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Fic: Dating the Cleverest Boy in the World. Chapter 8.
Hello there! Look, this fic is not dead, it was only resting. A lot. And then I tried to write this chapter and it took me forever because it refused to behave. But now, finally, it is done, and my wonderful beta tells me that it's fit to post. To my 5 or so readers - I hope it was worth waiting for. If nothing else, CANON CHARACTERS finally appear! :)
Fic index with links to previous parts here, or just follow the tags. (Presuming anyone wants to catch up...) Oh and I have a feeling I was going to dedicate this to![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
the_redjay. I hope you like it!
Summary: Allison had always thought that university would be an adventure. But she'd not imagined that she'd end up dating Harold Saxon's son.
Setting: 2025 (AU post-Sound of Drums)
Characters: OCs (many!), the Doctor (10th), Lucy, Jack.
Rating: PG-13.
Wordcount: Approx. 5600 words
Chapter 8
“Alex... does my bum look big in this?”
Allison surveyed herself critically in the mirror, before finally turning to her boyfriend, who was looking at her like she was from another planet.
“Alex?”
“Sorry. Just... I didn’t know women actually said that.”
She glared.
“Just please answer the question!”
Sighing he got up, walked over to her and wrapped his arms around her from behind. Looking over her shoulder at the two of them reflected in the mirror he caught her eyes.
”Allie - my mother won’t care what you wear, trust me.”
She tried smiling in reply, as if his insightful assurances had calmed her nerves. Except this time he was just... clueless. And even the playful, intimate kiss he was planting on her neck only served to remind her of the reason for her nerves. Not only was she his first girlfriend (reason enough in itself to be nervous), she was now also The Evil Temptress who had ensnared, seduced and deflowered Lucy Saxon’s only son... And it mattered not a jot that she could hear her father’s voice in her head, telling her to stop using and falling prey to such outdated and gendered terms and cultural clichés - she was pretty certain that this was exactly how she’d be perceived no matter what.
Not that she was regretting managing to get him into bed, she just... wished that she could somehow mange to keep it secret from his mother, just for now. Why oh why did things have to be so complicated?
“Anyway,” he added, “I figure you only have time to change your outfit twice more before we have to get to the station, so please make up your mind.”
She didn’t respond, silently studying the effect of the nicely cut top and conservative skirt, and decided it’d have to do. She hadn’t realised that it was getting so late...
“Alex,” she said, deciding to get it over with, “would you mind getting your Christmas present early?”
His eyes in the mirror lit up.
“Not at all!”
“Good. There’s... a reason, you see.” She smiled mysteriously, wriggled out of his arms, and went to fetch the big, festive parcel from Matt’s room where she’d been allowed to hide it, and handed it over with a flourish.
‘Don’t hate it’, she prayed silently.
Within moments he’d torn off the paper and was staring at the gift with surprise writ large on his face.
“It’s a duffle coat,” he said, and Allison felt the need to explain herself.
“Well you only ever wear that denim jacket thing, which is about as warm as tissue paper. You’re only human Alex, you’ll catch your death walking around without a coat. And I prefer my boyfriend to be alive - a funny quirk I know, but that’s me.”
He turned to her, the corners of his mouth curling up.
“Oh don’t worry. I love it!”
In an instant he’d put it on, and now it was his turn to study himself in the mirror, posing happily.
“Yup, absolutely perfect. Thank you!”
The thanks were followed by a kiss, and by the delight in his eyes she could tell that he really was pleased, and breathed an internal sigh of relief.
What she had been very careful not to mention was her increasing dislike (now bordering on actual hatred) of the denim jacket, and the fact that she’d been actively looking out for a replacement - something which had been made much tricker with the discovery of his aversion to ‘hero coats’, causing her to discard 90% of her initial ideas. But here he was, all warm and cosy and student-y looking, and maybe at some later date she could quietly spirit away the old jacket and destroy it.
Also - and she added this to herself very quietly - surely his mother would appreciate him wearing something warm?
***
The antique table was laid out with priceless china and delicious food, a grandfather clock ticking away quietly in a corner and the walls were hung with beautiful paintings, highlighted by the pale winter sun which fell through the windows. The whole scene had an unshakeable air of unreality, like something out of a period drama, and Allison almost missed the question directed at her as she tried to fit her head around the situation.
“Milk, sugar?”
“Um, just milk, thank you.”
Moments later Lucy Saxon handed her a cup of undoubtedly perfect tea, and Allison was beginning to worry that she was stuck in a dream. Because this couldn’t be real. Alex’s mother was clearly going out of her way to be as friendly and welcoming as possible, not showing the slightest hint of resentment or disapproval, and after a while - despite the weirdness - the butterflies in Allison’s stomach slowly died down enough for her to begin eating some lunch.
Conversation was flowing well, with talk about university and friends making easy topics, and when Alex leaned towards her saying, “Told you everything would be fine!” she was feeling relaxed enough to playfully slap his arm.
She still cast his mother a swift look, and caught a half-smile which immediately vanished when a loud sound - as if someone was throwing open the front door with more than necessary force - reverberated through the house.
“Lucy?” a man’s voice rang out, and Lucy closed her eyes, sighing deeply.
A second later the door to the sitting room burst open, and in two steps a stranger - long coat billowing behind him - was in the middle of the room, already talking.
“Lucy! Do you know where-”
He stopped, took in the scene, eyes fastening on Alex.
“Oh. You’re here.”
Alex smiled thinly, eyes guarded.
“Hello Uncle.”
Allison’s eyes widened. This was Alex’s uncle? Thanks to one of Alex’s peculiarities she’d never seen a picture of him (“Why do I need pictures? I know what my family looks like!”), and she’d imagined him to be in his sixties - kind, indulgent, but as stubborn as Alex, considering that he’d sent him to Cambridge as a punishment for some unknown offence.
The man in front of her, however, looked to be in his early forties, tall, slim and dressed in a rather fetching suit - oddly enough combined with converse trainers - and his hair had clearly been styled to within an inch of its life. The end result was somewhat mad, but certainly stylish (particularly with the coat thrown on top), and Alex’s lack of interest in his own appearance was suddenly given a new and rather curious background. Then she frowned - if Alex’s Uncle was this young, he couldn’t have been much more than Alex’s current age when he’d stepped into the role of co-guardian...
She didn’t get further in her line of thought however, since Alex immediately started on the introductions.
”Uncle - please meet my girlfriend, Allison. Allison - my Uncle, Doctor John Smith.”
“Girlfriend?” his uncle echoed - like this was something utterly unexpected - before instantly recovering; a sudden, bright smile lighting up his features, and Allison realised that clearly the charm - along with the gorgeous brown eyes - was a family trait.
“Allison! A pleasure to meet you!”
He took another step forward and grasped her hand. “Please just call me Doctor - one of those nicknames that ended up sticking, you know how it is, and everyone always calls me ‘Doctor’, so much so that I often forget to react to ‘John’. Alex - why haven’t you told me anything about this?”
The last sentence was said with a hint of reproach, and Alex shrugged lightly.
