"Hey, John!" Jeff greeted the Doctor with the cheerfulness of someone oblivious to the tension. "Have a seat, mate."

"I'll stand, thanks," the Doctor said through clenched teeth. "Rose?"

"I'm comfortable where I am, thanks," she said in a deceptively light voice. "Want a beer?"

Billy cleared his throat uncomfortably at the defiant tone in her voice. He was easily picking up on the tension that Jeff was missing.

"We should go," he said with a warning glance at Jeff.

"You weren't at the shop tonight," the Doctor said in a deceptively calm voice, ignoring Billy.

"Well, we closed up. Time to go home," she said lightly, reaching over and taking a sip of Billy's beer.

Jeff finally realized something was going on, and he was smart enough to know that he probably wanted no part of it. "Do you two need to be alone?"

"No," Rose said adamantly, at the same time the Doctor snapped, "Yes. Leave."

Billy swallowed a chuckle. "I think Jeff and I will go wait for Kitty."

"Excellent idea!" Jeff agreed in relief, and hastily scooped up all the food he could reach. "See you!"

"Doctor." Billy gathered up their drinks. "I'll see you later."

"Billy," was all the Doctor said.

"You're being very rude," Rose said in annoyance, glancing around to see if anyone was listening. No one was.

He stood with his hands clenched at his sides. "Let's go home. Now."

The pub's radio could be heard in the silence that followed. The Beatles were crooning "I wanna hold your hand," and Rose found this oddly appropriate, even though it was the last thing she wanted right now.

She pursed her lips and pretended to think about this for a long moment.

"No," she said deliberately.

He breathed in deeply and leaned down closer to her. His tie brushed her cheek. "Is this really a discussion you want to have in the middle of a pub?"

Rose hissed out her breath and stood up, forcing her chair back so hard it slammed into the Doctor's shins. He cursed and jumped back.

"Ow!"

"Fine. We'll go home." She grabbed her bag and coat and left the pub as fast as she could. He had to scramble after her to catch up.

They walked back to the flat, Rose just a step or two ahead of him no matter how quickly he tried to move. Neither one spoke. Rose refused to look at him, and he was so angry he was practically sparking with it.

At one point on the pavement they had to turn to avoid a young couple holding an earnest conversation in the middle of the walk. Shifting around them, Rose found herself face to face with a wall covered with announcements and concert fliers.

One of the advertised concerts was for the Bad Wolf band.

She froze in shock for a moment and then turned away angrily. The Doctor looked to see what had upset her and scowled upon seeing the name. He pulled the paper from the wall, crumpling it in his hand and shoving it into his pocket as he followed her.

He held the main door open for her when they reached their building and she swept inside without acknowledging him. She unlocked the door to the flat and went inside without waiting for him. He managed to catch the door before it slammed shut in his face.

That was the final straw for him.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" he demanded before the door locked shut behind him. "I've told you and I've told you that it's not safe to be alone right now!"

She looked surprised. "Really? You have?" She widened her eyes in exaggerated innocence.

"Why have I been coming back to London early each night, if not to make sure you get home safely?" he asked angrily, dropping his satchel on the floor.

"I have no idea, since you didn't come to meet me tonight." She pressed her lips tight together, trying to take the words back, hating to admit that she'd been waiting for him.

"I did come meet you!" he all but shouted. "And what do you do but leave without me!"

Rose felt that she was possibly in the wrong, and about much more than just walking home alone, but she was not going to give in.

"You weren't there in time. I didn't think you were coming." Even Rose could hear the petulance in her voice.

"Should I have requested the pleasure of your company?" he asked sarcastically. "It's not like you've been a joy to be around these past few days."

His words stung, even though she knew they were true, so she chose another tact. "I can take care of myself. It's not like this place is a danger zone."

"No, this place is a danger zone! You have to be careful, Rose! Someone or something is killing off strangers here and leaving blood behind. It isn't safe!"

"I don't need you to hold my hand. One little walk isn't the end of the world!"

"Do you even know how difficult it's been for me?" he demanded, stripping off his suit jacket and throwing it on the floor. "It's a right pain being a student, with demands left, right and center. And here I am like the world's biggest pushover, leaving work early and riding the bloody train for hours each day to make sure you're safe, and when I finally get there you're not even waiting for me!"

"I didn't ask you to do those things!" Rose snapped, kicking off her shoes and dropping her bag on a chair, where it immediately tipped over and emptied its contents onto the floor and over her feet. "Dammit!" She scooped up her things and headed back to the bedroom, where she dumped everything on the floor.

