Clara was walking down the street after leaving Amy and Rory's house. Rory had come home with Chinese food and insisted that Clara stay for dinner, so she did, wanting the opportunity to get to know her friend's husband better. She liked him and thought he was a good match for Amy, helping her to see the logic when her dreams became a little too large some times. She could also see how happy he made her and how much they both loved each other. She was happy that Amy seemed to have everything she had ever wanted and that life was going well for her, but she couldn't help but feel a little sad and she wasn't entirely sure why.

She spotted a pub, the Royal George, that she used to go to when she was in university and thought that she would pop in for one drink, just to see if the place had changed much. Once she walked in, she saw that not one single thing had changed in the eight years since she had likely been there. It still had the same stained wall paper, tacky beer posters, poorly lit booths, pool table, and dart boards in the back. There was something comforting about this place as she remembered the many nights, she, Amy and their other flat mate, Rose had spent there. She grabbed a seat at the end of the bar and ordered a pint, pulling out her phone to check her messages, but of course there was nothing. The bartender set her drink in front of her and she took a sip. A smile came across her face as she realized just how much she missed a good English ale, something that was impossible to find in America. As she was setting the glass down, she noticed a couple of men also sitting at the bar near her. They were both quite handsome, one looked to be about 45, thin, chiseled cheek bones, dark messy hair, and a slight five o'clock shadow. The other man, sitting closest to her, looked older, maybe in his mid-fifties, also thin, salt and pepper curly hair, and was wearing a pair of horned rimmed glasses. She happened to catch the eye of the younger man, who smiled at her, causing the older man to turn towards her. She smiled back and then looked down at her phone, trying to not draw attention to herself.

"Hi." The younger man said.

Clara looked up again to see that he was talking to her. "Hi."

"You look like a woman of good taste, maybe you can help my friend and I solve an argument."

Clara knew a pick-up line from a mile away and wasn't really in the mood to be chatted up, but they were both cute, so she thought she'd play along.

"I can try." She said.

"I think the Proclaimers are one of the greatest bands of our time and he disagrees. What do you think?"

"I think your friend is right." She answered.

The older man smiled at her retort and she thought he had a nice smile.

"Ouch." The younger man replied. "Looks like you and him have shite taste in music."

"I doubt that if your idea of a good band is that one hit wonder." She replied.

The older man laughed and nearly spit his beer out as he was taking a drink. "She makes a valid point." He said.

Scottish. They were both Scottish, but there was something about the voice of the older one that just made Clara feel slightly aroused. She really wasn't in the mood to be chatted up, but she wouldn't mind talking to the older man. As luck would have it, the younger man's phone rang so he excused himself from the bar and walked outside to answer it.

"Sorry about my friend there." The older man said to her.

"It's okay. I just wanted to give him a hard time because he is really bad at chatting women up if that's what he was trying to do." She answered taking a sip of her beer.

"He really is." He smiled at her. "I'll make sure he stops bothering you."

"That's okay. I've enjoyed the distraction."

"Job or relationship?" He asked.

"Pardon?"

"It's got to be one or the other that you need distracting from." He said.

"Neither actually." Clara answered. She wasn't sure what it was about this man, but she suddenly felt like pouring her heart out to him. "I'm at a cross roads between heart and mind and I'm not sure what to do."

"What does your heart tell you to do?" He asked.

"To do what I've been doing for the last eight years, travel."

"And the mind?" He asked.

"Stay. Which is what my family and friends want me to do and I really don't want to disappoint them, but I'm not sure if I'm ready to move back."

"Let me ask you, how often have you been home since you've been gone?"

Before Clara could answer, the man's friend returned and she found herself feeling disappointed. She didn't typically share so much with strangers, but there was something about this man that made her want to tell him her life story.

"Sorry about that mate." The younger man said as he sat back down and started drinking what was left of his pint. "I've gotta run, but I'll meet you in the hotel lobby tomorrow morning, okay." He then turned and looked at Clara. "I hope you get a chance to improve your taste in music."

"And the same to you." Clara answered, causing another smile from his friend.

"You're a cheeky one. I like it." He said before he clapped his friend on the shoulder bidding him goodbye.

"Good friends?" She asked the older man.

"Not really." He replied as he took a drink of his beer. "So, you didn't answer my question."

"What question was that again?" She asked being coy.

"How often have you been home?"

"Oh right. You were trying to help me solve my problem." She smiled at him. "I don't know, maybe six or seven times."

