Just so you know, it might seem cute now, but it definitely gets worst before it gets better for these two. Not with all the arguing and everything, they've kind of done that already. But just so you're warned. And I'm so sorry.

When they trooped back to the TARDIS that evening, Rose felt like she was chained to the floor. They had had some fun with anti-gravity that afternoon – Jenny had especially seemed to enjoy it – and now she was back down the ground, Rose felt heavy and dull. Still, it had been such a laugh, the Doctor's long limbs flailing around and Jenny giggling as Rose found herself upside down and could not figure out how to get back.

Rose went to the kitchen as the Doctor left to put Jenny to bed. She brought two steaming mugs of tea into the console room, and after a couple of minutes the Doctor reappeared with the news that Jenny was fast asleep.

"I think all that floating took it out of her, in about three seconds she was gone."

"I'm not surprised – it was difficult." Rose was grinning, and the Doctor smiled too, though there was something not quite right about it. Ignoring the unsettling feeling his eyes gave her, Rose began to laugh as she recalled the events of the day. "You were so rubbish, you kept hitting the walls!" She held onto the jump seat, giggling at the image of the Doctor wheeling about through the air with barely any control over his arms and legs. She would have thought that after over 900 years he would have developed some skill, but apparently not.

"Look, Rose." She turned to face him, laughter still present in her eyes and mouth, but he wasn't smiling. "I've just got to say this now... look, I know I was an idiot and I tried to keep you here in the TARDIS when you didn't want to be stuck here, and you know I'm sorry about that. But, I just want you to know that if you... if this isn't what you want in any way, then you only need to tell me and I'll take you wherever you want."

Rose was stunned. Absolutely and utterly stunned, to the point where she almost dropped her mug onto the floor. She quickly placed it on a relatively flat section of the console, out of harm's way. "You... you don't want me here?"

"No, no of course I do! You know that I want you here more than anything in the universe, it's just... you didn't sign up for this. You wanted me, you, forever, and I do too. You didn't sign up for this life – it's not going to be quite the same, not with Jenny around, and you came back here and separated yourself from your entire family just to be with me. I don't want you to feel obligated to stay here if this life isn't what you want."

He was worried that she wasn't happy. Rose shook her head. Sometimes it surprised her how perceptive he could be, how much he cared about her feelings and how little he actually said about them.

"Doctor, I'm not going to pretend I wasn't shocked when I found out about Jenny. And I'm not going to pretend that I've always felt good about it, because I haven't. And you were a complete idiot, just for the record. But I just..." She trailed off, not really knowing the right way to explain it to him. The Doctor waited patiently, though Rose could see the tension in his body, in the way his hands were clutching the TARDIS console much harder than normal.

"I want to be here. It might be a bit different, but I talked to Jack today, and apart from telling me that what we really needed to sort things out was a good shag," – the Doctor's eyebrows raised infinitesimally – "he made me realise that there is no place anywhere in the universe I would rather be than right here. Jenny or no Jenny, sex or no sex, adventure or slow path, leather jacket or brown suit, it just doesn't matter to me. There is no way in hell I am leaving. And, just for the record, I love Jenny almost as much as you do, and I couldn't leave her if I tried." The Doctor was looking so happy, but he wasn't smiling. It was a strange expression – no manic grin, but his eyes were radiating more joy that Rose could comprehend. "So, now I've established that, we've got some other things to work out."

"What things?" He looked confused now.

"Things like I am not being left behind any more – Donna was right, you need someone there with you if there's any danger, you're not going on your own again, I will not let you." The Doctor looked at her fondly, nodding his head for her to continue. "I don't mind going to places that are safe and not dangerous, at least for a while. If we need to do any universe saving, we can take Jenny to Martha or Sarah-Jane, just for a little while; I know the universe can't cope without you forever." He grinned at that.

"OK, I swear. We'll keep things simple and safe, no world saving unless childcare plans are in place. Gotcha."

Rose breathed out, shocked that he had finally agreed to that but pleased that she had got some sense into him. However, there was still more that needed to be taken care of. She took another deep breath, readying herself. This was the tricky bit.

"Another thing is about us - we can't have what we had before." His shoulders slumped and Rose hurried to qualify her statement before he got the wrong idea. "What I mean is, we are not staying where we were. Before we just sort of stayed where it was safe. Relationships have to grow and we can't just stay in this phase forever. You have to promise me that you won't hold back and keep me at arm's length for the rest of my life."

"I don't really keep you at arm's length, do I?" the Doctor replied flippantly, pulling her close and into a hug.

"Not physically," Rose said, voice muffled a little by the material of his suit, "but as far as feelings and relationships go you definitely do. You hide and you go running off and you leave me..." She stopped, taking in a deep, shaky breath and willing herself not to think of all those times she had felt lost. Things were different now. "I just need to know that you want me as much as I want you."

The Doctor took a deep breath, in and out, the smoothness of his breathing contrasting with the hammering of his hearts that Rose could feel through their clothing. "I do, Rose. I do, and I will try," he murmured at last, and she knew how hard it was for him to talk about this, never mind promising her something that he might never have thought he would do again. Just knowing that he was going to try made her feel so much better.

Rose had one more thing that she really needed to say. She pulled away from him – though every muscle in her body seemed to be screaming at her never to stop hugging him until her dying day – and made certain that he was entirely focussed on what she said.

"I don't care about anything else - I am going to stay forever."

The Doctor just looked at her – his eyes were so dark and his gaze seemed to hold her there, stretching that second out so it lasted for an eternity. "You'd better," he replied softly, and Rose was kissing him before she even registered what he'd said.

