Why hello there again! New story! Once again, this is dumb. I saw an anonymous prompt on Whouffle Library on tumblr that I thought was HILARIOUS so I decided to take the chance and write it. Turned out a LOT longer than I expected it to be. I had a lot of fun writing it though so I really don't care if nobody likes it, I'm just glad I finished it.
This started off being really awkward and whatnot cause the awkward Doctor is adorable to write, but kinda spun out of control later on, and I like the way it went. I'm considering writing another version of this where he ends up just acting really awkward around her, but for now, this way felt right, and this way was fun to write.
Slight Warning: There are some kind of... mature-ish... things in here. Nothing horrifying, and nothing that should be rated M (in my opinion, anyway) but yeah, just watch out for that near the end. You can skip it if you don't like it, it's fluff, but like, heavy-er-ish fluff.
Disclaimer: If it were mine, whouffle would be cannon. Basically, it's not mine.
Prompt: Clara gets her period and the Doctor is all awkward.
Is It Really That Time Again?
When travelling through time and space, your perception of time changes.
Clara felt like she'd been aboard the TARDIS forever, but like she also ran away with the Doctor just yesterday. She never knew if it was a Wednesday or a Saturday, and who really cared what time of day it was, she ate when she was hungry, and slept when she was tired, and did whatever she felt like during the time in between their adventures.
That particular morning, Clara woke up feeling funny. She didn't know why, but she just felt funny.
Getting dressed was a struggle. She felt like there were rocks in her legs weighing her down. When she put on her favourite dress, she looked at herself in the mirror and frowned.
"Did I really eat that much last night?" She asked herself, turning sideways in the mirror to acknowledge the slight "food baby" she had been sporting.
Shaking her head, she pulled the dress off and threw it on the floor. The cinched waistline had grazed her chest and she gasped out of pain.
"Argh!" she cried grabbing her chest. Every little touch made her boobs ache. She looked back at her reflection in the mirror and noticed the dark circles under her eyes were quite prominent. She also noticed a small pimple on her chin that wasn't there before. She hardly recognized the bloated, tired looking girl. What was wrong with her?
Opting for a pair of confortable yoga pants and a baggy sweater, she made her way through the TARDIS over to the kitchen. She was suddenly starving.
"Ah, good morning, Clara!" said the Doctor. He had already started making them pancakes and bacon using the ingredients they had picked up on their visit to Canada the day before.
"Morning, Doctor." She inhaled and sighed, "Smells lovely in here, I'm starving." He smiled, and served her a large plate. She thanked him, and began scarfing down her food.
Halfway through her meal, Clara started feeling nauseous. The smell of the bacon, and the sweet maple syrup irked her stomach and she pushed away her plate.
"Clara, are you okay? Are you sick?" The Doctor asked.
"Not sick, per say, just… not feeling like Clara." He was confused by her answer. Had some sort of alien taken over her body? He whipped out the sonic and waved it over her. Nope, no signs of alien life forms, just regular Clara.
"Perhaps you're having an off-day. Would you like to just stay in the TARDIS and relax a bit?"
"Yeah, it's for the best." He nodded and cleared their dishes.
Later on, the two of them had decided that perhaps a movie would be a good idea. They were sitting closely on the couch in the media room when Clara's belly started to ache.
She thought nothing of it, perhaps she had eaten too much too quickly at breakfast, or not enough.
But the aching continued. In fact, it got worse. She found herself curling into a ball against a very confused Doctor.
Suddenly, she had a moment of realization.
She moved away from the Doctor and got up to leave the room. "Where are you going?"
"Uh… nowhere. Just to check something in my room."
"Clara, are you alright? You look very pale." The Doctor asked, looking quite concerned.
"I'm fine, I think the TARDIS hid my phone again, I forgot to look for it this morning." Ah hell, she thought, he'll see right through that excuse.
"Okay," he said, "I'll be waiting here." He smiled that sweet smile and the butterflies in her stomach momentarily cut through the ache. She smiled back and ran off to her room.
Clara found her phone on her nightstand. She opened up the calendar feature with shaking hands and realized what day it was.
Oh no, it's the 17th of the month, she thought. I can't believe I forgot my period was coming.
She rummaged through everything in her room looking for tampons. She knew she hadn't used the whole box the last time, and even if so, she carried spares in her purse.
Clara couldn't find any, anywhere. The blood drained from her face, as the cramps got worse. All she could say was "Oh no" repeatedly. She couldn't believe this was happening.
She rushed into the bathroom attached to her bedroom and looked in every cabinet. Clara couldn't find even a single tampon.
