Hello everyone, so sorry for keeping you waiting for so long, exam weeks have been hell. Anyway, thank you all for staying with me, and now: on with the show! This one is post Angels take Manhattan for both River and the Doctor, enjoy and, if you could spare me a minute, I'd be glad to read a review from you!

PS: I'll soon create a separate story for the smutty sequels to the OneShots here, so don't worry, I haven't forgotten that you wanted to read those, too.

River entered the bar swiftly, the sound of her clicking heels filling the now almost empty room. As soon as the door fell shut behind her, the young bartender approached her:

"Thank you so much for coming! I'm sorry for bothering you, but I didn't know who else to call."

She shot him a quick smile, replying:

"It's alright, dear."

River then proceeded to let her eyes wander around the bar until she spotted a familiar figure slumped against the counter.

"What has he been up to?"

She asked the bartender, worry now predominating her voice.

"The usual, singing sad songs, scaring away my other customers and drinking more than I thought was possible. We tied to convince him to go slowly, we always do, but he's persistent and once he's started, he never stops… I'm sorry, mam"

River nodded courtly and murmured a word of thanks before approaching the sad man at the bar. As she got closer, she could see the Doctor's legs trembling dangerously and his fingers blindly searching for the glass that sat before him on the counter. Quickly, River moved to stand beside her husband, pushing the drink out of his reach in the process.

As no reaction came from the Doctor, she placed a tender hand on his arm. Her Doctor jumped. He really hadn't even noticed anyone approaching him before he was touched.

"Hey,"

River murmured softly,

"…Don't you think it's time to go?"

If she was hoping for him to simply follow her, she was soon proven wrong as the Doctor shook off her hand and, gripping the counter tightly in order to remain standing upright, demanded:

"I need another drink, I don't need to go anywhere, who are you to talk to me like that, anyway?"

River sighed. She had never seen her love like this before… well, before he had lost her parents, his best friends, a few months ago. He had stopped travelling, a thing she would never have thought him capable of, and despite all her attempts to get him to look for a new companion, he had locked himself into his TARDIS, only ever leaving to go to that bar in the middle of nowhere and drown his brain in alcohol. River thought she had known him before, but over the course of these horrible weeks her image of what the Doctor would and would not do had changed immensely.

Tonight, he was so intoxicated he didn't even recognise her.

Doing her best to ignore the tears that were forming in her eyes at that thought, River moved up close to her Doctor again, reaching out once more to touch his shoulder.

"It won't make the pain go away, you know?"

She whispered because she feared if she spoke out aloud her choked voice would betray her tears.

"It can make everything go away."

The Doctor replied stubbornly, sobs shaking his entire body,

"You don't understand, you could never understand… my pain… my loss… my Ponds. They're gone and there's nobody left, and I'll never see them again…"

His body squirmed at the pain and sent him out of balance, stumbling sideways. Instinctively, River rushed after him, putting her arm around his waist to steady him against herself.

"I know, Doctor, but what's the use in you throwing away your life like that? They would never have wanted that, they would have wanted you to live to the fullest and do what you do… help other people and help yourself. Please, please come home with me!"

River pleaded, her free hand now lying on his cheek to wipe his tears away with her thumb.

"I'm not going anywhere"

He repeated, and then, trying to pull out of her grasp:

"And definitely not with you! Get your hands off me, I have a wife, you know?"

Rivers eyes burned, but despite herself, she laughed humourlessly at the absurdity of the situation.

"Oh, you do, don't you?"

"Yeah. Beautiful, great hair, amazing and really wonderful. So, you see, I'm not going home with strange women."

Again, he attempted to push her off, but she definitely was stronger than him in that intoxicated state.

"Then how about I take you to her instead?"

River murmured, ready to say anything necessary to get him out of that place and to the safety and comfort of the TARDIS.

"Yes. That would be nice"

He whispered, words a bit less slurred now than before,

"Take me to my River, take me home."

And finally, he allowed her to help him make his way to the door, her grip on his waist firm and protective and their steps slow and – because of his unsteady state – rather uncoordinated.

Eventually, River and the Doctor made it out the door without falling over one another and, as soon as they were alone out on the cold street, River used her vortex manipulator to transport them into the TARDIS console room.

The Doctor blinked, moving away from her a little, holding unto the railing for support.

"How did we get here so quickly? Have I missed something?"

River smiled sadly, knowing that this would be a long night,

"Hello, Sweetie."

"River?"

New tears started to form in his eyes and his apathic drunk state faded into complete and utter devastation and maybe a hint of relief and comfort as she nodded. The Doctor practically fell into her open arms, laying his head on her shoulder and sobbing into her neck freely while River buried her face in his shirt, trying to hide her tears.

None of the two could say how long they stayed like that, but at some point, the Doctor slid his shaking fingers into River's hair, relishing in the familiar feeling of it and gently massaging her scalp. He wasn't entirely sure why, but he knew that his love was sad, he could feel her silent tears soaking the fabric of his shirt.

"Hey, River…"

He murmured gently, his body swaying slightly as she leaned back to be able to look up at him.

"River, listen, I'm so sorry, I really am… please… would you -"

The Doctor stopped as he glanced the pained expression on her face before she masked it with a soft smile quickly.

"River, are you okay?"

He asked, his own pain completely forgotten at the thought that something could be hurting his dear wife.

"I'm good, Sweetie, don't worry about me. What do you want me to do?"

He hesitated for a moment, trying to remember what he had wanted to say, then he asked so quietly it was almost a whisper:

"I'm sorry if I'm being a bother to you, but would you mind staying here with me tonight?"

"For as long as you want."

She whispered back, an honest smile now taking over her beautiful features.

"I think what both of us need right now is sleep, so come along, sweetie"

River took the Doctor's hand, trusting his coordination enough now to hope that he wouldn't fall over on the way to the bedroom and, once they had entered, she closed the door behind them and opened up the wardrobe that always was reserved for her.

The Doctor, too, began to dress in his nightclothes. As River turned to change out of her shirt, he thought he noticed something on her arm, just out of the corner of his eye, but it could very easily have been a trick of his blurry vision, so he decided to ignore it.

The two of them crawled into the bed and under the covers and the Doctor rolled onto his side so he was facing River. Then, ever so gently, he took her left wrist and rolled up her sleeve. At first, she tried to pull back and stop him, but after he had pressed a reassuring – if somewhat sloppy – kiss to her temple, she stopped her resistance and let him proceed.

The Doctor held her wrist tenderly while inspecting her forearm, and, upon seeing the many scars running across it, let his fingers trace them as softly as he could, wanting nothing less than to hurt his dear wife.

"River"

He finally whispered, his name leaving his lips like a soft spring breeze stroking her senses, and she snapped, she couldn't take his kindness and affection anymore, not when she felt so broken and alone inside. Rather forcefully, she pulled her arm out of his grasp and close to her chest, hiding it from his pitying eyes.

Angry at herself for the tears she felt welling up again, she closed her eyes and shifted closer to the Doctor, hoping he wouldn't be able to see her face anymore.

"Hey, River, my love… it's alright, come here, dear."

With these gentle words, the Doctor lay his arms around his wife, pulled her to his chest and started stroking her back gently.

Locked tightly in their comforting embrace, the two eventually fell asleep, both seeking the familiarity and the consistency of their love and both relishing in the peace their union never ceased to hold for them. They were there for each other, as always. They were River and the Doctor, no matter what happened.

I'm Always looking forward to Reviews... :)