Thank you for the reviews :) Now, let's see if Clara continues to be a bad girl. . .

Chapter 19

Clara looked down at her hand and had to admit that it wasn't as bad as she had originally thought. The ring was absolutely gorgeous, there was really no denying that. And yet the feeling of it around her finger was nagging her a little. She would get use to it this time.

"Are you happy?" Danny asked her and when Clara turned to look at him, he was smiling broadly at her.

"Yes," she replied, "Thank you. The ring is gorgeous."

"I'm glad you like it." She could hear Danny breathe a sigh of relief before he bent down and pecked her on the lips. This time it would work out. She was sure of it.

Once they were outside the jewellery shop, Danny took her hand and together they made their way back to her flat where Danny had promised her they could order pizza because neither of them felt like cooking or going out tonight.

"How about tomorrow I take you to our favourite restaurant to celebrate the occasion?" Danny suggested after a moment.

Clara chuckled. "I think we've already celebrated the engagement," she replied, "Besides, I've got plans already."

"Plans?" he raised an eyebrow at her, "Well, cancel them. Tell them you've got an engagement to celebrate with your fiancé."

He squeezed her hand a little more tightly and Clara swallowed hard because of the lie that was about to come over her lips. "I can't. I'm having dinner with colleagues and I'd feel bad about cancelling. They've helped me out quite a bit."

It wasn't technically a lie. She was going to have dinner with a colleague. Singular. One who had confessed to be in love with her. Okay, yes, it was a big, fat lie.

"Why did they need to help you out?" Danny asked her, the tone of his voice turning a little sharper.

"With uni things," Clara almost spat back at him, a response to his tone of voice, "With my students and essay and everything."

"But you said it was going well."

Clara stopped and let go of Danny's hand, sighing as she did. "It's not going well. My students hate me and I have no idea how to deal with them. It's tough, okay? So my colleagues helped me out a lot."

When Danny turned to look at her, Clara could see the surprise and disbelief so plain on his face and she realized she should have spoken to him about this a lot sooner than over a month into her new job.

"Why have you never mentioned this? I could have helped, too, you know?"

"No, you couldn't have," Clara said, her annoyance now showing, "You teach year 7 and 8 at maths. You know nothing about teaching actual adults. But the Doctor and Amy and everyone else, they know what they're talking about and it's getting better. But the transition isn't as easy as I had thought it would be."

"You're having dinner with the Doctor?" Danny's eyebrows shot up and Clara instantly rolled her eyes at him.

"Can we please stop discussing this now and go home? I won't cancel my plans with them, just like I wouldn't cancel on you if they asked to see me if you and I had already made plans."

Danny was hurt, Clara could see it clearly. She should have talked about her problems with him. She should have mentioned it. And above all she shouldn't lie to him about having dinner with the Doctor.

"Going home seems like a good idea. I think we have a lot of things to talk about," Danny reasoned after a moment and then resumed his walk, not taking Clara's hand again.

When she followed after him, Clara became aware of that itchy feeling around her finger where her ring was, but she vowed not to take it off ever again.

"Ah ah ah," the Doctor said and gently smacked Clara's hand away when she tried to steal one of the biscuits from the plate, "They're for dessert."

It didn't slip his notice when he caught a glimpse at her hand that there was a new addition on her ring finger: a small, classic engagement ring. The Doctor's heart sank a little when he saw it, but soon Clara's look caught his attention. She was frowning at him.

"I'm starving," she complained, nudging him with her shoulder, "Come on. One biscuit."

"Pasta will be ready in five minutes," he told her calmly.

"Fine," she growled, but just as the Doctor was about to turn away and continue to stir the sauce, he saw Clara reach for the biscuit out of the corner of his eye.

"Hey, put that back," he told her while trying to keep a stern face. But the way Clara's eyes lit up in the most mischievous way made it very hard for him to remain serious.

"Make me," she prompted him, grinning broadly while holding up the stolen biscuit.

The Doctor wasn't entirely sure what to do, but when Clara suddenly turned around and broke out in a run, he followed after her, chasing her out of the kitchen and into the living room. Finally, when her escape route was blocked by the couch, the Doctor grabbed her from behind, closing his arms around.

"Gotcha!"

But despite his grip Clara still somehow managed to shove the biscuit into her mouth. Munching heartily, she turned around in his embrace, her eyes glistening with victory.

"You can't stop me," she mumbled with her mouth still full and laughed.

The Doctor became aware that it was time to let her go, to loosen his grip around her waist, but he didn't want to at all. Their bodies were touching just like they had in the forest and the warmth coming from her was too temping to stop now. He had promised her that he would stop his pursuit, but right now all he wanted to do was to kiss her once more.

"We, uhm," Clara cleared her throat, suddenly avoiding his gaze, "The pasta is gonna burn."

"Right," the Doctor sighed and released her from his embrace.

He made his way back into the kitchen without looking back at Clara, even though he knew that she was following him on his heels, but the lightheartedness had gone out of him. He loved her, he always had, and not being able to hold or kiss her was becoming too much to bear.

The Doctor finished preparing their dinner and in silence they both retreated back to the living room sofa where he switched on the telly just to have some low voices talking in the background that interrupted the clatter of silver on plates.

"This is really good," Clara said thoughtfully after a while, "You're a good cook."

The Doctor scoffed. "It's just pasta. Anyone can make pasta."

"Danny always overcooks it," she said and when the Doctor raised his head to look at her, he realized that Clara was staring down at her plate, not really eating the food anymore.

He pushed his own plate away from him and took in her presence for a moment. Clara seemed thoughtful or sad or both and the Doctor had no idea where that had come from or what he could do about it.

"Are you okay?"

Clara raised her head and looked him straight in the eyes before she shrugged eventually. "I'm not sure. Do you think a kiss is considered cheating?"

"Uhm," he spluttered. The Doctor was more than a little taken aback by her question and he didn't know what to reply to it. Yes, technically a kiss was cheating, but there were different kinds of kisses.

"I think that depends on-"

He never finished his sentence when Clara leaned forward and brought her lips on his own and for the moment the Doctor even forgot what he was going to say at all. Clara was kissing him and it was cheating. It definitely was. But as it was, the Doctor didn't mind.

Then Clara pulled away again, but her face remained close to his when she looked at him. "I don't care right now," she admitted quietly, "I really like kissing you."

With a sigh the Doctor reached for her plate and put it next to his own before he closed his arms around her shoulder and pulled Clara against his chest.

"What do you think about watching a movie?" he asked, "I think Missy has a few in her collection that you might like."

Clara's hand wandered upwards and rested on his chest, right above his heart, and her touch tingled in the sweetest of ways. "Movie sounds like a great idea."