A/N: I think everybody enjoyed the last chapter, which just makes me so, so happy. I'm also totally ecstatic that you all like the Susan/River romance! One of my guest reviewers dubbed the ship 'Rusan' and I've adopted that name! Also, I have a link on my author's profile to my tumblr, where I have gifsets of various scenes throughout this story. So please go look at that.

Warning: the beginning will start off as a little confusing, but it will all be explained before the end of the chapter. I promise.

"Are you alright?"

I glanced away from the fire and met the Doctor's worried gaze with a smile. "Yeah. I'm fine," I answered.

He sat down beside me on the couch. "You've just been so quiet the last two days," he started as he reached for my hand. "I was worried."

"I'm fine," I repeated. I looked back at the fire and sighed. "I just… had a rough two weeks."

"Why don't you talk about it?"

I continued to stare into the fire. I had missed the Doctor's presence while we had been separated and I was glad to be with him again, even if he was a few incarnations younger. But the memories of my time alone were a jumbled mess that I could barely piece together.

Ten Days Ago

The door to the motel opened and the Doctor quickly stepped inside. "How many today?" he asked.

I looked down at my diary, where I had marked the number, and sighed. "Eleven."

He sat down next to me on the bed and pulled a road map from his jacket. "Well, we're right here by the Utah-Colorado border. I think we can manage to get to the Nevada border if we start early tomorrow morning and stop late in the evening."

"Okay."

"You should probably get to sleep within the hour so you're rested enough."

I nodded and closed my diary. "I know, I just… It's hard for me to sleep now."

Present Day

"Diana?"

I jumped and turned to look at the Doctor. His eyes were wide and worried as he gazed at me. Confused, I shook my head and refocused on his face.

"What… What happened?" I asked.

"You just drifted off. I called your name, but you kept looking into the fire like you couldn't hear me."

"I couldn't."

The Doctor moved so that he was sitting closer to me and then he slowly tucked my hair behind my ears. "Diana, what happened?" he asked.

"That's the thing. I… I don't remember most of what happened. There are things in my diary that happened that I don't remember."

Nine Days Ago

"River, everything going well so far?" I whispered into my phone.

River's voice was a little scratchy at first, but I could understand her easily enough. "Susan and I have spotted a few Silence, but the sightings have been spread out since everybody separated."

I looked around the abandoned shed the Doctor and I had taken shelter in for the night. "Okay," I exhaled as I sat down and leaned against the wall. "Anything from the others?"

"Not yet."

"I'll try and call Alistair, then." I paused for a moment and sighed. "You look after my daughter, River Song," I finally said.

"Of course I will."

The Doctor sat down next to me and grabbed my free hand. He lightly rubbed his thumb across the back of my hand and smiled reassuringly at me. I moved so that my head was resting against the junction of his neck and shoulder, and he let his arm drape around my waist.

"She asleep?" I wondered.

"Yeah. We had a hard day."

"Tell her I said hello, will you? And make sure she's drinking enough water so she doesn't get dehydrated. Oh, and make sure she's warm enough at night. I know I get chills sometimes, so I don't know if she got that too or not. And-"

"Diana," River laughed, "I'll take care of her. I promise."

"Okay. Thank you."

"Good night."

"Night, River."

I ended the call and pushed the phone into my jacket pocket. The Doctor pressed a kiss to the crown of my head before pulling me into a comforting hug. I curled up against him and wrapped my arms around his waist.

"It's going to be okay," he assured me.

"I don't like this," I grumbled. "At all."

"We've spent the last five days preparing, Diana. Canton knows what he's doing and he'll take care of everything else."

"What if something goes wrong?" I wondered.

"It won't." The Doctor took my face in his hand and made me look him in the eye. "I have absolute faith in you. Now let's give Alistair a call."

Eight Days Ago

"How did it go?" Susan asked over the phone. "Is Dad…?"

I leaned back on the motel bed and gazed up at the ceiling. "They took him. He's on his way to Area 51 right now," I answered.

"And what about you? Are you okay? Did you find a place to stay?"

"Yeah, I found a motel a few hours away from Vegas and I got in with my psychic paper." I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. "I'm alright, Susan. I'm… a little tired and scared, quite honestly. Canton took care of everything and he made sure I got away safely, but I just..."

"Mom, you're going to do fine. I know you are."

I smiled. "I'm getting counseling from my own daughter," I laughed.

I could hear the smile in Susan's voice when she replied. "Dad believes in you and so do River and I. And the others, too. They know you can handle this."

