Falling Slowly

Summary: AU. Clara Oswald hesitantly signs up for online dating and is immediately infatuated with a man who calls himself 'the Doctor'. Whouffaldi.

-x-

"A dating profile? Are you serious?" Clara Oswald said in a high pitched, surprised voice. Her best friend on the other end of the phone, Jack Harkness, just chuckled back. "Come on, Jack. I may need to get out more but I'm not desperate. Do you know how many creeps are on those kinds of sites? Eurgh, no thanks." Jack sighed hard down the phone.

"Clara, you know that's how I met Ianto and he didn't turn out to be a 'creep', as you so delicately put it," he said. Clara moved about her kitchen, pouring herself a glass of wine. "Listen, you and Danny finished a long time ago and he was a jerk. You really just need to get out and have some fun, a few dates doesn't have to turn into a full commitment, babe. You throw yourself into work and sit at home in front of that TV. Ianto and I are worried about you. You haven't come out with us in so long." Now it was Clara's turn to sigh. She picked up her wine, kicking off her heels and sinking down onto her couch before taking a sip.

"I am sorry, Jack. I do miss you both," she said. She thought for a second. "Okay, I'll set up the damn profile and see if there are any suitors worthy of the lonely girl in her tower." She could almost hear Jack smiling from the other end of the phone. "This wouldn't need to happen if you batted for the other team, you know?" She giggled at his hearty laugh.

"I'd have you snapped up in a heartbeat, babe," he said. "Listen, gotta go. Ianto's sister and the kids are coming for dinner. Catch up and take-out later in the week, yeah?"

"Definitely. Love you both," she said.

"You too, babe. Happy man-hunting," he giggled.

"The things I do for you," she giggled back before saying goodbye and hanging up, throwing her phone down on the couch next to her and taking a gulp of her wine. Online dating? She had never done online dating before. Danny Pink had been her boyfriend for ten months and she had loved him in a way but he began to talk about marriage and children way too soon and Clara didn't want all that so soon. He became distant, insisting that Clara had someone else, which was why she didn't want to talk about the future. Clara had tried to reason, tell him that she wanted to travel the world someday before she settled down, but Danny didn't want her to go anywhere. He wanted her to stay with him, like some sort of trophy on his arm. She was having none of it. She knocked back more wine; just thinking about Danny annoyed the hell out of her. Maybe Jack was right. Maybe she just needed some fun to take her mind off of everything. Clara put her wine down on the table and went in search of her laptop, opening it and sitting it on her knee. Bringing up her browser, she searched for a dating site, clicking on one she had seen adverts for on the TV before stopping herself, the mouse hovering over the sign-up button. What if she attracted creeps? What if Jack was wrong? What if it was too soon to be on the dating front again? She sighed hard and closed her eyes, her finger clicking down on the button. Hey, it's now or never, she thought and began to put her information into the site.

Two days later, Clara entered her flat after a hellish day at work and threw herself down on the sofa. She groaned into the pillow, kicking her shoes off and letting go of her bag when a sudden ping caught her attention. Her head snapped up, not realised she had left her laptop on. She sat up and pulled the device onto her lap. She opened up the browser again to her profile. Her eyes widened in shock. There were twenty three messages in her inbox, all from guys (one from a girl) on the site. She was surprised but her heart was beating a million miles a minute. Quickly putting the laptop down again, she rushed to her bedroom to change out of her clothes and into some comfortable pyjamas and made herself a cup of tea before she sat down with the laptop again, feet up underneath her to get comfortable. She took a deep breath and began to read through her messages. As always there was always a few who would end up making her very uncomfortable ('hey, you're a beauty. Bet you'd be even more beautiful underneath me!') and the ones who were downright disgusting ('I'd love to see you sucking my cock before I come all over your face'). There were a couple who were just shy and complimented her appearance but were too young. A few were also far too old and it just made her want to gag at some of their comments. That was until she came across one message from an older gentleman, yet not old enough to be her great grandfather like some of the others. What was striking about this man were his eyes and how she felt they were staring into her soul, yet she found herself entranced by them. Clicking on his photo, she brought up his profile. His name was John Smith (not that that was hard to remember) but most of his friends just called him 'the Doctor.' Rightly so as his job listed that he was a surgeon at the local hospital; he had been married but was now, sadly, a widower. He had a son who had gone on to the army and was travelling the world. His profile stated he was shy as he hadn't dated since his wife passed but was willing to try his best and the icing on the cake, apparently he lived nearby, yet she had never seen him around. She felt her eyes drawn to his photo, looking over his silvery hair and to the most amazing eyebrows she had ever seen. He had a slight crease to his brow yet he was smiling gently in the photo. She bit her lip before clicking back to his message that said.

