DISCLAIMER: I do not own Doctor Who. Not one little bit. Neither do I own Marcus Foster's amazing song "I Was Broken", which is the inspiration for this story. I do heartily recommend giving it a listen before you read. It'll help set the tone, if you're into that.

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I was tied, but now unbound
My head is off the ground
For a long time I was so weary

He'd never admit to how that first touch had affected him. Like a jolt of electricity, straight through his left hand, arcing up his arm and setting fire to his thoughts. Adrenaline racing in his veins. Hearts beating in a rhythm he'd not felt since before the end of the War. He felt... alive.

What was happening to him?

For a while he'd tried to convince himself otherwise. Life or death situation, that. Reactionary chemicals in the bloostream, fogging up what was otherwise his usual, flawless memory. That shock was just the difference in their body temperatures - humans run so much hotter than Time Lords, anyway. Couldn't have been. Just a little pink and yellow ape. That's all. Nothing special. Just... Just Rose Tyler. That's all, yeah.

It had nothing to do with the smiles she would give him that lit up even the darkest recesses of his thoughts. Certainly nothing to do with the sound of her loud, unreserved laughter when he got her going, even if it did temporarily drown out the echoes of screams and pain. And definitely nothing to do with how his hearts seemed to stop for a moment whenever they touched, be it to hold each other's hand, or a hugs that lingered longer than best mates probably should.

Not in the least did it have anything to do with how Time seemed to flow around her. She couldn't see it, the slightly pinkish gold of her timestream, but he could. At times it she almost glowed with it, shimmering in the air around her. Unusual, for a human. Normally, he could catch hints and slivers around most humans, very dull and ordinary and yet unique to each individual, but Rose was almost perpetually alight. Particularly in the TARDIS. It was as though being closer to the Time Vortex brought it out of her.

Still, she was just another human, right? Another companion along for the adventure. Just Rose.

Sometimes, he almost believed himself.

And then he'd see her, curled up on the jumpseat, fast asleep after one of their adventures. Her efforts at remaining awake while he tinkered and puttered underneath the console fallen short, her frail human inadequacies laid out in front of him. Just a child, really. Nineteen was so very young.

He'd pry himself away from his work - more of a distraction from her and his thoughts than necessary repair - and quietly walk over to Rose. She was so deeply asleep, the Doctor could watch as her eyelids fluttered in her dreaming state. He brushed a stray lock of bottle blonde hair from her soft face, and sighed to himself. Rose slept on.

He shook himself, trying to get away from these new feelings taking root in his hearts. Time Lord, me. She's just a human. Just... Rose.

The lie couldn't have been any more obvious.