Thank you so, so, so much for all your sweet reviews! Let me give you a gigantic cyber hug!

Chapter 25

Clara was still laughing when they reached the hotel room and closed the door behind them. Surely the careful up-do of her hair had been turned into a wild mess during the last, not so very slow dance, but as she glanced at John she found nothing but admiration in the way he looked at her. Clara wasn't as innocent as she appeared, she knew the hint of desire in his gaze for what it was and maybe she had chosen her most provocative dress on purpose just to coax a reaction out of him, just to see whether the man she was attracted to found her attractive in return in any way. It was harmless, just as Amy had said, just a bit of teasing, just a bit of flirting. He was going to get married and Clara didn't have to be afraid to put her heart on the line.

"I had a lot of fun tonight," John admitted after a moment, smiling at her. "Thanks for bringing me along."

Clara giggled while she sank down on the bed, her feet hurting in her heels after he had dragged her to the dance floor over and over again just to avoid having to dance with Jackie Tyler. "You were just trying to dodge Jackie, admit it!"

John bit down on his lip, smirking a little. "That was one of the reasons, yes," he confessed.

"And the other?" Clara cocked her head a little and watched his reaction, but for some reason, John avoided her gaze and she decided not to press the matter further. "We should probably go to sleep. Breakfast starts at 8."

"That's a good idea," John agreed quietly.

Clara kicked off her shoes and made her way into the bathroom to get rid of the layers of makeup she had applied for the party. After changing into her pyjamas and brushing her teeth she switched places with John and waited until he had finished, sitting on the bed and studying the brochures he had looked at before. The maze seemed like something she should definitely try the next day

When John emerged from the bathroom Clara wasn't quite sure whether he had merely changed into his ordinary day clothes or whether he really wore pyjamas every day, but by now she felt a little too tired to make fun of him. The evening had been thoroughly lovely and exhausting.

"Kill the lights?" she asked after John had settled next to her and he turned around in bed. A moment later the entire room went dark and extremely quiet except for the rustling of the duvet.

"Good night," he told her and then fell silent.

Clara was suddenly afraid to move so as not to disturb him.

"Good night," she replied and closed her eyes, but somehow, despite how tired she was, she didn't quite find the peace she needed to actually fall asleep. The room was quiet, too quiet and the only thing Clara could hear was his breathing. Was he hearing hers as well? Was it too loud? What if she turned around in her sleep and ended up on his side of the bed? Then, after a few moments, the tension grew too much to bear.

"John?" she asked quietly.

"Mh?"

"I had a lot of fun tonight as well," Clara admitted.

When John spoke Clara thought she could hear the smile in his voice and suddenly she felt a little calmer. "I'm glad you did."

"Did you learn to dance just so you could show off tonight?" she wanted to know, giggling softly.

"Shut up and sleep," he growled, then followed the rustling of fabric as John pulled the duvet further up.

Clara chuckled. "You so did," she said and turned on her side. She would do as she was told and sleep. They both had an exhausting day ahead of them and Clara didn't want to waste a minute of that on a yawn.

"I look ridiculous," John growled as they emerged from the building and he glanced around. Half the guests had dressed up for the occasion, including Clara and himself, but the other half had come in plain modern day clothes. His thoughts went back to the suite upstairs and he thought about how much more comfortable he would be without this silly tunic.

"You don't," Clara reassured him. "You fit in nicely. Look, everyone else is wearing medieval clothes as well."

"They look equally ridiculous."

Clara pushed herself into his field of vision, smiling broadly. "Do I look ridiculous?"

His features softened a little when he looked at her. The truth was that Clara could never look ridiculous even if she tried. Her red gown was gorgeous and John had to resist the urge to reach out and touch her just to see if the velvet was as soft as it looked. She looked beautiful, maybe even more beautiful than she had last night.

"No," he replied softly. "You, uhm, you look-"

He broke off. John wasn't the type to compliment women, but right now he felt like he had to. Clara had made such an effort with her wig and her jewellery, he really should say it out loud. Yet when he opened his mouth to finish his sentence, he was cut off by another man who had sneaked up from behind and suddenly covered Clara's eyes with his hands.

"Guess who," the good looking man dressed up as Robin Hood said and to his dismay John watched a smile spread across Clara's face.

"Jack!" she exclaimed loudly and turned around to hug the man who had appeared out of nowhere. John looked at him once more, but he was certain that he hadn't seen him at the party yesterday.

When Jack cupped Clara's face in his hands and kissed her, John instantly took a step back and felt his heart sink. Of course. It had been silly to assume that Clara was single and this man was obviously her boyfriend. He should probably excuse himself and go far, far away.

"You're falling behind," Jack said with a laugh. "Come on, Rose is gonna make an announcement any moment."

Clara turned back around and smiled at John, but this time her expression somehow tugged at his heart – and not in a pleasant way. "Are you coming?" she asked him.

"Yeah, you should join them," Jack cut him off once more. "I'm gonna go and find Ianto. He should be around here somewhere."

John flinched when Clara suddenly reached for his arm and started to lead him across the lawn towards the other guests, who were gathering around the bride and groom. He couldn't quite explain it, but something about the situation was bothering him all of a sudden.

"Something wrong?" Clara asked, obviously picking up on his change of mood and when John looked at her, he found her still smiling up at him.

"You should have said something," he replied quietly.

"Said what?" She cocked an eyebrow at him.

"You should have taken your boyfriend to the wedding, not me."

Clara chuckled nervously. "My what?"

"Your. . . Jack. . . your boyfriend," John spluttered and suddenly he felt like an idiot. He didn't know whether that man really was her boyfriend, but after the kiss, he had assumed he was and it was bothering him. Why was it bothering him? And why was he afraid that he had once again made a fool of himself in front of Clara? It would all be easier if she wasn't staring at him right now, looking so beautiful that he could hardly form a clear thought.

"Jack isn't my boyfriend, he's-"

Her sentence was cut short when they reached the other guests and the crowd suddenly parted. Something came flying through the air and John instinctively stepped back to make room for whatever it was, but Clara was standing right in the way and as if by instinct she spread her arms and caught the flying object. The bouquet. For a moment the entire crowd went quiet. Then they started cheering.

"Well," John chuckled when he had finally made sense of what had just happened, "looks like you're next."

Clara raised her head, looking at him with large, sad eyes and he instantly knew that even though everyone else was cheering, Clara was anything but in a cheerful mood. Her face was frozen in a mask of shock and horror.

"Clara?" John asked carefully before she tossed the bouquet in his hands, turned around on her heels and started to run off in the direction of the maze.