“Why did you never call?”
Allison looked from one to the other as his uncle opened his mouth, shut it again, and then suddenly let go of Allison’s hand holding up a single finger, before pointing it at Alex.
“I need you. Sorry. But there is a...” his eyes drifted to Allison, “...a crisis.”
“But we’re in the middle of lunch!” Alex said, at the same time as Lucy finally moved, turning to Alex’s uncle.
“No.”
“Lucy-” he countered.
“No. Get Jack or one of your other little friends to help out. God knows you’ve got plenty of them, although I could never work out why.”
Alex’s uncle looked pleading.
“Jack’s already there, and I need every hand I can get, especially - especially someone that I don’t need to explain things to. Do you know how much time I lose just by having to explain things? And in this case-”
“No Doctor,” she said, rising to her feet. “I know what you’re doing, and I won’t have it.”
Alex’s uncle’s eyes flickered momentarily as they faced each other. Lucy’s eyes were like flint and Alex’s uncle looked like he was fighting a battle he knew he was going to lose, but then Alex sighed and got up.
“Oh whatever, I’ll come.”
His mother turned.
“Alexander...”
He gave her a hug.
“C’mon, I’ll be fine. And this way you and Allie can gossip about me to your hearts’ content.”
He grinned over his shoulder, and Allison felt as if they were all talking a different language, there were that many things shimmering under the surface.
“Thank you Alex,” his uncle said, but Lucy grabbed hold of his arm, forcing him to look at her.
“Doctor - if he gets hurt-”
The Doctor’s face changed, and Allison couldn’t begin to guess at what lay behind the sudden transformation.
“I know,” he said, tonelessly. “Little hard to forget. Please try to remember that he is my whole world too.”
When Allison turned to Alex, hoping for some kind of explanation, she saw the exact same guarded look - part hurt, part angry - on his face too. Some serious issues there, clearly. She remembered him talking about his father issues, but he’d never mentioned his uncle...
But then he smiled, extracted a promise from his uncle to be back in time for dinner - 7pm - and then turned to Allison.
“Sorry to run out like this, I’ll definitely make him pay for it. Although like I said - this way you and mum can look at baby photos or whatever it is that women do in situations like this. I’m told that men just get in the way.”
He gave her a swift kiss, and then they were gone, with a final swirl of the Doctor’s long brown coat before the door closed behind them. Lucy was looking at the empty space they’d left, arms folded, her tension so visible that Allison suddenly felt genuinely unsettled.
“Alex isn’t going to be in, like, real danger, is he?”
Lucy turned her head, thinly disguised anger on her face.
“It’s the Doctor. It’s always real, and it’s always dangerous.”
Then her expression softened.
“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t worry you. But I must admit that this wasn’t how I’d hoped your introduction to the family would happen.”
And Allison, with surprise, realised that maybe Lucy had been worried about meeting her... Thankfully Lucy continued speaking, giving Allison a few moments in which to absorb this insight.
“I’m guessing that Alex hasn’t told you much about... this side of his life?”
“Not really,” Allison replied, and Lucy smiled, the tension disappearing as if by magic.
“Sit down, have another cup of tea. We probably need to talk.”
***
The afternoon was long, but very informative - and not just in the baby picture sense. Allison discovered that Alex’s uncle worked with UNIT as some kind of freelance agent, ‘Jack’ worked for Torchwood, and the ‘crisis’ was probably some kind of alien invasion. Allison found this almost impossible to believe, and yet Lucy was clearly not joking.
“I don’t suppose you’ve ever had a desire to become a heroic fighter for Earth?” Lucy asked, and Allison had to shake her head.
“Not really... We had some UNIT guy come visit our school a few years back, but although I like uniforms, I’d rather not wear one myself. If I had to work for them I’d much prefer to deal with the technology.”
Lucy smiled.
“I can see why Alex likes you.”
There didn’t really seem to be any kind of correct response to this, so Allison mumbled into her tea and tried not to blush too much. Overt hostility she’d been prepared for, but not this.
She also got a tour of the house and garden, both of which were extraordinarily beautiful. The house was about the same size as her parents, except they’d brought up five children and it showed. Alex’s home on the other hand was furnished with exquisite taste, and Allison could suddenly see where his tidy streak came from - growing up in a house like this couldn’t help rubbing off.
The garden was of course pretty bare since it was December, but Allison could still tell just how much work went into it. She hoped she could bring her own mother here some time, although she’d probably be green with envy.
At one point she asked if they shouldn’t turn on the news, to see what was happening, and Lucy laughed.
“Trust me, whatever they say will be as far from the truth as possible. If anything happens the Doctor will call. Or UNIT. But it’s not likely. The Doctor is pretty destructive.”
There was a strange tone to her voice that Allison couldn’t work out, but she had a feeling that asking wouldn’t get any answers, and Lucy’s words had once more reminded her that Alex and his uncle had gone out to fight aliens, and - although everyone knew aliens were real - she still had to fight the impulse to pinch herself to check that she was awake. How on Earth did Lucy stay so serene?
***
True to his word, Alex returned five minutes before dinner was served.
Lucy had with infinite calm (Alex really was a lot like her) made something French and very complicated, and Allison had helped out by laying the table. There was more cutlery than she was entirely comfortable with, but she firmly decided not to stress out over something that stupid, especially since the situation was somewhere between deeply surreal and worryingly storybook... The men had gone out on adventures and the women were at home cooking. And somewhere underneath it all there were sharp stabs of fear that she tried her best ignore. Surely he’d be OK?
As it turned out, he wasn’t just OK, he was bordering on giddy. He walked through the door, followed by his uncle and another man that Allison recognised from Josh’s photos as Jack, spread out his arms, and announced:
“And Once Again, the Day is Saved by The PowerPuff Girls!”
He grinned, then turned to the other two.
“I’m Buttercup by the way!”
“I’m Buttercup!” Jack replied (why had no one ever mentioned that he was American?), “just look at the hair. You’re Bubbles.”
“Does that mean I’m Blossom?” the Doctor asked, hopefully, but Alex shook his head.
“Blossom has red hair!”
“No need to rub it in,” his uncle shot back, sounding like a petulant child, as Jack took in the room, noticing Allison. Immediately a bright and vivid smile appeared on his face, and he walked forward, hand outstretched.
“Hello - you must be Allison. Captain Jack Harkness.”
She took the offered hand, silently wondering if somehow he’d sprung from ‘Casting Agency for Things That Allison Likes’, because he was ticking virtually every box. And goodness, his eyes were blue...
“Stop it!” Alex and his uncle both chorused, but Allison just returned Jack’s smile with interest.
“Oh I don’t mind.”
His smile deepened to match hers, and she thought to herself that Josh as Jack-the-Second suddenly made a lot more sense. She’d seen Josh chat up enough people to recognise the tactic, although having never been at the receiving end she’d not considered just how effective that kind of charm offensive really was. Not that she was complaining.
A little while later they were all sitting around the dinner table, the earlier awkwardness apparently having evaporated as the talk flitted between university, friends and general catching-up.
