The incision heals overnight, just as the Doctor promised it would, and Cherry takes a long, steaming bath in the morning to wash away any renaming dried blood. She had wanted to do so before she slept, but the Doctor strongly advised her against getting the stitches wet and for once, she listened. She soaks in the water until it goes cold, resting her head back against the tub with her eyes shut. She has a bit of a headache from the blow to her head the day before, so she takes her time getting ready, not bothering to do much with makeup other than some light foundation, mascara, and her usual red lipstick. She throws on a plain pair of leggings and picks a dark blue velour jumper from the wardrobe, which she zips up over her vest top, and then she trudges to the kitchen. It's empty, and she groggily boils the kettle and chucks a few slices of bread into the copper toaster. She finds a seat at the small kitchen island and lies her head in her arms as she waits for the toast and the water to be ready.
"Morning," Amy hums as she waltzes into the kitchen, still wearing a nightie and dressing gown. Cherry groans out a greeting, and Amy raises her eyebrows at the brunette. "What's up with you?"
"I've got a headache," Cherry whines, sitting up straight and rubbing her temples. Then, she narrows her eyes at the redhead, who takes three mugs out of the cupboard and places them on the counter. "I blame you."
"Me?" Amy barks out a laugh of disbelief, looking over at Cherry with wide eyes. "What did I do?"
"Well, I was trying to save you from an angry lizard, and she hit me round the head with a gun," Cherry reminds Amy, who purses her lips and turns away from her cousin. She chucks three tea bags into the mugs and then starts to search through the fridge. Cherry slides out of her seat and picks up the kettle. Her hands tremble from the weight, and she struggles to pour the water into the three mugs but slowly fills them all up. Amy hands her a tea towel to wipe up the spilt liquid and a pint of milk to finish the brewing cups of tea.
"Well, I was trying to save the Doctor," Amy excuses her actions. "I thought you'd be pleased."
"Yes, I'm so pleased I got whacked round the head," Cherry rolls her eyes as she splashes milk into the three mugs and then she spreads butter and strawberry jam on top of her toasted bread. "Thank you."
"Where is the Doctor, anyway?" Amy takes the polka dot mug and then sits down at the island, sipping on the boiling liquid without wincing as it burns her mouth.
"How should I know?" Cherry shrugs her shoulders, carrying her bright red mug over to the table with two hands and then fetching her toast in another trip before sitting beside Amy. She leaves the cup she's made for the Doctor on the side, not wanting to spill any of it. "Do you think he ever sleeps?"
"I don't know," Amy frowns, looking over her mug thoughtfully. "He must do... what would he do all night?"
"Ah!" the Doctor exclaims as he bursts into the kitchen. "I was wondering when you two would be up."
He's dressed in his usual get-up, tweed jacket and crooked blue bowtie, which makes Cherry roll her eyes, and she beckons him over to her. He furrows his eyebrows, placing himself next to her, and she reaches up, straightening the bow and then patting it once it's in the right place. He smiles, and Amy stares at the pair of them with an eyebrow arched and a smirk on her face.
"Much better," she mumbles and then nods her head over at the blue mug on the counter. "I made you tea."
"Really?" the Doctor picks up his mug, looking down at the tea inside it with raised eyebrows. He takes a big sip and pulls a face until he notices Cherry is still looking at him, and he flashes her a weak smile and a thumbs up. She looks away, content with his reaction, and she finishes her slice of toast as the Doctor turns his back to her and quickly spits the tea back into the cup, shuddering. Amy snorts into her cup at his reaction, and Cherry looks back up at the pair, confused.
"What?" she eyes them both suspiciously, but Amy shakes her head, hiding her smile with her mug of tea, and the Doctor opens up one of the cupboards and pulls out a copper tin.
"Nothing," the Doctor assures her, lying. "Great tea, thanks... oh, that reminds me," the Doctor reaches into his pocket and pulls out a small bottle of a strange-looking medicine. He puts it down on the table in front of Cherry, and his eyes flicker up to the bruise on the side of her face, which is too dark to cover up with any makeup. "For your headache."
