The Doctor noticed that he had picked up a strange new habit, as of late.

What habit? The habit of watching Rose Tyler.

She was fascinating in a way, really. The way she smiled, the way she frowned, or that mischievous glint in her eye when she was up to no good. The way she looked when she was cross with him, or... Or sad... Or that hurt look on her face when he went and called her a stupid ape, which, in retrospective, wasn't the best idea.

It was their first big fight, and a lot of angry words were thrown, the majority of them coming from him. He was angry, he was disappointed, and most of all, he knew that the consequences of her actions could have been devastating. Was she really the only one to blame, though?

oOo

It happened a little over a week ago. She wanted to see her dad, to be there and hold his hand as he passed away. He knew better now; he knew he should have said no, lest the painful experience would hurt her too much, and he should have considered that she might go and try to save the man, but he found himself having a rather hard time denying her anything. The real mistake, though, was agreeing to give it another go. Who was the stupid ape there, really? He knew the consequences and still agreed. Could he really blame her for wanting to save her own father?

He could.

Could he?

Really though, could he?

He mentioned them then, his family, his planet, his people. How he wished he could have saved them. The past weeks, months even, he has let such little slips through every now and again, slowly exposing more of his past to her. It still wasn't much, and it hadn't been consciously done; to answer her questions directly was too dangerous. He was afraid. Afraid that once the walls collapsed, he wouldn't be able to build them back up. She had that effect on him, Rose, as if she could see straight through him, all the way into the dark depths of his hearts; of course, that too was a ridiculous notion, yet he still felt that way in those rare moments when he was being completely honest with himself.

Oh, she slowly crept underneath his skin, and she'd never know, but even so, to call her anything but absolutely fantastic was entirely uncalled for. That's right.

After all, Rose was... She was... She was full of compassion, she was raw emotion, a deadly storm and peaceful serenity rolled into one, that was Rose. She hated to see anybody suffer, be it a human or the strangest creature in the galaxy, and she'd jump straight into a volcano for a complete stranger, let alone someone she loved. Could he really blame her for wanting to save her own father?

No, definitely not.

He couldn't blame her for what he admired about her, could he now? He couldn't blame her for what he'd wished he could do himself, if not for the knowledge he had possessed; the knowledge that some events are irreversible. That his loss is final.

She had learned that, too. Only he wished that she didn't have to learn the hard way.

He shook his head slightly, putting his musings on hold. He's really gotten to know her a fair bit, hasn't he? He likes to think so. He likes the sound of her voice, and he likes the sight of her grumpy face when she gets out of bed every morning and he also likes the warmth of her hand in his; they don't hold hands that often, but not rarely enough to make it seem like an odd occurrence. Right now, though, he was deprived of all those things, as Rose hasn't said a word to him in over an hour.

She sits the opposite of him in the library, flipping through a magazine rather absentmindedly. Not for the first time, he finds himself wishing he could know what's on her mind. Humans, fantastic creatures, so predictable, yet so... not.

He never asks her what she's thinking about, but in truth, she has been a little off this past week. He figured it was because of her father. But was it really?

The Doctor never claimed to excel at all these emotional matters that humans concerned themselves with so much. That is not to say he never feels anything, no, he feels more than he's ever willing to admit.

He just never speaks of what he feels. Why would he? How could he?

After all, it's difficult to speak of the emotions he finds himself quite unable to name, which are, strangely enough, related to this human girl that he is now unabashedly staring at. Watching Rose Tyler and all that. Odd habit, is it not?

Only usually when he did that, the times he'd stare at her, her eyes would meet his eventually, and they'd talk or she'd talk and he'd listen, or he would tell her about wherever they were going to next, or they'd just sit in the library, each caught up in their own thing, stealing a glance here and there when the other one wasn't looking.

It was all somewhat... domestic, and he did cringe inwardly at the word, but he found himself warming up to it. These calmer moments, shared with Rose. With Rose, he wasn't always on the run. He could stop for a moment, and she stood as his shield, chasing away the memories, if only for a while.

