Inside the TARDIS, the soft and gentle humming of the console filled the room along with silence. The Doctor and Rose had been gone for a good hour or so, and it was quite without them. But that was about to change.

The door to the old machine suddenly opened with angry force as Rose stormed inside, the look on her face was a look that would send the Daleks into a state of fear.

"Rose, wait!" the voice of the Doctor shouted. He entered the TARDIS a few seconds after Rose had marched in and Rose turned furiously to face the Doctor who stopped halfway up the ramp when he spotted the look on her face.

"I don't want to hear it anymore Doctor! I've had it with this!" She snarled at him.

"Look Rose, I'm sorry, I didn't know that blonde hair was seen as a joke in their culture, if I did I would have tol-"

"You would have told me!? Oh yeah Doctor, if you really didn't know then why the hell do you always swagger round bragging about 'how you know everything' or how 'stupid apes like me know nothing'?!"

"Ros-"

"I was laughed at Doctor! I was humiliated in front of hundreds of peop-aliens! And to top it off, you didn't exactly help me in any way; you just stood there and looked at me like I had two heads!" Rose hissed, tears were streaming down her face now.

"Hey, I did help you! I gave you the baseball cap I found in my pocket, which is a very important possession to me since it's signed by Bob Feller and-"

"Oh right, thank you Doctor! That just shows that you care more about many things more than you care about me!"

By now, the Doctor was standing a few feet away from her, his arms out spread in shock.

"I do not!" He snapped at her, but instantly regretted his tone.

"Oh really?! Just the other week when we went to the planet with the banana's that were bright purple, you didn't realize that I was kidnapped and nearly killed because you were more fascinated with the bloody fruit! I bet you had a lovely time with that Queen you saved me with, what was her name again? Y'know, the one that you said was the best women you'd ever met?!"

"Oh come on Rose, I-"

"Save it, Doctor! You've made me feel like nothing for the past few weeks. You've ignored me most of the time and I feel like you just...don't want me here anymore…"

That was the last thing Rose said to him before turning around whilst wiping the tears of her face with her sleeve.

"Rose, please, wait!" The Doctor said rushing forward and grabbing her arm. But she shoved his hand off her arm and turned to face him. He gazed at her with his large deep brown eyes but she wasn't impressed.

"Just leave me alone Doctor…" She told him, and with that, walked out of the console room and down the corridor.

The Doctor watched her go. He wanted to run after her so badly, to tell her how sorry he was and give her a big 'sorry' hug. But that would be useless and he thought it best to let her calm down.

But he felt hurt and his hearts ached with guilt and anger at himself. Had he really been treating her wrong these past few weeks?

With nothing else he could really do, the Time Lord sauntered over to the pilot chair and placed himself down into it, head in his hands. He hadn't argued with anyone that badly in over 300 years and he hadn't realized in the slightest that Rose had felt that way.

The only way he could put it…he felt terrible.

-x-

Rose stormed into her room in the TARDIS. She felt like slamming the door shut, but she wanted to try and calm down, so slamming the door wasn't going to help. But she was still extremely upset.

After quietly shutting her door, she walked over to her bed and lay down, resting her head into her soft pillow. The tears were still dripping from her eyes, now onto the pillow, and she tried to control her sobs.

She thought back over the past few minutes in her head. She hated herself for it, but it was how she felt. The Doctor seemed to of been getting sick of her existence in the TARDIS over the past few weeks and he hadn't held back on showing it. Too Rose, it was almost like The Doctor was getting bored of her.

Rose rolled onto her back and sighed deeply, wiping the next batch of tears from her cheek. She hated the idea of the Doctor getting 'bored' of her. She loved travelling with him and she couldn't think of life being any other way.

In more ways than one, it wasn't just the travelling that she loved.

-x-

About half an hour past before Rose finally took up the courage to do something. She had been the one shouting at the Doctor and she needed to go and apologise to him.

Like every woman, she was a bit angry at the fact that the Doctor hadn't come to say sorry to her first, but he had been trying to tell her that the whole time she had been shouting at him, so she didn't blame him.

Rose slowly got onto her feet from her bed and walked over to the door. Her heart was frantically beating in her chest. She was nervous.

What happens if he kicks me off? She started to think. Oh god…

She tried to push those thoughts to the back of her mind as she left her room and walked down the long corridor.

As she approached the console room, she though she heard what sounded like…light snoring?

Rose raised an eyebrow and continued towards the console room. When she could see the bright green light of the centre of the console, she noticed something else.

On the pilot seat, fast asleep, was the Doctor.

