Rose/TenToo. Written for the Time Petals Ficlet Friday prompt "Christmas Hurt/Comfort."
"Rose?" the Doctor called, concern tingeing his voice. He finally spied her through the dusk of the empty garden and hurried to her side. "It's freezing out here! Come back inside."
"In a minute," Rose mumbled, keeping her face turned away.
"What is it, love? What's wrong?"
"It's nothing…I just needed a moment, all right?"
The man who'd left them behind on that beach might have shrugged out of his jacket and offered it to her, but this human body was just as susceptible to cold as Rose's, so the Doctor settled for stepping behind her and wrapping both arms tight around her, trying to share his warmth. "Please tell me?"
"It's stupid," Rose protested, cuddling back into his arms.
"Not if it makes you cry."
"It's just…it's our first Christmas together. I've been given so much, I should be perfectly happy, but…"
"But you're thinking of him, aren't you?" the Doctor murmured in resignation.
"I am. I worry about him. He's all alone, and he's rubbish when he's alone. You know that, better than anyone."
The Doctor turned Rose gently in his arms, and smoothed her windblown hair back from her face. He leaned in and kissed her forehead. "No one could ever replace you in his hearts, but he - we've - always had a knack for finding someone to get into or out of mischief with us."
Rose graced him with a small, watery smile. "You mean like in the basement of a shop you're about to blow up?
"Or on a planet where they think I'm their god - or their devil, depending on who you happen to be talking to."
"So you really think he's alright?"
"Is, or will be."
Rose smoothed her hands down his lapels. "Would you tell me about some of the others who traveled with you?" she asked shyly.
"Of course. But only if we can go back inside where it's warm!"