This started to get very long so it's becoming 2 chapters now! Enjoy part 1...
Clara woke up that morning, smiling at the ceiling. Today was the day she got to tell her family and Danny everything. For the last 2 months she had come on in leaps and bounds. The techniques were really working, she felt more confident in herself. Louise knocked on the door and went in, "hey you, excited for today?" As she sat up Clara nodded. "You have no idea how proud I am of you, I've never had someone so determined. I'll leave you to get up, oh! I invited Hayley and Greg along too - I hope you don't mind?"
"No of course not, they're like family to me," Clara replied. "I'll meet you at breakfast."
Louise agreed and left, leaving Clara to take her time getting dressed. She put her favourite autumn outfit on - a rusty brown denim skirt and black polo neck. She french plait her hair, tidying back the edges and double checking herself over in the mirror. Taking a deep breath, she shut her eyes, counting to ten as she let it out to help her relax. Once she'd finished that she left the room and made her way to breakfast.
Once she'd eaten Clara went for her session with Ian. "How are you feeling about today then?" he asked.
"Nervous, but excited. All the people I love will be there, apart from Jess and Faye, and part of me is worried about how they'll react. I know they'll be happy really, Danny found it really hard to say goodbye last time and Dad just wants everything back to normal," she explained.
Ian nodded, "and what do you want?"
Clara knew that was coming, "I want to go home. I want to spend time with my Dad, I want to go back to school after Christmas and get back to normal, except a little more confident."
He smiled, "that's more like it. You have to remember to focus a little more on yourself Clara, don't forgo your own feelings for the sake of others."
"Promise, just going to take a little while to get in the habit of doing so in the real world," she agreed.
"In which case I think you're ready to go tell them," Ian stood up and opened the door. "I'll see you soon."
Clara left, walking back to meet Louise outside the family room. "Everyone's inside, you ready?" She nodded and Louise opened the door, standing just to the left of the door while Clara went in and sat between Danny and her Dad. Everyone was staring at her, it felt a little like she'd just walked on stage to give an important speech.
Taking another deep breath to calm herself, she reached for both Dave and Danny's hands, taking them. "Okay, so I thought it would be really cool to do it with you all here but I don't quite know what to say now."
"Take your time, we're not going anywhere," Hayley smiled at her. Danny squeezed her hand to agree with her.
They were right, but she wanted to get it out there, to have as much time with them after as she could. "So I've been working towards this for a while now but I didn't want to say anything until I was nearly there, but I'm being discharged in 3 weeks - the day before my birthday."
Dave immediately pulled her into a hug, kissing her head, "I finally get you back, oh love it's been so long I'm so sorry, but we'll be back together now, I'll look after you." Clara suddenly felt herself start crying into him, the realisation that she would get to go home finally hitting her now they all knew. "Hey, we're going to be great you and me, a proper team," he rubbed her back. She sat up, wiping her eyes a little and smiling.
"I'm not sad, sorry I think it just hit me that I'll finally get to come back," she leant into Danny now. "It's been so long."
Danny wrapped his arms around her, "you'll be stuck with us now."
That made her chuckle, nudging him, "I don't mind being stuck with you."
"Ew no, if there's going to be any PDA I'm leaving right now," Gary shook his head, covering his eyes. They all laughed at his reaction and Clara stood up, walking over to him and Hayley, hugging them both tight, "I can't wait for you to be back, Hayley needs someone else to talk to about this damn wedding." Clara smiled into their hug, she knew all of the other bridesmaids lived further away and she also knew Greg hated planning big things.
"I'm right there, we need a good catch up," Clara replied, standing back and going over to her Gran. "I love you Gran, we need to have our lunches again."
Her Gran hugged her, "absolutely, I'll make your favourite."
She went and sat back down, leaning into Danny again and resting her head on his shoulder. The only downside of going home was the Danny would be at school, she wouldn't and the school were unlikely to let him go at weekends so much. "It'll be okay," she whispered to him, taking his hand.
They all chatted about some of the practical side of her moving back for a while, but she insisted she just wanted to go home and get back to normal. Having all of them there turned out to be a great decision, especially between Greg joking, her Gran mothering her, her Dad asking a lot of question and Danny keeping her close it almost felt like she was already home, but she was bought back to earth when Louise entered the conversation to say it was nearly time up. Clara said her goodbyes - Hayley and Greg first and they left, then her Gran who followed them out, evidently quite keen on Greg which made both Clara and Hayley chuckle. Danny next, she stood with him away from her Dad who was chatting to Louise. They hugged, kissed briefly and then hugged again. "You know I won't be able to see you as much?"
