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Chapter 15

It was morning. Rose was warmer and more comfortable than she could remember being in a very long time. She lay there, enjoying the comfort and warmth. She inhaled deeply and smelled what only her brain could process as wonderful.

A sudden pain shot through her head. She jumped and was suddenly surprised to feel someone rub her back. "Shhh." A deep voice whispered. "You're alright."

She relaxed. It hadn't been a dream. Her Doctor was there and was rubbing her back. She could also feel his hand that still had fingers wound into hers. She squeezed his hand and inhaled his scent.

He smelled amazing. He must have been trying out a new cologne that she wasn't familiar with. That, or some sort of aftershave. She inhaled again until it seemed to fill every available corner in both of her lungs.

Without opening her eyes, she whispered to him. "You smell lovely."

She heard his male grunt.

It made her smile.

Her Doctor was lying directly in front of her, sleeping. She opened her eyes and saw a dark figure lying in front of her. Everything was bright and blurry. Her head swam and gave her a sudden feeling of falling. The sensation made her spring upright in the bed. She closed her eyes and groaned. "Oh, this sucks."

She heard the deep voice. "I'm up! Are you alright?"

She opened her eyes and to her surprise, found Danny standing next to the bed. His hair stuck up at an odd angle. He was wearing his white t-shirt that had been under his shirt, and his tux's trousers.

"Danny!"

She suddenly became very aware that she was only wearing her knickers and pasties from the night before. She grabbed the duvet and covered herself.

He rubbed his eyes. "Are you going to be sick again?"

"Again?"

He looked around and found the trash can. "Yeah, hang on. Got it."

"Danny, what are you doing here?" She looked around and found that she was in her bed. "How did I get here?"

He sat down the trash bin and yawned. "You sound better. What's five plus four?"

"Nine. Why?"

"Good." He breathed out in relief and ran his hands through his hair. "Five plus four is nine. Means you're going to be fine. Good night. I'm going back to bed."

He collapsed onto the mattress. "What time is it?"

"Oh no. Hang on. What are you doing here?"

Danny covered his face with a pillow. "Just ten more minutes. Rosie, it's been a long night."

"Don't call me Rosie." She climbed back onto the bed and took the pillow from him. "Get up."

"I've been up all night with you, woman. You talked my damn ears off." He looked her up and down. "I liked it."

She pulled back up the duvet that had fallen, giving him a lovely view.

"Do you need me to help you take those off? You're not supposed to sleep in them."

"Sleep in what?"

He yawned and rubbed his eyes again, "The titty stickers."

She looked at him in surprise. "Wot?"

"Wot?" He mocked her English accent. "Yeah, I didn't think it was appropriate to do it while you were asleep."

"You're the one who undressed me?"

"Yeah. It was me or Sam. We flipped a coin." He smiled, "I won."

She thought. "So you didn't tell him that we had-"

He yawned and held up a finger. "Hang on. Just so we're clear. Are we sleeping in a bit more at all? Or are we going to talk some more?"

She was rather stunned at the question and only managed, "Well…"

He rolled out of bed. "Well, hang on then. I'm going to make some coffee."

She watched him walk out of her bedroom. Then she sat down on the bed and looked around. She spoke quietly to herself. "How did I get back?"

"Danny?" She called.

"Rose?" He answered from the other room in a mocking tone.

She rolled her eyes and groaned, "You are such a damn pain."

Standing up, she looked down and remembered that she was only dressed in her knickers. The nipple stickers were still in their places. She turned and walked over to her closet. Taking her time, she slowly peeled off the nipple stickers.

"Ouch…." She groaned.

When both breasts were sticker-free, she rubbed them both as she walked over to her closet. "There's got to be an easier way to do that."

She grabbed a jumper and a pair of jeans. Her hair had been taken down and someone had washed the make-up off of her face. She looked in the mirror and unconsciously picked up her hairbrush. She stood in front of the mirror trying to remember how she had gotten back last night.

Last night. She was going to a party. Did she make it there?

"Danny?" She called again.

"And I'm still in the kitchen." He answered.

She sighed and walked into the sitting/kitchen area of her suite. Danny was standing behind the bar, waiting on the coffee machine to heat up.

He glanced up at her, "You have a nice place. I like the kitchen."

She rolled her eyes. "It's the same as yours. All of these kitchens are like this."

"I know, it makes it easier to find things." He grinned at her. "Do you need help taking off those pasties?"

"I've done it already."

He looked surprised, "Really? What did you use?"

"Nothing. I just took them off."

He looked at her in confusion. "Really?"

She rubbed her breasts, "And I really shouldn't have. There has to be a better way to do that."

"Put some chapstick on them, and it will help with the sting."

"Chapstick?"

"Yep." He nodded. "Alright. Coffee or tea?"

"How did I get home?"

