Last chapter:

"So a week, of no TARDIS and having to act like a couple. This could be a little harder than I thought." Rose said falling back onto the bed. In her mind she was trying to think of all the different ways she knew of to stop her from acting on her arousal, and being cooped up with the Doctor for that long, she knew she was going to need to use every single one of them.

"Again I'm sorry, but we'll try to have fun and make the most of it, yeah?" The Doctor said coming to sit beside Rose, but in his head all he could think was that being in a confined space and romantic atmosphere with Rose for a week was going to strain all the self-control he had. 'This is how I die.' He thought as he began to think of all the time he had left till it was safe to power up the TARDIS again.

"Yeah." Rose agreed.

...

Chapter 2:

S.S. Jupiter:

Eventually, the Doctor and Rose found themselves in line at one of the buffet restaurants on board. Rose wouldn't admit it out loud, but this was already set up to be her favorite part of the night. The mood of the restaurant was light and happy, and a tropical band were tapping on drums and dancing to other tinkling music. None of this portrayed a romantic atmosphere so most of the couples were not being overly touchy. This gave Rose the excuse to focus on the Doctor less and more on the tons of assorted foods set up before them on steaming platters and carts. Rose was already so involved in the decision making between the hundreds of delicious bits that she didn't even notice the Doctor's body flush behind hers.

"Rose," He leaned down and whispered in her ear, and it took all of Rose's self control not to jump and yelp. "The line has moved forward."

"O right... Thanks, Doctor."

After retrieving their food the Doctor and Rose found themselves sitting down at one of the tables farther back in the room. While their were four chairs at the table, the Doctor and Rose to sit across from each other. Within moments of sitting Rose was already two mouthfuls into her overflowing plate.

"This is delicious!" She managed to state between handfuls of food. Looking up she just managed to catch the Doctor staring at her before he whipped his head down towards his food.

"What?" Rose asked dead panned eyes wide.

"Well, I..." The Doctor glanced back up as if nothing had happened and began rubbing his ear.

"Are these seats open?! Thanks so much!" Said a heavy set brunette woman with an accent Rose couldn't quite place. Within two moments she had placed herself beside Rose and the Doctor in an empty seat. Across from her a large balding man also found a seat.

"Hi! My name is Maria and this is my husband Dave. We took this trip to get closer with each other, but we have just found so many interesting couples recently. Dinner can be so boring just the two of us, you guys don't mind the extra company I suppose?"

"I don't I suppose. I don't know about the Doctor." Rose looked up with a questioning glance. While these people seemed rather nice, and she was sure she could use the distraction from her and the Doctor's situation, she wasn't quite sure if the Doctor was up for such a high energy couple.

"The Doctor? Is that your name? You poor dear!" Maria said while looking sympathetically towards the Doctor.

"Uh no, it's a uh... Pet name. Isn't it... Sweetie?" Rose tried to recover. The Doctor just stared at her with a blank stare. For saying they needed to act like a couple he really wan't helping any. Rose gave him a quick kick under the table to hint that it was his turn to speak.

"Uh right a pet name... After my job."

"O you are a doctor! How wonderful! Our son Stevey is planning to be a doctor. O what about you dear what do you do? And pardon me I must have missed your name."

"Rose. My name is Rose. I suppose I don't really have a title, but I guess you could consider me the Doctor's assistant."

"O like a nurse."

"She looks nothing like a nurse,dear, and you, sir, look nothing like a medical man to me. What type of doctor are you?" Said the woman's husband as he spoke for the first time that night.

"I'm not really one for, sir, just call me... John. John Smith, and I guess you could call me a doctor of quite a few things."

"A man of knowledge! How wonderful. I dabble in quite a few things myself. My wife; however, doesn't see my passion for it."

"Now dear this is hardly the time or place for such things," said Maria with a sharp fierce tone. "We are obviously boring our new friends! Now Rose dear you really are quite delightful tell me about you and your husband, or excuse me I assume he's your husband."

"Yes, my husband and I," Rose focused so she wouldn't stutter. Something about the phrase seemed to warm her from head to toe.

"O how wonderful. So how long have you been married? O is this a honeymoon?!"

"No!" The Doctor quickly interjected. All heads at the table snapped towards the Doctor. The Doctor and Rose's eyes met. Rose's wide dark eyes full of question tried to search the Doctor's for an answer to his sudden outburst. What ever she found didn't seem to please her for she slowly sat back lowering her head. The Doctor open and closed his mouth a few times trying to search for something, anything to explain to Rose what he really meant, but there were no words he could find to describe how he felt. Instead he tried to simply patch what he could.

