Author's Notes: I do not own Doctor Who, but I can quote The Runaway Bride from memory which has yet to turn into a vocation. I'm thinking one woman Christmas show on the West End. Thanks for the reads, reviews, follows and favorites. I really appreciate it. Let me know what you think and happy reading!

Donna was a little surprised when she heard the words come out of her mouth. She had been wondering a bit what to do with the Doctor if he remained in his current state and he didn't show any signs of changing. She couldn't go on like this any more than he could and she certainly couldn't expect a baby to be in the middle of this.

Part of her wanted to tell him about the baby. The other part didn't think it was right to put everything on one poor little Time Baby, the full responsibility for saving the Doctor's psyche and their marriage. Helping him heal, that was one thing, but she wouldn't have them staying together just because she was pregnant. They had to sort this themselves or not at all.

The silent stand-off only lasted a few seconds. They never could stay quiet long.

"You won't leave," said the Doctor.

"Oh, really? Why won't I?," asked Donna. "Martha left you. You don't think I have the same amount of self-respect as Martha?"

"You said you'd never leave, that you could never go back to ordinary life. There's still so much I haven't shown you-"

"Do you think this is about being entertained?!," Donna snapped. "All of time, all of space, do you think that's enough to keep me here? I wouldn't care if we never went anywhere but Tesco so long as we were together."

"We are together."

"Together? Do you think this is together? You holed away, pushing me away, not seeing you for days? Is that together?"

"I don't know what you want me to do, Donna."

"Yeah," said Donna. "That's obvious."

She walked past him and into the corridor.

"Where are you going?"

"I'm packing!"

Donna went back to the bedroom and opened the wardrobe as the TARDIS protested. She started pulling out luggage and soon found herself joined by the Doctor.

"What are you doing?," he asked.

"Packing," she spat. She was furious, genuinely furious enough to shut out the TARDIS' pleadings for the time being and start throwing things into her many suitcases. She was angry at him for acting like this, angry at herself for letting him and for the soon impending humiliation that would happen once she was back in Chiswick and had to tell all to her family.

"Donna, you can't go," said the Doctor.

"What? Are you going to hold me hostage?"

"There's no point in being melodramatic, Donna-"

She really hated when he was trying to sound like the adult. "Oh, there's no point in being melodramatic! Why don't you tell me some more about how you've ruined the lives of everyone you met? Guess what, you can add me now."

"Why?"

She looked up at him. "Because you've made an idiot out of me and I already felt like an idiot most of the time anyway."

"When did I ever do that?"

"You told me that I made you happy and I believed you."

"You do."

She shook her head. "No, I don't. I know the truth. You like being miserable. You like feeling sorry for yourself. I can't change that. Nothing can change that."

"Donna, you can't go."

"Well, I am."

"You can't. There is no Time Lord concept of divorce."

"I'm not a Time Lord, am I? Sounds like a problem for you."

"It's not possible-"

"Yes, it is. Here's how it works. I take my things, I leave. You would send a maintenance check the first of the month if you had any money and you can visit every other weekend."

He frowned. "Why would I visit every other weekend?"

Donna hadn't meant for that to slip out. "Whatever. Don't visit."

"Donna, we cannot be divorced-"

"I still don't know why you think I care that Time Lords don't have a concept of divorce. Neither did the royals until they were, though Andrew and Fergie, there's something going on there."

"We've been telepathically bonded, yes?"

"Yes," said Donna. That's what stung more. He took her into his confidence and then stripped it away.

"I'll die, Donna. Do you understand? I will die."

Donna rolled her eyes. "Yeah, remember what you were saying about being melodramatic?"

"I am not being melodramatic."

"Is this one of those emo things where you say if I leave you'll kill yourself? Because that's not very appealing either."

"Donna, this is the truth. If you go, I will die."

"What? Of a broken heart?"

"If you want to call it that, yes."

"What are you on about?," she asked finally looking up at him.

That's when she noticed the fear in his eyes. He was genuinely scared.

"I need you. I will die without you. This face. Like it? Because you leave and it's gone. A Time Lord can't lose his mate and stay long."

"What about when you lot regenerate? Don't you go then?"

"No. That's different for Time Lords. A death, yes, that could cause a regeneration. This is something else. You can't go. What do you want me to do? Beg? I will get on my knees and kiss your feet and do whatever you want me to for as long as you want me to so long as you don't leave."

