Something indeed was binding them together and it was becoming more than a mystery to them both.
"Alec, I think the same, yes that is possible. The Doctor told my mum just before we got sent here that bits of this universe were bleeding into ours. Mum didn't understand what he was saying but she remembered and she told me that he'd said there were cracks between the two universes and that they were closing. The Doctor closed the very last crack in the two universes the day I left him at Bad Wolf Bay. Somehow, I was connected to the Tardis after I absorbed the Time Vortex and he was able to communicate with me to lead me there."
Alec was listening attentively to all she had to say. It was starting to make sense. Something was binding them together.
"Rose, do you think that the Doctor somehow arranged all this?" Rose was stunned as he continued. "I mean the planting of the dreams, because I sure as hell couldn't have come up with them on my own and me coming here and you finding me, what else could it be? I wasn't even going to have that operation, I would be dead by now and here I am, with you because I had nothing to live for but something made me go through with it. I know Ellie encouraged me but it was my decision, like somehow I knew I was going to meet you."
Rose was more than surprised. It was making perfect sense the more they talked about it. She would never have trusted anyone else with what she'd told Alec that Sunday morning when she thought she'd lost him.
"Alec, I don't know what to say apart from I think we've almost nailed it. What other possible explanation could there be? The Doctor cared about me, that I do know and he knew he couldn't stay with me forever, that was his curse. So what if instead, he wanted me to be happy and after I got sent here and he couldn't get through himself, with times being different here he somehow sent those images to you but they did indeed go back though your timeline. How he knew to direct them to you I can't guess unless he somehow looked you up when we were here the first time, saw you looked like him then he decided to do something about it after he lost me. He did disappear for a while. He knew one day he'd lose me or have to leave me if he regenerated again so what better way than to find someone who looked like him? Maybe he even had plans if I'd stayed in the other universe for me to find the Alec Hardy there?"
Alec moved closer to her and put his arm around her. "Then the Alec Hardy from your world would be a lucky man but tough, I've got you" and he turned her face to kiss her. As they kissed some more both thought the mystery was solved but it was far from over.
They went out to dinner, Alec had chosen somewhere really nice, not where they had their 'First' date. Rose had told him about her first date with the Doctor and that they'd had chips to which Alec called him a cheapskate and what sort of date was he and Rose said she'd had to pay anyway and that's what she'd said to him at the time. It was nice now she could open up to Alec without him being jealous. There was nothing to be jealous of really. By the time they had finished eating, Alec couldn't take his eyes off her and the skimpy dress she was wearing, revealing in all the right places except he was still trying to look down it and Rose let Alec drive home just so he'd keep his hands busy other than with her but every time they stopped he would run his hand up her leg.
They piled into Rose's house, switching the lamp on and falling over each other in the process, locking the door behind them and pulling the curtains. Alec had her over the arm of the sofa before Rose's feet touched the ground, pulling her knickers down as she tipped over the arm, her kicking off her shoes while she grabbed his belt and unfastened his trousers as he leaned over towards her, pulling her dress up as far as it would go then reached around her back to unfasten the zip and her bra. Then he pulled them from her shoulders and lifted Rose's dress over her head. He leaned down and fell on top of her, her legs over the sofa arm, his hand now feeling her intimate area waiting with anticipation for him and pushing her further up the sofa as he shuffled with her. She pulled down his shorts and squeezed his bottom, urging him to take her. She was crying, begging for more as he thrust deeper and deeper, pushing on her hips.
They both reached their climax and Alec reached to kiss her, long and hard, his tongue entwined with hers as she dug her fingers into his bottom. As their lips parted, Alec reached down to kiss her, his hands now on her hips, moving her gently. He raised his body slightly, afraid of crushing her but she pulled him back on top of her.
They slowly got up from the sofa, Alec claimed the start of his new knickers collection but Rose decided she wasn't going to be beat this time and grabbed his shorts in record time, both of them with them on the end of a finger and holding them out to each other. They fell together, laughing as Alec grabbed her bottom and she squealed. They turned out the light, heading for the stairs, gathering their clothes in their arms, there was no point in putting them on and Alec now knew what it was like for Rose having to climb the stairs since she had his shorts amongst her clothing. As the reached their bedroom, they now called it that in both their houses because it now was, they fell into bed and Alec really let go. They both enjoyed their nightly sex on the sofa but when they got to bed it was something else. Rose briefly thought perhaps she should get the bedroom soundproofed.
Rose had told Alec that they'd been invited for Sunday lunch at Ellie's so when they woke early to go for their run, with Alec disappearing for a few minutes to get changed, Rose had relented and let Alec 'Borrow' his shorts back to get home at a price, a snogging and touching session which he agreed was a fair exchange, then they went for their run, Rose purposely watching Alec's behind when he ran on the way there and he watching Rose's on the way back, with Rose promising no more cheating. It was when they got back, they sat on the sofa together and Rose started up her laptop and logged into the Torchwood database with Alec watching. She had given him the limited access password and he had taken another look during the week but she had promised him that on Sunday morning she would show him more. She had thoughtfully removed the desktop wallpaper of the Doctor earlier in the week.
She showed him all the photographic and written confirmation of the things she had told him about because she and Mickey had recounted many of their stories again and Rose had managed to sketch some of the aliens they had encountered. Then came the crunch. Pete's computer had captured images of the Doctor when they had been in the Tyler mansion the first time around on the fateful night the Cybermen invaded and killed everyone there and captured his first wife. Although she had shown him them before it was still a shock to him as there, in front of Alec, on the screen, was his double, unshaven and slightly younger but definitely him. Then Rose showed him the photos she had taken of the Doctor, of her with him and the one she'd had on her desktop.
