A/N - Thank you for all the lovely comments so far! It's extremely encouraging. This chapter is a little longer but we see things develop a bit more...
Chapter Three
The next few days passed by, and Clara hadn't seen her new Scottish friend, nor had she had a call or text from him. As she left London behind on Friday evening, she thought about texting him first.
Hey Doctor She typed out and then quickly deleted. Hey, it's Clara, the girl you saved from the rain a few days ago! She deleted that too. Has Mr Darcy made his move yet? She sighed, shook her head and deleted that too before slipping her phone back into her pocket. Maybe she'd never see him again. Maybe she hoped too much.
Just as she stepped off the train, Clara's phone rang. She scrambled to get it out of her pocket but sighed when she read her friend's name instead.
"Hi Amy," she said, trying to hide her disappointment.
"Clara! Are you still going to come round tonight? I know it was just supposed to be a quiet night but Rory has gone and invited some people from work who he's trying to impress and so it's turned into a bit of a thing - dinner and drinks and stuff - I hope you don't mind…"
Clara laughed. She could probably do with a good natter with her best friend. "Yeah, course I'll be there. I'll pick up some wine and come straight over."
A short while later she was knocking on the door of Amy's house clutching some white wine.
Amy wrenched the door open. "Oh, thank goodness you're here," she said, almost sighing in relief as Clare stepped inside.
"Why, what's going on?" she said, shaking off her jacket. Just then she heard raucous laughter from the other room. Amy rolled her eyes.
"Rory asked all these guys from the hospital over. I think he's trying to impress them so he can make Head Nurse next year. They've been talking doctor-y stuff all evening and I'm already tired of pretending like I know what they're talking about."
Clara laughed. "Well, I'm glad to be here to save you."
They walked through to the kitchen and Clara spotted Rory talking to three older men.
"…And then I said, 'But what if it's just high blood pressure'!" The other men all laughed and Clara spotted Amy rolling her eyes again.
Then Rory noticed Clara. "Ah, Clara, come and meet everyone. Everyone, this is my wife's friend Clara Oswald."
The three men turned around and Clara's breath got stuck in her throat when her eyes met the same steely blue gaze as the man who'd been taking up all of her thoughts. For a split second, it was like they were the only two people in the room.
"Oh, hello", she said, finally finding her voice and waving a little at them.
"This is Doctor Peter Reynolds, Doctor Eric Lehman, and Doctor John Smith."
Just then, her Doctor piped up.
"We've met before actually." He said, his Scottish brogue not failing to send a shiver down her spine, his eyes never leaving hers.
One of the other doctors laughed. "John, when have you been meeting pretty young women?"
"Just on the train to London. We had a lovely chat about books."
Clara smiled, feeling her cheeks redden and heart stutter. There was something about Doctor John Smith that made her feel like a love-struck teenager again.
The sexual tension in the room was thick, but Rory quickly broke the spell by shepherding the three Doctors outside to look his new decking.
"What was that?!" whispered Amy, swatting Clara's arm with the back of her hand. "How do you know the sexy Scotsman?"
"Amy, you're a married woman," laughed Clara, still watching the Doctor moving about outside, listening intently to Rory, unable to believe he was really here. "I just…bumped into him, I suppose. He saved me from the rain outside the train station, we talked a bit, even swapped numbers…"
"What?! Clara, you never tell me anything anymore!"
"I was going to tell you tonight! I was going to have a moan about how I hadn't heard from this guy since we exchanged numbers and whether I should make the first move because he's all I've been thinking about! Then here he is standing in your bloody kitchen!"
Clara looked over at Amy and they both broke out in laughter. "Well, come on then," said Amy, handing Clara a glass of wine, "Tell me everything."
Half a bottle of wine later, Amy had gone to find Rory and stop him talking too much about which new lawnmower he should buy. Clara was in the kitchen, hunting down a glass to get herself some water. Just as she was stretching to a high cupboard for one, she felt a warm hand on the small of her back and another reach around her.
"Here, let me,"
Startled, Clara squeaked a little and turned her head. "Oh, Doctor, you scared me half to death!" she said, spinning around to face him.
He gave her a boyish grin and she melted a tiny bit. Clara marvelled at just how tall he was next to her and how good he looked. He had a navy blue t-shirt on under a dark blazer, the faintest shadow of stubble on his chin and his thick grey curls had been tamed just enough. Clara shook her head, hoping he hadn't noticed her eyes devouring him.
Smiling, she took the glass from him. "Thank you."
"You're welcome,"
Clara thought he might disappear again, but he leant his hip up against the counter next to her, folding his arms across his chest.
"Fancy seeing you here," he said, "It's a small world really, isn't it? How do you know Rory?"
"Oh, I've been friends with Amy, his wife, since we were at University, so I've known Rory almost as long. I live just around the corner so I see them all the time still. What about you?"
The Doctor looked out into the garden where Rory and Amy were still talking to the others.
"I'm a cardiologist at St. Moore's Hospital- been there nearly 25 years now, and young Rory has been working with me on a few of my latest cases. He's a good egg is Rory, not like most of the pudding-brains in that place."
Clara laughed. "Cardiology…that's the heart, right?"
He nodded. "It is indeed - the most important muscle; it beats 100,000 times a day, pumps 1.5 gallons of blood around 60,000 miles of blood vessels every minute, has it's own electrical supply and delivers oxygen and nutrients to 75 trillion cells. It starts beating at 4 weeks after conception and doesn't stop until you die. If that's not amazing, I don't know what is."
Clara was staring at him, a smile on her face as she absorbed the energy and passion this man clearly had for his work. He was wonderfully adorable.
He laughed nervously and rubbed the back of his neck with his hand, like he did when he asked for her phone number.
