Attention! This has some Father issues in it and if that triggers something bad in you don't read this chapter, just the note at the end.
Um. Well this turned out to be a whopping 5,000 words, which is the longest chapter I have ever posted in the history of my writing, and I hope it makes up for all the short ones lately.
Review:)
He heard her scream, and he was out of his bed in a second. He would know that scream from a mile away. He couldn't move faster, his feet thudding against the smooth floors into her bedroom. She was writhing, screaming, her covers tangled around her legs, but nobody was physically hurting her. He knelt down next to her sleeping form, and gently shook her awake.
"Clara," Elijah whispered, "Hey, Clara. It's okay, you're okay." he promised her, as her terrified eyes found his. He had never seen her so out of control, her limbs shaking, tears trailing down her face. Her brown curls were in a rats nest around her head, and she looked so hopeless, so lost, he didn't think, he acted.
He pulled her into him, crushing her small body against his. She buried her face in his shoulder with a newfound desperation, her small face shaking into his T-shirt. She seemed like she was breaking apart, and he strived to know why so he could fix it. He realised that he couldn't let anything happen to her. Not his Impossible Girl. Not his Clara. He had to fix this, whatever was causing her such pain, such depression. He hated seeing her in pain, hated it with all his heart.
"Please don't leave me." she begged him, pulling a fraction away with a sniffle, tears dripping down her face as her eyes pleaded with him. His hand automatically wiped away the tears, rubbing comforting circles into her cheek.
"Never." he promised, and then, carefully, he eased her back against the plump pillows. He'd picked this room for her for this reason, because it was the most comfortable, the best. It had been almost two months since the souffle fire, and Rose and Clara had moved in with them permanently.
"Then stay here." she begged him, and he obediently sank down next to her, laying rather awkwardly on the opposite pillow. Clara wasn't buying this though, she scooched over to where he lay, resting her head on his shoulder, and he carefully put his arm around her small shoulders, drawing her nearer. She smelled like Clara, his Clara, and he couldn't help but feel at peace as he sank back down into slumber.
He raised his fist and knocked loudly on the door. It was late at night, but if he knew his son, he would be awake until very late. John answered almost immediately, his glasses on his nose, and his hair rumpled effectively. He had that look on that Gallifrey sometimes got, the far away spacey look that his mind was elsewhere. His eyes focused on his Dad though, and he watched his eye brows draw together.
"I need a place to stay." he rasped out. He wouldn't have come here again, he didn't spend much time in the same place, but he figured it would be best to see John again. He'd left rather quietly last time, as Elijah and that woman were in the hospital, because he didn't want to cause a fuss. Not over Elijah anyways.
"Of course." John said quickly, moving aside to let his Dad through, "Let me show you to a room." His son clearly didn't want him wandering about the house, he wondered what stupid thing Elijah had pulled this time. Elijah was always doing foolish things like that.
The first thing Clara noticed when she woke up was that her nose was pressed into a shoulder. A familiar shoulder that she recognised at once, because it was warm and had that delightful scent of apples and cinnamon. That was also why her eyes flew open in shock. Why was she sleeping next to Elijah?
The answer came to her at once, the memories from their last night encounter slowly flooding back to her, but only in brief flashes like it was all a dream. She felt her cheeks slowly turn red as she remembered the way she clung to him, begged him to stay. She must have looked like a puppy needing to be loved. Not that anything of that sort had happened. She figured it was best to let him sleep, than to wake him up and be forced to exchange explanations. She tried to free herself, as it seemed to be the best thing to do, but his arms were like a cage around her. Protecting her from the unknown, she supposed.
She gave up and instead, looked at him. It was the first time, she figured, she could look at him without some cocky excuse thrown at her, and she was grateful.
His chin really was rather large, she realised. It fit his face though, and she couldn't imagine him without it. His hair wasn't styled to curl to one side, she realised, it just did that naturally. His brow was furrowed, but he didn't have any eyebrows. Altogether, she thought he was the prettiest man he had ever seen, and... he was looking right at her.
