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As others slept in the Elephant Inn or got on with their nightly duties, the only occupant of one room remained awake was the Doctor. He was lost deep within his thoughts about a particular young redhead woman currently facing away from him, breathing in and out softy as she slept. All he was feeling right now was nothing but guilt. Having now finally understood what he had done, he'd broken one of Alice's conditions that wouldn't make her feel like she was a sorry excuse for being Rose's replacement, and what did the Doctor do? He opened his big stupid mouth.

Yes, it had been almost a year since he had lost Rose at Canary Wharf. The wound was nonetheless not as raw in his mind, but it was slowly but surely healing over. Maybe he was using Alice and Martha to fill that void give them something to remember by, then that would be it. He'd let them get on with their lives as they should do. But maybe Alice was right. He needed someone, and maybe having her and Martha would help him heal all the more.

Yet right now, his thoughts and feelings for Alice now drifted into that of nothing but confusion. Of course, yes, he had kissed her to distract the Judoon. Still, for some reason, he hasn't been able to stop thinking about it since even when she had mentioned it, he'd come over all flustered and embarrassed like a shy little schoolboy. Yes, there have been little moments where she has been flirting with the playwright that made him somewhat jealous, of course.

But it was when Shakespeare had implied that he and Alice were a couple only for her to deny it on the spot straight away did hurt. He rolled his eyes and shook his head, knowing it was ridiculous because it was just a crush, right? Nothing more than something that fades away over time. He told himself that when it came Rose, look how that ended.

The Time Lord shook his head lightly, knowing it wasn't good for him to delve into the past and to concentrate on the here and now well, that currently being Elizabethan London. Of course, there was also the thing Shakespeare had mentioned to Alice that had made her dash out the room.

"Yet you are always looking at him as if you have something to say, only that you're just too scared to for fear of his rejection."

At the time, it didn't make a knick of sense until he decided to listen in on Alice's conversation with Martha. She had implied that her good friend had a thing for him only for the young redhead to deny it entirely, yet to the Doctor, she didn't sound quite convincing. So Alice probably did have a crush on him, but she was just too scared of admitting it not only to herself but was also probably scared he'd reject her.

But what he had to ask himself was. Is that was he ready to let someone else into his hearts again? He wasn't entirely sure yet, but only time would tell.