If there was one thing worse than trying to fall asleep without Rose, it was waking up without her. When the Doctor woke up he was not rested. His head was not clearer, as he had hoped it would be. It was throbbing. Every inch of him was throbbing, if he was honest. He didn't know how he was meant to face the day without waking up with that nest of blonde hair tickling his nose. Without the soft kisses that she pressed against his chest and collar bone in her sleep.

He stared up at the ceiling with his hands resting on his stomach. If he closed his eyes and focused, he could almost feel the ghost of her breath against his neck.

The Doctor got out of bed in a daze. He padded over to his bathroom and turned on the water in the shower. After letting it warm up for a minute, he stepped in. He had to go back to work today. He desperately hoped that working would occupy his mind. Anything for a reprieve from this.

RTRTRTRTRTRTRTRTRTRTRTRT

Rose flinched when she heard the door to Vortex slam.

"What were you getting up to with my brother, Tyler?"

"Donna! Hi," she said, biting her bottom lip.

Donna had been planning on giving Rose a thorough tongue-lashing, but when she saw the look in her eyes (the very same look she had seen in her brother's eyes) the lecture faded. She sighed, walking around the corner and wrapping Rose up in a hug.

"You two are morons," she grumbled. Rose sniffed and swallowed hard.

"How was he when you left him yesterday?" she asked quietly.

"Why don't you call him and find out?" Donna asked, lifting an eyebrow. She pulled back from the hug to look into Rose's eyes.

"No, I can't do that. We agreed that it would end there. When we got home, we'd go back to normal."

"Well, neither of you seem very normal if you ask me," Donna said. She put her apron on and stood behind the register, waiting for the next customer.

RTRTRTRTRTRTRTRTRTRTRTRT

A month of this. It hadn't eased up one bit. He thought for sure that he would be back to his usual chipper self by now.

Granted, he did have his moments. When he spent time with Donna or Wilf he could almost pretend that he was perfectly fine. Like tonight, actually. He was at his adoptive father's house to have dinner the way they had every week since he had moved out years ago.

"James, could you pass me the potatoes?" Donna's mum asked. He saw Donna open her mouth to correct her mother, but the Doctor shook his head. He didn't feel up to one of their fights tonight.

"So," Wilf said after a bit of an awkward silence, "Donna, how's your friend from work? Rose? You haven't said anything about her for a while now."

The Doctor's chest tightened at the mention of her name.

"Oh, yeah. She's good. Not much going on lately, that's all," Donna said. The Doctor breathed out a sigh of relief. He didn't think he'd be able to handle one of Donna's rambling stories about how amazing and brilliant Rose had been at work today.

"Alright… Doctor, how's work been?" Wilf asked in another attempt to break the silence (which was now terribly awkward).

"Good, yeah… Stars all where they should be," he muttered, not meeting anyone's eyes.

"Lovely," Wilf said. He didn't know what was going on with his son lately, but he really hoped that it got resolved soon. He couldn't take much more of this moping. Even his hair seemed to droop these days.

"I've got some stuff to go take care of with work actually," the Doctor said. He stood up, chair scraping back loudly.

"Don't worry about your dishes, it's Donna's turn anyway," Wilf said. Donna didn't even open her mouth to complain, she simply nodded at her brother.

RTRTRTRTRTRTRTRTRTRTRTRT

After dinner was over and the dishes were clean, Wilf cornered his granddaughter.

"What is wrong with your brother?" he demanded. While Wilf's demands weren't very intimidating, Donna couldn't help but want to tell him the truth.

"It's Rose," she sighed, sitting down on the couch. Wilf sat next to her, confusion on his face.

"From your job?" he asked. Donna nodded.

"They met just before he went on that vacation. Turns out she was going on vacation to the same place as him and they decided to stick together for a laugh. Only it turned out to be way more than that. He fell for her hard, Gramps. They spent the whole vacation together, like a couple. For some reason that I'll never understand, the two dumbos decided to part ways when they got back to London. They've both been miserable since they got home. It's driving me nutters."

"Our Doctor fell in love, eh? And decided to give it up? What's going on in that head of his, Donna?"

"I dunno, I wish he'd get it all straightened out," Donna sighed.

