Stellar Collision

Chapter 26

Ahem...The second half of this chapter is definitely for grown folks. Stars will officially be colliding if you catch my drift. If you are not prepared for the sexy, you might want to stop reading when the Doctor finds Dayle in her bedroom. Ye have been warned. -Ruinous79

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Dayle A had gotten up without a word and left the apartment, slamming the door behind her. She heard the Doctor behind her a ways down the hall and she headed for the stairs to avoid being stuck in an elevator with him. She was furious. The rage inside her was boiling, about to burst out and she didn't want him to catch the brunt of it.

He followed her down the stairs, keeping a distance. He was giving her some space but he also wanted to be sure she was ok. So very like him.

She got to the lobby before she lost it. Dayle cried like she hadn't cried in years. She ran out the door and headed toward the woods. She needed to be away from everything right now. Everything in this ridiculous universe. She stopped running and leaned against a tree.

It wasn't fucking fair. She wiped her streaming eyes and irrationally hated Dayle B with the fire of a thousand suns in that moment.

The Doctor had caught up to her. He approached her cautiously, apparently no longer able to keep his distance.

"Dayle," he began gently. "In parallel universes there are fundamental physical constants that remain. They are invariant, like the majority of your town and your own existence. But there are also different physical properties..." He reached for her and she shook him off.

"Fuck all that. Fuck the universe, this one and my own." She kicked a tree as hard as she could. It hurt like hell but she wasn't about to let him know it. She looked at him, throwing her arms up. "Well I guess we were wrong. It wasn't the decision to keep Savannah that set my life on its course. The game was rigged from the start. My mom killing herself. Not having her there in my life." she wasn't crying much now but was still very angry. "Didn't I just win the jackpot in the fate lottery? Unfuckingbelievable." She turned her back on him.

The Doctor just stood nearby helplessly. He had nothing to offer her but his presence. They stood in silence until he finally spoke up.

"Dayle B is very upset." he told her. "She feels terrible and is afraid you are angry with her."

That snapped Dayle out of her feelings a bit. Logically, she knew it wasn't the other Dayle's fault and she didn't want her to feel badly. She sighed and shook her head.

"I'm not angry with her." she told him, turning to look at him now. He was studying her with inscrutable hazel eyes. He was very worried about her, she suddenly realized. She went to him and allowed him to wrap her in his arms. She leaned against his chest, listening to his heartsbeat. He stroked her head.

"You are who you are because of what you've been through." he said softly. "There is a fundamental difference between you and Dayle B because of your different lives." He pulled back a bit and looked deeply into her eyes. "A toughness. And something else I can't exactly describe. And it's what drew me to you." He brushed her hair from her eyes tenderly. "I am sorry for how hard you've had it. But I am not sorry for the person it's made you into."

He kissed her then. Sweetly, softly. She felt his feelings wash over her, all at once. It was love. It was definitely love. Damn.

Dayle B's Apartment, Later that evening

Dayle A and the Doctor had gone back to the TARDIS for a while after her emotional episode. She needed to go for a run to get rid of any residual anger before she saw the other Dayle again. She couldn't help but notice the Doctor stayed far away from her during the workout. Resisting temptation she supposed. Later she sort of hoped to make temptation irresistible for him.