This story seems to be going quite slowly, but I always wanted to know how the Doctor reacted to the loss of his TARDIS, and also to see them really talk about what's going to happen between them. So it may take a bit of time, but I'll get there eventually...

"So go on then," she said. And the Doctor was back to staring at his hands again. Rose had never seen him this quiet, and this awkward. Normally his awkwardness was covered with babbling, she had rarely ever known him to be this silent, although she had never not accepted the "I'm always alright" that inevitably followed any attempt to get him to open up.

"I just...inside my head, it's just like there's nothing." Rose didn't really understand yet, but she kept silent, letting him get his thoughts in order before he continued. "I thought that now I was part human it wouldn't be so bad. 'Cause you know Time Lords are telepathic, we always had this sort of sense of when there was another Time Lord around, we could talk using our minds and feel each other's emotions, it was just something that came naturally." Rose nodded at this – she had heard about – and seen – the Doctor's telepathic skills at various points when she had been on the TARDIS.

The Doctor took a deep breath and continued, halting and stuttering. "Well I was always alone inside my head after the Time War, there was no-one left in there to talk to, but here it's just-" He stopped for a second, rubbing his face with his hands before continuing. "Different universe, just feels like there's no-one left, and without the TARDIS—."

At the word TARDIS the Doctor's voice cracked, and Rose saw that the tears were back with a vengeance. He'd been running ahead of them, managing to explain this sudden sadness to her without the emotion dragging him down, but now they had caught up and Rose was transfixed at the sight of the Doctor's face, crumpling like a piece of paper as he reached up with his right hand to cover his face. Rose could hear sobs coming from underneath his hand and before she knew what she was doing her left hand was in his left hand, gripping it tighter than she would've thought possible. As she had suspected, his fingers were cold as ice, but they clung desperately to her own as if the Doctor could not bear to let her go, and Rose felt tears of her own springing into her eyes as she watched him try to control his grief.

Yet again they fell into mutual silence, barring the Doctor's quiet sobs which he was slowly bringing under control .Rose, for her part, did nothing apart from grip his hand with her own and blink furiously – it would not help the Doctor if she started crying as well. "It's the TARDIS, you see," said the Doctor, voice slightly muffled under his hand that still lay over his face. The fact that he had suddenly begun speaking had startled Rose, and she jumped a little, squeezing his hand a tighter. At this the Doctor removed his hand from his face, and Rose could see that his eyes, though red and a little puffy, were drier than they had been. She suspected that, now the Doctor had gotten control, they would actually begin to get somewhere with the talking. The thought of this terrified her slightly, but she made up her mind that they were going to talk – really talk – before they went back to bed.

"She was always inside my head, with me – I was never really alone," he continued, running his free hand through his insane hair as he spoke, "I mean, she couldn't read all my thoughts all the time but...we were connected – Time Lord and TARDIS always are. And now it's—." Here he paused again, as if trying to find the right words. "It's like there's no connection any more, just nothing, and I've never been really alone in my own head before, without Time Lords or the TARDIS or anyone and—and it's just so lonely." Before she knew what she was doing Rose had shifted from sitting down to kneeling up, wrapping her arms around the Doctor and holding him tightly, feeling tears slipping from her eyes down onto his shoulder. So much for not crying on him said a little voice inside her head, but the way the Doctor had spoken about feeling so alone has resonated with something deep inside her. It was how she had felt when she had first become trapped in this parallel world – there had been no-one else who understood the emptiness she felt without the Doctor, however hard they had tried to help her.

The Doctor's arms had closed around her, seemingly of their own accord, and they stayed liked that as the Doctor continued to explain. "It's not so bad in the daytime, when I'm with you and we're talking and having fun together – I suppose my brain is a bit more human now, if I'd been a full Time Lord who'd been cut off from his TARDIS like this I probably would have crumbled on the first day. But at night there's just nothing, even when I'm sleeping my mind feels so empty and I just don't know..."

As the Doctor trailed off into silence, Rose pulled away from him and looked into his eyes. They were captivating as ever, even out here in the gloom she could feel herself being drawn to them, just as she always had been. "I thought I had the best of both worlds," he whispered, so quietly Rose was almost unsure he had spoken. "I get to live one life as a human, but I still have my Time Lord brain and senses. But sometimes I wish I wasn't a Time Lord at all. Being the only one of anything is no fun. And here I am. A half-human. The only one in existence."

Rose stayed kneeling beside him, placing a hand on either side of his face so he could not look away from her. "Is there anything I can do to help?" she asked, almost regretting having said anything as she realised what might happen. If the Doctor could – if he wanted to – join his mind with hers or something, then she would do it. She would do anything to help the Doctor. But what if that meant that he could see all of her thoughts? She shuddered inwardly – the thought of the Doctor being able to see what she thought about him, especially in the last few weeks when they'd been sleeping in the same bed, made her feel slightly panicked.

"There's maybe something," the Doctor mumbled, sitting up a little straighter. Rose smiled a little at this – the Doctor was always happier when he had a plan. "But I'm not sure if I want to—"

"Why not?" blurted out Rose.

"Because if it doesn't work, and it doesn't take away the emptiness, then I've got no hope left. And I don't want to put that burden on you."

"Oh shut up," was Rose's instant reply, taking her hands from his face and raising an eyebrow at him, "if there's a chance I can help then you know I'll do it, so just tell me what it is."

Next chapter should be up in a couple of days - hope you enjoyed it :D