Tough? He looked over at her. What did she mean by tough? And in a moment the question vanished. He saw Rose again. His Rose. The stubborn woman who motivated and inspired him and brought new life to weary eyes that had seen it all. That was the Rose he knew and...
Loved...
She said it. As he thought it, she said it. He knew she loved him and he had tried to hide his love from her because he knew it couldn't really ever be. Preya had thrown both their futures into new directions. Places where they could be in the same place at the same time and the universe wasn't bound to start tearing apart at the seems. Was it? Or was he being naive? Missing signs that were in plain sight.
The Doctor was lost and confused. He didn't know what to do. He was unaccustomed to not wandering all of time and space, fighting against threats to people and worlds, running away from his past and problems to find another companion to take along for the ride. Companions whom the TARDIS picked from time to time more than he did.
"I don't know what to do" he admitted hopelessly. "Maybe it's best you just... start again. Find someone you can be happy with, Rose" said, standing up to walk over to the chalkboard. He was finding it hard to look at her all over again.