"So..." I spoke up eventually, after a few moments of silence whilst I watched the older man work away on the control pad. "Where are we going exactly? Or... when are we going?"

"Anywhere - anytime – you like," he shrugged casually, and for a second, I worried that he was just taking me along because I was related to Rose, or maybe he felt sorry for me. "First trip in the TARDIS, any requests?"

I thought for a moment. If he was asking for requests, surely he couldn't just be taking me along for sympathy? Surely he wanted me there as much as I wanted to be there?

Before I had chance to speak up, the TARDIS jolted, throwing me off balance. I stumbled head over heels, and felt myself falling until I felt the Doctor grab hold of my arms, steadying me. Flustered, I let out a nervous laugh, grabbing onto the side of the console, hoping to steady myself.

"You... you should install seatbelts or something..." I attempted to joke, nervous and unsure what else to say, until I noticed my bag had been thrown over, my history folder bursting open with sheets everywhere. "Ah, shit, knew I should have bought my folders at Wilkinsons instead of fucking WHSmiths,"

My sudden outburst of swearing brought out my northern accent, the one I'd lost years ago, and when I looked up, he was looking down at me in shock, a small frown evident on his face as he bent down to help me gather up my sheets.

"No swearing in the TARDIS, that's a rule," he muttered, looking over my sheets. "If you're from London how do you have a northern accent?"

"My mum, well, my parents, lived up North for a while, so I did as well until... well until about seven years ago... and I lost it sort of until I swear, it comes out sometimes, normally leads to everyone impersonating how I say 'no' when it does appear though..." I trailed off, wondering if I'd successfully hedged around the topic of my parents, feeling worry build up inside me, until I saw his serious expression crack a smile,"

"Annoying, isn't it?" he laughed slightly.

"People in London used to look at me like they needed a translator..." I mentioned, smirking slightly. "How come you've got an accent, thought you were from another planet or something?"

"Lots of planets have a north," he pointed out, still looking down at my sheets.

"Yeah but not every planet has a Sheffield or a Manchester or wherever your accent is from... what's so interesting about my essay?"

"You only scored 17/25,"

"Bugger off, that's a B! Oh, sorry, does bugger count as a swear word?" I exclaimed.

"Yeah, but... The Great Exhibition, we could go there, never been, always wanted to! The highlight of Prince Albert's life!"

"As if we could go to the Great Exhibition, that was almost two hundred years ago!" I began, dumbfounded, until our eyes met and I felt my face blush. "Sorry, not used to saying stuff in a time machine... but, as great as that would be, and as much as I love Prince Albert, could we go somewhere else? I've just spent the last three hours writing essays on the Victorians, it'd be a bit like flogging a dead horse if you took me there now,"

The Doctor grinned, handing me a pile of papers which I slipped back into the broken folder, pushing it back into my open backpack. He jumped up, holding has hand out to help me back up. I followed him suit, watching as he ran back round to the console, looking at something on the screen.

"Typical human," he shook his head, a smile of endearment present in his expression. "You spend half your school life learning about big important figures, memorising their dates, being tested on their lives. You spend all that time learning about them but never truly knowing them, don't you want to put a face to the name in the textbook?"

"The name already has a face to it, sorry," I laughed slightly, pulling my textbook back out, flicking through the pages and gesturing to all the portraits featured within the articles. "I know humans, I know my history, even if you think my grades don't show it. I just..."

I knew inside my head what I wanted. I wanted to see the stars. I wanted to stand among the sky which I had so often fled to when I felt lost. I wanted to be among the things which grounded me, kept me sane, gave me a focus. For so long, running out of the house at night to count my blessings and make my wishes had been a part of my life, for so, so long I can barely remember the first time I did it, although I knew it wasn't long after I went into care.

All of this, everything the Doctor was offering me seemed so unreal, so insane, I could barely believe it. Here he was, offering me impossible journeys, amazing trips, adventures to times so far away and places long dead. Why did I deserve any of that? Why was I there? Out of everyone else, what made me special among all other people he could offer opportunities to? Why me, when he could have Rose?

"I want to see the stars," I said, almost as a weak murmur, my eyes fixed to the floor, my thoughts slowly overwhelming my mind. Taking a deep breath, I looked up at him, almost as if I was pleading. "I just want to see the stars up close... is that okay?"

"Simple request," he shrugged. "You sure that's what you want for your first trip?"

"Yes... I think I just need something... something that will prove to me I'm not mad or dreaming any of this..."

My voice trailed off almost weakly. All my previous confidence and excitement had seemed to fade, leaving me with just the doubts of worth and value. In that moment, I truly felt like I didn't belong, like I had no right to be there.

I was so enraptured in my own thoughts I only snapped out of the trance when I felt another jolt, this time fully knocking me to the floor. Landing with a slight groan, rolling onto my side, I stared around at the impossible interior, attempting to get my head round it all, never mind the prospect of being in another world.