"We've been married for three years now, so while still rather newlyweds, it isn't a honeymoon. My job this past year had been doing really well but really busy, so we decided to uh... get away and recover that spark." This seemed to be a satisfactory answer because the tension seemed to settle.

"That is so good to hear. Work can definitely separate couples, so the fact that you are willing to take time out to do this trip must mean so much to your wife. Don't you think so honey?" Maria said patting the Doctor's hand. In answer to her question, her husband merely grunted. Rose looked up then meeting the Doctor's eye. It was a shy probing look. The Doctor wanted to swoop her up then. To take her away from the noise and explain that his interjection was not at the idea of them being married. The thought of them being intimate in any way didn't upset him in the slightest, but his outburst must have caused such miscommunication. The rejection and hurt that he knew Rose must be feeling made his throat constrict and his chest ache, but he knew there was nothing he could do or say to change it, so he simply tried to give her all the emotion he truly felt through his eyes. There moment was only broken by Dave's gruff voice stating plainly, "Honey, weren't we supposed to meet with the Arkinsons in three minutes for table tennis?" He said while looking at his watch.

"Yes of course. I completely forgot! See there he goes being my memory again," Maria laughed,"It really was so lovely to meet both of you. It is plain to see that you two are more in love then half of the petty romances on this ship. You must absolutely have supper with us again sometime! Please say you will, Rose!"

"Well, alright, I think that would be quite fun." Rose stuttered.

"Splendid! You and your husband should join us at the Eclipse the night after tomorrow. It is a very posh black tie only restaurant, but they are planning to have the most wonderful entertainment that evening. It starts at seven so make sure to get there early. We will see you both there!" Maria stung out too quickly for either the Doctor or Rose to interject, and as quick as they appeared, they left leaving Rose and the Doctor in a rather uncomfortable silence. The Doctor was the first to break it as he slid his plate back on the table, got up, and offered Rose his arm.

"How about a walk around the deck before bed?"

"Alright." Rose agreed taking his arm gingerly. She still felt uncertain of the Doctor. Some days she swore they were so close to admitting feelings for each other, but tonight he seemed so vehement about them being married. The walked out of the still noisy restaurant and out into the open deck. The stars twinkled around them as the ship moved. They walked in silence for awhile just taking in the view. When they came to a stop at the railing, Rose finally worked up her courage to speak.

"Are you mad at me?" She asked without looking at the Doctor.

"Mad at you? Why in the world would I be mad at you?" The Doctor looked incredulously at Rose as she leaned against the silver railing of the ship.

"I said we were married. I wasn't sure if I miss stepped my bounds, I didn't want to offend you or anything, it just seemed easier to agree with her, and it all came out so quickly. Plus you seemed so against it, I just wasn't sure if..." She trailed off. She stared hard into the darkness with hands griping the railings. If this was when the Doctor finally rejected her, she didn't want to watch him do it. The Doctor regarded hear with a sinking heart. The deep brown orbs seemed to swim with uncertainty. Everything in him wanted to grab her then. He wanted to kiss her and erase all doubt from her mind that he could not feel anything for her, but he didn't. He checked himself just as he always did. Instead he sauntered up to her coming to right where her arm grazed his chest and placed one arm around the small of her back.

"I'm not mad at you." He said plainly. When Rose didn't move, he sighed. Taking his other hand he took her chin and turned and raised her face towards his. Though it was only for a moment, he memorized every detail of her then. The way the light shinned in her blonde hair, how her watery eyes looked pleadingly into his. They looked into his soul and his heart, and the Doctor never felt more vulnerable then at that very moment. Her lips were plump and pink and begged to be ravished. A plea that the Doctor almost fell into willingly and with all his hearts. How one person could fill his mind and soul so completely at that one moment in time failed any logic he had ever had, and the Doctor decided that if this was madness, he would willingly throw away his sanity for the rest of his life if it meant keeping Rose forever by his side.

"I could never be mad at you. My Rose." The Doctor finally broke the silence to say out loud. As Rose turned to reach for him, he quickly slipped away from her. "I mean I could never be mad at you forever. Sure something you do now or then might set me off a little, but I suppose that is rather normal in the grand scheme of things. Either way, you did good tonight thinking on the draw like you did. Like you said better to agree with them then to try to make things complicated. I don't think that what you said is going to affect anything, and as far as going to supper with them," The Doctor again tugged at his ear, "I suppose they were nice enough people. Might be good to have some friends on board." He only dared look back at Rose once he had finished speaking. He forced his demeanor to be calm and collected, but his hearts were pounding with how close he had come to telling Rose he loved her. She was starring at him like a fish out of water, but all of the sudden a weird unreadable expression came over her.

