Chapter 7

The TARDIS had barely materialized when a loud pounding sounded on the door. Kari shot the Doctor a look as he swung the monitor around.

"What the hell? She couldn't be down here that quick." he mumbled as he tried to figure out what was going on. His face fell. "Oh no," he breathed out.

"You daft alien git! What the hell you doin' parking this thing here?" Jackie yelled through the door.

Kari's eyes went wide. "Did you park in the living room?"

His eyes shot over to her briefly. "I didn't mean to!" he snapped, irritated, as he started flipping switches to move them.

Everything jerked as they dematerialized and rematerialized quickly, the Doctor checking to make sure they were outside this time. He sighed out.

"Okay, we're where we should be now."

The Doctor leaned his hands on the console and took a few deep breaths. Kari walked over and gently laid a hand on his shoulder.

"It's going to be okay. I'll do what I can to run interference with Jackie. You just focus on talking to Rose, alright?" she said calmly, trying to ease some of his tension.

He gave a quick, short laugh. "Interestingly, I think I'd rather deal with Jackie right now."

She shook her head and smiled slightly as she pulled on her jacket. "Come on, then, let's go get this over with."

Reluctantly, he pushed off the console and followed her down the ramp, grabbing his coat off a strut as he walked passed.

They slowly made their way up to Jackie's apartment. They stared at the door for a moment before Kari turned the knob and walked in, glancing back to make sure the Doctor actually followed her.

"Happy belated birthday, sweetheart!" Jackie exclaimed as she swept Kari into a hug.

Kari smiled brightly. "Thank you! How are you?"

"Oh, you know me! Just trudging on." Jackie's smile fell when she saw the Doctor standing behind Kari, his hands shoved in his pockets. She glared. "So, finally decided to show your face, huh?"

He sighed. "Where's Rose, Jackie?"

The woman pushed passed Kari so she was almost face to face with him. "You think you can just waltz in here after breaking my daughter's heart and parking your damn box in my flat and expect me to just let you see my Rose?"

"I'm sorry for parking the TARDIS in the sitting room. Please, Jackie, where's Rose? I need to talk to her."

"Don't you think you've done enough damage with your talkin'?"

Kari looked around and saw Rose sitting on her bed, head in her hands. She turned back to the Doctor and nodded toward the room. She placed a hand on Jackie's shoulder.

"Jackie, please, they need to talk. Why don't we go make some tea?"

The older woman spun around, anger flashing in her eyes. "What? You on his side, now?"

Kari shook her head. Her voice was calm and quiet. "No, I'm on their side, and they need to talk." She nodded toward the kitchen. "Come on. Let's give them some space."

Heaving a sigh, Jackie relented. "Fine." She turned back to the Doctor and stuck her finger in his face. "Don't go hurting her any more than you already have or I'll smack you straight into your next face." Spinning on her heel, she followed Kari into the kitchen.

Blowing out a breath he'd been holding, the Doctor quietly walked into Rose's room. He closed the door behind him and leant against it, watching her carefully, hands shoved back in his pockets.

Rose sat on the edge of the bed, eyes on the floor, and scuffing it with her shoe. Neither party wanted to be the first to speak, afraid of a repeat performance from earlier.

"I'm sorry." Rose mumbled, finally speaking up, still looking at the floor. "I shouldn't have pushed you. It wasn't fair of me."

The Doctor's eyes were dark as he continued to watch her, a muscle twitching in his jaw. He closed his eyes.

"I'm sorry I yelled at you."

She shrugged. "S'kay, I deserved it."

"No, you didn't, Rose." He opened his eyes and pushed off the door, gingerly sitting down next to her on the bed. "You never deserve to see that side of me." His eyes were on the floor, almost mimicking her position.

"But –"

"Rose, stop." the Doctor interrupted, voice firm. "No matter what you ever say or do, you never deserve for me to treat you like that. I was just…" he took a deep breath. "I'm scared, Rose."

She turned her head to look at him, confused. "What of?"

He shrugged. "Lots of things, actually. But mostly of losing you."

She reached out and placed a comforting hand on his. "I'm not going anywhere, Doctor. I promised you forever and I mean it, no matter what."

He looked down at their hands before looking up at her, the fear showing in his eyes. "But don't you see, Rose? Your forever would only be another 80 years, tops, and that's if your propensity for getting in trouble doesn't catch up with you." He shook his head as he looked back down. "No matter what, I'm going to lose you."

