#soufflamy

“OK, what is it they want us to do?”

Jenny leaned back in her seat to check the classroom door before leaning back in to her friend, speaking in a hushed tone just like the rest of the class were, lest their teacher return and scold them for talking.

“Right, so, since the Senior Showcase thing for the parents happens to be on Halloween this year, Miss Saxon managed to convince the head to make a big deal about it. So the drama students are gonna do this massive haunted maze type thing in the gym. She needs more bodies to help build and man the thing, so she twisted Mr Smith’s arm into giving her his English classes.”

“How did she manage that?” Clara asked surprised. The old owl was unlikely to ever give up his classes to help other teachers when they should be doing the work he gave them.

“You’ve seen how close they are,” Jenny responded back, and then smirked, “Or at least how close she gets to him. I bet she could persuade him to do just about anything.”

The two turned towards the door and looked out of the little window set into the wood, to see their teacher backed up against the wall with Miss Saxon pressed up against his front, fiddling with his tie. The girl’s had to stifle their giggles as they looked away, Clara shaking her head.

“How she gets away with that I’ll never know.” Jenny shrugged, scribbling a few notes on her worksheet as she did.

“She’s got nearly the whole staff in her pocket. Besides they might not be subtle but they aren’t blatant with it. No one complains, no grounds for sacking.”  

Clara hummed in agreement. She tapped her pencil on her desk a couple of times, before surreptitiously glancing over her shoulder at another table near the back of the classroom, eyes seeking out a certain red head. The brunette watched the other girl closely as she laughed at something one of her table mates said. Clara looked back down at her worksheet, fiddling with her pencil before she cleared her throat softly and scratched the back of her head, trying to appear nonchalant about her upcoming question.

“So is it gonna be the whole class doing it?” Clara stared straight ahead as she felt Jenny’s eyes on her.

“Why?” Jenny smirked and nudged her friend. “Wondering if a certain red head is gonna be involved?”

“No,” Clara said quickly, snorting derisively. But Jenny could tell it was just for show, as the brunette glanced at her out of the corner of her eye, and tried to avert her gaze when she realised Jenny was still grinning at her. After a second the girl deflated and threw her hands up a bit in defeat. “OK fine, maybe.” Jenny chuckled at her best friend’s obvious crush.

“Sorry. History students have already been nabbed for something their department is putting on. So Pond won’t be joining us I’m afraid.” Jenny smiled at her friend’s disappointment. “But hey come on Clara, it’ll be fun.”

“You’re just doing it ‘cause it’ll let you see Vastra,” Clara said rolling her eyes. She knew that given Miss Saxon’s insane work load on the final year students Jenny hadn’t spent much time with her girlfriend outside of lunch and football practice. Clara hadn’t seen the older girl outside of those two activities either, but to be fair she wasn’t dating her. If she was honest she longed for the day the couple could have proper time together again since it would be a relief for them to stop getting distracted with each other on the pitch at practice. A recurrent problem that lead to Clara getting thumped in the back of the head more than once by an errant football one of the two should have intercepted.

“I never said I wasn’t,” Jenny said candidly, already excited to be able to spend even a little extra time with her girlfriend.

“Well good. Maybe if you’re flirting on the stage, you’ll stop flirting on the pitch.” Clara turned to Jenny with a pointed look. “I’m tired of getting hit in the face. You know as a midfielder your job is to pass the ball to your striker. Not get them hit in the head.”

“Oi, that one wasn’t on me. Vastra is the defender, the ball was hers,” Jenny argued, but at least had the semblance to look a little guilty. “We did apologise.”

“I know,” Clara said smiling, turning back to her worksheet, “And I’ve forgiven you. I suppose I’m probably a little jealous of what you two have.”

“Then you should be making your move on Pond already,” Jenny whispered urgently, leaning in closer to keep her words a secret.

“Are you nuts?”

“Are you?” Jenny asked incredulously. “You’ve been crushing on her since first year. I don’t know why you haven’t done something about it yet.”

