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Chapter 24

When Clara woke up on Saturday morning, she was surprised to realized that she was actually feeling good and her mood only improved more when she glanced out of the window and noticed that the weather seemed perfect. She felt confident, absolutely confident that this weekend would be a good one. Clara and John had been getting along well lately and he seemed happy about going back to work in his practice, so she was determined to take their relationship one step further.

After throwing her duvet aside, Clara grabbed her robe and made her way downstairs, only to find John already fiddling with the coffee maker.

"Morning," he greeted her with a smile, "Did you sleep well?"

"Very well," she grinned at him as she slid into her seat, "You?"

"Like a baby," he replied.

"We should go out together," Clara blurted out immediately, smiling broadly at him, "The weather looks amazing. At least from the inside."

John's gaze shifted towards the window. "It does indeed," he agreed after a moment, "So, what would you like to do?"

Clara gave a shrug. "Greenwich is probably nice."

He nodded in agreement. "We could go to see the Cutty Sark. I've never actually been there," John said.

They had gone to the Cutty Sark together during one of their earlier dates, but Clara thought that it probably wasn't the best moment to bring it up. Instead she would show it to him again and she had no doubt that he would enjoy it just as much as he had the first time around.

After breakfast both Clara and John got dressed and boarded the first bus that took them in the direction of Greenwich. Clara had been right in her suspicion that it would be a lovely day because the sun was shining and it was warm, overall a perfect spring day.

"How is the leg?" Clara asked him after a while when they had been walking towards the ship for a few minutes.

He was still using his cane, but Clara got the impression that he didn't depend on it as much as he had in the beginning.

"It's alright at the moment," he said, "It's the bad weather days that make it ache, but I suppose I've still got time until August."

"August?" She raised her eyebrows at him. "Why August?"

John turned around to look at her. "The ball," he replied as if it should have been obvious, "We've got tickets, remember?"

And just like that a smile spread across Clara's face. She hadn't thought that he would still want to go with her while his memories hadn't returned.

"Who's the one with the memory loss?" John chuckled when Clara didn't reply immediately. Her surprise must have been written all over her face.

"I remember. I just didn't think you'd want to go with me."

"Well, like I said. We've got tickets and apparently I promised before the accident," he replied and looked ahead. They had arrived at the ship by now.

"Yes," Clara giggled, "Yes, you did."

After having a look at the ship's interior John and Clara also decided to take a tour through the Maritime museum around the corner and to her own amusement she realized that the accident and his memory loss hadn't changed John in the least. He pointed out the exact same things like last time and he even made the same joke twice, but Clara laughed and felt no need to point it out to him. Things were going well, really well, and she enjoyed his company too much to ruin it by talking about the accident or putting more pressure on him.

Once they had finished their tour through the museum Clara noticed that John had started to limp just a little and suggested to sit down in one of the many cafés in Greenwich because her feet had started to ache just a little as well, even though her choice of footwear was probably to blame for that.

They soon found a nice spot outside in the sunshine and over a cup of coffee and a piece of cake John started telling her about his first week back at work.

"I think I actually like having my own practice," he concluded and leaned back in his seat, "Feels good not having to do night shifts. Though I'm really not sure about Nardole. He seems. . . odd."

Clara chuckled. "He is odd, but give him a chance. He's been your receptionist since the beginning and he's actually nice. Once you get used to his sense of humour."

"Alright. I will," he said, "But enough about me. How was your week?"

Clara sighed. "Courtney Woods, my least favourite student, has introduced a new "game" to the class that whenever someone has to answer a question, Courtney and some other troublemakers try to make as much noise as possible by going through their bags or rustling paper or whatever. It's really annoying and the shy ones already have troubles speaking up."

John smiled at her in reply. "You should have her answer the question whenever she does that. Let's see how long she keeps the game going," he suggested.

"I'm not actually sure how much good that will do with Courtney, but it's worth a shot," she said and really appreciated that John was listening to her, giving her advice. It felt almost like before his accident. They had always been a team and a good one at that.

"Can I ask you a personal question?" John suddenly asked and when Clara looked at him, his eyes was fixed on the empty plate in front of him.

"Sure. What is it?"

"Why don't we have children?" he enquired carefully.

Clara smiled at him even though right now he couldn't see it. "We wanted children. We've been trying to for months, but it hasn't worked out so far. Why are you asking?"

"Oh, uhm, no particular reason," John replied and reached for his coffee to have a sip. Clara got the distinct impression that there had been some reason for his question, but whatever it was, he obviously didn't want to share it with her right now.

John slumped down on the sofa and the relief was instant. His leg had started to ache a while ago and it felt so good to not have to rely on it any longer. For a brief moment he even wondered if Clara would be willing to get him something to drink later because he had no intention of moving any time soon.

"I've had a lovely time today," he called out and a second later Clara appeared in the doorway, carrying two bottles of beer. Apparently he had married an angel. "And it was very good of you to pretend that we haven't been there before."

"How did you know?" Clara asked as she sank down next to him and handed him one of the bottles.

"Well, it took a bit to figure out what that amused look was for, but eventually it clicked," he chuckled before he took a large sip from his beer.

"I had a great time, too," Clara admitted after a moment and adjusted her position on the sofa, tucking her feet away and turning to look at him. She was still smiling and under different circumstances John might have been wary of that look, but right now he simply enjoyed being on the receiving end of her smile. Strangely enough, it was a sight that made him happy.

"We could, uhm, watch a movie?" he suggested.

"No," she said thoughtfully, "I have a better idea."

John's intention had been to ask what her idea was, but he didn't even have time to open his mouth before Clara leaned forward until their lips touched. Maybe if she had announced it, John would have declined, but when she kissed him his heart suddenly started racing inside his chest. He had no idea what to do, no idea what Clara expected of him, but there was one thing he was fairly certain of: the butterflies in his stomach told him he didn't mind the kiss in the slightest.

Then finally John opened his mouth to let her in and he felt her tongue against his own, reluctant at first, testing, and he was so grateful that Clara allowed him to take his time exploring her. He was barely even aware that his hand had started to wander as well, landing on her hip, his fingers softly digging into her flesh while he pulled her closer. Of course he had married this woman, because how could he have resisted? Everything about her was sweet and perfect, from the way she talked to the way she kissed him.

Suddenly Clara moved and a moment later she swung her leg across his legs and straddled his lap, pressing herself tightly against his chest as he wrapped his arms around her, their lips never parting in the process. A strange, tingling feeling spread through his body and John thought that he never wanted that feeling to end. It was sweet and alluring and just a tiny bit arousing. Then Clara moaned into his mouth right before she broke the kiss to catch her breath. When she distanced her face from his own, Clara was smiling and John couldn't help but smile back.

"Definitely a better idea," he breathed.

"I've got another one," she said and slid her hand between them until it came to rest on his belt, her fingers just inches away from his member that was slowly beginning to harden inside his trousers and all of a sudden John froze.

He had never been good with intimacy and it had taken him a very long time to trust his first wife in that way or the girlfriend he had had before her. Even though John knew that he was married to Clara and a part of him could feel a bond forming between them even now, he wasn't ready. Not yet anyway.

"Too soon?" she asked carefully. Obviously Clara knew him better than he would have thought.

He nodded in reply. "But the part before that was great," he answered nervously, "We could, uhm, do that. . . again?"

Clara smiled at him before she bent down and locked their lips in another kiss and John was only too ready to yield to it this time.