Author's Note: A snippet from somewhere in between Christmas Invasion and New Earth. Initially, it was going to be a story about Rose getting her hair cut, since I noticed that she had cut it in between those episodes, but it wound up veering off in a different direction. As always, please let me know what you think and enjoy! : )

Of Hair and Pears

"Doctor, come on. You can't make that decision without having even tried it!"

"Actually, yes I can! Pears are bad. Very, very bad. I hate pears and I don't need to find out why, thank you very much."

Jackie stared on at the pair of them from her position at the kitchen doorway. Rose had a pear in one hand and the other was on her hip. The Doctor was gesturing wildly and had a look of abject horror on his face as he tried desperately to stay as far away form Rose as possible. They circled around and around the tiny kitchen of her flat with the Doctor somehow managing to duck away from Rose every time she advanced on him. Jackie rolled her eyes and tried to push her way around them to get to her tea.

"Mad is what you are, the both of you," she chided. Behind her back the Doctor gave Rose a cheeky wink and she started giggling madly. She then jumped towards him which resulted in him taking a frantic step back, right into Jackie.

"Oi!" she yelled, pushing him away. "I swear, you're as clumsy as a clot!"

The Doctor stumbled forward at her shove and ended up barreling right into Rose, careening both of them into the wall behind her. She grunted and then proceeded to crack up with uncontrollable laughter. The Doctor got his feet back under him but didn't move away from her as he smiled down at her and joined her in her laughter. Rose's head was thrown back and her eyes were squeezed shut with the force of her laughter. The Doctor was leaning on her and giggling down at her face like a madman. Jackie looked on in amused annoyance before deciding that the kitchen was too crowded and heading out to the living room with a final, "Mad, I said it." She looked back over her shoulder to see the Doctor's head collapsing onto Rose's shoulder with increased laughter and Rose's arms moving to clutch her stomach but meeting with the Doctor's side instead. They both looked like they might pass out from lack of air. Rose's face was getting red.

Jackie sat down on the couch to go back to her show but found herself much more entertained and very distracted by the couple in the kitchen. Rose's smile was turning mischievous and as Jackie watched she slowly moved her hand that still clutched the pear right into the Doctor's face. His reaction was immediate. He jumped away with a startled cry as if he had been hit with an electric shock and barreled into the sink on the other side of the kitchen.

"No! Rose! No! NO!" Rose's laughter rang out throughout the flat as she charged after him. The Doctor grabbed her wrists and spun her around while he took his chance and darted for the doorway. He then proceeded to smack right into the frame, which produced a loud crack, and collapsed onto the floor with a groan. Rose turned around with the intention of chasing him through the flat but when she saw him on the floor, she instantly set down her weapon and kneeled down by his side, her face transforming from glee and mischief to worry and concern in an instant. She tucked her hair behind her ear with one hand and placed the other on his shoulder as Jackie got up from the couch in case she was needed.

"Doctor? You ok?" the Doctor rubbed his forehead and opened one eye to look around with a grimace.

"Yeah," he grunted. "Steering is still a bit off, that's all. Gotta be careful with that," He let his hand fall away and looked up straight into her eyes and a smile took over his face. "Hello!" he beamed. Rose broke into a relieved and slightly amused grin as she replied,

"Hey." Just then, her hair fell out from behind her ear and landed in the Doctor's face. He spluttered and swiped at it as Rose helped him sit up. She was giggling again.

"You really should get a haircut sweetheart, when was the last time you had a trim?" Jackie asked as she made her way back to the couch and picked up her tea from the coffee table. Rose leaned against the door frame facing her mum while the Doctor went back into the kitchen and started searching the cabinets once again.

"I don't know. I can't remember," she spun around at an exclamation of delight from the Doctor. In the short amount of time it took her to turn around, he had managed to cram half a banana into his mouth and the other half was on its way there. Rose broke into giggles again.

"Still like banana's then?" she asked him.

"Oh yeth," came the enthusiastic, but much muffled reply from the Doctor. Rose giggled again and stuck her tongue out at him through the corner of her mouth.

"Well," she said, turning back to her mum. "I think we've just about covered all the food currently in our kitchen, haven't we Doctor?" she looked back at him to find him tucking the pear behind his back guiltily in an effort to hide the fact that he was on his way to the garbage bin with it. He smiled and nodded quickly. Rose laughed at him and turned back to her mum.

"We really should be going soon, but knowing the Doctor he'll probably get us thrown into an adventure our first trip out and that wouldn't be very good with his… steering issues," she turned to him with a teasing tongue grin.

"Oi!" the Doctor exclaimed, swallowing the rest of his banana. "I'll have you know, I am perfectly capable of not only taking us somewhere completely safe but also of controlling my own body." He pointed accusingly at her and Rose crossed her arms and raised her eyebrows. "I have done this before you know, this is the tenth time now," he started sauntering towards her, one hand in his pocket. "I think I can manage a few rogue limbs," and with that he proceeded to trip over his own feet and fall right into Rose's arms. She stumbled backwards but somehow managed to keep both of them on their feet. The Doctor looked completely miffed.

