After taking Ridul back to his home planet and ensuring he wasn't let off lightly for his attempts, the Doctor retreated to his bedroom and left the others to amuse themselves.

"Where's he gone, anyway?" asked Mickey, as they convened in the galley for some food.

"He's sulking," sniffed Rose, pouring out their tea. "Just leave him."

"Is he – should we not see if he is - " started Reinette.

"No."

Reinette raised her eyebrows. "Oh."

Opening a few cupboards and banging them closed again, Rose retrieved the ingredients for dinner, and lined them up on the counter. "There you go. Should be enough stuff there to make a decent couple of omelettes. See you later," she said, grabbing her mug and making for the door.

Mickey and Reinette glanced at each other awkwardly. "Is she…?" Reinette began.

"Dunno," said Mickey, who then looked sternly at the eggs, as if willing them to turn into dinner all on their own. "Do you want to make dinner?"

"Certainly not," Reinette answered. "I'm not feeling very hungry anyway. I think I might visit the library. Good evening, Mickey."

She left the room, and Mickey scratched at his jaw. "Something I said?" he thought, wondering why everyone was so keen to be on their own. He sighed, and turned to the food, resigning himself to dining alone.

::

When Reinette entered the library, she almost retreated. Rose was sitting on the sofa sipping at her tea, and it had been clear just now that she'd wanted to be on her own, so Reinette contemplated retiring to her own room and leaving the other woman to it.

Then, Rose turned her head, and smiled briefly. "It's all right, you can come in. Don't mind me. I'm just…thinking."

Reinette stepped over to her and sat down beside her. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," Rose sighed, rubbing a hand across her face. "Just tired."

"I see." There was a pause. Then, "How old are you, Rose?"

"Nearly twenty."

Reinette smiled. "I was married at your age, you know."

Rose's eyes widened, and she put her mug on the coffee table, turning towards Reinette. "What? Really?"

"Yes. To Charles-Guillaume. We had a child together. But his father and Louis, they arranged for me to go to court. It was…he never forgave me for that. Louis arranged our separation. And there it was: Charles, cuckolded." She let out a small sigh. "I didn't receive much good publicity, as you would say, for that."

"Oh my god."

"Mmm."

"But did you love him? Charles?"

"I…he loved me. I admit, I'd rather set my sights a little higher."

"Right," Rose nodded. "So…what happened to him?"

"Well, as far as I know he is in Paris impregnating his mistress," Reinette shrugged.

"Ah."

"Yes."

"And your child?"

"A daughter," Reinette answered, and swallowed hard. "Fanfan. That's what we called her." She smiled to herself. "Her real name was Alexandrine-Jeanne. Oh, she was beautiful."

"…was?" Rose murmured tentatively.

Reinette reached for Rose's hand, patting it almost fondly. "She fell ill."

"I'm sorry," whispered Rose, squeezing Reinette's fingers in comfort. "How long ago?"

"Oh, a few years now," Reinette answered vaguely. "She was only ten. Well, not even that; she hadn't yet had her tenth birthday. She died, and – and my…father, oh, he doted on her. He died just eleven days later. It was very difficult. It is very difficult." She looked down, blinking quickly.

"I'm so, so sorry," Rose said. She went to draw her into a hug, but hesitated. "Is this – would you like a hug?"

Reinette chuckled and brushed away her tears. "Yes, I rather think I would."

Rose smiled sympathetically and embraced Reinette, feeling for the other woman. She hadn't realised quite how tough Reinette had had it in her life. It put Rose's problems into perspective, really, and she decided to stop feeling sorry for herself. "You must miss them very much."

"Yes. Well. No, I - I didn't – I didn't see her often, and then, when it mattered, when I should have gone to her when she was ill, I…I was needed at court. I couldn't go to her. And so I missed those last few precious moments I could have had. And I have not been blessed with another child since."

Rose drew back and met Reinette's gaze. "It's not your fault. It wasn't your fault," she said firmly.

Reinette nodded. "Thank you, Rose. You are a dear child."

Rose offered her a small smile. She didn't appreciate being called a child – again – especially seeing as Reinette had said herself that she had been married at Rose's age. But Reinette was upset, so she didn't say anything.

"I feel better now. Thank you," Reinette said, smiling at Rose warmly.

"No problem."

"I do love Louis," she said next, abruptly. "I know it seems like I left him to come here without a second thought, but…"

"It's okay. I understand, believe me. Speaking of Louis, how does it all work, I mean, with his…wife, and everything? If you don't mind me asking. I'm not really up to speed on court life and all that."

