Part 2

-:-

"Oh," she whispered. "Right."

Then she stared at him in silence for the next forty seconds and most definitely didn't say what he wanted her to say, and the Doctor thought his hearts might possibly break by the end of the night.

A key turned in the front door's lock, and Mickey came in, holding a rucksack and a small suitcase. "Back!" he called, coming into Jackie's living room.

The Doctor cleared his throat sharply and broke Rose's gaze. "Hi Mickey!" he said jovially, jumping to his feet. "Shall we get those bags onto the TARDIS now, then? I think Jackie's making us all a cup of tea, so after that we'll be off."

Mickey shrugged. "Alright."

When he and Mickey stepped into the TARDIS, which he had landed in Rose's old bedroom earlier in the day, the Doctor shut the doors and leant against them, closing his eyes and exhaling roughly. Mickey chucked his bags onto the jumpseat and turned back to face the Doctor. Seeing his anxious expression, Mickey asked, "What's up, Boss?"

The Doctor rubbed wearily at his eyes. "Nothing. I'm fine."

"You don't look fine."

He met his gaze steadily. "I'm sorry, Mickey."

Mickey folded his arms as he walked over to him. "Why?"

The Doctor coughed uncomfortably. "Well. Um. You still..."

"Still what?"

"You still love her, don't you," he said softly. It wasn't really a question.

Mickey sighed. "I do, yeah." He scuffed his trainer against the grating. "Don't mean I expect to get her back, though."

The Doctor's brow furrowed. "What do you mean?"

Mickey gestured between the two of them to demonstrate his point. "Me: human mechanic who lives on a council estate. You: Time Lord with his own space-and-time-travel machine. Doesn't take a genius to work out who she's gonna choose, in the end." He paused, and stepped closer to the Doctor, who swallowed hard but did not reply. "Except, she knows I won't hurt her. So, if you keep hurting her, she'll change her mind."

"I don't think she's really made up her mind, Mickey."

"You're such an idiot," Mickey scoffed good-naturedly. "If only you'd man up and tell her how you feel, then she'd - "

"I just did," the Doctor interrupted him quietly.

"What?"

"I just told her that I'm in love with her."

Mickey raised his eyebrows. He tried in vain to swallow against the lump forming in his throat. "Oh. Well, then. What did she say?"

The Doctor glanced at the console. "Nothing. She said nothing. Weeelll, actually, her first response was 'Oh. Right.' Then she stayed silent and just stared at me. Then you came back."

"Oh."

"Yeah." He shoved his hands in his pockets and gave a small shrug. "So. Maybe she doesn't want either of us like that. Maybe she wants us all to just...travel together and be friends."

"Nah, you can't fool me – or yourself - with that," said Mickey, shaking his head. "You have to admit there's something between you two, something..." He paused, swallowing thickly. "Something special. Besides, she was too upset about the Reinette thing for her not to feel anything for you other than friendship."

The Doctor winced. "Well, then maybe I've cocked everything up for good now."

Mickey shrugged. "I think she's forgiven you already. She's probably just shocked. At least she knows, now. It's up to her."

"What's up to her?"

"Who she chooses," Mickey explained. "Because now she knows for sure that both of us love her. It's up to her to choose which one of us she loves."

"Or neither of us," put in the Doctor.

"Yeah, maybe," Mickey agreed.

The Doctor sighed heavily. "So whichever way we look at it, at least one of us is going to end up heartbroken and alone."

"Yep."

"Great."

"Yeah. For the record, if she chooses you – ah." Mickey paused, glancing over the Doctor's shoulder.

"Are you two in here gossiping about me?" asked Rose, raising an eyebrow as she leant against the doorframe of the TARDIS.

The Doctor spun around to face her and tugged on his ear awkwardly. "Not at all!" he promised. "Were we, Mickey?"

She narrowed her eyes at them both, and walked up the ramp to where they were standing. "Then who is it that has to choose between you?" she asked. The men both winced. "See what happens when people eavesdrop, Doctor?" she said, sending him a triumphant smile. "Not nice, is it? Something else that isn't nice: being talked about like that."

"I'm sorry," said the Doctor. He gave a small shrug. "But then, you did say the Mickey thing was all my fault, so I thought I'd try and sort it out myself."

"What Mickey thing?" asked Mickey.

"Doctor," Rose said warningly.

"She thinks that me inviting you onto the TARDIS and then proceeding to act like an idiot has meant that you now think it's possible for the two of you to get back together."

"Doctor!" she exclaimed.

"What?" he replied. "That's what you said, wasn't it?"

"Doesn't mean you have to - !" she broke off and turned to Mickey. "Sorry, Mickey. I didn't mean for it to sound so..."

"It's not, then? Even possible?" he asked her quietly.

Her heart sank at having to tell him this. "I'm sorry," she whispered, shaking her head as her answer.

"Okay," he accepted quietly. "Okay. I think...I think I knew that already, really. And it's okay."

Tears glistened in Rose's eyes. "Really though Mickey, I'm so sorry."

"I know," he smiled gently, placing his hand briefly on her shoulder to give it a comforting squeeze. "It's okay."

"You'll stay, though?" she asked hopefully. "With us, I mean? On the TARDIS?"

Mickey glanced at the Doctor. "Is it alright with you if I stay? I'd still like to see more of what time and space has to offer."

"Of course you can stay," answered the Doctor.

Mickey smiled gratefully at him and joked, "Bet you're only saying that because now you know I'm not going to steal Rose away from you."

"Can the pair of you stop thinking of me like I'm some sort of possession, please?" she asked, folding her arms.

"I didn't mean it like that," apologised Mickey.

Rose nodded then looked at the Doctor. His gaze softened and he murmured, "You know how I feel about you. Sometimes I may act possessive, but it's not because I think of you as a possession. It's just...jealousy, I s'pose."

She was quiet for a moment and then cleared her throat. "Right, well, Mum's made us all tea, so..." She nodded her head towards the TARDIS doors. "I s'pose we'd best get back out there."

The two men agreed and somewhat awkwardly started to leave the TARDIS, Rose walking between them. Mickey exited first, and the Doctor took the opportunity to grasp Rose's arm gently to turn her towards him before they left. He wanted to speak to her without anyone else overhearing.

"Doctor, the tea - " Rose started to protest, but the Doctor cut her off.

"Rose, I need to know," he whispered, his voice catching. "Do you forgive me?"

She met his gaze intently. "I don't know if I have a right to forgive you in the first place."

"Then I'm telling you now that you do," he replied impatiently. "Because my foolish hearts belong to you and I don't want you to think any different. So do you forgive me?"

"I do," she whispered back. Her eyes twinkled with unshed moisture as she watched him exhale in relief.

"Thank you," he told her earnestly.

"No problem," she replied, a bit choked up. She waved her hand in the direction of the door. "We'd better..."

He nodded quickly and let go of her arm. "Yes. Yes, of course."