A/N: A few days ago I watched "Death in Heaven" with my brother because he hadn't seen it yet (though it was my third time watching it). That night, I had a weird dream. I really only remember one part of it:

Clara was crying, really upset for some reason. The Twelfth Doctor was with her, and as she continued to cry he started to walk away from her.

"What are you going to do?" Clara asked bitterly through her tears. "Leave me?"

"No," the Doctor said simply. He walked to the middle of the room they were in and spun around, opening his arms to Clara. She ran to him and hugged him, crying all the while. The Doctor didn't say anything, but he did hesitantly return the hug and just let her cry.

It might sound dumb being written out, but in the dream they were so in character. When I woke up, I immediately imagined that scene happening if Clara and the Doctor hadn't lied to each other at the end of "Death in Heaven." This story is the result…

P.S. I don't ship Clara and Twelve but I think their friendship is fantastic, probably my favorite Doctor and companion friendship in all of New Who (because everybody knows Ten and Rose was not just a friendship).

P.P.S. Literally right in the middle of writing this I found out that Jenna Coleman is staying for season 9! Woohoo! :)

Clara fiddled with her fingers, drumming them on the table in front of her. She wasn't exactly sure why there were butterflies in her stomach or why her palms were starting to sweat. Maybe because telling the Doctor about Danny would make it too real. Maybe because she was afraid that he would cast her off and tell her she was being too emotional, leaving her alone once more.

She heard the bell in the café jingle and knew, without looking up, that it was him. His intentional gait and dark clothes were so familiar to her now that she would know them anywhere.

"Hey," the Doctor said as he approached, grabbing the chair across from her.

Clara looked up at him and forced cheerfulness into her voice. "Hey!" Her body relaxed as she took him in. She had missed him and needed him now more than ever, and here he finally was, after days and days of waiting.

"I got your message." He sat down, acting as if she had left him a voicemail on the TARDIS yesterday.

She pointed an accusing look at him. "Two weeks late."

He folded his hands on top of the table. "Not bad."

"Improving," she agreed, trying to smile a little.

There was a short lull in the conversation, which wasn't normal for them. Clara wondered, then, if he had something weighing on him too.

The Doctor suddenly smiled, pointing at the bracelet around her wrist. "I see you've got news for me."

Clara wondered at his amused expression. "News?" She looked down at her bracelet and grasped it with her hand, trying to hold down the tears. She had been wearing it for two weeks now to remember Danny's sacrifice, to remember what she had lost, but she hadn't decided yet whether remembering was a blessing or a curse.

"He figured it out, then. P.E. figured out there was a way home." The Doctor's easygoing manner implied that he hadn't guessed the whole story.

Clara nodded, unable to tear her gaze from the bracelet as that night came back to her. "Yeah. Yeah, he did."

The Doctor's smile widened. "Oh, well good old P.E.! He'll make a maths teacher yet." There was a laugh in his voice, an uncharacteristic laugh. He was never this cheerful, not unless…unless he was trying to force it like she was. Either way, what she had to tell him was far from happy.

She still couldn't meet his eyes. "Listen, Doctor, there's um…" She swallowed hard to combat the tears which were threatening to surface and leaned forward onto her arms. "…there's something I have to tell you and, um…" She pressed her lips together, sighed, and finally met his gaze, but she could only do so for a moment before she had to look down again. "It's…it's not good news so just…just listen, okay?" Here it was. She had to tell him now.

The Doctor nodded. "I know."

Clara looked up at him, not comprehending how he could understand. If he knew what had happened to Danny, he wouldn't be acting like this. "Sorry?"

"I know exactly what you've got to tell me," he said, confidence saturating his tone.

He seemed so sure that he knew what had happened. Did he, really? Clara sat up straighter at the thought. "You-you do?"

"You and Danny are together now…"

The phrase sent a wave of pain through her. Did he really think that all of this would have such a perfect, happy ending?

"…that's great, that's how it should be, but the old man and the blue box, that's never going to fit in. So no more flying around. No more lying."

Clara focused on the table and shook her head. "Okay, no, that's not exactly…"

"It's fine," the Doctor assured.

"No, it's not fine," she countered, her voice rising in volume. Did he really think, if that were the case, that she would do that to him, her best friend? Was he really so stubborn to believe that she had her happy ending that he wouldn't let her just tell him? "It-it really isn't…" She shook her head. "…fine." It was now or never, she knew. She looked up at the Doctor. His mouth was slightly open like he was about to say something, but she didn't care.

"Danny didn't come back."

The Doctor's mouth clapped shut as he leaned back in his chair. His eyes widened with shock. "What? But you said-"

Clara looked down at the bracelet again, twisting it around her wrist. "He figured it out, yeah." She nodded, the familiar sting of tears pricking at her eyes. Her voice came out as a squeak. "But he didn't come back."

The Doctor's brow furrowed in concern and wonder as he stared at her.

Clara took in a deep breath to steady herself. "He sent back a boy, Doctor."

His expression looked even more confused.

"A boy he killed in Afghanistan."

The Doctor gripped the edge of the table, his face relaxing as his lips formed the word "Oh."

Clara felt a tear escape and track down her cheek, but she quickly wiped it away with her hand. "He said he had promises to keep."

"P.E…." The Doctor held his face in his hands, shaking his head. "Oh, P.E." He sighed, his gaze resting on Clara again. She waited for the comment about her eyes, or the crying, or just being human in general.

But the Doctor, for once, was silent. After a few moments he raised an eyebrow at her. "I don't suppose you'd fancy a trip in the TARDIS?"

They were the words that she had been longing to hear. "Yes," she breathed immediately. "God, yes." She wanted nothing more than to get away from the Earth, the planet where Danny had walked, the air he had breathed.

Clara stood up right then, grabbing her coat from her chair. The Doctor looked up at her in question as she started to walk away. She made it to the café door before the Doctor's long strides overtook her shorter ones and he reached for the key in his coat pocket. He walked into the TARDIS first, only holding the door open long enough for Clara to grab it herself.

Walking into the TARDIS was like a breath of fresh air. Unlike her apartment, where memories of Danny were in everywhere she looked, the TARDIS reminded her of a whole different set of memories with the Doctor. Still just inside the doorway, Clara already felt lighter.

She followed the Doctor to the console, running her fingers over the controls. The familiar feel made her forget about her tears and sadness, if only for a moment.

"Are you sure about this?" the Doctor asked from across the console, his expression distorted by the time rotor running through the middle of the room.

"Absolutely." Seeing the amazing universe at work would surely get her mind off of what she had lost.

At least, she hoped it would.

"Show me something amazing."

I should probably add that there are going to be more chapters. :) Let me know what you think!