"I did it to make sure you were safe!" He yanked angrily on his tie to loosen the knot as he followed her into the room.

"I don't need to be kept safe!" She shrugged out of her coat and stood there glaring at him.

"You need to be kept safe more than anyone on this planet!" he corrected her. He sagged suddenly, losing the angry stiff posture he'd had up to now.

"How long are you going to hold this against me, Rose?" the Doctor asked in a quiet voice. "We have to survive this stay no matter what. I told you why I did what I did. Maybe it wasn't the best way. I felt it was the only way to protect us both. But you keep making me pay for it."

Rose latched onto the one thing she knew was justified in being angry about. "Yes, survive! For how long? How long are we going to be stuck in this miserable time and place?" Her voice broke, and to her horror she finally realized what the problem was. Not the Doctor leaving her to go to the police station, not his over-protectiveness. Not his being late tonight. It was the fear of never going back home. The fear made her lash out and say what she had only been brave enough to think to herself.

"We don't have to be here! You said yourself that you're here in this time, didn't you? You could find him! He could take us back home. You could tell your old self what to expect in the future and he could stop the Time War! You could change everything!"

"Yes, I could!" he shouted. "I could tell him to avoid all kinds of problems, and who to save, and what to do! I could tell him how to stop the Time War! My people would survive! I've thought about it, lord knows I have. My people would survive and to hell with the consequences. But then I never meet you!"

He shocked himself with his own admission. He stood perfectly still, staring at her with wild eyes.

Rose's face turned white. And then suddenly, inexplicably, she started to laugh.

His mouth dropped open as he watched her laugh at him, and the last remaining shred of decency within him vanished. In two quick strides he was across the room and he was holding her head still with his hands and kissing her.

Rose was unprepared for that, and she froze as his mouth touched hers, still open with laughter. He didn't kiss her the way he had that other night. This was a hard, desperate kiss, as if he were determined to hurt her. She could have shoved him away. Instead her arms went up around him and she kissed him back, so hard that she tasted blood on his lips.

"No," she whispered when he pulled away.

"Yes," he countered, and kissed her again.

She struggled to pull away. "Don't you dare kiss me in anger!"

"Do I look angry?" he asked in amusement. She searched his face, trying to find the answer to this latest puzzling behavior. The euphoria he'd been feeling faded. "Are you all right?"

She grabbed him and kissed him back.

"Rose," he murmured, moving on to kiss her neck.

"Yes, Doctor?" she asked breathlessly, arching her back to get closer to him.

"Rose, tell me to stop."

"What? Why? No."

"Tell me. Tell me to stop."

"Don't stop."

He continued to kiss her, his hands twisting in her hair until it fell free of its pins. She kissed him, clutching tightly to his collar as if she was afraid he would disappear. They made some slight movement and Rose almost lost her balance when she stepped on her coat, still crumpled up on the floor. The Doctor caught her and moved them away, still kissing her.

His leg bumped into the bed and he continued to kiss her while pushing her down onto it.

He pushed harder than he meant to and she fell onto the mattress, finally breaking the kiss as she gasped for air. And then she raised her arms to him, bringing him close once more.

He made one last bid for a conscience. They really, really shouldn't be doing this.

"Rose," he whispered, determined to make her see reason and not do something she might regret.

"Shut up," she told him, drawing his head back down to hers, and that was good enough for him.

"All right," he conceded, "but I feel that I ought to-"

"Doctor, do you really want to hold a conversation right now, or do you want to help me get undressed?"

It was not often that she managed to shock him speechless, and Rose made a note to remember that particular remark.

It was some time later when Rose awoke from a brief doze. The streetlights were on outside and it was silent in the flat. She looked around the small room and was surprised and relieved to see that the Doctor was lying beside her.

"Hello," he greeted her.

She was struck by a sudden shyness and pulled the sheet up.

"Hi. Guess I fell asleep."

"Just for twenty minutes or so."

"Oh. Sorry."

"You have nothing to be sorry for," he assured her, and even in the faintly lit room she could see the expression on his face. A mixture of amazement and gratitude and a spark of happiness that she hadn't ever seen on his face before.

She rather fancied it matched the look on her own face.

He leaned over to kiss her, dislodging the sheet that was covering them both.

She mumbled something about being happy, and he pulled back to look at her.

