A/N: Dedicated to hogwartsharpist's for their review on the last chapter ;) x

Quiet Night In

::

"Fancy a quiet night in?" he asked her softly, stroking her hair back from her face in a soothing motion.

"Mmm," she smiled in contentment, shifting closer to him on the sofa. "Just to warn you though, I'm really tired, so no funny business."

"Wouldn't dream of it," he grinned.

She smirked knowingly. "No?"

"Well, I don't want you to think that the sex is all I value you for," he responded cheekily.

Rose laughed and snuggled into his arms. "Ah, so you also value me for my cuddling abilities, then, eh?"

"Oh, Rose Tyler," he murmured reverently. "Your cuddling abilities surpass anyone else's. No one in the entire universe can cuddle as well as you."

She arched an eyebrow. "Done extensive research into it, have you?"

"Well, no, course not. I just know these things."

"Really."

"Yes! Most knowledgeable being in the cosmos, I am."

"Only 'cos you're the oldest," she grinned, glancing up at him mischievously.

"Oh, you are hurting my feelings, now," he told her, his expression one of feigned sorrow.

Rose executed a well-placed tickle beneath his ribs and his melodramatic look crumbled instantly as he giggled.

"Don't you dare," he laughed, catching her hand in his and entwining their fingers.

She beamed, then rested her head against his chest. Yawning loudly, she murmured, "Mind if I sleep?"

"Course not," he replied, pressing a kiss to her temple. "Get some rest. You deserve it after saving the world again today, my dear."

"You gonna doze off too? 'Cos I'd quite like to fall asleep with you here on the sofa, nice and toasty in front of the library fire, but I don't want you to get so bored staying awake all night that you wander off…" she rambled sleepily.

He was already closing his eyes, instantly agreeing with her suggestion as a wave of tiredness overcame him. "Yeah, I'll catch up on a bit of sleep too. Don't worry. I know you like waking up with me," he said, this time dropping a kiss to the top of her head and burying his smile in her hair.

"Mmm, love you," she murmured, as she drifted off into a much-needed slumber.

He sighed happily and whispered back, "And I love you," even though she'd already succumbed to sleep. He wasn't really sure whether she'd ever heard him say it, as he was fairly certain that every time he did feel courageous enough to utter those monumental words, she was either distracted – you know, saving the universe and things - or listening to loud music, like that time in the pub on Sumbardo – oh, and that Beatles concert the other day, when she'd asked him three times to repeat what he'd said, prompting him to give up on his vocal declaration and simply snog her instead. Or, of course, as in this case and a thousand others, he told her when she was already asleep. So…yeah. He really should get around to telling her properly.

Mind you, every glance they shared – whether brief or extensive; angry or kind; sad or happy; loving or lustful – surely proved that she knew. Oh, she knew. How could she not? They were the Doctor and Rose Tyler, the stuff of legends, love personified and epitomised. No one they'd met on their travels, not to mention Jackie Tyler, could miss it. So of course she knew.

And with those less Time Lord-y and really rather human thoughts - splendidly sentimental as they were - in his head, the Doctor fell asleep with his arms around Rose Tyler, on a battered old sofa, in front of the fire in the library: thoroughly and unashamedly domestic.

Well. Domestic except for the fact that said library was in a time machine and they'd just got back from defeating a league of Horinicans hell-bent on destroying the planet Augustus. So there was that.