Chapter Twenty-four

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Towards the end of the day, Cherry excuses herself from the living room where they are all sitting in silence watching television, though the Doctor is far more interested in the rot on the ceiling than whatever is on the telly, to have a shower

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Towards the end of the day, Cherry excuses herself from the living room where they are all sitting in silence watching television, though the Doctor is far more interested in the rot on the ceiling than whatever is on the telly, to have a shower. She politely requests to borrow some of Craig's shower gel and shampoo, explaining that she has forgotten to bring some with her. He, of course, tells her it's fine and even fetches her a clean towel, which she thanks him for. She fiddles with the shower for a while, trying to figure out how to adjust the water to the burning hot temperature she likes when she showers. The shower gel in the shower is surprisingly strawberry flavoured, which Cherry is more than happy with, but Craig doesn't strike her as a strawberry-loving man, and she assumes that it must be Sophies. She hopes the blonde lady won't mind her borrowing it and uses a sparse amount to cleanse her body before using the two-in-one shampoo and conditioner, which hurts her soul a little because she knows it won't be any good for her hair. She does stay under the water for a little longer than she needs to because she's still nursing her hurt feelings after the Doctor rejected her again, and she doesn't want to see him again so soon. But eventually, she sucks it up and turns off the running water, stepping out of the tub and into the steamy room where she covers her body with the large towel and then pokes her head out of the door to make sure nobody is in the hallway. When she sees the coast is clear, she shuts the bathroom door behind her so that the steam doesn't escape the room and makes a beeline for her and the Doctor's bedroom, which is unlocked.

She breathes a sigh of relief when she sees that the Doctor is not in there, so he must still be in the living room with Craig, and she decides to quickly change into her new pyjamas, pulling the dark blue set and then cringing when her wet hair starts to soak into the cotton top. She searches the room for any sort of hairbrush, frowning when she doesn't find one, and she resorts to brushing her fingers through her hair to get rid of any big knots and then plaiting the sopping wet locks, so they at least stay out of her face. She'll worry about the state it will be in tomorrow when she wakes up.

The Doctor barges into the room without knocking, smiling when he sees her fully clothed and sitting on the end of the bed with her legs crossed and her fingers tangled in her hair as she reaches the end of the braid.

"Jesus, Doctor!" Cherry jumps, her eyes widening at the sound of the door being thrown open. "I could've been naked."

"It's all right, I don't mind," he replies, dropping onto the bed. He rests his head on the pillows, his arms stretched out on either side of his head, and he crosses one leg over the other. Cherry grimaces when she sees his shoes on the white bedding. She ignores his comment about not caring if he sees her undressed, fighting the blush that creeps up her neck because she knows nothing good will come of entertaining it. "How did I do?"

"Can you get your shoes off the bed? They've been on the ground," Cherry's nose wrinkles at him, but he ignores her, so she sighs and secures the hairband at the bottom of her plait before moving her trembling fingers to untie the laces on his boots. It's quite fiddly, and thanks to her tremor, she drops the laces a few times, but she eventually gets them loose and yanks his boots off his feet. "If you're asking me how you did at acting human, I don't think I can answer."

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