Wow, sorry it's been so long! I've been extremely busy, and even when I had a little time to write, it just wasn't happening. Anyway, here's the next chapter, with another one hot on its heels if I'm lucky. Enjoy! (Edward Scissorhands is a film that reminds me of Autumn and Winter, so I thought I'd put it in. Plus, it's about being different and not accepted by most people, so I thought it had quite a nice connection with the Doctor.)

3rd November

If someone had told Rose a few days ago that she would find herself wandering through the woods on an icy morning with a mysterious yet handsome man that she by accident on Halloween night, she would not have believed it. However, the sharpness of the cold wind as it nipped at her exposed face and neck had convinced her otherwise.

"It's cold!" Rose called to the tall figure walking a couple of metres in front of her, in a voice that sounded suspiciously on the verge of being whiny.

"It's November, what do you expect?" The Doctor was striding ahead, hopping over tree roots and occasionally kicking at piles of dried leaves. He turned back, watching Rose as she attempted to warm her hands, arms and face all at once, with quite humorous consequences. "Here," he laughed, practically skipping back towards her, unwinding his ridiculously long striped scarf from his neck as he went, "I don't really need it anyway." He wrapped the scarf several times around her neck. "Better?"

"Well, I certainly feel better; if by 'better' you mean that I can no longer move my neck." The Doctor continued to smile infuriatingly as Rose scowled at him, face barely visible over the coil of scarf that reminded her of a woolly Boa Constrictor attempting to make her into his lunch.

The Doctor quickly loosened the scarf until it was no longer strangling her, then took her left hand in his right, a gesture that had become commonplace between them over the past few days.

He seemed to be more in his element than ever out here. The cold air had given him energy as well as tingeing his cheeks with red. All of his reactions seemed to be exaggerated – when he laughed, he threw back his head and roared. His grins were wider, his eyebrows more expressive, and his tongue – well, Rose was really trying not to dwell on his tongue. She was certain that tongue would be the death of her.

They tramped on through the woods, the Doctor keeping Rose's hand warm and safe in his own.

"You said it wouldn't rain!" Rose shouted over thunder, holding the Doctor's scarf as a completely useless guard against the water pouring down on her head.

"I'm not a weatherman, I don't know everything!" he called back, holding her hand tightly and just about sprinting towards Rose's flat, feet splashing through the puddles.

"I wish I'd got that on tape."

"What?"

"You saying you don't know everything – I'm sure you probably only say it about once a decade."

"Oi!" They were in the hallway of Rose's building by this time, and the Doctor shut the door before shaking his soaking wet hair in Rose's direction, showering her with water droplets.

She grinned. "You know you're never going to win this competition - I've got more hair than you." She shook her head violently, covering the Doctor with water and effectively winning that battle. "Come on, let's go inside."

A few minutes later they were sitting on Rose's sofa, cups of tea in hands, with their wet coats and the Doctor's scarf drying on the radiator.

"Nice flat," the Doctor commented, glancing around him and taking a sip of his tea.

"Cold flat, you mean," Rose countered, pulling a blanket off the back of the sofa and throwing it over them both, "the heating's rubbish, it always has been. Anyway, what do you want to do."

The Doctor considered, tilting his head to one side in a move that reminded Rose of a cat she had had when she was young, though of course she didn't tell him that. "Well, I reckon the best thing to do on a rainy Autumn day is, probably, to snuggle up on the settee and watch a film."

"I heartily agree." She gestured towards the shelves of DVDs (and a few old Disney videos) on her wall. "Go on then, you can choose, seeing as you're the guest."

The Doctor stood. "It would be an honour, my lady," he said with an elaborate bow.

As he stood in front of the shelves, consumed in the agony of choosing a film, Rose attempted to get control of herself and the situation. It didn't bother her that they had not known each other very long, but it did scare her how easy it was to be completely open and comfortable in his company. It was also very hard to concentrate on keeping control when the Doctor's bum was just there, looking rather nice in his incredibly tight suit trousers.

"Aha!" He span around, Rose's copy of "Edward Scissorhands" clutched in one hand. "This one! One of my favourites."

"Me too. Pop it in then!"

The Doctor quickly put the DVD into the machine, giving Rose yet another view of his arse (she wondered if he was doing it on purpose) in the process, before leaping back onto the settee and dragging more than his fair share of the blanket over his skinny legs.

Rose pulled the blanket back towards her, causing a mini tug of war as the start of the film began to play. Needless to say, she won, celebrating her victory by distributing the blanket evenly over the both of them and giving the Doctor a stern warning about what would happen if he tried to steal it again.

They settled down, quickly becoming absorbed in the film – it was one that Rose had watched so many times before, and it appeared that the Doctor had too. She could tell by the way he smiled just before the funny moments were about to happen, and the occasional moment where he mouthed along with the dialogue.

About halfway through the film, Rose found herself leaning against the Doctor, head resting on his shoulder. It was comfortable, the sleepiness that seems to occur all too often after a walk on a cold Autumn morning had begun to overtake her, and she was rather bolder than she would normally have been as she curled her legs up next to her and wrapped her arm around the Doctor's waist. At the feeling of her nuzzling into his shoulder, the Doctor looked down at her, and the idea occurred to Rose that she should be feeling at least a little bit awkward. That idea soon vanished as the Doctor laid an arm gently over her shoulders, his head resting on top of hers. He let out a contented sigh.

After another 20 minutes of the film, they had managed to get themselves into a reasonably tangled ball of limbs. Rose sighed, sitting up and pulling the Doctor's legs and arms into the right places before lying back down. They were now pretty much spooning, Rose lying in front of the Doctor and feeling his long, lean body pressed up against her back. His arm draped over her waist almost instinctively, his head poking over her shoulder so that he could still watch the film, which was getting sad by this point. If the Doctor noticed Rose sniffing and holding back her tears at the tragedy of the film, he didn't say anything, though she was certain he held her just a fraction tighter than he had before.

The next thing she knew, Rose had shaken herself from her half dreaming state to see the menu screen on the TV. The Doctor was sleeping soundly, still holding her to him even as he slumbered.

She would've reached up and tried to find the remote control to turn off the telly, but the feeling of the Doctor's arms around her and his slow breathing on her neck quickly stopped any thoughts of moving in their tracks. Rose relaxed, allowing herself to slowly slip into sleep, desperately hoping in the back of her mind that this moments would not be the last time that they did this.

They slept into the afternoon, Rose waking up realising she was about to fall off the sofa, and the Doctor catching her with reflexes that were worthy of Spiderman (or so he said.)

Rose made to get up, thinking that they should get some food, but the Doctor pulled her back down.

"Let's just stay here for a bit," he said. So they did.

At least, until they got hungry.

Hope you enjoyed it. Review if you want to, and the next chapter should be up soon - fingers crossed anyway :P