Danny Pink was never good at reading atrocious handwriting. Thank goodness he was a maths teacher.
Still, somehow, the kids managed to write essays of indecipherable code even to answer a simple geometry question. This particular afternoon, Danny was marking year eight homework, and wished very much that a certain English teacher was there to help him decode Bradley's scrawl. But Clara was probably with the Doctor on some alien planet, and Danny didn't want to think about, because if he started thinking about it, then he would worry. And if he worried, then he wouldn't get any marking done.
There was a knock on the door. A quiet knock, a shy knock, but an urgent knock. Danny looked up from his marking.
"What can I do for you, Maebh?"
"It's Miss Oswald, Mr Pink," the girl said earnestly. Danny's heart leapt into his throat. "I think you should go and see her."
Danny was out of his seat before Maebh had finished her sentence. "What happened?"
Maebh shrugged helplessly. "I don't know. But I think it's something bad. She came out of the store cupboard and I think she was crying. There was a lot of wind coming from the store cupboard as well."
"Maebh, thank you." Danny tried to say this was as much sincerity as possible, but his mind was too occupied with thoughts of Clara.
"You'll make it all better, won't you, sir?" Maebh asked.
Danny, who was already walking out the door, paused briefly and looked at Maebh. "I'll do my best," he promised.
...
Clara was filing documents in her classroom. Danny knocked on the door and greeted her as casually as possible. Clara did not make eye contact. Maebh was right - something had happened.
"It happened, didn't it?"
Clara paused for a long moment. Danny noticed her hands were shaking, so he reached forward and took them in his own, pulling her towards him. She rest her head against his chest and wrapped her arms around his neck.
"Yes," she said softly, almost whispering.
Danny felt a few drops of moisture on his shirt, and he felt a strange sensation in his chest, as if his heart was being squeezed by an unknown force. He ran his hand up and down Clara's back, and felt her relax slightly.
After a few moments, Clara pulled back from the embrace and looked up at Danny. Despite the tears, there was a fire of indignance and hurt blazing in her eyes.
"Do you want to talk about it?" Danny asked.
She almost smiled.
...
Danny walked Clara home that day. He held her hand, and they walked in silence, listening to the wind and the birds and the rustling leaves.
"How did you know?" Clara asked suddenly.
"Know what?"
"How did you know that something had happened? You came to my classroom when I needed you...but I never called you." The thought had just occurred to Clara, and as much as she was grateful that Danny had come along when he did, it unnerved her a little.
"Oh! Sorry, I should've explained. Maebh Arden apparently saw you coming out of the store cupboard and came to fetch me," Danny said. He looked at Clara, who seemed to be thinking it through, her eyes fixed in front of her.
"She's really something special, isn't she?" Clara said finally, the ghost of a smile appearing on her lips.
"Yeah," Danny agreed. "Little angel."