She looked so small standing there. Danny watched as Clara took the stand and glanced up at him. He nodded, smiling to her, he knew she could do this. They started asking her questions, going through all the events of the days leading up to the event and then the day itself. He listened, most of this he knew, but it didn't make it much easier to hear in this room, with him looking at her.

Danny couldn't stop glancing over at Fraser, he didn't seem to give any care about what he'd done. They'd hear from him later, that he was really dreading. For now he had to focus on Clara, she was shaking, they were on to what happened in the house.

"He pushed me against the wall, kept going on about how I was letting Tom down, letting him down…" It made Danny so angry hearing what she said about him. Clara continued going into the DVD and how she'd felt. They questioned her feelings, her love for Tom, everything they could touch they did. Fraser almost grinned his way through the defence questioning and Danny felt his fists clenching.

The morning seemed to go on forever, they had so many questions and it was horrible to hear her on the edge of tears for so long. When the lunch break came he was out of the room in a shot to go and meet her. Clara had gone straight into the lawyer's room, Danny was directed in there, hugging her tight, kissing her head. "I love you so much, you did so well up there," he told her. Clara gave in now, crying into his shoulder. It was about 5 minutes before she settled, Danny simply waited.

"I'm sorry, I just needed to get that out," she told him, wiping her eyes, "I'm okay."

"No you're not, but that's okay, you will be. You want some air?" Clara nodded and Danny went out with her, keeping an arm around her. They walked over to a nearby café, picking up a couple of sandwiches but sitting outside on the edge of a fountain to eat.

"I have to listen to him after lunch, I can't do it, who knows what he might say," Clara sighed. Danny put his arm back around her, rubbing her arm.

"It'll all be over in a few hours, you've done your bit. As soon as it's done we can move on," he told her. "Come on, it's time," he stood up, taking her hand. "One last push to the end."

#-#-#-#-#

"You claim that Clara came willingly," the prosecution questioned.

Danny shook his head where he sat, it was so stupid, "yes, I never forced her to come from the car."

"The evidence suggests that Miss Oswald would have been unconscious at the scene, she herself concurs with this reporting that she has no memory between going off the road and waking up in the house, how can she have come willingly?"

"I never forced her anywhere, that house was practically her home, why would I have had to force her there?" Danny hated listening to all this, it was rubbish.

"We already heard her this morning telling us that she never considered that house her home, that Tom and her were looking at buying their own place. That is evidenced by the fact that Tom's will left the house to you rather than Clara."

The questioning kept going, he kept fighting it. Danny spent the whole time fighting the urge to shout out and defend her. Clara just stared at the floor, she couldn't look at him. Eventually it was over, finally over, and he made his way back to his seat. That's when they announced the jury was to leave to make their decision. The evidence was over, there was nothing more anyone could do.

They sat in silence, Clara didn't want to talk. They sat together, Danny held her and Clara leant on him, curling up as much as she could. Adrian arrived just after half 3, being let in and sitting opposite them. Danny greeted him with a nod, glancing to Clara to make a point. Adrian nodded, sitting back.

They waited together, hours passed, nobody moved. 5 o'clock came and the door suddenly opened with someone coming in and speaking with their lawyer quietly. Once he'd gone he turned to them, "they're ready to go back in. Ready?"

"No, but I don't think I really have a choice," Clara sighed, standing up.

"We're right behind you Clara," Adrian told her, "I'll meet you outside Danny," he told him before leaving the room to give him and Clara a moment.

"Whatever happens now I am right here after, I love you, you're strong," he kissed her softly.

They separated and Clara followed the lawyer out and into the courtroom. Danny met up with Adrian and walked around to sit and watch. The jury reappeared, taking their seats. The juror in charge stood up again as instructed.

"Have you all agreed unanimously in your decision?" the judge asked.

"We have," she replied.

"On the charge of unlawful abduction and holding without consent, how do you find the defendant - guilty or not guilty?" Clara held her breath, all possibilities running through her mind. If he got out she would have to face him again, he would never leave her alone.

"Guilty," she replied firmly. There were sighs of relief from all 3 of them, he would definitely go away.

"And on the charge of actual bodily harm, how do you find the defendant - guilty or not guilty?"

