It had been a long, long time since you had left Dottore.

You’d managed to move on very quickly, on the other hand.. he did not. In fact? He took it worse than you had initially expected him to.

His undeniable love for you consumed his life whole, in his mind—he was truly convinced that he was born to fall in love with you. He believed that the universe had brought you together, and that this was his fate. He was completely yours, and there had never been anyone else for him, and there never will be. Always, his heart would be aching for you.

It drove him mad. All the days he’d spend in his lab, calling out your name—but there would be no answer. When he would reach out to wrap his arms around your waist as he slept, only to be greeted by.. nothing.

After you’d left, his mental health started to decline. He wanted your things in his room, he wanted you in his room. He was constantly missing you. He needed so desperately to know that you felt the same way. Your love being more vital to his life than the air he breathed and the water he drank, and the food he ate. And the blood his heart pumped into his body so he could see another day.

He’d slit his own throat just to see if you’d mourn him.

And maybe he hadn’t exactly gone about your reunion in a way that would be.. pleasant, at least—not for you.

You awoke in his lab.

You were strapped down to a chair, the dim fluorescent lights beamed above your eyes—a familiar sight.

Beside you, Dottore was standing—an unsettling yet calm smile tugging upwards at the corners of his lips as he gently pet your hair.

His smile only seemed to widen after he’d noticed you were awake.

“Ah, I hope you slept well, my dear.” He purred, his voice eerily low.