Work is getting me down again. Probably doesn't help that I am ill for the second time this month.

Anyway, I am posting this and then going to try and write the next chapter, or otherwise, I won't be posting anything next week. This is annoying me now. I want to get this story out to you as fast as possible. I just want to get back to my old posting schedule.


Chapter 12

The Truth

Twelve was still suspicious. River's words of him having to ask his brothers for an explanation still plagued him and he just couldn't shake the feeling that they had some meaning. He hadn't found the courage to ask his brothers yet though. He didn't feel like he could face the truth if what he had suspected was going on was actually going on. There was a part of him that like River and could see what the council had put them together.

But, even though things were now going as per the arrangements made during the war, he felt like he had re-found his fight against the arrangement. Ten's own comment didn't help. He shouldn't be lonely but the perfect match for him was with his brother.

River wasn't interested. He knew every time she switched off from listening to him. He knew every time when she shut off and got lost in her own thoughts. He had tried talking rubbish so many times, deliberately getting things wrong, just to see whether she was listening or not. So far she had only corrected him once in their whole courting, and that was during the first few weeks.

If she wasn't going to even try to keep this arrangement, why should he put in the effort for something that is going to fall flat on its face?

He knew that the council wouldn't be happy. He didn't know whether he would get the same treatment as Ten if he allowed it to fall through. Could a marriage agreement fall through?

The problem that Twelve had now was this weird feeling he had whenever he was around Clara. Her words still echoed around his head and they couldn't be truer. River didn't deserve him. Maybe because that was just because he thought that every woman was above him, but there was something about River that just didn't make him feel like they were well suited.

He knew that the council thought that they had done right at the time but Twelve had always been under the impression that the agreements were made without a brother being named. If that was the case, then couldn't something be worked out?

Twelve decided to leave the questions for now and placed down his guitar that he had been playing absent-mindedly. He did consider taking it with him as he went to find Clara but placed it back on the stand. Maybe one day he would be able to play the song he had in mind whenever he thought about her.


Clara felt pleasantly surprised when it was Twelve that she opened the door to rather than Eleven. Part of her had missed him but she couldn't help the nervous feeling that was building inside of her. She wondered whether this was the feeling that her mother used to talk about whenever she used to talk about how she felt when she met her father.

"Basil."

"I hope I am not disturbing you."

"Not at all."

"I just wondered whether you would like to go for a walk with me. Just the night looks like it will be clear. I don't know about you, but I love to see the stars."

"I love the stars as well. Just give me a minute."

Clara darted back into the room and grabbed her jacket. She took a deep breath and let it out slowly, hoping to stop the nervous feeling that she was feeling. She shouldn't be feeling nervous around him. It felt stupid to feel nervous around him. It just felt right.

She stopped herself from running back to the door. She was surprised to see him leaning against the door frame, his head bowed slightly.

"Ready?" She said.

He turned and smiled at her. "Of course."

He held out his arm to her and she took it in an instant. She just couldn't shake the feeling that this felt so right.


"Are you still mad at me?" Eleven asked as he approached River.

The look that she was giving him made him nervous. Part of him thought that she was going to slap him, the other part of him though she was going to kiss him. He had deeply missed her. It just wasn't the same being with her and just being in the same room.

"I am more mad at your hypocrite of a brother for talking you into doing the right thing."

Eleven rested against his arms on the concrete wall. "I know what we started wasn't right."

"It doesn't help that I met you first. I thought that you were the Lord John of Gallifrey I was promised to and I fell for you."

"But that is the problem, isn't it? You have fallen for me, and so has Clara. I am sure she has."

"I am sure of it too."

"She is going to be the one that is going to get hurt in all of this."

River turned to him. "What about Twelve?"

"Twelve will get over it. He has never really been overly emotional."

She moved from her spot next to him. "I think your brother is more emotional than you would like to believe. Why do you think he carries around that stupid guitar for?"

"Because it distracts him. We become distracted in different ways. He has already done the running off and travelling thing. He has actually been grounded by the council because of it."

"Well, I think he might be a little distracted by something else at the moment."

Eleven turned and looked at her. He moved from his spot to stand behind her to see what she was looking at. He watched as Twelve and Clara laughed as they walked around the gardens. He could tell that that Twelve was the one telling the story but Eleven couldn't think of a story that would merit that much laughter.

If anything, it was weird to see his brother looking that happy. He couldn't remember the last time he saw his brother so happy and almost carefree. It made him more angry about the arrangements that had been made.

"That might just be the answer to our problems." River said.