and finally the second installment has arrived! happy very belated birthday nancy!


James was on edge the next couple of Tuesdays, waiting for Clara to enact whatever plan she'd almost certainly hatched despite him forbidding her to do anything or meddle in his non-existent, potential love life. Other than making sure she was in the shop on the days his blonde, the blonde, came in, and making sure to remind him to tame his hair somewhat before she walked in, Clara was suspiciously well behaved, though.

If felt like the calm before the storm.

He learned more about his favorite patron as the weeks passed. She drifted into the romance and sci-fi sections the most often, followed by mysteries and history. He'd caught her lingering in front of the display of Charles Dickens books he'd set up around the author's birthday and the two of them had had a lively chat about their favorite novels that had kept him in high spirits until the next Tuesday.

That week she was barely in the shop for fifteen minutes, the shortest amount of time she'd ever lingered. James had been looking around for her when he spotted her walking out. She gave him a wan smile, one that was tired or sad and nothing like any smile he'd ever seen on her before, before disappearing back into the busy London streets where she had a name and a job and a life.

The next week she was back in for her normal length of time and made sure she spent a good portion of it chatting with James at the desk.

"Anything interesting come in this week?" she'd asked, leaning a hip against the counter and smiling at him. (It was the peculiar one with the tongue sticking out the side of it, the one that made his stomach flip and his mind go blank.)

"New batch of travel books," he said after a moment, watching her face carefully for a clue as to why the travel section, the section Blue Box Books was most well known for, was the one she never wandered into.

(He didn't know how to categorize the look on her face. It was almost sad but not quite.)

"Couple new mysteries as well," he offered when she stayed silent.

He was still mulling over the interaction a day later, fingers steepled in front of his face in his office half an hour after closing. He knew Clara would tell him to just ask why she never browsed the travel section but he didn't want to let on that he kept track of where she was in the shop at all times, that he tried to figure her out by her book choices.

It was the same reason he never asked for her name. Knowing would make this all real somehow, would make them want to put a label on what they were doing, it was just human nature. Right now, she was just his weekly blonde patron and he was presumably the old bookseller that she didn't completely hate.

He wasn't ready to change things yet. Things were good as they were.

Of course, Clara didn't agree, telling him in no uncertain terms that she would get the blonde's name herself if he didn't hop to it.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Clara had to laugh to herself when she walked into his office on Monday night and found him rehearsing a conversation, rehashing one that he'd had with the blonde the week before and correcting what he'd said.

She bit her lip so as to not make a noise and give herself away and slowly backed out of the room. Her Doctor was in so deep and she didn't think he quite realised it yet.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

It was another Tuesday and he walked out of the stockroom with an armful of books only to almost trip over his own feet as he saw Clara chatting with his blonde in the classics section. He kept a wary eye on them as he sat down behind the counter and pretended to be busy.

He'd just turned around to check an order that was waiting for a customer to come pick it up when she walked up.

"So, I was starting to think that you were the only one who worked here," she said.

He turned around quickly and found her leaning against the counter, fingers drumming on the Jane Austen book she'd put on the counter.

"No, Clara is here most days to deal with people," he said, nodding at the brunette who was lurking nearby and unsubtly giving him a thumbs up behind the blonde's back.

"Better at handling books?"

He nodded.

"Don't know, you seem pretty good at handling me," she said, smile a bit mischievous.

James's brain shorted out for a moment as he processed the completely unambiguous flirt. "You're different," he finally blurted out, wincing as the words came out of his mouth. He really hadn't meant to say that.

Her smile turned softer and she started toying with the ends of her hair. "So you and Clara…" she said, trailing off. When he just looked at her, puzzled, she continued. "Are the two of you together?"

"Oh! No, no. Clara has a girlfriend," he hurriedly told her, gesturing at his friend.

"Broke up with her couple of weeks ago," Clara called as she walked by.

"You never tell me these things," he shot back.

"Do too, you just don't listen."

"I listen!" He protested.

Clara just rolled her eyes and gave him a fond smile before walking off.

"You two are adorable," the blonde said, valiantly trying to hold in a laugh. "Been friends a long time?"

"Yeah, she sticks around for some reason."

"You seem worth it," she offered.

The Doctor didn't know what to say to that and reached for the book in between them. "Clara talk you into this one," he asked, taking in the paperback of Pride and Prejudice.

Thankfully she let the moment drop and followed his lead back into the land of books where he actually could keep his footing and not be tripped up by her gravity.

"Yeah, she said it was a crime against literature that I hadn't read it."

