Starlight ★ TENTH DOCTOR

Let Me Go

If looks could kill well then the Doctor would have dropped dead on the floor the moment Marie set her eyes on him.

"Time Lords have taken enough from me. I will not let you take my only grandchild away as well!" Marie spoke quietly but her voice shook with anger and her French accent became thicker.

"No." Elizabeth raised her voice, taking a step closer to her grandmother. "No, you can't keep me in this dull fucking town anymore, gran!" Now it was Elizabeth's turn to be angry. The numbness had faded and all the emotions she had pilled up finally let loose.

 "The only time something even remotely exciting happens here is when something wants to invade the planet, or you come up with a new recipe for the bakery." She let out a frustrated laugh, angrily pushing her wild damp hair out of her face.  

"I have always put this family first, even at times when I really, really did not want to. I'm tired, granny... I just want to see the world. There is so much out there. And I think you of all people should understand what it's like to meet an impossible man who has shown you amazing things and run away with him." The last sentence she said a bit more quietly, standing right in from of Marie. Elizabeth stared deeply at the older woman's face and saw tears slowly filling up her eyes. 

"I can't lose you too." Marie choked out, cupping her grandaughter's face. 

"You won't" Elizabeth put her hands over Marie's. She smiled an encouraging smile, happy to finally have gotten through her. 

"You have to promise." Marie still held onto Elizabeth, but her eyes were turned to the Doctor who was standing behind the blonde. "You have to promise with your life, Doctor, that you'll bring her back to be. I don't care what happens to you or anyone else, all I need is for her to be safe." 

The man walked closer to the two women, a sadness of his own hidden in his features. He knew that he shouldn't promise things like this, remembering all the past companions who had suffered. But he was selfish and couldn't let Elizabeth Barnes go so easily. 

"I promise."

All the sadness Elizabeth had felt had disappeared and was replaced by excitement. The same amount if not maybe even more than what she felt when the Time Lord first asked her to travel with him. 

"Oh, thank you, thank you!" She squeezed her grandmother with a hug and Marie held her just as tightly. Letting go of the embrace Elizabeth quickly turned to the Doctor and Rose.

"I'll quickly go grab a few things from my room and meet you guys in the Tardis, alright?"

"Alright, no rush Lizzie." Rose replied and dragged the Doctor back to the Tardis outside. David,  who had sat quietly on the couch the entire time, got up and passed Elizabeth her discarded backpack. "Don't forget this."

"Oh my God, almost forgot! I got you guys some things as well." Elizabeth pulled out the stack of photos and two snowglobes she had gotten at one of the space markets. "The Doctor doesn't allow me to post on Instagram so this will have to do." The blonde chuckled and handed the gifts to them. She then excused herself and quickly made her way up to her bedroom. 

★★★★

The moment she stepped into the room, a weird feeling set into her gut. Her small room was still exactly the same as she left it, even her bed was still unmade and her work clothes were on her desk chair where she had thrown them. A pang of sadness entered her heart as she realized that Marie had done the same thing when her parents passed. She hadn't dared enter their room for a year before eventually, David's mom came over to help clear things out. 

Elizabeth took a deep breath and continued further towards her closet to pick up some of her clothes. She had mostly burrowed clothes either from Rose or the Tardi's wardrobe and missed the feeling of her own clothes on her body. Halfway through packing she heard a pair of footsteps shuffle into her room. She turned her head to see David standing in the doorway with the saddest look in his big brown eyes. 

"Oh, Dave don't be sad." Elizabeth pouted at him "Just think of this like I'm going on vacation or travelling the world. Like we've always dreamed we would, remember?" She tried to cheer him up while packing up the last of her things.

"I'll miss you...Please don't leave." He took a couple of steps forward, the only thing blocking him from standing right in front of Elizabeth was her small yellow suitcase. The blonde sighed,  closing her suitcase with a bit more force than she intended.

"David I'm not having this conversation again." She pushed passed him with the suitcase and put it by the door. She turned to face him again with her hands on her hips. "And I don't want to leave on bad terms so, please, could you understand and let me go?" 

He ran his hand over his face in frustration and groaned "No, Elizabeth, you don't understand! I can't, I lo-"

"David please!" The blonde interrupted, raising her voice once again "I can't keep having this conversation-" but her sentence got quickly cut short by the feeling of David's lips on hers. She just stood there frozen with her eyes wide open, feeling him cup her cheeks with his large hands. Elizabeth didn't know why she didn't pull away sooner as the kiss lasted more than 10 seconds and made her extremely uncomfortable. The moment David pulled away, his desperate eyes searched hers for an answer to his question. But all he found was shock and confusion. 

"Oh..." Elizabeth took a step back from him and visibly saw his heart break. "Oh, no David. I don't- you're my best friend I can't...I'm sorry." The blonde swiftly grabbed her suitcase and ran down the stairs, not sparing a second glance at the man whose heart she had just crushed.

★★author's note ★★

sorry for the short chapter but at least its better than nothing lol

David didn't learn what consent is >:(