The Doctor walked the streets hurriedly, not wanting to waste a minute. He had to get out of this little town somehow, so he looked for a car. Across the street from where he currently was, there sat an older man in his car, and the Doctor recognized him from the day he'd come back to Earth after telling Amy five minutes. She had been 19 at the time and had locked the Doctor's tie into the door of that old man's car. The Doctor smiled at the fond memory of how aggressive his little Amelia Pond had turned out to be. Cutting off the reminiscing, he walked up to the man in his car and opened the driver's side door.

"Excuse me, but what are you doing?" the old man bristled. The Doctor took him by the hand and helped him out of the car.

"Just helping you get out of your car," the Doctor said nicely. The old man was just starting to thank him when the Doctor suddenly jumped inside the still-open car door.

"Hey! What are you doing?" the old man huffed. The Doctor put on his nicest grin, hoping it didn't look too creepy.

"Stealing your car. Well, borrowing it really. Be back soon!" the Doctor answered, turning the key still left in the ignition, closing the door, and driving away. The old man tried to chase after the car, but he stopped after a few steps, wheezing at his efforts.

The Doctor was laughing as he sped away in the stolen car. Part of him was remembering a time quite similar to this when he'd stolen another vehicle- one more blue and boxy. That had been the day. And now, there he was on Earth in a stolen vehicle, off to find an engagement ring for a beautiful girl. His laugh was multi-faceted; it was joyful, sentimental, and nervous. It was everything he could think of, and that was okay.

He drove for about a half an hour until he came across a city that looked like it might have some good options. So he drove around until he found a parking spot. It was parallel parking only, but he managed. If hitting both the cars in the process as well as a cat counted as managing. He then left the car and started walking the streets. Thankfully, there was a jeweler not too far from his parking spot.

When the Doctor walked in, a woman asked him if he needed any help. He declined and started looking through the rows and rows of diamond rings, all so shiny and slightly distracting. He looked for a long time at a gold ring with three diamonds on it, but then he moved on, finding the one he wanted in practically no time at all. It had one good-sized diamond in the middle and was framed by two blue sapphires and set on a white gold ring. The blue was similar to TARDIS blue, and he knew it would be perfect.

"Can I see that one?" the Doctor asked, pointing to the ring he wanted. The jeweler looked at him and then down at the ring, getting it out of the case.

"Well, she must be a wonderful girl," the woman said with a twinkle in her eye. The Doctor knew that twinkle was probably taught in sales school or whatever, but it made him happy all the same.

"Believe me, she is," the Doctor replied. The woman showed him the price tag, but he didn't blink twice. Money had never been a problem for him, not when he could simply pop into the future to find out the winning lottery numbers. Or rob a bank. Not that he did that… anymore.

After he paid for the ring and got it put in a black velvet box, the Doctor walked happily back out to the car he'd borrowed. It had a few scratched on it, but they were nothing the sonic couldn't fix. After taking a second to fix up the paint job, the Doctor hopped into the stolen vehicle and drove back to Leadworth, returning the car to a rather bewildered old man.

*DW*DW*DW*

Amy rang the doorbell to Rory's house and waited anxiously for him to open the door. Hopefully he wouldn't be too mad over everything that had happened recently, especially with having been there while they rebooted the universe. Amy was even more worried about what Rory might remember about the whole thing. Would he remember River?

The door opened to reveal Rory's face. His expression turned to shock as he saw who was ringing his doorbell. "Amy!" Rory exclaimed in surprise.

"Hey, Rory! I hope I wasn't interrupting anything," Amy greeted him. Rory shook his head and opened the door further so Amy could come in. The two went to the living room to sit down.

"So, wow. You're back again, after a month. And the Doctor's not with you," Rory pointed out both of the obvious things.

"Yup. He's gone out to get something or other. I don't really know. But then again, you never really do know with the Doctor, do you?" Amy said with a smile. Rory returned it, remembering his time traveling with the eccentric man. Amy hated how awkward things had become between the two of them, but she supposed they couldn't help it. That's how things were when you broke up with your fiancé she guessed.

"Amy, why are you coming back here?" Rory asked, getting right to the point. His question sent a wave of surprise through Amy, and not just because she hadn't expected Rory to ask such a thing. It was also because she really didn't quite know why herself. The more she thought about it, the more she came back to River. She couldn't quite wrap her head around the fact that she and Rory could've had a child together and that she would grow up to be River. But she couldn't tell Rory that.

