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Clyde and Rani didn't often get a chance to spent a night together, Rani's father still didn't approve of Clyde and his 'antics', even after knowing him for years. However, what he didn't know wouldn't hurt him, and besides, it's not like Clyde and Rani got into any trouble whilst alone. They could save the world by themselves, they knew how to behave.
"How often do you dream about aliens?" Clyde asked, turning on his side in his sleeping bag, looking up at Rani. "Or about our adventures with Sarah Jane?"
"It's hard to tell." Rani answered, still staring up at her ceiling. "I think it's influences most of my dreams. And sometimes my nightmares too. But the dreams are usually amazing." She spoke with a smile. "And I know it's influenced your art too."
"It's still hard to believe my art is in the International Art Gallery."
"And a Sontaran blaster."
"That too." He replied with a chuckle. "I still don't think Sarah Jane was very pleased when she found out."
"She got over it eventually though. She couldn't stay mad at you. Not for long."
Clyde smiled as he rolled onto his back. "I think us singlehandedly saving the world had something to do with that too."
They both laid there in Rani's darkened room, the sound of rain clashing against window fought against the comfortable silence they'd both prefer. Rani found it easier to sleep without rain, whilst Clyde had gone off of rain since the incident with Hetocumtek. Every time he was caught in the rain, or one of his friends raised their voices, or god forbid he got a splinter, a feeling of anxiety and dread would start to well up in his stomach.
The incident happened nearly 6 months ago, but it still stuck with him. After a month of several sleepless nights, he managed to consult Mr. Smith without Sarah Jane knowing. He told Clyde he was suffering from PTSD, which shouldn't have come as such a surprise. Mr. Smith suggested he should open up to his friends about the experience, informing Clyde that support from people was rather necessary. To this day he hadn't really spoken about it to anyone. It's not like he didn't trust his friends, he did, more than anyone in the universe. But unlike their encounters with the Slitheen, Androvax or The Shansheeth, Clyde had experienced this alone, with none of his friends by his side. The only person who stood by him was Ellie, a girl who he was forced to abandon, and lost forever.
Clyde thought he had managed to hide his symptoms from his friends well enough for them to never notice, but of course that wasn't the case. Rani, the one who always paid that extra bit of attention to Clyde, had noticed his hands trembling, noticed how he'd space out during group conversations. She knew the experience left a toll on him, but she never wanted to force him to talk about it. But even now, she could hear Clyde's breathing starting to pick up, she saw how he just stared at the ceiling, his lips warping into a frown which she doubts he even notices.
So without a second thought, Rani leaned over and turned on the fairy lights which twisted round the headboard of her bedframe. The sudden appearance of light startled Cylde out of his daydream.
"Everything alright?" Clyde asked, propping himself up onto his elbows. Rani took a moment to answer as she grabbed her phone. After a few moments, quiet music starting playing from the phone's speaker.
"Yeah, just not ready to sleep yet." She answered, as she sat upright.
"You're normally out cold by 10, 11 tops, and it's now," Clyde shifted to glance at her alarm clock. "12:13. Who are you and what have you done to Rani?" He joked.<
Rani just rolled her eyes. "Come on, like you could sleep either. Let's do something, try to wear ourselves out a bit more."
"And what exactly did you have in mind?" He questioned.
"We could watch a movie? Or play one of those games you're always talking to Luke about." She suggested.
"Rani Chandra offering to play video games with me? Now I know I'm dreaming."
"Oh shut up Clyde." She said, gently tossing a pillow at him. "Do you have any other bright ideas?"
Clyde sat there in thought for a moment. "Okay, what movies do you have?"
Rani smiled, as she got up and walked across her room. She had a stack of DVDs under her desk. "Oh I bet you'll happily watch this one." She said, as she pulled out a copy of 'Iron Man'. Clyde's eyes lit up.
"You actually kept that? I thought you would have thrown it into the pile downstairs." He said, as he stood up and walked over to her, gently taking hold of the DVD.
"A present from you? No way would that go with the ones downstairs." She said with a smile.
"We have to go see Thor when it hits theaters too." Clyde said. "I need someone to share this superhero genre with."