Rose didn't really know what to do. He never slept. Never. But yet there he was. His converse worn feet rested on the console, his arms balanced on top of the seat and his head rested on the back of it, leaning slightly to the right and his hair sticking up in every direction possible on top. Rose had to admit, it made him look insanely cute.

After a few more seconds of thinking, she decided she wasn't going to wake him. He deserved some rest after her shouting at her like a maniac.

Instead of heading back to her room and waiting for the Doctor to wake up, she remembered the planet they had just visited. They had landed in the countryside part of the planet, but the Doctor had insisted on taking her to the nearby town. She hadn't had a good look around at it. Plus, she hadn't had a walk by herself in ages.

Before she left, she managed to grab the note pad the Doctor used to stick his notes around the monitor of the TARDIS and write him a little note, also using the pen he used for the notes.

Gone for a walk, won't be long. Rose x

She took the note out of the pad and stuck it to the monitor, directly in the centre so he wouldn't miss it if he woke up before she came back.

Taking one last look at the snoozing Time Lord, Rose snuck towards the TARDIS doors and as quietly as she could, stepped outside and closed the door.

-x-

If Rose was to be truthful, the planet was beautiful.

The Doctor had suggested it to her, without really giving her a choice in the matter. He had said it was lovely but she hadn't thought it would be THIS lovely.

When she had stepped out of the TARDIS earlier today and seen it for the first time, she was amazed.

The sky was a deep purple colour, with three bright orange suns surrounded the planet at different points in the sky. The grass was green, but the flowers were multiple colours spread all over what looked like a field they had landed in. The forest, which Rose was walking in for her walk, had been the first thing she had spotted, with orange and green trees dotted everywhere. But the Doctor had walked her in the opposite direction the nearest town. Now, she was able to walk into the forest without being dragged the opposite way.

As beautiful as the planet was, Rose still thought about the Doctor as she strolled through the forest. She hoped he didn't wake up before she came back since he would probably be mad at her for 'wandering off' but she would still be trying to apologise.

She was stopped in her train of thought as she came across a small stream running through the ground in among the trees. The water was the clearest she had ever seen and it shone brightly with the reflection of the sun through the leaves on the trees. She stood there for a few minutes, taking in the deep fresh air and the noise of alien nature.

But suddenly, something didn't feel right.

Deep breathing was being emitted menacingly from behind her.

Rose knew she was no longer alone.

-x-

The Doctor jerked awake.

He lifted his head quickly to look around him and removed his feet from their resting place. Had he nodded off?

"Geeze, I'm getting old" He said to himself as he stood up and stretched his arms up into the air. A large set of clicking and cracking left his back and he groaned.

"Yep, not as young as you used to be Doctor"

Then he remembered.

He was waiting in the console room to let Rose calm down. He was going to go and apologise, but instead, his body must have been screaming 'nap time'.

That's when he also spotted the note on the monitor. He reached over and pulled it off the screen and brought it closer to his face so he could read it.

Gone for a walk, won't be long. Rose x

The Doctor's hearts lurched in his chest as soon as he read 'walk'.

Rose was in serious danger if she had done what the Doctor thought up in his head.

Without thinking, the Time Lord ran for the TARDIS doors.

-x-

Rose had known she was in trouble just from hearing the deep breathing. When she had turned around, her fears had been confirmed.

Stood about 20 feet away from her, was what looked like a large hairy bear. Except it wasn't a bear.

The creature had four piercing yellow eyes sitting on top of its black furry head, white dagger sharp teeth glistening with saliva from its mouth as it growled at her. It had four long arms which were met by six threatening claws at the end of each paw. The back legs were a little bit shorter than its arms, but still looked incredibly powerful.

Rose backed up against a tree, too scared to blink in fear that the creature would see it as a chance to attack sooner. But it was too late any way.

The creature lowered itself closer to the ground, each of its four arms bending for the pounce. The four yellow eyes looked hungrily right through the terrified human, as it suddenly pounced. Rose could do nothing more than tightly closed her eyes.

"OI!"

Rose's eyes shot open and the creature, distracted, landed short of Rose, skidding to a stop on the forest ground and they both turned their heads to see a figure standing in among the trees. But Rose had already figured out the figure by the voice. She smiled.

"Step away from her."

The Doctor.

The creature snarled furiously at the Doctor as he took a few steps towards where the creature and Rose were situated.

"Now then, what do we have here?" The Doctor asked studying the creatures gleaming yellow eyes as he stepped closer and closer, before his eyebrows rose quickly. "Ah, you're a Trutan. Well now that's all I need to know. Sonic screwdriver won't stop you, your hearings not affected by supersonic sound waves is it big fella?"

