The Doctor and Jack didn't rush up the stairs. They thought it best to give Rose time to calm down.
"Knowing Jackie she probably won't let us in anyway." The Doctor said to Jack knocking on the door.
"If that's you Doctor you can just bog off! I hired a truck and helped my daughter break into your spaceship so she could travel half way across time and space to save you and now you go and break her heart." Jackie shouted from the other side of the door. Jack raised his eyebrows but the Doctor just rolled his eyes.
"Mum! He did not break my heart. He's just being an idiot." Rose's voice floated through as clear as if she were standing next to the Doctor.
"Look, I can't keep her safe. You said yourself that if I can't keep her safe then she had to stay with you." The Doctor persisted. "Rose, don't hate me."
The Doctor sank to his knees and sat with his back to the door. Jack sat next to him.
"Rose?" Asked Jack. "Can we come in?"
"Who is that?" Burst out Jackie.
"His name's Jack he's another friend who's been travelling with us." Rose replied.
"My own daughter travelling with two strange men!"
"They're not strange!"
"You know as fun as this is could we please act our age and have a proper conversation on the same side of the door?" Asked the Doctor shifting himself slightly. Jack laughed but hastily turned it into a cough when he caught the look on the Doctor's face.
The door opened suddenly causing the Doctor to fall onto his back. This time Jack couldn't help but laugh.
"My name's Jack Harkness, pleased to meet you." Jack held his hand out to Jackie who took it.
"Well hello," said Jackie eyeing Jack up and down.
"Mum!" Said Rose coming through as the Doctor stood up. "Don't encourage him, he'll pull anything if stands still long enough."
"Oi," Jack said in mock outrage.
"Come in and I'll get you a cup of tea," Jackie said leading them in.
"What about me?" Asked the Doctor frowning as he and Jack sat down in the living room.
"When you break my daughters heart you forfeit any tea rights you had." Jackie murmured as she left for the kitchen. Rose was curled up in a chair opposite the Doctor.
"Rose, look if there were any other way…" the Doctor began but Rose cut him short.
"Just take me with you. We've been through world war three, defeated a whole troupe of Dalek ships and seen the earth destroyed from space but not a single hair on my head has been hurt. The only pain I've suffered is the pain I'm going through now. Please let me come back, the TARDIS is like my home now," Rose babbled quickly so the Doctor couldn't interrupt.
There was a pause after she said that in which both the Doctor and Rose glanced at Jack.
"I'll go help your Mum with the tea," He said catching on and standing up. Once he had shut the door behind him the Doctor stood up and began pacing.
"The only reason I don't want you to come is because I couldn't bear it if you died… I've had too many comrades fall because of me." The Doctor said keeping his back to her. Rose stood up and wandered over to him, placing a hand on his shoulder.
"Doctor, do you still believe, even after all these months we've been together, that you will ever get rid of me?" Rose squeezed his shoulder reassuringly.
"I'm scared Rose, these emotions are too human for me. I don't understand them." The Doctor chuckled half-heartedly. "I can remain calm when facing two thousand ships full of Dalek's or when it looks like the Slitheen are about to eat us, but I'm afraid of a few emotions."
Rose suddenly realised how different yet very similar she and the Doctor were. It was the bond between them that made him feel this way, a bond that had more than once been on the brink of breaking.
"I don't either, but as long as we're together it'll be all right won't it?" Rose asked, but she didn't really need an answer. The Doctor turned round and hugged his best friend.
"You, Rose Tyler, are one in a million," he said; he really meant it and Rose knew.
Jack shut the kitchen door behind him.
"Their having one of their domestic moments," he said quietly to Jackie. She merely tutted and rolled her eyes.
"I don't know why she's so mad about him or why he insist on breaking her heart." Jackie poured tea into four mugs. Though she didn't like the Doctor she knew Rose would complain if he wasn't given a cup of tea.
"They worship each other yet they can't see what's right under their noses," Jack smiled to himself.
