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Wouldn’t Miss It For The World
It started off as relatively innocent. A few flirty remarks, an occasional wink, a casual bump of their shoulders... Nothing too intimate, or all that serious really. It was all fun and games...
Until it wasn't...
They were on set filming when it happened. Alex appeared earlier that morning, dropping in to see them before she headed off for some audition.
He doesn't know what it was... But there was something about her today that left him just slightly dumbstruck. It couldn't be the hair. It was always like that. All twisty, and curly, and magical...
It couldn't be her eyes. They were constantly changing anyway, and he's gotten used to the mixture of colours that appear every day...
It wasn't the clothes... He's always amazed by her style of dress. Despite what many of the media may think, he finds her choice of clothing rather... Fetching? Enticing? Alluring? Fascinating?... Oh, all of the above. And not that he'd ever tell her, but it's quite adorable too...
No... Definitely not the clothes. So then what the hell is it?
He sits on the steps of the TARDIS, staring intently at Alex as she talks with Karen. His eyes are narrowed, and he’s pursing his lips as he thinks. What’s different about Alex today? He sits up straighter as one of the guest stars approaches her, barely blinking as he watches her turn. She smiles at him, squeals, and proceeds to jump in to the man’s arms. Karen’s put her hand on Alex’s shoulder, bending down slightly to whisper in her ear. Alex purses her lips, rolling her eyes to mock glare at the red head. Kaz just laughs, turning on her heel and bounding away.
He watches, leaning back on to the palm of his hands as she turns back to the guy. Toby, he thinks his name is. He quickly studies him, assessing the threat…. Not that he is a threat! To Matt that is. He’s a threat to the Doctor. And Alex is River, who’s the Doctor’s wife, so really, he’s just looking out for his fictional characters on-screen wife…
Or at least, that’s what he’s telling himself…
Toby’s not such a bad guy. Great actor, great humour, great hair (though Matt does think Toby’s hair has nothing on his own)… But all the same… It doesn’t stop him from narrowing his eyes and leaning forward when he says something, and Alex laughs. That laugh, is his laugh. The laugh he hears when he’s said or done something completely stupid, or he’s told some really lame joke, or he flirts with her… That laugh belongs to him.
He licks his lip as Alex shakes her head, grinning at Toby. Her brilliant curls bounce and fall straight back in to place. He wonders if they always do that. No matter what she does… Does her hair just, return to their magical state? He’d like to test this theory…
Toby leans forward, kissing Alex on the cheek. Leaning back, Alex grins back up at him. Matt’s decided he’s had enough. Standing, he approaches her as Toby disappears down the hall. Casual, flirty smirk on, he walks up behind Alex. Covering her eyes with his hands, he puts on a deep, melodramatic tone of voice.
“Guess who?”
She laughs again, that exact same laugh. It doesn’t feel as special as it used to. She crosses her arms over her chest, humming.
“Let’s see… Is it… Matt!” She says, spinning and pulling his hands from over her eyes.
She grins at him as he bows before her.
“You’re powers of infinite knowledge astounds me Kingston.”
She sighs, nodding solemnly.
“It can be hard work sometimes… Being me.”
He stands rolling his eyes. Shaking his head, he jumps back in shock.
“Really? And here I thought it was effortless.”
She laughs again, stepping forward and enveloping him in a hug.
“Oh, shut up Darling.”
He presses his hands on her lower back, hugging her tightly. Pulling back, he holds her from around the waist.
“Never! Not when you’re around at least.”
Raising her eyebrow, she smirks at him. Cocking her head to the side, she laughs.
“Have a lot to say dear?”
Winking at her, he steps away from her, looking her up and down.
“Well dear, as you have said before… You have quite a lot going on.”
She gasps, slapping his shoulder softly.
“Oh you’re terrible”
He grins at her, looping her arm with his, marching her off in search of food or people.
“You love it secretly Kingston. No denying”
She rolls her eyes at him, giggling as he stumbles over a loose cord.