"Laura?" he called from the doorway, worry underlying his tone. "You sure you're alright?"

"Yeah," I called back, shooting up onto my feet before he could ask any more questions.

Running over, I met him at the door, where he had his hand on the handle. Upon my arrival, he moved it, gesturing for me to do the honours. Looking at him doubtfully, I took the handle and pushed the door open hesitantly, only to open it into nothing.

It wasn't nothing... it was the stars.

Millions and millions of little silver and gold specs, swimming against the pure midnight blue sky, shooting about, darting across the landscape. In the distance, there was the whirling pink and blue of another galaxy, and nearby there were the specs of green and red and blue, specs of far-off planets and moons; far-off, even now.

It was amazing. It was beautiful. It was real.

"Where are we?" I asked, never tearing my eyes away, not even for a second, and I knew that my face had a look of wonder upon it.

"The stars," he shrugged again, but I could tell even he, the man who had seen stuff like this all the time, found this incredible.

"Wait- can I breathe?" I asked suddenly, snapping back to the harsh reality.

I felt his hand on my shoulder, and when I turned to look at him, his caring smile reassured me once again, all worry fading. Carefully, he opened the door next to me, and as he moved to be at my side, he sat down, his legs dangling in the middle of space outside of the box. I moved to sit next to him, sitting cross-legged, my gaze caught by another shooting star.

My mind fell back to the night before, when I'd laid out on the grass, hoping, praying, practically begging the universe for something more. Now I had something more, my wish was granted, and it was almost as if the star was waving back at me.

It was real. It was happening.

"I know that this is probably all a bit much-"

"It's wonderful... thank you," I spoke gently, looking over at him, offering him a grin.

"Laura Tyler, welcome to all of time and space," he introduced, and I felt his hand slip into mine as a gesture of friendship, of solidarity, of companionship.

"I don't think I thanked you for saving my life, back there, on earth," I admitted, offering him a small apologetic smile. "And I didn't thank you for offering to take me here either,"

"You don't need to thank me," he muttered, practically rolling his eyes. "But you're welcome, and I'm glad for the company,"

The Doctor didn't need to say anything else. I got his message instantly. He was just as lonely as I was. He may have Rose, just as I had Annie and Jess back at school, but in the grand scheme of things, we were both alone. I knew nothing about this man, nothing at all, but one small man in a ginormous box... it didn't appear to me as anything but lonely. We were both on our own. Me without my parents and him... well I didn't even know him, but somehow he was alone too.

"My parents are dead," I spoke up suddenly. I wasn't even sure what compelled me to tell him, though in the moment I felt an overwhelming sense of trust for him, like I could trust him with the tale I told nobody, let alone strangers. 

"They died the day after my tenth birthday, a car crash travelling down south. We used to live up North, hence the accent, but we had no other family there, god, we had no other family but Rose and Aunty Jackie. After they... after they died, I was moved up here, Aunty Jackie's my godmother so I should have really gone to live with her, but I was put in the care system, I wasn't sure why. The first time, getting fostered... well it didn't go too well, the guy... Noel... he was a bit of a dick... so I was rehomed with Jay and Karrie. They're alright, had me since I was fifteen so about two years. They're a bit overprotective, what with my past and when Rose went missing, Jesus that just made things worse, thanks for that, by the way... but they're okay, they'd be having a fit if they could see me now..."

There was a long pause, my confession sitting out amongst us for a long while, until I felt him squeeze my hand supportively. I didn't realise I'd been crying until I felt the tears begin to drip from my face.

"Sorry, I don't even know why I... I shouldn't have told you," I apologised, instantly embarrassed that the sight of raw space had compelled me to let lose my entire history. "I never tell anyone any of that stuff... I just, didn't expect to be spending my Friday night out here,"

"It's alright," he spoke softly, smiling kindly. "It's overwhelming seeing it all for the first time. If you don't want any more then that's absolutely fine, I can take you back home. But just know that I know how it feels. I know how it feels to be alone. I lost all of my family too, I lost everything, everything except for the TARDIS and my own life. And I'm sorry, I'm sorry you had all of that pain, but look at you, you endured, you pulled through onto the other side, you made it! That's the remarkable thing about you humans, your perseverance and your endurance! You're a survivor, Laura, against all odds,"

"I'm sorry for you too," I said gently, looking up at him. "But you survived too. Is that why you want me to come with you? Two loners together?"

He nodded, his once serious face cracking a smirk once more. "Has a nice ring to it, don't you think? Two loners together across the universe!"

I grinned, letting out a small laugh, and immense sense of relief coming off of me. He wanted me there, and I wanted to be there.

And so, we sat out at the doorway into space, hand in hand, looking out at all the possibilities in store.

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Word count: 2145

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