*What's this? It's not even noon I hear you clamour? To be frank I got bored so I thought I'd give in this final entry early as a gift to all my amazing readers, reviewers, followers (over 100 of you now wow) and favouriters (over 60 blimey). A special huge thank you to those of you out there who have reviewed chapter after chapter, time and time again. It feels great knowing that I'll always be able to chat to some of you who I know will always pitch in their thoughts. Right, we're on the last page, the final chapter. I'm gunning for an 8th February start for HEALING but it could be earlier or later so watch this space but I will post an update on here to let you know when I have posted it. This final chapter is fluffy as anything and has a smut warning on it so I hope you enjoy. It's been a fantastic adventure writing this story and sharing it with you amazing people so I hope you'll review and let me know your thoughts, both on this chapter and on the story as a whole because it means the world to me and I hope you'll stick with me for Healing. The Potter Doctor, signing off for the final time*
She had been looking forward to this day for a while. Jessie was taking her to a swanky restaurant and she was really excited for it. He had promised that it would be an amazing way to celebrate 3 months together and she loved the sound of it. It sounded all fancy and Italian and Clara loved the idea of it. She spent ages getting ready, wearing a deep crimson dress that was long and swirly. She straightened her hair so it was gun-barrel straight, applied her makeup with razor sharp precision. She was whistling cheerily and then she picked up her phone and her heart sank.
Sorry babe got the worst food poisoning known to man. Coming out both ends. I love you and we'll go out when I'm feeling better x
She felt like complete shit. She screamed in frustration and hurled her phone at her bed, where it bounced off her pillow. There was a knock on her door and she was smiling before she answered it. Sure enough, the Doctor was stood there, adjusting his bow tie nervously, his own bedroom door across the hall open and as usual, his room was a state. His nervous smile warmed her heart straight away. He was her best friend and she loved him to bits.
"Is everything alright in there Clara?" he asked, before examining her and trying hard not to lose his composure. She forgot how when she dressed nicely he tended to lose his brain. "You look wonderful, what time is your dinner?"
"There is no dinner," Clara replied with a scowl that seemed to worry the Doctor. "The bastard has food poisoning, pretty nasty apparently, although I think he's spared me the gruesome details. Looks like I'm just going to stay in and order pizza. Care to join me?"
"No," the Doctor straightened up and Clara raised an eyebrow. "You're already dressed up all pretty and you deserve to have a wonderful night at an amazing restaurant. You already have reservations yes?" She nodded. "Well then, I can be your substitute boyfriend for the evening. I'll go and put on a fancy suit and we can go to dinner. I can be Mr Jessebelle FancyPants." This earned a laugh from Clara, who hugged him tightly.
"Thank you Doctor," she said, kissing him on the cheek. "I really appreciate it."
"Anytime Clara," he replied, his heart pounding like a jackhammer but she didn't notice. "Give me fifteen minutes."
The Doctor smiled and took her hand. She bit her lip nervously. Breakfast was a fairly quiet affair. It was Clara, her dad, her gran, Mandy, the Doctor and Stuart and the Maid of Honour, a quiet woman by the name of Celia. The Doctor squeezed Clara's hand gently and she nudged him with her shoulder. They were eating pancakes. Clara was gobbling away as it was the most she'd been able to eat in over a week. Beside her, the Doctor was eating more reservedly than usual and she realised that he was still trying to impress her father.
"Yours are better," he muttered and she went bright red, almost choking on a bit of pancake. The Doctor patted her back quickly and she held up a hand to indicate that she was fine. Her father was shooting her a worried look and she smiled to show that she was fine.
"I'm alright," she said loudly, to make it clear to everyone who was still staring at her. "The Doctor was just complimenting the pancakes." She tried not to laugh and he was sat next to her, supressing a snort. They shared a look and they were gone, both of them unable to stop laughing as everyone else exchanged glances and tried to gauge what was so funny. The Doctor was almost crying and Clara's head was rolled back as she tried hard to breathe.
"Kids," Dave muttered. "We're splitting up after breakfast, Stu and I will see you wonderful ladies down the aisle. Mum, I love you and I'll see you later. Doctor, keep out of trouble."
The Doctor saluted appreciatively once he'd stopped laughing and Clara smiled. She wrapped her hand around his and kissed his cheek affectionately. They finished their pancakes and Clara was dragged off with the Maid of Honour and Mandy, to their dressing room. She was determined not to end up with the same amount of makeup as at the rehearsal dinner, so she slipped into her own room, where she went to change. She had stripped down to her bra and underwear, when she felt a hand touch her shoulder gently. Clara squealed and whirled round, ready to attack whoever had invaded her changing room and she fell into the arms of a smirking Doctor, who threw his tux onto a hook behind Clara.
"Hello Soufflé Girl," he whispered.
"What the hell are you doing in here?" Clara replied in an equally low tone, unable to stop herself from smiling.
"Keeping out of trouble," he replied, a confused look on his face. "That's what your dad asked me to do right?"
"I would say Doctor," Clara purred as she kissed him lightly. "That this is pretty much the opposite of keeping out of trouble." She kissed him again now, throwing away his purple tweed and stripping him quickly.
