He was driving her crazy, Alice thought swiping sweat from her forehead as she sat on the roof of the house the sun baking down on her. That was it, no other way of putting it! By the time he went home she was going to be certifiable and he was going to be the cause! 4 days has passed since they spoke in her bedroom and because of that talk feelings which were long buried were being dragged up, so much so that she had no idea how she felt most of the time!

Before, when he first arrived it had been so easy to keep him at arm's length, to mean it when she said he meant nothing to her, because he didn't. Now though, everything was settled and easy, so much easier than it had been in the dying months of their marriage…. and that is what made it so confusing! They were friends again. Not best buddies but they were talking and laughing and she had no idea whether the reason she enjoyed it so much was because she was reliving the easy camaraderie they'd had in the past or something else…..she didn't know what she felt….and that therein lay the problem!

Her biggest issue could possible be her sudden preoccupation with him, it didn't matter what she was doing he was on her mind. Like now for instance, here she was on the roof of her house, fixing tiles she had been on at Dupe to sort for months, and yet here she was, thinking of him! She could very well plunge to her death…ok fall and hurt herself very badly and all she could do was sit and try to make sense of him!

She pushed herself up to standing and walked across her roof swinging the hammer in her hand as she went. Of course the other factor to consider in this was herself, he didn't ask her to be thinking of him all the time. That was all on her! Was she courting trouble? It was nice that they were friends again, that they were able to talk without it dissolving into arguments and of course one day if Thomas decided to get in contact they were going to have to be able to tolerate each other for his sake….but right now? They couldn't escape the fact that they had so much past between them, and yes some of it had been so good….but not all of it. And of course not forgetting the obvious, they were divorced! Those reasons still stood too!

She came to a stop looking at the clear blue sky above her. "See this is why I have no interest in men!" she murmured to herself. "I don't like what it does to my head!"

It wasn't even really that, she mused bending down spotting a loose shingle close to the guttering. It was that every time he was near to her he made it harder to breathe. Even as kids and feeling the first flushes of love he had never done that to her before. When had that happened? Just a week ago she hated him! Well not hated, disliked immensely…disliked a tad? She sighed and spun her hammer using the claw to pull off the shingle, when it was free she tossed it into the bucket that was close to her. "You're making me insane!" she whispered.

They'd sat in the study last night alone side by side in front of a computer screen and had input their details not only into a relatives reunited site but also got in touch with the social services and updated the details on their end too. If there was even the smallest chance that Thomas was looking for them they wanted to make it as easy as possible for him to find them. Right now it was the best they could do…as they sat there talking about what they were doing and their hopes for future contact she felt….well she felt him! Felt like she used to when they were together ….it was hard to explain. Even now, divorced, she fully believed that he was still a small part of her. They had been together too long at an important part of her life for him to be anything else and for the first time since Thomas was born she felt like once again the boy she had loved was once again metaphorically within her…and that scared her to death! He wasn't the boy from her past and she point blank refused to be that girl again! She refused to be that powerless! From the day the decision had been made that Thomas wasn't coming back she had vowed that she would do everything in her power to make sure that no one would ever be able to hurt her like that again. That nothing she loved would be taken away from her. Not that she loved Danny again. It was more likely that she loved the thought of him. The girl in her memory loved him and being in such close quarters was dragging up emotions and memories of better times that were honestly, best left alone….and while all this seemed completely rational in her mind when he smiled at her rationality disappeared.

As she once again sat to wipe the moisture from her forehead she noticed just to the right of her that the corrugated metal sheet was cracked and exhaled. No wonder the rain had been pouring in….not that they had much rain recently. It was best to get that sorted now though before the mother of all storms blew in and flooded the house. As she was pondering how to mend it until she could get a new sheet ordered she heard her younger sister's angry voice filtering up from the house. She held on to the edge of the room and popped her head down, "Everything alright Rosie?" she called, hair hanging down past her face as she hung.

"Stupid warthog!" she heard Rosie yelling, "When I catch you…." Listing all the ways she was going to torture the animal.

