I slowly pulled my hands off my ears, and ran toward Alice. She had silver tracks on her face and had her eyes closed, but she seemed to be breathing normally. I sighed and checked her pulse. Normal. I let out a huge breath and turned to the Doctor, who was showing the mug to Dylan.
The Doctor turned to me and smiled, "She'll be fine. Just a little rest. That's all she needs."
I smiled at him and nodded, "I'll make sure that happens. Thank you, Doctor."
"You're welcome, Liza Cole."
I turned back to Alice and pushed her hair back as the Doctor was telling Dylan and Rose what was in the mug. "Well, we better get going then," The Doctor stood up. I looked up at him, "Back to your dimension?"
"Yeah," He looked at the mug, "Well, after we return Kroy back to her home planet."
"Do you know where that is?" Dylan asked him.
The Doctor shrugged. "Well, I'll have to do some research, but I'll get there some time. And then I'll go back to my world- somehow."
"Well, it was great meeting you." I took a deep breath and smiled. He grinned back. "And you," We stood there, staring at each other for a few seconds, until Dylan cleared his throat.
The Doctor looked up and blinked. "Ah, yes!" He grinned at me again. "We've got to put this" He raised the mug, "Back in its natural habitat. Come on, Rose!"
"I've gotta go now, remember-" Alice ran about the house, picking her purse up from the center table. I looked at her from the couch. "I know. Food's in the fridge, water the plants every day, yada yada yada."
Alice scowled at me, "Don't forget about the plants."
"I won't, will you stop worrying?" I got off the couch and went to stand beside her. "I'm a very responsible adult and can be trusted to take care of a-" A loud crash was heard beside me and I jumped. I bit my lip as I saw what had fallen down. I looked up at Alice, a nervous smile on my face. "That was, uh, that was supposed to be happening."
She narrowed her eyes and folded her hands. "You meant to knock down the coffee mug."
"Erm- yes, I did. Totally meant that. That was a carefully planned thing that was gonna happen." I smiled nervously, and she threw her hands up in the air.
"I haven't even left yet and you've already broken something by accident-"
"It was a carefully planned-"
"Yeah right, you carefully planned to bump into a center table and break a mug. Liza, you're worse at lying than Dylan is."
"Speaking of Dylan," I clasped my hands together, slowly moving away from the table as I tried to avoid getting poked by the fragments of the mug, "Shouldn't he be here by now?"
She rolled her eyes and pulled her phone out of her black purse. She looked at it and said, "He's almost here with Dan and Carol."
"Then," I walked toward her and pulled her shoulder with one hand and the blue suitcase with the other. She looked up at me, an eyebrow raised. I pulled her toward the door, trying my best to not bump into anything else, "You should be waiting for him downstairs! Don't want to be late now, do you?"
"Are you trying to kick me out?"
"No, no, not at all, I just want you to make a good impression! First time meeting your boyfriend's parents, you can't be late! What will they think?" I pushed her toward the door and pushed her out, hauling the suitcase across as well.
"Remember, the plants-"
"Need to be watered every day and the house needs to be exactly like how you left it, I know." I held the door as she raised an eyebrow.
"And don't forget about the-"
"Alice, you're gonna be gone for a couple of days, not a year, relax!"
"But-"
"Nope, you're going downstairs and telling Dylan that I'm bingeing Twelve without him, I'm gonna go watch TV after cleaning the mug, end of story, bye!" I closed the door and locked it.
"Okay, but remember to water the plants!" She yelled from outside. I rolled my eyes as I heard her wheeling her suitcase away. After I was sure she was gone, I ran toward the couch and jumped on top of it.
I laughed and flopped onto it, crossing my legs over the centre table. I reached for the remote and was about to turn on the TV when the broken mug caught my eye. Oh yeah, I'll clean it later.
I turned the TV on and hugged a pillow into my chest as the Doctor Who theme started playing.
"Can you hurry up, please, or I'll hit you with my shoe," I muttered along with Peter Capaldi on the TV as I bandaged up my toe. The broken mug had finally been cleaned- after I'd suffered the consequences of forgetting that it even existed.
