A/N: Time for UST and Angst! Both are favorites, right? Right? No? Oh.

"Are you, er," the Doctor stuttered, looking up at the ceiling and shutting his eyes anyways. "Considering putting on clothes any time soon?"

"Right."

So it was going to be like this, she thought regretfully as she pulled on her bra and shirt shirt and hopped up and down to get her skinny jeans on. The Doctor had pulled a heavy blanket over himself and had rolled over, currently facing the wall. She rolled her eyes. Why couldn't they just move on? Why did he have to dwell and shut down on her like this?

As soon as she was dressed, she quirked an eyebrow. "Aren't you going to put on clothes any time soon?"

He rolled back over, the blanket down just above his navel. The rest of his chest was visible and she wanted oh so badly to be able to touch it again. Freely. No awkwardness, no tension, no cupid bite. Just recreational touch. "Yeah, right," he mumbled.

He stood up awkwardly covering as much of himself as he could and pulled on a familiar pinstripe suit from a dresser. Rose guessed the TARDIS had put it in there for him. If he noticed her eyes positioned on his arse, he didn't say anything or do anything about it.

"Doctor, we need to talk," Rose said quickly.

"I have to make sure the bite is gone for good," he blurted before she had even finished her sentence. "An hour, yeah? Give me an hour."

She bit her lower lip and nodded slightly. "I'll be in the library."

"An hour," he repeated, giving her a firm nod as if convincing himself.

Rose rested the side of her head against the arm of the dark green couch as she lay in the library, waiting.

And honestly, at this point, she didn't know what to think anymore.

She had had great, no, mind-blowing sex with the Doctor, and now he was avoiding her. Quite openly, if she was honest. She glanced up at the clock high up on the wall (which he insisted was for decor only, since there was no real way to tell time on the TARDIS), and sighed. It had been two hours since he had promised one hour. But, then again, why should she expect better punctuality from a Time Lord?

She kept feeling the way his hands moved across her body, his lips on hers, every sensation she had tried so desperately to commit to memory. It was already beginning to fade, and it had barely been a few hours.

The clothes she was wearing felt far too tight and far too strange, since she remembered the way he had torn them off of her. The seams were looser than they had been when she had worn them before. So she changed her clothes before quickly returning to the library, not wanting to give him an excuse to not talk to her.

And, eventually, he did come.

He was still dressed in his pinstripes, and he walked in somewhat nervously. After travelling with a man for so long, one started to pick up on the body language. His hand was ruffling his hair, that meant he was frustrated or thinking deeply about something. Then, he looked at her and there was an almost sympathetic feeling in his eyes. She hated that look.

"Ready to talk?" Rose asked, trying to look inviting. She twirled until her legs were in front of her and patted the part of the couch beside her.

"The bite is gone," he said before she could say anything else. "Sorry it took me longer than I said."

She smiled. "That's okay."

Rose laid her hand out next to her body, the palm facing up. She expected him to grab her hand but he didn't, so she left her hand there to play it off as if she hadn't meant for him to hold it at all.

"Rose, I-"

"Doctor, I-"

She let out a nervous laugh at the fact that they had spoken at the same time. He smiled slightly, and she figured that was a good start. "You first," she insisted.

He looked down towards the couch. "Well, er, I just wanted to say thank you. For helping with the bite. You were, from my, to some extent, hazy memories, incredible."

You thought I was a bit more than incredible when you were bitten, she wanted to say. But she held her tongue.

The Doctor continued, grabbing her hand much to her delight and resting their joined hands in his lap. He stared intently at them, as if trying to figure out every way they fit together. "I'm sorry you had to do all that. I'm sorry that that, happened." He gave her a vague hand gesture with his free hand to let her know what he was talking about, even though she knew anyways. "It wasn't fair to you. It absolutely wasn't fair. But... You took it in stride. Thank you," he repeated somewhat awkwardly, squeezing her hand.

Rose was surprised at the emotion she felt over his simple thank you. It was rare that he did this, gave her little pieces of his heart for her to keep and tuck away and collect. She appreciated it, though. More than she could ever express through words or actions. "Doctor, is this going to, you know, change us? The way we... The way we are, together?"

"I don't know," he admitted genuinely.

"Do you..." She swallowed. "Do you want it to?"

He didn't reply. Rose turned her head to face him, to get a better look at him. Their hands were still entwined and their thighs were pressed up against each other due to the small length of the couch (which she was a hundred percent sure used to be longer than this) and there was something in his eyes that she couldn't quite detect. It was a sort of longing, but from a distance. As if he was a child looking at a toy store but his family was dragging him away, kicking and scratching. She could have sworn she saw his lower lip quiver slightly and his eyes searched her face.

His expression was simply killing her. He looked so lugubrious, as if mourning her at a funeral that she hadn't had yet and hopefully wouldn't have soon. She could practically see the thoughts running through his mind, her father, Mickey leaving for the parallel world, almost losing her on countless occasions... The beast telling her she would die in battle so very soon.

She leaned in closer, wanting desperately to take that look off of his face but knowing that this was no way to do so. Especially not when they were both so pent up with emotion, like a bottle of soda with Mentos thrown in about to explode. Maybe it was the lingering hormones of the sex they had just had or just her pure desire for him, that underlying rage that had been there since she had met him. Whatever the reason, she kissed him. And he kissed back.

The Doctor was pushing her into the couch cushions and she groaned, gripping the lapels of his jacket to pull him closer to her desperately.

When he pulled away and rested his forehead on hers, she knew this was it. This was what everything had been leading up to, this was where everything would either end or begin. It was all up to him, now. The fight or flight moment.

"Rose, I can't..." She heard his voice crack on the last word and her heart shattered in her chest, for him or for her she wasn't quite sure. He licked his lips, removing himself from on top of her and gesturing towards the door with her head. "I... I'm sorry. I need a bit."

Rose watched him leave from the couch, her heart still pounding wildly in her chest. She licked her lips and savored the last taste of him, probably the last she would ever get, and prayed to every god she did and did not believe in that he wouldn't send her home. That she would be able to stay and that things would just revert back to the way they had been before he had had to be curious and grab that stupid fly from that stupid planet and gotten that stupid bite.

She pressed a cushion hard to her face and screamed until her lungs hurt into it, thinking the TARDIS would possibly avert the sound from wherever the Doctor was. Even if she didn't, Rose really could care less. Tears stung her eyes and she was embarrassed for herself, wiping at them frantically with her sleeve. God, why couldn't things just be simple? Why did he have to be so stubborn?

Mascara stained the green pillow and she marched to her bedroom. Even though the clock on the wall said it was around four o' clock, all she wanted right now was to rest and possibly never wake up unless it was by his side.

She thought she heard muffled cries and heaving breaths in the middle of the night.

She rolled over and went back to sleep.

A/N: Be sure to leave a review and tell me what you think! Thanks so much to everyone with their support on this story so far and a special shoutout to those who review on every chapter! Seriously, whenever I read reviews or type up review replies I am always smiling. Nothing makes me happier than even a short kind note. :D