TheDoctor: "You are very beautiful.'

She felt herself blushing at this simple message. He already knew how to make her blush yet they had never met before. Suddenly her laptop pinged again and she saw another message pop up from this man, the Doctor.

TheDoctor: I apologise. That was very forward of me. I don't usually just come out with things like that.

She decided it was time to talk.

ClaraO: No need for apologies. That was very sweet of you. You are very handsome yourself. I had a look at your profile. I am as new to this as you are.

ClaraO: Let's start here. I'm Clara. Pleased to meet you.

TheDoctor: Hello Clara, I'm John, but my friends call me the Doctor.

That simple conversation started off a string of messages between them, sitting well into the night chatting about their hobbies and interests, about him being a surgeon and her being a teacher. He seemed genuinely interested in everything she said and subtly flirted every now and then, which she gave as good as she got. He seemed an interesting man and she was happy to talk to him but the reality of everything was getting in the way.

ClaraO: I have really enjoyed talking to you. But real life pulls me back in. I have to be up early in the morning for work.

TheDoctor: Shame. But I suppose work calls me also. Can I talk to you again this weekend? I have also enjoyed speaking with you.

ClaraO: Yes. Definitely. I am free Sunday if that's good for you.

TheDoctor: Sunday works. Until then, Clara.

ClaraO: Until then, Doctor.

-x-

Saturday night found Clara at Jack and Ianto's, take-away and wine in hand. Jack welcomed her with something akin to a snog when she walked in the door, declaring how much he'd missed her lovely little, round face. Clara rolled her eyes and laughed when Ianto scolded Jack for trying to suffocate their guest before she'd even stepped over the threshold. Jack laughed before taking Clara's bag and the food, letting her slip off her jacket and heels before she followed him to the kitchen.

"So, how's my girl?" he asked, as she greeted Ianto with a kiss to his lovely face.

"I'm good, thanks. I, erm, I did what you suggested?" she said and at Jack's look of confusion, she continued. "The dating site." Her friend's eye widened and he looked so giddy.

"Well, anybody exciting yet?" he asked, taking plates from Ianto when he handed them across.

"I tell you if one more guy asks me if I want to sit on his dick without even so much as a hello, I am gonna throw up," she said, making Jack and Ianto both burst out laughing. She smiled gently at them. "But in all seriousness, there is one guy who has been chatting to me and he's very sweet. He's a bit older than me and is a widower. He's at least between forty five and fifty. But there's just something about him. I just love talking to him. We sat up most of Thursday night just sending messages." Jack smiled back as he popped the wine bottle and poured three glasses.

"Listen sweetheart, age doesn't have to matter," he said. "If you like him, ask him out."

"I don't think I know him well enough yet," she said. "I said I would talk to him tomorrow night when I was free." Clara took a sip of her wine. "Oh, and he lives not far from me, according to the location on his profile, yet I haven't seen him about." Ianto looked up from where he was pouring fried rice onto each of their plates.

"Can you get his profile on your phone and let us see a picture of him? You're gonna need our approval," he said with a smirk and Jack nodded enthusiastically. Clara could only giggle and she pulled her phone out of her bag and set about looking for his profile. She quickly looked up at their eager faces as she clicked on her messages and pressed the Doctor's profile. She bit her lip gently before turning her phone round to them. Both men moved closer to have a look, Clara not able to tell what they were thinking from their expressions.

"Well?" she asked.

"He's pretty hot for an older guy," Jack said and turned to Ianto, who nodded in agreement.

"Oh yeah. I'd say get in there," he said. Clara blushed gently.

"If our chat goes well tomorrow night, I'll ask him to go for coffee, especially if he lives so close," she said. "Start off slow. God, I'm nervous to talk to him now." Jack cupped her cheek gently.

"Don't be. There must be a bit of mutual attraction there if he's still speaking to you," he said. Clara smiled.

"His first message to me was 'you are very beautiful'," she said, feeling her cheeks burning up.

"Honey," Ianto said. "He's got it bad."