His internal monologue is cut short as he hears Rose sigh heavily and then toss the magazine aside in an annoyed gesture.

His curiosity gets the better of him, this one time.

"What is it, then?" he asks, startling her slightly. Her eyes finally turn to him, but her expression remains unchanged.

"What?"

"With you. You've been moping about all day."

At this, she pouts slightly, and he finds that strangely distracting. Why, he cannot fathom.

"Nothing."

Oh, the dreaded nothing. He doesn't have to be an expert to know what that nothing means. It could mean anything! It could mean anything in the whole, wide universe, anything, but definitely not nothing.

"Right, that means I've done something. You human females-scratch that, females, no matter the species, you always pull that nothing when you're cross about something. I've met too many women in my 900 years to let this one fool me," he says and she frowns at his words.

"Bet you did," she mumbles, looking away from him. The Doctor raises his eyebrows, thinking about where all of this is coming from, but knowing she is the only key to this particular mystery, he chooses to press on. He stands up from the armchair he was sitting in and goes over to her sofa, stopping right in front of it.

"Go on then, tell me, what've I done again?" The tone of his voice is not intended; the urgency to find out what's wrong is a direct result of caring about her, but it's so very easy to misinterpret, and she does. Of course. Leave it to her to twist his words.

"Just leave it, Doctor, I said it was nothing. You don't have to get all worked up over a stupid human girl," she says quietly, still not looking at him, even though he is standing right there before her eyes.

He is about to respond in a similar manner, but then his mind latches onto the word stupid. And then he remembers what he called her just a week ago. And slowly, his expression softens as it all begins to fall into place.

"Rose?"

She mumbles something incoherent, refusing to meet his gaze.

"Rose, look at me," he pleads, and the tone of his voice is so gentle in comparison to just a moment ago that her breath catches, but she still doesn't turn her eyes towards him, afraid that he will see right through her if she does.

The Doctor, now convinced that he has found the root of the problem, cannot stand her unhappy expression any longer. He kneels by the sofa, putting her eyes on a level similar to his, and gently reaches out for her chin to tilt her face towards him, wanting her to look at him. At this, she no longer resists and finally meets his eyes. His hand, instead of leaving her face, now cups her cheek as he locks eyes with her, and upon truly seeing her expression, noting the faint hint of hurt she is trying to hide, the Doctor comes to realize something that he did not often consider. Something he certainly wasn't used to.

He's been wrong. Yes, really.

For one, she was definitely not stupid and definitely not an ape. She was lovely.

Two, this wasn't just about her father.

Three, he unknowingly caused her pain.

Four, he wanted - more than anything - to mend it. To make it better.

"Rose..." he begins, but she interrupts him.

"It's just-I was just thinkin'-You're this... You've seen everything... And, well... I'm just... Nothin'. I mean, I'm a shop girl, from a council estate in London, for God's sake!" He notices the tears that are welling up in her beautiful eyes and his hearts clench. "And if not for you... And my Dad... All these people... The whole Earth... You..." At this, tears begin to stream down her cheeks, and he catches one of the salty drops with his thumb as his hand still cups her cheek.

He doesn't say anything because the sight of her in tears paralyzes him; his friend crying because of his own inconsiderate actions was not something the Doctor was used to, either.

"I could've killed all these people... I could've killed you..." she continues. "You're right, I'm so stu-"

"Oh, Rose," he whispers in a voice so tender, she briefly wonders if she hasn't imagined it, but before she can think of that again, he pulls her into a tight embrace.

Neither one speaks for what feels like a short moment to Rose, but the Doctor, ever so aware of time, estimates that it lasts well over a few minutes. He holds her close as her tears cease their journey down her cheeks and her breath evens out, and only then does he speak, with her head still burrowed into his shoulder, not wanting to break the comforting embrace.

"You wanted to save your dad, right? Rose, there is no better reason to break the rules of time than to save someone you love," he says, and as a smile creeps up on his face, he pulls away to be able to see her. She looks like a proper mess, what with her make up ruined by tears, but he still finds her beautiful. He always finds her beautiful, for that matter.