She rushed to find another bathroom; perhaps the TARDIS was hiding them somewhere else. She found nothing.
Clara ran into the console room, panicking, and looked up to the ceiling.
"Come on you stupid cow! Just give them to me! I'm begging you!"
The Doctor chose to walk in right at that moment.
"Clara, why are you calling the TARDIS a 'stupid cow'? And what do you want from her? Are you sure you're okay?"
She pivoted on the spot to face him, completely mortified, and sank to the ground, letting out a frustrated sob. He ran to her side.
"Hey, hey, Clara, look at me," he whispered, pulling her into his arms for a comforting hug. "Something's obviously bothering you, what's wrong?"
She let out a choked sob before looking him straight in the eyes and saying, "I just got my period, and the TARDIS is hiding my tampons from me." She bowed her head and continued to sob into his shoulder.
His eyes widened. He went white as a sheet. The Doctor wasn't good with women. He loved having them as companions, and became a lot more comfortable around them as he grew used to their presence, but they had never come to him with any personal problems. The most personal he ever got with their… body issues… was when Amy thought she was pregnant. In all his years, he had never encountered this.
Clara moaned a bit. "Doctor, the pain, it's killing me. I'm gonna throw up." Suddenly, he knew what to do. His Clara was in pain, and he would try his best to ease it for her.
The Doctor jumped up to action, picking Clara up bridal style and bringing her back into the media room. He then ran to the medical bay and grabbed a full hot water bottle and some very strong painkillers that wouldn't be legalized until the year 2470. Clara never let him know that she was in pain; he knew she'd need these today.
"Okay, Clara. I need you to take these, can you do that for me?" She nodded weakly, swallowing the pills and grimacing as she did it. He wrapped a big blanket around her and tucked her with the hot water bottle on the couch.
"Wait right here, I'll only be a moment."
The Doctor ran into the console room of the TARDIS.
"SEXY. I know you have what Clara needs, hand them over. NOW!"
The TARDIS only hummed in response.
"Please? Come on, old girl. Just give me a hint at where you've hidden Clara's…stuff. She really needs them."
The Doctor looked for a sign from his beloved machine. He knew that if he pleaded enough, she'd eventually give in. But today, the TARDIS wasn't having any of it.
"Okay, look." The time lord said in a defeated voice. "I love her. I love her and you know it. I love her and I hate seeing the people I love in pain, especially her. She's my impossible girl. She's died for me countless times, the least I could do for her is locate the whereabouts of her… things."
The Doctor still got no response.
"FINE. Looks like I'll have to take matters into my own hands." He set coordinates into his disobedient TARDIS and headed for earth.
The TARDIS landed in the front yard of the Maitland's house. Artie recognized the noise right away and ran outside to see the Doctor.
"Ah! Artie! Hello! Is Angie around by any chance?"
"No, she just left to go to the cinema with her friends."
"Ah, Daleks. Just missed her then, did I?"
"Afraid so, mate. How's Clara? Can I go see her?"
"Um, she's a little bit…sick right now." The young boy looked worried for his former nanny. "Not bad sick, just not feeling very well at the moment. We'll come visit though when she gets better, maybe go see a cool planet."
"Okay… I miss Clara. Our new nanny isn't fun like her."
"Clara misses you too, Artie. I promise we'll come round as soon as she feels up to it."
"Cool, thanks Doctor! Keep Clara safe!" Artie yelled as he ran back towards the house."
"Always, my friend." The Doctor replied from the threshold of the TARDIS.
Alright. Angie wasn't home to ask about these… things, so plan B is to… The Doctor gulped nervously, locate a shop and pick them up myself.
Coordinates were set for the shops downtown. The Doctor exited the TARDIS and made his way into the large store.
Upon entering, a nice young woman greeted him. "Can I help you find anything?"
"No," he said too quickly, "I think I can find them on my own." She nodded and he set out to look for Clara's tampons.
He repeated in his head I am the Oncoming Storm. I AM the Oncoming Storm. I can DO this as a personal mantra. He was embarrassed, and slightly awkward, but he'd find it if it was the last thing he did.
The Doctor passed row-by-row looking at the products sold on each wall. Shampoo, no. Soap, no. Hair elastics, no. Potato chips, no. Condoms… DEFINITELY no. He blushed as he passed that particular expanse of wall.
Finally, the Doctor reached the "feminine care products" as the sign put it. He picked up the first box he saw and started walking away when he noticed the packaging. Scented? Super jumbo sized? What does that even mean? The Doctor picked up another box. This one's a different brand? They don't just have one generic brand?
