Chapter 14- In Which One Room is Lonely
The Doctor was standing in the hallway, befuddled. He could have sworn that he had heard something coming from the hallway, something that definitely did not sound like it originated on Earth. Some kind of a weird song…but when he'd left Sarah's room, all he could find was a girl. He turned, looking for Sarah. This was not a situation he cared to handle without her. First, he had no decent reason for being in this hallway when he clearly didn't live there, and second he was feeling extremely foolish about running out for absolutely nothing.
"Oh, hi Mei! Sorry, this is…..uh…my friend. He's just visiting." Sarah had run up behind him, grinning awkwardly. The girl's expression was blank, though. She just stood there, frozen.
Maybe she didn't hear me?, Sarah thought. She had ear buds in and an iPod in her hand. It was possible…she tried again, a little louder. "Er, so, how are you doing? Are you alright…?" Sarah didn't like her blank expression. She didn't often talk to the other people in her flat—generally she preferred the silence of her own room—but Mei was usually very cheerful, if a bit shy. This blank expression was entirely unlike her.
"Yes, I'm fine. Just listening to some music. I've got to go…I'll see you later." She answered vaguely, then pressed her ear buds in more firmly and walked away.
Sarah turned to the Doctor, who seemed to be thinking the same thing. They returned to her room without saying anything. One she had shut the door, Sarah broke the silence. "Um, ok, so that was weird, right? Not just me?"
"Definitely weird. Is she always like that?" Answered the Doctor, who was leaning against her window.
"No…at least, I don't think so…" She ran her fingers through her hair distractedly.
The Doctor's eyes narrowed slightly. "Are you two friends?"
"I—what? No, not really. She seems nice, though."
"So who are you friends with, then? Anyone I can meet?" He was grinning, but it didn't meet his eyes. They were sharp. Not quite calculating, but oddly perceptive for the Doctor. He was extremely good at assessing situations involving alien invasion of some sort, but when it came to intrapersonal relationships he wasn't exactly an expert. So Sarah coughed, unsure of how to respond. This was not a topic she wished to discuss.
"Um, well, I'm new here. It's been hard to make friends. I'm an exchange student, remember?"
"New…but you've been here for three months. Right?" She did not like the way he was looking at her. She rubbed her wrist and refused to look back at him, trying to think of some way to change the subject. The truth was that she hadn't made any friends. In fact, she had very few friends she could think of at all. Before she had ended up on the TARDIS, she had been…well, the only word was miserable. There she was, in an amazing country that she'd never been to before and which had so much to offer, yet she couldn't find anyone to share it with. Then the Doctor had turned up and she was able to ignore these problems, but standing here now in her room, remembering how alone she'd felt here…suddenly she desperately wanted to run away to the TARDIS.
"Hey, you know what? I think I'm about done packing. Why don't we—" She was cut off by a knock at her door. Her eyes flicked to the Doctor's before she went to answer it.
"Oh, hello! Yes, sure, one second…" The Doctor could only see Sarah's back, but he could tell she was hiding something from him. He looked around at her room, feeling oddly disappointed with himself. He spent all of his time with his companions and always knew them completely, yet here was this girl about which he knew nearly nothing. Still, after two weeks of traveling with her, the most he knew was her name and that she was from New York. Donna had told him everything, and so had Martha, and Rose…well, the point was that he usually knew his companions better. Then he wondered when the last time had been that he'd asked her a question that hadn't involved the words "where to next?" Now he'd finally thought to ask her a question and it seemed to be one that she couldn't answer. He sighed, watching her as she turned away from the door to get something. He was getting older, and it was harder to let his companions get close to him. Especially after Rose….but his thoughts were interrupted. Sarah had bent down to pick something up, leaving his view out of the door clear. A man was standing there in a blue uniform. He looked old, for a human, anyway, and good natured. Then the man caught the Doctor's eye and for a second he could have sworn the man's eyes hardened and he grinned evilly. A second later, though, the look was gone as he accepted a bag that Sarah passed him. She closed the door and turned to find the Doctor craning his neck to catch sight of the man.
"Who was that?" He asked, on edge again.
"Oh, just the guy that collects the trash. He's new, actually, I don't recognize him. What's wrong?" She'd caught sight of the Doctor's expression. She was glad that he'd dropped the topic of her social life, but couldn't understand what had caused him to be worried again. "Really, first my flat mate, now the trash collector…you keep thinking that normal things are dangerous! This is Canterbury. Nothing ever happens here. Now, really, let me get my suitcase and we can go…Doctor?"
He had moved to look through her curtains, keeping himself flat against her wall. He didn't seem to be listening to her.
"Doctor, seriously! You're acting like you're in a spy movie or something! Trust me, nothing ever happens here. Sometimes I've wished it would…"
"If nothing ever happens here, as you say," the Doctor finally responded, still looking out the window but waving one hand to call her over, "Then why is that garbage man heading to a sinisterly glowing building?"
She stared at him, aghast, and he held the curtain open wordlessly. She moved closer to him and, sure enough, the man was heading to a small shed that appeared to be glowing. The outline of the door was rimmed in a bright green light that, though indistinct from this distance, was unmistakable. "That's the trash building. Why would that be glowing? And…wait a second…who is that?"
The Doctor leaned forward in time to see the door of the shed open. In the doorway was the silhouette of a person that, though difficult to tell, looked female. And cords were hanging from the girl's ears…. "No…that couldn't be….could it?" Sarah turned to the Doctor, willing him to say what she wanted to hear. He looked just as worried as she felt, though, and didn't respond. She knew the answer. They both turned to look again, and the two figures had moved into the light. Mei was turned away from them, prodded forward by the man who then turned to close the door of the shed.
The Doctor and Sarah turned to each other, faces set in lines of anxiety. There was a pause in which they looked at each other and then slowly realized how close together they were. Sarah's face was inches from the Doctor's, and the only thing she could think of was that she'd never noticed that he had freckles. Or that his eyelashes were long. Or that his eyes were a very beautiful brown…
She then came to her senses and jumped away, and the Doctor raised a hand to rub the back of his neck, embarrassed.
"Ahem. So…we should probably go and…er….fight bad guys? Right?" She said, breaking the awkward silence from a safe five feet away.
"Yes. Good idea." They left the room without speaking. As Sarah locked up her room she hoped this awkward tension between them would fade quickly. She suspected that feeling awkward when there was a life on the line was probably not the best plan.