Three Weeks And One Day After
The floorboards in the hallway creaked at one o'clock in the morning and her traitorous heart leaped at the sound. The door opened. A familiar smell wafted in.
Rose turned to look at him, bewildered.
"Are those chips?"
"Yeah."
"You brought back chips?"
"If you don't want them, I'll leave. I understand."
"Where the hell did you find chips at one in the morning?"
The Doctor paused at the doorway. "Went for a stroll."
She smiled. A real smile, teeth glowing the dark.
"Blimey, you really have gone native, haven't you?"
He looked at her for a long moment, his mouth drawn in a tight line. She looked at the floor. "Sorry."
He said nothing.
"I was afraid you wouldn't come back," said Rose.
"Rose Tyler, where on earth could I possibly go?"
"Exactly."
The Doctor blinked. Then he put the chips on the bed and sat down beside Rose. Humans were difficult. They always had been, but he hadn't counted on it getting even harder when he was partly one of them.
"Donna's gone," he said.
"How d'you mean?"
"The Metacrisis will have overloaded her brain. I — the other I — he'll have had to wipe her mind. Take away every memory she's ever had of me. I'm only glad I didn't have to do that, even if it meant giving up the TARDIS."
"You… he… you… just wiped it clean? Just like that?"
"Would have had to," said the Doctor grimly. "She'd burn up otherwise."
"Oh my god," said Rose.
"Another one left behind, I suppose."
There was a long silence, which was at length broken by the crinkling of a paper bag and something salty held under his nose.
"Chip?"
He let out some kind of pathetic little giggle and took it with his mouth. For a while after that the only sound was the rustle of the bag, and quiet chewing in the dark. It took a minute of searching, but he found her fingers beside him, and they held hands while they ate, until the chips were all gone.
"You going to stay?" asked Rose.
"If you want."
"Stay."
He had to smile. "I've got to, don't I? I've lost a heart. I'm used to having two. Don't know if I can survive with just one."
"Where'd you pick that one up?" Rose gave him a little shove. "Alright, I'll go along. You can have mine if you need it."
"Brilliant."