5: Winter
Jackie Tyler had long ago established a 'have her home every other weekend' rule. (Bringing their daughter home a year late does that to a mother). Most of the time, the Doctor was absolutely fine with this decree. He always had repairs to make on the TARDIS console, milk runs to make, and all of time and space to keep him busy while Rose and her mother did...whatever it was humans typically did on the weekend. What he wasn't fine with, however, was he himself getting trapped in Jackie Tyler's flat for an entire two days. That was, in his own words, the opposite of fantastic.
It started on a completely average, if a bit nippy, January afternoon. The Doctor was leaned on the front door of the TARDIS, crossing his arms over his leather jacket, trying to look cool but not cold. Rose, meanwhile, was dashing up the steps, her scarf covering most of her face, her boots squishing against the centimeter or so of snow that had fallen earlier that morning. Her backpack was almost as big as she was, filled with laundry to be done and strange artifacts from alien planets she had sworn wouldn't leave the flat. All was well, and the Doctor was about to retreat back into the warmth of the TARDIS, when a voice belonging to none other than Jacqueline Tyler rang out from the balcony above.
"I made you both some hot cocoa."
The Doctor turned wide, incredulous eyes up at the blonde woman. "Both?"
"Don't think you're runnin' off again. I think I deserve at least a five minute conversation with you."
A glance to Rose told him she was giggling beneath all of the fabric covering her face. They shared a few faces at each other befor Jackie called out again, "Come on, then, we'll all catch our death out here!"
The Doctor double-checked the TARDIS lock with a sigh and trudged after Rose. Something in the air told him he wouldn't be leaving the Tylers anytime soon. Part of him was almost pleased with that. But that part of him was negligible next to the mound of dread piling up in his brain.
When they reached Jackie, she greeted Rose with a big hug and commented on how thin she looked, which pointed her angry gaze at the Doctor, who stood pinching his earlobe absentmindedly. When Rose went inside, the Doctor seriously though for a moment that Jackie was going to toss him over the railing, but instead she grabbed him in a hug of his own. Shocked, the Doctor merely froze, meeting Rose's eye as she stood in the threshold sans backpack. She smiled warmly at him, and he eased a little further into the strangely domestic world he had dropped so accidentally into.
Jackie let him go and clapped her hands, ushering Rose back inside as she palavered about life in London and her sister's strange whereabouts. The Doctor stood on the balcony for a moment, still wondering why he was enjoying this so much. He could be off galavanting through an alien cave; what was he doing having cocoa with Jackie Tyler? What was he doing accepting hugs and sitting inside and gossiping?
"Doctor, you coming?"
Rose called him from the doorway. She already had her coat and scarf off and in her hand was a mug full of Jackie Tyler's famous hot cocoa. She looked so ordinarily human right there, standing in her flat, sipping out of a mug with far too many cats on it. So ordinary, so human, and so utterly perfect. The Doctor grinned and followed her inside, shutting the door behind him.
As soon as he entered the flat, he was met with Jackie, fussing about how he would catch a cold and how he should take off 'that old, freezing' leather jacket and put on one of her hoodies, because she always bought them a few sizes too big and he would probably fit into one. Rose watched with amusement as he finally sat down, wide-eyed, clothed in a dark blue Nike hoodie, holding a red cup of steaming cocoa. The Doctor had to agree that this was, certainly, quite the adventure.
As the three of them drank their cocoa, Rose told her mother stories of their adventures, especially ones where they didn't end up imprisoned or otherwise endangered. (She knew well enough that Jackie didn't think too highly of the Doctor. She'd rather not give her actual reason to hate him). Once or twice, the Doctor chimed in, usually to explain an alien tradition or give details on the planet's atmospheric wonders. Jackie listened to their stories silently, her hand hovering over her open mouth during the scarier bits. It was all going very well until the Doctor happened to look out the window.
"No, no, no, no, no!"
