Happy Valentine's Day! Whether you're celebrating it alone, with someone, or with fictional characters, I hope you enjoy this. :)
Note: Danny is disregarded as a love interest, but the events of the Caretaker did take place- minus Danny and Clara loving him etc, etc, etc.
Another day at Coal Hill, yet this was different. It was Valentine's Day and Clara didn't have a Valentine this year. She was essentially used to it, as she wasn't really the most appealing woman in her teens. Not that she didn't want to date anyone, she just didn't care much for it. She was one of those straight A students, the ones that don't care for other people and only for success. Unfortunately, that mentality led her to hardly having any sort of relationship.
She had thought she had struck it with her odd Doctor, the bow-tie clad one. She fell in love with him, but then he changed. Although it was a surprise, her feelings remained the same for the alien, no matter what face he wore or who he was. She still loved him nonetheless. It was unfortunate when he didn't return the same feelings, after the specific boundaries had been placed by him. She pretended none of it bothered her, but it did.
Clara sighed, walking through the hallways of Coal Hill. She was a little tardy than her usual time, due to the surprising amount of traffic due to some bickering on the street about something, along with some other strange developments that weren't normal to her average routine. The amount of people almost getting run over was astounding, to each of which she got out of her car and made sure they were all okay, resulting almost half an hour of checking in with every individual. Luckily, everyone was okay and none of them had any desire to get run over. It was just by accident, they said, and she took their word for it after letting all those people go into safe hands.
Nonetheless, she kept her head up and continued the thought to herself, imagining the Doctor being romantic. This one, especially. The stick insect with silver curls that were soft to the touch, even desiring anything of that sort. She chuckled to herself. There was no way he would be into that. He was the Doctor; he was asexual or something of that sort. She let her imagination wander, thinking of him doing domestic Valentine's day things, bringing her flowers and chocolates or taking her on a date. Being a traveler, she also thought of possible dates in space that could go wrong. She wouldn't even be surprised if he intended to take her on a date with a perfectly safe planet only for it to be raided by Sontarans or some other villain.
Ah, what are you thinking Oswald? He's not like that. The Doctor? No, not in any sort of millennia. He's the Doctor. He doesn't do that.
She finally reached her classroom, humming to herself. She inserted the key into the keyhole and turned it slowly, opening the door with a yawn. She opened her eyes for one moment and was met with quite the floral surprise.
She knew she wasn't a normal person, but this was just ridiculous.
From the ceiling to the floor, it was covered in multitudes of flowers. The floor had rose petals everywhere, even on top of each student's desk. The assortment was of different types, from roses, marigolds, tulips, jonquils- one could name any sort of flower and could probably find it here. She walked around, smelling each flower. They were all fresh, much to Clara's enjoyment. She circled back to her desk. A single solitary rose was on top of it and she placed her stuff down, picking it up. The deep red matched the color of her dress and she smiled to herself. Who did this?
"Holy shit." The voice caused her to turn. It was Courtney Woods.
"Language!" Clara scolded on reflex. Courtney rolled her eyes.
"Did the Doctor give them to you?" She asked, as more students filed in, saving Clara from answering that question. Clara was relieved none of them were allergic to pollen, or else this would be quite the nightmare. The students whispered to themselves, muttering different theories. Danny, Adrian, and the Doctor were the main topics of those said theories. Clara sighed, wishing they were analytical during their analysis of any of the novels they read, but it appears they only care about her love life. Courtney flashed Clara a smirk as Danny Pink walked in.
"Morning, Clara-," One look into the classroom caused his eyebrows to raise, "Uh...secret admirer?" Clara smiled sheepishly. Now the students were still muttering, and they decided for sure it was the Doctor. She heard bits of pieces of her last 'boyfriend', the bow-tie clad one and were wondering where he was. Courtney continued to feed them the idea that it was indeed the weird Caretaker that showed up at their window one class period. Clara flashed them a look before turning her gaze to Danny. He returned to his regular manner, although Clara could swear there was a hint of disappointment in his eyes.
"I think so, yeah...I don't know who has the time or the desire to do this, but...yeah." She responded. Courtney snorted.
