A/N: A question has been on my mind for a long time now: "What if Martin and Louisa had first met while in college, and there was no Danny or Edith to screw things up?". I have henceforth decided to answer this question myself, because it was my idea in the first place and I've already got my brain in gear to write some Doc Martin fanfiction. Me and my mum are both big fans of the show (we have all 4 series on DVD), and although we don't know anything about what's going to happen in series 5, we're looking forward to it and I, personally, can't wait to find out the name of the baby! But this is my interpretation of what would have happened if the two characters had met while they both still had some learning to do. This isn't my first time writing a Doc Martin fanfiction (more like second or third) but it'll probably be the first of mine to actually be posted and surely won't be the last.

Chapter One – Talking

Louisa Glasson slammed her hand down on the snooze button of her alarm clock. She'd worked very hard to get where she was today – and she was being defeated by early mornings. Where she was today was Oxford University, studying to be a teacher. She loved children, and it had been her lifelong ambition to be able to teach them. She fully immersed herself in her chosen career path, as well as finding time to tutor the less able students, which meant the only time she had to herself was a little in the morning and a little at night, but she found it a worthwhile vocation if it meant she got to work with kids.

She had no boyfriend to speak of, as all the boys were far too pushy about wanting the position and they didn't seem to understand that she'd get one when she was ready – or if the right man suddenly presented himself. So far the only man she had acknowledged was a trainee doctor, a man called Martin Ellingham, and that was only because he hadn't bothered to acknowledge her first. She imagined he was well-off, if his snooty air was anything to go by, but she also imagined it was his parents' money that had got him into Oxford. Not that she minded; there would always be a need for doctors in the world, and this one seemed to know his stuff.

He was around the same age as her, with startling blue eyes, and blond hair in a neat crew cut. Nothing about him was ever out of place, and he was always on time for everything – while she was a mess and a half, and seemed to be late for everything. As she walked through the campus one morning, arms heavily laden with books, she accidentally dropped one, and Ellingham just happened to be nearby and saw her struggling to pick it up.

"Here." she hadn't even noticed him walk up to her, but before she knew it he'd picked up the book and handed it to her, "You shouldn't be carrying all those books by yourself, you know. If you keep doing this, your arms will be weaker in the long-term due to nerve damage."

"Thankyou, Doctor, I do realize that. But if you're offering to help, you'd better take some." and she handed half the pile over to him before he had a chance to protest. They walked in a companionable silence, and all at once Louisa was discovering that Martin wasn't snooty at all – very shy, a bit awkward, very proud of his profession, but he obviously hadn't had many friends in life and had engrossed himself in his work as she in hers. She could sense he was troubled, but knew it wasn't about her – she realized that if he had someone to talk to, he wouldn't be such an arse to everyone else. But here he was – doing the gentlemanly thing and helping her with her books, not daring to look at her like it was a sin. She found this side of him rather adorable, and wondered why he didn't show it more often. But she knew he'd become a complete recluse again once he was done helping her, so she enjoyed it while it lasted. However, she decided to bite the bullet and ask, "Martin, what is it with you?"

He was so surprised to hear her asking a question that he nearly dropped the books, and she giggled quietly to herself. "W-what do you mean?"

"Oh, like you don't know! You're a complete hermit, don't engage in any social functions – not that I blame you, some of them are a bit over the top – and yet you'll make a fantastic Doctor, and you don't ever gloat about it, like you don't know how good you really are. And here you are, blushing like you've been caught with your trousers down!" her words only made him blush more, and the books he'd been holding for her had finally fallen from his arms.