“Alex?” Jack asked as Lucy began clearing the table.
“M-hm?”
“I noticed that your Professor seems to have had a major breakthrough in her research recently.”
By chance Allison happened to catch the anything-but-casual look he shot Alex, but Alex didn’t bat an eyelid.
“Really? Well that’s nice. Has she said anything, Allison?”
Before she could answer the Doctor cut in.
“You don’t go to your lectures?”
Alex shrugged.
“Well I go to some of them...”
“We had an agreement,” his uncle said, and Allison recognised the tone very well, dreading it when it came from her own parents. Clearly the Doctor took his duties as stepfather very seriously.
“Not an ‘agreement’,” Alex countered, somewhere between angry and hurt. “You grounded me. Literally.”
There was a long pause as Alex and his uncle looked at each other silently, and then his uncle got up.
“Private word in the kitchen?”
Alex nodded, and Lucy sighed and declared that she was off to call her brother.
“Jack- entertain Allie will you?” Alex asked.
“With pleasure,” Jack smiled, and Allison couldn’t help smiling back. Criminally gorgeous, that’s what he was.
“Great,” Alex said, happily looking from one to the other, and in the process proving that clearly jealousy was yet another thing that he was completely unfamiliar with.
As the kitchen door closed Allison looked at Jack, silently wondering what to say now, but Jack winked and grabbed two empty glasses from the buffet, handing one to Allison.
“Um, I’m not really thirsty...”
He raised an eyebrow.
“You have four siblings. Never spied on any of them?”
Staring at him speechlessly, Allison watched as he with great care placed the glass against the door, and - not quite believing herself, but curious enough to try - she followed suit.
“...well are you going to apologise?” she heard the Doctor ask.
“I have nothing to apologise for!” Alex replied, and Allison could vividly picture the anger on his face.
“You lied to me-”
“I didn’t lie!”
“You went behind my back!”
Jack winced, and Allison suddenly realised that Jack knew exactly why Alex had got into trouble. Then Alex’s voice caught her attention again.
“Because it had nothing to do with you! I’m eighteen! Stop treating me like a child!”
“You are a child!”
“Not according to the laws of this country. And it was your choice that I should grow up here!”
“That’s... completely beside the point!” the Doctor replied, heatedly. “I trusted you and you used that trust to-”
“To do something you ‘disapprove’ of,” Alex cut in. “And yet it was something I am absolutely within my rights to do. Your punishment is totally out of proportion to my ‘offence’ - Uncle will you just stop being so... absolutist for a minute. God, you gave me, like, the best present ever and now I can’t use it - can’t even get to it... Just please, please can I have it back?”
“No.”
“But I promise I won’t... anything. I’ll stay in Cambridge, honest. I’ve got Allison now, and I’ve even worked out a plan - stuff to keep me occupied for the next few years. It’s just... I can’t live locked up like this. I thought you’d understand. I mean you were in cage once, remember? I’ll stay in my cage, I swear, just open the door...”
A beat, then Alex’s uncle replied, his voice having lost all warmth.
“I’m not sure that’s a parallel you should bring up.”
Another beat, then there was a stifled chuckle.
“I didn’t- I didn’t mean the actual cage! I was thinking of the time you were in exile!”
“Ah. Well. That’s different,” the Doctor replied, and then, when Alex clearly couldn’t stop chuckling, adding, “It wasn’t funny!”
“But... you looked like Dobby!”
“Alex! Do I need to remind you that it was an extremely painful experience?”
“Sorry...” Alex cleared his throat. “And actually, just hang on...”
Suddenly there were footsteps and Allison, panicking, whipped her glass away and took a step backwards. Jack on the other hand was apparently not at all bothered about getting caught, and barely lowered the glass. Then the door opened and Alex shot Allison a brief look before fastening on Jack.
“A little privacy wouldn’t go amiss you know!”
Jack pulled a face.
“Well I thought that since I was the one who got you into this mess in the first place...”
‘Ah’, Allison thought, ‘so that’s why!’
Alex slowly shook his head, a smile creeping into the corner of his mouth.
“I could have said ‘No’, but I didn’t. Instead I said ’Yes Jack’ and ‘Thank you Jack’ and ‘Jack, you’re a bloody genius!’My choice, and so I’m dealing with the consequences, OK?”
Jack sighed and nodded, even as Allison found herself looking from one to the other. Surely Alex couldn’t be suggesting what it sounded like?
“You know all this responsibility is no good for you, right?” Jack remarked, and Alex rolled his eyes.
“Don’t make me do the whole Spiderman speech.”
Jack tilted his head, eyes narrowing. “You’re not allowed to do the Spiderman speech unless you can actually shoot webs from your wrists.”
Alex held up his arm, studying it.
“You know, that could be a very interesting project. I wonder...”
“Alex!” his uncle called out, and Alex sighed.
“Fine. See you in a little while....”
His uncle stepped forwards, calculating eyes studying Jack.
“Well I would be more than happy to have Jack take responsibility for his part.”
Alex pivoted, staring down the Doctor with sudden indignation.
“Don’t you dare! You still have more than a hundred years’ worth of apologising to do before you get to tell him anything!”
Allison blinked, feeling even more puzzled than before - especially since the Doctor actually looked stricken - and Alex turned to her, dragging a tired hand through his hair.
“This is why I never ever talk about these things... everything’s way too complicated and then this happens. Hopefully this won’t take too long, and then I’ll never talk about it again. And Jack - this time don’t try to corrupt my girlfriend.”
“You’re no fun!” Jack complained.
“The ‘girlfriend’ is standing right here!” Allison said, then turned and walked into the sitting room. Good grief the drama - and she’d thought her own family was mad...
Jack followed, sitting himself down in the sofa opposite the one she’d chosen.
“You OK?”
“Sure,” she said, studying him, trying to make all the different pieces of information she had fit together. Fun, charming, flirted with anything that moved - and yet...
“So do you make a habit of spying on people?”
He leaned further back in the sofa, smiling the kind of glib smile that was usually seen on celebrities.
“I’m Torchwood. Knowing people’s secrets is my job. Especially if I’m part of them.”
“That’s kinda creepy, you know.”
His face fell, and she thought to herself that clearly the stories she’d heard of Torchwood hadn’t come from nowhere.
“Oh. I was aiming for mysterious Man of Mystery.”
“Well you failed.”
“You’re very argumentative,” he countered, and then broke out the smile again: “I can see why Alex likes you.”
“People keep saying that,” she said, “I hope it’s a compliment.”
“Oh absolutely!” he answered. “As I’m sure you’ve noticed Alex is... not average.”
“Actually about that-” she said, nervously, telling herself to grasp the opportunity now she had it. “Can I... ask something? I could ask Alex, I know, and I’m sure he wouldn’t mind, but...”
“Go ahead,” Jack said gently, and Allison tried to calm the butterflies in her stomach which were playing up again.
“I’ve just been thinking - about Alex. No, not like that. Well like that too, but...” Goodness, this was terrible. How did he make everything she said seem like a double-entendre? Deep breath. Focus Allison.
