Amy loves Rory, not the Doctor. She's always loved Rory. It's just taken her a while to figure it out.
When Amelia was four and three quarters, Miss Haydock (her English teacher) had made her whole class write a letter. This letter, Miss Haydock had stressed, was to help them with their writing skills as well as helping them to meet new friends. Amelia liked making new friends normally. But this was Leadworth; everybody in her new little town was dull, dull, dull. Well, Jeff was okay. But he was in a different class to her. Amelia sighed. She didn't like anybody (except Jeff) in Leadworth.
Miss Haydock had put all their names into a hat and slowly pulled the names out one by one. After she had assigned their partners, Miss Haydock showed them a blue post box tin which she placed on the front of her desk, tilting it sideways until they could all clearly see the post hole. The blue box, Miss Haydock had said, was for them to post their letters. Every day after class, she would open the box and hand out the letters that were in it. After telling them this, she handed each of them a little slip of paper with somebody else's name on it. Amelia stared at her paper long and hard.
She'd been paired with somebody called Rory Williams. The other girls in the class had teased her about it, but Amelia didn't mind. Boys were better than girls anyway. All the girls in her class talked about were Barbies and hair bobbles. At least boys were interesting. Even if all they wanted to do was climb trees and eat worms.
Rory looked okay. She'd never spoken to him before, but he looked okay. He had long brownie shaded hair – a bit like a girls. She hoped he didn't talk like a girl as well. Her Aunt Sharon had said that he was very well mannered and a lovely young boy. Aunt Sharon also said that Santa Claus didn't exist so she didn't really trust her all that much.
Well, Amelia thought, she was just going have to find out for herself. Smoothing out a piece of crumpled paper she found in the bottom of her lift up desk, she took out a pen and paused. Frowning, she wondered what to write. After several tense moments, six of which she used staring at Rory Williams back, she put her pen to paper and wrote a single word.
Hello.
Folding the paper in half, crumpling it more in the process, she walked up to the front of the class and popped the letter into the blue post box. Miss Haydock smiled at her and she smiled back. Walking back to her desk, Amelia sat down and pulled her maths work towards her.
The next day, Amelia had barely sat down at her desk before Miss Haydock thrust a piece of paper in her face. Taking the note from her offending English teacher, Amelia placed her bag by her feet and admired the object in her hand.
The paper was folded neatly, pressed smooth and firm. It smelt a bit like lilacs as well. Amelia wrinkled her nose. Why would a boy want to smell like lilacs? Unfolding the paper with her small hands, Amelia read the note slowly, even though there wasn't much to read.
I like your hair.
She wrinkled her nose again, re-reading the carefully scripted words. I like your hair. I like your hair! What sort of a reply was that? She tried to catch Rory's attention but found herself staring at his back. Grumbling to herself, Amelia rooted around in her messy desk for another piece of paper. Finally finding one (this piece more crumpled than the last), she wrote her own reply back. Standing up to put it in the blue box, she cast a glance at Rory. He was sat at his own desk and smiled weakly at her, inclining his fingers in an odd sort of wave. Amelia waved back, her own wave fuller than Rory's and her smile a little too wide. Wandering to the front, she stuffed her reply into the box and sat back down.
Playing with a small piece of her hair, she watched Rory's back once more. Holding Rory's message in her hand, she twirled it around and smiled to herself. Maybe Rory Williams wasn't so dull after all.
xxx
A couple of years later, long after the English assessment had ended, Amelia and Rory were still sending letters to each other. The girls in her classes thought it was weird; the boys just teased them about it. Neither of them minded that much. Every morning before school, Amelia would walk the short distance to Rory's house and post a letter through his door. After waiting for about five minutes, Rory would appear with a letter of his own. Picking Amelia's letter up off the floor, he would then hand his own letter into Amelia's waiting hand and the two would walk off while Amelia's Aunt Sharon and Rory's mum smiled and followed behind them.
Amelia would open her letter and Rory would open his letter and the two would laugh their way to school. Their guardians would titter and coo when, somewhere along the way, their hands would interlink.
