A/N: new chappie! enjoy!

Chapter 36: A Football Match

Olivia couldn't help but smile as she stood in the kitchen fixing up some breakfast of her specially made French toast as she listened to the Doctor singing La Donna e Mobile loudly while he showered. She hummed along with him as she continued, glancing up to see Craig head toward the bathroom, wincing silently because that was the third time she'd seen him head that way. She never had a problem with the lengthy showers the Doctor took…then again she was in there with him most of the time.

"Doctor?" she heard Craig call as he knocked on the door.

"Hello?" the Doctor called back.

"How long are you going to be in there?" Craig wondered.

"Oh, sorry, I like a good soak!" the Doctor replied.

"Don't I know it," she couldn't help but mutter through a smirk as she still cooked.

She jumped with a gasp when loud thumping came from up stairs and stared up at the ceiling with wide eyes. She turned to look at the stain on the ceiling in the sitting room and her eyes widened as she realized it was bigger than it had been the day before.

"Doctor!" Olivia called before quickly turning off the flame on the stove and running toward the bathroom door, spatula in hand. She stopped in her tracks when she saw the door leading to the small entryway and stairs leading to the upstairs apartment had been opened. "Doctor!"

"What did you say?" the Doctor called as she ran to the bathroom and burst through the door.

"Doctor! Craig's gone upstairs! What do I do?!"

The shower curtain whipped to the side.

"I'll take care of it!" He shouted the last word as he tripped on the edge of the tub trying to step over it, taking the curtain with him and it wrapped around him as he fell to the floor.

"Theta!" Olivia shouted as she knelt next to him. "Are you ok?!"

"Stay here!" he ordered, trying to get up and reaching for something over the sink. "No choice! It's Sonicing time! Towel!"

She stood and grabbed a blue towel from the rack to hand it to the Doctor, something in his hand. He grabbed the towel and tried covering himself as he ran out the door, and though it could have been a dire situation, Olivia couldn't help but smirk at the sight of the Doctor's naked rear heading out the door. She ran after him as he pulled the towel and they both met Craig at the bottom of the stair, the Doctor aiming something at the upstairs door.

"What happened?! What's going on?!" the Doctor demanded and Craig looked to the thing in his hand.

"Is that my toothbrush?" he frowned with an amused smirk and the Doctor lowered the sonic toothbrush and looked at it before looking to Craig.

"Correct," he replied. "You spoke to the man upstairs?"

"Yeah," Craig nodded.

"What did he look like?" the Doctor questioned.

"More normal than you do at the moment, mate," Craig smirked, making Olivia snicker. "What are you doing?"

"We thought you might be in trouble," she explained as the Doctor stared at the upstairs door.

"Thanks," Craig laughed. "Well, if I ever am, you two can come and save me with my toothbrush and a spatula."

When the phone rang, Craig excused himself to head back into the room to answer it as Olivia couldn't help but look at her spatula and snicker. She looked to the Doctor as he cautiously stepped up the stairs.

"Theta! What are you doing?!" she hissed as he stopped only a few steps up, moving his mussed hair out of his face a few times.

She jumped and turned to the door behind her when it opened to reveal a blonde woman bundled up and carrying a newspaper. She jumped as well when she turned to see the Doctor on the stairs and Olivia standing at the bottom, staring wide eyes at her.

"Ooh! Hello!" the girl chirped, shocked as she stared wide eyes at them, and Olivia instantly recognized her, as did the Doctor.

"Aah!" the Doctor called, gripping his towel to keep it from falling as he headed down the stairs, greeting her and introducing himself, "Hello! The Doctor."

"Oh…right," the blonde nodded as he headed toward her.

"You must be Sophie," he nodded, stepping toward her and giving her air kisses to her cheeks before turning to Olivia and pointing at her with the toothbrush, grinning, "This is Olivia. My girl."

"We're newly-weds," Olivia couldn't stop herself from blurting out, then held up the spatula in embarrassment, graciously adding, "I was making French toast…want some?"

"That…would be lovely," Sophie replied hesitantly. "Thanks."

The doctor took one more glance upstairs before heading toward the door leading into the parlor, Olivia and Sophie trailing behind as Craig spoke into the phone.

