This is my second attempt at whofic. Enjoy!
Rose Tyler was hiding in a tool shed behind the council estate. Tucked with her back to the darkest corner, she hugged her knees. Even at seven years old, Rose knew lonely. To keep them both afloat, her mother worked all hours and because she was an only child, she often spent her hours in her room playing by herself. It had never truly bothered her until this past week at school when Sarah Andrews decided Rose to remind Rose just how alone she really was.
Wiping her face of the last few tears, she was just about to stand when the shed door opened revealing a rather gangly looking man with a bowtie.
"Oh! I didn't know anyone else was in here. Would you mind if I shared your hiding spot?"
Rose knew she should say no. Stranger danger and all that. But he seemed...different to her. So she nodded at the strange man and scooted over a bit so the man had room to fold himself onto the floor next to her.
"Now, why are you hiding in here? I myself am hiding from a particularly nasty creature called...well..." the man frowned a bit, "I'm not even sure I can pronounce the name. Too many vowels. And this is coming from the man who holds the record for tongue twisters on Raxacoricofallapatorius!"
She frowned at the man. "Raxa-what?"
He waved her off. "Never mind, it's not important. What is important, is why you are hiding."
Rose rested her chin on top of her knees. "I'm hiding because I don't have any friends."
The man looked a bit shocked, eyebrows disappearing into his hairline. "Don't have any friends? Now how is that possible? You seem quite friendly to me."
Rose blushed, embarrassed. "I don't have any friends because I'm poor. None of the other girls at school invite me to parties or to play in the park. They say I dress funny."
He frowned at her. "Now that doesn't seem right. Who says you need money to have friends? To tell you the truth, if someone says you need money to be friends then they're not the kind of friend you want to have."
Rose didn't say anything. While she knew it wasn't right for the other girls to be so mean, it still stung when they left her alone on the playground.
"How old are you?" He asked softly.
" 'M seven."
"Well then. I bet you, if you joined a team at school and showed those girls you were just as good as they were, even without the money you would have your pick of friends!"
She looked at him sceptically. "Really?"
He nodded at her. "Mhm. Join something! Football maybe? No, not football. Football is rubbish for making friends. Gymnastics! That's what you should join!"
"Why gymnastics?" Rose asked making a face. Her mother had been trying for weeks to get her on the school team.
"All that swinging on ropes and tumbling and foam pits!" He was starting to get excited now, making wild gestures in the cramped space of the shed. Rose couldn't help but crack a small smile at the strange man.
"Have you ever been in a foam pit?"
She shook her head, giggling at his excitement.
"Well then! You have to join gymnastics now!" He stood up and offered out a hand. "So, what do you say we stop hiding in this shed now?"
Rose took his hand and allowed herself to be lead out of her hiding spot. When she stepped out onto the pavement, the man let go of her hand and crouched down to her eye level.
"So. Monday morning you are going to march into that school and join that team. And when you win your first medal you are going to show all those girls that you are worth their friendship and worth the friendship of anyone you choose."
On impulse, she threw her arms around his neck and held him tight, mumbling a thank you into the tweed of his jacket.
He squeezed her tightly before letting her go and rising to his feet once again. "You are very welcome Rose Tyler. Now, you best be on your way back home."
She turned to leave but stopped short only a few steps away. "Hey, how did you know my-"
But the time she had turned, the man in the bowtie was gone and only a faint grinding sound was left hanging in the air.