Alice chuckled softly. Rosie was currently in the middle of a war with Beatrice and it seemed she was losing. She always seemed to find a way into Rosie's room chewing things or leaving little surprises. Rosie had declared one day that she was ready to make her into bacon, Alice was pretty sure she wasn't that kind of hog but never mind! There was a loud squeal that sounded like pig and scuffling beneath her…Alice was going to have to save Queen Bea's bacon once again from the wrath of Rosie so she righted herself made her way to the ladders.

Rosie burst from the house following a running warthog that seemed to be wrapped in something pink. "I'm having you for breakfast tomorrow!" Rosie yelled chasing the animal. "Those were NEW!"

Both girl and swine appeared charging towards her. The swine scuttled past unsteadying the base of the ladders. Rosie ran past unaware of how precariously unbalanced the ladders were. Alice was hanging on to the middle, since the weight distribution was all wrong the ladder began to sway, Alice's weight making it worse as she tried to right herself. Before she could even consider jumping off and taking her chances the ladders fell to the left.

Alice was airborne, expecting to hit the floor any second…..when strong arms caught her, enfolding her in a safe embrace. Initially she thought that Leon was the one who caught her as Dupe wasn't that tall and Danny wasn't that solid and she didn't recognise the aftershave….she found her footing and looked up to thank him. Shaking the hair from her eyes she found that it was Danny who caught her, she had inhaled to speak and barely stopped the gasp that formed….he looked down at her concern radiating in his eyes. "Are you ok?" he asked softly.

The only thought in her mind was that they hadn't been this close in a very long time…she could see the varying shades of green in his eyes…the air seemed to get thinner and she was breathing heavily.

As his eyes scanned her face, seeing that she was in fact fine he began to smile. "You must have got some fright." He remarked making sure she was steady on her feet before he released her.

She could barely think with his warm hands around her and could only begin to formulate an answer when he released her. "Why do you say that?" she croaked.

"Well your cheeks are all red and flushed and you're breathing hard."

Alice's cheeks were flaming at the knowledge that he recognised her reaction to being near to him. She was saved from having to lie by Rosie rounding the corner grumbling, a scrap of ragged pink fabric in her hand. She saw Danny and immediately thrust it in her pocket out of sight.

"You get your…." Alice began teasing Rosie.

Rosie glared at get her in warning, her expression conveying that if Alice did embarrass her she'd kill her and make it look like an accident.

Alice wasn't too sure Rosie wouldn't do something in return that wouldn't be unpleasant so let it go, "...whatever she stole back?"

Rosie growled, "I want breakfast a la Beatrice tomorrow!"

Danny's laugh rumbled around them, caught off guard the sound caused shivers to run down Alice's spine.

"You sound so much like Alice the way you say that. I'm glad I'm not Beatrice." He remarked between chuckles.

Rosie smiled widely at Danny. Alice saw it and exhaled. From being very young Rosie had latched on to Danny, she had no father in Derek and Danny was made to be a dad. It seemed that unconsciously Rosie fell right back into it. Rosie was shrugging as she spoke to Danny, "She's bacon and sausage! Mark my words!"

"Rosie, Beatrice isn't a pig!" Alice told her, again.

"She's a bloody SWINE!" Rosie declared heatedly. "You should see what she did to my…." Looked at Danny her cheeks pink at what she almost said.

Danny at the moment was creased.

"Next time when you chase her for your whatever's can you be more careful please." Alice asked.

"Why?"

"Coz I happened to be stood on a ladder as you ran past. Having a warthog and teenage girl speed past didn't do much for its stability."

Rosie made a face, "Ouch! Did you hit the floor? If so I'm sorry…" she smiled wickedly "Well kinda…" and grinned.

"No I didn't hit the floor, Danny caught me thankfully."

Rosie straightened her spine and regarded them both thoughtfully. Decided to have a little bit of fun at their expense, she looked at Danny, "What are your intentions toward my sister?" she asked haughtily.

"Excuse me?" Alice asked wondering how to conversation changed so rapidly.

"Well you fell for him did you not?"

Alice couldn't breathe she was tumbling over so many words at one time. "No….I didn't…Rosie….this isn't….um…."

