A/N: Hello everyone! I'm so glad to see that you all are enjoying the story so far. Thank you to alliballisalli and HaleyBlack'Cile'coldfire for reviewing; GallifreyFallsNoMore, The Doctor's Charlene, alliballisalli, wolflink123, and yfire for favoriting; and HaleyBlack'Cile'coldfire and yfire for following! Also thanks to tardisfeels and brattusmaximus on Instagram for letting me know what you thought!

Special thanks to my best friend Sarah, who helps me write about half the characters! I love you Sarah!

I hope you enjoy Chapter Two!

-bxdwxlfbxy

Chapter Two

The next day was the 23rd of December, and Amy woke up at 10:04 a.m. with a horrible sense of clarity about her attraction to Mr. Smith. Immediately after getting up and pulling on her sweatshirt, she picked up her mobile and texted River, Rose, and Clara.

hey. can u all come over? I'll make tea. I have a serious problem.

It took precisely three minutes before the doorbell rang. Amy walked over to the door and opened it to see Rose and Clara standing there. Clara looked incredibly sleepy, her dark hair pulled back in a loose ponytail. Rose looked much more alert, wearing a workout suit and a worried expression. "What's wrong?" she blurted out.

"Come in and have some tea while we wait for River," Amy instructed, stepping aside and holding the door open.

Rose pressed her lips together but obeyed. "S'everyone okay?" she couldn't help but ask as she sat down.

"Yeah, yeah, everyone is fine," Amy assured her as Clara plodded in and flopped down on the couch, yawning and curling up like a cat. Amy headed into the kitchen and poured four cups of tea, calling, "How d'you two want it?"

"Just a little cream for me," came Clara's voice.

"Oh, just 'ow it is'll be fine," Rose called.

"Right." Amy carried the two cups out to her friends after stirring cream into Clara's and handed them each their tea. "Here you go."

The door opened without ring or knock, and River stepped inside. She came in and kissed Amy's cheek, then set a rather large bottle of wine on the coffee table. "This calls for something stronger than tea, sweetie," she told Amy.

"You don't even know what it is yet!" Amy cried, then added, "And it's bloody 10 in the morning!"

"Hi, River," Clara said, giving her a sleepy smile and sipping her tea.

"Hello, sweetie," she replied, pulling out a corkscrew. "And wine should never be limited to a time, don't you think?" She opened the bottle with a loud pop.

Rose shrugged. "I'm game."

"I'll get some wine glasses," Amy grumbled, but once she was in the kitchen, she let herself smile. From the kitchen she could hear the other three talking in hushed voices, but she couldn't make out the words. She brought out the four wine glasses and poured some in each glass. She handed them out, then sat cross-legged on the rug in front of the couch, facing her three best friends.

"Well?" River asked, raising an eyebrow and taking a sip of her wine.

After downing a gulp of hers, Clara seemed much more awake. "Tell us what's wrong," she said, eyes wide with concern.

Amy took a deep breath. "I think I have a..." She bit her lip. "An... attraction to someone I met at work."

River chuckled softly. "That's called being a woman, dear."

Clara looked shocked. "What about Rory?" she said.

Amy winced at the mention of her boyfriend. "I know, I know! And this guy is a bloody idiot. But..."

"But you've got feelings for him," River said. "Feelings that perhaps you don't have for your current boyfriend?"

"No. I...love Rory." She hesitated on this, drumming her fingers against her knee. She looked at Rose to see how her friend was taking it.

"Yeah?" the blonde said quietly.

Amy swallowed. "Yeah," she echoed.

"Honey, I like Rory. I really do. He's a nice boy. But what you need is a man," River told her.

Amy groaned, taking a long drink of her wine.

Clara looked anxious. "I think you should try to work things out with him," she advised.

Rose shifted. "So tell us about this mystery coworker," she said. "Might 'elp you work 'fings out."

"His name is David Smith," Amy started, but before she could go any further Clara interrupted her.

"Wait. David Smith? As in, my boyfriend Matt's brother?"

"And Chris's brother," Rose added, then her cheeks coloured and she looked as if she wished she hadn't said anything. "S'a small world."

Amy stared at both of them. "Wait. He is?!"

Clara nodded. "Yeah. I've never met him, though. Apparently he's really mysterious."

Amy snorted. "Sounds like him."

River raised her eyebrow again, looking at her cousin. "Oh really?"

