The Doctor closely pursued the man down the alleyway, staying just out of sight. The man was completely unawares as he stumbled to and fro. The drink in his hand sloshing around as he waved his arms back and forth loudly humming a tune. His feet dragged and he tripped as he moved forward with no destination in mind. The sound of music and other people could be heard down the way they both came. Cars and taxis lined the road as people began to leave for home from a fun night out. The Doctor looked behind him, seeing no one else was coming down the alleyway, he made his move. He quickly came up behind the man and grabbed onto his shoulder turning him around to face him. The man's eyes went wide in surprise, but he made no move to get away. Slowly the man's face changed to something of a smile, before he began to laugh.
"Sorry, mate. I don't swing that way," he slurred out slamming his hand down on the Doctor's shoulder. The Doctor only furrowed his brows slightly.
The Doctor pushed the man against the brick wall of the alley and leaned in close to the man's face looking right in his eyes. The smell of alcohol was pungent this close.
"Don't speak. Everything is fine," the Doctor whispered before leaning further down to the man's neck. He took a tentative lick over the man's carotid artery before finally biting down. Quickly, the blood flooded the Doctor's mouth and dribbled down the man's neck. No matter how many times he had blood, the taste was pure ecstasy every time. The more the Doctor drank, the better he felt. It had been days since he had anything to drink. The Doctor, so brought up in pleasure, squeezed the man's arms as he bit down harder. The man began to slump in the Doctor's grasp, which is when he slowly released the man. Stepping back, the Doctor wiped his mouth with his sleeve and watched as the man slumped onto the ground grabbing his neck. The man's eyes were glazed over as he stared forward, not really looking at anything. The Doctor crouched down in front of the man and grabbed his chin, making him look him in the eye.
"You never saw me. After you left the club, you saw no one and went right home." He let go of the man's chin and stepped back once again. He watched as the man closed his eyes for a second before starting to calmly get up. Still unsteady on his feet from the drink, and now more so due to blood loss. Seeing as the man was fine, the Doctor quickly made his escape.
The Doctor walked down the sidewalk with his hands in his pockets. His brown trench coat waved behind him as he strided forward with purpose back toward the TARDIS. He smiled as he saw the TARDIS, proudly parked near a park fountain. The street lamp's yellow light shone onto the TARDIS, highlighting it in the midnight darkness. He paused at the door. Bringing his hand up he grabbed the handle and slowly pushed the door open. He stepped inside and pulled the door shut behind him. He pulled off his coat and threw it to the side as he ran up to the center console. A man of habit, he immediately started to write about his feeding, adding to the ever-growing journal. It has been three months since he dropped Donna off at home. Things were generally going well. Much better than he originally thought. It was a near habit for him to find someone alone to feed on. He quickly learned to erase their memory of the fact after it was done as well. Better to not have a string of witnesses following him everywhere. He already had enough of that just because of who he was.
Finishing up his journal entry he hopped over to the other side of the control console and began to push buttons, turn dials, and finally pull the lever to send him off somewhere new again. The whirring of the TARDIS echoed throughout the space and the Doctor held on to the console railing as the room violently shook. He smiled and cackled like a madman as he traveled through the time vortex. Suddenly with a thud the TARDIS stopped. He dashed over to the monitor to see where the TARDIS decided he needed to be next. Looking closely his eyes grew a bit dark as he furrowed his eyebrows. Staring back at him was Mystic Falls, Virginia. Why here? Hadn't he done enough there? What more could he possibly need to do there?
The Doctor stepped back and ran his hands through his hair aggressively. Looking toward the door he began biting his thumb nail. A nasty habit he picked up while alone. Finding no nail to bite at, he switched to his other thumb while slowly shuffling toward the door. With both thumbs now hurting from biting down too far, he hesitantly pulled the TARDIS door open. It was early morning. The sun was just coming over the horizon making the eastern sky a mix of blues and yellows. The bright colors reflected nicely off the few clouds in the sky. The sound of waking birds and morning commuters echoed down the street he found himself on. This was Caroline's street. It looked the same.
