Rose fell asleep watching a film, the Doctor didn't want to disturb her, it reminded him of nights in the Tardis library where he would read to her but he couldn't tell her that. Jackie came back, not so quietly that he had to give her a "Shush" as she was about to say something.
"I hope you're not gonna break her heart when you've had your bit of fun with her," Jackie huffed and sat down.
"Of course not and I'm not having a 'bit of fun' with her, we decided we might give it a go, there was something in the way before."
He thought he may as well stick to the story they had told Mickey earlier, it was as good as any he could come up with anyway.
"What was that then? Was it 'cos she was seeing Mickey?"
He thought of saying yes but he couldn't put the blame entirely onto him.
"Partly and partly because I was already involved with someone but we split up. I appreciate you letting me stay, can I call you Jackie?"
"Suppose so, since she's taken to you. She and Mickey were never like that, I used to throw him out at ten, they were gettin' nowhere fast, they just sort of muddled through."
"Don't we all?" he smiled as Rose moved. "Come on sleepy, time for bed."
"Oh, hello. Did I miss the film?"
"Yeah, never mind, it'll be repeated. I was just telling your mother I had split from Reinette."
"Oh, she was French?" Jackie asked, getting up to make her last cup of tea for the night. "Anyone want a drink?"
Both Rose and the Doctor shook their heads. Jackie continued.
"How did you get to know Rose?"
"Mum, leave it, I'm off to bed. I'll go get you the spare duvet again. Did you tell my mum you prefer your nickname?"
"Not yet, you tell her."
"Oh, it's got to that stage already?"
"No Mum, everyone calls him The Doctor, 'cos he's got a doctorate in physics and maths."
"Oh, well that's different, if he's got qualifications? Hope they ain't just honorary degrees?"
"No, I can assure you I am qualified to teach the subjects," the Doctor replied as Rose was about to get up but he held on to her.
As Jackie disappeared into the kitchen, Rose was trying to get away.
"Now Rose, you were the one who said we had to convince your mother we were dating. You can't go to bed before her, we have to let her catch us, you know?"
"I thought you said that bit came later? Blimey, make your mind up. Well if I mess up your hair like this," she teased, running her fingers through it and making it look like it used to do. "Then if I loosen your tie a bit more, then all you have to do is look like you've just been snogged."
"How does that look then?" he asked innocently, remembering the time she'd been possessed by Cassandra.
"So when you knew me before, we never snogged? Was mum right, did Mickey get in the way?"
"I suppose he did, there were other factors though and I can't tell you what they are."
"You were gonna tell me before I fell asleep. I have to go back to work tomorrow, why don't you come into town with me and get a few things? Can you get some money?"
"I can do better than that. Give me your bank card."
"What? I've only got enough to last me until next payday, the holidays are an expensive time ya know?"
"So I've been told. No, I am going to give your bank account a bit of an upgrade. Just don't go on a spending spree but you can get cash out and your balance won't go down and I will sort something out tomorrow."
Rose got up and went to get her bank card out of her coat pocket, handing it to him reluctantly. She heard her mother moving around and went to sit on him again.
"Quick," she whispered. "Make this look good."
Before he could object, she nipped at his neck, which reminded him of Miss Finnegan drinking his blood when the hospital had been transported to the moon.
He could only grin at the look on her mother's face.
"Well that's an improvement on Mickey I suppose but next time, wait until I've gone to bed Rose and don't stay up all night, you have work tomorrow. What are you gonna do Doctor?"
He thought it was almost like old times, things had hardly changed, except he'd enjoyed her nipping at his neck more than having blood drained from it. Fortunately for him the Plasmavore had been fooled into thinking she'd taken every last drop and he owed Martha his life but look how he'd repaid her? Rose was looking at him.
"Where were we? Right, yes, tomorrow. I will go get my things and see about some accommodation. I don't start my new job until next week."
Well at least it gave him time to find somewhere who could use a maths and physics teacher, just as long as it wasn't run by bat-like creatures who ate the pupils for lunch.
"I'll give you my key so you can get back in, if mum's gone out," Rose volunteered, waiting for her mother to leave so she could get her upgraded card back. "You'll be able to find your way?"
"Yeah, no worries Rose. Goodnight Jackie."
He hoped he hadn't sounded like he wanted rid of her.
"No sneakin' in her room you. Rose, don't encourage him either. You'd better get that duvet."
Rose got up, reluctantly, considering she'd been about to before she'd had a go at his neck, which had been enjoyable. While Rose was getting the duvet, he quickly gave the bank card a scan and made it so she could get a little cash out at a time, not too much or she'd get caught, not that he hadn't taken money out before but he intended earning his keep this time around, unlike when he'd helped himself to help Donna get to her wedding.
He handed her the card when she came back.
"Don't spend it all at once Rose," he smiled, beckoning her to sit on him again.
"Hey, you have to be up at the same time as me in the morning, remember? Are ya really gonna look for a job?"
