Clara had become the master of getting ready for work without waking Danni up. Having her outfits in the spare room helped an awful lot, but she could time her movements around Danni's rolling around to take up the newly available space.
In fact, it had quickly become such a talent of hers that she had time for a coffee and a pastry before she'd head out of the door for the day. Only just, and the pastry sometimes lasted until she made it onto the street, but she'd had such a good day the day before, she had woken up nice and refreshed and had time to sit down to eat.
It was days like this that made her think that she should get up a little bit earlier, to give herself all this spare time. However, she also knew that she'd sleep in tomorrow and that she'd want more sleep and she'd be so angry at her past self for setting the alarm earlier.
She raised the cinnamon swirl to her lips, only for there to be a knock on her front door. She glanced at the clock in confusion then headed over to check who it was. She was pretty sure that Danny wasn't meeting her this morning, but maybe she was wrong. She peeked through the peephole, then frowned at she opened the door.
"Jack?" She asked and the American grinned at her. "What are you doing here?"
"Nice to see you too, Clara," he replied and she blushed slightly at her own blunt words.
"Sorry, I'm still… it's early…" she offered before stepping out of the way. "Come in."
"Thanks," he said, stepping in and shrugging off the long jacket. "Is Danni here?"
"She's still in bed," Clara said, motioning where he should hang up his jacket. "Did she call you? She never said."
"She was looking for beds, apparently," Jack explained as he headed into the living room. He sat down on the sofa where Clara had been sat previously. "How long has she been here?"
"Just over a month, now, maybe," Clara offered because she wasn't quite sure herself. "Coffee?"
"Please," he replied as she headed into the kitchen to put the kettle back on. "As strong as you can make it."
She headed back out into the living room as the kettle boiled. "I told her that getting her own bed wasn't that imperative, and yet she's been obsessed with it for the last couple of days."
"She's just feeling insecure," Jack explained, his arm across the back of the chair. "There was a time before she regenerated where she thought the Doctor had married River. She coloured and cut her hair, because it's the only thing she could control at the time."
"So, she's using the whole 'bed' thing as like, a coping mechanism?" Clara clarified and Jack nodded.
"She's always been the same," he said. "Whenever she felt like she was losing control, she'd find a way to take it again, be it her bed, her hair, or just refusing point blank to talk about it."
"Like-Like with the Master?" Clara tried, forcing an inflection into her voice to make it sound like she knew all about the man, and not just third-hand information from Kate Lethbridge-Stewart.
Jack looked at her, obviously rather surprised. "Well, that's something I know you shouldn't know about," he replied. "Did Danni talk to you about him as well?"
Clara, to her credit, shook her head. "No, she didn't," she admitted. "I found out about him at UNIT. But she's never talked about him before, so I guess that's one of the situations, isn't it?"
Jack shot her a look. "And now you're fishing for answer because she either won't tell you, or you're too afraid to ask," he guessed, correctly. "I'm not telling you about it, sweetheart. She won't want you knowing about it anyway, that's why she's not told you about it."
Clara tried to look more innocent than she felt. "I was simply using it as an example," she said, reminding herself that she had work. A quick glance at the clock told her she'd now lost all that precious time she'd gained by being efficient when she'd woken up, and now it was time to school.
"I've got to run, help yourself to the coffee," she told him, dashing to the front door to get her shoes on. She came back into the living room as she put on her jacket, pointing down the hallway. "The spare room's at the end, if you want to take a look. She won't be long; she tends to get up before 10."
~0~0~0~
Blonde hair, brown eyes, sinister grin. Danni didn't let go of his hand as they danced around the room, in a sea of people with no face. Nondescript music played around them, but her attention was on the man who held her close and spun her around. The man who held her hand.
Wouldn't let go of her hand.
She couldn't let go of his hand. She pulled and pulled, and yet she didn't move out of the position he held her in. She couldn't move, she couldn't look away. He just held her, and smiled, and danced.