"I guess I could see what she's up to…" The Doctor finally fully stepped out of the TARDIS and shut the door behind him. He didn't remove his hand from the handle. There was an invisible force stopping him from leaving the safety of the TARDIS. Almost like he knew that if he left, something bad would happen.
He smacked himself in the face, "Ugh. I must be going crazy. I'll just pop in for a quick tea. I'm obviously overreacting." He shoved his hands in his pockets and made his way to the sidewalk and began walking toward Caroline's house.
He passed an elderly couple walking their dog, who politely said 'good morning' to him. After he passed them, he looked back over his shoulder. They didn't do the same. They kept moving forward, enjoying their morning. The Doctor brought his thumb back up to his face and began biting at his ever shortening nail.
The Doctor stood at the end of Caroline's driveway staring at the house. Not much had changed. He could hear two people inside. One was upstairs and the other downstairs. Caroline and Liz. A small smile crept onto his face before he steadily walked up to the front door. Raising his arm, he hesitated before knocking. Would they want to see him? He did leave suddenly. Maybe it was best for him to stay away. Not cause them any more problems. Deciding it was for the best he backed away from the door onto the lawn behind him, never letting his gaze stray from the front door.
Suddenly the light near the door turned on and the door opened. Caroline's hair was wet and had a white robe wrapped around herself. She looked tired as their eyes met. The Doctor froze, not daring to move. Caroline's eyes widened into saucers.
"Doctor?" She opened the secondary glass door, removing the boundary the Doctor found he was depending on at that moment. With that, he started to back away again, his hands to his sides like he was placating an angry animal from charging. Not paying attention to where he was going, he stumbled into their mailbox, causing him to fall down. He landed on his rear, but didn't let that stop him from getting away. As Caroline approached him he tried to get away by scooting backwards on his butt. It was no use, Caroline was now right in front of him with her hands on her hips staring down at him.
"What's wrong?" Caroline pointedly asked. The Doctor answered by turning his head away from her. Caroline crouched down to look him in the eye, he refused to look at her.
"Doctor. Why won't you look at me? Tell me what's wrong," Caroline prodded. The Doctor slowly turned his head to look at her. He refused to look her in the eye, choosing to look right above her head instead.
"Hi, Caroline," he whispered.
Caroline forced a smile on her face and reached for his hands. "Come inside."
The Doctor allowed her to grab his hands and drag him up and into the house. Once inside she pushed him to the couch in the living room. He fell back unceremoniously with a slight 'oof.'
"Wait there. I'll be right back." She made her way out of the living room and up the stairs.
The Doctor placed his hands on his knees and sat as still as possible. His eyes darted around the room as he listened to the movement happening upstairs. Every little sound made him jump or flinch with worry. Why did he let her take him inside? This was a horrible idea.
He leaned his head back against the couch and brought his hands over his face. "Calm down, nothing bad is going to happen. I'm just here to visit a friend," the Doctor mumbled into his hands. Every fiber of his body was telling him to leave. That meeting up with Caroline (a vampire) was going to cause trouble. Nothing good would come of him not having to constantly control himself. If he let go…. Well he didn't want to think about what would happen if he lost control again.
Cutting his musings off, Caroline came into the room. She was now wearing some jeans and a white top. She smiled at the Doctor before plopping down on the couch right next to him. She took a deep breath before leaning forward.
"Okay, talk. Obviously something is bothering you."
Not moving his hands from his face, "I don't want to hurt anyone anymore."
"Okay? But what has that got to do with me? And where's Donna?" Caroline asked.
The Doctor removed his hands from his face and turned to face Caroline. "Donna is home. I wanted her to have some time with her family. She's fine." He fidgeted a little before continuing. "That was three months ago." Caroline's eyes shot wide open as she whipped her head to look him in the eyes. The Doctor could not stand the look of surprise so his head shot down pretending something fascinating was on his hands in his lap.
"Doctor." Caroline scolded. "We both know you don't do good on your own."
"I know."
"Well, is that why you were scared earlier? You haven't been around anyone in a while?"
"Not exactly." He looked up before bringing his feet onto the couch, wrapping his arms around his legs. "When I saw you, well, I guess I panicked."
