Hey, where's the cheering? They finally did it! Why are you being so pessimistic? Oh wait. . . haha XD Yeah, sorry about that. And thank you guys so much for your lovely reviews!

Chapter 37

The Doctor hadn't been tired initially, but once they had checked in their luggage and sat down at the small airport café, he could feel the exhaustion creep up on him and the cup of bad coffee only seemed to make it worse. He hadn't slept for a single minute and after an hour, the Doctor had given up trying and now here he was, completely and utterly knackered, too tired to even think about what he and Clara had done last night. She didn't look much better as she nibbled listlessly at her croissant. At last, she seemed to give up and dropped the rest on her plate. The Doctor eyed it with interest.

"You're not hungry?" he asked carefully.

Clara inhaled deeply, still glancing at her croissant with a hint of disgust. "Not really," she replied.

"Do you, uhm," he paused. "Do you wanna pack it for later or-"

Her head shot up and for the first time, she smiled at him. "You could have ordered something too, you know?" Clara remarked as she pushed the plate in his direction.

Reluctantly, he reached for the croissant but pulled his hand away at the last moment. "Are you sure you don't want it?"

"Eat it!" Clara told him in a strict manner. It lasted a moment before she started laughing again. "This is the most expensive croissant I've ever had. Would be a shame to just throw it out."

"Alright," the Doctor grumbled in reply, picked it up and took a large bite. As soon as he started chewing, he was suddenly overcome by the urge to cough and spit the entire thing back out and he probably would have done hadn't they been sitting in the middle of a crowded airport café. He suppressed the reflex as best as he could while his face probably turned scarlet red, judging by Clara's cackling laughter. "Oh God, this is the worst croissant I've ever tasted."

Clara was still chuckling and covering her mouth with her hand.

"You could've warned me!" the Doctor complained.

"Funnier this way," she replied with a shrug. Then she started to giggle once again.

The Doctor threw a dark glance at the croissant before he dropped it back on the plate. It crumbled apart on impact.

Since the coffee was tolerable, he decided to focus on that because they still had some time to kill before the departure and he noticed that Clara had fallen silent again as well. When the Doctor dared to look at her, she was looking into her coffee cup as if it was the most interesting thing she had ever seen and suddenly, his mind wandered back to last night. What would happen now?

Naturally, the Doctor wanted to repeat it. In fact, he wanted to do nothing but kiss her for the rest of his life, but he didn't think that Clara actually wanted the same thing. He had no idea what it meant to her, what she had been thinking and he so desperately wanted to find out.

"Clara," he began carefully, "about last night-"

She looked up in an instant. Was that fear in her large eyes? "Hey, wanna check out the shops before we board the plane? They have a huge bookshop," she asked him, her voice sounding a little too nervous.

Clara didn't want to talk about last night. She wanted to pretend that it never happened and the Doctor realized that he had been stupid to assume anything else. They were friends and that was it, no matter how much he hoped that it was different.

So instead of pressing the matter, the Doctor put on a smile. "Of course," he replied. "Can't say no to a bookshop, can I?"

Clara returned his smile for a brief moment before she lowered her gaze back to the coffee in front of her while the Doctor prayed that he hadn't lost her for good.

As soon as the door closed behind her, Clara dropped her bags in the hall. Uttering a sigh, she sank back against the wall and closed her eyes.

"Fuck," she muttered and slapped her flat hand against her forehead. "Stupid, stupid Clara!"

She truly had the unique talent of making a mess of everything, especially when men were involved. What had she even been thinking? She couldn't just seduce the Doctor and then expect everything to go back to normal. What would he think of her now? Thank God Clara had had the sense to cut him off at the restaurant before he was able to give her an embarrassing speech about how she was a lovely girl but he just didn't feel that way for her.

What did Clara feel?

Apart from the confusion, she really couldn't say for sure. Clara had feelings for the Doctor, that much was obvious and last night really hadn't made anything better in that department. She was right. They were perfect for each other in every sense – except that the Doctor only saw her as a friend. But then why had he slept with her? For the same reason she had? Because he had felt like it? If only she had let him finish his sentence earlier. Maybe then she would have known.

As her phone rang in her pocket, Clara was torn out of her thoughts and when she drew out the device and looked at the screen, she felt her heart sink.

NotSantaClaus

Did you have a nice time in Paris? I assume you'll be back by now.

A couple of messages had gathered in her inbox over the past few days and Clara felt like slapping herself when she realized she had completely forgotten about Basil while she had had so much fun with the Doctor. Why was she like this? She had a crush on Basil, she liked Basil, he could be the perfect match for her and she had completely ignored him. Looking at his messages now, it felt a little weird because the only reason she fancied him was that he reminded her of the Doctor. It wasn't fair and she knew it, but how could she resist when they were so alike and she couldn't have the original? Maybe it was time to come clean at last, time to tell Basil what was going on in her head. She couldn't tell the Doctor, so the next best thing would have to do. Maybe he would have the right advice for her.

ClaraOswald86

I am so sorry I didn't reply to you sooner. Paris was lovely, but that's not an excuse for ignoring your messages. Can I be completely honest with you and tell you something? Right now, my head is a mess and I don't know what to do.

While we were in Paris, something happened between me and my travel companion and I don't know how he feels about it. Truth is, I've had a crush on him for years and I never really realized it because I'm a proper idiot. I don't think he'll ever feel that way about me. We've been friends for way too long for that and he's quite shy and awkward in that area. When you first messaged me, I liked you from the very first moment because somehow, you remind me of him. Oh God, you have every right to ignore my messages from now on because I'm a horrible person and you deserve more than being a substitute.

But the truth is that I really like you both and I have no idea what to do about it. Please, if you could just say something, that would be great. I'm really, really lost and I just need a point in the right direction, any direction.

Clara exhaled sharply once she had sent the message and leaned back against the wall again, hoping that his reply would be quick. Yet before she slipped the phone back into her pocket, Clara decided to send one more message to Amy because she was in dire need of a good girl talk.

Back from Paris. Brought wine. Girls' night?