Next chapter! Woop woop! More cuteness and fluffiness I'm afraid, if you don't like that I'd stop reading now, it's only going to get worse from here.

1st November

Rose was fidgety all the next day, not able to sit or even stand still as she worked. She was alone in the shop and it was a slow day, so there was not much that she could do to distract herself from thinking about John Smith. She had called his house last night when she had got back to her flat. He had not been home – Rose assumed that he was still out causing havoc in his banana costume – but she had left her number and the address of the shop, telling him that he could come in any time the next day to pick up his wallet.

In the light of the day Rose realised that she should have told him a specific time to come to the shop – she had wanted to leave the invitation quite casual, but in doing so she had condemned herself to an entire day of waiting that would probably only end with John Smith arriving, thanking her and saying goodbye without a second thought.

Only a person who doesn't do anything exciting would be wound up over something this mundane, Rose thought glumly, slumped in her chair and staring absently at the door to the shop.

Just as she was thinking that she might as well close up the shop and go home, a movement in the window caught her eye. It was him.

He grinned at her through the window, before pushing open the door and bouncing inside. Now he was no longer dressed as a banana, Rose thought again that she might not have recognised him. He was wearing a brown pinstriped suit that clung to his skinny frame, with a blue shirt and a patterned tie. His thick hair defied gravity effortlessly, seeming to almost crackle with energy as he grinned widely at her. Seeing the grin Rose realised that, however different he looked in his "normal" clothes, she could never have forgotten those sparkling brown eyes, even if she'd wanted to.

"Hi."

"Hi yourself," he replied. "We really should stop meeting like this. I'm John. Well, you probably knew that already, seeing as you're the one who found my wallet. John Smith, but people mostly call me the Doctor. Thank you for that, by the way, picking up my wallet I mean." He was babbling, but it seemed natural to her – in some bizarre way it suited him.

"It was no problem." Rose held out the aforementioned wallet. He took it, fingers brushing hers, and in that moment she found herself grasping at anything she could ask him to stop him from disappearing out the shop door.

"Why do they call you 'the Doctor'?" she asked, glad that her genuine curiosity had managed to mask the desperation in her voice as she sought for a reason to keep him talking to her. This seemed to be becoming a permanent state of affairs: Rose grasping at anything she could think of in order to keep herself talking to this John Smith a.k.a. "the Doctor."

He shrugged, though the look on his face betrayed his delight at being asked the question. "I really couldn't say. I'm not an actual Doctor, never wanted to be – I'm actually more into...well..." John –the Doctor, Rose corrected herself – looked suddenly a little bit nervous. He masked it well, pulling awkwardly on his ear and avoiding her gaze, but Rose could tell that he was trying to think of a way to avoid carrying on. Never one to skirt around the edges of an awkward conversation, Rose folded her arms and raised an eyebrow, her stare clearly telling him that she was not saying another word until he blurted out what he was trying so nonchalantly to hide.

"Well, apart from acting like an idiot and running, my favourite things are cooking and gardening." He blushed a little, and Rose fought the urge to smile at how cute he looked – like a teenager admitting he had a crush on someone. "That's actually my job. I invent recipes and all that (usually weird ones, just call me Heston Blumenthal.)I've done a couple of recipe books - I don't make a tonne of money from them but people seem to like me. Personally I think it's just me they like – you know, slim and a little bit foxy." He struck a pose and Rose laughed, dissipating the tension immediately.

"So you're sort of like some... food mad scientist or something?"

He laughed, pushing his hands into his trouser pockets. "I don't think any one sentence has ever summed me up better than that one."

"Glad I could be of assistance," Rose replied, smiling at him.

They were silent once again, but this time it was comfortable, the Doctor glancing around the shop and Rose taking the opportunity to look at him more closely. He was most definitely different – more different than anyone else she's ever met. It wasn't even the slightly eccentric way he was dressed, the hair or the enthusiasm. There was just something about him, as though his brain was wired differently to everyone else's.

The Doctor looked up and caught her scrutinising him. Rose blushed.

"So what now?" she asked him.

"Well, I don't know, if you're not doing anything this evening, maybe...we could do something?" His hands were still jammed in his pockets, his face carefully casual with just a hint of humour in his eyes.

Hand stroking her chin thoughtfully, Rose narrowed her eyes at him good-naturedly. "Maybe we could," she agreed.

"Maybe we could get some chips?" Rose raised an eyebrow. "Hey, you can't beat chips. I should know, I've been trying for years, even I can't invent something as nice as chips."

Despite his overconfidence she laughed, considering his proposal for a second before nodding. The Doctor's face lit up in a smile that seemed so genuinely thrilled that Rose could not help but return it, a warm tingle of happiness spreading through her as she thought about how long it had been since she had been so happy to be around another person – a person who was almost a complete stranger, at that.

She stepped out of the door after him, turning around and locking up the shop before sliding the keys into her pocket. She had her coat on, but even so it was dark and cold, and she rubbed her hands together to try and restore the warmth that the night air seemed to have leached out of them in the few seconds she had been outside.

"Here."

Rose looked up in surprise to see the Doctor cover her hands with his own. Their warmth was a relief to her cold fingers, and he held them there for a few moments before letting go of one of her hands. The other hand – her right one – stayed in his left. She looked down at it and then back up at his face, grinning despite herself. He returned her smile, and together they set off on the centuries old quest of many a freezing cold English person - the quest for chips.

I'm not sure if I'll be able to get the next chapter up tomorrow, but I will try my very hardest. Thankyou for reading - my tumblr url is donna-and-her-spaceman, just in case you were interested... :P