Rose pulled her hand away slowly and looked back down. "Oh." Fresh tears stung her eyes. "Do…do you not want me with you anymore?" she asked, her voice barely above a whisper.

The Doctor's head shot up. "What? Yes! No!" he jumped up off the bed and started pacing, his hands clenched in his hair. "Grrr, why is this so hard?" he suddenly fell on his knees in front of Rose, taking her hands. "Rose, I do want you to travel with me for as long as the universe lets you. I can't imagine you not traveling with me. I just can't give you what you want – what you need."

She looked up at him, tears falling freely. "What is it you think I need, Doctor?"

"A normal life, with a house and car and kids; a normal life with someone who isn't damaged."

Rose searched his eyes and shook her head. "Why would you think I need that? Why would you think I want that?"

He looked down at their hands. "Because it's what you deserve, Rose."

"Anyone can have that kind of life, Doctor, but I highly doubt they'd want it if presented with the choice." She pulled one of her hands away from him to lift his chin up so he was looking at her. "I was given a choice and I chose you."

He took hold of her hand again and raised both of them, placing kisses on them. Squeezing his eyes shut, trying to keep the tears in his eyes from falling, he pressed his forehead against hers. He sighed. "This doesn't change anything." he whispered. "We're still where we were earlier."

She nodded, pulling away and cupping his cheek. "I know. We'll figure it out, yeah? We always do. We're good at figuring things out."

"Yeah," he breathed as he nuzzled into her hand.

Rose sat back and blew out a breath. "Alright, what now?"

The Doctor cocked an eyebrow as he sat back on his heels, still holding one of her hands. "What do you mean?"

She shrugged. "Do we just go back to life as usual?"

"Yeah, I guess. Are there any other options?" he asked, standing up and pulling her up with him.

She shook her head. "No, I suppose not." She tilted her head in thought. "Should we go make sure Kari and my mum haven't killed each other?"

He laughed. "Why in the world would you think they have?"

"Mum was pretty upset and by Kari standing up for you and us leaving them alone, that left her as my mum's target."

Chuckling and shaking his head, he headed toward the door. "I'm sure they're fine." He smirked when he heard them laughing in the kitchen. "Unless they're killing each other with laughter, I do believe I was right."

She bumped him with her shoulder. "Think you're so impressive."

He puffed out his chest. "I am so impressive."

She rolled her eyes as she opened the door to the kitchen, frowning when her mom and Kari looked up at both of them and started cracking up.

"What's so funny?"

Kari wiped tears away as she glanced at the clock and her two friends' entwined hands. She smacked Jackie's arm. "You owe me a tenner."

Jackie laughed as she rubbed her arm and laughed even harder at the look on her daughter's face.

Rose frowned at the two of them. "What are you two on about? Why do you owe her ten quid?"

"We…we bet…" her mom gasped out. She took a couple deep breaths. "We bet on how long it would take for you two to make up."

Kari leaned back in her chair, finally catching her breath. "I won!" she beamed.

Rose narrowed her eyes at the two women. "I'm glad we can be a source of amusement for you two."

The Doctor looked on, amused. He squeezed Rose's hand.

"Would you rather they bet on whether or not we made up?" he asked, grinning broadly when she shot him a glare.

"If you two hadn't made up, I would've found a way of locking you in that bedroom until you did." Kari said, sobering slightly. "I do not want to be caught in the middle of that again!"

His smile faded as he rubbed the back of his neck. "Yeah, sorry about that. I have been a bit of an arse today."

Rose sighed. "I'm sorry, too. Both for leaving without saying goodbye and for dragging you into the middle."

Kari smiled softly at her friends. "Thank you and it's okay, I understand." She jumped slightly at a sudden rush of relief, garnering a small, brief frown from the Doctor.

"Right, now that this is all sorted, shall we head out?" the Doctor asked, perking up.

"Oi! Now just wait a moment right there, mister." Jackie said, standing up. "I think you owe someone else in this room an apology." She crossed her arms over her chest, waiting.

He frowned, casting a glance around the room. "What? Who?" Realization dawned on him when he saw his companions both looking at him and then Jackie. "Oh! Oh, of course. Jackie, I'm sorry for upsetting you."

Jackie laughed and shook her head. "Oh, you silly, daft man. Come 're!" She swept him into a hug, much to his surprise.

Kari tilted her head. "You know, one of these days, he might just get used to those." she said with a smirk as Rose covered her mouth to hide the laughter bubbling out.