“Clumsy flirt” She loudly mutters, smirking at him as he play glares at her.
“Your words wound me Miss Kingston.”
She nods at him, her free hand rising to pat him on the head.
“Poor Matty” She coos at him.
“Oi! Only that kid of yours gets to call me that! She’ll be awfully cross if I tell her you used it.” He whines, then childishly taunts her.
She gasps, her hand coming to rest over her heart.
“Oh no! Please don’t.”
He laughs with her as they walk out of the studio set. He waves over at Arthur, but he’s wearing headphones and drumming on a nearby post with his fingers.
“So… Who was the guy you were talking to before?” He asks casually.
She laughs a small, soft giggle.
“Tony. He’s an old friend of mine. Why?”
Tony! That’s it… He purses his lips again, shaking his head as she looks up at him.
“Just wondering. Seemed pretty good with the ladies. Thought I should ask a few… pointers.”
She sighs, rolling her eyes and bumping his shoulder with hers.
“Trust me Matt. You’re perfectly fine with the ladies.”
He looks down at her, eyes meeting her own. Raising his eyebrow, he smirks at her.
“Oh really? Including you?”
She laughs, looking away towards Steven as her name’s shouted across the lot. Removing her arm, she begins to walk off, turning a moment later.
“Perhaps…”
Smirking at him, she winks before turning back and approaching Steven. He watches her as she greets him with a hug. An old friend? Okay, that’s cool… So then why did he feel all… Weird when he kissed her cheek? Arthur kisses her on the cheek. Steven kisses her on the cheek. Karen kisses her on the cheek.
And he still didn’t figure out what was different about Alex!
*** ***
He finds her again after about an hour. She’s sitting in a seat, flipping through a script as Karen and Arthur do a scene. Approaching, he spots the name on the back of the chair. Leaning down so his lips are near her ear, he whispers.
“You’re in my seat Kingston.”
She jumps slightly, turning towards him. She raises her eyebrow, smirking at him.
“And what are you going to do about it?”
He shrugs, standing up straighter to look down at her.
“Not sure. But I want to sit down.”
She points to the row of empty seats next to her, smiling at him coyly.
“Take your pick Darling.”
He shakes his head, his hands now on his hips.
“I want my chair.” He whines at her.
She rolls her eyes at him, shrugging her shoulders.
“Well… I’m comfortable.”
“But Alex!” He whines again, stamping his foot childishly for an added effect.
She laughs at him, shaking her head and turning back around to sit properly. He narrows his eyes at her, biting his lip as he thinks.
“You’re not going to leave are you?”
She shakes her head, her shoulders shaking as she giggles at him.
“Fine then. You leave me no choice.”
He surges forward, hooking his arms under her own and lifting her from his chair. She shrieks, dropping the script and wrapping her arms around his neck, holding on. He lifts her up, one arm moving to hook under her legs and the other flatting on her back to hold her in a fireman’s lift.
“Matt!”
He laughs as he moves forward, sitting down and resting her on his lap. He looks up at her, blinking his eyes innocently as she stares wide eyed at him.
“Matt!” She repeats, her mouth falling open as she stares at him.
He shrugs his shoulders, bending to the side to pick up her script.
“You wouldn’t move. I wanted my seat. Win, win situation.”
“I’m sitting in your lap!” She says, snatching the script from him.
“Right, sorry. That’s two wins for me. One win for you.”
She crinkles her nose at him, whacking him over the head with her script, but laughs regardless.
“What? I’m not comfortable?” He says, ducking his head to rub his forehead.
She rolls her eyes again, stretching one leg out to hook her foot under another chair. She drags it towards them, throwing both her legs over the arms and wiggling her bum to get in to a better, more comfy position. He gulps slowly, telling himself it was because she accidently elbowed him in the stomach.
“You’re just fine Sweetie.” She sighs, flipping open the script.
