EPILOGUE: Confessions

Two mugs of hot chocolate, an enormous blanket, and a hand to hold. Rose basked in it all, her smile so wide it almost hurt.

"Rose Tyler. Didn't I tell you you could never see me again?"

She waggled her eyebrows. "I like impossible."

The Doctor squeezed her hand gently. "So do I."

For a while, there was a peaceful silence. Rose broke it. "So, confession time?" she grinned.

The Doctor shifted closer. "You want me to start?"

Rose nodded.

"I've had two companions since you've left. Martha Jones and Donna Noble. Both brilliant women, helped me a lot."

"Which one's the red-head?" Rose asked curiously.

"Donna."

Rose bit her lip. "You and them . . . were you close?"

The Doctor saw through her fidgeting in an instant. "Friends only, Rose. Never like us."

Rose felt it wasn't quite time to get into that conversation. "My turn," she said briskly. "I spent two years working out the technology to get back over here."

The Doctor looked pained. "Two whole years?"

"It was too long," Rose said matter-of-factly, "but that doesn't matter anymore. You and I focus on the present, yeah?"

"Good enough for me." The Doctor let go of her hand and reached for her neck. "Those wires, that the Master pulled out, are they . . .?"

"Yeah. Actually, if you could help me remove them later, that would be great." Rose swept aside her hair, and the Doctor's fingers gently traced the path the wires led.

"What do these do, exactly?"

"Red one blocks some pain signals from my body, the white one monitors brain activity. I think."

The Doctor's voice was low. "Blocks pain signals?"

Rose winced. "Another confession. Crossing the Void is rather painful. Couldn't have done it without that thing."

He made the connection. "So when the Master pulled these out . . ."

"It hurt a lot." She shrugged. "Small price to pay."

The Doctor looked appalled, but Rose raised a finger to his lips. "Don't. It's done. Now, it's your turn."

"Well, I . . . I set up a memorial for you. Back on earth."

Rose raised an eyebrow while simultaneously a warm feeling flooded her stomach. "Where?"

"Well, it's kind of invisible. Unless you happen to be one of the few perceptive humans and look really hard. But it's a small statue of a rose outside of what's left of Torchwood."

"That's so sweet." Rose leaned in and kissed his cheek.

"Rose, you have to tell me, how did you find me?"

Sighing, she leaned against the Doctor's shoulder, and he maneuvered his arm around her. "It was Bad Wolf. I never told you, but it's been in my head ever since the game station, when I first looked into the TARDIS."

"Why keep it a secret?" the Doctor asked sadly.

Rose bit her lip. "I guess I didn't want you to worry. And I was scared that if you found out, you would die again."

The Doctor didn't say anything, but Rose felt his fingers tighten on her shoulder.

They sat in silence for a long time, the Doctor digesting everything she had told him. He was absolutely terrified that he might lose her again.

"Rose," he finally whispered.

"Yes, Doctor?"

"You're really here?"

Under normal circumstances, the Doctor knew Rose would have giggled and joked about his insecurities. But this time, she turned to him fully, kneeling on the couch.

"Doctor, look at me."

He turned as well. Without warning, Rose threw herself on him, wrapping her arms tightly around his neck. "Do you remember what I said on the beach?" she whispered in his ear.

The Doctor laughed weakly. "How could I ever forget?" He drew back so that their foreheads were touching and stared into her eyes. "I never got to finish my sentence."

"Yeah?" There was a slight fear in her eyes, but hope as well.

"Rose Tyler, I love you," he murmured.

Rose closed her eyes. "You don't know how long I've been waiting to hear you say that."

The Doctor playfully bumped noses with her. "You don't know how long I've been wanting to say that."

"Next confession. I really, really kinda want to go back to New New Earth," Rose suddenly blurted out.

The Doctor felt himself grin. "New new Rose?" he joked.

She gave him her dazzling smile and a quick kiss. "Come on, Doctor. Let's go have an adventure."

A/N: ahahaha I have no excuse. None at all. Has it been years since I've updated? I don't even know. I had been planning on other chapters, but that was ages ago, and now I have no idea what I would've written. So instead, have this epilogue as a terrible excuse for an apology. I make myself really angry sometimes.