He liked to watch her.
She'd wander around the TARDIS frequently, back and forth, forever getting changed or finding fault with what she was wearing.
He always pretended not to notice, to try and busy himself with the TARDIS controls. It was the best thing to do, otherwise he might start thinking...things.
"Do I look okay?" She asked, spinning in her favourite jeans.
"Yep. Great. Fantastic." He said quickly, pushing his glasses further up his nose and not taking his eyes off the sonic screwdriver.
He heard her sigh and sit on one of the chairs behind him, although he still didn't look round, slowly counting to ten in Gallifreyan so he could control his expression before turning to look at her.
When he finally did, she was glaring at him.
"What?"
"Nothing." Rose said, before muttering something under her breath that he conveniently never could quite catch.
He knew what was wrong, though. But he couldn't give her a proper opinion, what he really thought.
"There's something wrong with them, isn't there? I look like someone auditioning for a sad reality TV programme."
"'Sad and potentially dangerous.'" He corrected, flashing her a smile before spinning back around to concentrate on the TARDIS.
He heard her sigh again, and walk away, back to one of the lower decks. Only then could he lean on the control tower and curse himself for not even being able to look at her.
He took off his glasses and hit himself gently with them with his eyes closed. When he opened them, Rose had reappeared, frowning at him. His hand stopped mid hit, and he quickly put the glasses back on.
"What're you doing?" She asked, obviously supressing a smile with extreme difficulty.
"My head...my head was itchy..." He lied badly, knowing that there wasn't much point, because she wouldn't believe him anyway.
"Oh." Rose finished, although the way she rolled her eyes told him that there'd soon be a similar conversation to this the next time she asked for his opinion.
And there were. The same scenario replayed itself practically every day.
He liked to watch her, sometimes when he knew she wouldn't know.
She went on frequent wanderings of the TARDIS, and he would quickly sprint round the control tower and switch on the cameras below deck. Not to watch her, he always reassured himself. Not like that. Just to make sure she didn't get lost, or to stop something happening to her.
Of course, he never switched on the camera in the room he knew she used as a dressing room. His fingers would itch to set the monitor to the right commands, but he never did. And, he knew, that he only wanted to switch that camera on in case...
He didn't have an excuse for that one. He was just...over-protective. Yeah, that was it, over-protective...
But, over-protective people generally didn't want to kiss the person they were protecting, did they? They didn't want to see the person smile, not to everyone, but just for them, didn't not have a clue what they'd do if they lost the person...
Well, he could tell her that, couldn't he?
He peered over his glasses at her. She was reading some book or other. Her hair hid her face, and every now and then she'd turn a page. His hearts were in his mouth. He wondered how he should put it...
But everything would be better if he told her. They could...She might even...feel the same...
He adjusted his glasses in a businesslike manner.
Yeah, he could tell her...It'd be easy...
"Are you ok?" She asked suddenly.
Oh no, she was looking at him, now. He'd be able to do it if she just looked away...
She was frowning at him now. He realised he hadn't answered her question yet.
"Oh, yeah, I'm fine. Finer than fine. Finerer...No, maybe not." He babbled, following it up with a characterisic smile.
Rose laughed, nodded, then started to read. The Doctor sighed. The silence left him with his inappropriate thoughts.
Maybe...Maybe he could tell her some other time...