After another frustrating morning of struggling to get himself ready, Aiden headed to the kitchen. Filling his pitcher with water, he carried it to the balcony to water his plants and as he stepped outside, he once again found Rose's cat. This time it was curled up inside an empty pot of soil, snoozing as though it didn't have a care in the world. Lucky bastard.

Aiden peered over the railing to see Rose's door was cracked open slightly, just as it had been the night before. "I hope you aren't going to make a habit of this," he told the cat.

Blinking its eyes open, the cat responded with a yawn, stretching its front legs.

"I'm sure she has better places for you to sleep down there."

Leaping out of the pot, the cat began to circle around his ankles, purring.

Aiden tried pushing it away with his foot, only to have it come back and continue. "What happened to you hating me?"

Meow

Grumbling under his breath he tried to ignore it and began watering, checking for Rose periodically, hoping she'd come out to call the pest down.

Realizing the brushing against his trousers had stopped, he looked down and noticed the cat was gone. Then he turned, eyes widening when he realized he'd left his balcony door wide open. "Oh no."

Storming back inside, a few seconds too late, he watched in dismay as the cat hopped onto his chair, and began kneading the cushion with his claws. "You definitely can't be in here... doing that!" He hoped his tone was enough to frighten it away but the cat paid him no mind and lay down. Licking its paw, the cat made it clear that it could not be bothered, and proceeded to groom itself.

Sighing, Aiden came closer, reached down, and stroked its ear. "You have two minutes. I'm going to go brush my teeth and when I get back you better be gone." He stomped away, muttering about fur and needing to vacuum.

When he returned, Aiden was not surprised to find that his warning that had gone unnoticed, as the cat had curled up and gone to sleep. While debating whether to make another attempt at scaring the creature away or to just bring it downstairs, he heard a knock at the door. His instincts told him it was Rose.

"Lose something?" he asked as he opened the door.

She chewed her bottom lip and her brows pulled together. "Is he up here again?"

With a slight smile to show her no ill will, he pointed behind him and stepped aside for her to enter. "He just invited himself in and took residence on my favorite chair."

"I'm sorry, I don't know how he's getting out." She hurried over, picking up the cat. "I'm beginning to think I adopted a master escape artist."

"You should start calling him Houdini," Aiden joked as he passed by, closing his patio door and locking it.

"I kinda like that." She held the cat out in front of her, peering into its emerald eyes. "What do you think? Do you like the name Houdini?"

Meow

"You're not being serious, are you?" Aiden headed out the front as she followed.

"Why not?" Rose waited as he locked the door behind him. "He needs a name and Houdini suits him."

"Cats don't need names," Aiden commented from behind as they walked downstairs together. "It's not like they respond to them."

Reaching the bottom, Rose headed into her flat, leaving the door open behind her. "Well I can't just keep calling him the cat."

"Why not? That's what it is." Aiden followed her inside. He watched as she set the cat down by his dish, crinkling his nose at the way it greedily attacked its food before its paws had even touched the floor.

"Going by that logic, your name would be Wanker," Rose teased, rewarding him with another tongue touched smile.

"And yours Insufferable," he retorted, leaning against her kitchen counter and allowing his lip to curl up a little on the one side .

She stroked the cat's back and he arched into her hand before she left him to eat. "If I'm so terrible to be around, why are you hanging about my flat?"

"I'm not hanging abo-" Aiden stopped, gazing at his surroundings, and realized just how far inside he had come.

While he floundered to think of a clever excuse for being there, Rose interrupted his thoughts. "Were you headed to your shop? If so, I'll walk with you."

Now his brain had short circuited completely and he forgot every word of his extensive vocabulary. All he could do was nod in response.

Standing by the door, she beckoned him. "Let's go, yeah."

"Yeah," he echoed, his voice barely audible, then he followed her out.

When they arrived at the coffee shop a short while later, Aiden was in high spirits and as they entered. They were both grinning from ear to ear. It was only when he spotted Donna watching them with a raised brow and a cheeky glint in her eyes that a knot formed in his stomach.

"I didn't think you were capable of smiling," Donna commented as they approached the counter.

