Sorry, this wasn't up earlier. I wanted to get the next chapter finished before I posted this one but I haven't been able to. Hopefully, I will finish it soon.

And hopefully, a few things will change soon.


Chapter 10

The Change

There was definitely a change in the atmosphere after Ten's chat with his brothers. He stood at the window and watched as Clara and Eleven walked around the gardens while Twelve and River sat on the patio.

He knew that Eleven and Clara were getting on well. He would agree with the council that they had made the right decision there. They just seemed like they were perfect for each other. Ten smiled as he imagined Clara being as excited for an adventure as Eleven got. He could imagine them exploring every corner of the universe together and having great fun doing so.

On the other hand, he wasn't too sure about River and Twelve. They might be spending more time together but that didn't necessarily calm down Twelve's anxieties over the whole thing. He could understand where his brother was coming from. He needed someone, although he wouldn't admit it. Twelve was scared that he was going to end up alone. And he probably would if he married River.

The Council had sent him to keep the deals on track. He was given clear instructions for Eleven to marry Clara and Twelve to marry River. That was the only way he would be allowed to go back to Rose. He had to make sure that their arrangements went ahead like his didn't.

But, strangely, Ten didn't think that he had actually done the right thing.

It was the little looks between Clara and Twelve when they thought no one else was looking. It was the way that their eyes would meet for the briefest of seconds before they would look away. It was the little smile that they would give each other in that moment. It just reminded him of how he was with Rose.

Clara and Twelve had connected when they shouldn't have. Clara was perfect for his youngest brother. She just wasn't promised to him.


"You must remind me to show you more of Gallifey when we get back." Twelve said as he admired the gardens.

"I've seen the best bits of Gallifrey. Eleven showed me."

"That is Eleven's opinion. I will definitely have different places to show you."

"I believe that he said that you would have shown me here with each place he took me too."

"Did he now?" He said, trying not sound angry or jealous.

Twelve had been enjoying the time that he was now spending with River but there was something about it that just didn't feel right. It all stemmed from the chat that he had with Ten and his ridiculous idea that something was happening between River and Eleven.

Because it was only after that chat that River had started to make an effort. She had spent only a limited time with Eleven, really only speaking to him if it was necessary. Which he thought was weird. He had actually like the fact that she had got on with his brothers.

"Talking about Eleven, has something happened between you two? Just you used to act like you had known each other for a while and now..."

"And now what?" She snapped.

"And now it seems like you are avoiding each other."

"I thought you would appreciate it. If you want an explanation, you would have to ask your brothers."

Twelve decided to hold his tongue at that point. It just made him wonder if Ten knew something about what was going on or whether he had just said something so it didn't seem like they were making the wrong impression.

Maybe he had just made it all up in his head that something was going on between River and Eleven.


Clara sighed softly before allowing her eyes to flick over to Twelve and River. Part of her was happy that he was finally spending time with his fiancée but she just couldn't understand why her heart sank when she saw them together. He wasn't promised to her. The man, whose arm she was currently holding onto, was the brother that was promised to her.

"I should really take you there," Eleven said as he finished his story.

"It sounds like a wonderful place."

"It is. I really like the marketplace there. It sells anything."

"We will have to go."

"We will." He said with a small nod of his head.

"You must have a list as long as your arm of places we could visit together."

"Maybe," Eleven said, hesitantly.

Clara turned to him. "Why do you say it like that?"

"Well, some places I go will be dangerous."

"I can look after myself."

"No. I don't doubt that. Just I wouldn't..."

"Is this because I am a descendant of Earth?"

"No. I wouldn't want anything to happen to you. By that point, you will be my wife. If you came away from one of my adventures with anything more than a few cuts and bruises, I would never be able to forgive myself."

"But I wouldn't want to be sitting at home, wondering whether you were going to come back from one of your adventures."

"I would always come back."

Clara stopped walking. "No. You don't understand. I have felt that way. I have been told by someone that I loved that they would come back to me and he almost died in the war that your planet led. I waited for him just for it to feel like my heart was being pulled out of my chest when I finally got the news that he had been injured and that was the reason that he hadn't been replying to my letters. I am not doing it with you as well. I am either by your side or not at all."

She knew the look that he was giving her. It was a look of sorry and pity. She knew the first words that would fall off his tongue. The stupid 'I'm sorry'. It never helps anyone else saying it. It wasn't their fault. She couldn't understand why everyone felt the need to say it.

"I'm sorry to hear that." He said before he looked down, his fringe falling in front of his face. "We will have to work something out then."

She wanted to smile and hope that everything would be okay from then on but something told her that this might not be the end of it. She glanced over at Twelve and River and felt her heart drop again. Something about this wasn't right.