Walk The Earth: Doctor Who/Studio C [Book 2]

Moving Forward

Moving Forward

"I'm sorry... for the Year. The Year you may well have to carry alone." -Cyndi Shirk

He had known.

Four days had passed since the reversal of the Year, and Wester Drumlins was oddly quiet. Adam, Whitney, James, Jared, and Jason had flown back to Utah that day—Adam had mainly come as moral support during that confused first day, while the other four who had lived through the Year were beyond eager to see their families again. Matt couldn't blame them, but neither he nor Mallory could bring themselves to leave the Doctor yet. Jack hadn't left yet, either, but the old mansion was still strangely empty with half of its former occupants.

Matt, now the only one in the house who hadn't lived through the Year, couldn't help but feel left out of the loop. Hell though it was, the other four had a shared experience binding them together, even if it had been different for each of them. He, on the other hand, was the outsider—a fact made even more clear by the fact that Mallory was apparently holding the fact his other self had known he was going to get himself killed against this him.

She didn't snap, she didn't argue, but she avoided. She had told him about the rough contents of the letters—including the second that he'd written in case he hadn't come back—but after that she was more likely to close herself off than anything else, and he hadn't the slightest clue what to do other than to wait for her to come around.

The evening after the others left, Matt shrugged into his jacket, intending to see what progress the Doctor and Jack had made on the TARDIS. Instead, he was sidetracked the moment he stepped outside, a form on the porch catching his eye.

"Mal?" he said softly. She was leaning against the railing, her hair—newly blonde again, as of last night—shining under the meager light.

She dipped her head in acknowledgment but made no other move, and Matt couldn't help but stand beside her. A week ago, he would've slipped an arm around her, perhaps nuzzled her cheek, but now he hadn't the slightest clue what she did or didn't want him to do.They hadn't kissed since she first saw him again on the TARDIS, and after the awkward first morning at Wester Drumlins they hadn't slept in the same bed either. Now, instead of making any move toward her, he simply mirrored her posture, leaning over the railing.

"Sometimes it gets so claustrophobic in there I can hardly breathe," Mallory finally said.

He wasn't sure how to answer that, and only gave a noncommittal hum by way of response. As they stood in silence for a few minutes more, he finally ventured, "Do you want me to go...?"

"No," she replied hurriedly, a hint of something like panic in her voice. "No, I... please don't."

"Okay," he said. "Whatever you want."

Again, neither spoke as the minutes ticked past. Eventually, though, Mallory let out a soft chuckle. "Don't tell Mark, but I'm pretty sure no matter how much work he does, this place is never going to stop creeping me out."

Matt couldn't help but return her laugh. "Did you read my mind? Can't look at a shadow without thinking something awful is going to pop out of it. I dunno how he lives here."

The smallest of smiles tugged on her lips, so rare for him to see these days that he couldn't help but return it. "Sometimes I wonder," she murmured.

"He does seem... remarkably unaffected by all this," Matt said thoughtfully.

"What?" she asked, brow furrowing.

"Mark...?"

"Oh. No, I... that's not what I meant. Sorry." She rocked from her heels to her toes and back again before continuing. "I was just thinking... in the Year, you and I... we were all we had. And we trusted each other, relied on each other, and sometimes I had to sit there and wonder if we were two halves of the same whole because it felt like we synced up so easily it was like we did read each other's minds and I just... I miss it. I miss you. You're standing right next to me and I miss you."