"No, Dom's in Malta," Craig said. "There's nobody around. Hang on a sec." He stopped the Doctor on his way to his room as Olivia went to the stove and he asked, "We've got a match today, pub league. We're one down if you fancy it."

"Pub league?" the Doctor frowned in wonder. "A drinking competition?"

"Football, darling," Olivia corrected, cooking up French toast for four.

"Football!" the Doctor grinned, glancing at Olivia as she still worked before turning his grin to Craig. "Yes, blokes play football! I'm good at football, I think."

"You've saved my life!" Craig grinned back before speaking into the phone again. "I've got somebody. Yeah, alright, see you down there." He hung up and greeted, "Hey, Soph."

"Hey, thought I'd come early and meet your new flatmates," Sophie replied as Olivia handed the Doctor a plate of French toast.

"Do you play, Sophie?" the Doctor asked, setting his plate down on the counter to start eating as they laughed in amusement.

"No," Craig chuckled. "Soph just stands on the sidelines. She's my mascot."

The sound of silverware on the counter sounded as Olivia bit her lower lip, collecting the fork and knife and not believing Craig had just said that.

"I'm your mascot?" Sophie frowned at him. "Mascot?"

"Well, you're not my mascot," Craig recanted, backpedaling. "It's a football match. I can't take a date."

"I didn't say I was your date."

"Neither did I."

"French toast!" Olivia cheered, lifting the plates and handing them a plate each. "Don't know what you like on your toast, so prepare as you like it. Doctor, why don't we have our breakfast in our room? You need to get dressed anyway."

"Right," he nodded with a smile at Olivia and he handed Craig's toothbrush back to him before heading toward his room, Olivia trailing behind him with their plates.

"Oh, uh, the spare kit's just in the bottom drawer," Craig called after them.

"Ok, we'll find it!" Olivia grinned back, making sure the door was mostly closed and explained, "It's…a real mess in here."

She nodded with a grin and hurried inside, hiding the room and sighed before giving a mild stare to the Doctor as he opened the bottom drawer of the dresser.

"You couldn't have come straight in here for clothes instead of walking around in nothing but that towel?" she muttered, setting the plates on the dresser as she stepped next to him. "I could tell she was taking that towel off your hips with her eyes."

"Wait a minute…" he murmured, then trailed off as he marched back to the door, making her frown at him and follow him as he opened the door a crack to speak.

"You unlocked the door," he told Sohpie as Olivia felt anger boil her blood at the fact that he was still in nothing but a towel. "How did you do that? Those are your keys. You must have left them last time you came here."

"Yeah, but…" Sophie sputtered before looking to Craig holding the fuzzy pink keychain with her keys on them and asked the Doctor, "How do you know these are my keys?"

"I've been holding them," Craig admitted, looking embarrassed.

"I have got another set," Sophie answered the Doctor, and that intrigued Olivia making her push past the Doctor.

"You've got two sets of keys to somebody else's place?" she frowned in wonder.

"Yeah," Sophie replied in uncertainty.

"I see," Olivia nodded with a smirk, her anger forgotten as she turned to head back into the room.

"You must like it here, too," the Doctor smirked before shutting the door and heading toward his dresser again, finishing off his French toast as Olivia started on hers.

"I guess breakfast was good?" she wondered, knowingly with a smile.

He nodded hugely, chewing on the last piece and making her giggle before he dropped his towel to start changing. She swallowed her own mouthful of food before biting her lip, somehow holding herself back from jumping him as she turned back to her food. He tapped the earpiece still in his ear.

"Amy? You there?" he asked as he pulled the shorts on…going commando beneath them. Olivia took in a breath, making herself choke and cough and he whirled around to look at her but she waved it off, still coughing. He turned and grabbed the jersey from the drawer as well before speaking again.

"So, I'm going out," he explained to Amy on the earpiece as he pulled the jersey on with the number on his chest. "If I hang about the house all the time, him upstairs might get suspicious…notice me."

Olivia smirked as she set her plate aside and stepped toward him to pull the jersey as he frowned at her and she whispered, "It's backwards."

"Yeah, football," he replied, allowing Olivia to pull the jersey off over his head again, only breaking eye contact with her when the shirt got in the way as she pulled it back on correctly. "All outdoorsy. Now…football's the one with the sticks, isn't it?"