The creature was losing patience with the Doctor and opened its mouth to give off a painfully loud roar. Rose covered her ears it was that loud. But the Doctor stood his ground, a blank but deep expression spread across his thin face.

"Think I'm impressed? Nah, you have me all wrong. Know why? Because now I know what you are, I know what your weakness is. And if it means saving Rose then it doesn't matter what happens to me."

Rose looked at the Doctor with fear and curiosity in her eyes. What did he mean?

But before she or even the creature could guess what came next, the Doctor ran at the creature with his long legs swiping back and forth. The creature took a swipe at him, but he majestically dodged it. Then, to Rose's utter shock, he leapt into the air, landing directly onto the creatures back.

The creature roared in anger and lifted itself onto its hind legs in fury. The Doctor gripped onto its shaggy black fur to keep him from falling off. All he had to do was…

As he reached for the creatures secret weakness, one of its four arms lashed out at its own back and it struck the Doctor over his shoulder with its six razor sharp claws.

"Doctor!"

The Doctor gritted his teeth but a cry of pain escaped from his lips. He felt his blood seep out of the wound and dribble down his back. He didn't care. He had to stop the Trutan before it decided that he wasn't the only target it could take its anger out on.

With a successful reach and one last cry of pain, the Doctor grabbed the creatures left ear.

And pulled.

Extremely hard.

The creature suddenly stopped roaring in anger and instead started to yelp in pain. It threw its head around, shaking it violently . So violently that the Doctor was thrown off sideways and he unfortunately hit a nearby tree and then slumping to the ground.

Rose screamed his name again, but she couldn't get to him. The alien was still shaking its head around and Rose knew if she got in its way it would probably slice her apart and end up instantly killing her.

But, to Rose's relief, the creature suddenly reared up onto its long hind legs and like a flash of black lighting, bolted off through the woods, it's howling got further and further away until eventually, it disappeared through the trees.

Rose didn't wait to watch the creature go. She instantly ran over to the Doctor who was still sprawled across the ground on his side, blood dripping down his back. She couldn't hold back the tears that started to fall from her eyes.

She fell to her knees beside him and put one hand behind his head and used the other to turn him over so he could see her. When she rolled him over, his eyes were closed.

"D-Doctor?" She whimpered, stroking some stray hairs from his face.

She breathed a sigh of relief when he let out a small groan and his eyes slowly opened.

"Oh my god, Doctor, what the hell did you just do you, stupid old Time Lord!?" She nearly shouted at him, but she was happy that he was awake and not the opposite. He looked up at her and smiled at her.

"If it meant… saving you, R-rose Tyler, then I would do anything. Even wrestle with a Trutan." He replied, his voice cracking a little. Rose shook her head and a small laugh escaped from her mouth.

"What did you do to that thing?"

"Just gave its ear a quick tug. Their pain receptors are really sensitive on their ears. Even a tiny scratch causes them extreme pain" As if on que when he said the word pain, he gave another painful groan.

She helped him sit up, and he groaned when he remembered about his shoulder. Rose checked his back. Blood was stained around six scratch marks just below his shoulder blade. No wonder he was in pain.

"Doctor, we need to get this band-"

"I don't care about that, Rose" He interrupted her. Rose just looked at him a little surprised.

"I think before we do anything, I need to apologise. I felt terrible when I realised how I'd been acting towards you had affected you that badly. I understand I can be very selfish at times, but most Time Lords are, it's just in my nature" When he said that, Rose giggled slightly. He smiled at her. "You are the most important girl in my life Rose. If anything happened to you, I wouldn't know what to do with myself. I know sorry doesn't cover everything, but, it's the best I can do right now. Please, forgive me?"

Rose wiped the tears from her face and pulled the Doctor into a firm hug, being careful to miss his slight injury. He smiled and hugged her tightly back.

"Really, you have nothing to be sorry for, but, I'm sorry too, Doctor. I should never have shouted at you like that" She said as she released her hug. "You would have known that sooner, but no, someone was snoozing!" She said with a laugh. He laughed back.

"I've said to myself several times that I'm getting old, but now I know it's true" He chuckled.

"Well then, come on old man, we need to sort that shoulder of yours out" Rose explained. She helped the Doctor get to his feet. He was a bit wobbly at first, but with Roses support, he managed to stay up right. After they had walked a couple of steps, Rose spoke up.

"Doctor?"

"Yeah, Rose?"

"I didn't say. Thank you"

The next thing the Doctor new, was Rose's lips pressed firmly against his.