"This isn't happiness, Rose," he corrected her. "It's joy."

"Tell me what you like," he said much later, trailing his fingers over her stomach. They were lying in the bed, tangled up in the sheets. Sometime in the night Rose had put on her pink nightgown and handed him an old T-shirt and the pajama bottoms that he never wore. He'd put them on without comment, signaling to her that he meant to stay the night in her bed even though he didn't sleep.

It was a gesture that said more than words ever could.

She stretched and smiled slowly. His fingers moved to trace patterns at the top of her nightgown.

"What I like?"

"Mmm." He leaned forward and kissed her neck. Moonlight came in through the window and made patterns on his hair.

"Everything. Does that narrow things down?"

"Immeasurably," he assured her. He kissed her, sliding his free hand down to the curve of her waist and pulling her closer to him. She moved restlessly against him as his hand moved under the gown to touch her skin. And then, "Are you sure? It's almost midnight-"

"I don't care what time it is, anywhere in the universe." Rose cuddled closer to him to allow his hands better access. "Do you?"

"For the first time, no. No, I don't."

It was the next morning, as they lay there in the early hours before it was time to get up for the day, that something struck her memory. Rose had a small jolt of panic. "Doctor."

Despite his protestations that Time Lords needed very little sleep, his eyes were closed. "Mmm?"

"Could...could this have started a baby?" she asked hesitantly. "I'm not...we didn't use anything."

He was quiet for a long time. "No," he said finally. "Our biology is...compatible, but it would take considerable assistance to conceive a child, and we don't have the proper technology for that here."

Her heart skipped a beat. "Are you sure?"

"I may look human, Rose, but I'm not."

She tried to put her thoughts and emotions into some sort of order. That first jolt of panic hadn't quite left her.

"Okay." She took a deep breath, willing her heart to stop racing. A pregnancy, here and now, was the very last thing either of them needed or wanted. Whether or not he was convinced of the impossibility of that, she preferred to take all necessary precautions.

"I can hear your thoughts racing from over here."

She shrugged, a gesture that he couldn't see very well. "It's just...you say something absolutely is or isn't, and then you're proven wrong."

"Oh, that hurts, Rose Tyler."

She smiled. "Do you blame me? Is anything really an absolute?"

Once he would have thought so. Being separated from the TARDIS - absolutely impossible. Lost in time - could never happen. Rose Tyler in his bed? Ah, now there was something that he would have sworn would never, ever occur, and look how delightfully wrong he had been about that.

He vowed to put her mind at ease, and to not lie to her. Sometimes the two were mutually exclusive.

"There is always a chance a baby could happen, Rose. The odds are incredibly, incredibly low that it would have happened last night."

"But the odds still exist," she persisted.

He was uncomfortable, but he answered. "Yes." And then, after a long minute of silence, he confessed, "I would prefer that it didn't."

"Me, too." Saying it out loud affirmed to Rose just how strongly she meant that. "I can take care of it. I mean, assuming that we...that you and I...will be doing this again."

Suddenly the tension over an unplanned pregnancy was gone. She could see him smile in the dim light.

"If it's up to me, we will definitely be doing this again," he assured her.

She rolled over onto her side so she could face him better. Her world had changed completely overnight, and now he was no longer the mysterious, infuriating creature he was before.

Well, he probably still was infuriating, she allowed to herself with a secret grin. At least now he was someone she'd shared herself with. It was a relief to have those barriers knocked down.

Her alarm clock went off, and the Doctor turned it off without turning away from her. She sighed and cuddled up against him.

"Wish we didn't have to get up," she grumbled. He smelled of aftershave and his shampoo and something else that was just him, and she never wanted to move again.

His hands moved through her hair, lifting it up and running it through his fingers before letting it float back down.

"Seems a shame to have to leave just when things are getting so fun," he agreed in amusement.

She giggled. "I call the bath."

They'd never had a morning like this before, on the TARDIS or anywhere else. Instead of getting ready in private, with no interaction until they were both fully dressed, they shared an easy conversation, Rose brushing her hair in the bathroom mirror while he shaved in his undershirt. He felt free to tell her that he didn't care for the current trend of false eyelashes, and she finally felt comfortable enough to tell him that he looked incredibly handsome in his trousers.

"Do you fancy some tea?" the Doctor asked as he rinsed his face and applied some aftershave.

Rose nudged him away from the sink so she could apply some mascara.

"I do! And maybe some toast?"