Rani just stood there for a second, smile at Clyde. It was nice to see him so happy and enthusiastic about something other than catching aliens. "Absolutely. Those movies are more interesting than I expected."
"They're not just movies, my dear lady Rani. They are masterpieces." Clyde said as he walked over to her laptop to put the movie on. As he did that, Rani walked over to her bed and rearranged her pillows and blanket so they'd both have a place to sit. Once the movie was on, they both sat down besides each other, leaning their backs against the wall.
- - -
The movie had been on for about an hour now, and Rani was definitely starting to feel tired, and she could tell Clyde was too. Not even superheros could keep him up after a long day of school and helping Sky with her homework. Rani reached over to her blanket and draped it over her and his shoulders. Cylde turned to look at that, a look of slight surprise crawling onto his features.
"What are you doing?" He asked, raising an eyebrow slightly.
"It's cold." Rani replied with a shrug.
Clyde just look at her for a moment, before he wrapped an arm round her, moving to close the distance between them. Rani smiled as she rested her head on Clyde's shoulder. They sat like that until the movie ended. And yes, that includes the scene after the credits, Clyde would never let them miss those. Once again, silence fell over them, though now the rain had come to a stop. They stayed like that for a few minutes, until Rani broke the silence.
"Cylde?" She asked quietly, her head still resting on his shoulder.
"Mhmm?" He hummed in response.
"You know you can talk to me, right?"
"Yeah, and the same goes for you too." Clyde answered.
"Are you doing okay?" She moved her head so she could look at him.
"Course I am. I'm Clyde Langer, defender of Bannerman Road." He told her, a smile on his face as he looked at her. But after looking into her eyes, he could tell she didn't want to hear that. It's like she was silently pleading for the truth, with a simple glance. His smile fell and a sigh escaped his lips. "I spoke to Mr. Smith, a few months ago. This was before Luke came back from Uni. I wanted to speak to a professional and, well, I couldn't exactly go speak to the school counsellor about curses or he'd think I'm losing it."
"What did Mr. Smith say?"
"He believes I've got PTSD from over the last year. That business with Ruby White, and then Hetocumtek with the curse, it did feel like it was starting to weight down on me."
"Why didn't you talk to us about it?" Rani asked, now turned to face him.
"Because I struggle with the whole 'talking' thing. I always have. It's why I rarely even mentioned my dad before we visited and stole that berserker pendant. It was something bad and I just wanted to make it go away. But these things didn't. For months I couldn't stop thinking about what would have happened if Sky didn't get through to you and Sarah Jane." He took a deep breath before continuing, his hands starting to tremble slightly. "I thought I had lost you all, and sometimes... sometimes I fear it's going to happen all over again."
"You'll never lose us." Rani interjected, gently grabbed Clyde's hand. "I promise. I will never leave you. No matter what happens, I will always be right here, by your side."
That's what worried Clyde, that sentiment of never leaving eachother, because they had both promised that before, when it was just them (and Gavin) left on the entire planet. And the curse had broken that promise, along with Clyde's heart. That's why, upon hearing those words from Rani again, he was doubtful, paranoid. It's why he hesitated to say them back. Clyde hadn't even noticed how his eyes started to glisten with tears. He failed to form works all of a sudden, as Rani wrapped her arms around him, pulling him close to her. She laid one hand on the back of Clyde's head, which now rested in the crook of her neck.
This wasn't the first breakdown Clyde had had, and there's no way it'd be the last, but this was the first time he had someone else there. Someone to help hold him together when he thought he would fall apart. He slowly brought his arms up to tightly hug Rani back, as tears continued to stream down his face. They stayed like that for what felt like hours, but Rani didn't care. She knew Clyde had to let it all out, she was just glad that he wasn't doing it alone.
Eventually Clyde started to pull away, wiping his eyes dry. "Sorry." He mumbled, gesturing to the wet stains on Rani's shirt.
Rani shrugged, as she leaned over to the desk to grab a box of tissues. "It's okay. It's not like it's my only one." She replied, handing him some tissues. "Did that help?"
Clyde nodded his head as he blew his nose. "Yeah." He answered. "Thank you."
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