"See what?" Asked Jackie bemused.
"Can't you see it? Jackie they're falling in love, they're just too stupid to admit it to themselves or each other." Jack took the cup of tea Jackie passed to him. Jackie's eyes widened.
"I know he's into the hugging, handholding, touching thing, but he's an alien, I thought that was normal for him," Jackie said sipping her tea.
"Well it is, he does that with most people, well the hugging anyway, but that's how he's created such a strong bond with Rose. That's probably why they're falling for each other. They just click." Jack shrugged.
Jackie put the other cups on a tray along with a plate of biscuits and pushed open the living room door.
"Tea," Jackie said as the Doctor and Rose let go of each other.
"I thought you didn't do domestic?" Jack asked smiling as he sat down in his chair. The Doctor and Rose joined him.
"Don't get cocky." The Doctor warned. "Thanks Jackie."
Rose mumbled something about them going for a walk when they'd finished their tea and the Doctor nodded knowing it was just an excuse to get away from Jackie.
Half an hour later the Doctor, Rose and Jack were wandering down the street towards the corner shop. They weren't speaking but not because they hated each other, they just preferred silent companion ship. Rose took the Doctors hand and their fingers intertwined; a sign of forgiveness. Jack tutted but Rose ignored him, the Doctor on the other hand didn't.
"Aww, little Jack feeling left out?" He said in a mock baby voice. "You can hold my hand if you like."
"You don't mind if I pass on that one do you?" Jack replied sarcastically. "Besides, I know holding Rose's hand is strictly your territory."
The Doctor scowled but made no other comment. Rose merely smiled to herself. They were so childish sometimes.
"Rose, you have to promise me one thing," the Doctor whispered after a minute. Rose looked puzzled but didn't say anything. "I'll take you with me if you promise to come back if it gets too much."
Rose nodded. She knew in her heart it would never get too much. They reached the corner shop and she stopped.
"Wait here a minute," she said nipping inside.
The Doctors hand began to go cold without the warmth of Rose's own.
"Why don't you tell her?" Jack hissed as he watched Rose taking something off the shelf and going to pay for it.
"Why? It would only cause more pain." The Doctor replied leaning against the shop window. Jack frowned, he knew it would be better for all three if the Doctor and Rose admitted to each other that they were in love.
Rose came back out the shop holding three packets of sweets. She gave one to the Doctor, one to Jack and held onto the third.
"What are they?" Asked the Doctor looking down at the packet.
"They're called 'Love Hearts'. There's a funny message on each one and you give them to people so they know how you feel about them." Rose smiled slightly.
Jack shot the Doctor a significant look but the Doctor ignored him.
"Thought they'd be funny when we're bored in the TARDIS," Rose pocketed her packet, as did the Doctor and Rose.
"I suppose you want to go then?" Asked the Doctor.
"I'll tell Mum, you two go to the TARDIS," Rose said.
The three of them made their way back and Rose left the Doctor and Jack by the TARDIS. Jack waited until Rose was out of earshot before he started on at the Doctor.
"It's perfect!" He said as the two of them entered the TARDIS. "You give her one of the sweets with 'I love you' written on it and she'll soon get the message!"
"Let's not and say we did," the Doctor replied. "Besides, who said I loved her?"
"Oh, come on Doctor. Even Jackie can see it." Jack exclaimed. He took the packet out of his pocket, opened it and threw an 'I love you' one at the Doctor.
"Aww, Jack! I never knew you felt that way." The Doctor teased.
"Give it to Rose," Jack said ignoring his comment.
They could hear Rose thundering through the yard towards the TARDIS.
"Fine, if you'll lay of my back I'll do it." The Doctor gave in. He knew in his heart that Rose wouldn't realise the significance of the sweet. But when the door flew open the sweet and everything else flew out of his mind.
"Doctor, Jack, it's my Mum, she's gone!" Cried Rose tears streaming down her face for the third time in less than two hours.