I did warn you about the slow burn, didn't I? XD Thank you so much for the reviews!

Chapter 14

"Hi, this is Scott Jones?"

Clara inhaled deeply. She could do this. She had practised this.

"Hi, it's Clara here," she replied hesitantly.

There was a pause on the other end of the line and suddenly, Clara wasn't quite sure anymore how Scott would react. They had gotten along so well at the party, at least for a brief moment, so she thought the little misunderstanding would be easily cleared up.

"Hello Clara," he said after a while and he sounded surprised more than anything. "I'm sorry, I didn't exactly expect your call."

"I hope it's okay that Rory gave me your number. Don't blame it on him, I made him give it to me," she chuckled nervously. "I wanted to apologize for just vanishing on Saturday."

"It's alright," he replied. "I mean, you weren't feeling well. I get it."

She had to come out with it and she had to come out with it now, yet the words just wouldn't come out of her mouth. Clara was nervous.

"I, uhm, I was wondering if you. . . well, maybe, if you'd like to. . . uhm. . . finish that conversation we started on Saturday? I don't know, maybe over dinner?"

"You mean as a date?" Scott enquired and again, there was the sound of surprise in his voice.

"Yes," Clara said and blew the air out of her lungs. "As a date."

"Aren't you, well-," he broke off, obviously confused. "I'm sorry, I was under the impression that you had someone. You know, the man you went to the party with."

"The Doctor is my best friend," she explained. "I know what it must have looked like, but I swear, it's not like that. He's just a friend."

"I have the night shift at the hospital all week," Scott replied and Clara could already feel her heart sink. He wasn't interested after all. "But I've got the day off on Saturday. We could grab a cup of coffee."

Clara smiled at the phone. "I like the sound of that," she said sincerely. Maybe this flirt wasn't a lost cause after all. A coffee date was definitely a start.

When the Doctor walked up to Clara's flat the next day, he was still carrying a lot of guilt with him. He hadn't told Clara about what Missy had done and if he did, Clara would hate Missy even more than she already did and probably get mad at him for keeping the secret for over a week. No, the time to tell her had passed, so all he could do was hope that Missy would stop. However, the Doctor wasn't entirely sure he was a lot better than his old friend after not clearing up the misunderstanding with Scott right away. In the end, that potential relationship had been ruined by him.

However, when Clara opened the door and he was greeted with a smile and the lovely scent of fresh soufflés, his guilty conscience didn't feel quite as bad anymore. After all, he only wanted her best and that included not telling her things that would hurt her and preventing her from dating a pudding brain.

"Come in," Clara said excitedly and waved him inside. "I made coffee and soufflés."

"You realize that I didn't really expect anything in return for taking you to the party, right?"

Clara stopped and looked at him, the soft smile still on her face. Somehow, he thought, she was looking even more beautiful than she had in her flapper dress on Saturday and it was because of the smile.

"I know," she replied. "But I want to do something nice for you. You've been the perfect friend in the past few months and I should be more appreciative. I mean, you picked me up from my failed dates, you cheered me up, you even took me to a party even though you hate events like that. Making a soufflé for you is the least I could do."

"Well, if you put it that way," he replied with a shrug and then sank down on the sofa. "Bring on the soufflés!"

A few minutes later, Clara joined him on the sofa with fresh coffee and a warm soufflé. The Doctor inhaled the sweet, lovely scent of it and it made his mouth water, but then his guilty conscience returned. He wasn't as perfect as Clara made him sound. Far from it.

"So, uhm," he began. The least hecould do was to apologize for one of his mistakes. "I'm sorry I messed things up with Scott. I was still up when he came into the guest bedroom and maybe I should've said something right from the start."

Clara merely shrugged. "It's fine," she replied. "I called Scott earlier and we agreed on a coffee date next Saturday. You didn't mess up anything."

The Doctor's head shot around in an instant. "W-what? You're gonna meet with him?" he asked and his voice sounded maybe a little harsher than he had intended.

"Sure," Clara said as if it should have been obvious. "He seems like a nice guy."

"He seems like a pudding brain," the Doctor spat in reply.

Clara laughed at him and the Doctor knew that he should try to keep his jealousy at bay before she noticed it, but how could he when she was going on yet another date? And above all, it was a date Missy had no influence over. Right now, he was even a little grateful because she had ruined the others.

"I think it's really sweet that you're trying to make sure I'm not dating a jerk," she told him sincerely, "but Scott seems really nice and this coffee date is just a chance to get to know each other better."

The Doctor nodded even though he still wanted to talk her out of it. Without Missy's help, all he could do was hope the date would fail on its own. But why was he even hoping that? Clara deserved a nice relationship, he had determined that a long time ago.

"I just-" he paused, unsure of how he should say it. "I don't really understand why you're so adamant. I mean, you're young. There's no one rushing you."

In return, Clara granted him another smile. "I know," she replied. "But it's complicated. Everyone around me has someone. It was different when Amy was still single, but now that she has Rory, I feel like a failure because I haven't had a proper relationship in years. And I want it. I want a decent man in my life who is always there for me, someone I can talk to about everything, a partner, someone to just. . . I know it sounds silly, but I just want someone to hold me."

She didn't see it. She really didn't. For years, the Doctor had been exactly that and still, Clara couldn't see him even though he was right in front of her. It was sad to the point that it almost drove him mad.

The suddenly, the expression on her face changed and she was throwing him a curious, almost inquisitive look. "Why haven't you found someone after River?" Clara asked. "I mean, you're handsome, you're smart, funny. I admit some of your quirks take a bit of getting used to, but why haven't you found anyone else?"

The Doctor opened his mouth to reply, but found that he suddenly couldn't get a single word out. He wanted to shout it at her, to tell her she was the one, that he had been in love with her from the first moment, that he couldn't imagine this feeling would ever pass, but instead, the Doctor remained silent.

"Are you secretly gay?" Clara enquired. "You can tell me. I won't judge."

"No," he responded instantly. Was that why she kept hugging him? Because she thought he would never get any ideas?

Clara cocked her eyebrows at him. "Are you asexual?"

"No!" he replied, frowning at her in response.

Now, she chuckled. "Are you and Missy. . . you know, doing it?"

"God, no!" the Doctor blurted out. "Missy is my oldest friend! It would be like kissing my sister!"

"Then why haven't you found someone after River?" Clara demanded to know, smiling at him. "You're basically perfect! It just doesn't make sense."

"It's complicated," he growled in reply, throwing her own explanations back at her. How could he explain the truth to her without losing her friendship? And lose her he would if she ever found out about his feelings. "I, uhm, I was married once and it was great. I just. . . I don't know, I don't want my relationships to be meaningless. I loved River, I grieved for her. If I was with someone I didn't have the right feelings for, it would be like. . . insulting her memory."

Finally, the curiosity faded from Clara's face and it left her with an honest, broad smile. "You want it to be special," she realized and the started to laugh again. "Man, you really are perfect."

The Doctor uttered a sigh, but Clara didn't seem to notice. The truth was that he had found someone special and even though she thought that he was perfect, he didn't seem perfect enough for her.