A New Friend?

She told him everything. About the Parallel world, Daleks, Cybermen, Slitheen, the Void, regeneration, the Doctor…Absolutely everything. Nothing was left untouched, no stone left unturned. Josh now knew it all. Rose's whole life was condensed into three hours and four cappuccinos.

"I should have told you before. Sorry," Rose said, sighing.

"So, you mean there's another me, another you?" Josh had been expecting something amazing, but he could have never in his life imagined something like this.

"Yeah, there's another you. But there's no parallel me. But that's only considering this world and the world I came from. You never know, there could be millions of other parallels. The Doctor always said I was special, that there couldn't be a parallel as good as me. I never believed him. Still don't…"

"So this Doctor, was…is the last of his kind. But why isn't there a parallel him?"

"No idea. This parallel could just be of Earth, so no parallel of Gallifrey. I don't think that he was, how do you say it, born on a timeline. It's complicated…"

Josh sat back into his chair. It was too much for him to take in in one go. He needed time to think it through. He could see how much the Doctor meant to Rose. She could tell you anything about him, what he had said when they went to a different world, how he defeated aliens not using violence, but his own wit…

"I'm so tired…" Rose got up from her chair and lay down on the leather sofa that wrapped itself around the room.

"I'll take you home. I'll even make coffee for you," Josh said, desperately trying to find some way that he could stay with her a little longer.

"Tea," Rose said, correcting Josh's mistake.

"Typically English," he replied. Rose was remembering something. Josh could tell by the look on Rose's face.

"On Christmas Day, when the Doctor was regenerating, the Sycorax came. We couldn't wake him up, so he couldn't save us. But he did, in the end, as he always did. He came bursting out of the TARDIS, a huge grin on his face saying All I needed was a cup of your mum's tea!"

Josh smiled. What she had just said was just a story to him. To Rose it meant everything.

Rose walked out of Café Nero followed closely by Josh. It was nearly dark, the sunset causing the tall buildings to cast huge shadows over the city. The town was busy at this time of night; people rushing to get home to have their dinner and see their families after a long hard day at work. Josh sometimes wished he could be one of those people. They had normal lives, normal jobs. Torchwood was far from normal.

"Do you want to get a taxi?" Josh shouted at Rose, assuming that she lived in the suburbs of the city, as they pushed their way through the crowd.

"No, the exercise will do me good," she replied, only turning for a moment to make sure that Josh was behind her.

Rose entered a dead end council street called the Powell Estate. She could have lived in the house Pete had, but it was too far from the comforts of her little flat; too extravagant, too different.

"It's this one." Rose pulled out a key, very different from the one that hung lifeless from her neck. Josh looked in, expecting to see a shabby little flat, much like his. When you worked for Torchwood, there wasn't much time for domestics. But instead, he was greeted by a warm and welcoming flat, with no clutter anywhere.

"I've just got to check that Gwen is still in the cells. Take a look around if you want," Rose said as she went in search of the phone. Josh mumbled a faint reply, and turned left into what looked like Rose's bedroom, as tidy as the rest of the flat. He walked around the bed, pausing to look at the photo's that were on display. There was one of which he assumed was Rose's mother; blonde, badly dyed hair and too much make-up. Another of Mickey, Rose's boyfriend, with what looked like Rose's father, Pete.

Josh stopped dead. There he was. A picture of the Doctor, exactly how Rose had described him. A large leather jacket, plain-coloured tee-shirt, and not much hair. She had been precise in every detail. Then there was another, obviously after he had regenerated; brown hair, much more of it now, pinstripe brown suit with a pair of sneakers. Josh hadn't realised that Rose had been standing by the door, watching his reactions to the pictures displayed on her shelves.

"Can I have my tea now?" Rose asked innocently, not wanting to sound bossy.

"What?"

"You promised to make me some tea. I hope you haven't changed your mind."

"No, no, no. Is Gwen still in the cells?"

"Yep, hasn't said a word." Josh nodded and walked out of the room to make Rose some tea.

I am so tired, thought Rose. She got up and locked the bedroom door, so that Josh could not come in unannounced. She slipped out of her "work clothes"; jeans and a plain coloured shirt, and put on her comfortable pyjamas. She then unlocked the door.

Josh knocked on the door about five minutes later, carrying a tray with two cups of tea and a few custard creams. He opened the door slowly, not wanting to drop the contents of the tray he was carrying, and poked his head around the door.

"Oh, sorry," Josh turned away from Rose sitting on the end of the bed in her pyjamas.

"No, it's fine. Come in."

Josh turned back to face Rose, and walked into the bedroom. It was now 8:00pm, and Josh was itching to get home. But he couldn't leave Rose in this state. He handed her the tea, and sat down in the chair in the corner of the room.

"I should be getting home-" Josh trailed off.

"No, please stay. You can camp out on the sofa, or sleep in the spare room."

"But I don't have anything with me. I'm not the kind of guy who turns his underpants inside out and back to front, just to avoid washing them."

"I've got spare undies, a spare toothbrush…I keep it just in case he comes back."

Josh couldn't really refuse Rose's offer when she was like this. To hell with it thought Josh.

"Sofa will do me, thanks."

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