"I know, but it'll be the Christmas holidays before you know it and then we'll be back to school," she reassured him. "I'll be alright, we'll be able to talk on the phone."
Danny nodded, kissing her temple, "I know I shouldn't worry but I do."
"I understand," she moved so their foreheads were touching. "Now go learn some stuff, but I'll tell Jess and Grace myself - going to phone them later."
"Gotcha, see you Saturday," he smiled and left.
Just Clara and her Dad now. Dave hugged her, "I know it's been so long, almost a year since we really had some proper time together, but we'll have a few weeks once you get back and we'll make the most of them - really catch up for lost time. I promise."
"I know Dad, it's okay. I just can't wait to be back home with you," she replied. "We'll look after each other - deal?"
"Deal," Dave stood back and they high fived. "See you soon kiddo."
Once they'd all gone Louise walked over to check she was okay. "I really really am."
#-#-#-#
It was weirdly emotional packing up to leave the unit. She'd been there long enough to settle and made friends. Clara stood in the middle of her room, looking around. "We're gonna miss you," Ellie appeared at the door.
"You mean you are, nobody else will be that bothered," Clara smiled. "That's okay though, I've got places to be."
Ellie rolled her eyes and walked over. "For goodness sake Clara Oswald you're clever but also really dumb, come with me," she grabbed her hand and practically marched her through to the lounge area where everyone was waiting. "You don't get out of here without saying goodbye."
One of the other girls, Yasmin, came forward with a card, "we've all signed it. It's tradition, so you don't forget where you've come from. You don't need to open it now."
Taking the card Clara smiled, "thank you guys."
"You've been awesome, you're quite an inspiration Clara," one of the others perked up.
"Alright enough you'll make me cry," Clara looked around. "I won't miss this place, but it's been good being with people who understand, so thanks. I should probably get going now though." A few people came over and said goodbyes in person before she left, grabbing her bags and hugging Ellie before meeting Louise.
Louise was stood by the door to the family room, all that separated her between this place and home. "Ready?"
"Ready. Thank you, for everything," Clara smiled, "you've gone above and beyond for me."
"As soon as Hayley told me about you I knew I had to help you. Anyway you'll still see me occasionally for a little while so we don't need to do the emotional goodbye bit, but I'm proud of you. Go out there and kick ass," Louise winked at her and then opened the door. They're just the other side of that door, I'll let you go first.
Clara nodded, walking through and opening the door to find her Dad and Gran the other side. She dropped her case and ran to them, hugging her Dad tight. He spun her around, "oh it's so good to be taking you home sweetheart. I love you."
"Love you too Dad," she left his grasp and Dave went over to pick up her case while Clara hugged her Gran.
He grabbed the case and spoke to Louise, "thank you. You've been really accommodating for all of us, but you've worked so hard with Clara."
"She's worked hard, you should be very proud," Louise smiled. "No need to hang around, I'll see you both in a couple of weeks." Dave shook her hand and walked over, leaving with Clara and his Mum.
When they got home Clara jumped out of the car and went inside, looking around, "it's so good to be back." She sat down on the sofa. "What?" Clara saw her Dad watching her. Dave shook his head. "No come on Dad what is it?"
"You look happier than I've seen you in so long," he sat down beside her, "it's been a hard few months but I'm so proud of you." Clara leant over and hugged him.
"I'm so glad we get to spend time together now," she told him. "Is it okay if I go unpack first though? I want to get settled back in."
"Of course, I'll sort out some tea for you and Gran. Call me if you need any help," he let her go.
Once she was upstairs Clara got her phone out for the first time and turned it on. She had decided very early on not to have her phone while she was there, she needed to feel more separated from the outside world. Unsurprisingly there were a few messages on there, but mostly from early on in her stay and not worth responding to. There was one message that did make her smile.
Welcome home love, hope you get back settled in okay. I'll speak to you later, Love You xx
Of course Danny would text her, but he wasn't the only one.
