On That Midnight Street | Joanne

Chapter Nine

The following week, Joe and Dianne were asked to go back to Wiltshire once more to dance in front of pupils from his old school. The routine had not gone all that well since they were only given a tiny portion of floorspace to dance on. But people had filmed it on their phones, and most of the comments online were about their chemistry and how cute they look together.

"We do look cute" Dianne said quietly, leaning into Joe's side and watching as he scrolled through his tagged images on Instagram. Joe smiled.

"We do."

Joe patted Dianne's thigh and felt her lean in closer. The two of them were sat side-by-side on the train home from a busy day of filming. They were both desperate to get back into a proper-sized studio and correct all the mistakes they had made in their earlier performance.

Dianne rested her head against Joe's shoulder, and felt him tense up.

"What's up?" She lifted her head and turned to face him. Joe met her gaze for a moment before looking away.

He glanced around the train carriage before muttering "not here" under his breath.

///

The two of them had made the decision to go straight into a studio and work until late to get their routine up to standard.

As soon as the door closed behind them, Dianne leaned against it and folded her arms.

"Joe. Tell me what's going on."

Joe had remained tense for most of their journey home. He had stared out of the window, avoiding eye contact with everyone, and had not spoken much over the last few hours.

He paced in front of her.

"I... I'm just..." He groaned in frustration. "I'm just worried. I'm worried that we're being too obvious. That people are going to think there's something going on. I just don't want the pressure."

Dianne sighed. "I know what you mean. We... we just need to be careful. As long as we keep whatever this is," she gestured between them, "private, people can speculate all they want. I knew people would start saying that type of thing the moment I released that press statement, but it was the right thing to do."

Joe nodded. "OK. I guess I'm just worried about blurring the lines. Between us, I mean. I'm supposed to be your dance partner. And that's it. I don't want to lose focus on the dancing."

Dianne nodded. "I know. It's hard."

"It is." Joe stepped closer. "You know why? Because all I can think about..." he took a breath. "All I think about when we go through that stupid dance and I have my hands on you and I'm holding you and lifting you..."

Dianne swallowed. "Go on" she whispered.

"All I can think about is how much I want to kiss you." He felt himself blushing. "I... I can't kiss you. Not when I want to. But... I don't know. It's frustrating."

Dianne laughed softly. "It is frustrating." She stepped forwards, into the space between them. "I feel exactly the same." She rested her arm on his shoulder, her hand brushing the back of his neck. "But we have a job to do. Dance first, always. Life is dance and dance is life. Everything else has to wait."

Joe gulped as Dianne continued, her hand now stroking against his jaw.

"Tomorrow, we start again. We put everything else aside and we focus on the routine. On Saturday, after everything has finished, we can revisit whatever is going on and have a proper conversation. OK?"

Joe nodded. "Why... why are we starting tomorrow?" He asked, his shaking voice giving away the effect Dianne's subtle actions were having on him.

Dianne's eyes met his, her pupils dark and deep. "Because." Her eyes fluttered closed as her lips brushed against his jaw. "I." His ear. "Want". His cheek. ."To...."

Joe leaned in and captured her lips in a firm kiss. His hand ran along her waist and came to rest on her hip, his thumb rubbing lazy circles over the fabric that sat against her skin. Dianne's hand combed through his hair as she let her tongue brush against his bottom lip.

Their movements slowed and slowly, reluctantly, they pulled apart. Dianne rested her forehead against Joe's, her deep dimples a giveaway of how hard she was smiling.

"Shall we get on with the routine?" Joe asked, breaking the silence. Dianne laughed sweetly.

"We probably should. I didn't book this studio just to make out with you."

As she walked over to the sound system to connect her phone, Joe's mind was racing. He was becoming more and more sure that he wanted to do this properly. Not like so many of the other girls he had been with; he wanted to make sure he treated Dianne right. They were going to spend anything up to the next three months together and he didn't want to ruin what they had.

"Hey, Di?" Dianne looked up and saw Joe standing, looking at her bashfully. "What you were saying... about saving this for Saturday night? I was just wondering- do you have any plans on Sunday?"

Dianne shook her head. "I don't. Why?"

"Because" Joe cleared his throat, "because I want to do this properly. I want to take you out. If... if you'll come with me?"

Dianne smiled. "Of course. Of course I will."

///

The rest of the week went as smoothly- excuse the pun- as Joe could have hoped it to go. Their routine was coming together, and Joe was feeling good.

On Saturday night, Dianne came to Joe's dressing room just before they were due to line up for the opening of the show.

"Hey" Joe said, quickly checking his hair in the mirror. "You ready?"

Dianne nodded, adjusting her dress as she checked out Joe's costume. "I'm not sure about the makeup" she said with a glint in her eye. "The eyeliner is a bit much."

Joe nodded. "I'm never going to get it off, either. So I apologise in advance if I look like I'm going to a Green Day concert tomorrow."

Dianne smiled. "I'm really looking forward to it." She stepped forwards, clearing her throat gently. "I know I said we were going to wait until after, but I just wanted to..." She very gently pressed her lips against his. "For luck."

Joe smiled softly. "Thank you."

"Whatever happens out there, I want you to remember two things. Number one- I am insanely proud of everything you have achieved. You're becoming an amazing dancer and I am loving every second of working with you. And two," she paused and smiled. "Two- outside of this competition, you are an amazing person and I'm so grateful to get to spend even just these last few weeks with you."

Joe moved closer and took Dianne's hand in his, squeezing gently.

"You're amazing." He stopped what he was going to say as he heard people walking down the corridor, chatting loudly.

"Come on", he moved towards the door still holding her hand. "Let's dance."