Things were different now. Once they'd found out that the Bad Wolf was now a part of Rose, the two had been walking on eggshells. The first thing the Doctor wanted to do was run Rose through many, many tests. The Doctor wasn't sure what she hated more; the tests or the fact that she was no longer fully human. He thought about telling Jackie, but realized that it would ultimately be his fault and he's get more than a slap across the face. Currently, the Doctor was waiting for Rose to get out of the shower. They hadn't spoken much and he was getting tired of it. He's the one that shuts everyone out with his inner emotions; not Rose. He'd taken the necklace he got her off the pile of clothes she'd set on the bathroom floor and was twiddling it between his fingers. The color was a light, sad-looking blue. He heard the shower turn off, but the sound didn't register as sound to him. Instead, he continued to twirl Rose's Christmas present between his pointer finger and thumb. The bathroom door opened and the warmth of her shower seeped into his core. Rose may not be talking to him because she was upset about the Bad Wolf, but the Doctor had his own reasons for keeping her at arm's length. She could have died. If the Time Vortex didn't like her, Rose could have been killed in the blink of an eye. That frightened him.

"Doctor have you seen my- oh." His head snapped up and he realized she must have been looking for her necklace. The back of his neck reddened and he blushed a bit. The necklaced changed into a soft pink. The Doctor handed Rose back her necklace. She smiled slightly and asked, "Clasp it?" He nodded and she turned around, swept her hair away from her neck. He came up behind her and wrapped the necklace around her neck. She tilted her head to watch as he set the clasp. His hand was on her shoulder; how it got there, he didn't know. She put her hand over his and squeezed it. He squeezed her hand in return.

"Doctor, I think we should talk about this," she said, turning around to face him. The Doctor sighed and nodded. Yes, they did need to talk about this, no matter how much it might kill him. She took his hand and led him to the library. While they walked the Doctor noticed she was wearing her pyjamas and dressing gown and smelled of coconut. Her smell was intoxicating. When they got to the library, Rose shrugged of the dressing gown and set it on the back of her favorite chair and sat down. The Doctor sat across from her.

"You never really explained to me what has.. changed. I feel the same. I feel like a normal, human being. Except maybe a bit stronger." She blushed and looked away. He ran over all the information he'd discovered that he hadn't yet told her.

"Your DNA has been altered," he said, going into full-fledged lecture mode. It was the only way he'd get through this without getting emotional. "Basically, you have your own DNA, with a little bit of time in there. It's sort of.. energy has taken over a large part of your DNA."

"How much?" She asked.

"72.43% to be exact." Rose sucked in a breath.

"So I'm only 28% 'uman?"

"28.57%" He said, trying and failing to lighten the mood. Instead of chuckling like he'd hoped, Rose grimaced.

"What sort of," she gulped, "changes are there?"

"Well, you'll age extremely slowly. Like Captain Jack does. Only your body wont age like he does. Apparently the Time Vortex likes you more than him." Again, he aimed for a smile of some sort, but got none. He cleared his throat. "Nothing else that I could detect. You might have a faster healing time than humans do, considering you have a small amount of regenerative energy in your system." That got Rose's attention.

"I wont.. I wont regenerate will I?" Rose asked in disbelief.

"No, of course not. Not enough energy. But it might be enough to heal your wounds faster. It's what will keep you alive for so long. But, even time energy has to run it's course sometime." Rose nodded slowly and looked away from him again. This was going to be hard for her, but she had to accept this. This was a part of her now. Before he could stress this, however, Rose said,

"How long will I live?"

"Hundreds of years." She nodded.

"And I get to stay with you?" His eyes flew open,

"Of course. I mean, if you want to." Rose stared at him in open shock. "What, you didn't think I was going to throw you out did you?" Rose looked away shamefully. The Doctor got up from his chair and knelt in front of Rose. He took her jaw in his hand and moved her head so she faced him. "Rose Tyler, I will never leave you behind. I could never - " he paused, "what I said, when we met Sarah Jane was true. It would kill me to watch you die, but I would - "

"But now you don't have to." Her face had lost it's sad edge, and a smile was starting to form on her lips. His eyes lit up.

