It took her a while to realize that something was off.
Every time she mentioned the two of them going out together, whether it be the cinema, shopping, or even strolling through the park, he would look at her as if considering and then make some lame excuse.
It was ridiculous. Things had finally settled down after their first anxieties about being stranded on a TARDIS-less planet and knowing an identical Time Lord version of the now human Doctor was travelling the stars without them. The Doctor and Rose seldom left each other's side, and never without excessive parting kisses.
So why doesn't he want to go out?
—-
Finally, she confronted him.
"Doctor, I don't understand. Are you hiding from someone, is that why you never want to go anywhere? Or…" she paused, shocked at this new possible reason. "Is it because you think we're boring now that you're stuck here?"
The Doctor, who had been listening whilst staring out the window, turned to her abruptly.
"Rose Tyler, promise me you'll never say such things again! I'm stuck here, yes, but I'm stuck here with you and that's damn better than travelling the universe alone".
He planted a kiss to her forehead then suddenly became shy.
"It's just…our first date was full of excitement, and in space! I want our first date with me as a human to be just as fantastic…but I don't know how to do that anymore!"
He began pacing in agitation. "I even considered taking you for chips, cause that happened on our date as well, but how unromantic is that? So dull! So unexciting!"
Rose looked at him, bemused.
"Doctor, I'm offended. You really keep refusing to go out with me because I might not be impressed? It's not like we're in the beginning of a relationship! If the date sucks I'm not going to find someone new! Honestly, you're so daft sometimes".
Rose then decided that she would choose their date. Yet the more she brainstormed ideas, the more she realized that the Doctor had a point. Where could she take him that a 900 year old Time Lord would be impressed with? What hadn't he experienced? Nothing on this planet would ever be only theirs
…only theirs….
Inspiration had struck.
—
The next morning, (more like afternoon, he had been up much too late the previous night), she barged into their room and threw open the curtains.
"Get up sleepy," she said, ignoring his mumbles. "We're going out".
"Chips?" he exclaimed, as he realized their destination. "Rose my love, I told you that I wanted this to be unique".
"But it is!" she replied, stepping out of the car.
"We ended our first date with chips. This is just the beginning. Besides, it's my favorite food and I'm hungry".
She took his hand and let him in.
They stayed a lot longer than he had anticipated. After the chips had been demolished they had a few drinks and watched a particularly exciting match, cheering and booing with the rest of the pub. On commercial breaks they chatted about past adventures and new friends. Often they would just sit and stare at each other, communicating enough with their faces.
—
When they finally left, Rose told him that they had to make a quick stop at the laundromat.
"Oi, it was your idea to leave the mansion for my flat, so I'd better not hear you complaining about the consequences!" she reasoned.
Rose Tyler had a lot of laundry. This, added to the Doctor's utter fascination and lack of knowledge concerning washing machines, made this quick stop a three hour stay. The Doctor compromised by pushing Rose around in a shopping cart some woman used to carry her clothes. When the woman left, they picked up their conversations from the pub until the Doctor, bored again, stole Rose's panties and ran around the laundromat, the blonde hot on his heels. After they had scared the rest of the customers away from the shop, the pair took advantage of their solitude by a solid round of snogging on top of the dryers.
—-
They were folding the last load when Rose got a call from Jackie.
"Oh good lord…I forgot we have to house sit tonight!" Rose exclaimed in mock-exasperation.
"Mum and Pete are going out, and Tony's in bed but we need to be there".
The Doctor was sad only for a moment. There would be many more days to go on their date.
That night, the pair snuggled on the couch watching a Harry Potter than had been viewed so many times that it often only provided background noise to their conversations.
The Doctor removed his lips from hers and whispered, quite sexily, in her ear.
"I'm sorry we didn't get to have our date".
Rose giggled to herself in a manner that made him suspicious.
"Rose? What aren't you telling me?"
"That was our date, silly! All that was planned! How do I schedule a date for the man who's done it all? And then it came to me. Errand running? Laundry? Watching the game? Babysitting? That's all domestic stuff. You hate domestic stuff".
Her face turned serious and she stared deep into his big brown eyes.
"Except you didn't hate today, did you? See, that's how you know that you truly love someone. Suddenly, even the dull stuff is full of fun and laughter. You're happy just to be with them. People who love each other don't need the excitement, the spending, the spectacle. Sure, it's nice every once and a while. But when you truly, truly love them, you don't care what it is, as long as you get to be together. If you're together, you know it'll automatically be the best day of your life, day after day. And that's how it's gonna be with us, til the end of time."
The Doctor's ensuing loss of words was quite uncharacteristic of the chattering man. His kiss that followed, however, did a better than sufficient job of expressing how he felt.
Seconds, hours, years later when they broke apart, the Doctor turned to her with a grin.
"Oh Rose, my Rose, I think I am going to love this domestic approach".