I finally knew what people meant when they used the expression 'jumped a foot.' In the process, I also managed to drop the pack of hobnobs I'd had been holding and knock a cup off the counter. It shattered on the floor, but I didn't look down at it. I was too busy trying to restart my heart and not look like a total prat at the same time.

She was still looking at me. Her dark eyes swept over me, over the mess he had made, and back. We waited, suspended in silence, just watching each other.

"I thought you were a dream." After several minutes of standing there looking at each other the words made me jump a bit again. I thought you were a dream? I wasn't quite sure what she meant at first, but then I got it.

"Last-", my voice had gone all high all of a sudden. I tried again. "Last night, you mean?" I picked the biscuits off the floor and placed them on the counter, trying to look casual. The mug would have to wait until after this conversation to get hoovered up.

"Yes." The girl confirmed. I waited, but it seemed she had nothing else to say. She looked away and tapped the table with her fingers.

"LUKE!"

The yell from Sarah-Jane us them both startled and on our feet. I was amused to see that she only came up to my shoulder. I could see the top of her head.

"Where's that tea?" Sarah Jane called down again.

"Be there in a second, mum!" I called up, and turned to the kettle. I wasn't sure what to do. If the girl standing next to me came upstairs, she would see the alien artefacts that took up residence in the attic. She would be 'in the know' about our alien world and she would be drawn in to our dangerous life. I didn't know if that's what Sarah Jane, or even myself, wanted. I wanted to protect her.

On the other hand, if she was to live with us, she would eventually find out about hat we do.

I took an extra cup down from the cupboard. "Tea?" I asked her uncertainly, turning to watch her. She looked up distractedly and nodded. I doubted she even knew what it was.

Pouring tea into five cups was weird. I reasoned with myself that I better get used to it. She was a permanent fixture.

"Can I have a biscuit?"

I looked round at her. Her eyes were fixed on the packet on the counter. I mentally kicked myself for overlooking the fact that she would probably be hungry after such a long sleep and never having eaten before. I know I was when I made it back to Sarah Jane's house.

I passed the pack over to her. My hand brushed against her's. She was stone cold.

"Are you warm enough?" I asked. She was, after all, only wearing a t-shirt and my pair of gym shorts. I didn't wait for an answer and went to find a jacket. Where was that one I had that was about three sizes to small? Something to cover her legs wouldn't hurt, either.

I found the jacket and took it back to her. No luck on the trouser-front though. We'd have to go shopping. Even skinny Rani's clothes would be a bit big. She was back on the table when I got back to the kitchen. I thought of Sarah Jane upstairs and vaguely wondered why I hadn't told her the girl was up.

She looked happier after the jacket was on (though it must have gone down to her knees). She looked quite sweet there, sitting on the kitchen table, eating a hobnob in an overly large jacket, her hair falling over her legs and around her back. It really was ridiculously long. Remembering something else Sarah Jane had said I fetched the camera from the hall.

We had taken a few pictures of her when she was sleeping, just for the record, that we could show her sometime. Now, I took some pictures of her, documenting her first few hours awake. I wish someone would have done it for me.

I don't think she even noticed, she was so intent on the biscuit. She nibbled it, starting at the edges and working her way inwards. As I made the tea, I saw her out of the corner of my eye take another, trying not to rustle the pack.

I got a tray out and balanced all the drinks on it. Then I got a plate and gave it to her.

"Put the biscuits out?" I asked her. She obliged, sneaking the odd nibble of the biscuit she had taken. Once they were all out, she licked her finger and dabbed it in the crumbs, glancing my way to make sure this was acceptable behaviour.

"We're going upstairs now." I told her, holding the tray at chest height and motioning my head towards the door. "Bring the biscuits."

Happy to go wherever the her precious hobnobs went, she jumped up and followed me, holding the biscuits at chest-height just like I was doing to the tray.

"My friends are upstairs." I told her. "Sarah Jane is my mum, and Rani and Clyde are my friends." She nodded, concentrating on the stairs.

"Luke!" mum called from the attic. "What took you so long?"

We made our way up the stairs leading to the attic. I was excited, like showing a parent a new friend. "I've got someone to show you!" I called back up, before reaching the door and opening it and ushering the girl into the room before me.

"OOoooh!" squealed Rani bouncing over to put an arm round her. "You're awake! I'm Rani. Welcome!" She pulled her over to the couch and sat her down. Sarah Jane and Clyde took their tea.

After a moment of Rani chattering and of drinking tea, Sarah Jane put down her cup and saucer and said, "We need to check those bandages, and we also need to find a name."

Rani quickly pulled her bag out from underneath the sofa and scrambled to pull something out from it. She held it up for us to see.

"A Big Book of Baby Names!" she crowed. "By Amanda Hemmings!" She beamed at us. "I found it in a charity shop the other day and thought we might need it to find a good name!"

"Maybe we should let her choose her own name." Sarah Jane suggested. "Give her the book and she can look through and see which name she likes."

Rani handed the book over to the girl and looked at her eagerly. "Why don't you choose a name?" She told the girl. "But remember, you'll have it for the rest of your life. Choose a good one."

"Firstly, though." Said Sarah Jane, "We need to get those bandages sorted out and we need to see how her cut's doing." She gave me and Clyde a pointed look and I took that as a hint we needed to get out.

We exited the attic and stood outside to wait. I had to ask.

"Clyde?" I ventured.

"Yeah?"

"Why don't they want us in there right now? What is it with males seeing females topless? Males go around topless all the time."

This question seemed to make Clyde a bit embarrassed. "Well," he said, "Women are sort off…different…from men. Hadn't ya noticed? They've got…" he motioned.

"Oh." I couldn't believe that after two years on earth, no-one had ever mentioned this to me before. Though why would they? I was meant to be the clever one who knew everything.

Just as things were becoming very awkward out in the hallway, Rani opened the door and told us we could come back in. Clyde clapped me on the shoulder.

Back inside, Sarah Jane had fired Mr. Smith up and was trying to get more information about the warehouse we had found all the equipment in. It was still all downstairs, but we would take it up in a bit and see if Mr. Smith could extract any more clues out of it. I would have another look at it and see if I could get anything more out of it.

The girl was lying on the couch, flicking through the book of baby names. I wondered when she had learned to read. She'd pulled her feet up and someone had pulled a blanket over her too-thin legs. She saw me looking and motioned me over.

"Keira." She said holding up the book. "How about Keira?"

I looked at the book. Keira. Origin: Gaelic. Meaning: Dark. Origin: Irish Gaelic word 'ciar' meaning 'dark'.

I tapped the page. "Look at the meaning."

She took the book back and looked. She mouthed the words to herself.

"Dark?" she looked again. "I like it though. Keira…"

Rani appeared behind us. "I like Keira! Reminds me of Keira Knightley. We have got to show you Pirates of the Caribbean!"

"Yeah." Chipped in Clyde. "Her character is hot in that!"