“She’s got a thing for that Rory kid. Everybody knows,” Clara mumbled, furiously rubbing out some non-existent pencil marks on her sheet.

“Well you’ll never know if you don’t try.” Jenny sighed and watched as the brunette added a few more notes to her paper. “She might even be there at some point. Besides if not you’ll have me and Vastra and Strax to hang out with. I mean we haven’t seen you outside school in a bit. You know since…” Jenny trailed off and Clara’s grip on her pencil tightened, knuckles turning white. Jenny licked her lips and leaned in as close as she could, all the while Clara just stared at her worksheet but not really looking at it. “You need to get out the house Clara. You can’t just stay in your room apart from school and football.” Clara swallowed, hands trembling slightly but still keeping her gaze off her friend.

“Jenny,” the brunette said low and warningly.

“This thing will give you something else to do,” Jenny continued, oblivious for a moment to her friend’s distress, “Keep your mind off things. You know that she wouldn’t want -”

“Jenny!” Clara snapped, voice still a whisper in order to avoid a scene. Jenny stopped talking and took in her friend’s state. Clara turned to finally look at Jenny, the other girl’s heart breaking slightly at the unshed tears swimming in her friend’s brown eyes, along with the pale skin and dark circles she’d been sporting for a few weeks that Jenny hated seeing. “Drop it,” Clara said sombrely. Jenny seeing the anger and sadness on her friend’s face nodded. The two looked back at their own work. Clara took a shaky breath and swiped at her eyes before leaning on her hand, pencil moving haphazardly across paper. Jenny glanced at her friend to see her just doodling in the margins of her worksheet.

“Sorry,” Jenny said quietly. Clara shrugged in response.

“S’fine,” she mumbled.

“But are you gonna do it?” Clara rolled her eyes and smiled.

“Fine. If it’ll get you off my back I’ll do the stupid maze. Besides I doubt Miss Saxon would let me get out of it for any reason.”

The two girls chuckled before the door clicked and the handle dropped. Hush fell over the class quickly as their teacher came back into the room looking a little flustered. As he tried to smooth his hair he observed his class. All scribbling onto their worksheets, apparently having behaved while he was away. He cleared his throat and grabbed the book from his desk.

“Right you lot, let’s continue with Jane Austen. Where did we leave off?”

Clara sighed, bored, and let her head fall back against the painted wood of the ‘stone’ coffin in the mausoleum room of the school’s Haunted Maze, her mask in her lap. She knew she wouldn’t get caught out since the ambient noises for the room she was in were motions activated from the hallway outside. If any guests were coming through the maze she would have enough warning to get her gear back on before they entered her room.

The girl stared at the painted cracks and ivy on the dark wall opposite, stifling a yawn as her mind wandered to how she’d been roped into this stupid role.

“Miss Oswald, come here a moment.”

Clara stopped painting the piece of wood she’d been working on for the last twenty minutes and stood, dropping her paint brush. She left her spot by Jenny, Vastra and Strax, and walked over to where Miss Saxon waited, something furry in her hands.

“Yes Miss Saxon?”

“Ah Clara. I’m so glad you’re joining in on this little project. I believe I may have found the perfect role for you.”

The Drama teacher held up what looked like a typical Halloween werewolf mask with brown fur and yellow eyes, complete with matching gloves with claws and hair. Clara eyed the items for a moment.

“Rather fitting wouldn’t you say,” Miss Saxon said, chuckling at her own comment.

“Huh?” Clara responded confused, brow furrowing.

“Because you’re the puppy silly,” Miss Saxon stated, rolling her eyes, as if it were the most obvious answer in the world. At Clara’s continued confusion the teacher huffed and placed her hands, costume and all, on her hips. “Honestly poppet. And the other teachers think you’re smart? Too many footballs to the head maybe? Or are you just that nano-brained?” Clara scowled but the woman carried on. “You really don’t see it? Small. Big, puppy dog eyes. Always following around that Paternoster lot like a lost little thing. And if you’re reputation on that pitch, playing a glorified game of fetch I must add, is to be believed, you definitely have bark and bite.” The teacher shrugged with a smug smile. “Puppy.”

