Annnnd looks who's back. Sorry about the wait guys. Internships and summer jobs along with apartment hunting has started. But I'm finally settled all down with permeant wi-fi :D And with the encouragement of my co-writer and you guys this chapter is out. Thank you all so much and enjoy this chapter of The Oddity Tales :)

Lizzie was glad she hadn't gone with the Doctor. Once she re-entered Vincent's house, she knew she made the right decision. It was better for her to be in a lovely and cosy home than out wandering with the Doctor in her condition. Though she did do as her Raggedy Man asked and sat down in a chair by the fire, resting her sore limbs. However resting soon became hard with Amy pacing around.

As Lizzie had thought, Amy started to become antsy for the Doctor's return since she came back in. She had been walking around the house inside and out keeping an eye out for the Doctor, or any sign of him being in danger. Though Lizzie cared about the Doctor too, she was confident he would return home. She trusted him, and he wouldn't have agreed to go alone if he knew it wasn't completely safe...or at least fifty percent.

While Amy was walking around and occasionally muttering to herself, Lizzie and Vincent had begun striking up a conversation. Due to her bruises fully setting in, Lizzie had begun to find it hard to stand for a long period of time. Vincent did not mind this at all. He began to kindly take care of her, giving her a blanket to keep her warm, some crust bread to keep her fed and some coffee. She didn't drink much of that but it was a nice thought.

Once Vincent was sure she was comfortable, he began to show Lizzie all of his paintings. He would pick them up, wherever they were, and carry them over to her so she could admire them up close. He would describe them to her, such as why he wanted to paint that object or person, and how he blended the colours and the techniques he used. He did this so vigorously Lizzie was completely absorbed by his words. It was as if he was telling a story. He would recount to her the memories he had of the piece and the feeling that grew inside him until they were transferred to the canvas. Lizzie was in such awe she never really said anything, just a permanent grin glued to her face. She never grew bored. The thing Lizzie loved most was that Vincent was genuinely happy. There was not a flash of sadness or depression in his face. He became an entirely different person when talking about his art. However, the lovely talk the pair was having kept being disturbed by a certain ginger.

Amy had now resorted to opening a window, poking her out to look, finding nothing, closing the window, and coming back to do the same thing two minutes later after a little bit of pacing. Lizzie was able to stand three more window closing before she let out a groan.

"Oh Amy go find him!" She commanded with a loud sigh.

Amy jumped back, nearly slamming her fingers in the window before she turned to Lizzie. "What?" she asked, taken back by her best friends tone.

"I know you want find Doctor. You wanted to go with him in the first place right?" Lizzie grew a soft smile on her lips when she saw Amy being to falter. She knew she was right. "Go find him," the small blonde continued. "Vincent and I will be fine here, maybe better without your pacing."

Lizzie chuckled as Amy gave her a face, leaning forward a bit as the redhead walked up to her. "You're sure you'll be okay? Is your back really bad? You know I'll stay here and help if you need me."

"You won't be of any help when all you want is to be out there," Lizzie snarked, lightly kicking Amy with her foot. "Go. My back hurts but it's bearable. Besides," she leaned back in her chair, shifting her eyes to Vincent. "I have good company."

Lizzie saw the pride grow in Amy's eyes at that. "Oh, I've taught you well!" Amy whispered as she leaned in to give Lizzie a hug. As soon as she broke away she quickly started heading towards the door. "I'll be back soon!" she called. "Promise!"

"Wait! Tell the Doctor to-" but with a slam of the door Lizzie knew it was too late, as the last of her sentence fell from her mouth. "Please hurry." Tension began to rise in her body as she saw how daybreak was slowly approaching through the windows; she didn't know what could possibly be taking the Doctor so long.

"He'll be back," Vincent comforted as her expression grew worrisome. Lizzie quickly turned her attention back to him, listening to his words. "A man like that always makes it home."

