Hart

Oh, great. I was going to be late – again. I ran down the high street, towards where I worked in the pub at the end. Not the most glamorous of jobs, I know. But anything is better than nothing, nowadays. I was so set on getting there, without being too late, that I didn't see the young man, with floppy brown hair, until I was literally on top of him and we were on the floor.

"Oh my gosh!" I said, rolling off him. I sat next to where he lay on the floor to make sure he could move. "Are you all right?" I asked, hesitantly when he didn't and just continued lying on the floor. He had a very handsome face, with an extremely defined jawline.

Before I had time to examine him further he suddenly began laughing. I jumped at the suddenness of it, and watched as he sat up. When he had stopped laughing I grabbed his hand and yanked him off the floor, now happy and smiling myself that I hadn't hurt him.

"Where are we going?" He asked. I could hear the mischief in his voice, and I was sure if I turned around he would be smirking.

"Nothing like that, Mr!" I reprimanded, with a smirk of my own back to him. "But I am going to buy you a drink for almost giving you concussion." He laughed again.

When he got his snorts under control he spoke again, "No, you're as light as a feather. I just wasn't expecting to be floored by a 5"3 girl on a Tuesday evening." I stopped walking and let go of his hand, facing him dead on. I saw he was looking at me with twinkling, intelligent eyes. He was much more than a head taller than me. He must have been at least 6".

"Are you ready now?" I asked, with raised eyebrows, and saw him become confused.

"Ready for wh-" Before he could finish I jumped on him, and once again he fell to the floor, this time with a glorious "oomph!"

I remained on top of him while I spoke, "You underestimate me." I watched as an idea seemed to form in his head, I just didn't know what it was. I got off him and held out my hand to help him up. With that we headed to the Stag and Three Horses, where I worked.

###

When we arrived I sat my new friend at the bar, as I went to stand behind it. I was only recently allowed to work behind the bar, as I only just turned 18. Before that I had to serve food and clean tables. Honestly, behind the bar is so much more fun and a lot less disgusting.

I looked to the man leaning forward onto the bar, as if to try and get a closer look at me. I knew he had an attractive face, and his mind was probably a bit too dirty for his own good. It wouldn't surprise me if he had a few girls on the side. However, his attire seemed to say he was a complete - for lack of a better word - geek. He had a beige blazer with a blue shirt underneath. I was pretty sure I caught a glimpse of some braces under his jacket. Unfortunately, I couldn't see his trousers, but I bet they were of the same monstrosity that was in front of me. Oh, I think I forgot – how could I forget? - he was wearing a freaking BOW TIE! Who wears bow ties in this day and age?

"You know blue and brown don't go together." I said, when he just stared at me for a while. "Plus, no one wears bow ties any more. Unless you're James Bond, and you do not have the tux to go with it. Oh, by the way, I'm Lilliana Hart – call me Lilly. So who are you?"

"Well, Lilly, I am the Doctor." He said, as though it was the most obvious thing in the world. He smiled, seemly waiting for something. "Aren't you going to ask?" He questioned. I was confused, and let it show to my features. "People always ask - 'doctor who?'" I laughed.

"Well, I noticed that you said 'the' Doctor and not 'a' doctor. The use of the definite article implied that it was your name, opposed to if you used the indefinite article. Therefore, asking would be pointless. Am I right? Or did you actually plan to give me a different name than the one you just did?" He opened and closed his mouth repeatedly, clearly speechless. "So, Doctor. What's your poison? I think you look like a bourbon kind of a man."

His smile returned, "Sweet and intoxicating?" He said with a wink.

###

I didn't finish until one, but the Doctor insisted on waiting. He didn't take me up on the offer of bourbon though, he just had lemonade. I put my apron away and skipped around to where the Doctor was still sitting. "So, stalker. What you still doing here?" He turned to me on his bar stool smiling down at me.

"I want to show you something." I saw his eye twinkle with mischief, before he jumped off his seat and tried to grab my hand, but I pulled back just before he could with a mischievous smile of my own.