After the job was done, I picked up my half eaten slice of pizza and took a bite out of it. I pulled my blanket over my feet and adjusted my position on the couch such that I was partially lying down on it, instead of having my legs on the coffee table.
I took another bite out of my pizza as Doctor Chang showed Twelve and Clara the Dark Water. I snickered as the pool comment came through and took another bite.
Then, a bang sounded, followed by a bunch of loud wheezing noises while a box slowly materialized behind the TV. I jumped off the couch, gaping, and ran behind the TV (well, I tripped over my blanket and had to throw that away too, but let's all conveniently forget that). No way. No way in hell. I glanced at the clock on the wall. Pretty sure this wasn't happening.
The box materialized fully and stood before me, all blue and majestic. I slowly put a hand forward and touched it, jumping back as it vibrated with a hum. The doors opened on the other side with a squeak.
"Okay, first, are we in the right house-" A male voice with a Northern accent. "Oh yeah, we definitely are, same picture. Liza!"
I still stood there like an idiot, my eyes wide. It can't be-
"Liza? Liza Cole, it's me!"
"Doctor, maybe she isn't home, who knows? Maybe we should go back," A female voice with a Cockney accent.
"No, but she's gotta be here- Liza!"
I cleared my throat softly. "Um, Doctor? I'm- I'm behind the TARDIS."
"Oh, hello!"
I slowly walked around the TARDIS, running my hands along her. I reached the other side, only to be greeted by a grinning Nine, who was holding his sonic in one hand and a coffee mug in the other.
"Hey," I smiled, "You're back."
He grinned at me and nodded. "I'm the Doctor. I don't randomly leave people behind."
I shrugged and titled my chin. "Eh, debatable."
I looked over at Rose, who was raising an eyebrow. I smiled at her and she forced a smile at me. "Where's Alice?"
"Nevada."
"Nevada? Why has she gone there?" The Doctor asked.
I shrugged, "Because she was invited to go on a trip? And also because she wanted to?"
"But she's in no fit state to travel, she was possessed, wasn't she?" Rose folded her hands.
"Yeah- yeah she was," I looked at the Doctor, emphasizing my next words very much, "Last year."
Rose gasped and the Doctor's eyes widened. "Last year? It's been a year since you last saw me?"
I didn't respond, but still looked at him with the same expression on my face. He turned to look at Rose, who was leaning against the TARDIS and had an eyebrow raised. He turned back to me. "But I set it for twelve hours, not months!"
I shrugged, "Well, you set it for twelve months. There's nothing that can deny that."
Rose was glaring at him at that point. " You said you fixed it! We don't want another repeat of what Mum did to you last time!"
He threw his hands up as I nodded. "Ah, the infamous slap from Jackie Tyler. The first time you got slapped by someone's mom."
He frowned and shuddered at that, folding his hands. "Don't remind me." He then looked down at his hand and handed the mug to me. "Oh, here you go. Your cup."
I took it from him and looked at it. "You've washed it."
"Course I have, can't have any aliens running about now, can I?"
I looked up at him, "Yeah, that's true. Anyway, you came back just to return my mug?"
He shrugged. "Well, that and to ask you for help as to how to get out of this dimension and to ask you to travel with me and Rose."
I coughed and stumbled, almost dropping the mug. "What?"
"I said-"
I held the mug up, trying to steady myself. "No, no, no, I know what you said, I'm processing it at the moment." I looked up at him as he was coming towards me, "Seriously? You actually asked me to go with you?"
The Doctor frowned. "Yes, I did, you can if you want to, seriously. All of time and space. What do you think?"
"Well, that escalated fast," I muttered, and looked at him. "I think I'm dreaming."
"You're not!"
"Well, it's 3 in the morning, you turned up after a whole year, and asked me to freaking travel with you. How do I not know that I just fell asleep while watching Series 8 for the millionth time?"
"Because then I would've fallen asleep while flying the TARDIS here!"
"Wait- am I being attacked by a Dream Crab?" I pointed at him. He frowned and Rose was leaning against the TARDIS, looking confused as ever. "Dream what?"
