She'd promised Danny she would join him and Rachel in the Gym this Friday after the Teacher's meeting because she had sworn onto this diet fad but hadn't yet spent a day burning the calories.

"Com'on Clara...Rachel got there over half an hour ago!" Danny laughed from the bottom of the stairs as Clara hopped to the top of them in her Gym outfit.

White Nike Sport's Top, grey Nike hot pants and her white and neon pink laced running shoes. "I'm coming geez Mr 'I'm Math not PE'" she joked back pecking his cheek as she passed him to gather her bag.

"I'm not PE" he replied with smile the joke had quickly become a lovable jibe between them since the caretaker spotted him in the yard 'covering' for Chris the PE teacher one afternoon.

"You could have said you were busy" she chuckled as she locked the door as they stepped out. "Why..I wasn't and even if I had been he'd have just gone and asked Simon to do it and can you see Simon running around the yard with 12 kids playing basketball?" he scoffed at the imagine of the other English teacher, the lanky floppy haired bow tie wearing dork book reader wouldn't have lasted ten minutes running about let alone a hour. Nope too much a of an indoor cat.

Clara thought about it before they got in the car then laughed. "no..to be honest I really can't see him doing it" Though it wasn't him she'd thought about. It was him. The Time Lord had been right, Simon was indeed a very close copy of his previous self and Clara just hadn't had the attention span to notice.

Finally now at the Gym Rachel was stood chatting with some guy at the door. A silver haired slim guy in a dark blue tee shirt and black shorts, she seemed to find him hilarious from the why she was almost crying at his last joke.

Good for her she thinks as she climbs from the car. She needed to get over Tom. It was nice to see someone else put a smile on her face.

Rachel stopped them as they approached. "hey finally slowpokes you got her out of bed Danny" she waved excitedly, Clara waved back only have her hand stop mid air when the man turned round.

"Hello again"

Doctor?!

She must have said that out loud because both Danny and Rachel looked at her as if she just grew a second head and 4 extra legs. Rachel scoffed to break the ice, "Erm whatever, Clara this is John you remember the Caretaker? I bumped into him on my way out from the meeting and we got talking about ... erm well stuff..." she blushed patting the Time Lords arm as he smirked. "So I invited him to join us"

Clara was silent, her emotions trapped somewhere between completely dumbfound, shocked and love struck and jealous all at the same time. She touched him. Rachel had touched her Time Lord even though Rachel didn't know that but Clara was in the weirdest state of jealousy and anger at the tiny contact.

Finally clearing her throat she nodded, "of course who can forget Mr Smith"

"Please call me John" The Time Lord was smirking the smug bastard.

"Okay so what shall we do first?" Danny asked. Clara pondered glancing about, thankfully most were off in the Classes sections first before the routine stuff, Rachel had whisked away her Time Lord into a ballroom dance class which she could help but internally laugh at thinking on how badly that must be going.

"I'll spot you for a bit on the bench...then perhaps rowing and treadmill? Swim after?" she smiled liking the idea she get to catch him shirtless.

Usually she'd be a bit excited by watching Danny bench press but today her mind was currently on the Time Lord who was at the other side of the building in a hall with a friend learning how to ballroom dance... "Clara?"

He was very light on his feet...he might actually be a good dancer. "Clara!"

She snapped back from her momentary daydream to grab the barbell. "sorry"

If there was one thing she hated about herself is that she was a touch too competitive at times, She'd been so focused on keeping up with Danny on the rowing machine and laughing at his jibes that she had forgotten the Time Lord completely.

She was just starting another level on the treadmill when Rachel and The Doctor returned discussing food and she had to double take, headphones in, drenched in sweat and brain trying to keep pace on the higher speed the sight of the Time Lord stunned her and she slipped. "Doctaaf!-" stumbling forward she slammed the button to slow it down before it threw her off and she made a scene of herself next to her boyfriend and in front of the Time Lord.

He hadn't seen her though. He was too busy helping Rachel with her cardio workout counting her crunch routine. Out of breath and drenched in sweat she continued on the slower speed for a few minutes to at least get to her hour target eyes constantly on the pair in the room.

Friendly.

No snarky. No insults. Witty jokes, SMILING.