Rose watched his reaction carefully. This was it, make or break. Was he going to accept it or turn and run again? Alec quickly recovered this time, because he really did love her. All he said was, "Well, Miss Tyler, you certainly have good taste in men" and putting the laptop to one side, kissed her passionately. Then he asked her "Rose, who have you been making love to this past week?"
"Detective Inspector Alec Hardy," she immediately replied with no hesitation. "You, Alec."
"Then that's all I need to know, the matter is closed." He turned to her, she closed the program and turned off the laptop. Alec had one more question for her though. "Is that why you were shocked when I first saw you through the window of the shop? Did you think I was him?"
Rose looked at him. "Yes, Alec, I did at first when I saw you. I panicked, made Jake the scapegoat to give me time to see how I felt but it didn't take me long to realise you were very different and I realised it was you I loved."
"Then we won't talk about it any more. I love you, Rose Tyler and I'm not afraid to say it. I'm not afraid to spend the rest of my life with you if you'll have me and I will never doubt you again, I swear."
"Alec Hardy, I love you and I never want to go back to the other universe because I'm staying here, with you."
With that, they fell into each others arms and fell back on the sofa, tugging and pulling. Rose was still a bit tired so she snuggled in Alec's arms and chest and closed her eyes while Alec was content to run his hands up and down her legs through her thin leggings, tentatively touching her delicate area. This is where she wanted to be. Comfortable, happy and loved and at that moment, she knew she was all three.
Lunchtime arrived and Alec went to do a quick change and agreed to meet Rose at Ellie's. Rose got there first and introduced herself to Tom and Fred. She instantly took to Fred, he reminded her so much of her brother when he was younger. She offered to help Ellie finish getting lunch ready and they began finding out a little about each other. Ellie seemed more interested in what was happening between Rose and Alec but Rose was keeping quiet, only letting on that they were 'dating' and were now getting along just fine. She thanked Ellie again for her little intervention that had given Alec the kick start he needed but she didn't go into any details as to what had happened. All Ellie knew was that Rose had to tell him something about her past that didn't go down well. She knew they would work it out because Alec had been like a love sick puppy for a week. When Alec arrived, the two of them giggled, making him feel they had just been talking about him. They enjoyed a pleasant afternoon, with Alec kicking a football around with the boys and Rose thinking how good he was with them and that she was getting way too ahead of herself with that train of thought.
After the big lunch at Ellie's they decided to go for a walk rather than a run along where they had been in the morning, taking their time, talking and laughing with Alec grunting an "afternoon" to people he recognised along the way. He stopped suddenly as he came across a couple with a small baby in a pushchair and looked a bit flustered. The woman spoke first, looking down to see Alec's hand in Rose's.
"Afternoon, Detective Inspector."
"Mrs Latimer," he acknowledged. "Erm, this is Miss Rose Tyler, she's just opened a picture gallery here in the town," letting go of her hand as Rose grabbed it quickly back.
"Nice to meet you Mrs Latimer," as Rose reached out her right hand. She recognised the woman's name immediately after Alec had told her about the Latimer case.
The woman hesitated, then shook Rose's hand. "And you, Miss Tyler. I see you've already made a friend," looking at the pair of them. "I'm glad you've found someone, Detective."
Alec still looked a bit awkward as they said goodbye and he and Rose walked on. Rose asked him why he was so awkward with the meeting and he just shook it off and insisted it was due to the recent events and that he'd get over it.
They walked back to Alec's house, it was his turn to play host. Rose kicked off her shoes and made herself comfy on the sofa, hardly leaving room for Alec who was making drinks. He saw that she had done this on purpose, put the cups down, lifted her legs and sat down, still holding them up in the air as he patted her bottom. Rose let out a giggle, telling him he should put them down but instead, ran his hand up the back of one leg, despite her wearing trousers that afternoon, while with the other ran under her bottom. It didn't take him long to rid himself of the offending article though, with Rose now lying on him bare legged in just her lacy knickers. He got up to pull the curtains over, darkening the room slightly, just how they liked it.
"Bit early for a sofa romp, Inspector?" Rose teased.
"Never too early, Miss Tyler," came the reply "but you can drink your tea first if you want, you're going to need it."
They quickly had their drinks and Alec claimed another trophy.
"You can collect your clean ones from the bedroom whenever you want, Rosie, I won't charge you for the laundry," as he went to start on her now bare lower half, leaning over her and kissing it.
She soon had his t-shirt off and his trousers but decided to tease him by leaving his shorts on and her bra. "Oi, off now," he said touching her bra strap to which she grabbed his hand.
"No chance, Inspector, makes it more interesting" and with that pulled him on top of her, reaching into his shorts. Rose found they had become much more adventurous on the sofa, they both enjoyed it immensely because of the limited room which made it so much better when they went to bed.
Afterwards, they watched TV for a while and Alec went out later for some takeaway, borrowing Rose's car again. She complained he drove it more than she did and he said only because she wouldn't let him be a passenger because he distracted her. They had talked some more about Alec's theory of his dreams, drawing to the conclusion that something had indeed drawn them together, for the good of both of them. They had both been so lonely until they met. They needed each other and Alec found he had needs more than he had let on to himself, denying any pleasure for so many years. He'd blamed it on his workload but he now knew it was because he'd not met the right woman, his Rosie. Now he was accepting he could have a future with someone, if she'd let him and he was fairly certain she wanted the same with him. He had let someone into his very private world even the parts he'd not shared with his ex-wife and he was glad he'd finally been able to do so. It had lifted the weight from his shoulder that no-one else had been able to do and now he had someone to share the load with despite Rose having her own burden which now he was able to take.
They had become close in the space of a few weeks, now being even more intimate with each other. The odd touching discreetly when out, legs under the table and the snogging in the back of the shop all added to the excitement they shared together.