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Rose Tyler gently opened her eyes. The first thing she saw was the sun beaming in through her open window. The second was the mussed hair of a certain half-human Time Lord illuminated by the aforementioned sun.
That made her blink. When had...?
Oh yeah. The middle of the night when the events of the day and finally and truly hit her, completely. Shattered. That's what she'd done. Completely and utterly shattered. Tears, sobbing, screaming...
It had been ugly. Really ugly.
Until he'd walked into her room without saying a word and opened his arms. A part of Rose had wanted to reject him, to lash out, tell him he wasn't who she wanted and could never be. That he was a simply a copy, a clone...
But he wasn't either of those things and she couldn't. With a strangled sob, Rose had flung herself into his arms and hung onto him, begging him to stay. He had.
She remembered falling asleep, his hands gently caressing her back. No dreams, no nightmares...
A gentle smile came across her face. Yes, this man was her Doctor. Rose had no idea where the certainty came from, but there it was.
All that was different...
He rolled over, his cheek resting on her shoulder.
One heart. One life. With her, if she wanted...
Oh, she did. Very, very much. Another certainty.
His eyes opened slowly, meeting hers.
“Morning.” His voice was tentative, rough with sleep.
“Morning.”
They studied each other, unsure of what to do or say. It was Rose who finally broke the silence.
“Thank you.”
A smile. He knew what for. His hand reached out, as if drawn by hers, and interlaced their fingers. Their joined hands rested on the pillow between them.
“Are you...?”
“...alright? M' better than last night.” a weak smile. “How are you?” genuine concern.
That never failed to touch his heart, single or not. No matter what darkness befell Rose Tyler, she always put others first. One of the infinite reasons he loved her.
“At the present moment, comfortable.” That earned a smile, chuckle. He loved that he could make her laugh. It was a beautiful sound. Just as she was.
“No, really...”
“I'm nervous and excited about being half human and all that that means.” Direct. Not his usual style. Normally, he'd be so many different kinds of evasive, but not right now. Rose needed his honesty.
Rose inched a little closer to him. “You've got me.”