Chapter 7- The Secrets Out
Rory was having fun lecturing Mels as usual, but he had to leave. He had a job to start tomorrow. Rory was feeling quite proud of himself and his newfound confidence. Rory had secured a job at the Royal Leadworth Hospital. Granted it was in the records room and mainly dealt with filing, but it felt like he was choosing a direction for his future. It was all thanks to punching Travis too. He had been walking with an extra spring in his step knowing he wasn't always the meek jokester that people credited him with. "I'd better go, I'm on earlies tomorrow," Rory said as here put his notebook away. Amy nodded to Rory turning back to Mels.
"It's all right for you," Mels said to Amy as Rory was getting up to leave, "you've got Mr. Perfect keeping you right." Mels was trying to deflect attention away from her. She was tired of her friends judging her for stealing the bus.
"He's not even real, it's just a stupid dream from when I was a kid," Amy said tossing her wooden police box back to Mels. Saying it hurt even though she believed what she said. Even though it was just a dream, a part of her was still waiting. Little Amelia was still waiting for him to take her away and show her that adventure he had promised.
"No, I wasn't talking about him," Mels said glancing at Rory. Amy became suddenly confused.
"What, Rory?" Amy asked looking over to her friend as he was leaving. "How have I got Rory?"
Rory froze in the door frame as his eyes widened. What was Mels doing? He had fallen in love with Amy when they were 15, but gave up on that dream a long time ago. Keeping her as a friend was more important to him. He had no idea how Mels had figured out how he felt. He turned around to deny the accusation, "Yeah how… how has she got me?"
"He's not mine."
"No, no. I'm not hers," Rory said hoping he sounded convincing, his so-called confidence suddenly leaving him.
"Oh come on," Mels said exasperated with her two best friends. "Seriously, it's got to be you two." She said it as much for them as she did for herself. She was originally trying to simply deflect attention, but now she saw an opportunity.
Amy and Rory both gave her incredulous looks. Rory was doing his best to look confused while Amy was truly shocked at what Mels was saying. Rory was her best friend. She had never thought of him as anything other than that, she couldn't allow herself to think otherwise.
"Oh cut to the song, it's getting boring," Mels said cutting through the awkward silence that had arisen between the two. When she had finally found her mother, she thought it would be fun to see her parents get together. They had been together for 10 years though and didn't realize it, so she was happy to finally give them a push.
"Nice thought, okay, "Amy said, "but completely impossible."
Rory knew that Amy only saw him as a friend, but it still hurt hearing her say they couldn't be anything more. "Yeah, impossible," he managed to say. He was desperate to leave this situation before it got any worse for him. He didn't need to hear Amy's list of why he would only ever be a friend.
"I'd love to, he's gorgeous," Amy walked over to Rory putting her arm around him. "He's my favorite guy. But he's you know… gay"
"A friend," Rory said at the same time. He quickly turned to Amy, "I'm not gay."
"Yes, you are."
"No, no I'm not," Rory said not believing what he had heard.
"Of course you are, don't be stupid," Amy insisted. She wasn't sure why Rory was trying to hide this from her. "In the whole time I've known you, when have you shown the slightest interest in a girl?"
"Penny in the air," Mels whispered to herself. She was enjoying watching the dominoes fall. If she knew it was going to be this easy, she should have done it years ago.
"I mean, I've known you for what, 10 years? I've seen you practically every day. Name one girl you paid the slightest bit of attention to," Amy finished and simply waited for him to answer.
Rory was panicking. He couldn't think of anything to say, so he did the only logical thing he could come up with. He turned around and ran.
Amy watched Rory run out of the room still not understanding what had just happened. She had asked a simple question. There was only one girl Rory had ever really paid attention to. He always had a joke for her when she was upset. He would always come over when she was feeling lonely. Just the other day he had even punched someone because of her. All the signs had been there. The one girl he had ever paid attention to was herself. "Oh my god! Rory!" she exclaimed as she chased after him.
"Rory, come back!" Amy yelled as she ran down the steps. "You stop running this instant," she managed to say right before slamming into him. He had been simply standing right in front of her front door as she sent them crashing to the ground. Both of them simply laid on the ground for a second unsure of what exactly was happening.
"Sorry," Rory said sitting up first. "I figured there was no point in running. You know where I live. Unless I ran to my Uncles in London," he joked. "I think I could have managed that."
Amy started to sit up also, unsure of what to say, "Rory?"