Lizzie smiled slightly at Vincent's sweet grin as she looked out the window one last time. When she saw no flop of goofy hair or a handsome wild grinning face, she turned back to the painting in Vincent's hand. "So tell me," she began, pointing her finger to the left of the canvas "Was this bit originally white?"

"More coffee?" Vincent inquired Lizzie as he made his way to get himself another cup.

"Oh, no that's fine. Thank you though." She tightened her blanket around herself as she watched him pour the black liquid for the fourth time that evening. "You shouldn't drink too much of that," she suggested as the artist sat back down. "You won't be able to sleep."

"Sleeping is a bit useless to me at times." Vincent chuckled, taking a long sip. "I know I need it, but it's not very interesting. No ideas are forming, only nightmares to greet me. I would rather be creating something rather than laying around with terrors till I wake."

"Funny," Lizzie breathed with a smile. "I know a man with very similar views."

"Really?" Vincent asked amused.

"Yeah," she giggled. "Hates it almost as much as you do I think," her eyes began to turn back to the window as she finished, her face growing sullen. "I hope Amy and the Doctor come back soon."

"Getting bored of my rambling are you?" Vincent asked, his tone was cheeky but held back, as if he already knew her answer.

"No!" Lizzie snapped, eyes growing wide. "I'm just a little worried. No I love listening to you, really." She placed one of her hands on his, rubbing it lightly.

"…I can honestly say no one has ever said that to me before."

"Well they should have." She smiled, patting his hand a few more times before leaning back in her chair.

"Well what about you?" Vincent leaned forward.

"What about me?" Lizzie asked, twirling a piece of hair away from her face.

"Well," Vincent looked down at her curiously. "I hardly know anything about you. I have told you all about my love, tell me about yours?"

"There's not that much to tell really. I love art the same as you."

"And what about the people you love?" he wondered. "Family?"

"Well," she sighed, unconsciously brushing her locket with her hand. "I don't have a lot of family. Both of my parents are dead."

"Oh, I'm sorry." Vincent apologized sincerely, taking hold of her hand.

"Thank you." Lizzie smiled at him, glad he wasn't put off by the topic. "I was an only child so I don't have any siblings. But there's Amy! She's like a sister to me anyway, she's great. Don't know what I would have done without her. We fight sometimes. Oh it's over the stupidest things! But I take it that's how siblings are?"

"From having a brother yes," Vincent agreed with an aggravated sighed. "Yes, that's exactly how siblings are."

Lizzie laughed at his frustration before continuing "There's also Mels! Mels is my other friend from back home, she's been there as long as Amy has. She's the troublemaker between us. And then there's-"but then she stopped. Lizzie could feel it on the tip of her tongue. There was a name. A very important name but it somehow disappeared the moment it came to her mind. There was the Doctor of course but that wasn't it. He was apart of her past but he wasn't there for her whole life in the same way Amy and Mels had been. It was someone. Someone important. Who else was there? Lizzie could have sworn it; she was just about to say someone else's name. She raced through her memory, trying to think of anyone else she could have said. There were friends from school but she had lost contact with most of them. Some had moved away and she was nowhere near as close to them as she was with Amy and Mels. There was Charlie but he had been out of her life for years. He was important but he had never been there for her. He had never dressed up as the Doctor for her when they were kids. He had never brought her cookies after she helped him study for his medical exam. He had never stayed up into the late hours of the night with her just talking. He never been her best friend. He had never asked her to help pick out the wedding ring. He had never-

"It's okay."

Vincent voice snapped her out of it. His hand had wrapped around her quaking one, the other wiping the hot tears from her face.

"What is?" She asked in a voice so small. He was there. He was right there.

"I see it in both you and Amy. You have lost someone very dear to you."

Lizzie shook her head, denying it. "I haven't." There was no one. No one else who could have been there. Then who was he? Who was that man she was thinking about?

