This story is a little unpolished and I will probably re-vamp it in a bit, but I just wanted to put it out there and see what people thought of it. Thanks! (:
"Donna! Where are you going?"
"Just off to the store, won't be two ticks! I'll get you some of those crisps you like so much!" Donna called back at her mother, barely pausing at the door. She grabbed her coat and pulled her arms threw the sleeves, slamming the door behind her.
The streets were empty, as they had often been since the strange happenings of last week. Everyone was talking about it. Planets in the sky, new stars in the dark and aliens running around. It was as if the whole world had simultaneously gone crazy. Donna shook her head, laughing at the memory of her friend's first words when she had seen her.
"Wot! You don't remember the aliens?"
Aliens! As if. Donna shook her head at the memory. She had laughed at her friend, asked her what she had been drinking and where she could get some! It had been the silliest thing she had ever heard. Now a week later the world was only just beginning to talk of anything else. Today was the first day she had picked up the paper to see a celebrities face on the front instead of a bold headline reading, "ALIEN TAKEOVER HALTED MIRACULOUSLY" or "EARTH MOVED! EXPERTS EXPLAIN HOW." It was as if the whole world had simultaneously decided to trip on LSD and no one had told her.
Donna pushed open the door of the grocery store and stepped inside. She wandered the store for a few moments, picking up her mom's favorite brand of crisps and some cheese and crackers. She placed her purchases on the counter and pulled out her credit card. The cashier was young, with the sort of youthful enthusiasm that labeled this as his first job.
"Is that all for you ma'am? Would you like any emergency food packets? We're selling them quick this week because of all these strange things that have been happening."
Donna shot him a look. "Strange goings on? Wot? Did I miss something? Don't tell me you saw aliens too. Don't you think you're a little young for that sort o' thing?"
"Er..." The cashier started, but Donna didn't wait for him to finish, grabbing her shopping bag and walking out of the store. It was a special night tonight. She was going to announce her engagement to her mother and granddad. She didn't have time to wait around while a cashier made up a convincing story of alien dominion.
She pulled her coat tighter around her in the cold outside the store and marched forward purposely. She passed by the florists thinking of the violets her silly fiancee had bought her once. Sean was such a romantic. Completely her opposite in many ways. Donna paused suddenly, her steps slowing for a second. That had been an odd day actually. He had handed her the flowers and she had seen something. Something different then violets. It was as if just for a second she hadn't been standing there, at the florists with Sean, but with someone else, somewhere else with something...blue.
"Hah!" Donna laughed out loud. All this engagement talk had gone to her head. Wedding rings and violets and blue...boxes.
Donna continued walking, suddenly feeling cold. There was her favorite clothing store. They always had the cheapest coats for sale. She had tried to get Sean to buy a trench coat there, but he'd said the style just wasn't him. Style! As if he even HAD a style! This is what she got for marrying a dreamer. Not practical in the slightest. Donna stopped to peer into the store window hoping to see the wool jumper she had been eyeing for the last week on sale. The glass frosted from her breath and Donna impatiently wiped it off. Brown eyes met hers in the glass. Donna jumped back slightly and whipped around thinking it was a reflection, but there was no one on the street.
"That's not funny! You near gave me a heart attack!" She called out. She shot a look back at the glass. The store windows stared back at her like empty eyes.
"Maybe I'm the one going mad." Donna muttered, walking again. She held her purchases closer to her and thrust out her chin obstinately. "Go ahead. Throw whatever you like at me. We'll see how well you do." The one lone other pedestrian on the street gave her a funny look and crossed to the other side of the road.
"Oi! Wot are you lookin' at then!" Donna called after him irritably. The man shook his head and continued walking. Donna glared after him for a moment half appreciative. At least the man had a nice haircut. She was always trying to get Sean to grow his hair out just a little bit. Longer hair looked so nice on a man though it probably meant they took hours to get it just so. She sighed slightly. Sean would never agree to grow his hair long. Not as long as the D...Not as long as that dentist's hair had been that she'd recently gone to. He'd had dark brown hair...long enough to have a life of it's own and she had been tempted to reach out and touch it just to see how much gel he had had to use to get it to stay looking that perfect. But what was she thinking? She hadn't even liked that dentist and here she was mooning about his hair!
"Oh God, I've got to get home..." Donna murmured glancing at her watch. She quickened her pace resolutely not looking at the glass windows of the shops she passed.
"She's not the same."
Sylvia, Donna's mum, stopped folding the towels and stared at her dad.
"Don't say that. She's fine! She's our Donna, same as always!"
Wilf thumbed the stack of towels and shook his head. "She's different. He changed her. She was happy with him. She had something to live for. Now she's...well, she's back to living just day to day. She's not happy, our Donna. Before him she was never truly happy!"
Sylvia glared at him. "Stop it. She's perfectly fine the way she is. She doesn't need some man...some alien man at that, to be happy. Besides...she has Sean now and he's a nice young man. Better for her then that alien ever was!" She continued, folding the towels with a vehemence.
"You've seen the way she stops every once in a while to look over her shoulder or glance down an alleyway." Wilf continued, ignoring her. "She knows something is missing, something important. Sean's a nice young man he is, but he's not the Doctor." He insisted.