"An average of once a year." He said a matter of fact.

"I guess so."

"Perhaps what your family and friends would like, is to see you more often."

"Are you some kind of shrink or something?" She asked, knowing that he was likely right.

"Nah. Just a man who's been where you are."

"And what choice did you make, heart or logic?" She asked as she took a drink.

"Heart. I've always followed my heart." He smiled at her, causing a rush of heat to flow through her body.

The two strangers finished their drinks and Clara decided to be a little bold and offer to buy the handsome man another. He accepted and they continued chatting, mostly about traveling. Clara learned that they had been to some of the same places, and had similar tastes when it came to adventure. They finished their second round of drinks, when the man motioned to the bartender for another. The more Clara chatted with him, the more attracted she was getting to him. She started watching his lips when he spoke and imagined what it might be like to kiss them, what they might taste like. She reached her hand out and laid it on his knee, pretending as if she didn't even notice she had done it. He briefly glanced down and smiled, which made Clara's heart flutter. She was so taken by this man that she didn't even realize she hadn't asked what his name was. More drinks were bought until the bartender called last call and Clara could tell that the man was as equally disappointed as her that the night was coming to an end.

"How are you getting home?" He asked as they stepped out onto the street.

"I'm not far from here, so I think I'll just walk." Clara answered as she stumbled and the man grabbed her shoulders to steady her.

"You sure? I can get you a cab." He offered still holding her.

Clara once again found herself mesmerized by his lips and didn't even realize that she had licked her own.

"You have really nice lips." She said, clearly the alcohol had removed the filter between her thoughts and her mouth.

"Thanks." He smiled. "You do too."

"Do they taste as good as they look?" Seriously, what was wrong with her brain! Before she had a chance to apologize for her stupid remark, the man moved closer.

"Want to find out?" He asked and before Clara had a chance to answer she felt his lips on hers.

At first the kiss was hesitant, both of them unsure of what the other wanted or how far this kiss was going to go. His lips were as soft as they looked and fit to hers as if they were a missing puzzle piece. Clara wanted more. She grabbed the lapels of his blazer and pulled him in closer, plunging her tongue into his mouth. He moved his hands from her shoulders to place one at the back of her head and the other on the side of her face, allowing the kiss to deepen, not caring that they were still standing in front of the pub. Slowly the man pulled away and smiled at her.

"I'm staying not far from here, if you want to, you know, uh, come back with me." He offered a little nervous and unsure.

Clara flashed him a smile to put him at ease. "Lead the way."

The next morning Clara woke up with a pounding headache and an incredibly dry mouth. She didn't want to open her eyes, but it would seem that her bladder was going to force her to get up, so she really had no choice. Slowly she opened them and quickly realized she wasn't in the guest bedroom at her dad's house, but instead a hotel room. That's when the previous night came back to her and she smiled at the memory. What a night they had had and most certainly one that Clara would never forget. She was just about to get out of bed and head to the bathroom, when she heard a phone ring, which caused the sleeping man next to her to wake up.

"What?" He said angrily into the phone. Clara remained still as she was sure he wasn't aware that she was there.

"Oh shite." He answered as he glanced at the clock on the bedside table in front of him. "I'll be down as soon as I can."

He put his phone back on the table and jumped out of bed, at which point he finally noticed that he wasn't alone.

"Oi!" He shouted clearly startled. He quickly grabbed for the bed sheet to cover himself.

"Hi." She said bashfully.

"Hi." He returned. "Uh, I'm sorry, I forgot you were here."

"That memorable, huh?" She replied, teasing him.

"No! That's not what I meant. I just meant that the phone woke me up and …"

"It's okay, I was just teasing you. I was briefly confused when I woke up too." She smiled.

He returned her smile. "I'm really sorry, but I'm late for a meeting and I need to jump in the shower. Can we pick up this conversation when I get out?"

"Oh yeah, absolutely." She answered.

"Um, do you think you could, ah, you know, close your eyes?" He asked shyly.

"You do know that I just saw you naked and the thing you are trying to hide pleasured the fuck out of me last night." Her choice of words made him smile. "So, you're not going to close your eyes?"

"Nope."

