A Second Chance (Peterick AU)

Chapter 7

The Doctor was standing a bit awkwardly off to the side. I felt bad for him, but at the same time, I didn't want to let Patrick go. It had been so long since he just got to hold him. I couldn't even begin to imagine what was running through Patrick's head at the moment...

When Patrick began to loosen his hold, I followed his lead. I still found this to be insanity. How was any of this possible? Even with time travel, even with multiple dimensions, how did it end up that I landed in one where my world still existed?..

"Pete..." The Doctor waved at me to get my attention once Patrick and I had separated. "I need to go check some things in the tardis...Do you want to come?"

"Actually, can I wait here Doctor?" I asked, "If...if it's alright with Patrick..."

"No! No, I mean, that's fine!" Patrick tripped over his words. He finally gave up and just nodded vigorously.

The Doctor nodded back and clapped his hands together. "Okay! I will be back! Don't have too much fun you two." He pointed between Patrick and I before spinning on his heels, opening the door and leaving.

Patrick and I just looked at each other and laughed.

**

"IS IT SUPPOSED TO DO THAT!?" I yelled, clutching the railing of the tardis for dear life as the time machine began to shake and make strange noises.

The Doctor just laughed, flipping switches and looking over at me.
"Oh c'mon Peter! It's not that bad!"

"YOU'RE INSANE!" I yelled back in response.

That only made the Doctor laugh harder. "You don't know the half of it!"

**

Patrick and I were sitting on the kitchen counter, for some reason. We had both avoided really going into his living room, leading me to imagine that's where he found me, this worlds Pete... But I wouldn't ask. I didn't want to make him recall anymore of that day than he already had... Although, the topic was extremely unavoidable.

"So this whole time since..." Patrick was twiddling his thumbs thinking over what I had told him of my experience, "you ran with a stranger...To help take some of the pain away..."

"It's stupid, I know!.." I ran my fingers through my hair, "To just, run away from it all but...I didn't know what I was going to do..."

Patrick shook his head. "If given the same opportunity, I would have done the same thing." He set his hand on my knee lightly, "I still don't know what I'm doing..." He looked at me with a mixed look of sadness and happiness, "I'm just glad you found a way to try and be better after..."

"How did you ever cope?" I asked quietly, picking up where he had trailed off, "Every night, every dream, it haunts me. Even when I'm awake it's playing in my head like someone's favorite record."

He looked at me as if his heart had shattered at my words. He was silent. Finally, after a period of silence, he spoke.

"I was hoping you could tell me..." He said lowly, "because my brain does the same thing... Except..." He looked down at the hand that was on my knee. "If I listen to your voice... It's like nothing happened at all...Even though deep down..."

"I know." I finished for him. I understood what he was feeling. Hearing his voice reminded me of the good times with Patrick. All the sassy remarks, all the times he would get very into discussions about possible lyrics and the meaning behind them...

Patrick bit his lip. He took in a deep breath of air and spoke very quickly. "CanItrysomething?"

Before I could respond, I felt his soft lips on mine.

Holy shit.

He pulled away quickly and blushed. "I-I'm sorry, I just wanted to know if-"

This time, I was the one that cut him off. He was Patrick. Not just in the alternate dimension aspect, but everything I observed about him. All his nervous speech whenever he was flustered or nervous, his speech, his voice, and the person behind those eyes...My world wasn't gone. It was just repositioned in the universe...