A/N: Thank you to all those who reviewed last chapter, and I hope to see even more reviews for this one!

Also, I have nothing against Tony Blair, or Cornwall. (There's a tiny mention of them in this chapter, please don't take offence.)

Disclaimer: I WILL own Doctor Who one day, but not yet.

Chapter Four.

The Doctor was still reeling with shock from this piece of information when Rose reached out to touch him. He pulled away, ignoring the look of hurt on her face. "I fell in love with him." How could she? How could Rose Tyler, his Rose, fall in love with a parallel Doctor?

"Why?" he said at last, turning to face her. "What was better about him?"

"Nothing was better!" Rose protested. "I thought you were dead, I knew I couldn't ever see you again, and he was nice. He treated me the way you did, he showed me incredible things."

"Oh, I'll bet he did," the Doctor said scornfully, eyeing Rose's heavily pregnant stomach.

She threw up her hands in defeat. "Well if you won't even hear me out…"

"Fine," the Doctor said sharply. "Tell me the rest."

----

Rose Tyler travelled with the Doctor, the parallel Doctor and began to see differences immediately. But she also saw similarities, such as the gleam in his eyes when he talked about the stars, or other planets he'd visited. The way he always kept an eye on her when they had an adventure, always making sure she was safe. This Doctor was a true gentleman, always polite and considerate. He didn't press the point of her past, or why she had such sadness in her eyes, knowing that she'd tell him when the time was right. But the strongest similarity she found was their hands. He would offer Rose his hand and when she held it she wanted to cry. They fit together so well, so perfectly. To hold his hand felt… fantastic.

They went to all sorts of planets; they raced through the Vortex with yells of excitement; they got chased by aliens, and they escaped. All of this, together, holding hands. He even took her to Barcelona, the planet, where dogs had no noses. They never tired of that joke, and would laugh about it endlessly. But then came the night, and with it the memories. So easy to hold them back during the day, but when darkness set in and all was quiet, the vivid memories would strike Rose Tyler.

She'd lie awake for hours, but when she could fight sleep no longer, the terror would begin. Tossing and turning, screaming and crying. The Doctor would run into her room and hold her, gently stroking her hair and comforting her. Some nights he feared she'd never wake up, that the nightmares would consume her. He'd shake her, call her name, beg her to wake up and respond. But the terror would be so strong, she wouldn't even hear him. The screaming inside her head would drown out anything else, and it wasn't until she'd watched everyone die inside her mind that she'd finally come to, distraught and shaking, unable to even speak.

The Doctor would then hold her until the shivering subsided, until her breathing returned to normal, and then he'd let her fall asleep in his arms and stay with her. He'd watch her to make sure she slept soundly, and help to fight off any more horrific recollections of her past.

He'd watch her during the day, noticing her feeble attempts to hide her exhaustion and lack of sleep. She'd laugh and smile, but her eyes had dark shadows beneath them. They'd have a fantastic time fighting for what was right, defending all the planets out there, and they'd have a great laugh about all the times they nearly didn't escape. But the Doctor knew that she was being haunted, and he dreaded the nights almost as much as she. Being a Time Lord he didn't need as much sleep as Rose, for which he was grateful as it meant he could doze with one eye open, ready to help chase away the bad dreams and sit with her when she cried. He'd stay up all night with this human girl and never leave her side if she asked, for she had captured his hearts and he knew that he'd always do his best to protect her.

----

"It was always the same with me," the Doctor interjected and Rose glared at him.

"D'you mind not interrupting while I'm telling the story?" she snapped.

"But I'm just saying," he pressed, "that I'd always have stayed with you if I could, and I always did everything in my power to protect you. We shared the same times, everything."

"I know," Rose sighed. "But you never saw me having nightmares like that. I couldn't fight them."

"If I'd been there, I would've done the same."

"I know," Rose said sadly. "But you weren't there. And he was. Now can I keep telling the story?"

"S'pose," he agreed grudgingly and Rose continued.

----

She'd been with the Doctor for several years now, travelling like she'd done before on her own world. During their occasional stops on earth Rose would visit libraries and scour history books to find the differences from her own world. She found out that in this universe Tony Blair had been Prime Minister in the seventies and had turned out to be a terrorist. The town of Cornwall didn't exist, and there was a worldwide shortage of salt. Rose found this quite hilarious, but the Doctor couldn't see what was so amusing.

It was on Rose Tyler's twenty-sixth birthday that things changed. The Doctor had presented her with a beautiful gold watch from a tiny planet called Appigar Minor, somewhere in the Skala System. On the underside of the watch's face a message had been inscribed. It read, "Every second that ticks by, I will be here." Rose couldn't stop the tears from forming in her eyes as she flung her arms around the Doctor's neck, holding him in a tight hug. He looked quite pleased when she pulled away and immediately fastened the gold watch around her wrist.

Then he took her out to an expensive birthday dinner; his treat. They sat in the restaurant with soft music playing and candles casting a golden glow about the place. The Doctor was wearing his trademark outfit: a velvet jacket (royal blue this evening), crisp black trousers and frilly white shirt. He looked quite handsome, Rose thought, even though he was old. He looked about sixty-five years old, but Rose had to remember that he was in actual fact close to 900.

The Doctor couldn't take his eyes off Rose as they ate dinner. She was wearing a deep red dress that swept the floor, sparkling in the soft light. Her golden hair was loose, cascading down her shoulders in gentle waves and her eyes were sparkling. It was so nice to see her completely happy and smiling.

They finished their dinner and wandered back to the TARDIS. Rose looked up at it, studying the exterior. Unlike the TARDIS on her home world, this one actually had a working Chameleon Circuit and changed everytime they landed. At the moment it resembled a small garden shed, sitting in an empty lot. The Doctor unlocked the door and Rose followed him inside, kicking off the expensive shoes and wriggling her feet.

"Thank you so much for tonight, Doctor," Rose said softly as he fiddled with co-ordinates on the TARDIS console. This one had straight panels, and the interior was white and somewhat medical looking unlike the TARDIS she was used to.

"It's not a problem," he said, avoiding her eyes. "It's your birthday, and you deserve a special celebration."

"But really," she said, stepping over to him and resting a hand on his shoulder. "It means a lot to me, and I really enjoyed it."

The Doctor stood to his full height and gazed down tenderly at Rose. He took her hands in his and gave her a soft kiss on the cheek.

"It was my pleasure," he said with a small smile. "I'd do the same every day, if just for the small joy of seeing your face light up."

Suddenly a battleground erupted inside Rose's mind. One half of her was screaming to kiss the Doctor, while the other screamed that he was an old man. She immediately shook this thought away; her old Doctor was the same age, in fact older. His face just appeared younger. And with that, she leaned forward and kissed the Doctor, ever so gently on his lips. She pulled back, waiting anxiously for his reaction. To her relief he didn't yell, or look disturbed. Instead he smiled.

"I've waited a long time for that," he said quietly, before leaning down and returning the kiss…

TBC…

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