He awoke groggily, stumbling out of bed and into the shower. Yesterday had been one of those rare days where he'd actually slept; not entirely dreamless, but getting better.

She'd been tired, naturally. If it was up to him, they'd never stop running, but she needed a break every so often. So of course, he'd tried to occupy himself while she slept, tuning up the ship, anything to postpone the inevitable.

Sleep.

He sighed and turned off the spray.

How long had he been out for? Clad in full body armor, he made his way to her room and, upon finding the door open, entered. He could hear her in the shower, and deducted she'd only just awoke as well.

He turned to leave, but stopped at the sight of her bed, specifically the box sitting upon it.

Curiosity had always been he's weak point. He momentarily considered her privacy before opening it, but was glad he didn't. He smiled.

Inside was a photo album. Four teenagers sat in a car, a tough looking brunette teenager, a muscley boy with a thing black beard, Mickey and Rose. It was such an average scene, so human.

He turned the pages and discovered more; the same four friends stopping off at a camping ground, putting up a tent. A holiday.

"What are you doing?"

Oh! The Doctor dropped the book with a jump. Rose had come out of the shower, wrapped in two fluffy white towels, one around her head and the other barley concealing, well-her. He cleared his throat and avoided her gaze.

Neither of them said anything.

"That's me, when I was seventeen," she supplied rather awkwardly, pointing to the photos.

"Oh?"

"Yeah," she warmed, "Me and Mickey, Shareen and Jimmy. We'd all left school by then, and we didn't really have anywhere to be, so we packed up and drove down the countryside."

The Doctor grinned at her. "You went camping?"

"Of all the things I've done Rose, and I've done an awful lot in my nine-hundred years- I've never done that. Never really had the kind of friends to do that with"

"Why not? What were you doing when you were seventeen?" she asked shyly.

"Oh, I was still at the Academy. Studying."

Silence settled over them once more.

"It's not too late," Rose said quietly.

"What?"

"To have that kind of thing… I mean, I know you're not exactly a teenager, but if you'd like we could go camping, you and me. As friends?"

He paused, before enveloping her in a hug.

Minutes later, they stepped out onto a Norwegian beach, hand in hand.

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"Alright, Rose Tyler, you're the expert, teach me about camping!"

She eyed him up and down, in a very unsettling way. "Well, normally I'd say you were overdressed. But Blimey, it's cold out here. Probably shouldn't have let you pick the location."

The Doctor grinned sheepishly.

"But none more on that. We'll have to do; that's what camping is all about. No running back to the Tardis, right?"

It was a secluded beach. The Doctor told Rose there was a small town near by should they need anything, and but it wasn't exactly a prime tourist destination. Rose couldn't see why; sure, if you're looking for a beach holiday, you're probably wanting to go somewhere a bit more, ahem, tropical, but she thought the cold windswept plains were absolutely beautiful .

She told him so.

They swapped playful banter as they set up the tent, but neither of their mind's were exactly on task. Actually, both were thinking of how cold it was likely to get at night, and how small the tent was.

When it was up, they both clambered in rather awkwardly. Definitely small, thought Rose.

"It's getting dark," she remarked.

"Scared?" grinned the Doctor wolfishly, and Rose's heart fluttered.

"Who me? Nah. Am a bit hungry though,"

"Aha! Leave that to me!" He pulled out two Kit-Kats and handed one to Rose.

"Oooh should've known you'd just bring junk food," Rose cautiously opened the packet. "Mickey said I should lay off this stuff, last time I saw him."

"Why?" the Doctor asked her, genuinely confused.

Rose blushed and lowered her gaze. "Nah, nothing."

"What's the matter Rose?"

Although swelling at the concern in his voice, Rose opted to change the topic, not wanting to expose her insecurities to the one person who's opinion actually mattered to her.

They talked amicably for a while, about there latest adventure- about where they wanted to go next. Safe neutral talk, thought the Doctor. Eventually conversation turned to Rose's previous camping trip. The Doctor asked her about her friends; he heard all about Jimmy Stones, the guy she was seeing, about her best friend Shareen and about her oldest friend Mickey.

"It was the last time everything was going good, that trip. Me and Shareen had just dropped out of school; Mickey hadn't started at the mechanics and Jimmy was clean and everything between us was OK. It was lovely, Doctor,"

A sappy, nostalgic smile reached Rose's face, and the Doctor leant over and grabbed her hand.

"So whatever did you get up to all that time?" he asked innocently.

"Well… you want the clean version?" she joked, "Alright, well, ever played truth or dare Doctor?"

"I haven't…" he replied, still absently stroking her hand.

TBC

Reviews make my day- next chapter will be up... whenever. Probably a similar time tommorow night, yeah? Tell me if you like it.