Chapter 1

Rose and the Doctor stepped out of the TARDIS into a damp pile of mulch. A quick survey of the area showed them that they were in a park.

"Bet that's not something these kids see everyday," Rose laughed. The Doctor gave her a smile and cocked his head to one side while he viewed her face. His lips parted as he smiled, his teeth shown and his tongue poking over the bottom set. Rose felt her feet sinking in the dirt the longer she stood there.

"Imagine; a blue police box materializes in the park one day while you're playing in the park. You're only three years old so you shrug it off, but you always remember the strange, yet always dapper man who walks out with his companion, a blonde girl with piercing hazel eyes. They leave and a few days later the box is gone, but you're left with the memory. One day, years later you decide to write a book about these strange people and their adventures. Sounds like grounds for a great novel. Or a movie. No wait! A show on telly. Speaking of shows, what if one day there was a broadway musical about us! Wouldn't that be fantastic?"

"Doctor, I'm pretty sure that if that happened, you would know about it wouldn't you?" Rose pressed up against him and nudged him in the side. The Doctor avoided her jab and batted her away.

"That I would Rose Tyler, that I would. But still, you can't help but wonder. The day I know everything will be the day I stop traveling. What's the point of life if not to learn? Now, let's go learn and do something before the kids swarm around us."

The two walked through the futuristic park. It looked like it came straight out of the Jettsons. The swings had circular, chrome seats with blue lights on the rims. They swung freely, without visible chains, from a robotic bar above them. The slides contained what Rose though was wormhole technology. The Doctor explained that it was really just an invisibility chamber made to trick the untrained eye. Instead of a ball pit, the park had a standard anti-gravity chamber; the Doctor insisted that every park on New Earth had one.

They made it out of the park and headed toward the nearest alleyway, hoping it would lead them to the city. The alley, as most alleys are, was dark, unsanitary, and unbelievably shady.

"Not that much has changed, yeah?" Rose worriedly looked to the Doctor to ensure her protection. Her eyebrows furrowed and her forehead creased. The Doctor placed his hand on her shoulder for comfort. When he removed it, he dropped back behind Rose and waiting for her to keep walking. When she was 5 feet ahead of him, he ran up behind her and grabbed both shoulders. Rose screamed for help, her eyes wide and adrenaline pulsing through her body.

"What the bloody hell was that for?" she screamed at the Doctor.

"Just wanted to have a little fun," he smirked and turned his back triumphantly before he walked away with a jolly look on his face. Rose silently made a note to get back at him for his little prank.

They made their way to the city in about 15 minutes and agreed to get a hotel so that they could stay out as late as possible and not have to worry about traveling back to the TARDIS, especially through the alley at night. They found a hotel conveniently located by the tootsie pop museum and the galaxy's largest impressionist art exhibit. The lobby was dimly lit, but vivid fiber-optic sconces lined the walls. The fuschia, violet, green, aqua, and red lights switched about every 30 seconds and illuminated the area with a necessary, yet mysterious, glow. One entire wall was an aquarium for every known fish in the solar system. Although they were thousands of years away from home, Rose was still mesmerized by the assortment of marine life and was taken by a particularly pink fish which she named Lily.

"Rose, don't get too attached to that fish. We're only here for a bit, and it's incredibly dangerous also. Emits an ink like gas, sort of like the Cephalopod mollusc, but their ink has a pH of .034 and can burn your skin off at contact."

"Debbie downer," Rose frowned at the Doctor and plopped on a nearby cushioned bench while the Doctor checked them in. They stepped in the glass encased elevator and went up to the 54th floor.

"Do you think they'll have room service?" Rose inquired childishly.

"Rose it's the 43rd century, of course they will. Wouldn't be surprised if they had a psychic refrigerator up there. The real question is are bananas grown or distributed in this area of New Earth? I love any banana, but there's something so great about home grown. Don't you love farmer's markets? You get to go pick out your own produce and it all tasted so yummy. You know, you humans had a wonderful idea going with that."

"Doctor, relax. You can deal with imported bananas for a day or so."

"Is that all we're staying? A day? Rose Tyler, I wanted to show you all of the touristy things that you can do on a different planet!?"

"Why would we do touristy things? I mean I'm not exactly complaining, but it's not like we ever do touristy things on other planets."

"Rose Tyler, a bingle bongles and knick knacks from cheesy souvenier shops on planets are just like little nibbles at parties-"

"What, the only reason you go?" She shot him a cheeky grin. So far, the elevator stopped on every floor and they made it to 15.

"I was going to say one of the most enjoyable aspects, but you and your hyperboles can think that if you want to. But mark my words Rose Tyler, one day you will need a date to a stupid party without little nibbles, and just for that comment, I won't go."

