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"Where are you going, mister?" you asked the Doctor when you noticed him following you out of the TARDIS. He was supposed to drop you off for your boyfriend's birthday party and pick you up a few hours later. In your mind, it would do you both some good to have a rest from each other's constant presence. The Doctor as it turned out had a different opinion.
He furrowed his eyebrows. "Come on, I love a party!" The tone of his voice sounded nearly as if he was offended.
"Yeah but not domestic ones."
It wasn't something he could argue with - whenever anything akin to a family dinner turned up, he always found a perfect excuse or ruse to get out of it. The only parties he attended were the ones with no strings attached. For a lack of better expression, he was a 'hit and run' kind of man.
"Well, you're not married, you don't even live together, so it's not really domestic, is it?" The Doctor said those words with seemingly no seriousness and so you were sure he remained oblivious to your own desires and worries: you were thinking about taking your relationship with Mark further but doing so while travelling through all of time and space did not seem like a good idea. It would definitely... complicate things.
But perhaps Doctor's sudden interest in familial intimacy was something positive - perhaps he was beginning to recover from his 'brooding loner' persona. In that case, you simply couldn't deny him that moment of bravery.
"Alright," you said with a sigh, "I'm bringing you with me, but!" You pointed your finger at him. "Be decent, I'm begging you."
"I am wearing pants, see?" The Doctor pointed at his usual dress pants. He even gave you a twirl as if there was anything worth showing off - he wore that very same outfit every day, after all. Despite the suit being clearly worn out he was still going to be the most elegant-looking person in there.
"No facetious comments and alien technology, alright?"
"I'll do my best."
He shut the door behind him but you couldn't actually hear it over the noise of the party going on in your boyfriend's house; the loud music was audible from the street. Looking up through the windows, you could see some familiar and unfamiliar faces laughing and drinking from plastic cups. Compared to what you've been through the past few months, that sight was so mundane you couldn't help but laugh at the ridiculousness. One day you save the universe and the other you drink cheap tequila with blackcurrant juice.
You gave the Doctor a quick glance only to notice a slight grimace on his face. He didn't even make it to the party and he was already hating it. But if he truly had no desire to mingle with your friends, why was he forcing himself to?
"Second thoughts?" you asked him in a joking manner.
"Nah, I've been through worse."
"Serious question," you said to grab his attention. Doctor's eyes opened wider as his eyebrows raised - all of the universe around the two of you and he cared only about your words. "Which one is worse: arm wrestling a Cyberman or going to a house party?"
He looked away for a moment before answering. "I- well... Do I get time to prepare?"
"Sure." Your shoulders shrug slightly.
"Maybe I could even win..." he quietly considered for a moment. "What's the prize?"
"You can't be seriously considering arm wrestling a Cyberman."
"Hey, it was your idea! Now come on, we don't want to be late."
You shook your head at him despite the wide smile on your face. The Doctor was magnificent at putting on a light-hearted facade that you liked to pretend was genuine; it was a lovely sentiment to hold even for a minute that he wasn't a man haunted.
The doorbell rang only once when you heard someone unlocking the door - you were expected if not awaited. There, behind the door, stood the one person you have missed the most. His face lit up when he realized he was actually seeing you. Shortly after, Mark was already hugging you tightly.
"Oh, baby," he murmured against your hair. For him, it's been three months since he last saw you, so such a reaction shouldn't come off too bizarre.
"Hey, babe," you greeted him. His reaction was slightly amusing to you, mainly because you've never seen him being so clingy. It felt nice to be missed, to be cared about so much.
Mark leaned away to look at you again as if he still was unsure that you really were in front of him. His smile was so wide it nearly looked painful - as if happiness could have a face.
"I was beginning to think you wouldn't make it."
"Are you kidding me? I'd go back in time if I had to!"
Your little joke earned a quiet chuckle from the Doctor, who was patiently third-wheeling. It wasn't visible on his face but he was feeling uncomfortable at the show of affection - part of him wanted your fondness to be an exclusive good, something he wouldn't have to share with anyone.
"Doctor, this is Mark, my boyfriend. Mark, this is the Doctor, my... research partner."
"The Doctor?" Mark repeated in confusion.
"Yeah, we all just call him that. The entire team." No matter how vile it might sound, you were really good at lying to your partner. For better of worse, you never though it would be a useful skill to have.
