Author's note: WARNING! This story contains some sexual innuendos and physical contact between the Doctor and Rose that clearly step over their relationship boundaries defined by the writers of Doctor Who. This story is purely for fun. I am not trying to rewrite their relationship. Also, I do not own anything.

It was just past midnight on the TARDIS when Rose, who was sleeping comfortably in her room, was jostled awake and thrown from her bed by the shaking of the TARDIS. Unaware of what just happened, Rose quickly untangled herself from her covers, threw her dressing robe over the shorts and tank top she had slept in, and tore open the door of her bedroom. She paused for a moment, debating on putting shoes on before walking to the control room, but at the sound of the Doctor's sudden scream, decided to ignore the chill of the metal grated floor and quickly ran down the corridor to the source of scream.

Having just been mysteriously and suddenly tossed from the time vortex, the Doctor feverishly started flipping switches and pulling levers in hopes of righting the wrong, but his attempts to redirect the TARDIS did nothing. There was no response from her. With a slight hint of fear in his eyes, he reached up to stroke her power core in his usual way.

"Hey. What'd you go and do that for, eh? What's wrong- AAAHHHH!" The Doctor let out a pained scream and quickly retracted his burned hand from the console. The TARDIS was white hot, and for no apparent reason. The Doctor tried to recall if she had suffered in damage during his and Rose's last outing, he could think of none. It was not their destination that had the TARDIS destressed because they were simply heading back to 21st century London for Jackie's birthday. With a puzzled expression, the Doctor took the TARDIS out of flight and allowed it to float in space, hoping that giving her a chance to rest would help cool her down.

Clutching his seared and blistering hand, the Doctor walked out of the control room and down a corridor to the medical bay, grabbed the supplies he needed, and quickly walked back to the control room. He didn't want his eyes to leave the console too long in case something appeared that would help him better understand the TARDIS's dilemma, so he plopped himself down on the bench and began working on his hand. That's when Rose suddenly appeared.

She looked tired and frazzled as she ran into the control room. A worried look on her face and her robe falling off of her shoulders to reveal very little clothing beneath was cause enough for the Doctor to grin inwardly to himself, but he quickly stopped after he realized how panic-stricken she looked.

"Rose, what's wrong."

"What'd ya mean 'wha's wrong'? I got thrown out of my bed, and then I heard you scream, so I came runnin'."

"Oh... Right, yeah," the Doctor responded quietly, and then put his disheveled and embarrassed face back down at his hand as he began to explain what had happened with the TARDIS. "I'm afraid we'll have to land her to let her cool off," he began by looking up rather nervously, "that also means we'll have to put off your mum's birthday," he tentatively finished. The Doctor knew how important it was to Rose to see her mum. After all, he was the one who had practically stolen her away from her home with the promise of showing her the stars. Throughout all of the chaos of their lives, all of the danger and running, and all of the fear of not being able to see each other again, visits to her mum were the one thing that he could guarantee for her. He was the last person in the universe who wanted to stand between her and home, but this time it was unavoidable. It hurt him even more when he looked up and saw her disappointed face.

" 'S alright," she finally said, "We have a time machine... We can always just, I dunno, pop back in time and see her." She tried her best to hide her disappointment behind her trademark tongue-in-teeth smile, but the Doctor was not fooled by the tears that were starting to pool inside her eyes. It was then that she noticed his hand.

"Doctor, my god your hand," she exclaimed as she rushed over to his side and sat herself down on the bench. He tried to hide the wince as she placed one hand under his and the other on his fore arm.

"It's just a small burn, Rose. I'll be fine in a few hours," he reassured her as he placed the last cooling patch on top and wrapped it. Unconvinced, she let her hands linger on his arm as she searched for... something... in his brown eyes. She decided there was something there, definitely, but not what she was looking for. Sadness, or longing, perhaps.

She suddenly noticed how close her face was to his, and one of them- she wasn't sure which one- had closed the distance between their bodies. She leaned in a little closer and was able to feel his shallow breaths on her face. She loved the way he smelled of herbs and freshly mowed grass, his breath almost tropical. For what felt like hours, but was only seconds, they sat like that, each debating whether or not to lean just that last inch closer. Finally Rose thought to herself, "What the hell," as her pounding heart urged her forward in anticipation...

"Planet of a Thousand Storms," he breathed as he quickly stood and walked towards the control panel.

" 'M sorry," Rose asked, left disappointed for the second time that morning.

"The Planet of a Thousand Storms," he repeated, "It rains there all the time. It'll be the perfect spot to land the TARDIS. Let the rain cool her off." Rose sat on the bench with a stunned look which she quickly hid as he turned to face her.

" 'Course, yeah," she muttered. After a long pause she added, "I'm gonna make some tea. Want any?"

"That be lovely, Miss Tyler." He smiled as she walked toward the kitchen, but it quickly faded once she had gone. He was alone, once again, with his thoughts.

He was not oblivious, of course. He was completely and painfully aware that he had just left his favorite person in the whole universe disappointed for the second time that night. He wanted to tell himself that he didn't know what made him not kiss her, but he would be lying to himself. He was a Time Lord. The last Time Lord. He always knew what made him stop when he came ever so close to loving her. He didn't like to think about it, but he knew there would be a day where he and Rose could never be together again. He tried to convince himself that he would only be hurting her by promising her his hearts and then not being there to give them to her, but he knew better. Yes, Rose would be hurt, but it would kill him. She was the greatest adventure that had ever happened to him, and he'd be damned if he were to do anything that would make her leave. Because if she did leave... he would miss her. He would miss her deep brown eyes, her soft blonde hair that smelled of honey and brown sugar, her famous smile, the way she wiggled when she laughed. But most of all, he would miss the way she made him feel.

He caught himself just before a tear rolled down his cheek as he ran a hand through his ruffled brown hair.

"Planet of a Thousand Storms it is then," he whispered to himself, flipping switches and pushing buttons. When finally he felt the familiar thud of the TARDIS landing accompanied by the roar of rain on the roof, he gave the console one last comforting pat and swaggered off, hands in his pockets, down the corridor to his room.

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