Okay, this one is long. I wrote it all today without any procrastination, yay! Also, I've decided (this is rather late, really) that this story is AU. If there are any major differences I will tell you beforehand but so far there isn't much.

Enjoy!

Days past, and every one of them was the same, Rose went to school, Adam went to work, and Lily stayed at her friend's houses. Rose locked herself in her room; Adam didn't come home till at least 1 and Lily barely came back.

This usually happened after they had visited Katrina; the whole family went into their own worlds and ignored every thing and one around them. Rose loved to draw during these times, it distracted her and she loved getting lost in her paintings.

At school Rose was ignoring everyone, not that it made much of a difference anyway, no-one talked to her apart from Jane. Damian still continued to pester her but not as much as before, which annoying Rose. So what if her mother was a lunatic? He didn't have to stop talking to her, she was slightly offended.

She was just finishing on a painting of the side of the room she was looking at when she heard the door open and hushed voices downstairs. She froze and turned her head to the sound, frowning. It was strange for Lily to be back before 12, same with her father, and there were two voices, they couldn't have come home together.

She tiptoed down one flight of stairs to get to the second storey and looked down the stairs, almost falling down when she saw her mother standing there, handing her bags over to her father.

Rose had enjoyed the time her mother wasn't here, even if she was home alone most of the time. She didn't have to worry about her randomly shouting or having to dodge knives she sometimes threw at the walls.

Katrina noticed Rose sitting perched on the top step and glared so fiercely Rose looked away.

"Rose?" Adam poked his head round the stairs and smiled at her. "Come and help me set the table for your mother."

Rose sat there, looking at him for a while, but finally hopped down the stairs and ran to the kitchen and started getting plates and cutlery out.

She heard her mother walk up the stairs and sighed in relief, surprised she did not argue with her father about him calling her Rose's mother.

They put the food down, and a cup of water, the plates and spoon and forks, and waited for her to come downstairs. Adam frowned.

"What's taking her so long?" He muttered to himself.

Rose jogged up the stairs to find her.

She wasn't in her mother and father's room, not in the 5 toilets, not in Lily's room, or her father's office, or the study room.

Finally, she opened the door to her own room and gasped. Katrina was standing there, with two pieces of paper in her hands. There were scraps of paper everywhere, all scrunched up and paint on the floor too.

Katrina had just ripped apart all of her paintings. Rose was not angry, she was hurt. Her heart felt as if someone had just ripped it out of her chest. Her drawings...her special drawings, all gone, each and every one of them meant something to her.

Katrina stood there, staring at Rose with a smug look on her face. Rose stood with her mouth wide open and tears in her eyes. Slowly, she fell to her knees and touched all her paintings, letting out a sob when she saw her favourite, a single rose in a garden, standing alone, high and strong. It was now ripped in two from the middle of its stem, and Rose didn't feel so high and strong anymore.

Rose looked up at her mother with hatred in her eyes, Rose always thought not to think ill of her mother, it wasn't her fault she's the way she is, but now she had crossed the line. Rose didn't care what happened to her anymore.

She started collecting all the pieces of paper and stood up, turning to leave.

"I had to do it."

She continued walking.

"How dare you use Rose's paints?"

She rolled her eyes. Here we go again.

"Listen to me when I'm talking to you, girl!"

She froze and turned, folding her arms around her.

"You will no longer paint; you will no longer sleep in this room! This is Rose's room! You imposter!"

"NO!"

Katrina froze, Rose's eyes widened.

"What did you just say?" Katrina spoke with so much venom Rose swore it would drip out of her moth any second now.

"I said...no."

"Who do you think you are?!"

"I am Rose!"

Katrina's eyes filled with anger that scared Rose stiff but she stood her ground.

"You are not My Rose!"

"Then who is she?!"

"She is prettier than you, slimmer, clever than you, She has all the boys chasing her, She is the best girl in the school, She is more confident than you, you are a pathetic excuse of a Rose, you will never be My Rose! You are just a thorn on her stem, ever in her shadow!"

Rose blinked. Water ran down her cheeks. Katrina seemed pleased she had managed to make her cry.

She dashed out the room and down the stairs, quickly putting shoes on and she ran out the house, down the driveway and out the enormous gates that went around her home.

She ran and ran and ran, feeling the hot tears gush down her cheeks, her vision was blurred, she didn't care, she didn't care if she was hit by a car, or mugged, or if she tripped and broke her back. She didn't care at all.

Suddenly she bumped into something- no someone.