"I got it, Amy," Olivia assured her, leaning close enough to the Doctor's face to make sure she heard her before moving back to look at the Doctor, her hands resting over each of his hearts and feeling their pace quicken beneath her palms. "Football here is soccer in America."

"Right," he nodded, slowly and she smirked when she saw the heat in his eyes. "Amy, I'll call you after the match."

The Doctor tapped the ear piece to hang it up before lifting his hands to Olivia's face and pulling her toward him to press his lips to hers. She smiled into the kiss as his tongue instantly parted hers, making her give a giggle before he pulled away with a smack. She frowned in wonder at the short kiss, her hands slipping to his shoulders.

"It makes it very hard to kiss you properly when you giggle like that, Liv," he explained, making her smile.

"Sorry," she whispered, her arms sliding around his neck. "I missed you last night."

"Wait till we get to the TARDIS," he requested. "I promise when we get back I'll make it up to you."

She bit her lip and nodded before pressing a kiss to his cheek and sighing, "We'd better get out there so you can play some football."

At the Park...

"What are you actually called?" Craig asked the Doctor as they, Sophie and Olivia went down the trail, the boys in their football uniforms and the Doctor playing with the ball. "What's your proper name?"

"Just call me the Doctor," he replied.

"Yeah," Sophie shrugged, but Olivia could see Craig's point and couldn't help but wonder why he hadn't chosen on his usual cover name, John Smith.

"I can't go up to these guys and go, 'Hey, this is my new flatmate. He's called the Doctor.'"

"Why not?" the Doctor wondered.

"Because it's weird," Olivia blurted, making him turn a frown at her.

"Thanks, Olivia," Craig grinned. "You get it right? I mean, when you met, did he introduce himself as the Doctor?"

"He did, but I didn't really have time to address it," she replied and vaguely added, "I was a little busy."

"Alright," an unfamiliar voice called as they came upon a group dressed for football. "Craig."

"Hey!" Craig called through a grin to the black man that had greeted them.

"Hello, I'm Craig's new flatmate," the Doctor greeted, shaking his hand and air kissing his cheeks, making Olivia bow her head and shake it. "I'm called the Doctor. This is my wife, Olivia. Say 'hello,' Liv."

"Hi," Olivia smiled, giving a wave to him as the Doctor came up next to her, wrapping an arm around her shoulders as she shook his hand.

"Alright, Doctor," he nodded. "Olivia. I'm Sean. So where are you strongest?"

"Arms," the Doctor replied without hesitation, making Olivia drop her head again, this time slapping her hand to her face as Craig and Sean frowned at him in wonder.

"No, he means what position on the field?" Craig explained.

"Not sure," the Doctor replied, still holding the ball. "The front? The side? Below?"

"You any good, though?" Sean wondered.

"Let's find out," the Doctor replied, dropping the ball and kicking it in front of him as he ran onto the field.

"Come on," Sophie chirped to Olivia, drawing her attention. "We cheerleaders wait on the sidelines over here."

"Oh, yeah," Olivia smiled and followed Sophie toward the area where the bystanders watched the game.

"So how did you meet him? The Doctor?" Sophie asked Olivia, making the dark-haired woman look to her with wide eyes.

"Oh, um…" Olivia trailed off in thought for a moment, looking to her feet for a split second, stalling to come up with a lie. "I was a…party planner at the time. He was…a driver for the guest of honor's birthday party. We got pretty close when things got hairy that night. We've been working together every since."

"Oh, that's a bit like me and Craig," Sophie smiled as they stopped in the crowd waiting for the game to start. "We met at work, too."

"That's what Craig had said," Olivia smiled, hoping she wouldn't ask any more questions.

"So you're on your honeymoon?" Sophie asked, making Olivia sigh, inwardly. "Craig said you were newly-weds."

"Just got back, actually," Olivia replied. "We had our honeymoon in…Paris."

"Oh, lovely!" Sophie grinned. "That is romantic."

"Yeah, it was," Olivia smiled back, but her heart clenched at having to lie. It hadn't been a honeymoon at all. Not even close. She was thankful when the whistle blew to start the match and watched as the Doctor surprised everyone by playing extremely well. She couldn't help but smile, "Leave it to him to be this good on the first try."

