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You fell down into bed, exhausted from your family’s Christmas celebrations. The day had been long and stressful, but as was every Christmas for you. This time around, however, the holiday hadn’t been messed with by any aggressive aliens. You should have been grateful for that, but you found that you were disappointed with the lack of invasion. Being with family was fun, sure, but stopping threats to earth with a certain spiky haired alien-man brought you even more enjoyment.
The Doctor hadn’t shown himself for a while, and, without any significant threat to human life, would most likely continue to stay away until after the New Year. It’s not that you and him didn’t get along. In fact, it was quite the opposite. You were near inseparable whenever you were traveling together and the two of you were miserable when you were at home. He simply didn’t want to risk being caught by your family, which you understood. You knew that your family wouldn’t be too keen on finding a strange man in their home, so he would only visit you to pick you back up. You had both agreed on him coming back after the holiday season, which spanned from Thanksgiving all the way until after New Year’s Day.
The more you thought about your friend, the more you realized you missed him. You would have loved to spend the holidays with the Time Lord, even if you had just watched old Christmas movie reruns and gorged on sweets. Any moment spent with the alien would have been perfect in your eyes. Yes, you love saving planets and constantly running, but what you loved more was simply being around the Doctor. He was a brilliant creature with a radiant personality, yet he managed to make you feel smart and beautiful in his presence. You were never in his shadow and he always paid attention to you and your needs. He was your best friend and you wanted to see him again.
Sitting up, you reached over and pulled open the drawer to your nightstand, pulling out a small, wrapped box and held it gently in your hands. You had been expecting the Doctor to show up and tell you that he needed your help with saving the Earth once again. After it was all said and done, you were going to give him a small Christmas present. You knew that you didn’t have to get the Doctor anything for Christmas and that what you got him wasn’t impressive, but you wanted to show him that you remembered him.
Placing the box on top of your nightstand, you went under your sheets and lay back down. You pulled a pillow close to you as a few stray tears left your eyes. You knew that you’d see him soon and that you shouldn’t cry, but you simply couldn’t help it. You were so hopeful that you would see him earlier than your pickup day, but it didn’t seem that that would be the case. Hugging the pillow tighter, you decided to get some sleep. The day had been eventful and you wanted to get the Doctor off of your mind. Your eyes closed, images of the Doctor and the TARDIS dancing in your head as you slowly drifted off.
A large grin was painted onto the Doctor’s face as he prepared to come see you. He knew he was running a risk visiting you at home, but he simply couldn’t contain himself. He had traveled all across the universe to find you the perfect Christmas gift and he wanted to see the look on your face when you opened it. He waited until the later hours of the holiday, hoping to avoid your family. Putting in the coordinates to your home, he set off to see you.
As soon as the TARDIS landed, he rushed out of the doors, ready to wish you a Merry Christmas and engulf you in a massive hug. Instead, his words fell from his lips as he found you sound asleep, holding a pillow tightly to yourself. His grin fell as he slowly moved over to your bed. He had missed Christmas with you and he didn’t have the hearts to wake you from your slumber. Deciding to throw you another Christmas once you were back on the ship, he turned to leave.
Before he got the chance, however, his eyes spotted the gift on your nightstand. Gently picking it up and examining it, he saw that the tag on it had been addressed to him. A small smile formed on his lips as he realized that you had gotten him something as well. He reached into his coat pocket and grabbed the present he had gotten for you, replacing his gift with yours. He had wanted to see you open your gift, but he reasoned that this was the better option.
He leaned over and kissed your forehead softly before whispering a quiet “Merry Christmas” into your ear. Putting your gift to him into his pocket, he went back into his box, closing the doors gently as not to wake you. The TARDIS dematerialized from your room, you never even noticing that the Doctor had been there.