"I'm sure he will… In his own time," Wilf said, patting his granddaughter's hand, "and maybe with a bit of nudging from the people who love him."

RTRTRTRTRTRTRTRTRTRTRTRT

"So, how are you getting' on then?" Donna asked over the whir of the machines in Vortex.

"What are you talking about?" Rose asked with a furrowed brow. All morning Donna had been ignoring Rose, though Rose didn't have a clue why.

"You know, without my brother. You moving on happily?" she asked. Donna bit her tongue. This wasn't exactly how she had planned for this conversation to go. She was being a lot harsher than she intended. These idiots were driving her batty.

"I guess I'm alright, yeah," Rose muttered, turning away from her friend.

"Not missing him anymore then?" she pushed.

"Nope," Rose said stubbornly. She placed the coffee on the counter and called out the name on the order.

"Not even a little, tiny bit?" Donna asked. Rose slammed her hands down on the counter.

"Of course I miss 'im," she said lowly, "I miss 'im every damn day, Donna. But I can't do anything about it. He wanted to call it off when we got back here. He was right to… Something like what we had… It could never last. It's too deep and too real and too much for us to ever be allowed to keep it. The world doesn't work that way. Please drop it. Every time I hear his stupid name it feels like all the air gets sucked out of my lungs. People say 'Doctor' a whole hell of a lot. More than you'd think, I promise."

"Rose, I'm sorry," Donna said softly, "I'm just frustrated with you two. You're both miserable! Don't you think you could at least try…?"

"Donna, please," Rose breathed.

Donna sighed and nodded, getting back to work.

"I stole this shirt from him when we were packing," Rose said. Donna's face furrowed in confusion.

"And?"

"It doesn't smell like him anymore."

RTRTRTRTRTRTRTRTRTRTRTRT

"How are you doing, pretty boy?"

The Doctor did a double take. He didn't think he'd ever heard Donna speak to him that gently before. He put down the dish that he was washing.

"I'm fine, yeah," he said quickly, giving her a grin. He'd been working at it a lot lately and he thought it was pretty convincing by now. Donna rolled her eyes and scoffed at him, leaning on her hip against the counter next to him and crossing her arms. Alright, maybe not as convincing as he'd hoped.

"How's… How's Rose, then?" he asked in the most casual tone he could manage. This was the first time he'd managed to ask Donna about her. He'd been dying to since they parted, but he was afraid. Afraid that she was miserable. Afraid that she was getting on swimmingly. Afraid that she had–

"Oh, she's great! Got a new bloke. I think it's getting pretty serious," Donna said, matching his tone.

The Doctor's world stopped.

"Is that so?" he wheezed. He swallowed hard and tried to sort out his voice.

"That's… great! Brilliant. Molto bene. I have to go–"

"Oh, you idiot. She's miserable. She's moping around just like you are. Why you two don't just get your heads out of your arses, I'll never know," Donna grumbled.

"It isn't that simple, Donna. I'll hurt her, I know I will. Or something will happen to one of us. Or she'll realize that she deserves so much better than me and leave me. I can't handle that. Not with Rose. The longer we're together, the more it'll hurt when it eventually ends."

"So this is better? You two miserable all the time? Going around not even really living your lives?"

"Eventually, we'll move on. It's just… taking longer than we expected it to, that's all," the Doctor said. He was looking at the wall just passed Donna's head, unable to meet her eyes.

"You know what, Doctor? You're right. It'll take a while, but you two are both pretty young. You'll move on. Only think of each other every now and then. You'll start losing her, Doctor. You'll forget the way her mouth quirked when she smiled at you or the way her hair smelled when you held her as you were falling asleep. The shirt that she stole from you loses your scent and suddenly she can't remember what you smell like at all. If that's what you want, if you want Rose Tyler to fade away from you that way, then fine. I won't push you two anymore."

With that, Donna turned and walked out of the kitchen. She could only hope she'd finally gotten through to him.

The Doctor went back to the dishes, her words swimming in his head.

RTRTRTRTRTRTRTRTRTRTRTRT

The Doctor sat in his flat that night, thinking. He couldn't get Donna's words out of his mind. Was this really better? Rose was miserable. He was miserable. And Donna was right; all those little details would start to slip from their minds. The little things were the ones that mattered the most, in the end. The thought of losing all the little pieces of her that way was eating him up inside.