"How did you get here?" I narrowed my eyes at him and Rose, taking a deep breath.
"With the TARDIS!" He looked at me like it was the most obvious thing ever. "What happened? Dream Crabs? What do you mean, Dream Crabs?"
"I mean Dream Crabs! You know, the things that put you in a dream state while sucking your brains out!" Rose almost fell down, gaping wide. I then held up a hand, "Wait, if you're in this dream, then you're having it too!"
"I'm getting my brains sucked out?!" Rose stumbled and held onto the TARDIS for support. "Doctor!"
The Doctor put his hands up, "Nobody is being attacked by a Dream Crab! Liza, this isn't a dream!"
"That's what dreams say!"
The Doctor threw his hands up. "How do I convince you that this is real?!" He took a deep breath and closed his eyes. He opened them and looked at me, "Okay, do you feel a cold pain in the side of your head? Like when you eat a lot of ice cream?"
I closed my eyes and pursed my lips together. I took a deep breath, trying to concentrate on what I was feeling. I opened my eyes again, letting out the breath. "No. At least, I don't think so."
He grinned triumphantly. "See? Not a dream! And don't think of another random excuse, I've just proved that it isn't a dream!"
"Yeah, but what if it's a non Dream Crab dream?"
He rolled his eyes and threw his hands up, "What is wrong with- okay," He walked toward me and took my hand. "I'm extremely sorry."
"For what?"
He pulled my hand toward him. "Ow! I screamed, pulling my hand back, "You bit me!"
"You wouldn't have felt it if it was a dream!" He grinned, "So that means this is real!"
"You bit me! Like, you actually bit me!"
"I just proved that you aren't dreaming and you're complaining that I bit you!"
"Seriously!" I looked at my hand, which still had the bite marks on it, "Have you got alien teeth or something?! God, Amy was right!"
"Who?"
I looked up, realising what I had just said. The Doctor looked curious, while Rose was raising an eyebrow, her hands folded. I bit my lip and swallowed, "Um, spoilers."
"For what?"
"That's what Ri- someone calls your future." Noticing his raised eyebrow, I decided to be as vague as possible. "Time traveller- you both always meet in the wrong order."
The Doctor nodded, folding his hands. "Makes sense. Anyway, you didn't answer my question. All of time and space. What do you think?"
He asked me to travel with him. Me. Liza Cole. What if I ended up doing something stupid, like probably tell him something he shouldn't know? Or what if I killed someone dear to him (cough, Rose, cough)? Or- I took a deep breath. "Why?"
"Because- do I really need a reason to have people with me in the TARDIS?"
"You always do," I shrugged, "And don't try to contradict me."
He raised an eyebrow and then sighed. "Fine! I think you're a very nice person."
I raised both my eyebrows, "And yet you proceeded to argue with me the whole time during the whole Kroy incident."
He scowled at me. "You make very good points," He muttered, then looked up at me, "Do we really have to do this?"
"You've met me once. How in the name of sanity would you be able to determine whether I'm a good companion or not?" For all you know, I could be worse than Adam Mitchell- and I'm pretty sure that I am.
"I met Rose only once before I asked her to travel with me." He shrugged.
"Yeah, well-" I paused. Stupid Time Lord comebacks. The Doctor grinned again, looking at my loss for words. I pointed my hand at him again, "I'm not Rose!"
The Doctor threw his hands up, "Why do you have to keep arguing with me?"
"I don't know, you just sprung up on me and asked me to travel with you!"
"So you started arguing with me?"
"I don't know, what if I end up unleashing an army of Dalek-Cyberman hybrid Cerebruses onto Earth?!"
"Alright, one, what the hell is a Dalek-Cyberman hybrid Cerebrus? And two, I'm sure you won't do that,"
"I don't know, I made that up, and never be sure about anything because one second you're sure and the next, it starts raining lizards!" Great job, Liza. Quote him in front of him. What are you gonna do next? Tell him that the love of his life gets stuck in a parallel dimension?
"Liza, will you-" He took a deep breath and ran a hand down his face. "You're brilliant and have a quick mind, and you seem to hate normal life, that's why I want you to travel with me."