"Yeah. He's a bloody idiot," she repeated her words from earlier. Then she blushed. "But hot."

River smirked. "Sounds like my kinda guy," she said, eyebrow still quirked upward. "You go, Amy."

Amy blushed harder. "Shut up, River."

"Why s'he an idiot, though?" Clara questioned, leaning forward.

Amy huffed. "Where to begin? He's closed-off, arrogant, and stuck-up, and he said I wouldn't make it in photojournalism because I'm Scottish." She took another drink of her wine.

Rose moved the wine bottle out of Amy's reach. "But you still like 'im," she said.

"Yeah. He's reeeally attractive." She gave a half-smile. "And, I dunno, he's gonna give me a chance. He said maybe I'd make it after I told him off. And besides, I think Harriet Jones is gonna have us work together after Christmas."

Rose smiled. "So he'll be sticking 'round, then, yeah?"

"Only when he has to, I'm sure," Amy replied, her smile disappearing and a very Amy-ish scowl returning to her face.

Clara frowned. "I still think you should try to fix your relationship with Rory. All the same, I'll stick by you no matter what you choose to do, yeah?"

"Thanks, Clara." Amy was hoping it wasn't too late for her and Rory. She liked him well enough, but she just wasn't sure if he was the right one for her.

"Jus' make sure you don't miss out on an opportunity," Rose added.

Amy nodded. "River? What d'you think?"

"Oh, sweetie. You know what I think," River said, then winked. "I just wanna see if he's as hot as you say he is."

oOoOo

That evening, Amy was feeling lonely. Rose and River were both working, and Clara was out with Matt. With nothing else to do, she finally gave in and called Rory.

"Hel-lo?" he answered his phone.

"Rory. It's me," she said.

"Hi," he said, a little dryly.

"You wanna do something? Like..." She twisted a piece of hair around her finger. "I dunno. Something. Like go out. Or you could come over."

There was a pause, during which Amy could hear him shift. "I don't know if I can tonight," he said flatly.

She sighed. "Please, Rory. I'm really sorry about last week. I wanna make it up to you. So will you please come over, if you can?"

"I have a pretty busy schedule this week," he said. "I have the a.m. shift tomorrow. And Dad wants me over sometime to help him with the garage."

Amy flopped down on the couch. "Yeah?"

"Yeah. And I have a bunch of paperwork to catch up on," he said.

She closed her eyes. "Okay," she said quietly, trying unsuccessfully to hide the disappointment in her voice.

There was another pause, and Amy could hear him pacing. "I'll be there in ten. See you soon. Love you, bye." And he hung up.

She grinned broadly, setting her mobile down on the couch next to her and turning on the telly while she waited. In almost exactly ten minutes, there was a knock at the door.

She opened it, and not only was Rory standing there, he was holding a bouquet of flowers. "I brought you these," he said. "Sorry about earlier."

She blushed. "Oh, Rory," she said, pulling him inside and planting a kiss on his lips. "They're beautiful. I'll get a vase," she added, heading into the kitchen.

He smiled and followed her. The wine bottle from that morning was on the counter, half empty. "River was over?" Rory guessed.

She laughed. "River, and Rose, and Clara. But River brought the wine."

"Sounds like her," he said with almost a laugh.

"Yeah. I told her I was making tea, but nooo. She had to bring the wine." She rolled her eyes, not mentioning that she had actually been very grateful for that bottle of wine.

Rory nodded. "Yep. That's River."

Amy got a vase out of the cupboard. She took it over to the sink and filled it about a third of the way with water, then went over and took the flowers from him, putting them in the vase and carrying them out to the living room.

Again, he followed. "So…"

"So? You wanna get, like, pizza or takeout or something? Just hang out here?" After setting the flowers down on the coffee table, she turned to look at him.

He shrugged. "Sounds fine. Whatever you want to do."

"Okay." She sat down on the couch and patted the cushion beside her, picking up her mobile and dialing the number for the pizza place.

He sat down and looked at her. "Make sure you get cheese," he mouthed.

"I know," she mouthed back, straightening up when she heard the pleasant voice on the other end.

"Hi, thank you for calling Jones's Pizza. My name is Martha. What can I get for you tonight?"

"Um, yeah, one large cheese pizza, please," Amy replied.

Rory made a motion with his hands which she couldn't for the life of her interpret. "What?" she hissed, covering the end of the phone with her hand.

