Distance

Chapter 9-How Long 'Till We Call This Love?

The Doctor snuck a look at Clara from across the console. There she stood, bright-eyed and grinning, thinking about their last few adventures. They had rescued Pluto from Zygons, visited the Lost Moon of Poosh, almost got captured by Daleks, fought off a horde of Pterolectals, and barely escaped with their lives. Nevertheless, she looked like she needed a break. Though he would never admit it, so did he.
"Doctor..." began Clara.
"Yes, Clara?" said the Doctor, looking up from his wiring.
"There's an Oswald family gathering," Clara said as she rounded the console, "And as we've been on a few adventures off of Earth, I thought maybe...?"
The Doctor looked at her doubtfully. "A family gathering?"
Clara nodded. The Doctor turned away from her.
"I suppose a little bit of human affair wouldn't hurt," he said. "What exactly would this entail?"
Clara brightened. "A nice sit-down dinner, nothing fancy, and a bit of television."
The Doctor looked at her in dread. "Television?" he groaned.
Clara laughed. "What's wrong with television?"
The Doctor hid his face in his hands and flopped down on his armchair. "It's so boring!" he said. "Why watch the moon landing on television when you can just go see it in person?"
"Okay, first of all, we are definitely not watching the moon landing, and second of all, not everyone has that luxury."
Clara took the Doctor's hands and puled him to his feet. "Come on!"
The Doctor reluctantly went to the console and clicked some switches. The TARDIS took off.
"I assume it's at your apartment?" said the Doctor.
Clara nodded happily. When they landed, Clara curled her hand around his and opened the doors out into her kitchen.
"I've prepared it all ahead of time." Clara reassured the tentative Doctor. "No cooking."
"Good. Hold on." The Doctor ran a finger down the blue box and it turned invisible.
"Cool!" Clara said enthusiastically.
The Doctor smiled. "Is your family already here?" he asked.
"Well, I don't-" but Clara was interrupted by the door of the kitchen bursting open. A flurry of people including her dad, Linda, her grandmother, her aunt, and several of her cousins and their children crowded at the door.
"Clara!" Clara's dad said. "How nice to see you!"
"Hello, Clara." her gran said, pleased. "Won't you introduce us to your...er...friend?" She eyed their hands, which were still clasped together tightly.
Clara blushed and released the Doctor's hand. "This is John Smith, a friend of mine."
The Doctor raised his eyebrows but said nothing as he was greeted by all of Clara's family members.
"I'm Angela." said one cousin. "Nice to meet you."
Once Clara had waved everyone to the dining room, she glanced at the Doctor.  "What do you think of my family?"
The Doctor wiped a lipstick stain off of his cheek, left there by one of Clara's many friendly cousins. "Basic humans..." he said. "Probably not aliens."
Clara giggled and waved him off to the dining room table. "Go on, just don't do anything...y'know...alieny."
The Doctor shook his head in bewilderment but entered the dining room cautiously, striking up a conversation with a small boy named Nick about robots. A few minutes later, Clara entered with a bowl of salad and some drumsticks.
"Dinner is served." she proclaimed as she set the plates down on the table and sat down between her gran and Angela.
"Clara..." the Doctor said.
Clara understood. She sighed, stood up, and sat back down next to the Doctor. He shyly took her hand under the table. Angela smiled and raised her eyebrows at them but said nothing. As the meal progressed, the Doctor got woozier and sleepier due to the glasses of wine Clara's gran kept pouring him. Several times, Clara caught him staring at her and he looked away quickly. Though it was slightly awkward eating with one hand, the Doctor's fingers remained curled around Clara's hand throughout the dinner.
"Do you have children, Angela?" said the Doctor, trying to make conversation. He gestured at the horde of children.
"Not me, no." Angela said.
"Why not?"
"Doc-John!" Clara exclaimed, blushing. But Angela laughed it off.
Soon, the Oswalds and the Doctor stood up to go to the sitting room where they could watch the movie.
"What movie is it?" questioned the Doctor.
"The kids want Big Hero Six." Clara said with a laugh.
"Big Hero Six?" The Doctor frowned. "What's th-" He quickly stopped talking at a meaningful look from Clara.
The Oswalds settled down on the couch and the kids slid onto the floor. There was barely room on the small sofa. Clara was uncomfortably wedged in between the Doctor, who refused to let go of her hand, and Linda. She managed to set up the movie, and as it started, her head settled onto the Doctor's shoulder. Linda shot them a disapproving glance, but they barely noticed. As the movie started, Clara ran her fingers over the Doctor's long ones. Aside from the odd comments the Doctor occasionally made, everything went okay, until halfway through, the kids got extremely bored and started whining. Their parents were forced to take them home.
"A pleasure to meet you, John." one called as they were dragged out of the room. Clara, her dad, her gran, Linda, Angela, and the Doctor were left in the room with the movie playing at a low volume. Linda went to the toilet and in that time, Clara's dad and gran drifted off to sleep.
Angela laughed. "Dropping like flies." she joked. "Can I have a word with you, John?" The Doctor hesitated, suddenly wide-awake, then looked at Clara, who shrugged.
"Sure..." the Doctor said as he stood up, dropping Clara hand. As soon as they got into the kitchen, Angela started laughing.
"What? What is it?" the Doctor said, confused.
"Sorry." said Angela between giggles. "But it's just so obvious."
The Doctor frowned, his forehead creasing. "What are you talking about?" he said cautiously, hand moving toward his screwdriver.
"You!" she said. "And Clara! Can't you see?"
The Doctor frowned deeper. "See what?"
Angela shook her head in amazement. "Look, it's very obvious that you're in love with her, John." she said bluntly.
"W-what?" he spluttered. "How dare-that's not-we're friends!"
Angela scoffed. "'Friends' don't hold hands at the dinner table." she said. "And the way you look at each other, someone was bound to notice!"
The Doctor buried his face in his hands, embarrassed. "I'm sorry." he said. "I'll be subtler next time."
Angela softened. "That isn't the point." she said. "You need to tell her, John. Before it's too late."
He looked up at her. "I-even if I did think of her as more than a friend-which is completely untrue," he blustered, "I doubt she would feel that way."
She laughed. "You'd be surprised." she said. "How long do you think you can keep this up?" And she left him in the room alone with his face buried in his hands. When she reached the sitting room again, she constructed a quick lie. "John wants to talk to you." she said to Clara. Clara got up, stretched, and went to the kitchen, careful not to wake her dad and gran. The Doctor heard the door creak open and looked up.
"You wanted to talk to me?" Clara said.
The Doctor shook his head, confused. "Not at all."
Clara blinked. "But Angela sa-"
"Ah, Angela." the Doctor yawned. "A rather talkative human."
Clara moved toward him, smiling. "You look exhausted." she said, wrapping her arms around his chest. The Doctor rested his chin on her head, smiling. "That'll be the alcohol." he admitted. "Alcohol and Time Lords do not mix."
"Why am I not surprised?" Clara mumbled against his chest.
The Doctor wrapped his finger in a strand of her hair. "Clara?" he said, staring at the flowery pattern on the wall.
"Yes, Doctor?"
He sighed, holding her tighter. "I lo-"
The door opened and Linda burst in. She gasped as the Doctor and Clara jumped quickly apart but said nothing as she took a soda from the fridge and she exited the room, shooting a suspicious glance back at them.
"We should probably go..." Clara said. "The movie..."
"Yeah..." the Doctor sighed. "The movie."