Chapter 13

HALEYs POV

Soph and Cam were fast asleep, both covered in blankets and pillows that leant against the back car windows and were becoming damp with condensation. The 1975 were becoming a bit slow (therefore, not conducive to late night driving), so I turned the stereo of rather than fiddling with discs.

It was at times like this this I hated driving. I still had an hour and a half to go before we arrived at the Welsh border; it would be four in the morning when we actually got to Cardiff, but it didn't really matter because Matt had a night shoot at a castle fifteen minutes outside the city anyway. He'd given me his address, which had brightened my day when he'd given it to me. He trusted me enough for this, and that made me happy.

The lights of a Welcome Break glimmered gaudily in the fast-approaching distance. I sighed in relief. Despite having slept for four hours this afternoon, driving long distances always drained me.

I parked and woke up Sophie and Cam. They stretched and whinged, but seemed appreciative enough of the opportunity to stretch their legs, which had to be way more stiff than mine from the contortion needed to even get remotely comfortable in the back of my tiny car.

"Are we in Wales yet?" yawned Cam.

"Not yet," I said, pulling up my hood. "But tell the rain that."

We battled against the harsh lashes of fast falling bullets of water, and sighed with relief when we got through the electronic doors. A blast of warm air sent pleasant shivers down my spine.

The customary (and necessary) toilet break ensued. I was the first one out, unsurprisingly as I was the only one that was really conscious. Happily, I noticed an open WH Smiths and skipped over to browse the books.I loved the smell of books, new and old, almost as much as I loved reading. My eyes were instantly drawn tot he small collection of classics, books I felt I should read but could never have the strength to haul myself through. I'd tried before, and dammit those books were hard! After a brief browsing, I went to the much more sensible chocolate section. I jangled in my pocket for loose -

"Haley."

I turned to see Sophie and Cam staring, glassy-eyed, at the newspapers.

"What is it?" I asked, a bit worried as I half-ran to them. The look of shock was scaring me.

"Just – look," replied Soph. "And I hope to God you weren't planning on keeping it a secret."

I glanced down at the tabloid, and I felt my own face instantly harden into a mask.

MATTs POV

I was so tired, I nearly fell off the make-up chair. The make-up artists were taking off the elaborate metallic face-thing (I couldn't remember the technical name, for which I am sure someone will kill me or sue me) I had to wear for Mr. Clever.

"All done!" beamed my team.

I smiled blearily. "Cheers guys." I stood up and shook myself. "Good, I need some sleep."

"Make sure you get home safely!" someone said to my retreating back. I just wanted to go to my trailer and sleep for an hour before I could go home and wait for Haley.

"Matt!"

"Hmm?..." I said sleepily. Someone was running after me with something white and fluttery in their hand – a script I'd left on set? "Whassup?"

"Matt?" said a breathless Jenna. "Have you seen this?"

"What?"

"This!" Jenna handed me the white fluttery thing, which was in reality a tabloid newspaper.

I immediately woke up.

"One of the camera guys showed me," she continued. She spoke again, but a buzzing in my ears drowned her out.

A huge headline was atop a photo of Haley and mine's disastrous first kiss and a picture of me in my bow tie and tweed. In a panic, I read the article before I could stop myself.

"The Doctor may be an asexual savior of the universe, but Matt Smith (30, pictured) knows how to have some fun during his downtime!

"Smith, who has played The Doctor in the BBC's sci-fi drama Doctor Who for the past two years, exited a London convention on a Saturday two weeks ago with an as yet unknown young woman – TURN TO PAGE 9."

HALEYs POV

"- at around two o'clock He then wined and dined her at an unlikely near the hall. A waitress at the cafe, who wishes to remain anonymous, said "They seemed quite happy they were laughing and joking a lot. They'd obviously met before, because they were asking after what the other had done a lot of the time."

"The two were then seen going back to Smith's London flat, where they didn't emerge until late the following morning and shared a heated kiss before Mystery Girl drove off. One speculates if this is Smith's way of getting over split with model ex Daisy Lowe some months ago, as he didn't hang around to watch her go. Could this be a one-off or is his skeleton cupboard bigger on the inside?"

"Are you done now?" I asked faintly.

"Sorry," said Cam sheepishly.

A hot chocolate was thrust into my hands, which I sipped gratefully. Soph patted my back/

"Let's just – let's just go," I breathed.

Half an hour from Cardiff. Cam had wanted to take over driving the car, but he was already falling asleep when he offered. I'd just smiled and ushered him into the back. Anyway, we were on a quiet stretch of motorway and I wanted some time to organise my thoughts. They were buzzing around in my head like a nest of angry wasps, attacking everyone and everything within my mind and corrupting every memory. I shook my head. Pack it in. I needed to sort my head out before I saw Matt.

Would he know? Of course he would. There's no way you can avoid or hide from off licences or news agents. And I'd hope that his friends would have told him, not that he'd get a nasty shock when he walked into one.

But... where do we go from here? We could have a proper relationship, but was that really feasible? I'd never had a long distance relationship, I'd got no idea how they even worked. Even so would he want that? You could search me for a goddamn reason as to why he even wanted to be my friend, because I'd got no fucking clue! Why, out of everyone, would he want me?

"Don't let me darken your door,

That's not what I came here for -"

"No, it's not what I came here for," I whispered. Mumford and Sons filled the car and I breathed in the music that emitted from my stereo, letting it calm my soul.

We'd decide together. Just as we should.

MATTs POV

I couldn't sleep, no matter how much I tossed and turned and flipped the blanket and pillow and tried to switch off my mind. Finally, I gave up fighting against it. I pulled on a clean T-shirt and went into the bathroom.

I stared myself down in the mirror, holding onto the sides of the basin in front of it. "Look at yourself," I said softly. "Thirty years old, in love with someone ten years younger than you and ashamed. Ashamed because you've led her head first into a media nightmare you can't control."

I sighed angrily. I didn't understand completely why I loved her, I just did. I was one of those instant connections where, even in the most wizened and cynical hearts, you know that you've found someone whose going to stay with you forever, in body or mind.

"But does she feel that too?" I whispered. I shoved myself away from the sink and walked three paces to lean against the door, head in hands. I made it sound like a match made in heaven (which for all I know it was), but it would all mean nothing if Haley decided it wasn't worth the bother or worse, if she wanted no further contact with me. I couldn't force this upon her. Despite her youth, her eyes were old and betrayed her maturity. It became particularly evident that morning I'd woken up next to her, because all the layers were stripped back and just left her looking endlessly peaceful. There was always worry in her conscious mind. She could choose to not want a life with me in it. She knew all the baggage I came with.

Taptaptap. "Matt?"

I jumped and shook myself. "Yeah?"

"Time to go," Jenna called back.

I groaned. I had successfully managed to get no sleep. "M'kay, gimme five minutes!"

I changed into some jeans and pulled my leather jacket on. Keys in hand, bag on shoulder, I took a sweeping gaze around my trailer. The ghosts of my restlessness swam before my eyes, but vanished when I spoke. I'd come to a conclusion.

"We'll decide together," I quietly vowed. "

A/N: Okay, another chapter up! I'm happy that I did this an a comparatively short space of time :)

Don't forget to let me know what you think. This chapter does jump around between points of view a lot, but hopefully it still makes sense... ish :/

R&R please! I'm really happy that this story has got as many reviews as it does, but they still make me happy and smiley and keep me motivated :)

All my love,

FishCustard xxx