He remembered what Rose had said to him within minutes of being back on board the TARDIS.

"We are so going to visit Mum. She'll wonder where we've been! What if she's been trying to call us?"

Having sent her to bed hours ago, he prepared himself for seeing Jackie again. It wasn't that he didn't like Rose's mother. It was just he wasn't so keen on being slapped or shouted at or otherwise abused. Even if he did deserve it. He wondered how much Rose would tell her. About losing her face. About being abandoned on a planet falling into a black hole. He deserved a thousand slaps for each of them. He didn't know if he could even look Jackie in the eye and promise her again, like she made him every time she saw him, to keep her daughter safe and to bring her back home every time. It had been a close call this time. Maybe they shouldn't go so far away, he mused, as he lay on his bed. Maybe in the future they should stay closer to Earth, closer to her time. He had a feeling Rose wouldn't stand for that. She'd demand to know what was going on and why he was being so pathetically cautious. To be honest, he didn't think he could live like that.

Back when her face had been stolen, he'd found himself panicking, not being able to remember exactly what she looked like. He'd get the smile right in his mental image, but the eyes all wrong. Yet down in that pit, she was all he could think about, all he could imagine. Her face had haunted him, had kept him going. Because he had to get back to her. He wasn't about to leave her behind again.

He was restless this evening, wanting to be doing something to try and take his mind off of what had happened today, what the Beast had said. The valiant child who will die in battle so soon. He had told Rose it meant nothing, but he wasn't so sure. He'd seen what that creature was and he'd believed it. Maybe it was right. Rose dying. That was a new concept for him.

Leaving his room he made his way to her bedroom. She had left her light on. He wondered if she'd just been too tired to get up and turn it off, or if she just needed some security tonight. She looked quite peaceful. His Rose.

Trying to define their relationship today had been strange. He'd never even tried to put a label on it before. She was just Rose, he was just the Doctor. The Doctor and Rose. He couldn't think of a title they could put on it. Best friends. Partners. Companions. Soulmates. No matter what he tried, nothing quite fit. She was more than all of it, more than any words could explain. She was…

"How long have you been standing there?"

He jumped as she sat up, bleary eyed, and stretched.

"Not long," he stuttered. "Just passing by. You left your light on."

"Yeah. I didn't fancy darkness tonight," she admitted. She looked at her bedside clock. "It's late. Well, I think it is. Is it?"

He smiled. The time thing was one of the hardest parts of the TARDIS. He nodded. "Yeah, it is pretty late. I couldn't sleep."

"Lucky you!" Rose yawned loudly. "It's not much fun when you get there."

"Bad dreams again?" Sometimes he found her sobbing into her pillow, still fast asleep.

"Just a few," Rose agreed sleepily. "Today was… not that fun."

"No, I know." He sat down on the bed. "Sorry."

"It wasn't your fault. Hey, you saved the day!" She grinned. "Which I suppose I ought to thank you for."

"You don't have to thank me for anything," he replied. "It's the just the common folk that need to do that."

Rose nodded, smiling. "Well in that case, if I really don't have anything to thank you for…"

"Why do I sense I'm going to be asked to do something?" he asked, pulling a face.

Rose blushed slightly. "Sorry. But would you mind… sleeping in here with me tonight? It's fine if you don't want to, I just… feel safer when you're around."

There was nothing he'd rather do.

"Go on then!" he said, mock-grudgingly. "Shove over."

Both settled in bed, he propped himself up one on elbow.

"I suggest this is one thing we don't tell your mum about," he joked.

"I second that," Rose agreed. "Thanks for staying."

"That's okay." He waited a long time before continuing, in a much softer voice, ruffling some of the hairs on her pillow. "I feel safer when you're around too." There was no response from her. "Rose?" Then he smiled and pulled the duvet up more around her as she slept. Turning over, he closed his eyes and went to sleep.