"Instrumental Glory"
11. Things We Don't Say
April 2012 – Lima, Ohio
For a moment after she'd returned, Gemma had been concerned she might have overshot her time and missed the rest of the day, but as it turned out, there had been some kind of incident which had led to the students being sent home on a half day. Gemma didn't mind it so much at this point. Her quick trip into the near future had not been as simple as she would have meant for it to be, and now that it was done, she was envisioning a laid back afternoon of relaxation.
She'd gone back to her apartment, put her bag away, and headed in for a bath. She hadn't even felt herself fall asleep, until she started to slip in. The moment her chin touched the water, she startled awake and grabbed the edges of the tub, pulling herself back up. It took her a few seconds, and another knock at the door to realize maybe Walter's arrival might have played into her waking up, too.
"Be right there!" she called, breathing deep, getting her bearings back before she could rise out of the water. As it slowly drained away, she threw on the first shirt and pants she could get her hands on before hurrying to the door, feet bare and ponytail dripping. When she opened the door, Walter took in her appearance and shook his head. "You know I'm going to start thinking you're doing this on purpose, showing up when you do," she teased, stepping aside.
"I have no idea what you're talking about," he teased back. "How long have you been back, didn't you have classes this afternoon?"
"I came back and the school was shut down," she shrugged. "Good thing I had some 'help' or I would have been locked in there until tomorrow."
"Came back?" he asked. "Did you go to…" he gestured, and she chuckled. He still had trouble sometimes wrapping his head around the whole travel in time and space thing.
"Yeah, had to move something from one place to another," she revealed. "You hungry?" He nodded. "Pizza?" she suggested, and he nodded again, so she went to call in the order. They'd done this enough times by now that she didn't need to ask what kind he wanted. When she'd put the phone down, Gemma turned back, finding Walter had taken a seat at the table, where he picked through the latest book box she'd received from the Doctor.
"Wait, that's…" he picked up a pair of heavy books, looking at her with a shocked sort of expression that made her burst out laughing. "How… Wait, time travel," he remembered. He still couldn't look away.
"Maybe you shouldn't," she pointed out, sitting at the chair next to his. He looked at her with a sort of wounded face. "They won't be published here for a while, you won't be able to talk about them to anyone, think of the spoilers," she breathed, and he frowned.
"You'll get to read them though," he countered.
"I'm from the future, remember? I've read those already," she beamed with pride. "The end was pretty spectacular," she held out her hands, waiting. After a beat, Walter frowned and gave her the books, which she put back in the box.
"So what happens to all of these when you're done here?" he asked, tapping the box, looking at her shelves, then back to her. She let out a breath. The more days went by, the more she feared the inevitable, the moment where she'd have to leave him. But then the closer it came, the more it seemed they ended up talking about it.
"I don't know, but the Doctor will probably find a way to have them taken away. Everything will go, the apartment will be empty, and someone else will move in." He knew this would have to be the answer, but even then actually hearing it looked like the most painful thing he'd had to endure.
"Won't feel right," he insisted, and she reached for his hand. He took hers, held it with as much care as he did urgency. He loved her, she could tell… She'd wanted so much to spare him from this; they had heartbreak on the rise. "This thing that you have to do…"
"You know I can't really talk about it," she reminded him.
"No, I know, but… I guess I just need to know that you'll be safe." He looked her in the eye, and she had to smile. "Lie to me if you have to, but the thought of you leaving and not knowing if you'll be…"
"The Doctor will keep me safe," she told him, leaving out the part where the Doctor had always done all she could to keep her companions safe, but that she had not always succeeded. "And I'll keep myself safe, too," she tipped her head, and this more than anything helped to reassure Walter.
"Yeah, you do that," he smiled, and she leaned in to kiss him, because it seemed like the thing to do.
After that first kiss which had ended in her pulling away, they had been keeping to themselves, though it hadn't been for lack of wanting. Had she kept this in mind, Gemma might have had more presence of mind to ask herself whether it was in any way wise to give in to what she was feeling, what they were both feeling.
But one short kiss had given way to another, and it might have been the sweet scent of soap coming off of her that beckoned Walter nearer, calling his hand to come and rest at the small of her back, where it found soft skin where her shirt had come to ride up. The contact had made so that she leaned into the embrace, too, and then they were standing from their chairs as one, and Gemma had no conscience left as to when she was leaving, or that she was leaving at all. The only thing that mattered to her in that instant, the only thing she could think of, was that she loved Walter back and being in his arms felt like the safest place she could ever be.
TO BE CONTINUED (TOMORROW)