"It's all right Amy, it is. It's why I never said anything," Rory smiled weakly as he moved to her front step. "I was going to tell you at one point, but I knew you thought of me as only a friend, and our friendship is so important to me, I wouldn't do anything to jeopardize it." Rory had been staring at the ground. He couldn't bring himself to look at Amy. He was afraid of what he might say. "Granted if I knew you thought I was gay, I would have probably done something about that."
Amy was still seated on the ground facing Rory, "I'm sorry Rory."
"It's really is all right Amy. I made the choice to just be your friend a long time ago, and I have never regretted it," Rory told her truthfully. Not knowing where else to look he simply looked up to the stars.
This was killing Amy, and not just because he wouldn't look at her. "Rory," she said getting up and sitting next to him, "do you know why I only date guys like a week or so."
Rory was taken by surprise. He and Amy rarely talked about her relationships. It had become an unspoken agreement between them. Something that seemed silly now. "No, I do not," Rory said smiling a little and looking over to her.
Amy smiled back as he finally looked at her. She now realized why she was so scared. She had to tell him. "I only date them a week," Amy began, "because I don't want to start caring for them. You know I started dating just to make Aunt Sharon happy."
"Of course, I do."
"Well, I liked it. Being a part of the popular crowd was nice. I didn't feel as alone and I didn't really need to care about any of them," Amy admitted. She had never voiced this to anyone before. She thought it would be hard to tell Rory, but it wasn't difficult at all. "I break up with guys before anything can happen, that way I don't get hurt. I leave them, before they leave me."
"I get that Amy. You don't have to be ashamed or anything," Rory told his friend.
"No you don't get it. I know why I thought you were gay," Amy said with a small smile.
"Do I really want to know?" Rory joked.
Amy's smile widened as things were becoming less awkward between them. "I look into your eyes Rory, and I can see your feelings for me," she said as she placed her hand on his cheek. "It would be so easy for me to feel the same for you. And what then? It would fall apart and you could leave like everyone else. We work as friends Rory. I don't want to do anything to risk that friendship." Amy removed her hand from his cheek, "So I told myself that you were gay so I wouldn't have to worry about thinking anything else."
Rory smiled to himself. That was pretty much the exact thought process he had gone through. It was harder for Rory to believe though now that he knew Amy felt the same way about him. He slid a bit closer to Amy and put his arm around her, "Just so you know, I have kissed a girl before." Amy laughed at Rory's comment, lightening the mood a little.
"Yeah well, she better have been good enough for you," Amy said as she knocked Rory with her shoulder. "So where does that leave us?" Amy asked a bit afraid of how things might change now that they knew they liked each other as more than friends.
"I think that leaves us right where we started. Best friends."
"Are you sure Rory?"
"I told you once that I would always be your friend. I meant it. I'll be fine Amelia Pond."
"Oh god, my full name. I guess that means you're serious," Amy said thankful that Rory understood. "So, I know you're not Mr. Party or anything, but we don't we pop on over to Jeff's party tomorrow night. It will be good to go as friends."
"Sounds like fun," Rory answered laughing. "I think after punching Travis, I am ready to try all sorts of new things."
"You know Mels is going to be very upset with us," Amy said, "She was totally trying to hook us up."
"Yeah well, she's just lucky we bailed her out tonight."
"I had it covered you know," Mels said walking out and sitting next to her friends. It had been obvious she was eavesdropping and had come out at the mention of her name. "They didn't catch Sam afar all. He was on his way too."
"You are just terrible,: Rory said turning to Mels.
"What can I say, I enjoy the thrill."
Amy was shaking her head, "So I am assuming you heard."
"Yes, and might I say that you two are bloody impossible."
"Well, we aim to please," Rory said.
Mels was a bit upset that her push didn't work. As she looked over at the two though, she started to think it actually did. Rory had his arm around Amy as he had done many times before. But something seemed different now. Mels thought to herself that it wouldn't be long now.
A/N: Thanks for the follows and reviews. Please keep it up as I love to know what people are thinking of how things are developing between Rory and Amy.
I am actually really happy with this chapter because of how it defies people's expectations. That's why I used so much of the scene, it's one of the few times I do that. No worries though, you won't have to wait too long for them to actually get together. This is still the moment where it began though so it doesn't change the importance of the scene. I just decided to tie it into something else for bigger impact.
Hope you enjoy!