He shook his head. "Nope. I was married long enough to know that I need coffee before I start to argue with a woman."

"I'm not going to argue with you."

"Hell, you're already arguing with me."

"No, I'm not."

He laughed under his breath. "Yes, you are."

"I'm really not!"

He held out his hands to make his point.

She closed her eyes and grit her teeth.

"Coffee or tea?"

"Coffee. If that's what you're making."

He stopped and sat down the mug he held. He motioned for her to join him.

Confused, she walked over to stand in front of him.

"Rose." He put his hands on her shoulders. "I offered coffee or tea. If you want tea, you just have to ask for it. It's no trouble, otherwise, I wouldn't have offered."

She smiled and rocked back on her foot. "Sorry."

"You are so aggressive." He went back to making a cup of coffee. "And this damn thing has finally heated up. Coffee! At last!"

She watched the coffee pour into the mug with him. Embarrassed by how she had behaved, she was realizing now that she had been drugged at the party last night. Danny had stayed with her the entire night to ensure she was alright. With her suite inside of the large apartment, of course, Lewis would have allowed him to stay. After all, he had no idea that anything had happened between her and Danny. She closed her eyes and inhaled deeply.

This man had seen her naked now. Twice.

"So, have you decided?" He asked as he picked up the other mug.

"Water?" She asked quietly.

He shrugged his shoulders as he raised the coffee to inhale the beautiful, rich scent. "Well, hell woman. Get it then. I'm not a maid."

She waited until he had sat down his mug before she playfully smacked his shoulder. She walked behind him to the refrigerator.

He laughed and looked around. "Do you have any salt?"

"Salt?" She asked as she closed the refrigerator door with the bottle of water in her hand.

He opened a cabinet and found a shaker. "Oh, I've got it. Nevermind."

Rose watched him sprinkle some salt in his coffee and stir it. He put it back on the shelf and closed the cabinet door.

He glanced over at her stunned look. "It keeps it from being bitter."

She opened the water bottle and drank from it.

He turned around and leaned against the cabinet. "Interesting. Rose Tyler drinks straight out of the bottle."

She closed her eyes. Of course, he didn't expect her to drink from a plastic bottle. She played it off. "I didn't want to bother you for a glass. I mean, you didn't offer one."

"Good point. I apologize." He turned and grabbed a glass for her. "There you go."

"Cheers." Rose poured it into a glass. "So, how long until we can talk?"

"Oh, we can talk. Just let me have my coffee before you fight with me."

She sat at the bar. Sipping her water, she found she was more thirsty than she had realized. Danny noticed and stepped over to the fridge to get her another bottle of water. He twisted the cap off and poured her glass to the top again. "You probably need to drink a lot of water. Get all of that out of your system."

She thanked him.

Putting the lid back on the bottle, he set it next to her glass. He leaned against the cabinet and picked back up his coffee. He held it under his nose and inhaled the steam.

It made Rose smile. Danny was such a handsome man, but seeing him standing there all ruffled up in his undershirt made butterflies begin to dance in her stomach. Had she really slept with this man?

She blushed at the thought.

"Are you feeling alright?" He asked and took that first sip.

"Yes. Just…strange."

He pulled out his phone and nodded. "Alright. That's what I'll tell Lewis."

She drank some more water while he sent a text. As soon as he finished he said, "So, we can't fight, but I'll answer questions."

"How long were you married?"

He laughed in surprise. "About you. Not me."

"Well, that's not fair."

He held up his hand. "Nope. No fighting until after coffee."

She grinned, "Then answer the question."

"Are you used to always getting what you want?" He asked and sipped his coffee again.

"No."

He watched her drink from her glass and smiled. "I was married long enough. Next subject-"

"What happened?"

"This wasn't the questions I was talking about."

"Why not?"

He looked surprised, "So, being drugged at a party and waking up in the bed with a man is a common occurrence for you. Noted."

"It is not!"

"Then why are we talking about me?"

"Because we're talking. Not arguing." She pointed out.

Danny started to complain but realized that he would be arguing. "Why do you want to know this?"

"Why don't you want me to know?"

"You can Google this shit-"

"You're standing right here-"

"I mean, everyone knows this shit about me-"

"I don't!"

He pointed at his cup. "I'm not done with my coffee."

"Well, you're just going to have to deal with it, Danny."

"Okay." He sat down his coffee. "She's ready to fight. Thank God she asked for water instead of caffeine." He jumped up and down and cracked his neck. "I'm ready. Go."

She sat back, "You are so ridiculous."

"Okay, I'll start the fight. Ready?-"

"Ridiculous." She said slowly to make her point.

"You, Rose Tyler, are a liar."

"No, I'm not."

"See. That's a lie."

She sat her water glass down and sat back in the chair with her arms crossed. "It is not!"

