A/N: Thank you so much for your lovely reviews! I think I replied to all reviews by PM- and I will be doing so again for this chapter! I love hearing what you have to say about this story (which, I have to say, is my best DW FF so far) and I hope you'll do the same with this chapter. Anywho, I hope you'll enjoy the next installment, which is Rory and Mel's side of things. Thanks again, Hannah x

Disclaimer: Don't own, don't sue.

Rory and Melanie's conversation had moved from looking out the window to the window seat, where the pair sat crossed legged on the cushion like children on a carpet at primary school. The wine bottle was still three-quarters full and was leaned against the skirting board in a rather precarious position- one stray leg kick from either Melanie or Rory would send the bottle across the wood floor, the very expensive liquid with it.

Rory took another sip of his wine, the sweet, fruity taste working its way round his mouth and down his throat. Back in Leadworth, in his proper life, he wasn't much of a drinker; not compared to his friends or Amy. He did drink, but it was more in the flat than anywhere else. He couldn't really drink when he was in town, in a club with Amy. He was always the designated driver. The guy who drove Mels and Amy to all the parties in town and would stand awkwardly with the coats sipping a sombre orange juice, while Amy and Mels would dance and mingle and drink and generally have a good time. Then, of course, he'd have to drive them back again; his arms propped underneath both of their shoulders and his ears struggling to decipher their slurred words and conversations- and then he had to endure the amount of drunken vomit that got all over his shoes. From the ages eighteen to twenty-one, Rory went through about sixty pairs of trainers thanks to these lovely nights out.

Ah, those were the days. The days where alcohol was pretty much a stranger to him. Now, he couldn't get enough of the stuff.

"Define right," Rory asked after several moments of silence. When Melanie looked at him, confused, he elaborated, "You said before that buying the club felt right. Define right."

"Oh." Melanie said, and then shrugged. "I don't know. Just right, I guess."

Rory smiled, shaking his head. He could tell when Melanie was hiding something. "Just tell me, Mel. I'm your… Well, you know who I am. You know you can tell me anything."

Melanie snorted. Noticing that her glass was empty, she reached out onto the floor and grabbed the lazily placed wine bottle. "You're going to think I'm mad."

Try me.

Rory reached out for Mel's hand, gripping it tightly between his fingers. Rory cared immensely for this woman- whether she was his daughter, or his sister, he didn't mind. He cared about her, no matter how they were related. Melanie looked up and stared deeply into Rory's eyes, realising how much they were like hers. For a brother and sister, they didn't look much alike at all; apart from their eyes. The only characteristic they could've possibly both inherited from their parents.

"You can trust me." Rory confirmed undoubtedly. "Please, Mel."

Melanie bit her lip to hide her smile. "That's not going to stop you from thinking I'm mad."

Rory chuckled softly, still gripping her hand. "Whatever you say, you'll always be mad to me."

"Thanks for that encouragement there," Melanie quipped sarcastically with a grin.

"At least now you'll have nothing to lose if you tell me what you're thinking."

Melanie sighed. "Fine. If you're dragging it out of me. But promise you won't call the mental asylum?"

"I do have them on speed dial, so that won't be a guarantee." Rory mocked, earning a playful smack on the arm from Melanie.

"Ow!" Rory screeched, instantly grabbing his arm to dull the pain. She hadn't forgotten her feisty side, that was for sure. God help him if Melanie ever got her hands on a gun of some sort.

"That didn't hurt," Melanie chided. She brushed a stray curl that had come loose in her face behind her ear. "I need you to be serious, Rory. Please."

Noting the seriousness in her tone, Rory decided to stop cracking the jokes and remarks. He really was intrigued in why Melanie would be impulse to buy a club in East London of all places, especially when they had their standards set so high- for America and so on. If East London felt so right, what else could possibly be there?

He could be there. And her.

Rory quickly banished that thought to the back of his mind. The TARDIS had created the two of them the perfect back story, deliberately so that the Doctor's and River's human personas never came within proximity of each other. It just wasn't possible. The TARDIS was too clever to let a stupid notion of Melanie's get in the way of their plans. To get in the way of their three month 'human experience'.

"Fine. No more comments. I'm listening."

Melanie took a deep breath, pouring a little more wine in her glass. "It was… Well, it was a vision, I guess."

A vision? Rory's whole body tensed. He thought he was going to be sick.

Melanie couldn't be having the visions. She just couldn't. River had warned him how rare they were, how he would probably not come across them with her- yet here he was, the word literally coming off her lips.

"Dad, this one is specifically for you. Because the Doctor hasn't reached his final regeneration he won't have this problem so you don't have to worry, mum." River said into the camera, the Doctor pushing his face in the way.

"I might have dreams about past adventures or something, but…"

River shoved him out the way before he had a chance to finish his sentence. "Excuse me, sweetie, I thought I was talking there?"

"Yes, yes you were."

"Can you shut up, then? I have something important to tell my father which you told me was incredibly vital."

"Yes. I can."

"Thank you." River assembled back into her original position. "As I was saying, I'm on my last regeneration. I used all my regenerations at once back in Berlin- so it can cause some, let's say, complications when using the Chameleon Arch."

