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Chapter 21

The Doctor wrapped the towel around his waist and made his way back into his room to get changed. He wasn't exactly in the mood for a party, but Amy had insisted that the staff Christmas party was going to be a lot of fun. Amy, who had no idea what had been going on between Clara and himself in the past few weeks. Every time they talked, Clara came to conclusion that they needed to stop. And every time she just kissed him again or he kissed her and all of their good intentions were thrown overboard. Kissing was all they had been doing and it was beginning to wind him up more than a little. The Doctor wanted more, but Clara was still torn.

Tonight was going to be interesting, stealing glances across the room without the opportunity to touch. No, he really wasn't in the mood for that and somehow he doubted that Clara was.

When the Doctor opened his wardrobe to select a clean pair of underpants, however, he found a surprise waiting for him.

"Missy!"

"Yes, dear?" came her voice from the living room.

The Doctor rolled his eyes. "Stop pretending and tell me where you've put my underwear!"

He could hear the clicking of her heels as she crossed the floor and a short moment later his friend appeared next to him, the most innocent look on her face she could probably muster.

"I don't know what your problem is," Missy said and gestured towards the shelf holding several pairs of underpants, "There's your underwear right there."

Angrily the Doctor reached for the one on top of the pile, pulled it out and held it in front of Missy's nose. "This one's got Teletubbies on it!"

His friend shrugged. "I also prefer the elephant ones with the trunk for your-"

"Nevermind," the Doctor interrupted her, "I'm going to be late for the party."

"Well, you could say that you brought this on yourself," Missy hummed as she walked out of the room.

The Doctor groaned when she shut the door behind her and turned to face his new selection of underpants once more. Well, it wasn't as if anyone was going to see them tonight and tomorrow the Doctor vowed to find out exactly what Missy had done to his regular underwear.

Clara had just set down her lipstick and was about to check her make up when suddenly the ringing of her phone interrupted her routine. When she spotted Danny's name on the display, a smile spread over her face.

"Are you calling to wish me a fun night out again?" she asked, still smiling.

"That was one of my reasons," he chuckled softly, "Don't have too much fun without me."

"I won't, I promise," Clara sighed. She wasn't exactly looking forward to the party, but Amy had insisted on her attendance. The Doctor would be there, too, and that was where it was going to get really complicated.

"There's one more thing," Danny added after a moment, "I know this could've waited until next week, but I wanted to give you the good news straight away."

"Oh?" Clara asked back.

"Yeah," he confirmed, "You know how we agreed to go looking for a house in December? Well, it's December."

Clara instantly felt her heart sink. Yes, she had made that promise and she had completely banned that thought from her mind afterwards. And the way Danny was starting this conversation made Clara sure that he had already gone ahead with the matter.

"I've sent an e-mail to a real estate agent and I've just heard back from her. We have an appointment in two weeks to look at some houses."

"Danny," Clara began carefully and took a deep breath, "I know you mean well, but you need to discuss these things with me first. You can't just make an appointment for both of us, assuming that it's fine with me."

"We did discuss this, Clara," Danny argued and he sounded a little angry, "We said we would start looking for a house in December. You agreed. What else should I have done? Get your handwritten permission?"

"No," she spat back, "But you could have asked me before you made an appointment!"

Clara heard him scoff on the other end of the line. "I merely asked if she had what we're looking for in the e-mail. The appointment was her suggestion."

She inhaled sharply, knowing that it wasn't at all Danny's fault, but she was still mad because the last thing she needed right now was to move in with him. She wore her engagement ring, well, most of the time at least, but the rest seemed a little rushed for her liking.

"I don't want to buy a house just yet," Clara stated plainly, knowing that all the other excuses wouldn't help her, "I thought that I would feel ready once I had settled into my new job, but I don't. I need time."

"Clara," Danny laughed on the other end of the line, but to her it sounded cynical, "We're engaged. We're going to get married. Do you still want to live in separate flats when that happens?"

"No," Clara replied.

"Well, then what is it?"

She hesitated. What was it exactly? Was it her ongoing unhappiness with the engagement ring? Was it the fact that she had been seeing the Doctor behind Danny's back for the past few weeks? Was it the fact that she didn't actually want to marry Danny?

Because she didn't. She never had. Clara had said yes because the alternative would have been to disappoint him in front of 20 already cheering onlookers, she had said yes because it had seemed the reasonable thing to do. The more time passed, however, the less reasonable it seemed. She loved Danny, but she didn't want to marry him yet. There was this nagging voice in her head, the one Amy had put there, that told Clara she could very well be happy without Danny in her life.

"I don't want to get married," Clara admitted quietly.

"What?!"

"At least not yet," she immediately softened her argument, "Some time in the future, maybe, probably, but not yet. I like things the way they are."

"I don't!" Danny almost shouted, "Why on earth did you say yes when you don't want to get married?"

"Because you didn't leave me a choice!" Clara yelled back, "You proposed in front of all these people. I didn't want to disappoint and humiliate you! I figured that it was fine and that we didn't have to get married straight away, so I agreed."

"What? You're making it sound as if I blackmailed you into agreeing!"

"Let's face it, it's what you did," Clara spat at him before she could stop the words coming from her mouth.

Danny went silent on the other end of the phone and it seemed as if an eternity passed before Clara could bring up the courage to speak.

"Danny?"

"Well," he said quietly, "If you think about my proposal in that way, I'm not sure I want to marry you anymore."

"Danny-"

"We should hang up for now. I don't want to talk to you anymore."

Clara swallowed hard, but before she could reply anything, the line went dead and all she could hear was the monotonous beeping of her phone.

Was that it? Was that the end of her relationship with Danny? I don't want to marry you anymore sounded like something pretty final and Clara wasn't sure how she felt about it. Danny had been a part of her life for so long now and right now she couldn't actually imagine how it would be without him. Once the reality had truly settled in, Clara would be sad for sure, but right now she couldn't quite grasp what it truly meant for her. She felt a little as if she was in shock, unable to wrap her mind around the recent fight.

Well, maybe tomorrow she would see it more clearly. For now it was probably best to stick to her plans – the staff Christmas party.