Part 4

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"Morning, Donna!" Tracey trilled as she entered the office Monday morning. "How was your weekend?"

"Pretty good," replied Donna, grinning broadly. "We got most of the painting done."

Tracey gasped. "I'd clean forgot about your big move! You must be really relieved to escape from your mum's again after all this time."

"I'd be lying if I said it didn't feel good to have my own place," Donna told her as she bent to switch her terminal on. "Andy was like a big kid about it; but then what's new?"

Tracey gave her a slow smirk. "Does your Andy need some help to get his room as he wants it? I could come round tomorrow if he likes." She didn't miss the blush that suddenly appeared on Donna's cheeks at the mention of her houseguest.

"I'll pass your offer on," Donna answered as nonchalantly as she could. She wasn't going to blurt out that Andy had hardly spent any time at all in his own room, was she? That was for them to know and others to find out. Her mobile phone started playing an annoying ringtone at her, but her demeanour changed once she answered it. "Hello! Where are you?... No silly!... I'm fine; just been talking to Tracey…. She's offered to help you get your room looking nice… No, she didn't mean like that!... You tart!... Yes I will tell her… Erm, I think it was in the washing machine… As if my intention was to keep you in your underpants, you saucy sod!... Don't you dare touch my bras!... Why you…. Now now, you'll have Jean complaining again… That was totally your fault!... It was!... Not listening!... Oh, Andy? Can you pick up… yes, great minds think alike, obviously.,, Stop it! See ya later. Bye!" And with that she shut off her phone. She caught Tracey's interested gaze. "What? Why are you looking at me like that?"

"No reason," Tracey hastily replied. "You do realise that your phonecall was pretty incriminating, don't you?"

"They wouldn't sack me for that, surely!" Donna argued. "It was just a quick phonecall!"

"You are so oblivious!" Tracey teased, and ducked from the screwed up paper ball Donna aimed at her.

The next couple of weeks whizzed by as they settled into their new home and their newly adopted relationship. Every night they snuggled up together, offering each other support, and most mornings Andy escaped before Donna noticed his predicament. Well… they pretended she hadn't noticed. In fact she found it highly amusing!

He hadn't told Donna about his dreams; he knew she'd be appalled if he confessed the dramatic change in them. Well, perhaps 'dramatic' was too harsh a word, but they had changed. The feel of Donna's body in bed was understandably affecting him in all sorts of new and interesting ways; ways that aided and abetted several daydreams too. In some respects he was happy she had replaced and surpassed Rose during those all too vivid and lurid dreams in the night; and in other ways it was beyond excruciating! Andy made a mental note to ask Donna to consult her address book for him after all; once he'd sorted some other stuff out first.

Once they had chosen all the furniture and appliances they could need, Andy had shifted his attention onto building a sonic screwdriver of his own. The pieces he needed had been relatively easy to track down during the quieter moments of dealing with computer problems. The annoying part was getting to the relevant places to pick the pieces up; especially as he had to wait until a job came up that necessitated him travelling anywhere near the required place. He filled his spare moments drawing out his blueprints for various devices once he had a functioning sonic; and his main thought had been the means to grow their own TARDIS. They both knew it would take years, but a little forward planning would never go amiss. He never admitted to himself that he was avoiding his daydreams.

Donna crept up behind him as he worked on designing his latest project, and slipped her arms around his neck. "Come to bed," she whispered into his ear. "You can finish that another day."

He leant back into her embrace, and sighed happily. "When you're like this I can almost believe you mean it," he said.

"What makes you think I don't?" she playfully asked.

"What makes me think it," he repeated, grabbing her arm and using it to steer her into his lap. "Oh I don't know. Perhaps it has something to do with the fact you are an eternal tease who loves to goad me into a reaction? I'm sure you want to kill me."

"What are you on about? You can't die from an erection! Have you been watching Jeremy Kyle again?" Her eyes almost danced with mischief.

"No!" he retorted, and quirked an eyebrow at her. "Though what this has got to do with that sanctimonious anti-doctor Phil is beyond me."

"You're straying off the point, my little Earthman," she replied, delighted to get a defensive reaction to the word 'little'. "Why don't you just tell me what the problem is, and then I can help you."

"I've got to come clean here. I think I'm in lust with you," he admitted.

"Ah, that most flattering of emotions: lust. It has haunted me for many a year." She then swept her gaze down onto her chest and then back to him.

"Donna! I'm being serious here! It isn't about your chest… well, it is, but not just your…," he gestured faintly towards her breasts, "thingies… but the whole deal."

"Is that a new euphemism for sex? Because that's a new one on me," she challenged him.

"Just forget I said anything." He dejectedly shooed her off his lap. "I'll meet you in bed."

She shuffled over to him as soon as he got into bed. "I'm sorry for not taking you seriously," she apologised. "I can't help making fun of situations when things get a bit too personal."

"I know," he replied. "But it doesn't make it easy to cope with when I'm trying to be totally honest."

"I'm listening now," she reassured him. "Tell me anything you like."

"In that case, I'd like to tell you that things have changed for the better; that I don't dwell on the things I used to. I'm happy with you." He snuggled into her more. "Your turn."

