Part 6

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John wanted to kick himself. How on earth had he managed to mess up taking that selfie with Donna? It should have been a highlight of his day, but instead he had almost completely ruined their relationship by being awkward.

Okay, he wasn't completely sure if she was truly interested in him or just teasing most of the time, but he knew whatever it was also softened the harshness of the nightmare experience and was bringing them slowly together. Whether that would be platonically or romantically, well, only time could tell. But he liked the feeling she caused in him. It promised to chase away his inner demons, or at least keep them at bay for a while.

What this needed was some positivity from him. As of now. So he gave a cough to catch her attention, and then made his request. "Can we do another one for Mum, over by the window?" He held his phone up to demonstrate it was another photo he wanted in case she misunderstood his intentions.

"What, get this fancy hotel room in the background, you mean?" she queried. She glanced around the living area they were sat in, noting it was worth boasting about. "Yeah, alright." She walked over to the large ornate window to stand with him. "How do you want me?"

"We'll have to get closer if I want to show off lots of the room," he reasoned, wrapping an arm around her waist to position them in the corner of the screen. "Think thoughts of what you are going to feed me with next."

As he grinned down at her, she retorted, "You cheeky…!" And prodded him in the stomach. "Just for that, I shall make it my mission to get you to put on at least a stone. I'll aim for twenty pounds."

"Can't see it happening," he giggled, giving out a squeal when she tickled him. "Hang on, I'm trying to take a photo here."

"Then get on with it," she huffed, but soon laughed when he tickled her side in return.

"Thanks for doing that. Mum should love seeing them."

"Let's see what you've taken," she requested once they were sat down again, sitting side by side on the plush cream velvet sofa. Swiping through the images, she was surprised to see he'd taken loads. "Blimey! I wasn't expecting this many." A few of the poses caught her attention. "A bit incriminating, don't you think?"

"How?" he wondered, taking back the phone to look himself. "It's just us laughing," he commented as he perused shot after shot of them happily staring at each other. Any of the photos could have been a loving couple, usable for bragging rights at the very least, should this gig go pear-shaped. "Nothing overly bad," he maintained. "Not like it could have been if I'd taken them when we were in bed this morning."

"Yes. Well," she spluttered, suddenly feeling hot. "That was different. And still only a cuddle," she argued.

He gazed at her, loving the crimson flush now covering her freckled skin. If only he could kiss her, his traitorous heart thought. "I'm sure Mum would understand."

"She'd understand, all right," Donna scoffed. "She'd understand in completely the wrong direction."

"Then I shall keep them just for me," John declared, hugging the phone to his chest. Under her beady eye, he quickly tacked on, "In a completely… you know… friendly stage three sort of a way."

"Don't you mean stage two," she corrected.

"Nope," he crowed. "Stage three was me protecting you, and vice versa."

"Alright, you've got me there," she allowed. "But don't go awarding yourself any points."

"Wouldn't dare," he lied.

"Give over," she playfully grumbled, giving him a tiny shove. "Time to get our bums in gear and find out where and when we've got to go."

Still grinning with amusement, he sat watching her make a call to Martha and then their agent, Nerys.

"Morning!" Rose trilled as soon as she saw them at the lift doors. She immediately got into step with Donna as they walked along together. "How did your night alone with your new handsome friend go?"

"Shut up, Rose!" Donna hissed in warning and then walked more determinedly towards their waiting car.

Rose easily caught her up and she had a point to make. "No, I won't. You're being unusually cagey. What's come over you?"

"Nothing," Donna answered, trying to sound nonchalant. "Nothing happened so you can stop the twenty questions"

But Rose wasn't convinced. Not in the slightest. "You're hiding something. Did you throw yourself on him? Oh Donna, you have got to stop doing that sort of thing. Blokes don't like it."

"I know!" Donna protested. "Keep your hair on. I didn't do anything too stupid."

"What about a little bit stupid?" Rose saucily wondered. "I bet you were tempted."

"Geroff!" Donna chided, laughing at the absurdity of the situation. So what if she'd been tempted? She wasn't daft enough to admit it when he was within hearing distance, was she. That'd be shaming, to put herself where she could be publicly rejected, yet again.

Standing behind them, waiting patiently for them to finish walking to the car and actually get in, John tried to pretend he hadn't heard a word.

He managed to stay quiet during the journey to the concert, but as they pulled up outside the stage door, Rose made an observation that chilled him.

Turning her head quickly to follow a movement, Rose noted, "There's that bloke again."

"What bloke?" Donna immediately asked, trying to see who her friend meant.

"The one that threw himself on the car window yesterday. Anyway, he's gone now," Rose sighed, bored with the subject. "He was probably only taking a photo or something."

But John's senses were on high alert. Something about this didn't feel right. "Did he have a backpack?"

"I don't know for sure," Rose replied, "but I don't think so."

"Keep close to me," he whispered to Donna as she climbed out of the car, before making their way into the venue.

"As nice as that sounds, I do have to do a little thing like get up on stage and sing without you at some point," she teased.

"I'm not joking," he growled. "This could be dangerous."

"Okay John," she soberly answered. If he was this worried, it was worth the extra cautiousness. She let him stay as close as he wanted.