Cosmo || Doctor Who

14 : These Are The Days Of Our Lives

𝔏𝔬𝔫𝔡𝔬𝔫, 𝔈𝔫𝔤𝔩𝔞𝔫𝔡, 𝔈𝔞𝔯𝔱𝔥
𝔐𝔞𝔶 2005

The story of EJ Thompson is a tragic one. It is one with enough bloodshed to quench the thirst of the most ferocious wars, and could evoke enough tears to fill all the worlds oceans. It is a tale written about for years after purely because there is nothing else like it. It is the story of a boy who had no choice.  

     He was three when it first started, when his father decided that he was ready. His three elder siblings had all gone through it before him, in an almost identical process. Only, the effects worsened every time. It was just unfortunate that EJ happened to be the youngest.

     Scott Thompson was infamous across the world for his wild theories and outlandish experiments. However, it didn't surface until after his death the toll it had taken on his family. The newspaper articles were endless, and the online forums could hardly leave the topic alone. It had been impossible to hide from all of the attention until recently. EJ would never have survived without his friends, the people he called family.

They were the primary reason why he made the Doctor take him home so soon. It wasn't permanent because he could never give up the universe, but he sorely needed the dopamine boost. His home rivalled that of any galaxy, but it wasn't exactly what he was thinking of.

The flat he shared with Angel and Ty, the men he called his brothers, wasn't the home they arrived at. Instead, he lead Rose and the Doctor to a small house not too far away. It was where he was supposed to be.

Home didn't have to be a physical place, Soren had taught him that. It didn't have to be a building with memories, and a history which mattered to the whole world. It had taken EJ sixteen years to find that place where he didn't feel like he wanted to die. He knew after that, that home was much more than a place. Home was a feeling, and EJ knew exactly where to find it.

"Where are we?" Rose asked, impatiently, as she tapped her foot against the concrete paving slabs, shifting her weight back and forth. "It's... nice."

"Shut up." EJ gritted his teeth. "It's a house."

"I see it's a house." She tutted. "Who's house? And why are we standing outside?"

"I don't have a key. It's not my house." EJ retaliated. "Now, shut up. You'll see in a minute, yeah?"

Rose rolled her eyes. "Fine."

It had only been a minute or so, but he let his hand knock on the white plastic door again, and tried his best to wait patiently. He was glad the Doctor hadn't said much as he swayed lightly in the air, smiling as he thought. He was content. EJ wished he could say the same for himself.

It was easier to cope with impatience when everyone else didn't have a vested interest. But he could tell that they were more curious than he was, which made it all the worse.

When he was younger, EJ had everything he had ever wanted to combat the horrors he faced. It was how they were appeased into silence by their mother. All of the gifts in the world couldn't distract from the pang he felt in his stomach whenever his father was near. It didn't rid him of his worries, and every time a remotely similar feeling arose, he felt sick.

It was getting easier, because it could never get worse. EJ just had to recognise that it was going to take longer than he'd first thought.

After a minute or so, they could hear clamouring behind the front door. A woman, who seemed to be organising a herd of animals with the amount of noise she was creating. Then, she called out to them, with a vibrancy in her voice.