He grins at her, looking around and reaching for a juice box that’s sitting next to them. He pops the straw in, sticks it in his mouth, and gulps. He’s sucking the straw when he leans forward, reading the script that’s sitting in Alex’s lap. He’s read about three lines when he can feel her gaze on him. Looking up, he looks her in the eyes and sucks on the straw, the cool liquid sliding down his throat. She rolls her eyes again, her hand resting on his forehead and pushing him back. He sits still for all of five seconds, before he’s leaning forward again to read her script. This time, she huffs, drawing his attention. He grins at her, the straw still in his mouth. She smirks, raising her eyebrow. Her hand comes back up again, only this time, instead of pushing him back, she squeezes the box. Juice spurts out of the flimsy straw, so forceful that he loses his grip on the straw. It falls from his mouth, spraying him with orange juice. He closes his eyes, his jaw dropping in shock as it coats his face, hair and neck. She giggles, and when he opens his eyes, she’s biting her lower lip to hold off of laughing. He glares at her, looking around for a cloth or something to dry himself. He spots instead, something else entirely. Alex’s gaze follows his own, her eyes widening as they land on the pop-top bottle of cordial sitting on the table. She looks at him, shaking her head.
“Don’t. You. Dare” She says, breathing heavily as her eyes flick from his face to the bottle.
His hand snaps out to grab the bottle, and she’s off his lap in less than two seconds. Her script drops to the floor, and he takes off, running after her.
Steven turns around, standing with Johnny, Karen and Arthur as they talk about the scene. He catches sight of a squealing Alex Kingston, yelling over her shoulder at a half drenched Matt Smith as he chases her towards the door. Rolling his eyes, he sighs. He looks in the direction they’d run from, seeing a puddle of orange juice on the floor.
“Clean up on aisle four!” He shouts, drawing attention to the mess, and the two actors as they bound through the door.
He turns to the other three, grinning at them. They grin back, Karen bouncing on her feet as she claps silently.
“You think they…?”
He shakes his head, eyes darting to the door and back to Karen.
“Nah… Not yet at least.”
And then they’re back to discussing the scene, while Matt drenches Alex with blue cordial in the middle of the lot, twenty other people watching on.
*** ***
Half an hour after what’s been dubbed the Great Fight of Flying Liquid Epidemic, in which over thirty of the crew somehow ended up involved, Matt’s sitting back on set, freshly showered and in new clothes. Steven stands beside him as they watch Karen and Arthur on-screen. It’d only ended when two of the crew had failed to show for filming, and Steven found them in the lot covered in yellow or red cordial. After that, and quite a lot of laughter, he’d ceased the whole fiasco, paused filming (a well-earned break for Karen and Arthur), and sent them all for showers. Now, Matt was forced to sit next to Steven until his scenes, as he was the instigator of the whole thing. And despite his protests, and him saying how it was all Alex’s fault, he’d still been the one punished. He’d pouted, mumbled about Alex being his favourite cause she was his River Song, and proceeded to trudge towards the chair. Alex had waggled her fingers at him as a wave, before she blew him a kiss and left the set, heading towards her audition.
As he sits watching Amy run around the console in panic, Rory attempting to calm her down, he leans forward, his elbows on his knees and his chin in the palm of his hands. What was going on with him today? He’d never taken the flirting to that level before. And to think about it, neither had she. Though, he had started it. She was probably just playing along. Playing along? Isn’t that what they were doing? Playing?... Something was different today. And he couldn’t quite put his finger on it. All he knows, is that all day his thoughts either were of, or returned to, Alex. Licking his lips, he sighed, watching as Amy disappeared into one of the TARDIS’ many corridors.