He sighed and shook his head knowing that he had no choice but to drop the sheet and walk towards the bathroom. Clara got a good look at his behind once he was past the bed and she couldn't help but give him a whistle, which made him turn his head and smile at her again before he shut the door. He wasn't the most physically fit man she'd been with, but he had a nice ass for a man his age. She heard the shower start, so she jumped out of bed and grabbed her clothes that had been thrown around the room and quickly got dressed unsure of what to do next. She kind of wanted to see this man again, but she had no idea what his name was or anything about him for that matter. What if he didn't feel the same and this was just a shag for him. She didn't want to feel that kind of rejection. She looked around the room and spotted a notepad and pen on the desk and decided to leave him a note with her name and number. That way if he was interested, he would reach out to her.

Four days had passed since Clara had her one-night stand with the handsome stranger and he hadn't called. It was the first time, she actually felt disappointed. Normally, she was the one doing the rejecting, so it felt weird to be on the other end of it. She was trying her best to take her mind off of it by visiting her Gran in the hospital, but that wasn't working much. She eventually called Amy to see if she wanted to meet at the pub where she had met him, hoping to run into him again.

"You remember I can't drink, right?" Amy said on the other end of the phone.

"I know, but they have other things to drink and they even have food. Come on." Clara urged her.

"Why do you want to go to that dive? I don't think I've been there since uni."

"I just want to check it out for old time sake okay?"

"Fine. I'll meet you there in an hour." Amy finally agreed.

True to her word, Amy walked through the door an hour later. She spotted Clara and joined her at a booth.

"This place hasn't changed at all." Amy exclaimed as she looked around.

"I know, right? So. what would you like to drink? My treat."

"Why are you being so nice?" Amy asked her suspiciously.

"Can't I do something nice for my best friend whom I haven't seen in ages?" Clara countered.

"Fine." Amy answered still suspicious. "I'll have a soda water."

Clara went and got their drinks and took the chance to look around and see if she saw the mystery man, but sadly no luck. She returned to the booth and Amy was still looking at her oddly.

"What?" Clara asked.

"Who is he?"

"Pardon?"

"Who's the guy that you are obviously trying to find?"

"What are you talking about?" Clara answered trying to down play that Amy was right. She hated that she knew her so well, that she couldn't get anything past her. Just then the door opened and Clara looked over to see that it was the mystery man's friend.

"Did you come here the other night and hook up with someone?"

"Maybe." Clara answered as she watched the man walk up to the bar and order a drink. "But keep your voice down."

"Why?"

"Because I don't need the whole pub knowing my business."

"Why hello there." The mystery man's friend said as he approached the table with a pint. "Have you started listening to better music?"

Amy gave Clara a look that said she thought this was the man Clara was looking for, but she couldn't have been more wrong.

"Nope. I still think the Proclaimers are shit." Clara answered him.

He laughed. "Do you mind if I join you ladies to convince you otherwise?"

"Please." Amy answered before Clara had a chance to refuse him. "I'm Amy."

"John Smith, but my friends call me JD, short for John David." He said as he extended his hand to Amy. "Pleasure to meet you Amy." He glanced at Clara, obviously hoping to finally get her name.

"Clara." She offered.

"Very nice to finally know your name." He said.

"Wait, you slept with him and you didn't know each other's names?" Amy blurted out. Decorum was not her middle name.

"I did not sleep with him." Clara said, knowing that if JD didn't already know she slept with his friend, he would now.

"Definitely not me." He said as he looked at Clara, who was blushing. "Well I'll be. That old dog."

"Who?" Amy asked.

"The Doctor." He said as if they should know who he was.

"That's a strange nick name." Amy said.

"I never said I slept with him. You've just jumped to that conclusion." Clara answered defensively to JD.

"It was an easy leap to make." He replied. "Amy said you slept with someone and he's the person I left you with that night." He answered smugly.

"Whatever." Clara replied, now completely annoyed with this man and wishing he would go away. However, she wanted to learn more about this Doctor guy, so she was torn between telling him to sod off and grilling him for information.

"That explains now why he didn't meet me in the lobby when he was supposed to."

"Lobby? What lobby?" Amy asked, completely lost with the conversation, but desperately trying to keep up.

"A hotel, Amy, and before you ask which it doesn't matter so just drop it." Clara was really annoyed with everyone now.

"Jeez, cranky much." Amy said. "So, if he was staying in a hotel, where does he live?" Amy asked JD.

"Glasgow."

"Is he still in town?" Amy asked.

"He might be, but I'm not sure. We're not really friends, but more work colleagues." JD answered. "I'm sorry, but are you two here hoping to see him?"

"Yes." "No." Both Clara and Amy answered at the same time, Amy confirming what Clara didn't want to admit.

JD just laughed and shook his head.