"Guilty," that was it. They had him on both. Fraser looked furious, but it didn't matter, he was going away.

Fraser was taken away. Sentencing would be in two weeks, but he was being held in the meantime. Clara wouldn't have to see him again, it was finally over. When they were released Clara ran up to Danny and hugged him tight, finally smiling. He spun her round, kissing her, "I love you so much, I'm so proud of you, he's gone now," Danny told her. Adrian appeared from round the corner and Clara pulled him in to the hug briefly.

"Thank you, both of you, you've been amazing this week. I know I've been horrible to deal with recently, but I can move on now," she smiled. "Let's go home, have dinner. Adrian you should come, you've been a big part of this."

"No, you two deserve some time together, make the most of it. Have a lovely weekend," he smiled and left them. Danny kept her close all the way home. When they got home Danny went in to the kitchen to start on dinner but Clara shook her head, pulling him back through.

"You are not doing any work tonight, you've looked after me all week. However I am also knackered so I'm going to order in and we are going to eat in bed with the TV on," Clara told him.

"That sounds absolutely perfect," Danny replied, "perfect."

#-#-#-#-#

Clara woke up slowly, the sun shining through a small slit in the curtain on to her face. She moved a little closer to Danny out of the light, smiling as she watched him sleeping peacefully. She rested a hand on his chest, feeling his heart beating and the rise and fall of his chest as he took breaths. Danny turned over in his sleep, his arm automatically resting over Clara and then sighing contently. Clara smiled again, watching him before finally falling back to sleep herself.

When she woke again it was a kiss on her forehead that did it. She moved her head slightly as her eyes adjusted, aligning them so she could kiss him. "Good morning," she mumbled a little sleepily.

"Good morning beautiful, that's a lovely smile," he told her, "how are you feeling?"

"Free," Clara told him, taking his hand and linking their fingers. "Can we go to the zoo?" she asked.

"The zoo?" he questioned, unsure that he'd heard correctly.

"Yep, the zoo. I just feel like getting out and we've never been so…" she clarified.

Danny chuckled, nodding, "the zoo sounds wonderful. I guess we should probably get up then," he stated.

"I suppose so," Clara pushed herself up and then both made their way to get ready.

They took public transport to the zoo in the end, therefore allowing them the option of alcohol consumption later in the day. They got inside and started wandering, stopping at various animals to take a look. They kept their arms around each other, Clara felt safer in his arms, even though Fraser was gone it was just a comfort to her. They were stood watching the meerkats when someone placed hands on their shoulders. Clara jumped away a little but Danny pulled her a little closer to tell her it was fine as he turned around and saw Frankie behind them.

"Hey! Sorry I didn't mean to scare you," Frankie apologised.

"Don't worry, long story… how are you? How come you're here?" Danny replied, giving Clara a moment to recover.

"I'm good, here with my sister and her kids - they're in the cafe over there," she pointed, "how about you two? I haven't heard from you in a long time! Too happy in your own world?"

Danny looked to Clara to reply, not knowing what she wanted Frankie to know, "we've had a few troubles to work through…" she started.

"You two?! Nah I don't trust anything could come between you," she replied, but Clara shook her head.

"No no we're fine, I mean there was a blip but… no. Um, long story short I had a bit of a stalker, he's currently behind bars. Taken up a lot of time recently - today is about spending some much needed time together," she explained.

"Explains the jumpiness, I'm really sorry," Frankie replied.

"No, don't be, I don't need pity, it's over now. We're happy. It's really lovely to see you," she smiled.

"Well you know I take full credit for this relationship of course," Frankie pointed out, "have you two set a date yet?"

"Maybe," Danny winked, "you'll just have to wait and see won't you?" she rolled her eyes, "July 25th, you gonna turn up?"

"I might do," she shrugged but then grinned, "couldn't keep me away if you wanted to, you know that," Frankie nudged him. Clara chuckled as Frankie grabbed him for a hug that Danny clearly wasn't expecting. She noted the eye contact from Frankie telling her she wanted a private word and Clara nodded to her while Danny's back was turned.

"I'm gonna go grab a tea from the café, did you want anything either of you?" Clara asked.

"Tea sounds good, I can come with you?" Danny checked, but Clara shook her head.