"I'm sorry - I went off on one a bit there and it's probably terribly boring for you. Forgive me."
"No, no, it's not boring at all," said Clara quickly "I think it's fascinating, actually, and it's so refreshing to hear someone talk so passionately about what they do." Then a thought crossed her mind. "Wait, if you work at the hospital, why did I bump into you on a train to London twice this week then?"
"Oh, well I'm currently teaching a little at the UCL Medical School, just for a few days a week,"
Clara looked down into her empty glass. "So is that why I haven't seen you on the train for a few days?" she said, desperately hoping she didn't sound as pathetic as she thought she did.
"Yes, I'm sorry - when I said 'see you tomorrow' I really meant it. Unfortunately a few things…got in the way and I needed to be here."
Clara looked up at him and he moved a little closer to her. His aftershave was delicious.
"Can I make it up to you, Clara Oswald?" he said quietly.
Clara felt goosebumps ripple across her skin and her name fell from his lips. She grinned. "I'd like that."
He smiled back. "Good."
"So why didn't you want to tell me your name?"
Clara and the Doctor were sitting next to each other at the table - which Clara imagined Amy might be responsible for - as they and the rest of the group tucked into a lasagne made by Rory, but they were wrapped up in their own intimate conversation whilst the others discussed organ donors and football fixtures.
"I did tell you my name,"
"No you didn't, you said 'Just the Doctor'", she said, trying to imitate his Scottish accent.
He laughed and quirked and eyebrow at her. "Wait, was that a Scottish or Russian accent?"
"Don't change the subject!"
"Ok, sorry, sorry," he said, raising his hands a little in submission. He looked down at his plate and pushed some salad around, thinking. "I guess John Smith has always felt so dull. When I first went into medicine, friends just started referring to me as 'Doctor' and I suppose it stuck." He looked up at her and appeared to wince a little. "Was it terribly arrogant of me to introduce myself as 'The Doctor'?"
Clara chuckled. "No, I like it," she said, locking eyes with him "It suits you."
Just as Clara was about to ask him more about his work, one of his colleagues at the other end of the table interrupted them.
"John, stop flirting with the young woman and tell Rory about the time that bloke came in to the hospital because he thought he had two hearts…"
The Doctor blushed slightly at being caught out and gave Clara a shy glance before turning to the rest of the table, launching into his anecdote.
Clara met Amy's knowing glance across the table, which caused her own cheeks to redden and quickly look down at her plate.
Much later, everyone was still at the table drinking coffee and chatting.
"Right, I think I'll make a move," said Clara, standing up. "Thank you for a lovely evening everyone."
"How are you getting home?" asked the Doctor, looking up at her.
"Oh, I was just going to walk. I'm only around the corner."
"Is that a good idea, Clara?" said Amy, starting to gather up cups and plates "It's really late."
The Doctor stood up quickly. "I'll come with you, walk you back."
"I'll be fine, really - I've done the walk loads of times before," she said, shrugging on her coat "I don't want to interrupt your evening."
"I insist," he said, in a tone that made Clara think terribly inappropriate things. "I'd only worry if you went alone and I was planning on walking home myself anyway."
"I think you should listen to John, Clara," said Amy, a tiny grin on her lips "Better safe than sorry."
Clara rolled her eyes at her friend and then turned back to the Doctor who was already pulling on his black overcoat. "Thank you, Doctor, that would be very kind of you."
He smiled. "Not a problem. Let's go."
Clara was the first one to break the silence as they walked along under the streetlights.
"Thank you for walking me home - you really didn't have to,"
"I know," he said, "I wanted to."
Clara smiled. "Well, it was very gentlemanly of you to offer."
"To be honest," he said, lowering his voice even though there was no-one else around "I was just a fed up of talking lawnmowers and sports - not really my bag." Clara laughed. "Oh, I see, I was just an escape route, was I?"
He grinned. "You could say that,"
Clara nudged him with her elbow.
"You could also say that I wanted to have an intelligent conversation whilst walking a beautiful woman home," he said, glancing down at her.
A smile tugged at her lips. "Good save."
They spent the rest of the short walk debating the role of the character 'Joe' in Great Expectations, and got so caught up that Clara nearly walked straight past her house.
"This is me," she said as they stopped at the bottom of the steps leading up to her front door. "Told you it wasn't too far."
"Far enough to warrant a chaperone."
"Do you have miles to walk now?" she said, biting her lip, feeling a bit guilty, even though she'd enjoyed their walk.
He glanced around, trying to get his bearings. "Erm, no, I didn't realise where we were, but I'm actually just a few streets up that way, round the other side of the park."
"Will you send me a text when you get home?"
He smiled, and looked down at his shoes. "It's been a long time since someone's said that to me." he said, and Clara thought there was a sadness behind his smile that told her there was so much more to this man than met the eye. He looked up at her. "But yes, I will let you know that I didn't get murdered in an alleyway or eaten to death by squirrels in the park."
Clara chuckled and gazed up at him. This brilliant man she was only just getting to know. Before she could overthink it, she gripped his coat lapel and went up on her tip-toes, pressing a soft kiss to his cheek.
"Thank you for walking me home, Doctor."
The Doctor swallowed, his eyes fluttering open again. "My pleasure, Clara Oswald."
A small wave and a small smile later, Clara was inside her front door, grinning like a idiot and wondering when she'd see the Doctor again.
Before she got into bed, she had two text alerts. One from Amy:
Hope you had a nice stroll home with lover boy - you must tell me everything tomorrow! xx
And one from the Doctor:
Managed to avoid those pesky squirrels and made it home in one piece. It was a lovely surprise to see you tonight. Dr. x
Clara smiled, switched off her light and typed back in the dark.
I had a lovely evening. Maybe I'll see you on the 7:37 on Monday morning. Goodnight! x
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