Rose put her hands to the wall, mascara streaming down her cheeks, sobbing at the loss of the Doctor. Her Doctor.

"Rose," Jackie said softly, "come on... let's... let's go home."

"No," Rose replied straightaway, "no."

"I don't think he's coming back this time, sweetheart. I'm... I'm so sorry, honey."

"No. No, I'm not going back. I'm not," Rose shook her head, "The Doctor- the Doctor said always wait five and a half hours, he said- he said always wait five and a half hours. Remember, Mickey? He- He went through the fireplace and we were stuck and he came back. He came back like he always does. And he told us always wait five and a half hours. Remember? Remember, Mickey?"

Mickey's mouth opened just slightly but he shut it slowly, unsure of what to say. Rose faced the wall again, touching the blank surface gingerly.

"Do you want us to stay?" Pete asked.

"No. No, I'll be fine, I'm fine. Five and half hours... Five and a half hours..." Rose mumbled, more so to herself. Mickey and her parents were heartbroken at seeing Rose so hysteric. They gave each other worried glances. None of the three had an inkling of hope. Jackie grabbed Pete's hand and gave Rose a last encouraging smile before walking from the room, mumbling, "she'll be okay... She was okay before him.. She's going to be fine" to her husband.

Mickey stepped close to the girl who radiated hollowness and sorrow. He could hardly stand how broken she looked without him. Without the Doctor.

"Are you sure you don't want me to stay?" he murmured to Rose.

"You do remember him saying that, don't you?" she croaked. Mickey waited for a moment and nodded.

"And then he came back... and he had looked so sad back at the TARDIS..." Rose mumbled wistfully, "and I asked if he was alright and he said 'I'm always alright'. Do you think he was alright, Mickey?"

"I don't know, Rose. He lost that... Madam Pompadour or whoever. Spose' he wasn't alright."

"Do you think he's alright now?"

"Without his Rose Tyler? Not a chance."

Rose gave a sniffle and a feeble smile.

"Come on, Rose... Let's go back home," Mickey urged.

"I'm not going anywhere," Rose replied weakly. She slumped to the floor, and cradled against the wall, closing her eyes, still having to wipe tears away with her sleeve. Mickey couldn't take her pathetic sniffles and whimpers anymore and eventually he turned from the room without another word.

Rose opened her eyes, looking at her sleeves stained with her makeup. She gave a grimace and let out another cry.

"Doctor," she sobbed, "please come and get me..."

Her sobs gradually calmed and there against the wall, she fell asleep.

Rose woke with a start, gasping as if she'd been drowning. She checked her phone. It had been three hours and twenty minutes. She then broke into hysteric cries, though she told herself not to.

She couldn't help but cry. Her mind flooded with images, images her new life would bring. Every scrap of blue making her sigh. Every whooshing sound in the distance making her shed a tear in empty hopelessness. Her life would never be the same again.

Though in her heart, she knew it wasn't the time travel, or the TARDIS. It was him. The places they went were amazing, and what he could do was incredible, but what he was... what he was, was everything. He was the Universe.

Rose, her entire being drained and void of hope, stood from the cold floor.

"Goodbye, Doctor," she whispered to the still room, "If I learned anything... I learned Sarah Jane was right. Some things are worth getting your heart broken for."

Rose was almost at the door when she heard that sound she'd grown to adore. The sound that symbolized hope.

She turned, and watched as the TARDIS whooshed into the room, standing as bold and blue as ever. She stood, dead in her tracks, her heart seeming frozen in her chest at the anticipation.

When the Doctor peeked his head through the door, he grinned, making Rose's knees weak and her eyes tear brimmed again. She couldn't even move from where she stood.

"Rose Tyler, were you just about to leave?" the Doctor asked indignantly. "If my calculations are correct, it's only been about three and a half hours!" the Doctor stepped from the TARDIS, slowly treading closer and closer to where Rose stood, shell-shocked.

He now stood a mere foot away, only having to murmur his words, "I could have sworn I told you always wait five and half."

Rose finally managed to shed just a few more tears, unable to contain the warmth filling her chest back up, after hours of feeling utterly dead inside.

In a single swift movement, she reached for the doctor's coat, forcefully pulling him in and pressing her lips urgently to his. Her grip on his coat didn't ease as she kissed him fervently, in such a state of euphoria from his lips on hers, she hardly noticed her knuckles pulsing from the tight grasp of his coat in her hands.

Rose released her grip from the Doctor's coat, bringing her limp hands to his face as she looks up into his eyes. Her lips still tingling with his touch as they stare at one another, she finally lets out a breath of laughter, accompanied with a loony smile she can no longer restrain. He then gives a grand smile at the pink and yellow human holding his face endearingly.

"Rose, I love you. God forbid the world crumbles under our feet as we speak... I just need you to know... I'm in love with you, Rose Tyler."

"Doctor..." she whispers, "I... must look horrible," she finishes, taking her hands from his face and wiping her own, though she finds tears still rolling down her cheeks.

"You look beautiful," the Doctor says. She looks up at him, and he leans down, kissing her tear stained cheeks softly, kissing her forehead and her neck and her nose and her closed eyes, his hands on either side of her head. He then slowly kisses her lips once more, so tantalizingly soft and slow, Rose gives a soft moan. They hold each other in a warm embrace, their foreheads touching, eyes closed in the silence and comfort surrounding them.

"I love you too," she uttered, her voice quiet and scratchy. "You did say five and half hours, but I would have waited to the ends of the earth for you. And you and I both know the significance of that time period... all because I fell in love with a goofy, mad, insane, wonderful Doctor." They both give a soft chuckle. The Doctor breathes a content sigh and takes Rose's hand in his.

"The universe at our fingertips," the Doctor says as they inch toward the TARDIS, "All that ever has been and will be... but I say we pay your mum and dad a visit." Without having to say a word, the Doctor knew Rose was thinking the same.

Rose squeezes the Doctor's hand tighter, "The universe at our fingertips."


Well there we have it! The happy ending. Reviews are appreciated!