#to caleb

"I'll be seeing you, love," Alex said, kissing the top of Morgan's head. "Dress nice, I hear there's a wedding today."

Morgan giggled. "See you later, Tar!"

"Are those envelopes on the nightstand yours, Alex?" Caleb asked.

"Those are for you," replied Alex.

Caleb kissed her. "I'll read them later, then, shall I?"

"Good plan," she responded. "See you at work."

--

In a twist of fate that was so predictable that Ariana Campbell and Myles Hall actually had money on it, Alex and Caleb showed up to the wedding late, sweaty, and covered in someone else's blood.

At least Jack and Maria had stopped at home and changed.

It suited them, though. Just like getting spontaneously engaged during a weevil hunt.

Alex scanned the crowd for a woman with wildly curly hair and a man in a silly hat and bow tie. She found them sitting next to River's parents. She gave them a little smile - he showed up! - and then returned her attention to Caleb.

--

Despite Alex's best efforts, Jack and River ended up at a table sitting next to each other at the reception, flirting up a storm.

"Jack. Jack, stop. Jack!" she said.

He looked up at her. "Yes, Allie?"

"One, she's married," replied Alex.

"I know that," said Jack.

"He's dancing, though," River complained, gesturing to the dance floor where the Doctor was dancing with Martha Jones. 

Alex rolled her eyes. "Yeah, I can see that. That's point two. Jack, dance with me." She held out her hands.

He took them and stood up. "I suppose I can do that for you."

They danced together through the end of a fast song and through all of a slow song. During the slow one, they talked.

"Only you two would show up to your own wedding looking like this," Jack commented.

Alex shrugged. "Figured it's our wedding, we can get away with it."

Jack laughed. "Did you see the looks you got from Caleb's family?"

"Oh yes!" replied Alex. "Priceless. 'cept for Ariana, of course. I think she was expecting it."

"I'm pretty sure she won a bet, actually," Jack told her.

The Doctor tapped Alex on the shoulder. "Mind if I take over?"

Alex kissed Jack on the cheek. "Thanks for dancing with me, Jack." She turned to the Doctor.

"You are a mess," he observed as they started to dance. "Didn't even dress nice for your own wedding."

"I can wear a t-shirt and jeans to my wedding if I want to!" responded Alex.

"Clearly."

Alex laughed.

The Doctor put his top hat on her head. "There. Now you look respectable."

"Right, because the top hat totally makes up for the blood stains and alien guts," Alex replied sarcastically.

"Exactly!"

"Did you convince Rory to dance with you yet? I saw you talking to him."

"Not yet, but I will. He said no at his wedding, but I got him to eventually." 

Alex just laughed again.

Eventually, Caleb pulled her away from the Doctor and over to a table.

"I read your letters," he told her.

"...and?" she asked.

It had been sitting on her nightstand. Every once in a while, it would buzz and light up, but she didn't bother checking.

One "day", the Doctor picked it up. "Have you been ignoring someone?"

"Not someone, everyone," corrected Alex. "I'm not picky."

He unlocked the phone and announced, "You've missed thirteen texts. Eight of them are from Caleb."

"He's probably just nervous," Alex said offhandedly. "I sure as hell am."

The Doctor handed the phone to her. "Then answer him."

Alex read the messages.

A bunch of them were random nervous babbling from Caleb.  Two were from Morgan, telling her to call Caleb because he was stressed. Three were from Jack, who'd come home to an empty flat and was worried.

The very last one said:

You're probably asleep or something. That's okay. I just wanted you to know that even though I'm freaking out and you're freaking out (don't lie, I know you are), I love you and I've never regretted this decision for a minute. - C

Alex smiled. Maybe I've been running away long enough.

She looked up at the Doctor. "Hey Doc? One more adventure."

The Doctor raised his eyebrows. "I'd have thought -"

"Shut up and let me finish," Alex ordered. The Doctor nodded, holding a finger to his lips. "One more adventure. I want to go get married."

The Doctor grinned. "Right! Well, I'll just drop you off in Cardiff, and -"

"That sentence had better end with 'go pick up my date'," replied Alex.

He nodded. "Of course. I wouldn't dare miss the wedding after all this."

"You just keep her away from Jack," she told him. "There are so, so many reasons that putting them close together would be a bad idea."

--

Caleb,

I got your text.

I'm coming back.

Love,

Alex

--

Alex crept past Morgan, who was fast asleep on the sofa bed, and into Caleb's room. She set down her small stack of letters on the nightstand and crawled into the bed next to him. He rolled over and opened his eyes, then blinked a few times.

"...Al?" he said sleepily.

"Hey, love," she replied. "We're getting married today."

"I know," Caleb mumbled.

"I got a lift over here from a friend," Alex continued. "A pretty roundabout lift, but a lift nonetheless. There's something I want to tell you in the morning, but for now we should just sleep."

"Right," said Caleb, nodding. He was practically already asleep. "Love you."