"I'll put the kettle on, eh?" He gave a final swipe to his hair and then focused on Rose. She was wearing a long-sleeved white blouse tucked neatly into a navy and white striped skirt. The blouse buttoned up the back and gaped open at her shoulders.

He waited until Rose had set her mascara down and started buttoning it up.

She made a sound of pleasure in her throat. "Thanks." His hands moved, and she chuckled.

"There aren't any buttons there."

"Just making sure."

She turned and kissed him. "Thanks."

They held hands on the way to work, the Doctor insisting on walking her to the shop since he had no morning classes that day. Rose felt light and giddy, happier than she could ever remember feeling. As they waited for Iris to unlock the door he kissed her goodbye, dropping his bag to the ground to wrap his arms around her. Rose responded in kind, wishing her coat wasn't quite so thick. The sound of someone clearing their throat brought them back to reality, and they hastily broke apart.

Jim stood there in his black leather jacket, arms folded and watching them with an amused expression on his face.

"Morning."

The Doctor cleared his throat. "Good morning."

Rose smiled and accepted her bag from the Doctor. It had slipped from her grasp during their kiss. "Morning, Jim." She flushed when she saw Iris at the door, holding it open with a look of amusement.

Jim moved past them into the shop, and Rose and the Doctor looked at one another.

"I wish I didn't have to go to the university today," he admitted in a low voice.

"Me too," she said wistfully. "But there's always tonight."

His eyes darkened. "There absolutely is, Rose Tyler. I'll ring you if I'm running late. Promise you won't go out tonight alone."

Rose was proud of the way she restrained herself from rolling her eyes. He spoke not because he needed to control her, but out of fear.

"Promise." She held her hand up in an approximation of a salute. He chuckled and gave her one last kiss before opening the door to the shop.

"See you tonight."

"Bye." Rose locked the door behind her, watching him as he walked away down the street, swinging his satchel in a jauntier manner than usual. She wouldn't have been surprised if he was whistling.

"Ready for work?"

Rose jerked around. Iris stood there, watching her with a small smile on her face.

"Absolutely." Rose realized she had a huge grin on her face and hastily stopped smiling. Was she really so transparent?

"It looks like you and John are on better terms." That was all Iris would say on the subject, because Rose's marriage was a very private matter as far as she was concerned.

Rose smiled. "We are."

"I'm glad." Iris turned away in time to see Jim on the far side of the shop, gearing up to put the finishing touches on a wooden display he'd built.

"You've gotten sawdust all over the floors!" she cried.

Jim looked confused. "No, I haven't. My tools aren't even plugged in."

Iris pointed accusingly at the floor in front of the sales counter. "Look at all that!"

Rose stepped up beside her. There was indeed a line of sawdust all over the floor.

"It's on the rug, too." Iris's voice was full of condemnation.

"I'm sorry. I didn't think anything had gotten over there."

"You need to supervise your work crew more closely!" Iris went to get the carpet sweeper.

Rose felt bad for Jim, who still looked confused. "It's just some dust, yeah?"

"But we haven't been working on any wood pieces," he said.

"Maybe the wind blew it over," Rose suggested.

Jim worked on the menswear side by himself, the only sounds coming from his small radio and the occasional thumps as he finished up his project. He looked annoyed that Iris would accuse him of making a mess.

Iris cleaned up, swept the entire shop floor for good measure, and put Rose to work marking down fall clothing. The work passed in a happy fog for Rose. Memories of the previous night kept coming back and she took pleasure in reliving them as she rang up customers and straightened shelves. It would almost be worth working in a shop forever, she thought dreamily, if it meant the Doctor would keep kissing her like he did last night.

Two of Jim's work team arrived in the shop and started helping him. The telephone rang and Iris hurried over to the sales counter to answer it.

Gradually she became aware of Iris speaking on the telephone. Rose came back to the world in time to help a few customers. Iris was just finishing her phone call an hour later.

"I should have gone into the back office for that," Iris fretted. "It looks so unprofessional, talking in front of the customers, but I wasn't expecting Mr. Troy to ring today."

"I don't think they noticed. They were too busy finding the right sizes. What kept you on so long?"

"He wants to have the grand opening in three weeks! I have to plan it all out. Will you help me?" Iris looked a little wild.

"Of course I will! What do we need to do?"

"First of all, we need to start putting out all the menswear that he's ordered."