"I said I was Rose, I can't stay in all day, your mother would go mad. Don't worry about me, I'll be fine and tomorrow when you get back, we'll ring about that flat."
"Sorry about mum thinking we were gonna share, I think she's tryin' to get rid of me 'cos she thinks I'll never leave home otherwise."
"You've not left home before then?" he asked as Rose lay her head on his shoulder.
"Well not if you don't count a bad experience I had but I don't wanna talk about it."
He knew what it was, she'd never wanted to mention it so he'd left it.
"Rose, you can tell me anything, you know that? To answer your earlier question, yes, we knew each other well before but some things, you never told me. I know this is strange to you but you have to trust me, this is going to get very complicated, more for me than you because I can't change any of it."
"I wish you could tell me a bit more," she yawned.
"Go on, get to bed, don't worry about me. It's not often you get a new boyfriend overnight."
"Can't you even tell me if we were like this or not?"
"Rose, put it this way, we could have been, had it not been for certain things."
"You mean Mickey?"
"Him and your mother, I get on better with her this time, I don't know why? Maybe it's because she hasn't had to deal with my past self this time around?"
Rose managed a smile and kissed his cheek.
"Maybe Doctor, I mean if she didn't like the other you, this you could have taken some gettin' used to?"
He was so right about her, she was extraordinary and Martha had been no match for her.
"I wasn't easy to get on with when I was like that, I admit. Why have you never asked me how I can appear differently?"
"You'll tell me when you want to. You're not from around here, are you?"
"I'm not from Chiswick either. Rose, your life is going to change like you could never imagine in six months time, until then, just carry on being you eh?"
"How can I when I know something's gonna happen? How do you expect me to stay normal now?"
"That's why I can't tell you much Rose. Ok, like I said earlier, I'll tell you some of it but not tonight, tomorrow we'll make a start, deal?"
"Yeah, deal. You can kiss me goodnight if ya want?"
"I would be only too happy to kiss you goodnight Rose."
He leaned over and brushed her lips ever so gently, sending a shiver through Rose.
"Night then, I'll make breakfast in the morning, we leave at eight fifteen."
"Ah, maybe I should leave a bit later?"
"Mum will ask you all kinds of questions, do ya want that?"
"Well, if you put it like that?" he smiled, brushing her cheek with his thumb. "I never expected you to take this all so well."
"Well I can't just leave ya on ya own, can I? You told me my life was gonna change but it's already changing."
She was right, he was already changing her destiny, before he'd arrived the first time. She deserved to know some of the things he could tell her without altering things too much but who was to say it would actually do any harm, her knowing a bit more? In the next six months, she was going to be prepared for his arrival, well his former self's arrival but he had to tell her she couldn't let on until the time was right that she'd already met him.
If this wasn't an endless paradox, then nothing was. A lot of things could change between now and him coming back to earth after wallowing in self-pity for goodness knew how long, he'd never kept track of what had been going on, anything could have happened. He could have already met his future self or more than one, he had gaps in his memory he couldn't account for and he couldn't for the life of him remember how he'd changed from his eighth regeneration into his ninth or who he'd been during the Time War but that wasn't important.
Rose was his top priority until his ninth self arrived, keeping her as close as he could and if he was in danger of losing her, he'd have to take some drastic action to keep her and if being her boyfriend for real was part of it, then so be it. Things could be worse, he could be stuck in 1969 with Martha Jones, not that there was actually anything wrong with Martha, she'd come along too soon after Rose. He had still been missing her badly and he should have left Martha after the hospital but as Rose used to say, travelling was better with two, just not when your companion was showing signs of making a play for you.
Rose said goodnight again, kissing him back with a bit more enthusiasm and smiling at daring to catch him out.
"We'll talk tomorrow about this," the Doctor told her as she was leaving. "I'm not opposed to being your boyfriend, I just don't know how things are going to turn out in the next few months."
"No-one knows that Doctor," Rose smiled, yawning again. "It'd be great if we could all see into the future, you're lucky, you already know."
"Yes but not this future Rose, only after I first met you. This is all new to me, I wasn't around during this time, I already told you."
"Yeah but you never told me where you were."
"Then I will tell you some of it tomorrow, bed, young lady."
As he settled on the sofa, taking off his jacket and his trainers, he thought about exactly how much he could tell her. This was a new experience for him, he'd been in the past numerous times but not in someone's personal timeline, which was the reason it had been forbidden by the Timelords for fear of disturbing it but this was an entirely different situation. As far as he could recall, none of his past selves had got zapped into the past and had to get back.
Sure, he'd been banished to the past for upsetting the council but he'd lived it out and got straight once he'd got the Tardis back working again but never had to live through his own past timeline. Then, there was when his ninth self had taken Rose back twelve months later than he should have done and he was still trying to work that one out. Jackie had never forgiven him for that, maybe that was why she'd been so against he and Rose getting together?