"How did you know?" Cherry wonders as she unscrews the lid and peers down at the liquid nervously. She sniffs it, turning her nose up at the strange scent, but the pain in her head outweighs her disgust, and she quickly downs the liquid, not noticing the Doctor mix about ten spoonfuls of sugar into his tea before he sits down opposite the cousins with the mug and the copper tin.
"I know everything," the Doctor muses smugly as she finishes the medicine. Her headache immediately eases, bringing a smile to her lips, and she thanks the Doctor politely, handing him the empty glass bottle. He drops it back into his pocket and takes the lid off the tin. Cherry laughs when he hands her a jammy dodger, remembering how he threatened a ship full of Daleks with one, and he smiles at her.
"So, what shall we do today?" the Doctor asks the cousins and then sips his tea, which he much prefers the taste of now that it's loaded with sugar, although he won't tell Cherry that because he doesn't wish to hurt her feelings.
"I don't really fancy doing anything," Amy shrugs, grabbing a biscuit.
"Neither," Cherry agrees, lying her head on the table once again and pouting up at the Doctor. "Can't we just relax?"
The Doctor frowns at them both, "No...What is the point of having you here if we don't do anything fun?"
"Maybe because you like us?" Amy raises an eyebrow, and he lets out a huff. "Besides, relaxing is fun, and you never take us where we want to go."
"That is not true. What about when we..." the Doctor trails off, struggling to find a time where they have ended up where they wanted to go. Then his eyes light up, and he clicks his fingers, pointing at the pair. "What about when we went to Venice? That was the right place."
"You chose Venice," Cherry reminds him, and he frowns again. "And we got attacked by fish vampires."
"Well, we have to go somewhere," the Doctor whines at them. "If I sit still any longer, I'll go insane."
"You already are," Cherry quips, and the Doctor points at her, gritting his teeth.
"Oi, you," he mutters in an annoyed tone, but Cherry and Amy both laugh at him. He sits in silence, crossing his legs, sipping his tea, and fiddling with his fingers for a while. And then, he starts to tap his foot restlessly on the floor, and Cherry raises an eyebrow at him. He lets out a very loud huff and slams his mug down onto the table, jumping up. "No, can't do it. I need to be busy."
"Well done," Cherry raises her mug to him as he pauses in the doorway and turns back to them. "You lasted less than five minutes. Very impressive."
"I'm taking you out to lunch," the Doctor decides, wringing his hands together. "Well, sightseeing and then lunch. Amy, get dressed. Cherry... well, do whatever."
With that, he rushes out of the kitchen, and Cherry presumes he probably runs through the corridors and to the control room. She and Amy share long, amused looks and then Amy groans, climbing to her feet and begrudgingly making her way back to her room to get ready for their trip presumably. Cherry isn't sure if she should change, but the Doctor didn't say anything about her outfit, so she decides against it and slowly makes her way to the control room, where the Doctor is running around the console like a madman.
"Where are we going?" Cherry asks curiously, sitting down opposite the console with her legs crossed.
"It's a surprise," the Doctor answers, and Cherry groans, leaning her head back against the seat.
"Will there be any running or aliens?" Cherry wonders, and the Doctor shrugs.
"I'll be there," he replies, and she chuckles. "But no, not that I know of."
"Good," Cherry smiles as the Tardis starts to wheeze when the Doctor lands it, keeping the brakes on, and Amy emerges from the corridor, dressed and ready to go sightseeing.
The Doctor grins at them both, rushing over to the doors, and they follow him, their eyes widening as they step out of the Tardis and take in the views before them. A desert-like landscape spans out before them, with a dusty road spanning for miles behind the Tardis, but there are bright blue lakes and huge mountains of red rock breaking up the sandy floor. The Doctor's face falls, glancing around them quickly, spinning on his heels as he tries to work out where they have landed.
