Archive of Our Own ^beta

A wise man once said, "i do not know what is scarier, the thought of us not being the only ones in the universe or the thought of us being the only ones in the universe."
All my life i knew it wasnt just us in the universe, it wasnt just something i thought about on a daily basis.
No.
this was something i knew for a fact.
And it was all because of the madman and his phonebox that appeared in my bedroom one night.
It had started out as any normal evening for myself.
At about five o'clock every night, my mother would make us dinner of sorts, and i would sit quietly at the table, most of the time not really saying anything but the standardized answers to the standardized questions she would ask through out the meal just to break the silence it seemed.
"how was school?"
"it was alright."
"how are you feeling?"
"okay."
"did you do your homework?"
"no."
i would always answer honestly to that last question because i knew that she knew i did not do my homework then and it was the fact of that matter that persisted that i really just didn't feel like doing homework half of the time, my mind was always elsewhere, somewhere beyond the vast sea of algebraic problems i could never solve, or what messenger RNA did to the cell or what the purpose was with romeo and juliet. i was more apt to run wild over the lands of Narnia or learn potions and the dark arts at Hogwarts or even have highly intelligent conversations with mister Spock aboard the enterprise star ship.
It wasn't that i didnt want to learn those things, no.
it was the fact that half of the time i was secretly depressed and the monsters would grab me and tear at me until im left in nothing but tears and i reach out to the hobbits of the shire or to the god of thunder or even professor Xavier himself.
i wanted to learn those things, i wanted to knew everything there is to know about everything but the monster wouldnt let me, until Gandalf came and dried my tears or i played tag with Thor that the demons would subside.
they were my outlet.
but that night, my life changed.
after dinner, i cleaned up, took a shower and cried while washing my hair , got out, slipped into my pajamas and then, when everything was still and the darkness had settled in for the night would i then stare at the math work that lay before me and try every formula i could think of to solve the said problem. most nights, i would:
A) write the problem out again, word for word and try every possible way i could to find an answer that even looked like the answer in the answer key.
or
B) i would get so frustrated to the point of tears i would dig my fingernails into the pencil had been using until there were little crescent indents, crumple up the paper, smooth it out twice before picking up my game of thrones book or flip the channel to something that relaxed me.

for some reason, that night i chose A. I really wanted to make an attempt to at least finish one math problem successfully before i threw it at the wall and let the monster named depression seduce me again for the third night in a row.
i'm always one for music so i plugged my headphones in and selected a song by dean martin and continued to act like i had a clue as to what i was doing and scribbled a few numbers on my scrap paper and molded it into some forbidden formula and try my hardest to solve what i just wrote.
thats when it happened.
i thought it was just the noise from the band playing through my headphones at first, but then, when it grew louder than my music and a whitle light flashed across my walls did i realize it wasnt my music anymore.
placing my pencil down and spinning around the best i could in my rolling chair,(there really isnt much spinning to do when your feet cant even reach the floor in certain seats) my heart began to leap at the sight before me.
there was a large, blue police box in my room, whizzing and making noises contently for a few moments before it stopped completely, and silence fell upon the room once more. i didnt know what to do, except take my headphones out of my ears and sit there, stunned.
was my mind playing tricks on me? did i fall asleep while trying to do my homework again? was i actually going insane now? i drew a shaky breath as the door whispered open and a tall, slender figure made its way out cautiously, shaded by the dim light that sat upon my desk. i was stuck to my seat and my breath came out in little gasps, trying to make sense of this.
was this person here to rob me? kill me? and what was that police box doing here?
the figure stepped into the light and wore the biggest, happiest grin ive ever seen someone have, it reminded me of a little kid in a candy store.
i swallowed thickly.
it was a man. a very tall man indeed.
my heart skipped as the man began to talk, looking at me.
"Hello..oh im so sorry, i dont mean to intrude, the TARDIS, she seemed to have malfunctioned on me again..." he spoke with an english accent and looked quite lovely in the red bow tie that was fastened to his collared long sleeve shirt and pulled out a long tool from his jacket pocket, smiling at me before turning to the police box and pressing a button on the little contraption and it shot out a green lazer and it buzzed as it did. he swept it over the large box, humming to himself as he did, flicking his dark hair out of his face.
i sat there, stunned for a moment.
"u-um. excuse me who are you and what're you doing in my room? and what is that in your hand?" i wheezed out, standing up, ashamed for a moment that i had to practically hop down from the chair. i took a step closer.
what was he doing?
he clicked the tool off and giggled at me. placing a large hand on his hip, he replied.
