Disclaimer: I own nothing, not even the computer I type this on.

For all the people down at timeandchips, without whom I'd be very bored and for Hudine, without whom I wouldn't be able to spell or format. I'm lost without her.

Bugger Off

By Chaimera

Adam stumbled sleepily down the dark, quiet corridors of the TARDIS. He couldn't sleep. It wasn't surprising really. In the space of a few hours he had gone from simply studying alien objects, to being confronted by a live one that wanted to kill him, to being aboard an alien space craft that also travelled through time. The Doctor and Rose had neglected to mention this fact until after they had left Vat Statten's compound.

The floor was freezing under his feet but he forged on, trying to recall the directions Rose had given him to her room if he needed anything. The TARDIS boggled his mind and he wondered how Rose, a human like himself, had managed living in it for…

He suddenly realised how little he knew about the two people he had just left his planet with. It was a scary thought. How long had Rose been travelling with the Doctor? How old was he? How old was she? Were they liable to leave him on some random planet if he pissed them off too much?

He ran a hand through his hair. He really should have thought this one through. Finally he came across an area of the TARDIS that he recognised. He was near Rose's room.

Why was he here, standing outside her door? He didn't really know. He had had a nightmare. He had stood there and watched Rose get shot by the Dalek on the screen in the office. The Doctor had whirled around, practically insane with grief and rage, telling him it was all 'his' fault. And it had been. If he had grabbed her hand; dragged her along faster, they both might have made it out. But he hadn't. He had thought only of himself when he had seen that door closing ahead of him, no thought to the girl running not to far behind him. He felt a need to check up on her. Perhaps she was prone to nightmares as well.

He opened the door quietly and looked around. The room was very dark and he could only make out the vague shape of the bed.

"Um… Rose?"

There was a groan and Adam heard her shift in bed, sheets rustling as she rolled over.

"Yeah? What is it Adam?"

"I was… I was just checking that you were ok."

"I'm fine. What's wrong with you?"

"I couldn't sleep. Nightmares."

"Ahh." This was followed by a yawn.

Adam stepped a little further into the room. Perhaps this was his chance to get close to her. After all, she had said she and the Doctor were only friends and a night in a pretty girl's bed couldn't hurt him. Quite the opposite in fact.

"Rose?"

"…What?" She sounded like she was getting irritated.

"I was… wondering…"

Another voice cut through the silence of the room. Another male voice and it was coming from the bed where Rose lay.

"Rose, just tell him to bugger off. I'm trying to get some sleep."

The Doctor muttered from his position curled around Rose, his face in her hair. Rose smirked slightly from her own position, head on his chest, his strong arms wrapped around her waist. She hadn't thought he would speak up while Adam was in the room to prevent any more trauma to the poor boy, but he knew just as she did what he was about to ask.

"No offence Adam" She paused for another yawn and snuggled closer to the warm body beside her. "But yeah. Bugger off. We are really tired. Could you please just go back to bed? You'll be fine."

"But…"

"You heard the lady, bugger off."

"Um… right… I'll…"

"See you in the morning Adam." Rose finished for him, officially banishing him from her room for the night. She heard the door shut and felt the Doctor smile into her hair.

"I thought you liked him?"

"I do, but that doesn't mean I'm going to let a stranger into my bed."

He chuckled lightly as she repeated his words from the first time she had come to him in the night. Of course it had only taken him a few minutes to break and let her crawl under the covers with him. They rarely spent the night alone anymore.

"I bet that shocked him." Rose murmured sleepily as she moved around, getting more comfortable.

"Why?"

"He asked if we were together."

"What did you say?"

"That we were just friends."

"And him?"

"Good."

"And you?"

She looked up at him. "I can't remember. Why does it matter? 's not important."

He pulled her closer as she closed her eyes. "Everything's important."

"Hmmm."

They both fell asleep, content until the next nightmare and in a bedroom half way across the ship Adam wondered, if she had lied to him that once already, could she be lying about this whole thing?

End.