The one thing Mickey couldn't stand about Rose Tyler was the tears.
Rose was very good at concealing them. Rose was like all the kids who grew up in their neighborhood, she tried to act tough and pretend that she didn't hurt, but Mickey always knew when she did. She had cried horribly when Jimmy Stone dumped her. She had cried when this new Doctor showed up with a different face, and she had no idea who he was. And now she cried because now the prat had done the one thing Mickey had suspected he would.
He had broken Rose's heart. It had all been on that stupid satellite, or ship, or whatever it was, the one with the creepy robots trying to put human body parts into the craft. Mickey hadn't known who Madam du Pompadour was till then, and still didn't care, she seemed like nothing more than another rich, snob to him. But the Doctor had been enamored of her, he had wanted to bring her along, despite Rose's sad and disappointed look. The Doctor seemed to ignore his own rules about time travel, and was ready to pluck a famous person out of her timeline, and when he failed, he had been moody and morose for days. He tried to pretend otherwise, but Rose knew. And it never occurred to the great git that it crushed her that he had been willing to risk so much for a woman he hardly knew.
If Mickey felt more brave he's have pointed to Rose's sudden renewed interest in French, her haunting the library and bringing up random things just to sound smart. Mickey knew she was trying so hard to not sound like a shop girl from the estates, and it killed him that she felt that she was nothing because of that. Mickey wanted to break the Doctor's pretty, new face for that. But as it was he was still afraid of the strange man with his sonic screwdriver. Instead Mickey took to haunting Rose's bedroom door, asking her if she were all right.
"Course I am," she snapped, flinging open the door to glare at him defiantly. But he could tell her eyes were puffy and her mascara kept running. And finally Mickey would let it go, he didn't really like the idea of a slap in the face. He would shuffle off and leave Rose in her room, and find some corner of the TARDIS to not be a bother to anyone.
She didn't let on to the Doctor either she was hurt. He took them to mad planets, ones with tree people, and ones with ice people, and one planet that seemed to be nothing but a giant sweet shop. Rose would go with a smile on her face, and grab Mickey's hand as if it were a lifeline, dragging him with her. They would run till they were breathless, then laugh like loons. And Mickey would try to pretend that this was all normal, that Rose really did miss him and want to be with him. He almost convinced himself that he might be able to talk her into going home and settling down again.
But then it all changed once again. He had no idea what happen or what caused the shift. He didn't know if the Doctor came to his senses or if Rose finally told him off. But suddenly Mickey was forgotten once again, and the two of them were thick as thieves. They sat beside one another, whispering stories and private jokes as he listened, trying to feel like he was a part of things. But he doubted they even noticed. It wasn't till it was too late that Mickey realized that the one person whose heart was truly breaking was his.