"For one thing, I don't even know you. Also, I need to get home. I told my mum I'd be back by two."

"Oh, another blonde that lives with her mum." He said, rolling his eyes.

I laughed. I knew he had other women on the side. Not that I wanted to be one, I just knew that he did. "Another blonde? I'm just another one?" I said. I watched as he looked really sorry for what he had said, but I just chuckled. I walked out of the pub, knowing he would follow and he did. I didn't live far. My mum and I had a house a few streets away.

I walked up to the front door and opened it, calling out, "Mum, are you still awake?" I knew she would be. She always stayed up to wait for me. I left the door open for the Doctor and took off my jacket and hung it on the banister.

I watched as my mum came out of the living room, with a smile on her face. "Hi, darling!" She said. She was a middle-aged woman of thirty-nine, with vivid ginger hair and a slightly aged face. "Who is this?" Her smile didn't fall as she took in the man standing next to me.

"Hello, I'm the Doctor!" He said, overly enthusiastically as he stood forward and grabbed my mum's hand and violently shook it.

"Doctor who?" My mum fell into his trap.

"No, mum, just the Doctor." I gave her a look to say 'don't question, just go with it'. We had more of a friendship than a mother-daughter relationship.

"Well, Doctor, would you like a cup of tea?"

"I would love one, Mrs Hart." He replied, and I watched my mum's face go dark. She hated to be called that. I had never met my dad, but judging by the way she acted towards him I hadn't missed out on much.

"Ms. Thomas." She said corrected, and left, presumably to make him his cup of tea. I hope she doesn't tip it on him when she comes back, it was an honest mistake.

I looked and saw the Doctor looked really worried, "Don't worry about it. She just gets defensive over people making any reference to my dad."

"This house just seems really big for two people to live in alone." He said, and I nodded in understanding. I watched as he got out a ridiculous tool out and pressed a button which made it glow green and emit a strange whistling sound. "Nothing out of the ordinary though."

"That's cool." I said, and swiped it off him before he could object. He tried in vain to get it back, and I laughed as he reached around me with his arms. I held it out of his reach, which, due to the fact that he was much taller than me, I could only hold it about two centimetres away from him. Suddenly I was being tickled vigorously, trying to get my attacker to stop, I gave him access to the thing I was holding. He took full advantage. "Cheater!" I stuck my tongue out at him.

"Jammy dodgers or custard creams?" My mum asked from the door of the kitchen.

"Jammy Dodgers!" Me and the Doctor exclaimed at the same time.

###

I didn't see the Doctor again for a week, when he turned up at my work and ordered a lemonade again. I flashed him a grin before putting down his drink in front of him. His words shocked me, "You only work in the evenings. Never during the day or weekends. Why?"

"I have college on week days, and I like weekends, therefore I'd rather not work on them. Been looking for me?" I winked, which he returned. "So, dicky-bow, why were you looking for me? Was it my completely irresistible charm that you couldn't keep away from?"

"I told you," I raised my eyebrows to encourage him to continue. "I want to show you something."

"What if I don't want to?" I asked, teasingly.

"You can't." His eyes were positively gleaming with mischief now.

"Oh, and why, prey tell, not?"

"Because of my irresistible charm." He answered with my words.

I laughed, holding my hand to my chest dramatically "I have no choice. I am under your spell." He laughed with me.

"Can I get my bloody drink now!" I heard someone scream from the other side of the bar.

"Not with that tone you bloody well can't. Re-phrase and re-ask, then maybe I will think about getting you your vodka on the rocks." I spoke to the man, who looked at me like I had grown two heads, but I didn't care. No matter what I wasn't prepared to let anyone – no matter how drunk – talk to me like that.

"Sorry, Miss." He said. "When you are ready, could you please get my drink?" I did his drink immediately, and smiled as I settled on his place mat.

