When Rose awoke next morning (or at least, she assumed it was morning), she wasn't surprised to see that the Doctor was already up and about. After lying there for a few moments, she sat up. Feeling her hair, she realised it was all over the place and wished she had brought a hairbrush. Amongst several other things including a large quantity of make-up and a change of clothes. Oh well, the Doctor had seen her looking worse. Probably. Rose staggered to her feet, still feeling half asleep, and ducked out of the tent. The Doctor was standing just nearby, looking into the distance. He looked lost in thought. Rose walked behind him and tried prodding him in his sides again. He wheeled round with a start.

"Morning! What are you doing?"

"Everyone has a weak spot!" Rose told him in a disgruntled tone.

"Ohh... still on that, are you?" The Doctor put on a fake-affronted tone. "You know, you'll never find mine."

"Is that a challenge?" Rose grinned, remembering last night's conversation.

The Doctor considered. "Yes! I think it is!" He took her hand. "Come on, let's go and explore."

"Hold on." Rose pulled him back. "My hair's like rat's tails, not got a hair brush in those endless pockets have you?"

"Course not. Besides... who's around to see you?"

Rose frowned and looked around at the vast area of nothingness. "Well, there's you."

The Doctor looked her up and down. "Oh, you'll do." He grinned. "Now stop being a drama queen and let's go and find out where we are."

"I am not being a drama queen!"

An hour later, Rose found herself becoming tired. They had been walking briskly in one direction but had so far come across nothing but more colourful trees and grass. It had been pretty enough to begin with, but after being surrounded by nothing else for a large period of time, it became something of a bore. Rose blew out a long breath.

"I don't know," the Doctor said, answering her unspoken question. "We're bound to come across some sort of civilisation soon."

"We should have brought the tent," Rose mused.

The Doctor cursed. "Damn, didn't think about that. I don't think I have another one, either."

Rose groaned. She felt tired, hungry, and for some reason had a throbbing pain above her right temple that seemed to be increasing. The Doctor must have noticed the discomfort in her face, for he asked:

"Everything alright?"

"Just a headache. I'm fine." Rose said, massaging her forehead.

The Doctor frowned. "It might be a side effect of that protection I put around you last night..." He rummaged around for his screwdriver. "Want me to take it off again?" Rose stopped him.

"Doctor... I'm fine. Not everything has to be really sinister. It's just a headache, I'll be fine in a minute." In fact, she felt anything but fine, but she didn't mention this to the Doctor who was looking at her slightly worriedly. They carried on walking in the same direction, Rose attempting not to cry out as the pain in her head built. Suddenly agony burst inside her and she let out a shriek of pain, falling to her knees.

"Rose? Rose, can you hear me?" Rose could vaguely hear the Doctor speaking, but it sounded very far away.

An image of a building flashed inside her head but before it was properly visible it had fizzled out. Along with the pain. Rose blinked in surprise, and lifted her head blearily to look at the Doctor. He was on his knees opposite her, gripping her arms tightly. His eyes were very wide.

"Are you trying to scare me on purpose?" he asked her shakily.

Rose gave him a small smile. "Sorry," she said, breathing heavily. "I'm a bit better now."

"Sure?"

"Sure." She made to get up but the Doctor held her down, his hands still on her arms.

"Just sit still for a minute. Let's have a rest, we've been walking for a while." Rose sat down on the soft grass gratefully. The Doctor put the back of his hand on her forehead to check her temperature, and his cool hand felt amazingly soothing on her hot skin. Rose let out a little sigh.

"That's nice," she said, beaming at him. The Doctor smiled back, albeit a little nervously. He removed his hand almost immediately afterwards and Rose felt it would sound silly to ask him not to. There was a pause in which the Doctor scratched the back of his neck and Rose leaned back on her hands, thinking. She didn't get migraines, so where had that sudden agonising pain appeared from? She could remember a brief image crossing her mind but it wasn't clear enough to remember. She thought it had been a building – perhaps dark yellow? Or maybe she was just being silly. Rose turned her attention back to the Doctor as he spoke.

"Hungry, by any chance?" He asked, rummaging in one of his inside pockets.

"Starving!" Rose answered straight away. Her stomach rumbled as if to agree.

"Here we are, then!" He pulled two chocolate bars from his pocket with a flourish. Rose immediately grabbed one.

"Wow. You really are prepared, aren't you? I forget to bring a coat along, and you bring a tent and some food?"

"I'm good," was all the Doctor said, as if this settled the matter. And in fact, it pretty much did.

Rose felt much better after some chocolate and a good rest. The Doctor noticed that she was getting restless, so he jumped to his feet, pulling Rose with him. "Ready for the off, then?"

