Disclaimer: Doctor Who isn't mine. If it was things would be quite different. The BBC owns all and I bow before them.

Written for timepetalsprompts on tumblr and their weekly prompt, hidden.

If anybody is curious, Paciugo is a real gelato chain the US and does have a banana chocolate chip gelato. :D


"Stop peeking," Rose Tyler chided as she led the Doctor by the hand through the narrow London streets. He had refused a blind fold, and he was too tall for her to wrap her hands over her his eyes as they walked, but she had insisted on an element of surprise.

"But Rose, we've been walking for ages!" he whinged.

"Twenty minutes, Time Lord." She teased as they arrived. "And anyway, we're here."

Their destination was practically hidden away in the busy street. Paciugo Café. A tiny gelato shop she'd discovered after taking in a West End play. A place she had then went for solace after each unsuccessful cannon jump.

Stepping inside she led the Doctor to a table and pulled out a chair. "I'll be right back and soon you can open your eyes." He gave a little harrumph as he sat down and she kissed his cheek. As she pulled away she could see from the twitch of his lip he was amused, despite his grumbling. And soon to be delighted, she thought as she went to the counter.

Rose had called ahead, had been doing so daily since they had returned from Bad Wolf Bay. They had a rotating gelato selection each day and she'd been impatient to share one flavor in particular with him. As the Doctor still had ears like a hawk, she handed over the piece of paper she'd written her order on. A triple scoop banana chocolate chip gelato with two spoons.

With her order in hand, Rose returned to the table. The Doctor was fidgety, bouncing his feet on the floor but true to his word his eyes remained closed. She dipped one of the spoons into the frozen treat. "Open your mouth please." Rose whispered in his ear.

The Doctor obliged her and she brought the spoon to his mouth. "Rose," he began as he closed his mouth around the spoon. "Can I open my eyes now?" he finished as he swallowed, giving a little groan of appreciation.

"Yeah," she told him.

The Doctor face was alight with a grin as he opened his eyes. "That's delicious! Not just the banana but the chocolate."

Rose returned his grin with her own. "It's my favorite. They didn't have it the first time I was here, but after my first jump with the dimension cannon was unsuccessful, I came here and it was on the menu. Somehow they always had it on cannon days after that. I'd come here for a treat after a bad jump and I'd promise myself I would make it home." She paused and hugged him tightly. "Now I am."

The Doctor shook his head. "Now we are," he corrected. He pulled out the chair beside him and when she sat down he fed her just as she had done for him.

end