"Well, I am keeping out of trouble," the Doctor replied, kissing her back and unlatching her bra within moments. "I'm just doing it badly."
"You can do me badly any day," Clara murmured, then pulled a face at the ridiculousness of what she had just said. "Not a word!" she cut him off as his own smirk had grown. She removed his trousers and they kept on kissing, hands entangled in each other's hair. They ended up on the floor, intertwined when Mandy knocked on the door. The changing room was very small, and Clara was fairly sure that she would be see able to see them if she peered under the door. The Doctor hadn't stopped and Clara felt ecstasy wash over her and she supressed a moan.
"Clara?" she called and Clara, unable to hold it in anymore, released a low groan of pleasure, muffling it in the Doctor's shoulder. "Well," Mandy sounded embarrassed. "I was going to ask if you knew where the Doctor was, but I'd say the answer is fairly obvious." She sounded decided unimpressed and Clara giggled as the Doctor let out a moan of his own and rolled off of her. "Your dad is going to flip," Mandy muttered.
"Yes he is," the Doctor looked scared. "Am I going to be uninvited from the wedding?"
"You'll be lucky to survive long enough to make it to the wedding," Clara replied breathlessly. "But it's so worth it. I love you."
"I love you too," he chuckled. She smiled at him and picked up his discarded purple bow tie. She tied it around her wrist and he shot her an odd look.
"It's for luck," she replied, blushing red. "I just want a piece of you beside me at all times, whatever happens. If this wedding is going to be the death of us, then I'd rather die with your bow tie wrapped around my wrist. Besides, you've got to wear the black one with your tux." He kissed her softly and she felt a tear run down her cheek. It was a tear of joy.
They dressed quickly, Clara feeling awfully exposed in her pale pink dress. The Doctor let her tie up his bow tie for him and when she nodded appreciatively, he took a deep breath. They kissed once and then left the changing room, ready to face the world. Mandy was sat down, some crazy stylist working on her hair, contorting it into a million different shapes. Clara, terrified that some insane tactic was going to be employed on her, turned frantically to the Doctor.
"Can you do my hair and makeup for me?" she asked him, before anyone had a chance to snatch her up. He shot her a look. She knew his thought process. He had a long and torturous history of consistently fucking up when it came to hair and makeup. After a moment, he nodded, his grin a sheepish one but full of love. Clara sat down, and immediately realised that there was no way that this was going to work. The Doctor had touched her shoulder and she was already having to bite her lip and hold back a shiver. As he ran his hand through her hair, pulling it out of its loose ponytail, she gasped slightly. He smiled at her in the mirror and she closed her eyes.
"Get on with it," she growled, opening one eye and unable to stop herself grinning like a schoolgirl. The Doctor brushed her hair and turned on the straighteners. "I don't care what you do, just do it. I'd better look good though." He knew what she meant by good. Better than Mandy was the gist of it. As much as Clara didn't want to upstage the bride on her wedding day, she most definitely wanted to upstage the bride on her wedding day. She was able to settle as the Doctor straightened her hair, swearing loudly and angrily as he caught his finger on multiple occasions.
"Would you like me to take over sir?" asked a snobbish, unpleasant stylist, who had a pair of tongs in one hand and a horrifically greasy spray in the other. The thought of him made Clara shudder.
"No thank you," the Doctor said sweetly, still holding his hand gingerly. "I'm perfectly okay here."
"Move along," Clara added, waving a hand to indicate and then she burst into laughter as the stylist went a funny shade of purple and stormed off. Mandy was only a few seats down and she was shooting Clara an exasperated look. Clara did feel a bit guilty. She wasn't taking the wedding even remotely seriously. But she hoped she could take her own wedding as seriously as she was taking this one. The idea of sneaking off to have sex with the Doctor when they were supposed to be getting married seemed like the most counter-productive but also fantastic idea ever.
"Could you please just let someone do their job?" Mandy asked, desperately.
"The Doctor is more than capable," Clara replied, almost stiffly. "We'll be ready on time, don't you worry."
By some small miracle, that turned out to be the case. The Doctor straightened Clara's hair and pulled half of it up into a small ponytail which contributed to a gorgeous half-up, half-down style. He applied a thin layer of foundation and some lipstick, with dashes of eyeliner and mascara. Clara opened her eyes when he was finished and beamed at him and her own reflection in the mirror.
"Good job!" she congratulated him, putting a hand on his arm. "You managed not to fuck it up. Your job as my personal stylist is still intact good sir!"
"Would you two get a move on?" Celia hissed. "We have about half an hour. You need to be in there in fifteen!"
