A/N: The genres are forever changing in this fic :P The next chapter I'd call drama genre, and the one after that tragedy/action/adventure. There is a slight element of humour, but it's kinda hard to slide in a joke or two when...well, y'know.
BIIIG thank you to all reviewers, love ya to bits:D

Next chapter of Lonely Angel will be posted on my birthday - Saturday 14th October GMT. ;)

Chapter 5 – Manly Meals

"So laddy, whatcha do?" Howard asked interestedly as the four sat around the dinner table in the sitting room. The Doctor glanced across the table at Rose uncertainly, who just shrugged back at him. Obviously Jackie hadn't quite got around to telling him yet.

"I'm a traveller," he answered truthfully, ignoring Rose's glare.

"That sounds a little interesting dontcha think Jackie?" Howard smiled happily at Jackie, who gave a small, genuine looking smile in reply, although The Doctor knew this was a horribly forced smile. And he also knew what Howard was trying to do. He was trying to weigh him up to see if he was good enough for Rose. From common sense, The Doctor deducted that the next question would be about Rose, definitely.

"So does Rose travel with you?"

There you go.

"Yeah, she's…" he trailed off leaving it hanging in the air, unsure of how to finish the sentence. "She's…she's my…my…"

"Say no more me laddy! I can read ya like a book." Howard winked, but The Doctor was 100 sure he'd got the wrong idea.

"We're not in a relationship," The Doctor said hastily, trying desperately to ignore both Jackie and Rose's accusing stares. "She's just a friend."

"Well me laddy, if you ever wanna get hitched I'd give you me blessing."

There was the ever so slight of pauses, before The Doctor nodded and smiled in gratitude.

"Thanks."

…Ugh.

He dared to look over at Jackie, but she seemed insistant on totally ignoring him altogether, poking her stew on the plate. Rose on the other hand, had broken out of her state of shock and was trying to stop herself from giggling out loud.

The silence that followed this short but interesting discussion came as something of a relief to The Doctor, only the sound of spoons hitting bowls could be heard clanging and clinging across the dinner table.

The Doctor had managed to eat everything in his bowl, and even the slices of bread forced down his throat by the ever-forceful Howard. He was actually quite proud of these accomplishments. Rose had always observed that he never ate as much as any other man, and if this was the average size of a 'manly meal', she was probably right.

Rose began to stack the dirty bowls together, but The Doctor stopped her with a steadfast arm.

"I'll do it," he insisted, getting onto his feet, needing to find an excuse to get out of the deadpan atmosphere. Rose nodded, squeezing his arm to signal she understood.

The Doctor closed the kitchen door behind him delicately, leaning heavily against the wood with his eyes lightly closed. This had only intended to be a quick ten-minute trip, and it was now strolling into two hours.

He could hear the voices of the discussing humans quite clearly through the wooden door as he trudged over to the dishwasher with the stack of four bowls clutched in his arms. Humans. Stupid apes. They seemed to think sound waves just bounced right back off a door, never to be heard by the person on the other side.

"I think he's a great lad Rose," Howard's reassuring voice said, "so long as those friends of yers don't get anywhere near him."

"What friends?" Rose asked, obviously puzzled.

"Trish, Shareen, Karissa, Paris…" Howard began to reel off a list of names one after the other, which was swiftly interrupted by Jackie,

"As much as I hate to admit it Rose, he's a bit of a looker now." The Doctor tried not to make retching sounds after this sentence, but all the same, glanced in the mirror and licked a finger, smoothing down an eyebrow before messing fondly with his hair. "Which means they're going to be all over him soon…" the voices trailed off as The Doctor became immensely absorbed in smoothing down his sideburns.

Infact, he was so distracted, that the sound of the kitchen door opening didn't register in his mind, and he could only spin around in surprise when a sharp finger suddenly prodded into his shoulder.

"Rose!" he gasped, clutching his hearts in alarm. "Don't do that!"

"I'm not to one wallowin' in my own vanity!" she countered, reaching a hand up to smooth down his sideburns for him. "And look, I've mellowed down mum a bit for ya. Just 'ang around for a bit till you can look each other in the eye for more than five seconds, then we'll go. What d'you say?"

The Doctor looked slightly dubious, but before he could even reply Rose had taken his hand in her own, dragging him into the sitting room where he knew he wouldn't be able to escape…for the entire night.

