Chapter Text
Louis had always been slightly different from most children. He was eccentric, witty, smart (if he actually tried anything) and, mostly, hyperactive. But, no matter the counselling, special school, and tutors, no one could conclude that there was anything in particular wrong with Louis. He most certainly did not have ADHD - his psychological and learning capability was fine, he just learnt things so quickly and got bored so easily that it was hard for his mother, and anyone else he was affiliated with, to keep up.
Which is why the famous-pop-star-travelling-every-second-day, lifestyle worked for him; he always had somewhere new to go, something new to try, someone new to meet. Little did Louis or his mother know that that was the exact lifestyle his biological father relished in, and the trait had been passed to Louis.
Not that neither Louis nor his mother knew exactly who his biological father really was. Apparently, before he had impregnated Jay (Louis’ mother) and told her it was a huge mistake, he had gone by a certain code name which, in his childhood, Louis had believed to be associated with secret agents and superheros. So, seeing as he had never been told much more about the mysterious ‘travelling man’, for twenty-one years Louis was led to believe that his father was indeed a spy (or central intelligence of some sort) and he just couldn’t be around the family for their own safety.
But that all changed within moments one morning in London.
~
All was silent, as per usual for a Saturday morning in the Styles/Tomlinson residence. Apart from the obnoxious chatter of birds outside the windows, and the occasional howl of autumn wind, the two males living in the top-floor apartment were undisturbed.
Well, that was until a seemingly earthquake-causing crash shook the roof and reverberated down every stairwell and off every window, tearing one of the two boys from his pillow. A tremor ripped through the apartment, knocking a few books from their perches on bookshelves, and nineteen year old Harry Styles raced towards the living room to stop anything valuable breaking. He fretted and fussed while his roommate snored, and was just about to slap Louis to his senses, when said twenty one year old male stumbled into the living room, scantily clad in only boxer shorts and socks (which Harry was a little confused about, because Louis never wore socks...unless he was drunk). Obviously, the older lad had slept through the stomach turning tremors, but Harry wasn’t going to waste time waiting for Louis to wake up properly before investigating; it was just in his nature to be inquisitive. He stuffed some clothes over Louis’ head and dragged the older lad by his wrist towards the apartment’s front door.
“Come on Lou!” Harry fussed, intent on getting Louis up the stairs to the roof without injuring either himself or the older boy.
“Okay, okay Haz, I’m coming,” Louis whined, lagging behind Harry just a little as he was pulled into the open morning air. He honestly thought it was far too early on a Saturday morning to be outside. (He didn’t know it was already nearly 9:30am).
Harry dragged Louis onto the building's 10th storey roof, an intrigued smile plastered over his youthful features. But, on the other side of the roof, where the boy expected to see some kind of UFO or meteorite, he was met with a royal blue police box, one of the old ones that you barely ever found in London any more. Huh, Harry thought simply, Don't see that every day.
Louis, however, was intrigued by the strange blue box that had somehow found itself up eleven flights of stairs. He noticed a kind of luminescent glow pulsing in the glazed windows, and heard a slight groan of the woodwork every few seconds as the boys sized up their find. Finding the police box rather oridnary, Harry turned to leave, but it was just at that moment that Louis caught sight of a shadow moving across the screened glass panels of the box.
With a quiet 'wait', Louis was able to make Harry stay, but just as he began to creep towards the box, anxiety churning in his stomach, the box's door burst open, and in the doorframe stood a young man, grinning at the two adolescents madly. The man's physical form (and quirky grin) was young and lively, but something in his ultramarine green eyes radiated knowledge and wisdom, the kind that only came with years and years of life experiences.
"Hello," the man exclaimed brightly, strutting towards Louis and Harry without a trace of insecurity in his movements. Harry was so very tempted to whisper 'on my count, run', but refrained from the vocalisation, in fear of the stranger overhearing. "May I ask, what's the date today?"
"Uh...it's the 18th of May...2013," Louis was quick to reply, adding the year when the stranger motioned for him to continue after stating the month.
"Ah, perfect," the stranger beamed, rubbing his hands together as though anticipating something. "In that case, would you happen to be Harry and Louis?" The two boys nodded slowly, unsure whether they should be friendly towards this crazy man. But then again, they didn't find it very surprising that the man knew their names; they were celebrities afterall, so it was understandable.
"Yeah, that's us..." Louis nodded, a little more confident than his younger counterpart in this conversation. The stranger sighed an almost relieved sigh, to which Louis and Harry were very confused.
"Great! I got the coordinates right!" the man exclaimed with a quiet clap.
"Coordinates?" Harry mumbled, more to himself than anyone else, but the stranger heard the muttering.
"Yes, the TARDIS needs coordinates to get from one point to another; doesn't every transportation device?" the stranger frowned, his head cocked slightly to the right as though Harry was incompetent.
"Well, yeah, but what exactly is this 'TARDIS'?" Louis piped up once again, suddenly genuinely interested in the conversation. He had no idea why, but all this new information exhilarated him. But the strange thing was, he felt like somehow - deep down within his subconscious being - he already knew what the stranger was about to say.
"Time And Relative Dimensions In Space," the stranger - who the boys really needed to find out the name of - stated simply. "Oh, and if you were wondering, my name's the Doctor," he added, as though he had read Louis and Harry's thoughts, before stepping back inside the blue box.
"Wait, so it's a time machine?" Louis asked, just as Harry blurted (in the most clichéd way)
"Doctor Who?"
The stranger's head popped out from the doorway again, a smirk gracing his lips. "If I had a pound for every time someone asked that," he chuckled, his head shaking slowly as his eyes skimmed the ground. And then, before Louis or Harry could respond, the man's eyes were facing them again, bright as ever, and he was asking, "Well, do you want to come in?"