Clara was sure her eyes had gotten wider at the woman’s crazy ramblings. Luckily she didn’t have time to think up a retort before the teacher was shoving the mask into her arms, a little too hard as she stumbled back slightly with a soft ‘oof’.

“Right then puppy, stick that on and let’s see how well you can howl.”

The young brunette rolled her eyes and pulled the mask on over her head.

Clara was brought out of her reminiscing by the sound of footsteps coming from further in the maze, meaning it was probably one of the students manning it and not the guests running through it. Her suspicious were confirmed when Jenny popped her head around the corner of the doorway, through the flimsy material curtain as Clara looked up. The brunette smiled tiredly at her friend.

“If I’d known there was going to be this much waiting, I don’t think I’d have readily agreed.” She let her head fall back against the wooden set piece again and closed her eyes. “This is so boring.”

“Well it’s about to get less boring,” Jenny said breathlessly, having hurried as fast as she could through the back of the maze from the ticket booth she’d been manning at the front, “You’ll never guess who’s coming through right now.”

“Who?” Clara asked not bothering to open her eyes.

“Pond and her boys.”

Clara’s eyes flew open and she snapped her head to stare at Jenny who had the biggest grin on her face.

“You’re kidding?”

“Nope,” Jenny said, shaking her head fervently, still grinning. “So get your mask on. They’ll be here any minute.”

Jenny disappeared back down the maze, Clara staring after her for a moment in shock. Then she grinned and pulled the mask on, adjusting it so she could just about see, before tugging the gloves on.

As if on cue the sounds of a moonlit night ‘outside’ the room – wind howling, leaves bristling, a gate creaking, distant sounds of a dog – began to filter through the hidden speakers indicating the next guests were nearing her. Clara crouched behind the ‘stone’ coffin and waited.

Gradually the sounds of voices came closer and the grey material of the curtain hiding the doorway was moved aside. Amy stepped in first, slightly cautious in case something was to suddenly jump out, but fairly confident nonetheless. Rory followed, still dressed in his Centurion soldier garb from the History showcase presentation, clinging on tight to Amy’s arm. John brought up the rear, sticking close to Rory and turning frantically at any noise.

“God this room is even creepier than the last,” Rory said. John nodded in agreement before jumping with a small yelp as the sound of an owl hooted out of the hidden speakers.

“Come on you scaredy cats,” Amy said rolling her eyes, “It’s not that scary.” The red head shook her arm out of Rory’s grip and continued to move forward. Rory moved closer to John, the two looking around fervently for whatever was going to jump out at them.

As Amy reached the centre point of the room she heard a loud growl come from her left, somewhere beyond the coffin set piece. She froze and swallowed, mouth suddenly going dry.

“What was that?” Rory squeaked out from behind her to the right. She turned her head to him to see John peeking out from behind the other boy’s shoulder. She shrugged and smiled, trying to mask the sliver of fear that had wormed its way down her spine. Amy Pond was not afraid of a silly, fake haunted maze.

“It’s just the speaker’s guys.” There was another loud growl and a guttural snarl from the left, causing Amy to whip her head around towards it.

“That doesn’t sound like it’s coming from the speakers,” John whispered earnestly, moving as close to Rory as he could.

“We should get out of here,” Rory said, taking a step back, John following his lead and nodding fervently. Amy on the other hand let her curiosity overwhelm her fear and took a step forward towards the coffin, intending to peek over it.

“Amy, don’t!” Rory said, reaching for her.

Before she could make it to the coffin however, there was another loud growl before a ‘werewolf’ leapt up from behind the set piece with a loud howl, claws bared. Rory and John both shrieked loudly in fear and grabbed onto one another, John nearly leaping into Rory’s arms, scrambling to put even an extra foot of distance between them and the creature, but only succeeding to get more tangled in each other’s limbs.