The Doctor began to panic. Which one should he choose? He looked back to the large wall spotting at least ten different labels. This is a nightmare, he thought.
He walked back to find the young sales lady again when he heard a familiar voice enter the store.
"ANGIE!" the Doctor yelled, sprinting towards the teenage girl.
"Doctor, what the hell are you doing here?"
"I could ask you the same, aren't you supposed to be at the cinema?"
"My friends and I came by to get snacks before the movie started. Seriously though, what are you doing here? Where's Clara?"
"Clara's fine, well… she isn't. I came here because," he prepared himself to say it, "I came here because she ran out of tampons and I really don't know what to do you've got to help me Angie, seriously there are so many different brands and types and colours and how does one know what even works? I'm trying to help Clara because she was in a lot of pain and she broke down crying and I'm not good with crying girls… she just needs some tampons." He took a deep breath and looked at Angie, pleading. Angie and her friends broke down into a fit of laughter.
"Honestly, you're her boyfriend, shouldn't you know these things?"
"I'm not her boyfriend!" He retorted.
"Whatever you say." She said sarcastically. "Just follow me."
Angie led him back down the aisle and passed him two boxes of different products. Then she took him into the frozen section and picked up a tub of Clara's favourite cotton candy flavoured ice cream. Lastly, she picked up three rather large bars of chocolate.
"Since you obviously don't know what to do, give her these. While she's gone, scoop her some of this in her favourite mug and keep the chocolate bar handy. She gets really bad cramps so she doesn't like to do much for the day. She'll be complaining about her back so get her something hot to put on it." Cool, he thought, at least I did one thing right. "Throw on Love, Actually or Music and Lyrics anything with Hugh Grant in it really. If she gets really cranky, something funny like Mean Girls will work."
The Doctor dropped everything onto the counter and brought Angie in for a really big hug.
"I cannot thank you enough, Angie Maitland!"
"It's nothing. Besides, I know how you feel about her. Anything to get you some brownie points, you're cool. And she feels the same way for you too, just so you know." The Doctor blushed a deep crimson.
"Still not denying anything, I see. Well I guess I'll see you around, Doctor."
"Yes, I'll see you soon! I promised your brother as soon as Clara's feeling up to it, well pop by to say hi and take you out for another adventure."
"Sounds great! Until next time then!"
"Until next time."
The Doctor paid for the items, waved at Angie and set back for the TARDIS.
"CLARA!" the Doctor yelled running into the media room where she was laying. "I've got them."
He reached into the bag and got out the two different boxes that Angie had instructed him to buy. She looked at them, tears welling up in her eyes again, and advanced towards him. He held up his hands, worried that she might hit him for venturing out and buying her tampons, but instead she pulled him in for a hug.
"Oh god, thank you so much Doctor. I really don't know of many guys who would go buy tampons for some girl." she dashed out of the room with her two boxes.
The Doctor stood on the spot looking dazed for a second before moving to the kitchen to scoop out some ice cream for the both of them.
Once the ice cream was prepared the way Angie told him, he found Music and Lyrics and popped it into the DVD player. Clara came back and he handed her the mug of ice cream.
"Doctor, how did you know?" She looked puzzled.
"I ran into Angie at the store. She told me exactly what I needed." he smiled and pulled out the chocolate bar.
"You didn't have to go to all that trouble. Oh, you even put in my favourite movie! You truly are amazing." she smiled at him, leaned against him, and turned her attention to the movie.
"So, did those pills I gave you earlier help at all?"
She nodded "they worked wonders. I'm still in a little bit of pain, but it isn't too bad now."
"Good. Would a backrub help?"
Clara thought the Doctor was joking. "Oh dear, a backrub is just what I need."
The Doctor moved to sit behind her.
"I was only joking, you don't have to you silly man." Clara was clearly embarrassed.
"No, no, really I don't mind."
Clara protested again, but the doctor only hushed her, dancing his fingers along her spine. She removed the heavy sweater that she had put on earlier. He swept her hair away from her neck and started gently rubbing her shoulders.
Clara sighed and closed her eyes. She wasn't even paying attention to the movie anymore; she was solely focused on the skilled hands working at her back. This was exactly what she needed. Her body had been tensed all morning, and her muscles were sore.
The Doctor gently worked all the kinks out of her shoulders and upper back. He gradually moved lower down her back until his thumbs were dipping into the waistband of her yoga pants.
"Is this okay?" he whispered in a husky voice so close to her ear that it made her shiver. She nodded quickly.
