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Ever since you met the Doctor, you have gotten used to a certain type of living. Saving planets, quick thinking, near-death experiences, and an ungodly amount of running.
But Honestly? You loved it. There was never a dull moment when it came to your life with the Doctor.
The past week had been different however, the Doctor has “settled down” as a teacher at St. Luke's University, so that he could guard his old best friend who is stuck in a vault for a thousand years, and teach her how to be good. You had met Missy and were skeptical of her ability to become ‘good’, but the Doctor seemed determined.
At first, he wanted to send you away. He argued that you couldn’t stay with him for a thousand years with you being human and all, but you had insisted on at least being there for the first year or so. You always wanted to go to uni anyway- and you could take classes and learn some new things! Live your own life but still be there with him. It took a lot of bickering and convincing on your part but in the end, the Doctor agreed to let you stay with him, for now.
Since then you’ve been going to all kinds of lectures including the Doctor’s without actually enrolling (perks of being the ‘'assistant’’ of the university’s newest and best professor). All the while you’ve been living in the Tardis.
It’s good to finally settle somewhere for a bit instead of running to the next adventure every chance you get. The Doctor has also been enjoying himself. And even though you do miss the adventures, this is nice too.
It was around 8 when you poured the Doctor and yourself a cup of coffee. you grabbed the cups and walked into the tardis control room, where the Doctor was writing on his chalkboard, something for his next lecture you assume.
“Did you sneak into the room where the vault is last night?’’
you raise your eyebrow at him, even though his back is still turned to you, “You mean the room you specifically told me I should never go into without your full permission, and has nothing but 30 years old dust and a door I cannot open in it? No, can't say I did. Good morning by the way.’’ He grumbled a ‘good morning’ while still writing, you rolled your eyes and took a sip of your coffee, sitting down on one of the stairs behind the Doctor, “Maybe it was Nardole, did you talk to him yet?’’ He stopped writing and turned to you, and while you give him his cup of coffee he says “No he was with me.’’
You hum in acknowledgment. That only left one option. “Well the lock is still set to friends only, so it was probably Bill. I mean if I saw my eccentric tutor and his weird bald helper guy walking somewhere in the dark I’d follow them too.’’ He made a noise in agreement and took a sip of his coffee. Bill was a girl you had recently made friends with, she worked in the cafeteria and followed the doctor’s lectures sometimes.
“Wouldn’t worry about it too much, You’re already pretty weird, a basement with a vault probably isn't even top of the list for her.’’ He gasped and put his hand on his chest in mock hurt. You rolled your eyes at him and took a sip of your coffee. A comfortable silence fell over you. After you finished your coffee you got up, and walked down the stairs to stand next to the Doctor, ‘’need any help with setting up?’’’ you ask while looking at the writing on the board.
“No it’s alright, I have Nardole for that’’
“Okay cool, I’m gonna go have some breakfast, I’ll see you tonight then, Doctor?’’
“Yes- and don’t be too late, we have plans’’
you furrow your brows. “We do?’’
“Yeah, or well, I have something planned. For us’’
“Oh, alright. Any reason?’’
“Just.. because.’’
You give him an unconvinced look “uh-huh, sure. Is this a fun plan or are we going to spend all night looking for a book that ended up not existing?’’
“Okay that was one time-’’ you cross your arms and he lifts his hands up in surrender, “and I said I was sorry! Promise, it's nothing like that.’’
“Hm alright, if you say so.’’
You should be heading out soon, so you dropped the topic for now, “I gotta go, good luck with your lecture!’’ his face lit up at the mention of that, he was very excited to teach. He went back to writing on the board as you put down your coffee cup on the small table next to the chalkboard and grabbed your bag “Oh, and tell Bill I said hi!’’
“Yeah I’ll do that, and if you see anything weird-’’
“Report it to you and don’t go investigating on my own yeah yeah I know.’’ You touch his arm and he looks down at the touch, and then at you, a mixture of annoyance and worry on his face. “I’ll be fine Doctor, I know what to do. So stop worrying you daft old man.’’ his expression softened and you remove your hand from his arm.
“I’ll be back around 5’’
“yeah, see you then’’
The rest of the day, like many others, flew by. You had a couple of classes and spent your free time rewatching one of your favourite shows: what we do in the shadows.
you had almost forgotten about the Doctor's ‘plans’, but now that you remembered you were a little nervous. You never know what you are going to get when it comes to the Doctor.
As you made your way back to the Doctor’s office you spotted Nardole walking outside, probably getting some food for the Doctor or something.
When you enter the office you put down your bag on one of the chairs, “I’m back!’’ You yell but it gets no response. You frown and look around the room “Doctor?’’
“In here!’’ His voice sounded like it was coming from the Tardis, so you walk towards her and open the door “hey, what are ya doing in here?’’ He looked up from the console, smiling and gesturing at you to come inside.