Caught with his trousers down? He felt like he might as well have been, that it would have even been easier for all concerned if he had been caught with his trousers down. It didn't register with him that he'd dropped the books, as he was still in shock from Louisa's outburst. He had to admit she was beautiful, and it was to first thing he'd noticed about her – along with her brilliant mind and her passion for helping children. He had come to admire her in a sense, but he would never admit it if he could help it. He was astounded by the way he found himself just trying to catch a glimpse of her when she wasn't looking, or trying to start a conversation with her when he knew it would end in an argument. These were the things that kept him going, although he knew he'd never get the chance to tell her that the first time he'd fallen in love was with her, because she wouldn't reciprocate his feelings – they were just friends, nothing more. But her outburst had startled him, and he then realized that perhaps she cared about him as more than a friend, that maybe she did reciprocate some of his feelings.

"Uh… are you sure we should be talking about any of this – out here, that is."

She didn't quite get the meaning of his words until she noticed the cold – at the end of April the temperature had decided to take a turn for the worst, and now it was over halfway through May and the chill hadn't disappeared. She shivered, as did he, both of them finally remembering that he'd dropped the books she'd asked him to hold. As they bent to pick them up, their hands met over a theory guide, their eyes following suite.

"Martin…"

"Yes?"

"I'm sure we could talk some more if I called in sick."

"But you're not sick Louisa, that would be lying!" he looked mortified.

"Oh, I'm owed some sick days anyhow, and I can be absent once in a while – it's just a day. And I really think we need to talk, don't you?"

He couldn't disagree with her logic – they did need to talk, and it would be better if they could do it as soon as possible.

"I'm sure I can ask a doctor for a second opinion, seeing as I'm going to be talking to one all day." that had sealed the deal, and once they made it to her student flat, she called in sick and they had the whole day to talk.

He noticed it was tasteful and homely, unlike some of the other flats on campus, and he realized that it was probably her influence. It felt welcoming; something he hadn't been around in a long time.

She noticed that he looked uncomfortable, and she knew it must be because he wasn't used to being anywhere other than his own space, "If you want, we can treat each other as professionals – this doesn't have to be anything emotional."

He realized that she was trying to make it easier for him, help him get more used to his surroundings by focusing on his comfort zones. "I don't want to feel like you're walking on eggshells, Louisa, and that's exactly what it feels like. I came here to talk, and that's what I'm going to do – it's probably time to get it all out in the open, anyhow."

"What do you mean, Martin?" she was giving him her full and undivided attention now.

So he started speaking, "I mean I want to get it out in the open… all of it. Mine wasn't the happiest childhood – in fact, the only happiness I could find was when I was sent to my aunt's in the summers. Even that was stopped eventually, and I had to assume it was my fault – that I was being punished by having the only comfort in my life taken away. My parents weren't even the nicest of people when it came to their son – sometimes I think they'dve been happier if I'd never come along in the first place, but to dwell on more than one depressing thing at a time is just that – depressing. Along with horrid parents who sent me to boarding school, the worst didn't end there. I was bullied in school – for my big ears, for my intelligence, and sometimes I wonder if they just bullied me because they thought I was an easy target." she remembered that even now he was ridiculed by the other students, and he just seemed to brush it off, but really it stayed and festered in his mind. He continued, "When I was old enough to have my own life, I jumped at it the first chance I got. Being a doctor is the only thing I'm good at – mainly vascular surgery, but it's something I'm good at and I don't get teased for it because I can use my knowledge to save lives. I guess… I shut everyone out to save myself the trouble of being betrayed."

Louisa listened to him intently, and realized that deep down, he was a very insecure person, and found it hard to trust new people because he didn't want the hurt that the prospect carried. With how he'd been treated throughout his life, it was no wonder he didn't see just how good he was.

She put a hand to his face, but he flinched away from it, obviously embarrassed. She now forced him to look her in the eye, "Martin Ellingham, there is no doubt in my mind that you will make a brilliant doctor; knowing you you'll strive to be the best in your field when you've already achieved this, because you don't think you'll ever be good enough. Well I'm sorry, but everyone deserves a chance, and everyone deserves to 'come along' as you so put it, you even moreso because you've lived this lie all your life, this lie that maybe you aren't good enough. I know that even now you're the smartest man I know, and surely the best doctor. You don't have a bedside manner, but you do take your patients into account and put their lives above your own, even if you don't particularly like the patients you have to deal with. You appear, at times, unfeeling and unapproachable, and yet you are a very caring person. So stop doubting yourself – you have no need to."

