The evening was drawing in, surprisingly quicker than Earth days, and Rose was beginning to dread the night. It was a disaster – they had no tent. What were they going to do? She couldn't believe that last night they had been so snug and comfortable, lying next to each other quite intimately. Now they were facing the possibility of a freezing, pitch black night sleeping on the floor. Rose stopped walking suddenly and the Doctor came to a halt too, looking at her.

"Something wrong?" he asked.

"I'm tired," Rose told him in a whiney tone. "I need sleep, and a cup of hot chocolate, and a bed." She pouted.

The Doctor just looked at her for a second, then snorted. "Well, aren't we in a bad mood?" he said teasingly.

"Yeah, actually, I am," Rose said, and she sounded irritated. "And I still don't feel great, if I'm honest." The pain in her temple had been gradually increasing again, and she felt slightly weak.

"Oh, really?" the Doctor said, looking concerned. "Well, we can stop for the night, if you want – it is getting dark. And this way I can use the sonic screwdriver to examine you, see if you're coming down with something."

Rose considered this. "Where are we going to sleep?" she said anxiously.

"Well, I was thinking… the floor?" the Doctor ventured, avoiding her gaze. Rose grimaced.

"But won't there be… bugs, and stuff?" she asked, shuddering. The thought of creepy crawlies being able to inspect her skin whilst she was sleeping was enough to make her stomach churn.

"No no no." The Doctor sounded confident. "Not on this planet, it's not big up on insects. We'll be fine and dandy. So are we stopping now, then? Up to you, really."

"Well…" Rose looked around at the darkness rapidly closing in. She sighed. "We don't have a choice, do we – we could walk for another two days and not find any sort of civilisation."

"Not gonna happen!"

"How do you know?" Rose wanted to know.

"I just do."

"You know that's not convincing?"

"Shush now." She smirked at him as he led the way towards a group of trees. It was very sheltered, without too much wind, and Rose thought the Doctor had picked a good place. However, it still didn't change the fact that they had no sleeping bags or pillows, and the floor looked very hard. And cold.

"Is it just me or has the temperature just dropped a huge amount?" Rose asked the Doctor, shivering.

He frowned. "Just you." He scanned her briefly with the sonic screwdriver. "Ah. The protection I put round you last night seems to have faded. I didn't think it would be permanent, but I thought it would last a bit longer than this…"

"So?" Rose didn't see the problem. "Just zap me again with it again."

"I… can't. Sorry. It's not healthy to use the effect twice on a human body in such a short space of time. It messes with your natural defences. Don't ask me to explain it," he added hurriedly, when Rose opened her mouth. "Trust me, very complicated."

"Fine, whatever," Rose said, rolling her eyes. "So am I just supposed to freeze, or what?"

"Um…" the Doctor looked worried. "Any ideas?"

Rose slapped his arm. "You're so useless!" she said in an exasperated tone. "As if I don't feel ill enough!"

"How do you feel?" he asked, living up to his name and became Doctor-like. He reached up a hand and put it to her forehead again, ignoring the slight twitch she gave when he touched her. "You're still quite cold, so you don't have a temperature. Do you get migraines?"

"Not usually." Rose sat down heavily, her back against a rock. The Doctor joined her.

"We're out of the wind, that's one thing, and here," he said, slipping his coat off and draping it round her. She smiled her thanks. "Should help a bit."

"I just have a headache, but it's not like a normal headache, it's like…" Rose paused, trying to think how to explain it. "It's like a painful twinge, like there's something I need to remember and it's trying to force its way through." There was a pause. "I know that doesn't make much sense," she finished sheepishly.

"You can say that again. Any other symptoms?"

"Not really – I feel sort of weak, and a bit strange, I guess," Rose admitted.

"How odd," the Doctor commented, in a confused tone. "Maybe you'll feel better in the morning. A good night's sleep will work wonders, I reckon."

Rose snorted. "When sleeping on the floor? Doubtful."

"I've done it many a time before. My coat suits you, by the way," the Doctor told her out of the blue, slightly shyly. She had put it on properly, and even done up the buttons, in an effort to keep her body temperature up. Except when the Doctor said that, the heat in her body suddenly rocketed and she hoped she hadn't gone red.

"Cheers," Rose said, as casually as possible. "It's not often I see you without so many layers on." For he had also removed his jacket so he was just wearing a light blue shirt. He offered the jacket to Rose as a pillow, which she refused.

"You're so sweet," she said adoringly, and the Doctor's hand went to the back of his neck awkwardly. "But I'm not letting you get a chill just to keep me comfy."

"I'll be fine!" the Doctor said cheerfully. "My body can cope with worse, trust me."

"That better be true and not just a line," Rose replied warningly, but when the Doctor arranged the jacket into a pillow shape and laid it on the ground, she reluctantly accepted. She might be slightly more comfy now, thanks to him. She reached across to ruffle that gorgeous hair of his, and his eyes followed her hand warily, as if asking 'What are you doing?" He swallowed, and his eyes met hers, just for a second. But the moment passed, and Rose finally lay down, prompting the Doctor to do the same. Rose noticed, once again, the lack of personal space they seemed to allow each other. It was just a thing they had acquired, and neither seemed to mind. She knew she didn't.

"Will you actually be sleeping again tonight?" she asked the Doctor teasingly, noticing he was looking rather tired. "This must be some kind of a record."

He gave her a half hearted glare. "For your information, I probably won't sleep. Last night I slept for a short amount of time –" Rose snorted; it had been most of the night – "and that should be enough for at least a week. Time Lords are different to humans, remember." He slightly ruined this dramatic speech by emitting a huge yawn, and Rose burst into giggles, gazing at him. He grinned innocently at her.