The Time Lord seemed to be rather relaxed unlike he'd been last weekend screeching on about her running off and that if she hadn't attacked the man that was trying to stake the apparent witch child, they wouldn't have been locked up and had to spend a full day trying to break out of the prison in 17th century France!

Finally jumping from the treadmill she snuck her way around the room avoiding them as she grabbed her towel and sat watching Danny fighting it out on the punching bags with one of the Gym Coaches.

Rachel laughed and again she found herself watching them peeking through the rack of weights that she was sat behind.

She wasn't jealous. Though when Rachel pointed out how wet his T shirt was and he pulled it off she had to admit a squeak past her lips.

Damn he was a fine piece of Alien if she'd ever seen one. He'd always been very well groomed. But seeing him out of his clothes in nothing but some running shorts and showing off that he could still do one handed push ups at his age even if it was only 6 threw her into such emotional turmoil she just wanted to scream.

He wasn't hunky. He wasn't a gym guy. But he was wiry and athletic in his own way. Trimmed muscle showing through the alabaster skin, a faint trace of pectorals outlined by the little sliver of silver hair on his chest that ran down his torso under the waistband of his shorts.

She looked away promptly as he stood back up the muscles in his legs flexing and sending a shiver right into her core.

He was a quick runner. Those thighs must have some power in them and that's where the simple observations ended and the outrageous sexual fantasies started. She blushed even more at the thoughts and clutching her towel dashed from the room into the changing rooms to prepare for her swim. That would cool her off.

A few laps of the pool aside Danny later she felt better. Now just for some peace in the Sauna. Danny and Rachel didn't like them much so agreed to meet her up in the Cafe in twenty minutes. But that hadn't dismissed the Time Lord.

Stepping back out into the hall to cross to one of the 3 large sauna booths she saw him standing there in nothing but a towel fiddling with 2 tokens.

"Your eyes are doing that thing again...why do they do that?!" he smirked sarcastically as she stopped in front of him. she hugged her towel closer.

"I don't know what you mean..." she shrugged letting her eye trail his body for a moment.

The Time Lord chuckled and she just huffed opened one of the booths and letting him enter the timer tokens and enter in behind here, shutting the door.

They sat in silence for some time just enjoying the comforting heat of the room, or at least he did. Clara's mind was too busy trying to visualise those legs in-between hers.

She gulped sneaking a glance towards him. Totally relaxed back, seemingly dozing in the heat, she wouldn't be amazed if he'd take the 20 minutes for one of his 'cat naps'.

His hair was damp and mussed up from him running his hand through it, beads of what could have been either water or sweat trickled down his neck and pooled in the dip in his collar bone. He seemed oblivious to the fact his towel was slipping open...

He'd tucked it in at the side she was sat...his sharp hips clearly outlined against where the towel rested. She watched unashamedly in the steamy room as the edge fell open revealing the pale skin of his thigh, yet she wasn't quite at the right angle to see the smoother curve to his bum.

She found herself trying to tilt her head to get a better view when his mouth twitched.

When her eyes snapped back up she found the term twitched was incorrect he was grinning. Looking at her with a knowing stare, he'd been watching her all this time and because she'd been too busy mentally praying the towel to fall open as it did she forgot to check whether he'd woken.

"I wasn't asleep"

She swallowed blushing and looked away crossing her legs which was a bit hard in the way she had wrapped her own towel so tightly and ended up opening her own and having to fumble to keep it closed. she'd kept her bikini top on though discarded the bottoms thinking she'd have been alone.

Change the subject.

"So...have fun with Rachel..." she probably could have sounded more interested and less snippy but her jealously won out.

The Time Lord raised a fluffy eyebrow. "She can dance...but no that's not my idea of fun"

Clara frowned confused and looked back to the smirking alien.

"Wha-"

She hadn't managed to speak before he stood and shuffled the few feet across the bench to sit on her bench.

"Jealous?"

She could practically hear the sass bubbling away in his voice.

"Shut up"

"So you are?"

"No"

"Then why did you ask?"

"I'm curious...she seems to like you"

"I'm very likeable"

"Sure you are"

"Don't you like me?" he enquired with a slightest of pouts his metallic silver and green eyes instantly hinting she might have stung him.