They chatted for a couple minutes more about Jane Austen and Clara's obsession with her before the blonde took the bag with the book in it, told him goodbye, and walked out.

"So, I know her name now," Clara said from behind him, making him jump.

"Are you going to share?"

"Don't think so. You should figure it out yourself because she's definitely interested in you." She smiled up at him brightly. "You can't deny that she was flirting with you today and she was making sure you were single."

"Doesn't mean anything," he insisted.

"You're hopeless. Believe me, I know flirting and she's definitely flirting with you." Clara hopped up on the counter, sitting so her legs were swinging in the air. "Plus, I tried flirting with her and she brushed me off very nicely while shooting glances at you. So, her taste is questionable but she's definitely set her cap at you."

James just shook his head and started poking at the keyboard, ostensibly to check their online orders.

"Gonna have to face up to it eventually or she'll stop coming round," she said, jumping down and walking off, leaving him to his thoughts.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

By the time Tuesday rolled around, James had finally convinced himself that he was going to ask for the blonde's name. Clara's warning about the fact that she wouldn't always be stopping in if he didn't at least try and the fact that she'd been gloating all week that she knew her name and he didn't, had finally spurred him to action.

He put on his favorite jacket, the one with the red lining, and made sure his hair wasn't too wild and then tried to pretend that he wasn't looking up every time someone walked into the shop or that there wasn't a pang of disappointment every time it wasn't the particular blonde he was waiting on.

Her normal time to appear came and went and still he was waiting. Clara shot him increasingly worried looks as she took care of the customers and generally kept people away from him as the scowl on his face deepened.

By the time they closed the shop, he'd stopped talking completely and shut himself in his office. Clara tried to talk to him but he wouldn't open the door. She gave him one last worried look before leaving him to wallow, figuring she'd have better luck talking to him tomorrow anyways.

He should have seen this coming, he thought as he sat at his desk after closing, head in his hands. There was no way she was going to come round the shop forever, just like Clara had said. He just hadn't thought he'd lost his chance already when she'd walked out with that smile last week.

He should have known better than to think he had a shot.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

He was still in a dark mood the next day, brushing off Clara's attempts to talk, telling her that they could discuss it after closing. He was just organizing the books to shelve, one of his first tasks of the day when the bell above the door announced a visitor.

"We're not open yet," he called, not bothering to look up. "Come back in half an hour."

"Sorry. I just saw the lights on and the door was unlocked so I didn't check the hours."

James whipped around at the familiar voice and saw his blonde by the door, looking nervous. "You're back!" He exclaimed.

"Yeah, came in as soon as I could. I'm so sorry I didn't come by yesterday like normal," she started explaining, walking towards him and still wringing her hands together. "Friend of mine needed an emergency lift across town because their car broke down and they had a presentation and then-"

"Do you want to go get a coffee? With me? Sometime?" He blurts out, interrupting her. He fidgeted as she processed the question, shocked look on her face. Just the fact that she had come in as soon as she could to explain why she hadn't been in on her normal day, that she felt like she had to explain gave him the bit of courage he hadn't found yet.

Their unofficial standing date meant something to her as well and that was all the hope he needed.

As soon as she got through the shock, a bright smile, akin to the supernova he'd first compared it to, bloomed on her face. "Yeah, I'd like that."

"I'm James by the way," he said, sticking his hand out. "Most people call me the Doctor though. Clara's fault."

"Well then, Doctor, it's lovely to officially meet you. I'm Rose, Rose Tyler." She reached out and shook his hand and then didn't let it go, moving instead to intertwine their fingers. "You have time for that coffee right now?" She asked.

"Clara, mind the shop!" He shouted over his shoulder before looking back down at Rose. "Perks of being the owner," he said with a wink. "Lead on."

Rose laughed and tugged him out the doors.

"You never told me you were the owner, you wanker," Clara heard Rose say as the door shut behind them, leaving her with the shop to herself and a huge smile on her face.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Rose remained a familiar presence in the shop, coming in more often and always greeting James with a kiss on the cheek. She ventured into every section of the shop now and told him that the reason she never went into the travel section was because she desperately wanted to travel but didn't have the money to go any of the places that the books talked about.

When she told him one night as they lie tangled together in their bed that she'd found her biggest adventure in him instead of in the pages of the books they both loved, James responded with an offer of half ownership in the shop, the ring that had been in his nightstand for a month and half, and a promise of a lifetime of adventure together.

She said yes immediately and sealed her own promise with a kiss.