A/N: I was asked for more, so here it is.

Chapter Two

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Donna continued to gawp at him. "Ideal?" she queried in a tone he couldn't quite make out the miffedness value of.

"Well," he drawled, playing for time. "Normally ideal is subjective but you have to admit that you fulfil all the criteria."

"Oh, I see," she pithily replied. "British, female, marriageable age, within two metres of you, and available. I can see the logic. Then again, we could go back to Mum's and get her to become engaged to you. Or Gramps, now that same sex couples can have more than a civil ceremony. It'd all mean the same."

"Donna!" he griped, stringing out the two syllables. "Do you have to? After our moment on the rooftop, the day we first met, I thought you'd agree we should get properly married."

"You mean the whole biodamp thing?" she queried. "Where you made me feel SO important in the grand scheme of things. Obviously it made such an impression on you because you think I'd jump at the chance of marrying the first man, or whatever, who even hints at such a convenient way of losing my singledom."

He stared at her in shock. "You don't want to marry me?" he wondered, trying to cover the hurt he felt. "Even if it means I can never go back to London?"

"I'm not saying that, you prawn," she chastised. "And don't think I hadn't noticed the emotional blackmail aspect you are using on me. It's just…."

She sighed despondently, thinking of her lost plans to marry for love and be adored in return. Who was she kidding? No man had exactly raced to tie himself to her so far; and she knew she wanted to travel with the Doctor for the rest of her life, helping him cope with his lonely quest, so it didn't really matter in the grand scheme of things if that meant taking away any remote chance of marrying her own version of Prince Charming.

"It's just what?" he pressed, taking hold of her hand and entwining their fingers; showing the level of friendship he was still offering.

"Doesn't matter," she decided, shaking her head. "As long as you wait a few years before you divorce me, you'll be keeping your British passport long before you get to marry River Song. And I'll be just a bad dream."

"Donna," he growled in annoyance.

But she shut him up by placing her other hand over his mouth. "I know what you are going to say, and I'm sorry for causing you pain by mentioning her again. Me and my big fat mouth just won't shut up when I really need to stop and think."

Normally Donna would jump at the chance to get a proposal of marriage but so far this particular one wasn't ticking many boxes. Well, it helps if you are actually being proposed to, for a start; and merely being a convenient candidate didn't exactly excite her, shall we say. Been there, done that in the past and hadn't even got the T-shirt. Only an unwanted grope.

Was that all he wanted? She eyed him in suspicion. That couldn't cover him, could it? Surely not him. Not going by all the stuff Martha had said he'd prattled on about when she'd been with him.

Rebound, that's what they called this sort of thing. He couldn't have the woman he really wanted so he made do with the next best thing. For now. Although if Rose ever made it back into this universe, Donna would find herself suddenly at the receiving end of a cat fight, if the encounter with Sarah Jane was anything to go by. Unless he'd been merely boasting about that one. It was possible, if a little unlikely; like most of his stories.

From what he had said about this marriage situation, he had his own list of tick boxes he'd considered. Not that the list of possible candidates was all that long, but he was trying to make it sound as though it was. I mean, she only knew of four possible woman and the results of that ran: lost, dead, here, and engaged. Yep, that made her feel really special, as though she'd won through an elimination round or by default. Whoop-de-doo. Go her.

It also meant there was ONLY her. She was his own hope of staying in the country which rather narrowed down her choices. If she said "No" she'd look a right selfish bitch. And it wasn't as though she wouldn't be able to get a divorce later. Or an annulment...

The word clanged loudly in her head. Of course the wedding would be annulled. What else would it be? He never acted overly interested in women or gaining a sex life, for goodness sake. That had been part if not the main reason why she had been willing to travel with him, she had to admit, if she was honest with herself. Living and travelling with a randy man/alien would have been a right turn off.

She knew he was capable of love and loving but was he asexual? So far she had assumed so. Had almost gambled on it, when you think about it. That meant that marriage didn't have to mean loads of unwanted grunting or being chased around the console. Things would carry on as they always had. Them righting wrongs together with her as the main support. The only difference would be the ring on her finger. Oh, and all those 'couple' comments would be taken to be true. Him and her; a true pair. Yes, she could live with that. And she knew that if she ever fell deeply in love with someone else, he'd let her go. He wasn't selfish like that. In fact, he was rather sweet. She could love him for it.