"No no you two catch up, I can manage tea," she kissed him quickly before disappearing off into the building.

Frankie moved so they were both leaning against a nearby wall, "how are you doing? And I mean you singular, not Clara," she asked.

"I'm okay, it's been a stressful couple of weeks but we're getting there," he replied.

"See, there with the 'we' again. I can see you're tired, I'm pretty sure Clara can see you're tired but she doesn't want to bother you, so talk to me," Frankie asked him quite sternly.

"I guess I've not slept that well recently. I've been so focussed on Clara and making sure she's okay that I've neglected myself to an extent. She knows that, she had to put me straight the other day before I gave evidence at the trial. I can't let her down again," he glanced over to the cafe where Clara was inside buying tea.

"What do you mean again Danny, you haven't let her down - you've been there all the way," she replied.

"That's just it, I wasn't there the day it happened. The man who hurt her, it was her ex's brother and he got to me, he managed to convince me she was cheating and I believed it. That's how he got to her, she was alone the next morning because of that…" Danny sighed, "he really hurt her. Made her crash her car, kidnapped her, locked her in her dead fiancé's bedroom and forced her to watch old videos of them… afterwards… god it was horrible Frankie," he looked up at her, anger in his eyes. "He's going away, but what he did will always be there."

Frankie shook her head, putting a hand on his reassuringly, "Danny Pink you never change. Clara loves you, she quite clearly doesn't blame you for what happened and she definitely wants you to be happy. What happened won't go away in an instant, but this day out is the start of a new chapter for you, can't you see that?" he looked a little blank, "men, you're all the same!"

Clara appeared again, handing Danny his tea and looking at them both, "why are we complaining about men now?"

"Your fiancé is being an idiot," Frankie informed her.

"Yes, but what's new?" Clara asked, immediately moving to dodge the hit from Danny, sticking her tongue out at him when he looked miffed. "You're my idiot though," she winked and he rolled his eyes, smiling slightly.

Faith stood up, "I'll leave you guys to it, speak to you soon," she smiled and walked off. Clara took her place against the wall, sipping at her tea.

"What's wrong?" she asked, leaning close to him, he gave her a confused look but she shook her head, "no - talk."

"I… I'm scared of letting you down again," he spoke honestly.

"Again? When did you let me down before?" she asked.

"When I let that man convince me you were cheating. I believed him, that's what led to all this," Clara watched him look away from her, he was really hurt.

"Danny no, stop that right now. You never let me down, not at all, you were there for me when I needed you most, he would have got to me eventually. We can't change the past Danny, it's gone - happened, but the trial is over. We know he'll go away for a long time and that's all that matters now. We can move on, we have a wedding to plan! I want to get back to where we were - happy, content, excitable, a little bit cheeky," she smiled, "I love you so much Danny Pink," Clara leant in and kissed him quickly but softly. "You're the best thing that ever happened to me."

"Ditto," he kept their foreheads together for just a moment longer before sitting up, "shall we keep going?" Clara nodded, standing up properly. "Fresh start?"

"Clean blackboard," Clara replied and they moved off again, heading towards the apes.

#-#-#-#-#

They stopped on the way home for dinner at their favourite restaurant. Danny ordered a bottle of Clara's favourite wine and they were both happily sipping at their glasses, spare hands linked across the table. "This is so lovely," Clara rubbed a thumb over the back of his hand. "When was the last time we did this?"

"I have no idea, but we definitely need to do it more often," he smiled.

"Definitely… listen Danny, I was thinking that maybe we should-" Clara went silent, Danny watched her face - he knew what was happening. He moved out of his chair, trying to be as discreet as possible but making sure she kept upright. "What you doing there?" she asked after a few moments. Danny moved back to his chair, "oh… did I…?" he nodded.

"Are you okay?" Danny asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine," she smiled, "don't worry - just a one off. Anyway, what was I saying?" Clara asked, "oh yeah, I think we should get away next weekend, I want to take you somewhere."

"Anywhere in particular?" Danny asked, deciding to dismiss the seizure for now and approach it at home.

"A surprise, to thank you for everything," she told him, "I could never have got through this without you." Danny smiled gently, but didn't reply. "Don't put yourself down mister, you've done a lot. Next weekend yes?" he nodded, "good."