Amy on the other hand had a far different reaction. When the werewolf had appeared and howled, she’d tensed with terror at the sudden jump scare. Before she could rein in her instincts and realise that this was simply another student in dress up, and not a bloodthirsty supernatural creature, her fist was already moving, flying towards the werewolf’s face.

Her fist connected with the werewolf’s nose, the snout collapsing and her fist continuing to move until it eventually connected. The werewolf’s head snapped back from the force of the blow, stumbling backwards before it slammed into the back wall that shuddered under the impact seeing as it was only painted plywood. The creature seemed to pause and sway for a moment, before sliding down the wall and sinking to the floor, disappearing behind the coffin.

Amy took a step back, breathing hard, before turning to look at the two boys. They were still locked in their Scooby Doo-esque embrace but staring at Amy in shock.

“Amy what did you do?”

Amy frowned at Rory as he spoke, then John, before turning back towards the coffin where she heard a muffled but very human sounding pained groan. Her eyes widened as she realised that she had in fact not punched a supernatural creature, but rather another student.

“Oh my god!” she exclaimed, hand going to her mouth. She hovered in shock before rushing forward.

Clara hit the floor with a thud, reeling from the sudden and surprising punch from her crush, pain blooming across her face from the bridge of her nose. She brought a shaking gloved hand to the mask and pulled it off her face, wincing as the movement made the pain flare even worse. She managed to shrug off the other glove and bring her now freed hand to her face, cupping her injured nose. She felt wetness under her fingers and groaned.

Amy appeared from around the corner of the coffin and paused taking in the other girl’s crumpled form. She hurried forward again and crouched down next to the brunette, hands hovering, unsure of where to put them or if even touching the other student would help.

“Oh my god, Clara I am so sorry,” the read head said quickly, grimacing at the blood seeping through the girl’s fingers. She turned to the boys who were hovering over the coffin, peering down at the two. “Go get help!”

The boys jumped at the sudden order, crashing into each other as they scrambled to head in opposite directions. Clara meanwhile was staring at the back of Amy’s head completely stunned. ‘She knows my name,’ was the only thought that managed to permeate the fog of pain, ‘How do you know my name?’ Amy turned back to Clara.

“Of course I know your name silly.” Clara blushed realising she must have said her thoughts out loud. Luckily the darkness of the room hid the excess red colouring on her cheeks that wasn’t blood from her crush. “I mean we have some of the same classes. Not to mention you’re pretty famous on that pitch given you’re the team’s captain and top goal scorer. Also we do live across the street from each other and have done for years. If I didn’t know your name by now I’d be an idiot.”

Clara could only blink and stare at the red head. Even given the facts just presented to her she was still surprised. Sure they were in the same classes but they had never sat next to each other. Clara didn’t think Amy came to the school team’s football games, let alone cared about the team enough to know her position in it or how well she played. And yes they’d lived across from each other since she could remember, had seen the red head from her bedroom window and occasionally ended up behind her and her friends as they’d walked home, but that hadn’t impacted their lives at all, save for making Clara’s crush all the stronger. As far as Clara had been concerned Amy didn’t know she existed. But apparently that wasn’t the case. It was enough to make Clara’s heart beat hard in her chest.

Clara floundered, unsure of what to say, her mouth gaping like a fish. Luckily her struggle was short lived when she heard hurried footsteps, before Rory came running around the corner from further inside the maze quickly followed by Vastra - in full lizard make up and warrior get up, complete with sword – and Strax – in a military soldier outfit – close on her heel. Rory stopped and pointed over at the pair, Vastra pushing past him and rushing over to Clara. Amy moved back a bit as Vastra crouched down on Clara’s other side, but didn’t make a move to retreat any further.

“What happened?” Strax asked, surprise and slight anger lacing his voice, as Vastra reached up and tried to pry Clara’s hand from her nose to take a look.

“Amy punched her,” Rory admitted. Strax whipped his head towards Amy with a glare.