"What do you mean I do might set you off? Are you saying I annoy you?" She said eyebrows scrunched together.

"O, I um. I suppose there are a few things that might be a tad annoying, but not all the time sometimes they are a strength. I mean... Isn't anything I do that ever annoys you?" The Doctor stuttered. Rose seemed to contemplate this for a little while. For a while, she thought the Doctor was actually going to confess feelings for her, and that he was going to kiss her, but he had just teased her. He thought that he could say all of those sweet things and turn her on, and simply dance away and play it off as if it was nothing. Rose wanted to make sure that he realized that he certainly wasn't the only one to be able to play this game. With that idea, a devious sexual expression set itself on her features. She sauntered towards him, and the Doctor could have sworn that the look she was giving him must have been illegal in at least half a dozen galaxies. The Doctor didn't want to admit that the sway of her hips intoxicated him, and he swallowed as unnoticeable as he could praying that Rose wasn't seeing how she affected him.

"I suppose there are a few things." She said as she took the last few steps towards him.

"O really, and what are those?" He said leaning in to her. She ran her hand down his chest pulling at his tie and regarding it closely.

"Well for one, you really do talk far to much, and I think sometimes, I just have to do something to shut that mouth of yours."

"I suppose everyone as their vices. And I suppose you have a few ideas on how to shut my gob?"

"A few."

"Would you like to share?"

"Now, Doctor, I think sharing isn't all that fun, but I certainly could show you if you'd really like."

"I suppose there is no harm in that." The Doctor said as he raised his hand to her waist. If Rose was going to start this, he certainly wouldn't stop her. Or should he? The Doctor was battling himself over and over in his head debating the idea of letting Rose kiss him. As he did so, he hardly noticed as Rose took half a step back, placed her hands firmly on his shoulders, and pushed him backwards with all her might. The Doctor came two his senses as the sensation of falling backwards came over him. He let out a yelp as he went sprawling through the air. As he fell he suddenly hit something solid, but he still fell through it. The feel of water rushed past his head and he realized he was in the outdoor pool. He rose to the surface and took a deep breath of air. The crisp sound of Rose's ringing laughter pierced his eardrums. He looked at her incredulously as she was on the ground holding her gut in laughter.

"Rose Tyler, you pushed me into the pool!"

"Of course I did. You were standing over there looking all smug and insulting me! You deserved some payback, and I've got to say, the wet look is good for you. You should wear it more often." She said with a signature tongue in teeth grin.

"O really. Well maybe you should try it. Who knows it could look great on you too."

"If you think you are getting me to jump in the pool, you are out of your mind."

"Am I really? Because as I seem to recall, you didn't grab your room key on your way out which means I am currently in possession of the only key to our room. Seeing as it is late, and you will probably be wanting to get to sleep soon, I would see it as rather inconvenient that I currently feel like staying in the pool for a good swim." Said the doctor before he began floating on his back and leisurely started to swim away from Rose. Rose now sat on the deck with mouth hanging open in a much similar fashion to the way the Doctor's was earlier. Not seeing much choice she gathered herself together and dove into the pool after the Doctor. After much splashing and pushing, Rose managed to finally pry the key from the Doctor's hand, and they both climbed out of the pool soaking wet and breathless. They snuck back to their room trying to avoid people, so they wouldn't have to explain their current wardrobe. The sound of their wet slopping shoes against the deck had them snickering until they had the bedroom door firmly shut behind them.

"So I'll get the bathroom first to dry of, and then you can go." Rose said all smiles.

"How come you get to go first. You pushed me into a pool."

"Because you take forever in the bathroom. I would be able to dry off naturally before you would ever be done, and secondly, me pushing you into the pool is a completely null and void point due to the fact that you made me jump in after you!" Rose said pointing her finger sharply into the Doctor's chest before turning around and heading into the bathroom.

"Blimey you really are like Jackie sometimes. At least throw me a towel." The Doctor muttered. Rose simply shot him a warning glance before tossing a white towel to him and shutting the door behind her. After a few minute Rose, emerged from the bathroom with her hair messily tied up into a bun and wearing a small tank top with sweats. Her mid section was completely bare, and the Doctor allowed himself a small indulgence of gazing over her flawless skin before casting his eyes back up to meet hers.