"If you've never seen me smile, there's probably a reason." To speed things along, Aiden was already reaching for his wallet.

"And what's your reason for smiling today?" Her eyes flicked to Rose and back to him.

Aiden glared. "Just coffee, thanks," he gritted through his teeth, hoping she would drop the subject. He nodded to Rose. "Add whatever she wants too."

"No, you don't have to pay for me," Rose protested.

"Too late," Aiden pointed at Donna who was already inputting in her usual order, her face glowing with amusement. "I already did."

Rose frowned. "I can pay for my own. I'm not helpless or anything."

"I never said you were," Aiden took his change and stepped aside. "I just figured, since you cooked dinner last night, I'd pay for your coffee today. Are you this defensive with everyone or is it just me?" Glancing beside him, he spotted Donna watching them with keen interest. "Do you want some popcorn?" he snarked at the barista. "Maybe pull up a chair?"

"Don't tempt me Spaceman," Donna warned in a menacing tone, and Aiden knew very what she was hinting at.

Swallowing, he glanced at Rose. She crossed her arms over her chest as she narrowed her eyes and gave him a subtle shake of her head, berating his behavior. Inexplicably, shame filled him. Looking back at Donna, he muttered, "Sorry."

Jaw dropping, Donna gawked at Rose. "How'd you train him to do that?"

Aiden's temper skyrocketed. "What the fu-" but before he got the vulgarity out, Rose had grabbed his arm and was dragging him away to an empty table. She pointed at the chair. "Sit."

Doing as she demanded, Aiden plopped down into the seat as Rose went back for their coffee. Taking the cups from Donna, she turned away, and from behind her back he watched as Donna pointed at him while mouthing the words, "You are," and mimicked the action, "whipped."

Lips parting, his brows rose as he watched the display. She was openly mocking him and it took every ounce of willpower he had to keep from launching himself at her.

"You know she only does that to get a rise out of you." Rose handed him his coffee, completely unaware of what was happening just a few feet behind her. She took a seat, settling herself in and asked, "Don't you have to go to work?"

Returning his focus to Rose, he smiled. "Nah, I've got a few minutes." He was in no hurry to leave her. Not even Donna's antics could drive him away.

Rose was at work, stirring a pot in the kitchen but her mind was miles away, thinking about her morning with Aiden, and began to giggle.

"What's so funny?" Ianto appeared beside her unexpectedly but she was too far gone to notice his presence. "I never thought making sauce could be so much fun"

"Nothing," Rose removed the pot from the burner and placed it aside. "I was just thinking of something I saw on telly last night."

Grabbing a spoon, Ianto tested the sauce. "If it's nothing, why are you blushing?"

"I'm not." Rose passed the pot over to another chef and felt her cheeks to find they were quite warm. She started fanning herself. "It's just from the heat coming off those burners."

"Better turn it down a notch." Ianto backed up toward the door leading to the dining room. "Unless you like it that way, then keep doin' what you're doin'." Winking, he slipped out.

It was the end of the night and Ianto was making his rounds, closing up while Rose was collecting her things to leave. Passing through the kitchen, he told her, "Why don't you go wait up front?"

"Alright." Grabbing her handbag, she walked into the dining room and nearly stumbled when she spotted Aiden waiting by the door. Only, he was currently having a chat with Clara.

She couldn't hear what they were saying but as she handed Aiden a folded slip of paper, Rose was curious.

Taking the paper, Aiden slipped it into his pocket before turning his attention to Rose. "Hey."

"Hi." Rose side-eyed Clara who was giving her a sly smile as she strolled by and into the kitchen. "What are you doing here?"

"Just passing through," he said. "Thought you'd like a ride home?"

"You have a car?"

"No, I stole a horse from the stable." He rolled his eyes. "We better hurry, before someone notices he's gone and comes looking for him."

She gave him a playful smack on the arm. "Wanker."

"That is my name, isn't it?" He smirked.

"Shut up," she giggled and headed for the door. "Let's go home."

As they walked to the car, Ianto locked the front door. Clara stood beside him, watching as Aiden held the door for Rose to get in. "Quite the gentleman, isn't he?"

"Hmm," Ianto turned around to look at them. "Yeah, I suppose."