Hey trouble! Get yourself sorted and back here asap, not the same without your nerdy brain. Video chat when you can? J+F xx
Checking the time she realised it was lunch at school so she decided to call them now. She sat down on her bed and crossed her legs while she waited for them to answer. It took a little while, but they probably had to move back to their room. "Hello stranger!" Jess answered. "It's very good to see your face, especially as you're smiling!"
"Yeah, I feel loads better. I'm sorry we haven't spoken much, I had to be careful how many visitors I had you know?" she explained.
"Hey it's fine honestly, it's just good to see you. Faye will be here in a sec she's in a meeting. So how are you doing anyway?" Jess asked.
Clara moved to sit up against the wall, "yeah really good. It's going to take a little while to get back to normal life but gotta start somewhere."
"True, just look after yourself eh?"
Chuckling she replied, "yes Mum."
At that moment Faye appeared in the picture, "hey you!"
They chatted for a while, normal stuff. The girls filled her in on what had been going on at school and promised to make sure she was kept up to date. Jokes were made about Jackie's reputation since Clara had visited before the summer, some people had finally started to realise who she was. Lunchtime was coming to an end and they had to go. "Nah it's okay you get back to lessons. I'd better get back down to my Dad anyway."
"Have you spoken to Danny yet?" Jess asked.
"No not yet, I'll speak to him later. Needed to chat to you two, just have a bit of a laugh. Thank you," she smiled. "Now go before I get you in trouble."
She hung up, left her case to do later and went back downstairs. "Sorry, got distracted. Had a chat with Jess and Faye. Are you hungry? Should I make-"
Dave pointed at the table, "a variety of sandwiches have been made - help yourself. I'm looking after you now remember?"
"Sorry, habit," Clara smiled and sat down beside him. "Thanks Dad."
"No problem, now eat up and put whatever rubbish you fancy on the TV." They chuckled and sat back. "Just relax kid."
#-#-#-#
Waking up the next day in her own bed, no knocking on the door, no set time for breakfast, just the glimmer of sun through the curtains and a smile on her face. The bed felt a bit empty without Danny, but she didn't feel panicked anymore, just missed him. Standing up, Clara ran a hand through her hair and opened the curtains, looking out of the window and up at the sky. "Thanks Mum," she spoke, holding her necklace. "Love you."
She dressed, putting her hair up in a ponytail and smiling in the mirror before she went downstairs. As she opened the door to the living room she realised something - it was suspiciously quiet. "Surprise!" The noise made her jump. Her Dad and Gran appeared from behind the door and now she realised the pile of presents and the banners. "You took your time." Dave walked over and hugged her, "Happy Birthday sweetheart. I got some pastries for breakfast and the tea is brewing."
"You're the best, but you didn't need to do all this," she looked around.
"No, but we wanted to. You deserve it," her Gran hugged her now. "Go grab what you want to eat. We can do whatever you want today."
Clara thanked them, grabbing tea and food and sitting down on the sofa. Her Gran and Dad did the same, joining her back in the living room. "Can we just stay at home today? I just want to lie on the sofa and watch films with you two."
"I'll do you a deal, we stay in all day and you let me take you out for dinner?" Dave asked.
Clara nodded, "deal." They high fived, something both of them quickly realised they hadn't done in a while and chuckled. "So when can I open that lot? Which by the way is a pile far too big."
"Never too big," he winked. "Whenever you like,"
"In that case I'm going in," she grinned and grabbed a present off the table.
Her Gran perked up, "that's the best one. 100%."
She'd already read the label saying it was from Gran, but it still made Clara chuckle as she unwrapped the paper and she opened the box inside revealing a book. It was a copy of Sense and Sensibility, but it looked old. Instinct told her to open the cover and inside she found a note.
Clara,
The first time your mother came to visit me she spotted this on the shelf, I offered it to her but she refused and instead told me to save it for someone special. I know what she meant now.
Gran x
Investigating further she realised that it was a 1st edition. "Oh my… Gran…"
"I know it's a bit cheap but-"
Clara considered throwing a cushion at her. "Cheap? This would be worth a fortune. Not that I ever plan on selling it. It's beautiful," she carefully put it down and went over to her, hugging her, "thank you, it really is amazing."
"Perfect for you then," she smiled. "But if it takes this long on each present we could be here all day." Her Gran grinned at her and Clara chuckled, sitting back down and picked up the next one.