"There is no point trying to deny it Lizzie." Vincent soothed. "I see it in your eyes. And those tears tell me everything. There is happiness when you are with your friends but also great sadness. It's a gift and a curse, wearing your emotions for people to see-"

Lizzie began to feel her eyes dry as her breathing returned to normal, but her head still spun. She hadn't lost anyone. Not recently. She had almost lost Amy and the Doctor a few times on their adventures but that was the life they had chosen. But not him. No. He never wanted to come. He joined them for Amy. But why for Amy?

"…sadness, happiness," Vincent kept listening until he got to one emotion that made Lizzie's mind stop. "...love."

"Love!" Lizzie spluttered, knocking her right out of her own head. "I'm not in love with anyone."

"Oh I think you are." the artist confirmed, a knowing smile on his face.

Lizzie's eye's widened. Oh God! Vincent didn't think she was in love with him did he? Had she taken the flirting too far? "Vincent…" she spoke to him softly. "You are a great man, but I've only known you a day or so-"

"No! Not me." He interjected with a laugh. He let go of her hand and rolled back onto his chair heaving with heavy chuckles. "I didn't mean me. I do care for you Lizzie, perhaps in time maybe but I do not like to test my luck when a woman already has eyes for another." Vincent was still laughing as he rubbed his beard.

"Who then?" Lizzie asked, smiling a bit.

"You must know, I see it as clear as day."

Lizzie frowned her brow, about to ask Vincent again but then it hit. Her smile dropped while Vincent's stayed. She knew exactly who he was talking about now. Lizzie at first wanted to deny it but Vincent was one of the greatest artist in the world. He could see into people's hearts and their emotions better than anyone. It was his job as an expressionist to take those emotions and interpret them. There was no way she could deny him about this. Instead Lizzie just slumped back in her chair, letting her head fall back.

"Is it that obvious?" she asked as she wrapped her blanket tighter around her frame.

"Only to me, don't worry." Vincent assured with a nod. "I feel Amy thinks she knows you so well she would know if you had such feelings. But no matter how well we think we know a person, there's always something there, hidden away. Remember that when you are thinking of him."

"I don't know!" Lizzie cried, running her hands across her face in aggravation. "I don't know. I mean I do know. I know I feel...something for him but it could be something else. Maybe I'm overthinking it. I-It could just be fondness?" However it came out more of a question than a statement. Lizzie knew she was stalling. She knew the truth. She had known it for a very long time. But having someone else know and to know how deeply her feelings went scarred her more than she could say.

"Fondness?" Vincent raised his eyebrows looking very doubtful. "Lizzie let me ask you something. Are you fond of me?"

"Of course I'm fond of you-!" she answered quickly before she was cut off.

"Then what you're feeling for him is not fondness."

"But it's complicated!" she tried explained, shaking her hands in frustration."He is so different. Anyone can see that! The Doctor is not just man. He-He's something else entirely. He is so wise and ancient and he has seen so much yet he can still find joy in this world. He can still somehow act like a child and I love that."

"Then tell him that!" Vincent persuaded.

"I can't!" Lizzie burst out in a groan. "T-There's been others…"

"Others?"

"Other people he's traveled with," she explained, curling up in her blanket even more. "From what I take, mainly women. He was in love with one of them not too long ago. He told me it was over with and she's gone-"

"Then what's the problem?" Vincent softly cut her off.

"That's just it," she sighed, looking at the window again for what seemed the millionth time that night. "She's gone. People that travel with the Doctor have to leave at some point. No one can stay with him forever. Amy and I will have to go too." Lizzie tensed, her body trying to fight the next words coming from her mouth. But she couldn't. She couldn't keep it to herself, at least not anymore. It was too much. "You're right," she conceded, feeling a weight lift from her shoulders. "I love him. I love the Doctor very, very much. But I'm not going to risk the time I have with him by chasing after some silly hope that he may love me back. I don't think I could live with myself if everything Amy and I have done went to hell just because of my feelings."