“The thing is... Like you said, he’s not average - he’s so much smarter than everyone else, but at the same time he... He seems to work out how people interact logically rather than instinctively, if that makes sense? It’s very subtle, but I’ve got a brother who’s got Aspergers and Alex reminds me of him in some ways - not that I mind, I just wondered if... if it was something like that?”
Jack nodded slowly, something like admiration in his eyes. (Which was good, she had been worried about offending him. But something - the scientist in her probably - had a need to find out the truth.)
“Oh you are good. If you ever need a job, come to me first OK? But about your question... you’re not wrong. I...” he hesitated, “I suppose you could say it’s a family condition. Very rare these days, and in some cases... well you’ve heard about his father.”
“Right,” she said slowly, and his eyebrows shot up. “Don’t worry, Alex is fine. He’s just different. And,” the winsome smile made a reappearance, “I’m sure you wouldn’t want him any other way.”
She was just about to answer when Lucy returned, and for a second she could swear that Jack flinched. Although that was ridiculous... Maybe it was just that he wasn’t flirting with Lucy at all, something she’d noticed earlier on. Before she could let her mind work out why this might be, the door to the kitchen opened and Alex and his uncle entered.
“Well?” Lucy asked pleasantly, and Alex shrugged.
“We reached a compromise. Kinda. He gave me his little finger, but no more. Oh!”
He suddenly smiled.
“I never showed you what Allison got me for Christmas! You’re going to love this!”
And just as Allison had hoped, Lucy did like the duffle coat very much, although it was a rather moot point now...
The rest of the evening was spent watching TV, with Alex, his uncle and Jack making bets as to what news cover story would be put out for the day’s events. Jack won, and Alex accused him of cheating, to which Jack just smiled and cryptically said: ‘I know how Mr Jones thinks!’.
***
When she was finally in her (queen sized!) bed in a lovely guest room, Allison let her thoughts wander back over the day. Her fears over meeting Lucy now seemed a distant memory, the day’s revelations still not having sunk in.
Alex’s family were genuine, seasoned alien-fighters - and Alex helped (in what capacity she didn’t know, but something serious enough for his mother to worry). And they all had about a million issues hanging around under the surface, reminding her of the time when her auntie and uncle were getting divorced, and every time she went to play with her cousins the atmosphere could be cut with a knife... Except Alex’s family could apparently switch their issues off and on as they wanted.
She was beginning to appreciate what his friends meant by calling him ‘normal, in comparison.’ And also why he never talked about his ‘issues’...
At that point the door gently opened, and the boy in question appeared, wearing a T-shirt and pyjama bottoms, his short blonde hair outlined like a halo around his head thanks to the light in the hallway. Silently he insinuated himself into the bed.
“You planning on sleeping here?” she asked, and he blinked at her in the half-darkness.
“You don’t mind, do you?”
“No, but... Your mum made up separate beds...”
“Well I much prefer being here! Long day,” he added, burrowing into her shoulder. “Long, long, long boring day...”
“Boring?” she asked, perplexed.
“Very boring. Despite my mother’s fretting, in these cases my job is invariably to push buttons and pull levers and calculate time vectors and inverse power fields whilst Uncle runs around being manic and shouting at idiot aliens who’re usually all ‘Mwahahahaha puny Earthlings’ - if you’ve seen one you’ve seen them all, trust me. And then sometimes they’re smart and run away - which is what they did today, thank the stars - but other times they’re stupid and Uncle has to blow them up and then he angsts about it for ages afterwards... Unless someone else - like Torchwood - blows them up instead and then he gets very cross and can pretend that he’d have found some magical solution if only he’d had more time... Bloody heroism, it never does anyone any favours.”
He sighed and looked up at her.
“Sorry, told you I’d not talk about it, didn’t I? I just hoped today would be a nice day. Should have known better - my Uncle has the worst timing ever.”
“No it’s... it’s fine. Honestly. If you need to talk, just talk.”
She was trying to get her head wrapped around the idea of fighting aliens as something ‘boring’, as well as a sudden understanding of how his uncle’s job had clearly managed to impact him very negatively. No wonder he had such an aversion to ‘hero coats’ - they obviously hit too close to home. And then she was once more faced with the fact that Alex’s father might be insane, but his uncle was a honest-to-god hero, and almost missed his continued monologue.
“Thank you... It’s just that I get so tired of all the drama. Never been the cause of it myself until recently - quite the opposite, to be honest. Mr Peace and Quiet, me. Even when I was a baby - I’d cry whenever they started arguing to distract them. And they wonder how I ended up so spoiled - I had them all dancing to my tune before I was six months old. Always caught in the middle, always the one to calm the waters... Do you have any idea what it’s like to love a whole bunch of people who all hate each others guts, and would have no qualms about killing each other?”
He paused. “I’m not being melodramatic, they really would kill each other. Well except for Uncle and Jack. Mostly.”
Allison didn’t have a clue what to say. It was like a dam had broken and he just couldn’t stop talking. One part of her felt that surely he was exaggerating, but then she remembered the sudden, fierce tension that had come out of nowhere and had so puzzled her... She wondered what lay behind it all - why did they all hate each other - but felt that this was probably not the time to ask, especially since he wasn’t waiting for questions.
“Never rocked the boat before, and considering how it’s turned out, I’m thinking that I won’t do it again. Being the cause of arguments sucks - much easier to just flat-out lie...”
”You do that a lot?” she asked, and he chuckled.
“Oh Jack and I... My Uncle would have a quadruple heart attack if he knew just half...”
“So...” she said slowly, remembering the oddly... intimate conversation in the kitchen doorway. “You and him... You’re...”
She wasn’t quiet sure how to finish, and he wasn’t catching her drift, looking at her with puzzled eyes that looked black in the darkness of the room.
“We’re what?”
“You know... I wondered why you seemed so... close...”
This would certainly explain the odd combination of experience and inexperience, she thought, as she tried to work out exactly how she felt about this new revelation, when Alex finally understood what she was saying, eyes widening to comical size as he raised himself up on his elbow.
“You think Jack and I- Oh my God no! He’s like my brother. Plus I don’t swing that way. And the age difference is...”
He stared at her, caught between laughter and incredulity, and she squirmed uncomfortably, wondering when she’d learn to keep her thoughts to herself.
“Well you come across as... very close.”
”We are,” he said simply, lying down again and pulling her into his arms. “Jack is... I can’t begin to explain what he is to me. But I’m not attracted to him, trust me. Not to mention that he has a boyfriend already.”
“Okay,” she said, feeling rather weirded out, and yet relieved. “Nice to know I’ve not got competition, I guess.”
He kissed her hair, chuckling.
“Definitely not. Never had anyone like you before. Never thought I needed it. So thank you again for... for just being you and somehow coping with me. I half-expected you to run away screaming to be honest, once my Uncle showed up. Or possibly run away with him. Or Jack.”
“They’re cute, but a bit too old for me,” she sniffed, and he chuckled again.
“You’re a wise woman, Allie.”
“I know.”
“I hope-” he began, and then stopped.
“What?”
