AN: Hullo! Here's a new chapter, sorry about not updating yesterday. I went to my grandparents' and we had a family day. It was really nice, and we watched Doctor Who. Yay! Anywho, here this is, and I hope you all like it. Thank you to all of the readers, reviewers, followers, and favoriters. Special thanks to Kl, eruditereader, Rose's Companion, Truebluetardis, and DragonsAddicted for the reviews. I'm glad you liked the proposal.

Just to clarify in advance, "The Doctor's thoughts to Rose", "Rose's thoughts to the Doctor", the TARDIS telepathically speaking, regular thoughts for whoever the paragraph is about.

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Doctor Who. I am now the proud owner of series 1-7 on DVD (I love my family), but I don't make a profit from this. I didn't even get the information accurate, I'm sure.

10ROSE 30-DAY OTP CHALLENGE

DAY 25- Gazing into Each Other's Eyes

*~*~PREVIOUSLY~*~*

"…I want to make every day the best day of your life. And I'd very much like to do all of these things as your husband. So, Rose Tyler," he paused to look up at her with his brilliant grin and saw tears of happiness in her eyes. "Will you marry me?"

"Yes, you daft alien!"

"Doctor?"

"Hm?"

"You do realize you're gonna have to tell my mum about all this, right?"

"…Oh."

"OH, you two missed all the fun! Harriet Jones gave this big speech on Boxing Day, and the Royal family had this big what-to-do. Apparently, there was some kind of alien in Downing Street. Again! Well, anyway, Mickey and Martha came by- they're engaged now, an' hopin' for a spring weddin'- and then the Harknesses. Mo came by askin' about you, you might wanna call her. Mrs. Turner took in a couple of new tenants, and things seem to be goin' well with them. Oh, poor Ms. Prince passed away. Something about tetanus or Botox or something, I can never remember. But what's new with you two? You hardly ever come by any more."

The Doctor and Rose were sitting across the room from each other in Jackie Tyler's flat. Rose had decided to hide her engagement ring for the time being, at least until they were able to decide how to bring up the news. For now they were content to let Jackie gossip about everything under the sun, though the Doctor looked more than a bit miserable. "Oh, you know. Just… planets and aliens and all that good stuff. Tell us more about what's been goin' on here, Mum." And that was enough to sent Jackie into another rambling spell that would rival the Doctor's. Rose was really just trying to buy him some time before he had to break the news. While Jackie and the Doctor had been getting along much better in the past while, things were still a bit tense between them, and he was by no means Jackie's favorite person. He didn't particularly want to threaten their truce by joining her family. "God, she's got a gob," he thought to himself, surprised beyond belief by the "Oi!" he heard in response. He looked up in surprise and confusion at Rose, who was looking insulted and not half miffed. "Why are you sayin' that about my mum? You two're 'sposed to be nice today."

Oh, right. Psychic link. That was sure to get him in trouble.

See, after Rose agreed to marry him, she asked some questions about what marriage was like on Gallifrey. He'd tried to deflect the questions at first, but she was as stubborn as her mother, and he eventually opened up enough to explain the process of familial and marital telepathic links. He had to compare it to a Vulcan mind meld- which was really just insulting- but it was worth it when Rose asked if they could share that. He said that it was extremely dodgy for Time Lords, let alone humans, but again: stubborn. So, he now had his own little spot in her consciousness, and she had one in his. To get used to it they had had mental conversations until Rose fell asleep, and he had shown her how to establish "doors" in her mind if there was anything she didn't want him to see. It made his hearts soar when she told him she'd never need that, only to crash again when he realized how much he still had to hide from her. The War, Bad Wolf, any and all memories of his time as a cross dresser on Sigma Delta Pi… Well, that last one was substantially less important, but still.

Anyway, here they were now, and he shot her an apologetic smile before replying, "Sorry, love. I just can't believe that she's able to ramble on more than I do."

Rose chuckled a bit at that, which caused Jackie to look at her strangely. "What are you laughin' about then, ay? It's not funny that that poor girl in 5B went to the nuthouse, even if it was because of a telly show. Should have seen it coming though, honestly. What with her tryin' to summon Moffat with a blue scarf and a purple shirt. She was always a bit kooky, I 'spose. But that's still no reason to laugh, Rose Marion Tyler. You need to show respect."

"Yeah, Rose. Show respect," the Doctor thought at her with a false look of reprimanding, though the mischievous twinkle in his eye gave him away.

"Oh, come off it," she replied, giving him a no nonsense look. "It's not my fault those bloody Sherlock fans aren't half mad."

This caused the Doctor to chuckle a bit himself, earning him a glare from Jackie. He stopped just then. "Sorry, do continue."

"Right," Jackie began again. "Well, like I was sayin'…" And she was off again. This particular rant lasted about 15 minutes, with the Doctor carrying on a conversation with Rose in their minds. It was better than hearing what was new on the Estate, that was for sure.

