“Rose.”

It was her name being spoken in that soft fragile voice that brings her from the cloudiness of her dreams. A hand moves a piece of her darker blonde hair from her face to behind her ear. She doesn’t open her eyes, afraid she will forget the nice dream she had been having. She can still hear the hum of the TARDIS in her ears. She can still feel the pulse of the living machine underneath her hands as she rests them on the edge of the console.

“Rose,” he whispers again, closer to her ear this time. She can feel his warm breathe on the side of her neck.

Rose groans when she feels him move away from her. She can feel herself falling back into a deep sleep. The exhaustion of the last few weeks are finally taking their toll on her body. Warm, muscular arms wrap around her legs and back before they hoist her up, and close to a hard muscular frame. Unconsciously, she wraps her arms his neck, and rests her head against his shoulder. She can hear muffled voices around her, but she can not understand what they are saying. In the distance, she can her a child crying throughout the rest of the noises. She’s drifting between her reality and her dreams. She can feel the material of his jacket underneath her fingers, but the material feels wrong. The cotton is hard and rough, not like his brown suit that is soft to the touch. She whimpers in her sleep, tears falling from her eyes.

“Don’t leave me,” she cries in her sleep. She grips to neck of jacket, the material creasing underneath her fingers. “Don’t please, not again,” she calls out.

The strong arms pull her closer to his body, and her tears soak into the jacket. He has started moving; moving to where, she doesn’t know. She clings to him none the less, while he carries her. Rose turns her face into his chest when a bright light invades the dark and warmth. Cool London air hits her skin, but she doesn’t dare open her eyes. She lets him carry her from the zeppelin to a black S.U.V she knows is waiting to take them to her flat near the London Eye.

She hears her mother telling her she’ll talk to her later, and she merely nods her head against his chest. She can hear the hum of the engines from the car, then the feel of leather against her hands when he’s placing her into the awaiting car. He places a soft kiss on her forehead before squatting into the seat beside her.

The ride to her flat is long and filled with silence. His only reassurance is his hand tightly gripped with hers. She rests her head against his shoulder then takes a deep breathe. His scent fills her nose, and she feels the lump form in her throat. Even in human form, he smells of jelly babies, sandalwood and mint.

“Miss Tyler, we are almost to your flat,” she hears one of her father’s drivers reply, but before she can respond, someone else does.

“Let her sleep,” comes a voice from next to her. A hand reaches into her jacket pocket. She feels him pull out the dimension cannon device, then finally finds what he was looking for, her house keys.

“Yes, sir,” replies the driver, looking back at the Doctor in the rear-view mirror.

“Please, don’t call me sir,” the Doctor replies, a polite but awkward smile on his face.

Rose can feel the thickness of sleep taking over her again when the car stops. She begins to open her eyes when she hears the car door open.

“Open the door for me, good sir,” the Doctor replies, throwing Rose’s keys to the driver before he climbs out.

Strong arms take ahold of her and lift her body once again into their embrace. She begins to feel bad that’s he’s carrying her. She knows how to walk, but the feel of his arms around her once again likes this, brings back memories of their adventures. She stays still in his arms, but that doesn’t stop the tears that are running down her cheeks. Her eyes are barely open, but she can see the blue colour of his jacket.

The Doctor looked up Rose’s flat, house, home or whatever you want to call it. The formality of the grey brick and white shutters makes him shiver. Nonetheless, he follows Mr. Tyler’s loyal driver up the walk from the S.U.V. The young man has opened the gate and up the stairs to the front door before the Doctor had even made it to the iron fence. Rose is still in arms, but he can feel her uneven breaths she’s taking against his body.

“I left the keys on the table near the door,” the young man replies once the Doctor walks over the threshold of the house.

The Doctor nods at the young man and looks around himself while the young man leaves. Once he hears the door click shut behind him, he looks down at Rose. It isn’t until he looks down at her that he realizes just how worn his body is. She is becoming heavy in his arms though her now tiny frame betrayed the fact.

He smiles, looking around the entryway. The only carpet that he can see is leading off the entry to the stairs and joining hallway that leads off from the front door. The walls are white and clean, almost clinical and blinding against his tired eyes. He eyes the stairs before climbing up them. This house seems too large for a woman that lives by herself. A natural coloured room with a double bed catches his eye, and he walks towards it.

