Chapter Text
Alistair was in love with his best friend. Luckily, his best friend was in love with him as well.
They made a handsome couple, the Doctor and Alistair. Though they bickered all the time and their interactions often left people wondering if they pair even liked each other, behind closed doors they adored one another. Of course, it was only in private. As much as Alistair preached acceptance to his troops, his ideas of his own sexuality were still hesitant. He held a lot of reservations about being in a relationship with another man. The Doctor had helped him with it though. Demonstrated to him that yes, it was okay that Alistair was bisexual. His acceptance could encapsulate himself as well.
Things didn’t change overnight, though. He still wanted to keep their relationship a secret. And the Doctor let him. He was in no rush to tell other people of the bond they had. He had only hoped that they would be able to tell other people of their relationship on their own terms.
The Doctor and Alistair were having lunch together. They often did that, it was nothing unusual.
“I was thinking, Alistair,” the Doctor began, wiping away a drop of orange juice from his partner’s cheek with his thumb, “There’s this exhibit that just opened up and we could go this weekend. If you’d like.”
“If I have no meetings to attend then I would love to join you,” he took a sip of his water glass and proceeded to make his way over to the Doctor’s chair. Perching himself on the armrest, he slipped his arm behind the Doctor’s neck and placed a quick kiss on his lips.
“Now is there something you need, Alistair?” The Doctor teased, kissing him back.
“I wasn’t aware that I needed a reason to kiss my boyfriend,” the man said in between kisses, warmth spreading through his chest at the use of the term. He’d only recently begun referring to the Doctor as his boyfriend or partner and although it was still anxiety-inducing, he found that he enjoyed it immensely.
The two sat there in silence, exchanging kisses and caresses, enjoying the peace and quiet that they rarely got to share.
“So, Doctor,” Alistair said quietly, “That trip-”
“I’m telling you, Mike! If he’s not- oh!”
They were interrupted by the sudden appearance of Jo Grant, Captain Yates, and Sergeant Benton who had barreled through the door without knocking.
Alistair scrambled to his feet, straightening his uniform, all while trying to distract the three from what they had obviously just seen.
“Is there something I can help you with, Miss Grant?” He barked, a little sharper than necessary but in his defense, he was panicking and didn’t really know what to do.
“I was just looking for the Doctor but-”
“But we can see that you’re busy,” Captain Yates interrupted, shuffling Jo and the Sergeant out of the door, “I’ll give you my report later, sir.”
They shut the door with a bang and Alistair walked swiftly over to his desk and began frantically shuffling papers together in an incredibly inefficient and haphazardly manner.
“Alistair,” the Doctor said slowly, fully aware of the man’s anxiety, “It seems like now would be a good time to tell them about us.”
“Now is not the time, Doctor,” he said sharply and picked up a pen.
“If not now, then when? We can’t deny that they saw something. It would be better to just speak to them and clear up any misunderstandings.”
Before Alistair could respond, someone knocked on the door and the Doctor allowed the person entrance. As it turned out, it was their friends who stumbled awkwardly into the room.
“We wanted to apologize for the intrusion,” Captain Yates said, elbowing Jo in the side.
“I should’ve knocked. It was my mistake.”
They fell silent, no one wanting to bring up the elephant in the room.
“Look, Brigadier-” Benton said finally only to be stopped by Alistair who stood up to address his subordinates.
“As you may have guessed, the Doctor and I are in a relationship. We were planning on telling you eventually, I can assure you, but we- I didn’t know how to bring it up.”
Jo smiled at the two men and squeezed the Doctor on the arm.
“Well, I just want you two to know that we support you,” she turned to face the Brigadier directly, “You’ve done a lot for everyone here at UNIT, Brigadier, and we’re all very grateful.”
“We wouldn’t be very good soldiers if we didn’t extend the same courtesy to you, sir,” Benton said.
“That being said,” Yates joked, “If we have to keep to ourselves during duty hours, you two should as well.”
The Brigadier nodded, a faint smile on his lips,
“Of course, Captain. I can always rely on you to keep me straight.”
“Well, maybe not keep you straight ,” Jo laughed, “Oh come on that was funny!”
Alistair huffed,
“Well, I believe lunch is over. Shall we all go back to our jobs? Or will we stay here chattering away like old women?”
Jo scampered away, still laughing. Yates and Benton both saluted and exited the room and Alistair could hear them both let out a chuckle at Jo’s joke.
“Well that went better than expected, wouldn’t you say, Alistair?”
He raised an eyebrow and sat at his desk,
“I would’ve preferred to have told them on my own terms but no, it wasn’t that bad.”
The Doctor grinned and pressed a kiss to his cheek.
“Good. Then I shall go back to my laboratory. It is, after all, duty hours.”
Alistair smiled at him as he left the room. It wasn’t that bad. Really. And maybe, just maybe, Alistair could be fine with his bisexuality. If his men could be with other men, then why couldn’t he?
It was okay. Everything was okay .