"What a day..." The brunette muttered to himself as he opened up his room. The hefty wooden door swinging open only to fall back onto him slightly as he lent up against the polished wooden door frame. His tired body getting in the way of the heavy door from locking shut once again.
His room was very much the same as it was before. The same white walls with the same wooden panels which were seen everywhere. The same arrangement of furniture placed around the same bed, with the same two, round windows staring back at him. A hopeful glint out through them showing the gentle ebb and flow of the waves they passed through. The metal bar of an external railing seeming to block his view of a distant city which he couldn't seem to name. The small dollops of light pollution rising up into the otherwise blackened sky being the only sign of human interference that night as they passed through international waters. It was all the same as he had found it back in Valencia, where the promise of a room all by himself excited him beyond belief; only now to send him into a world of disappointment and loneliness where, for the first time in his career Joe felt truly homesick. It was silly, or so he thought as he finally took a step into the room and allowed the door to click to a shut, that something as meaningless as a room which was designed for nothing more than sleeping in could put him in as much as state as it apparently had.
When he woke up in this very room earlier that morning, Joe felt as if he were on cloud nine. He had a gorgeous woman sleeping in his bed next to him, they held good conversation even when they were dreary eyed and half asleep, and for the first time in his life he found himself secretly begging her not to go, when every other occasion he found himself begging the women in his bed not to stay. Yet this morning, when she had indeed left, Joe found himself chugging along in autopilot, taking his time to straighten out his room into perfect order to ensure that everything had a place, and remained in it. Meaning that the beautiful chaos of his messy room and crumpled bed sheets he had awoken with this morning were no longer there, creating the familiarity of perfect order which he craved in his life before. Leaving in its wake the eradication of any sign of the perfectly chaotic redhead who was there this morning, with no notion of her return.
Sighing softly, Joe walked further into the room. Taking his time to continue with his nightly routine in which he first removed his jacket from off his back, placing it on the hanger he had left hooked over the handle to his wardrobe, before placing it back delicately in the closet. He then sat himself down on a small armchair in the corner of the room where he undid the knot of his tie, relieved himself from the constraints of his top button, and sat in silence for no more and no less than three minutes where he sipped on the final dredges of his water bottle. Where any other night he would take the time to consider things such as how he was feeling, how hungry he was, or how tired he was, or essentially any other basic requirement of his mind and body. Yet tonight the notions of his homeostasis were far from the singers mind, as instead all he could focus on was his conversation with Adam, and his desire to call his sister - knowing more than anything that she would know what to do.
Yet that was not where his quarrels solely rested that night, as beyond anything else Joe knew what it was he had to do to get rid of this feeling of incompletion which had come over him most of the evening. Yet it was more the 'how' which was confusing him. As Joe had divulged earlier in Adam he had never been in a situation like this. A situation where he wanted to find out more about a woman and actively spend his free time with her, when most commonly in his life he had found himself racking his brains for ideas as to how to get girls out of his life, rather than in. And because of these life choices it was no exaggeration that Joe very quickly found himself falling out of depth and feeling totally inadequate. Not quite knowing how exactly he was to both remain the version of himself she liked, and not the cocky, arrogant man who she had so clearly stated her hatred for, and act confidently enough to ask her the question he wanted to ask all at the same time. A mixture he was yet to have finished figuring out before his three minutes of time where up and he found himself once again acting on autopilot, standing up and heading out of his room without another thought of it. Only to find himself following the instructions he had given her earlier that morning and eventually finding himself staring the door in the face.
Room 23 E staring back at him, daring him to raise his hand and knock on the door. An action which he seemed to do utterly compliantly as he felt the solidity of the wood knock against the masonry of his knuckles, still completely unaware of what it was he was going to say to her when she opened the door. Or rather not knowing how to say it to her.
Yet as the door was pulled open with a gentle flourish, Joe found himself not needing to ponder on the intricacies of conversation, and instead found himself pondering something else. As rather than the petite redhead with big brown eyes that made his heart inexplicably sing, stood a woman who was about his height, with long flowing blonde hair, and familiar emerald green eyes which made his stomach flip and fumble like a failing gymnast.
"Kerry." He mused in surprise as he recognised the features before him. His voice shaky not because of nerves like he was expecting them to be for the redhead, yet now out of utter fear for the blonde.
"Joe." The Londoner hit back with an equal amount of surprise to see him stood at her door. His willowy figure and long neck now in the place where she had dreamed it would be one day, yet five years later than she had hoped, and vying for the attention of another woman.