River paused for a second, biting her lip. "The Chameleon Arch completely rewrites my biology. It causes so much pain and agony, that before it finishes, it can cause a Time Lord's body to go into near regeneration. You know that moment when your heart stops, just for literally a moment, before resuscitation? You're so close to death that you are actually dead for a moment, until a paramedic or someone shoots electricity through you?"

"It's not like that all, you know, River," the Doctor quipped from the side, earning a scary glare from River.

"I'm trying to make it easier to understand, okay? Not everyone gets this." River said, looking back into the lens. "Okay, fine it's not quite like that. But let's just say that it is, for the purpose of this. When the Chameleon Arch rewrites the Doctor's biology, his body will be considering regeneration because of the pain, but he changes into a human so he can't regenerate anyway. But the option of regeneration is still there and so close- but for me, it's different. Oh heck. I'm confusing myself."

"You're explaining it quite well, actually." another one of the Doctor's remarks came from the right, "And you don't have the diagrams."

River slapped the Doctor on the arm, pushing him away. She eyed the camera with an I-know-what-you're-thinking look. "You don't even want to know about the diagrams, father. Don't worry about them." she inhaled deeply, getting back onto her train of thought. "Oh yes. As I was saying, it's different for me. As I'm on my last regeneration, that option isn't there. If I'm coming close to death, I don't change, I just die. You know that- but don't worry, dad, I'm not going to die using the Arch. I'm more likely to die if the Family get a hold of me than using the Arch."

"Not helping." said the Doctor.

"Will you just shut up for once in your life?" River rolled her eyes, "But because that option of regeneration isn't there, when I wake up as human me, the Arch could cause some side effects. To keep me alive, the Arch messes with my brain-"

"And I'm sure that's exactly what the Ponds want to hear. That their daughter's brain is getting messed with. Rory's still got his sword you know, and I'd rather not be in the receiving end of it."

"And I've still got my blaster!" River exclaimed frustratedly, "Right, I better rush through this before I get anymore interruptions. The Arch 'alters' my brain, shuffles a few things around to keep my whole body going while I suffer through the agony of the cell rewrite. The side effect is a bit weird. I get visions."

"More a temporal displace-"

"SHUT UP! I get visions, okay? Dad, just listen to me. I might not, I might be strong enough to get through the rewrite without this happening, I'm 99% sure I can. But I might not. If I do, these visions sort of link to my future- people or places. They link to the Doctor. And even the TARDIS can't stop these. Dad, while I'm human, you cannot let me act upon these visions. If they show me a place, you cannot let me go to that place. Because I will see the Doctor- and you know what happens if I see him."

Melanie noticed Rory's silence. She instantly let her hands cover her face with embarrassment. "Oh God. I told you I sounded mad!"

Rory shook his head. "No! Of course I don't think you're mad! It's just… Visions, y'know?"

Rory didn't let Mel catch on that his hands were shaking.

Melanie moved her hands away from her eyes. "Yeah, I know, it's weird, but I'm telling you, it was so real. I was just lying in bed last night and all of a sudden, this building popped into my head. Hadn't ever seen it before, ever. An abandoned club- 11 Cordell Avenue, East London. Next to this massive Estate. It was so clear; I saw the bloody street sign!"

Rory hated the sound of this more and more as Mel continued. This was exactly the thing River told him not to let herself get carried away with. And what was she doing? Getting carried away with it!

And Rory couldn't stop her. Not now.

Mel was still talking. "Of course, I had to do some serious Googling after that. And I found it. The exact building, for sale, on cheap. Before I knew it, I was on the phone to the estate agent and I'd placed an offer. Next thing I knew my deposit was accepted."

"Um," Rory tried to think of anything to drag her away from this, "Is that really wise? The place could be rundown and horrible and-"

Mel laughed. "Chill, Rory. It's sorted. We're both going down there tomorrow to check it out."

"What?" Rory spluttered. "I mean…"

"Yes, I know! Exciting, right?" Melanie grinned.

Rory was now clinging to scraps of hope. "But it's so close to Christmas! Why don't we go down in the new year to have a look or…"

Melanie hoisted herself off the window seat, still laughing. She ruffled Rory's hair with the palm of her hand. "Oh, brother dear, you were always one for the slow path, weren't you? You never think about doing things quickly, do you?"

"Shouldn't we think about this?" Rory exclaimed, "We haven't even talked about it! You just swan off and buy a club without even asking me? I thought we were in this together ever since, well…" he decided on adding the guilt trip, "Ever since mum and dad died."

Melanie paused for a second, the grin from her face evaporating into a frown. She looked down at the floor. "You don't have to come if you don't want to. I'll go on my own. But don't get me wrong, Rory, we're definitley still in this together- but I have to do this."

Melanie offered him a small smile, and then continued on walking out the room.

Rory jumped off the window seat, picking up the wine bottle which was strewn on the floor.

If he couldn't get out of this or change Mel's mind (which, admit it, was always impossible) he'd be damned if he was letting her go on her own.

Maybe if he was behind her, all the step of the way, they wouldn't bump into him.

Or if they did, would it be such a bad thing?

Don't be stupid. Of course it would. If the Family got a hold of two Time Lords, they'd live forever- and that would be beyond disastrous.

Only one good thing would come out of them seeing the Doctor in East London.

And that good thing would be Amy Pond.