Rose had all that to come, as long as he didn't actually tell her what they were going to do together and where they were going to go, it should be safe enough and if through that, they got a bit closer this time, what of it? He had been selfish before, he knew that. Rose had taken it entirely the wrong way when he'd said he couldn't spend the rest of his life with her, maybe that had also put her off, if she thought he was going to leave her behind but he could change that this time, if he wanted to.
The next morning, after a hurried breakfast of tea and toast, he experienced a journey into the centre of London by bus, where once off, he vowed he was going back by taxi, Rose having got some cash out of a nearby machine and handed him some but he planned on using his psychic paper for his purchases in the store.
He got what he thought he'd need to get by for six months from the men's department of the store, glancing over to the fashion department of the ladies section and Rose going about her job and sneaking a little wave to him. She had jotted a few numbers down on the pad by the phone and he intended calling a few of them and using his charm to get himself a place to spend the following months, not too far away from Rose.
When he got back, having stuffed all the carrier bags he had into a holdall he'd bought in the luggage department, he let himself into the flat to find Jackie had left a note to say she'd left him a ham salad for lunch in the fridge and she'd gone shopping. This Jackie was a far cry from the one he'd first met. Rose had said he could hang his shirts up in her wardrobe when she got back, he'd managed to get himself a new suit, similar to his blue striped one he'd taken to after losing her.
He'd never been able to bring himself to wear his brown one as much after the battle of Canary Wharf, it reminded him of his loss but for some strange reason after leaving Martha that morning, he'd felt compelled to go put it on again. Did he somehow know this was going to happen, that he'd be sent back to see her? Maybe because he'd been thinking so much about her, it had prevented him being sent into oblivion, since the angels couldn't exactly send him anywhere else.
Jackie came back but stayed away from him, she'd told him from tomorrow, she would have people coming in for their hair doing so that was an incentive for him to keep out of her way and to find a place of his own. Just before Rose got home, she had a question for him as he was telling her he had some numbers to call.
"Are you gonna take her with you?"
"I'm not here to take Rose away from you but if she wants to come with me, you know as well as I do, they'll be no stopping her. I will make sure she is looked after, I promise."
"Well just you make sure you do then or I'll have something to say about it."
He knew all too well she would. After their tea, Rose thought it would be better if she made the calls about the flats and the one room bed-sit, which she was leaving until last. The second number, a woman answered who said the only reason the two bedroom flat was still available was because the previous occupant was taking their time moving out.
"I swear if he doesn't move out by the weekend, I'll throw his stuff out," the woman apologised.
"Well, we're not in that much of a rush, Saturday would be fine but can we come and look around?"
"Well, I'm there now, I could wait if you're here in the next half hour?"
"Yeah, we can be there. Do you need a deposit?"
"We can come to some arrangement, I don't want to leave it empty. When you say 'we', is that you and a girl friend or a boyfriend?"
She was about to ask if it mattered and would she get turned down if she said it was the latter?
"Well actually, it's me and a friend, a male friend. We both need a place and thought it would be cheaper to share."
"Oh I don't mind dear, we are in 2005 after all. If he's your boyfriend, it's nothing to do with me."
The Doctor already had his long coat on at the sound of her saying they would be round in twenty minutes. As they walked along the road, Rose put her arm in his again. He was getting to like it and it showed.
"So, are ya getting used to this?" Rose asked as they watched out for the street. "Did we do this before?"
"Yeah, all the time. Rose, when we get back, we have to talk about this."
"You mean me saying there were two of us? It makes sense I suppose and it's a bit nearer to work. Have you looked at schools yet?"
"Ah, about that. I think I'd be better off in a college with older students. I've had to pretend to be a teacher before, I have bad memories of twelve and thirteen year old pupils."
"As if sixteen year old's are any better?" Rose laughed as they turned into the street and she was looking for the number.
They stopped outside the large house and Rose rang the doorbell. A middle-aged woman answered.
"You must be Rose then? I didn't catch your friend's name."
"John Smith and yeah, tell me about it. So, about the flat?" the Doctor asked, keen to get it over with.
The woman led them to the second floor and used her spare key to let them in, having been in earlier to make sure it was tidy. As Rose and the Doctor looked around, they stopped in the kitchen to discuss it after asking how much the weekly rent would be.
"So, watcha think Doctor? Wanna take it for six months or do ya wanna sleep on my mum's sofa?"
"While there is nothing wrong with your mother's sofa, I think I would rather take this but are you certain you want to share?"
"Why not? You said you wanted me nearby, I'll take the smaller room."
"No, have the larger one, I don't need to sleep much anyway. Rose, while we wait, you know, I thought of trying to get back on my own."
"Oh. Well, even that could take a while, yeah? Let's go tell her we'll take the flat, we can sort out the details later."
He had just told her he might not even be here for six months and she was still willing to stay with him so why had she got so upset when he'd told her he couldn't stay with her?