#-#-#-#-#

Going back to work was never going to be straightforward, but having the weekend together and relaxing was helpful. Clara was up early, getting herself organised. When Danny came down she'd just finished packing her bag and stood up from the sofa, skipping over to him and hugging him tight, kissing him softly.
"Good morning, how are you?"

Danny smiled, pushing her hair back behind her ear, "you look beautiful today, and much too happy for a Monday morning." Clara chuckled and kissed him once more before stepping back.

"Breakfast?" she asked and they both made their way through to the kitchen. "I'm just glad to be getting back to work with this essentially behind us, I've really missed being insulted by teenagers…" Clara chuckled, making up the tea while Danny sorted out food.

"You're really strange you know that?" he grinned, sitting down at the table.

"I just love my job," Clara told him, "maybe too much," she smiled, sipping her tea. "Are you ready to go? I need to get in and catch up," she stood up but Danny grabbed her hand.

"Of course, but eat first," he told her. Clara shrugged, sitting back down.

She didn't eat really, in truth she was terrified of going back - who knew what people were going to say, but she did love her job and she didn't want Danny to spend the day checking up on her. When they arrived at work he left her at her room - she made some excuse about wanting to get the room back how she liked it to avoid going to the staffroom before the meeting.

Nothing needed doing to the room, she'd not been gone that long. Clara set-up for her first lesson and then sat in her chair, flicking through emails.
"Hey stranger," Clara jumped at the voice and looked up to see Georgia at the door. She stepped in, shutting the door behind her. "How're you doing?"

Clara quickly sat up, smiling, "very happy to be back, I've missed this place. I hear you've all survived without me," she grinned.

"Just about, you know it's hard work without your motherly ways," Clara rolled her eyes and Georgia chuckled, sitting up on one of her desks. "So how are you really?"

"My crazy ex almost brother-in-law is behind bars so I'm much better thanks, plus I've got a lovely weekend away planned so that's only 4 days away," she smiled again, but Georgia raised her eyebrows. "What?"

"I've spent years living with my mother telling me she's fine when she's not - I'm practically an expert on it now," Georgia spoke sincerely.

Clara sighed, she was right - Georgia had been through enough to know exactly what she was doing. "Just tell me you haven't spoken to Danny?"

"No, because I know this is mostly for his benefit, but you've been through alot and kids can be cruel," Georgia told her, "I know you love your job, I know you've missed being here, but that doesn't take away from the nerves."

"How did you get to be so wise?" Clara asked, almost proud to hear her talking like that.

"I had a great teacher," Georgia winked, "just take it easy today, you know we're all behind you and if anyone kicks off just grab Adrian because he's been brutal in the last week," she grinned.

"I've got good friends, I'm very lucky - thank you. How are you doing?" Clara asked.

"You know me, I always get by," she smiled, hopping up off the desk. Clara raised an eyebrow.

"Who is she?" Clara asked, but Georgia just shrugged.

"Don't know what you're talking about," Georgia replied. "We have a meeting to go to."

"I'll get it out of you," Clara smirked and Georgia rolled her eyes before leaving to go to the meeting.

Plenty of people gave her sympathetic looks but nobody was able to talk to her thanks to the meeting. She sat with Danny while they were talked through various bits and as soon as it was finished Clara disappeared back through to her room, followed by Adrian who had been watching her closely during the meeting.

"Good to be back?" he asked - now he probably had been talking to Danny.

"Definitely, anything is better than that courtroom and being stuck at home is really not my thing. How was your weekend?" she tried to turn the conversation.

"Not so bad, quite productive, I hear you went to the zoo?" Definitely been talking to Danny then, she wondered how much he'd said.

Clara sat down, logging in to her computer to get the register up ready for her tutor, "we did, it was a lovely day actually. Bumped into one of Danny's friends and went out for dinner after. We had a really good time."

"Danny said you had another seizure in the restaurant," Adrian walked over to her.

Clara rolled her eyes and stood up, going over to the board to write on it. "I'm fine, we alway knew this could happen again, but it's the only one all weekend and I feel great so please don't start." She chucked a pen at him. "Make yourself useful and put that in the bin, and then you need to go to tutor. I appreciate your concern, but I promise it's fine."

