It takes two

Chapter nine

"Oh Lord, and same. What time did you go to sleep?" She sighed deeply.

"Twelve...I was worried about Emelia. She doesn't sleep away from home really, so it's a big thing for me, as a mum." Joe nodded, imagining how she must have been feeling, not content at all. He hated to see her down, and would do his best by her, always.

"Yeah, I would be really worried. Hey, you could always FaceTime her, or get her a souvenir, I know a shop in the village that does little toys and things, we could pop in there afterwards?" This made her feel ten times better, and the way Joe thought of the little things making her go a little mushy inside.

They pulled away, heading towards the platform amongst the crowds, swarming them at eight am that Monday morning. "She'll love that, something for the memory box." Joe furrowed an eyebrow, not having heard of having a memory box, not knowing anyone who had one as a kid.

"Oh she has this little box with little things. Birth bracelet, birth certificate, her favourite doll, book, things that remind her of important things. This could be the one of Strictly, or the time her mum conquered her fear of heights."

Joe let out a chuckle. "I didn't know you were scared of heights, I used to be at one point, before the whole roof thatching thing." She nodded.

"Is there anything you're scared of now?"

"Rollercoasters, seeing the people I love upset, it sounds cliche but I can get very protective, ask Zoe." Dianne chuckled, imagining Joe I'm protective mode. She made a mental note of the rollercoaster one, the Strictly producers would need that for Halloween week, Sorry Joseph.

"I might just do that, and it's good, shows you care. I get protective too, especially over Emelia, ask Kevin." They got on the train, walking along the centre of the aisle.

"I might just do that."

They had been on the train for around twenty minutes, and the two of them had drifted off into a light slumber. Dianne had fallen asleep first, only ten minutes into the train journey and on his shoulder, head rested in the space between his shoulder and long neck, his scent strong, warm and comforting.

Dianne's phone pinged, waking them both out with a start, her slightly agitated but softening immediately and what had pinged on screen.

"Emelia has just headed into school, she's not too homesick but missed you loads, won't stop talking about you and Strictly. - Judy." Dianne read out, glad that she wasn't homesick or anything else of the sort. She yawned, still half awake. "Sorry it woke you, should really put it on silent." She put it on silent, sighing to herself.

"It's fine, I wasn't sleeping that deeply anyway. So have you ever been? To Wiltshire?" She shook her head. Truth was, she had never been outside of London, apart from tours obviously.

"Never. From what you've said, it's a lot like Bunbury. Quiet, rural?" Joe nodded, quiet being an understatement. A pin drop could be a shout in Wiltshire, said pin probably getting lost in the never fields of grass.

"Yep. Just villages, farms...and more farms." There were around three or four villages in the immediate area, it a small place with a high community spirit. Everyone knew everyone there; a real sense of family, a bit like Strictly.

"Sounds like something out of the olden times." Dianne imagined them all, the peasants and the nobles, all on their horses and wandering around, some knights off to war or something like that.

"It sort of is. Especially Castle Combe, it's like a proper little medival place, castles and cathedrals, lots of land surrounding them."

"Like one big garden." She grinned, her dimple prominent. It was these little things, her dimple, ideas, everything about her, that made her in his eyes so special.

"Yeah, a bit like one big garden."

///

"Uncle Gary! It's been a while!" Joe's Uncle Gary was also there, helping out with the filming by doing a little bit of speaking for the camera, as well as demonstrating some skills to Dianne and the people who would be watching at home. "How have you been?"

The two men embraced, Dianne watching the interaction. It was lovely to see Joe so close to his family, something she was herself.

"I've been great. Look at you, on Strictly Come Dancing, and you've grown so much, god." Joe chuckled slightly, standing next to Dianne who looked slightly shy.

"This is Dianne, my dance partner. She's the one teaching me to dance." Gary shook her hand, taking in the red head.

"G'day Gary."

"Oh would you look at that, Australian. We've all been quite partial to those down under, and I just want to say that you're a miracle worker, teaching him how to move his limbs at the same time." Dianne laughed, Joe rolling his eyes at his uncle.

"Thank you, but he's been amazing. He's picked up the steps really well and is coming along really nicely." Joe smiled over at her, trying not to blush which proved harder than expected.

"All down to you Di. Right, what are we filming first, interviews or the thatching?"

Joe and Dianne climbed down the six steps Dianne had went up, a small task for most people but a big leap for Dianne, Joe proud of her none the less. He knew that it had been a daunting task for her, and was glad he could help her through it a bit.

"I did it! I did it! That was probably the most terrifying thing I've ever done in my entire life." They high fived, the camera crew packing their things away and heading back to the station, going back to London. "Thank you."

"It's all good, and you were amazing. I know that it was hard to do, it was really scary my first time." She nodded, imagining having to be up there hours on end, an almost petrifying thought to have.

"I bet, plus having to do all that work on the roof. Anyway, you going to show us how it's done or what?"

A little while later they were browsing through the little charity shop that was in one of the local villages, having went straight there after filming their VT and before they would head back to London, starting the dance the next day.

The pair wandered around the shop, searching the shelves in hope to find Emelia a little souvenir. There were all sorts of things; mugs, candles, clothes, miniature dolls.

Joe spotted a little music box, one of those wind up dancers. The box had pictures of Wiltshire all over it, all collaged together. He took it down, holding it for a few moments.

"What about this, it's a Wiltshire themed wind up dancer music box thing, what do you think?" Dianne went over, taking an inspection at the contraption. It was perfect.