This happened every weekday morning without fail. Except for one day, when neither Amelia nor Aunt Sharon turned up at Rory's house. His mum had shaken it off and said Amelia must be ill. Rory knew that was a lie. Amelia was never too ill for school, she was too stubborn. Once Amelia had been sick with the flu and she'd still come into school for a whole week. No, Rory knew she wasn't ill. This thought was confirmed when Amelia didn't show up for school the next day either. Or the next day, or the next day, or the next day.
His mum had tried going round to Aunt Sharon's house on Saturday, to see if Amelia was okay. Aunt Sharon hadn't even let her in the house. Just mumbled a muffled apology and said she'd see her on Monday. When she came by on Monday, Amelia wasn't with her. Aunt Sharon had said something about a psychiatrist and his mum and Aunt Sharon had muttered quietly behind their hands all the way to school, while Rory had to walk ahead on his own.
After school, Rory had asked his mum whether he could go and see Amelia and she'd given him a funny look. Sighing, she told him that Amelia wasn't up to seeing anybody right now. Rory frowned. Amelia was always up to seeing people. He asked her again, and again, and again. After the fifty eighth (Rory had been counting) time he asked, his mum had thrown her arms up in the air and finally agreed to his plan. Jumping up, he threw on his coat and waited for his mum outside impatiently.
They walked through lower Leadworth in silence, holding each other's hands. His mum's hand wasn't as soft as Amelia's. It was rough and full of healing warts. Amelia's hands were soft and smooth, Rory liked to trace the grooves on her palms on the way to school. Amelia always giggled when he did it. Rory liked it when Amelia laughed; it was one of the nicest sounds in the whole world.
When they arrived at Amelia's house, his mum told him to wait back a bit while she talked to Aunt Sharon. He nodded and rung the doorbell, pushing his finger into the button a little more vigorously than he needed to. When Aunt Sharon arrived at the door, he did what his mum had said and moved back. From where he was standing, he couldn't hear any of their conversation, but he could see their lips moving. Not that that was much use, he'd never learnt how to lip read. Aunt Sharon had sighed, but nodded to his mum. Rory smiled and made his way into the house. It felt differently than it normally did – a bit colder than normal. Aunt Sharon led them into the kitchen, putting the kettle onto the stove, she gestured to the back door.
"She's out there," she said stonily, turning the gas on.
Rory left his mum and Aunt Sharon discussing tea and sugars and made his way outside. Stumbling over weeds and twigs, Rory looked for Amelia in the large garden. He loved Amelia's garden. It was like something out of a fairytale. He found Amelia in the middle of the garden, sat on a large step. Even the garden felt differently than it normally did. He knew why this time though, Aunt Sharon had gotten rid of the large shed in the garden. Amelia loved the shed; it was where they played all their games. Rory had once found a sparrow with a broken trapped in the shed when they were six and the two of them had nursed the small bird back to life. They'd called the sparrow Sally – they had both agreed it was a pretty name, even though Aunt Sharon had said it sounded a bit too itv. Moving slowly through the garden, he crouched down next to her, wincing as the leaves underneath him crunched crisply.
"Hey," he whispered.
"Hey," she whispered back.
They sat in silence for a few minutes before mustered up enough courage to speak again.
"What happened to your shed?"
"The Doctor broke it."
Rory didn't know what was wrong with him, but the second the words had left Amelia's mouth, he felt weird all over.
"The Doctor?" he replied, feeling his mouth go dry.
From that moment on, nothing was ever the same again.
xxx
"Rory!" Amelia yelled, pulling the brown fedora off his head. "You're not doing it right!"
"Well I don't know what he looks like!" Rory protested, grabbing the fedora back and holding it close to him.
Amelia sighed and went back to the wardrobe. "I've told you what he looks like a million times. You're just not paying attention."
Rory huffed and sat on the bed, fingering one of the holes in the large brown pants Amelia had forced onto him. His dad was going to kill him when he found out what they'd done to his work suit. Pulling one his dad's ties out of the lower section of the wardrobe, Amelia turned to him, cheeky smile on her face. Sitting next to him, she roped the tie around his neck, knotting the ends together and grabbing his face with her dainty hands. Shaking his head, he pulled away.
"Do you like him more than me?" Rory let the question slip uneasily.
Amelia looked at him, an unbelieving expression on her face.
"Rory!" she yelled down his ear.