In the distance, you noticed a familiar constellation of blonde locks, denim jackets and black high heels - your high school friends. It wouldn't be a stretch to say you haven't seen them in literal years. You could feel your heart start to beat a little faster as pure excitement made the tips of your fingers tingle.
"I'll leave you to it, boys. I'm going to catch up with girls," you said while pointing at a group of women around your age standing in the faraway corner of the room.
The Doctor watched you run away to the group. Judging by their exclamations and tight hugs, the excitement and longing were mutual. Only after witnessing that scene, yearning to one day touch your heart in the same way, did he turn back to your boyfriend to attempt a polite conversation. Maybe he could try and learn what exactly you were seeing in him. "So, Mark, how did you two meet?"
"She didn't tell you?"
"No, must've slipped her mind. In fact, she doesn't talk much about you at all." Although it was true, there was no need to rub it in. Unless someone was looking for malicious satisfaction.
"Oh, really? Anyway, we met in high school through a mutual friend but didn't date until university. She was on the experimental research team, I was sure I was too stupid for her to date me."
"Yeah, I can imagine," the Doctor nodded along.
"Hey, man, can I tell you a secret?"
"I love secrets."
"You can't tell her, alright?"
"Scout's honour." He wasn't fond of the direction the conversation was heading into. There were only two things men wanted to keep away from their significant others and Mark did not strike him as someone capable of adultery.
"I want to propose."
"Oh." For a moment, the entire universe stopped. Only static was resounding in the Doctor's head but heart-wrenching panic set in rather quickly afterwards. He knew that if Mark was to ask you to marry him, you'd say yes. And he wasn't sure what he was going to do if that was to happen...
"You spend a lot of time working with her, right? I thought you could help me out a little."
"Oh, yes, we spend a lot of time together. It's practically only the two of us, all the time."
"Thank God, because I feel like I'm starting to overthink things, you know?" Mark appeared completely oblivious to the sublime message in Doctor's words. The thought of having 'competition' never crossed his mind, it seemed. "I thought of buying a minimalistic ring. Thin band, a small diamond, you know the lot."
"She'd hate it," Doctor answered with a shake of his head. A grimace appeared on his face as he imagined the scene. "Yeah, no, too common. It should be something rare and interesting. She absolutely hates ordinary things. Shouldn't you know that? You're her boyfriend. Never mind that, don't you think she deserves something more thoughtful?"
"That's why I'm asking for a second opinion! I don't see her often these days..."
"See, Mark, here's what I don't get. You don't see her often, you talk about proposing to her and when she shows up, you don't even talk to her? You want her to be your wife and you've talked to me, a total stranger, more than you've talked to her. I'm about to think you want to marry me."
"You're a funny guy, you know? Come on, she just went to talk to her friends." Mark either did not pick up on Doctor's passive-aggression or he purposefully ignored it. "And here she is coming back."
For some reason, those two were exactly where you left them - at the door. Although they were talking, you could tell there was some tension between them: Mark folded his arms and Doctor stood with his hands in his pockets. If the two most important men in your life, at the moment, were going to get into a fight, your reality was going to become a lot more complex than it already was.
"Are you two going to stand here all night? Let's get a drink!" You pulled both of them in the direction of a table with alcohol, soda and juice. The Doctor knew he was in for a long and frustrating night but at least he got to spend it with you.
~*~
Although at first you were preoccupied with retelling Doctor all the hilarious or outrageous stories your friend had told you, you quickly noticed something was off about him.
"From my perspective, it looked like you were acting jealous."
"What? No, I didn't."
"Look, I get it. I really do. We spend so much time together, just you and I, then suddenly my attention was someplace else. It's okay to feel upset."
"Why would I be jealous? I already know I'm your favourite."
The two of you laughed and the situation was momentarily defused or so you thought - the Doctor kept on thinking about your words and his own feelings. He knew perfectly well (he witnessed it) that you had so many lovely people around you. Even without him, your life was whole. Tragically enough, without you, his life was about as empty as the Void and he refused to openly admit that to himself. It wasn't doing much good though: his lungs were filled with smoke, yet he pretended there was no fire.
He didn't yet know how but he knew he had to make a move soon if he wanted to be a little more than an adventure.