In six months Cassie's life had...changed quite a lot, actually. 

What had changed wasn't simply limited to the way she saw the world and the universe, nor that she stargazed way more than she used to. She had also quit her job and gotten a new one. Yes, about one month after she had met Adrian and the incident at UNIT had happened Cassie had finally quit her job at the pub. It was more bittersweet than she had been expecting, mostly due to the fact that she would miss the people there. The work hours and late night to early morning shifts? Not so much.

She had found herself a new job at the London Library, which she had applied for on a whim. The library had been one of her favorite places as a child (her grandparents had taken her almost every time she had asked them to), and she enjoyed books and reading them. So she had though hey, why not, and applied for it, and then she got an interview. Then she had actually gotten the job, and ended up loving it. She wasn't an actual librarian, just a clerk and assistant, but she still loved it. And not just because of the reasonable work hours, either. Cassie started considering perhaps returning to university once she raised the money for it, something a bit closer so she could get a degree and become an actual librarian. She could see herself being happy in that future.

Another change was that after years of not touching her hair beyond the occasional trim, Cassie got it chopped off about a week after the day at UNIT. The tangled mop that had once hung down her back, edging towards her waist, now could barely even brush the tops of her shoulders. Honestly it had felt so very weird to not have all that thick hair anymore, but it had been a good sort of weird. And it had become surprisingly easier to manage and less of a tangled mess once she started wearing it short. Cassie had also died it from her natural honey blonde to a dark brown, another change that she enjoyed. She had decided to change her hair not only because of the fresh start she decided to make with her life, but also because every time she looked in the mirror she saw the thing that had murdered dozens of people right in front of her eyes. Cassie knew that hadn't really been her, just some copy of her, but she couldn't fight the feeling of unease. So she had changed her appearance as much as she was able. 

Over the last six months she had also become good friends with Martha Jones-Smith, despite the circumstances of their initial meeting. Martha had been the one overseeing the repairs to her house, repairs that Cassie had coaxed UNIT into paying for, and Cassie had offered her some tea while the repair men worked on fixing her door, replacing the windows, and patching up all of the bullet holes. One thing had led to another and soon tea in Cassie's kitchen became drinks at the pub, or afternoon luncheons at a cafe, or day trips around London. She got the idea that Martha had needed a friend as much as she had, someone to help her escape from work for a while every few days. And she was glad to fill the role. Cassie had even been to dinner at Martha's house with the woman and her husband, who had also become a friend. They had both known Adrian before he had been Adrian, back when he had been the Doctor.

They didn't talk about him much though. Cassie didn't want to. Being left behind, him abruptly disappearing, was still a fresh wound. Even if it had been by accident. Martha was confident that he'd come back for her, just like Jack had been.

"It's almost been six months. Maybe he...moved on," Cassie had told the other woman about a week ago. But Martha had shook her head and told her again that she'd see him again, that there was no way that he would leave her behind forever. Martha never seemed to want to tell her what would happen after he eventually came back for her. She always just smiled and said that she didn't want to ruin the surprise. 

So while Cassie had continued on with her life and had made some fresh changes and new beginnings, she still waited for Adrian to return. She had promised him that she would. Waiting was the hardest part, quite frankly. Six months passed, each day beginning with hope and ending with disappointment, and some night she had to remind herself that she hadn't invented him. Adrian was real, he was out there somewhere, and she missed him. It was hard to hold on to hope, but Martha's confidence that he was coming back helped.

It was her day off, and she was spending the afternoon at home. Cassie was feeling blissful today, maybe because she had slept in, and was lounging in the city room looking into local university programs and munching on her lunch of apple slices, cheese, and bread, when there was a knock on the door. It was soft at first, and she thought she had imagined it for a moment until she heard another knock, louder this time. Cassie glanced at the clock, despite being fully aware that she hadn't lost track of time and she wasn't meeting Martha for dinner for several more hours. But she wasn't raised to be rude, so she set aside the computer and rose to her feet, stretching a little before moving through the house to the recently repaired front door. She ran her fingers through her freshly trimmed and touched up brunette as she moved, then brushed some lint from her jeans and loose gray t-shirt before opening the door.

Cassie felt her heart skip a beat and her mouth fall slightly open when she saw who was on her front step. She had been scared that she had forgotten what he looked like, since she had only known his newest face for a matter of minutes before he had been torn away. But she recognized Adrian as soon as she saw him, and it had been foolish of her to think otherwise. His dark eyes, nearly shoulder length hair, and handsome face were just how she remembered. In fact he looked just like he had six months ago, with the exception of his clothing, which were much less ragged and scruffy looking than what she was used to him wearing.

She was so surprised to see him that at first the only thing she was able to say was, "Hello." Then she was silent for several long moments, looking him up and down a few times as though she could barely believe it was him. Cassie almost wanted to reach out and touch him, just to make sure he wasn't a hallucination. Finally her eyes rose to meet his and she took a deep breath. "You," she began, leaning against the door frame and folding her arms loosely over her chest, "are late. Unbelievably late. Six months late, to be precise." Cassie went quiet again for a moment, looking at him with a slight frown as she did so. She wanted to be mad, let him know how terrified she had been when he had disappeared, how much it had hurt missing him. Cassie did not want him to know how much she wanted run into his arms and hug him and never let go, at least not yet. But after a moment of serious silence she couldn't stop a corner of her mouth from twitching into a half smile and her eyes sparkled. "You're also not half unconscious and bleeding all over my welcome mat, so I guess...it's a slight improvement."