling sorry for herself in the TARDIS kitchen."

He chewed his lip anxiously. "I left her to wake up alone this morning."

"Yeah, not a great move. But she'll forgive you." Donna paused. "You want to be with her, don't you?"

The Doctor felt his throat tighten. "Yeah." Then, louder, bolder, "Yes, I do."

"Then I think you'd better stop with the mixed signals."

"I kissed her earlier."

Donna rolled her eyes. "Exactly. You couldn't keep away from her if you tried. So for God's sake, Doctor, just go and bloody apologise to her for freaking out before it's too late."

"Now?"

"Yes!"

He straightened his tie, then his jacket. "All right," he breathed out roughly, then stood up. Before he left for the corridor, he turned back to Donna with a grateful if nervous smile. "Thanks."

"You're welcome," she beamed at him.

Then he sniffed and added, "Perhaps don't tell anyone about this. I don't know if she wanted anyone to know about last night, about…us."

"My lips are sealed."

::

"Rose?" said Martha, as she settled a bowl of salad on the table.

"Yeah?"

"You keep sighing. What's wrong?"

"Nothing."

Jack and Martha shared an awkward glance.

"Really, it's nothing," insisted Rose.

Rolling his eyes, Jack sat down next to her. "Well, that's a lie. And, I know you were lying earlier, too. This mood of yours has nothing to do with your mum. Come on, you can tell Uncle Jack. What is it really?"

"Uncle?" Martha snorted, sitting down on the other side of Rose.

Rose sighed heavily again. "Okay, look. You have to promise you won't say anything to the Doctor."

"Knew it was about him," Jack grinned, then modified his expression after a sharp look from Martha. "Sorry. What's he done?"

Nibbling nervously on her bottom lip, Rose looked at the ceiling, then back at her friends. "Here's the thing. He's freaking out, and I don't know what to do."

"Well, what's he freaking out about?" asked Martha.

Rose folded her arms on the table and buried her face in them. "We slept together," she mumbled.

"Yes!" shouted Jack, holding out his hand. "You owe me ten quid."

Martha shook her head. "I told you, I'm their friend and I refuse to bet on that."

Rose lifted her head. "You knew?"

"That you two were together? Please," Jack retorted. "The universe knows. Except Martha."

"Hey!"

"No, wait, you've got it wrong," said Rose quickly. "We aren't together. It just happened once. Last night."

"Ha!" said Martha, holding out her hand. "Now who owes ten quid?"

"You said you wouldn't bet on that!" exclaimed Rose.

Martha retracted her hand sheepishly. "Right. That's right. I wouldn't do that. But for the record, I knew you two hadn't got together properly yet."

Rose sighed again, resting her head on Martha's shoulder. "You're way more perceptive than him," she said, gesturing to Jack. "I don't know what to do."

"What, does he regret it?" asked Jack, in disbelief. "'Cos if he said that, he's lying. There's no way - "

"There's every way that man would run from what makes him happy, and you know it," Martha interrupted. "That's exactly what's happened, isn't it? He's got scared and run off."

Rose sniffed. "Yeah."

"Listen, Rose," Martha said softly, and Rose lifted her head to meet her eyes. "Anyone can see the Doctor's arse over elbow for you. He's just…"

"An emotionally incompetent wanker," Jack stated, with dramatic flair. "What you need to do is seduce him, wear something sexy and persuade him with your womanly wiles that he'd be better off taking you to bed again."

Martha rolled her eyes. "No, what Rose needs to do is talk to him."

"That's not nearly as exciting as my suggestion."

"But, the most rational," Martha insisted.

"I know," Rose groaned. "I know I should talk to him. But he keeps clamming up. Refusing to look me in the eye and just tell me what he wants. And then he kissed me earlier, out of the blue, and I just…god, he's just infuriating."

"Honey, he doesn't know his own mind."

"Who doesn't?" came a voice from the doorway.

Rose flushed red in embarrassment. "Er…Mickey. I was telling Jack and Martha about my friend Mickey."

"Your ex-boyfriend Mickey?" the Doctor sniffed, stepping into the kitchen with his hands in his pockets.

"Yeah, Rose was telling us what a fool he was," Jack said, glaring at the Time Lord. "How he let Rose slip through his fingers because he didn't know how to tell her the truth."

"Mmhmm," said Martha, joining in, "And how he ran away like a coward rather than face his own feelings."

The Doctor nodded absently, plucking a cherry tomato out of the bowl of untouched salad on the table. As he ate it, he mumbled, "You three are truly terrible liars. Remind me never to get us in a situation where a polygraph is required. A twenty-third century polygraph, that is, not one of the beatable ones from your time." He sat down, and propped his feet up on the seat of another chair.

"That was intentional. We were hinting, Doctor," huffed Jack.

The Doctor's eyebrows rose. "Ever heard of subtlety?" he inquired.

"Subtlety's about as useful with you as a chocolate teapot," Martha said crossly, folding her arms.

"Right. Here's the thing, though; I do know my own mind." He met Rose's eyes across the table. "Rose, can we talk?"

Rose, who had been attempting to sink to the floor and possibly become swallowed by it to cope with the mortifying situation she'd found herself in, jumped at the direct question. "Um. Yeah."

"Great." He glanced at Jack and Martha. Pointedly. Then, he sighed. "Right, apparently I'm too subtle." Standing up, he dusted off his trousers and headed out of the door. "Meet you in the library, Rose."

"What a fucking prick," announced Jack, once the Doctor had left.

Rose stood on shaky legs. "He's not…"

"Jack's just embracing being on your side, Rose," Martha smiled reassuringly. "Listen, if things go wrong in there, you come back here and tell us, okay? Don't feel like you have to be upset on your own. We're here for you." Donna entered the kitchen, then, and Martha nodded at her. "Aren't we, Donna?"