Danni's eyes shot open, and for a moment she enjoyed the darkness that greeted her. She had been dreaming of the Master again, but thankfully they hadn't been as bad as they used to be. No longer was she greeted with memories of the man who had forced himself upon her doing just that, now she tended to just have dreams involving him. Ones where she couldn't get away, or when he wouldn't let her go. Nothing frightening, but also deeply unnerving and she was happy to be awake once again.
She slipped out of bed, grabbing her dressing gown and giving herself another mental note to tell Clara to put the heating up. It wasn't like they couldn't afford it now that Danni could contribute to the bills.
Bills. Danni grimaced to herself. Oh, that's just an incredibly dull thought as well.
She grabbed her phone, checking to see if she had any missed calls. Nothing on the screen, which meant that Jack wasn't in the country yet. It gave her time to get ready, maybe go out and buy them something for lunch. She could make sandwiches for him, maybe grab some sushi. He'd be starving after coming off a flight. She'd heard plane food was atrocious.
She smiled to herself. Jack was coming. She'd not felt so happy since before she'd left the TARDIS. Somehow he always made everything seem better, like her life wasn't falling apart. He'd help her sort her bed issue, would listen to her as she ranted and raved about her husband, and then would finally tell her to get her act together and to decide what she actually wanted.
She practically skipped out into the hallway. It was just the kick up the arse she needed. Clara was fantastic, she knew when to push her and when to leave her alone. She knew when to challenge her, and when to let things slide. She knew Danni's moods just as well as Danni knew herself.
Jack seemed to know her better. He knew when she was running away, and when she really did just need some down time, and he never let her run away.
She frowned at the smell of coffee, but then smiled in surprise as the kitchen door opened and Jack stepped out. "Jack!" She exclaimed, rushing over to the American Captain, who happily let her chuck her arms around his neck. He just laughed, lifting her up and giving her a hug in return.
"I didn't know you were here," she told him when he put her back on the ground. "You never rang me."
"No, that's what surprises are like," he retorted and, however impossible it seemed, her smile grew even more as she hugged him back. The relief at him being there had her holding onto him tightly, head on his chest. He hugged her back, first with a grin, then with a frown as she didn't let go when he thought she would. He leant down, placing a kiss in her hair, and he tightened his hold on her for just a moment.
Then he let her go, spinning her out like they were dancing and she giggled in delight. "Go sit down, I'll bring you a coffee," he told her. "Your roommate never did get around to making me one. The customer service around here is appalling."
"Hey, you get what you pay for," Danni retorted. "And you didn't pay."
"Hey, I think you'll find I paid by just being here," he replied, arms out to indicate his mere presence. "This pays for breakfast, lunch, and dinner."
"Gross, Jack!" She called after him as he entered the kitchen. She jumped onto the sofa, bouncing on the soft cushions, fidgeting slightly as she waited excitedly for him. She knew he'd want to get into the nitty gritty of his visit straight away, but she just wanted to talk and watch television and just hang out, and she really hoped she could distract him for at least half an hour before he challenged her on dodging the subject.
He came back in, two coffee mugs in hand, and sat down next to her. "What time did you get in?" She asked.
"About seven," he replied. "It took me longer to get here, traffic was a nightmare. Drink up."
She blew on the top of the mug before taking a testing sip. It was still too hot for her to drink, but she appreciated it all the same. "I hope it didn't cost too much on such short notice. I can pay some of the ticket, if you like."
He shot her a look. "I can afford a lot more, Danni-Girl," he replied. "You're not going to distract me, you know? You're going to tell me everything."
"Oh, come on Jack," she groaned. "I've not seen you in ages, we need to catch up."
He settled back into the sofa. "Alright. I've been mainly on main land Europe, fighting aliens and sleeping with a large succession of beautiful people," he rattled off quickly. "Your turn."
She wrinkled her nose. "I don't need to know about your sex life, how many times do I have to tell you?"
"I get the feeling I'm about to find out about yours, and I'm sure I want to hear about it even less," he pointed out. "Spill, Danni-Girl. Why are you buying a bed for your best friend's tiny spare room?"
