The next morning, it was unclear whether Bella had stayed in the Tardis or not. But it seemed that she and the Doctor shared a love of getting up early, and as a sleepy Rose made her way to breakfast, she met Bella already on her way out.
"I'm off to work. Don't let him leave without saying goodbye, alright? See ya!" was her cheery greeting.
Jack received an equally light-hearted "Morning, hunky!" as he emerged from his own room.
"She is NOT my girlfriend!" the Doctor replied, slightly defensively, to his companion's inevitable questions. "She never has been. We're just friends."
Jack rolled his eyes. "Oh, I've heard that one before."
"So why haven't you been to visit her for ages then?" Rose asked over her toast.
The Doctor looked down at the table, and Rose felt suddenly guilty, as she suspected the reason.
"After the time war…" he began softly, and Rose's suspicions were confirmed, "….I wasn't ready. She just….reminded me of a previous life. Bella can be a little bit insensitive sometimes."
"I think she's expecting you to hang around for a bit," said Rose, wanting to lift the mood.
"Well, yeah. D'you mind?"
"'Course not. Plenty more shops to explore yet!"
"I don't mind hanging around either. Rose is right. There IS more to explore," Jack said with a twinkle in his eye.
"And I don't mind if you… make a move on Bella," the Doctor replied to Jack's unspoken question, and both men grinned. "But I'm warning you now, you might've met your match in her…"
Jack merely grinned even wider.
But as it turned out, they would be meeting up with Bella sooner than first thought. They had barely stepped out of the Tardis when the Doctor's mobile phone rang.
This set Rose off into giggles; she had secretly changed his ringtone to the Eastenders soundtrack. She tried to revert to an innocent face as he gave her a look, and when that failed, she began to wonder who was calling him. She didn't know many people who would have the phone number of a time-travelling alien.
The Doctor ended the call, and turned to face them. "You two up for an adventure?"
"Involving what, exactly?"
He grinned. "How about a shape-shifting alien loose in the national police HQ?"