Rose glanced at Alec leaning his head back on the car seat resting as they drove to her parents.
She had to admit he was adorable and kind of cute not that she would tell him that.
"You're staring at me, Tyler." He said keeping his eyes closed.
"I don't know what you mean." Rose replied trying to deny it.
Alec opened his eyes smirking. "You were staring at me."
She shifted her shoulders. "How do you know?"
He chuckled and pointed at his head. "I'm a detective, remember? I have powerful DI senses."
Rose playfully rolled her eyes. "Well, it's good to know you don't have an ego." She joked.
He smiled slightly. "By the way thanks for letting me travel with you."
"No problem, I don't mind." Rose replied.
"I would've done it myself but I probably get lost if you weren't here." He chuckled.
Rose gave a mock gasp. "Do my ears deceive me? Alec admitting he could get lost, oh what are the odds of that?"
He tried not to blush. "Not funny, Tyler."
"By the way you can't call me Tyler in front of my family and friends. You have to call me Rose." Rose said firmly.
"Why?" He replied.
"Because it's confusing, they'll find it odd and because I said so." Rose jokingly stuck her tongue out at him.
"Yes sir!" He playfully saluted.
Rose laughed and continued driving.
After an hour or so they pulled up in front of a huge mansion for once Alec was stunned. "Blimey, this place is big. Don't tell me you have maids and butlers."
She chuckled. "No, I wasn't raised like that. They didn't want me to grow up spoiled."
Alec smirked thoughtfully. "The one thing you are not is spoiled." He replied making her smile.
As soon as the car stopped they stepped out. Alec looked around the property. It was beautiful; trees and flower bushes everywhere.
"So where are your parents?" He asked curious.
"Rose?" He heard a woman's voice call. He turned and a short blond woman with cleavage and too much eye liner greeted them.
He arched his eyebrow. "Oh, you've got to be kidding." Alec muttered.
Rose grinned. "Mum!"
Jackie squeezed her daughter into a tight hug. "Sweetheart, it's so good to see you!"
Rose smiled then turned to Alec. "Mum this is Alec."
He smiled slightly. "Nice to meet you Mrs. Tyler."
She eyed him up and down. "Blimey, he's a lot older than I expected." She blurted.
Rose hid her face and shook her head in embarrassment. "Mum!" She hissed.
Jackie blushed. "I meant it in the most positive way, of course."
He just smiled politely and kept his remarks to himself. "It's alright, Mrs. Tyler."
Jackie smiled at Alec grateful and shook his hand.
Rose glanced at him thoughtfully mouthing the word "Thanks" to him.
Just then a tall thin man came out holding an infant. "Rose honey!"
"Dad!" She rushed up and hugged him. "Honey welcome home!" He said happily.
Tony cooed and reached out towards her. "Well, it looks like somebody missed you." Pete grinned.
He gave Tony to Rose and she held him close. "Hi, little brother I've missed you." She said softly. Tony smiled and giggled in response.
Alec couldn't help but grin. He loved how Tony responded to her.
Pete noticed Alec standing nearby and approached him. 'DI Hardy, welcome to our home. I'm Pete Tyler." He grinned shaking his hand.
He had a strong grip and reminded Alec of a car salesman.
Alec nodded politely. "Nice to meet you, Mr. Tyler."
"Oh, call me Pete so do I call you Alec or Hardy? What do prefer?" He asked.
Alec shrugged. "Alec's fine."
He nodded. "Well, Alec let's get you settled in then."
He picked up Alec's suitcase and they all went into the mansion and Alec was in awe and slightly nervous. The place looked like a museum with its plush carpets, marble statues and fancy furniture.
He felt so out of place. Rose must've noticed and squeezed his hand. "It's okay under all this fancy stuff are normal people."
"Well, as normal as you can get anyway." She playfully added.
He muffled a snicker. Alec was so glad Rose was with him.
"Honey could you put Tony in his room and help me in the kitchen?" Jackie asked.
Rose nodded then looked at Alec. "Think you'll be okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine." He replied.
Rose smiled and followed her mum while Pete led him to his room upstairs.
"Okay, here we are." He announced opening the door.
They went into the guest bedroom; Alec had to admit it was a nice room. Nothing fancy but nice room.