She opened her mouth to fight her corner for ignoring the subject, but she knew by the look on his face that he wasn't going to let it drop. So she sighed. "He left me on the Moon to decide on whether to save the alien inside it, or the Earth below it. One life for another."
"I'm sorry?" Jack asked, many things about the sentence confusing him. "There's an alien in the Moon?"
"He left me, Jack!" She exclaimed, like she couldn't believe that it was that bit he focused on. "You know that big decision he had to make about Gallifrey, he left me on my own to make a very similar decision about my own fucking planet! Because it was beneath him! Because I'm part human, and so not worth the help!"
"Danni," Jack started but she shot him a look that cut whatever he was going to say off.
"We were getting back on track," she explained. "He was holding my hand, and we were flirting, and having sex again and he wasn't just getting up and leaving afterwards!" she pointed at her father. "Not a word," she warned as he opened his mouth to state he'd been right about discussing her sex life. "But he couldn't just let my humanity go. He kept using it like an insult, like it made me less because of it. Like the part of me I share with him doesn't mean anything because it's negated by the human part. This Earth isn't the Earth I grew up on, my childhood home is in a different universe and you think he'd understand that. But he doesn't, it was just a big inconvenience for him. I am a big inconvenience for him."
"And so you left him?" He asked as she trailed off. "Moved in with Clara, and are now looking for a new bed?"
She nodded. "Pretty much, yeah."
"And what about the Doctor?" he asked. "Have you seen him since?"
"We're dating," she replied. "It was my idea. He came begging for forgiveness, but I need to know that we're going to work. So, we're just taking it slow. He picks me up on Fridays," she blushed slightly. "He said he's got me a gift for this Friday. I am rather excited for it."
Jack was pleasantly surprised. "Is this the same man who can't go anywhere without a bowtie around his neck?" he asked and Danni's brows furrowed slightly. He saw her last with Twelve, after Eleven had died and she'd been to Victorian London. He should know that, right?
Well, no, actually. Jack had no way of knowing that, and she hadn't told him either. She'd just told him that she'd left the Doctor, and that could have been anyone with this body. She had spent too long on her own linear time line; she'd forgotten that she met other people in the wrong order as well.
"No, no this is the one after him. Large eyebrows," she raised hers up to illustrate.
Jack was silent for a moment, and she fiddled her hands together nervously as he went over all the information he had given her. "I think that you're being very grown up."
She stared back in surprise. "Really?"
He nodded. "Yeah, I do," he smiled as she grinned at him. "What he did wasn't good, not by a long shot. But, with bow-tie, you used to just forgive him. He could do anything to you, and you would walk back to him without a thought. It's good that you're trying to find a way to work it out between yourselves without giving him the permission to do it again."
She didn't know quite how to feel at that. Yes, she had noticed that she'd forgiven Eleven a lot more than she had Twelve. It had been something she had been working on before they'd gone to the Moon, but to hear Jack say it made her slightly defensive. But then he also agreed that she wasn't doing the wrong thing by keeping her distance until she was sure if they could work together.
She just smiled. "Thanks, Jack," she replied with genuine gratitude. "I'm not sure if I should forgive him, but I want to."
"Well, do you think he's proven he's sorry?"
She smiled softly. "I think he's trying to," she replied. "We've not really had too much time together yet. We're going to take our time. We were apart for so long, and he never…"
She trailed off, catching the look Jack was giving her. Completely attentive, slightly sympathetic, and like he was truly listening to what she was saying. He really wanted to help, or at least let her talk until she helped herself.
But she didn't want to admit that it was being left behind again that hurt so much. That the Doctor still hadn't truly apologised for leaving her to live on Trenzalore without her. That he chose to spend the last part of his life without her. He never seemed to have a problem with leaving her behind to do his own thing, follow his own path.
"Do you want a sandwich?" she asked him instead, much to his surprise. "You brought me a coffee, but I didn't offer you anything to eat."
Jack shook his head. He knew that she was done talking about it for now, and this wasn't a time to push her to open up about it. "I'm alright, I ate on the plane," he explained.
