Chapter 10

'How was it?' She asked, taking him into her arms.

'It was alright, actually. Better than I thought it was going to be. Katie enjoyed it.'

'That's good.'

He put all the bags down as Katie returned to her bedroom as usual.

'Hey, come here,' he called, as she walked away. He persisted her, determinately wrapping her up in his arms, swaying side to side like a child. She couldn't help the laughter erupting from her and John pulled away to observe her face.

'I feel really awful,' he said, 'I'm sorry.'

'What? You don't have to apologise,' she said incredulously, 'I told you, it's fine, I understand. You don't have to explain anything to me.'

'I know, but I still feel bad.'

'Well, you don't need to be, so stop. That's an order.'

'Yes, Miss Oswald.'

She smiled, and he pressed a kiss to her lips in response.

'You don't need to be guilty for anything.'

'Okay. But I'll do something nice, I promise.'

'Hey, stop promising and help me with dinner.'

He grinned. It was nice to be back.

'It was hard being alone.' He said.

'Was it really? I enjoyed it.'

'Hey, stop teasing. You missed me and I know it.'

'It was one night, John.'

'And you missed me.'

'What is it with you? Are you just trying to get me to admit I missed you for one night?'

'To make me look like not a fool for saying I missed you.'

'You're so weird. But I missed you.'

He smiled. 'I missed you too, Clara Oswald.'

'You make it sound like we were apart for weeks.'

'That's how it felt.'

'Did it?'

'Yeah. Shows you how bad I am at being alone.'

'Yeah, it does. But you won't ever have to be alone anymore, alright?'

She said, reaching up to kiss his cheek comfortingly. He took those words and kept them with him as he smiled adoringly at his Clara.

••••

Katie was walking toward the P.E block when one of her friends came up to her with a mixture of a shock and disbelief on her face.

'Oh my god, Katie, Jake's just broken up with his girlfriend. And he told me why.'

'What? How the hell did that happen?'

'Last night, he told her he liked someone else. She's been crying all day about it.'

'I can imagine why. Jake's hot as hell.'

'Exactly!' She said, eyes lighting up.

'Okay, you're beginning to freak me out.'

'Just...come over here.'

Katie was dragged over to a group of people loitering around the changing rooms, and her friend pulled her toward a group of boys. She raised her eyebrows at her, turning back to the group with distaste. If her friend was trying to set her up it wouldn't work. She sighed, about to turn away, when someone grabbed her hand. Her eyebrows nearly fell off as she saw Jake there, holding her arm and smiling at her. Katie was overwhelmed and confused at the same time. As clear as it seemed, she couldn't fathom why he was standing there in front of her. Everyone started to watch the spectacle, her cheeks starting to flush embarrassingly. For a long time neither said anything until he spoke in a deep voice while she subconsciously stared up into his captivating blue eyes.

'I don't know how to quite say it...' He began, trying to search for words while she continued to gaze into his face. He had dark hair that framed his face and cheekbones as sharp as a razor blade. In short, he was everything the girls wanted. She saw some of them now watching bewilderingly at the two of them.

'Are you trying to say something, or are you just going to stand there?' She said. He laughed a little.

'Could I just do something?' He asked.

She looked at him like he was joking around.

'Do what?'

He bent down and kissed her, in front of so many people, but Katie decided she didn't care. She kissed him back surprisingly well, and she could just hear the shouts of surprise of the crowd around them. She smiled as she thought of all the girls now suddenly jealous, and as they drew apart she looked into his eyes and nodded.

'You have permission to do that a lot more often.'

He laughed again, and it was like it had been a dream. If someone had told her Jake would kiss her that afternoon she'd have told them they were drunk. But it was definitely real as she glanced at her friends and they grinned disbelievingly back.

'Why?' She asked him.

'You're perfect.' He said.

Her cheeks burned red again. No one had ever called her that.

Unlike all the other boys he was beautiful and kind. Someone that didn't have a reputation of messing people around.

She finally stepped away, comprehending the immense crowd that had gathered around them, grinning stupidly. But one person was glaring at the both of them like she was about to kill her. And them she realised it was the girl Jake had broken up with in favour of her. The awkwardness heightened as they all stared at each other. She could feel Jake's hand on her shoulder, but suddenly she realised the situation felt familiar. It was like Clara and John all over again, and one person standing in their way, which was always her. But now it was the girl standing before them, and in that moment she conclusively knew how it felt to be Clara Oswald.

••••

Clara brushed past him in the corridor, giving him a smile as she passed him, but instead of walking away he beckoned her to his side.

'Are you alright?' She asked, wondering why he had called her over.

'Yeah, I'm fine, but did you hear about Katie?'

'What? No.'

He was grinning. 'I just had the year 10's, and they were all gossiping about the latest break up. Couldn't help hearing into what they were saying. Apparently this boy called Jake split up with this other girl. They'd been going out for a long time when this morning he kissed Katie while she was watching and now the whole year's a riot.'

'What? Jake kissed her?'

'Yeah.' He laughed. 'I bet she really hates us for being at her school. We know everything that goes around.'

'Yeah. But John, don't patronise her. And don't you dare start picking on Jake in lessons. If he likes Katie, he likes her. Don't start questioning him or making him feel uncomfortable.'

'I won't do anything, Clara,' he said unconvincingly.

'She only got kissed by him, don't start acting like she's found her future husband, alright? I know what you're like.'

'Well, this school does seem to have a reputation for it. I wouldn't be surprised if he proposed to her on the spot.' He said, drawing closer.

'Hey, none of that here. Get back to lessons, Mr Smith.' She said, trying to hide her grin.

When Katie arrived at her office Clara smiled at her. Unusually, she smiled back. Maybe she knew how she felt now. Yet she didn't bring up the subject at all, and Clara neither provoked her or mentioned it. She knew she was probably still shocked. Someone like Jake, she knew, was popular with everyone but she didn't see any problem with him. Smart, polite, nice in lessons. How he behaved outside her classroom was unknown to her. She knew all too well what adolescents of their age did. What she herself did at that age. John came in, and to her and Katie's relief he didn't say anything either. In fact, they pretended like they hadn't heard anything about it. That night Katie neither showed any sign of disgust at their actions, if John would kiss her forehead or hug her from behind, she hardly twitched like she usually did. Katie hardly said a thing and they saw she was on her phone a lot more, possibly talking to Jake. When she had disappeared once again, Clara had looked up at him and he'd raised his eyebrows. Katie was finally beginning to understand how it felt to be hated for loving someone.