AN: I'm sorry for the delay. I had a bit of a writers block. I hope you'll enjoy this chapter.

Thanks for all the reviews for the last chapter. They made my day! And of course thank you to Persiflage.

Disclaimer: I don't own Doctor Who

Chapter 3

The Doctor walked around the console of the TARDIS, hoping to see something that he could repair. He'd spent the last few hours lying on the floor under the console repairing some of the TARDIS systems or just checking that everything was working correctly. He hadn't had time for anything like this since Martha had come back into his life a few months ago. He had spent most of his evenings with her rather than working on the TARDIS like he would have done before. However, Martha had gone to visit her family that afternoon so he had taken the opportunity to do some long overdue repairs. He'd parked the TARDIS in a side road near her mother's house because Martha hadn't told her parents yet that she was travelling with him again. Only her sister Tish knew and even she didn't know about the new nature of the Doctor and Martha's relationship. Martha had told him one evening that she was a bit worried about how her family would react to the news. Her mother had warmed up to the Time Lord after they had spent a year on the Valiant together but she definitely wouldn't be happy to hear that her youngest daughter was travelling with him again. And after all that had happened the last time he couldn't say that he blamed her. It was a complete mystery to him why Martha had decided to give him another chance after everything he'd put her through. He knew he didn't deserve this chance but he would do anything he could to make up for his past mistakes.

When Martha came back to the TARDIS one hour later the Doctor was sitting on the jump seat with his feet up on the edge of the console and a book in his hands. He looked up when he heard her coming in and immediately jumped up, throwing the book down on the seat next to him in the process.

"Martha," he exclaimed happily as he walked towards her to take her into his arms. "I'm glad you're back."

"You were bored, weren't you?" Martha asked him as she laid her head against his chest and listened to his hearts beating.

"Maybe a bit," he admitted. "How was your day?"

Martha moved out of his embrace to look at him properly, and sighed.

"Like days with my family always are. My mum had a fight with dad's girlfriend during dinner. And afterwards she told me that she went by my flat a few times over the last few weeks and wanted to know why I wasn't there. So I told her that I'm travelling with you again."

"How did she react?"

"She wasn't exactly happy about it" The Doctor got the feeling that there was something else she wanted to tell him but decided against it. Instead she just gave him a smile. "I'll go and take a shower," she said and walked out of the console room.

The Doctor looked after her as she left the room. Something was bothering her and he wanted to help her.

Usually when he noticed that a companion was bothered about something he left them alone and just assumed that they would come and talk to him if he could help somehow. It was rare that he even noticed it in the first place. But Martha Jones was far more than a companion now. She was his lover and she was always there for him when he needed her. He had noticed before that he'd got remarkably better in reading her moods. And for the first time in a very long time he felt the urge to talk with someone about their domestic problems.

...

He reached Martha's door and went inside after briefly knocking on it. Martha was sitting on her bed and looked up when he walked in. He sat down next to her on the bed, not sure what to say now that he was here.

"Are you alright?" he asked.

"Yeah," she said, a bit surprised by his question. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"Did your mother say something that's bothering you?"

"Okay, what is this about?" she asked him.

"Something is bothering you," She didn't say anything but he could see in her eyes that he was right. He reached out and took her hand into his.

"Martha, you're always there for me when I need you and I want to be there for you too. I want you to know that you can talk to me about anything."

Martha smiled at him. She leaned forward to brush her lips softly against his.

"Thank you." She leaned back on her hands and looked at him. "I think I still need to get completely used to our new relationship."

"Me too," he replied.

Martha let out a small sigh. "It was just about what my mother said after I told her that I'm travelling with you again."

"What did she say?" the Doctor asked.

"She got angry and accused me of not thinking about my family. She said that I would put myself and them into danger because I do what I want without thinking about the consequences. She even went so far as to imply that what happened to them during the Year was my fault." she said, pushing down the anger and the feeling of hurt that was welling up inside her.

"Martha, she didn't mean what she said. She probably just wanted you to feel guilty so you would stay on Earth because she was afraid that something would happen to you while you're with me."

"But what if she really thinks it was my fault?"

"You saved them. You saved the world almost on your own and your mother knows that."

"You can't know that for sure," Martha said. A single tear was running down her face. The Doctor reached out to wipe it away.

"I was on the Valiant with her and the few times we were able to talk she told me how proud she was of you. She said if anyone was capable of saving us it was you and she was right. I seriously doubt that any of my other companions would have been able to do what you did."

A smile crept across her face that didn't quite reach her eyes.

"What if something else happens to them because I'm with you?" she asked him.

"You can never be sure that nothing bad will happen to them even if you stay on Earth. You always put everyone else first. That's one of the things I love about you. But sometimes you have to think about what you want as well. And travelling with me is what you want, right?"

Martha had to chuckle a bit when she heard the uncertainty in his voice. "Of course it is," she told him. This time her smile did reach her eyes. He reached out with both his arms and Martha crawled into his lap. He put his arms around her and held her close.

"I love you," he whispered into her hair.

"I love you too," Martha whispered back. They sat like this for a long while till Martha broke the silence. "Will you come with me to visit my family next time? I want to tell them about the true nature of our relationship."

"Oh, I hate family meetings," he answered with a whining voice.

Martha looked up at him with her big brown eyes. "Please?" she asked.

"All right. But only if you promise to protect me from your mother." Martha burst out laughing.

"She is going to slap me again!" he exclaimed.

"You're such a baby," Martha said, still laughing.

"It really hurt last time!" Martha leaned forward and silenced him with a long, passionate kiss. They only broke the kiss because they had to come up for air a few minutes later.

"Any plans for the evening?" the Doctor asked her, leaning down to kiss the side of her neck.

"I think first of all I'm going to take that shower," Martha answered. She closed her eyes and enjoyed the feeling of his lips on her skin.

"May I join you?" the Doctor asked between kisses. He trailed his kisses up her neck and started nibbling on her earlobe.

Martha reached up and started loosening his tie. "I think that's an excellent idea," she replied.

AN: I hope you liked the chapter. Please let me know what you think and review.