Over the years, the Doctor's had several companions. They were all so different, yet all the same. He loved them all, just not enough, or maybe it was too much; either way it had been rare for him to get close enough to one of them to particularly miss them when they were gone. Except one: Rose Tyler, a slightly chavy, blonde, twenty year-old. They'd shared a lot and grown close, but there was one question that, like the other companions before her, Rose had never asked: Do Time Lords sleep? It may seem like a stupid question, but had you ever been on the TARDIS, you would note that the Doctor was always awake and doing things by the time you got up and continued to do so long after you'd gone to bed. Rose, being the curious girl she was, decided to investigate.
Night one
The Doctor and Rose were in the console room. They had just spent a rather exhausting day running for their lives. Rose was curled up against the Doctor's side where they sat on an old sofa that was, for some reason, in the console room.
'You should get to bed.' The Doctor murmured in her ear as he played with a few strands of hair. Rose only nodded. She was rather tired. She gave him a shy smile.
'Tuck me in?' She asked. The Doctor smiled back at her.
'Anything for you.' He replied. Before Rose could get up, the Doctor stood up, pulling her into his arms as he did so. Rose squealed, but it was rather half-heartedly. After all, his arms were her favourite place to be. He left the console room and went into the main corridor that most of the rooms came off. The first door on the right was Rose's room. He kicked the door open in a rather uncaring manner and carried Rose in, laying her on her bed. She scrambled under the covers. The Doctor pulled them up to her chin.
'Goodnight Rose.' He kissed her forehead.
'Night, Doctor.' The Doctor headed out of her room and shut the door with a soft 'click' behind him. Rose sighed. She loved him. But he could never know.
Rose waited two hours before deciding to go and see what her Doctor was up to, if saying 'her Doctor' was appropriate. She decided it was. She very gently opened the door and didn't bother shutting it. Sounds were coming from the console room, so Rose guessed that the Doctor was in fact still awake. She padded up the corridor and hid the behind the door frame leading in to the room, listening to the Doctor, who was sitting on the same sofa he had been earlier. It appeared that the TARDIS was talking to him telepathically.
'I could never do that! It wouldn't be right. I'm a Time Lord and… and she's…' he paused. Rose decided he was probably listening to the TARDIS. He laughed slightly.
'Well, yes, that's true. What I was going to say, before I was so rudely interrupted, was that she's not. A Time Lord that is. Which is why telling her about… Well, it would be impossible.' Another pause. 'Well, of course physically I could say it; I just can't actually say it.' Pause. 'You're just having me on now, aren't ya. What am I going to do with you?' Pause. 'Yes, I know. I'm going off topic. Back to what I was saying before. Er… Yes, I can't ever say it. Anyway, it's probably just a one sided thing. Besides, it's not as if I have particularly deep feelings for her. More like a friend.' Pause. 'Having a few dreams about her doesn't mean that I feel any attraction.' There was a long pause, in which the Doctor's face changed from some what exasperated to a sort of deer-caught-in-headlights look. 'You saw that dream???!!! That isn't fair!!' Pause. 'No it's not.' Pause. 'No it's not.' Pause. 'No it's not.' Pause. 'No it's not, one more time than you can ever say it is. Hah!!!' Rose had to stuff her fist in her mouth to stifle her giggles. He was reminding her so much of a little boy stuck in an argument with a class-mate. The Doctor's mouth dropped open in shock. 'I am not childish, thank you very much!' He put on an adorable pout. Nothing else was said. Rose supposed that the TARDIS was done talking to the Doctor. She crept back to her room. Once she got there, she pulled her diary out of one of the desk drawers and wrote:
Night 1
The Doctor didn't sleep tonight. Instead he got into a ridiculously childish argument with the TARDIS. I wonder who they were talking about. It probably wasn't me. I mean I'm just the Doctor's companion, at most I'm his best friend, but that's it. Just because I constantly want to ruffle his hair when it's all messy and nibble on his lip when he pouts doesn't mean that I feel anything more than a crush. Right?
Little did Rose know that had she been outside the console room just a few minutes earlier, she would have found the Doctor going into great detail about his feelings for her.
