Rose is hurting, and the Doctor knows. The Doctor always knows or does he?
The Doctor ran his hands over his face and sighed; it had been a very long day. Jackie Tyler was in the kitchen washing up, and Rose had gone to bed, feigning tiredness. The Doctor knew better though; Rose wasn't tired, she was hurting.
Rose Tyler had a million reasons for hurting, and the Doctor knew every single one of them. Just like he knew right now Rose wasn't sleeping, but crying her eyes out. He just couldn't work up the nerve to go and comfort her. The Doctor ran his hands over his face again, this time in frustration. He was the Oncoming Storm; the Last Time Lord. He had fought countless battles and faced death a thousand times or more without fear, but he did not have the courage to comfort a nineteen year old human when she needed him.
Suddenly Jackie was stood in front of him with a mug of hot chocolate; he must have been lost in his thoughts, he hadn't noticed her until she was right in front of him.
"No thanks Jackie, I'm fine"
"It's not for you."
Jackie pressed the mug into his hand and nodded her head in the direction of Rose's bedroom. Jackie knew as well; Jackie was a mother, of course she knew. She probably knew just as much as the Doctor, if not more; you never can tell with mothers. Taking the hint the Doctor stood and walked the short distance to Rose's bedroom door. Knocking gently, he opened it and went in. Rose was laid on her bed hugging her pillow. She looked like she'd been crying, but no longer had the energy to. The Doctor sat on the edge of her bed and nudged her.
"Hot chocolate."
"I thought you preferred tea?" asked Rose, trying to sound normal.
"Nah, that's for fixing comatose Time-Lords. What you need when you're upset is a big mug of hot chocolate."
"I'm not upset!" protested Rose, somewhat unconvincingly.
"No? Well then I'd hate to see you when you were!"
The Doctor offered the mug to Rose and she took it.
"Thanks."
Rose took a sip while the Doctor made himself comfortable; sitting himself on the bed with his legs crossed.
"So, what's wrong then?"
"Nothing, I told you, I'm fine."
"Rose, you can't fool me, I know when you're upset. All I need to know is what's wrong so that I can fix it."
"You really think you can fix everything?!"
"Now hold on one minute, 'everything' is a little strong isn't it? I'm not saying that I can't fix everything but what exactly is everything?"
Rose tried for a cool and calm air but failed miserably.
"Oh you know; the usual. Like my 900 year old alien friend completely changing how he looks and acts and trying to carrying on like normal; finding out that you not really that special person, that there have been others before; the whole Reinette incident, and then… Mickey."
The Doctor ran his hands over his face again, noticing that it was becoming an annoying habit and that he should stop doing it as soon as possible.
"Everything then. I expected you to be upset about Mickey but…"
"You didn't notice me being upset about any of the other stuff?" asked Rose hotly.
Rose's tone was cutting, and she took a sip of her hot chocolate before her tone cut the Doctor's head off.
"Rose, I thought you were fine about my regeneration; I know it's hard, but you have coped really, really well with it." The Doctor sounded genuinely surprised.
"What? Better than anyone else?"
The Doctor almost ran his hand over his face again; instead he made do with a sigh. Rose interrupted him before he could say anything.
"You see I didn't mind about the whole regeneration thing. I mean, you're alien, so why should I be surprised if you go and do something like that? And d'you know what? I would be able to cope with not seeing Mickey again if I knew…"
"If you knew what, Rose?"
"What Mickey said, when I said goodbye…"
The Doctor took Rose's hand and looked into her tear filled eyes.
"Rose, what did Mickey say?"
"He said I didn't need him anymore, because it's just you and me. But I don't even know that anymore. It used to be just you and me, we were great together; we were special. But I haven't even got that any more."
The Doctor took a deep breath and let it out slowly. He had no idea that Rose had taken the recent turn of events so badly, and part of him hated himself for not noticing how upset she had got. The Doctor looked at Rose, large brown eyes red from crying, mascara smeared all down her face, and he knew it was time; it was time Rose knew the truth.
"Rose, I think it's time I stopped holding back, and finished something I tried to say to you a while ago. Do you remember that night when we were sat in that café with Sarah-Jane and K-9? I spoke of the Curse of the Time Lords. Of how I don't grow old; I regenerate but you humans you wither and you die. Can you imagine watching that happen to some one you… Can you imagine watching that happen to someone you love?
Because the truth is Rose, I love you. Not the kind of love you had for Mickey, or that he had for you; something more. I would cross the universe just to be by your side; I would sacrifice entire races, entire planets just to save you; I would change time if I thought it would make you happy. Because you see I love you Rose Tyler, but I can never love you the way you want to be loved. Can you understand that?"
Rose nodded slowly, surprise showing on her face that the Doctor had said all that.
"I would never expect you to love me that way; you're the Doctor. But I understand you perfectly because I feel the same; all the sights in the universe are only magical because I see them with you. When I looked into the heart of the TARDIS to get back to you on satellite five, I didn't do it to save the day. I did it to get back to you, to be at your side, even if it was only for us to die together. Because that's all that matters if we have to go down, that we go down together, and we go down fighting. I might be a stupid ape from a little planet called Earth, but I love you, more than I can ever hope to understand."
"Oh Rose, if you know all that, if you feel al that, how could you ever think that we weren't special?"
"Because you hadn't said anything. You might be psychic, but I'm not. All I saw was other women coming at me from all over; one that I had replaced, one that could replace me. What was I supposed to think?"
The Doctor never gave Rose an answer to that question, instead he leaned forward and took her in his arms and held her there. They stayed that way for a long time, healing each other hearts. Eventually Rose gave a huge yawn against the Doctor's shoulder, and he decided it was time for him to leave. He tucked Rose into bed and gently kissed her forehead before quietly leaving the room. Jackie was stood across the hall in her bedroom doorway as he left, and she looked straight at the Doctor. Jackie gave a slight nod of her head before closing the door; Jackie Tyler knew, and the Doctor had her approval. It seemed that a truce had finally been reached between Rose's Doctor and Rose's mum.
Mother's are amazing things pondered the Doctor. Sometimes he thought that they were as knowledgeable as Time-Lords, and certainly as dangerous to anger. The Doctor sighed; Rose might need him more than either of them knew, but right now she needed her mum as well, which meant that they would be spending a few days on Earth. It would be worth it if it returned the smile to Rose's face.
The Doctor walked into the empty living room; he didn't need to sleep, but it would be a good few hours before either of the humans woke up. A slow grin spread across the Doctor's face as he mentally ran though all the possibilities of a sonic toaster.
"Who looks at a toaster and thinks 'ooh, this could be a little more sonic'?"
The Doctor grinned.
"I do!"