"His Queen, Marie – I knew that to ease his guilt I must make friends with her, or at least be cordial."

"That must have been a bit awkward, though," suggested Rose. "I mean, did she just accept the fact that her husband had another woman in his life?"

"Not just one other woman," Reinette reminded Rose. "Although, she did say that if it had to be anyone, she'd rather it were me. So I suppose she likes me above the others."

"Yeah."

Reinette felt like she had said all she could on the matter, at least for now. She stifled a yawn, suddenly feeling overcome with exhaustion. She was not used to Rose and the Doctor's way of life. "And now I must retire, Rose, for I am very tired. Goodnight."

"Night."

Rose couldn't help but think about that for some time once Reinette had gone to bed. Reinette was evidently used to the idea of more than one woman being with one man. She wondered if that was why Reinette hadn't said anything regarding the Doctor. Either she assumed that the Doctor would never be like that with Rose, or she assumed they were like that, and simply wasn't bothered. Either way, she doubted the Doctor had clarified it for her.

She heaved a sigh and switched on the telly that the TARDIS had recently installed above the fireplace, hoping to lose herself in a film. She was using up far too much time thinking about what the hell was going on between the Doctor and Reinette, these days. Their conversations were always too quiet for Rose to eavesdrop on, and they must have mastered the art of secrecy or discreetness, for she never saw them travelling back and forth from each other's rooms.

::

She woke up to the Doctor gently shaking her shoulder. She'd fallen asleep on the sofa whilst watching her film, and as she blinked her eyes open to find the Time Lord peering at her curiously, she wished, not for the first time, that she was waking up to him staring at her after a night spent in his arms.

Shaking those thoughts aside, she sat up and wiped at the side of her mouth. The Doctor chuckled. "Shut up," she said affectionately, through a yawn, as she smacked his arm. "Can't help it."

"No need to worry, Rose Tyler, lots of humans drool in their sleep," he said brightly, then settled into the seat next to her. "Just wanted to wake you up so that you could catch the ending. I know you love this bit," he said, casually wrapping his arm around her shoulders.

"You seem cheery," Rose muttered, arching an eyebrow.

"Why wouldn't I be?"

She heaved a sigh. "Well you weren't in the best mood, earlier."

"I'm fine!"

"Yeah. So that's why you went and locked yourself in your room without saying a word to us."

He huffed and mumbled, "Sorry."

"Ooh what's that? An actual apology?" Rose mock-gasped.

"Oh shh, watch your film," he said, his lips twitching.

"We're not gonna talk about earlier, then?" she surmised.

"What is there to talk about?" he responded, not looking at her.

"Right. Of course. Silly me," she huffed. Nevertheless, Rose couldn't resist snuggling into his embrace, just a little. She was sort of annoyed at herself for it, but she didn't have the energy to try to resist the temptation of being close to him, not when he was offering her this, albeit small, piece of affection.

A few minutes passed in silence.

"Now can I go back to sleep?" she asked, yawning again as the credits rolled.

The Doctor looked a bit disappointed but nodded. "Of course."

Rose closed her eyes.

"What, here?" the Doctor asked.

"Too tired to move."

"Oh. Fair enough."

"That all right?"

"Course it is. Just don't want you getting a stiff neck."

"Well once you get up I can stretch out on the whole sofa."

"But I'm staying."

"What?"

"I'm watching the sequel," he sniffed, eyes on the screen as the next film started playing.

"But…"

"You can still lie down," he said, still not looking at her. "You can put your legs across my lap, I don't mind."

Rose couldn't quite believe how casual he was being about this, but she wasn't about to argue with him when she felt this exhausted, no matter how strange his behaviour was, especially in light of what happened – well, what didn't happen – between them earlier in the alley. "All right then," she mumbled, and swung her legs up to the sofa, laying them across his lap like he'd suggested, so that her thighs were pressing onto his. She shifted down to pillow her head on a cushion, and closed her eyes again.

"Goodnight, Rose."

"Night, Doctor."

After another few moments of silence, apart from the theme music playing in the background, the Doctor murmured, "Here. So you don't get cold," and she felt him tuck in his jacket around her. She hadn't even realised he'd taken it off. She didn't let on that she was still awake, but snuggled into the jacket as though deep in sleep. She heard the Doctor's gentle chuckle again, and felt his fingers trail across her cheek, brushing several strands of her hair away from her face.

When Rose woke up the following morning, he was gone, but his jacket was still draped across her.