"Well, that can't have been any good," she retorted, and the look on his face as he thought back to his overpriced, underwhelming, lukewarm cheese toasties just proved her point. "I can make you something. I'm not sure what we've got in, though. You'll have to come and have a look."
"How about we head out and try and find a couple of furniture stores?" Jack countered, having seen for himself that the food in the fridge looked suspect at best. "We can grab an early lunch and find that perfect bed you're after."
She nodded eagerly, taking another sip of her coffee. "I like your thinking, Captain," she replied. "Give me ten minutes, and I'll buy you something to eat."
"No, I'm paying," he replied firmly. She reached over and picked up one of the payslips UNIT had sent her.
"It's fine, I get paid now, I can afford a pub lunch," she replied. She handed him the payslip then headed to the bedroom. "That's enough for a decent bed, isn't it?" She called.
He flipped the paper open and widened his eyes slightly. "Jesus Christ, Danni, what did you do for them?"
"That's just the Doctor's pension!" She called back through. "I get it weekly now, is it alright?"
"Alright?!" he repeated. With the amount she was getting, her and Clara could have their own apartments and then some. "Yeah, we'll manage."
He needed to get himself on the UNIT payroll.
"Do you have the measurements for the room?" he asked.
"No, why would I need that?"
He sighed. "Oh, Danni-Girl, I have a lot to teach you."
~0~0~0~
Danni sat down on the edge of a bed, bouncing slightly on the mattress as if it would give her a complete understanding of the comfort it would bring.
"It won't fit," Jack tried again. They had been wandering around the bed store for at least an hour, but she kept coming back to the same bed. The king-size bed that would, under no circumstances, fit in the spare room of Clara's flat.
"But it's really comfy!" Danni exclaimed. "You said I have enough money for it!"
"But it won't fit," he reiterated. "There's a queen size down there with the same mattress that we might be able to squeeze into the room if Clara doesn't mind us moving out some of the furniture…"
"She doesn't, she said so," Danni interrupted. "So we can take all the furniture out. Why can't it fit in?"
He sat down next to her. "Danni, I know you're used to rooms changing to fit whatever you want in it," he started. "The TARDIS is magical, there's no denying that. But real houses just aren't like that, and if you want those bedside tables that you loved," Danni groaned, because she really did love them, "then you can't have the king-size bed."
"Real houses suck," she grumbled and Jack nodded, giving her an over-the-shoulder hug.
"I know, living out of a time machine can be rather rubbish," he retorted and she nudged him.
"Hush, you," she replied. "I can have the queen size, though?"
"Yes," he sighed in exasperation. He loved her dearly, but it was becoming more and more obvious that a normal, everyday life was not for her. He was seriously considering calling in a few favours and attempting to get his vortex manipulator for her once again from UNIT, but he wasn't sure he liked the idea of her travelling on her own. She was still his daughter, after all.
"Alright, let's get it," she declared, scanning the area for a sales person.
Jack had already spotted one. A rather good looking woman who was eyeing them, or specifically him, up from near a pay terminal. He smirked, standing up and ruffling her hair in a sign that they weren't there as a couple.
"Let me deal with this, Danni-Girl," he retorted. "I don't think it's you she's looking for."
Danni wrinkled up her nose. "Gross, Jack," she called after him. "I don't need to see that!"
~0~0~0~
Clara couldn't even begin to describe how happy she was that the day was over. Every class had been a test of her patience, and when she had thought that maybe she really wasn't cut out for being a teacher, at that moment when she was ready to strangle someone because they just wouldn't shut up, she had been kindly reminded that there was a staff meeting after school had ended.
A staff meeting that had lasted three hours! The only saving grace was that a certain Mr Pink had been there as well, and his presence always made everything better. That was why she was bringing him home. With Danni staying with her, they rarely had dates at her place, but with Jack around then maybe he could take Danni to his hotel and they could spend the night together.
Either way, she was too tired to go to his house, so even if he didn't stay, they could have dinner together.
"Perhaps we should have gone back to mine," Danny commented again as they stepped into her flat. "We both have late starts, we could have ordered in and not eaten it."
