Her eyes were fixated on what was ahead of her. Those bright, daunting and somewhat condescending words flooding her head with worrisome thoughts:
RENT OVERDUE. IMMEDIATE ATTENTION REQUIRED.
Clara dropped her head in her hands to quickly allow a little sob to get out of her so that she could attempt to figure out a plan. But to her dismay the second she allowed her hands to meet her pupils her tear glands just couldn't stop. What started off as a quiet sob turned into a continuous cry that she couldn't control. The twenty-eight-year-old had her mind full of regret. Why did she leave the safety of Lancashire? Her mother had a great income and her father was always supportive of her. Why did she think that moving out with The Doctor and having a part-time job at a low performing school in Essex would suffice? Why did she think that she could handle an independent life when the most dependent she'd ever been was seven years ago when she graduated university? If only she'd thought things through some more. If only she didn't spend the past three years looking out for Danny so that he could feel safe and lead a normal life. If only she wasn't so dependent on helping everyone around her and actually did something for herself for once.
Clara continued to sob into her hands and the longer she did this the louder her agony became. As she cried she heard something from behind her. It was a quiet piece of music playing from her record player. Clara quickly became suspicious and turned around without much thought. To her surprise she saw a figure with a long black jacket and most importantly, an awkwardly positive smile on their face.
"Oh, Doctor," she sighed as she wiped the tears from her face. "What are you doing?"
"Just thought that you could do with a bit of a cheer-up," his awkward smile didn't leave his face as he offered his hand to dance with his companion. Clara sat still and looked up at The Doctor as she waited for him to take a hint.
"What? You want me to turn it up?" he responded, quickly attempting to make the music louder.
"Oh, God no, Doctor! For somebody so intelligent you really are clueless, aren't you?" Clara was now standing in front of the man, gazing into his eyes with a glow in hers. The Doctor's face remained puzzled as he stood in front of the previously weeping woman in silence, waiting for her to say something. Clara moved her eyes towards the record player and then back to The Doctor.
"You realise I really despise Cher, right?" The twenty-eight-year-old bit her lip in humorous frustration as despite the poor result she couldn't help but appreciate The Doctor's attempt.
"What!? I thought you loved Cher! What was that song you were singing? Ah, it - it went something along the lines of - Papa... Mama... Preaching... Pregnant... Please... Baby! There's always a baby!" Clara instantly roared in giggles as she heard The Doctor attempt to place together lyrics from a song he'd misheard.
"You mean, Papa Don't Preach?"
"Ye-"
"By Madonna?"
"W-what!? Madonna!? But I went to the store and bought you this Cher CD! I thought you loved Cher!" Clara's giggles quickly turned into silence that was replaced with another glimmer from her eyes and an appreciative smile.
"Why did you do that?" she questioned, her eyes fixated on The Doctor's as she slowly moved her body closer to his. The Doctor responded with a sigh.
"I just... I knew that you were having a bad day and I thought this album would cheer you up. You know what, I'm so-"
"Well, it kind of did." She moved even closer and laid her head on his chest for a hug. She then wiped an oncoming tear and thanked him for the effort. Clara then moved back a few steps and sat in her chair, ready to endure her computer screen again. "But just so we're clear, nobody likes Cher. You either like Madonna or you just don't have a good taste in music," she paused for a small moment. "You're a very silly Doctor." A miniscule smirk appeared on her face before she was completely facing her computer. The Doctor smiled and headed towards the door. That was until he'd stopped himself in his tracks for a better idea. He looked over at Clara and saw that she was still wiping some tears, except now she was trying extra hard not to be so obvious about it. But he knew how to stop them.
"Hey," he paused to be his archetypically dramatic self. "As a silly Doctor, I have a silly question... Instead of listening to this rubbish, why don't we have fun with it? Why don't we smash it, to pieces, together?" Before he could notice Clara's response The Doctor quickly flashed an excited look. And although she couldn't see him she could tell by his voice just how impressed he was by his own idea, causing her to chuckle excitedly.
"Oh, God, Doctor." She couldn't control her laughter and excitement to exit her before she could even turn around. And as soon as she did she clapped her hands together and said, "well, what are we waiting for!?" The Doctor quickly turned off the record player and took out the CD, handing it to Clara as she stood in front of him.
"My fellow good music lover, and Madonna fan," he stopped speaking for a moment ad Clara gave him a jokingly stern look. "Will you do me the honours of smashing this rubbish to pieces with me?
"Why, I would be ever so delighted to," she responded in an overly feminine and posh accent, holding on to one side of the CD whilst he held on to the opposite side. "Now, let's begin!" Clara and The Doctor immediately snapped the CD in half, making both of their faces flush in hilarity. They then continued to break their share into halves again and again, followed by flinging the small pieces out of the room as if it were confetti. Clara roared in laughter as the two found so much joy from tearing a terrible CD to pieces. She looked at the former CD that was outside of her room and it made her laugh even more, which forced The Doctor to do the same.
"Wait, there's more!" the Doctor beamed.
"What!?"
"Yes, yes, I thought you'd love to have more to your empty collection! And ironically I couldn't have been more right!" The Doctor handed a record to Clara as he had his own, and after a count of three they flung their CD's onto the ground and stomped on them. Both friends laughed in a noisy unison as they found so much joy from such a premature action. Clara wiggled her feet as if she were a twelve-year-old at her first school dance and The Doctor jokingly imitated her. And though the action only lasted a few minutes, Clara finally lost the worry she had before The Doctor came, and she was ever so grateful for it.
AUTHOR NOTE: I hope you enjoyed this small fic I wrote last night! Even if you didn't like this, criticism would be wonderful as I really aim to get better at writing! Also, this was an idea I'd gotten from otpprompts on tumblr, so idea credit goes to them!