Danny clamped a hand over Alice's mouth, "Can I get back to you on that?" Danny asked Rosie.

Rosie's eyes were now so wide they almost filled her face, "What?" she squeaked.

"See I'm after a commitment but Alice just wants a fling. We're still negotiating."

Alice's eyes were as wide as saucers but since his hand was still over her mouth she couldn't say a word. She tried to move her head but couldn't.

Danny smiled at Alice smugly. She sent him a death glare with her eyes. "I know you wanted to keep this between us but Rosie deserves to know. This might help you change your mind."

Rosie was practically bubbling with excitement and nodded stiffly, "Ok, make sure you do!" then she walked passed them and ran into the house yelling for Nomsa.

Danny looked at Alice whose eyes were narrowed. "Suppose you want me to move this?"

"Mm." She told him nodding.

He did slowly, "Now before you say anything Alice…." Expecting her to be angry, he was surprised when he saw her smiling.

"Do you have to tease her Danny?" she asked.

He made a faux confused face, "Um, yeah. I was her older brother in a way. It's what we do. The way I see it she hasn't got me to tease her about boyfriends so I'll take what I can get."

Alice looked in the direction of the house, thinking of the life Rosie would have had if the social hadn't stepped in and ruined it all…"I'm gonna have big problems with boys huh?" she murmured.

"Oh you have no idea." He agreed crossing his arms. "She's so much like you but not, I don't know if it's because I knew you at her age but she's….you're there you know? "

Alice smiled and looked back at him, "You do know you're going to have to tell her the truth."

"She'll never believe me. He told her gleefully.

Alice couldn't help it, his mischievousness was infectious. She hadn't seen him like this since they were teenagers!

"C'mon." he coaxed. "It'll just be for a little bit, It'll be fun! I go home soon; this can be our last laugh."

Alice had forgot he was leaving….he was right though it would be kind of fun and would distract Rosie for a little while. If she was snooping for clues about whether they were a couple it kept her out of trouble…..still though…. "Ok for now, but not too far!"

He grinned boyishly, "Who me? Never!" then he winked.

She looked into the distance when something occurred to her, "Can I ask you why you told her that you wanted commitment and I wanted the fling?"

He lowered is voice and moved so only she could hear him. "Because if I remember right you were the one who had issues controlling your urges when we were younger."

Alice blushed. "Point taken." When she looked back up at him there was a heat in his eyes that made her think this was more than make believe but he blinked and it was gone.

Dupe suddenly stomped from the house with a gun slung casually over his shoulder. "What is it I hear of a fling?" he growled glaring at Danny. "Rosie ran in rabbiting on about you two having a fling! She better be talking about flinging cabbages and nothing else!"

"Well we were married. "Danny began. "This isn't anything…."

This time it was Alice who gagged him. "Are you trying to get yourself shot? He can kill you and dispose of you in the lion pen!" she warned, only half in jest.

"It's her!" he yelped playfully when she moved her hand. "She's trying to corrupt me!" Danny then carried on more reasonably this time. "Of course when she came to me with the ridiculous suggestion I said no. I wouldn't dream…."

"Danny shut up." Alice told him. "Dupe me and Danny were just winding Rosie up, she started it, we only finished it."

"She did start it" Danny agreed.

Dupe didn't look convinced, especially not since Nomsa and Caroline had their heart set on them having more than a little tender moment before he left!

"Honestly Dupe." Alice told him. "We aren't anything."

Dupe narrowed his eyes and gave them each a stern look, he pointed at Alice, then Danny. "I'm watching!" then he patted is gun and left.

Alice and Danny just looked at each other then burst out laughing.

A/N Danny and Alice are friends and starting to soften towards each other. alice though is all confused about him...she needs space.

I had real issues with the beginning of this chapter; well with the whole chapter actually I couldn't seem to do anything with it. But after trying and failing to fix it I decided to bite the bullet and put it up :/ The good news is I have found time to write and we are a fair way into the 'second' part of this story and I am getting back into my groove. There is one more chapter then this story starts to change direction a little bit. Will try to get another chappie up soon x