"So, Doctor, what wonderful places have you been taking Rose to lately?" Jackie asked as she passed a bowl of potatoes toward the Doctor. He took enough of them to look "not rude" as Rose had instructed him before, feeling his sense of unease growing. Sitting down around a table, talking to someone's mum; the things he did for Rose. It was appalling really; he would never put up with it from anyone else. But then again, Rose wasn't 'anyone else'.

"Well, we've seen loads of great things lately" The Doctor said, forcing a smile on his face as he looked at Jackie. "We went sailing on the rainbow oceans of Jixion, saw the universe's biggest tourist trap at the intergalactic space station and just today we got chased away from a tremendously splendid royal banquet. What would you say has been the best thing we've done lately, Rose?"

The Doctor looked over to Rose for help, wanting her to jump in and save him from having to have so much conversation with Jackie. He was surprised to find Rose positively shoving food in her mouth. He'd known her to have a healthy appetite but now she looked like she was starving. He didn't know how she was so hungry; he really was still bursting from the banquet, he hadn't just been using that as an excuse.

"Rose…..uh…..why don't you take it easy?" The Doctor suggested in a whisper, hoping Rose would take the hint and slow down. He wasn't the best on manners but he thought that Rose's behavior might constitute as rude.

Jackie gave a sort of uncomfortable laugh as Rose seemed to ignore what the Doctor was saying. "Don't you ever feed her, Doctor?" she asked, attempting a joke but not sounding humorous.

The Doctor began to feel uncomfortable as Rose didn't even seem to notice them and continued to gluttonously shovel food into her mouth. The Doctor gave Rose a shake on the shoulder. "Uh…..Rose?" he asked as he shook her. Rose finally jerked awake, looking at the Doctor and then to Jackie, seemingly a little embarrassed. "Sorry…..did you say something?" she asked, putting her fork down and embarrassingly wiping her mouth with her napkin.

The Doctor made a mental note to scan her with the sonic after dinner. "Ah…I was just talking to your mum about the places we've been lately. What would you say was your favorite?"

Rose was quiet, thoughtful for a moment. "The rainbow oceans were definitely breath taking" Rose said, the Doctor not surprised. It had been one of their favorite trips for the both of them. "Stunning…. I'll never look at another ocean in the same way again" She looked down, her eyes intent on her plate. It seemed to the Doctor that she was just barely restraining the urge to continue eating. "But I've really just been homesick lately" she said, almost as if to herself. "I've been on to the Doctor for weeks to take me home. I practically forced him to come home at Christmas even though he didn't want to. You'd think it was the worst thing on earth in his mind to have dinner here" Rose said, a little zoned out, nonchalantly before beginning to eat again.

The Doctor felt his mouth drop a little as he felt Jackie's eyes on him; this did not do anything to help the negative picture she had of him in her mind. The Doctor had no idea Rose was so homesick; she had asked to go home a few times but she hadn't insisted. She hadn't needed to say that right now in front of her mum. And she certainly hadn't had to tell her how much he didn't want to be there. "Rose!" The Doctor said, embarrassment tinting his cheeks.

Rose looked up at him between bites. "What? 'S the truth isn't it?" she asked.

The Doctor's eyes glanced toward Jackie who was looking at him in a most disapproving way before he looked at Rose. "Rose, come here for a moment" he said, taking her by the arm and pulling her out of the dining room, receiving another harsh look from Jackie.

Rose looked at the Doctor indignantly as he pulled her way from the room. "What is wrong with you?" she asked, annoyance on her tone.

The Doctor felt this was a strange question for her to be asking him. "Me? What's wrong with me?" he asked, trying to keep calm. "You're the one that just told your mum that I didn't want to be here. Why did you do that for?"

"Because it's the truth" Rose said, as if he was stupid. "Can I go back now and finish my dinner?"

The Doctor shook his head. "No….Rose, listen" he said, his tone more gentle as he put his hands on her arms. "Is something wrong with you? Are you feeling alright?"

"Of course I'm fine" Rose said, looking at him as if she still doubted his sanity. "Why do you ask?"

"Because you're eating in there like you're dying of starvation and you're just blurting out things you wouldn't normally say" The Doctor said.

"Don't be mad at me because I simply said what I thought" Rose said, rolling her eyes a bit. "You want me to hold it all in?"

The Doctor shook his head. "No….." he said "Rose…..were you really that homesick?" he asked, concern in his tone as he reached out toward her.

Rose shrugged out of his grip. "Yeah…..I didn't just make it up" she said, slightly angry.

"Why didn't you tell me?" The Doctor asked, feeling guilty.

"I did" Rose said with slight malice, "You just didn't listen"

The Doctor felt terrible; was she really telling the truth? Had he ignored her feelings this much? He was trying to formulate a response when Rose's look softened. "I'm…..sorry" she said, even though she didn't appear to be sorry at all. "I should have told you more clearly. Can we go back in the dining room?"

Alarm bells were ringing through the Doctor head but he felt himself nodding. "Sure" he said, growing more confused by the second.