She shot him a look at his attempt at cheekiness. "That pile of marking in your bag says otherwise," she retorted and he groaned as he took said bag off and placed it on the floor underneath the coat hooks.
She giggled. "I'll go see what I have to cook," she told him. "Then I'll grab the menus and you can order out anyway."
"What about Danni?" he asked. His suspicion of the women who was living with Clara had dropped somewhat, but his suspicion that Clara liked her more than she let on was growing every day.
"I told you, her dad's in town, she'll be busy all night. She probably won't even come home," Clara reminded him, knowing that would catch his interest.
It did. Suddenly the idea of Clara having the flat, and her bed, to herself was very appealing. "Thai would be rather nice."
Both of them were rather surprised when the bathroom door opened, as they'd assumed that no one else was in the flat but them. Only Danny was surprised though when Jack stepped out wearing nothing but a towel around his waist.
"Danni, where's the…" his eyes fell on Clara, and his gaze dragged up and down the young man. A smirk appeared his face. "Hello, you must be Danny," he started. "I'm…"
Clara held her hand up. She remembered the first time she had met Jack, she remembered that look and she remembered how quickly she fell underneath it. "Don't," she warned.
"What, I was only saying hello!" he exclaimed, sounding insulted. Clara shook her head.
"I know what your hello means," she retorted. "He's mine, get your own solider."
He held his hands up and, for a brief moment, Clara panicked that the towel would fall to the ground. Luckily – well, maybe not luckily – it didn't fall. "I was just looking for Danni's moisturiser. Got to keep my skin looking young, it's a full time job."
Danni came out of the spare room, fairy lights dangling around her neck. "What did you say…" she trailed off and beamed at the couple. "Oh, you're home! I'm not ready yet!"
"Ready? For what?" Clara asked, smiling at the happiness on her face.
"I got a bed!" Danni replied. "And some bedside tables, and a dresser and I wanted it set up for when you came home!" She rushed over to the pair, hugging Clara then Danny, who tensed uncomfortably under the touch. "And then, I wanted to set up the little office I made you, but that's pretty much done now, but the bedroom isn't quite finished yet."
"Danni," Jack called over and she turned to look at him. "Moisturiser?"
"Oh!" She pointed into the living room for Clara. "You can go have a look, if you want, I won't be a moment." And she headed into the bathroom with Jack, a whirlwind of happiness and excitement.
"Clara?" Danny asked her slowly. "Why was there a naked American man in your bathroom?"
"Oh, that's just Jack," she dismissed. "He's Danni's dad. Come on, let's see what she's done to my living room."
Danny followed her into the other room, but his eyes were still drawn into the hallway. "Wait, he's her father? But he's only slightly older than us."
"He's like, over a hundred years old or sommat," Clara replied. "Don't worry about it, he's not technically had her yet."
He frowned. "Then how is he her father?"
Clara shrugged. "I don't. Her whole life is wibbly wobbly… timey whimy, it's easier to just nod and carry on."
"Okay…" Danny trailed off slowly. He didn't think that it was much of answer, to be honest, but it was probably better for him to pick his battles when it came to both Time Lords.
Danni had really done a wonderful job. All of the furniture that had been in the living room had all been moved over slightly, and Clara's desk now sat in front of the window that looked out onto the street. There was a new bookshelf to one side, full of books and pictures in frames, and fairy lights hung from the top shelf to the wall, hanging like stars.
"Oh wow," Clara stated. "This is lovely."
She walked over to the shelf, picking up one of the pictures. The shelves weren't the only new thing; Clara didn't recognise any of the frames. The one she'd immediately been drawn to was one of her and Danni.
"Do you like it?" Danni asked from the other side of the room. She was stood nervously, worrying her hands as she watched the pair look over the little nook she'd tried to make for Clara. She knew that Clara had said she could move all the furniture out to make a bedroom, but she didn't want to just leave it lying around, so she and Jack had managed to put it all together before she'd come home. "I bought some empty ones so you could put some of you and Danny in as well."
"It's fantastic," Clara promised and Danni grinned in relief.
"I wanted something nice for you, and you can see the TV if you want to watch it as well," Danni explained. "Come see the bedroom, I really like it!"
