"Hurry up, Doctor!" Rose called to him as she fastened on her earrings. "We're gonna be late! You know mum is already mad at us for being late for the last Vitex party. Imagine how pissed she'll be if we're late for Pete's award."
Rose paused, expecting a comment from the usually vocal Doctor. When he stayed silent, she shrugged and continued.
"We really do owe them for being late so many times," Rose grinned. "How many times are we late on account of your driving or when we think having a quickie before we leave would be a good idea?"
Normally the Doctor would have interjected with, 'having a quickie is always a good idea,' or 'It's not our fault we lose track of time when engaging in wondrous activities,' but again he didn't comment. Frowning, Rose turned and headed over to the en suite. The Doctor was where she'd left him staring at the mirror. He'd been fixing up his hair earlier but now he was leaning against the counter with a strange look in his eye as he stared at his reflection.
"Doctor?" Rose asked hesitantly, coming up behind him and wrapping her arms around his middle. The Doctor jumped at her touch and spun around. A look of surprise crossed his face before he blinked and grinned widely at her.
"Let's go to Paris!" he said happily.
"What?" Rose frowned.
"Paris!" The Doctor laughed and gave her a quick kiss before moving past her and into their bedroom. "Or it doesn't have to be Paris, or France for that matter. Oh! We could go meet Thomas Edison! That'd be fun wouldn't it? Or we could go see the floating towers of Meckhiala! Those are really beautiful, Rose. See the gravity there is really weird and only works on creatures and not the dirt itself, so the land just floats around, and oh the waterfalls there are amazing!"
"Er, okay," Rose followed him out and watched as he began ruffling through their dresser. "But aren't we going to Pete's award ceremony?"
"We can do that anytime," the Doctor said. "We live in a time machine! So why don't we use it and go see the world! And other worlds for that matter."
Rose watched in confusion as the half human began running around their room filtering through drawers and papers while sprouting off various places and planets they could see. He didn't seem to be stopping anytime soon so as he rushed past her, Rose caught him by his sleeve and forced him to look at her.
"Doctor," she said slowly. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing!" He answered quickly, "Why would you think something was wrong?"
"Doctor."
"Rose, honestly, I'm fine," the Doctor reassured her. "I'm brilliant, actually. But you already knew that right?"
"Yes, but why the sudden need to go to Mecklia?"
"Meckhiala," the Doctor corrected. "And, I don't know, just fancied going. The award ceremony is gonna be long anyways before we get to Pete and just think about how many trips we could take in that time. Just you and me, exploring the universe."
"But we promised mum we'd go, Doctor," Rose smiled at him and reached up to finish tying his bow tie that he'd forgotten. "We can go traveling after the ceremony, okay? It won't be that long anyways, only an hour."
"But that's one hour lost that we can never get back," the Doctor said. "And if we keep giving up hours like that then, then how many do we have left?"
"What's that supposed to mean?" Rose paused and looked up at him.
The Doctor sighed and mumbled, "I don't know. It's just… Well, we're not as young as we were when we met, and I've only got one life now, but I don't mind that as much since I've got you, but… But when I look at Pete and Jackie now, they just look so different and I missed five years with you which I wish I could get back, but I can't. So I don't want to miss anymore moments with you in the time we have left."
"Hey," Rose said and reached up to cup his cheek. "What's all this about? What do you mean in the time we have left?"
"I'm dying, Rose," the Doctor looked up at her. "And so are you. Everyone is. Every second we grow older and our bodies start to shut down until he have no time left. I found another grey hair, Rose. You know how many that is now? Five. Five hairs counting down before I'm fully grey and on my deathbed—"
The Doctor was cut off as Rose let out a laugh. Shocked by her outburst, he furrowed his brow and opened and closed his mouth a few times before just frowning, "What's so funny?"
"You!" Rose smiled. "You find one grey hair and all of a sudden you're questioning life and death and freaking out!"
"It's not just one hair, it's five!"
"Yeah, only five hairs," Rose giggled. "Five little tiny hairs. Do you even know how many grey hairs I've found? Way more than five."
"Then how come you aren't, as you say, 'freaking out' about getting older?" the Doctor asked.
"Because there's nothing you can do about it, Doctor," Rose smiled. "Getting older is part of being human. One day we're going to die, yes, but that is so very far in the future. We have got plenty of time together. Plenty of time to see the floating towers of Meckhiala and plenty of time to go to Pete's award ceremony. You can't let a few grey hairs drive you in a panic to try and see everything and make every second an adventure. Everyone needs some down time too. All the times we spent reading together in the library, those quiet times, do you think those were precious moments wasted?"
"No," the Doctor said. "Any moment spend with you is never wasted."
"Mmm ta," Rose hummed as she wrapped her arms around his neck. "But do you understand what I'm trying to say?"
"Yeah," the Doctor gave her a smile. "Don't try to look too far in the future. Focus on the present so you don't miss any precious moments, no matter how small they may seem."
"That's right," Rose leaned up to give him a soft kiss. "It's the small bits that count."
The Doctor murmured an agreement against her mouth. His arms wrapped around her tightly as he began peppering her face with large open-mouthed kisses. Rose moaned appreciably as he sucked on her jaw.
"Doctor," Rose groaned. "We're going to be late for the ceremony if you keep this up."
"Oh we're definitely going to be late for the ceremony."