Evie took his hand again, not really sure why. The Doctor gave it a quick squeeze before turning and fiddling with some dials on the control panel in front of him. The teenage girl walked slowly around, touching the TARDIS lightly with her fingertips.

"What's a TARDIS?" She asked in confusion.

"Time And Relative Dimensions In Space." He explained simply. Evie nodded, but didn't have a clue what he was talking about. She decided that she should think he was mad and run as fast as she could in the opposite direction but she knew she wouldn't. The teenager felt totally safe with this strange, impossible man.

"Right." She hesitated, wondering what he was expecting of her. He'd said he needed her help, but he hadn't told her what for. "How can I help you? I mean… you have this… TARDIS thing and you've obviously got amazing state of the art technology and stuff and I live on a farm with my grandparents and little sisters… I mean, look at my phone." She held out her phone which had obviously seen better days; it didn't even have a camera.

"Exactly." He said with a grin, leaving Evie even more confused than she had been, if that was possible. He glanced at her and realised that she was totally bewildered. The Doctor smiled at her; Evie thought she was going to melt. "I watched you; you don't fit in round here."

"Thanks." She said sarcastically.

"No!" He told her quickly, holding up his hands. "That's a good thing. There's something special about you, Evie Jones." The teenager blushed at his words but shook her head, not believing him. "I mean it… there's something about you… I can't put my finger on it."

She shrugged and sat on the step, looking up at him. She smiled.

"So… what do you want me to do?" She asked raising an eyebrow.

"Come with me." He said simply. He didn't look very hopeful that she'd accept his request.

"What do you do?" She asked. He looked a little confused. That obviously wasn't the reaction he was expecting. Then his face relaxed and he looked pleased that she hadn't refused outright.

"I save the world."

The teenager laughed. "Whatever."

"No, seriously… I go after aliens, well, alien species that are trying to harm other species or their planets. It mainly tends to be humans I'm protecting… no one else out there really seems to like you lot."

Evie stared at him, completely stunned. Strangely, she believed him, which didn't make any sense. The teenager considered him for a moment. He was a complete stranger; she knew absolutely nothing about him, not even his name. Surely he couldn't be called The Doctor? Going anywhere with him, even into this TARDIS, was complete madness. It was everything they'd always been told not to do. 'Don't go off with strangers.'

But there was something about this man that had instantly attracted Evie to him. She shouldn't feel safe, relaxed and completely happy, but she did. She felt like she finally belonged somewhere.

"So why d'you need me?" She asked.

"It gets lonely." He admitted with a shrug. "Having a companion helps and… well… they tend to keep me human."

"Keep you human? You mean… you're an alien?" Her mouth dropped open in surprise. He didn't look anything like the aliens she'd seen in films and on TV. He looked completely normal.

"Yep. I'm actually a Time Lord." He told her matter of factly. She raised her eyebrows, questioningly. "A Lord of Time. Here…" He took hold of her hand and placed it on his chest.

A shiver of electricity shot up the teenager's arm as she felt his heart beat against her palm. He moved her hand over to the other side of his chest. A second heart was thumping just as ferociously as the first. She stared at him, her eyes big and astonished.

"Two hearts." He confirmed.

"Alright." She said simply, her hand still on his chest. "I'll come."

The Doctor stared at her for a moment before his face split into a broad grin.

"Alright! Good… Excellent!" He started flicking controls and fiddling with levers. "Let's get going."

"Hang on!" Evie exclaimed quickly. "We can't just go!"

"Why not?"

"I've got a family… they'll be so worried if I just disappear!"

"It's fine." The Doctor assured her with a broad grin. "This machine travels in space AND time. They'll never even know you've gone."

Evie hesitated for a split second before nodding. "Alright then, let's go fight some aliens!" Then she stopped. "Wait… we're going in this?"

She didn't have time to demand an explanation before there was a curious noise and she was thrown sideways as the TARDIS jolted. The Doctor laughed and pulled her to her feet quickly.

"Hold on." He advised putting a hand on her waist to steady her. Evie smiled up at him as their eyes met for a split second before he was off messing around with the controls again.

x

The TARDIS landed with a bump. The Doctor jumped across to the door and eagerly wrenched it open, looking outside excitedly. After a moment, Evie joined him, trying to see outside. All she could see were hedges, trees and fields.

"Have we actually moved?" She asked, disappointedly. From the look of it they hadn't, although quite what Evie expected to see she wasn't entirely sure. She still didn't know what a TARDIS was or did.

"Yeah!" The Doctor told her looking around, his face screwed up as though he wasn't entirely sure whether they had or not. Pulling Evie out of the TARDIS, he locked it and they looked around curiously. The seemed to be in a town, not dissimilar to the village they'd just left. It was a little bigger, but not much.

Evie took a few steps away from the blue box and noticed a shop. Walking towards it, she tried to see inside, maybe to find out where they were, if nothing else. She cupped her hands together and pressed her face to the glass looking inside.

It was a clothing shop of some kind. Evie could see hats laid carefully out on tables and display stands, and rolls of material propped along the walls. On the counter were various colours of ribbons, broaches, pins and all manner of things that Evie had never thought about shopping for before.

Suddenly she realised that a face was watching her, a mixture of astonishment and confusion on it. The teenager leapt away from the window as the bonnet wearing figure headed towards the door. She opened it and emerged into the street, regarding Evie with as much perplexity as Evie was looking at her. The girl, who was wearing a floor skimming dress, complete with a tight bodice, was staring at Evie's knee-length, light blue denim shorts, strappy top and flip-flops.

"Where on earth did you get those clothes?" She asked Evie.