"I wish I was as sure as the rest of you. I haven't really been on my own since I met your father and now all of a sudden I have to track down the Silence without him?" I sighed again and shook my head slightly. "I don't like it. I'm constantly worried about you and now that the Doctor's been captured, I'm worried about him too."

"I know," Susan mumbled. "I worry about the others too."

I finally opened my eyes. I wasn't sure what else to say to comfort my daughter. She and River had been in contact with Alistair and Faith, but none of us had heard anything from Josephine. Nobody voiced their thoughts, but I knew we were all thinking that she had been kidnapped by the Silence.

"Hey, Susan, it's gonna be okay. With Canton and the Doctor working together, I'm sure everything'll work out."

"Yeah… Look, I have to go. River's leaving for New York tonight and I, um, I want to say goodbye…"

"Okay. I want both of you to be very, very careful. Try and call every day so we can keep track of our progress."

"Alright. Bye, Mom."

"Bye." I hung up and absently tapped the phone against my mouth. "Love you," I whispered.

Present Day

"Diana?"

I quickly wrapped my arms around the Doctor's torso and leaned forward so my head was against his chest. He gently placed his arms around my shoulders and pulled me a little closer. I stared at the cravat around his neck and let out a sigh.

"I can't tell you," I whispered. "You can't know anything."

"Can't you tell me anything? I hate seeing you like this."

I shook my head. "I can't. I'm sorry."

I tilted my head back to look back up at him, then leaned closer to press a brief kiss to his lips. He smiled sadly at me and I gave him another peck on the lips before finally pulling back to curl up against him.

We stayed silent for a few minutes, the fire crackling in the library the only sound next to the beating of the Doctor's hearts and our light breaths. I let out a heavy sigh and closed my eyes. I needed to talk about what had happened during the two weeks, but I couldn't tell the Doctor without spoiling his future.

The Ponds, I thought. I should visit the Ponds.

I opened my eyes again and looked into the fire. "Theta?"

"Hm?"

I paused for a moment, then said, "I need to see someone."

Seven Days Ago

I looked over everything I had written in my diary with a sigh. My mind was feeling fuzzy since I had been spending the entire day tracking down Silence across Las Vegas. I had written down my findings in my diary, as well as the numbers Alistair, Faith, Susan, and River had given me.

I already knew that the Silence had infested the entire planet, but no one else did. The more they discovered, the more horrified they all became. But I still had to pretend that I was as shocked as they were, which wasn't as hard as I had thought it would be. Despite my knowledge, the numbers of Silence spottings each day were astounding.

With the help of my psychic paper, I managed to convince the owner of a hotel in Vegas to let me stay the night for free. I planned to leave the next morning after breakfast and make my way to Utah, where I was supposed to stay for a few days and continue the search for the Silence.

Six Days Ago

"River, I stole a motorcycle."

There was a pause on the other line, and then a burst of laughter. "I'm so proud of you, sweetie!" she exclaimed through her laughter.

"No, River, I don't want you to be proud of me! I'm a thief! I just stole a motorcycle and now I'm hiding out in an abandoned barn. That is not something to be proud of!"

"You're on the run from the U.S. government, dear. Stealing a motorcycle is child's play."

I shook my head in frustration. "Yeah, don't remind me of that."

"Well, how did you steal the motorcycle? I don't think you have a sonic yet."

"I don't."

"Then how did you steal it?"

I grimaced and awkwardly scratched the back of my neck. "I may have convinced the owner that I was a valet," I mumbled. "And then just gone off when he went inside the hotel."

River broke out laughing on the other end of the line. "Oh, sweetie, look at you being all grown up."

"I'm being a criminal, River."

"Okay, okay, I'm sorry." She stifled her laughter, but I could tell she was still highly amused by my criminal activities. "So where are you now?"

"Utah. I'm hoping to make it to Salt Lake City in a few days, but that depends on if I can find another vehicle to get me there." I sighed and shook my head again. "What about the others? How are they doing?"

"Susan's passing through Virginia now. She should be in North Carolina by tomorrow. Faith is somewhere in Canada by the border, I believe. And Alistair is on a flight to England."

"So we've heard nothing from Josephine?"

"Nothing," River repeated. "Alistair stayed back in Florida when we all parted ways and he looked for her for almost a week, but he couldn't find her. He had to leave after that or else he would've delayed his trip to England further."