"Who said I'd want you to? I can get another date easily and quickly. And hopefully, my other date won't break any furniture or upset my mum!" The Doctor blushed as he remembered Rose's friend Sally's wedding. The Doctor played her date so that she wouldn't be placed at the awkward singles' table and during the YMCA he broke the vase with the floral arrangement on their table and tried to explain to Jackie that it really wasn't a big deal. Needless to say, the night ended with several painful slaps, a lecture on the importance of marriage to a 21st century Earth couple living in London, and Rose holding an ice pack to his eye for the next hour until said that it didn't hurt anymore. Although it was a generally horrid memory, the Doctor reveled in the fact that he was able to convince Rose to hold him for an hour. Surely Rose was smart enough to know that although a slap from Jackie Tyler hurt, his superior physiology repaired it in less than 2 minutes. The rest was his acting skill.

"Oh yeah? Would you care to put your money where your mouth is?" The Doctor knew that Rose was not only a thrilling person to be around, but also held a sense of physical appeal that most would consider, gorgeous. He just wanted to see if she would take the bait. He expected her to scoff at him, hop out of the elevator, and go back to her food based concerns.

"You know what, I would! Thank you for the offer, Doctor. I bet you 5 quid that if we go to any club in the New Chicago area, I could get a guy to accompany me to a 'party' in less than 2 hours."

"That can be arranged my dear." The Doctor didn't really want to go through with the bet, but his pride would not allow him to back down from the challenge, especially if it meant that he could go to a club with Rose. He wanted to see what she would wear. Not that he particularly wanted her to dress provocatively, but since she almost always wore loose jeans, T-shirts, and hoodies, he wondered if she had any other clothes that were more socially accepted at clubs.

"Great! Tomorrow we're going shopping since I didn't bring any clothes to go clubbing in, and then tomorrow night, we'll put this little hypothesis to the test!" That answered the Doctor's question about her choice in clothing.

"But Rose," he whined, "do we really have to go shopping? There's a perfectly suitable wardrobe back in the TARDIS. I mean I know you don't like that alley, but it's not that bad. Better yet, I can go get her and park her on a street corner!"

"Doctor, first off she won't fit in with New Ea-"

"Yes she will! Rose Tyler don't you remember what I told you when we first came to New Earth? It was found in a revival movement. Think of it like the Renaissance: a revival of antiquity. She's just an homage to the old planet! No shopping for us."

"Okay fine, she might fit in, and I only say might because no one really cares enough to investigate a retro looking box in the middle of the street. Even still, if you would have let me finish, I was going to say that she doesn't carry my size, or style, and I didn't bring club wear when last I packed! I didn't exactly think that I would be going out while we were traveling. It never seemed like your style."

"It isn't, and neither is shopping! Rose Tyler," he said sternly, "I refuse to go shopping with you tomorrow just so that you can purchase a revealing dress with which you intend to win a stupid bet against me!"

"Good. So we'll get you some clubbing clothes too!"

"What? Rose I didn't say-"

"And I quote, 'I refuse to go shopping with you tomorrow just so that you can purchase a revealing dress with which you intend to win a stupid bet against me.' This way, we're not just shopping for a dress for me. You can get some jeans, a T-shirt, maybe some new socks."

By now they had made it to their door on floor 54. Rose held up the key to the scanner that recognized their purchase of the room and stepped inside. The room was covered in ornate, blue tapestries. The whole room radiated poseidon and an under the sea theme. The walls and furniture were decorated in various shades of blue and green in a pattern that was artistic enough not to be tacky, but would have been obnoxious to look at for more than 4 hours at a time. The most prevalent issue with the room was the presence of only one bed.

"Doctor," Rose beckoned his attention, "I don't mean to push it, but that bed is only a queen and there's only one. I mean I know a queen size bed is definitely big enough for two people, but it's a little too close for me and you, yeah?"

"Tell you what," the Doctor began while smugly waggling his eyebrows, "I will oh so magnanimously take the floor, but only if you don't make me go shopping tomorrow." He thought that would do the trick, but Rose only shrugged and began to remove her jeans. "What are you doing?"

"Taking off my jeans. Doctor, I don't care if you're in the bed or not, I refuse to sleep in my jeans." The Doctor swallowed deeply. He knew it would have been difficult to sleep in the same bed with Rose anyway, but the idea of sleeping in the same bed with Rose sans culottes was a bit too much for him.

"Fine. But I'm still not happy about going shopping."

"Doctor, go to sleep!" Rose barked at him. The Doctor didn't dislike shopping, despite what everyone thought. His favorite part of regenerating was finding his new look and picking out an outfit to flatter his new body and personality. What the Doctor did mind was going shopping with Rose to buy a raunchy dress that she would use as a tactic to seduce some stranger. The Doctor thought about possible strategies to avoid Rose purchasing a very skimpy dress, but slowly gave up and watched his favorite pink and yellow human sleep.

"Maybe, just maybe, you won't go through with this bet."

A/N: Thanks for reading everyone! Drop me a review with things you want to see in upcoming chapters and comments on the story