“Come on, come on, come on we don’t have all day. Nardole is surprisingly fast at shopping’’ You raise your eyebrow at him but do as you're told, going inside and closing the door behind you “What are you blabbering on about this time?’’
“Oh just hush and come over here’’ you roll your eyes and walk over to the control panel. When the Doctor seems satisfied with where you are, he pulls a lever and the Tardis starts moving, your eyes widen, ‘’Doctor! you're not allowed to go off planet!’’ He simply smirked at you, ‘’Oh don’t worry, no one will find out. I have somewhere I want to take you and we will be back before anyone notices.’’
You bit your lip, a little nervous, but you were never one to turn down an alien planet. Besides, the worse that could happen is Nardole yelling at you. You smile up at him, “Alright then, where are we going?’’
He pursed his lip, and fumbled with the controls, “That’s a surprise.’’
“Okay, why are we going?’’
“Oh I don’t know, just seemed nice to get off planet for a bit.’’
you eye him skeptically. The Doctor wasn’t one to do something without reason. But before you could press him on it further the Tradis landed.
“There we are! Go on, have a look. I need to go grab something and then I’ll be right there.’’ He gave you a quick thumbs up before running further into the Tardis, leaving you alone.
A part of you wanted to wait for the Doctor, but another part of you was screaming to just get on with it! So after a bit of debate, you walk towards the Tardis Doors and open them.
A planet, with turquoise grass as far as the eye can see. Beautiful flowers you had never seen before littered all throughout the grassy plain. In the distance were two mountains, both adoring a singular huge tree on top of them, with vines that swung in the light breeze. Looking up you saw the sky, full of purples and blues, with stars and galaxies spread out all around.
When your feet touched the ground the grass around your feet seemed to light up. You let out a bewildered laugh.
“That’s my favourite part too.’’ You quickly look behind you into the Tardis, the Doctor is smiling at you, and you can't help but smile back. He is holding a bag with all kinds of food and some other stuff you can’t make out right now. He walks out of the Tardis. “Well don't just stand there, let's go! Straight ahead somewhere there is a blanket, if I parked correctly.’’ he mumbled the last bit and you laughed ‘’Did you take me all the way here to picnic?’’ you say as you catch up with him.
“Well, why not? Beautiful planet, or would you rather go back and sit in my office?’’
“Of Course not!’’
You arrive at the blanket he presumably had put down on some other trip, “Then hush and sit down.’’ So you did. It was a beautiful place, and as it became darker the flowers around this place seemed to light up. ‘’Bioluminescence, almost every plant here has it in some form, that's why the planet is called lumitie, not the most creative name but it’ll do.’’
“I got your favourite.’’ He said as he pulled out a wine bottle and two glasses. Your face lit up “You remembered my favourite wine?’’ You looked up at him, eyes full of surprise. He shrugged nonchalantly, “Yeah, well, seemed like something important to know.’’ He sat down next to you, and you watched him uncork the bottle, and pour himself a glass. He gestured the bottle to you and you nodded, trying (and failing) to hide your glee. When he handed you your glass your fingers briefly touched, and neither of you commented on it.
A silence fell over you as you looked around a bit more, there seemed to be no wildlife- only plants, it was truly one of the most beautiful planets you had ever seen. You looked over at the Doctor who was already looking at you, he seemed pleased with himself “Good planet, huh?’’
you roll your eyes playfully, a light blush forming on your cheeks, “Yeah, great planet.’’ you say honestly. He smiled and took a sip of his wine, and immediately spit it back out into his cup “Forgot, I don't like wine’’ You laugh at him, "Yeah, I could've told you that" You also took a sip, smiling as the flavour hit your tongue- he really did get your favourite.
He looked up at the stars and then back at you, “Do you want to hear about the constellations?’’ you look over at him, your curious eyes meetng his. “Yeah, I would love to.’’
So he spent the next 30 minutes talking about the stars and constellations surrounding this planet, and you intently listened to him, a fond smile on your face the entire time.
“And that, right... There,’’ He points at a faint star in the distance, briefly looking at you to make sure you are seeing it too, “That is the Eeca system, with only one inhabitable planet that is home to the Oste people.’’
“Didn’t we go there once?’’ You asked, vaguely remembering that name.
he chuckled, “Yeah and we got chased off the planet, probably something I did, or something I will do. Time travel, it can get a bit complicated’’ you hum in agreement.
you sigh softly and spread your legs out over the blanket, leaning back on your elbows and looking up at the sky. Your glass of wine now empty and laying somewhere in the grass. You could feel the Doctor's eyes on you, which made you flush ever so slightly. He had made a habit of that recently, staring at you and thinking you didn’t notice. You inhale and turn your head towards him, looking into his eyes, “So, do you finally want to tell me why you brought me here?’’
