Author's Note: This is the first of what I hope will become a series of unconnected one-shots featuring Eleven and River. I've got so many ideas but not a lot of time and peace of mind to write them down, so I can't promise regular updates. I've not written a lot for this fandom yet, so I hope I will do the characters justice.

This one features an older River and a younger Doctor. This takes place sometime during series 6, but there are no real spoilers. And I am aware that I'm posting a Christmas story in the middle of summer, but it's Doctor Who so anything's possible, right?

The Red Shoes

River laughed out loud as she watched the Doctor trying with all his might to drag a massive Christmas tree into the sitting room. It was by far the biggest tree she had ever seen, and she wondered how he had managed to get it through the front door in the first place. This was the first time they would be spending Christmas together in both their timestreams, so both wanted to ensure that it would be a time they'd never forget.

The Doctor had suggested they'd spend the holidays on the planet Yule, where it was Christmas all year round. But River decided that it wouldn't do since it was always Christmas there, all day every day. It had become much too common there, so it wasn't special enough to mark their first time spending it together. No, she was adamant that the holiday was best celebrated on Earth, which is where they had eventually ended up. In a quaint country cottage in the 19th century to be exact. It was picturesque, idyllic, and therefore the perfect location for a romantic holiday getaway.

"You could help you know," the Doctor grumbled as he was still fighting his losing battle with the enormous tree.

River just continued to observe from a distance. "Well I didn't ask you to get such a big tree, Sweetie," she laughed. "Where did you get it from anyway?"

"Scandinavia," he answered.

She raised a questioning eyebrow. "Why?"

He simply shrugged his shoulders. "Honestly, it didn't look this big when I saw it from the TARDIS."

Finally the Doctor succeeded into getting the tree into a corner of the room, and it even managed to stay upright. Well, sort of. It looked more like the leaning Tower of Pisa, but at least it wasn't falling over. Yet.

He walked over to where River was standing and wrapped his arms around her from behind. He rested his chin on her shoulder and together they admired his handiwork.

"I normally don't really care a lot about Christmas, but this our first, and I want it to be special," he murmured as he planted feather light kisses along her neck and jawline.

River closed her eyes and relaxed into his embrace. "I don't need a big Christmas tree to make it more special, but it's very thoughtful of you sweetie," she said.

"The only problem is," the Doctor continued, "that I've no idea how exactly a human Christmas works. We've got the tree, but what else do we need?"

River reluctantly disentangled herself from the Doctor's embrace and retrieved a large bag from the hallway. "In here are lights and decorations for the tree, some Christmas crackers, and something else that I'm sure you'll like," she said.

"What is it?" he asked, curiously.

She pulled a small package out of the bag. "Party hats," she replied, smirking.

The Doctor bounced around excitedly like a 9-year-old boy, grabbed one and immediately put it on.

"From now on I shall wear a party hat. Party hats are cool."

River rolled her eyes. She was wondering why on earth she had thought that giving him another silly hat to wear was a good idea.

"Are you happy now, sweetie?" She asked.

"Very happy," he said, bouncing towards her and kissing her excitedly. "Thank you."

The rest of the afternoon was spent decorating the tree and singing the most silly, cheesy Christmas songs they could think of. For once they were spending some time together that didn't involve running for their lives on some alien planet, and River firing a lot more bullets than were strictly necessary. It was odd, and different, but not entirely unpleasant.

They had a candlelit dinner, and curled up in front of the large, crackling fireplace afterwards.

Suddenly the Doctor retrieved a rectangular shaped box, seemingly out of thin air. It was wrapped in green paper and tied with a large red ribbon.

"What's this?" River asked.

"It's your present," he answered. "Open it."

"But sweetie, presents aren't usually opened until Christmas morning. It's tradition." she said.

The Doctor nodded. "I know, and we'll open the rest of the presents tomorrow. But I just wanted to give you this one tonight."

"Alright then," River smiled excitedly as she started to carefully unwrap her present. She opened the box and gasped as she lay eyes on the contents. Inside were a pair of the most beautiful stilettos she had ever seen. They were ruby red with insanely high heels, which would be a pain to walk in, but which would undoubtedly make her look extremely sexy.

"Oh sweetie, they're beautiful," she said and kissed him. "Thank you."

The Doctor was relieved that she liked them so much. He had thought long and hard about what to give her. He had decided that buying her jewellery was too common, and he didn't think adding any more to her gun collection would be such a wise idea, no matter how happy it would make her. They kept meeting in the wrong order, and he wanted to give her something meaningful, something she liked and could use, and something he would always appreciate to see her wearing, even at times when he wouldn't remember giving them to her. At the crash of the Byzantium she had worn them and, even though he hadn't known her very well at the time, and hadn't been sure whether he could trust her or not, he couldn't keep his eyes off her in her black dress and those shoes. So when he started thinking about Christmas presents for River, it had suddenly dawned on him and he had known exactly what to buy.

"I'm glad you like them," he said as he pushed a curly lock of hair behind her ear.

River got up and slipped them on. They fitted perfectly.

"What do you think?" she asked as she walked around the room, trying them out.

For a moment the Doctor could do nothing but stare. The shoes showed off her shapely legs perfectly, just as he had remembered them. But of course that was all in her future, his past. "Doctor Song, you look positively stunning," he finally answered.

He got up as well, feeling the sudden urge to be near her. He drew her nearer to him, hands resting on her hips, while her hands tangled themselves in his hair at the nape of his neck.

"I wanted to give you something special, something that mattered," he said. "Think of me when you wear them, even when I may be far away from you. Wear them when you see me, even if I might not know exactly who you are, or that I was the one who gave them to you. Know that, in spite of that, I will always appreciate to see you wear them. Because I will, I promise you."

River Song didn't do crying, but she couldn't stop the tears from gathering in her eyes. "I'll wear them as often as I can, and I'll think of you, I promise," she whispered.

She closed the gap between them and kissed him passionately, and thanks to the shoes she didn't have to reach too far up for once. "I love you, sweetie," she said.

"And I love you too, Mrs. Robinson," he replied, which earned him a playful slap.

He was glad that she liked her present, and the reasoning behind it. There was a chance that he'd never get to see the shoes again. Their timestreams had started to match up more and more of late, and he had a feeling that they were approaching the most linear point of their wonky timelines. This both excited and scared him. He was excited about the time they would be linear for once, but it terrified him as well, because it meant that from that moment on he would know River more and she would know him less each time.

It was only now that he was beginning to understand what River had gone through when he had first met her, though that was another version of her, not the one whom he was holding in his arms right now. The thought of looking into River's eyes and receiving a look of confusion and distrust was probably the thing he was most terrified of in all of the universe. The only comforting thought was that somewhere in time and space, this River, the one he held right now, would meet him and drive him around the bend with her mischievous grins, flirty innuendos, and spoilers. And best of all: she'd be wearing those shoes.

Please review! xx