This chapter is dedicated to jillybean, my only (and very observant) reviewer on the last chap.

Chapter 3

A small light glowed above their heads, providing only dim light in the crowded cubicle.

"This is so not the TARDIS that it isn't even funny," stated Rose.

"You're telling me. Let's get outta here."

Rose tried the door handle. It didn't budge.

"Typical, it's stuck."

Throwing his eyes to heaven, the Doctor squeezed past Rose. He wrapped both hands around the handle, and with a deep breath, pulled mightily. The only thing that happened was a very faint cracking noise, which Rose suspected was more likely to be the Doctor than the door.

"Fantastic."

"Someone will find us soon, I'm sure. And the TARDIS isn't going anywhere, right? As long as someone doesn't do the opposite to us, and mistake it for a toilet. They can't get in, right?"

"Not without a key."

Rose breathed a sigh of relief. She had become quite attached to the TARDIS, and she couldn't bear to think of it being… soiled.

"So, what do we have here?" she asked, as her gaze roamed around the cubicle.

"Remarkably graffiti-free. Oh, here's some! Let's see." she murmured as she scrutinised the cubicle walls

"'Decko woz 'ere '05' Impressive. Lots of 'so and so is gay.'"

She noticed something on the back wall over the toilet. She walked over and read it, standing close to the Doctor.

"'Don't look here, you're peeing on your shoes.' Sensible enough, if you're a guy, I suppose."

She became painfully aware of how close she was to the Doctor. The walls seemed to be closing in. She imagined that she could hear his heartbeat. Heartbeats. She checked herself and returned to the walls.

"Ooh, here's another one. 'All that you love will be carried away.' There's a sombre thought"

She sighed heavily.

"That's all of it. Now we really have nothing to do," she muttered. She turned from the wall to find the Doctor staring intently at her.

"What?"

"Could be worse. At least the company is good." The Doctor's eyes flicked from her face to the floor, then slowly climbed up to meet her gaze again. "and the view… well the view-"

They both jumped as a sound like a popping champagne cork boomed through the cubicle as the door flew open.

"Let's get out of here," said Rose in a low voice, almost whispering.

She took the Doctor's hand and led him outside. He took a gulp of fresh air, and wiped his brow.

A familiar yapping drew their attention to old lady. She was returning down the road, newspaper and bag of apples in hand. She gave the pair of them a pointedly dirty look before continuing on her way. As she past Rose heard her muttering about 'young people of today' and 'no respect'. The last thing she caught was "I hope her mother is proud of her."

Rose's mind flashed with images of her own mother... She missed her….

Thinking about her mother, she followed the old woman with her eyes until she turned a corner and vanished from sight.

A hand on her shoulder startled her out of her reverie.

"Let's backtrack to the shops," suggested the Doctor. Noticing the single tear rolling down Rose's cheek, he wiped it away gently.

"Are you okay?"

Rose tried to smile. "I'm…" She flung her arms around the Doctor. "I'll be fine," she whispered into his ear, before burying her face in his shoulder. The Doctor stroked her hair slowly.

She stepped away from him, and gave him a weak smile. He offered her his handkerchief. She took it gratefully and blew her nose noisily.

"We'll go back the way we came and see if we can find the TARDIS, okay?"

Handing back the hanky Rose nodded silently.

As they walked back across the square, she watched their shadows. She moved to the left slightly to walk closer to the Doctor's side. She noticed how the sunset had turned everything into a sea of pink through which they now swam. He gave her hand a squeeze, and smiled at her. She squeezed back.

End Chap.