I love you.

She took a breath to speak but his expression left her speechless. No she didn't like him. She loved him. But she couldn't tell him that and not because her boyfriend was in same building but because saying those word would probably hurt him more than saying she didn't like him.

She huffed suddenly find everything just too warm and pressuring. "Yeah...at times, mostly when you not yelling that humans are stupid and why we never listen to you"

He rolled his eyes. "I said don't run off but you ran off Clara... I did tell you we couldn't get involved with anything and we'd blend in and have a peaceful trip but oh no YOU had to get involved..."

"They were going to burn her!"

"They burnt a lot of supposed witches back then Clara, a child was nothing new"

"I couldn't watch that"

"We didn't have to we were walking away but you had to try and fight a guy twice your size to get hold of the small girl he was trying to carry"

"I-"

She just huffed again. It had been her fault, he was right is she had just kept alongside the Time Lord and paid the man no attention things would have been find, but her mothering side just couldn't handle the teen girl crying and screaming for help.

Seeing her go quiet again, he swallowed his next jibe.

"Anyway...it was also my fault. I should have mentioned that in that period there was a witch hunt. Perhaps if you'd have known why I said don't run off you might not have...so there...both our fault really...I'll...I'll make it up to you..."

Clara suddenly found herself smiling. "how?"

"A trip...dinner?"

"A date?" she blurted and then blushed at the sudden cock of the head she got from the Time Lord

"You said it"

They went quite again for a few moments. Clara really wanted to say something. though to be honest all she could think about was how The Doctor had been so nice with Rachel.

"Your friends a chatty one"

Her head snapped back up to see him relaxing again, eyes closed, hands in his lap, legs splayed a little more than before and it made her wonder about his thighs again.

"Yeah...She has always been chatty, though it's the first time in a few months she's actually laughed like that...thanks"

He opened an eye. "for what?"

"Making her laugh...She's been through hell with the break up with her Ex moving out and somehow in just 3 hours you've managed to bring her back herself...so thanks"

He just hummed what she could only think was athanks back.

"She told me actually" Clara frowned and he opened his eyes sitting up and leaning on his knees. "About...tom?, sounds like a right ass, though he was Scottish wasn't he, they like to complain"

Clara giggled. "So like you. Scottish and an overbearing space and time travelling ass"

The Doctor's mouth fell open in mock surprise, "Clara Oswald I should punish you for such language"

She giggled more finding her playful side "oh really, and how would you do that"

He raised a fluffy eyebrow. "I'm actually a Scottish sounding, Overbearingly funny, genius, who gets paid to fight aliens from earth that he didn't know about whilst he travels in space and time being an Ass to stupid human companions!"

Clara gaffed. "Whatever, I'm done...thanks for whatever now let's go have chips" she shuffled forward and pecked the side of his lips but he grasped her wrist as she stood.

"Clara"

The deep ring of his accent through her name made her gulp as a tremor ran up her arm.

She looked back to him only to bite her lip at the huge questioning eyes. Eye filled with need and curiosity and a want. But that she couldn't answer.

He stood u beside her eye locked with hers as he still held her wrist gently, his hand opening, finger's splayed and slipped down till he held her hand and they simultaneously thread their fingers.

He looked almost sad.

"Clara...Don't you like me?"

It was almost a plee. She'd forgotten just how self loathing and soul searching this regeneration was and suddenly realised that he needed to outwit her he needed to seem smarter and show off because he wanted to seem like her mattered...to her.

She did the only thing she could. Words were no use to a man that read between the lines.

Reaching up with her free hand she tilted his jaw to kiss him. It was meant to be quick.

But the second she felt him kiss her back she continued...glued, kissing him harder, leaning into him and letting him part her lips and his tongue shyly met her own.

It was the timer on the door that broke them apart bleeping to inform them 20 minutes was over. Panting slightly, Clara blushed tugging the Time Lord to the door.

"We ditching?" he asked with a smile as they stepped back out into the cooler hall.

"I want the T.A.R.D.I.S and you in my flat in 20 minutes..." she called making for the changing room.

His laugher was the last thing she heard as the door closed behind her.

When you have a Time Machine...you could get a lot done in 20mintues.