"We're in the wrong place, aren't we?" Cherry notices his shocked expression, which he quickly covers up, pulling her to his side with an arm around her shoulder.
"Of course not," the Doctor denies. "This is exactly where I wanted us to go."
"Oh, yeah?" Amy raises her eyebrows at the man. "Where exactly are we?"
"The United States of America," the Doctor states, glancing over at a nearby diner with a huge American flag flying over the car park. Cherry follows his eyeline and then snorts out a laugh.
"How did you figure that one out?" Cherry remarks sarcastically, and the Doctor smiles, squeezing her shoulders.
"I'm a genius."
"You're full of yourself," Cherry rolls her eyes at him, and she unzips her hoodie, growing warm under the sun.
"Where in America are we?" Amy wonders aloud, looking over at the Doctor and Cherry for confirmation. "Texas?"
"Why don't we go and ask?" Cherry suggests, pulling away from the Doctor's hug and taking his hand instead, heading off toward the diner with him and Amy following behind her. Cherry's eyes go wide when she steps inside. It's a proper American-style diner, like something out of a film, with red leather booths, checkerboard flooring, and American memorabilia hanging on the walls. There's even a jukebox by the door.
"Wow, this is cool," Cherry laughs as they approach the counter, and Cherry smiles sweetly at the man on the till. "Hi, we're not from around here... we've got a bit lost, and we were just wondering if you could please tell us where we are exactly?"
The man grins at the brunette, eyeing her up and down, and she self-consciously covers her chest with her arms. The Doctor rolls his eyes and then glares at the man as he starts to smirk, and Amy watches the exchange with raised eyebrows. "Well, sure thing, doll. This is Lake Silencio, Utah."
Cherry cringes at the pet name and the Doctor steps forward, wrapping his arm around her shoulder, and he stares at the man with his jaw clenched tightly. "Uh, okay... thanks," Cherry mutters, rolling her eyes at the man when he winks at her.
"The pleasure's all mine, darling," he drawls out, and Amy scoffs very loudly at him as they all turn to leave the diner in a hurry.
"What a perv," Amy huffs, staring daggers back at the diner, and Cherry shrugs her shoulders. "I should go back there and give him a piece of my mind."
"It's fine. I don't want some guy ruining our day out," Cherry places her arm on the redhead's arm, calming her down. She looks up at the Doctor, who's still gritting his teeth with an angry look in his eye, and she smiles. "Where to? Are we going to visit Lake Silencio?"
"Umm..." the Doctor glances back at the lake and then shakes his head. "No, let's go this way." He points to a mountain range a short distance away.
"I can't climb a mountain," Cherry whines, holding a foot out in the air and pointing at the blue Converse she's wearing. "I'm not wearing the right shoes."
"Well, we don't have to climb it then," the Doctor rolls his eyes, heading off toward the mountains. "We can just look."
"Did you see him in the diner?" Amy whispers to Cherry, grinning as they walk behind him. "When that guy was being creepy?"
"Yeah, he was just being protective," Cherry shrugs, not fazed by the Doctor's protectiveness over her. "He always is. Over both of us."
"He is way more protective over you," Amy points out, her eyes flickering over to the timelord ahead of them to make sure he cannot hear them. "And he's always kissing you and flirting with you..."
"No, he isn't," Cherry denies, and then she slowly realises that Amy is right. "Okay, but he does that with you, too. I think that's just his personality."
"No, he doesn't," Amy shakes her head. "It's different when he does it with you... and you're different with him, Cherry."
"Well, I'm not normally in life-threatening situations, so of course I'm different," Cherry replies, hiding the blush on her cheeks as her eyes flicker between her feet and the Doctor.
"No, Cherry, you clearly like him," Amy rolls her eyes. "I've never seen you care about a guy the way you care for him before."
"Well, it doesn't matter," Cherry shrugs her shoulders, a frown pulling on her face. "He wouldn't ever like me back... I'm just... me."
