They were fighting. Again.
This was the fourth time over the course of the month. It'd been 3 months since Bad Wolf Bay and things had been tense and fragile.
Rose glared daggers at The Doctor, her eyes red rimed and her hands balled into fists at her side.
"I don't care if you think the mission is too dangerous, Doctor! I'm taking it! There's nothing you can do to stop me!" She shouted, her voice matching the fire that lined her eyes.
The Doctor sneered, crossing his arms to his chest as he argued back, "Rose, you could die!" At his exclamation, his tone turned softer. "You're only human…"
At this, Rose glared harder, seemingly prodded by his words, not matter the tone they were spoken in. "Only human?! What about all the times I saved the world? What about crossing universes and turning Daleks to dust? Could someone who's 'only human' do that?"
"I didn't mean-!"
"And what about you? You're only human! Are you done with adventuring and fighting evil? Are you done with the running and the seeing new worlds? Are you?"
At Rose's words, The Doctor stood in shock before anger flooded his features and all he could see was red. "Oh, so that's it! You're not happy that I'm here! All you want is him and his blue box that could take you to the stars! I'm sick of competing against myself! I am him!"
Rose opened her mouth to retort but he cut her off before she could respond.
"And you know what? I'm better! All those times where you nearly died and I had to stand by watching because something separated us, I wanted to tell you! I wanted to say it!
I wanted to say it when I'd first regenerated but I didn't because I was a coward! But now I don't have any reason to be afraid! I can tell you I love you! He can't!
After nearly every trip after my regeneration, I'd wanted to tell you! Do you know how much I wanted to say it after the incident with the bloody devil? All this time on this Earth with you and you still can't accept that I'm him!" He breathed heavily, staring at Rose, waiting.
After his rant, Rose stood motionless, except for her mouth, which opened and closed, as if she was trying to get the words out but they wouldn't obey her lips.
All at once, Rose moved, stepping toward The Doctor and pulling the lapels of his jacket, much in the way she had on the beach, and kissed him.
The Doctor stood unresponsive for a moment before returning the kiss. A salty tear dripped down from Rose's eye and landed between their lips, alerting The doctor to the fact that Rose was crying.
Slowly, they pulled away, both breathing heavily and both feeling emotionally fragile.
Rose spoke, her voice somewhat choked from her tears, "It was never- never about the traveling. Always been about you and me, yeah? It's just taken a while to see it's still you…
I think, I think my heart's a bit banged up… But it's yours. Always been yours. Jus' took a while for it to realize it. God, I sound like a nutter right now!" Rose laughed, swiping at her eyes as a few more tears leaked through.
"You're not the same as before, Doctor, but neither am I… We can make it through this. Together." Rose wrapped her hand around his, leaning in to rest her forehead against his shoulder. Instinctively, The Doctor wrapped his free arm around Rose, pulling her closer.
"Still Shiver and Shake… right?"
"Uh huh."
"And none of that domestics, right?"
"Not a chance."
"You remember what we were arguing about before?"
"Nope."
Rose lifted her forehead to kiss The Doctor again, slower, and with less desperation.
"I shoulda said it back on Bad Wolf Bay the second time… Shoulda said it, Doctor. I love you. Always will."
"And I guess if it's one of a million chances to say it, Rose Tyler…
I love you."