Different Dimensions~A Doctor Who Fanfic

7 / Dare to Dream

I hear a door close and I open my eyes. At first things are sort of fuzzy, but when I’m finally able to see I find myself in my room, not in the TARDIS.

“That’s weird,” I say softly to myself. “It couldn’t have been a dream.” I sit up in the bed and look around; everything is exactly the same as it would be in my room, from the posters on the wall to the computer by my bed. I scratch my cheek and see the sleeve of a pair of pajamas that I didn’t fall asleep in. I take the sheet off and try to think back. I never fall asleep in real pajamas. At that moment, I hear a soft knocking on the door, followed by a voice.

“You awake in there?” I smile, recognizing it instantly.

“Yeah, I’m up.” I reply and he opens the door, smiling from ear to ear. He walks over to the chair beside the bed and sits down. I notice that this is the first time he hasn’t been wearing his coat over the suit.

“So,” I start, trying to break silence. “That was some thing before, huh?”

“Yeah…” he replies, seeming a bit disconcerted. I remember the way I acted and feel completely ashamed. “Hey,” he says comfortingly, putting his hand on my leg. “I don’t blame you for what happened.”

“But I was reckless. It was a stupid, hasty move and you were probably worried sick.” I feel terrible about what I did and said.

“And the fact that you’re guilty about it just means that you’re a good person.”

I smile, glad that he’s not mad.

“That’s it. No need to be such a downer.” he says, almost giggling.

“Oh shut up.” I say with a quick laugh. “I have the right to sulk if I want to.”

He leans back in the chair and puts his arms out. “Honestly, I’m surprised you didn’t ask about this.”

I cross my legs and arms, smiling. “Alright then, what’s up with this?”

“Well, I’m glad you asked.” he replies, getting up out of the chair quickly. He starts walking around the room as he goes off on one of his rants. “It’s just another benefit of being in the TARDIS. Let me tell you, it makes redecorating a hell of a lot easier.”

I put my hand on my mouth in an attempt to keep him from hearing me laugh. It doesn’t work because the moment I start, he stops mid-rant and smiles.

“Oi! What’s so funny?”

“Nothing. Nothing.” I reply, trying to stop laughing. I suddenly remember that I’m wearing clothes that I didn’t change into and I can’t help but ask about it. “Uh, I wasn’t wearing this when I fell asleep. Did you…?”

“No! No.” he replies, acting like this was a personal question. “Actually, I thought I heard something a while ago. I came in, but you were still in bed.” He looks me over and puts his hands in the pockets of his pants. “Are you sure you don’t remember waking up at one point?”

“Of course not. I wouldn’t be asking if I did.”

He takes one hand out of his pockets and rubs his temples. He turns his back to me and starts ruffling his hair. “You know,” he starts. “I haven’t found anything that would’ve made that thing possible. Even I don’t admit to knowing everything about the universe, but this was just too… I don’t know, too weird to be real.”

I bring my feet down over the side of the bed and try my hardest to make sense of everything that happened. After a few minutes of trial and error, I dismiss every one of my stupid theories entirely and sigh, probably louder than I should’ve.

“What?” he asks. I look up and see that his head’s turned in my direction.

“Huh?” I reply.

“What were you thinking about before?”

“What? Nothing.”

He walks over slowly and looks down at me. “It really isn’t. Sometimes the solution to something is right under your nose, but you never realize it because you’re too afraid to ask the most obvious questions. Let me tell you, those obvious questions can make all the difference sometimes.”

I look at him, knowing that he’s right. Even if my idea is beyond stupid, there’s no harm in giving it a shot. “Well, I just think it’s weird that I can explain everything that happened with some tv show or movie while you were totally clueless.”

He takes a moment to think about it and I see something click. “Oh, oh oh oh!” he starts and suddenly kisses me on the forehead. “You are brilliant! You know, you should really give yourself more credit.” he says, rushing out to the console. I smile at the compliment and follow him. When I get there, he’s using that scanner again, this time on himself. When it finishes, he runs around and messes with the controls before looking at the screen with the results.

“Of course,” he says softly. He turns around and looks at me curiously. “Do you remember anything before you were all… ghosty?”

I’m a bit surprised that he’d ask me about this, but I reply quickly. “Of course I do!”

“Really?” he asks, crossing his arms and leaning against the console. “Then tell me about it. Where did we go, what did we do?”

“Well, we-” I stop mid-sentence, realizing that I can’t remember anything.

“Yep, I thought so.”

“What? What’s going on?” I ask, completely confused.

He looks down, almost like he doesn’t want to tell me the truth.

“Doctor, what’s going on?”

He looks up, almost like he’s surprised by my determination. He almost seems defeated, but he gives in and walks up to me. “This… this is all just an illusion. I’m not real, and neither is the TARDIS."

~~~

I know things are getting crazier every chapter, but I was being rushed by my mom to finish typing this up and I plan to explain everything in the next update. For now, all I can ask for is patience.

Again, thank you all for your support -- it really means a lot -- and I hope to update again soon.