And in that moment, she realised that she hadn't answered his question after all that pondering.

"Well, Donna Noble. Will you marry me?" he cautiously repeated.

Taking in a deep breath, she nodded. "Yes, I'll marry you."

His face lit up like a bonfire. "You will?! Molte bene! Oooh, I could kiss you." He instantly spread his arms wide to offer such an invitation.

"Hang on," she said to stop him doing just that. "Is this your way of getting me back for the kitchen? Because I did that to save your life, not prank you."

He visibly gulped, and his eyes went wide open. "I assure you that I do not hold that kiss against you in any shape or form. You saved my life that day, and now you are about to save my backside, as it were." He noted that her eyes had travelled unbidden to his behind, and she didn't seem to mind the view any less than the first time she'd done that. "So I am merely sealing the deal with a friendly kiss. Nothing sordid. I would never risk such a thing. Not when I know how hard you slap."

"Alright, just get it over and done with," she sighed, and offered him her left cheek that he then dutifully placed a small kiss on. "There you go, all sorted. You need me to marry you, and I'll do that for the greater good. What do we have to do next to get this right?"

He didn't miss the slight tremble in her body and the shine of tears in her eyes, but he also knew that she would not openly own up to her fears. So he gently lifted her hand to his mouth and gave her fingers a tender kiss.

"The letter is a fixed point, so I have to work within its tight time frame. We can go back a few weeks if not a full month to arrange a wedding that falls either on the date of the letter or the day after. I think it best if we go and tell your family about it so that they can be there on the day as our witnesses. Is there anything else you would like included?" he offered.

"Not really. I suppose I ought to have an engagement ring to make it all look authentic; and a new wedding outfit, of course."

"Of course," he agreed. "First we go back a month or so to shop for an engagement ring, announce it to your family, pick up your birth certificate, go book the wedding, have our banns read or publicly posted during the intervening three weeks, and then challenge the letter."

"You've got it all worked out," she noted, smiling at him in amusement. "Do we get to practise some Mr & Mrs questions too?"

"All in good time," he smirked.

"And what do we tell Martha?"

"Ah," he hesitantly sighed. "We can discuss that as we choose rings."

"Rings?" she queried.

He shrugged. "I'm assuming you'd like us to have matching wedding rings too," he nonchalantly answered.

"I hadn't expected that. Whoever thought I'd ever get you eager to go shopping," she playfully commented. "And for wedding stuff too. If this is for some prank I will never forgive you."

Leaning in close, he whispered into her ear, "I'm deadly serious, Mrs."

"Where were we going to buy the ring?"

"Where do you suggest?"

"If this was real, the main place is Hatton Garden, but seeing as this is temporary, I don't mind choosing one out of the Argos catalogue if you like," she suggested.

"Temporary or not, you deserve the very best, Donna Noble," he insisted, taking a firm grasp of her hand. "Hatton Garden it is, and no arguing."

"Alright," she let herself be persuaded.

Well, why not, she reasoned to herself when he trilled, "Allons y," with far too much enthusiasm.

o0o

Two months previously later, he landed them in a back alley behind Hatton Garden in London. After getting her to choose a preference, he guided her towards a destination and then, to her delight, he had announced to the shop assistant in the first jewellery shop they'd entered, "My fiancée and I would like to purchase an engagement ring and possibly matching wedding rings too while we are here."

It had made Donna go all tingly inside. Especially when the woman had practically fallen over herself to serve them by offering various trays of rings from the display. It had sort of helped that he'd said price was no limit, that his fiancée deserved to have whatever her heart wanted.

Donna had tried to reason it was merely the thought of commission that made the woman so eager to serve them, but after some seconds she had to admit that the shop assistant would have out and out flirted with him given half a chance.

What a chancer! Alright, he was good looking, but he was also clearly taken; thank you very much.

Making the woman jealous did rather add to the event though, and Donna couldn't have been happier as she chose the ring she wanted. Yes, the refracted light from the diamond cluster lit up the woman's narked expression especially well, Donna thought.

By the time they walked out of the shop with their purchase she was on cloud nine.

Even him declaring that their next step would be to inform her family didn't put a huge dent in her happiness. Instead, she practised moving her hand about with the heavy jewel upon it for the greatest effect. It was all going almost too well.

o0o