"So, that's about it around here," Jackie finished. "What about you two? You haven't told me anything about what's going on with you." Jackie sat down on the couch next to Rose and motioned for the Doctor to join them. He awkwardly walked over and sat on the Rose's other side, immediately putting his arm around her shoulders and pulling her closer. She curled into his side and put an arm around his waist. They both faced Jackie, who looked like she was trying to work something out. She suddenly gave a gleeful whoop of triumph, making the Time Travelers jump.

"You two are engaged!"

The Doctor immediately reeled back from Rose and opened his mouth to deny it. He ran into a problem, however, when he fell to the floor and all his mouth seemed to want to do was open and shut like a waterless fish. Rose merely chuckled and pulled out her ring, putting it on its rightful place on her finger and showing it to her mum. Jackie oohed and aahed over it, and they began the necessary girl-talk regarding wedding plans.

After the Doctor composed himself, he joined in on their conversation, saying that Rose's dress most definitely needed pockets and that he bar-none refused to wear anything but Converse as his footwear. They continued to chat and half-jokingly plan for an hour or so until they heard a knock on the door. Jackie went to answer it, happily surprised by Jack and Donna. "Oh, come in, come in! The Doctor and Rose are here, and I know they have somethin' they'd like to tell you. Oh, but never mind that, how've you two been? How's married life treatin' ya?" After they greeted each other and got the idle chit-chat out of the way, Donna finally noticed the glimmer of gold on Rose's finger.

"Oh, my God you two got hitched!" This caused the Doctor to fly off the couch again and Rose and Jack to erupt into giggles, Jackie and Donna only smirking at him. He composed himself fairly quickly and jumped back up, willing his blush to go away. "What? Are you blushing, Doctor?" On hearing Rose's teasing in his mind, the Doctor spared a moment to stick his tongue out at her- which thankfully wasn't noticed by anyone else in the room- and he and Rose filled everyone in on the story of their engagement. Jack slapped the Doctor on the back in congratulations as the womenfolk gathered in the kitchen to make tea and discuss clothes and venues and such.

"So, Doc," Jack began, his expression becoming serious. "About last night, what happened with Rose? I thought you took all of that Time Vortex energy out of her."

The Doctor heaved a heavy sigh as his face became sober as well. "I did, too. But… it mutated her, somehow. It melded with her DNA and became a part of her. Her biology is… contaminated in a way. This consciousness in her, this 'Bad Wolf', is Time Lord-like. It's like a separate entity that takes over for her when one of us is in mortal danger, like last night or the Gamestation." He looked up at Jack again with a lost expression, his eyes looking more ancient than ever. "And it's killing her. Her human brain can't contain all of that energy and information and it's burning her. If I don't find a way to get rid of it-" He was cut off as the girls reentered the room, a falsely bright grin taking over his face. "Oh, hello again. Have you already got everything planned? I'm assuming you have." He felt a sense of anger brush her mind form Rose, and he grimaced a bit before sitting back down.

Jack shot him one more worried glance before he too adopted a cheery look and joined in with the planning. Man, I hope the Doctor knows what he's doing. He looked up at Rose, and for a moment he thought he saw a glimmer of gold in her eyes. Otherwise something very bad is about to happen…

THE Doctor and Rose returned to the TARDIS late that night exhausted but happy. They had planned pretty much the entire ceremony and reception in the afternoon and evening that they were there, and the wedding was supposed to actually happen in just a couple days. Neither of them really wanted to wait very long, and everything was just going to be taken care of in the TARDIS anyway. Rose went to the wardrobe room to find a dress- "Rose, make absolutely certain it has pockets!" "Whatever you say, Doctor…"- and the Doctor stayed in the console room, thinking about how wonderful everything had turned out.

"I'm getting married," he said happily, if half-disbelieving. He let out an astonished and blissful "Whoop!" before yelling "I'M GETTING MARRIED!" to the mainly empty room.

Indeed you are, dear Doctor. But what about Bad Wolf? You can't ignore it forever.

"Oh, aren't you just a bundle of laughs," he said sarcastically, jumping as sparks jumped out at him. "Oi! Fine, I don't know. I have absolutely no idea what I'm going to do and I'm terrified, happy? I might lose her but right now everything is fine and I just want to enjoy this for however long it lasts."

Very well. But be careful, my Thief.

"I always am. Now," he said, becoming cheery again and clapping his hands together. "Let's finish planning ourselves a wedding."

*~*~TO BE CONTINUED~*~*

AN: Hey. I know that on some of my secondary AN's lately I've been asking more about you guys, but I want to know if you have any questions for me. You probably don't, but eh. Worth a shot. Also, if anyone cares, I wrote a one-shot that has absolutely nothing to do with this story, if you'd like to check it out. It's Doctor Who 10/Rose as well, but it's total crack. See y'all tomorrow. :-)