Title: Told You So
By: angstytimelord
Pairing: Tenth Doctor/Peter Carlisle
Fandom: Doctor Who/Blackpool
Rating: PG-13
Table: 5, sound_of_drums
Prompt: 3, Told You
Disclaimer: This is entirely a product of my own imagination, and I make no profit from it. I do not own the Tenth Doctor or Peter Carlisle. Please do not sue.

***

Peter shoved his hands into his pockets as he and the Doctor walked side by side down the pavement, not raising his head to look around him. He'd seen London hundreds of times; he didn't need to take in the sights that he already knew well.

Beside him, the Doctor wore a worried expression; he had thought that coming back here, seeing some of the people that Peter used to work with, would put his lover in a good mood. Instead, it had seemed to do quite the opposite.

He slid one arm through Peter's, stopping in his tracks. Peter pulled up short with a sharp exclamation, turning to look at the Time Lord. "What's the matter?" he said, his voice betraying a sharp edge. "Did you forget something?"

The Doctor shook his head, sighing. "Peter, I should be asking you what's wrong. You've been in a foul mood ever since we left that office. I know it brought back memories for you, but I'd have thought they would be good ones."

Peter's sigh mirrored his own; the sound was heavier and deeper, as though it came from the depths of his lover's body. "It probably wasn't a good idea for me to come here," he said, looking away. "It just reminded me of things that I'd rather have forgotten."

"Such as?" the Doctor prompted, wanting Peter to talk about whatever was bothering him. "I don't know what I've done wrong, Peter, but don't take it out on me. You never gave me to believe that you'd feel this way if you saw your old friends again."

"It's not that." Peter slid an arm around the Doctor's waist, turning and resuming their walk, though this time at a slower pace. "You haven't done anything wrong, love. Really. I just .... would prefer not to have to think about some of the memories associated with my old job."

"I know you saw a lot of things that weren't pleasant," the Doctor murmured, starting to feel a bit guilty. "But they couldn't have been so bad that you want to forget everything about what you did for a living. I know that you enjoyed your work."

"I don't want to remember the time in Blackpool -- and what it led to," Peter said, still not looking at him. "Two years of my life, wasted on someone who was just using me for her own self-gratification. And I was stupid enough to believe she really cared about me."

"You don't still have feelings for her, do you?" the Doctor asked, the words coming out before he could stop them. He didn't want Peter to think that he was jealous of a former lover, but it was hard not to be when Peter spoke like this.

Peter stopped in his tracks, turning to the Time Lord and staring at him for a moment before he pulled the tall, slender man into his arms. "No. None whatsoever," he whispered, raising a hand to stroke the Doctor's hair. "That was over a long time ago."

"Then why are you so upset, love?" The Doctor couldn't quite understand what was putting Peter into this foul mood if it wasn't some kind of unrequited feeling that he hadn't gotten past. What else could be making him frown and withdraw into himself?

"Because they all know how she treated me. They all told me that she was bad news, that I was making a mistake," Peter murmured, sighing again. "It's embarrassing to see their smirks and know that they were right."

The Doctor nodded, feeling relief flood through him. Peter wasn't angry at him; he was angry at a bad situation that was in the past, one that he couldn't change. It hadn't been his fault that he'd walked into a trap set by a selfish woman.

"What happened wasn't your fault, Peter," he said gently, raising a hand to press it against his lover's cheek. "She used you, true, but other men have been used by women, too. And your true friends don't have a laugh over it. They're on your side."

"I know." Peter took a deep breath, forcing a smile. "I just hate being here sometimes. I shared a life with her here -- one that I thought would be forever. And it took me a while to get over that. This city just brings back bad memories, that's all."

"Bad memories?" the Doctor questioned. "I thought you were happy here when you were with her." Had he gotten the wrong impression about Peter's life with that horrible women, during the short time he'd spent with her? Had he been unhappy after all?

"I was, at first." Peter's voice was dry, unemotional. "But it didn't take me long to realize that I was being used -- and that she was fucking any man who looked at her twice. She'd only wanted to get away from her husband. Once she did, she had no more use for me."

"I'm sorry, love," the Doctor said softly, wishing that he could do more for Peter than simply offer his condolences on a bad relationship. "But you know, not everyone sees you as a failure because of what happened between you two. Being used is not failing."

"It's not so much that as ...." Peter heaved another deep sigh, shaking his head. "It's the 'I told you so' expressions on their faces. The words that I know they'd say to me if they could get me alone. And the fact that some of them probably slept with her while she was with me."

"But I didn't see those kinds of looks on their faces," the Doctor protested, wanting to set Peter's mind at rest. "I didn't think anyone had an 'I told you so' expression at all. I only saw friendship -- and maybe a bit of a shock that you're with a man now."

Peter couldn't help laughing at those words, shaking his head ruefully. "They were surprised about that, all right. I don't think anyone who knew me when I was a detective could imagine me being with a man. But I couldn't care less what they think."

"I wonder how many of them will look back on the time that they worked with you and think 'I told you so' about you being in a relationship with a man?" the Doctor said, smiling. "They'll probably come up with all kinds of scenarios that 'prove' you're gay."

The other man laughed again, pulling the Doctor closer against him as they walked along. "I can hear it now. 'I told you he was gay all along! That woman was just a beard!' and a thousand other things they'll think of to say. I'll be the talk of the squad room."

The Doctor laughed along with his lover, relieved that Peter seemed to be in a better mood now. The crisis had passed; and he had his own assurance that the other man was no longer harboring any hidden feelings for that woman.

It was always a bit difficult to get past what might have been, the Doctor reflected, his thoughts moving to Jack for just a few moments. He had those sorts of relationships in his own past; he knew what Peter had been through when his life had seemed to crumble around him.

But there had been a good outcome from all of it, he told himself, his smile growing. Peter had gone to Las Vegas looking to repair something that was already irrevocably broken; and instead, he'd found something shiny and new -- something that would last.

"You know, what you've gotten is far better than what you had," he said softly, the words meant only for Peter's ears. "This isn't some fly-by-night involvement that'll end when one of us finds someone new, Peter. This is forever."

"I know," the other man told him, his words soft. "I found much more than just a lover when I found you, Doctor. I found the love of my life. My soul mate." His gaze rested on the Time Lord's face as he spoke again, laughter in his tone. "You told me so at the start!"

The Doctor joined in with Peter's laughter, feeling his spirits lighten as they walked along. The tension had completely vanished, and the two of them were wrapped in a golden glow of happiness, a feeling that he wanted to stay with them for as long as possible.

***