“It was an accident I swear,” Amy said, trying to defend herself. Strax snorted and shook his head. Amy narrowed her eyes at him but grew distracted when she heard Clara whine. She turned back to see the brunette trying to back away (rather difficult considering she was already against the wall) and weave her head away from Vastra’s free hand, her gloved hand trying to push the older girl away. Vastra’s other hand was clasped around Clara’s wrist, still trying to pull her hand away from her face. Amy nudged Clara’s knee. When the brunette glanced at her, Amy eyed the other girl and nodded towards Vastra. Clara scowled at the red head but relented and let Vastra move her hand away.

Amy stifled a gasp with her hand when she saw the blood on Clara’s palm and across her face, looking away as Vastra began to carefully probe around Clara’s nose. She looked up as she heard more footsteps coming from the maze entrance and watched as Jenny burst through the flimsy curtain quickly followed by John. Jenny stopped short of the small group, eyes wide with shock as she took in the blood on her best friend’s face.

“What the bloody hell happened!?” she shouted, echoing Strax’s earlier statement a little more colourfully.

“This one,” Strax said, thrusting is jaw hard at Amy while he crossed his arms, “Decided to punch smalls over there.” Clara rolled her eyes at the nickname, wincing as the movement caused pain and receiving a scolding look from Vastra for doing so. Jenny looked over at Amy who threw her hands up in exasperation.

“It was an accident!” Amy turned to look at Jenny. Clara’s friend saw the regret and shame on the red head’s face, confirming for Jenny that the other girl hadn’t deliberately tried to hurt the brunette that was secretly crushing on Amy. “It was an accident.” Jenny nodded, trusting Amy’s words. Strax scoffed which put him on the receiving end of glares from Jenny, Amy and Clara.

Vastra sighed and leaned back, removing her hands from Clara’s blood stained face which allowed the brunette to cover her nose with her free hand once more.

“It doesn’t look broken but you still need to go to the nurse,” Vastra said, rubbing her forehead. Clara opened her mouth and took a breath to protest, but Vastra was ahead of her, silencing her pre-emptively with a quick ‘ah’ and a raised finger. “That’s not a request Clara. You’re bleeding profusely and you are going to the nurse.” Clara huffed annoyed and sagged back against the wooden wall sulking.

“We can’t take her,” Jenny said, with a frown, “There’s no way Saxon would let us all leave.”

“I’ll take her,” Amy said quickly. Everyone in the room whipped their heads towards the red head, who took in their varying looks (a combination of confusion, surprise, gratitude and suspicion). She shrugged and smiled sheepishly at Clara. “I mean it’s the least I can do.” Clara returned a, painfully obvious to the Paternoster Gang, smitten smile at the red head, that made Jenny hide a smile of her own behind her hand.  Strax however rolled his eyes and snorted.

“A ploy to throw another punch more like.” Amy rolled her eyes and opened her mouth to defend herself again but was beaten by Clara.

“Oh shut up Strax!” the injured brunette shouted, her voice muffled by her hand slightly, “It was an accident and Amy already apologised. So just knock it off alright.” Strax took in the fury on the small girl’s face and looked down a little ashamed.

“Sorry,” he mumbled, glancing at the red head. Amy shrugged and nodded in acceptance, turning back to Clara and removing the glove and other costume pieces to get them out the way. Strax sighed slightly irritated and grumbled, “Why am I getting in trouble. I was looking out for my friend. Just because she likes-”

“So,” Vastra said, cutting off Strax before he revealed too much, turning to Amy and taking the costume pieces from her, “You get our Oswald to the nurse and checked up on. Don’t let her give you the slip though. Make sure she actually goes.” Clara narrowed her eyes at the older girl while Amy chuckled softly.

“Don’t worry, I will. She won’t get away from me.” Amy elbowed Clara gently, the brunette blushing slightly in response.

They were all interrupted by a high pitched whistle echo from down the maze.

“Hey! Why on earth is my maze closed? Why is there a ‘be back soon’ sign at the ticket booth? And why are people not being scared!?”

