The road less travelled...

Title: Friends or Strangers 1/12
Author: katherine_b
Rating: PG
Characters: Donna and the Doctor (John Smith)
Disclaimer: If the Doctor and Donna were really mine, this story wouldn’t even need to exist!
Spoilers: Up to and including Planet of the Dead
Summary: Donna’s got a new friend…
A/N: The idea for this story began when I read gylzgirl’s story Tattoo. Thank you so much!
A/N 2: Yes, before anyone asks, this is that story

Prologue

Donna Noble stumbles, swears and nearly falls into the gutter. Only a hand on her arm keeps her on her feet, and she looks up into a pair of amused brown eyes.

“John Smith,” she says with a lopsided grin. “My knight in shining armour.”

“Which makes you my damsel in distress.” He offers his arm with old-fashioned courtesy, holding the umbrella over her head to keep off the rain. “When I saw your ginger locks coming out of that bar, I thought you might appreciate the company.”

“You mean you wanted to make sure I got home without falling over my own feet,” she retorts, surprisingly quickly considering the amount she’s had to drink. This man always seems to have a sobering influence on her, and she’s grateful for the support of his unexpectedly strong arm.

“Well, you weren’t doing such a good job of that,” he says with a grin that quirks the dimples in his cheeks. “Your mother would never let you drive her precious car if you broke your ankle, and those shoes are a danger to your health.”

“How many times do I have to tell you – I’m not buying myself a pair of converse!” She rolls her eyes. “They might go with that suit of yours, but they certainly don’t go with my dresses!”

He chuckles and doesn’t pursue the matter any further. She takes a firmer clasp on his arm and he begins to discuss a recent news report regarding the foibles of a particular politician. Even as Donna is somewhat absent-mindedly putting in her two cents, she’s musing over the fact that, while John Smith might be a relatively new figure in her life, she’s surprised at how quickly he’s become so important to her.

She ran into him – literally – as she was coming out of a coffee shop one day. Only his remarkably agile leap to one side avoided him getting her drink all over his brown suit, and of course she had to apologise and then go back in to replace her spilt beverage, which he had insisted on paying for.

He had seemed familiar even on that first day. While they were sharing a table and a drink, she’d mentioned it, but cautiously – the last thing she wanted was for him to think she was flirting with him and that this was some casual pick-up line! John’s ready response was that he was a friend of her grandfather and that was when she remembered seeing him at her house one day.

So that answered the question of why certain things about him evoked particular emotions in her, even if she had had no memory of his face or his voice when they met.

Donna had chatted to John so easily, even on that very first day, that it felt as if she’d known him forever. That feeling only grew as they spent more time together. It had all been quite accidental at first. She found that he went to the same market as she did, that his apartment was quite close to her office, and that they enjoyed walking in the same park.

And after a while, Donna finds herself subconsciously looking for him whenever she’s at one of those places, and her day isn’t quite the same if he fails to appear with his usual broad smile and a friendly, teasing comment.

Unfortunately, he’s also very good at appearing when she would actually prefer him not to. John had found her late one night when she’d had rather too much to drink and was trying to get into her car and drive home. His disapproval – no, it was more like disappointment – was obvious, and had played on Donna’s mind for a surprisingly long time afterwards. It hadn’t been a conscious decision, but Donna found that she was drinking less when she did go out with her friends, even if they teased her about it. John, however, hadn’t even tried to disguise his relief and delight, and that made her friends’ reactions bearable.

“Hey, you in there anywhere?” John’s voice teases, and she blinks and focuses on him. There’s a grin on his face, but the expression in his dark eyes is concern.

“Yeah, sorry, million miles away.” She gives his arm a gentle squeeze. “Did I miss anything good?”

“Just me wasting my deep and meaningful thoughts on the air,” he retorts with a wink. “Remind me not to bother next time, huh?”

“Anything you say.” She chuckles and nudges him with her elbow. “As if I could stop you when you’re in full flight!”

He nudges her back and gives one of those grins that always makes her smile.

They stop outside Donna’s front gate and she glances at him. “Do you want to come in out of the rain?”

John glances at the window of the living room and Donna follows his gaze, knowing what his response will be as soon as she sees Sylvia’s blonde hair above the back of her armchair.

“Not tonight.” He ducks his head to dot a light kiss on her cheek. “I’ll see you soon, Donna.”

And he’s gone before she can say anything else. Ducking her head to keep the rain from trickling down her neck, she dashes up the driveway, glancing over her shoulder when she gets to the safety of the portico to look out into the street, but John has already disappeared into the darkness.

Unable to completely wipe the smile off her face, she lets herself in and removes her coat, shaking the water out of her hair as she goes into the living room.

* * *
Teaser for the next part:

Such dreadful loneliness that it makes her want to cry...