"For the last time, Doctor, I'm not telling you where we're going! Just keep that blindfold on." Rose was driving her car and had been trying to make the Doctor lose track of where they were by blindfolding him with his new tie and driving round in circles for nearly two hours now, but his Time Lord sense of direction prevailed. They had driven around London all day, going to half a dozen different shops to purchase him new clothes, and he had gotten a good sense of the city's layout.
I know where we are, and I know that it's exactly eight hours and twelve minutes past noon and it's probably dark out. I don't need my eyes to tell me that, he thought. But he decided to let Rose think she got the best of him anyway.
"All right, you win. Are we nearly there?"
Rose laughed and parked the car, and finally reached behind his head to untie the blindfold. "Here we are!" The building in front of them indicated that they were at a local pub, and a large neon sign out front read "KARAOKE NIGHT" in flashing pink letters. "Remember when I would have my radio playing on the TARDIS and I would tune in to Earth stations and challenge you on who knew the most lyrics?" Her mischievous grin was a mile wide.
The Doctor squinted his eyes at her. "And?"
"And…tonight my favorite pub is having their weekly karaoke contest and you," she said, poking him in the chest, "are going to be my partner. Come on!" Rose opened her door and ran to the other side of the car, quite literally dragging the Doctor out before he could protest.
Everyone in the pub cheered them when they came in, obviously recognizing Rose, who was still dragging him through the crowd as the piano introduction to a familiar Journey song came over the speaker system. They both clambered onstage and Rose tossed him a microphone. She belted out the first line with professional finesse.
"Just a small town girl," she tossed her hair back, "livin' in a lonely world… she took the midnight train goin' anywhere…"
The crowd loved her.
She gestured at him to continue, and his own memory and voice surprised him. "Just a city boy, born and raised in south Detroit," he sang, smiling as the crowd cheered him on, "he took the midnight train goin' anywhere…"
The two of them completed the song together, their enthusiasm building as the crowd's energy became tangible. When the music faded out and the crowd gave them a standing ovation, the Doctor swept Rose into his arms and dipped her down for a kiss. The pub lit up with applause and they took a bow. The pair held hands and dashed back out of the pub, back to Rose's car. The Doctor opened Rose's door for her, and she kissed his cheek and sat at the wheel, where she waited for him to get in.
They drove toward the beach, about an hour off, and most of the people had cleared off by the time they got there. The moon was high in the sky, and the stars glittered brightly – Rose had missed them when they started vanishing and she was grateful to have them back. Rose parked her car on the sand and the two of them stretched out on the hood. The Doctor, for the first time in his life, was unfamiliar with these particular constellations, so he and Rose made up a few of their own. Hours passed, and soon they got tired. Rose snuggled into him, appreciating his new body warmth. As a full Time Lord, his temperature had been a few degrees lower than hers and sometimes getting cozy with him would leave her chilled.
"What time is it?" Rose sounded groggy, and before she could reach for her phone the Doctor answered her.
"Two hours and twenty-eight minutes past midnight, love." The last word slipped out of his mouth before he could help it, and he looked down at Rose to gauge her reaction to it. She seemed to like it; her sleepy smile nuzzled into his shirt when he made eye contact with her.
"We should probably head home. Mum will have my head if we're not back by sunrise." Rose snorted and sent them both into a fit of laughter.
They rode back home in comfortable silence, holding hands over the gear shift. It was a good thing that Rose had a key to the front door, or Rose's prediction of Jackie's wrath would have proven true. The Doctor followed Rose toward her room until they got to the sitting room where he had spent the night. Rose took his hand before he could go back to the couch.
"Come with me, Doctor. My bed is a lot more comfortable than that sofa."