Clara was in absolute disbelief. The Doctor, the nerdy thousand-year-old man-child had her hanging on every word. She was putty in his hands. They usually held hands, and he was big on cuddling, but this is the most intimate he'd ever been around her. Clara couldn't tell if it was just her out of whack hormones or whatever, but she was really enjoying the intimacy between the two. It felt so natural for her to be sitting between his legs getting a back rub from him.
He trailed his fingers up her spine again. "Clara…" He whispered closer to her ear than she had expected.
"Mmhmm?"
"I'll be right back." He slipped out from behind her and left the room.
Clara's heart was racing. She really didn't know what to think of whatever had just happened between the two of them. Nothing like this had ever happened to her. She was never one of those girls who craved big romantic gestures, or cared about them at all really. This was the first time in her whole life she had felt like this around anyone. Could he have feelings for me? Clara thought to herself. He is a really childish man, but very recently, as in whatever the hell just happened there, his gestures towards her have become less childlike and more adult. I'll play it by ear, Clara decided, if he acts all… seductive again, I'll throw him a bone. Why not, he's cute, and I'm comfortable with him.
Just then, Clara felt her stomach lurch again. She curled back into a ball and cradled the hot water bottle.
"Clara, I'm back! I figured, if we're gonna have a lazy TARDIS day, why not make it a pajama day!" The Doctor said as he walked back into the media room. He was wearing bow tie printed bottoms with a plain tank top. She had never seen him looking so casual.
Damn, he's more than cute, he's really hot she thought to herself. Great body, good cook, good taste in movies, amazingly sweet, phenomenal with his hands… she bit her lip thinking about his hands. Oh god, the things he could do with those fingers. He even makes flying the TARDIS look sensual. She shivered, more than slightly aroused at the thought of what he could do to her with those hands. Damn these hormones!
"Are you cold, Clara?" He looked genuinely concerned.
She fake shivered a bit before nodding and staring up at him through her lashes. She must have given him more of a seductive look than she thought she did because a deep red blush spread across his cheeks.
"Er… okay, here!" He said awkwardly. His arms opened wide and she cuddled against him with his arms wrapped around her. He pulled the blanket up to cover both of them, and propped his feet on the footrest in front of them.
"Better?" She nodded and kissed him on the cheek. I'm going for it; I'm really going to go for it this time Clara thought to herself. Really, she could have just put on the heavy sweatshirt that she had abandoned for his back rub, but what was the fun in that?
She curled further into him, and "clumsily" pushed him over so the very startled time lord was lying on his back, with her on top of him.
"So sorry, Doctor." Clara said with mock embarrassment.
"Quite alright." The Doctor didn't really know what to say without sounding awkward, so he left it at that and attempted to get back up.
"Can we just stay here? I'm comfortable." Clara said sweetly while fully laying down on top of him.
"Um—I—erm—I was quite comfortable before—to be honest—"
"But I'm more comfortable now." Clara said in a slightly demanding tone. The Doctor, not wanting to get on her bad side, settled down into the couch and made himself comfortable. Not surprisingly, he was enjoying the position they were in. He had never felt so close to her in all their time together, and simply put, it was really nice.
Clara moved her head off the Doctor's chest and propped herself up a bit to free her hands. With one hand, she moved the stubborn section of hair that always seemed to escape from his attempt at styling it away from his face. He looked up into her eyes, which were gazing into his, then shyly looked down. He realized too late what a bad move this was. He ended up peering straight down her tank top to see the curve of her breasts peeking out from the top, and straight down her cleavage to where the front of her bra met he sternum. Eyes wide and cheeks red as a tomato, he looked back to her face.
"Hey, eyes front, soldier."
"Yes ma'am." He squeaked out, hearts pounding.
She giggled lightly. "I just wanted to thank you for everything you've done today. It was really sweet, you didn't have to."
He smiled. Oh my impossible girl, she thinks I wouldn't go to the edges of the universe to help her. What a silly thing to think, of course I would. "I'd do it any time, Clara."
"No, really though Doctor, you went to an actual shop on Earth, and bought me tampons. Not even my father would go out to get them for me." She considered her current position on top of him. "Er—bad comparison at the moment."
He chuckled and pulled her close again, so he could feel her breath just below his ear.
"But seriously, thank you."
He was about to say something witty back to her, but she moved her head from the crook his neck to right in front of his face. His smile fell and his breath hitched when he noticed her proximity.
