'Rose, please'

'No'

'Rose, listen to me!'

' No'

She skidded round the corner in a wave of fury, her hair whipping around her face angrily. He knew what was coming and he knew that it would hurt just as much as last time, however long he put it off.

'Look, Rose, come on'

'Oh, save the fucking apologies'

He hated it when she swore.

He hated it more, however, when the heavy oak door slammed shut on his face.

'Roseeeeeeeeeee' He wailed, pummelling the door 'She started it, babe, promise'

No answer. Fuck.

He tried a new tactic.

'Rose, sweetheart, it didn't mean anything'

Still no answer.

Oh no, wait. Shed thrown something fragile against the door. His mind ran through all the expensive, glass, rare, alien things she had in her bedroom and prayed it wasn't anything that couldn't be replaced.

'Rosiee'

Oh shit.

'What did you just call me?' the door had opened a smidge and two scarily furious eyes were peering at him. Shed been crying. As much as he was scared he was also heartbroken he'd made her cry.

Again.

Bollocks.

'Rose, please listen to me. Just hear me out, you can hate me as much as you like afterwards, just ple- what's that noise?'

'What noise?'

'The one coming from inside your room'

'The wailing?'

'Yeah'

For an instant she looked disgruntled rather than annoyed.

'I threw that alarm clock against the door and it started screaming at me'

'Where is it now'

'I shoved it inside a pair of socks'

He suppressed the snigger that was rising up his throat and instead gave her his best 'let-me-help-looks'. Not that he really cared about the stupid alarm but he was thankful of the break.

'Get in, turn it off, get out again' She sniffed. He nodded, knowing full well that if he didn't she would slap him into next Tuesday.

By experience he knew she took after her mother.

Slightly relieved he wandered into the room, instantly hit by the pink radiation it seemed to emit. He remembered painting this room and buying the furniture, all Ikea. He had never to this day understood why humans needed to give inanimate objects names, but then, he thought fairly, it is a Swedish shop.

Rose cleared her throat meaningfully and he decided now was the time to get a move on.

'Sorry' he mumbled, wondering how a nine-hundred year old time lord could possibly be reduced to this.

It was his own fault really and he knew it.

He picked his way through her underwear drawer, carefully avoiding lacy looking numbers and attempting to keep his focus completely on locating the noise. He knew socks weren't kept in here, but he thought he'd amuse himself and fulfil a few needs that had been buzzing around his mind for quite a while. After all, it had been years since he had seen any underwear that wasn't his own.

Reluctantly he closed the drawer, realising that maybe he had taken a bit too long in there and decided to swiftly locate the noise and disable it. The socks weren't too hard to find, generally they were the bulkiest of her 'private garments' and after a quick blast from the sonic screwdriver the noise stopped.

She didn't thank him. Instead she directly avoided his gaze and gave out all possible body signals that she wasn't interested.

He took the hint and with a dejected sigh, left the room, excuses and pleas for forgiveness screaming round his head as he tried to pick out the best one to give to her.

'Rose?' He mumbled, holding the door open with his hand and silently praying that hers didn't decide to slap him. She let her eyes wander towards him, still burning with fury.

'What do you want?'

'Im sorry, really, I mean, me and her. There is nothing, nothing, going on between us, she was an old girlfriend-'

'A very old girlfriend' She cut in, bitterly

'Yes, but the point is, I love you not her, Rose listen to me, Me and Cleo, its all in the past.'

'The distant past' She added.

He was beginning to get a bit annoyed 'Yes, but please, she kissed me. Honest, I didn't want her to'

'Right'

'Ok?'

No answer

'Rose?'

'What?'

'Think about it?'

'Right'

'Right'

He strode out of the room and allowed her to close the door behind him, confident in his argument.

He would have to do one hell of a favour to comeback this but whatever it was he could do it.

Hopefully, anyway.