"That's all the boxes in the back, yeah?" Rose thought of the multitude of boxes and then worried about what they would do to her delicate stockings. Maybe they could wait until tomorrow, and she could wear trousers to work.

"Does he really expect you two to move those heavy boxes from one end of the building to the other?" Jim had appeared before them in silence, his footsteps covered up by the pop music coming from his radio. "We'll move them out."

"That isn't your job," Iris began, but he fixed her with a stern glare.

"My mum would have my a - er, hide - if I stood back and let two women haul heavy boxes around." He quickly raised his hand to forestall Iris's rebuttal. "I don't doubt that you're both capable. I'm just suggesting that I could get it done much faster with Mark and Ben than the two of you could."

Iris looked ready to argue, which Rose thought was ridiculous.

"Iris, those boxes are heavy. Let them move them over and we can get to work." She emphasized her point by gently nudging Iris back to the sales counter.

"All right," Iris responded in a grudging tone. "They're all stacked up in the back."

Rose rolled her eyes. For someone who wasn't a fan of women's lib, Iris was certainly good at taking offense at a man's offer of help.

The remainder of the day passed quickly. Iris worked like mad on a customer list for the grand opening. Jim and his men had moved all of the boxes over to a corner of the menswear section, and Rose unpacked a box at a time. This involved unfolding items of clothing, shaking them out and putting them on hangers on the proper display rack. Soon she had a very sizable mound of tissue paper, tape and packing peanuts.

She only noticed it was five o'clock when Jim's radio switched off. Iris was as eager as she was to leave the shop, and soon everything was locked up. Rose waited impatiently on the street after Iris, Jim, Mark and Ben had gone. She was just about to check her watch when she saw him walking quickly down the street to her.

"Hello!" she greeted him, meeting him halfway.

"Have a good day?" He grabbed her hand and kept walking.

"It was good."

By unspoken, mutual consent they continued on home at a brisk pace, not even stopping to pick up the post. The Doctor ushered her up the stairs to the flat. He unlocked the door and waited only for her to lock it again before pulling her close and kissing her.

"I've wanted to do that all day," he said roughly, undoing the buttons on her coat. "All bloody day, I wanted to make sure I hadn't dreamed all of last night."

She was busy stripping his jacket from his shoulders and removing his tie. "That would have been one major dream."

"That's been my dream for as long as I can remember," he confessed.

She looked up at him and smiled. "Mine, too."

Laying in bed together, Rose stretched under the blankets and sighed happily. The Doctor tangled his fingers in her hair.

Instead of enjoying his touch and touching him in return, Rose took a deep breath. She felt safe and secure now, with him, and no longer feared that something she might say would destroy their relationship.

"Doctor."

Something in her voice made him stop his hands.

"Rose? Are you all right?"

"Doctor," she said again. "Are we...we're not leaving, are we?"

"Something tells me you're not referring to us leaving this bed for a bit of takeaway." He spoke lightly but he heard a sudden rush in his ears and his hearts began to beat faster.

"You know what I mean. Don't you?"

He sighed and fell back against the pillow. The bed wasn't very big, and the movement bounced Rose up and down slightly.

"I know what you mean," he answered quietly. "And...I don't know. I thought once we made the recording for Sally Sparrow time would somehow right itself."

"But it hasn't," she reminded him.

"No."

"So what do we do?"

"We can do nothing but wait. Even if we found myself in this time...it would change everything, to the point that you might not recognize your life or your world once we got back."

The panic threatened to swamp her, and even his nearness couldn't make that all right.

"So we're stuck here? I'm supposed to wait until the proper year again? I'll age, won't I? By the time we get back I'll be an old woman!"

He wiped her tears away. "I'm sorry, Rose. I'm so sorry this happened. All we can do now is wait it out."

"I don't want to wait it out. I want to go home." Her voice cracked.

She knew she was being selfish. He was just as lost as she was, but at least he knew that when he got back to the TARDIS he would not have lived out most of his life.

He stroked her hair as he cuddled her close, giving her what comfort he could. Eventually, she sniffed one last time.

"I'm sorry. Here I am going on about home, and you don't have a home anymore. I didn't mean to remind you of them."

With a small jolt of surprise he realized that by home she meant his people, his planet. He had been thinking of his TARDIS. And then he came to another realization. The thought made him smile.

"Ah, Rose." He kissed her forehead. "You are my home. I've never felt as safe and happy as when I'm with you."

"Really?"

"Absolutely."

"Even in a dingy flat in the wrong time?"

"Especially then."