Rose loves the Doctor. She thinks of him every second of every day. Everything in her world connects to him. Everything about him leaves her wanting to know more. Wanting to be able to understand why he gets those faraway looks. Why he seems to change the subject so abruptly sometimes.
She wants to be able to comfort him, to hold him and understand. But she can't.
She loves him anyways. Because no matter what he had done in the past, it doesn't matter, because he is here, and he is the one that makes her heart beat faster, her stomach leap with butterflies, her sides hurt from laughter. He is the one who holds her hand even when she's slower than him when they run. He is the one who comforts her when she had nightmares, who withstands her mother when she gets homesick. He is her anything and everything, her protector, her companion, her best friend. And she loves him for it.
She loves every little thing he does, like tugging on her ear when he's nervous, stroking the TARDIS walls, rambling on and on about some random subject. She knows there's nothing in those hugs, those intimate touches. She knows. But still she hopes.
Rose loves the Doctor.
The Doctor doesn't love Rose.
The Doctor sees every longing glance, every wistful expression. She doesn't know that he sees them. She doesn't understand why he changes the subject abruptly, why he gazes off into space. She doesn't know very much at all about Gallifrey, about Koshcei.
She doesn't understand him, but he understands her. He knows what she's thinking when she hides behind her hair, or wrinkles her nose. He knows what she's dreaming of when she murmurs his name in her sleep, the two syllables rolling off her tongue. A sigh of longing, and sometimes tears trace down her cheeks. He hates that the most. He hates seeing her in pain, hates it with every single cell in his body.
He loves making her laugh, loves seeing her eyes crinkle up, and her tongue poking out. He loves the way their fingers entwine, loves the way her eyes dance. He loves the way she smiles when their running for their lives, loves the way the way she enjoys adventures like he does. He loves the way her eyes light up when he hugs her. He cries because she's hoping for something that the Doctor thinks he can't give. The Doctor doesn't know he loves Rose. Rose knows she loves the Doctor, but since he doesn't know, she doesn't know.
Rose loves the Doctor.
The Doctor doesn't know he loves Rose.