On That Midnight Street | Joanne

Chapter Sixteen

"I don't know what's going on, but you need to calm down. You're not going to be able to have a conversation if you're like this."

Dianne paced back and forth in her bedroom. Her brother's calm voice not quite doing enough to quash the worries flooding her brain.

"I know" she said quietly. "I know, but I'm just confused. Everything was going so well. We've had a great week, but suddenly he's gone off me. The only thing I can think is that it was something to do with Emelia. Something to do with the fact that he saw her and spoke to her and now it's all too real."

She took a breath. Andrew tried his best to reassure her, but she continued.

"I mean, he's young. He told me he's never had a serious girlfriend. He's probably realised he's not ready to date someone with a child."

Dianne had let herself fall far too easily in the past. She had vowed, since Emelia had grown older, that she needed to take her time in the early stages of relationships. This thing with Joe had moved fast, and Dianne wasn't sure if she was already in too deep.

"Dot, you need to stop this. You can tell from the way he looks at you that he really cares. It could be something really tiny. You're tired, you've been working far too hard and you're waking up early every morning to speak to Emelia. You've probably just blown it out of proportion."

Dianne sighed, rubbing her temple with her thumb.

"You need to speak to him. I'm going to hang up now and you're going to call him, ok?"

"OK". Dianne took a breath. "Thank you. For listening."

"It's nothing" Andrew said sweetly. "Call me later if you need me, OK?"

Dianne hung up the call and sat on her bed. She took a deep breath and scrolled down to look at the number of missed calls she had from Joe.

"Should probably call you back, then" she muttered.

Before she had chance to dial, there was a soft knock at her door. Pulling herself to her feet, Dianne walked closer. Looking through the peephole, she saw a very tired-looking Joe.

"Di? Di, are you in?" He said quietly.

She undid the latch and pulled the door open slowly. She met his eyes. It was clear that she had been crying.

Joe sighed. "Can we talk?"

///

They settled down on the couch. Dianne pulled her legs up to her chest, almost rolling herself into a ball.

Joe spoke softly. "Are you alright?"

Dianne shrugged, not wanting to make eye contact. "I don't know. I don't know what's going on, Joe."

"What do you mean?"

She sighed. "Well, everything was fine and then you've just been weird with me. I want to know what I've done so I can fix it. Even if... even if you don't want to be with me, I still have to dance with you."

Joe turned to face her. "What do you mean 'if I don't want to be with you'? Where has that idea come from?" He tried to stay calm.

Dianne shrugged. "It's just what I think. You didn't want to be anywhere near me today. It must have been hard enough for you to dance with me for two whole minutes."

Joe ran a hand through his hair and took a moment to take in what she was saying, and what she meant. "OK. I think I know what's going on."

Dianne seemed to ignore him and continued. "I mean, if it's because you're freaking out about Emelia and you don't want to be with someone who has a kid, just say it. I've heard it before and I can take it. But I need to know what we are so I can focus. I just need to..."

Joe moved closer and took her hand.

"OK. Breathe." Dianne took a shaky breath and lifted her eyes to meet Joe's.

"I'm sorry if I was weird today" Joe took the chance to speak. "I... after the incident in the lift with Oti I got a bit spooked. I... I know you've said before that the pros can get in trouble for dating their partners and I think I just took it to heart. I thought... I thought that, if I kept my distance, it might stop the rumours and we could carry on and stop worrying about getting caught."

Dianne listened to his explanation, slowly calming down.

"I want to be with you, Dianne. I'm serious. I've never felt this way about anyone else. I guess I just got scared because I don't want anything I do to affect what happens to you after the competition. I don't want to be the one responsible for ruining your career if people find out about us."

Dianne smiled softly.

"And you don't need to worry about Emelia. She's an awesome kid. You're a great mum. And I've told you before that it's not an issue for me. I really like you, Dianne. I really like you. Just as you are."

Joe leaned in and pressed a soft kiss to her forehead.

"Is there anything you're still worrying about?" He asked quietly.

Dianne shook her head and turned to face him. "I... I'm sorry for running away. I guess I just panicked a little bit. We've moved really fast and..." she paused for a breath. "A lot has happened very quickly. And I have a lot of feelings for you. I..."

Joe closed his eyes, smiling. "What?" She asked in a whisper.

"I have a lot of feelings for you, too."

Leaning in, Dianne pressed her lips to Joe's.

"So we're OK? You're OK?" Joe asked as they pulled apart.

Dianne nodded. "I think so. But can we talk about these things when they happen? If you're worrying about this stuff, talk to me. You're my partner and I care about you- don't bottle things up."

Joe smiled and squeezed Dianne's hand. "You're amazing." She smiled back at him. "I don't think I care who knows how I feel about you. You're really important to me."

Dianne looked into his eyes. "So, you're not going to give me the cold shoulder next week?" Joe smiled.

"Definitely not. Back to normal?"

Dianne smiled and leaned in to kiss him once more. "I think it's a new kind of normal. But, yeah. I like it."

///

The following morning, Joe awoke to find Dianne still asleep and cuddled into his side.

Slowly, she opened her eyes.

"Hey".

"Morning."

Dianne stretched a little, before curling back into him. "This is nice."

Joe smiled. "It is." He leaned down and kissed her head. "I'm glad we sorted everything out."

They laid in comfortable silence for a few minutes, before Dianne turned to face Joe.

"Joe?" She asked quietly. "What... what are we?"

Joe turned to face her. "I don't know. I... I just know I don't want to see anyone else. Just you."

Dianne smiled. "Me neither."

Before Joe could carry on the conversation, Dianne's phone vibrated on her bedside table.

She sat up and pulled on a hoodie from the floor before answering. "Hello? Oh, hi peanut. How are you going? Oh you're driving with Grandpa? Where is he taking you?"

Joe leaned back into the pillow, his arm still around Dianne's waist as she chatted.

She was right- this was a different kind of normal, he thought. But it was wonderful. And it was theirs.