Clara pulled on the most excruciating heels that she'd ever worn, making her a lot taller, but the Doctor still towered over her. He had slipped into his own pair of smart black shoes and she straightened his bow tie. They were ready. He was two steps behind her as they headed out to the room where it was all taking place. The Doctor took his seat and Clara headed up to the front, where she stood with the other four bridesmaids. They were all giving her filthy looks and Clara strongly suspected it was out of envy. They had been shooting her and the Doctor glances throughout the rehearsal dinner and she wondered if they were jealous of him as an attractive man or how happy she was. She didn't really care either way. They all looked beautiful in their dresses, but their snobbery undermined it and Clara felt naturally beautiful in her own way. With the Doctor staring at her from his own seat, a warm smile on his face, fumbling with the program, how could she not? He had dropped his program now and was diving around under his seat looking for it. He smashed his head on the way back up on the chair and Clara burst into a fit of laughter, earning her more looks of disgust from the pink brigade. She scuttled over to him, stumbling multiple times in her heels and almost falling flat on her face. She kissed the top of his head better and he smiled ruefully at her.
"Go!" he urged. "Your dad will be here any minute!"
She giggled and returned to the bridesmaids, whose looks had gone from unpleasant to downright poisonous. She didn't care. At all. The ceremony itself was short and beautiful, over before Clara knew it. She had to stand behind her father the entire time and her feet were absolutely killing her by the end. The happy couple ran down the aisle and people cheered. Clara staggered and suddenly, he was by her side, helping her stand. Clara went to throw off her shoes and then he went one better. He swept her into his arms and she squealed as he picked her up. People were filing out of the room and the Doctor carried Clara effortlessly. She appreciated more than words could say as she pulled the shoes from her feet, letting out an audible gasp of freedom. She smiled at him and kissed his chin and he winked at her. He carried her all the way to the changing room. The reception dinner was in an hour and they had all the time in the world to kill…
Clara felt a lot better about how the evening had gone than she had expected. Yes, Jessie had abandoned her for a night with his toilet, but she had had a great time. The Doctor was every bit the perfect substitute boyfriend. He gave his best Jessie impression multiple times throughout the evening, kissing Clara's hand, offering insightful comments over dinner to the waiters about how wonderful Clara looked. He had got so magnificently into character and it was such a surreal yet hilarious evening, with her best friend pretending to be her boyfriend, that she almost never wanted it to end. She made a joke at the end of the night how being her boyfriend meant that he got the privileges that came with that and he had stumbled over his words, gone red and wished her a goodnight. Clara loved his awkwardness in so many ways. She saw that Jessie had texted her again, so she replied, her heart not really in it. Part of her wished that Jessie was more like the Doctor and part of her wished that the Doctor was more like Jessie. She disregarded that latter half, the Doctor was perfect just the way that he was. He was an amazing friend, she had been lucky to find him. And yet, her heart had fluttered when he'd kissed her hand.
She rolled it off. She had long since stopped paying any attention to the little flutters she got around the Doctor. They were nothing more than a childish affection. He was her best friend, her support mechanism. And, she had a boyfriend. She loved the Doctor, but he could never be her boyfriend. Clara smiled. But it would be nice if he could be.
Stuart gave a very long-winded, very carefully structured best man's speech that Clara thought was a little bit too careful not to mention Ellie. Throughout the day, she had noticed that there was a sense of tentativity around mentioning Dave's first wife, as if the very mention of her was dangerous for the upcoming nuptials. Clara herself missed her mum but she hadn't let it get to her. It felt beyond weird watching her dad remarry and she wasn't sure it would ever look right in her head. But she focused on getting through the day and the Doctor had enabled that. They were sat at the table, Dave chatting away animatedly to Stuart who had swapped places with Clara, so that Clara was now sandwiched between her grandmother and the Doctor. Clara sat back and the Doctor squeezed her arm, just like he had the very first time that they met. She loved him. Totally and completely. She pulled him into a long hug that she never wanted to end and then returned to picking at her food until the meal was over.
After dinner, the band struck up and Clara giggled as she watched her father and Mandy took the dance floor. The Doctor had already volunteered to take Clara's grandmother and Clara loved him even more as she watched him waltz with her gran. She sat there, just watching the Doctor for what seemed like an eternity. If what she felt for him wasn't the best feeling in the entire world, then she didn't know what was. Eventually, he was finished spinning around her gran and his hand was outstretched for her. She took it and he guided her onto the dance floor. Their bodies were pressed closely together and they moved in tandem, slowly at first, each step harmonised. Forwards and backwards, left and right they moved, the Doctor leading and Clara clinging to him like her life depended on it. The song sped up and Clara was lost in the music. She was lost in the feel of the Doctor as he wrapped his hands around her waist and lifted her up. She was flying. Truly flying and nothing could ever bring her down ever again. The feeling of elation didn't stop when her feet touched the ground. The Doctor pulled her in close and they slowed it down again, until they reached a stop. Clara leaned up and kissed him, her lips one with his. He smiled through the kiss and didn't stop when their lips broke apart. Clara stared longingly into his eyes and he looked back, with all the tenderness and love that she could see reflected in her own eyes in his. It was a weird inception moment where their eyes almost became one in his, reflecting each other the way that they did. Clara realised they were supposed to be dancing again, but she was completely lost in the Doctor's eyes.
"The words 'I love you' can't quite cover the way I feel about right now," she whispered to him.
"I know," he replied. "I was thinking the same thing. Clara Oswald, my Impossible Girl."
"The Doctor," she added with a smile. "My Doctor."
And in that moment, Clara was truly happy. And she didn't feel damaged anymore.