The ball of clothes hit the rim of the basket, balancing around for one complete loop before finally corkscrewing inside expertly. She kicked her shoes to the side of the room, before picking up a fluffy white bathrobe, courtesy of the TARDIS, and walking into her en-suite.

Belle settled the robe on the chest of drawers, before rummaging through a box on the shelf to find the strawberry shampoo that she'd recently just bought. She stretched to pick up the box properly, but the box simply tippled over, its contents hitting the floor and herself in the process. She swore in annoyance, then cursed again when she realised that there was a very good reason why she couldn't find it - it was in the Doctor's bathroom. The TARDIS laughed slightly, apologizing immediately as a dark look appeared on her face.

"You might think it's bloody hilarious, but I, for one, do not. It's bad enough having to see this every flipping time I need to shower, which then makes me think about that, which is even more awkward considering what has just happened. Geez, if there was an Olympic Sport for awkwardness, we'd definitely win Gold."

The TARDIS hummed in agreement and consolation.

'This' referred to the small star tattoo that now decorated the back of her upper thigh, which she'd been amazed to discover the next morning when she was also greeted by a massive hangover, and a sleeping, naked Time Lord draped across her. It was only a few days later that they had both realised that another Torchwood celebratory outing, an excessive amount of alcohol and Cardiff City Centre on a Friday night was not a good mix. The TARDIS had then kindly filled them in with the more graphic details, being that the Doctor and Jack had decided that everyone should play a drinking game, using hyper-vodka that had been outlawed on several planets and in several galaxies rather than normal vodka, and that the game happened to have been 'I've never'. It hardly surprised the Doctor and Belle that they'd got so drunk - being a 906-year-old Time Lord meant that there wasn't a lot he hadn't done, and her being a Torchwood agent, a listed UNIT agent, time-traveller and former freelancer meant that there was quite a lot of strange things she had dealt with. Whilst Owen had decided to get himself into a fight, Jack hitting the decks to spin out some tunes, Tosh hacking into the lighting systems and playing havoc with them, and Gwen and Rhys having yet another argument, the Doctor had dragged Belle off out by the river to explore somewhere he would definitely not when sober - Cardiff. For some reason unknown to the pair of them, she'd followed him unwittingly into a tattoo shop, which had resulted in the star at the top of her right leg.

However, the same outing had then led to 'that', 'that' being the Doctor (him yet again, and when Belle pointed out this, the Doctor had simply whined that it wasn't his fault, and that if it was anyone's it was either the guy who kept serving them after they'd had hyper-vodka or Captain Jack's for taking them out) pulling her back to the TARDIS and making a move on her. Clearly, his move and attempt had been successful, and that one occasion of drunken sex seemed to be of consequences.

Belle laughed at the irony. That consequence had just led to him trying to make another move again, one which she had submitted to willingly.

She sighed. Why couldn't her life just be simple for once? Most 19-nearly-20-year-old's were either at university or working someplace, a simple routine that would repeat itself constantly. Weekdays for working, weekends for partying and relaxing. But for her? Everyday was either filled with paperwork, fighting aliens and defending the Earth and various other planets, or something that somehow risked her or someone else's life.

She glanced at the shower, before turning to turn on the taps of the large, jacuzzi-like bathtub. She really couldn't be bothered standing underneath the shower after what had just happened, all Belle wanted to do was sit down, be warm, and try to figure a way to sort out this whole mess.

Stepping carefully into the hot bubbles, Belle leant back in the tub. The water was perfect as always, the TARDIS seeming to know just how she liked everything, and quite relaxing too. Closing her eyes briefly, she tilted her head upwards.

"Oh, what do I do?" She asked the TARDIS softly, and her reply was almost instant.

Tell him. Tell him why you seemed so distant. He knows you are hiding something from him, and soon you will not be able to avoid it yourself…

"Tomorrow. I'll tell him tomorrow." She sat upright, nodding to herself in a promise.

Definitely?

"Definitely."

Promise?

"I promise," Belle said gently, and she mentally shook hands with the sentient.