"Pardon me, Rosie-"

"Don't call me that-"

"Alright. Sorry. But, you are. And not just a liar, a really bad one."

She groaned. "You don't know me."

"That's very true. But, I do realize that I can tell now when you are lying."

"No, you can't."

He smiled, "Oh, I can. For example. True or false. You've told nobody about what really happened that night you were at my place."

She closed her eyes. "About that, I-"

"Ah! We'll get there. Bad first shot. Umm. Something easy."

She glared at him. "You are so full of shit."

"You, Rose Tyler, have…..ummm…never had a dog."

She looked at him. "What? What does that have to do with anything?"

"True or false."

She sighed. "No. I haven't. Why?"

He picked up his coffee and began to drink it again. "Oh, this is awesome. That's the truth. Interesting."

"Why is that interesting?"

"You don't like to be called Rosie because your Mom had a dog named Rose."

"Uh." Rose managed.

Danny rose his eyebrows. "Talk your way out of that one, woman."

"It was before I was born."

"You're old enough that Pete would have stopped that by now. Especially, with as annoyed as you are with me calling you that."

"Lucky guess."

"Nope. I can tell. I'll prove it. Another simple question. Rose Tyler."

She shook her head. "This is mad."

"Ready?"

"Yeah, do you worse."

"You aren't who you say you are. Well, sorry. That's not true. You are Rose Tyler….but this story that Pete has fed to the press about you growing up in secret is a line of crap. You're as much of an outsider to this world as I am."

She paused and stared at him. Was he from the other Dimension, too? What was he talking about?

"What do you mean?"

He explained. "I grew up in the world of rich people and parties and social….bullshit. But, I also have experience with how normal people live, too."

"How?"

He smiled, "Let's just leave it at that for now. You are normal people. You drink out of a water bottle. You take off titty stickers like a barbarian and we won't even get started on how much worse your life is than everyone else's."

"You don't know me."

"Oh, I think I do. I think I know you better than you know yourself. Something happened. Something you still don't agree with which forced you into this lifestyle. And in one hand, you love it. It gives you everything you ever dreamed of. But on the other hand, it's taken everything away from you that you knew."

She listened. "Go on."

"You're so sure that no one has ever been hurt worse than you have been. And you're so pissed about it, that you won't allow yourself to see anything good around you."

"How do you know this?"

"Lewis has introduced me to this thing he likes to do. Strategic thinking. It's fascinating."

"Sounds like high thoughts to me."

"Sometimes it is." He sipped his coffee. "It's either that, or you're not actually Pete Tyler's child. Although, I can't see anyone else really wanting to be with Jackie Tyler but him."

Rose should have been pissed at his remark, but she couldn't help marvel at how close he was. "This is interesting. Entertaining at least."

He chuckled, "Lie again. You know I'm right, and that's the face."

"What face?"

"You make this face when you lie. I noticed it the other night. You know, and that makes this entire thing….just perfect."

"This is such crap."

"The face." Danny smiled.

She sighed, "You're an idiot. I'm going to ask you some questions now."

"Go ahead. I have nothing to hide."

"Well, you apparently do!"

"Like what, woman?"

"You won't answer any of my questions, why should I answer yours?"

He sipped his coffee and nodded. "That's fair. One for one. Ladies' first."

"How long were you married?"

He groaned.

"It's a simple question. If you're climbing up in my face, I'm going to get back into yours."

He nodded and looked into his cup. "That's fair. Alright. Seven years."

"Is that a lie?" She asked.

He grinned at her, "I always tell the truth. It's easier to remember. Now, it's my turn again."

"Whose game is this?"

"Mine. It's called the Truth Game. My turn. Only the truth, Rose because I can tell if you lie."

"That's such crap."

"Point Two: You lied to me that night. You walked into my apartment and knew who I was."

"No, I didn't."

"You did. You were just playing this entire, I'm an idiot who has been living under a rock my entire life."

"You are such a pain-"

"I can prove it." He smiled.

"Then do it."

"You told me that your mother thought I was attractive. How would you know that IF you didn't know who I was?"

Rose closed her eyes.

He had her.

She knew it. "Damn it."

"Why didn't tell me the truth, Rose?"

"I don't want to talk about it-"

"Oh, I do. I think it's important."

"It's not important."

"It's extremely important. Damn, how does Mickey put up with you?"

"You know Mickey?"

He pulled his phone back out of his pocket, "Yeah. He's only called about six billion times. I better call him. Hang on."

She sighed and shook her head while Danny put the phone to his ear. He then pointed at her. "Time-out on the field."

"Wot?"

He chuckled, "You have the best accent- Hey, loser. It's me. This pain in the ass if finally awake and wanting to talk to you for a minute."

He handed her the phone.

She fussed at him quietly, "This isn't over-"

"Good." He insisted. "I'm going to make another cup. Do you need one?"

