Hesitantly, the Doctor knocked on Rose's door. He heard as she rushed to control her crying, and probably wipe away her tears.

"Come in..." she didn't know why she was letting him in, but it would just hurt too much for her to tell him to go away.

The Doctor walked in slowly, nervous. His hearts hurt when he saw her, all red-eyed from crying, make-up messed up. He didn't say anything, he just sat next to her on her bed.

"Hey," he said. It wasn't often that he was at a loss for words.

"Hey..." she sniffled a bit, and blushed. She didn't want the Doctor to see her upset like this. "I'm fine, you know. 'S okay, you don' have to be here if you don't want."

She was giving him an out. After all of that, she was just going to let him go on thinking that everything was fine.

"Rose..." he didn't know where to start. How could he possibly tell her that he had heard her talking... and talking to whom?

"Really Doctor, 's fine. I should probably get to sleep, 'm exhausted."

"Oh Rose," he said, finally not able to bear looking at her so distraught. He pulled her close and held her tightly.

"Doctor?"

"I... I was going to come in earlier... but..."

Oh no. He had heard everything, hadn't he? Well, maybe not the TARDISes bits, those were probably only directed into her head. But that was still... pretty bad.

"You... you didn't... did you... hear everything?" she asked, her head nuzzled deep into his shoulder, so that she wouldn't have to look at him when he answered.

"Well, probably not everything," he qualified.

Rose groaned. Oh god... he was going to take her home now, wasn't he? Now that he knew how she really felt, he couldn't just let her stay here when he couldn't return those feelings. Fresh tears were threatening to spill over.

But then, before she could even try to get her thoughts together to convince him that she was fine, he kissed her! It was both aggressive and gentle at the same time, and just seemed to be full of so much need.

He didn't know why he did it... well, he knew why, but why then. After all of the times he spent holding back, after convincing her that things like this couldn't happen... but after what she said, and how he hurt her... hurt them both, really. He could have gone on kissing her forever, but then he remembered, humans don't have a respiratory bypass. He pulled away.

Rose looked up at him confused. "Why-"

"I know I probably shouldn't have done that, well not shouldn't, well not then. Really, what I really should have done, if I'm being honest, was do that, that exact thing, when you woke up in that funeral home in Cardiff. Was stupid, then, couldn't see it. Well, was stupid now, have trouble seeing it. There's just so much I haven't said, and I know that this timing is pretty terrible and after everything that I did say-"

"No, no, I meant why'd you stop?" Rose asked, smiling now at all of his babbling.

"Oh. So you could breath," he smirked.

"Well, I don't think you had to stop just then," she smiled, his favourite smile.

He went to kiss her again, but big head, lots of room, lots of space to remember all of the things he had to tell her, and the question that was on his mind. The Doctor stopped, his lips still very close to hers, and looked into her eyes.

"Rose?"

"Yeah?" she said, a little entranced. It was really hard to concentrate with him this close, like this.

"Who were you talking to?" he asked.

"Oh, just the TARDIS, 's all," she answered, as if that was a normal thing. His brow furrowed.

"You... you have conversations... with the TARDIS." He left out the big 'HOW?'.

She laughed, though it was still a little watery, and leaned her forehead against his. "Don't get all jealous, she was just tryin' to cheer me up a bit. You know... in her cryptic way."

"You have cryptic conversations... with the TARDIS..."

"Oh you know how she is," she said, leaning back and rolling her eyes, "'s all nonsense about time and fixed points and little hints that aren't really hints 'cause they don' make no sense. Probably doesn't drive you mad, though. Probably all makes sense to you," she frowned.

"To me?!"

"Yeah. What's she mean when she says imma impossible star? Or what was it about light and dark..." Rose looked thoughtful and the Doctor realized, she thought this was normal, that the TARDIS talked to him too.

"Rose-"

"Wait wait, what was it?"

You are more than anyone knows. The Valiant Child, The Bad Wolf. You will be light in the darkness, an impossible star.

"Yeah, did you hear that?" she asked.

"No, Ro-"

"She said, 'You are more than anyone knows. The Valiant Child, The Bad Wolf. You will be light in the darkness, an impossible star'. Why's she gotta talk like a fortune teller? Spit it out!"

"Rose, I can't hear her." The Doctor finally was able to speak without her interrupting.

"Wait, just now or at all?" Rose asked, a worried look on her face.

"I... how is it that you hear her? I have a telepathic link with the TARDIS, but it's not a verbal thing... doubt I'd need the mallet if I could hear her speak..." he trailed off, thinking.

"What?! You can't hear her? What does that mean?!" Rose was up off the bed, hands on her head, looking at herself in the mirror as if some way that she looked would explain the situation.

What do you hear?

"What do you mean 'what do I hear?' I hear you!" the Doctor watched as Rose spoke to the TARDIS while she moved her hair around, trying to see if something was hiding under there.

Listen.

Rose put her hands down, and got very quiet.

"Rose? Are you alright?" the Doctor asked, getting up off of her bed and walking over to her, "We could go to the infirmary, and I could-"

"Shhhhhh!" the Doctor shut up and watched her carefully. Moments passed as she shut her eyes and seemed to be intensely concentrating.

"Oh my god, what is that?!" she shouted suddenly, a shocked expression on her face. The Doctor jumped.

"What's what?" he asked, putting his hands on her shoulders and turning her toward him.

"There's this... it's like a beat... this really fast beating... kind of like... a heart, or... 's too fast to be a heart, though... too many beats... 's like this drumming..."

The Doctor stared at her as if she had told him the worst possible news. Rose frowned and put her hand on his cheek.

"It's fine. It's just a noise, yeah?"

The Doctor shut his eyes and sighed, focusing on the feel of her hand against his face. She had such soft hands.

"I want to make sure you're okay," he said, not wanting to frighten her with any of his thoughts until he was certain about a few things.

"I'm fine. I'm sure the TARDIS knows why I can hear her, right?"

The Doctor groaned and pulled her into a tight hug. Rose wasn't complaining about all of the sudden affection, but couldn't help but be worried.

"Ask her then," he said, sounding resigned, as if he knew that she wouldn't get the answer he was looking for. Rose didn't even have to say anything.

I have been inside your mind, heart, body, and soul. You have seen my heart, and bonded with me in our similar fates.

"She pretty much said-"

"I want to know exactly what she said, if you can," he said, trying to stay calm, and kissed her forehead.

"She said that... she said, 'I have been inside your mind, heart, body, and soul. You have seen my heart, and bonded with me in our similar fates'. So pretty much, since Bad Wolf. That's why I can hear her. So, it's fine. She just knows me real good is all. It's fine."

"Can I still take a look in the infirmary? I just... I want to make sure you're just perfectly fine," the Doctor said, releasing her slightly to look into her eyes. Nothing would stop him from making sure that she was safe.

"Well... yeah, 'course," Rose said. She barely had time to get all of the words out before he kissed her again with even more intensity. The only thing that made them break apart was the TARDIS opening Rose's door and lighting the way to the infirmary.

"Dawdling too much?" Rose laughed.

The Doctor had a different thing on his mind, another thing to worry about, and he voiced it as he pulled Rose down the hallway. Luckily, the TARDIS seemed to be fine with all of this, and had moved the infirmary much closer than it had been the last time he had been in there.

"Rose, how long can you hold your breath?"

"Huh? I dunno, why?" she asked, confused.

"Well, let's find out," he said animatedly, twirling around and sonicing a timer onto one of the screens, "aaaaaand go!"

After a certain point he told her she could stop. There was no point in seeing her hold her breath further, he could recognize the abilities of a respiratory bypass system.