Thank you so much for the sweet reviews :) How could it go on for them after their cuddle session?

Chapter 21

Clara had been staring at her phone for a long while when she finally took a deep breath and reached for it. She had to do it at some point, better sooner than later, so she might as well get it over with now.

"Yes?" Danny answered after a couple of rings.

"Hey," Clara greeted him in a shy tone, "Glad to see you're not too mad to take my calls."

"Still waiting for that apology," he replied.

"Yes," she said and nodded to herself, "And you'll get that right now. I'm sorry I just left you sitting at that pub, I really am. I know I should have said something that night or called you the next day and there is really nothing that can justify that I was acting like an arsehole. I'm sorry."

She exhaled sharply, glad to have gotten this off her chest at last. Even if she wasn't going to date Danny, they were still colleagues and had to see each other five times a week whether they wanted to or not.

"Okay," Danny finally said, "Apology accepted. Care to explain why you did it?"

"I'm not ready, Danny," she admitted after a moment, "You're nice and you're sweet, but the kiss showed me that I'm not feeling that way for you. I was confused and I was hungry and Amy and Rory were getting on my nerves and then John wrote me, asking whether I wanted to join him for dinner. I didn't think. I just left."

"He's the guy I saw you with yesterday, isn't he? How do you even know him, he's, like, twice your age?"

Clara had told him that it was a long story and she guessed that now was the time to tell it to Danny. He had been her friend before they tried going out on a date. She should tell him.

"Jamie donated his heart after he died," Clara explained, "John is the recipient. I got to know him a few months ago and we're friends. He's a great friend actually."

"Is he in love with you?" he asked plainly.

"What? Why would you say that?" Clara asked in surprise. John being in love with her, the thought was ridiculous.

She heard Danny take a deep breath. "Because he's very protective of you. And he got jealous when he realized who I was."

Clara shook her head even though Danny couldn't see it. "He's not in love with me. He's rude to everyone he meets, don't take it personally."

"Okay, then there's no reason to worry, I guess," he said after a moment, "Just saying that if he was he would be too old for you."

"He's not. He's really, really not," Clara reassured him, smiling, "So, we're good?"

"Yeah," he breathed in reply, "We're good."

Suddenly Clara heard a beeping sound coming from her phone and she checked her display to see that Amy was calling. "Listen, Danny, I've got to go. Amy's calling," she explained, "See you after the holidays."

She hung up and took Amy's call before she was greeted by her friend's loud, excited voice and that was when she realized her hangover hadn't quite passed yet.

"Ugh, keep it down," Clara groaned in pain. Once the phone call was over Clara would take a nice, long nap. The thought of it seemed really appealing right now.

"You sound like you had a boozy Christmas," her friend chuckled on the other end of the line.

"Do not remind me," Clara warned, "It was terrible and I really don't want to talk about it. Let's just say that my stepmother is a beast and John is a saint for putting up with me."

"You invited John over for Christmas?" Amy's voice sounded more than curious.

Clara let out a long sigh. "I did and I'm glad he came. He is-," she broke off, trying to find a word to describe him, "He's the best. Now, let's talk about something else. Why you're calling, for example."

"Well," Amy started, "Rory and I wanted to celebrate New Year's Eve together and we were wondering whether you wanted to join us. It's not just the two of us, a couple of other friends are coming, too."

That was really the last thing Clara wanted to do on New Year's Eve. Even if they brought friends along, they would most certainly have a partner as well and Clara would just end up feeling like the third wheel no matter what. "Don't take it personally, but I think I'd like a quiet New Year's Eve this year. I'm not feeling up to a big party."

"Clara, you know what they say. The way you spend New Year's Eve is how you'll spend the whole next year," her friend reminded her sternly.

"I don't care," she said plainly, "I'd rather be at home alone than somewhere I really don't wanna be."

But maybe John had no plans either, which could mean that she wasn't going to spend New Year's Eve alone after all.

John was in the middle of a paragraph when the phone rang next to him and he picked it up to see that Vastra was calling him. Of course, they hadn't heard from each other in a while.

"Hey, what can I do for you?" he asked after pressing the green button, still typing to finish at least this sentence while he spoke.

"I just wanted to know whether you'll still be coming over for New Year's Eve so we can prepare the guest bedroom," Vastra asked him in a slightly annoyed manner and John realized he probably should have called earlier.

"Of course I'll come. It's our tradition, isn't it?"

"That's what I wanted to hear," she said and John could hear the smile in her voice, but then he thought of something else. Something that had never played a role in all of these years, but it did now. "Listen, you have two guest bedrooms, right?"

"We do," Vastra replied slowly, sounding more than a little intrigued, "Why? Are you thinking about bringing another guest?"

John exhaled sharply. He didn't even know whether Clara had plans already. She probably had. "I don't know. She probably has plans already. Who doesn't at this point? But if she doesn't I would like to bring her."

Clara would love the Isle of Wight and the town, John was sure she would. Maybe it would cheer her up a little.

"Well, well, the great Doctor has met a girl," Vastra chuckled, "We'd be more than interested to meet her."

"Don't call me that," he growled, "And Clara is just a friend. A friend who has had a rough year. I just want to do something nice for her."

It wasn't even a lie. To Clara he was only a friend after all.

"Well, bring her along then," she told him, "I'll tell Jenny to prepare both guest bedrooms just in case. We have more than enough space."

"Thank you," John replied sincerely, "See you on Friday then."

Once he hung up John realized that he had received a message while he had been talking to Vastra. He opened it immediately.

Clara:

I totally forgot to ask: Do you have plans for New Year's Eve?

John smiled to himself. Clara didn't have plans, he just knew it, and he would get to spend the day with her. In his head he already started making a list of all the things he wanted to show her. Oh, she would just love it.

John:

I was just about to ask you the same thing. I'm visiting friends on the Isle of Wight. Wanna come?

He added a picture of Vastra's and Jenny's idyllic house at the coast to the message and sent it and he didn't even have to wait long for her reply.

Clara:

Count me in!