Vincent sat for a moment, taking Lizzie in as her eyes glazed over in thought."If you constantly carry that fear with you," he muttered, taking her hand in his."You will never be with anyone. Taking risk is a part of life. None of us know what our future may hold." Lizzie's sullen mood vanished at Vincent's words.. She did know. She knew what Vincent's future held. This whole time she had forgotten how this man's life was to turn out. Back in her time Vincent was already dead, he died in tragedy. Lizzie just couldn't match the Vincent she had read about whose life was so sad and heartbreaking, to the Vincent she had met who seemed so full of life. "But if you constantly worry over your future you will never have one. Look at me! I could constantly be worrying about where my next meal is coming from? Or how I can carry on like this?" He gestured to his the scattered paintings around the room. "or what will happen to me? Will anyone remember me?"

Lizzie's grip on his hand unconsciously grew tighter as he continued."Just live for now Lizzie. Do what you feel like you want to do. If you don't, you'll just spend the rest of life in regret. That's what I do. I paint because I enjoy it, I want to do it. I know it's not sensible or reasonable, I know I won't make a living out of it, but it makes me happy. And that's what you should do. He makes you happy, so enjoy it all you can."

"Thank you." Lizzie whispered sweetly, getting up and wrapping her arms around the artist. Vincent gave a laugh and held her close, swaying her from side to side causing her to giggle.

"I knew you had a way with paint," Lizzie declared. "I never knew you had a way with words too."

"Only when I'm with you it seems." He answered with a grin, breaking away and helping her back into her chair. "However, I think you are missing an important question ."

"What?" she smirked.

"Even though you have feelings for someone else, can I still try to win you over?" He looked at her suggestively.

Lizzie gaped at him before throwing her head back in laughter. She took some shaky breaths as her laughter turned to small chuckles. "Well you are good company." she replied, gazing at him fondly.

"So do you have any hobbies?" Vincent changed the subject. "I know you love art like I do but you must have other interest?"

"Well, I suppose there's my writing. I actually hoped to get published one day."

"Really?" Vincent inquired, looking intrigued.

"Yeah," Lizzie replied slightly excited that someone was interested in her work. "I have my journal right here if you want to-" But her sentence faded as she realized she could not longer feel the weight of her journal in her pocket. Hastily she started to pat her hands over her body, seeing if it was anywhere else.

"What is it?" Vincent asked, seeing her become alarmed.

"My journal," she explained. "Have you seen it? It's eer this size," Lizzie made a rectangle shape with her hands, "and it's brown-"

"You mean this?"

Lizzie breathed a sigh of relief as Vincent pulled the journal out of his jacket, and moving it gently to his palm. "I found it in the garden after the creature attacked," he elaborated, flipping through the pages quickly before handing it back to her. "It looks fine… I may have also had a quick read through."

"Vincent!" Lizzie mockingly gasped with a smirk. "You devil."

"I couldn't help it!" he explained with a grin. "It's amazing. You are a brilliant storyteller Lizzie! Your writing about the stars and the places in your stories are so intimate. It's almost as if you have actually been there!"

The blonde let out an amused chuckle, placing the journal in her lap. "You'd be surprised."

"I don't understand you tried to erase one of the names in it though."

"What?" Lizzie questioned.

"Well the description you give of the man makes him sound wonderful," the artist replied. "It just seems like you were trying to give him a new name. It's erased the whole way through."

Lizzie looked down at the journal in her lap in confusion and curiosity. When she looked at it earlier with Amy, whole sections of writing were gone or blurred. Even pages at times. It was as if someone had tried to erase it. But with Vincent that wasn't the case. Now only a name was gone. Steadily Lizzie opened the worn cover and flipped through the pages. Her expression grew frustrated as she still only saw giant sections of blurred text.

"Is something wrong?" Vincent worried, seeing her tense.

"No nothing," she lied as she bit at her lip. "It was just a stupid mistake to try and change his name. Can you hand me a pencil? I think I'm going to fix it."