She flinched backwards automatically, and he let out a slight chuckle, as he turned over, groaning.
"You had to wake me up with your staring." he complained, rubbing his eyes with his palms. She watched him as he slowly regestered their surroundings. He glanced down at her, and then blushed. "Sorry, I- good morning." he said, unsure of himself all the sudden, as his brain freed itself from it's sleepy haze.
"Good morning." she responded robotically, picking at the covers with a fingernail. They exchanged a few more awkward comments, and Clara honestly wanted to throw her head under the covers. What do you say to a person after you slept in their arms all night? She was at a complete loss. "I'm sorry... about last night." she finally said, avoiding his eyes. "I haven't had a nightmare since I moved here... I don't know what came over me."
"You're fine." he assured her, not meeting her eyes either. A silence fell over them again, and Clara wracked her brains for something to say. This wasn't their comfortable silences of the walks to the coffee shop, where she didn't feel the need to say anything. This was full with things the other needed to say, and it made everything very, very uncomfortable.
"What was the nightmare about?" he asked her, his voice coming out in a rush, it took her a second to decipher what he had said.
"I was scared." she said, her eyes now distant. "I didn't know where I was." she shook herself. The dream only came back to her in brief flashes, her frantic screams of "Where am I?" faded and distorted. And pain. So much pain, and it hurt so very very badly.
"Do you know now?" he asked her, and it sounded like an odd question to ask, but strangely, it was the only thing she needed him to say.
"I think so, yeah." she nodded, and gave him a watery smile. She realised how very nice it felt to wake up and see his face, to feel his strong arms giving her their support. He leaned closer to her, and she couldn't help but lean in a little more, wanting suddenly to kiss him. Her nose was almost touching his, and she held her breath.
"John!" A gruff voice yelled. "This is not the-"
In a split second, Clara and Elijah sprang apart, moving to opposite ends of the bed. Clara cheeks were burning red as she recognized Elijah's Dad's gruff face, his eyebrows pulled up slightly in shock. It didn't last long though. "Typical Elijah." he muttered, sliding out of the room without so much as a 'Sorry'.
Amy's List of Things to Do
1. Get Clara to remember.
2. Get her to make the Doctor remember.
3. Have him figure out things, wave his sonic screwdriver around.
4. Live happily ever after.
Amy hesitated, before deleting the last bit, her brow furrowed. She didn't believe in happy endings. Not anymore, anyways.
"Amy-" Rory said from behind her and she whirled around, slamming the laptop shut before he could see the page she had pulled up. Rory didn't even look up from the mail he was inspecting. "Where are my scrubs?"
"In the kitchen, where you left them." she said, rolling her eyes.
"You better get going, don't want to be late." he popped his head around the doorframe, his eyes twinkling. She walked over to where he stood and pressed a quick kiss to his lips, grinning slightly.
"Maybe." she said, grabbing her jacket. "Aren't they supposed to wait on the model?" Rory chuckled, but she was already out the door, stuffing her laptop in her bag, and pulling up her hood to protect her hair from the rain which poured down.
Elijah fiddled with the grass at the lakes edge, a umbrella over his head and a blanket under his bottom, his hands trembling slightly as he replayed the events from this morning over and over in his head. Typical Elijah. He was consistent enough to be typical was he? Did Clara think of him that way? Did she think he was so typical that he was impossible to be loved? She had seemed to want to kiss him this morning, but he was he just kidding himself?
"Elijah?" John asked him, sinking down next to him in the grass. Elijah simply glared with more passion towards the lake, expecting a lecture. "Why were you in Clara's room?" Elijah rolled his eyes.
"You know, I'm not a bad person." he said, not even glancing in his brother's direction. He could feel the disapproving thoughts radiating out. "Just in case you were wondering."
"So you did sleep with her." John amended, "Well done." That was not was he was expecting.
"No!" Elijah protested, "Is that all you're good for? You seriously have the thoughts of every single other man on this planet."
"So you didn't sleep with her."