It appeared he had been ready for it, because there was no sense of a moment of shock before he began to kiss her back. It was smooth and easy as breathing in and out for them to do this. The Doctor had one hand on the side of her head, his thumb stroking her cheek as he brought his tongue into play. Rose moaned without meaning to and she felt his lips curl into a smile in response. Never one to go down without a fight, Rose anchored both of her hands in his hair (oh god she loved his hair) and scraped a bit with her nails, using her advantage to shift his head to a slightly better angle. He almost growled – Rose would have thought that him growling would make her giggle, but when it actually happened it only served to spur her on in her attempts to make him incapable of anything other than doing this, with her, forever.

The Doctor pulled back all of a sudden, leaving Rose with parted lips and half closed eyes and a head full of confusion. He took a couple of steps back, until they were once again not touching.

"We should go on a date."

Rose blinked. "You what?"

He nodded, seeming determined. "Me and you, we should go on a proper date. You know, flowers and a restaurant, and you can wear heels if you want 'cause we won't be getting chased by Slitheen or sentient rocks or anything like that." He rubbed the back of his neck with one hand. "It might help to, well, to transition, if we do the proper date thing like the humans tend to do it."

The Doctor's face was deliberately casual, but Rose could sense the trepidation he felt and the amount of courage that he had summoned up to be able to volunteer this idea.

A proper date with the Doctor – Rose had to say it was sounding very appealing. She took a few moments to really consider it before smiling. Of course there was only one answer she was going to give.

"Alright then – and you can wear heels as well, if you want, Doctor."

The Doctor grinned widely. "Don't think so, I'm already tall enough as it is." He drew himself up to his full height and stared down at her. "I'd have to crouch down to kiss you."

"On second thoughts, don't then," Rose replied. The fact that he was assuming there would definitely be more kissing put more of a spring in Rose's step than even the idea of the date had. "Shall we say tomorrow night, then – well, relative night, depending on where we are?"

"It's a date then."

"Yeah, it is," Rose said, and the Doctor rolled his eyes.

"Careful, you might cut yourself on your razor sharp wit."

Rose flicked her hair. "I'll be careful, don't you worry about me." Despite her glee at the progression of events that day, Rose could suddenly feel how tired she was. She had been bumped and bruised a lot that morning, and even though the Doctor had healed most of her injuries, she felt as though she had been put into a cocktail shaker and shaken up until she was black and blue all over. "I'll be going to bed now then, Doctor."

"Night night, Rose," he said, glancing up from the screen he had been looking at and giving her a quick smile before returning his gaze to whatever it was that was so interesting.

She walked off down the corridor to her room, closing the door behind her and trying to summon up the energy to get ready for bed. It wasn't long before she heard a soft knock on the door. The Doctor pushed it open to reveal himself standing outside somewhat awkwardly, a small bundle under one arm.

"I thought that maybe I could... stay here tonight, I mean, if you want." He looked so cute, his lips slightly pursed and his eyebrows showing just the slightest hint of worry at him offering his company and being face with the possibility of being shot down. To be honest, Rose had been waiting for this since the first time the Doctor had shared her bed, weeks ago when she had just made it back to him. She nodded quickly, indicating that he should come in. He unbuttoned his jacket as he walked pulling it off and chucking it onto the chair in the corner of her room.

As he took off his tie, Rose was caught up thinking about other situations in which the Doctor might be undressing in her room.

The Doctor turned around and saw Rose grinning. "What?"

"Well, doesn't the sleeping together normally come after the date?" Rose asked, amused. She was even more amused as a faint blush crossed the Doctor's cheeks.

"Yeah, but that's sleeping together, not just sleeping in the same bed or... oh you know what I mean!" he gabbled before turning away from her and pulling off his shirt in one hurried move. Rose hid a grin as she grabbed her pyjamas and nipped into the bathroom. When she reappeared, all ready for bed, the Doctor was already sitting up under the covers, bare chested. He stuck out a foot in a playful attempt to trip her up as she walked around the bed, and Rose saw that he was wearing his striped pyjama bottoms, presumably the contents of the bundle he had brought with him. He really seemed to love clothes with stripes.

She peeled back the duvet and sat in the bed next to him. For a few moments they remained silent as the TARDIS turned down the lights to a suitable level for sleeping.

"Did you ever do that thing where you lie upside down in the bed and put your feet on the pillow?" Rose asked the Doctor.

"Yep," he answered, and she could tell his toes were wiggling from the movement of the duvet, "sometimes I think I do all my best figuring things out like that. Why do you ask?"

"Dunno." Rose sniffed. "Seemed like the sort of thing you would do."

The Doctor wriggled down until just his head was sticking out from under the covers. He looked up at her comically. "Are you joining me, or are you sleeping sitting up?"

Rose grinned and shifted until she was underneath the duvet almost completely. This time she only hesitated for a moment before sneaking an arm around his waist. Maybe it was the fact that he knew they were making progress, or maybe it was just that he'd give up trying to hold back, but the Doctor pulled her close to him immediately, without any appearance of trepidation or unease.

She snuggled into his side, sighing happily as she felt sleep beginning to drag her under. Having the Doctor there just felt so completely right, as though the bed should have come with a complementary Doctor attached in order to help her sleep better. It could have been so weird, finally and slowly changing the nature of their relationship, but curled up with her head on the Doctor's chest, all Rose could think was that she wished they had done this earlier.

Just before she dropped off to sleep, it occurred to Rose that she had not seen the Doctor's bare chest since that time she had put him in his pyjamas just after he regenerated. It was also painfully true that she had wanted to see it again every day since that time. Even after everything she had been through that day, it was thoughts of the Doctor half-naked that swirled in her head as she finally succumbed to sleep.