"Well," he began, edging sideways, "you always talk about him and you don't even write me letters anymore, you write them to him and well. Do you?"
Amelia sighed once again and held his hand. Unconsciously, he began to outline the grooves on her palms like he'd done so many times before. Amelia smiled.
"You're so silly Rory. Of course I don't like him more than you! Sure, he's the Doctor, but you're Rory. You're my bestest friend in the world, not the Doctor. Look, I'll write you a letter for tomorrow. You write me one?"
Rory nodded, silently promising to write her a very special letter, just for her.
"Right," Amelia jumped up off the bed, tugging him with her, "I think the shirt needs more holes."
Rory never did recieve another letter.
xxx
Thirteen year old Amelia Pond was sat inside her local hospitals accident ward, kicking her feet forward in a rhythmic pattern. She was waiting for Rory's mum to come and get her so she could see Rory.
They'd been in p.e, playing rounder's. She'd thrown the ball and somehow Rory had managed to trip over the bat. She'd laughed at first (along with everyone else in the class), until she'd realised it was serious. Rory had groaned when she'd run over to him, moaning about his leg hurting. Mr Evans had called an ambulance after Rory had insisted he couldn't walk. Rory had been taken off in a large ambulance, must to the despair of Amelia. She hadn't been allowed to go with him. Mr Evans had said she had to stay in school and try not to worry about him; it was only a broken leg. Hmff. Amelia had pouted, that was easy for him to say. His best friend wasn't in the hospital. She'd managed to make it to the end of the day – somehow – and as soon as the last bell had rung, she'd ran home and begged her aunt to take her to the hospital.
Half an hour later, and there she was, waiting. She looked up as Rory's mum walked up to her, her heels clicking on the pristine floor.
"He's in room five if you want to go see him Amelia," his mum smiled, "still don't know how he managed to break his leg, the silly thing. Must have got his clumsy genes from his dad, because I know I'm certainly not that bad!"
Amelia laughed; Rory had most certainly got his clumsy genes from his mum. She was a nightmare. She'd once managed to break Rory's brand new game boy – and she hadn't even held it in her hand for longer than two seconds! She stood up and straightened her school skirt. Walking down the hall, she held her breath until she saw room number five. Hands pressing onto the door knob, she opened the door slowly.
"Hey Amelia!" Rory grinned from his bed, his leg raised into the air awkwardly.
Amelia smiled back and made her way over to him.
"The nurses have been telling me all about x-rays. It'd dead interesting, you'd have loved it. I think I want to work here when I'm older you know."
Amelia frowned, confused. "What? As a nurse?"
Rory swatted his arm at her head, laughing as she gave him a disgruntled glare and patted her hair back into place.
"No, not as a nurse – I'm going to be a doctor."
Amelia stared at Rory, her brain working over time.
"See," Rory started to explain, "I've got this plan. You know the Doctor?"
"Yes," Amelia nodded instantly, she knew the Doctor.
"Well I've been thinking. If he's a Doctor – even an alien doctor – he'd have to go to like, doctery meetings sometime wouldn't he? Like, meeting up with other trained doctors. So, I think, maybe if I become a doctor, I might meet him one day and then I can bring him to you and you can totally beat him up for not coming back. Then, well. I don't know. We can do doctery things and you can join in. What do you think?"
Amelia sat back in her chair, closing her eyes. Rory's smiled dipped into a frown and he was just about to say something when Amelia shot back up.
"Rory that's perfect! You're perfect!"
She leapt towards him, hugging him tightly (easing her grip when he winced in pain a bit though).
"Well," he flustered.
The two looked in each other's eyes, their breathes catching.
"Thank you Rory," Amelia whispered.
"You're welcome."
The two snuggled closer together, noses pushed together. Rory tilted his head and pushed a loose lock of hair behind her ear. Closing distance, their lips meshed together. Rory smiled into the kiss and Amelia giggled slightly.
Everything was perfect in that moment, at least, until Rory's mum burst into the room.
xxx
"Amy?"
Amelia – now known as Amy – Pond turned around, her fiery red hair billowing behind her.
"Yes," she seethed, "got a problem with it, Rory?"
He paused, "Amelia's a brilliant name."
"Bit fairytale."
Rory closed his eyes, "yeah," he agreed, "It is."
