"Hi"

The Doctor looked up to see Rachel standing over him. He felt a familiar stabbing sensation in his hearts. It had been 3 days since the whole 'Colleen Hartman/ Gahl-Hoor' fiasco, and he still felt hurt and betrayed whenever he looked at her. "Hi."

Rachel sat down awkwardly beside him. He waited for her to speak, not looking at her. "Umm…would it be ok if I…I mean, you might not still have any of it, but if you do…umm, could I get some of my stuff out of the TARDIS?"

The Doctor paused, remembering his 'conversation' with Owen. "Sure. You can go and get it now, if you want."

"Thanks." She lifted a hand, as if to touch his face, but then seemed to think better of it and started to walk away.

"Rachel?" she turned, a hopeful expression on her face. "you can give me back your TARDIS key copy when you're done."

"Oh. Yeah sure, ok." The Doctor watched her leave, trying to ignore the pains in his hearts at the look of sorrow in her eyes.

"Coffee, Gwen? Toshiko?"

Toshiko turned her head briefly in Ianto's direction and nodded curtly. Gwen just ignored him. Ianto sighed and walked into the kitchen. He would make Gwen a coffee anyway, even though he knew it would sit there and go cold, untouched, just like the numerous other cups he had made her over the past three days. Rachel had told him to hold on, that it would take time for them to forgive him. But he didn't want to have to wait. It hurt him that he could no longer talk to his colleagues, not properly. Owen was getting over it ok, but then he was the one who had gone through the least out of the group. And even he was slightly wary, Ianto would catch him watching him sometimes, as though he was checking he wasn't planning anything else. And of course, then there was Jack… Ianto picked up the two cups of coffee and took them back out to the girls, putting them down on the desks. Toshiko gave him a small smile of thanks. Gwen blanked him completely.

"Oh, thanks, Ianto. Very nice of you to get me coffee." He muttered sarcastically as he headed back to the Tourist Office. He glanced up at Jack's office and caught Jack's eye for a split second, before the man turned away. Ianto felt like crying.

It was half an hour later when Gwen brought him out a pile of folders to go through. She dumped them on his desk and left without saying a word. Ianto had never realised how much he would miss her good natured chatter. He picked up the pile and selected a folder at random, frowning when his hand encountered something wet. He opened the file and saw that it was stained with brown liquid. He opened another file. It was the same. All the files were ruined, covered in coffee stains. Ianto felt anger rising up in his chest. Ok, so he'd made a mistake. Maybe he shouldn't have gone along with Rachel's plans, maybe he should have told them what was going on, but he'd only done all that to protect them. He didn't deserve this.

Gwen jumped slightly as Ianto slammed the folders down onto her desk. "Gwen? What happened to the files?"

"Oh, sorry." She said, not looking remotely so. "I guess I must have spilt that coffee you brought me." Ianto picked up the files and turned to leave. He had to ignore this, had to ride it out… "I guess you'll have to type them out again, wont you." Even though his back was turned, Ianto could hear the smirk in Gwen's voice. He turned around, anger flaring up inside him suddenly and hurled the folders at her chair. She jumped violently and swung around to face him, glaring.

"What the hell did you do that for?!" she demanded.

"For fucks sake, Gwen! I am sick and tired of walking on fucking eggshells when I'm around you! I know what I did was wrong, ok, and I'm sorry, but you're acting like a bloody five year old! Everyone's fine, aren't they? So what the FUCK is your problem? Stupid bitch!"

Gwen stared at Ianto, open mouthed. She hadn't been expecting him to make an outburst like that. Truth be told, she hadn't really thought about what she was doing, had just resorted back to the little tricks from her school days when she had wanted to get back at a person who had wronged her. Ianto yelling at her like that, it – well – it made her feel ashamed. She wasn't at school anymore. She glanced across at Toshiko, who was looking a bit guilty as well.

"I'm sorry Ianto. I took it too far."

"Damn right you did. I'm not your bloody servant, and I never will be, no matter what I did wrong. Type the files up again yourself." With that, Ianto swung about and headed back to the Tourist Office, a small smile on his face. He felt he had taken a step closer.

The Doctor sat on the invisible lift step, watching the world go by. It had been nearly an hour since Rachel had gone to collect her stuff, and he didn't want to go back to the TARDIS until she had gone. He didn't know what he might do if he had to face her. He looked up when he felt someone walk close by him, and realised it was Gwen. He stood and got off the step, suddenly emerging into view and giving the young woman a fright.

"Oh! Doctor, don't do that! I nearly had a heart attack!"

"Sorry." He said, grinning. "So, what brings you out here?"

"Ianto just yelled at me. I guess I deserved it, I've been acting like a right cow. What about you? I thought you'd be going by now."

"I will, it's just Rachel needs to get her stuff out of the TARDIS."

"Not taking her with you then? Cant say I blame you."

"Well, she's staying here, isn't she?"

Gwen gave him a look. "You can't be serious! After everything she's done! Dunno why Jack doesn't just retcon her and Ianto both."

The Doctor frowned at her. "Hang on, that's a bit harsh. They were only…"

Gwen looked at him, her face stony. "Why? You don't want her, why should we? Why the interest in what happens to her?"

"Because I love her, and I want her taken care of, no matter what she's done!"