"Manners don't cost a thing, mate." Was all I said before walking back over to my friend. "I finish at nine today, as it's Friday. What do you want to show me?" He just smiled and pulled me into an awkward hug over the bar, before running off, not before calling back. "I'll see you here, then."

###

Nine o'clock approached and I was getting more and more excited, but it made no sense because I didn't know what he actually wanted to show me. It past nine, but I didn't leave because that's not fair, due to my lack of time keeping. I couldn't hold being late to him without being a complete hypocrite myself.

At quarter past he came running in, with his arms flying around maniacally. "You're still here!" He said, looking happily surprised. "I glad. I thought I'd have to go to your house. Your mum scares me. She has made me reconsider every wanting to become ginger." He said it with such sincerity that I found it hard to get my laughter under control for a good few minutes. When I did I saw he was looking at me in wonder.

"Come on then." I said, and grabbed his hand. When we got out of the pub he pulled me around to the back.

"Ok." I was getting a bad feeling. I didn't know this man, and he was taking me around the back of a pub to do god knows what. "One, I have a black belt in karate and judo, so I can kick your ass if you so much as touch me." It was a lie. I never took either, but it had the desired effect as I saw a slight fear in his eyes. "Two, my uncle is a sergeant police officer." This was not a lie. My uncle Frank was the only link I had to my father's side, as he was the only person my mum still spoke to. Technically he wasn't my uncle, his name wasn't Frank and he wasn't my dad's brother, but they were really close (or at least they used to be). But that is a different story for a different time. The Doctor held up his hands in surrender. He smiled at me before looking behind me. I glanced back and saw it was a large blue box, claiming it was a police box. It was one of those ones from the 60's I think. "Retro." Was my response.

"Never heard that before." I walked towards it. I ran my hand along the soft wood. It had clearly been recently been painted, and was a very smooth. As strange as it sounds, it seemed to have a presence, but that is ridiculous – right? "Would you like to see inside?" The Doctor said.

I nodded, but after a thought added, "Remember what I said about karate."

"Duly noted." He said, with a smile. I think he could see that I was bluffing now, but I trusted that he wasn't going to hurt me. He pulled out a key and opened the door, allowing me in first. I stepped inside. It was massive. I put out my hands, expecting to feel the back of the box, thinking that it was just a picture. I kept walking forward until I tripped over the stairs and fell forward. I was definitely bigger on the inside. "What are you doing?" The Doctor asked from behind me. I could hear that he wanted to laugh at me, but he was trying to keep a straight face. I turned towards him, still on the floor, gawking like an idiot.

"How?" Was the only word I could get out.

"It is bigger on the inside." He said.

"I can see that!" I said. "How is it bigger on the inside?"

"This is a TARDIS. It stands for Time And Relative Dimensions In Space." Most of it went over my head, but I think I caught the general gist of it.

"It's a spaceship?"

"Yep." He said, popping the 'p'. He seemed to suddenly realised that I was still on the floor. He walked forward and pulled me to my feet. "So what do you think?" He asked.

"You're an attractive alien." I said. I watched him go a bright red colour. "Blushing?" I laughed.

Looking around the room I caught sight of something. I ran over and grabbed it. I held out the bra towards the Doctor with an eye brow raised. "You naughty boy!" I laughed, as his blush deepened to a tomato colour. "I like her taste in lingerie." I said eyeing they lacy black bra, bringing it up to my own chest area. "Who is she?"

"Erm... she's ... not here." He replied, cryptically. I threw it at his face and he tried to hide it as quickly as possible. "So what do you say?"

"I told you I thought it was nice." Referring to the bra that was now hidden in a cupboard under a bunch of buttons.

"No!" He whined. "Do you want to come with me?" I laughed.

I picked up a pair of handcuffs that I found on the floor, "Maybe you should have tidied up first." Dangling them from one finger. He ran forward and grabbed them. "But why not? Time and Space, yeah?"

His smile said it all. I was going to travel the universe with an alien. This was going to be awesome!