Sylvia dropped a freshly folded towel on the pile with force and hissed, "well what do you suppose we do, eh? Tell her that she used to sail around in a little blue box with a crazy man, who, wait for it, isn't even human and that together they visited planets and saved people? Do you want to destroy her? I'm no fan of that man as you know, but he told us telling her would be fatal, and I for one don't want to blow my daughter's brains out because you think she's not the same!"
"I didn't-" Wilf started in, but Donna's mum grabbed the stack of towels and stormed from the room. Wilf threw his hands up in the air in defeat. "Of course I don't want her dead, but I don't want to see her so unhappy, without even realizing she is!" Wilf shouted after Sylvia's retreating back.
"See who unhappy Granddad?"
Wilf started, turning to see Donna walk into the room, purse and keys in hand, shutting the door behind her.
"N-no one sweetheart." Wilf stuttered. Donna eyed him sympathetically.
"Mum been at you again?"
Wilf nodded slowly, quickly changing the subject. "I think I'll just go and make us all a nice cup of tea. Is Sean coming over today?" Donna dropped her purse and keys on the table and walked into the kitchen trailing Wilf. "Yeah, he should be over soon. Look, mum I got those crips you like so much. They were havin' a sale so I bought two bags. Thought we should celebrate a little tonight." Donna continued with a grin, handing a bag of crisps over to Sylvia.
"Thanks sweetheart..." Sylvia said a little absently.
"Well, don't look so pleased mum..." Donna muttered irritably, dropping the grocery bag on the counter.
"Oh! I am pleased dear...it's just...When is Sean coming over?" Sylvia asked quickly.
Donna shrugged. "Soon I expect. I'm just gonna pop up to my room for a bit. Let me know when he's here!" She didn't wait for her mum's reply, but headed straight for her bedroom. She closed the door behind her softly and sat down on the edge of the bed. A tear crept down her cheek, falling onto the brown of her trousers. Surprised, she hastily wiped the tear from her face. "What's wrong with me?" She murmured, dismayed. "Sean's coming! I'm getting engaged! I shouldn't be sittin' here crying..." But she made no move to get up and another tear dripped down her cheek. This time she didn't bither trying to wipe it away. Instead she lay back on the bed, curled on her side like she always used to when she was a child. Something wasn't right. Something...something was missing. But what was? What was it! Donna glanced out the window at the dark sky. It was close to five in the evening. Sean would be here soon. Her fiancee would be here soon...
She lay there for a few moments more and then, with a sigh pushed herself upright. It must just be engagement jitters. She had started to stand when out of the corner of her eye something caught her attention. A man wearing a long trench coat with his hands thrust deep in pockets strolled past her window. Donna had rushed to the window before she had even thought it through and stood, staring at the strange man. The man had styled longish brown hair and something about the way he walked made Donna catch her breath.
"D-" She started to call out. She didn't even know what word she was trying to form, only that it was important. The man stopped and turned back to face her. Donna's heart started pounding. He looked up at her window and Donna's eyes met his bright blue ones. She stepped back from the window, oddly disappointed.
"Donna! Sean's here! Won't you come down now please!"
"I'm coming!" Donna shouted back.
She shot one last look out of the window as she left, but the man had gone.
"Sean and I have a surprise for you lot." Donna said proudly, one arm wrapped around Sean's waist. Her parents eyed her skeptically.
"We... are...ENGAGED!" Donna cried sticking out her left hand to her parents and showing off the simple engagement band. "Isn't that wonderful!"
Donna's mother clasped her hands to her mouth saying, "Oh thank heavens! I thought you were going to say you were pregnant! Congratulations darling!"
Donna frowned at her mother. " Wot! And I would have started that sentence with the word 'we'! As if!"
Her mother laughed for once and reached forward to kiss both her daughter's and then Sean's cheeks before falling to exclaiming over the ring. Wilf stood back and watched the commotion, smiling though the smile was a little forced.
"Congratulations both of you..." He murmured patting Sean's shoulder and hugging Donna."Congratulations..."
He stepped back to let Sylvia continue her exclamations and looked out the window up at the night sky. The stars twinkled back at him through the dark velvet of the night. Wilf scanned the sky for a moment murmuring quietly, "I wish you were here Doctor. It's you she belongs with even if she doesn't know it. My god I wish you were here. You could make her happy again. And you need her just as much as she needs you."
Donna smiled up at Sean and waved her ring triumphantly in front of her mother's face. This was her moment. She had always wanted to get married and here she was! Engaged! Her mother hadn't thought a temp like her would ever get married, but oh how Donna had proved her wrong! She looked over at her grandfather to share her triumph with him and was surprised to see him staring up at the night sky, talking to himself. He was whispering so quietly that she didn't catch all the words, only one.
"Doctor."
For a second the word was familiar, like an old friend and a surge of fierce happiness wrapped her in its warm embrace. Donna felt her breath catch, but before she had time to place it the word vanished like mist. Donna stood in the middle of the room, an arm around her future husband, her mother at her side and her grandfather standing only inches away and she felt completely alone.