After the Game...

The group stood at a park bench, the Doctor with his arm slung over Olivia's shoulders, celebrating the win thanks to the Doctor's newfound football skills.

"You are so on the team," Sean told the Doctor as he passed out cans of beers for everyone. "Next week, we've got the Crown and Anchor. We're gonna annihilate them!"

"Annhilate?" the Doctor echoed, stepping closer to Sean as Olivia realized with a bow of her head that he thought he meant some sort of violence as he spoke again. "No. No violence. Do you understand me? Not while I'm around. Not today, not ever. I'm the Doctor. The Oncoming Storm…and you basically meant beat them in a football match, didn't you?"

"Yeah," Sean replied, warily.

"Lovely," the Doctor smirked. "What sort of time?"

The hiss of a can being opened sounded and Craig shouted when the foam spat at him, making everyone turn and laugh at him…but then it happened again…and again…and again. Olivia frowned around at the looping scene around her, as did the Doctor before they looked to each other. He took her hand and tapped the earpiece in his ear as he stepped away from the looping group.

"Amy?" he called into the earpiece. "Amy."

Olivia stepped close to the Doctor, placing her ear next to his with the earpiece to hear what Amy was saying this time.

"It's happening again," Amy explained. "Worse."

"What does the scanner say?" he asked, wrapping his arm around Olivia to pull her closer so she could hear a little better.

"A lot of nines," Amy replied. "Is it good that they're nines? Tell me it's good that they're all nines!"

The Doctor's eyes shifted before he sputtered, "Yes, yes, it's…it's good! Uh, Zagzag Plotter. Zigzag Plotter, Amy."

Olivia looked to the Doctor when they both heard Amy scream and she swallowed at the look on his face.

"Amy?" he murmured. "Are you there? Amy?"

Olivia pressed her ear to his again as she felt his hold on her arm tighten.

"Y-Yes," they heard Amy pant. "Hello."

"Oh, thank heavens," he sighed in relief. "I thought for a moment the TARDIS had been flung off into the vortex with you inside it. Lost forever."

"That can happen?" Olivia questioned, loud enough for Amy to hear her through the earpiece.

"You have got to get me out of here!" Amy ground out.

"How are the numbers?" the Doctor asked.

"All fives," Amy replied.

"Fives?" he echoed, and Olivia looked to the group now functioning normally as if nothing happened. She looked to the Doctor and nodded, making him nod back, saying, "Even better. Still, it means the effect's almost unbelievably powerful and dangerous, but don't worry. Hang on, ok? I've got some rewiring to do."

He tapped the earpiece to hang it up and Olivia sighed, making him look to her with a frown.

"Nines are bad," Olivia sighed. "You lied to her again. She's gonna find out, and she's not gonna be happy."

"Cross that bridge when we come to it," he replied, placing his hands on her shoulders, looking her in the eyes. "Calm, remember? Trust me?"

"Yes, but—"

"No," he cut in. "Just yes. No buts."

She sighed and nodded in defeat, making him smile and kiss her forehead before turning to head back toward the group, still chatting and laughing.

Craig's Place...

"Liv—!"

The rattling of the Doctor's project behind her as she pinned him against the wall filled the room while her lips planted themselves to his to cut off his objection before she pulled away with a smack. She giggled, bowing her head to his chest as she continued giggling and snickering and the Doctor rolled his eyes, taking her shoulders and pushing her back enough to look into her eyes.

"You have had far too much to drink, Olivia Felton," he scolded, shuffling her toward the bed. "I never should've let them give you beer. Lie down and sleep it off."

"Why don't you help me?" she giggled, taking his hand in hers to try pulling him onto the bed with her when she fell back, but he managed to stay on his feet as a knock came from the door.

"I've got work to do, Liv," he replied, pulling his hand from hers and picking up the traffic cone next to the bed before stepping toward the door. He opened it just enough to lean slightly on the doorframe and smiled at Craig, "Hello, flatmate."

"Hey, man," Craig replied. "Um, listen, uh, Sophie's coming 'round tonight, and I was wondering if you could give us some space."

"Oh, don't mind us," the Doctor smiled, seemingly understanding. "You won't even know we're here."

