"How comes Mickey can come this time?"
He turned round and looked at her. She had that look on her face again. She was unhappy. No, she was upset. Actually, it was that delightful mix between the two; she was pissed off beyond belief and she intended to find answers and probably take some of her annoyance out on him.
"What do you mean?" He stalled for time, wondering if he could make a break down the corridor and lock himself in a bathroom to escape her. Knowing the TARDIS though, she'd let Rose through. These women tended to gang up on him.
"Well, the last time I suggested it, you said no," Rose reminded him. "You said you wouldn't have him around. You said it would get complicated."
"Well, new new Doctor, new new outlook." He beamed, hoping it would work. It was strange; even after all this time, he still believed in hope.
Rose raised her eyebrows without changing her expression. "You can't keep using that excuse."
"Getting a bit old, isn't it?"
"Just a bit."
He scratched behind his ear. "I don't know, I thought you'd like having him along. Some company for you."
"I don't need more company. I've got you." She was talking without blushing now. He remembered when she was embarrassed by being around him, saying certain things to him. Now she didn't seem to mind.
"You know what I mean." He shrugged. "You and him… you don't get to spend much time together, you hardly ever see him."
Rose met his eyes guiltily, and this time at least had the good grace to blush. "I'd have stayed at home if I wanted to spend all my time with Mickey. Anyway, that's not a real answer. Adam would have been company for me."
"Oh, God, him!" The Doctor nearly choked in exasperation. "Are we still going on about him?" He sighed. "I guess after Jack… I just thought you might like someone a bit more-"
"More what?" Rose interrupted.
"Normal. More your age." He shrugged. "Sorry. I didn't realise it would be that big a deal."
"It's not." Rose hesitated before continuing. "Unless he's just company for when you abandon me."
The Doctor turned back round to face her, not believing what he was hearing. "I'm sorry?"
"Well. Sarah-Jane had no-one when you left her. Except the tin dog." Rose shrugged. "I just figured… well, if Mickey was with me, wherever you ended up dumping me-"
"That's not going to happen!" he said exasperatedly.
"That's what you say now."
"I've said it dozens of times! How many times do I need to say it, Rose?" He was almost shouting. "I'm not going to just leave you somewhere like that, I'm not going to chuck you out without so much as a goodbye."
"I bet you said that to her once too." Rose was strangely distant. "What did she do to deserve it?"
"Nothing!"
"But there must have been something!" Rose glared at him suddenly. "I have a right to know, don't I? So I can avoid it myself, or at least prepare myself for it. Did she make it too domestic or something? Did she wander off too often or make your tea wrong or hog the TV?" She was becoming slightly hysterical. He'd never seen her so upset, even after meeting her father. This had obviously been bothering her all day, maybe longer.
"Rose," he said warningly, wanting her to stop pushing him.
"What? I want to know!" Tears fell down her face. "I need to know. Please."
He shoved a hand in his pocket and looked down at the floor. "She got too close. I'd become too dependent on her." He shrugged. "I was scared, I guess. Typical man, eh?"
Rose sniffed loudly and wiped her face. "Is that it? You… you chucked her out because…" She gulped loudly. "Without saying goodbye?"
"I had to go back to Gallifrey, I couldn't take her with me." He sighed. "I said I'd be back for her. But I… I lied I guess. Always moving on."
Rose nodded. She took a deep breath. "So where does that leave me?"
He looked up and met her eye. "Here. With me. If you want."
She smiled slightly shame-facedly, with sticky tear marks down her face. "You know I want."
He smiled back. "Good."
"But promise me one thing."
"What?"
"You'll say goodbye."
There was a long wait while he turned the request over in his mind. He hated goodbyes, they were so final. They made the present into the past, and he really hated that. But she'd asked.
He nodded. "I promise. I'll say goodbye."
Rose nodded back. "Thank you," she said softly, before brushing the last few tears away. She smiled, colour rushing into her cheeks again. "So anyway, where were we?"
"Bitching about Ricky if I remember rightly," the Doctor teased. "You better go and make sure he doesn't touch anything important."
"Yeah." Rose nodded. "Okay."
As she walked away, he thought about what he'd just admitted. He'd admitted he'd got too close to someone. That that was the reason he'd let them go. But he was already far closer to Rose than he'd ever been to Sarah-Jane. And yet he didn't want to let her go. This wasn't the first time the paranoia had risen, and he was sure it wouldn't be the last. But she had nothing to fear; he'd never let her go.