Slowly, Clara inched forward. The Doctor wanted to hold off on kissing her until he found the perfect moment, but he sensed that it would be inevitable at this point. Instead of moving away like he thought he might, he settled his hands on the strip of skin on her waist where her tank top had ridden up.
She shivered lightly at his touch, but it only caused her to press forwards completely, and capture his lips with her own. She knew he was hesitating at first, but could pinpoint the moment he threw caution to the wind and responded. She sighed slightly when she felt his soft lips press back into her own.
The kiss was like a slow burn. It was soft, yet sensual, and made Clara's toes curl with pleasure. The Doctor's hands eventually moved up further under her top and traced the line of her spine down from her mid back to the edge of her pants. If he was being honest, he really didn't know what to do with his hands and was just doing what he did before, which seemed to make her happy.
She pulled away first, gasping for air, but moved her lips to the spot just beneath his ear. She nipped lightly before he brought his hand up to her face, moving it so he could kiss her again.
The Doctor kissed her with more enthusiasm than before. His tongue lightly traced the seal of her lips, and she moaned softly when it touched her own.
Her tank top had ridden up slightly because of the way his hands had been moving on her back. She could feel his ride up as well from her position on his body. The skin-to-skin contact was brilliant in her eyes, and she moved her hands down to his surprisingly muscular stomach. She felt the muscles ripple with his hitched breath as her fingers lightly danced over his abdomen.
Things were getting heated. Hm, perhaps I shouldn't have passed those condoms so quickly… NO. It won't come to that. The Doctor thought that for sure Clara reciprocated his feelings from the way things were playing out at the moment, but for some nagging reason, he still wasn't sure. He pulled away. She moved closer to him to capture his lips in another breathtaking kiss, but he moved her off of him so he could sit up and look at her.
Once Clara had sat up, she realized what had just happened. Her tank top had ridden up to just underneath her breasts. His wasn't much better, but it eventually fell from where it sat just above his abdomen. Her hair was a complete disaster; half falling out of the bun she had put it in this morning. She had done exactly the opposite of good: she had let her crazy PMS hormones get the better of her.
"Oh god what did I do?" She said quietly pulling her hands up to her face.
"Clara, I'm so sorry, I shouldn't have let it go that far."
"I'll never live this down." She moaned quietly into her hands before looking up at him shyly. "You're gonna tease me for this forever, aren't you."
"Do you regret it?"
She took her time thinking carefully about what to say. "Yes, and no." He looked sad, yet confused at her answer. "No, because," she took a shaky breath in, "I really like you, in fact, I think I love you, Doctor." He beamed as she said this. His hearts were pounding, and the smile plastered on his face threatened to rip his face in two. He was so ridiculously happy. "But in a way, yes, I do regret it. I wanted to tell you at the right time with a nice atmosphere when I was absolutely sure you loved me back."
"You aren't absolutely sure that I love you back? Clara, I bought you tampons for crying out loud. Were you even looking at my face when you said you loved me? My face hurts from grinning. I love you, so, so much. It hurts me to see you sad and kills me to see you in pain. When you're happy, I'm happy that you're happy. I don't even care for the fancy planets and travelling that we do, I just love to see your face light up at seeing something new and exciting." She finally looked up at him and smiled. "There isn't a word in any language, anywhere, that describes how much I love you." The Doctor whispered the last part, and tears sprung into Clara's eyes.
"Oh dear, I've made you cry again. What have I done this time?"
"Nothing, you've done everything right. I'm crying because I'm ridiculously happy you silly old man." She giggled through her tears.
"Really?"
"Yes really! Now come here." She hugged him close and buried her face into his shoulder.
"I guess Angie was right then."
"Angie? What did she say?"
"She said that you felt the same way as me. I thought she was crazy."
"She told you that?" Clara said hotly as she moved away from him.
"Yeah, when she was helping me in the shop." He touched the back of his neck nervously, hoping she wouldn't be too mad.
"Oh, I'm gonna kill her."
"Maybe we should wait another, say, week or so before seeing her…?" She looked at him practically shooting bullets at him. "Or we could forget I ever said that…"
"Yeah, let's do that."
"I love you…" He looked at her shyly again; hoping that her small fit of rage was over.
The anger practically melted off of her, and her lips morphed into a small smile. "I'll never get tired of hearing that. I love you too."
Clara curved back into his side. She definitely did not expect her day to end up like this. She was happy with her Doctor. The strange events of the day led her to this, and it would be one for the books. Amazed at her luck finding with the handsome time lord, she snuggled in closer to him, and enjoyed the fact that what started out as being quite an off day could end so right.