He held her hand as the TARDIS disappeared. He laid an arm around her shoulder, clutched her to his side as she cried on the ride home. He stood in the doorway and watched as she yelled and threw objects across the room. He shielded her from the world as she sobbed into his chest. And he waited against the wall, hands in his hair and knees propping up his elbows, when she locked herself in her room. He was beginning to nod off when the door opened.
At the creaking sound, his head jerked up, then he jumped to his feet to face her. She was smiling, gently, and it was clear she had been crying, but she still looked gorgeous. He thought his heart stopped for a second (and how the bloody hell do they manage with just one). He definitely stopped breathing (and he felt it, no respitory bypass system now).
"Do you…" He gulped. (He'd never felt this self-conscious in 900 years.) "Do you want me to leave?"
She inhaled deeply, eyes shut. When she opened them, they were shining, and she was grinning. Her tongue was between her teeth and, damn, he had missed that. He couldn't help but grin back. The things that smile did to him…and he grinned even wider thinking maybe, just maybe, he could see that smile every day for the rest of his life.
He froze again, realizing what he had just asked, what he had just offered. If she asked him to leave…
"I want chips."
He blinked. And then he laughed. It didn't quite sound like his, but it didn't sound like Donna's either…the chuckle seemed to belong to his last self.
"I could go for some chips."
She sighed, grin sliding off her face as she stepped towards him. "Look, I…I know you're you, but then again…" She bit her lip. "You aren't quite the same. Like when you regenerated, right? You're you, but…you're new, too."
His ear almost touched his shoulder, then he shrugged. "New teeth."
She grinned. "Right! So…let's get chips. Let's get to know your new…teeth."
He smiled, head bowed slightly towards her. "I'd like that, Rose."
She giggled because that, the way he said her name, that had never changed. He pulled his hand from his pocket and held it out to her. Hers slid into it, and she squeezed it gently as she led him to the door.
It was a perfect fit.