The Oldest Cliché in the Book

Taylor was already frowning when she entered the house. At first, she was still protesting actually buying anything for Matthew Smith, her worst enemy. Then as time trickled on, she realized she didn’t even know what to buy him.

“It’s about time you showed up.” Her mother smirked as she came down the stairs in a long black dress. Her hair and makeup was already done. “Did you forget about dinner?” It was custom that on actual Christmas day, the two families would go out for dinner and then exchange presents afterward.

Taylor glanced at her watch. “Time slipped away.” She shrugged and then bit her bottom lip. She was hoping her lateness would get her out of having to go to the dinner all together.

Her mother’s smirk softened into a loving smile. “Go shower and change, but please wear something nice. You know? Dress and heels.” She squeezed Taylor’s shoulder.

“Yeah, yeah.” She mumbled and started stomping up the stairs.

“I mean it, Tay. Dress and heels.” Her mother warned. “And make sure you bring Matt’s present to dinner. He has to leave directly afterward so he won’t be able to come back here with us.”

“Of course, mother.” Taylor shouted over her shoulder sweetly as she glared at the neatly wrapped box in her hand.

“And please try to hurry, Tay!” Taylor rolled her eyes as she closed the door to her old room and tossed the box onto her bed. Her plans were the exact opposite. She took an extra long shower, applied lotion, did her hair in soft curls, put a bit of makeup on, and then eventually she put her dress on. She added some jewelry and the slipped her shoes on, grabbing her jacket and the box before she left.

Taylor found it odd that her mother hadn’t nagged her about rushing since she went to her room. That is, until she found a small note left on the kitchen counter. It was in her mother’s handwriting and simply said to meet them at the restaurant.

She bit her bottom lip and contemplated how much trouble she would be in if she didn’t show. Her mother would be livid. Her father would be disappointed. Joan and Timothy would be upset. She growled before she grabbed the keys and went out to the car. As awful as Matt would be, Joan and Timothy were too kind to stand up.

Taylor wondered, briefly, how her parents had managed to get to the restaurant if they’d left her the car. But the thought drifted quickly as she sang along with the radio. She glanced around the parking lot for the Smith’s car, but she didn’t see it. She shrugged that off and went inside anyway.

“I’m looking for a table under either Varnes or Smith.” She told the hostess and waited patiently to be led to the table. However, once she was a few feet away from the table she stopped dead in her tracks. “Fuck no.”

“Good to see you too, Tay.” Matthew responded without even looking up from his menu. He was dressed up, just as Taylor was, with his hair smoothed back.

Taylor glanced around. “Where are mum and dad?” Matthew snorted.

“They’re not here. Couldn’t you tell?” He smirked as he lifted his eyes. He looked her over and his smirk fell. He smiled softly and stood up, gesturing to the seat beside him. “You look beautiful.” He mumbled as she frigidly came to take the seat he pulled out for her.

She eyed him with suspicion as she sat down. “So, you don’t know where our parents?”

“Not exactly, no.” He sat down in his chair and fiddled with his menu again. “I have assumed that you received a note similar to mine, stating that this is where we’re supposed to be having dinner, and that our lovely parents are trying to,” he paused and glanced at her, “well, to set us up.”

Taylor’s cheeks turned red as she gritted her teeth. “To hell with that. I’m going home.” She stood up abruptly, smashing the gift box she had been carrying down on the table.

“Tay,” he called and lightly grabbed her wrist. “Dinner’s already paid for. We’re both here. Why not stay?” She stared at him in shock, darting her eyes between his and his hand still on her skin. He sighed and slowly pulled his hand away, retracting it to scratch the back of his neck. “I mean, not that I want to spend more time with you or anything. But, it is sort of free food. Free good food.” He chuckled nervously.

Taylor normally would have scoffed and turned without a second thought, but she couldn’t. Maybe because it was Christmas or because something just felt different. Taylor couldn’t say what made her slowly nod her head and sit back down in her chair. She was slightly lightheaded as she picked up the menu and started to look it over. “I never can say no to free food.” She muttered and Matthew grinned as he too sat down beside her.

“I can’t say no to food period.”

Against her better judgment, Taylor cracked up. Her head tilted back as she laughed and then covered her mouth with her hands as she shook her head. Matthew just kept grinning at her, watching every little movement. “I highly doubt that. You’re kind of bone thin.”

Matthew rolled his eyes. “At least I’m not freakishly thin.” He bit his bottom lip immediately after the words came out. They weren’t necessarily mean, but his tone was too used to being meant to hurt to be simply teasing.

Taylor snorted in return as she slipped her jacket off. “This coming from the freakishly tall man.” She smirked as she tried focusing on the menu in front of her.



Dinner continued surprisingly well. Voices weren’t raised and comments weren’t made to wound the other. Instead, they laughed. They talked about stupid and small things. It was as if the past twenty years of their lives hadn’t been spent hating each other. After they had finished eating, Taylor slid the red gift wrapped box toward his side of the table.

“What is this?” Matthew looked at it puzzled and poked it with a finger.