"You betcha," Rose grinned.

They continued walking for several more miles, at a slightly slower pace, still passing nothing but identical trees surrounding them. Rose was just about to comment on this planet being duller than dishwater when she spotted something under the trees a short distance ahead. She nudged the Doctor, and pointed.

"Do you reckon it's a person?" she whispered, slightly anxious. After all, they didn't know if the inhabitants of this planet were friendly or not.

"Let's find out," was the Doctor's response, and they started moving forward towards it. The brown shape didn't seem to be moving at all, and as they came closer they realised that in fact it wasn't a living creature, but what looked like a small vending machine. Rose gaped at it.

"What on earth?" she asked, picking it up and inspecting it closely. It was the size of a microwave with a glass front, but it appeared to be empty inside. There was a small hole at the bottom, just the right size for a hand. Rose hesitated, then gingerly placed her hand inside, and jumped as something warm instantly appeared in her grip.

"Ew!" was her initial response as she withdrew her hand. "What is that?" It looked like a lump of grey glue, except it was warm and emitting an unpleasant odour.

The Doctor, who had been watching this scene with amusement, took the object from Rose and sniffed it. He frowned and then (doing the one thing Rose prayed he wouldn't) he licked it. Rose coughed.

"What is with the oral fixation, Doctor?"

"Excuse me, I do not have an oral fixation!" the Doctor said indignantly.

"You just licked a lump of glue, I think that speaks for itself."

"It's not glue, it's food! Or at least - I think it is. Not the best thing I've ever tasted though," and he pulled a face, throwing it aside. "Why don't you try again?"

"Erm, if I must..." Rose reluctantly placed her hand inside the hole again. Once again something instantly appeared in her hand, but this time it was cold and didn't feel as disgusting.

It turned out to be – a sandwich. Rose made a small noise of delight. "Human food! Thank God. Actually, hold on..." She pulled apart the bread, and noticed that the inside of the sandwich certainly wasn't an Earth savoury filling. It was red and white. Worth a sample though, she thought. Presently the Doctor moved her aside and scanned the peculiar device with his sonic.

"This is some piece of kit!" he exclaimed with enthusiasm. "It seems to be creating food from lots of different planets. It tries to provide the food it thinks you want, from the planet it thinks you're from. Like with you, it only took two guesses to realise you were from Earth, so it provided you with a sandwich. Even if the filling is a little... alien..." he added, glancing at it uncertainly.

"Useful though," Rose added. "We don't know how long we're gonna be here and I didn't fancy living on old chocolate bars for weeks."

"Should we take it, do you think?" the Doctor asked, grinning cheekily at her.

"Exactly what I was thinking." Rose replied, giggling. "Doesn't seem like anyone's coming back to claim it." She picked it up again.

"Weird, though, isn't it? Nothing but trees for dozens of miles, and then suddenly this futuristic object? It's almost like someone's left it here..."

Rose thought for a moment. "Maybe... but we need it too. Come on, before you change your mind," and she dragged the Doctor off, carrying the food dispenser under her arm.

After another half an hour's walk, Rose had had enough. She thought she never wanted to see another tree in her life. Oddly enough, they still didn't seem to be coming to anywhere that people or creatures might live, and Rose was tired of feeling like she was walking around in circles. She spotted a suitable looking clump of rocks, and nudged the Doctor.

"Can we stop and have something proper to eat now?" she pleaded with him.

The Doctor looked at her and grinned. "Thought you'd never ask!"

They moved over to the rocks and Rose sat down with relief. She pulled off her trainers and noticed blisters forming on her heels. "Well, I'll certainly have lost weight after this trip," she commented. "I've never walked so much in my life!" A sudden worrying thought struck her. "Hold on... what if we never come to any sort of civilisation? What if we just keep walking? This planet could be millions of miles long for all we know. We can't walk forever... well, I certainly can't."

The Doctor frowned. "I know, I've been thinking that too. But don't forget, something has made the TARDIS go into lockdown –" at this Rose's stomach lurched; she had almost forgotten about that – "so we need to get to the bottom of it. And I'm sure we'll find something. Soon. Honestly." He didn't look as confident as he sounded. Rose sighed.

"Anyway, time for grub!" she said. "This could be interesting..."

Ten minutes later and Rose and the Doctor were satisfyingly stuffed. Rose had sampled a couple of OK looking attempts at Earth's food, and laughed herself silly as the Doctor bravely tried everything Rose pulled from the bizarre machine. Many things lay discarded around them, the Doctor having declared them 'far too vile' to be devoured. It was the most fun Rose had ever had at a mealtime, and she rested her head against a rock, realising how everything was just that little bit more exciting when you were experiencing them with the Doctor. It wasn't the first time this had occurred to her. She loved his enthusiasm for everything, his little quirks, his strange ways. She hoped he wouldn't ever become bored with her. This thought disturbed her slightly as it entered her brain, and the Doctor noticed as her smile drooped.