"I just hope they'll be okay. Canton said he wouldn't tell the FBI about Alistair, but he'd have to tell them about the others or else the plan wouldn't work."

"Diana, they're going to be fine. I promise you, they all know what they're doing."

"But what about Susan? I'm her mother, I should be looking after her and being protective of her, not sending her off into an alien infestation treasure hunt! What if she gets hurt?"

"If she gets hurt, I will be the first one to know and I'll go after her. Diana, believe me when I say that I love Susan very much and I will protect her to the best of my abilities." There was a pause and then River asked, "Do you trust me?"

I smiled and nodded, even if she couldn't see me. "Yes. Of course I do."

"Alright. Then stop worrying about Susan and start worrying more about yourself. Okay?"

"Okay, okay," I grumbled.

Present Day

The Doctor had parked the TARDIS a block away from the building, just as I had asked of him. I told him to wait for me in the ship and when he agreed, I left and headed for Amy and Rory's flat. My composure slowly broke down as I neared the building and by the time I was knocking on the door, I was holding back tears.

The door opened to reveal Rory. "Diana! It's nice to see you again. What are you doing here?" he asked kindly.

"Is Amy here?" I wondered, my voice shaking slightly.

"Yeah, she's in the loo. Why?"

I sniffled and quickly glanced down at the floor. "I need to talk," I mumbled, my voice shaking again. "About Lake Silencio."

Rory was quiet for a moment before he reached a hand out and gently grasped my shoulder. "Come inside," he said softly as he opened the door wider. "I'll get Amy for you, okay?"

Five Days Ago

"River, I need you!"

"Diana, you're breaking in and out."

"The Silence!" I shouted into my phone. I glanced over my shoulder and spotted three running after me. "I got caught!"

"What do you mean?"

I tripped over a wire that was stretched across the hallway and I nearly fell, but managed to regain my balance at the very last moment. The Silence grew closer and I knew it was only a matter of time before they captured me.

"River, come get me! I don't know how to get out of here and they're closing in on me!"

"I'm scanning your phone for your coordinates now." River grumbled in frustration after a few moments. "Diana, you need to stop moving. I can't lock onto your location."

"If I stop running, I'll get captured!"

"Just trust me."

I skidded to a sudden halt, nearly dropping my phone in the process. I turned around to face the Silence as they approached me. They slowed to a walking pace and began to surround me. I pinned my phone between my shoulder and my cheek, then took the pen from around my neck and started drawing tally marks on my arm.

"River? River, can you hurry up a bit?"

"Just a tic. Aaaaand… gotcha!"

The Silence tightened their circle around me. "River!"

"I'm coming!"

There was a loud crackle of electricity and a puff of smoke, then River appeared just a few feet in front of me. "Get down!" she shouted. I fell to my knees with my arms over my head as River pulled out her gun and began shooting at the Silence. A dozen bodies fell to the ground around us.

I peeked out from behind my arms and saw that each Silence had been killed and was no longer any danger to me. River grabbed my forearm and dragged me up so I was standing. She put an arm around my waist, pulled me against her, and then entered a series of coordinates into her vortex manipulator.

With a loud pop, we left the Silence hideout and appeared in a small hotel room. I staggered backwards with my hand pressed to my forehead. A wave of dizziness washed over me and I frantically grabbed at the wall to keep from falling over.

"Oh God," I moaned, shutting my eyes against the nausea.

"Give it a minute," River said.

I braced myself against the wall, my shoulder bag slipping so it was hanging loosely around my arm. About a minute later, the nausea had faded away to a slight headache and a barely noticeable queasy feeling in my stomach. I turned and leaned back against the wall. River had made herself comfortable on the hotel bed while I tried to overcome the effects of the vortex manipulator.

"Thanks, River."

She flashed me a smile and nodded. "Of course. Anything for you, dear."

Present Day

Amy came running into the living room, her arms outstretched. I was pulled into her embrace before I had even registered that she intended to hug me. I slowly brought my arms around her waist and held her against me for a few moments.

"Are you okay?" the redhead asked as she pulled away.

I let my gaze fall down to the ground and shook my head. "Not really. I… I couldn't tell him and I needed someone who understood-…"

"What happened?" Amy asked. She guided me over to the sofa and let me sit down.

"Has River come to see you?" I wondered.

Amy glanced at Rory, then back to me and nodded. "Yeah. She told us."

"I'm so sorry," I blurted, grabbing at Amy's hands. I looked desperately between her and Rory. "He made me promise not to tell you. And I wanted to tell you so badly, but I couldn't because so much depended on you believing he was dead and I'm sorry. I really am."

