She had always wondered exactly how people wake up without an alarm going off. It didn't seem natural that you could be in an almost comatose sleeping state and then in the second be active and awake, however groggy. But today there was no alarm, and Alex slowly came to her senses, letting her eyelids crawl open, revealing her cobalt blue irises. She trailed her hands slowly across the crumpled sheets on the double mattress, reaching out for Matt like she did every morning. Last night had been no different than usual; clambering in, a kiss on her cheek from him and then just sleep. She still wouldn't let him kiss her properly on the lips though, even though they had started a new page like she had requested.

Alex was surprised and a bit disheartened to find his body not lying beside her. She turned her head around and squinted, and found that although his shape was still imprinted in the mattress, her flatmate was not here. She sat up, shading a yawn behind her palm and fell out of the bed, landing on her shoulder. She groaned loudly and clambered to her feet, brushing her eyes as she walked into the main bit of the apartment, and she was almost deafened by a party popper going off near her ear. She leapt what must have been around two feet in the air finally waked up properly.

Matt was standing in the kitchen, bare chested with a Santa hat perched on the tip of his head, and was currently frying up a huge breakfast, although she remembered how useless he had been at cooking all those weeks ago. The stereo was on once again, blasting out Christmas tunes, currently it being that of All I Want For Christmas. Matt turned around to face her, and yelled, 'Merry Christmas Kingston!'

He grinned widely and plated up the egg, bacon, sausage and pancakes he had managed to cook for her without burning them. 'How long have you been up?' Alex asked cheerily, returning his wishes of a good Christmas and strolling over to the table where everything was set out. He smiled goofily back at her, plonked his Santa hat on top of her outrageous curls and replied, 'Not long. I just wanted to get everything ready. You slept in!' he added, seemingly outraged by how someone could possibly sleep in on Christmas.

She began eating, shrugging her head noncommittally at his accusations. He just rolled his eyes at her and joined her in consuming the breakfast. It was lovely really; Matt must've been practising his cooking skills for a while now. There was just this comfortable air of peace and quiet, and Alex rested her head on her hand and looked out of the window, amazed to see a thick flurry of snow falling in bucket loads to the ground, covering the entire city, making it impossible to see two metres in front of you.

'It's snowing!' she cried merrily, beaming at Matt who rolled his eyes again and replied, 'Nicely noticed Alex. Pointing out the obvious there.' Alex laughed, but she had goose bumps running up her arms from just looking outside, due to the fact she only had her pyjama bottoms and a vest top on in the middle winter. 'We've got to go out in that later,' Matt suggested, and she nodded eagerly, stuffing a bit of bacon into her mouth and chomping on it like a solider. There was a small bout of silence, before they both just looked at each other and burst out laughing.

Matt leapt up from the table and ran into his room whilst Alex went to the cupboard by the front door. She rifled through coats and pairs of shoes and boots until she found the bag she had put his gift in a few days ago. They had been out shopping, the day after decorating the tree, and Alex had quickly gone to another shop whilst he made the excuse of going to the loo. Matt ran to the wardrobe and stood on a chair by his desk and swept his arm across the top drawer, searching for the bag that her present was in. He had bought this for her a few weeks ago, having been prepared to give her something anyway.

Matt walked out of the bedroom and found Alex standing by the sofa, with a small bag held in her hands, outstretched for him to take it. They carefully swapped gift bags and sat down on the sofa, both unwrapping the presents they had bought for each other. She had known from the beginning that this was going to expensive (the Tiffany's bag had been the slightest of give-aways) but when she actually saw what it was, she almost collapsed.

'Oh Matt, you really didn't have too,' she breathed out, staring down at the beautiful earrings in the box. They were gold around the outside, with a layer of sapphires which carefully matched the colour of her eyes, and then real pearls in the middle. They were so petite and delicate that she was scared she was going to drop them or break them if she touched even them. They were reflected in her eyeballs when she looked up at him, and she basically jumped into his lap and wrapped her arms around his shoulders, pulling him into one of the tightest hugs she could muster at eleven o'clock in the morning. She kissed him gently on the cheek and again thanked him, unable to believe that he had actually bought her something like this.

Matt smiled shyly at her, and untied the little box that she had handed him, intrigued as to what it might possibly be. The box was almost the same size as the one he had given her, and he glanced at her expression which was extremely happy and she urged him to hurry to open and untie the ribbon. It wasn't what he was expecting to be fair, but he absolutely loved them.

They were little silver cufflinks that she had bought specifically for him for the New Year's Eve party they were going to in a few days' time. And then he actually looked and saw exactly what they were – two little silver TARDIS' with so much tiny detail that it was almost impossible, or so he thought, to be able to make something like these. They were absolutely incredible.

