A/N: I write these as they come tome but in case that you have prompts, I would be more than happy to oblige.
Summary: During an adventure Clara finds herself in a sticky situation which prompts confusion on the Doctor's part and some bad memories on hers.

Pudding Brains

Clara found herself pinned against the wall by a pair of strong hands. Just as the dirty man crashed his mouth against hers, she heard the much appreciated sound of the TARDIS.

"Am I interrupting something?" came the Scottish drawl confounding the villager.

"Not at all," Clara said seizing the opportunity which the Doctor's distraction offered and gave the guy a good knee in the knackers. "I was just leaving."

A few hours and a rescued village later, Clara found herself sitting in the Doctor's chair in the TARDIS console room sipping at her cuppa and flipping through the pages of her favourite edition of Pride and Prejudice. She was trying to read but it was quite a hard feat to accomplish when one old grumpy Scottish Time Lord was giving you the thousand year stare from the other side of the room.

She cleared her throat: "Is there something wrong, Doctor?"

"You tell me."

"Me? I'm alright, Doctor," she laughed.

The Time Lord raised his eyebrows.

"What is it, Doctor?" Clara finally asked trying to fight the frustration in her voice, not understanding where this was coming from.

"It's just," he tried to start. "I don't understand how you can be so nonchalant about it."

"About what?"

"About that thing before, with the villager."

"Oh, that," Clara laughed. "Well, I suppose that after a while you just get used to it."

"Wait," the Doctor furrowed his brow: "does this mean that this has happened to you before?"

She lowered her eyes: "I suppose. He certainly wasn't the first guy who wanted to kiss me without permission."

The Time Lord's eyes narrowed: "Why would they want to do that?"

Clara huffed in frustration. This certainly wasn't a good time for him to start the jabs about her appearance and age: "Because while you might be quite oblivious to the fact, I am very good looking. And before you say anything, shut up, I am and I know it."

The Doctor shook his head vigorously: "That's not what I meant. I know very well why someone might want to kiss you, Clara."

She tried to not ponder the implications of that statement and instead settled on asking a question: "What did you mean then?"

His eyes locked with hers, his face the picture of perfect innocence as he whispered: "Why would they want to hurt you?"

Clara let out a dark laugh: "I suppose they're just jerks. Pudding brains and all that."

"That's not a very good excuse," the Doctor protested.

"No, it's not," she acknowledged. "I genuinely don't know why. Is it not a thing amongst your people?"

"Time Lords aren't generally all that sold on physical contact, Clara."

"So that's where the no hugging comes from, eh?" she smiled.

"Don't try to change the subject, Clara," the Doctor wouldn't let the conversation slide that easily. "Has this happened before with me?"

"Well, there was that time with Robin," she started quickly prompting a dark look in the Doctor's eyes before he could say "I'll kill him" she continued: "not Robin, Doctor. The Sheriff. And nothing happened really. I stopped him before he could do anything. I'm a big girl, Doctor and I can take care of myself."

The Doctor shook his head: "I never suggested you couldn't." She hadn't noticed but he had walked over from the other side of the room during their conversation and was now kneeling besides the chair with his hands on her knees.

"There's something more," he offered.

"Isn't there always," she gave him a sad smile.

"Tell me?" It wasn't an order, more of an ask to let him in.

She averted his stare as her eyes took upon a glassy expression recalling locked away memories: "I was sixteen, went over to a party at a friend's house. Had a bit too much to drink, wasn't used to booze much. I got sick and there was this guy, Kevin, he offered to walk me ..." Clara's breath hitched.

"Except he didn't walk you home," the Doctor interrupted.

"No," she shook her head: "He took me to this really dark alley and the next thing I knew he had his tongue down my throat. And then he passed out before...,"

"Before anything else could happen," the Doctor finished for her.

"Yeah, turns out he was even more drunk than me," she nodded.

The Doctor was now back to fumbling with the buttons but she could see that he was just trying to distract himself as he was visibly shaking in anger.

"What was his last name?" he growled at last.

"Doctor, no," she said strictly."I don't need you to fight my battles for me. That's not why I told you. Besides last I heard the guy was safely behind bars."

"Not the only one then?"

"No," Clara shook her head."The others weren't as lucky as me though."

"Wouldn't call that lucky, Clara," the Doctor let out a hollow laugh. "Why did you tell me then?"

She raised her eyebrows as in to ask "Don't you already know?". He searched the big puppy eyes of hers before eventually saying: "You never told anyone before."

Clara closed her eyes.

"And you're harbouring feelings of guilt because of the ones who came after you."

She didn't need to speak up in order for his suspicions to be confirmed.

"I wasn't strong enough," she whispered.

The Time Lord shook his head: "Clara, you can't always be strong. You were scared," he tried to reason.

She looked up at him: "I'm not scared anymore."

"Meaning?"

"Want to return to that village and find out what that guy was getting up to?"

"And put him away," the Doctor suggested.

"If need be," Clara confirmed with resolve.