A/N: Spoilers! And also, I am currently missing DT and RTD like woah. So yeah. Turned this out about a week ago between bawling sessions.

"It's freezing," Rose grumbled, stomping her feet in a vain attempt to jiggle some warmth back into her legs.

The Doctor paid her no attention. "Part of the fun," he dismissed, eyes fixated on the huge digital clock that loomed above their heads. 11: 52. "See," the Doctor motioned with his head. "Only eight minutes left 'till two thousand and seven!"

Rose blew out, brought her mittened hands up to her cheeks and rubbed. "Why did I agree to this?"

"Because you said you'd never been to New York," he explained. "And what's more New York-y then watching the ball drop?"

"Plenty. Rockefeller center. Statue of Liberty. St. Paterick's." She looked sideways at him, glaring. He, too, shot her his famous 'let-go-of-your-silly-human-hang-ups-and-have-fun.'

Rose turned her head, refusing to be persuaded. "Also," she said, "All the people. It's a bit…smelly." The guy in front of them coughed pointedly. Rose's cheek's reddened – this time not from the cold.

"Sorry, mate," the Doctor interjected. "You know us Brits." The man shot Rose an icy look.

"Sorry," she muttered, a bit uselessly. There was a beat or two of uncomfortable silence before the Doctor spoke again.

"You humans – you thrive to be contrary. I think, Rose Tyler, that you like New Year's all right after all." The Doctor looked at her, all pompous and all-knowing.

"Wrong. I hate it. I do."

"But what about resolutions? New beginnings?"

"Nostalgia? Drunk people?" Rose interrupted. "Aw yeah, New Year's is just great. Seriously, I have some creepy stories involving all of that crap."

The Doctor sighed, thoroughly exasperated. "Oh, all right. Strangest New Year's. Go."

Rose laughed. "Strangest? Okay. So, two thousand and five, you know? There this man, who just kept falling over, like, it was hilarious. I wanted to laugh, but you know, that's not nice. So I asked him if he was okay, and he asked me what year it was." She envisioned it in her mind: that weird bloke and his not-quite-drunken stumbling. "He was wearing a trench coat…kinda creepy, you know." She laughed again, but it was hollow. Rose was consumed in the memory.

"Oi! Trench coats are not creepy," said the Doctor.

Rose looked at him, his coat. The sound of his voice – oh, god. Her eyes went wide, and her mind sped around as everything clicked. It was him, that man had been the Doctor. And the stumbling – the Doctor didn't get drunk – it must have been—

Oh god.

It must have been before he regenerated. And the only reason why he would go see that past version of her was if…she wasn't with him in the first place. The mere thought of their eventual separation made her eyes water.

Stop it, she told herself. Rose had always known that at some time or another that she would leave the Doctor, but it had seemed infinitely far away. This newfound firm evidence of that fact completely unnerved her.

"Rose, are you all right?"

Rose looked up at the Doctor, but before she could say anything the world exploded around them in cheering. Above their heads, the famous ball dropped and fireworks went off in colorful burst. The clock flashed 12:00.

New Year's Day.

Rose turned back to the Doctor. He was looking at her, clearly worried.

"Take me somewhere warm," she asked.

0000

"New Year's day," declared the Doctor. "Jurassic Period. Earth. Somewhere warm."

Rose stood next to him and watched a pterodactyl fly in wide loops in the distance. It was warm. She had escaped from the cold. However, she hadn't escaped what she had realized in New York. The memory of that past New Year's still burned in her mind.

"How long are you gonna stay with me?"

The question caught her completely off-guard. Almost smiling, she looked up for a moment. If there was someone up there, above the universe itself, then it must have had a damn good sense of irony.

Rose looked at the Doctor. "Forever," she lied.

He smiled, and so did she, both perfectly happy in the little circle of lies they so hopelessly wanted to get lost in.