"No, she was having a nightmare, so I stayed with her. Like Peeta did for Katniss in Catching Fire." and I mean, it's not like we were going to our death but...
(the next line is a spoiler from Mockingjay so just go to the Do me a favor bit if you haven't read it and want to.)
"They ended up married." John pointed out.
"Do me a favor? Shut up!" he said harshly, and John looked at him in surprise. Normally this would turn into a jostling of shoulders and a laugh. Not Elijah glaring into the distance with strong 'leave me alone or I'll kill you vibe.'
"Is this about Clara, or Dad?" John asked him, his older brother softness coming back in the heat of the moment.
"Neither."
"Ah, so it's both " John said wisely, "Do you like her?"
"No!" he said to quickly, "No, not at all. I mean she's great, and we're friends but imagine me and her snogging! My chin would get in the way, and her nose would barely brush against mine, and she'd have to get a step stool."
"So you do like her?"
"Oh, John," he said, giving in, "If only the simple word like could be used to describe Clara Oswald." he looked at his brother sharply, "Why do you care so much?"
"I'm going to propose to Rose." his brother admitted, "And I don't want you to be alone."
"Congratulations." Elijah said, turning away from him. Seeing their conversation was over, John got up to leave.
"I can get Dad to leave." he said.
"No need." Elijah responded, and his eyes were far away.
Clara lightly rolled behind Rose on the cart, her eyes unfocused as her friend picked over the selection of canned soups they had on display, wondering if she really did want to kiss Elijah Smith. It would make some sense, if she loved him, her heart did beat faster everytime he took her hand, it thudded when he smiled she automatically smiled back, made it go crazy when... well basically everything about him. Was she in love?
"John told me that his Dad found you and Elijah in bed together." Rose said nonchalantly, picking out a nice looking tomato soup, only slightly glancing over in her friends direction.
"Nothing happened." Clara quickly excused, "I had a nightmare again, and he was there. End of story." she didn't mention the almost kiss, or the way she woke up with his arms wrapped firmly around her, the fact she didn't mind it.
"I believe you." Rose shrugged, tossing the can in the cart. "Do you love him?" Clara looked at her in alarm.
"What?" she squawked, looking in alarm at her friend.
"You heard what I said." Rose leaned against the other end of the cart, her eyes narrowing at her friend. "So answer the question."
"I don't know!" she lied, and Rose glared. "Okay, maybe." she bit her lip. "What do you think we should do about the dad?" she quickly changed the subject, hoping to distract Rose from the truth she just sort of admitted.
"Don't change the subject." Rose said, but when she got no other responses from the shorter girl, she sighed, her bangs blowing out in front of her. "I don't know," she admitted, "He seems perfectly nice to me and John."
"But whenever it comes to Elijah he's an ass." Clara said, puzzled.
"Oh no." Rose groaned, "You've got your thinking face on. I hate that face."
"It's better than your thinking face, when you go and get drunk shortly after."
"OI!"
Elijah didn't often drive, but when he did he rode a motorbike. Something about sitting on it with his coat flapping in the wind, a bowtie on his neck, and a helmet and safety goggles crammed onto his head made him feel so cool. He pulled up to the Pond's house in a flourish, whipping off his goggles and parking his bike.
He walked up to the door and rapped on it four times, grinning to himself all the while. Rory would know the answers. The future must know a thing or two about romantics to woo a girl like Amy.
Rory answered almost immediately, a toothbrush propped in his mouth. He took it out for a second, and held up a finger. Elijah took that as a welcoming to come and walked inside. Rory cleared his mouth of toothpaste.
"You missed her." Rory said, "Amy. She left for her new job."
"I came to see you!" Elijah replied, clapping his hand. "I need your help." he failed to notice the way Rory went a little pale at the word help.
"What with?" he asked, and Elijah, again, failed to notice the tremor in Rory's voice.
"Love advice." he said, and Rory immediately relaxed. "How did you tell Amy you loved her?"
