"Right! Step out those doors, Miss Tyler, we're going to a party!"

Rose quickly smiled at the Doctor before practically leaping for the TARDIS doors. She was too excited for her own good. She tripped, only just catching herself, and turned to face the Doctor with a bright red face. The Doctor was simply flashing his I-adore-you-please-stop-before-you-kill-me grin.

"You saw nothing!" she said.

He cleared his throat and subconsciously brought his hand to his cheek.

"I saw you walk gracefully to the door and wait patiently for me to join you!"

"Exactly."

The Doctor met her at the doors and took Rose's hand.

"Shall we, Dame Rose?"

"Of course, Sir Doctor."

The pair found themselves on a patch of grass that met the driveway. Smiling like mad, they walked towards the front door. It looked like quite the affair! All the lights, flashy men and women, and servers running around with champagne flutes. Nothing like the parties Rose used to go to before she'd met the Doctor. She pulled him closer as they made it to the front door.

"Do we need the psychic paper? We don't exactly have an invitation, do we?"

"Normally, you would be perfectly on point and correct! But I don't think that matters here. Look around, no one is taking invitations! Everyone just waltzing in like they own the place! Well, I'm one to talk, right? Do that a lot, I do. Although I'm sure invitations were sent out, which really seems like a waste of paper if you're going to just let everyone walk in! It would be far better to-"

"DOCTOR."

"Yes? Oh! Right! Of course! After you!"

The enormity of the place caught Rose by surprise. Of course, it did look big from outside, but the inside was something spectacular. The walls and furniture were covered in bright golds, deep reds, and a shine that could put the stars to shame. She was afraid to touch anything in case she broke it, but couldn't help herself at the same time. Rose hoped her thoughtful stroking of the golden banister didn't look too strange to the socialites who obviously were familiar with the luxury.

The Doctor, however, could not care less about the size of the house. Nor its rich color. And, least of all, the gaudy, golden banister. He was much more interested in what Rose thought of all those things. He seemed to spend half his time in recent days just drinking in her smile. The Doctor found his eyes drawn to the curve of Rose's smile as she gently touched the shiny gold with her fingertips.

He could feel it creeping over his face again, that goofy grin that showed itself whenever Rose was happy. How, he thought, could one tiny human be capable of that? It was very un-Time-Lordy, the after-effect of anything Rose related. But maybe that was a good thing; lord knows he had an ego comparable to that of Jack's libido. Well, wasn't that with good reason though? Really. Just look at him.

"Doctor?"

Oh. Rose had grabbed his hand. He wasn't exactly aware when lost in thought, was he?

"I believe I promised you a party!"

"Yeah, you did."

Without warning, Rose pulled the Doctor, quite roughly, towards an impossibly big courtyard.

"Oh, I love it! Come on, let's be social!"

The Doctor dutifully followed Rose. Most days he would talk her ear off and show her around, but tonight was different. Simply because, this one adventure was for Rose. Well, he was, of course, lying to himself because they were all for Rose but this one was a no-alien-no-running type of adventure. Was it domestic? Oh no, it was domestic. The Doctor momentarily regretted his domestic decision until Rose handed him champagne and he saw the sparkle in her eyes.

"I am going to make so many ball bearing covered snacks for you!"

"Well, no thanks necessary, but I'm certainly not going to dissuade you from that task if you see fit to follow through."

"I know this is kind of a domestic thing for you, but I love it. Really." She poked out her tongue, "but I hope it didn't bruise your Time Lord ego too much to do it."

"Oh you have no idea how much!" It didn't, not really. "It feels wrong just to be here!" Another lie. He was being obviously melodramatic, of course, but a lie none the less. "But I guess since we're here together, I can get over it." Well, that was half true. He loved being there together but there was really nothing to get over!

"The things you do for me!"

"Exactly, the things I do for you!"

"Come on, then! Dance with me!"

Before the Doctor had time to protest, or even agree, a very classy-looking gentlemen grabbed Rose and pulled her away with some claim of being and excellent dancer. He didn't want to mind, but he did. The more the Doctor watched the two dance, the more he saw how much fun Rose was having. It shouldn't have bothered him because she was happy. But it did.

Yeah.

It did.

About fifteen minutes later, Rose returned to his side.

"I've saved the next dance for you, if you like. Brandon's pretty good but I'm sure you've got some secret Time Lord moves somewhere in that brain of yours!"

Her eyes were almost pleading. For reasons Rose never really thought about, oh shut up of course she's thought about them, she just wanted to share a dance with the Doctor. Much to Rose's disappointment, he declined.

"No, no, you don't want me! I'm hundreds of years out of practice."

Alright, she'd give him one more chance.

"You sure?"

"Of course."

Was that … sadness the Doctor detected as Rose walked back to her pretty boy? It was! Oh and he was jealous. Fantastic. When has the night taken this awful turn?

Hours had passed since Rose ran off with Brandon. The Doctor found himself sulking in nearly every room on the first floor. But that was because he'd have to leave the room every time Rose and Brandon entered to stop himself from doing something stupid. He'd never been so bored in his life! Of course, he supposed, it was his own fault. Saying 'Why yes, Rose, I will dance with you' was apparently too hard so he'd opted for alone time. Brilliant.

Just bloody brilliant.

The Doctor was vaguely aware that someone had just sat down next to him.

"Where've you been all night? Every time I came into the room you'd run away before I could say anything."

"Oh, well, sorry. Brandon not entertaining enough for you anymore?"

Wait. He hadn't really meant to say that to her. Where was all this spite coming from? The rest of the conversation was not going to be pleasant; he could feel it in his gut.

"What the hell are you on about?"

"Bit pretty, isn't he? But then, they all seem to be."

"Have ya looked in the mirror?"

"What?"

Rose's face turned bright pink. Had she really just said that? Honestly, who compliments someone when they're in the middle of insulting you? Rose was meant to be mad at him, she knew, but she was far too confused.

"Doctor, I don't understand what's happening here."

"What's happening is I sat here alone all night while you were off gallivanting with Brandon."

"I asked you to dance and you said no, remember? And you left the room every time I entered! Don't pretend this is my fault. Brandon was just being nice, I have no interest in him!"

The Doctor gave a disbelieving laugh.

"Right, that's why you spent the whole night with him. Is it my fault for bringing you here and then getting dumped to the side, then?"

SMACK.

Now he'd done it. Rose's pink cheeks of embarrassment turned to red cheeks of anger. A Tyler slap, not something on the Doctor's agenda for the evening.

"Come find me when you start actin' nine-hundred instead of nine, and when you can see what's right in front of you!"

He was alone again. Stupid, stupid Doctor. Everything he just said was absolutely ridiculous. That was not how love worked. And, oh. Oh.

There it was. Right, it was time to do what the Doctor did best: fix things. He would follow Rose, at the risk of another slap, but first he needed to take a quick trip in the TARDIS.

He sprinted outside, into the TARDIS, and threw the lever to dematerialize. What he didn't see, however, was Rose standing beside the house, watching him leave.