When the sun shone through the curtains, the Doctor slipped out of bed, careful not to wake Rose and made his way downstairs.
Jackie, Pete and Mickey were already awake and sitting in the kitchen. Mickey acknowledged him with a cold glance as he sat at the kitchen table.
"Doctor, I'm sorry about last night and I'd like to thank you. Rose has never slept in this late and last night was the first night in months she hasn't woken up screaming. Thank you Doctor." Jackie told him.
"You had every right to be angry at me. I know it must be hard for you to trust that I won't hurt her again." He replied.
"Doctor, if she chooses to stay here, will you stay with her?" Jackie asked.
Everyone turned to look at him, waiting for his answer. The Doctor was silent for a few minutes before answering. He looked away from them.
"I can't. It's complicated, but I can't stay here." He answered. "I promise this time, if she decides to stay here, I'll say goodbye properly and I'll do my best not to hurt her this time."
Jackie nodded and got up to make him a cup of tea.
Heavy footsteps pounded down the stairs and seconds later, Rose flew into the kitchen. Her eyes scanned the room urgently until they fell on the Doctor. She quickly sat down next to him and wrapped her arms around his waist.
"I thought you'd gone." She mumbled.
"I promised I'd stay." He told her.
"I know I just…thought it all might have been a dream." She shrugged.
The Doctor smiled at her and kissed her forehead. Jackie placed a cup of tea in front of them both and sat down at the table.
Pete and Jackie smiled at each other as Rose chatted happily and laughed with the Doctor.
"Have you two got any plans today?" Pete asked them.
"Well, I need to go back down to the TARDIS and try and figure out what happened. There could still be a delayed reaction and this universe could still collapse." The Doctor told them.
"I'll come with you. I haven't been in the TARDIS for almost a year. I miss it." She sighed.
"The TARDIS misses you too apparently. She brought me here without me even asking her to." He told her.
She smiled at the thought.
"Come on, let's get ready." She smiled and pulled him back up to her room.
The Doctor pulled on his clothes and waited downstairs for Rose to finish getting herself ready. He decided to pick up some clean clothes while they were there so he didn't have to keep going backwards and forwards.
When Rose came down, she held his hand tightly and they took a slow walk back to the TARDIS.
"Hello old girl, did you miss me?" He smiled as they walked up to it.
Rose ran inside and smiled as she looked around.
"It's bigger on the inside." She giggled.
The Doctor followed her inside and walked up to the controls. He spotted her jacket on the floor, he must have dropped it when the TARDIS went out of control. He picked it up and handed it to her.
"I believe this belongs to you." He smiled.
"I've been looking for that." She laughed and took it from him.
The Doctor returned to the controls and began to look for any indication to what had happened last night. Rose sat down in the seat across from him and watched him work.
"This doesn't make sense." The Doctor frowned.
"What?" She asked.
"Do you remember when everyone kept travelling back and forth from the parallel universe to the other one and you had to stop because it created holes?" He asked her.
"Erm…yeah, I remember." She nodded.
"Well according to the TARDIS, those holes managed to stitch themselves back together and it became stable again. But that shouldn't happen. How is that possible?" He asked himself.
"I bet that's doing your head in, not knowing what's going on for once." She laughed.
"It's just…this shouldn't be happening. I shouldn't be able to be…here with you – not that I'm complaining." He added quickly.
"I understand." Rose nodded.
"This is one of the great mysteries that will just have to stay a mystery." He sighed.
"So, what do we do now?" Rose asked.
"How about you show me around your new home? Just give me a minute to get changed." He grinned.
"It's pretty much the same as the old one." She shrugged.
"Oh well…what do you want to do then?" He asked.
"I was thinking we could spend some more time together at home. Mum and dad will be out all day and Mickey will be at work so we'll have the whole place to ourselves." She said, trying to not look so obvious.
The Doctor nodded and turned to get changed, smirking as he walked away.
As they walked back to the house, the Doctor began to ask Rose questions.
"So, I noticed you call Pete 'dad' now. How long has that been going on?" He smiled.
"I always called him dad, mostly by accident. He didn't like it at first but he sort of got used to it after a while. He said he liked the idea of being a dad in the end. Oh, that reminds me, guess who's pregnant?" She smiled.
The Doctor stopped suddenly and froze. He stared at her, his eyes wide as he looked down at her stomach.
"You're not…who..? When..? How..?" He struggled to get the words out.
"No, I'm not pregnant. It's my mum." She laughed.
The Doctor sighed in relief and carried on walking.
"How long?" He asked.
"She's three months gone." Rose answered.
"I bet Pete thought he'd got away with not changing nappies and sleepless nights when he got a daughter who'd already gone through that." The Doctor grinned.
Rose nodded, not mentioning about him still getting the sleepless nights before the Doctor came along.
She let them both back into the house and found it empty just as she'd said. Both felt butterflies in their stomachs as they gazed at each other.
Silently, Rose took the Doctor's hand and led him up to her room. She let go of him when they reached her door and stood near the bed. She kept her back to him and took a deep breath. The Doctor walked up behind her and spun her round. He crushed his lips against hers and twisted his hands through her hair. She wrapped her arms around his neck and gasped as he trailed his hands down her sides and rested them on her hips. She ran her hands through his hair and pulled him down so they sat on the edge of the bed.
"I love you." She whispered and went to kiss him again. He pulled away and looked away from her. "What's wrong?"
"I don't think this is a good idea." He mumbled.
"Why not?" She frowned.
"I'm a Time Lord and you're human, it's just…I don't know if it will work." He mumbled.
"You're human enough for me. We'll make it work because we love each other." She told him.
The Doctor looked into her brown eyes and saw the love in her eyes. He thought about it for a couple of minutes before crashing his lips onto hers in a fiery kiss.
Later, the Doctor was lying back on the bed. Rose was curled up into his side. She'd fallen asleep, a small smile on her face. The Doctor watched the gentle rise and fall of her chest and listened to her soft sighs. He tucked a stray piece of hair behind her ear and ran his thumb across her cheek.
In a couple of days, Rose would make her choice. He hoped that she would choose to stay with him but he didn't want to force her. She had her family to think about. But he didn't think he could leave her if she chose to stay at home.
Rose mumbled something and her eyes fluttered open. She looked up at the Doctor and grinned.
"Did you have a good nap?" He smiled.
"The best." She replied.
She rolled onto her side and propped herself up on her elbow. Leaning down, she kissed the Doctor.
"Rose Tyler…I love you." He grinned.