It is nothing like her bedroom at the Estates. The room is pale, earthy tones, and the only pink he can see in the light salmon shade of her duvet. Her breathing has change since he had walked into the house; it was laboured and slow. Placing her on the bed, he slowly peels her blue jacket off, leaving her in her purple Henley. Then he moves to her boots, pulling them off before softly laying her feet back down on the bed.

He spots a chair in the corner of the room, and grabs the throw absentmindly laying on the arm. He places it over her then leans down and softly kisses her on the forehead. Without a word, he moves to the chair he took the throw from and settles down in it. The Doctor unlaces his maroon Converse before pulling them off and placing them next to the chair. Oversized and comfy, he pulls his trousers clad legs up to his chest and watches her sleep until sleep itself overtakes him.

She’s warm and comfortable, is the first thing that comes to her mind as the haziness of her sleep begins to dissipate from her mind. Her lean body stretches across the length of the bed before she even opens her eyes. Her mind is hazy, and the soft groan from a corner of the room startles her. Rose’s eyes pop open, and she shifts her gaze towards the sound of the noise. Light is pouring in through her lace curtains, the midday sun beating off every reflective surface.

“Good morning,” he yawns, his feet hitting the wood of her floors. As he stretches from his uncomfortable spot on the chair, he smiles lightly at her.

“Why did you sleep in the chair?” Rose asks, pulling herself upright in the bed. She can still feel the roughness of her black trousers and thanks the heavens that he hadn’t changed her.

“I…I didn’t think you wanted me to…” he stops and points at her bed. Rose bites her lip to hold back the giggle that threatens to spill from her mouth.

“I have a spare room, Doctor,” she replies instead. “I have two actually, but one is for Tony when he likes to stay over,” she adds quickly when he furrows his eyebrow.

Silence fills the room, and Rose pulls herself from the bed. Rose turns and smiles at him, pushing her fingers through her hair to flatten it back down. She hates the uncomfortable silence; it shouldn’t be this way and yet it is. She moves the hand from her hair to her hip before looking around the room. The midday sun is spilling through the windows, and the sounds of children playing outside fills their ears. She would usually be annoyed by the loud screams of the playing children, but today she embraces the noise. If they only knew the truth. Rose looks back over at the Doctor to see him watching her with intent.

“Would you like some lunch?” she asks, her body shaking under the intensity of his stare. “I’m still not the best cook, but I am better than I used to be,” she adds quickly with a nervous smile.

“Yes,” he replies simply before standing up. He bends over to grab his shoes then follows her out of the room.

This house seems a mansion in itself, he thinks to himself while he follows her down the stairs and towards the kitchen. The kitchen is the same as her bedroom; pale, earthy tones with white tile. He can see French doors out to the garden from the kitchen, and he longs to sit outside in the cool air. Rose points to a barstool near a wood island while she moves to the fridge. This place isn’t Rose; it seems too textbook and not home like the Estates had been.

“When did you get this house?” he asks while she pours him a glass of what looks like yellow juice.

“Umm…about a year ago,” she replies, replacing the top back on the juice. “Mum thought I should get out on my own,” she adds while she places the cup in front of him. “She thought it might be good for me,” she finishes, her voice cracking with emotion.

The Doctor nods his head in agreement then takes ahold of the cup. The tastes surprises him and he furrows his brow at Rose, who is smiling back at him with tongue between her teeth

“Bananas,” he replies with a smile.

“It’s Tony’s favourite,“ she replies, and the Doctor’s brow rises higher. “Mum can’t get the kid off the stuff,” she adds.

Rose moves back over to the fridge, pulling out all the stuff to make lunch with. If he really is the same man, she still knows exactly how he likes his sandwiches. She hasn’t been home much in the last few months, and sandwiches and crisps are about all she has.

“Sorry I don’t have more,” she turns and looks at him as she makes their lunch. “I haven’t really had time to go the store,” she adds, looking back at the sandwiches.

“That’s quite alright,” he smiles before taking another sip of his juice. “Though later I think we should because at this point I think I could eat a horse,” he adds when he places the cup back down.

“Maria will love you then,” Rose answers, looking back at him.

“Maria?” he asks.

“My mum’s maid,” she replies, putting the finishing touches on the sandwiches. She grabs two bags of crisps from a bowl on the counter then moves over to the island where he’s seated. “I am sure my mum wants over us for supper tonight, even though I really don’t want to explain to Pete why you are in this universe,” she finishes, handing him his sandwich and crisps.

The Doctor picks his sandwich off the plate she’s handed to him and wearyingly gives her a smile as he takes a bite of his sandwich.