A/N: Okay, so what was a dark chapter before should turn into sunshine and lollipops now. Dedicated to miss kiwi for reasons only you and I will ever understand. ENJOY!

The news of Mickey's suicide rocked the Powell estates. Condolences were given to those closest to Mickey, Rose included. The day of his funeral came and a huge crowd turned out to pay their final respects. For Rose, dressing in black would've been disrespectful due to fact she wasn't married to Mickey. She opted for a black jumper with her black denim jeans. The Doctor, dressed in his usual. It was snowing when it came time to bury Mickey's body and the tears had reached its climax. Rose couldn't help it. She tried to be strong. Tried to remember when things were darker. The time she nearly lost the Doctor to regeneration, the time Jack was taken from their grasp. The Daleks. The Time War. Anything. Nothing helped.

"And now, we grant upon you eternal rest. May you rest in peace," the priest concluded. It was time for the coffin to be lowered into the ground. Rose quickly threw her daffodil onto the coffin and ran off.

The Doctor followed her quickly apologising to the crowd. "Rose! Rose! Hey, hey, it's okay. Come on," he comforted. He pulled her close and gently kissed her hair.

"It's just, so hard. Mickey was there from the beginning," Rose sobbed.

The Doctor saw her devastation and wiped away her tears with his thumb. She gave him a watery smile. However Mickey's parents coming over to talk to her over shined this little moment of happiness.

"Rose, we need to talk," came the firm and don't you dare disobey me voice of Lucinda Smith.

"Yes Lucinda," came Rose's reply.

"Alone," she snapped at the Doctor, who was baffled by this angry mother.

"I'm sorry. She just needs answers for closure," replied Claude Smith quietly.

The Doctor nodded kissed Rose on the cheek and wandered back to the congregation.

"Rose, why?" was Lucinda's first question.

"I – I don't know," Rose lied. She knew Mickey had been jealous of her relationship with the Doctor and wanted revenge on the Doctor for taking Rose away on their wedding day.

"You don't know. I think you do and you're just not telling me. Anyway, moving on, what did you do to provoke it?" Lucinda retaliated.

"What do you mean what did I do? I never done nothin'!" Rose yelled. How dare Lucinda accuse her of provoking Mickey's suicide?

"You knew my son was in love with you and yet you still flaunted your relationship with that older man of yours. It was your fault he killed himself," she cried.

The Doctor heard this confrontation, and saw that Claude was edging away silently and lighting up a cigar. He ran to Rose's aid.

"No it wasn't! And don't you dare talk to her like that!" the Doctor harshly. It wasn't a shout, nor was it a simple statement. Rose noted that anyone would back down at that tone. It scared her sometimes too.

The Doctor then glared at Lucinda, took Rose's hand and went back to talk to Jackie, a woman who matched Lucinda with over-protectiveness.

"Oh Rose, sweetheart, everything will get better, I promise," Jackie Tyler comforted. She too could see that her daughter wasn't coping well.

Rose nodded, gave her mother a hug and then took the Doctor's hand a walked away. A movement that surprised her mother.

"Rose, what is it?" the Doctor asked. He was getting more and more worried about Rose by the minute.

"This is really hard for me to say, but I think we should spend some time apart. I don't want to leave the TARDIS, it's just that maybe we shouldn't be open about our relationship. Mickey knew it would hurt you most when he got me. And quite frankly I think you were right in calling him an idiot. Just imagine what any other enemies will try," Rose said quietly.

This statement broke the Doctor's hearts. "No," he whispered. "No!" he repeated, this time his volume louder and angrier.

The Doctor pulled her close and enveloped her in an embrace. Rose sobbed into his jacket. The snow fell around them; it was like the ending to a sad movie.

IOIOIOIOI

Rose had fallen asleep in his arms and the Doctor carried her to bed. He was about to climb in next to her, when a familiar thought came to mind, ' if you truly love her, you'll respect her wishes.' The Doctor could scream at his conscience but he kissed her gently on the forehead and went back into his old room.

Rose heard the Doctor leaving and thought she was going to cry again. But instead she wanted to laugh. It had been such a tiring day; all of her tears were dried up. She needed to laugh. So, she did.

The Doctor heard Rose's laughter and couldn't help but feel left out. He'd never noticed it before, but single beds are quite big…

Okay so I know it's short, but it's hard to write from such a dramatic climax; ie, the last chapter. I hope you liked this instalment, and please review. :-p