'Whoa Alex, thank you so much. These are brilliant,' Matt exclaimed, returning her kiss to her cheek, but not daring to go any further. She blushed happily, and then said, 'I have to ring Salome later though. America is six hours behind, right? So if I ring her at around three for us, it will be nine in the morning over there?' Matt nodded, and made it more comfortable by ignoring the few tears that she shed. He knew she was missing her daughter, and not being able to spend this time of year with her was quite difficult for her.

'You want to go outside yet?' she asked, brushing away a few droplets from her face and wiping her hand on her top. She smiled wobbily at him, and he suddenly became a very large man-child once again, jumping off the sofa and yanking her with him. 'Come on Kingston, go get dressed!' he catcalled, pushing her into their bedroom where she had all her winter clothes. She smiled widely when he was gone and started to pull on tracksuit bottoms, a jumper, a t-shirt and some gloves. Within a few minutes, Matt was smacking his fist on the door yelling, 'Hurry up Alex or all the kids will nick the snow!'

'You're such a child!' she shouted back, and she heard him call something unintelligible back and she just ignored him, now choosing to take her time getting ready just to get back at him for trying to hurry her. She casually strolled out of the room, only her face visible, the rest covered up by thick layers of clothing, and they walked arm in arm over to the front door. Matt opened the door for her and went to motion for her to walk through when he caught sight of the people waiting outside the door.

'Hi mum, hi dad,' he murmured in surprise, staring in shock at his parents, stood happily on the doorstep.

X – X – X

'Err, hey guys. What exactly are you doing here?' Matt asked calmly, although it was frankly rather obvious that his head was fraught with confusion and too many questions to possibly be answered. Alex stood behind him and slipped out of her beautiful royal blue winter coat, having evidently realized that playing in the snow may have to be delayed until later on. She could not catch Matt's eyes, but she caught that of his mother who smiled gracefully and waved a little at her.

'Come on Matty, are you going to let us in?' his mother, Lynne, asked, already shuffling into the apartment alongside Matt's father David, bringing half the snow outside in with them. They both kicked off their boots and very politely placed them in the cupboard by the door and hanged their jackets up neatly on the coat hooks. His parents must have only been around the fifty five-sixty mark, and with a grimace, Alex realized that they were more her generation than the one she wanted to be in with Matt.

She frowned sadly at him, and he, noticing this, placed a reassuring am around her and hugged her gently whilst his parents were preparing themselves. 'I feel so old,' she groaned quietly, and he laughed and replied, 'Well you certainly don't look it.' He pulled her chin up, 'Hey you. You're beautiful, alright?' She was not given good opportunity to respond to that and so Matt turned to his parents and said 'Merry Christmas by the way!' and leaned forwards and pulled them both into a large hug.

Alex watched with mild amusement at the strange dynamic of the Smith family-clan. They were a strong unit, she could tell, and it was so nice that they were still so close even with Matt having been so busy over the last month with Alex, and the last two years with Doctor Who. 'And now you have to tell me why you're here whilst I make coffee,' he said clearly, ushering his parents into the kitchen. Alex followed awkwardly, not wanting to intrude on the family.

'Well we said we'd come round,' Matt's father said gruffly, but in a manner which was not harsh. Matt looked bewildered for a fleeting second before looking over at Alex and then back at his elders before slyly saying, 'But you always say that and you never do. So, was there something or someone else bringing you here?' By now, everyone had coffee or tea or eggnog (Matt had a certain partiality for it) and were resting comfortably on the counter of Matt's petite kitchen.

Alex expected Lynne to come out with the whole Oh, I'm your mother, I don't need an excuse to spend Christmas with my son kind of thing, but instead, Matt's mother looked directly at her and said, 'Okay, we came because one, you're our son and we love you and we do want to spend time with you, and two, we wanted to meet the new girlfriend.'

The tone was so matter-of-fact that whatever misconceptions Alex had had of her relationship with Matt, she accepted she was now officially designated as "girlfriend". Matt slapped his hand against his forehead, thinking that the term wouldn't be wise after everything which had happened in the past few weeks, but Alex laughed heartily, and soon engaged in a delightful conversation with Lynne. 'Oh, I have to say I'm a big fan,' she gushed, 'I remember watching you in Moll Flanders when Matt was only fifteen!'

Alex didn't know what it was, but it felt like there was a small bit of disapproval of their situation there, but she ignored it and whispered back, 'Oh please don't mention Moll. Not in front of him…' Alex pointed at Matt, in conversation with his dad, and his mum laughed. 'Don't worry; I didn't let Matty watch it.' Alex giggled internally at how obvious her fondness for her son was, and the chat carried on for quite a while longer until David declared that he should start to help Matt with the cooking.

