When the Doctor and Clara eventually arrived at the scarf festival on Trivolt they discovered it was in actual fact a woolly hat festival, which the Doctor insisted was much less exciting, so they quickly returned to the TARDIS.

Back onboard the vessel, Clara took an unexpected phone call from the school she'd interviewed at and was surprised to find out they wanted her to come back for a follow up interview. Maybe Coal Hill School was somewhere she'd belong, after all. When she turned back to the Doctor though, she spotted him hunched over the TARDIS console, with that look on his face that he only wore when he didn't realise she was looking.

She put her hand on his shoulder and he looked up at her with those big sad eyes. Then he forced a smile. She smiled back. "Let's talk," she said softly. He flung a lever up on the console and stepped away from it, spreading his hands out openly. "Happily," he replied. Then he glanced back at the TARDIS console, surprised it hadn't taken off. Clara reached out and pressed a small purple button to the side of the lever. The TARDIS wheezed into life.

"How'd you know to do that?" the Doctor raised an eyebrow, pride shining in his youthful features.

"I've spent too much time watching you," she shrugged.

"Did you want to talk about anything in particular?"

"You."

"Sounds boring. What about woodlice instead? Fascinating creatures, woodlice…"

He trailed off as he saw the look on Clara's face.

"You never talk about it: The choice you had to make."

"I did what I had to do. There's nothing else to say."

"There's always something else to say. Doctor…" She hesitated, uncertain, but then plucked up her courage: "there's something I want to tell you."

She swallowed, preparing herself to say it. He watched her, suspicious and a little scared. "I need you," she said at last. His brow furrowed. "You're my best friend. The only friend that really matters and without you I would be so lost. You make me feel like I belong, and I don't want to lose you. Ever."

She could see he didn't know how to answer that. That didn't matter to her though, because she wasn't done yet. "And every time I see you hurting, it hurts me. How many times have you asked me to trust you? Just this once, trust me. Please." She paused, her eyes begging him to listen to her. "I want to help. I really really do."

He looked back at her with eyes like those of a puppy and her heart melted just a little bit. "Okay," he answered unsure, "It's…" he hesitated, "it's a long story."

Clara smiled. "I'm not going anywhere."

She took his hand and they walked together away from the console room to a quiet corner of the TARDIS where they could sit and just talk.

"Tell me everything," Clara smiled at him, "please."

The Doctor smiled back, a warm genuine smile, glancing down before looking back up, his eyes meeting hers. Maybe it was time. Time to let go. "A long time ago and all at once, there was a war called the Time War, and in the middle of that war, there was a coward called the Doctor…"

End.

Writer's Notes: finally reached the finish line! I had a whale of a time writing this, it's the Doctor Who story I've always wanted to tell. As for its inspiration: in Day of the Doctor, Clara tells the War Doctor that her Doctor is always talking about the day he did it. But Eleven is the man who forgets, burying it deep to protect himself so to me that's a testament to how much he trusts Clara but I also believed there must have been some trigger for him to open up to Clara like that. So this is that story. There was a lot I wanted to say about Eleven and Clara both individually and together so I hope that's come across. More than that I hope I've told a good story! Please leave a review to let me know what you thought of it all!