A loud sound came from upstairs, making Olivia jump and gasp on the bed before she giggled at her own reaction as the Doctor and Craig looked up at the ceiling, and the Doctor muttered, "That's the idea."

The Doctor shut the door and maneuvered something on the project in the middle of the room, making it clank around and he grinned, "Yes! Perfect! What a beauty."

"Why thank you, Doctor," Olivia smiled, striking a pose on the bed before giggling and flopping over the mattress again.

"Olivia, I have to get this scanner working, so if you don't mind, sleep it off, why don't you?" the Doctor muttered, not stopping his work. He frowned and paused when there was no reply and looked toward Olivia to see her passed out on the bed. "Well…that was easy."

He picked up the screwdriver and examined, it muttering, "How do you turn this on?"

He looked back at Olivia and sighed, "Why did you have to get so drunk now, of all times, eh?"

Olivia turned over in her sleep so that she was lying on her side, facing him with her hands tucked under her chin, her knees curled into her chest. The Doctor couldn't help but smile as he stepped toward her, setting the screwdriver down before wrapping his arms around her to position her head on the pillows and pull the blankets over her. She gave a small noise and stirred slightly but didn't wake as he smoothed her hair from her face and pressed a kiss to her forehead.

"Sleep tight, sweet Liv," he whispered before standing and lifting the screwdriver again to examine it. "Wonder if Craig knows how to turn this on."

Later that night...

"Right!" the Doctor called, running around the contraption on the frame of the bed, the mattress having been removed and Olivia standing in a corner, her head in her hands. "Shield's up! Let's scan!"

"Do you have to be so loud?" Olivia groaned, rubbing her eyes and the Doctor stepped in front of her. "And I can't believe you disrupted Craig and Sophie's date just so you could ask him how the screwdriver worked."

"They weren't on a date," he argued, making her wince at his tone. "They let me stay!"

"To be polite! If I hadn't been drunk I would've stopped you."

"That's what happens when you drink too much, Liv," he murmured before holding up a hand to reveal a pill in his palm. "Good thing I have a pocketful of these."

Olivia snatched it from his hand, knowing it was one of his magic headache pills and downed it as he moved the contraption on the bed to scan the upstairs. She had to admit, even with her head throbbing, the Doctor looked good with no jacket, his sleeves rolled up just below his elbows and his suspenders hanging from his trousers.

"What are you getting?" Amy asked from the earpiece which he'd now put on speaker.

"Liv, give me the readings, please," he requested, and Olivia went to the other contraption to give him the readings.

"No traces of high technology," she replied. "Says everything's normal."

"No, no, no, no, no," the Doctor replied, looking to the thing himself. "It can't be. It's too normal!"

"Only for you could too normal be a problem," Amy retorted. "You said I could be lost forever. Just go upstairs."

"Without knowing, and I get myself killed?" the Doctor replied, moving around the thing again. "Then you really are lost. If I could just get a look in there…hold on."

Olivia frowned at him in wonder as he stopped his huge scanner from spinning, but said nothing as he gave instructions to Amy.

"Use the data bank, give me the plans of this building," he told Amy. "I want to know its history, the layout, everything. Meanwhile, I shall recruit a spy."

"Are we gonna have a bed back soon?" Olivia sighed, going back to her corner and the Doctor whirled around to frown at her before nodding.

"Ah…no, sorry," he replied, making Olivia sigh again as he stepped back to her and placed his hands on her shoulders. "I'm really, really sorry, Liv. I promise, I'll make this up to you. I'm already planning something once we get out of this, so please, hold out for me, darling?"

Olivia could only nod before he smiled and pulled her close by the face to press a tender kiss to her lips.

"Here, I'll get you a pillow and a blanket and you can sleep on the mattress," he said. "It's only right there next to the bed. I'll join you in a bit, eh?"

She nodded again as he grabbed a pillow and the duvet that had been on the mattress and tossed them onto it while Olivia stepped toward it. He pressed a kiss to her cheek before she plopped herself onto the mattress and laid down, pulling the duvet over herself. She couldn't sleep completely until she felt a pair of arms wrap around her, making her smile as she turned into the body attached to them and sighed in contentment as she listened to the double beats of his hearts against her cheek.

A/N: apparently, poor Liv can't hold her liquer. reviews?