"Of course," Vincent smiled, putting a nearby pencil in her hand before getting out of his chair. The sun was higher in the sky now. It became visibly more apparent as Vincent blew out the candles in the room, sunlight pouring through the windows and filling the space. Lizzie let out a large yawn as Vincent came back to her.

"You're tired." She stated, noticing the large bags under his eyes.

"I am fine." Vincent shook it off. "You look like the tired one."

"And I'll get rest later. You need your sleep." she protested. "Weren't you going to paint that church today? How can you do it to your best if you are tired?"

Vincent shook his head at her with a smile before looking down at the floor in thought. "My bed is upstairs though," He pointed out. "Are you going to be alright down here?"

"I'll be fine," she insisted, taking his hand in her own. "It's nice down here and the Doctor and Amy should be back soon. I may even do some more writing."

Vincent took a moment before conceding. "Okay." he said, bringing her hand up to his lips and kissing it. "Call if you need anything."

"Promise."

Lizzie watched him walk away until he got to the hall before turning to her journal. Slowly she opened it to a new blank page, skipping her tales of adventure. On the page she created a list of bullet points putting some traits next to them. Such as he's kind, he puts the people he loves before anything, he's a bit clumsy, he was loved by so many. A bit insecure but brilliant. He also deserved more. So much more.

"Before I go," Vincent called, coming back around the corner to address her. "What did you decided to name that man?"

Lizzie paused, a cold chill running through her body as the name touched her lips. As if it shouldn't be there. It broke her heart to say it and she didn't know why. "Rory," she told him softly, writing the name at the top of the page. "I think his name is Rory."

"Lizzie," she heard a voice say in her ear. "Come on Elizabeth. Up and at 'em." Elizabeth responded with a whiny 'mmmmmm' as she attempted to turn over, but an arm went around her to stop her from falling out of her chair.

"None of that now," the Doctor chuckled, kneeling down to Lizzie's level as she rubbed the sleep out of her eyes. "You'll make your back worse. How are you feeling?"

"Well it's better than it was," she smiled down at the Time Lord before letting out a yawn. "I'm just sore and tired. You two took forever."

"Sorry about that. Amy requested that we take a little detour-"

"Detour?" Lizzie cut off with a smirk. "What kind of detour?" Her smirk turned into a large grin as the Doctor brought his finger up to his lips in a 'shhhhh' motion, that wild look touching his eyes. He gently grabbed her hand, interlacing his fingers with hers as he pulled her up and walked towards the window. With one swift motion he moved the curtain to reveal Amy right outside, setting up a display of what seemed to be a thousand sunflowers.

"Oh...wow…" Lizzie awed, waving with her free hand to Amy who had begun to jump up and down excitedly when she saw her work. "H-How...I-"

"Planet of Flowers," the Doctor explained, whispering excitedly down to her. "Whole place is filled with 'em! Houses are made from them, travel in developed from them, people even have flowers physically put in their skin because they love them so much. Nasty business but still amazing!"

"So I take it that was your detour?"

"Amy insisted," he grinned. "Figured it would help inspire Vincent after I said something about taking a trip soon. And well, you can't really say no to Pond can you?"

Lizzie chuckled with a sigh, moving to sit on the window sill. "Oh trust me, I know." She turned her head slightly to watch Amy moving around hurriedly to fix the sunflowers exactly how she wanted them, but she could feel the Doctor staring in her direction. She looked out of the corner of her eye seeing that the raggedy man had his arms crossed, a fond smile on his lips as he gazed at her. "What is it?" Lizzie questioned lightly, a small blush rising to her cheeks.

"T-The light," he stated quickly, breaking out of his stance and rubbing his eyes."Sorry just a little too bright."

"Right."

"Let me just close the curtain," he muttered quickly, seemingly forcing himself to move. Smoothly he rushed over, pulling the fabric over the window. His hand was placed just so that he was towering very closely over Lizzie. His body tensed as he tucked in his lip from nervousness.

