Disclaimer: I don't own Doctor Who or any of the characters in this story. If I did, Rose and the Doctor would be together, in the TARDIS, just as it should be.

The first five chapters are about Nine/Rose. If you'd like to start with Ten/Rose, jump straight to Chapter 6! :)

"Doctor?"

He looks up, only to see her standing there before him. Barefoot, wearing pink shorts and a white top; so this is what she sleeps in, he thinks. An uncertain, yet happy expression adorns her face.

In the back of his mind, he thinks that she looks beautiful.

"I thought you'd gone to sleep." Soft smile. He pushes his thoughts back behind that wall that never collapses.

"I did," she agrees, "Only I... I couldn't sleep. So I thought I'd, y'know, check if you're up." She shrugs.

"Usually am, don't need much sleep, me," he says and points to the seat next to him. She understands and sits down. Not close enough to touch him, but not far, either.

He marvels at how much she put him at ease. He barely knows her, yet at the same time, he feels as if he's known her for a very long time, too; it's odd, unfamiliar, brand new, just like their friendship.

They sit in a companionable silence for a moment.

"It's a little chilly in here, don't you reckon?"

She shivers slightly, he notices. Moments later, his black leather jacket is on her shoulders and she inhales his smell subtly, replacing her small, shy smile with a bigger one, beaming at him.

"Thank you," she says softly, tucks her legs in and turns towards him a little more. He never tears his eyes away from her. "Anyway, what do you even do, up all night? Don't you get tired?"

Oh, she always asks a lot of questions: about the planets they've visited, about the future, about the past, about his past. He avoids the last set of questions, most of the time. Because really, what could he even say?

I do get tired, but when I close my eyes, I see my planet. Burning. And it was all my own doing, Rose. I've destroyed my own race. I'm the last Time Lord in existence.

He won't say that to her. She is a youthful, beautiful being. He cherishes every moment with her, even if he's known her for barely a month, so he never says much when she curiously asks. For one, speaking of Gallifrey might break his hearts. Two, she would leave him, well, she probably would, and it would get so much worse. She was a breath of fresh air in his life, appearing out of nowhere and blowing away all the dust, leaving the content exposed, and strangely enough, he didn't want her to stop.

"Time Lords don't sleep much, Rose," he reminds her, skillfully dodging the first part of the question. "Our superior genetics allow us to stay awake for up to-"

"Right, right, I get it." She chuckles and then asks,"So, does your superior everything allow you to go and fix me a cuppa? Or are you too grand for that?"

He smiles widely and selfishly thinks that she should sleep less and visit him more. Humans, fragile beings, they sleep their stupid little lives away. He never understood that.

"Who do you take me for? I've got the TARDIS!" he exclaims and stands up, heading towards the ship's kitchen as Rose pads behind him. Unsurprisingly, two cups of tea are already waiting at some innovative tea maker the Doctor had tinkered with a few days before. He hands her a cup filled with steaming liquid - hers is offensively pink, his - black.

"In other words, you can't make tea yourself," she teases with that cheeky tongue-in-teeth smile of hers that he really likes to see.

Before he gets to retaliate, she sits in one of the chairs and says, "When I was a little girl, Mum would always make me a cuppa whenever I've had a nightmare, and she'd stay with me till I fell asleep," she reminisces with a happy, yet absent expression, although her countenance darkens when she remembers the events of just three weeks ago."Poor Mum, thinkin' I was dead or somethin'. You ought to learn to land this thing in the right time, Doctor." There is a mix of teasing and concern in the way she speaks, so he realizes that she must still be feeling guilty about the event.

"Oi, I'd like to see you fly the TARDIS! Besides, I dare say your mother has more than avenged your disappearance with that slap." At this, he rubs his cheek as he pulls a face at her. "Blimey, it still hurts, and it's been what, three weeks!"

She giggles at his complaint. She isn't really upset with him, and he isn't really upset with her, of course. She can't say that she knows him well, but she does feel at ease with this enigmatic, strange man.

"Y'know, I was just thinkin', " she says as she changes the subject, "How I barely know you at all. I mean, I know you, but not anything about you, not really. You still haven't even told me your name..."

"I did! I'm the Doctor!" he responds cheerfully, masking his true feelings just the way he always did. She gives him a doubtful look.

"Right, well, I still don't know much about you." She shifts in her seat, now fully facing him, her eyes intently glued to his.

He looks back at her; he doesn't respond. Because really, what can he say?

I want you to know me. I want to know you. But sometimes, even I don't wish to know me, so why would you?