He just sat there, blushing and looking down to his pristine polished shoes – she was sure if his seat had an eject button, he'd certainly push it.

"And you can stop looking down at you feet like that Martin Ellingham, you've no need to feel embarrassed because what I say is true." she waited for a reaction, and upon getting none moved to leave, "I can see tonight was a lost cause–"

"Wait!" he yelled, grabbing her arm.

"What is it?"

"Why do you…" she could see his internal conflict clearly written on his face.

"Why do I what?"

"Why do you… care?"

She paused at this. Why did she care?

"I don't know Martin, it's called being human. We care about each other in the human race, whether you like it or not."

He turned quiet, and she then remembered that nobody had truly cared for him other than his aunt, and he was probably very distrusting if anyone took any notice of him other than the usual jibes he got from the people who, unfortunately, were probably his future colleagues. She scolded herself for forgetting is distrustful nature, and he noticed.

"Louisa, what's wrong?"

"Nothing… just you. Nobody deserves what you had to live through, and… I don't really know where we're taking this, we've talked about as much as I can handle."

"Let's not talk then." he said, and for a moment she thought he was going to kiss her – then she thought 'Why would I want him to kiss me?'

"I know what you're thinking." he told her, "You're thinking 'why would you want me to kiss you', your blush tells me that enough."

Her blush deepened, "Are you psychic?"

"That depends."

"Depends on what?"

"Would you like me to kiss you?"

'Go for it' her mind told her, and she pulled him in for a kiss.

As the only sensible male on campus, Martin Ellingham had a certain reputation to uphold; The one who never went to parties, never touched a drop of alcohol and had never kissed a girl. Chris Parsons, a fellow medical student, said that it made him 'a good catch' but he had told him it was just how he was and he wasn't looking for a girlfriend. Of course, that hadn't stop Chris from matchmaking; all of the 17 applicants that had so far applied in the last year had been politely declined and apologized to for his friend's lax morals. Being with Louisa made him happy; she was the only woman who Chris hadn't tried to set him up with yet, and she treated him as an equal and a friend instead of just 'the opposite species' or 'a good catch'. For this reason he had decided, when her flushed face confirmed his theories, to ask her for a kiss. She admired him for his [sometimes brutal] honesty instead of berating him about it, although it didn't mean they didn't get into arguments, mostly over the smallest things; Chris had once compared them to an old married couple, and Martin had stated that they were neither old, married nor a couple.

The kiss ended as soon as it started, Louisa mumbling a quick apology, and he shook his head at her, "Don't you remember that I asked you for a kiss?"

"Yes, but…"

"There's no buts about it; I love you." the words had tumbled out before he could stop them, and now he was the one blushing.

"Martin, you can't possibly know that."

"I know enough to know that I can't live without you." he couldn't stop now; his mouth had a mind of its own.

He was worried that she would respond badly, and was pleasantly surprised when she gave him a smile and said, "I feel the same – about you, obviously, not about me…"

He put a hand to her cheek and said, "No more talking," and resumed their kiss.

A/N: Not bad for a first chapter, I think. I know I'm no good at portraying a young Martin and Louisa, just please don't bitch about it peeps. And if you're a saddo who reviews anonymously to completely flame my work (I've been getting allot of those lately), you can just sod off, I've no time for time wasters and if you have any good points to put across they will be duly noted. If you're a nice anonymous reviewer who has no reason to flame and wont flame, I sincerely hope you haven't been put of by my hatred of anonymous flamers; it does not pertain to all anonymous reviewers.

I've just checked and this chapter was started on the 20th of May… just saying. I'm very susceptible to writers block so don't be surprised if I sometimes take a long time to put up another chapter.