"Do you suppose she knows he fancies her?"

"Honestly, I think she's the only one who hasn't realized it." He watched as the car drove away. "But let's leave them to figure that out, yeah?"

"So, if you have a car, why do you always walk to work?" Rose asked as Aiden climbed inside.

He snapped his seatbelt. "It's a ten-minute walk, why waste petrol?"

"I suppose," Rose said. "But you always walk. Even when it's raining."

Aiden glanced at her with a raised eyebrow. "The concept of umbrellas is really quite foreign to you, isn't it?"

"Whatever," Rose huffed. "I just don't know why you have a car if you never drive it."

"Because I like to walk," he explained. "And lucky for me, we live in a place where almost everything is within walking distance. But sometimes it isn't, so I have a car. Could you imagine me trying to deal with the people on public transit?"

"Fair enough," Rose chuckled as she gazed abound the interior. "It's nice." She reached for the volume on the radio, turning it up.

"If you put on that awful rubbish you listen to, I'm making you walk home," he commented as she fiddled with the stations.

"I'm not." She stopped on one of his preset stations where a song she recognized was playing. She left the volume low, just loud enough for them to hear. Wistfully, she listened to it for a few moments. "When I was little, I used to love this song. Mostly because the word rose is in the title. It wasn't until I got much older that I actually listened to the lyrics and realized he was singing of heartbreak and seeing his love with another man."

"Saw that happen a lot during the war." Aiden said, surprising Rose at his casual mention of the past. "Someone would call home, needing to hear a comforting voice only to have a stranger answer the phone."

"That's terrible," Rose gasped.

"That's life," Aiden shrugged. "It's not always fair. Of course, that's not as bad as the ones who received no answer at all and later found that their boyfriend or girlfriend had drained their bank account before leaving."

Rose went silent, staring out the window, wondering how someone could do something so horrible to another person, and especially while they were at their most vulnerable. She looked to Aiden; his eyes were set on the road ahead of him as he drove. "Did it happen to you?" She regretted asking the moment the words escaped her mouth. "Sorry, that's none of my business."

A commercial came on the radio so she changed the station. Finding nothing worth listening to, she turned it off again. Now, only the road noise filled the heavy silence between them.

"I was engaged," he finally spoke after his long pause. "We dated on and off for years and about a week before leaving I asked her to marry me. Though, looking back, I think it was just on impulse because I was scared about what was to come."

"And she broke up with you?" Rose frowned.

"Not exactly." He turned the corner, nearing their building. "I didn't get much time to call home, especially those last few days. After finally making it home, I walked in to find all her things were gone. I learned few weeks later that she'd married someone else and they'd run off, supposedly traveling the world."

"I'm so sorry," Rose's hands balled into fists, nails biting into her palms as she imagined how devastating that must have felt. "Nobody deserves to be treated that way."

He huffed. "I doubt it would have lasted, anyway, with how often we fought. Besides, I wasn't the same man when I came back. We probably would have just made each other miserable."

"That doesn't make it right!" She cried, no longer able to mask her outrage. "At the very least she could have told you instead of letting you find out the way you did!"

Aiden parked the car, shutting off the engine. "You're more upset about this than I was at the time."

"It's just, thinking of what you went through," her voice quavered, "what you all went through, and then you come home to that. You deserve better."

"Yeah, well," he opened his door, "that's debatable," and climbed out, shutting the door behind him with perhaps a bit more force than was strictly necessary.

Rose quickly followed. "What do you mean?"

"Never mind," Aiden muttered, jamming his hands into his pockets, heading up the walk at a quick pace. "Just, forget I said anything."

She stopped outside her door but she didn't want to leave him in the state he was currently in. "But…"

"There's a reason I don't like to talk about these things," Aiden snapped. With a deep breath, he ran a hand through his hair. "I just need to be alone." He backed up to the steps that led to his flat. "So, just go inside, get some rest, and forget everything I just told you." Turning around, he stomped up the steps.

Rose wanted to call to him, to stop him, but didn't know what she could say that wouldn't worsen the situation. With a heavy heart, she let him go. Hopefully by morning he would be calm enough to talk to her.