Clara spent the rest of the evening with her two best friends, eating and laughing and drinking wine, catching up on all they had missed, yet Clara's mind was on the Doctor. She really wanted to message him there and then but didn't want to seem desperate. The night went on and Clara finally declared she was off home, Jack and Ianto both grabbing their shoes too to walk her home. The three friends walked with their arms linked, laughing and joking until they were just round the corner from Clara's flat. She kissed both of them and assured them she'd get home fine from there. They said their goodbyes and Jack and Ianto walked away hand in hand. Clara adjusted her handbag on her shoulder, pulling her phone out of her pocket, her intent to message the Doctor, and turned the corner to go home when she collided hard with another person, a tall person at that, who dropped what they were carrying on the ground, her phone falling from her hand too.

"Oh god, I'm so sorry," Clara said, both of them kneeling down quickly to retrieve the folders lying on the ground.

"No, I wasn't looking where I was going, forgive me," came a male voice with a very broad Scottish accent. Clara looked up at him and she froze instantly. His eyes met hers, very familiar eyes, in fact, the exact ocean blue eyes in his profile photo on the dating site. They both stared at each other from where they knelt on the ground. "Clara?"

"Doctor ..." she said. He was so much more handsome in person and she could have just swum in those ocean blue eyes. They'd only spoken online once but they knew each other enough to be embarrassed at bumping into each other as they did. "I didn't ... I mean, I'm really sorry about walking into you. I didn't see you." She gathered the folders nearest her and piled them up and handed them to him. He was still staring at her like he'd seen a ghost but he took the folders from her before passing her the phone he'd picked up from the pavement. She took it with a smile.

"Thank you, and, like I said, I wasn't looking where I was walking," he said. His accent was something else with a deep voice to go along with it. "Did I hurt you?" Clara shook her head.

"I'm fine, you just startled me," she said, fixing her handbag strap on her shoulder. "You're out late tonight." She inwardly rolled her eyes. What a conversation starter, Clara!

"Yes, I had a late shift at the hospital tonight," he said. "What about you? A young woman such as yourself shouldn't be alone at the time of night."

"Oh, I was actually just on my way home," she said. She smiled gently. "I just live in those flats round the corner." The Doctor turned and looked behind him before turning back to Clara and holding out his arm. Clara looked at it then at him for a moment before her smile got a little wider and her cheeks felt warm as she slid her own arm through his and they turned and walked in the direction of Clara's flat. "You didn't have to do this, you know."

"Nonsense, it's no trouble," he said. Their silence was strangely companionable for two people who barely knew each other. She expected awkwardness but they walked together until they halted outside Clara's flat.

"This is me," she said, removing her arm from his. "Thank you for escorting me. That was very kind you." He smiled gently.

"You're welcome," he said. "I, erm, better be heading home ..." He gripped the folders in his arm tighter. "Goodnight Clara." He turned and began walking away. Clara didn't want him to go and couldn't stop herself.

"Dinner!" she shouted and the Doctor stopped in his tracks and turned to face her.

"I'm sorry?"

"I mean ... sorry, I didn't mean to shout but, um, we could have dinner sometime, I mean only if you'd like," she said a bit shakily, as if trying to find the right words. She felt her cheeks go red once more, the air feeling a lot warmer than it did a moment ago. He stared at her with those piercing eyes of his, making Clara almost regret saying anything before he spoke up.

"I'd like that," he said and Clara couldn't help but smile broadly. She ran back down the path towards him, fishing through her bag for a pen and paper, writing her phone number down on the back of a faded receipt before placing it in his hand. He pulled a little bit of spare paper from his folder and borrowed her pen, doing the same and handing her his number. They stared at each other for a moment before the Doctor smiled once more.

"I'll call you," he said. "Goodnight once again, Clara."

"Goodnight, Doctor." She stood and watched him walk away and saw him look back to give her one last glance before he disappeared round the corner. Oh God, she has a date with the Doctor. She, Clara Oswald, had a date with the Doctor. She quickly entered the main door of the flats and made a beeline for her own flat, unlocking the door quickly and slamming it closed behind her. She pulled her phone out and found Jack's number, pressing call and willing the man to pick up.

"Clara, you okay?" his voice sounded worried for a moment. She smiled and leaned back against the door, sliding down it to sit on the floor with the biggest smile on her face.

"Jack, you'll never guess what just happened to me ..."

First Whouffaldi and I hope you guys like it so far!