A/N: It has been forever since I last published a fanfic, so here is a short Tentoo/Rose one-shot. I hope you enjoy and please leave a review on the way out :)

Perfectly Imperfect

Their relationship is, by no means, perfect.

It may look that way to other people what with Jackie especially pointing out that they seem to be in a constant honeymoon-phase and numerous of the biggest gossip magazines naming them as one of their 'couples of the year'.

And true, he and Rose do find it difficult to keep their hands off each other and, true, they may have been caught in compromising positions more than a few times... Oops. He blames his new human hormones for this. She says it is because she missed him so much. Which generally leads to a bit more snogging.

But that does not mean that everything in their shared life is perfect at all times.

There are arguments and fights, which ends with the two of them standing at opposite ends of the living room, yelling insults and scathing remarks at each other, both excelling at finding ways to hurt the other person. Many old wounds are reopened, before things finally quiet down and the next few hours are spent in awkward silence.

There are plenty of misunderstandings, mostly from his side, as he is still trying to improve his communication skills. Sure, he can rant on and on and on until it would drive any human or alien insane, but he is not so great when it comes to the things that matter, like Rose.

Especially Rose.

But he tries so hard to open up, to share everything, to avoid hurting her and she knows that. But she is not invulnerable and it tears him apart when he sees the unshed tears in her eyes.

And, of course, there is the matter of this new, mostly human body. He is still adjusting to it and it has caused many bouts of frustration along the way, many of which were taken out on Rose, which has led to a fair share of their arguments and/or fights.

He still has to remind himself that he has to sleep every night, that he can no longer drink his hot tea without burning his tongue, that he needs to brush his teeth at least two times a day and that he can no longer put himself in danger as much as before.

On his very first mission for the parallel Torchwood, he is rendered unconscious when an alien aimed a gun at Rose and he jumped in front of the shot. When he woke up it was to the sight of Rose, who was partly relieved, partly upset and partly angry. When she had asked him if he knew it was just a stungun, he had lied and said, "Yes, of course."

Not too long after that he broke two ribs when another alien had thrown him down a flight of stairs, when he had managed to distract it from the more tempting target of the unconscious Jake Simmons. He had once again woken up the sight of Rose, only this time he was in the hospital and she was crying and shouting and he had ended up feeling like - in Donna's words - a 'great big outer space dunce.'

However, for every downside and imperfection, there are plenty of moments to choose from that more than make up for it.

For every argument and fight there is the making up, a human tradition he is most defintely enjoying.

For every misunderstanding, there are exchanges of 'I love you's and tight hugs and nights spent in each other's arms.

For every time he manages to make her cry, there are blinding smiles and laughter and the occasional tears of happiness.

As for the new human body, well, Rose certainly seems to enjoy the benefits of that particular change (Their coworkers and Jackie, not so much). And the idea of getting to grow old with her, to have the privilege of spending the rest of his life devoted to her and showing her just how very much he loves her makes him dizzy with complete and unreserved happiness.

He simply cannot wait to spend the rest of his imperfectly perfect life with her.