“Just... I’ll explain later.”
“Okay,” she yawned, “I think I need to sleep now anyway.”
“Goodnight,” he whispered, and she drifted off to sleep, wondering how on earth to explain all of this to her own family.
TBC.
Fic index with links to previous parts here, or just follow the tags. (Presuming anyone wants to catch up...) Oh and I have a feeling I was going to dedicate this to
the_redjay. I hope you like it!Summary: Allison had always thought that university would be an adventure. But she'd not imagined that she'd end up dating Harold Saxon's son.
Setting: 2025 (AU post-Sound of Drums)
Characters: OCs (many!), the Doctor (10th), Lucy, Jack.
Rating: PG-13.
Wordcount: Approx. 5600 words
“Alex... does my bum look big in this?”
Allison surveyed herself critically in the mirror, before finally turning to her boyfriend, who was looking at her like she was from another planet.
“Alex?”
“Sorry. Just... I didn’t know women actually said that.”
She glared.
“Just please answer the question!”
Sighing he got up, walked over to her and wrapped his arms around her from behind. Looking over her shoulder at the two of them reflected in the mirror he caught her eyes.
”Allie - my mother won’t care what you wear, trust me.”
She tried smiling in reply, as if his insightful assurances had calmed her nerves. Except this time he was just... clueless. And even the playful, intimate kiss he was planting on her neck only served to remind her of the reason for her nerves. Not only was she his first girlfriend (reason enough in itself to be nervous), she was now also The Evil Temptress who had ensnared, seduced and deflowered Lucy Saxon’s only son... And it mattered not a jot that she could hear her father’s voice in her head, telling her to stop using and falling prey to such outdated and gendered terms and cultural clichés - she was pretty certain that this was exactly how she’d be perceived no matter what.
Not that she was regretting managing to get him into bed, she just... wished that she could somehow mange to keep it secret from his mother, just for now. Why oh why did things have to be so complicated?
“Anyway,” he added, “I figure you only have time to change your outfit twice more before we have to get to the station, so please make up your mind.”
She didn’t respond, silently studying the effect of the nicely cut top and conservative skirt, and decided it’d have to do. She hadn’t realised that it was getting so late...
“Alex,” she said, deciding to get it over with, “would you mind getting your Christmas present early?”
His eyes in the mirror lit up.
“Not at all!”
“Good. There’s... a reason, you see.” She smiled mysteriously, wriggled out of his arms, and went to fetch the big, festive parcel from Matt’s room where she’d been allowed to hide it, and handed it over with a flourish.
‘Don’t hate it’, she prayed silently.
Within moments he’d torn off the paper and was staring at the gift with surprise writ large on his face.
“It’s a duffle coat,” he said, and Allison felt the need to explain herself.
“Well you only ever wear that denim jacket thing, which is about as warm as tissue paper. You’re only human Alex, you’ll catch your death walking around without a coat. And I prefer my boyfriend to be alive - a funny quirk I know, but that’s me.”
He turned to her, the corners of his mouth curling up.
“Oh don’t worry. I love it!”
In an instant he’d put it on, and now it was his turn to study himself in the mirror, posing happily.
“Yup, absolutely perfect. Thank you!”
The thanks were followed by a kiss, and by the delight in his eyes she could tell that he really was pleased, and breathed an internal sigh of relief.
What she had been very careful not to mention was her increasing dislike (now bordering on actual hatred) of the denim jacket, and the fact that she’d been actively looking out for a replacement - something which had been made much tricker with the discovery of his aversion to ‘hero coats’, causing her to discard 90% of her initial ideas. But here he was, all warm and cosy and student-y looking, and maybe at some later date she could quietly spirit away the old jacket and destroy it.
Also - and she added this to herself very quietly - surely his mother would appreciate him wearing something warm?
The antique table was laid out with priceless china and delicious food, a grandfather clock ticking away quietly in a corner and the walls were hung with beautiful paintings, highlighted by the pale winter sun which fell through the windows. The whole scene had an unshakeable air of unreality, like something out of a period drama, and Allison almost missed the question directed at her as she tried to fit her head around the situation.
“Milk, sugar?”
“Um, just milk, thank you.”
Moments later Lucy Saxon handed her a cup of undoubtedly perfect tea, and Allison was beginning to worry that she was stuck in a dream. Because this couldn’t be real. Alex’s mother was clearly going out of her way to be as friendly and welcoming as possible, not showing the slightest hint of resentment or disapproval, and after a while - despite the weirdness - the butterflies in Allison’s stomach slowly died down enough for her to begin eating some lunch.
Conversation was flowing well, with talk about university and friends making easy topics, and when Alex leaned towards her saying, “Told you everything would be fine!” she was feeling relaxed enough to playfully slap his arm.
She still cast his mother a swift look, and caught a half-smile which immediately vanished when a loud sound - as if someone was throwing open the front door with more than necessary force - reverberated through the house.
“Lucy?” a man’s voice rang out, and Lucy closed her eyes, sighing deeply.
A second later the door to the sitting room burst open, and in two steps a stranger - long coat billowing behind him - was in the middle of the room, already talking.
“Lucy! Do you know where-”
He stopped, took in the scene, eyes fastening on Alex.
“Oh. You’re here.”
Alex smiled thinly, eyes guarded.
“Hello Uncle.”
Allison’s eyes widened. This was Alex’s uncle? Thanks to one of Alex’s peculiarities she’d never seen a picture of him (“Why do I need pictures? I know what my family looks like!”), and she’d imagined him to be in his sixties - kind, indulgent, but as stubborn as Alex, considering that he’d sent him to Cambridge as a punishment for some unknown offence.
The man in front of her, however, looked to be in his early forties, tall, slim and dressed in a rather fetching suit - oddly enough combined with converse trainers - and his hair had clearly been styled to within an inch of its life. The end result was somewhat mad, but certainly stylish (particularly with the coat thrown on top), and Alex’s lack of interest in his own appearance was suddenly given a new and rather curious background. Then she frowned - if Alex’s Uncle was this young, he couldn’t have been much more than Alex’s current age when he’d stepped into the role of co-guardian...
She didn’t get further in her line of thought however, since Alex immediately started on the introductions.
”Uncle - please meet my girlfriend, Allison. Allison - my Uncle, Doctor John Smith.”
“Girlfriend?” his uncle echoed - like this was something utterly unexpected - before instantly recovering; a sudden, bright smile lighting up his features, and Allison realised that clearly the charm - along with the gorgeous brown eyes - was a family trait.
“Allison! A pleasure to meet you!”
He took another step forward and grasped her hand. “Please just call me Doctor - one of those nicknames that ended up sticking, you know how it is, and everyone always calls me ‘Doctor’, so much so that I often forget to react to ‘John’. Alex - why haven’t you told me anything about this?”
The last sentence was said with a hint of reproach, and Alex shrugged lightly.
“Why did you never call?”
Allison looked from one to the other as his uncle opened his mouth, shut it again, and then suddenly let go of Allison’s hand holding up a single finger, before pointing it at Alex.
“I need you. Sorry. But there is a...” his eyes drifted to Allison, “...a crisis.”
“But we’re in the middle of lunch!” Alex said, at the same time as Lucy finally moved, turning to Alex’s uncle.
“No.”
“Lucy-” he countered.
“No. Get Jack or one of your other little friends to help out. God knows you’ve got plenty of them, although I could never work out why.”
Alex’s uncle looked pleading.
“Jack’s already there, and I need every hand I can get, especially - especially someone that I don’t need to explain things to. Do you know how much time I lose just by having to explain things? And in this case-”
“No Doctor,” she said, rising to her feet. “I know what you’re doing, and I won’t have it.”
Alex’s uncle’s eyes flickered momentarily as they faced each other. Lucy’s eyes were like flint and Alex’s uncle looked like he was fighting a battle he knew he was going to lose, but then Alex sighed and got up.
“Oh whatever, I’ll come.”
His mother turned.
“Alexander...”
He gave her a hug.
“C’mon, I’ll be fine. And this way you and Allie can gossip about me to your hearts’ content.”
He grinned over his shoulder, and Allison felt as if they were all talking a different language, there were that many things shimmering under the surface.
“Thank you Alex,” his uncle said, but Lucy grabbed hold of his arm, forcing him to look at her.
“Doctor - if he gets hurt-”
The Doctor’s face changed, and Allison couldn’t begin to guess at what lay behind the sudden transformation.
“I know,” he said, tonelessly. “Little hard to forget. Please try to remember that he is my whole world too.”
When Allison turned to Alex, hoping for some kind of explanation, she saw the exact same guarded look - part hurt, part angry - on his face too. Some serious issues there, clearly. She remembered him talking about his father issues, but he’d never mentioned his uncle...
But then he smiled, extracted a promise from his uncle to be back in time for dinner - 7pm - and then turned to Allison.
“Sorry to run out like this, I’ll definitely make him pay for it. Although like I said - this way you and mum can look at baby photos or whatever it is that women do in situations like this. I’m told that men just get in the way.”
He gave her a swift kiss, and then they were gone, with a final swirl of the Doctor’s long brown coat before the door closed behind them. Lucy was looking at the empty space they’d left, arms folded, her tension so visible that Allison suddenly felt genuinely unsettled.
“Alex isn’t going to be in, like, real danger, is he?”
Lucy turned her head, thinly disguised anger on her face.
“It’s the Doctor. It’s always real, and it’s always dangerous.”
Then her expression softened.
“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t worry you. But I must admit that this wasn’t how I’d hoped your introduction to the family would happen.”
And Allison, with surprise, realised that maybe Lucy had been worried about meeting her... Thankfully Lucy continued speaking, giving Allison a few moments in which to absorb this insight.
“I’m guessing that Alex hasn’t told you much about... this side of his life?”
“Not really,” Allison replied, and Lucy smiled, the tension disappearing as if by magic.
“Sit down, have another cup of tea. We probably need to talk.”
The afternoon was long, but very informative - and not just in the baby picture sense. Allison discovered that Alex’s uncle worked with UNIT as some kind of freelance agent, ‘Jack’ worked for Torchwood, and the ‘crisis’ was probably some kind of alien invasion. Allison found this almost impossible to believe, and yet Lucy was clearly not joking.
“I don’t suppose you’ve ever had a desire to become a heroic fighter for Earth?” Lucy asked, and Allison had to shake her head.
“Not really... We had some UNIT guy come visit our school a few years back, but although I like uniforms, I’d rather not wear one myself. If I had to work for them I’d much prefer to deal with the technology.”
Lucy smiled.
“I can see why Alex likes you.”
There didn’t really seem to be any kind of correct response to this, so Allison mumbled into her tea and tried not to blush too much. Overt hostility she’d been prepared for, but not this.
She also got a tour of the house and garden, both of which were extraordinarily beautiful. The house was about the same size as her parents, except they’d brought up five children and it showed. Alex’s home on the other hand was furnished with exquisite taste, and Allison could suddenly see where his tidy streak came from - growing up in a house like this couldn’t help rubbing off.
The garden was of course pretty bare since it was December, but Allison could still tell just how much work went into it. She hoped she could bring her own mother here some time, although she’d probably be green with envy.
At one point she asked if they shouldn’t turn on the news, to see what was happening, and Lucy laughed.
“Trust me, whatever they say will be as far from the truth as possible. If anything happens the Doctor will call. Or UNIT. But it’s not likely. The Doctor is pretty destructive.”
There was a strange tone to her voice that Allison couldn’t work out, but she had a feeling that asking wouldn’t get any answers, and Lucy’s words had once more reminded her that Alex and his uncle had gone out to fight aliens, and - although everyone knew aliens were real - she still had to fight the impulse to pinch herself to check that she was awake. How on Earth did Lucy stay so serene?
True to his word, Alex returned five minutes before dinner was served.
Lucy had with infinite calm (Alex really was a lot like her) made something French and very complicated, and Allison had helped out by laying the table. There was more cutlery than she was entirely comfortable with, but she firmly decided not to stress out over something that stupid, especially since the situation was somewhere between deeply surreal and worryingly storybook... The men had gone out on adventures and the women were at home cooking. And somewhere underneath it all there were sharp stabs of fear that she tried her best ignore. Surely he’d be OK?
As it turned out, he wasn’t just OK, he was bordering on giddy. He walked through the door, followed by his uncle and another man that Allison recognised from Josh’s photos as Jack, spread out his arms, and announced:
“And Once Again, the Day is Saved by The PowerPuff Girls!”
He grinned, then turned to the other two.
“I’m Buttercup by the way!”
“I’m Buttercup!” Jack replied (why had no one ever mentioned that he was American?), “just look at the hair. You’re Bubbles.”
“Does that mean I’m Blossom?” the Doctor asked, hopefully, but Alex shook his head.
“Blossom has red hair!”
“No need to rub it in,” his uncle shot back, sounding like a petulant child, as Jack took in the room, noticing Allison. Immediately a bright and vivid smile appeared on his face, and he walked forward, hand outstretched.
“Hello - you must be Allison. Captain Jack Harkness.”
She took the offered hand, silently wondering if somehow he’d sprung from ‘Casting Agency for Things That Allison Likes’, because he was ticking virtually every box. And goodness, his eyes were blue...
“Stop it!” Alex and his uncle both chorused, but Allison just returned Jack’s smile with interest.
“Oh I don’t mind.”
His smile deepened to match hers, and she thought to herself that Josh as Jack-the-Second suddenly made a lot more sense. She’d seen Josh chat up enough people to recognise the tactic, although having never been at the receiving end she’d not considered just how effective that kind of charm offensive really was. Not that she was complaining.
A little while later they were all sitting around the dinner table, the earlier awkwardness apparently having evaporated as the talk flitted between university, friends and general catching-up.
“Alex?” Jack asked as Lucy began clearing the table.
“M-hm?”
“I noticed that your Professor seems to have had a major breakthrough in her research recently.”
By chance Allison happened to catch the anything-but-casual look he shot Alex, but Alex didn’t bat an eyelid.
“Really? Well that’s nice. Has she said anything, Allison?”
Before she could answer the Doctor cut in.
“You don’t go to your lectures?”
Alex shrugged.
“Well I go to some of them...”
“We had an agreement,” his uncle said, and Allison recognised the tone very well, dreading it when it came from her own parents. Clearly the Doctor took his duties as stepfather very seriously.
“Not an ‘agreement’,” Alex countered, somewhere between angry and hurt. “You grounded me. Literally.”
There was a long pause as Alex and his uncle looked at each other silently, and then his uncle got up.
“Private word in the kitchen?”
Alex nodded, and Lucy sighed and declared that she was off to call her brother.
“Jack- entertain Allie will you?” Alex asked.
“With pleasure,” Jack smiled, and Allison couldn’t help smiling back. Criminally gorgeous, that’s what he was.
“Great,” Alex said, happily looking from one to the other, and in the process proving that clearly jealousy was yet another thing that he was completely unfamiliar with.
As the kitchen door closed Allison looked at Jack, silently wondering what to say now, but Jack winked and grabbed two empty glasses from the buffet, handing one to Allison.
“Um, I’m not really thirsty...”
He raised an eyebrow.
“You have four siblings. Never spied on any of them?”
Staring at him speechlessly, Allison watched as he with great care placed the glass against the door, and - not quite believing herself, but curious enough to try - she followed suit.
“...well are you going to apologise?” she heard the Doctor ask.
“I have nothing to apologise for!” Alex replied, and Allison could vividly picture the anger on his face.
“You lied to me-”
“I didn’t lie!”
“You went behind my back!”
Jack winced, and Allison suddenly realised that Jack knew exactly why Alex had got into trouble. Then Alex’s voice caught her attention again.
“Because it had nothing to do with you! I’m eighteen! Stop treating me like a child!”
“You are a child!”
“Not according to the laws of this country. And it was your choice that I should grow up here!”
“That’s... completely beside the point!” the Doctor replied, heatedly. “I trusted you and you used that trust to-”
“To do something you ‘disapprove’ of,” Alex cut in. “And yet it was something I am absolutely within my rights to do. Your punishment is totally out of proportion to my ‘offence’ - Uncle will you just stop being so... absolutist for a minute. God, you gave me, like, the best present ever and now I can’t use it - can’t even get to it... Just please, please can I have it back?”
“No.”
“But I promise I won’t... anything. I’ll stay in Cambridge, honest. I’ve got Allison now, and I’ve even worked out a plan - stuff to keep me occupied for the next few years. It’s just... I can’t live locked up like this. I thought you’d understand. I mean you were in cage once, remember? I’ll stay in my cage, I swear, just open the door...”
A beat, then Alex’s uncle replied, his voice having lost all warmth.
“I’m not sure that’s a parallel you should bring up.”
Another beat, then there was a stifled chuckle.
“I didn’t- I didn’t mean the actual cage! I was thinking of the time you were in exile!”
“Ah. Well. That’s different,” the Doctor replied, and then, when Alex clearly couldn’t stop chuckling, adding, “It wasn’t funny!”
“But... you looked like Dobby!”
“Alex! Do I need to remind you that it was an extremely painful experience?”
“Sorry...” Alex cleared his throat. “And actually, just hang on...”
Suddenly there were footsteps and Allison, panicking, whipped her glass away and took a step backwards. Jack on the other hand was apparently not at all bothered about getting caught, and barely lowered the glass. Then the door opened and Alex shot Allison a brief look before fastening on Jack.
“A little privacy wouldn’t go amiss you know!”
Jack pulled a face.
“Well I thought that since I was the one who got you into this mess in the first place...”
‘Ah’, Allison thought, ‘so that’s why!’
Alex slowly shook his head, a smile creeping into the corner of his mouth.
“I could have said ‘No’, but I didn’t. Instead I said ’Yes Jack’ and ‘Thank you Jack’ and ‘Jack, you’re a bloody genius!’My choice, and so I’m dealing with the consequences, OK?”
Jack sighed and nodded, even as Allison found herself looking from one to the other. Surely Alex couldn’t be suggesting what it sounded like?
“You know all this responsibility is no good for you, right?” Jack remarked, and Alex rolled his eyes.
“Don’t make me do the whole Spiderman speech.”
Jack tilted his head, eyes narrowing. “You’re not allowed to do the Spiderman speech unless you can actually shoot webs from your wrists.”
Alex held up his arm, studying it.
“You know, that could be a very interesting project. I wonder...”
“Alex!” his uncle called out, and Alex sighed.
“Fine. See you in a little while....”
His uncle stepped forwards, calculating eyes studying Jack.
“Well I would be more than happy to have Jack take responsibility for his part.”
Alex pivoted, staring down the Doctor with sudden indignation.
“Don’t you dare! You still have more than a hundred years’ worth of apologising to do before you get to tell him anything!”
Allison blinked, feeling even more puzzled than before - especially since the Doctor actually looked stricken - and Alex turned to her, dragging a tired hand through his hair.
“This is why I never ever talk about these things... everything’s way too complicated and then this happens. Hopefully this won’t take too long, and then I’ll never talk about it again. And Jack - this time don’t try to corrupt my girlfriend.”
“You’re no fun!” Jack complained.
“The ‘girlfriend’ is standing right here!” Allison said, then turned and walked into the sitting room. Good grief the drama - and she’d thought her own family was mad...
Jack followed, sitting himself down in the sofa opposite the one she’d chosen.
“You OK?”
“Sure,” she said, studying him, trying to make all the different pieces of information she had fit together. Fun, charming, flirted with anything that moved - and yet...
“So do you make a habit of spying on people?”
He leaned further back in the sofa, smiling the kind of glib smile that was usually seen on celebrities.
“I’m Torchwood. Knowing people’s secrets is my job. Especially if I’m part of them.”
“That’s kinda creepy, you know.”
His face fell, and she thought to herself that clearly the stories she’d heard of Torchwood hadn’t come from nowhere.
“Oh. I was aiming for mysterious Man of Mystery.”
“Well you failed.”
“You’re very argumentative,” he countered, and then broke out the smile again: “I can see why Alex likes you.”
“People keep saying that,” she said, “I hope it’s a compliment.”
“Oh absolutely!” he answered. “As I’m sure you’ve noticed Alex is... not average.”
“Actually about that-” she said, nervously, telling herself to grasp the opportunity now she had it. “Can I... ask something? I could ask Alex, I know, and I’m sure he wouldn’t mind, but...”
“Go ahead,” Jack said gently, and Allison tried to calm the butterflies in her stomach which were playing up again.
“I’ve just been thinking - about Alex. No, not like that. Well like that too, but...” Goodness, this was terrible. How did he make everything she said seem like a double-entendre? Deep breath. Focus Allison.
“The thing is... Like you said, he’s not average - he’s so much smarter than everyone else, but at the same time he... He seems to work out how people interact logically rather than instinctively, if that makes sense? It’s very subtle, but I’ve got a brother who’s got Aspergers and Alex reminds me of him in some ways - not that I mind, I just wondered if... if it was something like that?”
Jack nodded slowly, something like admiration in his eyes. (Which was good, she had been worried about offending him. But something - the scientist in her probably - had a need to find out the truth.)
“Oh you are good. If you ever need a job, come to me first OK? But about your question... you’re not wrong. I...” he hesitated, “I suppose you could say it’s a family condition. Very rare these days, and in some cases... well you’ve heard about his father.”
“Right,” she said slowly, and his eyebrows shot up. “Don’t worry, Alex is fine. He’s just different. And,” the winsome smile made a reappearance, “I’m sure you wouldn’t want him any other way.”
She was just about to answer when Lucy returned, and for a second she could swear that Jack flinched. Although that was ridiculous... Maybe it was just that he wasn’t flirting with Lucy at all, something she’d noticed earlier on. Before she could let her mind work out why this might be, the door to the kitchen opened and Alex and his uncle entered.
“Well?” Lucy asked pleasantly, and Alex shrugged.
“We reached a compromise. Kinda. He gave me his little finger, but no more. Oh!”
He suddenly smiled.
“I never showed you what Allison got me for Christmas! You’re going to love this!”
And just as Allison had hoped, Lucy did like the duffle coat very much, although it was a rather moot point now...
The rest of the evening was spent watching TV, with Alex, his uncle and Jack making bets as to what news cover story would be put out for the day’s events. Jack won, and Alex accused him of cheating, to which Jack just smiled and cryptically said: ‘I know how Mr Jones thinks!’.
When she was finally in her (queen sized!) bed in a lovely guest room, Allison let her thoughts wander back over the day. Her fears over meeting Lucy now seemed a distant memory, the day’s revelations still not having sunk in.
Alex’s family were genuine, seasoned alien-fighters - and Alex helped (in what capacity she didn’t know, but something serious enough for his mother to worry). And they all had about a million issues hanging around under the surface, reminding her of the time when her auntie and uncle were getting divorced, and every time she went to play with her cousins the atmosphere could be cut with a knife... Except Alex’s family could apparently switch their issues off and on as they wanted.
She was beginning to appreciate what his friends meant by calling him ‘normal, in comparison.’ And also why he never talked about his ‘issues’...
At that point the door gently opened, and the boy in question appeared, wearing a T-shirt and pyjama bottoms, his short blonde hair outlined like a halo around his head thanks to the light in the hallway. Silently he insinuated himself into the bed.
“You planning on sleeping here?” she asked, and he blinked at her in the half-darkness.
“You don’t mind, do you?”
“No, but... Your mum made up separate beds...”
“Well I much prefer being here! Long day,” he added, burrowing into her shoulder. “Long, long, long boring day...”
“Boring?” she asked, perplexed.
“Very boring. Despite my mother’s fretting, in these cases my job is invariably to push buttons and pull levers and calculate time vectors and inverse power fields whilst Uncle runs around being manic and shouting at idiot aliens who’re usually all ‘Mwahahahaha puny Earthlings’ - if you’ve seen one you’ve seen them all, trust me. And then sometimes they’re smart and run away - which is what they did today, thank the stars - but other times they’re stupid and Uncle has to blow them up and then he angsts about it for ages afterwards... Unless someone else - like Torchwood - blows them up instead and then he gets very cross and can pretend that he’d have found some magical solution if only he’d had more time... Bloody heroism, it never does anyone any favours.”
He sighed and looked up at her.
“Sorry, told you I’d not talk about it, didn’t I? I just hoped today would be a nice day. Should have known better - my Uncle has the worst timing ever.”
“No it’s... it’s fine. Honestly. If you need to talk, just talk.”
She was trying to get her head wrapped around the idea of fighting aliens as something ‘boring’, as well as a sudden understanding of how his uncle’s job had clearly managed to impact him very negatively. No wonder he had such an aversion to ‘hero coats’ - they obviously hit too close to home. And then she was once more faced with the fact that Alex’s father might be insane, but his uncle was a honest-to-god hero, and almost missed his continued monologue.
“Thank you... It’s just that I get so tired of all the drama. Never been the cause of it myself until recently - quite the opposite, to be honest. Mr Peace and Quiet, me. Even when I was a baby - I’d cry whenever they started arguing to distract them. And they wonder how I ended up so spoiled - I had them all dancing to my tune before I was six months old. Always caught in the middle, always the one to calm the waters... Do you have any idea what it’s like to love a whole bunch of people who all hate each others guts, and would have no qualms about killing each other?”
He paused. “I’m not being melodramatic, they really would kill each other. Well except for Uncle and Jack. Mostly.”
Allison didn’t have a clue what to say. It was like a dam had broken and he just couldn’t stop talking. One part of her felt that surely he was exaggerating, but then she remembered the sudden, fierce tension that had come out of nowhere and had so puzzled her... She wondered what lay behind it all - why did they all hate each other - but felt that this was probably not the time to ask, especially since he wasn’t waiting for questions.
“Never rocked the boat before, and considering how it’s turned out, I’m thinking that I won’t do it again. Being the cause of arguments sucks - much easier to just flat-out lie...”
”You do that a lot?” she asked, and he chuckled.
“Oh Jack and I... My Uncle would have a quadruple heart attack if he knew just half...”
“So...” she said slowly, remembering the oddly... intimate conversation in the kitchen doorway. “You and him... You’re...”
She wasn’t quiet sure how to finish, and he wasn’t catching her drift, looking at her with puzzled eyes that looked black in the darkness of the room.
“We’re what?”
“You know... I wondered why you seemed so... close...”
This would certainly explain the odd combination of experience and inexperience, she thought, as she tried to work out exactly how she felt about this new revelation, when Alex finally understood what she was saying, eyes widening to comical size as he raised himself up on his elbow.
“You think Jack and I- Oh my God no! He’s like my brother. Plus I don’t swing that way. And the age difference is...”
He stared at her, caught between laughter and incredulity, and she squirmed uncomfortably, wondering when she’d learn to keep her thoughts to herself.
“Well you come across as... very close.”
”We are,” he said simply, lying down again and pulling her into his arms. “Jack is... I can’t begin to explain what he is to me. But I’m not attracted to him, trust me. Not to mention that he has a boyfriend already.”
“Okay,” she said, feeling rather weirded out, and yet relieved. “Nice to know I’ve not got competition, I guess.”
He kissed her hair, chuckling.
“Definitely not. Never had anyone like you before. Never thought I needed it. So thank you again for... for just being you and somehow coping with me. I half-expected you to run away screaming to be honest, once my Uncle showed up. Or possibly run away with him. Or Jack.”
“They’re cute, but a bit too old for me,” she sniffed, and he chuckled again.
“You’re a wise woman, Allie.”
“I know.”
“I hope-” he began, and then stopped.
“What?”
“Just... I’ll explain later.”
“Okay,” she yawned, “I think I need to sleep now anyway.”
“Goodnight,” he whispered, and she drifted off to sleep, wondering how on earth to explain all of this to her own family.
TBC.
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