"We are NOT here to try and see him." Clara said sternly. The last thing she needed was JD telling the Doctor about this.

"Okay, if you say so."

"I do." Clara answered as JD's phone rang.

"Excuse me." He said as he got up to answer it.

"If you passed him up for his friend, I can't wait to see what the Doctor looks like." Amy said. "He's gorgeous."

"The Doctor is definitely not your type Amy. He's older."

"Older than him? Because he looks to be about 10, 15 years older than us." Amy stated.

"And the Doctor looks to be about 10, 15 years older than him."

"Clara Oswald! That would make him as old as your dad!"

"I just shagged him Amy. It's not like I'm marrying him." Clara replied defensively.

"Still. I knew you had a thing for older men, but really. At least tell me that he was a good shag."

Clara got a distant, far off look on her face as she thought back to that night and couldn't help the grin that spread across it. "Oh yes."

JD walked back in and sat down next to Amy again, halting any more talk about Clara's one-night stand.

"JD, how old is the Doctor?" Amy asked.

"Amy!" Clara snapped at her nosy friend.

"I think he's about 50." JD replied.

"Can we please drop the subject, okay?" Clara said. She wanted to know more, but at the same time she didn't want to give JD the idea that she was interested in the Doctor. "Do you mind? I'd like to have a drink, ALONE, with my friend."

"Fine, but if you feel like you want to trade up to a younger model from the Doctor, I'll be over there." JD said as he motioned towards the bar and got up.

"You didn't need to be so rude to him, he was actually being helpful." Amy scolded her.

"Yeah, I suppose, but I don't need him telling the Doctor that the girl he shagged in London is pinning away for him." Clara sighed.

"But you are."

"I am not. I was just curious as to who he was and now I know. So can we please stop talking about the man that I am likely to never see again."

"Fine. How's your Gran doing?" Amy asked changing the subject.

"Better. She's getting out of the hospital tomorrow, but she's going to be staying with my dad."

"Well that's good. And how much longer are you going to be around?"

"I don't know. I haven't decided where I want to go to next. I was thinking maybe France, so that I'm closer to home and could visit more often." Clara had remembered that the Doctor had given her the idea of being closer and she did think it was the best option.

"That would be good."

"Yeah, except I've been looking for jobs and a lot of the ones I'm interested in are asking for a degree."

"Well it is a problem you were likely to run into sooner or later." Amy said.

"I suppose, so I was also thinking…" Clara stopped, not wanting to finish her sentence.

"Yeah?" Amy asked sounding hopeful.

"I think I might stick around and finish uni."

"Yay!" Amy said so excited that people in the pub turned and looked at them, including JD.

"I said, I MIGHT. Calm down." Clara said.

"You're going to." Amy said sure of herself. "Clara this is great! You're coming home, Rose is coming home, we'll all be together again."

"What do you mean Rose is coming home?"

Clara had met Rose Tyler in her intro to psychology class during her first year of university. They immediately hit it off despite their differences. Back then Rose was the free spirit, never dating the same guy more than once or flying off to Spain for the latest party. Clara on the other hand, had a 5-year plan. Finish school, get a job, get married, and have kids. Rose taught her how to loosen up and would often drag her to places she never thought she'd go to. It wasn't long before Rose was moving in with her and Amy and the trio became inseparable. That was until Clara's mum died of cancer and she suddenly felt lost. It was Rose who convinced her to take a year off school and travel to help put things back into perspective. Who would have thought that one year would turn into eight? After Amy and Rose graduated, Rose moved to Scotland, and Amy started teaching in London. It seemed like they were both moving forward and Clara was happy living the life Rose once had, so Clara had felt there wasn't much point in returning. The last time Clara had seen Rose was at Amy and Rory's wedding, where she was surprised to find out that Rose was not quite the free spirt anymore and instead was working on her post graduate degree in Glasgow. It had sounded like she really loved it there and wasn't interested in returning to London, so Clara was surprised to hear that she was coming home.

"Yeah. I spoke to her yesterday and she said that she got a teaching job at UWL, so she would be coming back sometime in August."

"Wow, University of West London. Good for her."

"You could enroll there and she could be your prof. How funny would that be." Amy laughed.

"Hilarious." Clara said dryly, not finding it funny at all. "I think if I do go back, it's going to be at U of L. It's only fitting that I finish my degree where I started."

"Sounds to me as if you've made a decision." Amy said.

"Maybe." Clara answered. "Maybe."