"Which is exactly why he likes you," Amy retorts, wrapping her arm around Cherry's shoulders, squeezing her. "You don't always have to put yourself down. You're amazing. The best cousin I could ever ask for."
"Are you two coming, or what?" the Doctor shouts back at the pair, who are walking far too slow for his liking. They both roll their eyes at him and break out into a run to catch up to him. He leads them up to the base of a smaller mountain, and they climb onto one of the lower ledges of it, all taking a seat on the dusty ground and looking out at the lake and the other mountains and features of the landscapes surrounding them.
"It looks so cool," Cherry muses, taking her jumper off and tying it around her waist. She leans back, her pale skin shining in the bright sun. "It looks like another planet."
"I've never seen anything like this on Earth before," Amy agrees, nodding her head and squinting against the sun.
"Well, that's because Leadworth is the most boring place on the planet," the Doctor reminds them both bitterly, and the girls both chuckle in agreement.
"Yes, but at least it's not this hot all the time," Cherry says, leaning her head back and soaking in the sunlight. The Doctor can't help but study the way the sunlight glows on her skin, illuminating the light freckles over her nose and across her shoulders, and her lips twitch up into a content smile, which he mirrors.
"What's that?" Amy asks, suddenly panicked, and she turns to the Doctor and Cherry with wide eyes. Then, she furrows her eyebrows, shakes her head and smiles at the pair, who are staring at her in concern. "Sorry... I thought I saw something."
"What was it?" Cherry enquires, raising an eyebrow at Amy.
"I don't know, but there's nothing there," Amy says and points out ahead of them to an empty stretch of the mountains. "Look."
"Oh, right," Cherry shrugs, deciding that her cousin must be imagining things, and Amy sighs.
"I feel sick... I think the heat must be getting to me," Amy groans, holding her stomach. "Can we go back to the diner? If it's okay with you, Cherry."
"Yeah, I'm starving, and I've always wanted to order food at an American diner," Cherry excitedly clambers to her feet, brushing as much of the fine sand off her leggings as she can before they slowly make their way down the mountain.
Cherry has never been more thankful for air conditioning in her life than she is when they open the door to the diner and are met with a blast of cool air. She sighs, smiling once again as her body slowly cools down, and they slide into a booth. The leather seats are cold against her back, and she leans into it, her head resting against the Doctor's arm, which is sprawled out casually over the top of the seat.
"I know I said I didn't want to go anywhere, but thank you for bringing us here," Cherry looks over at him where he sits beside her. "It's really nice here."
"You're welcome," the Doctor smiles at her, and then he leans forward, rubbing his hands together as he stares down at the menu.
"Oh, look," Amy points down to her menu and looks over at her cousin. "They have cherry milkshakes..." then she smirks and looks over at the Doctor. "You should order one of those, Doctor."
"He doesn't like cherries," Cherry tells Amy, pulling a face at her, and the redhead raises her eyebrows.
"I thought you liked them?" Amy asks the Doctor, who frowns, shaking his head.
"No, he hates them," Cherry recalls a conversation they had when they first met, and the Doctor looks over at her, mildly surprised that she remembers this. "He loves the sweets, though..."
"Love the sweets, though," the Doctor tells Amy at the same time Cherry does, and Amy bites her lip to hide the huge smile forming on her face. The Doctor and Cherry exchange a shy look, and she blushes cherry red and turns her attention to her menu.
"Ooo, look, they do pancakes," she says, ignoring her cousin's grin. "I'm going to have strawberry ones."
A waitress approaches the table, scribbling down their order on a notepad as Amy orders a bacon cheeseburger and fries, and Cherry asks for her strawberry pancakes with ice cream and a cherry milkshake on the side. The waitress looks to the Doctor for his order next, but he just waves his hand dismissively, and Cherry turns to him with a frown.