"How do you know that I hate normal life?" He came toward me and took my mug. I frowned as he brandished it like it was the most important thing in the whole universe.
He gestured to the mug he was holding. "It literally says, 'Reality is a disappointment'."
"How do you know it's not Alice's?"
He looked at the bottom of the mug and pointed it to me. "It says 'Property of Liza Cole' in bold black ink."
I took a deep breath as my face felt warm, and scowled, "Fine, you're right."
"Er, Doctor?" I looked around at Rose, who was looking at the TV. I'd not paused the TV. My eyes widened as I ran to the couch to see what she was watching. "Why are you masquerading as a girl called Clara Oswald?"
Stupid, stupid, stupid! I grabbed the remote and turned the TV off as the Doctor raised an eyebrow at me. "Spoilers!" I threw the remote, and the Doctor caught it.
"I regenerate into a woman. Good to know." He muttered, and I stood up violently, "Er, I mean, that wasn't you! Like, that really wasn't you!"
He shrugged and leaned against the wall, "Spoilers, then."
"Basically, yeah." I tilted my chin and shrugged. The Doctor raised an eyebrow. "You still haven't answered my question. If this is gonna be a running trend, please warn me beforehand."
"I-" I took a deep breath and closed my eyes. "I don't know. I really want to-"
"Then why are you so hesitant?" Rose asked me.
"It's just- I have a whole life here, and thanks to the whole dimension thing, there's a high chance I won't come back, and, well-" Reality or all of time and space? I took a breath and sighed. "I don't know, I'm-"
The Doctor nodded, looking down. "I understand. I thought you'd say this."
"Well, I don't know," I laughed, looking down as well, "I want to, but then again, I don't know if I can."
The Doctor smiled at me, "Don't blame yourself, I understand, I really do."
He probably thought it was him. Stupid Liza, he's just got back from the Time War and you go out of his way to hurt him. But- he wasn't wrong. I did want to go. But then again, my whole family was here. I took a deep breath and looked up. "Ask me tomorrow."
"What?"
"I'll need to think about it, Doctor, and I'll need time for that, so- ask me tomorrow,"
He smiled slightly and nodded. "Alright! I'm going to come here in twenty-four hours. Decide by then. Come on, Rose!"
She walked toward him, from behind me, frowning slightly as she walked past me. The Doctor grinned at me before he entered the TARDIS, "See you tomorrow, Liza Cole."
I smiled at him and stood in front of my couch as the TARDIS started to dematerialise, sending all the light things in the room flying.
"Okay, so the Doctor comes to our house and asks you to travel with him, basically fulfilling your greatest wish. And you ask him to come 24 hours later! Liza, what's the matter with you?"
I held the phone in front of me, frowning. "I told you, if I agreed, I'll have to leave you guys forever. This entire dimension. I'll never be able to come back."
"What happened to 'If the Doctor existed and asked me to travel with him, I'd go, no questions asked'?"
"I said that when I was twelve!"
She raised an eyebrow, "You said that a week before I got attacked by the mirror."
I scowled and bit my lip. "I never expected that it would actually happen, did I? Also, the whole year gave me time to think!"
"You're just making excuses now, Liza!" Alice scowled at me, "You have two choices, all of time and space, or reality. And you're thinking of choosing reality when you always emphasize that you'd never do something as ridiculous as that!"
"That's the most rational decision! And it's also what I was sure I would pick!"
"Then why did you ask him to come again?" Alice raised her eyebrows. She was doing her 'I have a theory and you better accept it' face.
"I-"
"Because you knew that you wanted to go. You just procrastinated the decision."
"I did not-"
"Really?" She gave me a challenging look and I blinked. "Liza, like I said, two choices. You have your greatest desire at the cost of a normal life and a normal life at the cost of your greatest desire. You've got to choose eventually,"
I tapped my foot on the floor, my chin resting on my purple duffel bag, which was vertically placed between my legs on the floor. I looked up at the clock. 2:30. I sighed and looked at the TV, which, surprisingly, wasn't on. The black screen had a dark version of my reflection staring back at me, slightly stretched out.