'You're staying for dinner?' Matt enquired although he seemed like he was asking in vain with the voice of someone who had already given in and had reached a point of acceptance. His parents nodded vigorously, and shooed both him and Alex out of the kitchen whilst they prepared Christmas dinner, consisting of: turkey (obviously), roast potatoes, Yorkshire puddings and various vegetables.

Whilst his parents busied themselves in the kitchen, Matt and Alex plonked themselves down on the sofa and watched the snow fall outside. It was such a beautiful thing to watch, a glory of nature. Gradually, her head began to slip onto his shoulder, and the tips of her hair tickled his face. He allowed her to curl up beside him in her big green knitted jumper and jeans, and he switched the telly on to some miscellaneous Christmas movie until his parents called that dinner was ready.

Dinner was an immensely enjoyable affair. Matt and Lynne sat on one side of the table, with Alex and his father on the other. It was nice to be surrounded by chatter and liveliness and other people whom she had not dared to speak to since the incident, but it made her realize how much she missed her own family; even Jack, hopefully rotting in jail.

But crackers were pulled, hats were put on heads, turkey was carved and jokes were read. Food was consumed in boatloads to the point where no one could even move their forks anymore, and Matt was glad Alex was definitely back to her usual self; smiles and all. Pudding was served soon after and it looked so good that everyone made room for it and were glad seeing as it tasted just as great.

After having been sat at the table for almost three hours, just chatting and reminiscing and getting-to-know-the-family type of bonanza, Alex saw the time and with a start she asked, 'Does anyone mind if I excuse myself – I need to go and ring my daughter and catch up with her.' Matt's parents nodded, waving their hands to show it did not bother them in any way. Matt smiled and said, 'Send her my love.' Alex nodded and went to the bedroom and sat down by the telephone, and steadily dialled out the number of her mother's house in America, praying to God that neither she nor her daughter would get too upset seeing as this was the first time they had spoken in three weeks…

Outside, it was a completely different board game. As soon as they were sure Alex was indisposed, Matt's mother quickly piped up with, 'So tell us, what exactly happened? Why is she staying with you and how did it happen so quickly?' Matt had known from the moment he had seen her that he would end up explaining this story, and that the simple version would not suffice.

He told his parents, in a hushed whisper so she wouldn't overhear, of how Alex had come to him in the night, beaten, and of their dinner date. He told his parents of their kiss and then of her decision to go back and only end up rescuing her again. He described how painful it had been for the two of them over the past few weeks which was where his mother butted in. 'Why are you concerning yourself so much with her? Do you really know what you're doing?' she asked seriously, holding her sons hand in her own. Matt took a while to consider that.

He had never been selfish enough to think about how Alex's problems had been causing his own life to come to a halt and crash like a train wreck. But it wasn't her fault that he cared too much. 'Of course I know what I'm doing. And I'm doing it because she's one of my best friends, and she needs someone and that it me,' Matt replied passionately.

David, who was usually quiet and collected, in a reasonable voice stated, 'Matthew, she's nearly twenty years older than you. Does that not concern you in any way? And you say she is still married – are you even sure this little thing you have is going anywhere?' As nicely as his parents were trying to put it, Matt was beginning to get a little peeved at how intrusive the questions were. But Lynne and David were his parents after all, and what are parents for but to nag?

He stood up, standing hotly over his parents, enraged at how they believed Alex's age to be an issue at any point. 'It doesn't matter to me. Alex was hurt by her husband, but now he can't ever touch her again. As for our relationship, I don't know if it will work out but time will tell.' He was trying so hard to stay calm. But his mother just kept retaliating.

She brushed a grey strand of hair behind her ears and replied soothingly, 'But she went back to her husband after he hit her, what's to say that you spend every second of the next five years with her but the moment he gets released, she won't drop you like a red hot brick and go back to him?'

'Because I love her!' he roared, 'Is that what you want to hear because I can say it again. I love Alexandra Kingston and I won't let her get hurt again! She means everything to me.'

'Matt, sit down,' David said tranquilly, and Matt did so, never questioning his father's authority. There was an awkward silence where all that could be heard was Alex's voice burbling down the phone, and Matt's grip on the tablecloth slackened, leaving his knuckles white and his face bright red.

'Okay,' his mother stated simply, 'Okay. If you love her, and you're one hundred percent sure about it then I don't have a problem with the two of you being together.' It wasn't exactly what he was looking for, but it was close. Matt stood up and pulled his mother into an embrace and then his father and apologized for getting so worked up. But he was glad they had had this argument – at least now he knew exactly how he felt about Alex. He just hoped she hadn't heard him yelling…