She put her head down and muttered a sorry.

"Watch where you're going," someone snapped to her.

Rose frowned, she recognised that voice. Turned her head up she blushed at Damian and looked down again, wiping her tears.

She had seemed to run as far as the park near the Wayne Enterprises building.

"Jacobs? Are you...are you crying?"

It made Rose laugh how surprised he was.

"You never saw someone cry before, Wayne?"

"I have."

She let out another sob and sunk to her ground putting her head in between her knees, wanting to disappear. She felt a hand on her shoulder and put her head up to see Damian sitting next to her.

"What do you want, Damian?"

She turned her back on him, not bothered for his stupid comments.

"I was going to ask you why you were crying, actually."

"It's none of your business."

"Would you like some help, then?"

She stopped crying and turned to face him slowly, nodding. Rose felt as if she needed all the help she could get.

He stood up and helped her stand, placing a strong hand on the small of her back, which made her blush, and leading her somewhere Rose couldn't care less.

They walked and walked until they got to a set of large gates. He went over to a small metal square Rose hadn't noticed on the wall and spoke into it.

"Pennyworth, it's me."

"Just a moment, Master Damian."

Rose heard someone speak on the other end of the line with a very clear British accent and frowned. Master Damian?

She shivered and rubbed her hands onto her arms. Damian seemed to notice her shiver but ignored her, which made Rose roll her eyes.

Finally the gates opened, and Rose finally clocked on that she was being led into Wayne Manor. Her eyes widened, it was big, maybe a storey bigger than her own house and looked fit for a king.

They reached the door and he knocked on it, only a second later it was swung open by a tall, man wearing a suit and a neutral look on his face.

"Good evening, Master Damian. Who is this young lady I have the pleasure of meeting?"

Rose blushed and smiled slightly.

"Rose Jacobs."

Rose was surprised; she didn't think he knew her first name.

"Jacobs? Not Dr. Adam Jacobs' daughter?"

"Yes, that's the one," Rose said.

"Well, it's lovely to meet you, Miss Jacobs."

"You too..."

"Alfred."

She nodded and smiled. Damian closed the door behind him and crossed his arms.

"We'll be upstairs, you need not disturb us," Damian said and started walking up the stairs.

Rose blushed and Alfred laughed a hearty laugh. "Of course, sir."

As they walked up the stairs, Rose looked around. Everything looked as if they had been brought that day, the ceilings were so high, the chandeliers shiny and glittering with diamonds, the floor marble and squeaky clean and so many stairs.

Damian suddenly stopped walking and Rose frowned.

"Damian are you-

"I was just thinking."

He continued walking and Rose rolled her eyes. Trust Damian to stop walking just to think.

They reached a door and he opened it slowly, it was a very bright room, the setting sun shone right through the open balcony and Rose squinted her eyes away from it. The walls were a peach colour, along with the carpet floor. There was a couch, and desk, with 3 threes around it, and a shelf filled with books in the corner. It was a simple room, as much as a simple room in Wayne Manor could be.

Damian sat down on a chair and gestured to the couch.

She sat down and realised with a slightly painful pang that she had brought the remains of her paintings with her. She bit her lip to stop herself from crying.

"What happened?" He was leaning forward on his elbows, his eyebrows were creased, and Rose thought he actually looked concerned.

"It's a long story," Rose felt tired, if she was to tell him about today's events, she would surely need to tell him about everything.

"I've got time."

She looked him in the eye and sighed.

Then she told him everything, from when her mother was first diagnosed to the present day, how her father still makes her see her mother, how she insults her, how she sometimes hates going home. She pulled her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them, feeling empty. She has cried out all her tears already.

When she finished, Damian watched her wrap her arms around herself, and just stared. He wasn't one for giving hugs, but today was an exception.

He moved and sat next to her, putting his strong arms around her tiny shoulders awkwardly. Rose was surprised but quickly hugged him back, hiding her head in his neck. His body felt warm, his arms felt safe. She could tell he didn't do this often, and smiled secretly.

They stayed like that for a while, not needing any words to be spoken. He leaned his cheek on the top of his head and she breathed in deeply. He smelt like coffee and aftershave.

"Would you...would you like to say here tonight?" He asked her quietly.

She nodded against his shoulder.

"Alright," he breathed out, she felt his breath on her neck and she shivered.

"Let's go and have something to eat," he helped her up.

They reached the bottom of the stairs and Rose spotted a tall, black haired man walking in through the door.