"Oh, come on, Miss Oswald. We all know who it is." Courtney quipped. The students muttered agreements, then began to chant, led by Courtney, "Ozzie loves the Scottie!"
"It is not the Doctor and it won't be! He's not like that and you know that. We aren't like that." Clara snapped. The students looked away and pulled out their books, as though the whole flower mishap was nothing to avoid any anger from Miss Oswald. Courtney was the only one who sat at the desk with her arms crossed, a bemused expression on her face.
"The Caretaker?" Danny inquired.
"Mmhmm. They're bonkers, I tell you. Did you need anything though?" Clara asked kindly.
"No, not at all. Class is about to start after all. See you later, Clara." He walked off and Clara closed the door.
"It is the Doctor, isn't it?" Courtney asked, "Who else has the time or the key to your room besides him?"
"I don't know Courtney, and right now I don't want to ask."
"Isn't it Wednesday? It has to be him, right?" Clara ignored that detail and told the class to open their books. Although Courtney stopped bringing it up, Clara knew that every look she gave her it was because of the flower arrangement. The class was manageable, but it wasn't until the sudden opening of her door forty minutes into the lecture did it become rowdy again.
The Doctor was head to toe with flowers, even a few in his hair. He placed the large bouquets of flowers down onto the floor and looked between the students and the now surprised Clara. Her cheeks were flushed and her eyes wide. She was only joking with the idea of the Doctor bringing her flowers, but she wasn't complaining.
"Oh, Clara and pudding brains. What time is it?"
"It's nine-thirty, Doctor." She said with a restrained look and walked forward to the Doctor and picked up a flower from his hair. She noticed the extreme blush on his face.
"Ah. I went a little too forward in time." He muttered, then addressed Clara a bit loudly, "I'm using your classroom to keep my flowers secure. I have an experiment to make." She frowned. She should have expected it, since this was the Doctor. She had her hopes set a bit too high with the Doctor giving her flowers.
"That's a lie." The entire class turned to Courtney. She still wouldn't keep her mouth shut.
"Courtney, Courtney. Even now you're still in my way." The Doctor frowned.
"You know that is a lie, right Miss Oswald? He's just saying that, so he won't admit they're all for you." Clara and all the other students looked to the Doctor. "Right, Doctor?"
"I have to go somewhere. I'll pick you up later." He was prepared to storm off, but Clara caught him by his hood. The students snickered.
"Doctor." He turned back to her sheepishly.
"What?"
"Are they right?"
"What?" He asked again. Oh, he was playing the idiot card, now was he? Clara held his shoulders tight with both hands.
"Is Courtney, right? Are these all for me, not for some idiotic idea you have?" He stayed silent. "Doctor."
"Yes! Yes, alright, they're all for you! The TARDIS informed me you have some ridiculous holiday involving flowers and I took the opportunity to..." He stopped mid-sentence, seeing the amused expression on Clara's expression.
"To?"
"ShowyouhowmuchIcare."
"I'm sorry, you're going to have to be a little louder than that." She stopped caring that this was unprofessional. If she was going to get some sort of confession, she was going to get it now.
"To show you how much I care."He said slowly. Although it wasn't necessarily the three specific words she was used to hearing, she knew it was his weird way of saying them anyway.
"Ah. So, not for your experiments." She said and he shook his head.
"No."
"And they're for me."
"Yes." He nodded.
"And is this why I was late to work? Was that all you?" She took a shot in the dark and was satisfied to find she was right, noticing him shift his weight between his two feet.
"Yes. I caused the bickering and those people you helped were all in on it. It's amazing what people will do for money." She glared at him, "I made it safe! I promise!" She sighed.
"That's all you had to say, Doctor." She reached up and with a surge of bravery, kissed him on the cheek. She patted his shoulders down, "I'll see you later. It is still Wednesday."
"Right. Right, it's Wednesday. After school, yes." He slowly turned and walked out of the classroom. She turned to the class, who was awestruck.
"Ozzie loves the Scottie." Courtney confirmed. Clara's mood couldn't be drained, not even by Courtney, who did speak truth.
Ozzie did love the Scottie.
