Apparently I had an epilogue in me too. Some fluff, and a happy ending for Donna. And a sudden change in verb tenses.

DWDWDW

Things change after Donna's confession, and they don't. They still save planets, argue over who ate the last biscuit and laugh uproariously at Monty Python, even the bad sketches.

But one day, after dinner, Donna leans back in her chair, legs stretched out in front of her, and casually tells him that isn't it about time you did the dishes, Spaceman? Only a slight stiffness in her lips and the arrogant throw of her head reveals how much the simple sentence costs her.

The Doctor is stunned for a few seconds, then grins at her. He has never been happier to do dishes in all of his lives.

As she sits there, watching him juggle plates and glasses, looking content in soft, washed-out sweatpants and a pink cardigan, he wonders if he has ever seen a lovelier woman.

The Doctor blushes. Better not think things like that.

Only that they keep cropping up, like when they are running and she wriggles her fingers at him for him to grasp, the first time she is the one to suggest it.

When she hugs him goodnight, holding on a second too long and smirks slightly as he blushes.

And the thoughts definitely come when she grabs him by the lapels after he has just completed a frankly marvelous bit of flying and kisses him.

And kissing Donna Noble is as brilliant as everything else about her is. As everything else about their life together is. It just makes sense that they do this thing brilliantly too.

He is hesitant though, not wanting to be like the others, but then she says the most beautiful thing and he thinks he might be regenerating because there's a golden fire in his bloodstream and Donna's hands are touching him, eager and confident and self-assured.

"I want to. I trust you."