Don't own anything.

The Tardis was quiet, and when Rose pulled the bedroom door opened and stepped out, it was cold as well. Rose glanced up at the ceiling and sighed. The TARDIS was trying to tell her something, so she followed the faint lights through the corridors and ended up in the kitchen.

"Where is he?" She asks aloud, as she goes about making a cup of tea for herself. There wasn't a reply, not as if she was expecting one, but the room did heat up a little, so she was where she was supposed to be, and so she went into the corner of the room and settled down on the sofa and held the mug in her lap are she begun to warm up again, trying to think of anything other than the horrors she saw on their last adventure, that were still replaying on her mind.

"Rose?" The doctor called out to her and she jumped at his voice, her mind having totally slipped. He was standing there, in the doorway, watching her, eyes burrowed in confusion. "What are you doing awake? I thought you would be resting." He says as he enters the room and follows her example and makes himself a cup of tea and then joins Rose on the sofa, as she pulls her feet up to give him space to sit.

"I couldn't sleep, not well." She mumbles into her cup and the doctor sighs sadly, understanding. "I'm sorry," he mumbles as he takes one of her hands in his. "I know that, last time out was really difficult. Do you want to talk about it?" He offers and Rose just shakes her head quickly. She wants to avoid rehashing it as much as possible. "I'll be fine. I should be used to this by now, you would think. It's just, seeing those faces, knowing they were going to die, it really hurts still." She says and the Doctor shuffled them around until they were sitting next to each other and Rose was curled up under his arm. Her head tucked into his chest.

"It always hurts. Take it from experience. If you got used to it, then I would be doing a bad job of this." He explains back and Rose sighs into his shoulder. "I don't know how my companions want to be handled so I leave them to decompress on their own. If you don't want to be alone, then tell me, and I won't leave you alone." He says softly and Rose is silent for a couple of minutes and he understands. They've known each other long enough that he understands when she wants help, but can't ask for it. "How about you and me, move to the library. I was doing some reading there already. We can sit there and I'll read and you can rest." He says as he gently stands them both up, not giving her an option on the matter. Leaving their cups on the table, he moves them through the corridors, arm slung around her waist, holding her close to him, for both of their sake.

They reach the library and the Doctor settles down in the far corner one the largest plushest sofa the TARDIS has to offer, and pulls Rose down and lets her settle herself against his chest. He pulls a blanket over her and picks up one of the books off the floor. He glances at it and then down at Rose and puts it back on the floor, and picked up another.

"Whether I shall turn out to be the hero of my own life, or whether that station will be held by anybody else, these pages must show. "

Rose curled closer to him and shut her eyes, letting his voice drift around her and pull her into a slightly restless sleep. She didn't stay asleep but whenever she would stir, she would hear him reading aloud and would drift off again, knowing he was there and close with a strong arm wrapped around her.

The doctor didn't rise or stop reading once, not for the five hours Rose stayed asleep. After this moment it became a new habit for the two of them. If their adventure had been a difficult one, Rose would go to bed and the doctor would come and sit with her and read for her entire duration asleep. Occasionally they both join each other in the Library and the doctor would read to her, regardless of any bad dreams or not. It became their reason for spending time close to each other.

Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed. Comments much appreciated.

The opening line is from Charles Dickens, David Copperfield.

If you're interested in helping me Beta, drop me a message. I'm always looking for help.