Gwen's face softened and she sighed. "I know you love her, I know you do, she was your best friend. I feel the same way about my friends. But you have to let her live her own life, you can't keep looking out for her…" but the Doctor had stopped listening. That wasn't what he meant, it had just slipped out…

"I have to go." He said suddenly, and set off at a run, leaving a very puzzled Gwen behind him.

The Doctor swung the door to the TARDIS open, and looked around. It looked empty. Had she been and gone already? At that moment, Rachel emerged from one of the rooms carrying a bag. She looked surprised to see the Doctor there.

"Don't worry, I'm nearly done" she told him, struggling to pick up a box with one hand. The Doctor walked over and helped her. "Thanks." She muttered. She began to walk towards the doors, then stopped and turned around. "Look, Doctor, I'm sorry for everything that happened. I never meant for you to get hurt, not physically anyway, that was all Colleen's sick little idea. I wish it could have happened differently, I mean, you weren't even supposed to be here, this was all planned long before you showed up. I know I don't deserve forgiveness. But I just need you to know that I truly am sorry."

The Doctor looked at her. He took in her long chocolate-coloured hair, her beautiful blue eyes, so full of regret. He smiled at her. "I know you are. I'm sorry too, I never should have treated you the way I did."

She smiled, a little sadly. "Goodbye Doctor." She whispered, and started to leave, tugging open one of the huge doors. The Doctor watched her, feeling as though his hearts might break.

"Don't go." He didn't realise he had spoken aloud, only realised when the young woman turned to stare at him, confused.

"What?"

He breathed heavily. He hadn't meant to say this, but he had started it off. "Don't go. Please don't leave me." Rachel stared at him, uncertain.

"Doctor, please don't do this to me. Please."

He held her gaze. "Do what?"

"This. Play with my feelings like this. You keep changing your mind about how you feel. I mean, first you want me here, then you don't, then you do again. I can't keep doing this. I mean, we were mates, yeah? But I was always living in the shadows as far as you were concerned. I may not deserve more than that, but I want it. Find some other girl to keep you company." Tears in her eyes, she pulled the door open. The Doctor strode across the console room and pushed it shut again.

"I don't want 'company'," he said quietly, looking into her eyes. "I want you." Then, without thinking about it, just an automatic reaction to the situation, he kissed her. Rachel just stood there, unresponsive. The Doctor pulled back after a few seconds, feeling foolish. "I'm sorry, I…" his words were cut off as he felt her lips press against his own. He kissed her back, slightly harder, and felt his knees buckle slightly as her mouth moved against his. He put his hands around her body, just as much to keep himself upright as it was out of passion. Her tongue rubbed against his lips, demanding entrance, and he opened his mouth, deepening the kiss, making it more passionate. He loved the feeling of the young woman pressed against him, the feel of her hands in his hair. He could think of nothing but her. He pulled away and began to kiss and bite her neck, smiling slightly at her gasps of pleasure. He raised his head and his lips located her mouth again, kissing her forcefully. "I love you." He whispered into her mouth and felt the young woman tense and pull back, looking searchingly into his face, as though looking for some sort of trick.

"What did you just say?" she asked softly.

"I said I love you. I always loved you, I just never realised how much until now. I've never felt this before, not for a human, I…I don't want to have to leave without you."

She continued giving him that searching look. "What about Rose?"

He felt his hearts give a jerk at the name. "I loved Rose. But not in the same way. I was never in love with her, not like I am you…" he broke off, realising how stupid that sounded, but at the same time realising how true those words were. He had loved her. But, given the choice, he knew he would pick Rachel every time.

He looked at Rachel, uncertainly, suddenly fearing he had made a mistake in telling her how he felt. "I'm sorry, I should never have said anything, I'm…"

"Did you mean it?"

"Sorry?"

"Did you mean it. When you said you loved me, and you'd never felt it before. Did you mean it?"

"Every word."

Rachel moved towards the Doctor, watching him until her vision grew fuzzy as their faces were so close. He could taste her breath in his mouth, feel her heart beating next to his. Then she kissed him again. Slower, deeper than before. He felt a surge of adoration for the girl kissing him, but it terrified him, too. He had generally tried to keep a distance, tried not to get involved with his companions. It was a plan that had worked well for 900 years. Until now. "We should go back to the Hub." He murmured into her mouth.

"Yeah." But neither of them made any move to leave. Rachel's hands moved to his shirt, unbuttoning it, undoing the tie...

DEE-DAA-DEE-DAY

They both jumped apart as her phone rang, like embarrassed teenagers caught making out by their parents. Panting slightly, Rachel answered the phone. "Yes?"

The Doctor buttoned up his shirt, disappointed by the interruption, but also rather grateful. He didn't want anything to happen in the heat of the moment that they might regret later. Well, that she might regret. He knew he wouldn't.

"That was Ianto." Rachel told him, hanging up. "He wants me back at the Hub." She opened the door and stepped outside, then paused. "What did that mean, Doctor? Am I coming with you?"

"Do you want to?"

She ran back in and kissed him again, throwing her arms around his neck.

"I'll take that as a yes then, shall I?" he asked, grinning down at her.

Sorry, but i do love a bit of fluff :D R&R please!