Note to readers: A long-ish chapter to reward you, my chummies, for waiting for so long! A bit of a surprise, this one, a twist that not even I expected in my little pea-brain. The red dress is based on a drawing that one of my best friends did of a young River. So, yeah, I might have stolen that... if she posts it on tumblr, I will post you all a link, because it's really amazing! Please tell me what you think; reviews make me happy!
Sighing, the young Pond knelt down next to him.
"Doctor? Are you alright?" she asked quietly. He only groaned, rocking slightly as he lay on his side, facing towards her. She swept his hair from his eyes, running her fingers along his jaw bone and wiping the trail of blood away. Melody looked up. Everyone around them was making it painfully obvious that they were trying to pretend that the bride and groom were not on the floor. Luckily for them, it wasn't greatly difficult, seeing as they were to the side of the room. Also, Jack had chivalrously decided that he would get twice as drunk, so as to draw attention from the Doctor. Melody couldn't help but smile as the ex-con man began doing some kind of dance which involved a lot of thrusting and general hip movements.
But she quickly turned back to the Doctor as his pain seemed to subdue.
"Doctor you made an idiot out of yourself. And you made an idiot out of me. In front of all of our friends." She said, trying to supress her anger.
"I know." He groaned, "I'm so, so sorry."
"You say sorry a lot." She said bluntly, "But did it ever occur to you that sorry doesn't do anything? That sorry is just another word?" The Doctor's eyes opened properly and he focused on Melody's face.
"I know… I'm…" he mumbled, clearly becoming more sober by the second.
"Sorry?" she finished for him. He sat up gradually looking at her guiltily. She didn't like being horrible to him, but he would have to learn the rules one day. With marriage came responsibility. With marriage came consequences. And consequences that could avoid the difficulties of both time and space. They would catch up with him, unlike so many other things.
She stood up and he immediately followed.
"Fortunately for you, it's getting late and we probably have an excuse to leave now. That way, you can't embarrass us any further." Melody said. The Doctor nodded, following her as she made her way over to her parents. As much as she was angry at him, this was their wedding night and she didn't want to ruin it. She hated that she could never remain angry at him for very long. Approaching Amy and Rory, she put on a convincing smile and linked arms with the Doctor, who also seemed to sense the importance of putting on a united front, "We're going to… take off."
"Take – take off?" Rory stuttered in shock. Amy swiftly elbowed him in the ribs.
"OK, sweetie." She replied, pulling Melody into a hug and whispering in her ear, "Don't be scared, alright? Because here's a spoiler for you: he's a real sucker for a bad girl. If you take charge it's very likely he'll never possess the urge to see the sun again." Melody giggled, pulling back and nodding as her mother gave her a kiss on the cheek, "Melody Pond: my superhero."
Once she had let go of her daughter, Amy went on to hug the Doctor too. But she couldn't hear the conversation going on between them, as Rory enveloped her in a proper daddy hug.
"Have a nice time, Melody. Please don't do anything stupid; you inherited that tendency from your mother. Just… know that Daddy loves you." He snivelled, kissing her forehead fiercely.
"I love you too, Daddy." She replied, holding back her tears. Rory didn't bother giving the Doctor a hug; he only clapped him on the shoulder, forcing some kind of half-smile.
"Don't do anything you don't want to do, Melody." The centurion said sternly and pointedly.
"I won't." Melody replied, hoping that that would be the end of the conversation. But her father had other ideas.
"And remember, the best kind of sex can be not having any." He said seriously. Amy snorted.
"Yeah right, like they're going to listen to you. You got me pregnant on our wedding night." She said, turning from her dismayed husband to the couple before her, "Be safe, though."
"Of course." The Doctor replied when Melody didn't. She was mortified. She could feel her cheeks burning. It was like being thirteen all over again. How. Embarrassing.
They walked in near silence back down the hill after saying goodbye to everyone else. Melody was still in shock after their encounter with her parents. She knew that she should probably be in a strop with her husband, but she still couldn't bring herself to ruin their wedding day.
"I can't believe that just happened." She said finally as the ground began levelling out. The Time Lord laughed.
"They're only human; they can't help it." He said, hip-bumping her comfortingly. She half-smiled.
"But still… what on earth were they thinking?" she muttered.