"I might just lie here and watch you sleep – in a non pervy way, I hasten to add – because you're even more beautiful when you're asleep."

Rose's giggles stopped abruptly. She stared at him. Had he really just said that?!

"Um…" she spluttered, no suitable words coming to mind. He didn't seem at all embarrassed, he was just gazing steadily at her.

"Oh, and I meant to give you something," the Doctor continued, suddenly remembering.

"Oh yeah?"

"Mmhmm." He leaned over from his horizontal position and kissed her quickly on the cheek. "In return for last night," he added matter-of-factly. His lips were softer than any other person who had ever kissed her. And there had been a few.

"Uh…" Oh great, she had been reduced to a stuttering wreck. Quick, think of something gross… err… Christopher Biggins in his underwear. Stripping. Actually no, don't think of that, that's beyond disgusting. But just anything that isn't the Doctor's lips, his lips, your lips, his lips on yours… OK, this isn't working. Rose shook her head and forced herself to turn around so she was facing the other way, hoping she would just drop off to sleep. But for some reason, tired though she undoubtedly was, she didn't feel particularly sleepy. Neither, it seemed, did the Doctor.

"I'm bored," he commented idly, after a few minutes.

"Oh well," Rose said unsympathetically.

"Entertain me, Rose," he whined.

"Would you like me to sing to you?"

The Doctor shifted excitedly. "Yes!"

"Well, I'm not gonna."

"…Oh," he said, sagging. But he huffed and puffed so much that eventually Rose gave up and turned round to face him.

"What do you want to talk about?" she said, sighing.

The Doctor grinned happily. "I don't know! Bananas?"

"Good source of potassium?" Rose offered.

"My thoughts exactly," he agreed, and Rose grinned. The Doctor gazed at her. "You're pretty, you know," he said absent-mindedly.

Rose's mouth went dry. Why was he acting like this? He didn't even seem embarrassed about speaking so candidly. Unless… Rose was struck by a sudden thought. He wasn't teasing her, was he? Her heart raced at the thought that he would actually want to do that – surely that would mean…? No. It couldn't. She would need to test it. It would need to be in the morning, though – she didn't have the energy to formulate any sort of plan now. But in the morning, she would find out the truth.

"I'm going to sleep now," Rose said, and the Doctor groaned pitifully.

"Noooo, but I'm still bored!"

Rose giggled at this dorky side to him. "Sleep well, and all that." She reached out a hand and ran it gently down the side of his face, not failing to notice as his eyes slid shut contentedly. Oh, she was really going to enjoy torturing him tomorrow.

- - - - - - - -

It took a good while for Rose to drift off. She was sure the Doctor's coat had saved her – without that, she would definitely have been an ice cube come breakfast. Despite that, though, it was still an uncomfortable night, and not one Rose was keen to relive. When she woke the next morning, she was mildly surprised to see that she was the first one awake. A week without sleep, what a load of rubbish, Rose thought, as she looked at the Doctor's still form. It was the first time she had seen him properly asleep, and he looked very peaceful, his fringe flopping over his face artfully and his full lips slightly parted. Rose could tell he was deeply asleep.

Deeply asleep. Suddenly a thought popped into Rose's head, and though she tried to ignore it, it wouldn't go away. She couldn't do that – could she?

The Doctor had yesterday discovered that she was very ticklish, and had used it to his advantage several times. Rose didn't know if he was, so… surely this would be a good time to find out? While he couldn't stop her? Yeah, of course! She couldn't miss an opportunity like this. Rose knew he wouldn't wake up – she had stumbled into him when she moved and he had barely stirred, so he was obviously out cold.

She knelt down next to the Doctor's body, just near his waist. He only had on his light blue shirt and trousers, so he wasn't exactly a hard target. Feeling slightly tense, she reached towards his torso, as he was lying on his side facing her, and tentatively tried tickling his sides and stomach to bring a reaction from him. Nothing. After a few moments Rose stopped, disappointed. She had been looking forward to discovering a secret about the Doctor that she could use against him, to tease him.

Was there anywhere else he could be ticklish? Rose thought for a second, but nothing came to her. She realised that she was slightly warmer and the Doctor felt cold, so she took off his coat and laid it back over him, as carefully as possible. As she was trying to cover his whole body, she noticed with an affectionate grin that he was wearing thin white cotton socks. His battered converse lay nearby, hastily untied. Cotton socks weren't exactly the kind of footwear Rose had expected a Time Lord to wear, but nevertheless they suited him. They were so thin though, so she moved the coat down to cover his feet, and as she brushed against the sole of his right foot he twitched.

Rose tried to stop herself from giggling out loud. This was the second time she had come across something about the Doctor by accident. Did he have ticklish feet? This was perfect, if he did. She sneaked a glance at the Doctor's face but he didn't look anymore awake. Shifting slightly downwards so she could get to his feet properly, Rose put her hand on his heel and ran the fingers of her other hand along the arch in his foot. If she had expected a big reaction, she wasn't disappointed. Instantly, as a reflex, the Doctor jerked his foot violently out of her grasp, and kept it bent, out of her grip. Rose held his other foot down and wiggled her fingers around this foot instead, but this time he couldn't get free and so he grunted in his sleep and was trying desperately to squirm free. At this, Rose did giggle – she couldn't help it. It was the sweetest thing in the world. Eventually she stopped, though – he was asleep, it wasn't fair to torture him. Fun though it undoubtedly was. Rose couldn't stop the biggest beam spreading across her face. She now had a weapon that she could use. She sat on a nearby rock and waited for the Doctor to finally wake up, ignoring the slight throbbing in her temple that seemed to be increasing.