"Your turn," Said Rose completely oblivious as she moved to the bed. Suddenly she stopped right before it, "Doctor, I know you don't need as much sleep, but you still do-"

"I certainly don't need as much as you, but I would need some. Don't worry though, I'll just take our couch. Nice and sturdy wood with some very comfortable cushions. Should be just fine. You get your rest." The Doctor said cutting Rose off. He closed the bathroom door behind him, and Rose watched his figure move around as she got into bed. As she laid he head down, she noticed that from this angle one could see almost completely into the bathroom through the wood panel gaps. She flushed as she saw the Doctor drop his soaking jacket onto the grown followed shortly by his shirt. She shouldn't be watching this, really really, shouldn't be watching this, but her eyes were glued to the Doctor's body. Her cheeks were flushed, and she could feel her heart beating as slowly she saw the Doctor drop his trousers. From this vantage point she could just barely see past the small of his back, but she could just see enough of him to know he wasn't wearing pants. 'Of course he isn't.' Rose thought, and the knowledge made Rose question the dozens of other days she had ogled him. As the Doctor turned towards the door, Rose quickly flipped around placing her back to the door. She was too afraid of him being able to see out and she that she was watching him for her to keep staring. Rose decided to pretend to be asleep, and as she did so, she didn't even notice as she slowly slipped into a sleep. The Doctor came out of the bathroom shortly after she was truly asleep. He was dressed surprisingly in a white T-shirt and some loose fit cotton pajama pants. He regarded Rose's sleeping form and part of him wished he could slip under the blankets with her and go to sleep, but instead of focusing on what he knew he could never have, he turned and sank onto the couch. He stared at the ceiling for awhile before he fell into an uneasy sleep.

Darkness seemed to consume him for awhile, but as most nights, the noise slowly came over him. The screams of innocent lives rung in his mind. He could feel his body heat up from the feel of the raging fires that consumed all in its path. He smelled the scent of rust and saw he was covered in blood. All around him was the signs of death, and with it came the pain. Pain shot itself up his body, and his entire being convulsed in agony. He wanted to run wanted to scream, but he couldn't escape. His breaths came out in gasping sobs as he tried to breath past the pain, and then he was falling. He was falling faster and farther. Falling like Gallifrey fell. He burned like Gallifrey burned. He died like the hundreds of his people that he had killed. He suffered until he wretched himself from the darkness, and awoke shaking and covered in a cold sweat. He shot straight up on the couch hunched over and staring at the cushion below him. He gasped for air as if he had been holding his breath for hours. His entire body quaked, and he gripped the back of the couch hoping to still himself. He placed his other hand over his eyes hoping and praying that the memories and images would fade from his memory. He heard a soft shuffling of covers, and Rose asked quietly, "Doctor, are you alright?"

"I'm fine. Go back to sleep." Said the Doctor shortly. He didn't trust his voice not to waiver, and he wasn't sure he wanted Rose to see him like this. As much as he tried to escape the screaming and the shots of pain that seemed to still wind themselves up his body, he simply fell further into them. Until a cold towel hit the back of his neck, and a soft hand pried his hand from his eyes. Rose sat in front of him. His beautiful, perfect, pink and yellow Rose.

"Doctor, talk to me. You had a nightmare yeah?" The concern in her eyes reflected in her voice. All the screaming in his head came to silence as her hand began to stroke his cheek. Knowing that he would most like curse himself later, the Doctor grabbed Rose and pulled her to him. He didn't care what regrets he would fell in the morning. Right now he knew he needed Rose. He rested his head on her shoulder, and his left hand rested with Rose's on the couch.

"Please, just let me stay like this for awhile." The Doctor said quietly. Rose could still feel his body shaking as it was coming down from his tremors, and she sat still accepting him as he brought his right arm around her back and pulled her closer to him. Gently and slowly as if scared she would frighten him away, Rose brought her hand up to rest on the Doctor's head. She slowly stroked through his hair trying to comfort him. With time, his shaking slowly stopped, and she could feel his body relax under her ministrations. Rose resolved that she was not going to let the Doctor go back to sleep on his own, and with that resolve, she slowly took the Doctor's hand, raised him up, and led him back to the bed.

"Rose..." He said quietly in protest as she pulled back the covers and prompted him to sit down.

"Just rest here with me tonight. Let me be here for you like all those times you were there for me." She shushed him, and he accepted submitting to her entirely as she guided him back onto the bed. He moved back farther making space for her, and they both laid down together. Rose pulled the covers over them before stroking the Doctor's cheek. He threw his arm over her pulling her close and buried his face in her hair breathing in her scent. Slowly he drifted back to sleep with Rose still in his arms, and her scent wrapping around him in comfort.

...

I'll be cutting this chapter off here, but there will be more soon! This is my first fanfic, so please leave a review! Both positive or negative critiques are helpful, so feel free to let me know what you think!