Finally back! Sorry for the delay, I'm terrible, I know. I don't think there's anything in this one that I need to warn you about in advance. It's a bit domestic, a few normal people issues. Anyway, spoilers ;) Enjoy! The next update will be quicker...much quicker...I promise! D:

xxx

Rose wandered home slowly after her date with Nicholas. The night had been almost perfect. He had managed to create the exact right balance of cheesy and romantic; though if she really thought about it, those two things usually overlapped anyway.

The only downside to the date was when he got a phone call and had to leave early. They'd long since had dessert and were just watching the night sky so it wasn't like he was disrupting the meal or anything, but she had felt a little sad when he got off the phone and turned to her with that sheepish look. She understood that he was a very sort after man in his field, so it was enough for her when he gave her his reason for having to leave; some very serious life-threatening emergency. Same old, same old. Maybe she was only alright with it because it reminded her of someone else she used to know. Travelling with the Doctor had made her resilient to the world—or universe—changing around her. It was an advantage in many respects, although it did stop her from ever really feeling settled in any one place.

She reached the door to her building and bounced up the stairs to her apartment in record time. Sleep. All she needed now to finish a great day was a good night's sleep before work the next day. Quickly going about her nightly ritual, she slipped beneath her covers and drifted off into a deep sleep.

Xxx

Jolting awake, Rose looked over at her digital alarm clock to see that it was only just past four o'clock. Rolling over, she tried to sleep again, but she continued to be haunted by her dreams. She recalled once more the Doctor's pained words as he boldly declared that 'no one could be her' and that he didn't want anyone else. After so much time had passed, she had only been plagued by this memory occasionally, and even less since she'd met Nicholas. Every time it resurfaced she felt guilty. Guilty that she'd found someone else to love when he'd been so sure he'd never want anyone else ever again. She knew that he probably just meant as a companion, but with the amount that had gone unspoken between them it wouldn't surprise her if he'd meant it in more than one way.

She sighed quietly and rolled over once more. Now was not the time to be feeling guilty because of something that was fast becoming the distant past. Not the Doctor. No, she knew he'd always be with her; but their sad parting was something that she continued to hope would ease into the back of her mind and become a healed scar as her life progressed.

Eventually, she succumbed to her tiredness and fell back under, but her sleep was not peaceful for the rest of the night; not even when the sun rose and the bed ordinarily felt the most comfortable.

Xxx

When she finally did drag herself out of bed in the morning, she was struck by how exhausted she still was. Groaning and wishing that she had time to go and get a coffee, she trudged into the bathroom.

By the time she was dressed again and readying herself to leave, there was a knock at the door and she frowned sleepily. No one ever came around to see her. Not even Nichole knew where she lived.

She opened the door to a very cheerful and grinning Nicholas. In his hands he held a cardboard tray with a coffee and some sort of pastry on it.

'Good morning!' he greeted her brightly. 'Here you go, come on'.

He thrust the coffee and pastry into her hands and pulled her out of her apartment by the arm.

'Wait a second!' she laughed. 'What's all this?' she gestured to the coffee and treat.

Nicholas looked a little sheepish. 'I wasn't sure if you'd eaten breakfast and I know that you don't even have time to visit the café this morning'.

'But'—

'Come on,' he gave her one of those charming smiles again and she caved. He led her down the stairs and out into the street.

'So, what now?' she asked after a satisfying sip of coffee.

'Nothing,' he surveyed her adoringly, 'whatever you like. We can go anywhere you like, but I'd suggest we walk you to work'.

'Oh,' the rest of that sentence was muffled by a mouthful of coffee. 'I'm gonna be late!'

'No, you won't,' Nicholas replied calmly. 'Come on'.

With his guidance, she got to work just in time and was about to walk in when she couldn't help but turn around. Nicholas was standing at the top of the stairs to her building just watching her with a goofily content look on his face.

She hurried back over to him and pressed a tender kiss to his lips. His arms snaked around her waist and they lingered there a little longer than was wise as Rose's co-workers rushed into the building around them.

'You're alright, you know that?' she asked softly.

Nicholas grinned mischievously. 'Well, I have to be on my best behaviour for you'.

Rose laughed again and Nicholas beamed at the sound. 'But you really didn't have to do any of this. I might have to keep you around'.

'It would be impossible for me to leave now,' Nicholas smiled again but it was a more serious, emotional look. He lent in and quickly gave her one last kiss. 'Have a great day'.

'You too,' Rose whispered and watched him turn and walk away before she was jostled into the building.

Xxx

Sitting at her computer with her delicious coffee in hand, Rose felt considerably better than she had upon waking up that morning. This did not go unnoticed by her co-workers and Beth gave her a knowing smile.

'Have you told him about your headaches yet?'

Rose's smiled faded a little. 'No, not yet'.

'Rose,' Beth warned. 'You're going to have to sooner or later. They could mean something serious and he cares about you a lot'.

Before she could reply, Penny cut in from across the aisle. 'So how is Mr Dreamboat anyway?'

'Good,' Rose nodded and a shy smile spread across her cheeks.

'Look at how she blushes!' Mary exclaimed in a pitch that should never be reached by humans and Rose cringed internally.

She was saved from any further embarrassment when their floor manager approached the group of them and informed them that they were all needed at a compulsory staff meeting. Sighing and complaining, they all got their things back together and plodded towards the largest of the conference rooms.

'You're lucky,' Penny poked Rose in the shoulder. 'But you aren't getting off that easy. After work we're all going for drinks together and you're spilling'.

Once they were all crowded inside the conference room, their floor manager, Mark, stood up at the front and called for silence. The women stopped whispering amongst themselves and faced the front.