"You really don't want anything?" she asks him, a little surprised as she knows that he can eat human food, even if he is an alien. He looks over at her briefly and then sighs, scanning his menu again.
"Um... I'll have a burger, too, then," the Doctor says to the waitress, looking a little uncertain.
"What kind?" the waitress asks, growing tired of the group, and he shrugs his shoulders cluelessly.
"What would you recommend?" He asks her, and the waitress rolls her eyes.
"Just a cheeseburger," Amy answers for him. "With no bacon."
"Right," the waitress scribbles down his food order. "Regular fries or curly fries?"
The Doctor looks between Cherry and Amy with an intrigued smile on his face.
"Curly fries? I've never had them before," he says, and the waitress takes that as his answer and quickly leaves the table to give the chef their order.
"Have you ever been to a restaurant before?" Amy asks the Doctor as Cherry laughs at him.
"I'm nine hundred and eight," the Doctor reminds them. "I must've been to a restaurant at some point."
"A human restaurant, on earth? With actual real people in it?" Amy presses, unconvinced, and he shrugs his shoulders. Cherry shivers, growing cold from the powerful air conditioning now that they've been inside for a while, and she chucks her hoodie back on, rubbing her arms to keep warm.
"Yes, why? Was I rude?" The Doctor wonders, glancing over at Cherry, who usually tells him off when he's being disrespectful.
"No," Cherry laughs, placing her hand on his to reassure him. Their eyes meet, and she blushes again, quickly placing her hands back by her side and not daring to look at Amy, who is grinning ear to ear as she watches the pair. Cherry shrugs her shoulders, glancing over at the waitress, who still seems to be in a mood, and she sighs quietly. "I think the waitress has had a long day, and she didn't appreciate you being... so unhelpful."
"Unhelpful?" The Doctor wrinkles his nose at Cherry's description of his behaviour.
"Well, she's probably in a foul mood because she has to work with that creep all day," Amy mutters under her breath, motioning to the bar with her head, and Cherry suppresses her laugh, agreeing with her cousin.
They all politely thank the waitress when she serves them their food, shifting uncomfortably under her firm glare, and then they share long, exasperated looks with one another when she leaves them. Cherry and Amy dig into their food, starving after the long walk in the heat, but the Doctor studies the curly fries curiously, picking one off of his plate and wiggling it in the air like a spring.
"Have you really never had curly fries before?" Cherry queries, watching his strange behaviour. "I thought everyone had."
"They're brilliant," the Doctor says firmly, grinning and pointing at the curly chip in his hand. "They're like springy potatoes!"
"Doctor, everyone is staring at us," Amy says in a muffled voice, moving her mouth as little as she can while she speaks. "Just eat your burger."
The Doctor huffs, dropping the curly fry back onto the plate and then picking up his burger. He looks at it closely, pulling a disgusted face when he notices the lettuce and tomato wedged between the burger and bun, and he swiftly picks them out and throws them on the side of his plate.
"How old are you?" Amy rolls her eyes at him and then snickers before finishing the last bite of her burger. Cherry has eaten her pancakes and drank her entire milkshake, and now she is staring longingly at the Doctor's plate of food, silently wishing she had ordered herself something salty instead of the fruity dessert. He finishes the burger slowly, and Cherry rests her head on her hands as she and Amy wait for him to be done. Then he starts to eat the curly fries until he spots Cherry practically drooling over them, and his lips twitch into a smile. He pushes the plate towards her, nodding down at the chips, and she raises her eyebrows in surprise.
"Are you sure you don't mind?"
He slings his arm casually over the back of the booth again, his fingers incidentally brushing over her shoulder as he makes himself comfortable, and she blushes as he smiles down at her. "Of course, I don't mind, Charlotte Pond. Take whatever you like."
A/N: Hello and happy Valentine's day to all of you! I hope you liked this chapter, writing about their life in the Tardis and the trips they take outside of all their planet-saving adventures is fun so I hope it's not too boring for you guys, please let me know how you all feel too!