She shakes her head and her shoulders heave with a sigh. Alright, if he wants it that way, she'll just have to go first then.

"I'm happy that you blew up my job," she says with a cheeky smile.

"What?" She caught him off-guard. As always.

"Yeah. I hated that bloody shop. There was this girl there, Claudia, and she was such a bi-"

"Rose," he chastens her.

"What? She was!" she exclaims with a giggle, "My mate Shareen always called her a stupid cow. One time, when she'd gone with us on a night out that some people from work put together, Claudia was all up in her face - Shareen's, I mean - about her handbag or something other, and Shar snapped and hit Claudia in the face. Literally in the face. It was hilarious, but then she started spreading rumors about me at work, and-"

"Hold on. Do you know any women that don't hit people?" he interrupts her with a smirk.

"I don't hit people," she clarifies as he rolls his eyes at her, but she doesn't mind it, so she continues, "'sides, mum had a good reason to slap you. She must've thought you were some... Some odd bloke with a mid-life crisis who kidnapped her daughter, yeah."

"Right, well, it's good to know that your mother likes me," he mumbles, once again rubbing his cheek.

"Oh, I think she does, now," she retorts with a smile, "I think she'd rather see me run off with an alien in his big blue box, than with another bloke that would just..."

At this, she trails off and her eyes move down to her lap, where her hands are playing with the hem of his leather jacket, which is still upon her shoulders, granting her warmth.

He could ask her to continue, and maybe she'd say. But he doesn't; he doesn't feel he's allowed to. Instead, his hand reaches out to grab hers and gives her a gentle squeeze. Past, future. Painful to everyone. Oh, he knows that better than anyone.

So much less painful with Rose Tyler around, though.

She smiles softly.

"So yeah, mum is a little... Impulsive, but hey, she loves me," she says quietly, picking up where she left off, disregarding whatever painful memory lingers on her mind. He smiles encouragingly and she continues.

She tells him about her life. About school, although she doesn't mention why she never got her A-levels, and he doesn't ask. About her mother. About her father, who died when she was a little girl, so she's never really gotten to truly know him. About Shareen - she's of the crazy sort, y'know, and she never shuts up (this makes him think of her mother, Jackie, but he doesn't say that out loud) - and a few other people he hears the names of but doesn't really register them, busy looking at her face as she speaks, her eyes lit up, a small smile present on her lips at all times. He listens to her and takes in all the information she so freely shares with him, and he does realize that she is doing so in hopes of him doing the same; she wants him to, as humans like to say, open up.

She doesn't really say everything, though. The Doctor notices the way she hesitates at times and then her words suddenly take a different turn. And she never speaks about that boy of hers, what was his name again, Ricky?

For some reason, he wants her to mention him. But he doesn't say it. Because really, what could he possibly say?

So, that pathetic excuse of a man you left back home, he's not important, is he?

Of course he can't say that. What a ridiculous notion.

Only he doesn't like it. That she's attached to so many places, so many people. All of those people will tear her away eventually. Jealous boyfriend, worried mother, a life to live. And the Doctor has quickly grown to rely on-

No, hang on, to enjoy the presence of Rose Tyler. That sounds better.

She doesn't mention Mickey, because she doesn't think he cares to listen. Because really, what is there to say?

Mickey is a great friend, but not much else, you know. Not like you.

Of course not. They're just mates, but then again, they aren't, are they? She's just a shop girl, and he is this amazing, extraordinary man - no, alien - with a time-traveling machine. Taking her on adventures. Talk about being out of her league.

So she doesn't say anything, and he doesn't ask, no matter how much they both want to.

A few minutes turns to two hours before she leaves him again. She yawns widely and moments later bids him good night with a gentle, honest smile.

"Get some sleep, Doctor," she says as she is about to exit the galley, turning around to look at him one last time. He smiles back at her.

"Good night, Rose."

"Night."

oOo

That night, he doesn't dream of Gallifrey, for the first time since the war. Instead, he dreams of Rose Tyler, laying beside him in the apple grass on New Earth, laughing joyfully, with her blonde hair tousled by the warm breeze and her whole body so close to his.

He will take her there, one day. Definitely.

A/N: Hello everyone! Thanks for reading this :) This is a story about the Doctor and Rose, starting at the beginning with Nine and eventually continuing past Doomsday with Ten. Expect lots of fluff (I'm a sucker for fluff), some angst and most of all, lots and lots of Doctor and Rose! Please let me know if you've enjoyed this, and sorry for any mistakes, English is not my first language!