"Don't you mean, what on Domicilia?" the Doctor joked as they reached the TARDIS. Before they went in, Melody reached out her arm and stopped him.
"I'm still mad at you, Doctor." She said suddenly. He looked down as if he were a naughty school boy expecting a reprimand. But Melody continued, "But I'm not going to spoil our day." He snapped his head up hopefully, an irrepressible grin on his face. She tried to give him a stern look to show him that he wasn't completely off the hook, but the Doctor just clicked his fingers and the TARDIS door swung open. Melody sighed and was about to step inside when she was unexpectedly swept off her feet and carried in. She squealed, wrapping her arms around the Time Lord's shoulders as he walked through the doors and shut them with his leg once they were both clear of the threshold. Melody closed her eyes, giggling as he carried her further into the depths of the TARDIS. She had no clue where he was taking her, but he wasn't exactly wasting much time in getting there. Soon enough, she heard a door slide open. She felt herself being carried across the room.
Suddenly, he let her go. She screamed, but the gesture was cut short when her back made contact with something soft. She opened her eyes quickly. She was on a bed. His bed, to be precise. The Doctor was bent over her, his left knee on the bed whilst his right foot stayed firmly on the floor. He went to kiss her but she dodged out of his way and stood up, backing away from her confused husband.
"Melody, are you alright?" he asked, standing up properly and stepping towards her. The young Pond shook her head.
"What did you think you were doing?" she asked, her voice a mere whisper. The Time Lord frowned.
"It's our wedding night." He said gently, "I was just-"
"Is this why you married me?" she cried suddenly. The Doctor froze, an alarmed look of concern on his face, "You married me so that you could bed me! You sick man!"
"What – no!" he exclaimed loudly, "Melody, I would never even dream of doing something like that. I thought… I thought that this was what you wanted." At this, the Time Lord indicated to the bed. Melody hadn't even noticed the décor of the room that they were in. The four poster bed was made of Elm wood and the duvet was sky blue. A rug was folded at the foot of the bed, embroidered star constellations and Gallifreyan symbols stitched into it. The rest of the room was fairly plain.
"Is this your room?" she asked timidly, suddenly very aware of what they were now 'expected' to do.
"Yes." The Doctor replied shortly. When Melody didn't reply his concern increased, "Are you sure you're alright?"
"Yeah, I just… I need a minute." Melody said shakily, pointing to a door in the right wall, "Is this the bathroom?" The Doctor nodded and Melody quickly excused herself.
Locking the door behind her, Melody almost collapsed across the sink. Oh God, oh God, oh God, oh God! The young Pond violently shook her head. No, she should be strong and dominant like her mother said to be… Wait, so now she was taking sex advice from her mother. Melody groaned. How could this situation get any worse? Suddenly there was a knock at the door.
"Melody, are you OK in there?" the Doctor called, his question muffled by the door.
"Fine, just… freshening up." She attempted to reply brightly. She heard him mumbled something and move away. Looking into the mirror, Melody could see the fear in her own eyes. She lifted her hand to adjust her hair but found it nearly impossible to do as she was shaking like an earthquake. Repeating her mother's words of parting comfort, Melody stepped into the bedroom again.
She found the Doctor lying on the bed, his blazer discarded somewhere. He lay flat on his back, looking up at the ceiling in his shirt, trousers and loosened tie. But she didn't approach him; she only hovered by the door.
"Do I change?" she said suddenly, capturing his attention. The Time Lord pushed himself up onto his elbows.
"Do you what?" he asked in confusion.
"Do I change into something else or do I keep this on?" she replied, indicating to her wedding dress.
"As much as I love the dress," the Doctor began, looking his wife up and down hungrily, "I would hate to get it ruined." Melody nodded.
"So, what do I wear?" she asked nervously.
"Whatever you want." He said. She could think of no more questions to postpone what was inevitable so she only continued to stand by the doorway, trying to pull herself together. The Doctor, sensing her unease, sat up properly, "Melody, it doesn't really matter what you wear, because we're going to be taking it off anyway."
He'd probably meant that as a joke, and his small smile definitely strengthened that belief. But Melody couldn't help but feel that she was about to burst into hysterics at any second. Soon, big salty tears began running down her cheeks.