“Shit, Saxon,” Strax moaned. Everyone stared wide eyed at each other. Jenny was the first to leap back into action.

“Vastra go cut her off,” Jenny instructed her girlfriend, “She actually likes you. Maybe you can diffuse the situation. Tell her there’s been an accident and we’re dealing with it. If she asks about this room tell her we already got a replacement. Strax back her up.” Vastra nodded and handed the costume pieces to Jenny before rushing off to intercept the drama teacher followed quickly by Strax. Jenny turned to John and thrust the costume in his arms. “You’re going to have to step in Smith.”

“Me!?” the boy squeaked. Jenny nodded, not giving him time to argue before she was already turning to the other boys.

“Rory you better head back to History and let them know Amy and John won’t be back.”

“Can you get my bag while you’re there Rory?” Amy asked. Rory nodded to both girls and patted John on the shoulder, before he hurried out of the maze.

Jenny made her way over to Amy and Clara. She crouched down and helped the red head lift the other brunette off the ground. Clara wobbled slightly, grunting as the jostling caused a flash of pain. Jenny steadied Clara as Amy put the injured girl’s free left arm over her shoulder, holding the hand and placing her own free arm around the brunette’s waist. Jenny could practically feel Clara’s heart skip a beat at the action and giggled faintly, quickly looking away to avoid Clara’s questioning glance and glimpsed John still standing still, costume in hand. She caught his eye and she waved her hand in a ‘hurry up’ motion. John jumped and swallowed before scrambling to get the werewolf outfit on. Jenny sighed and shook her head, before moving her attention back to Clara. She maneuvered the other brunette’s still bent left arm onto her own shoulder and placed her arm around the girl’s shoulder blades. Once the trio were stable, Amy and Jenny helped to lead Clara out of the maze.

“You know Clara,” Jenny said, as the group made their way towards the entrance, “I thought you said you were tired of getting hit in the face.” Clara growled softly at her friend who chuckled at her own joke, all while Amy frowned at the two in confusion.

“Hold still now.”

Clara flinched and whimpered softly as the school nurse prodded carefully around her nose, the latex gloves cold against her skin. The nurse sighed and leaned back.

“It’s definitely not broken. Looks like the nose of the mask just cut into the root of your nose. You got lucky there Miss Oswald. Any more to the left or right, it might have got you in the eye.”

Clara could hear Amy gulp audibly beside her. She glanced at the red head, locking eyes, and gave her a soft smile. Amy tried to return it but Clara could see the guilty look in the other girl’s eyes. The nurse moved to a nearby cabinet and pulled out a pack of antiseptic wipes, followed by cotton pads, scissors and medical tape. She returned to the pair on the padded bed - Clara sitting cross legged while Amy let her legs hang freely over the side - and placed the items on the nearby table. She opened the pack of wipes and pulled one out, turning back to Clara.

“Now this is gonna sting, but just hold still and it’ll all be over soon.”

The nurse leaned forward and began to wipe away the blood from Clara’s face and disinfect the small cut. Clara hissed and grimaced, trying not to instinctively move away from the stinging sensation. Clara felt Amy place a hand on her knee and give it an encouraging and comforting squeeze. Clara could feel the blood rush to her face and prayed either the blood stains or the nurses hands covered the blush that was surely spreading.

The nurse finished cleaning Clara’s face and threw the contaminated wipes in the bin, before reaching for the cotton pad and scissors, cutting a small enough piece to cover the cut but not impede the brunette’s vision. She cut two pieces of tape as well, before delicately placing the cotton over the still slightly leaking wound and taping it in place.

“There we go,” she said with a smile, taking a step back, “all better.”  

She removed her latex gloves and threw them in the bin, before moving said bin closer to Clara on the floor and placing the open pack of wipes next to her on the bed.

“For your hands dear. Now let’s find your file shall we.”