"It was a bit of an accident really." Rory explained, "she thought I was gay and said so, I said I wasn't, and she put together the pieces." Elijah sighed, and knocked his head against his knees.
"How should I do it then?"
"Can't you just be like any other normal person and actually ask her on a date first?"
"Dates are not cool." he said rapping Rory on the nose, "Remember that."
Clara had taken care to make sure the house was deserted before she snooped. It was for everyone's better interests she decided, that she try to mend the bonds between Elijah and his Dad. She couldn't stand the inferior way he treated him, the scowls and muttered assumptions. That was why she had searched the house for around an hour before she found the attic, and she coughed loudly when she crawled into the enclosed space.
She grinned at what she saw though. She figured that every house had its secret storage unit, and this was it. Cardboard boxes were piled everywhere, whether from moving laziness or memories meant to be packed up and forgotten. She wondered how, in her months of living here, that she had never noticed this room.
Coughing slightly, she flipped open a box. The contents was filled with broken pots, and she slammed it shut when a spider began to creep out of the shards. Not there then. She opened and closed about fifteen more boxes, finding anything from dolls to long scarves, before she found the box she was looking for.
It only contained one item, a leather photo album, and she pulled the heavy book out with a grunting heave, it's pages laden with dust.
She coughed from the dust spewing from it's pages, her hand going to her chest as it heaved. Clearing away the remaining dust with her fingers, she peered down at the page, hoping to find something worth her time.
It was to Elijah, from River, and the first page was their wedding pictures. River was a lovely woman she thought, with very big hair that radiated outwards as if she had been wearing a space helmet all day. She wasn't wearing a dress, but a pantsuit, her smile large as she stood next to Elijah looking very... ahem... sexy in his black tuxedo.
The next page was of John and a ginger woman, her face pressed cheerfully against his, but she thought he looked rather flustered and annoyed.
She caught her first look at Elijah's mother when she turned the page, and she had to admit she was very lovely. She had orange hair, and eyes that shone like two suns, she was hugging Elijah, pressing her lips to his forehead, seemingly happy to be there.
Clara shut the book with a snap, and placed it back in the box, suddenly feeling very guilty for snooping around, even it was to help Elijah. She would have to try different methods. Wiping the dust off her skirt, she decided to go and talk to John.
Elijah walked nervously into the flower shop, wiping his sweaty palms on his jeans. He didn't even know there was a flower shop in town before he drove by it, and stopped to buy some flowers. That was what people did in books at least, he thought. He'd read many books in his day, that was all he did before he met Clara. It was still a lot of what he did.
But no books could tell him how to tell Clara Oswald, one of the most amazing girls in history, how much he loved her.
The real reason he didn't ask her out on a date like any normal sane person, was because that was how he did it with River, and it didn't end well with her. No, he didn't want any date with Clara to be tainted with memories of his first date with River, so he might as well get it off his chest about how he felt about her. How he felt about the girl with the cute nose and large eyes, about the way she cared about the students she taught, about the way she kissed him on the corner of his mouth when he was sad.
"Um..." he asked the clerk at the desk, "What kind of flowers are good for telling someone you love them?"
"Getting engaged are we?" she asked him warmly, and he shook his head.
"No!" he said, blushing, "We haven't even kissed yet, I just need some romantic flowers."
"So a first date then?"
"No."
She looked exasperated. "Try sunflowers why don't you." she barked, and he grinned.
"Thank you!" he kissed her on both cheeks, paid for the flowers, and left.
Clara strolled into John's office, paying no mind to the frantic protests from Rose, slamming the door shut behind her.
"I need answers." she demanded, plopping herself down in the hard wooden chair before his desk, narrowing her eyes. "Why does your Dad hate Elijah?"
"Aren't you supposed to be at work?" John asked delicately, raising his eyebrows a fraction.
"It's a school holiday." she said, rolling her eyes. "Any idiot knows that." She sat up straighter, her arms crossed over her chest. "Don't try to change the subject. Why?"