"What do you think?" Pete asked.
Alec looked around and nodded. "Lovely, thank you."
"I'll let you get settled. Dinner should be ready in ten minutes." He said before leaving.
As soon as he was gone Alec sat on the bed and sighed remembering his awkward dinner experience with Ellie and Joe. "I hope this one goes better."
Sitting at the table Alec stared at his plate trying to figure out what he was eating. It looked green and orange and mushy.
Rose sat beside him and noticed him picking at the food. "It's broccoli and carrot chowder casserole."
He looked at her funny then made a face.
"I hope its okay but when you work at Torchwood you have to keep fit. So all the food we cook is healthy." She explained.
Alec was slightly relieved; the food looked odd but at least it was safe for him to eat if he could bear it.
During dinner Alec did his best to swallow his food but it wasn't easy.
Jackie was not the best cook but he lied to her about liking it so he wouldn't hurt her feelings. But to his dismay he ended up getting more. Rose thought what he did was sweet but it was hard not to giggle.
By the third helping he was at the conclusion that he was going to starve during this visit.
He then sat there in silence while Rose spoke to her family but she'd glanced at him smiling and tried to include him in on the conversations.
After dinner Alec was feeling tired and went to his room. He sat on the fluffy bed tracing the floral pattern on the quilt with his finger.
It felt strange being in a new place. He never was good at that, sleeping in a different house. Alec sighed and started changing into his pajamas.
At the same time Rose had just changed into her pink pajama tank top and mini shorts. She was setting her alarm when she realized she had Alec's cell phone by mistake.
She had to get it back to him. Rose walked down the hall with his phone and was glad to see his light was still on and the door was cracked.
Rose went to the door but stopped when she saw Alec in his plaid pajama bottoms and realized he was in the middle of getting ready for bed.
"I'll get it to him, later." She said to herself. Rose was about to go back when the sight of Alec opening and removing his buttoned down shirt revealing his slightly hairy muscular chest and perfectly toned abs had her gawking like a cartoon character.
"Good lord where's he been hiding that gorgeous body?" She wondered as he pulled out a grey t-shirt from his bag. Rose was so distracted she accidently dropped the phone startling Alec. "Hello?" He called.
Rose panicked picking up the phone as he walked out of the room still holding his t-shirt. "Sorry." She said quickly standing up straight. Then it was Alec's turn to blush. "When did she get legs?" He muttered his eyes widening at her long legs and tight pajama top.
Rose noticed he was blushing and staring at her. "What?" She scowled.
"What are you wearing?" He squeaked.
"Pajamas." She replied folding her arms.
"Those are not pajamas!" He exclaimed pointing.
"What do you mean? What's wrong with these?" Rose looked at him like he was nuts.
"Th-there too hot- tight-uh, short! I mean there short, way too short." He stammered.
She arched her eyebrow. "I'll wear clown pants with pears and a burlap sack top if I want. It's my house and I'll wear what I please!"
Before he could respond Jackie's voice could be heard from downstairs. "What is going on?"
She came up the stairs holding Tony and gasped. "DI Hardy, what the hell are you doing around my daughter dressed like that?"
Alec looked at her confused then realized he was still holding his grey pajama shirt. He turned crimson and started stuttering an explanation. "Well, you see I, uh, uh"
Jackie wasn't amused. Rose watched smirking and decided he had suffered enough. "Mum, it was my fault."
Alec turned and looked at her puzzled.
"I had his cell phone by mistake and was returning it to him. But I dropped it and it startled him so he came out to see what the noise was." Rose explained even holding up the phone to her mother.
Jackie was still suspicious but accepted her answer. "Okay, I'll go change Tony and you can tuck him in."
Rose smiled. "Can't wait!" Jackie smiled at her daughter but gave a warning glance to Alec.
Alec breathed a sigh of relief before frowning at Rose. "You could've said something sooner."
Rose shrugged. "Yeah but I didn't want to."
"And why is that?" He remarked.
She smirked biting her finger tip. "I was enjoying the view too much."
Alec blushed realizing he hadn't put on his stupid shirt yet. "Shut up." He said dashing back into his room.
Rose grinned. "Oh, I love keeping him his toes." She thought to herself going back to her bedroom.
