"You're in love with her, aren't you?" Sylvia asked when she sat down next to him.

"I wouldn't say that."

"No use trying to pull the wool over my eyes. I don't miss a trick."

The Doctor remained still.

"And silence won't work either. You only clam up when you think I'm right."

Blimey!

"What am I supposed to say?"

"Why don't you just admit it?"

"She's my best friend, of course I love her."

"That's not what I asked. I asked if you were IN love with her. There's a difference."

"Not to me."

He lied. He knew very well there was a difference! He loved Martha. He loved Rose. At one time he thought he was in love with Rose. But when he met Donna, he knew that what he felt for Rose was just infatuation. She was young, blonde and hung on his every word. Who wouldn't be infatuated with that? Life with Rose was like a sugar rush: thrilling at first, but quickly dissipated. Didn't last. Didn't satisfy. Now Donna on the other hand...every moment with her satisfied him. Even the tiniest ones. Meat and potatoes kind of moments.

Yes he lied. Because he only just discovered how he felt about Donna. He wanted to discuss it with her first, not her mother! Once Donna remembered him, he imagined the conversation would go something like this:

"I missed you."

"I imagine you did. How long was I gone?"

"Too long."

"Didn't it drive you mad?"

"Oh. Well. I've always been mad."

"That's certainly true," she'd laugh. "Seriously though, Mum said you waited a long time for me to come 'round."

"What else did your mother say?"

"Nothing really. Just that you waited. So it's true then?"

"Yes, it is."

"Why?"

"Because...you're special."

Then she'd bristle and say, "I'm really not! Why does everybody keep saying that?!"

"Because you are."

"What do they see that I don't?"

"Come here, I'll show you." He'd take her by the hand and make her stand in front of the oval mirror near her front door. He'd stand behind her so she couldn't bolt. "Look at yourself. What do you see?"

"A temp from Chiswick who can't find a full time job or keep a boyfriend longer than six months. Someone who disappoints her mother no matter how hard she tries. Just a big failure. There, you satisfied?"

"You wanna know what I see?"

She'd hesitate and not dare look him in the eye. "What?"

"I see a woman who keeps on trying no matter how often life or her mother puts her down. I see a woman who tried to save thousands from dying in Pompeii. A woman who can't stand to see others exploited, like the Ood or humans being used as surrogates. I see a woman who, because she was a temp not only noticed an empty file at the Atmos factory, but singlehandedly saved everyone in the universe from the Dalek's reality bomb."

And before she could get a word in edgewise, he'd continue, "But Donna, even with all those wonderful things, they aren't the reason why you're so special." He'd grab both of her shoulders, lean in to look into her reflection's eye and whisper in her ear. "It's because, out of all the women in the universe, you are the only one both of my hearts fell in love with. You are the most important woman in the universe to me, and the only one I would rewrite time for."

Then she'd turn around, wipe the tears from his cheeks and gaze into his eyes and...

Slap!

He winced at the pain and looked up. Donna was no longer there. Nor was he standing in front of the mirror. Instead, he saw Sylvia sitting beside him on the bench. Oh yes, we were having a conversation, weren't we? Oops.

"For goodness' sake! Do you honestly think you can lie to a mother?"

"What? I'm not lying."

"You were just daydreaming about her, weren't you?"

Silence.

"I'm sorry, Sylvia," He stood up slowly. "We'll have to finish this conversation another time. I just remembered something I need to do."

It was a lie the moment he said it. He didn't wait for her to respond before he walked away.

"I do have eyes, you know," she called after him. "You might as well wear a T-shirt that says 'I love Donna Noble' written all over it."

He whistled to himself and kept on walking. Not because he lied, or that he wanted to drown her grating voice (well, maybe a little bit), but because he suddenly had the urge to make a pot of his signature coffee.