Boyfriends: In which the Doctor really did come back in five minutes.

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"No, no, no! No more boyfriends! Absolutely no more boyfriends on the TARDIS, Amelia Pond."

She makes a face and puts her hands on her hips, battle ready. "Doctor, I am sixteen years old and in the last week I have battled the Reavers of the Gungwen galaxy, saved the Mahoan, Clantorn, and Nanao civilizations; I am the first human ever inducted into the Shadow proclamation and I think I'm ready for a serious relationship now!"

He rolls his eyes. "Might I remind you that the last time you brought a boy on board, he almost fed us to his family. The time before that, John or Jeff or Josh or whatever tried to steal alien tech to sell back in your time. Then there was Makhrm from Lithmik who broke the– "

"Okay, okay so I've had some bad luck but, I swear this one only wants to travel, he wants to see nebulas and meet Silurians, and dance in a thousand different oceans on a thousand different planets and – "

"Those are your words, not his." He chuckles at her attempts.

She pauses, then relents. "Fine, fine, fine, he wants to come because of me. He's not even the brave type, really, he's sort of a scaredy cat, but he's a good person. Good to the core. I can feel it. I can tell. And I really like him, Doctor. Just trust- "

"Amelia,"

The Doctor places both hands on her shoulders, smiles solemnly, then kisses her forehead. Maybe this time he'd bend, she is hopeful, and smiles her brightest smiles -

"No."

She shakes him off, makes a loud teenage "UGH" sound, and storms off to her room. He thinks the conversation is over and can't wait until she is out of her teenage years because, really, it was getting exhausting, but promises to take her to swim with the dolphin-people in the forty-second century the moment she stopped brooding.

Amy rushes back out with her travel pack on and her determined steely eyes.

"If you won't let him come, then I'm going to stay."

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The Doctor's mouth is briefly agape before he starts having fits of laughter.

"Hey! I'm not kidding Doctor! I'm going to stay. Not forever, but a while. A month. See where this goes."

"Pond, you could barely stand a month on Space Florida before you got bored. And that place is designed so you never get bored. Don't be ridicu-"

"Well this is different. I'm going to stay here for a month. Come back for me. I'll be safe here, you know I will. So give me this."

He stops laughing. He gauges her words, studies her eyes, and sees the conviction. Eight years of travel and she had never, ever asked to stay anywhere for longer than two weeks, and of all places, here?

"You're sure about this?"

She hasn't broken eye contact.

"Yes. I haven't tried standing still for a long time. Maybe it'll do me some good, you know?"

Amelia Pond. Glorious girl. Beautiful dreams of stars and heroics and the wild unknown.

"Okay Pond. One mont– "

"Really? Really! I can stay? I can really stay!" She is jumping on him and jumping everywhere screaming to the TARDIS did you hear that old girl, he's finally budging! and giggling and smiling and hugging.

He sighs again, suddenly serious. "Amy," she stops jumping, "you could always stay. It's just you've never wanted to. I would never keep you from your home."

She looks at him, confusion flickering for a moment before melting into slight annoyance.

"Oh shut up, this is my home."

The solemn looks fade and he breaks out into a grin.

"Alright, Amy Pond. A month it is. A vacation apart. Oh finally, some peace and quiet and freedom from that awful smelling nail lacquer. Well off you go, Pond. Off to Earth."

He is all but pushing her out of the doors. She whirls around and hugs him hard and fast and he smiles into her hair and hugs back.

"It'll just be a month."

"I know."

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Amelia Pond walks away from the TARDIS, smiling and waving and wondering if she's going to regret this decision, as she watches their big blue box dematerialize. Just as she turns away she hears the familiar sound again. Preparing to scold him and remind him on their no take-backsies rule, he pokes his head out and asks

"Sorry, what in the world is this fellow's name?"

Amy smiles.

"Rory."