Finding Hope

Disclaimer: I wish Doctor who were mine

Enjoy it!

It was in days like this that Rose missed being at home. It wasn't that she didn't like travelling with the Doctor, but looking at the mess her room was she wished nothing more than to have her helping mum near. Even when in the state she helped with the cleaning since she was ten years old, Jackie was never too far and she found it reassuring that she was close if she needed help.

She was seated in her bed, staring at the pink walls, looking through the piles of clothes that were scattered through the floor. She had been in that position for at least five minutes, as if waiting for something to inspire her to start cleaning. It wasn't really her fault that the disorder had reached such high levels. After all the Doctor was very energetic, and not the most patient alien in the universe. She loved to travel through time and space with that brown haired, freckled alien. But she never had time to do more than take care of her human necessities, as the Doctor calls them. He barely gave her time to rest between adventures before he was bouncing at her door with a new one, like a five year old in a sugar rush, not that she minded of course. In fact she only had free time today because the Doctor was too busy repairing the Tardis from their last adventure.

-Well thinking about it won't clean up your room Rose, you gotta start soon - she muttered to herself.

She stood from the bed and stretched to let go of the laziness she was feeling. She decided to start separating the clothes on the floor, all the clothing that was dirty ended up in the basket she had in one of the corners of her room. While everything that was still wearable, was folded and placed in her closet. She had been looking under her bed, you never know what you can find in there, when she saw an object in the opposite end. She couldn't determine what it was but it looked like a book. After reaching it with a broom, she finally realised what it was. A scrap book. Her mom had made it a few years ago. Its cover was lavender and you could still appreciate it even if it had faded a bit. You could read "Rose" in the middle of the cover, it was surrounded by sewed buttons and some flower stickers. At lest not rose ones she thought to herself. She opened the album and the first thing she saw was a picture of a much younger Rose, she had long blond hair and was wearing a sweatshirt that was too big for her slender frame. She was hugging Jackie who held her like she was the most precious thing in the universe. Even when photo Rose was smiling with the force of a thousand suns, she could see that her happiness didn't reach her hazel eyes. Beneath the picture it was written in a smooth handwriting "Rose is back". Now she remembered when this picture was taken. It was from three years ago, she was seventeen and had finally left her abusive boyfriend Jimmy Stone and returned to her mom at the Powell State.

A frown appeared in Rose beautiful features, she didn't like thinking about that dark and depressing part of her life. She was not the girl that had believed in Jimmy's false promises anymore, but it still hurt to remember how hopeless and empty she had felt during that period of her life. A part of her still wondered how would her life had been if she had never been brave enough to leave Jimmy Stone when she did. Would have there been another chance for her to leave that abusive relationship? She liked to think that she would had left him eventually. But deep in her heart she knew the truth, if it weren't for that skinny, brown haired, friendly man, who approached and talked to her that cold november night, she wouldn't had left him. Memories from that night started filling her head like a growing river.

It had been raining the whole day and after the twilight it had diminished enough to take a walk without getting soaked. Rose had decided to go out to get some fresh air and welcomed the gentle drops that fell in her pale face. The moon was out and it was particularly bright that night, giving everything a silvery shine. The city had that calm atmosphere that you can only find in wet, winter nights. Rose had been walking for a while when she realised that she had unconsciously stopped at the edge of a bridge. She closed her eyes to listen to her surroundings, she could hear the water running underneath her, flowing freely in the river. The sound relaxed her and cleared her tired mind, she moved forward hitting her hip with the stone railing of the bridge. A sharp pain traveled through her body, a painful remainder as for why she had gone walking that night.

She had wanted to get out of the tiny flat they shared with some of the other band mates of Jimmy. She hated that place it was dark and dirty with empty pizza boxes and bottles. Also that's where her boyfriend usually hit her. Last night Jimmy had been rougher than normal, not only did he slapped and insulted her. But threw Rose against the kitchen counter causing the plate that she had been holding to fell and smash on the floor in tiny pieces. That only made the man more angry, so he kicked her while she was on the floor crying for him to stop. This morning he had apologised, telling her he hadn't meant to hit her. That he had been drinking, like he always did when he took his anger in her, and that she knew the band wasn't doing so well. He promised he would never touch her in that way again. She forgave him, like she did all the time. After all she understood that he was frustrated, the band wasn't having the success they thought it would have. So every time he drunk too much he would het aggressive, she forgave him, but he always did it again.

She wanted a way out of her life, a way to forget all the pain she was feeling or at least something to make her feel alive. Recently Jimmy had introduced her to the world of drugs, she had been resistant to try them at first. But after she tried crack, she couldn't deny how great it make her feel. When she was under the influence of those magical snowflakes she felt at the top of her world. Like she was unsinkable, nothing could hurt her. She couldn't stop, she liked those moments. She never loved herself more than when she was high. It made her forget about her life, about giving up her education, her future. She had screwed her life and she knew it. She was lost in an endless pit, one she had gave up of leaving a long time ago.

