Quiet Escapade
The Doctor had promised her a date in Rome, 22nd century Rome, to be precise. Clara had been more than excited when he told her and she was looking forward to spending some quiet time with her Doctor – no running from the Daleks or some alien race that wanted to extract their spinal cords. None of that.
He had promised her that it would just be the two of them, dinner at a nice restaurant in 22nd century Rome, but did Clara Oswald get any of that? Well, sort of. They had reached 22nd century Rome but the date was immediately cancelled or 'put aside' as the Doctor said when he discovered that the planet was about to be invaded by the same alien race obsessed with extracting spinal cords from living beings with spinal cords.
He had insisted that they could still have their date but the issue was, Rome was in a bit of a mess after the attempted invasion so it had completely ruined the mood.
The Doctor's next attempt at cheering Clara was by taking her on a date in the 1950's. In America. He had managed to convince 'The Del Vikings' to perform at the restaurant they were dining at.
It was all going smoothly. They were having a fantastic time in each other's company.
"This is absolutely wonderful, Doctor," Clara murmured as she placed her hand on his.
The Doctor, who was looking in the direction of the band performing, glanced at his Impossible Girl and smiled. "Well, it's the least I can do after what happened in 22nd century Rome."
Yes, I need you
Yes, I really need you
Please say you'll never leave me
Well, say you never
Yes, you really never
You never give me a chance (oh)
Clara's attention was immediately diverted away from him when the singer began hitting the notes. The Doctor just hoped she wouldn't noticed that the so called band that was performing wasn't 'The Del Vikings' and that they were actually Zygons who volunteered to help him.
Come, come, come, come
Come into my heart
Tell me, darlin'
We will never part
I need you, darlin'
So come go with me, yeah
The Doctor couldn't help but grin when he saw how Clara's face lit up. Their hands were still intertwined and he thought that nothing could ruin the special moment.
Unfortunately, the drummer sneezed and morphed back into its actual form. Needless to say, the patrons, excluding the Doctor and Clara Oswald, ran for their lives.
The date was ruined when it was discovered that someone had phoned the police and that the restaurant had been barricaded from the outside so the Doctor had to board the Zygons into the TARDIS and send them off some place else.
Clara wasn't cross with how things turned out but she was a bit disappointed – or at least that was what he could tell. Where ever they go to have some quiet time, there seems to be trouble.
However, the Doctor wasn't going to give up just yet. He wasn't a quitter and was determined to give Clara Oswald a decent date and surprisingly enough, he got some help from a very unlikely duo.
It all started when he tried convincing Clara to visit the second most beautiful garden in the universe because the most beautiful garden in the universe is always full of people and noisy.
"I promise you that nothing bad will ever happen, Clara. It's just going to be a nice stroll in the garden," the Doctor explained as he and Clara walked up the stairs, heading to her classroom.
"Doctor, as much as I would love to go, I have a class to teach."
"And I have a time machine. We can always get back here in time!" he reasoned, earning an unconvinced look from her. "I really want to make it up for what happened during our dates."
Clara sighed as they stopped in front of her classroom. "Doctor, it's fine. I'm not mad at you or anything like that."
The Doctor furrowed his attack eyebrows. "Then why do you have that look – it's that look."
"What look?"
"Never mind, it's gone now," he said grumpily.
He knew Clara was still upset about their dates being ruined and he knew she was simply pretending not to. Stubborn woman.
"Mr Smith," a voice called from outside the Snog Shed-slash caretaker's shed later that afternoon.
The Doctor swung the door opened and was greeted by the sight of Alice Thompson or Brutally Honest Observer as called her since she had asked him if he was in love with Clara.
"Yes?" he grunted.
"My brother and I couldn't help but notice and overheard that you and Miss Oswald were talking about your ruined dates," the 12 year old began. "So I thought we could maybe help?"
The Doctor arched an eyebrow. The girl was indeed a brutally honest observer. "You're too honest and observant, you know that?" he muttered as he stepped aside to allow Alice to enter the shed. "And what do you mean your brother?"
"I have an older brother. He's in Year 10," the girl explained and as if on cue, her brother stepped into the shed with a ridiculous grin on his face.
It was the boy who had caught him and Clara snogging in the shed. The same boy who had the same stupid grin on his face when he swung the door open knowing full well what the caretaker and his teacher were up to that one time both went 'missing'. It was Michael.
"Hello, Mr Smith,"
"Alright, what's in it for the both of you?"
"I just feel sorry for you," Alice said.
"A trip in your time machine," Michael added.
The Doctor had to think this through. These two small, well, Michael wasn't exactly small. He's quite tall but these two human children want to help him with his date with Clara. It couldn't be all that bad right? He could just repay them by showing them what earth looks like from outer space and that's it.
"Fine. If you help me, I'll show you what earth looks like from outer space."
"What about a trip to that ice-cream planet? That sounds better."
The Doctor rolled his eyes and let out a sigh. "Ok, a quick trip to IC 12 it is."
He couldn't believe he was making a deal with children. And that the same children were going to set up a nice date for him with their English teacher. In the Snog Shed.
Michael and Alice had asked him what went wrong with the previous dates and he simply told them there was always trouble and so, they suggested the snog shed as the venue. It sounded ridiculous at first but he needed a quiet place and not in risk of being invaded or obliterated by an alien race for just a few hours.
Besides, he supposed the shed doesn't look so bad either. Sure, there were a few cobwebs on the ceiling and that it was full of tools and chairs and tables but nothing a little tidying up wouldn't help.
After everyone had left the school compound, Brutally Honest Observer and her brother, Ridiculous Grinner began their work by setting up the table and chairs. Food was taken care of by the TARDIS and all Alice had to do was collect it from the console room.
With the table set, a single candle light lit in the centre, illuminating the food laid neatly on a white table cloth. Michael had also brought his portable Bluetooth speaker and set it in one corner of the shed.
"Doctor, where are you taking me? Why do I have to be blindfolded?" Clara giggled as he held her hand and led her into the shed.
"Well, you'll see," he simply said before removing the blindfold.
The look on Clara's face was that of pure shock and amusement. She hadn't expected him to be so romantic. "So you're definitely doing romance now?" she teased.
Music began playing from the speaker.
Dom dom dom dom, dom-be-dooby-dom
Dom dom dom dom, dom-be-dooby-dom
Dom dom dom dom, dom-be-dooby-dom
Wah, wah, wah, wah
Well, I love, love you, darlin'
Come and go with me
Come go with me
Way beyond the sea
I need you, darlin'
So come go with me
The Doctor cleared his throat and looked down at his shoes, feeling heat rising to his cheeks. "I had some help from your students – Brutally Honest Observer and her brother."
"I'm still impressed," she murmured before she got on her toes and kissed his cheek. She knew that Michael would have asked for something in return and she would have a talk with him but for the moment, she was happy over spending some well needed quiet time with her Doctor. "Thank you."
Come, come, come, come
Come into my heart
Tell me, darlin'
We will never part
I need you, darlin'
So come go with me
Michael and Alice on the other hand, had been hiding in the TARDIS, observing the interaction between the caretaker and their teacher from the monitor before deciding to let them have their alone time.
For now, the two siblings just couldn't wait for their trip to IC 12.
Come on, go with me
Come on, go with me
I was listening to The Del Viking's Come and Go With Me and couldn't help but think that it screamed Whouffaldi. This was pretty much the result. Thank you for reading and Happy New Year! :)