Before he knew it, his trainers were laced up and he was out his door.

RTRTRTRTRTRTRTRTRTRTRTRT

Rose jumped when she heard a loud knock at her front door. She glanced over at the clock. Who on earth was at her flat at half eleven? She got up from the couch and padded cautiously over to the door. She gasped when she peeked through the peep hole and saw who was on the other side. The door was unlocked and thrown open as quickly as she could possible manage.

"Doctor?" she breathed.

"Um, yes… Hello," he said, blushing brightly.

"How do you even know where I live?" Rose asked, brow furrowed.

"Donna," he said simply. He swallowed hard, his eyes never once straying from her beautiful face. Rose's eyes roamed over his whole body, taking him all in.

"What are you doing here?" she asked when her eyes finally landed back on his face.

"Donna… Talked some sense into me today, I think," he replied, shifting his weight from foot to foot.

"Oh! Come in, sorry! Wasn't even thinkin'," Rose said with a blush, stepping back from the doorway to let him in. He rushed in before she had time to change her mind.

"D'you want a cuppa?" she offered, pointing him to the couch for him to have a seat.

"Uh, no, ta," he said.

"How about a–"

"Rose, please sit down with me," he said softly. Rose swallowed and sat next to him, taking a deep breath.

"Rose… Rose Tyler… I know I said that it was best for us to part ways before we got too deep into this–"

"And I agreed," Rose interrupted.

"Yes. It only seemed logical. What we have… It's too precious. Things like this- they never last. They can't."

"Doctor, if you came here to tell me that we're better off this way–"

"That's the thing! I've been trying and trying to convince myself that it's better this way. That the pain we feel now is just a fraction of what we'd feel later. But I didn't… I didn't think… I haven't slept for a month, Rose. I can't sleep without you there. I'm in this too deep. I can't– I don't want– Rose, please–"

"Doctor, what are you trying to say?" Rose asked, just managing to keep her voice even.

"I love you, Rose Tyler," he blurted. His eyes went wide. Rose gasped.

"I– sorry. I didn't mean to do it that way… I swear I had a big, elegant speech. But when I look at you, Rose, all that goes away. I know what I said before, but is this really better? We're miserable. I can't imagine a pain deeper than this. Nothing could be worse than this. I can't think about anything but holding you in my arms again. If you want me to leave, then I will. Just… Just tell me, please. Say something," he begged. If Rose turned him away, if she really thought they were better off without each other, he would leave right now. He'd never bother her again. He didn't know how he'd move on, but somehow he would.

"You idiot," Rose whispered.

"I don't–"

"I love you, you daft man," she said.

"Oh! Well… yes that's what I was hoping, obviously." He was gearing up for a ling ramble if Rose didn't stop him soon, he could feel it.

Rose laughed, grabbing the front of his hoodie and pulling him close to her. He brushed her nose with his.

"I love you."

Neither of them were quite sure who had said it. It didn't matter much, really. Rose tilted her head up and pressed her lips to his softly. He moaned in the back of his throat. How had he ever thought he'd be able to live without this?

"C'mon," Rose said after pulling back a few centimeters.

"Hmm? Where are we going?" he asked, trying to catch her lips again.

"We're going to the bedroom, you idiot," Rose laughed.

She laced their fingers together and ran to the back of her flat, toward her bedroom. When they got there the Doctor slammed the door and turned Rose around, and pressed her against it.

"I've missed you so much," he whispered hotly against her throat. He felt her hum against his lips. He trailed wet kisses down her throat, stopping when he got to the collar of her t-shirt.

"Oi, this is my shirt," he said, surprised.

"What?" Rose asked, in a daze. She threaded her fingers in his hair and tried to get his lips back against her skin.

"You're wearing the blue shirt that I lost when we were packing in St. Ives," he said. When his words registered, Rose gasped, looking down. He looked up to see a faint blush staining her cheeks.

"So it is," she said, biting her bottom lip.

"Wonder how that happened," she muttered. The Doctor laughed, capturing her lips with his again.

"I knew you took it," he said.