He looked down, avoiding eye contact, “I just thought you would like it, and, you know… ‘’ he trailed off and muttered the last part “I missed spending time with you like this.’’
Your heart fluttered, and your expression softened, “I missed this too, Doctor.’’ you moved around a bit so you were facing him directly, giving him your full attention.
He looked at you with an expression you couldn’t read. He didn't speak right away, the words seem stuck in his throat, so you simply waited for him, you had all the time in the world.
He let out a sigh and put his hand over yours, a gesture that made your heartbeat quicken. “I just- I wanted to say I’m sorry, for being busy, and not spending time with you… I would like to do that more- spending time with you I mean.’’ He looked into your eyes. You felt a blush creep up on your face, “Yeah- I, uh, would like that too, obviously.’’
You watch the tension he was holding left as you said that and a fond smile forms on his face. “Yeah?’’ He said softly. You hadn’t seen him this vulnerable, well, ever.
You mirror his smile, ignoring your thumping heart, ‘’Of course, you silly spaceman. I love spending time with you. Otherwise, I wouldn’t be here.’’
‘’So you don’t mind that we have spent so much time on earth lately?’’ He says, looking down.
You frown, realizing what this was about. ‘’Doctor… Did you think I wouldn’t want to be around you anymore if we weren’t traveling 24/7?’’ He didn’t say anything, but his expression was enough for you to know.
You felt a pang of sadness shot through you, and without thinking you put your free hand on his cheek, gaining his attention as he was now looking into your eyes again.
“Doctor, I don’t just travel with you for the planets and the aliens and the adventures- I travel with you because it's with YOU, ’’ you took a breath, thinking about how you were going to say this correctly, “You are my best friend, have been for over 2 years, I’m not going to suddenly change my mind on that just cuss we can’t always go on adventures. Wasn’t I the one practically begging you to let me stay with you?’’ He looked at you, again with an unreadable expression.
“Yeah, I guess you did.’’
“Then stop being so stupid. I’m not going to leave you.’’
“... I guess it was a bit silly of me to think that”
“Yes, it was. But I forgive you’’ that made him chuckle, and the air felt immediately lighter.
-
When everything was packed and you were back in the Tardis, most of the serious conversation you had long forgotten. You had spent the right of the night listening to space facts, bickering about stupid nonsense things, and laughing without a care in the world.
As the Doctor made sure the Tardis would land at the right time, you were leaning against the railing, watching him. “Do you think she would ever let me fly her?’’ The Doctor hummed “She’s done it before, would you want to fly her?’’ You thought about it for a moment “Maybe sometime in the future, but I'm good right now.’’
When the Tardis finally landed the Doctor turned to you “Back at almost the exact time that we left- I am good.” You scoff, a playful grin on your face. “Yeah, if we ignore the countless times we were late, or at the wrong place- once we were even on the wrong planet!” The Doctor pointed a finger at you “Oh don't start, you know I could just send you home.” you raise your brow at him “Home?” You say as he walks over to you, now standing in front of you.
‘’Yes okay I get it, haha the Doctor couldn’t find my home cuss he can’t drive.”
You chuckled at his impression of you “No that's not it, it's just that THIS is my home.” you say as you gesture around you.
The playful smile on his face faded, and you could swear he was blushing a little. “Oh” He said bashfully.
His eyes lock with yours. “Really?” You scoff again. “Do you really have to ask me that?” You said softly.
He took a step closer to you, and his hand came to cup the left side of your face, mirroring what you did to him on lumitie. You Immediately feel your heart go over a mile a minute, you knew the Doctor could feel it, too.
“I wanted to ask this before- but I wasn’t sure, and... Oh, what the hell, can I kiss you?”
Your eyes widen, and you got the feeling like your brain was overloading. You simply nodded, not trusting your mouth to say the right words at the moment. He let out a sigh of relief. His thumb stroked your cheekbone as he leaned closer. The kiss was gentle and soft, your eyes fluttered shut and you focus on the feeling of his lips against yours. You put your arms around his neck, Holding him close. His free hand found your hip and he pulled you closer. He slowly pulled away and you opened your eyes to look into into his, his smile was genuine and bright, and you couldn’t help yourself from mirroring it.
Before either of you could do anything, the Tardis doors opened and you quickly let go of each other.
Nardole walked into the Tardis. “I got the chips you asked for sir- wait why are they here?” Nardole asked while pointing at you, the Doctor quickly walked towards Nardole and grabbed his chips “Because they are, now go do something useful or something.” The Doctor said while shooing Nardole away.
Nardole eyed both of you suspiciously “hmm alright, but don’t even think about going off planet, cuss I’ll know.” The Doctor rolled his eye and you stifled a laugh, as Nardole walked away you and the Doctor looked at each other, and share a smile.
you had nothing to worry about