'Now,' Mark took a deep breath. 'I know that things have been going very well since we came under new management, but unfortunately I've got some bad news'.

'Well spit it out then,' Mary called when he paused too long for her liking.

Mark completely ignored her. 'There's no easy way to say this, but we're going under. The new owners lied about their financial situation and other important documentation has been identified as fake. I'm so sorry for all inconvenience this causes'—

'Inconvenience?!' Mary roared. 'I'll show you a bloody inconvenience! Some of us have got families and mouths to feed!'

'That's enough!' Mark yelled and all conversation ceased completely. 'I know that this isn't ideal for anyone. This isn't just a cut down either, we're all done for. As of today, no one works here anymore'.

'What about new owners?' Rose asked bravely. 'Surely there's someone that's gonna take over'.

'I'm afraid not, Rose,' Mark replied gravely. 'This company is in too much trouble. No one will take over. The building will be stripped and rented'.

More cries of outrage broke out from around the room, but Rose was silent. Her stomach churned and she was filled with dread. She hated her job, her stupid sardine tin job. But now that it was being taken away from her, she couldn't imagine working anywhere else. It was her only source of income and without it she wouldn't be able to afford the little she did have. A part of her sought to reassure her that Nicholas wouldn't let her become destitute, but she didn't want to listen to that. She couldn't just hope that he would be able to support her. They hadn't been together long enough for anything that serious anyway.

'Come on,' Beth tugged gently on her arm.

'What's happening?' Rose came back to reality.

'We're getting those drinks now. There's no point in working the full day if they can't pay us'.

'But I can't afford to spend my money on things like that. If I don't have a job, I can't'—

'My treat,' Beth patted her hand comfortingly and Rose had no choice but to allow them to drag her along with them to pack up their few possessions.

Xxx

They emerged out of the building to find that the clouds had opened up and that it was beginning to rain. There were several curses from Mary and Penny and even an irritated sigh from Beth. Rose was distracted however, by a scene a few metres to their right.

Under the shelter of a deep red umbrella, stood Nicholas. His ankles were crossed beneath him as he lent casually on one of the veranda poles.

Automatically drawn to him, Rose heard and ignored the other women's exclamations as he met her in a warm embrace. She breathed in his scent and felt comforted instantly.

'How did you know?' she asked quietly.

He smiled solemnly and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. 'I heard a rather disgruntled employee talking about it on his way home. I've been waiting out here since'.

'Don't you have anything else to do?' Rose chuckled softly and sniffed.

'Well, yeah,' Nicholas gave her one of his more intense grins, 'but I couldn't just leave you to walk home alone after that'.

Completely overcome with emotion, she buried her face in his chest and allowed him to encase her in his arms. The universe really had decided to give her something good after so many bad hands. Nicholas was for lack of a better word, amazing. No one, not even Mickey had shown her such kindness and expected none in return, perhaps not even the Doctor himself. She found herself wishing that TARDIS' were easy to come by and that she and Nicholas could just take off together.

'Come on,' he pulled away and entwined their fingers between them. 'Let's go and have drinks with your friends'.

'How did you know that?' she asked incredulously.

'Well, aside from the fact that drinking alcohol is a common method of self-consolation after news like this, they're all looking over here and not going anywhere'.

'Ah,' Rose turned around to look and nodded. 'Fair assumption'.

They joined the others, who were more than delighted with the addition of Nicholas, and walked off in the direction of the nearest bar.

With his charming wit and general easiness, Nicholas made fast friends with all of the ladies, even those who had never met him before. Rose was content to just sit and watch his interactions with them as he discussed pregnancy with Penny and recommended a specific mock tail that she might like, and talked about conspiracies with Beth and Mary, despite the latter's objections.

Rose didn't realise how careful he was being. He never revealed anything specific about himself and when the talk with Beth turned towards aliens, he had to be a little vaguer about some of the things that he knew to be certainties. It felt unnatural to him, but for Rose's sake he maintained the façade.

After they had spent more than enough money and eaten lunch as well, Nicholas and Rose separated from the group, exchanging numbers with the women with promises of future repeats. They walked back to Rose's apartment hand in hand. Nicholas refused to allow Rose to carry her box of things and gallantly stole it from her when she tried to conserve her independence.

They said goodbye outside her building and Nicholas promised to take her to dinner the next night. Rose was torn between worrying about her job, or lack thereof, and rejoicing in how blessed she was to have someone like Nicholas in her life. Exploring far away planets and time periods would have also been a welcome distraction, but Nicholas' efforts were admirable, and the way he seemed to know her so well still left her speechless. Only a few years ago, she would have laughed in her own face at the idea of choosing something so everyday over the adventures the TARDIS had to offer. But she could honestly say now that she was glad of her decision. Perhaps if she had stayed and the Doctor and her had remained together as friends, she would never have met Nicholas, who she might even go so far as to say was her soulmate.

These warm and comfortable thoughts filled her head as she ascended to her apartment and she felt a little bit giddy. This was what love was supposed to feel like. Not a fairy-tale, but something strong and insane and a little bit foolish. Nicholas was everything that she had ever needed in her life and though she would never regret her time with the Doctor, she now felt resigned to that part of her life being over forever. Of course, it still hurt to think of the Doctor moving on without her, but she had done the same so she had nothing left to blame him for.

xxx

So that's it. Hope it was worth the wait. I am sorry about the wait. It's a real pain to wait for stories because then you have to figure out where the story left off. But anyway, I have to do the same thing with writing it when I've been busy. Your patience and support are amazing and I can't thank you all enough for helping this come to life and keeping it alive. Love you guys!