AN: I own nothing
I hope you will all still review, as it really does mean a lot. I have no beta, so all mistakes are my own doing, sorry about that.

Patience

Martha had been travelling with the Doctor for some time now. At least it felt like more than a couple of weeks, but she didn't know for sure, it was easy to lose all concept of time in the TARDIS, ironically enough. She loved it here and she loved being with the Doctor. She had never met a man quite like him before and it exited her beyond belief. The only downside, it would seem, was a former companion of the Doctor's, Rose. It was like she was haunting him. Whenever her name came up, he would get a tormented look and become uncharacteristically quiet and then change the subject. She wished he would just forget about Rose and start looking at her, really look at her.

Martha had decided to spend the afternoon (she told herself it was afternoon, it made it easier to keep track of time) exploring the TARDIS. She had gotten the tour by the Doctor, but it seemed like new rooms or corridors kept appearing and she was curious by nature.

Martha spent a good deal of the next three hours getting completely lost in the maze that was the TARDIS. She had visited several empty rooms, one with a sign saying Belarus (and it had been rather cold in there), a library containing a swimming pool and a room filled with pears. After a side trip down a corridor with nothing but mirrors and into a room that was decorated like the eighties, Martha came to a door unlike all the rest. It was painted in a bright pink colour and when Martha opened it, she at first thought the room belonged to a child. The walls were a light purple and there was clothes lying around, like someone had just stepped out for a minute. Martha took another step into the room and noticed that the air was a bit stale, like it had been a while since someone had actually lived in the room. She looked around again and it suddenly became obvious that the room had been uninhabited for some time. Even the clothes strewn on the floor looked arranged, like someone had gone to great lengths to make the room look this way.

Martha moved over to the unmade bed and gingerly sat down. She took the picture standing on the bedside table; it was a pretty blonde girl, probably still a teenager, and an older blonde woman (both peroxide, though, Martha noted), most likely her mother. The young one was laughing at something while the older was posing for the camera. She looked around and noticed several picture frames around the room. The nearest was another picture of the blonde girl and an older man with big ears and a goofy expression on his face, which made Martha smile too. It was probably the girl's father. There were a few more of the two of them together, sometimes joined by a handsome man with black hair and strong, blue eyes.

And then something caught her eye. Martha picked up a picture lying on the table and studied it. The same blonde, but this time she was with the Doctor. He was wearing a red paper crown and the biggest smile Martha had ever seen and they both looked so happy.

Martha had just decided to snoop some more (she had spotted a passport lying on the bedside table), when a noise behind her made her flinch and turn around. It was the Doctor, standing in the doorframe looking completely blank.

"I was just looking around" Martha said. "Hope that's okay" she added. The Doctor still didn't move and Martha suddenly noticed she was still holding the picture in her hand.

"It's Rose's room" he finally said in a somewhat hoarse tone.

"Oh" Martha said and suddenly felt really stupid. "I didn't mean to…"

She didn't get to finish the sentence, as the Doctor cut her off. "Could you give me some privacy, please?"

"Yeah sure. I'll just be…" Martha realized he probably didn't care at all and left the room after having placed the picture back on the table.

"Stupid, stupid, stupid" Martha whispered to herself as she sat in her room. Not only had she managed to barge in and snoop around in Rose's room (unintentionally, but still), she had also been caught red handed by the Doctor. The look in his eyes, like she had slapped him across the face, was enough to make her feel nauseous.

She thought back to the girl in all the pictures. She looked so young, a kid really, and definitely too young for the Doctor. The few times he had talked about Rose, really talked about her, he had always made her seem so magnificent, like some great woman with immense knowledge, but all Martha could she was a teenage girl with peroxide hair and rather large teeth.

Martha sighed. She knew she was being unfair, but really, how else was she supposed to act? She was just as pretty as Rose (and even had normal sized teeth) and she was really smart as well, even training to be a doctor. Rose looked like she had barely finished primary school. How could someone like the Doctor be even remotely interested in her?

Martha had almost fallen asleep when there was a faint knock in her door and the Doctor entered. He looked tired and his eyes looked a little red. He sat down on her bed with a sigh.

"Martha, you have to patient with me."

"What do you mean?"

"When I met Rose, I was a different man back then. And Rose…" He got that distant look again. "Rose, she helped me get better, she was so human and yet so extraordinary and she didn't even know it. She was ready to give her life, so many times, for what she believed in."

"Did you love her?"

"I suppose I did, in my own way.""What happened? Why did she leave?"

"She didn't leave (his tone suddenly sounded defensive), she got stuck in an alternative dimension. She can never come back."

"Oh… I'm sorry."

The Doctor nodded. "I don't mean to compare, but she still means a lot to me. You just have to patient."

Martha nodded. "I really didn't mean to snoop, I was just waking around and saw the door. It's pink."The Doctor suddenly smiled. "She loved pink. All girly colours really. I had to help her paint the door. It was quite fun, actually, even though she completely ruined my favourite shoes."

Martha just smiled a little. She felt so jealous of the girl, even though it was petty and Rose couldn't even defend herself, seeing as she was stuck in an alternative dimension, whatever that was. But Martha really liked the Doctor, he was clever and funny and handsome and he never seized to impress and amaze her. Why wouldn't he just look at her and notice that she was right there, just waiting for him to get over Rose and finally be hers.