The bed took up most of the room, but Clara could see that she'd tried to give it a bit of a theme. The frame was white and metal, and the bedspread was a deep blue. "The fairy lights are going to go through the frame," Danni explained. "And I got a dresser, and a couple of bedside tables, and lamps, and I got myself something called a MacBook as well. Jack said I should have gone with a normal laptop, but the MacBook was prettier."
"Wow," Danny commented. "You've really been redecorating, haven't you?"
Danni nodded. "I wanted to make it look nice," she explained. "And I wanted somewhere I could hide away so you two could have dates and things and not worry about me anymore."
Danny wanted to thank her, although he did think that she'd taken a little bit of a liberty completely changing Clara's living room and spare room. However, Clara spoke before he could say anything. "You've not been a bother."
Danni smiled, not correcting her but knowing it wasn't true at all. Now she didn't have to share a bed with Clara, and that she had her own space, Clara and Danny could get back on to being a proper couple again. Just because her marriage wasn't right didn't mean she wanted anyone else to suffer any setbacks either.
"How did you get a bed so quickly?" Danny asked her. "I know it takes weeks for anything to be delivered."
"Oh, that would be Captain Flash out there," Danni grumbled with a roll of her eyes. "He will honestly flirt with anything with a heartbeat."
"You're just jealous it's not you I'm taking to dinner," Jack retorted as he headed in. He had got the lay of the land pretty quickly, and while he understood Danny's concern about the other Danni, he also could hear the hostility being directed at her and he wasn't about to let that happen. "I'll be back before eleven, don't wait up."
Danni chucked her keys at her father, who was now in a suit and looking pretty snazzy. "You do scrub up pretty well," she admitted. "Making a girl jealous."
"It's you I'm coming home to sweetheart," he replied. "Give me a call if you need me."
And he was gone. Danni rolled her eyes before turning back to her best friend and her boyfriend. "Right, I need to finish up in here, then I want to take a look at that Netflix thing that Jack showed me. It's pretty smart, did you know you could just watch movies wherever there is internet?"
Clara shot her a fond look. "Maybe tomorrow I'll show you Sky Plus," she teased and Danni stuck her tongue out at her. "We're ordering Thai; do you want anything?"
"Nah, I've eaten. I'll just make a cuppa and settle in for the night, I think. I bought new pyjamas as well," she explained as the three walked out of her new bedroom. "They're like the softest material you've ever felt. Do you mind if I use that little teapot of yours?"
"No, go right ahead," Clara replied and Danni darted into the kitchen, determined to have a lovely night on her own.
~0~0~0~
Danni sat in the middle of her bed, covers pulled up around her, laptop on her knee. She was still getting used to the MacBook, but she would work it out. It wasn't terribly hard; she'd worked for a computer company for almost a week once. She just wasn't used to clicking on things rather than just touching a screen. Maybe Jack had been right, because there had been a touch screen laptop that she'd overlooked.
Not that she would tell him that.
It turned out that she needed an account to sign up for Netflix, which meant she needed an email, and how was she supposed to choose a username for that? Jack would help her with that too.
It wasn't that she didn't understand a lot of things. She knew she needed a bank account to get a bank card to pay for things on. She knew that rooms didn't magically change shape to fit bigger beds in. She knew what an email was, and what Ebay was, and YouTube wasn't foreign to her at all.
She'd just not needed to use any of it in such a long time, in hundreds upon hundreds of years, that she didn't even know where to start. People needed identity to live successfully on this planet, and she was no one. She didn't even have a birth certificate. She'd just been using Clara's bank account until Kate had told her about the UNIT pension, then handed her a card and some details of one they'd set up for her.
It was times like this she felt trapped on the TARDIS. Not because she didn't want to be there, or because she didn't love her husband anymore. Her life was beyond amazing, and that was why she was trying to fight for it. But without it, she had nothing. She couldn't be anything else but the Doctor's wife, and that was terrifying when there was a possibility that she might not be for much longer. If they didn't sort it out…
She glanced over at her phone, which was sat on one of her bedside tables. The bed felt huge with just her sat in it, and the phone felt so far away. Jack had said she could ring him if she needed him, that it was just a bit of fun that he wouldn't admit he was only participating in because he'd wanted to get her the new bed quicker. But it was only 10pm, and he'd said he'd be back soon.