….

Rose's head was in a bit of swirl as she tried to watch the movie on the telly with her mum and the Doctor but she felt herself trying to fall asleep. Her mum had just brought in tea and biscuits and she was trying to force herself enough awake to have some. Her mum and the Doctor had acted as though she had eaten a terribly great deal of food at dinner but she still felt hungry. She didn't know why they were trying to regulate what she was eating anyway; why didn't they leave her alone?

Rose was losing the battle to stay awake as her eyes drifted downward. Sleepy…..she was so sleepy. She should get up and go to her bedroom but it seemed so far away and she didn't feel like walking all of that way. She leaned against the Doctor next to her on the couch; he felt so comfortable and he smelled so good she just wanted to melt into him and fall asleep. She was vaguely aware that her mum was in the room and maybe she shouldn't do that. But that thought was quickly forgotten as she lay down and curled into the Doctor's lap, so warm and comfortable. She had thought of doing so before and yet had always stopped herself. It was so nice now she couldn't imagine why she had ever stopped.

Watching television with Rose and Jackie was torturous enough; when Rose decided to fall sleep in his lap, it became all the more uncomfortable. He could see she was getting sleepy and he hadn't minded when she had leaned on him. But having her face now in his lap with Jackie looking at him with disapproval again he felt himself begin to squirm even more. He thought about what Jackie had said to him the first time he had brought her home; how she had accused him of preying upon her. She no doubt got the wrong impression about Rose being his companion; that was evident when she had called the police. But he had hoped by now maybe she was beginning to understand it was more than that. But with Rose's insinuation that he kept her from home against her will and her now cuddling against his lap in her sleep he felt the odds weren't in his favor for this.

"Why don't you take her to bed?" Jackie asked coldly as she looked at him and Rose. "And you'll be sleeping out here, mate, so don't get any ideas"

The Doctor cringed; this trip was turning out even worse than he had imagined. He knew Jackie was hard enough to please under the best of circumstances and this was certainly not the best of circumstances. That was nothing to mention the growing concern he had for Rose's well-being. Her emotions seemed to be all over the place and her voracious appetite was not good; she just wasn't acting like herself. Even her current state of sleeping cuddled against him wasn't like her; no matter what Jackie might think, physical contact between them was not common. As much as he might wish it was, they hugged often and held hands but that was as far as it had gone. Rose had never expressed interest for it to go further.

The Doctor glanced at Rose, comfortably curled against him in her sleep; he wished he could just sit here and enjoy the sight but with Jackie staring at him and his own worry that Rose was doing all of this because she was sick kept him from doing that.

The Doctor put his arms under Rose and scooped her up as he stood, wanting to give Jackie an argument, to insist that this was not normal behavior and he would never expect to "try anything" with Rose but he figured it was best to leave it alone. He walked back to Rose's room, laying her gently down on the bed and covering her with a blanket. He pulled his sonic out of his jacket pocket and scanned Rose, expected to find some pathogen or virus in her system. He came up with nothing; not trusting it, he scanned again but still came up with nothing. Baffled, he returned the sonic to his jacket and looked at Rose. Maybe she wasn't sick; maybe she just needed some time at home. Maybe he had been ignoring her feelings and this was a cry for attention. It didn't seem like something Rose would do but he'd been wrong before; especially when it came to females.

The Doctor tucked the covers around Rose a little tighter before he turned and left the room. He went back into the living room to find Jackie had went to her own room, leaving a pile blankets and pillows on the couch in a very obvious gesture. The Doctor sighed as he plopped onto the couch. He thought briefly about retreating to the TARDIS for the night but he was sure that Rose would not appreciate it.

The Doctor began to smooth out the blankets on the couch, trying not to worry about Rose and wondering how this human girl had come to so completely control his thoughts.

…..

The Doctor began to stir in his sleep in the middle of the night. It wasn't uncommon for him to wake up in the middle of the night, but it was usually because of a terrible nightmare. He was used to waking up with his hearts racing, panic gripping him as he tried to forget the memories of his burning home world. But this was different; while his hearts were racing, he had a warm, pleasant feeling emanating from below his waist and spreading throughout his body. It was a feeling he was not used to having, one that had been long forgotten but one he could get used to waking up to.

The Doctor basked in the warm pleasant tingliness for a few more moments before he opened his eyes to accept wakefulness. He felt his hearts skip a beat when he opened his eyes and saw Rose on top of him. He thought at first that it might be a dream; surely he had to be imagining it. But the sensation of Rose's lips against his neck and her body moving along his was not something he could conjure up in his mind. The Doctor was frozen for a minuet; every time Rose kissed his neck a tremor went through him, making him unable to do anything.

"Rose…..Rose…..what are you doing?" he managed to ask. He was embarrassed by how high pitched and wobbly his voice sounded.

Rose pulled back from his neck to look into his eyes. There was something deep and smoldering in her eyes, something the Doctor never expected to see her direct at him. "I should think it would be very obvious" she said lowly before capturing his lips in a kiss.