He needed to figure this out…
*** ***
Knocking on the door, he questions whether this was such a good idea. Before he has a chance to turn and run, the door’s opening, and he can’t leave now. A squeal of ‘Matty!’ alerts him o the fact that this was not Alex. He has just enough time to register this and hold his arms up, before he’s got an arms full of Salome. He laughs, spinning her around slightly as she giggles. Alex appears at the end of the corridor, a plate in one hand and a cloth in another. She grins at him, rolling her eyes and disappearing again. He puts Salome down, and he’s suddenly pulled forward by the tiny eleven, almost twelve, year old. She’s talking a mile a minute, dragging him by his hand. He managed to kick one foot out, shutting the door before he stumbles after her.
“…And she said the Doctor only had one heart, but I know! He has two hearts, and I told her she didn’t know anything, and that my mummy was on Doctor Who, so she’d know, and that means I know, and that she was just stupid. And when I told mummy, she said I shouldn’t call people stupid, but Kazza calls you stupid all the time, so I asked why I couldn’t, and then you came, so I can just ask you. How come Kaz gets to call you stupid but I can’t call Janey that?”
She turns on her heel, looking up at him with wide eyes as he stutters. His eyes flick to Alex, but her back is turned to him as she washes the dishes.
“Uh, well… That’s because Kaz is a real mean ginger. You don’t want to be a real mean ginger do you?”
She purses her lips, frowning at him in a way that resembles Alex almost perfectly.
“But the Doctor likes gingers.”
He opens his mouth to speak, but finds he doesn’t have a response. Thinking quickly, he licks his lips.
“Ah, but not mean ones.”
She looks at him blankly, resembling Alex’s ‘What?’ face.
“Okay fine. But I’m not ginger.” She argues, shaking her head at him as she sits at the counter. Alex turns around as she places the plate up in the cupboard. She smiles at them, rolling her eyes at Matt. He grins at her, as he joins Salome sitting down.
“True. But it’s still not very nice.”
She shrugs, leaning over the counter to pull Alex’s laptop over to her. Alex raises her eyebrow at her, leaning on the counter with her arms folded.
“Hey missy. Have you had your shower yet?”
Salome sighs, glancing at the laptop before looking at Matt.
“But… Matt just got here!” She says, looking at her mother with wide, pleading eyes.
“And he’ll be here when you get out. Go.” She says, pulling the laptop back.
Salome huffs, but moves towards the shower anyway. Matt watches her go, turning in his seat to look at Alex. She rolls her eyes again, shaking her head.
“She used to ask for a bath every night. I’d have to negotiate with her until she’d settle for a shower.”
He laughs, as she stands back up.
“She’s growing up fast.”
She nods, a small wistful smile gracing her lips.
“A little too fast for my liking.”
He smiles at her, reaching over the counter to squeeze her hand quickly. She smiles at him this time, squeezing back before turning to place the towel on the rack over the sink.
“So… To what do we owe the pleasure of your company this time Mr Smith?”
He grins at her, standing and moving to take the previously folded towel back. She purses her lips at him again, shaking her head.
“Oh you know. In the neighbourhood.”
She raises her eyebrow as he starts twirling the towel.
“Matt… You live half an hour away.”
He shrugs, looking up quickly to grin at her.
“Maybe I just wanted to check you weren’t still covered in questionable liquids.”
She smirks at him, cocking her head to the side.
“Define… Questionable liquids?”
He chokes, his eyes widening as he stares at her.
“Oh you bad, bad girl Miss Kingston.”
She laughs, winking at him as she takes the wrapped up towel in to her hands. Grinning, she nods.
“Oh, you love it.” She says, repeating his own words from earlier.
She pulls the towel back, before whipping it forward. It cracks on his forearm. He yelps, pulling it up to his chest. He glares at her, and then pouts.
“I was going to use that.” He whines.
She grins, jumping back and narrowing her eyes.
“Oh? Well… Now you’re not.”
He narrows his own eyes at her, bouncing forward. Her eyes widen and she turns at the last second. His arms wrap around his shoulders as he reaches for the cloth she’s holding forward.
“Matt! Get off me.” She laughs, attempting to turn and shove him off her.
“Give me the towel!” He says, one hand moving along her stomach to grip her tighter against his body.
