Author's Note: Since you liked my story A Second Chance, I decided to write another one.

I hope you like it! :3

Melting Hearts

Chapter 1: Don't Worry

The Planet Wavelet – also known as The Sanctuary of Water and Ice. Sounds fascinating, doesn't it? A planet with beauty as great as anger. Monumental palaces guarded by creatures of ice, underwater caves containing treasures - singing red whales can lead you there. Rocks covered with glittering snow that emits blue light at night - unbelievable sceneries…

They walked through wonderful rooms, across bridges made of ice; they even took a boat trip on the sea – quite romantic. The Doctor and Clara also entered a magnificent chamber. It was of a grey - dark blue colour and the walls were decorated with ornaments, lights and little waterfalls. And the scent of it? Like the air after rain. They got there by complete accident, yet the Doctor claimed he knew exactly where they were. He didn't want to admit having no clue - Time Lords don't get lost. Above all, not a particular Time Lord in front of Clara Oswald. It turned out to be a sacred chamber – entrance for strangers forbidden. They found out when a 13ft tall, icy guard surprised them. It was a wonderful trip until this moment. Neither excuses nor explanations could stop him from attacking them. The Doctor grabbed her hand and they ran.

They stormed into the time machine completely out of breath and Clara slammed the door behind her. She apologised to the TARDIS right away, but still thought it was a bit weird – even after such a long time.

"Well, that was close!" she breathed.

The Doctor scuttled a few steps further to the console and switched the main lever to lift off. The time rotor above the console started turning, accompanied by the wheezing sound of the blue box.

Clara walked over to him. He was still out of breath and supported himself on the console. His thoughts were exactly the same as Clara's.

"Are you okay?" he asked first.

"Yeah, apart from being cold and tired, yes, I am," she replied, relieved that they're finally save.

"Good. I'll turn the heating on, you'll be warm soon," he said quietly while he was pressing buttons of different colours and switching little levers on the console.

She'd rather give him a great big hug and rest her head on his chest, but she supposed he wouldn't be all happy about her actions, so she said just 'thank you' instead.

"And you? Are you alright too? " she asked.

"Fine," he mumbled, not looking at her.

Clara could hear something upsetting in his voice.

"You don't sound 'fine', Doctor. What's wrong?" she asked as she was approaching him.

He raised his eyebrows and shrugged, pretending not to understand what she wants of him.

"Nothing."

He could try his best, but he couldn't hide it from her, anyway. She was too clever and cared for him too much not to notice that something was wrong. He walked around the console, not letting her come too close to him.

"Why are you trying to hide your left hand behind your back?"

Before he could come up with a clever response, which she wouldn't believe anyway, drops of blood had fallen on the floor - they didn't go unnoticed and she hurried to him at once.

As soon as she was standing next to him, she could see that his left hand was covered with blood.

"Oh God. Doctor, what's happened to you?!" she asked worriedly.

"That was one of those little icy creatures with sharp pieces as arms. We were escaping when one of them jumped from the bridge above us and cut my arm - I didn't even see it."

"Why didn't you say anything? You need help!"

"Oh, please, it's nothing, Clara. I can handle it myself… and what are your eyes doing again? Get them under control," he said like nothing was happening.

"Nothing?" Clara's voice was a little louder than before and also brittle, "Your whole sleeve is ripped and soaked with blood!"

"Please, let me help you," she said softly and took his right hand hers.

He looked at her warm hand holding his, which send pleasant warmth through his body. Then he examined her face and saw her concern, deep concern and nodded. She asked him if he could fly them to her bedroom and he did without arguing – he considered it a good idea.

"You probably won't like it, but we need to get you out of your coat and shirt to take care of the wound," Clara said, gently squeezing his hand.

Even though he did expect this, he was completely disconcerted and a bit alarmed.

He gave a quiet, "Yes, boss."

She gently helped him out his favourite black coat with the red lining on the inside. She thought he looked dashing in it - she'd never told him, though. She wasn't sure if he'd accept her compliment or what he'd say to that, so she'd rather kept quiet to avoid awkward situations.

He hissed and his right hand supported him on the handrail when Clara removed the left soaked sleeve as gently as she could. Now he stood there, just in his trousers with his white shirt tucked in. The dark red stain started below his shoulder and continued down his arm.

"Okay, now the worse part," she said. She wanted to make him feel more comfortable because he obviously wasn't. She wished someone or something had been there to make her feel less nervous. Her heart was beating fast. Keep yourself together, you've got it all under control, she thought.

The Doctor pulled his shirt out of his trousers and Clara started undoing the top buttons.

"I can do that myself."

"I know."

He was puzzled but didn't protest.

When she was in the middle, he grabbed her hands with his right.

"Clara," he whispered nervously and she looked up at him, "I'm not a young man anymore…"

She placed her hand on his cheek and smiled a little, "I know you're not, but I don't mind, really. Please, don't be embarrassed or something," she caressed his cheek with her thumb, "Don't worry."

He gave her a faint smile and Clara continued. He knew that this 'taking clothes off' part would hurt more than it had before because the fabric was clinging to the wound. Clara took the left sleeve off slower, he hissed and his face twisted a little in pain.

"Done," Clara said and threw the shirt over the rail, next to the jacket. She turned to the Doctor to find him looking at her.

She didn't want to stare at him but she couldn't help it. His body was so pale… and lean, but he had a little belly. She was trying not to think about sleeping on it. Little short and coarse chest hair was between his pecs and a little on his abdomen. She was trying not to think about stroking it. She could feel that her brain was slowly giving up work. Her heart was pounding so fast, she could feel it.

You're beautiful

The Doctor stared back at her, stunned and she'd just realised had said that out loud.

Has she really just said this? Am I hallucinating? God knows what the little beast's saliva contain… Wait, they contain nothing, I know. Maybe Clara's malfunctioning again. Yeah, that must be it. She has eaten a bit of the glittering snow after all – some intoxicating substance must be part of that.

"T-thank you, Clara. You're beautiful… too" he stuttered nervously.

His hearts were racing and he blushed deeply.

She licked her lips and found herself panicking. She gave him a smile, feeling the reddish colour creeping on her cheeks too. She needed to escape, and luckily, she had a perfect reason.

"I'll… I'll just run to my bathroom and get some hankies, towels and bandages, okay? Sit down for a while and wait," she said nervously with a smile and she was off.

He nodded and did as he was told. His eyes looked at his arm – couldn't see much because of the blood, but it didn't hurt as much as before. He bit his lower lip and allowed himself to smile while he was waiting for her.