"I wanted to check up on you. Make sure you're surviving the newly recreated universe alright," Amy lied. But, she told herself, it wasn't completely a lie. She really did care how Rory was doing. After all, he was her best friend, her only friend, especially now that she was traveling the stars throughout time.

"I'm fine, really," Rory answered. Seeing Amy's look of disbelief, he sighed. "Really. Life goes on. It's not like we actually got married or had kids or anything like that," Rory emphasized his point. Amy swore she stopped breathing for a minute. Kids. Rory had said it wasn't like they'd had kids. But they did. Or would have, anyway.

"Are you alright?" Rory asked. Amy's face had gone pale like she was about to be sick.
She didn't respond. "Do you need a… a bucket or anything?" Rory asked. There was Rory, always being concerned. But Amy wasn't listening to him anymore, not really. The reality was starting to hit her hard. This was the life she left, but it wasn't only her life. She didn't just choose to change her own life, she'd chosen to change and hurt Rory's life and well as wipe River's life from existence. What had she done?

"I… I need to go," Amy mumbled, running for the door. Rory grabbed her arm gently, thinking that she was in no shape to be going outside, but Amy shook his hand off, pushing the door open. She ran out the door, continuing down the street.

"Amy, wait!" Rory yelled after her. He thought about chasing after her, but he knew that those days were over. He couldn't control her and he really shouldn't try.

Amy ran and didn't stop until she was home. Luckily for her, none of her family was home. She ran straight into the bathroom, feeling a sweep of nausea come over her. A squirming started in her stomach and began rising toward her throat.

She would have been a mother. A mother. And her daughter would have been a wonderful woman, a woman who would have saved many worlds and made the Doctor happy. This woman had been her friend, and now she no longer existed, all because of Amy's choice. Why did this have to happen?

The taste of bile filled Amy's mouth as she started to be sick. She felt cool hands suddenly on the back of her neck, pulling her hair back. She stayed like that over the toilet for several minutes until she had stopped being sick. Then, she didn't dare look up to see which of her family members had walked in on this embarrassing event. Whoever it was then began stroking her head soothingly. Finally, Amy raised her head and dared to turn around to see the person's face that had held her. To her great surprise, it was the Doctor. Her eyes widened.

"Oh, Doctor, I'm so sorry!" Amy said through tears. When had she started crying? She didn't even know. Here she was, a total mess, crying and throwing up, and the Doctor was there to witness it.

"It's okay," he whispered back. He pulled her toward him so that she was sitting right up against him with his arm around her and her head leaning against his chest.

"Ugh, that was so embarrassing," Amy whimpered. "And, wait, you held my hair back," Amy pointed out. The Doctor raised his eyebrows slightly.

"Well, yes, I did," he said slowly, not understanding what Amy was trying to say. "I didn't want it getting dirty or-" the Doctor started to explain himself before Amy cut him off.

"That's so sweet, Doctor," she said with a smile. The Doctor opened his mouth to say something but couldn't think of anything, so he blushed instead.

They sat like that for the next several minutes, not saying anything. The Doctor was worried about her, but he didn't want to press her. She would tell him when she was ready. And then there was the other thought in his mind- good thing he had not stormed into the house ready to propose right away. That would have been a disaster.

"I was visiting Rory, and then I just started to think about River and how I'd gotten rid of her entire timeline," Amy barely whispered. The Doctor squeezed her tight.

"No, that's not what happened. River could've lived years more, all the way until her death perhaps, and then been erased from time. She just sped things up a bit by jumping into the explosion with the Pandorica. Yes, she would have been erased anyway, but it would've taken years. Amy, it's not your fault. If you'd chosen any differently, other lives may never have existed at all either. That's the way time works. You make a choice and that choice can change the future. There's no one set future after all. It's always changing. There's no way you could've known, anyway. It's not because of you," the Doctor explained in a quiet voice, all the while running his hands through her hair.

So the Doctor said it hadn't been her fault. Amy knew she had to trust him on that, but sometimes it was hard to do. She took a deep shuddering breath and snuggled closer to him.

"So everything will be okay?" Amy asked weakly, knowing she sounded like a child.

"Yes, everything will be okay," the Doctor answered confidently.

A/N: So the proposal is yet to come! Sorry that this one was so full of angst, but it had to happen. And I know this one was a little shorter, but the next one should be longer! Until next time, enjoy and review.