If either of them felt her shiver, neither of them mentions it. His chin is resting on her shoulder as he makes a grab for the towel. She giggles as he slips a little on the slightly wet floor. He steadies himself by resting his outstretched hand on the counter, trapping Alex between him and the bench. She turns, his arm now splayed across her back. She grins at him, the towel wrapped securely in her hand.
“I want that towel Alex.” He growls at her, his face only inches away from her own.
She swallows, her breathing somewhat shallowed as she stares in to her eyes. Neither of them know how, and it’s silly to assume it was all because of a towel. If they reflected later on the real catalyst of the whole thing between them, they’d only be able to pinpoint it to that whole day. Tony, Alex sitting in his lap, cordial fighting, wrestling over a towel… All of them somehow changed their whole relationship. And if Matt was honest, he thinks it may have started with that question.
What was so different about Alex today?
The thing is, now he’s not so sure there is something different with Alex. Maybe it’s him. Maybe he’s finally realized just how gorgeous Alex was. Just how funny, and flirty, and irresistible. He’d knew before of course, but now he’s realizing how much she affects him. Today, was not the first day he’d spent every waking (and sleeping) hour thinking about Alex Kingston. It’d started a few months ago, and if her was completely honest with himself, was one of the reason’s he and Daisy just didn’t work.
So what now? He’s finally realized that he may be falling for Alex. He’s got her trapped between him and an inanimate object. And from the way she’s breathing and looking at him, she may be feeling a little something for him too. This was it. The end of the game. He looks at her, his eyes dark and he shifts, just a little. The hand on the counter moves down to rest on her hip. Her move. It’s all her.
“What are you going to do about it?” She says, repeating herself from earlier.
He can feel his heart pounding in his chest. He steps closer, and she doesn’t back away. Leaning down, his hand slides to meet his other on her back, pulling her tighter against him. He leans down slowly, giving her time to back out if she wants to. She doesn’t. Instead, her hands come up to grip the collar of his shirt, curling into the fabric. She tugs softly, and that’s all he needs. He covers her mouth with his own, kissing her as Matt this time, and not the Doctor. It was different, yet the same. New, yet familiar. It felt… Right.
She kissed him back, her tongue darting out to lick his bottom lip. His meets her, and he relishes the taste of her. He kisses her hungrily, ignoring the towel as it drops to the ground. Her hands trails up to tangle in his hair, and she stands on her toes, kissing him harder.
Breaking away, they’re both breathing heavily. Her eyes are closed, and she they flutter open, they’ve changed from their previous green to an almost black. He love nothing more than to kiss her forever, backed in to the counter, where he can spend hours just ravishing her. But Salome is bound to come out soon. As if reading his mind, she kisses him quickly, smirking at him as she ducks under her arms.
“Well… That was new.”
He turns, leaning back on the counter as he watches her pull some popcorn from the cupboard.
“Good new, or bad new?”
She turns her head, looking at him from over her shoulder, and smiles.
“Good new… Definitely good new.”
He grins at her, standing straighter as the door down the hall creaks open.
“Mum! Have you put the popcorn in yet?” Salome yells down the hall.
Alex rolls her eyes, smiling at Matt.
“Just about to now sweetheart.” She yells back.
“And the movie?” Come her daughter reply.
Matt laughs, shaking his head as they yell back and forth to each other. Alex opens the now hot popcorn bag and pours it in to a bowl. She looks up at Matt as she does so, now standing next to him, their shoulders brushing against each other.
“Would you like to stay?” She asks.
He looks at her, at the smile she’s got and this look in her eyes. She wants him to stay. He knows that. And how could he ever refuse.
“Wouldn’t miss it for the world.”
And he really wouldn’t.
He’s figured it out. What had been on his mind all day. With Alex curled up against his side and Salome leaning against his legs while she sits on the floor, he realizes what’s been occupying his thoughts.
He’s a little in love with Alex. And he’s fairly sure she’s a little in love with him.
He kinda likes that…