“It’s yours.” Taylor shrugged and took a sip of her drink as he looked at her with even more bewilderment. “It’s your present, you know, for Christmas.”

“Since when do you buy presents?” He picked the box up and noticed how light it felt, almost as if there was nothing inside.

Taylor got a really guilty look on as she avoided his eyes for the first time of the night. “Well, technically I just never buy you a present.”

He nodded. “I should have figured that one.” He sighed and ran his thumbs over the top of the box. “So what brought along the change this year?” He was a little too curiously to let it slide like normal.

“Oh,” she pouted for a moment and then blurted the truth. “My mother made me.”

He laughed. “That doesn’t really surprise me. Your mother is quite terrifying.” She laughed and agreed with him, thankful that he wasn’t offended. She watched, a little nervous, as he opened the box and pulled the bowtie out. “A bowtie?”

“It’s for your new role, as the Doctor, right?” Taylor explained anxiously and waited. “I mean, the Doctor before you was known for wearing suits and ties so I figured maybe bowties could be your thing.” She shrugged and then bit her bottom lip.

It was quite for a moment as he stared at the maroon bowtie in his hands. Then he looked up at her and smiled. “Tay … are you a secret Whovian?” He raised his eyebrows and her cheeks turned a light pink. “Wow. I would have never have guessed.”

“But it’s such a good show.” She gushed and then giggled with a little embarrassment. “You have big shoes to fill, by the way.”

“Oh, I know.” He ran a hand through his hair and frowned. “There is so much pressure. It’s a role put up on a pedal stool.”

“David Tennant was an amazing Doctor. The best, in my opinion.” She noticed how pale he got from her words so she sighed and reached over to lightly place her hand on top of his. He looked up at her questionably and a little worried. “Tennant was a good Doctor, but you have the makings to be a great Doctor too. You just have to show everyone how awesome you are.”

He smiled and squeezed her hand in one of his as he placed the bowtie back in the box. “Thanks Tay.”

“You’re welcome.” She smiled back, blushing slightly at his touch. “Just make sure you don’t screw up.” She winked and they laughed.

“I’ll try.” He let go of her hand and then started smirking. He slowly pulled from his breast pocket a small box and set it on the table between them. She looked at the box and then at him with a slight smile.

“Is that mine?”

“Yeah.” He nodded and chuckled as she giddily picked it up. “Before you open it though,” he hurriedly spoke and she huffed impatiently as she held the box in her hands. “I want you to know it’s nothing big.”

She rolled her eyes and then, with his permission in the form of a nod, took the lid off the box. Inside was a simple silver chain with a small diamond studded capital ‘T’. It was just her first initial on a pretty necklace. Taylor’s mouth fell open as she stared at it.

“I remember when we were fourteen and our parents were still forcing us to have family dinners every Sunday evening, you went on and on about how you wanted to wear a letter around your neck. I think at the time it was an A for that twat you were dating at the time, but I thought a T would be better.” He grinned as she finally managed to bring her eyes from the necklace to him. “You are the strongest, most brilliant, most kind woman I know Tay.”

She bit her bottom lip as she glanced at the necklace again. It was a silly dream when she was younger, but she couldn’t help but get choked up about it. “Will you … will you put it on me?” She extended the box to him, her hands still slightly trembling.

“Course.” He took the piece of jewelry from the box carefully and then leaned over. She turned to the side so that her back was facing him as she held her lose curls up off her neck. After he did the clasp and she turned back around, he beamed at her. “Perfect.”

Taylor touched the small T on her chest with her fingertips and bit her bottom lip. “Thank you, Matt. I really love it.”

“Knew you would.” He shrugged as a silence fell over the two. They stared at the table mostly, only stealing glances at one another when they though the other wasn’t looking. It wasn’t until the soft music playing in the background changed that one finally spoke.

Taylor sighed with a smile on her lips. “I absolutely love this song. I can’t believe they’re playing it.” She closed her eyes for a moment and Matthew looked over toward where the music was coming from. “It’s called Dream A Little Dream. They actually made an American movie and named it after this.”

He turned back to her and cleared his throat, making her open her eyes and look at him. “There are a few people dancing over there.” He nodded his head toward where the band played and a few couples swayed. Taylor blushed. “Would you care to dance?”

She giggled and shook her head. He stood up and held his hand out to her, not taking no for an answer. “Matt! Sit down! You’re going to make us both look like fools.” She scolded in a shout-whisper, her cheeks getting even warmer.

“Taylor Marie Varnes, would you please take me hand and come dance with me?”

She could practically hear her heartbeat in her ears as she slipped her hand into his. She wasn’t sure what had possessed her, but she stood up with him either way. “You’re complete bonkers.” She whispered in his ear as he led her over to where very few people were dancing.

“It’s all a part of my charm.” He assured her with another smirk and wink as he wrapped an arm around her waist, settling his hand on her back. She giggled into his shoulder as she clung to his arm. She was embarrassed, but loving it at the same time.

“I didn’t know you were such a good dancer.” She smiled up at him while he chuckled.