"I know. I understand that now, but," she added with a stern tone, "that doesn't mean I'm not still angry with you."

I nodded. "I know. That's fine. I understand. I just, I want you to know that it was really hard for me to lie to all of you. Especially to you and Susan."

Rory sat down behind Amy on the sofa, resting one hand on her shoulder. "I'm guessing you didn't just come here to apologize, though," he said.

"No. I… I really needed to talk with you two." I ran a hand through my hair and took a breath to steady myself before I began to explain. "After the Doctor was taken to Area 51, I was on my own for about a week before I left and I ended up with a younger, past Doctor. And after a week on my own with the Silence everywhere, I've been having these terrible nightmares and I can't remember most of what happened.

"I-I read through my journal and there's all these numbers of Silence sightings and things that happened, but I can't even remember most of it. I know that I can remember information about the Silence and what they look like after I look away, but I can't remember seeing them once I do look away."

I paused for a moment, thinking back on the things I had written. "I remember… River saving me. Apparently I'd almost gotten captured by the Silence at one point and I called her for help. She came and rescued me."

"What about these dreams you've been having?" Rory interjected.

I sighed as I tried to recall the dreams. "Most of them I can't remember. But the Doctor said that the last two nights I've woken up screaming about the Silence and calling Josephine's name. When I left, no one had heard anything from her. I don't know if she's even alive."

"She is," Rory and Amy assured me in unison. Rory smiled at me and nodded. "No spoilers, of course, but she is alive."

"Oh thank God," I breathed. "I was so afraid… Faith was so distraught when we hadn't heard anything from her."

"Josephine's fine, Diana. She's probably with Faith now. Those two are almost inseparable."

"I'm glad she's okay. I've been so worried about her… I would've kept having those terrible nightmares about her if you hadn't told me."

Rory and Amy smiled sympathetically at me. I avoided their gaze and looked away, focusing instead on my hands. "I probably sound like a pathetic mess. I mean, you two had to deal with the Silence for months and I could barely last a few weeks."

Rory shook his head and grabbed at my hand, surprising me with the comforting gesture. "Hey, it's okay to be upset by all of that. Maybe Amy and I were ready for that, but you weren't. It's normal to not be okay after everything that happened."

"I think the hardest things for me was not having the Doctor with me," I admitted. "Since I came to this universe, I haven't really ever left the Doctor's side. He's always been with me in some way. So having to go through a week without him even there to comfort me was hard.

"Before he went off and pretended to die, he told me that I could use my phone to talk to him if things ever got too hard for me. And I trusted that. But when things were hard for me and I tried to call him, he never answered. I had to get through it with Susan and River, or on my own sometimes when they were busy."

"But that's good," Amy told me.

"I know it is… It was just hard for me. I'm not exactly a very independent person, in case you hadn't noticed," I answered with a half smile.

"Sometimes you just have to take it all one step at a time, y'know?"

Rory nodded in agreement. "And you were thrown into this mess without much of a warning. You had to deal with lying to your daughter and your friends and the Doctor about his death, facing the Silence on your own, and trying to survive on your own all in a few days. When you think about it like that, it's really incredible that you were able to do everything that you did. You were incredibly brave and strong, despite being afraid and alone."

"You think so?" I wondered.

"Of course," Amy replied.

"Do you think the Doctor thinks so too?"

"Diana, it doesn't matter what he thinks. What matters is what you think of yourself." Amy lightly patted my hand and gave me a look that suggested, in a friendly way, that I grow a backbone. "You should be proud of yourself and not worry about whether or not the Doctor's proud of you. Although if he is proud of you, then that can't hurt either. And he should be, you know. So if he's not, then you have a proper talk with him."

Three Days Ago

I let myself fall back onto the bed with a heavy sigh. River plopped down beside me and chuckled at me. I closed my eyes and tried to relax a little after the long day we'd had.

River and I had decided that I should stay with her for a day or two after she rescued me from the Silence. We planned to continue our investigation as she travelled to New York City and once she reached the city, she would take me to Salt Lake City via vortex manipulator and then return to New York.

"How are you not completely exhausted after all that running?" I asked the woman, opening one eye to glance up at her.

"Susan and I workout," she answered with a wink.

"Oh God!" I shouted. I covered my eyes with my hands in an attempt to block out the mental image River had implied. "River, that is something I really didn't need to know about you and my daughter!"