"Surely you have some papers to grade or something." he pressed on, avoiding the subject at hand.
"If you don't tell me right now, I'll tell Rose about your engagement plans." she felt a twinge of guilt at those words, especially when his face turned white.
"Fine." he said, closing his eyes. "Listen, my Dad hates Elijah because Elijah blames himself for our Mother's death."
"So it wasn't his fault?" she asked softly, and suddenly everything seemed much to loud. She could feel him, feel Elijah's pain for the last year, feel every single person he'd pushed away, every single day he blamed himself, all for nothing.
"No. It was my Dad's fault. He made her make him some more eggs, and while she was doing that, the oil spilled and exploded. She died because he treated her like shit." his voice was as hard as his eyes. "And then Elijah came in with the news he was getting a divorce, and the my Father let him believe everything was his fault."
"Why didn't you tell him?" she yelled, and he mimed for her to be quiet. "No." she said, "No. You don't know do you? That's why you avoid him, because you've been lying to him for the past year! He's probably hated himself every day and it's your fault." John seemed to shrink.
"I only found out last night," he said quietly, "And I had every intention of telling Elijah this morning, but he wasn't in his bed."
She closed her eyes.
"My Dad's leaving tonight, and he's not coming back." John assured her, "I promise Clara." she just shook her head and left, because she couldn't believe someone could do that.
"What was that about?" Rose asked, propping herself on the desk. "I could hear Clara yelling."
"I'll tell you later." John excused, and Rose shrugged. "What did you find?"
"Well she definitely likes him."
"He likes her."
"So what do we do?"
Clara walked into the dining room, and tried to decide how to tell Elijah the news. His Dad should be gone, and she didn't want her Chin Boy to feel that way any longer. His eyes were so much older than they should be, and he should be much more comfortable with himself and the people around him then he was.
She did not expect what she found in the room, and her mouth dropped. Rose and John were nowhere in sight, and the lighting was low, a bouquet of roses in the middle of the table. Wine glasses and an elaborate dinner was on the table before them, completing the romantic cheesy look. She had to stifle a laugh at it all, and the best part, by far, was Elijah.
He looked like someone had dragged him here, and he sat looking very dejected with a bouquet of sunflowers in his lap.
"Did you plan this?" she asked him, taking her seat across from him. He shook his head, sighing.
"No. I believe Rose and John are behind it."
She let out a nervous giggle, afraid to meet his eyes in case she said something stupid. Sometimes she really hated Rose. Way to make things awkward. She was never telling that woman anything ever again. "So they want us to kiss that badly then.." she joked, and he laughed too.
"Pair of Cupids." he said, and grinned. "At least we get good free food."
"It's all about the food." She replied, in a very serious tone, before dissolving into laughter again. She had no idea if he wanted to kiss her as badly as she wanted to kiss him right now, but she was about ready to just kiss him. She vaguely wondered if he had told John about his feelings for her, if he actually maybe loved her?
"I would so kill Rose if they weren't about to get engaged." Clara shook her head, and stabbed at her bit of chicken.
"So you think she'll say yes?" he asked her, and she nodded.
"Never seen her look at anyone like that before." she said rather wistfully. "So Chin Boy... When's your birthday?" he gave her a quiet smile.
"November 23rd." he answered. "Yours?"
"April 12th."
"Okay that's no fair!" he protested, "You didn't tell me until the week before?" she shrugged.
"Didn't think it mattered much. Favorite color?"
"Blue. What do you mean it doesn't matter?"
"Birthday's just... Not a single one of them has ended well." she said, "I have birthday bad luck. My favorite color is red by the way."
"Red. Why red?"
"It symbolises life." She had never really thought to closely about it, "Not death or evil like most people think. Red is blood, the heart, the color of love." she waved her fork around importantly.
"Favorite food?" he quizzed her.
"Souffles." she answered, "Let me guess yours... fish fingers and custard?"
"You read my mind woman!" he waggled a finger at her in accusation.
"Um...Favorite movie?"
"Lord of the Rings, the Two Towers."
"Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. But I must say, I do like that movie. Legolas is after my heart."
"Legolas? I must have a talk with that heart stealing elf." he said, and she couldn't help but spit out the gulp of water she just took in laughter. They went on like this for a bit, and Clara couldn't help but have a grin that stretched from ear to ear as he told her some of the stupider adventures of his childhood, how he met River, who his first girlfriend was.
"John, I must talk to you-" Elijah's Dad burst into the room, and Clara and Elijah both jumped. When his eyes rested on their setting, his mouth furrowed into a frown.
"What the hell is this?" he asked.
"A date." Clara said before Elijah could respond. "We do live here you know."
"I'm surprised you like him." he said, "Elijah is a bit dumb." that was when Clara snapped. No man, no matter how bruised by his past, should call their son stupid.
"Now you listen here." she said, her voice hard and angry, as she pushed up from the table. "You're out of line. You think you can just barge in here and not even say sorry! We were having a lovely sodding time before you showed up with your 'I'm to cool to care about anyone else' attitude! Maybe if you got past the fact that you're a complete asshole, maybe you could actually be decent! BUT INSTEAD YOU HAVE TO SHOW UP AND RUIN EVERYTHING! WHY CAN'T YOU JUST BE A NICE DAD, AND MAYBE WANT TO INTRODUCE YOURSELF TO THE GIRL WHO'S IN LOVE WITH YOUR SON!" she realised what she had said as soon as it left her mouth, and clapped a hand over her lips. She'd always had a rather bossy temper, but that was information that should not have passed her lips just yet.
Realising that both men were staring at her, she bolted, flying out of the house and down the path to the lake.
"Elijah-" his dad began, but Elijah looked up at him in desperation. "We can talk later." his Dad finished, and he was gone, running down the path after Clara.
She was sitting on the beach of TARDIS lake, her knees pulled up to her chest and the wind making her hair sway in the breeze. Her shoes were cast to the side, and her toes lightly lapped at the water. He came up next to her, and she drew her feet out of the water, folding them underneath her.
"Hey." he said.
"Hi." she whispered. "why do you let him push over you like that?" she asked, just as soft as him.
"He's always favored John. My Mum just told me to keep quiet."
"That's rubbish. I went looking today, and it seems like he treated her the same way she treated you." there was a slight pause as she seemed to collect her thoughts. "You didn't hurt her you know." she said, "It wasn't you."
"Thank you." he used the same voice as her, soft and gentle. "Why did you go looking?"
"I think I pretty much just said why amongst all the shouting." she didn't take her eyes off the moon. "And I don't want you to be sad anymore."
"Thank you again." he said, "I guess that's all I can say."
"What were you doing today?" she asked him, and he can feel his cheeks turn red from the reality of the question. "Come on." she nudged him, "I told you about what I did."
"I was talking to Rory." it wasn't a lie, he rationalized, not at all.
"About what?"
"How to tell someone you love them." he said in a rush, because he wasn't sure he would be able to get the words out in the first place.
"Well... It depends of the person I suppose." she said, and he glanced down at her. She was looking at him now, her eyes very wide and very brown.
"How would someone tell you?" he asked her seriously.
"I don't know. Maybe put on a Legolas wig and pretend to shoot stuff for my amusment." she joked, but there was no light in her voice to go along with the words. "but... If they weren't a Lord of the Rings fan, they could start by kissing me."
"I'll have to try that last tip, ." he said, and, at the same time, they both leaned forward.
There was no interruptions, nothing to distract them as their lips collided. Her lips parted slightly under his, and he cupped his hand on her cheek, keeping the kiss slow and sweet. Her hands came to twine around his neck and play with his hair, he kept both his hands on her back.
And, he swore, in that moment, nothing would ever hurt them ever again.
How very wrong he was.
THAT WAS NOT A DREAM.
REPEAT.
IM NOT THAT MEAN TWICE.
Okay so if you skipped this chapter because of Father issues, basically Clara and Elijah got together yay!