A/N I don't own BBC or DW.

Book of the Update: The Sands of Time by Michael Hoeye

Chapter 9

Later that night, as Rose laid in her pink and white bed in her room on the TARDIS, she couldn't stop thinking long enough to fall asleep. After at least an hour or two of tossing and turning, she got up and walked out of her room, quietly closing the door behind her. She headed down the hallway to the library, where the Doctor spent most of his nights.

When she got there, sure enough, he was sitting on the sofa facing the fireplace. He was reading a book. She stood there for a moment, just watching him. He had taken off his jacket and tie, leaving him in just a white button down shirt, the sleeves rolled up to his elbows. He had his brainy specs on again and was staring intently at the book as he read.

She must've made some noise, or perhaps he could just sense her, because he turned around and caught her staring. "Take a picture, it'll last longer," he teased and she smiled at him. He put his arms out for her to come over and she did, curling up beside him on the sofa.

They sat in silence for a few moments before Rose spoke. "Doctor?" he mmm'ed and she continued, "What did Carmen mean when she said….that your song would end soon?"

The Doctor blew air out through his lips and stretched his legs out on the sofa, pulling Rose down to lay on top of him. Her head rested on his chest and he reached up a hand to play with her hair, wrapping his other arm tightly around her waist. They laid like that for quite some time until he finally answered her question in a quiet, raspy voice. "I'm going to die."

Rose took a sharp breath and her arms tightened around him. "Don't say that."

"No, Rose. I am going to die," he told her, "and soon. I don't know how, and I don't know when, but I know that I am going to die sometime in the near future."

"But…you'll regenerate, yeah?"

"But I still die. Even if I regenerate, it still feels like dying. Everything I am dies," he said, his voice getting tight and his eyes getting hot, "A new man goes sauntering away…and I am dead," he finished with a choked gasp and Rose leaned up to meet his eyes, which were filled to the brim with unshed tears.

"Oh Doctor," she said, placing a hand on his cheek, "You kn-"

"No, I don't know. I don't know anything. I don't know who the new man will be or what he will look like or how he will act. I don't know what he'll believe in, or who he'll believe in…I don't know what he'll like to do or to eat…I don't know how he'll treat people….Rose, I don't know if he'll love you. What if this new man, this horrible new man I become drives you away? I don't want to die, Rose. I don't want to change," he looked at her, lip quivering, the tears having finally fallen and been brushed away by her fingers on his cheeks.

"I told you, I'm never going to leave you. And when you change, sure, everything about you changes, but you're still the same person, deep down. You're still my Doctor. And I will always love you, no matter who you become," she took a breath and started to continue, but the Doctor made her stop short when he sat up, taking her with him, and wrapped her in a bone-crushing hug, pressing his face into her hair and breathing deeply.

"Thank you. Thank you, Rose."

She smiled and just hugged him tighter, letting him take his strength from her. He pulled back after a minute or two.

"Now then," he said with his usual cheerfulness, taking her hand and leading her back down the hallway, "Shouldn't you be sleeping? You know you need to; you humans and your sleep, you never seem to get enough. Ah, here you are!" he announced, stopping at the door to her bedroom.

She laughed and pulled him down for a quick kiss. "Goodnight Doctor."

"Goodnight, Rose."

She opened the door and walked over to her bed and sat down, falling onto her side underneath a fluffy comforter. She heard the Doctor start to walk away and realized that he must've been there all along.

"Doctor?" she called out and he poked his head into the room. "Would you…would you stay?"

He hesitated and she thought she might have overstepped some boundary, but then she watched as the Doctor stepped inside the room, shutting the door behind him and walked over to her bed, looking down at her awkwardly. She scooted over a bit and patted the space beside her.

He used his feet to pull of his trainers and slowly sat down on the bed and laid beside her. She smiled and snuggled up against him, smiling broader when he relaxed and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her towards him so that her back was pressed against his chest.

"Is this…." She trailed off, not really knowing what she was asking. Was this overstepping a boundary? Against some Time Lord rule?

"This is perfect," he said, his lips near her ear. "Absolutely perfect."

She smiled as he kissed her cheek and whispered, "I love you," into her ear.

"I love you," she mumbled back, just as she was falling asleep in the arms of her very own, very special Time Lord.

DOCTOR WHO

Rose blinked her eyes open to see the Doctor staring down at her. "Morning," she said.

"Good morning."

Rose sat up and stretched, yawning. "Now I've got to – yawn – get dressed, so shoo shoo," she said, tossing her pillow at him.

He surrendered with both hands up, laughing, and swooped down to kiss her before grabbing his shoes and strutting out into the hallway. As soon as he shut the door behind him, though, Donna walked around the corner and, upon seeing him outside Rose's bedroom, wearing the same rumpled clothes as the day before, smirked and gave him a look over the top of her coffee mug.

He glared at her, pointing a finger. "Stop it. Stop it right now, Donna Noble. 's not like that," he said sheepishly, trying to explain that it was not what it looked like. Needless to say, she didn't believe him.

He waved his hand and walked away to the kitchen, probably blushing scarlet all the way to his ears.

The Doctor plopped down into one of the kitchen chairs after grabbing himself a jar of marmalade and sticking his finger into it, getting up and getting bread to put it on when Donna walked in and gave him 'the look'.

Rose walked in a little while later and the Doctor jumped up when she sat down. "So, where do you want to go next?" he asked them both.

Rose shrugged and looked at Donna.

"I wanna see Mars, spaceman."

"Alright then," he said with a trademark Doctor grin, "Mars it is."

A/N Ok, so this wasn't very good. BUT I would love to hear feedback from you all – this story's already more popular than I thought it would be, so thank you all :)

On another note, WHO WATCHED THE FIFTIETH YESTERDAY?