"why im the doctor of course, silly! see, the TARDIS kinda..broke and broke down here...," he looked around, scratching his head. "in your room... and," he slapped his hands together and held the slim tool up to me and i stepped back. his smile faltered.
"this is myy sonic screw driver...i..i promise im not here to hurt you...." his blue eyes seemed to grow downcast as he spoke with the sincerity i had never heard before. i bit my lip, still unsure.
"w-whats it do?" i asked.
"timey wimey stuff!" i wrinkled my nose at his response.
what?
"whats your name by the way?" he asked.
i told him my name and he smiled wider.
"well its nice to meet you. now, do you think you could do me a favour?" he looked up.
"what is it?"
"may i have an apple? all my food seemed to have fallen into the library when i crashed and im very hungry..." he whined.
i was confused. he crashes through my room in some sort of police box and somehow his food fell into the library....
what.
"i um...only if you answer my questions.." i said slowly.
he nodded, jumping up and down.
"of course!"
never did i think giving a man an apple would you find out that they're a time lord from another planet and traveled all over the galaxies and saved the earth on a daily basis.
i sat, finishing my apple quietly while he nibbled away on his, perfect teeth making indents in the fruit as he did, using one hand to manuvoure the sonic screwdriver at the TARDIS which i had learned was his time macheine, fixing little cracks in the paint. i could hear wires buzzing inside the huge box as he looked towards me.
"so...." he started, swallowing a bite.
"wheres your parents? shouldnt i have woken them by now?"
my mouth twitched downward for a moment.
"my dads gone away and my mother is out......i was trying to do homework when you arrived..... are you almost finished, i have a paper due tomorrow morning and id really like it if you-"
"you dont seem to talk much....." the doctor frowned. "why is that?" i sighed through my nose, pushing away the fact he cut me off.
"there really isnt much to say at times..."
"what about your friends, dont you talk to them?"
"i uh..i dont really have any friends.."
the doctors eyes seem to flicker and he looked up at me, placing his apple down, and lifted his torso off the ground, propping himself up with both hands.
"me either.."
"oh......"
"would you..like to be my friend?" the doctor asked. my heart stopped for a moment. never in my life had anyone ever asked me if they wanted to be my friend...usually it was the other way around.
"id like that very much doctor...." i whispered, throwing my apple core away.
"why do you seem so sad?" he tilted his head.
i cleared my throat, and stared out of the window.
i noticed the rain that began to fall.
"i don't know the answer to that one myself on most days....im usually.. stuck in my depression most days so when i am happy its..strange sometimes...." i placed my hand under my chin.
"whats depression like?" doctor whispered, his eyebrows crumpling.
"its like you're drowning but everyone around you is breathing.."
the doctor didnt say anything, and i didnt expect him to. i sat like that for a long time until the doctor stood up and clapped his hands together, smiling.
i tilted my head.
"whatre you so happy about?"
"TARDIS is fixed..and she whispered to me, she gave me advice on how to make you smile!"
"uh.." i pursed my lips together.
now his time machine whispered to him. lovely.
"please... i wanna show you the inside..." he whined looking down at me.
"whats so special about the inside..?" i protested as he grabbed my hand gently and pushed open the TARDIS door and led us inside.
it was like nothing i ever imagined.
it was huge, with two staircases, doors, tile floors, a large column went up the middle, all the way to the top of the ceiling, and lightening rods seemed to be placed around it and little nobs, buttons levers of all sorts were scattered throughout the top of the rounded island that surrounded the column, which buzzed with life now, humming as the doctor spread his hands wide, giggling at the scene before me.
"welcome aboard the TARDIS." he spoke.
"i..wow..i cant believe this is happening..." i looked around amazed at everything.
"would you like to go on an adventure with me?" he asked suddenly, rolling up his sleeves and walking towards the island of buttons and levers.
"t-time travel? w-with you?" i asked, unsure of if that was really what he had said.
he nodded.
"please!! we are friends now remember." he pointed out.
and for one moment, just for a split minute, in all the days i hadn't..
i smiled.
"where to, doctor?"
and he smiled back.
"anywhere you'd like to go. any time, any date, any planet..." he said excitedly.
i grinned even bigger. i had one place in mind i wanted to go, a place i always wanted to see.
math could wait.
i had to travel the galaxy with a madman and his police box.