"And now I don't have to." By now, their faces were inches apart. The Doctor looked from her eyes to her lips until, finally, he pressed his lips against hers. Rose gasped and her lips remained immobile. He tore his mouth from hers and looked at Rose with a hurt expression. Her eyes held shock, then suddenly filled with a look he'd never seen before. Lust. Slowly, she stroked her hand up his neck and finally stopped at his hair. She leaned into him and he closed his eyes just as her lips touched his. At first, it was a soft kiss, just gentle pressure. But when the Doctor made no move to heat things up, Rose took it upon herself to do something about that. She pulled lightly at his hair and a soft moan escaped past his lips. While his mouth was open, Rose's tongue slithered it's way into his mouth. He moaned embarrassingly loudly as her tongue ran it's way across his gum line and across his teeth. He never knew kissing could be like this. The Doctor's hands slithered up Rose's thighs to rest on her behind. He gave it a gentle squeeze and she whimpered. He'd smile if his mouth weren't already preoccupied with Rose's tongue and teeth. Her tongue traced over his bottom lip which made him squirm. She wrapped her legs around him and, getting the signal, the Doctor hoisted her up from the chair into a standing position. Her hands ran up his torso and pushed his jacket off. She grabbed his tie and pulled his head back down for a thorough snog.

The Doctor decided it was time to show who the dominant one was and began to battle with her tongue. She didn't give up easily, stroking him up and down to try and win the battle. In the end, the Doctor decided to caress Rose's body in a place that made her squeal. He thrust his tongue into her mouth and pillaged her. He would not let her take over again. He was going to ravish her, this human time hybrid whom he'd fallen in love with. Just when things were starting to heat up, Rose's phone rang.

"Ballocks," she said, breaking the kiss and grabbing her phone out of her dressing gown pocket. "Hullo?" Rose asked.

"Hi sweetheart. What's going on? Have you found out what's wrong yet?" The Doctor - not able to keep away from Rose another minute - decided that if he couldn't kiss her mouth he'd have to kiss her somewhere else. He zoned in on her adam's apple, licking and sucking it.

"Uh, yea mum we - ughhh!" Rose let out a very loud and very long groan when the Doctor began to hum against her throat.

"What's that? Are you all right dear?"

"Oh yea 'm fine mum, never betta-" Her inability at speech was amusing the Doctor and sending a very strong felling of pride through his system. It was also giving him a bulge in his trousers. "Mum, 'm gonnna.. Gonna have ta.. call you bac - " Speaking was getting harder and harder and she didn't like the smirk on the Doctor's face.

"Okay sweetheart, call me back later. Love you."

"Love you too." She shut her phone and threw it on the couch. She could here the skepticism in her mother's voice but couldn't bring herself to care. Not with a very turned on Doctor in front of her. He made a step towards her and then they were at it again, snogging the daylights out of each other. As time passed, more and more clothes were shed until there were no barriers left between them. After giving in to their passions and declaring their love for one another, the two laid in their bedroom and caressed each other.

They have a long road ahead of them, they know that. There will be fights, joys, sorrows, losses, friends, enemies, and deaths. But through all the bad stuff, they'll have each other. Before they fell asleep that night, the Doctor shifted on his side to look at his lover. Yes, he could call her that now. She appeared to be sleeping, but after several moments of staring she popped open an eye and smiled cheekily at him - tongue between her teeth. She snuggled in closer to him and laid her head on his chest. Against her ear, she could hear his dual thumping as well as her own. There was only one more thing that could make this night more special. And so he asked her the words he'd only asked once before. She responded in the exact same way.

"How long are you going to stay with me?"

"Forever."