"I only said that we exercise," she answered innocently.

"Yeah, and we all know what really means." I rolled onto my stomach and pushed myself off the bed. I walked over to the chair in the corner of the room and grabbed my bag where I had dropped it just minutes ago. "I'm going to write about some of our spottings and pray that that'll remove that mental image, okay?"

River smirked and moved so she was lying on her stomach on the bed. I brought my bag over to the bed and lay down beside her, copying her actions so I could comfortably write. I pulled out my journal, took the marker from around my neck, and started looking over my arms at the tally marks on my skin so I could write them down in my journal.

Present Day

"Diana?" The Doctor made a panicked noise in the back of his throat, which I somehow managed to hear over the phone. "Love, are you alright? You've been gone nearly an hour."

"I'm fine, Theta. I promise. I just needed to talk to some friends of mine."

"Are you sure? I can come over-"

"No! No, no, no, no, no, you can't come here! Spoilers! Major, major, extreme spoilers! Look, I actually called to tell you I'm going to be gone for a little while longer. My friends invited me to stay for dinner and I'd like to stay."

"Diana, are you sure everything's alright?"

I smiled at his concern, but wanted to make sure he understood that I was feeling better again. "I'm sure. I promise, I'm fine. Just give me an hour and a half and I'll be back, okay?"

The Time Lord let out a sigh, but accepted that I would be gone for another hour. "Very well. Be careful."

"It's dinner, Theta. There's hardly going to be an alien invasion over the dining room table. Now stop worrying. I'll be back later and I'll be my normal self again."

I ended the call, then stuffed the phone into my back pocket. Amy and Rory were in the kitchen preparing dinner and they both smiled at me when I walked back into the kitchen. Rory had the house phone pressed against his cheek and he whispered something into the receiver before hanging up and placing the phone on its stand.

"Anything I can do to help?" I asked.

There was a sudden knock at the front door, which startled me. Rory gestured to the direction of the door with a nod of his head.

"Actually, could you get that?" Amy asked.

"Sure." I rushed to the hallway and quickly pulled the door open. I gasped in surprise when I saw five familiar faces standing just outside the door. "Oh my God, you guys!"

Susan was at the front of the group with Josephine, Faith, and Alistair standing just behind her, and the Doctor brought up the rear end of the group. He flashed me a smile as he tweaked his bowtie. I barely had time to comprehend that they were all there before Susan, Alistair, Josephine, and Faith pulled me into a massive bear hug.

The Doctor burst into laughter as I stumbled back in surprise. Susan buried her head in my neck, Josephine and Faith threw their arms around my waist, and Alistair gave me a hug from behind with his arms around my shoulders and stretching around the others as far as possible.

They all eventually released me and gave me individual hugs before moving further into the flat. The Doctor waited until they left, then closed the door behind him as he approached me. He lifted one hand to cup my cheek and smiled sadly at me, an apology written plainly across his face.

"I'm sorry. For everything."

"I know," I answered softly.

"Are you okay?"

I nodded. "I am now. I talked to Amy and Rory about everything."

"I was worried about you. He still is."

"Your younger self, you mean."

The Doctor nodded seriously. "He's very worried about you. You were acting so strange and you wouldn't tell him anything-"

"I couldn't tell him anything, Theta, you know that." I sighed and ran a hand through my hair. "I should probably go back and talk to him."

"No, Diana, wait. I didn't mean to make you feel guilty. I just wanted you to understand." He ran the back of his hand across my cheek and smiled reassuringly at me. "He knows that sometimes you just need space and someone to talk to who doesn't need to be told 'spoilers'."

I stood on my toes and gave the Time Lord a shy peck on the cheek. "Come on," I said as I took his other hand. "Amy and Rory may need help making dinner."

"So where's River?" I asked as I helped Rory serve the food.

"She's back in prison still," Susan answered. "The timing wasn't quite right."

"So I'm guessing a certain Mr. and Mrs. Pond organized this little get together while I was on the phone?"

Amy smiled and nodded. "It was my idea, but Rory called the Doctor while you were… calling the Doctor."

Rory finished dishing out servings of food and sat down on the sofa next to Amy. "We thought that since you were feeling so down, you might want to spend some time with everyone. We all know how hard it was on you."

There was just enough room on the sofa between the Doctor and the Ponds for me, so I sat down next to the Doctor with my plate. The Doctor smiled fondly at me and playfully nuzzled my cheek with his nose when he leaned in to kiss it.