The Doctor had thought many times about what it might be like to kiss Rose. All of the good things about all of his fantasizes combined couldn't have prepared him for what it was actually like. Rose's hands held his face to hers, her touch gentle yet firm as she rubbed her fingers along his cheeks. Her tongue moved along his lips persistently before he opened his mouth, her tongue quickly filling the space, moving around his mouth and touching along each inch of his. Her mouth felt like it fit against his perfectly, warm and soft and tasting sweet. It felt wonderful…..fantastic. His hearts were beating out of tune as hormones flooded through his blood. He felt the tingling sensation he'd already had begun to grow more persistent.

He wanted to let it keep going but he was glad for the part of him that was able to stop. As much as it felt right, this wasn't right. There had to be a reason Rose was doing this besides the obvious reason. He wanted to believe that she was doing this because she genially wanted to, but Rose was not the type to throw herself at him, even if she did have feelings for him. If he took advantage of her now by not stopping her, it could destroy the relationship they had completely.

Somehow, the Doctor managed to detach his lips from Rose's, pushing her back slightly, his eyes focusing on her in the dark, inches from his face. "Oh, Doctor…don't tell me you're going to be difficult" she said, her voice slow and throaty. She used the collar of his t-shirt to pull him back to her lips. The Doctor was frozen for several seconds again before he pushed Rose back again, this time more persistent.

"Rose…..what…..what is this?" he asked, finding it more difficult to fight back but at the same time growing more alarmed.

Rose put her hands on the Doctor's chest and ran her fingers up and down it, sending shivers down it. "I'm sure I don't have to explain it to you" she said, biting her lip as she grinned down at him. "But…..I think this whole innocent act is cute so I'll indulge you" Rose ran her fingers down along his chest, coming to rest at the hem of his shirt before moving under it and touching his skin. He felt something much like electricity run through him and it was becoming harder to think. "I have been very curious to see what is underneath all that leather…..and I'm tired of waiting to find out"

Rose began to pull the Doctor's shirt off a second before he pulled it back down. "Doctor" Rose said with a laugh "Stop fighting it…..I've seen the way you look at me…..don't pretend you've never thought about this"

The Doctor felt his face redden and he was glad that Rose couldn't see it. There were a million things wrong with this. "Rose…I think something's wrong here" he said, his voice cracking.

"Yes…..the fact that we still have our clothes on" she said with a flirtatious smile as she began to try to pull her own shirt over her head. The Doctor's eyes widened before he was able catch himself and pull Rose's shirt down.

"Rose! Stop this…..we're in the living room….your mum could come in any minuet" The Doctor said, glancing around the room as if expecting Jackie to pop out any minuet and slap him across the universe.

Rose put a finger on the Doctor's lips as she grinned. "Well….then why not go to my room? I can be quiet if you can….though I would love to hear you make some noise"

The Doctor's eyes were popping out of his head as Rose leaned down and kissed him again. He hesitated for longer than he should have, feeling his hearts beating erratically in desire before he pushed Rose away. "Rose…you have to stop. We can't do this…..we can't." He stuttered out.

"Doctor, I'm really not sure what the problem is here" Rose said slyly. "It's obvious that I want to do this…..and its more than obvious you want to."

The Doctor's breath caught in his chest as Rose's hand caught him in the one place that was giving him desperately away. His brain slowed a bit and he fought against the long dead carnal urges in him to do what he knew he should do. Rose, with her hand still making him wonderfully uncomfortable, leaned down and began to kiss and nibble along his ear. The Doctor was beginning to feel himself grow desperate to end this before it got completely out of hand, leaned into Rose. He did the only thing he could think of; he put his hand on her temple and used his telepathic abilities to put Rose to sleep. She crumpled against him like a rag doll and the Doctor let out a sigh.

The Doctor looked at Rose, her head slumped against his shoulder, peaceful, feeling sadness swelling up in him. "Oh Rose…what's going on with you?" he asked in the quiet, brushing hair out of her face. He didn't know what was wrong with her, but he intended to find out.

The Doctor managed to wiggle out from under Rose before scooping her into his arms for the second time that night. He carried her back to her bedroom, lying her down gently before covering her with the blankets. The Doctor noticed an alarming amount of candy wrappers lying on the floor by Rose's bed and had a nagging feeling Rose's uncontrollable appetite from earlier had not been satisfied. He pulled out his sonic and scanned Rose again but he was met again with no results. He was baffled; something was wrong with her and yet the scans showed that nothing should be wrong at all. The Doctor could think of many things that acted like an aphrodisiac and could have contributed to Rose's overly friendly behavior. But he knew with Rose's erratic emotions and unquenchable appetite that something more was going on here.

The Doctor slipped out of Rose's room and went to the living room, putting his clothes and shoes on before slipping outside toward the TARDIS. He would do more tests on Rose when she woke up but right now he had to do some research and find something, anything that could help explain her bizarre behavior.