Donna Noble had never really felt a reason to be proud of herself. She had always done fine in school, but never applied herself as much as she could. She had often gotten passed over by the boys for being chubby. She was rubbish at sports. Her father had always told her things would work out, in the end. Her grandfather always said that she was just a late bloomer. But she wasn't in her A-levels anymore. She wasn't even in her twenties anymore. And time kept ticking by. She thought she had finally done something with her life when she was going to marry Lance Bennett, but that had gone to hell with the whole giant spider thingy. Not that it had been her fault, but try telling that to her mother. Her mother always told her she was never going to amount to anything. Always went on about how proud she was of her in a sarcastic tone. "Brag to my friends I do," she'd say. And she had blammed Donna for the wedding failing, even after the Doctor explained to her what had happened.
The Doctor. There's one thing she had done with her life: she helped the spaceman save the world. But then did she go and bungle that one up to? "Come with me," he had said. And didn't she just send him on his way? In a way, she was glad. She had gotten to spend that last year with her dad before he passed away. There wasn't much good left in her life after that. She took a job- "Best temp in all've Chiswick," she used to tell her mum brightly just to get her riled up- but it wasn't anything serious. She decided she changed her mind. She wanted to go with the spaceman in his little blue box. But she had no idea how to get ahold of him. Leave it to a spaceman to live in a telephone box and not actually have a telephone!
Donna spent most of the year investigating. It was exciting. She wasn't missing things anymore. No more letting life pass her by without notice as she dragged on through her depression, living her life, but barely existing. It was exciting! It was danger! Adventure! She decided if she ever saw that spaceman again, he was taking her with him no matter what.
Then, while she was working a temp job at/investigating Adipose Industries, she found the Doctor again. His shocked delight had mirrored hers, and they saved the world again. She told him she was coming with him, and she called and told her mother she was going away for awhile. She told a blond woman she ran into in the crowd outside to tell her mother her car keys were in a bin, and off they went.
And he was kind to her. He quickly became her best mate, and they went on adventures. He told her about lsoing Rose, and how unkind he was to Martha. She told him about losing her dad. Found herself sharing stories of her mum. One night, they stayed up in a lounge drinking (hypervodka, remnants of time spent on the TARDIS by another of the Doctor's friends, a man named Jack) and talking. Late into the night he told her all about Rose and his love for her. How he never told her. And she opened up and told him some of the more abusive stories about her mum. (It wasn't that she didn't love her. She knew she loved her.) And the Doctor held her while she cried, but it was nothing romantic. And then he cried too, over Rose, and Martha, and Susan, and the Time Lords. He cried over hundreds of years worth of losses.
But he told her how glad he was to be with someone again. To have a mate to bring out the good in him. He told her the same thing her dad always had- that things would work out for her in the end. After all, she was capable. Brillant. And she didn't need to mind her mother, or worry about Lance, or any other man, because she was a full grown woman. A strong, willfull, loud woman, who didn't need to depend on anyone but herself. And for once, she felt like maybe things would work out in the end, after all.