Author's note: This is a spur-of-the-moment piece. The Rory-Amy shipper in me was feeling creative =P

Slow and Steady

Everybody in Leadsworth knew that Rory Williams liked Amelia Pond – well, everyone except Amelia Pond herself, it seemed.

Even Rory couldn't quite recall how they first met. It was probably in a playground brawl by the swings or a poorly-refereed wrestling match in the mud. Either way, Amy Pond had always been a part of his life, and always appeared to him to be the fierce, strong kind of person. There was a strange kind of balance between them, between Rory's kindness and gentility, and Amy's spirit and strength.

At times, it felt like Amy was bullying him, but at the end of the day, Rory knew that Amy was a friend he could count on. Just like how Rory would be the person patient enough to explain maths to Amy for as many times as she needed, Amy was the person who'd recruit Mel and make sure Rory wouldn't be going down alone when he ended up in a trouble with the school bully. So sometimes Amy forgot him when they played hide-and-seek, but Rory was okay with it.

Rory wasn't sure how old he was when he really began to "like" Amy. Maybe he liked her all along and just didn't realize it, but one day he refused to let Amy dress him up as the Doctor and decided that he disliked the Doctor, even if the Doctor was only Amy's imaginary friend.

"What kind of imaginary friend runs away from you and never comes back?" He asked Amy once, and she glared at him but refused to answer.

That weekend Amy bit psychiatrist number three during their session. She was doing so well with the psychiatrist because she was okay with this stranger not believing in her Doctor. But when she found out Rory didn't believe her either, she was so angry she had to take it out at someone.

Amy and Rory didn't talk for awhile. It might have been a few weeks, months at the most, but back when they were that young, it felt like years.

Rory began hanging around with the boys more often. He still met up with Mels regularly, in secret, because Amy would get mad if she knew Mels was still talking to Rory. Everyday, Rory still packed extra snacks from home – Amy's favourites, and hoped that he wouldn't have to eat them himself, but he had to most of the time anyways. Sometimes Mels ate them instead. Sometimes Mels would take them and give them to Amy. She wouldn't tell Amy that those were from Rory, but even if Amy wouldn't admit that she missed Rory, she had no qualms admitting that she missed the snacks.

What surprised Rory, though, was how encouraging Mels was. Mels was so confident that one day they'd reconcile. She would keep both of them up to date with the happenings in the other's life, even though Rory and Amy weren't talking themselves.

One day Rory and Amy got into detention together. They were punished for completely separate misdemeanours. Amy had been getting into trouble quite a lot those days, and she never knew it was all thanks to Mels. A group of girls kept on picking on Amy, and Amy being Amy, retaliated in her usually less-than-gentle manner. Mels never did tell how she managed to force those girls into doing her bidding, she bragged to her other friends that it was a combination of bribery and blackmail. Getting Rory into trouble was a lot harder. In the end, asking someone to insult Amy in front of him did the trick.

When they both got out of detention, it was dark and Aunt Sharon was out of town. Rory offered to let his mother drive Amy home (and her favourite snacks), and Amy accepted. So they began talking again. And Amy learned during their time apart not to talk about the Doctor too much in front of Rory again, and Rory learned to let Amy think about her own past the way she wants to. He decided that even if he can't be the person who wowed a seven-year-old her with stories and promises of space and time, he can be someone who'd impress the future her with a kind of happiness and reliability she wouldn't find anywhere else.

Rory wasn't unaware of all the other boys who chased Amy when they got into middle and high school, but he was never really worried because he got to hear first hand, from Amy herself, how little they mattered to her. What Rory didn't know was that Amy told quite a few girls who liked him that he was gay. She would say it was an honest mistake, but Mels always insisted that Amy was subconsciously taking pre-cautionary measures.

The conversation that changed everything happened because of Mels. Amy typically avoided the topic of the Doctor in front of Rory, but that day Mels had to bring it up.

It was one of the most awkward and heart-warming moments in Rory's life, really, hearing Amy say that he was gorgeous and her favourite guy. Well, it was heart-warming until Amy said that he was gay, for which Rory couldn't decide if it was unfortunate or just too funny.

And then Amy clued in with help from Mel.

Of course Rory wouldn't look at another girl. He had Amy in front of him all this time, even if she looked at him in a different light.

He ran out of room because he didn't know what to do, and he could hear Amy coming after him.

He wanted to keep running; he could outrun Amy easily, but it hit him that the future he wanted with Amy, for Amy, had to start somewhere, and he can't run from it forever if he wants it to happen.

So he stopped in his track and turned around, so suddenly that Amy almost crashed into him.

"Rory…" Amy began, and couldn't go on because for once, the snarky Amelia Pond was at a loss of words.

Might as well, though, because Rory decided he should finally be heard. He began to talk, still awkward, still shy, still very much like Rory – but it's alright, because Amy is listening, just like how Rory used to listen to her.

-end-

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