Series Three with Rose: All the Bits Inbetween

Part 4

The Doctor and Rose had been bickering all morning, Martha could hear it from her room down the corridor. Shouting and yelling at each other for hours until finally silence fell.

From the moment Martha had walked into the TARDIS kitchen she could sense the tension between the two of them. Rose sitting at the table, absent-mindedly stirring her bowl of cereal with a spoon and the Doctor leaning against a counter at the opposite end of the kitchen eating a banana. Although the room was silent Martha realised that you could cut the atmosphere with a knife.

"Morning!" she said cheerily as she moved over to the table where Rose was sitting.

"Morning," cheered the two, still not looking up from their breakfast.

Martha sat down opposite Rose and noticed that the girl's eyes were red and puffy, like she had been crying. Glancing over at the Doctor she noticed that his eyes looked more tired than yesterday too.

"So what's to eat?" asked Martha looking around.

Rose glanced up from her soggy cherios. "Um, anything really," she said with a small smile, although Martha could see real sadness behind it, "just look in a cupboard and what you fancy's just usually...there."

"Cool!" said Martha hopping up and opening a top cupboard. But to her surprise the shelf was filled with loaves of bread.

"Oh I guess all I fancied was toast," she said sadly reaching up and pulling down a granary loaf and slipping a couple of slices into the toaster.

Martha sauntered over to the Doctor, who jumped as she nudged him in the side.

"OK?" she asked.

"Yep," he said, chancing a glance over at Rose, "right as rain." He forced a wide smile at Martha then strolled out of the kitchen, banana peel still in his hand.

Martha quietly walked back to her seat at the table.

"Hey Rose," she said trying to cheer up the unhappy girl, "look I'm sorry about all this, I never meant to cause trouble-"

"No it's alright, I don't blame you," said Rose looking up from her untouched bowl, "it's just that..."

Rose trailed off.

"So are you two?..." began Martha.

"No, were not," said Rose quickly, looking away sadly.

"Oh OK, it's just that when he kissed me yesterday, he didn't tell me he had a-"

"He what?"

"W-well, he called it a genetic transfer...it didn't mean anything-"

Rose suddenly slid her chair back and stormed out of the door, muttering something about someone called 'Reniette' as she did so.

The Doctor was tinkering with the TARDIS when he heard Rose march into the console room.

Oh how he hated this, arguing with the woman he-

"So you kissed her?" shouted Rose angrily.

"What?" said the Doctor poking his head up and around the side of the console, looking shocked.

"Martha just told me you kissed her, yesterday!"

The Doctor quickly walked around the console and came up to Rose who backed away angrily, he could see tears glinting in her eyes.

"Don't," she said, "just tell me the truth."

"It wasn't a kiss, it was a genetic transfer."

"Where was it?"

"In the hospital."

"No I mean where? On her cheek-"

"On her lips-"

"So it WAS a kiss then!" said Rose turning away angrily.

The Doctor moved after her, grabbed her arm and turned her towards him. There was a moment of awkward silence before Rose spoke tearfully.

"So you've kissed Reniette, now Martha...so why haven't you kissed me?" Rose asked quietly.

The Doctor paused for a moment. Rose didn't remember the Doctor kissing her during his last regeneration, pulling the vortex from her body, or remember locking lips with him when possessed by Cassandra in New Earth.

He sighed, if only she really knew how much he actually wanted to kiss her every moment of every day.

"I don't know..." he said trailing off, rubbing his face with his hand.

Rose gulped back tears. "Fine, then I'm staying here today."

"Again?" asked the Doctor sadly.

"Yeah again," she replied, avoiding his gaze, "I'm still not feeling good ...and anyway you don't need me anymore...got someone else to save your life now." She looked at him, upset for a few moments, before walking away.

Passing Martha on the way out of the door, Rose gave her a slight smile.

"Have a good day Martha."