These moments of silence were likely to kill him.

She was right there, as she promised she would be. Hand in his, happy to go wherever and listen to him rattle on about the history and culture of where and whenever they landed.

She was still Rose Tyler. He was still The Doctor.

Just not her Doctor. Not anymore.

He hadn't meant to hear those thoughts. He knew Rose wasn't a fan of telepathy, but one evening, a mere three Earth weeks since he'd regenerated, Rose had fallen asleep in the galley, and he'd picked her up to carry her to her bed.

She'd been dreaming about him. Not this new him, all skinny and flash. No, the previous him with the deep Northern accent and icy blue eyes. Her Doctor, she'd called him in the dream.

The Doctor knew she'd need a little space to mourn.

It was only natural. Rose is human, after all, and he'd not bothered to mention regeneration to her before hand- hadn't thought it would come up quite so soon, honestly. But when she looked into the heart of the TARDIS, became the Bad Wolf- it was only by taking that raw power from her that he could save her. It cost him that face, a regeneration, but he'd give a thousand lifetimes if it meant saving Rose.

But the regeneration also meant a shift in their relationship.

In Earth time, as it passed for Rose, it had been four months, two weeks and one day since he'd regenerated.

Regenerating had reminded him of loss. It became consuming, remembering how outliving everyone he'd ever loved felt. He'd pulled back from her, trying to guard his hearts- but she'd not tried to come closer, either. She was apprehensive, having lost him, in a way.

With his previous self, on a small handful of occasions, they'd been intimate. It was close to the end of his time with that body. He remembered every second of it for the bliss it was. The way that body, his own, just not this one, felt against her, inside her. It was so rare he'd allowed himself a lover...

Wives, sure. He'd even had a few marriages he'd ended up in on accident a time or three. He'd cared for all of them on one level or another.

But it was even more rare he felt as deeply for them as he did Rose Tyler.

No. The Doctor shook his head. Never like Rose Tyler.

He was still that man.

However, he knew how that could be for Rose.

A new face, body, voice- even his mannerisms had shifted a bit in this new self he'd come into. It would be hard on anyone, having someone they'd held that closely change so much. He was the same man, but also different in nearly every way that was evident to Rose. He knew that.

He knew that he knew. He was The Doctor, after all. Clever as they come. He understood the absolute innermost workings of time and space and existence. He understood how it was on her side. She needed to mourn. To grieve the him she'd lost. Learn to know the him he'd become now- and in a way, they were doing that together.

It was just that she was keeping secrets now.

Or rather, one very big secret. He'd known about it for a while now, but it was something he wanted her to be forthcoming with, not the sort of thing he could simple admit he already knew. But he'd been waiting weeks.

She sat across from him, mess blonde locks in a haphazard bun on top of her head, still clad in pajamas. She was still not quite awake, eyes transfixed on the table as she automatically scooped bites of food from her bowl and ate, a sleepy autopilot.

They were in the TARDIS breakfast nook, having some of the most exotic, interplanetary fruit salad to ever exist. Even for a quiet morning, it should've been nice.

The secret had gotten to him. The silence had gotten to him.

The Doctor was tired of waiting for her to be ready to tell him.

He'd adjusted their lives to it.

If she'd noticed that their adventures had been tamer than they were before, she'd not mentioned it to him. After all, he'd put a lot of thought and care into avoiding danger like they'd previously been so good at finding. Too much at stake now, not worth the risk- even if she'd said nothing. He'd never intended to put her at risk before, of course. But now-

Now he couldn't let any potential harm anywhere near the very accident prone girl.

Exasperated, he dropped his spoon into his own bowl and slid it away roughly, heaving out a heavy sigh.

Rose looked up at him. She'd not bothered to take her makeup off before sleeping, and they day old mascara made her lashes stick as she blinked up at him, head cocked as she gave him a puzzled look.

"Are you going to tell me or not?" He huffed. Rose tilted her head the opposite direction.

"Wot?" She ask around a bite of food. She chewed faster and forced the bite down, then cleared her throat. "Tell you... what?"

"Is it because it was the previous me?" He continued, ignoring her returned questions.

"What are you on about?" Rose demanded, eyebrows furrowed at him. She was awake now, and in true Rose Tyler form- had her claws at the ready. Sometimes she was very much her mother's daughter.

"I am still every bit as much me, you know." He said, his voice raising slightly. He sounded almost... Angry. Rose wasn't used to that being sent her direction.

Not from him.

"I know you are." She said firmly, flinging her own spoon down now. "Its evident in the little things- like that temper." Her lip curled up in a snarl as she finished snapping back at him.

"No, I mean it. I am still the man you met that day at Henrik's. Even when changed, on a very real genetic level, DNA level- I am still the same." He had the voice he used when giving a speech to someone who is about to cause harm, his firm, commanding voice. He slapped at the table in time with his words, trying to emphasize himself.

"You've made that abundantly clear." Rose remarked, clicking her tongue against her teeth.

"Then when, exactly, where you planning on telling me about the baby, Rose?"

This is my first DW fic- I was rewatching before the new specials came out and thought of this... It'll be a fairly short story, but please follow for updates and please do leave a review!

Thanks for reading!