"Doctor?" Lizzie asked, slightly surprised by the movement. "What was that-"

"Amy didn't force me to go to the Planet of Flowers," he spat hurriedly, yet his voice was low and patient. "Well she suggested that she wanted to go after I mentioned something about going before coming back so I said 'Oh why not!'and-"

"Doctor!" Lizzie interrupted, gently placing her hand on his chest. "Calm down. What's going on?"

He let out a held breath as he moved back a few steps away from her. "Give me a mo," he told her as he held up a finger. Lizzie observed as he carefully started to dig through the pockets of his tweed jacket. He gently moved his hand around as if he was afraid to break something. After a few more seconds, his hand slowly emerged revealing a small bouquet of Forget-me-not's. Some of the flowers were smashed or bent, but to the stunned Lizzie they were still beautiful. "Sorry they're a little bit...odd at the moment," the Doctor apologized attempting to fix any flowers that were out of place. "I'd thought they'd be fine in there, I should have just left them in the Tardis for you for later-"

"For me?" Lizzie cut him off, an uncontrollable smile rising to her face.

"Yes," the Doctor sighed, letting out a shaky breath. "Elizabeth I felt terrible for last night...this morning...whenever I did what I did wrong I still feel bad about it!"

"Right?" the blonde giggled.

"I felt that an apology wasn't enough and I wanted to do something more. After searching for the creature I had this idea and Amy heard me mumbling...so...well here we are then!" He made goofy gesture as he held out the flowers to her, making her laugh even more.

"Annnnd who told you forget me not's were my favorite flowers?" Lizzie questioned with an amazed laugh, bringing the bouquet up to her nose.

"Amy at first," he told her as he fidgeted with his hands, his ears growing slightly red "But once we got in the Tardis the old girl told me, very loudly mind you! She seems to know you quite well." Lizzie made a mental note to thank both Amy and the Tardis later. "So," the Doctor continued on, giving her a hesitant look. "Do you like them?"

"Doctor…" she sighed with a grin. She was at a loss for words. No man had ever done anything like this before for her. But the Doctor wasn't just another man she reminded herself, as Vincent's talk from the night before rang in her mind. Her heart raced and her skin began to tingle as she thought over and over 'Do what makes you happy...live for now'. Without any force, Lizzie's feet moved on their own making her walk up to the Doctor and stand on her tiptoes. One of her hands gently caressed the side of his face as her lips fell softly on his cheek. She stayed that way for a moment, savoring it before slowly pulling back. "I love them…" she told him gently, her voice in a whisper. When he didn't respond, Lizzie pulled back even more. She saw a red eared Doctor, his whole body seeming as if an electric shock went through it. "A-Are you alright?"

He slowly held up a brandished finger, words barely forming on his lips. "T-That was….well, yes...umm," he began to cough nervously, small giggles slipping out in between. "You oh, y-you..." the Doctor brushed his hands through his hair as he shifted his feet. He turned until he looked down, making direct eye contact with Lizzie causing him stand at attention. "Medicine!" he suddenly shouted, hastily digging through his jacket. "You need medicine!"

"Doctor wait-Ah!" Lizzie shrieked, ducking down as a small bottle came flying towards her head. Before she could say anything else the Doctor was already scampering towards the door.

"Just put that where ever the bruises are!" He instructed, barely turning around. "They should go away within a few minutes. Make sure you take off your shirt though it will stain…" He suddenly turned back to her, face growing even more red before covering his eyes. "Not now! Don't do it now!" he commanded, though Lizzie had not made a move since she kissed his cheek. "I'll send Amy in in a sec-"

"Doctor wait!"

"Ow!" The madman cried as he stumbled head first into the door frame. He took his hand off his eyes to glare at it before remembering Lizzie was standing right across from him. He suddenly began chuckling, patting the wood. "Nice door frame…" he remarked. "Solid." He started a her for another second, letting out a school boy giggle before making a large glopping noise and marching out the door. "Pond! Take notes! We need a door frame like this!"

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