"I don't know Doctor," Rose told him as she righted both of them, looking him up and down with a mock critical eye, her voice dropping down like it did when she was pretending to be very serious. But her lips were twitching with the effort to keep from smiling. "Maybe it's not just a side effect this time. I think it might be permanent." She looked back into his eyes which were contorted with disgust. Her smile won out over her forced frown as she uttered her last words, "Rude, not ginger, and a klutz." They then both broke out into maniacal laughter once more at yet another joke that Jackie was utterly out of the loop on.

"No," the Doctor was saying in between giggles. "No, I am not – giggle – a klutz. Rose Tyler," he tried, unsuccessfully to scold her. "I am not – smile – a klutz." Rose flipped her hair out of her face and poked him in the shoulder before turning to walk away.

"I think you are," she teased. The Doctor followed behind her.

"Am not!" he insisted.

"Yes you are."

"No I'm not."

"Aaahaaa"

"A aaaa"

Jackie rolled her eyes, for what seemed like the hundredth time at their childish argument.

"Completely mad…" she muttered to herself as their voices faded out of her range of hearing and into Rose's bedroom.

Rose fell back onto her bed, still laughing and looked over when she felt the Doctor fall onto it beside her. He turned his head to her and gave her a ridiculous grin. Rose chuckled at him. She reached up to tuck away the hair that was falling in her face.

"Thank you," she said.

"For what?" the Doctor asked, looking puzzled. Rose dropped her gaze and started fidgeting with the comforter nervously.

"You know…" she started, uncertainly.

"No I really don't," the Doctor teased her. She looked back at him and smacked him on the arm with a smile.

"Shut up!" she scolded and the Doctor gave a short chuckle like a delighted child. Rose shook her head and looked away.

"No but really, what do you mean?" he asked again, and this time Rose took a deep breath before turning and holding his gaze.

"For staying. For letting me catch up with my mum and Mickey and my breath," her smile was tentative but confident and the Doctor soaked it up for a moment before his face twisted into a sarcastic grimace.

"Weeell… I didn't really have a choice did I? Your mum was practically begging you to stay and if I have learned anything in all my long years, it's don't mess with Jackie Tyler," he rubbed his cheek ruefully and looked at her like he was giving her the most important lesson of her life. Rose giggled, but didn't lose her look of determination.

"Nah, but you did," she maintained, a stubborn determination creeping into her face and tone. The Doctor rolled his eyes and opened his mouth to protest, turning his head away from her, but she went on before he could. "I mean it. At any point you could have… sauntered off and buried yourself in the TARDIS or dragged me off with you by just asking, and I would have gone with you," she paused with a slight smile and an assured nod of her head. "But you didn't," her smile grew. "You stayed." The Doctor was looking at her steadily and Rose stared right back at him. "Thank you," she repeated.

After a moment, a pure and gentle smile turned up his lips, "Rose Tyler," he lowered his gaze and found her hand then grasped it before looking back at her. A nearly imperceptible layer fell away from his face. A slight softening of the eyes, a tender upturn of the lips, a slow bob in his throat as he drew in a measured breath, then opened his mouth.

"Thank you." And for one brief but intense moment the Doctor let Rose see just how much he meant those words, and Rose understood. It wasn't just for saving is life with the Sycorax, it wasn't just for standing by his side while he fought for the Earth, it wasn't even just for taking care of him while he was burning up from regeneration sickness. It was all of that and so much more. It was for taking his hand and helping him through the dark nights; it was for never doubting him even when he doubted himself; it was for breaking all the rules of time and space, tearing apart the TARDIS and risking her life just to get back to him, just to have a chance to save his life; it was for all the evils that she endured for his sake and all the joy she brought to his haunted life; and it was for never leaving his side, even when he changed his face.

Rose gazed back at him and returned her part of the moment. She squeezed his hand and returned his smile and silently let him know everything that she wanted him to know. You're welcome, and thank you; that she was there for him now, and that she would always be there by his side to hold his hand for as long as it was in her power to do so; no matter what.

Then the Doctor drew in a breath and heaved himself up from his prone position on the bed and started rambling again and Rose began searching around her room for her backpack while giggling and laughing at his new demeanor and occasional trips on her clothing littered floor, and the moment passed. But neither of them would forget it. Rose would store it away for those days when the Doctor shut her out along with the rest of the world and forced himself to bear his pain alone; for the days that he left her behind; for the days when she felt like just a simple shop-girl from an estate, way out of her depth; for the days that she wasn't sure about who she was or what she meant to him. The Doctor would save it for the times when he had done something he was sure she could never forgive; for the times he was overwhelmed by guilt and felt forced to face the weight of the universe on his own; for the times when he was sure she would leave him. And meanwhile they would go on, laughing and smiling and having adventures together; saving lives and saving planets; teasing and flirting and holding hands; and most definitely running.