The worst part was that she felt so alone. She new Jimmy wasn't faithful to her, he didn't even try to pretend he wasn't. He always claimed that as the lead singer of his band, he couldn't say no to their groupies. She had no one to go to. When she dropped school, Jimmy forbid her from seeing her old friends and after an awful fight, her mother had stopped calling her. She never tried to call her mother, she was so ashamed of herself. Her mother had been furious when she went to live with Jimmy, she couldn't blame her. Rose was her only daughter and she had run away with a musician, giving up all they had worked for. It always made her sad to think about her mother and the life she had before. She didn't realise she had started crying until a tear found its way to her mouth. She could taste the saltiness on her lips. Suddenly a weird noise filled the night, making her look to the sky. She couldn't find the source of the noise, but it was beautiful and it made her fill warmer inside. She noticed a bright object slithering through the dark blue sky. It was a shooting star. When she was a little girl she used to close her eyes and make a wish, whenever she saw them through her room's window. She would've gave anything to recover the innocence of her six year old self.

-Oh well, I have nothing to lose- she muttered to herself as she closed her eyes. It was a silly thing to do, but she couldn't help herself - I just wish I'd never met Jimmy, that I'd never fallen for him. I wish I had a way to get out of the mess my life is.- Just as she opened her eyes she noticed a tall and skinny man besides her. He had dark brown eyes and hair, that somehow managed to defy gravity. His face was covered in freckles. But what most surprised her was the friendly smile he had plastered in his face. It had been so long since the last time someone smiled to her in that way that she couldn't help to smile back.

-Cold night, huh?- Said the stranger - I wonder what a girl like you is doing here in a night like this.- he said while taking a look at her face. He frowned when he noticed the wet trails that covered her pale cheeks and her puffy eyes. -Are you alright?- he asked with real concern in his voice. In any other situation if a strange man had started talking to her in that way, she wouldn't had hesitated to run away. But for some reason the smile in this handsome bloke's face made her trust him. She dried her eyes with the sleeves of her jacket before answering him.

-I'm just lost you know, I used to dream of doing great things with my life. But I gave it all up, for a man I thought I loved- she didn't know why she was telling all this to a random stranger she had just met, but it felt so good to let all her feelings out of her mind, she didn't stop. -But now I regret even meeting him, but it's too late. I'm such a failure, I've ruined my life for a stupid boy and an impossible dream. But it doesn't matter anyway, I'll never be good enough for him, for anyone…- she muttered looking at the ground, waiting for the man to judge her and walk away.

-Don't- was all the man said, such sadness filled his voice that surprised her and made her look up -Don't ever talk about you like that ever again. You might have dropped out of school, but you're not the first person to make that mistake. I can see you're brave that you have a fire within you, don't give yourself up over a boy, don't let him rule your world - He said with such passion in his voice, it made it sound like he really believed in her - I've never met anyone who wasn't important in my life, and believe when I say I've met a lot of people. I know you can do great things with your life. Please do me a favour and leave that guy, if he can't see how much you're worth, then he doesn't deserve you.- By the end of his speech he was inches from her, his hand almost touching her shoulder like he was nervous to touch her. Rose was just speechless, she turned around to look at the water. There was something in this man's voice or was it the way he had looked at her, with such pride and an emotion she couldn't understand, it gave her hope. Nobody had talked to her like that in her life. After all before Jimmy she was just a Powell Sate girl, a girl who the world expected to fail in life. And she had proved them right when she ran away with Jimmy. But now she realised she could try and prove them wrong. She turned to thank him but he was already gone, he never knew who he was.

Until that day Rose had never thought much of the stranger who had helped her realise that she was worth it.

-Rose!- said the Doctor while entering her room, taking her out of her memories- I fixed the Tardis, it was easy peasy lemon squeezy. But now I'm craving jelly. Have you seen my jar of jelly? Berry flavoured from Barcelona, the planet of course, they have the best jellies in the universe. They're my favourite too, I just love all the kind of flavours they have…berries, peach, orange, banana. I could eat a banana right now… What?- He asked noticing that Rose was staring at him- You have a weird look in you face.- He said entering the room and sitting in the floor next to Rose.

-Thank you- Said Rose hugging him and giving him a peck in the cheek. -That night you saved my life-

Before the Doctor could ask her what she was talking about, she stood and walked past him leaving the room mumbling something about a jelly jar she saw in the library the other day.

He doesn't has to ask her what she's talking about, he can clearly remember that night, and how her eyes were so lifeless, a sight he wished he never had to see again in his life.

AN: This is my first story, so reviews are appreciated. Hope you liked it (: