I walked to the bus stop in the brisk cold, knowing that soon I would be on the bus and she would be there. That made it seem a little warmer as the wind froze my face. I wondered if this time I could get away with putting my arm around her, but I doubted I had the courage. Such a beautiful girl wouldn't like me like that, would she? I decided it was worth a shot. Sometimes she smiled at me in such a way, it made me think maybe... But no. It couldn't be... Could it?
Sure enough, we sat together, as we had for a while. I already let myself slip too far, I knew. It was too far to go back. My heart would be hers if she said the words. I couldn't think of a reason why she would, though. Even if she did, we can't yet. I know that for now, we're just friends. I'm okay with that, but sometimes it's hard to suppress my urges. I finally got the courage to put my arm around her when she was laughing, and she seemed okay with it. Her laughter softened and I forgot what we'd even been talking about. All I could focus on was gathering my courage. It was all I could do not to kiss the top of her head when she rested it on my chest.
--
"You know we're still just friends, right?" Rose texted me after we had a very detailed, private conversation.
"Yeah... I know." I replied, considering telling her that there was a way we could be together. She would think I'm crazy if I told her. She might not believe me, even though I could prove it. That night, I thought about it until the sun rose and I decided I would wait for the right moment. I wasn't sure when that would come, but I hoped it would be soon.
Later the next night, we were on the phone talking again. I could hear her voice getting heavy as she talked quietly so nobody would hear.
"I wish we could do all the things we talked about," She told me, and by her tone, I could imagine exactly what was happening on the other end of the line.
"What if I told you... we could?" I asked quietly, my heart beating nervously. She paused, and I could clearly see in my mind how confused she must be.
"We can't, not yet. I wish we could, Avery. But you know that my parents won't be okay with us being together yet."
"No, we can, now. I just have to come to get you, and we can go somewhere. I can have you back before you even left. I can show you." That made her laugh
"Why would I believe that? You'd have to be magical." She laughed again, maybe thinking I was joking. I didn't know what else to do but tell her.
"We can take the TARDIS across the galaxy, and I can have you back home ten minutes before now. Let me prove it." She laughed again.
"Okay, come here then. Show me your TARDIS please, sir." She mocked. I rolled my eyes and laughed.
"Get dressed. I'm taking you to Gallifrey. I'm serious, get dressed, stop laughing!" I exclaimed, exasperated. Finally, she agreed.
"Okay, okay I'm dressed. I know this is some kind of trick, so just do it already." It was my turn to laugh. She would know soon.
I reached into my shirt and pulled out the key on my necklace, and unlocked the TARDIS door with it. Within seconds, I had landed. I ran to the door and opened it to see Rose standing there with her jaw dropped, her eyes glimmering and round with shock.
"Hurry! Get in, your parents might come to see what the noise was." She took a quick look at the exterior of the Police Public Call Box and gasped when we were inside.
"It's-" She began. "-bigger on the inside," I finished with her. "I know, it's timelord science."
"So... where are we going?" She asked after a few moments of stunned silence, eyes darting around. I smiled, walking quickly to the button, lever, knob and switch covered control panel. It wrapped around her cylindrical Time Column at the center which reached all the way to the roof, blue glowing fluid pulsing through both inner tubes.
"Where, when... Anytime, any place. How about Gallifrey, back before I lived there? We'll have a picnic." She just nodded, eyes wide.
I plugged in the coordinates for a field of red grass not far from the capital, and the time for late at night when both moons would be out. I carefully steered the time vortex controls, making the ride as smooth as possible.
"Hang on!" I told her, motioning to the hand rails, my eyes still flickering over all of the controls, making sure everything was perfect.
When I looked over I noticed that Rose was looking at me with a bewildered expression on her face. I smiled, and she smiled back, still looking like she couldn't quite believe it.