AN: This is my fic for the Fall Fic Fest on Tumblr. It's going to be five chapters long, each one focusing on the theme for that week. This week was fall colours.

The Doctor double-checked the coordinates he'd set, then glanced hopefully down the corridor for the tenth time since breakfast. He wanted to take Rose someplace special, but she was taking forever to get ready.

He scowled when his time senses automatically corrected his hyperbolic "forever" to the more reasonable "twenty minutes." He had big plans for the day, and the longer he had to wait, the more nervous he got.

Footsteps echoed down the corridor, and he spun around to grin at Rose. Instead, his mouth hung open as he watched her approach him. Her dark denim jeans, red jumper, and red Chucks might not be the most overtly sexy outfit he'd ever seen her in, but there was something about it today… And then she had the long multicoloured scarf she'd worn in Cardiff draped around her neck, and that brought with it the sensory memory of hugging her tight.

The Doctor swallowed hard as Rose took her place at the console. To distract her from his possibly-obvious staring, he wrapped his hand around the dematerialisation lever and threw it with a flourish. The TARDIS rocked through the Vortex, and his exhilaration came out in a laugh.

That laugh was echoed by Rose. He looked over the console at her, and his hearts stuttered in his chest when he saw the excitement shining in her eyes.

"All right then, Doctor, where are we off to?"

He grabbed onto the console as they hit a bad spot of turbulence, then shook his head. "Nope! You'll find out when we get there."

Rose sauntered around the console towards him, twirling her scarf, and he gulped at the smile on her face. It was the same flirtatious expression that had convinced him to go with her to the Tyler Mansion in the parallel universe. Blimey, he thought as he tugged on his tie, you'd think I'd be immune to that smile, after the way that adventure turned out.

Apparently, he was not—and only the hard landing as the TARDIS reached their destination stopped him from blurting out his entire surprise.

The Doctor spun away from her and snatched his coat off the coral strut where he'd left it. Rose was waiting for him at the door by the time he'd shrugged into it and shoved his arms through the sleeves. The little smirk on her face told him she knew exactly how close she'd come to breaking through his resolve, and he shook his head at her.

"You were so eager to know where we were going, and now you won't even open the door?" he teased as he jogged down the ramp to join her.

Rose rolled her eyes at him, and the Doctor replied with a cheeky smile. However, as soon as she turned around to pull the door open, he felt his smile fade as nerves took over. The success of the day rested heavily on Rose's reaction to their destination. If she didn't like where they were, she wouldn't enjoy the rest of the day.

Cool air swirled into the TARDIS, and over Rose's shoulder, the Doctor spotted branches adorned with red and gold leaves. Some of his nerves eased at those signs that he'd taken them where he'd wanted to go. When Rose gasped quietly and rushed out of the TARDIS to kick through a pile of fallen leaves, he laughed and ran to join her, closing the door behind him.

Rose held her arms out and spun slowly as a few leaves fell on them from a nearby tree. "Where are we?"

"Icotea. First settled by humans in the twenty-eighth century, and a perennial favourite holiday planet because of the similarities to Earth. Same basic climate zones and topographical makeup, with a mixture of mountains, plains, desert, etc."

Rose pulled a leaf out of her hair and turned to face the Doctor. He was talking just fast enough for her to suspect his ramble was inspired at least in part by nerves. Testing her theory, she looked at him without speaking, and it only took a moment for him to reach up and tug on his left ear.

"And, well, I thought we deserved a bit of a holiday—a day off to relax a bit, maybe enjoy some good food?" His voice was almost a squeak at the end.

"Sounds brilliant." Rose reached for the Doctor's hand and laced her fingers through his. "So, which way?"

The Doctor pointed to the right. "Just through there. We're about a ten minute walk from town, where we can enjoy the aforementioned local food. And then, if I've timed this right…well, you'll see when we get there. Don't want to spoil the surprise."

Rose cast a sidelong glance at the Doctor as they followed the trail through the trees to a wider country lane. There was something decidedly domestic about spending an autumn day together outdoors, and even though she knew the danger of getting her hopes up, she couldn't help herself.

"There's more to your surprise than just the destination?" she asked as they walked along the lane. The grassy verge was nearly covered with red and gold leaves that crunched beneath their feet as they walked.

"Oh yes!" Beside her, the Doctor bounced lightly on his toes. "Because today is—"

His words cut off abruptly, and Rose giggled when he glared down at her. "Well, you can't blame a girl for trying," she said, shooting him a cheeky smile.

The Doctor's gaze drifted to her mouth, where Rose knew he could see the tip of her tongue peeking out behind her teeth. She'd realised shortly before he'd regenerated that he found this particular smile very distracting, and she'd be lying if she said she hadn't purposely used that information more than once.

This time though, he returned her smile with one of his own. Rose shivered when the gleam in his eyes darkened to a smoulder, and she suddenly felt out-played at her own game.

"Rose Tyler," he said, his voice nearly a purr as it curled sensuously around the syllables of her name, "I think I can promise today will be a day you'll never forget."