Half an hour to go. Possibly. I'd decided, and I was going with the Doctor. I'd packed my clothes, my precious possessions, and my passport and credit card just in case. For some reason, I had the Coupling theme song stuck in my head- mainly the whole 'Perhaps, perhaps, perhaps' part.
~Half an hour later~
"Perhaps, perhaps, perhaps!" I sang, rocking my head to the side each time I said the word. I looked up at the clock again. 3:00. Twenty four hours almost up- if the Doctor was right, he was supposed to be there. Unless-
My eyes widened and I bit my lip. Stop it, Liza, you're just overthinking something stupid. It had happened once, though, no reason why it couldn't happen again. What if he accidentally landed years from now? I bit my lip harder and my heart rate increased slightly. My foot tapping became more rapid, and I hugged my bag tightly. I ran my hands up and down the bag, as the minutes ticked by. 3:10.
~One hour later~
Why wasn't he here yet? Did the dematerialisation circuit default into months again? What if instead of 24 hours, I had to wait for two more years? What if-
A thump pulled me out of my thoughts, and a smile made its way onto my face as a familiar wheezing noise sounded, a box materializing, slowly becoming opaque and fully there.
I sighed, relief washing over me, as I slowly stood up, using my bag as a support. The door opened with a creak, and my heart beat increased, the smile on my face slowly becoming a grin.
The Doctor poked his head out and frowned. " I think this is a different house," He muttered.
I laughed and he turned toward me, looking a little shocked. "Did you redecorate?"
"No, that's a different part of the house, genius- you're facing the front door," I laughed, and smirked at the scowl he had on his face. "Also, you're an hour late."
"Least it's an hour, and not a year," He stepped out towards me. "Rose, we're in the right house!"
She stepped out and looked at me, an unreadable expression on her face. "So you actually fixed the time thing and didn't just say it for the sake of it. That's good,"
I laughed, "Yeah, I would've been extremely mad if he turned up two years from now."
The Doctor scowled at me, folding his hands tightly. He then seemed to notice my duffel bag. He grinned at me, "You've made your decision."
"Yup," I said, lifting my bag from the floor and slinging it over my shoulder. "So, are we leaving now?" He nodded.
"I have that exact bag in red," Rose said, and the Doctor grinned. I smiled at her, and she forced one back at me.
I walked toward the TARDIS, my grin widening and my heart rate quickening. Finally, it's my turn. I looked up at the Doctor, who grinned at me. "After you."
I grinned and kept my squeal in, barely containing my excitement as I took a deep breath and pulled the doors open. I slowly walked inside, looking around. It looked exactly like it did on TV- the same metal floor, bluish lighting, small console and coral columns.
I gasped, half laughing, as my grin started becoming wider. I spun around, resisting the urge to jump around as much as possible, failing terribly. The Doctor and Rose had walked in by then. The Doctor looked highly amused, while Rose walked around to the console.
"She's actually bigger on the inside!" I grinned, and the Doctor smiled back. "You already knew what to expect, Liza, why are you so surprised?"
"I'm practically living my dream right now! She's bigger on the inside and sentient! I can't believe it!"
The Doctor rolled his eyes playfully and walked toward the console, "You've already been here before-"
"Yeah, but I wasn't really in the mood to admire this then!" I ran towards the console, looking at all the buttons and switches nearby. I clenched my hands into fists as I resisted the urge to press one.
"You can leave your bag in the corridor, the TARDIS will take it to your room," The Doctor said, walking around the console.
"My what?" I looked up at him.
"She'll make a room for you and it'll end up there, just put your bag in the corridor."
"Okay," I grinned, skipping toward the corridor. The TARDIS hummed and I smiled at her. "Thank you, old girl," I murmured, as I placed the bag in the corridor.
A/N: Hey guys! I was extremely excited to write this chapter! I would like to tell you all that I'll be adding in a few original chapters of my own as well. Thanks so much for following/favouriting my story and reading! Please leave a comment down if you want, and have a great day/ night! Bye!