"Well, I really appreciate it. It's always easier when you have friends to talk to."

Susan, Faith, Josephine, and Alistair had all pulled up chairs and situated themselves around the sofa. The Pond's dining table wasn't quite big enough for a party of eight, so we had to make do with whatever furniture we could fit in.

"And you made pasta," I noted as I started eating. "I suppose it's just a coincidence that pasta is my favorite food."

"You like pasta?" Amy asked in mock surprise.

The Doctor lightly nudged me with his elbow. "You spent a few weeks in America and now your old accent's coming back," he teased.

I rolled my eyes and laughed. "What, that's a surprise to you?"

"You sound like some sort of hybrid British American."

I shrugged. "I sort of am. I mean, I've spent the last few months living with a bunch of British people and even living England for a few months. And now I've got the muddled half American, half British accent. It's not even a proper English accent, it's just a muddled British accent thanks to you being Northern and Scottish and English."

"Oi, lots of planets have a north!" the Doctor insisted.

"Now where have I heard that before?"

"Can you two stop with the flirting?" Amy muttered before taking a large bite of her pasta.

My cheeks flushed red and I shook my head. "We weren't- we weren't flirting," I replied a little too quickly.

The redhead raised an eyebrow at me, but said nothing. Susan giggled and Alistair smirked, while Faith and Josephine shared a glance that I couldn't interpret. It seemed that everyone was very amused that the Doctor and I were flirting like a pair of school children, including the Doctor himself.

The rest of the dinner passed uneventfully and luckily, no alien invasions took place over the leftover pasta. Rory was taking everyone's plates to the kitchen when the Doctor gently clasped my hand.

"It's been almost two hours, Diana," he whispered. "You should probably call him."

My heart ached with guilt when I realized that the younger Doctor was still in the TARDIS, waiting patiently for me to return and probably still worrying about me. "I should go," I whispered as I pulled my phone out of my pocket.

"You can't go now," Faith said as she walked past the sofa. "Rory's getting the dessert out."

"No, I really do," I answered, standing up and dialing the TARDIS number. "The Doctor, the other Doctor, is waiting for me. He's probably worried sick." I rushed into the hallway just beyond the living room and held the phone up to my ear.

The younger Doctor answered the phone before it had even finished ringing the first time. "Diana?"

"Theta," I breathed. "I am so sorry. There were some… unexpected guests that my friends invited and time got away from me. I am so, so sorry."

"I'm just glad that you're alright."

"I feel terrible. I know you've been worried about me, but I promise that I'm all better now. I just needed someone to talk to who had been through what I went through."

Somebody standing behind me cleared their throat and I turned around to see Eleven leaning against the wall. He smiled and stepped forward to press a kiss against my cheek.

"As long as you're happy, I don't mind that you're gone."

"But I forgot about you," I answered. "I was so busy having a nice time with my friends that I forgot you were back in the TARDIS worrying about me."

"Be that as it may, I want you to do whatever you need to in order to feel better. If seeing these mysterious friends of yours helps, then stay as long as you need to. I want you to be happy, so I won't keep you from your friends if they are what you need right now."

I leaned against Eleven's chest and let him pull me into a hug. "I still feel bad," I mumbled.

"How about this? I'll come back in another hour and then I'll take you somewhere new and exciting and non-dangerous."

"You don't mind?"

"Of course not. Anything for my Diana."

I blushed at the fondness in his voice and I chewed lightly on my lower lip. "Okay. I'd like that," I answered.

"One hour," the younger Doctor reminded me.

I nodded. "One hour," I repeated. "Thank you, Theta. You have no idea how much I appreciate this."

"I'm sure I will understand soon enough."

I ended the call and pushed my phone back into my pocket. Eleven leaned down and lightly kissed the crown of my head. I smiled and wrapped my arms around his waist.

"I don't know how you can be so understanding, but I appreciate it more than I could ever say."

"It's because I love you," the Doctor answered. He tugged on my arms and pulled them away from his waist. "Now come on. We have an hour left and we haven't even had dessert yet."

A/N: Just to clarify, the dinner at Amy and Rory's place takes place after "The Doctor, the Widow, and the Wardrobe" for everyone involved. And Eight is pre-Charley.

I've been absent for a long time and I'm really sorry about that. I'm actually going to counseling for some private things going on, so I haven't even been going to school let alone writing. But I'm hoping that if I focus on writing, it'll make me feel a lot better. So please read and enjoy!

Sorry again for the long wait. But I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! Please leave me a review!