Smiling, Amy linked arms with him, pulling his close.
"So I was thinking, Aunt Sharon said that she could give us a lift to Blackpool next week. You up for it?"
"Sure. Sea and sun, anything better? Well, scratch the sun part, we are in England after all."
"Unfortunatly," Amy winked cheekily.
xxx
"I failed, I completely and utterly failed."
"Aww c'mon Rory, it's not that bad."
The sun was setting on the quaint village of Leadworth and Amy Pond was sat on a park bench with her boyfriend Rory, who had a thick envelope clutched in his left hand.
"No Amy, no. I failed, just admit it. I'm a bloody nurse," he held his head in his hands, "a bloody nurse!"
Amy giggled, "Ok, so you're not a doctor, what does it matter?"
"I'm a nurse," he looked at her like she was simple, "a nurse. It's a girl's job."
"I think you'll look cute as a nurse," she teased him, running her fingers through his hair seductively, "very cute."
He smiled, taking her hand out from his hair and holding it tightly.
"But I won't be a doctor."
"And?"
"You've always wanted a doctor."
Silence reigned over the couple, the sun silently fading away in front of them beneath a haze of purple clouds, Amy tucked a loose curl behind her hair and put her head on Rory's chest, listening to his heartbeat thud slowly.
"You know what," she whispered in his ear, "I don't think I need a doctor anymore."
xxx
He didn't think he'd been so scared since he'd asked Amy to marry him. Here he was, next to the large blue box of legend, Amy asking him to join them. It was, wow. The Doctor had agreed, it'd be nice to have him around. Tilting his head, he held onto Amy's outstretched hand and nodded at the Doctor.
"Okay," he squeaked out.
"Excellent!" The Doctor rubbed his hands together in a perfect Mr Burns impressed and pushed the two of them back into the T.A.R.D.I.S.
"So much to see," he gargled as he propelled them forward into the console room, "so little time. No, wait. What am I saying? We've got all the time in the universe."
"Is he..."
"Always like this?" she finished for him, swinging one leg forward, "pretty much."
The two of them left the Doctor muttering to himself, tapping away at his mad machine. Wandering down the halls, Amy grabbed his arm suddenly.
"Rory, you're not mad are you?"
He sighed, "Mad about you running off with the Doctor on the night of our wedding or mad about you kissing him on the night of our wedding?"
"Erm, both."
"Little bit, yeah," he admitted.
Amy's face fell.
"Just one thing, do you love him?" Rory closed his eyes, bracing himself for the inevitable.
"Rory..." Amy sighed and held both his hands, rubbing the grooves in his palms slowly. He smiled despite himself.
"Of course I don't. You're so silly."
Rory gaped at her, "b-but what? But I thought."
"The Doctor and me? Ew, no. No offense to him but, euuurgh! He's more like my best friend."
"I was your best friend once."
"Yeah, and now you're my fiancé!"
"But you kissed him!"
Amy tapped him on his head, "I was scared, almost been killed on an alien planet by deadly statues. I needed a bit of comfort, wasn't thinking straight. Could have been anyone-" Rory snorted, indignantly, "could have been you, it...it should have been you."
"So you don't love the Doctor?" Rory pressed his head to Amy's, leaning in close.
"Naah," she breathed, "no offense to him, but bowties just don't do it for me. Plus, I was like, seven when he met me."
"I was four when I met you," he grinned.
"Well that's different; you weren't a fully grown man. Besides, he's an alien and I prefer to keep it in the same species if you catch my drift," she winked and grabbed his face, pulling him in for a kiss.
Obeying her wishes, he let his lips press against hers, moaning softly as she moved her hands down his back.
"You know, you never did write me another letter."
"Not now Rory - you're killing the moment."
He giggled and she smiled, widening the kiss.
"How long do you reckon we've got until the Doctor comes looking for us?" he questioned.
"Ooooh, I'd say about...five minutes? We've got plenty of time."
xxx
Aww. I love Amy/Rory. I love Amy/Doctor as well but Amy/Rory is adjdhh! Cute.
I'm a tiny bit sick of seeing all Doctor/Amy stories using Rory as just another excuse to get the two together. I love the pairing as much as anyone but geez, Rory is an amazing character; don't just abuse him like that :'(