"No, no! Don't cry!" the Doctor said, jumping off the bed and rushing to sweep her into his arms comfortingly. He rocked her slightly as she snivelled into his shoulder. She heard him sigh, "Melody, if you're not ready for this, you have to say; I won't know unless you tell me!" The wise Time Lord pulled his wife far enough away so that he could look into her eyes and continue tenderly, "I love you, and forcing you to do something you're not happy with would be like… renouncing my vows. And I would never do that."
"You'll wait?" Melody asked tentatively, wiping her eyes. The Doctor smiled.
"I'll wait." He agreed, hugging her tightly again. But she pushed him away.
"No. I want this. I do. I want to do this." Melody was sure that she sounded like she was convincing herself, more than she was convincing him, but it seemed to work. Whenever she put her mind to something, she always pulled through. Her husband grinned widely, stepping back as she backed her way to the first door, with the intention of getting changed.
"Then go and get changed, you sexy thing!" he cried excitedly. Melody froze, absolutely petrified by her spouse's sudden outburst. He too seemed momentarily stunned, before noticing the fear in her eyes, "No sorry, that was too far. So, so sorry." But the young Pond only forced a smiled and left the room.
It took her less than a minute to find one dress that she wanted to wear. It fit her perfectly; a tight scarlet dress, the bottom of it fanning out like the tail of a mermaid. It made her feel more confident in herself. And so with that in mind, and the sexy mermaid bride look mastered, Melody Pond went back to the bedroom.
"What do you think?" she asked the Doctor, slipping into the room. She smiled as his jaw nearly dropped straight off. He stuttered incoherently, and after a while he just settled for nodding silently whilst his eyes eagerly studied his wife's perfect form.
She made her way to the bed, rather pleased with his reaction and she even gave him a quick twirl to highlight the way it clung to her skin perfectly.
"Come here." He suddenly said. Melody's heart faltered on a colossal scale and she was pretty sure that the reason she was unable to move was because she was currently having a large heart attack. Ignoring this, the Time Lord moved in a trance-like state from his bed and began running his fingers over her body. Looking into her eyes, he asked gently, "Are you ready?" Without hesitation, Melody nodded, allowing him to kiss her gently. Hm, so maybe this wasn't so bad. He was being gentle. He wasn't rushing anything. In fact, you would've thought that they had all the time in the -
Melody's thoughts were suddenly cut off. She had felt his fingers running along her back, but she hadn't expected her dress to suddenly slip off her shoulders. When did he even unzip it? When she opened her eyes she also noticed that, somehow, he was now tie-less, and his shirt was completely unbuttoned. Damn, that man could undress slyly. So Melody Pond was now standing in her underwear. But she wasn't standing for long. The Doctor swiftly picked her up and gently set her down on the bed. He quickly set about kissing almost every visible inch of her body, littering her with delicate little kisses.
But Melody was panicking too much to even accept that this was incredibly romantic. Presumably the kissing and the undressing rituals were meant to be sexy, but all she could think of was 'oh God, I'm going to lose my virginity'. But hadn't that been what she had set out to do in the first place: sleep with the one man that she was going to love forever? What was wrong with her? Suddenly she felt a hand slip down her side and finger her underwear. But she didn't have time to think about it before a loud snapping sound resonated around the room.
Melody looked up to see her hand poised in the air and an already reddening mark on the Doctor's cheek. He backed away quickly, climbing off the bed as she sat up. She was in as much shock as he clearly was. She'd just slapped him. She'd just slapped her own husband for trying to take her knickers off. Oh. Sweet. Lord. The hurt on his face was too much to bear.
"Doctor, I- " she started. But he stopped her.
"You don't have to say anything, Melody. I know you're not ready. If you want, I'll sleep in another room tonight." He said, looking down at his feet. They stayed in a tense silence. After a while, Melody crawled out of bed, taking the shirt from his shoulders and putting it on herself. He watched her with a perplexed expression as she took his hand and pulled back the covers, letting both of them slip beneath them. She pushed him down onto the mattress and wrapped her arms around him, lying across his chest. With a sigh, he extended his arms and enveloped her in a protective hug.
They said nothing more, just letting each other's presence send them into a well-earned sleep.