Clara took a wipe and began to scrub her hands free of blood, while the nurse opened a drawer and began to root around inside. Clara peeked sideways and noted that Amy’s hand was still on her knee, thumb rubbing small circles against her jeans. The brunette swallowed and tried to focus on washing the blood away rather than the butterflies in her stomach and the warmth in her chest.

The nurse made a sound of triumph as she located the file she had been after. She opened it and skimmed through it.

“Now I can’t really send you home without your guardian picking you up. Where’s your father?”

“He’s working,” Clara mumbled in reply, “he won’t be able to.”

“Hmm. And what about your…” Clara froze, hand curling into a fist around the soiled wipe,  as the nurse trailed off, her eyes settling on the neatly written ‘deceased’ further down the page. She frowned. “Oh.”

Amy saw Clara’s growing anguish, the brunette’s fist shaking and jaw tight. The red head’s heart broke at the sight. She licked her lips and tried to think.

“I’ll take her home.” Two heads whipped over to look at Amy, Clara staring wide eyed with disbelief while the nurse looked at the red head suspiciously. Amy paused looking between the two. “We live right next door. Well across the street but same distance.” The nurse looked over at Clara for confirmation, and when the brunette nodded, she sighed.

“I’ll go check with the office, but that should be fine. I’d much rather send you both home now than have Miss Oswald stuck here. Sit tight and I’ll be right back.”

She placed the file back in the drawer and headed for the door. As she opened it, Jenny nearly fell inside, hand still raised to knock. She moved aside to let the nurse go by, before stepping inside the room.

“Just bringing your bags along,” she said, holding up Clara’s backpack and an over the shoulder bag that must belong to Amy. Jenny nodded down the hall after the nurse. “Where’s she off to.”

“She’s checking with the office that I can take Clara home ‘cause her Dad can’t pick her up,” Amy said. Jenny’s eyes widened slightly and her arm with the bags suddenly dropped to her side.

“Really?” Jenny questioned, eyes straying to Clara, and spotting the red head’s hand on the brunette’s knee, eyebrow rising in surprise. When both girls nodded she couldn’t help but grin. “Well that’s taking things awful fast.” Amy frowned while Clara glared at Jenny who just chuckled. “I better head back,” she said, dropping both bags on the ground, “Saxon will go mental if she finds me gone again. She’s already thrown a fit over you going missing.” Clara snorted and shook her head.

“That woman is a right nut job.” Both other girl’s made noises of agreement.

“Safe journey you two,” Jenny said, a mischievous smile planted on her face as she backed out the door, “Don’t do anything Vastra and I wouldn’t do.” Clara rolled her eyes at her friend. Jenny began to shut the door before pausing and poking her head back in. “By the way Clara that plaster is a very fetching looking, maybe you should get hit in the face more often. It seemed to work out very well for you this time around.” The girl quickly shut the door, dodging the packet of wipes Clara had tried to hurl at her, cackling down the corridor.

“What was all that about?” Amy asked with half laughter and half bewilderment. 

“Uh.” Clara scrambled for a reasonable response. In the end she just shrugged, refusing to look at Amy. “Haven’t got a clue.” Amy scoffed softly, not buying the evasive answer for a second, as Clara dropped the used wipes into the bin. Clara placed her now clean hands in her lap, fiddling with her nails. She opened her mouth, closed it again, before finally taking a deep breathe. “Um, thanks. For offering to take me home.”  

“Yeah well. It was the least I could do,” Amy replied, repeating her earlier statement and shrugging, “Given that this was all my fault.” Amy shifted to pull a knee onto the bed so she could fully face Clara, finally removing her hand from Clara’s knee to take one of Clara’s hands in both her own. “Seriously if there’s anything I can do to make this up to you, just ask.”

“You could go on a date with me.” Clara didn’t know if it was the blood loss, the pain, or the warm feeling of Amy’s hands holding hers that caused the words to come out, but out they were before she could stop them. Her brain caught up with her and seemed to stall as she realised what she just blurted out.

“What?”

“What?”

