"Oy!" he yelled, spotting Katie ducking around the side of the blue box. "Get away from there!"

"Who get away from where?" A blonde woman clad in neon colors had followed the large-eared man out of the box.

"Who are you two?" Oliver was stunned at the pair's emergence. "What were you doing in a police box?"

"I'm Rose, and that's the Doctor. It's his box. You can ask him about it." Rose answered Oliver's blunt question with a blunt answer.

While she spoke, Oliver couldn't help noticing just how pretty Rose was, even if she did seem a bit unusual. It's not every day a girl, a beautiful, friendly, lovely girl like Rose stepped out of a mysterious box in the middle of Cardiff. He found himself drawn to her subconsciously. She was just… just… fantastic.

"Ollie!" Katie charged towards her brother, nearly knocking him over as she latched onto his side, half hiding behind him. Oliver couldn't help a feeling of annoyance seep through him at his sister breaking through his Rose-induced stupor.

The Doctor had walked around the TARDIS, following Katie as she ran from him. "Alright. See here. This is my box. Not yours," he pointed to Oliver, "and not yours," he pointed to Katie, "Hers," gesturing to Rose, "and mine. Not yours."

Rose was taken aback that the Doctor had included her in the possession of the TARDIS. She had never once ventured to claim the TARDIS as hers in any way, shape, or form. An odd, tingly sensation of happiness mixed with something else, something she couldn't identify, filled her.

"What do you kids want, anyway?" Rose inadvertently stepped towards the Doctor, not realizing she'd moved until the faint scent of leather reached her nose. It must've been the Doctor's jacket.

"We're not kids. I'm 19!" Oliver informed her indignantly, his high opinion of her losing a tinge of altitude.

"I'm not a kid either!" Katie cut in. "We just wanted to peek inside the box! It looks so cool!" She made a tiny step forward.

As she spoke, the Doctor produced a key from the depths of a pocket, turned around, and locked the TARDIS door. Katie frowned and crossed her arms.

"Sorry, but you're not getting inside. We've got far too much to do to be giving tours." The Doctor's apology wasn't the least bit sincere. He grabbed Rose by the elbow and began towing her away.

"Yeah, sorry! Nice meeting you!" Rose yelled over her shoulder. She made no move to free her arm from the Doctor's grasp. In fact, her spirits fell a bit when he dropped her arm after a minute. She turned to the Doctor. "Alright, sourpuss, what do you want to do now? We can't go back to the TARDlS until those kids disappear."

"I wasn't being sour! I just didn't like the way that foolish boy was looking at you." The Doctor didn't look at Rose while he spoke.

"Are you saying all humans are foolish? You do remember that I'm not an amazing, all-powerful, high-and-mighty Time Lord, don't you?" Rose stopped walking while as spoke. Her arms hung at her sides, her hands clenched into fists. Her face flushed.

--- --- --- --- ---

"What do we do now?" Katie was only a tiny bit rattled by the confrontation with the strange, large-eared Doctor.

"Hmm?" Oliver hadn't been paying much attention to his sister, as he had been staring after Rose.

"Ollie! I'm talking to you!" Seeing where he was looking, she suppressed a laugh. "She'd never go for you."

"And why not? She looked about my age. What's so awful about me that she wouldn't give me a second glance?" His indignant tone didn't quite disguise the note of hurt coloring his voice.

Katie only sighed in response.

--- --- --- --- ---

An unexpected pang of guilt hit the Doctor. He hadn't meant to upset her, and now she looked as if she might either cry or bash his head in, possibly both. Walking back to her, he enveloped her in his arms. Rose stiffened, her fists still hanging by her sides. Soon, though, she relaxed her hands, hugged him back, and the pair went on their way.

"So what do you want to do?" Rose asked the Doctor with a smile.

"We could get something to eat. You must be starved." The Doctor placed an arm around her shoulders in a walking hug sort of gesture. "You've never been to this year, though. How about I show you around?"

"Fine, but pick something good," Rose conceded, taking hold of the Doctors hand hanging near her shoulder. A grin spread across both their faces as they headed towards a group of cafés. The same strip of cafés, coincidentally, that Oliver and Katie had visited earlier that same day.

--- --- --- --- ---

"It's ok, Ollie, It's not like it's the first time a pretty girl has ignored you." Katie's not-so-sympathetic statement earned her a half-hearted buffet on the shoulder.

"You're kind. How would you know how many girls have rejected me? You're only 10." Oliver had seen the Doctor and Rose's hug, and had taken it badly.

"I'm not 10! I can't believe you don't know how old your own sister is! I'm 13! Forget her; she's not coming back." Katie was unusually harsh for someone her age. "I wonder where I can find a lock-picking kit…"