WHOOSH WHOOSH WHOOSH.

The familiar sound jolted him back to reality, and he took a deep breath before pushing open the door.

Earth, obviously. Probably the twenty-first century. In... America? He gave the TARDIS an odd glance. He usually ended up in Britain for some reason. He seemed to be outside some sort of school, right at the end of the day, when all the kids were getting out. The TARDIS was well hidden, of course, behind some trees near the school building.

He leaned against one of them to watch, wondering if this was significant somehow. He never interfered with events on purpose, of course, but somehow trouble always seemed to find him.

The Doctor stood up straight. Was that-? It was. A smallish boy was being pummeled by a some larger ones. He ran forward.

"Hey!"

The biggest one turned around. "What?"

"You can't do that!"

"And who are you to say that, shorty?"

He stood up as tall as he could, which admittedly didn't make much of a difference. "I'm the Doctor."

"You look a little young to be a doctor," the boy scoffed.

"Well, I am. So leave him alone."

The tall boy and his friends gave him strange looks, then walked away, casting glances over their shoulders as they went.

The Doctor offered a hand to the boy on the ground. "You okay?"

The boy stood up and gave him a contemptuous glance. "Do I look okay to you?" He was covered in bruises, but had a strength to him that made him seem like he would be all right anyway. He was also taller than he had appeared when he was sprawled on the ground.

"I guess not. Sorry."

"Who are you anyway?" he asked angrily. The boy seemed embarrassed that the Doctor had witnessed his humiliation.

"I'm the Doctor. I said that, remember?"

"I was a little occupied while you were introducing yourself."

"Right." the Doctor put his hands in his pockets and stood there awkwardly.

They stood there in silence for a little while, until the Doctor remembered that he didn't know the boy's name.

"Well, I've introduced myself now... What's your name?"

"Kurt."

"And why were they beating you up?"

"They don't like the way I dress," Kurt said sarcastically.

The Doctor looked him up and down. He seemed to have impeccable fashion sense. "You look fine to me." Really good, actually. He squinted, confused. Where did that come from? He put it aside to examine later. He had more important things to attend to right now.

"Exactly."

The response didn't really make sense. "What do you mean?"

"It's not obvious?"

"No..."

Kurt sighed. "I'm gay."

"So?"

"So, this is the middle of Ohio, and the general public is not particularly accepting of those who presume to deviate from the norm."

"Oh."

Kurt changed the subject. "So where are you from? You sound English."

"I'm not. Well. I've spent a lot of time there, but I'm not from England."

"No?"

"I'm from..." The Doctor paused. Kurt probably wouldn't believe him, but he might as well say it anyway. It might take the boy's mind off his problems. "I'm an alien."

Kurt rolled his eyes. "Yeah right."

"No, really! I am!"

Kurt's expression held a challenge. "Prove it."

The Doctor broke into a wide smile. This was always his favorite part. "Okay. Come with me."

Kurt followed him, still looking doubtful. The Doctor led him to where the TARDIS was parked, hidden in the trees.

"Here it is," he said brightly.

Kurt was looking askance at the TARDIS. "I'll grant you that it's strange to see a blue box in the middle of some trees, but that doesn't make you an alien."

"True," the Doctor said. He opened the door and gestured for Kurt to go inside.

The boy shrugged and walked through the door, with the Doctor right behind him.

Kurt stared around the large room, eyes wide. "It's bigger on the inside!"

"I noticed," the Doctor said.

Kurt quickly returned to his cool demeanor. "This still doesn't prove anything."

"Really? People are usually pretty impressed by the whole 'bigger on the inside' thing."

"Yeah, but that could just be advanced technology. And what kind of spaceship is a little wooden box?"

"It's bigger on the inside," the Doctor reminded him.

"Yeah, I got that. But it doesn't exactly look like it could travel in space."

The Doctor patted the TARDIS comfortingly, hoping that she wasn't too insulted. "You try it!"

"I'm human," Kurt said. "I can't breathe with no air."

"Exactly. You can't. So stop making fun of my TARDIS."

"Your what?"

"TARDIS. Time and Relative Dimensions in Space."

Kurt raised his eyebrows. "Time?"

"Did I forget to mention that it's also a time machine?" the Doctor said innocently. "Silly me."

"You're really not convincing me..." Kurt said.

"Fine. Then I'll just have to show you," the Doctor replied. He punched in the settings and pulled the lever, sending them to another time and space.