A/N: I was having severe writers block with this chapter, hopefully it's not too bad. If you think it is, I don't mind if you tell me- I might rewrite this chapter tomorrow. So, what do you think?

Disclaimer: Don't own. Can't be bothered to write a nifty disclaimer.

*CHAPTER REWRITTEN 02/06/12*

I finally caught up with Rose just as she was entering the Powell Estate. Just as we were going through the doors, a thought developed in my mind.

What exactly had happened to my flat in the four months I had been away? Had the hole expanded and just destroyed my whole flat? Or had someone fixed it in the time I'd spent with the Doctor? God, I hoped it was the second one. Otherwise, I really was stumped. If the hole was still there, were all my things ruined? All my clothes? Because it must of torrentially rained a few times between the end of December and the end of April.

I gulped. I wasn't even sure I wanted to go back to my flat if that's what I'd be welcomed to. And I didn't even want to imagine the bills I had to pay…

Rose glanced back at me, noticing the sudden look of worry on my face. "What's wrong, Ave?"

I shook my head, forcing a smile onto my face. I didn't want to look miserable just after Rose had forgiven me for doing something so unforgiveable. "It's nothing."

Rose narrowed her eyes, but she left it. She knew when to not ask questions. "We better go upstairs, then. Try and drag mum away from the Doctor."

I bit my lip. "Is Jackie angry at me, too?"

I really didn't want to have Jackie against me. She was simply terrifying when angry- and she wouldn't hesitate to give me a good telling off if I'd in anyway upset her daughter. Even when Rose and I were both little and we'd fallen out, Jackie would always step in to defend her daughter.

Rose shrugged. "I really don't know, Ava. It was more the Doctor she went on about. She knows you wouldn't do something like this on purpose. The Doctor, however, is capable of anything in mum's eyes."

I felt a little relieved by Rose's nonchalant tone. This hopefully signified that Jackie hadn't being shouting insults along with my name across the past four months.

Four months. I was still getting my head round that. It had been four months since Rose had seen mw, but barely ten hours since I had seen Rose.

Time travel was so confusing. It really altered your perspectives.

And it proved that just about anything was possible.

-x-

There were plenty of muffled curses and high-pitched screeches coming from inside of the Tyler's flat. I winced as I heard Jackie's voice, obviously higher than the male one that accompanied it, shouting. What she was shouting, I couldn't tell. But it probably wasn't nice, friendly things. I'd be pretty surprised if Jackie was shouting nice, friendly things to the man, according to Rose, she despised.

Rose grimaced as she wrapped her hand round the door handle. "This is probably not going to be a pretty sight."

I nodded in agreement. "Let's just open it and get it over with. Maybe the Doctor was smart and put a helmet on or something."

Rose half-smiled at the thought, before pushing open the door and running into the living area.

I was close behind, sort of expecting the walls to be coated in the Doctor's blood. Gladly, they weren't. The walls were how I remembered them. Four months wouldn't make them look older, would it? Because now I thought about it, they kind of did need a lick of paint.

I dragged my eyes away from the wall and back to the Doctor, who was struggling on the floor underneath a very, very (emphasising on the very) angry Jackie Tyler. She was positively fuming.

Rose immediately rushed over to her mum and attempted to pull the woman off her friend. "Mum, honestly, stop it!"

Between the Doctor's curses of 'Ow!' and 'Stop it, Jackie!' Jackie was slapping the Doctor hard round the cheeks, to an extent where the Doctor's face was really redder than it should probably be.

"ROSE! AVA!" the Doctor attempted to shout over the top, "HELP ME!"

Rose beckoned me over and I obliged, pulling on the shoulders of Jackie Tyler until she'd been completely prised away from the Time Lord.

As soon as he'd been set free, the Doctor lay back on the floor and started panting rapidly. His chest was going up and down in the time of his primary heartbeat. "Thank… You…"

Jackie's face was still furious and she looked like she was about to say something, when she noticed that I was in the room with her. Her features almost immediately softened with realisation.

She grabbed me into a big, Jackie hug. "Oh God Ava, we've missed you!" she started to ramble at a hundred miles an hour, "I knew this wasn't your fault, you know! I knew it was going to come down to him somehow. Him and his stupid time machine."

"Oy!" the Doctor retorted, "My time machine is not stupid!"

"You say that," snorted Jackie, "But you never seem to bring anyone back at the right time! That is what I call stupid."

Woah. Jackie really told it how it was. That was one of the main reasons I loved her so much.

I squeezed Jackie tighter. "I'm sorry, Jackie."

"You, Ava, have nothing to be sorry for." Jackie insisted as I let go, cocking her thumb in the direction of the Time Lord. "It's him who should be apologising."

"And I have!" the Doctor was trying but failing to defend himself. Nothing could ever break through to Jackie. "Hundreds of times! I've done nothing but apologise since I came through that door, and all you've done is hurt me!"

Rose laughed a little at this, pulling him up with her hand. "You know what happens, Doctor. You do something mum disagrees with, she'll slap you."

The Doctor pressed his hands against the skin on his face, wincing at how tender the flesh still was. "I can still feel the bruise from the last time."

Rose pushed a strand of her hair behind her ear, smiling. "I've missed you, Doctor. Despite you leaving me behind and running off with my best friend, I've really missed you."

"I didn't run off with Ava," the Doctor said, "I took her on a trip. A trip I really should've taken you on too."

Rose looked into his eyes for a second, before leaping onto his shoulders and wrapping him in a hug. "Don't do that to me again, Doctor. Please."

"Never," the Doctor whispered back, "Never ever. You know I would never leave you behind, Rose Tyler."

Rose pressed her hand against the back of the Doctor's neck. "While you were gone… I got a taste of what life would be like without you, and I hated it. I really hated it. It reminded me of why I never want to leave you."

The Doctor didn't say anything for a couple of moments. "Are you fine with Ava coming with us? Are you definitley sure?"

Rose let go but let her arms rest on his shoulders. "Of course I am, Doctor. She's my best friend. I can't leave her behind, not now."

The Doctor flashed Rose a cheeky grin. "You better pack your bags, then. Next stop, everywhere."

Rose grinned back at him.

She really had missed him. She'd missed the unknown, the unexpected thrills that shuddered down her spine whenever he uttered her name.

And now she had me to share it with too.