"No!" She brought the phone to her ear. "Hey."

Mickey's voice sounded relieved. "Oh, thank goodness. You're alright."

"Yeah." She rubbed her head, "My head still feels a bit odd, but-"

"Well, that's to be expected. Lewis has someone he's questioning. I think he just needed an excuse to beat someone up."

Rose laughed in spite of the situation.

Mickey said, "You will probably feel off all day. Just rest, alright?"

She nodded. "Yeah. My head is swimming still. But, it's better than it was."

"Drink lots of water. It will help." She could hear Mickey's smile through his words. "I'm glad you and Danny are getting along. He's a great guy isn't he?"

She looked up to see him preparing his coffee. "The jury is still out on that."

"Oh, he's great. Tell him I….well, just let me talk to him again."

She groaned, "He wants to talk to you again."

Danny took the phone, "Thank you, Rosie."

"Don't call me Rosie-" She snapped.

He chuckled and spoke to Mickey. "Hey. Yeah."

She refilled her water glass and drank while she listened to the one-sided conversation.

Danny rolled his arm over to look at his watch. "Okay. So, if it's at four, what time is that in New York?"

She rolled her eyes. Mickey must be asking him to record a football match for him.

"Oh, hell man, I'll figure it out. It's just math." Danny finally said and brought his coffee up to his lips to blow.

Rose was such a mix of emotions. "He's a great guy" everyone kept telling her, but she wasn't seeing it at the moment. To her, he was rude and full of himself.

"Yep. Done. See you, when?"

Rose realized, Mickey was supposed to be back tonight.

Danny nodded, "Alright. I'll tell her. And yes. She's fine and I think she's warming up to me calling her Rosie."

She pointed forcefully at him.

He laughed under his breath. "Alright, man. Done."

He ended the phone call. "So, you hate Rosie."

"Hate it."

"Then what should I call you? Is Rose even your name?"

"Of course it is."

"Tyler?" He asked.

She sighed. "We were doing a one for one. That's one question."

"Fine." He agreed. "Your turn."

"What happened?"

"You were at the party and drank some champagne that had been spiked with some sort of drug. Four others passed out around the same time you did. Lewis has the entire Stark building locked down and is questioning everyone."

"Why would they do that?"

He shrugged his shoulders, "Probably just to fuck with you. Lewis believes it's just a head game to show you that they can get to you. Or someone else. We're not entirely certain that you were meant to get it. It could just be an idiot in the kitchen."

She nodded. "What did Mickey say?"

"He's ran into a problem, and won't be able to return for a few more days. He couldn't say what."

She sighed. That had been the only thing she had to look forward to.

Danny sat down his coffee. "But, let's get this conversation back on track. What would you prefer that I call you?"

"Rose!" She insisted. "My name!"

"Just making sure. So, Rose. Have you figured out why you lied about knowing me?"

She was completely defeated.

The Doctor had dumped her.

No Mickey.

Pete had asked her to leave.

Jackie was all involved in her new life.

Lewis was working.

Someone had drugged her.

She felt so completely alone.

She didn't answer and looked at her hands that she had dropped into her lap. Tears welled up in her eyes. She closed them tightly and thought about how unloved she was by everyone in the entire world.

Danny's hand stretched out and took hers.

She looked up at him.

He sat on the stool next to her with a warm smile. "Listen, Rose. I'm your friend."

"Yeah, right-"

"No, I am. The reason you pretended you didn't know me was because you were so sure I was going to be so hung up on who I was, that you didn't want to deal with me. We met under….really odd circumstances. I was hell-bent, dealing with some shit. And you were dealing with some shit….and Lewis is hard to say no to-"

She giggled through her tears. "Yeah, he really is."

He smiled, "Rose, you can't begin like this or you simply will never survive. People who live in this world can spot someone who doesn't very easily. And with your anger, they will eat you alive."

She closed her eyes and tears rolled down her cheeks. "Danny, I'm sorry."

"Ah. Nothing to be sorry for-"

"I've treated you so terrible."

"I've treated you so terrible. So, I'm sorry."

She pulled her jumper up and wiped her eyes.

Danny squeezed her hand. "Do you know how sometimes….people just drop out of the sky that you need in your life at the right time?"

She laughed under her breath as his remark reminded her of the Doctor. Her heart ached.

"I think…you and me….completely need to start over. Yesterday was Day One of my new life. Today is Day One of yours."

She smiled at how mad it sounded.

He smiled, "What?"

"Day One?"

"Day One!" He insisted. "Let's start it off with a bang, and make a new friend. How's that?"

She giggled. "Alright."

"So, hi there."

She mirrored his mad smile. "Hi, Danny."

He continued to gaze at her with his warm smile. The butterflies began to dance in her stomach again. He then whispered. "Rosie."

She rolled her eyes, "God, you are such a pain in the ass."

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