He set his empty cup on the coffee table roughly as he dashed over to the aperture. Snow was falling rapidly from the sky, almost completely blocking the view to the TARDIS. Through the foggy snowflakes, though, the Doctor could tell his ship was already buried in almost ten centimeters of the white stuff.
"I better get going. Don't want to get the TARDIS trapped here."
Jackie followed him to the door as he threw on his jacket. Rose was close behind, still finishing her cocoa. Jackie railed at the Timelord as he opened the door and stepped out.
"Rose, tell him he has to stay! I'm finally starting to like him."
The Doctor gave her a sarcastic smile. "Thanks for that. Anyway, I'll see you tomorrow, Jackie. Have a nice weekend, Rose!"
"Bye, Doctor."
Jackie sighed but stayed in the threshold as the Doctor hurried downstairs, slipping once or twice but catching himself on the railing. Rose hung back, keeping as warm as she could. When her mother failed to close the door and come inside after another full minute, she set down her mug and hugged herself, shivering. "What are you still doing?"
"He's locked out, I think."
"What?"
"I told him he should just stay in here."
Rose went to the door and let her face split in a wide grin. The Doctor was standing at the TARDIS door, struggling to turn the key, muttering angry insults at the hardware. Finally, he gave the door one last kick and trudged back up the steps. It was hard to tell whether his face was red from the wind or the realization that Rose and Jackie had been there the whole time. Anyway, he shrugged his shoulders and cleared his throat. "Door's jammed. Meant to fix it…"
His eyes failed to meet Jackie's as she answered the unspoken question. "Come on, then. We'll set you up on the couch tonight."
Thus, the Doctor spent the evening in the Tyler household, helping Rose set the table for their pasta supper and even fixing the telly when it went on the fritz. That night, he and Rose sat huddled together on the couch together as Jackie eyed them suspiciously from her own chair. At one point, Rose randomly grabbed for the remote.
"You know, they've got this show about you on Saturday night. There're a bunch of conspiracy theories and everything. It's pretty popular. I think it's called 'Doctor What?'".
The screen changed from a football match to the image of a young man with a tweed jacket and a bowtie. The Doctor furrowed his eyebrows. "Is that supposed to be me?"
Rose laughed. "I guess so. People have all kind of ideas about who you might be and everything. Some say you can change your face or something like that."
The Doctor's expression turned serious as he watched the show more closely. Rose gazed at him for a moment before adding, "It's not a big deal or anything. Just some crackpots having fun, probably."
The Doctor eased back into the couch, but still looked a bit unsettled. Rose yawned suddenly. "I'm knackered. Think I'll be off to bed. See you in the morning."
Jackie flipped off the telly. "I think we should all get some sleep."
Rose went off to her room as Jackie stood awkwardly above the Doctor, still sat on the couch. "Will you be okay, here? Do you have enough blankets and everything? You do sleep, right?"
The Doctor chuckled. "Not as much as you, but yes, I sleep."
"Alright. Night, then."
"Night, Jackie."
Jackie started off towards the hall, but the Doctor had a sudden idea. "Jackie?"
"Yeah sweetheart?"
The Doctor blinked, stunned for a moment, at that nickname, then continued. "Thank you. For letting me stay here."
"Well, we couldn't leave you in the cold, could we?"
The Doctor smiled and looked at his folded hands. Jackie started off again, but stopped herself and turned back around. "Thank you."
The Doctor's head shot up in confusion. "For what?"
"Keeping her safe. Taking her on adventures. It's all she ever talks about."
The Doctor smiled softly. "It's my pleasure."
They shared a smile before Jackie finally did head off to bed and the Doctor laid down on the couch, covering himself with a few old blankets. He couldn't believe he was actually here, lying on a couch, having had cocoa, eaten supper, and watched telly with Rose and her mum. He really was changing. He really was becoming more domestic. And, for once in his life, he found that he was really enjoying it.