"Make sure you get the dipping sauce," he whispered, making the motion again, which she now saw was supposed to be pizza being dipped.

"Oh. Oh!" She quickly took her hand away from the phone. "And the dipping sauce," she said quickly.

"Right," said the woman on the other end cheerfully. "Will that be for carry-out or delivery?"

"Uhm, delivery, please."

"Oh, tell them that 51st Street is closed for repairs!" Rory whispered hurriedly.

She shot him a look as she gave Martha her address and name, adding Rory's warning at the end, and hung up after a "Thank you" from the other end.

Rory nodded and tried a smile. "Hopefully it takes them quicker than last time."

"Yeah." Noticing his unease, she scooted a little closer. "Hey, you okay?"

"Yes I'm fine," he said, perhaps a little too quickly.

Amy wrapped her arm around him, leaning her head on his shoulder. "No, you aren't."

His arm fell automatically in place around her, but he still seemed a little stiff. He sighed slightly. "How are we, Amy?"

"What do you mean?" Her heartbeat quickened nervously, and she lifted her head to look at him.

He looked at her right back. "We. Us. How are we?"

She bit her lip. "You're still mad at me 'cause of last week, aren't you?"

"Mad? No. But I've been thinking..." He cleared his throat.

"About what?" She was panicking. She couldn't help it.

He sighed heavily. "I can't do this, Amy."

She sat up quickly, staring at him. "You can't do what?"

"This. Look, Amy," he spoke very quickly now, "I already know that I love you more than you love me. Basic fact of our relationship. But lately I've wondered if you even like me at all."

"Of course I like you!" she cried. Yes, she was attracted to David, but that didn't mean that she didn't want to try to fix things with Rory.

"Yeah, but not –" He sighed again. "I want more, Amy. I want a more...permanent...relationship."

She froze. A permanent relationship? He couldn't mean –

"And I know you don't want that." He paused. "Where does that leave us?"

She swallowed hard. "I...don't know," she admitted.

Rory nodded. "Yeah," he said, looking away.

"It's not that I don't ever want a...permanent relationship." Amy tried to swallow again, but her mouth felt dry. "I just... Right now, I'm not ready for that kind of...commitment."

He nodded. "I can wait," he said earnestly. "I want to wait if it's for you. But I just... I just need to know if that's a possible future."

As she was desperately struggling to find an answer, she was saved by a knock on the door. She got up quickly and went to answer it. A pretty, dark-skinned girl was standing outside the door. "Delivery for Amy?" she said.

"That's me," Amy replied, smiling and taking the box. "How much?"

The girl - she must have been Martha - named the price and Amy paid, adding a tip. "Thank you," the former said with a smile. "Have a nice night."

"And you," Amy said with a nod, closing the door and carrying the pizza over to Rory.

He sat up and leaned forward to open the box. When he did, Amy smirked. "Look, they put the dipping sauce in there."

"Ha-ha, yes!" he said triumphantly, although it sounded very forced.

She leaned over and cupped his face in her hands, kissing him lightly on the lips. "Hey. Can we just relax? Be like normal?" she asked.

He nodded. "Yeah. Yeah, we can do that." He leaned forward and kissed her again, then pulled away and turned to the pizza.

"Do you want a plate?" Amy asked, getting up.

"Sure," he replied, then added, "Thanks."

She went to the kitchen to get a couple plates and brought them back out, sitting down on the couch. She handed one to Rory and grabbed a slice of pizza.

"Thanks," he said again, taking a slice for himself.

"No problem." She took a big bite of her pizza. "Mmm. This is awesome. I should order from there more often," she mumbled.

"Yeah," Rory agreed, taking advantage of the dipping sauce. "So... How come River and them were over this morning?"

Amy almost choked on her pizza. "Oh...you know," she said after swallowing rather painfully. "Girl...stuff."

"Ah," Rory said, looking uncomfortable. He took a huge bite of his pizza.

"Yeah. Just a...thing. You know how we girls are."

"Hmm, sort of. Yeah, no," he joked, smiling.

She laughed. "It was nothing. Don't worry about it."

"Oh you know me," he said lightly. "Mr. Worry-free."

Amy giggled again, leaning against him and taking another bite of her pizza. This was nice. Being with Rory was nice. She made up her mind right then to forget about this stupid attraction to Mr. Smith. Because even if she didn't love Rory, she quite liked him. And maybe she'd learn to love him.

It would just take some time.