"Drake. You're back early."

'Drake' rolled his eyes. "Hello to you too. Who's your girl?"

"My girl? What are you-?

"You're holding hands, aren't you?"

Rose looked down and realised they were holding hands, and let go of his straight away, Rose blushed and Damian crossed his arms.

"So what if we were?"

He put his hands up in defence. "Only saying. Let me introduce myself, my name's Tim."

"Hi, I'm Rose," she shook his hand shyly.

The three of them stood there, Damian frowning fiercely at Tim, Tim frowning back and Rose awkwardly fiddling with a curl in her hair.

"Don't you have things to do?" said Damian.

"No. But I'll leave you two to do...things, nice meeting you Rose!"

She waved and he walked off to the left.

Once he was out of sight Damian let out a growl which made Rose laugh.

"You obviously like each other much," she said, grinning.

"Whoops. I thought I was being discreet."

She rolled her eyes and laughed, following him through many sets of doors till they finally reached the kitchen.

Alfred was there, washing the dishes.

"Hello, Master Damian, Miss Jacobs. If you here for something to eat, I've just put a batch of brownies in the oven, they should be ready in about 20 minutes."

Rose smiled at him and Damian nodded.

"We'll be in the back then."

She followed him out the back door and they sat down on a bench. The sun was still setting, and gave the enormous garden a golden glow to it. It looked lovely.

"Damian, why are you doing this?" She asked him gently, still gazing at the garden.

"Doing what?" His voice was just as soft.

"Helping me, bringing me here, asking me to stay over, I know for a fact you don't do this to everyone."

"You are right. I do not do it to just anyone."

"Then why?"

"Because...I cannot explain it," he said, sounding defeated.

"What? Something Damian Wayne can't explain?" She laughed and he smiled.

Smiled! He actually smiled! Rose realised the tension that used to hang in the air whenever they talked seemed to disappear, she felt most comfortable around him then a month ago.

"I'll get back to you on that question, alright?"

Rose shrugged. "Fair enough."

They sat in silence, enjoying the sun on their faces. Rose turned to face him and smiled.

"You know if you think about it we barely know each other..."

His body seemed to stiffen and he turned his head to her slowly.

"What are you implying?"

She laughed. "Well, what do strangers do when they first meet?"

"We are not strangers, Jacobs."

She ignored him. "Okay, me first. Favourite colour?"

Damian raised an eyebrow and rolled his eyes. "This is childish."

"Come on!" Rose laughed. She knew it was childish, but they were children, weren't they?

He bit her lip and let out a sound of frustration. "Fine," he looked around the garden for a moment. "Blue."

"Mine is red. Your turn!"

He sighed and looked deep in thought. "Favourite...season?"

Rose burst out laughing and Damian frowned, but smiled anyway.

"This is turning out to be just like those movies where they ask each other pathetic questions," he said, but Rose was laughing too loud to hear him properly.

This went on for a while, she answered him, she asked him, he answered her, and he asked her. In between there was always that interval filled with Rose laughing and Damian just smiling. Alfred was about to tell them the brownies were ready, but decided not to when he saw Damian doing something other than frowning.

Once the sun had set properly, they walked inside and saw two cups of milk and cold brownies waiting for them on the table.

Rose sat down and they began eating, talking to each other now and again. The door opened and Alfred walked in.

"Oh- have they gone cold? My apologies, I was going to invite you both back in to eat them whilst they were warm but you both looked as if you were having fun so I decided against it, would you like to me make some more?"

Rose blushed deeply; she didn't think she had blushed so much in one day.

"No, Pennyworth."

Alfred nodded and left them alone.

They talked for the rest of the night in the room they were first in, and when the clock hit 10 Alfred came in with someone called Cassandra's clothes, offering Rose those to sleep in that night. She thanked him, and Damian led her to a guest room one floor above.

"My room is only opposite in case you need anything, just knock and if there is not a reply I'm either not there or busy."

Rose nodded and smiled shyly.

"Thank you, Damian, for everything."

He crossed his arms and shrugged. "It wasn't much effort, really."

She rolled her eyes and quickly kissed his cheek. "Good-night."

Closing the door behind her, she giggled to herself and quickly changed in the pair of shorts and tank top Alfred had given her. The bed in the middle of the room was a big one, with a lamp and desk to the right, and a bathroom opposite it.

Getting comfortable, Rose snuggled onto the pillow and fell asleep with a smile on her face, feeling strangely happy.

...

Review? :]

- Zara xo