Caroline frowned, but said nothing. She knew he needed some time to figure out what to say.
"I panicked because I have done so well on my own. I thought that seeing you would bring on some bad memories. And then those memories would make me kill someone else. I'm not a monster. I don't want to be. I can't." He leaned his forehead on his knees, squeezing his legs all the more tightly.
Caroline was at a loss. Seeing her brought all that back? He really shouldn't be alone, but he obviously thought he would hurt Donna. Why else would he leave without her?
"I don't think that will happen, Doctor. You're a good guy. I've seen it. I know that if you've made it this far on your own, then you'll only get better." She placed her hand on his knee and started rubbing her thumb back and forth in a comforting manner. The Doctor closed his eyes at the touch and leaned his head back against the couch.
"Thank you, Caroline."
Caroline just sat there with him. She didn't dare disturb the silent peace that had ensued after his little freak out. Looking at her watch she inwardly swore. Groaning, she removed her hand from his knee and stood up.
"Doctor," he looked up at her in confusion. "Sorry, but I have to get to work."
The Doctor only nodded his head.
"Are you going to be okay? I can call off."
"No, I'll be okay. Do you mind if I stay here? I think some time out of the TARDIS would do me some good," the Doctor reluctantly asked.
"Oh, Doctor," she rolled her eyes. "You don't have to ask. Of course you're welcome here." She walked to the front door and grabbed her jacket. Putting it on she ruffled through her purse making sure everything was there. "I have a short shift today. I'll be back in a few hours."
The Doctor stood up and waved her goodbye as she headed to her car and honked a goodbye in response. Seeing her car heading down the road made his gut drop. He felt cold all of a sudden and finally remembered that he wasn't alone. Liz was still upstairs. It was pretty early, she was most likely still in bed.
He fiddled around by the door for a while before meandering to the kitchen to do the same. After reading every piece of paper on the fridge he shoved his hands in his pockets and shuffled back to the living room. He grabbed the magazine that was on the coffee table and started to riffle through the pages, trying to find an interesting story. Nothing interesting was popping up. The magazine seemed to all be about women's beauty and makeup. Obviously nothing he was interested in. Finding nothing else interesting to take up his time, he decided to try and sleep. He grabbed a few pillows and the blanket off the back of the couch and got comfortable. It only took a few minutes for the constant sleepless nights to make the Doctor fall into the call of sleep.
"And there you go!" Caroline exclaimed as she sat the plate of food down in front of the customer. "If everything looks good, just let me know if you need anything else!"
"Thank you. Everything looks good," the man said. Caroline smiled one last time before heading off back to the kitchen. The Grill was fairly empty today. Normally people flocked in for the breakfast deals.
Elena was leaning against the doorway near the back door of the kitchen. She was furiously typing away on her phone with her brow furrowed.
"Everything okay?" Caroline asked as she came up beside her.
Not looking up from her phone, "Damon is being ridiculous. I told him that I need to save up a little money before we head off to Whitmore, but all he wants to do is travel this summer," she looked up from her phone and jammed it in her pocket. "I want to travel too, but I need the money. I don't want him to pay for everything."
"He'll get over it. You guys see each other every day." Caroline said, rolling her eyes.
"Well, not today. I need some time away from him. I know we'll start fighting again if I go over there. Can I stay at your house tonight? We haven't had a sleepover in forever! And obviously Bonnie will come too." Elena said while her smile stretched clear across her face.
Caroline smiled back and was about to say yes, but then remembered that the Doctor was back. He didn't seem like he was in the mood to meet new people. Well, maybe it would be okay. Elena was a vampire and Bonnie a witch. They could handle themselves. It might be good for him to stop hiding. If Donna wasn't here to help him, then it fell to her. Regent companion. Smiling to herself she noticed Elena was still waiting for an answer.
"That would be fun! Text Bonnie for me, I have to head back out and check on my tables real quick." Caroline began to walk away, but quickly turned around before being out on the floor. "Oh, and uh there's going to be a guy there. He came by this morning and might be staying at the house for a bit. He's cool, don't worry."