And it wasn't Jack that she wanted to talk to, anyway. She wanted to talk to her husband, she wanted to snuggle up against his side in bed and watch whatever movie she wanted. She was seeing him tomorrow, but it felt too far away.
She picked up her phone, much like she had done the night before with Jack. She had opened up a can of something by ringing him, and this time the urge to ring the man that was on her mind felt harder to overcome.
Would he be angry if she rang him? Sad? Happy?
She dialled the TARDIS anyway, holding the phone up to her ear as she listened to it ring. She'd give him to seven rings, then she'd hang up. One… two…
"Danielle?" she smiled at the Scottish voice that called her name, his breath slightly panting, like he'd rushed over to the phone when he realised who it was.
"Hi-Hi sweetie," she greeted.
"Is everything okay? Do you need me to come?"
His concern was touching, and almost palpable. But she shook her head to herself. "No, no I just wanted to call you," she replied softly. "Are you busy? It can wait 'til tomorrow?"
"No, no I'm not busy," he was quick to reassure her.
"Good, good," she said. They then fell into silence, because what did you say to your husband of five hundred years who you were now dating and only seeing once a week?
"Umm…" she started. "I got a new bed today," she winced. Oh, that wasn't a good start, was it? Reminding both of them that she wasn't living with him anymore probably wasn't the way to go conversation wise.
"Oh," he replied, confirming her thoughts. "Where… where did you…"
"In Clara's spare room," she replied. "She left me buy all the furniture and move hers around as well. It's rather nice, I'm… I'm kinda proud of what I did, really."
"That's good," the Doctor replied quickly. "I'm happy you're having a good time."
"You can see it tomorrow, if you like?" she suggested. "I think Clara likes it as well."
"I'm sure she does, she likes everything you do," the Doctor purred in return and Danni rolled her eyes at his implication.
"Will you stop that?" she scolded. "She has a boyfriend; she doesn't fancy me. We're just friends, deal with it."
"Well, that just proves why soldier is there," the Doctor countered. "She's just upset you don't fancy her back."
"She doesn't fancy me," Danni insisted.
"More fool her," the Doctor replied and Danni smiled softly. Once again they fell into silence, but Danni couldn't bring herself to hang up on him yet.
"What were you up to, before I rang?"
"I was just sorting out the last little details for our next date," he explained. "You're not interrupting anything."
That was a bit of a relief. She had been worried that she might be annoying him, especially since she had nothing to say. "I thought you might have headed somewhere before coming here."
"Are you sure everything is okay?" he asked her, obviously not believing that she was okay. She wasn't, but she really didn't think either of them where.
"I just wanted to talk to you," she admitted quietly, her guilt just creeping into her voice. "I don't really have anything to say, but…"
"You can call me anytime," he was quick to reassure her. "And anytime you want me to come…"
"I know," she interrupted. "You're being incredibly sweet about this entire thing."
"I – ah - don't want you uncomfortable, Danielle," he replied, and she had to grin slightly at how he was trying to comfort her, and yet sounded incredibly uncomfortable himself. "I just want you to come home, but I think that might be a wish too far."
She looked down at the bed she was sat on. "It might not be," she tried. "The bed might just be a spare bed for Clara, we'll see how it works out."
"Do you think you will come home?" he asked and she didn't know how to reply to that. Their first date hadn't ended fantastically, but overall had been a nice night. He'd opened up to her in a way that was obviously hard for him, and she liked to think that she took what he gave her without pushing him too far. Apart from a couple of little digs, they were getting better.
She just found it hard to get past the digs, because they were always at who she was, not things she did. Things that would never change, and she didn't think he'd ever be able to let them go. Until he proved her otherwise, it felt like he would never be able to get over the fact that she just wasn't the full Time Lord he wanted her to be.