"What's that?"

"We're here for Rose if the Doctor ends up being a fucking prick," Martha said calmly. Her three friends stared at her in shock, and she lifted her chin. "What? I can swear."

Jack grinned. "It's kind of sexy."

Donna picked up the salad spoon and donked him on the head with it. "Go talk to the Doctor," she said to Rose. "It'll be all right. Promise."

Rose fiddled nervously with the hem of her hoodie. "Okay. Yeah. Thanks, guys."

"Good luck!" they chorused, as she went out into the corridor.

She felt like she couldn't breathe properly as she wandered towards the library. She didn't know what he was going to say, didn't know what she'd respond with if he told her they could never repeat last night, or if he wanted her to leave, or if he wanted…

Steeling herself, Rose placed her hand on the doorknob, and walked inside. "Hey," she murmured.

He turned around to face her, his jaw clenched tight. "Hey."

She let the door close.

::

Rose rushed to speak before him. "Before you say anything, I just want you to know that I want to stay. Here. With you and the others. I want to stay, no matter what you - " she paused, swallowing hard. "No matter what you say about me and you."

There was several feet of distance between them, Rose being frozen in her spot close to the door, so the Doctor walked slowly over to her. Taking her hands in his, he entwined their fingers, startled to feel hers shaking, wanting to reassure her, wanting both of their racing pulses to sync. "I want you to stay," he murmured.

She exhaled roughly. "Okay. Good."

They were both silent for a few moments, until the Doctor met her gaze and said, "I'm sorry."

Biting into her bottom lip, fighting against the prickling sensation in her eyes, Rose nodded. "Yeah, I know."

"All this…I'm not used to it."

"Mmm."

"I don't do this, Rose. I've always held back, kept things, I don't know, platonic. It's never been difficult, really, I've had centuries of practice and the temptation for more is rare for someone like me. I mean, I'm usually not even interested in that sort of thing."

"I understand," she said softly.

"I don't know if you do." He shook his head. "These months with you…" Giving her hands a squeeze, he stepped closer, then laughed. "Blimey. This is ridiculous. I can barely speak." He let go of one of her hands to run his through his hair awkwardly. "Do you, er. Do you ever get the horrible sensation that you've somehow ingested butterflies?"

Rose couldn't help but smile. "Yeah, those are pretty common. In fact I'm pretty sure Martha must've put some in that salad," she joked.

The Doctor smiled back, relief settling into his bones. "Oh, that's all right then." Then he paused, squinting at her. "Hold on, did you even eat any of that?"

"No," she laughed. "I was just trying to lighten things up."

"Right. It's good, though. That you didn't eat any of it."

"Why's that?"

"She put that horrible dressing Donna likes on it. You know, the spicy one from Altrus Three. That tomato I ate was covered in the stuff."

"I dunno, I think it gives it a bit of taste, a nice bit of zing."

"Well, I disagree."

Her eyes flickered down briefly, and then she looked up at him through her eyelashes. "Why is it good that I didn't eat any of it, then?" she asked, her expression shy but her tone knowing.

He raised both his hands to her face, cradling her cheeks, and her breath hitched as he took another step closer. The lapels of his jacket brushed her chest. "If I promise not to be an idiot afterwards this time, can I kiss you?"

She wound her arms around his waist, palms sliding up his back. "Yeah."

The Doctor leant down, pressing his lips to hers. It was gentle, and chaste, because they still needed to talk before they got carried away again. But he slid his hand from her cheek to cup the back of her neck, his thumb stroking her jaw, and Rose opened her mouth beneath his, encouraging him to deepen the kiss. After a few moments he pulled away, resting their foreheads together.

"So, um," Rose started to whisper, unwilling to spoil the moment but needing to know, "What's the deal here, then? You don't do this, except now you do, so is this…"

"Come sit with me," he murmured, taking her hand and leading her over to their sofa by the fire. They sat down next to each other, turning their bodies slightly so that their knees touched. "Rose. I know what I want. I know that I shouldn't - but I know I can't help it." He swallowed. "Donna had a chat with me before I came to find you. She made me talk about it," he laughed, rubbing his neck in embarrassment. "She made me realise that I need to be honest with you. I mean, I knew that already, theoretically, but she made me realise that I couldn't get away with pretending that you knew how I felt and thus convincing myself that I didn't need to say it."

Rose smiled slowly, and reached out to brush a bit of fluff from his jacket lapel. "Doctor, all I need to know is whether we can keep up the kissing and - "

"I'm in love with you."

" - stuff. Oh."

He stared at her. She stared back.

When she noticed the crinkle start to form between his eyebrows, she leant forwards, resting her forearms on his shoulders. "Are you sure?" she whispered, biting her lip to contain her grin.

The corner of his mouth lifted. "I definitely wouldn't have said it if I wasn't."

Getting to her knees, she edged closer. "That's quite lucky." There was no hiding her grin now.

Helping her lift her leg to straddle his lap, the Doctor replied casually, "Oh, is it?"

"Yep." Her eyes were bright. Happy. "I love you too."

"What a fortunate coincidence," he chuckled.

"I know, right?"

He trailed his hand down her back, his smile widening as she shivered under his touch. Then, he frowned, his expression becoming serious.

"What is it?" she asked.

"I'm sorry I ruined it. Last night. It was fantastic and then I bollocksed it up by leaving this morning while you were asleep."

"And acting weird with me all day."

"And that, yeah. I really am sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you."

"It's okay."

"Is it though?"

"It will be. Once you make it up to me." She shot him a flirty grin, her tongue touching the corner of her mouth.

He slipped his hands into the back pockets of her jeans, pulling her closer. "I have every intention of doing just that, Rose Tyler. Where do you want me to start?"