"A guy?!" Elena exclaimed in surprise.
"He's just a friend, Elena."
Crossing her arms and looking smug, "Okay, whatever you say Care." Rolling her eyes again, Caroline headed out to the floor to check on her few tables.
"AAAHHH!"
The Doctor shot up with his arms ready for a fight. The blanket and a couple pillows flew off the bed with the sudden movement.
Liz was standing at the living room doorway with a now spilled cup of coffee. It ran down her arm, and was splattered around the carpet beneath her. Her eyes were as wide as saucers.
The Doctor lowered his hands and took a deep breath. Bad idea. Liz smelled amazing. Bringing his hands up to his face he ruffled his hair before running his hands down his face.
"Oh my God! When did you get here?!" Liz practically shouted as she was still surprised.
"I got here early this morning. Caroline said it was fine for me to stay here while she was at work."
"Umm, yeah. That's fine. I just wasn't expecting anyone to be sleeping on the couch." She set the now spilled cup of coffee on the stand near the couch and sighed. She looked down at the wet floor and sighed again.
"Here let me help with that," the Doctor said as he got up from the couch. Liz held up her hand to stop him from coming closer.
"No, I got it. You just relax." Liz then made her way out of the room. She quickly came back with a wet towel and began to wipe at the coffee. It didn't seem to be helping, just spreading it around. She frowned as she scrubbed harder, putting her whole weight into it. The Doctor knelt down next to her, holding his breath as to not breathe in her scent. He reached for the towel, and Liz let him take it. He took it to the kitchen to squeeze it out and came back once more. He began to scrub at the stain. He grimaced and leaned back, seeing that it wasn't going to go away with a towel.
"I'm sorry," the Doctor whispered.
"It's fine. Just a stain. It's not the first and it won't be the last. Don't worry about it." She got up from the floor and took the towel from him and threw it in the laundry room down the hallway. The Doctor also got up from the floor. He grabbed her cup of coffee and put it on the kitchen counter. He decided it was better to talk in the kitchen than the living room. At least that way, a table would be between him and Liz.
Liz joined him at the table. "So, what brings you here Doctor? It's been a few years."
"Really? It's been that long?"
"Yes? How long has it been for you?"
He folded his hands in front of him. "Almost a year I suppose. Not as long as you."
"No Donna?" The Doctor flinched. It was a perfectly reasonable question, but it just made him feel awful. Donna did nothing but good for him, yet he left her at home.
"No. She's with her family for now." Liz only nodded her head in response. They sat in silence for what seemed like forever. The Doctor couldn't stand it. It was so awkward. How could Liz not feel the same way?
Sitting in silence was only amplifying the sound of her blood pumping beneath her skin. He tried to not look at her throat, but the shirt she was wearing left her fully exposed. He watched her breathe and swallow in slow motion. The longer he stared the more hungry he became. He licked his lips and swallowed, his mouth feeling dry all of a sudden. They caught each other's eyes for only a second, but that was enough to make him aggressively scoot his chair back and scatter to the other side of the kitchen. He leaned his forearms against the counter and leaned down until his head touched the counter top. The cool counter helped ground him and put his mind back where it needed to be. Away. No one would get hurt if he buried everything. He took some deep breaths in an attempt to calm himself, but the breaths came faster and faster with time. Eventually he was hyperventilating. His head was killing him and the deep breaths did nothing but make the smell of blood stronger.
Liz had no idea what to do. One second they are fine and the next the Doctor is freaking out. She knew he was hyperventilating, but how was she to help? She had no idea what was going on inside that head of his. She slowly got up from her seat and came up beside the Doctor. She tentatively placed her hand on his shoulder. The Doctor stilled at the touch.
"Doctor?" Liz questioned. He didn't respond for the longest time.
"Go away," the Doctor said in a plain voice.
"What?"
The Doctor stood up fast, grabbing Liz's hand from his shoulder, but not letting go as he turned toward her.
"You need to get away from me," he all but growled as he kept his eyes to the floor. Liz tried to take her hand away, but he was holding it too tightly. She winced as he squeezed harder when she tried to leave.