"Me? Oh erm... Yes, I admit I've loved being here with you. It just seems to get better and better. I don't think I have ever felt this way about someone." She brought a hand up to stroke his sideburn. "Now what?"

"Let's try something new in that case. It might work for us; it might not," he reasoned.

Unable to speak for fear of spoiling it, she edged her mouth near to him, tilting her face slightly. He met her halfway with a soft press of his lips, keeping them close by to see how the land lay. With an inpatient gesture she grasped his head, and kissed him properly, their lips moved over the other's as they tentatively enjoyed the sensations. By mutual agreement they opened to deepen their kisses. By the time their tongues swept over each other he was comfortably settled between her legs as they sought out flesh to caress.

"I think you have a steering problem," she told him, as she felt him prod her hard in her stomach.

"What?" he barely got out as she rolled over him until she was straddling him. He gurgled and then groaned when she ground against him. "I want you," he panted.

"Andy! ANDY!" Donna yelled in his ear. "You fell asleep on your desk again! What is wrong with you? We've got a perfectly good bed to sleep in."

He snorted before jumping fully awake. "What? I thought I was in bed."

"Is that your subtle way of saying our mattress is too hard?" she asked, placing her hands under his armpits to encourage him to get up out of his seat. "Come on sleepyhead; let's get you where you belong."

He blinked blearily down at her, and leant heavily on her shoulder. "Was I asleep for long? Sorry, I didn't mean to."

She sighed. "Who'd have thought you'd abandon me for a set of blueprints? I never realised how interesting I am."

They'd reached the bedroom at this point, and he sat heavily down onto the bed. "It's not like that! You know it isn't. I'm trying to grow our baby TARDIS quicker." He grasped her hands and pulled her down next to him. "I want to give you time and space again; put us back among the stars where we belong."

Donna wiped away the tears that had suddenly welled up at his thoughtfulness and sincerity. "In that case I'd better give you a home for the time being."

"You already do," he whispered into her hair as they clasped each other; so she sobbed some more.

The next day she was nattering with Jean at the bottom of the stairs when he arrived home. Jean had taken to almost leaping out and coercing Donna into a conversation; it was a good job Donna recognised the clear symptoms of someone suffering from loneliness otherwise she'd have dismissed her like other people apparently did.

"Hi honey, I'm home!" he trilled, enjoying their now established jokey welcome.

"Hello you! You look more pleased with yourself than normal. What have you been up to?" she asked, lightly kissing his cheek.

He indicated towards his messenger bag. "I picked up a little something special for our baby this afternoon. I can't believe I managed to find it!" he happily told her. "Oh hello Jean. How are you?"

Jean appeared to be wrestling with something mentally. "I'm fine thanks. Are you fine, Donna?"

Donna looked back at her with suppressed surprise. "Erm… yeah, I'm still fine." She reached out and wove her arm around Andy's. "I'd better get on with some dinner, so we'll see you later, Jean."

"What was the matter with her?" Andy asked Donna as soon as they shut their front door behind them. "Why is she obsessed with your health? Did you have a funny turn? Is your head okay?" He observed her anxiously.

"Don't you start!" she retorted, batting away his good intentions. "She was alright until you turned up and then she went all weird." She paused for a second. "You don't think she fancies you. Do you?"

He chuckled. "Don't be daft! Who'd fancy me?"

"Do you want a list? There's quite a few where I work at the moment," she answered, glad to see another chance to tease him.

He quirked an eyebrow at her. "How many is 'quite a few'? Enough to set up a fan website and a helpline?" he queried.

"Not enough to trample me in the stampede to get to you. Or have I got footprints all over my back?" She turned to give him a view of her creamy flesh revealed by her low-cut summer top and her nicely rounded posterior, he noted.

He laid a hand on her shoulder blade and rubbed a thumb absently on her skin. "Nope, no footprints yet." He leant forward and sniffed. "Just a hint of delicious."

Donna felt the flush creep up her cheeks. "Make the most of it; you won't get anything delicious for dinner," she quipped.

She hadn't been prepared for him to suddenly wrap himself around her, and whisper seductively into her ear, "What about dessert? Anything could happen after dinner."

Oh my god! He needed to come with a health warning! "I bet you say that to all the girls," she lamely answered, trying not to notice how close his hands were to her breasts. He was almost within cupping distance; and all it would take would be to grind her bottom against his groin to encourage him.

"Why would I bother with them? I've got you in my arms. Just you wait until later tonight; I should have something spectacular to show you," he continued to talk low into her ear, smoothing away all her doubts.

'Let's push him over into snogging me senseless,' she decided. "Spectacular? How amazing are you going to get?" she leant back to ask, exposing her neck for any possible lip attack.

"It won't be me exactly that'll be amazing," he confessed, releasing her. "I told you I picked up that component I was after, so I can finally finish my sonic screwdriver! That's terrific, huh?"

He was clearly extremely pleased with himself; and she knew she should be pleased too, but instead her heart sank. "Yeah, terrific," she echoed. Her heart sank even more when he bound away in his excitement.