"I want you to stop being such a monumental ass!," Donna shouted. She threw her things down on the floor in frustration. She had the Doctor's attention now. "You don't have to entertain me, you can be sad, but you have to be sad with me!"

The Doctor shook his head. "I don't think I can do that. My problems, Donna, my nightmares, they're mine and mine alone. I can't burden you with them."

"You don't get to have it both ways. Share with me or don't. I stay or I go, it's your choice."

"Please, don't go," he said his voice cracking.

"Then tell me what's going on," Donna pleaded.

"I don't want to lose you."

Donna sighed. "Well, you're certainly doing everything you can to make that happen, sunshine."

"If you know who I am, what I think, everything, you'll go, you'll leave because I am awful. I am everything they said I was on the bus and that's why I've lost everything."

"Stop it," said Donna. She walked over and put her hand on his chest. "I know who you are, okay? And I won't go anywhere."

"You won't?"

"Not if you try. I'm not saying you're going to be perfect or that I'm going to be perfect, but if you try, you really try, we can do this. I know we can. Just don't push me away anymore."

The Doctor nodded in silent agreement. "I haven't slept since Midnight."

"What?," asked Donna.

"Obviously, I don't require the same amount of sleep that you do, but I need some and-"

"It's been weeks," said Donna. She was incredulous.

"Yeah," the Doctor agreed.

She pointed at the bathroom. "Go take a bath and get in your pajamas."

"What?"

"How else are you going to sleep?," she asked. "Go on."

The Doctor did as he was told.

For the first time in weeks, Donna found herself in bed with her spaceman. Ironically, she wasn't able to sleep this time. She was too busy staring at him as she played with his hair. It was more fun like that on the rare occasions he was asleep and she wasn't to fuss with it and watch him try to fix the damage in the morning.

She was more distracted by the fervent fluttering in her stomach. Or the baby. She supposed she ought to get used to thinking of it like that. Her.

The Doctor stirred again. He opened his eyes and stared at Donna.

"What happened? Bad dream?," she asked softly.

"I just wanted to be sure you're still here."

"Of course I am, you git." Donna kissed him. "Go back to sleep."

"Talk to me for a bit," he said closing his eyes.

"What about?"

"Anything."

Donna nodded. "Okay, maybe you can clear something up for me."

"What?"

"The day we met, were you looking down my dress?"

His eyes opened. "What?"

"You see because, I used to think it was just some Martian thing-"

"I was trying to save your life!"

"See, but did you have to stare at my breasts to do that? And given the way you stare now..."

"Huon particles can get anywhere, Donna."

"See, but then once the dress was wet and I didn't have any Huon Particles left, you couldn't stop looking."

"I was investigating!" She gave him a look of disbelief and he added, "Thoroughly!"

"Oh, is that what you call it? So, just to clarify, the day we met, you were not, in fact, staring at my breasts and in no way found me attractive?"

There was a pause. "Well, I don't know if I would say that-"

"I knew it."

"You did not! I was investigating!"

"God, I wonder what would have happened if I got the other dress."

The Doctor looked up. "What other dress?"

"At Chez Alison, it was down to two dresses. The one I got and this other one. Strapless corset top. Really tight, pushed everything up. My mum vetoed it, said I looked a bit like a tart and she was paying for half of it so I ended up with the other one. Too many goods on display, she said." Donna knew she was enjoying this too much as she looked over to see the wheels turning in the Doctor's head.

The Doctor spoke after a few moments passed. "You don't suppose they still have it, do you?"

"See, you were looking! Lucky I didn't get it, you would have lost all control."

The Doctor grumbled. "I don't think I like your mother all that much."

"It's alright," said Donna. "I got a pretty good look at your bum."

"What?"

"When you were climbing the ladder."

"You- you-" he stammered. "You called me a skinny streak of nothing!"

"Well, not right then."

The Doctor paused. "Wait, why did you invite me in?"

"Well, you didn't stay for dinner and now we'll never know, will we?"

"Oh, come on!," the Doctor groaned. "You're joking."

"I don't know, my fiancé was going to feed me to a giant spider, my standards that day were pretty low."

"Now you're just mocking me." He closed his eyes and settled back into his pillow. "When I tell this story, none of that's going in it."

"Fine. I'll have my own version."

"Oh, I bet you will."

Donna realized he had fallen back asleep. He could do that: be talking one second, asleep the next. She decided it would be a good idea for her to rest as well, relieved it would be for the first time in days without tears.

A/N: Reviews are like finding a clever simile. Yeah, I know. I suck at this.