"Let go, Doctor." She was scared now. This was more than a panic attack.
The Doctor didn't let go of her hand, only held it more firmly and took a step forward, removing the gap between their bodies. Liz could feel his breath on her face as he stared down at her. He brought his other hand up toward her face. She tried to flinch away, but his hand followed until it caressed her cheek. He stared into her eyes before moving his gaze down to her neck. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He moved his hand down her face and rested it on her shoulder. His fingers were poking around the nape of her neck. Liz closed her eyes tight as he began to lower his head preparing herself for the pain, but it never came. She risked a peak toward the Doctor and saw he also had his eyes squeezed shut. All of a sudden he let go of her and took a step back. Seeing her chance she quickly backed away from him as well.
He looked up at her for a second, but then bolted out of the house. She had no time to say anything. He was gone. She ran to the front door, yanking it open, but no one was outside. Looking at the clock she knew Caroline would be home soon. No use in calling, she might as well wait to tell her what happened in person.
When they pulled into the driveway, Elena was the first one out and Caroline quickly followed after grabbing her keys from the ignition and locking the doors behind her.
"I can't believe Bonnie was too busy for this," Elena complained as they made it to the door.
"Well, we'll have tons of fun without her," Caroline replied with a huge smile. She opened the door and yelled out, "I'm home!"
Liz came around the corner with a worried look on her face, but it quickly morphed to surprise. "Elena! It's good to see you." Elena moved forward to hug her and Liz happily hugged back. Liz then turned to Caroline, the serious face back.
"He's gone."
"WHAT! How can he be gone?!"
"There was a mishap in the kitchen. He tried to feed from me, but stopped and ran out. I didn't know what to do. He was acting strange the moment I came downstairs."
Caroline furrowed her brows. He probably hasn't been as controlled as she thought. He was pretty spooked when she found him. Damn it! Caroline pulled out her phone and scrolled through her contacts until she came to the Doctor's number. Dialing it, she heard a few rings, but it just went to voicemail. She let out a frustrated groan before storming back to the door.
"Come on Elena, let's bring him back. I might need your help." Elena nodded and was ready to help. "Mom, you just stay here, and let me know if he comes back."
"I will," Liz responded with a head nod of her own. "Please be safe. Both of you."
As they headed back outside Caroline called over her shoulder, "Always." She smiled one last time before speeding off, Elena in hot pursuit.
They didn't have to run far before Caroline spotted the TARDIS. It was just down the street from her house. Elena was a bit confused on why they stopped.
"That's his TARDIS," Caroline said as she pointed.
"TARDIS?" Elena questioned.
"Oh, sorry. It's his spaceship." Caroline walked up to it, but paused before trying the door. "This is going to be weird Elena, so don't freak out too much. It's bigger on the inside." It was better to be blunt, they had no time to waste.
"How is that possible? And you never said the guy had a spaceship. Every time you brought the Doctor up, you really never thought that was important?" Elena scolded.
Looking like a scolded child, "yeah, sorry. There's a lot that I didn't tell you, but we don't have time for that. After we know he's okay, I promise I will tell you everything."
"You better," Elena said. Caroline looked at Elena and then turned back to the door. She pulled at the handle. Locked. She tried the next best thing. She knocked three times. Nothing happened.
"Doctor! Come on, let us in!" Caroline screamed. Elena tried knocking this time. Again, nothing.
Caroline held her ear up to the door, she couldn't hear anything. Well duh! It was a spaceship, of course it would be soundproof. "Please, let us in. The Doctor needs our help." Caroline sounded more defeated now, but she knew if she didn't get in there the Doctor would be in trouble. Who knows what he's thinking after going after her mom.
After a few seconds she heard a slight click. She stepped back from the door and it opened. The door was open! She placed her hand on the door saying an internal 'thank you' to the TARDIS. Pushing the door all the way open she stepped inside. Elena followed right behind her. Caroline waltzed up to the console, but Elena was stuck near the door. Her mouth hung open and her eyes were wide.
"You weren't lying! This is amazing!"