As she was opening it she noticed her family members staring at each other, "are you competing on the best presents or something?" she asked. "Because you know I'll never put you against each other."
"We know," her Dad replied, "don't worry it's just us being silly - you know what we're like."
"Almost too well," Clara rolled her eyes but couldn't help smiling as she opened the second present. "I'm not going to lie, I'm a little confused…"
Dave nodded, moving closer to her, "I know, I didn't expect you to remember."
Clara looked up, "should I?"
"No, well, you would. It's not high on the list of things you would need to remember," he tried to explain.
Sighing she looked back at the present, "but it's just something else I've forgotten. They don't know if the rest of the memories will come back-"
Dave stopped her immediately, "hey, shush. I didn't do this to upset you, it's for new memories."
"I still don't understand, it's a mug," she looked at it.
"Look inside the mug," he suggested so Clara had a look.
The realisation hit her. "I had one, with this picture at the bottom, it got broken before when I had an attack." It was a while ago, quite a long time ago actually, before she'd moved schools. She'd run home that day, scared, crying her eyes out. Her Dad wasn't home, she tried to make tea. It was her favourite mug, calmed her down. There was a picture of her Mum, Dad and her just a year ago from that day. It was her favourite picture and Ellie had ordered it for her after she'd been diagnosed. She dropped it when she got it out, it smashed. She was so upset, but her Dad wouldn't talk about it. "You found the picture." Clara couldn't stop looking at it, this was the first time her Dad had really addressed her Mum's death with her since the funeral. She rubbed the tears away from her eyes.
Dave leaned forward, "Clara?"
Clara looked up at her Dad, "this means so much more than you could ever know," she put the mug back in its box and turned round, hugging him.. "I love you so much."
"You're not the only one who had counselling," he explained. "I spoke to a grief counsellor in hospital, helped me realise some stuff. During that I remembered the mug and that's when this idea came."
They separated from their hug and Clara smiled, "that's a present in itself Dad. I'm really proud of you."
Grace woke up from the corner, "we are actually going to be here all day aren't we?" she tried to sound serious but she was smiling a little.
"Okay alright I'm going," Clara chuckled and opened some more presents.
Thankfully they weren't all as emotional, mostly books she wanted, films and then a new phone. "Thank you, both of you," Clara sat back.
Grace sat up now, "right, I'm going to disappear now - Friday lunch club calls. See you kid," she stood up, hugging Clara and whispering to her, "you two need some time together, I'll see you for dinner." They said their goodbyes and her Gran left.
Dave was clearing up the wrapping paper, although it had been folded in a pile as she went. "Movie day then yeah?" he asked.
Clara nodded, "yep. Do we have stuff in for snacks?"
"Plenty," he replied but then stood up. "Unless you wanted to go somewhere?"
"I said it was-"
"I meant like, to see your Mum?" he suggested. Clara walked back out of the kitchen.
She looked to him, realising he was serious. "Dad, you know I want to go with you I really do, but not today. I know it will be difficult for you, let's do it another day. Thank you though, really."
They both went back to what they were doing. Clara got the crisps out of the cupboard and smiled a little at her Dad's suggestion, he was really trying, but today wasn't the day for that - she just wanted today to be a nice day.
While she was in there her phone rang and she smiled when she saw who it was. "Hey you," she answered.
"Happy birthday sweetheart," Danny's voice from the other end of the line. "Sorry it's taken this long, I didn't want to wake you."
"Don't be silly, it's fine. How's school?" she asked, leaning against the kitchen counter.
Danny chuckled, "really? That's what you want to talk about today?"
"Polite conversation, I miss you," she told him.
"I miss you too, I'm sorry I can't be there. I wanted to wait to give you your present in person if that's okay?" he checked.
"Of course it is, I'd rather that. Good incentive to see me soon," she pointed out. "Seriously though, I'm fine at home. Dad and Gran have been amazing and they've got me the best thing. Gran gave me a first edition copy of sense and sensibility it's beautiful. New phone as well but I'll set it up later."
"Sounds brilliant, I'm glad it's going well. You know I'll come back as soon as I can," he reminded her.
"I know, it's alright. Faye and Jess text me this morning too, I miss them. I might try and visit at some point."
"Don't push yourself, I'll see you soon. Love you lots," he told her. Clara returned the phrase, put her phone away and smiled, joining her Dad. This was the perfect birthday.