"Did you really?" Rose asked, surprised.

"'Course I did," he said with a laugh. He slid his hands underneath it, his palms itching for her warm, soft skin to be against them.

"And as beautiful as you look in it, I think I need to get you out of it," he growled. Rose's stomach dropped. God, she'd missed that sound. He tugged the shirt up, murmuring for her to lift her arms and help him.

"You can borrow this one once we're done, yeah?" he said teasingly. He jerked his hoodie up over his head, pulling his shirt along with it.

"Come winter, I'll have all of your hoodies if you don't watch out," Rose warned. She reached out with trembling hands and placed them on his chest. She felt his muscles twitch beneath her fingers when she trailed her nails lightly down his chest, ending up at the waistband of his trousers. She popped the button and had his zip and trousers down in record time.

"Let's move this to the bed before I take you right here against this door," he groaned, kicking their discarded clothes away.

Rose hadn't been wearing trousers to begin with, so the two of them were both down to just their pants when they reached the bed.

"Rose, as much as I'd love for this to be slow and last all night," the Doctor began with a blush.

"Don't worry about it," she whispered, pulling him down on top of her.

"I've been ready for you for ages now," she whispered against his lips. She took his full bottom lip between her teeth and nibbled on it. She'd never met a man (or anyone else, really) with a bottom lip like his. It was ridiculous. And distracting. And brilliant.

She sucked it into her mouth and ran her tongue along it. She had missed every inch of this man. The Doctor pulled back with a gasp, pulling his lip from hers with a wet noise that made his hips buck against hers.

"Rose, please," he said, swallowing, "I need you now."

Rose responded by slipping her fingers under his boxers and pushing them down his hips.

"Get rid of those, then," she said. In a flash, he had somehow ridded them both of their remaining clothes and was settling atop her. He grabbed his hard length and stroked it slowly with a loud moan.

"Are you ready?" he whispered, teasing the head between her lips. His head brushed her clit, pulling a strangled moan from the depths of her throat.

"God, please, Doctor," she begged, spreading her thighs for him even further.

"You're soaking, love," he breathed, placing his tip at her entrance. Rose couldn't force her vocal cords to work. He pushed his hips forward, slowly filling her.

"Fuck," Rose whimpered. Her nails dug into the back of his neck, surely leaving little crescent moons in their wake.

When he was finally sheathed completely inside of her, he stopped moving altogether. They breathed each other in, exchanging soft kisses.

"Okay," Rose said.

"You ready?" he asked, pressing another kiss against her lips. Rose nodded. He took a deep, shaking breath.

Slowly, achingly slowly, he pulled back, sliding out of her about half way before pushing forward again.

"Doctor, I'm gonna go mad soon," Rose said.

"If I speed up, I won't be able to la–"

"Shut up, and move," Rose growled. The Doctor laughed quietly, speeding up his hips. He pressed his forehead against hers.

"I missed you," he said quietly. She almost missed it.

"Rose, I'm gonna–"

"Touch me," she begged. She was so close, if he would just–

"Yes, fuck, Doctor, yes!"

He was rubbing her clit between his ring and middle fingers in time with the thrusting of his hips. Stars burst behind her eyes and her walls clenched around him. She cried out his name, voice breaking in the middle. It was that sound, that beautiful, desperate sound that broke him. His hips stuttered as he came inside of her.

"Rose," he cried out hoarsely. He kept up his thrusting and rubbing for as long as he could, prolonging their climaxes.

The Doctor collapsed on top of her with a soft 'oof'. She didn't try to get him to roll over. Instead, she pulled him closer, threading her fingers through the sweaty hair at the nape of his neck. They both panted for breath, completely sated.

After a while, he did roll off of her. When he did, he gathered her against his chest, snuggling her close to him. They reached down to pull the comforter over them. He ran his fingers soothingly through her hair, lulling her to sleep even faster.

"Rose?" the Doctor said sleepily.

"Yeah?" she replied, eyes already closed.

"You remember how we talked about parallel universes?"

"At the planetarium," Rose said as she nodded against his chest.

"I don't think there's a single universe out there where we don't end up right here."

Rose kissed his chest softly and nodded again. She was absolutely sure that he was right.