One Foot in Front of the Other

Part 13

{Dianne}
For once I feel like I'm actually prepared for something earlier than I need to be. Joe's been drifting in and out of sleep whilst I've been packing my suitcase. Not that I need much, since I still have clothes and things at my parents house that I'll need. Again, I look round the room to see if I've got everything and take my case downstairs. My plane doesn't leave until tonight, but that doesn't mean I don't want to be ready. More time before the flight equals more time with Joe in my eyes, and that's an opportunity I can't miss out on. I traipse back upstairs to see that Joe's lying on his front, still asleep, so I throw a pillow at his head. He moves slightly but it doesn't really seem to have done anything. Resorting to the next option, I set an alarm on my phone for ten minutes time. And one for eleven. And twelve. An alarm every minute, for 10 minutes. I figure that I'll nearly be out of the shower in 10 minutes, so he should just about be getting up then. Should. My towel is in the bathroom already, so I put my phone down on Joe's bedside table and open the curtains for good measure, light flooding the room. If that doesn't wake him up, I think, nothing will.

{Joe}
Swearing, I turn my alarm off. Again. I'm sure it only went, like, a minute ago. It's doing my head in. Picking my phone up, I begin to scroll through various social media. As per usual, it's not very interesting at this time in a morning. What time even is it? 8:02. Great. If it wasn't for my alarm I wouldn't be up yet, I don't want to be up yet, to be fair. The alarm goes again and I automatically move my thumb to the top of my phone to swipe it off, except it isn't coming from my phone. Di's phone is on my bedside table and that's where the sound is coming from. Dianne. Where is she? She's not in bed beside me, I realise. Then I think that she's probably just gone downstairs for something, and that's why the alarm's going off, it's for her. When I turn Di's phone over, the screen glares at me, and I let out a laugh. Maybe the alarm isn't for her after all, since she's called it 'JOE GET UP NOW'. I turn the alarm off and carrying on looking through my phone. Then the alarm goes again. 8:03. The same message. Rolling my eyes I swipe up on her phone to delete the rest of the alarms, as I'm certain they won't be the only ones. Sure enough, there are 7 more alarms waiting to go off, all spaced within a minute of each other. Just as I lock her phone it vibrates and lights up again, it's a message from Zoë,

'Really?! I can't believe that!! Don't tell him, he'll freak out!! It's so funny that yo-'

And that's it. I read it and reread it. Don't tell who? Don't tell me? I can't even read the rest of it, as I can't for the life of me remember what her password is. Suddenly the door opens and Di walks in, a beam on her face,
"Hey Joseph you're awake!!" Then she sees my face and realises I'm holding her phone, and her face falls.

{Dianne}
"Don't tell me what, Di?"
"Nothing!!" I've already taken the phone from him and I'm replying to Zoë, what a time for a message like this to come through. The annoying thing is, it's not even anything big. In fact, it's hardly anything, that's how little it is. Joe just gets up and walks out of the room, shaking his head incredulously. I lean my head back in frustration before hearing the bathroom door lock. Why couldn't he have at least said something? I scroll through the messages from Zo. They're mainly silly ones, ones of us messing about or about our day, but then there's that one. I'd been looking for tickets for Joe to come to Australia with me, and there was one next to my seat. I'd been looking as a joke at first, but then it'd got me thinking, did I actually want him to meet my family? Of course the answer to that question is yes, but I felt that this is too soon, in all honesty. If anything, this little argument has cemented that in my head. I read the text aloud to myself,

'Really?! I can't believe that!! Don't tell him, he'll freak out!! It's so funny that you were looking as a laugh and then actually found one!! Are you sure this is the right time?? Xx'

My reply is simple,

'Decided against it, I don't think it's the right time, I don't want to rush things xx'

Immediately five messages come through from her, saying that she supports my decision, and that whenever is the right time for me will be the right time for Joe. I smile. At least one Sugg is happy, I think as I trail to the bathroom, ready to tackle the other.
"What?" Is the reply as I knock on the door,
"Joe you can't hide in there forever, I'm leaving tonight and I want to spend all of today with you." He opens the door a crack. God, he really is a child sometimes.
"And I'm ready to tell you what the text was about."
He pulls me into a hug, "Okay."