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Chapter 25

This time, the nightmare was a different one. Clara rarely dreamed of the incident itself which was why it made everything worse, made her relive the most dreadful moment in her entire life. She could feel the crowd shoving her, closing in around her, desperately trying to get a good look at what was going on while Clara stood frozen to the spot. No matter how much they pushed or shoved her, no matter what they said to her, Clara couldn't move because she knew that at that moment, life as she knew it had come to an end.

It was the ringing of the phone that woke her up and the first thing she did was to glance at her alarm clock. She didn't have to be in school until the third lesson of the day and on her way to answer the phone, Clara would have normally cursed whoever had woken her so early, but today, she thanked them for putting an end to her nightmare.

"This is Clara Oswald speaking," she said, her voice hoarse and her mouth still dry. She needed a cup of tea.

After a short moment of silence, Clara could hear a familiar voice. "Hello Miss Oswald, this is Kate Stewart."

Clara inhaled deeply and the fact that she was calling so early could only mean one thing. If it was about her children, she might have come straight to school to talk to her, but this had to be about Bonnie. There was no other explanation.

"Um, what can I do for you?" Clara asked carefully, tucking the phone between her shoulder and her ear so she could use both hands to fill a glass with tap water. Kate continued before she had the chance to take a sip.

"It's about Bonnie," she replied. "I know you've had your fair share of trouble lately, but I'd still like to talk to you about the case one more time. Would you mind coming to the station to give a statement?"

Not knowing what else to do, Clara decided to pretend she didn't have a clue about anything for the time being, but even as she said the words, she doubted it would do any good. "Is that necessary? I've already spoken to John about everything," she replied.

"I know you have," Kate said and there was an undertone in her voice that Clara couldn't quite place. Was it anger? Distrust? Had John finally told Kate about the note? Clara couldn't think of any other reason why she would call now. "We've made some progress, but at the same time, it feels like the case is going nowhere. We just want to make sure we're exploring all the options."

Clara was a suspect. Kate was putting it nicely, but it didn't change the fact that she suspected that Clara had something to do with Bonnie's death. Finally, Clara took a sip of water just so her mouth wouldn't feel so incredibly dry. "Of course," she said in response. "I understand."

There was an audible sigh of relief on the other end of the line. "Thank you," Kate replied, sounding sincere. "I know you're probably still shaken after the break-in and finding out that you have a sister, so I want you to know that I appreciate it."

Clara nodded even though Kate couldn't see it through the phone. "I, uh, I finish a little earlier on Friday. Would that be okay or do you need a statement right away?"

"Friday is perfectly fine," Kate said. "And again, thank you."

The rest of the day passed in a haze due to the lack of sleep and the call from Kate that was still on her mind, so Clara made a decision that was greeted with a lot of enthusiasm from her students as she pushed the cart into the classroom that held the TV set and the VCR. Claiming that it was a desperate attempt to finally rouse their love for Shakespeare, Clara started the BBC adaption of Love's Labour's Lost and sat in the back, only occasionally shushing some giggling girls and when the work day was finally over, Clara was more than happy to head home.

Her mood lifted a little when she approached her house on her motorcycle and spotted a figure that was familiar to her by now. As she parked her bike next to the fence and took off her helmet, Clara could already see John's apologetic smile and her features lit up in response. Before she greeted John, Clara bent down and ruffled Odin's ears. "Hello, you good boy," she said to the dog.

John chuckled. "I can't remember the last time someone called me a good boy."

Clara looked up and glowered at him in a playful manner.

"Yes, alright," John said with a smile. "It was worth a try."

Before Clara even had the chance to say anything, John's features suddenly grew a lot more serious and she knew that she wouldn't have to say anything at all because he was about to.

"I'm sorry, Clara," he apologised instantly. "I had to show Kate the note. I thought she was going to let it go, but-"

"I know," she replied, nodding. "Kate called me today. I'm going to give a statement on Friday after work."

"I feel like it's all my fault," John said and when he spoke, Clara thought he looked as though he actually believed it. "If I hadn't-"

"Stop right there," Clara cut him off before he had finished his sentence. "It's not your fault that Bonnie had a note with my address on. How would that be your fault?"

In return, John blew the air out between his teeth and let his gaze wander across the landscape. "Maybe I shouldn't have told Kate about it at all. This is stupid!"

"John," Clara said sincerely and once again, without knowing why she did it, she reached out and placed her hand on his arm, "I appreciate that you were trying to protect me after everything that has happened lately, but you can't keep taking risks for me. Especially not when they're about something that can damage your career."

John scoffed at her in reply. "If my career was the priority, I've come to the wrong place."

Clara glared at him. "It's not a joke," she said in earnest. "That note is a piece of evidence and frankly, I get why your boss would want to question me about it."

He didn't respond and when Clara realised that she was still touching his arm, she quickly withdrew her hand. The truth was, she really appreciated what John had done for her, but she knew that she shouldn't encourage him to break the rules, not if she wanted him to solve the case. And she really wanted that.

"It's going to be fine," she promised and granted him a smile. "I'll just go to the station and tell Kate everything I've already told you."

For a moment, John looked at her as if he didn't quite believe that she was actually fine with it, so Clara turned her smile into a grin to divert the subject. "Besides, I've got a completely unrelated question to ask you."

Finally, John's features softened a little and he went from looking concerned to looking quite intrigued. "Oh? And what would that be?"

"Oh, well," she hummed, grinning at him, "I quite enjoyed the pub on Saturday and a couple of students mentioned that they're showing Monty Python and the Holy Grail at the cinema on Thursday. After all those silly jokes you told at the pub, I thought you might like to go and see it."

Clara knew that his answer would be a yes even before he agreed because the smile on his face was nothing but sincere and gave him away long before he even said anything at all. "I'd love to," he replied.

"Great," Clara said, giggling a little. It was one thing to hang out with Amy, but she and John had something quite important in common and in his presence, Clara finally felt as if she wasn't going to be judged for her past or her feelings.

"It's a date," John said excitedly and the moment the words escaped his mouth, he looked as though he regretted ever saying them. His face instantly turned a dark shade of red. "Oh, um, not a date. Not that kind of date. Not… oh, you know what I mean."

"Yes," Clara chuckled. "I know."

John averted his gaze, obviously embarrassed by his slip of the tongue and Clara giggled once again before she turned towards her house. "See you on Thursday."