Some Go Mad

"Mummy!"

Matty's voice rang through the living room and the sound of his feet pounding against the floor as he ran across the room to throw himself into his mother's arms.

"Matty!" Elizabeth Marshall wrapped her arms around her youngest child in a tight hug, never wanting to let go of him. Her eyes scanned the area ahead of herself and she ushered the other boys over to join in the hug.

Rose smiled as she watched the scene unfold from beside her father.

Elizabeth let all three of her sons go but kept her arms wide, a small grin on her face as she looked at Rose. The teenager closed the space between them and hugged her mother with a ferocity she hadn't known she was capable of until just then. She supposed it was because of the things she'd gone through the past couple of days. Rose didn't want to let go of her mother for anything.

Marshall walked over and wrapped his girls up in his arms. He kissed Elizabeth and whispered that he'd missed her dearly, but that said also that Rose had done a wonderful job helping him with her brothers.

"I never doubted she'd do otherwise," Elizabeth said, her eyes giving Rose a look of praise and love that the girl had missed seeing very much.

---

"Goodnight, Rosy," Elizabeth said, placing a kiss on her daughter's forehead. "Thank you so much for helping your father with the boys." Her voice was a soft whisper into Rose's hair as she hugged her.

"Goodnight, Mum. I- I'm glad your home." Rose pulled away from her mother's hug, shot a quick smile at her dad, then turned from the two of them to make the short trek up the stairs to her bedroom. On the way down the hall, however, she stopped in Matty, Andrew, and Daniel's rooms to make sure they'd fallen asleep soundly.

Her legs carried her the few feet from Matty's room to her own, and she opened the door. It had been a long day. What with having the earlier trouble's with Matty's bladder, seeing the Doctor at the café, and putting together a welcome home dinner for her mum. She'd loved seeing her mother, she really had. But there was an expression about her face that told Rose that she was not at all happy with losing her job and having to be a stay-at-home mother for the time being. That look didn't sit well with Rose, who had taken Elizabeth's place with the boys during her seemingly endless business trips. She hadn't liked the job either, but she'd done it with a smile on her face because she loved her family. Her mother was very different from her though. She was much more motivated, and, Rose supposed, her family was the reason she worked all the time; she wanted to be able to give them the things they wanted in life.

All Rose really wanted to do was fall into bed and sleep for as long as she possibly could.

But the moment she shut the door behind herself she realized that falling into bed and sleeping wasn't even an option, not right then.

"Why are you in my bedroom again?" Rose's words were quiet, but lashed out of her mouth like a whip at the blonde man stretched out on her bed.

"You know," he said, ignoring her question, "your bed is extremely comfortable. I haven't had one nearly as comfortable as this in over a hundred years. And that's saying something, Rose, because I get my beds at the best shops all over the universe."

Rose stared at the Doctor incredulously. As far as she could see, that ridiculous blue box was nowhere in sight and she couldn't fathom how he'd gotten into her room without it. She was glad, though, that it wasn't there. She didn't particularly wish to be reminded of the events that had taken place within it. She repeated her question. "Why are you in my room?"

"Isn't it obvious?" He jumped up from her bed and grinned down at her. "I came to see you!"

"This is getting to be a bit of a bore, Doctor."

His grin fell from his face so abruptly that Rose was uncertain as to whether she should feel amusement or weariness. "A bore?" he repeated. "Never in all the 1,349 years of my life have I been called a bore! Rude? Yes, I've heard that once before the time you said it earlier today, but that was by my own tongue and therefore was perfectly acceptable. But a bore? How am I a bore?"

"This is the fifth time I've seen you in the past 48 hours. And you've already hijacked my room once before. Can't you be a little more original?" Her drowsiness was starting to cause Rose's normally quiet personality to dissipate quickly. "Besides that. I called the situation a bore, not you. If I'm being honest, you are not a bore and never could be."

"Alright," the Doctor conceded, still standing barely inches from Rose. "How is the situation a bore?"

"I'm getting quite tired of seeing you," Rose said, though she herself couldn't find the truth in her words this time round. The Doctor gave her cookie-cutter life a bit of a rattle; something new was around every corner with him.

The Doctor eyed Rose carefully, studying her expression after the words left her mouth. "You are one of the most interesting people I've ever met, Rose Jackson. You're unlike any other I've ever had the pleasure of knowing."

"Doctor," Rose started, "why are you in my room?"

Again, he ignored her question. "Rose," he said, "why are you so important?"

"I don't know. You're the one that keeps saying it. So, Doctor, why am I important? Hm? Why don't you tell me why I'm important? There is absolutely nothing important, or even remotely significant, about me! I never got great marks in school, I never participated in sports, or plays, or anything of the like. I've never had a job or won an award. I sit at home and help my parents take care of my brothers. I cook, I shop, I clean, I sleep. There's nothing important about me, and I'm really beginning to hate being told that myself as a whole is important when the previous fact stands true. I'm sick of being told by some strange, impossible man that I'm important or brilliant or extraordinary, or any variation that I'm sure is swimming around in your head!" Rose stopped her words, realizing just how loud she'd gotten and hoping her parents hadn't heard. She stared up at him, breathing heavily, trying to decipher the look in his eyes.

"Four times," he said.

"What?" His words stopped her, and her reply came out as completely confused.

"You said that we've seen each other five times," he explained. "But we've only met four."

Rose shook her head. "It's five. I met you before my job interview. I don't care that you seem to have forgotten that, because I remember. I may not understand it, but I remember. You were there. I ran into you and we talked about-"

"About what, Rose?" the Doctor prompted.

"You asked me if I believed in the extraordinary. You asked about aliens."

"And what was your answer?"

"I told you no."

"And what's your answer now?"

Rose looked at the blonde man in front of her. She wanted to tell him that she still didn't believe, but she knew that what he'd shown her had been real. It hadn't been a dream. She wasn't the type to deny something's existence when it was splayed out right before her. She followed in his footsteps, though, and ignored his question. "What are you, Doctor?"