"But you were so angry with me-you said I was-"

"What, so when I tell you not to wander off you never listen, but when I, for once in my life, say something completely daft, you start listening, is that right?" His smile grows wider. "It wasn't right, what you did back there, but what I've done was no good either, and d'you know why? Because I lied. You're not stupid, you're fantastic."

"So you're not... Y'know... You don't want me to go home?"

His eyes widen at her ridiculous idea. Does she want to go home?

"'Cause I don't want to, but you know, I thought that maybe... Maybe you're too upset, or something... And I was just waitin' for you to say so..."

His look of surprise changes into a warm smile once again as he shakes his head at his silly human friend. How could she be so blind to what she means to him? To how much he needs her?

"If you're waiting for me to send you home, then you're gonna be waiting a long time, Rose Tyler. And mind you, no one knows time better than I do, so when I say long, it means really, really long," he says and happily observes as her face lights up. "I'm sorry. I... I guess I'm not all too good at all those... domestic things."

"Can't disagree there," she retorts as she finally smiles properly, showing that teasing tongue-in-cheek smile that lights up even the darkest of his days. He responds with a wide grin of his own and then stands up, extending his hand to help her do the same.

"Come on, then, I think we've been sat here for too long. Where d'you want to go? Past? Future? Earth? Another planet? Another galaxy?"

"I don't know about you, but I'm a bit hungry. Chips, I want chips!"

He chuckles and her smile widens. Her Doctor. It occurs to her that if he didn't find her worthy of his company, he'd never bring her along, would he? He even said so to that bloke they picked up in Utah, Adam. I only take the best.

"Chips it is! Oh, I know, I'm going to take you to Pitello. Fantastic planet, absolutely fantastic. Ninety-eight percent water. Pitellans live underwater, yet they make the best chips in the galaxy. Isn't that funny? One would think they'd live on seashells and the like, but nope! Chips, no matter where you go."

"Knowing you, we're gonna end up in a tree in the Amazon," she teases, giggling, and follows him into the console room.

"Oi!"

"But that's alright, too. Don't mind."

They exchange a warm smile and the Doctor begins starting up the TARDIS, ready to take them on yet another one of their adventures.

oOo

Both of them learned something new that day.

Rose realized that, while the Doctor may have seen more than she could possibly imagine, and he may have done more than she ever will, he still treated her like an equal, and that's why he felt disappointed in her when her rash decision put them all in danger. He never looked down at her. He made her strive to better herself. He made her better.

She also, not for the first time, realized that she could hardly imagine her life without him anymore, and that was a terrifying thought. All those monsters, aliens and ghosts, all that completely mental stuff was alright. But losing the Doctor? This daft alien may have had two hearts of his own, but that didn't stop her from secretly giving him hers. Not like she'd ever tell him, though.

As for the Doctor... He realized that, no matter his past, Rose was an entirely new chapter in his life. With each new day she taught him to see the world through a different pair of eyes - her eyes - to see more than just pain, suffering, regret, hatred. It was odd and it was unfamiliar and it was nothing he ever thought he needed, but as he looked at her smiling face, he knew that he did need her. More than he'd be willing to admit.

More than he was willing to allow himself to need anybody, especially a fragile human girl.

He knew it could never be. Yet for just one moment, he thought of the future, a future with Rose Tyler, and for that one moment, he was truly happy.

oOo

As Rose had predicted, they didn't end up on Pitello. The TARDIS had landed on Pafaleo, a planet currently at war. And by currently, we're talking about around, well, six hundred years.

But that was alright, too. They didn't mind. They went there together, after all. Oh, and they stopped the war, too. That was nice.

A/N: Thank you for reading this chapter! It takes place between Father's Day and The Empty Child, as you may have guessed, and assumes the Doctor and Rose have been traveling together for quite some time now. I always thought Rose would be over-thinking the Doctor's angry words, and I wanted to add some closure to it.