Chapter One
"Where are you taking me?" The Doctor had Clara blindfolded, and he insisted that he would surprise her with a trip in the TARDIS.
"I told you, it's a surprise!"
"At least give me an idea! Are we going to the future? Past? Another planet?"
"Just shut up and wait." Clara was waiting and waiting. Finally, she heard the wheezing and groaning that meant the TARDIS was taking off.
"Alright, go out the doors!"
"Doctor, I can't see."
"Oh, right." The Doctor put his hands on Clara's shoulders, and she smiled. He led her out the TARDIS doors.
"Alright, take off the blindfold!" Clara did as told, and she couldn't wait to see what was in store for her. What was in front of her when she opened her eyes?
An ordinary flat.
"Doctor, I don't think I understand."
"Don't you get it?" Clara thought for a moment.
"No, I have not the slightest idea why we are here." The Doctor gave her one of his dorkiest smiles, and then explained.
"Do you remember a few days ago when you mentioned that you didn't think I would be able to stand living an average life?"
"Yes, I think so."
"I decided to take you up on your offer."
"So you have access to the entirety of space and time in that police box, and we are here on earth, renting a flat?" When she put it like that, it did sound rather boring. The Doctor was quite optimistic, though. Together, they went inside to see the beginning of their new temporary lifestyle.
…...
The walls were painted a bright TARDIS blue, just like what was expected. It was small, but still quite nice.
"Where are the bedrooms?" Clara was excited to see where this was going. The Doctor wasn't ever intentionally suggestive, but he ended up sounding that way often. The Doctor led Clara around a corner, into a hallway.
"Your room is on the left, mine is on the right." He hadn't messed up this time. Nothing suggestive, though Clara slightly wished he had. She fancied the Doctor, and she liked to think that he fancied her, too. If he did, he surely wasn't very good at showing it.
The Doctor and Clara found their flat to be quite boring, so they set out to find something else to do all afternoon.
"I think there are some shops not too far away. We could go there, or we can go hiking in the trail near the park. Doctor?" The Doctor was already starting to get bored, but he would not accept defeat.
"Park?"
"Yes, there's one just down the road we could go to."
"Let's go there." The Doctor drove the car excitedly down the street, and then came to a stop right next to a grassy field with a playground. He climbed out of the car. He and Clara walked over to the playground in an adult-like manner.
The two of them sat on a bench, and Clara pulled out a book to read. The Doctor became bored very fast.
"I'm going to go explore a bit, I'll be back." He ran off before Clara could say a word.
…
The Doctor alone with his thoughts wasn't always a great thing. Sometimes, he would over think things. Over thinking led to backing out of completely harmless things. Other times, he wouldn't think things through hard enough. That would result in him carelessly doing things that could be potentially dangerous. This time, The Doctor tried to think as clearly as possible.
'You are doing this for Clara.' He kept reminding himself. He didn't enjoy the thought of living normally for a few months, so why was he doing it? 'For Clara.'
'It's only a few months,' he reminded himself multiple times. 'This should be easy- it is easy. So why is it so difficult?' The Doctor continued to tell himself these things, until Clara came and got him, telling him it was time to leave.
…
Clara and The Doctor drove home peacefully, at ease that they had passed the time for an hour or so. Still, it was only 3:45. They had an entire evening ahead of them.
"We should go out somewhere for dinner tonight," suggested the Doctor. "You know, since we just moved in. It only seems logical." Clara agreed. She knew it wasn't a date, but she still thought it nice that she and the Doctor were going out for dinner- together.
The restaurant they ate at wasn't so bad, but it wasn't so good either. Clara's dish had a hair in it, and the Doctor's was already cold when it was sent to him. Still, they weren't going to complain. The two of them bonded, and they were happy about it.
At the end of the night, the Doctor opened the door to the flat for Clara, like a gentleman. They were both extremely tired. Clara put on pajamas, and went straight to bed.
The Doctor, however, stayed up past midnight. Again, alone with his thoughts. He though a lot that night. With each thought, his regret for buying the flat became more and more obvious. He gave in around 1:03 AM.
'I can leave; I've got a time machine! I can be gone for weeks and come back like it never happened. Yes, that's what I'll do. She won't even know I'm gone.'
So off he went. He crept silently into his wibbly wobbly time machine, and left Clara in the night.