Amy stared at Clara in shock, her hands dropping Clara’s so that it fell back into the brunette’s lap, while Clara looked like a deer in the headlights, unable to tear her eyes away from Amy. Silence stretched before Amy suddenly started laughing. Clara’s face suddenly fell and she let her head drop, glowering at her hands in her lap as they curled into fists again. Amy noticed and shook her head, reaching out and grasping Clara’s arm.

“No. No I’m not,” the red head, stammered out between trying to cease her laughter, “I’m not laughing at you for asking me out. I just. I can’t believe it took me punching you for you to finally ask me on a date.” Clara whipped her head up to gape at Amy, frowning in confusion.

“I… Wait… What!?” Amy smiled at the brunette, who was still trying to understand what was currently happening. Maybe she did have a concussion. “You. You knew I liked you?”

“Not at first no,” Amy admitted, looking away shyly, “Then surprisingly enough John pointed it out. I thought that poor boy was oblivious to this sort of thing. I wasn’t sure what to do but then Rory pointed out that I probably already liked you back given that he caught me staring at you a few times out my window.” Clara’s eyes widened at hearing her crush admit to something she herself had done. “I was going to try and ask you out but then…” Amy trailed of and looked up to meet Clara’s gaze. “But then your mum passed away.” Sadness and pain washed over Clara’s face for a second, Amy responding by taking Clara’s hand again and giving it a supportive squeeze. “I didn’t think it would be appropriate. I did try to come over to see if you were alright but no one was home. I heard after that you’d gone down to your Gran’s.”

There was a pause, and Amy glanced up and saw a tear trailing down Clara’s face. She reached up to wipe it away, ending up leaving her hand cupping Clara’s cheek. Clara looked over at Amy, blinking away other unshed tears. Amy gave the brunette a small smile.

“Then when you came back I guess I’d lost that nerve. Rory and John were pushing me to try and ask you again.” Clara snorted.

“Jenny and Vastra were doing the same with me. I thought you had a thing for Rory.” Amy laughed.

“I thought I did for a bit but he’s more like a little brother. He and John have this tension anyway. Maybe if their focus is off you and me, they can finally look at their own attraction.”

The two girls laughed softly. Amy’s hand still cupped Clara’s cheek, thumb tracing circles just like it had done on Clara’s knee before. The red head blinked and her eyes strayed to the girl’s lips. Clara mirrored the red head’s action and swallowed lightly. The two moved at the same time and met in the middle for a brief and chaste kiss. They pulled apart and Clara couldn’t help the lopsided and goofy grin that broke out across her face. Amy smiled wide at the adorable look on the brunette’s face.

“So I guess that means that’s a yes to a date then?” Amy laughed at brunette’s question and elbowed her softly in the side.

“Yes Clara Oswald I will go on a date with you.” Clara’s smile only grew. Their moment was interrupted but the nurse returning through the door.

“Right it’s all sorted. Miss Pond you can take Miss Oswald home.” She went into one of the drawers and pulled out a pack of paracetamol, handing them to Clara. “If the pain gets too much take some of these. No ibuprofen.” She turned to Amy. “Keep an eye on her okay. I don’t think she has a concussion but we can’t be too careful.” Amy nodded. She turned to Clara next. “Come see me on Monday morning before the bell. I’ll want to check up on you okay. And it might be tempting to cover it up with make up since it’s clearly bruising already, but please try and resist. We don’t want this getting any worse.” It was Clara’s turn to nod. The nurse smiled. “Good. Now run along and get plenty of rest.”

Amy easily eased off the table while the shorter Clara uncrossed her legs and jumped down the small distance, the act causing the red head to smile. Amy reached down and grabbed their bags, handing Clara hers. The brunette inserted the paracetamol into a pocket on her bag and zipping it up, before swinging the bag onto her back. Amy put her own bag over her shoulder.

“Come on then,” Amy said, reaching out and grasping Clara’s hand in her own. The brunette looked down at their entwined fingers, her heart skipping a beat as she smiled uncontrollably. “My aunt is visiting and she makes a fab apple pie.”