“There’s a many things you learn backstage and in between scenes.” He brought his face closer to hers, his lips so dangerously close to her ear that a tingle went through her body. “You’d never guess that I have also perfected a scream that is similar to a high pitched cat’s meow.”

Her head popped up quickly with her eyes wide. “Don’t you dare.” He laughed and shook his head. “I swear, Matt. You better not.”

“Calm down, Tay. Your face is starting to look like a tomato.” He smirked some more as she buried her head in his chest. He subconsciously pulled her body closer to his, tightening his arm around her.

“I really hate you, Matt Smith.” Her voice came out muffled and half-hearted. She couldn’t really dislike him at a time like this.

“I’ve gotten used to it over the years.” He mumbled with a sad tone attached to his voice as he rested his cheek on top of her head. They swayed in silence for the rest of the song, contemplating the strange contentment that came from being so close together. After the song ended, they parted and clapped along with everyone else, strongly avoiding each other’s eyes.

Taylor sighed as the other couples started going back to their seats. “I suppose we should go now.”

“Yeah.” Matthew cleared his throat. “Grab your coat and I’ll walk you to your car.” She nodded stiffly.



"I'm really confused Matt." Taylor was leaning against her parents car in her driveway. Matthew was standing beside her, both facing toward his parents' house.

"Confused about what?" He glanced at her as he stuffed his hands in the pockets of his coat. She bit her bottom lip as she crossed her arms.

"It was a lot of fun tonight." She mumbled and sighed as she brought her eyes to his.

"And that's confusing?" He questioned, trying to follow her train of thought. She smiled slightly.

"Well, yeah. I mean, we didn't fight. The whole evening went by without a single mean word." She had thought the evening over on the short car ride to the houses and had observed the oddest thing. "That's not us."

"I guess you are right." He nodded and exhaled from his mouth, watching the steam carefully. "But I think it was nice." He glanced at her again, nervously.

"I do too." She blurted and her cheeks turned rosy. "It was just ... it was weird, wasn't it?"

He chuckled. "Yeah. It was weird not seeing you glare at me like you hate my guts."

"You know," she ran her heel against the cement and hesitated. "I don't actually hate your guts."

He stepped away from her and the car in shock. "What?"

She shrugged and looked at him through her eyelashes. "I don't hate you. I never have. Just like I've never understood why you hate me." She emphasized the word with all the hurt she'd kept in her chest for years.

"What are you bloody talking about?" He ran a hand through his hair as he stared at her bewildered. She rolled her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest.

“Don’t act stupid now, Matt. We’ve been fighting since the very first day we met.”

“Yeah!” He interrupted her loudly and pointed his finger toward her. “Because you called me a troll!”

“What?” Her hands fell to her sides as her eyebrows rose.

“Do you have selective memory or something? You bloody called me a troll at seven years old! I figured you didn’t like me.” She stepped away from the car as well, facing him as his hands went through his hair again.

She watched him attentively before speaking slowly. “So we’ve been fighting all these years over a misunderstanding?”

“I think you were pretty clear about how gross and troll like I was.”

She smiled a bit. “Well, you do look like a troll.”

“Right, thanks for that Tay. Thank you for ruining the entire night. You’re such a lovely arse.” Matthew remarked the words with the thickest sarcasm he could muster before turning his attention to his parent’s house. “I’m just going to go inside now.”

Taylor reached for his hand before he’d even moved his feet. “Don’t go leaving just yet.” Her smile widened as she brought her other hand up to his face, lightly tracing his cheekbone with her fingertips. “You’re eyes are a bit more sunken in then most. That’s why you reminded me of a troll when I was younger.”

“Again, thanks Tay.” He sneered and went to pull away. She wasn’t letting go that easy though.

“But you’ve grown into your face, Matt. You’ve become a gorgeous man with some of the kindest blue eyes I’ve ever seen.” She dropped her hand from his face as he stared down at her, more puzzled than before. “And you’re a brilliant man. So much talent and heart. I’ve admired you, Matthew Robert Smith. I’ve never hated you.”

He was stunned with silence for a while as she just continued to look at him with an adoring smile. “I suppose that’s twenty years of our lives a bit wasted.” He chuckled dryly as he raised her hand in his to his lips, ever so softly kissing it. “I could never even dream of hating you, Tay. I always just wished you’d stop hating me. You’re strong and beautiful and completely insane.”

Taylor giggled and squeezed his hand. "I think we just became the biggest cliché in the book then. You know, the two worst enemies that …. never hated each other in the first place.” She hesitated as her cheeks warmed and she dropped her eyes to the floor.

“I do believe that cliché goes the two worst enemies that fell in love.” He grinned as he raised her chin, leaning in closer.

“So now we’re that cliché?” She whispered just before his lips faintly brushed against hers. Her legs nearly gave out on her. She rested her free hand on his chest and stood up a little bit more to press her lips firmly against his.

He grinned even wider as he wrapped an arm around her and pulled her close. They parted, both with a light headed feel and slight pants for air. He rested his forehead against hers and locked his eyes on hers. “Is it really such a bad thing to be that cliché?”

She beamed. “No.”