"What is it?" he said, grinning at her slightly sombre face. Rose wasn't sure whether to blurt it out or avoid the subject, but decided on the former.

"You won't ever take me home, will you?" she asked tentatively.

The Doctor's smile vanished instantly. He looked slightly unnerved, but he didn't avoid the question. "What makes you think that?" he asked, gazing at her with those deep brown eyes.

"I don't know!" she admitted, turning to face him. "I love it with you. You make everything so much more fun. I almost feel like I don't deserve it, like you deserve someone better..." She avoided his intense gaze.

The Doctor didn't avert his eyes, and continued looking at her until Rose found the courage to look back at him full in the face. Then he spoke, and his voice was quiet, hesitant, and full of an emotion Rose had never heard there before. "I... I would never drop you back home. You must know that. You're the one that makes the travelling fun, not me..." He seemed to want to say something more, but after opening his mouth and closing it again he became silent.

Rose said nothing. She felt quite emotional but she wasn't sure why. To bring her out of her reverie, the Doctor sneakily tickled her side and brought her out in a heap of giggles. "Hey!" she gasped, struggling to get back under control. "Not fair."

"Yes fair." The Doctor tried to get her again but Rose wriggled away, laughing.

"Just you wait till I find yours..."

"It'll never happen!"

"You wanna bet?" Then, slightly uncertainly, "Can't you just tell me?"

The Doctor chuckled. "Not a chance. My weak spot is about ten times more sensitive than yours; you think I'd just give that knowledge away?"

"Not even to me?"

"Especially not to you," the Doctor clarified.

Rose sighed and gave up. For the time being. They sat there chatting for several more minutes, both feeling too full to move much. Rose looked at the Doctor and noticed something.

"Hey messy eater, you've got food on your neck," she commented, leaning over and smoothing it off his neck with her finger. The Doctor, caught unaware, let out a small gasp of air that Rose couldn't help but notice. Uh oh, he thought.

Rose stared at him, a small smile forming on her lips. "What was that?"

"What? Erm... nothing." The Doctor glanced at her with what he hoped was an innocent look. She wasn't fooled for a second.

"Have I just found your weak spot by any chance?" she asked, with a grin of delight.

"No, of course you haven't!" The Doctor replied defiantly. He looked rather red.

Rose laughed triumphantly. "Oh well then, you won't mind if I just test it then, will you?" she asked cheekily, tongue between her teeth.

"Um..." The Doctor cursed inside his head. Rose brought her hand to the Doctor's head and traced her forefinger slowly and gently from below his ear all the way down to his shoulder. The Doctor couldn't help but close his eyes at her touch, feeling himself becoming very warm all through his body. It was as if electricity shot through him from her fingertip. It was pure pleasure, and he felt he could stay like that for – wait a minute. No no no. This was Rose. Get some self control, he told himself furiously.

This was easier said than done. Rose obviously wanted to pay him back for tickling her earlier, although the Doctor doubted she was aware of just how much this was affecting him. When he said his weak spot was much stronger than Rose's, he hadn't been lying. Just as Rose began to trace patterns in his neck, he inhaled sharply and tried to speak. "Rose, don't," he started to say weakly. She grinned innocently and continued, slightly lightening the pressure with her fingers which made it even harder for the Doctor to ignore. It was torture and bliss at the same moment. Why was she affecting him like this? The Doctor decided not to think about that for the time being.

"Rose, can you stop plea – ahhhh..." The Doctor couldn't help but let out a small moan as Rose's deft fingers found the most sensitive part of his neck. "Rose..." he began again, trying not to sound like he was pleading. This was unfamiliar territory with Rose and himself, and it unnerved him. This needed to stop. Now. The Doctor reached up to Rose's hand and gently but firmly manoeuvred it back to her side. She was gazing at him. Clearly she had finally noticed what had just happened, and she looked slightly breathless and confused. Her eyes were questioning him.

"Well." The Doctor tried to keep his voice steady despite the fact that his heart was pounding slightly. "That's why I didn't tell you. Very, um, sensitive, me." He grinned at her, trying to gloss over the moment, but Rose continued to stare at him as though seeing him in a different light. She tentatively reached for his hand and the Doctor followed her gaze, wondering nervously what was coming next. Then suddenly she released his hand and stood up sharply, brushing herself down.

"We should carry on," she said briskly.

The Doctor stared at Rose. Women, he thought as he got to his feet too. I'll never understand them.