"I don't have an answer to that," she replied apologetically, but honestly. "Let's see how tomorrow goes, and we'll move forward from there."
"Very well," he replied, and the shortness in his tone, mixed with the harshness of his accent, told her that was plainly not the answer he wanted from her. "I will see you tomorrow, Danielle."
"Okay, sweetie, I…" she paused as it became obvious that he'd hung up on her. "I love you," she finished quietly, removing the phone from her ear.
He'd not even said goodbye. She knew she'd hurt him slightly by mentioning the bedroom, and then not giving him the hope he was looking for, but she couldn't just lie to him, could she? He deserved better, she didn't want to say she was going to go back to him if she never would. That just wasn't fair on him, and it wasn't fair on her either.
She sniffed slightly, wiping the tears away with the back of her hand. He'd not said goodbye; he'd not said he loved her. He'd just hung up and left her on her own.
~0~0~0~
The Doctor tried his best not to slam the phone down, turning away from the console so he didn't have to stare at it anymore.
She had a bedroom, now?! When had that happened? How was that even a possibility?!
He'd not even started to try and fix the mess he'd created, and she was already settling down roots away from him!
He needed to speed up his actions, he needed to try harder. His first attempt had been a failure; this one would be better. He'd take her to the best location he could think of, let her meet all of the best people. She could try the food, dance and drink and take as many pictures as she wanted. She'd always liked souvenirs, and she'd always like people watching.
His eyes lit up. He'd been planning on taking her to one of those concerts that she adored; the Killers, or someone with a violent name. His lips twisted into a grin. He had somewhere better, somewhere that showed that he knew her, that he adored her.
His hand hesitated as he reached out to change course for the next day, and his head hung as the wave of uncertain despair rushed over him. This had to work. He was nothing without her.
~0~0~0~
Jack shushed his giggling date as they stood outside the restaurant, waiting for a taxi. It turned out the Miss Stephanie Williams was actually a rather wonderful date, and as he was only in London for a day before going back to sea – he'd convinced her he was a navy serviceman – she was more than willing to take him back to her place.
He just wanted to drop Danni a little message first to let her know he wasn't coming back until the morning.
"Hi," she answered, and immediately he knew something was wrong. His playful side fell, and he gently shoved the intoxicated woman to the curb, indicating for her to wait there.
"What's wrong?" He asked. "You've been crying."
"He… he hung up on me," Danni started, crying again from saying it out loud. "I think I really made him angry, I… I didn't mean to, Jack. What do I do?"
He sighed, taking one last glance at Stephanie. "Don't do anything," he told her gently. "I'm sure it's fine, we can talk about it when I get back, okay?"
"Okay," she replied, although it sounded like she hadn't stopped crying. "Why did you ring me?"
"Oh, I was just letting you know I was on my way back," he lied. "Not long, fifteen minutes, alright Danni-Girl?"
"Thanks, Jack," she said sincerely. "I-I'm really grateful, you know? I don't know what I'd do without you."
"Probably be just fine, but just not in such fantastic company," he replied, his heart warming at her words. "I won't be long."
He said goodbye to Stephanie, telling her his daughter needed him. As he suspected, she assumed Danni was just a child, and she told him to give her a call the next time he was in town for another meet up. He agreed to, even if he didn't have the intention, but her number stayed in his phone.
The moment he stepped into Clara's flat, he was tackled by a crying blonde, who obviously had just needed her dad. He hugged her close, promising everything would be fine. She would be fine, she knew that, and the Doctor would be an idiot not to fight with her.
He took her to the bedroom, tucking her up in a way that he knew he was going to miss when she was a child, then climbed in next to her when she refused to let him go.
"I can't do this, Jack," she sobbed into him. "I don't know how to fix everything that's wrong."
"You don't," he told her, gently stroking her hair. "Not on your own, and he seems very keen on trying."
"I can't lose him," she continued. "I love him so much."
"I know you do," he shushed. "But nothing can be done about anything now. Just try and get some rest, we'll sort it all out tomorrow."
"Will you stay?"
"As long as you need me, Danni-Girl."