Neverending Love

IV

"But that's 138.5 miles," the Doctor said after a moment of thought. "That's fifty-Two hours of walking. So if you walked half of that, that's just over Sixty-Nine miles. That's Twenty-Six hours, Aster. How did no one notice that you were missing?"

Aster felt a strange but warm sensation upon hearing the terror in the man's voice. It felt comforting to know that someone was worried about her, despite having people who worry for her.

"They did," she answered, biting her bottom lip. "Uncle Charlie assumed that I had spent the night with..." she cleared her throat, "Anyway, when he called up and asked to speak to me, they had no idea where I was and they couldn't get ahold of me because my phone was off so there was a search party. Emmett, my friend, was the one who found me and brought me back home."

Chuckling to herself, Aster shook her head. "I had the telling off of a lifetime and was grounded for a month, but it was worth it." She said quietly, "It gave me time to finish the book. In fact, I finished it the day I got it but I re-read it a few times."

The Doctor opened his mouth to respond after swallowing down his worry - He had to remember that not only was Aster her own person and had no idea who he was at the time but that he couldn't control her and he definitely wasn't going to lock her away inside the Tardis forever - When the doors swung open.

Aster and the Doctor turned to the doorway to see Rose panting harshly. Her hands were pressed against her knees while a bulging rucksack was strapped to her back. "I think you need to fix the doors," she grumbled as she walked inside. "They're so stiff at the moment. Took me ages to get them open."

Rolling his eyes, the Doctor moved to stand in front of Aster while he crossed his arms over his chest. The lights in the console room dimmed and a low groan was heard as the blonde dropped her bag with a thump.

Practically skipping up the ramp, Rose focused all of her attention on the Doctor, already having decided that her first step in showing the Doctor Aster's true colours was to ignore her and pretend that she didn't exist. She knew Aster would get annoyed and would say something that would have the Doctor dropping her straight back home.

Raising his brow, the Doctor took a step back as Rose went to wrap her arms around his waist. The mere thought of anyone touching him in any way that wasn't Aster, made him feel sick. "What are you doing here?" He asked, his tone dry and distant.

A large and toothy smile split across Rose's face, "Well why else would I be here?" She asked sarcastically, "To come travelling with you!" Turning towards the console, she went to pull down a leaver when she was shocked by a small burst of electricity.

Frowning at her fingers, she quickly stuck them into her mouth before wiping them on her shirt. Shaking her head, she smiled once more, batting her lashes at the Time-Lord. Her Time-Lord.

"I told you last night that you are not travelling with me until you apologise to your sister." The Doctor reminded her with a firm voice. "And it can't be one you say in the moment, you have to mean it."

With the smile dropping from her face, Rose rolled her eyes while pursing her lips. "I did apologise. Last night, after you left," she ground out, lying through her teeth. She had never and would never say sorry to her sister. Everything she had said was true and if Aster could handle that, then that was her problem.

Raising his brow, the Doctor turned around so that his back was facing the ticked-off blonde. Smiling kindly, he stared into her mahogany orbs. "Did she?" He asked quietly, gently grasping her hand in his much larger ones. "Did Rose apologise?"