Adrian nodded, getting the picture and dropping the pen in the bin, "got the message - see you later." She felt a little cruel after he'd left the room, but she knew there was very little to worry about.

Clara got on with her morning like she always did. Her tutor were quieter than always, but she went with it. First lesson was straightforward, year 7s were generally undeterred by gossip thankfully, but second was always going to be more challenging. The year 11s walked in chattering and giggling to themselves, sitting down and only shutting up when she bashed on the desk. "Supply teachers might let you get away with this, but you know full well I do not," she told her rather stunned pupils. "Right, film coursework! Deadline is next week, you should have been working on it in your lessons last week so you'd better all pull it out and I'll come round and see where you're all at. Keep working." They all leant down into their bags giving Clara a moment to breath and go over to shut the door. She walked around the room, trying to assess where they had got to in her time off. By the time she'd got round her conclusion was disappointingly not that far. She sighed, standing back at the front and getting their attention again.

"What on earth were you lot doing in those lessons? Because I'm not betting on any work being involved. I spent a large proportion of last week marking your last lot of coursework and it was really promising so I really really don't want to mark this one and find the complete opposite! We had plenty of lessons on the film so there's no reason why you aren't more than capable of writing this - you're supposed to be my top set!" Clara told them, "right - we're going to go over some of the key points today and I expect you all to come in on Wednesday with a lot more progress than this." Clara turned around, going to get something up on the board when she heard them whispering behind her. She shook her head, getting the powerpoint up turning back around at which point they all stopped. "Look if you lot have got something to say then go ahead and say it," she waited for a moment.

"We um…" one of the pupils spoke up, but stopped. Clara put a hand on her hip, waiting. Suddenly one of the more mouthy pupils, Karen, stood up at the back.

"Did Mr T's brother really kidnap you?" she asked outright. To this day Clara never understood why they called Tom Mr T, but it was just a thing. "I mean that's pretty mental right?"

"Yes Karen it is 'pretty mental'" she made the quote marks with her fingers, "but it's also none of your business. Last week I wasn't here, this week I am, a lot of things have happened that you probably haven't stopped gossiping about for the last few weeks and I'm sure you've had a fantastic time making up things about me but that stops here and now - got it?" Karen didn't sit down.

"But Miss, it is a little weird that you're already engaged again," she asked the question that Clara had feared everyone was thinking.

"SIT DOWN!" Clara shouted at her instinctively. Karen sat, almost in shock at her reaction. "My private life is NONE of your business. None. But just so you know, it's called moving on. It's called closure. It's called taking my life back. For all it matters - you all saw what I was like last year, do you want that teacher back?" There were a few shakes of the heads, "good, because you're not getting her. Whatever you all like to think, gossip about or whatever it is you do we are your teachers - not your friends, not your playground pals. Our private lives are none of your business! Got that?!" A stunned silence. "Good. Now back to Jaws."

They barely spoke a single word for the rest of the lesson. they listened, they took notes, but they didn't argue. Clara taught as normal, her speech was the end of it as far as she was concerned, but she was grateful for the breaktime bell as they all left. Danny appeared merely moments later, leaning against the doorframe as she tidied up. "Clara Oswald you are causing a stir," he grinned.

"What you talking about?" she asked, "don't just stand there fool, there's so much paper on this floor it's ridiculous and it's only 11." Danny walked in, shutting the door behind him.

"Apparently you had a little rant at your year 11s?" Clara spun round, "a few pupils were walking by your room at the wrong time. Nice work though," he told her. Clara sighed, putting the paper in the recycling bin.

"I couldn't just say nothing, they were doing my head in," she explained. Danny joined her, both leaning against her desk. Clara leant her head on his shoulder, "did I do the right thing? Shouting at them like that?"

"Yes, you did. You're a teacher, discipline is part of the job. You made a point and I'm actually fairly sure it'll work. These kids respect you, they worry about you too. You're a good teacher and this is proof of that," he told her, kissing her head softly.

"Only good?" Clara asked him, smirking a little. Danny hit her gently and they both laughed.

"Humble with it," Danny told her and they both stood up. "Come on, let's get tea."