----------

Once again The Doctor found himself staring at the familiar mass of holes in the ceiling above his head as once more they watched television, this time with Jackie and Howard in each other's embrace on the second sofa.

This sitcom was even worse than the last one, cheesy jokes and clichéd storylines all over the place. So, in all respect, The Doctor was sort of glad when the advert break came. He felt Rose snuggle closer into him, and was aware of his blood pressure rising. No. He wouldn't let it. He was totally cool about it. No problems.

"Comfort know the importance of soft clothes…" the voice over said, with a giant image of a baby sleeping on the screen. "That's why our research is supported by the British Skin Foundation…"

Rose stared at the advert, the squeaky voice on the other end of the line coming back to haunt her…

"I'm gonna get you, your Timelord and your baby a one way ticket to oblivion."

Maybe later she'd get a pregnancy tester – just to reassure herself there was absolutely nothing in her abdomen apart from her own vital organs.

"Huggie's new stretchy nappies…stretchificated!" Babies leapt about the screen, and Rose felt herself get even more rigid. This was unnerving; the fact that every advert during this break so far had been in some relation to babies. She could feel her heart starting to pump twice the speed it should have been as she slowly got more and more doubtful about her confidence that she had nothing down there…

"If you're a homeowner and you need a loan, why not call us, the C.H.E.A.P.B.A.S.T.A.R.D Homeowner Loan Giver People…"

She breathed a sigh of relief.

"So YOU can feed your baby!"

Great.

"Did you know, 3/10 women get pregnant despite being on the pill?"

She began to fidget, obviously on a knife's edge.

"Smoking can seriously affect the blood flow to your penis…"

"If you're 16-20 and you need advice on sexual relationsh-"

"FOR GOD'S SAKE, I GET THE MESSAGE!" Rose suddenly screamed, tearing away from The Doctor as she launched onto her feet, thoroughly pissed off.

"Rose?" The Doctor asked edgily, getting onto his feet and standing infront of her, running a consoling hand down her long blonde hair. Rose let him do it for a few seconds, before she suddenly turned away and bolted to the front door.

"I'm going out, two seconds, I'll be right back!" she yelled behind her as the door closed, and The Doctor was now left standing staring into an empty space. He looked down at the floor, wondering where he might have gone wrong.

----------

Rose was seeing red.

Not a lot of red, mind, just a tiny prick of red on a plastic stick.

To anyone who had no idea what that plastic stick was, the way she reacted to this tiny speck of light would have seemed slightly over exaggerated and very, very strange.

She burst into tears.

She was pregnant…with The Doctor's baby. Why god, why? If this didn't destroy their relationship, then the baby would.

Ten minutes later she emerged from the bathroom, and The Doctor was sitting against the wall just across from the bathroom door, staring unseeing at the doorway she was now stood in.

Within seconds he had got up, standing nervously infront of her, scratching behind his ear. She all but fell into his arms, utterly exhausted and ripped apart in fear. Should she tell him? Tell him she was pregnant?

But as she stared into his eyes, she realised – she was a complete and total wuss. She couldn't tell him. Not now. One; this was an extremely comfortable hug, and two; the baby wasn't going anywhere anytime soon. She had nine months to tell him, so why destroy it now?

"You're very huggable today," The Doctor commented with his cheesy grin, before he suddenly frowned, looking thoughtful. "Waaait…what do you want?"

"Huh?"

"Hugging me can only mean you're going to ask me to do something dangerous and/or difficult." He looked down at her with a sigh of defeat. "Okay. Out with it. I'm ready."

"No…" Rose shook her head, smiling as she put her head back on his chest and swayed. "Hey…" She suddenly straightened, looking into his eyes, though she didn't stop hugging him. "Do you wanna…kinda, go out for a bit?"

The Doctor raised an inquisitive eyebrow, opening his mouth to retort, but Rose shushed him, placing a finger on his lips.

"Just you and me. Then mum can't accuse us of leaving quickly. We'll stay here for the night, then leave tomorrow morning." She looked hopeful, and The Doctor found his defences crashing down around him at that gorgeous smile…

He sighed outwardly, lifting Rose's finger off of his lips and putting it gently by her side.

"Okay."

Oh boy, how he was going to regret that one word later.