"What are... what -" He stuttered out, unable to comprehend what the blonde would be doing at the redheads door.
"She didn't tell you did she?" Kerry interrupted, knowing from experience that if he was allowed to, Joe could stutter on forever.
"Tell me what?" He posed in return, clearly feeling the need to ask such an obvious question.
"Dianne. She never told you that her and I were sharing a room on this tour, did she?"
Joe paused for a moment. His eyeline heading past the blondes shoulder and into the room. The room which was quite clearly split in half, with one not too dissimilar to the perfectly chaotic mess that his room had been left in that morning, whilst the other was the imperceptibly clean, and clear cut perfectionism of the dancer stood before him.
Clearing his throat slightly, removing the fear that he would have to let down his guard down, the singer straightened his back, ran a cool hand through his hair and drew a smirk onto his lips. A new wave of confidence seeming to reside over him as he felt himself gain control once again. Joe knew already that Kerry thought nothing of him. He knew already that any chance they had of being together was long gone after their fateful night with one another five years ago, so he had nothing to prove. He didn't need to open the real version of himself up to her, simply because in his eyes she didn't deserve to see it.
"Well your name didn't exactly come up in conversation much you see. Not wanting to waste time and all." Joe answered with the sense of confidence which had lured Kerry into his room all those years ago.
"Hmm, I'm sure that's what you were doing Joe. After all, you need to save all the time you can, because from what I remember there really isn't a lot of time to be enjoyed with you once you're in the bedroom is there?"
"There's more time and more enjoyment in there for other girls Kerry, but with you It was always going to be quick wasn't it... Besides, quick escapes are what you're good at aren't they." Joe retorted, his eyebrows raised in a knowing snarl which sent a seed of anger through the blonde as another unforgiving memory of her past ran through her.
"If I recall correctly Joe, what escaped out of you arrived far quicker than anything I ever did. But I suppose there was only so much you could do after you begged me to sleep with you so much."
"You flatter yourself far too much Kez... But who am I to judge, you need to flatter yourself when no one else will."
"Who says nobody's flattering me anymore?"
"Well, Adam did the other day when he told me he might not put you on the list for the South American tour next May because of all that business with... well, you surely know why. I don't care though, without you floating about pretending people still come on these things to see you I might be getting a raise and some more stage time which is a bonus."
"I've told you this once Joe and I will tell you again now, the only way that you and I won't be put on a boat together is if one of us pushes the other overboard. A possibility which is becoming forever more likely the longer you stay at my door, so what is it that you want?" She asked through gritted teeth. Her flushed chest rising and falling in quick succession from what Joe could tell as he glanced down at the curve of the grey sports bra she wore.
"I want to speak to Dianne." He answered simply, not wanting to prolong her conversation with the blonde any longer than necessary.
"Why?"
"What do you mean why?"
"Why do you want to talk to her?" Kerry hit back, her voice full of overdubbed sarcasm which made the brunette seethe with anger. His irritatingly cocky smile crumbling slightly as he bit his lower lip in frustration before looking back into the emerald green stare of the loathed woman.
"Fine..." He began, holding his palms up in a mock surrender as his frustrations continued to rise. "I want to ask her on a date, that is if I have your permission of course." He answered with his own flourish of sarcasm.
"Absolutely not."
"Fuck off Kez." He mumbled back in aggravation. His patience quickly wearing thinner and thinner by the second.
"Tell me the truth Joe, why do you want to talk to her." Kerry pressed further, clearly feeling the need to protect the redhead from the nightmarish young man stood before her.
"I Just did but my answer was apparently unacceptable to you."
"But you don't date Joe... Everyone on this fucking boat knows that, including Di."
"I don't usually No. But for her I would quite like to make an acceptation."
"Why?"
"Because I think I fucking care about her okay."
Kerry paused unexpectedly. The sheer velocity, passionate anger, and sincerity to the brunettes voice seeming to throw her completely off guard. So much so that it was as if a complete stranger was stood at her door rather than the disappointment of a man she had come to know. His coquettish smirk whisked away and replaced with a quivering top lip. His composure and confidence which he so frequently used to his advantage seeming to slip away as the redhead came into conversation. His stony façade seeming to crumple under the pressure, revealing someone who the blonde could almost suggest was desperate for someone else's attention. Someone who ultimately she had never expected to see in her life time. A man who looked an awful lot like Joseph Sugg, but this time was less like the tin man with no heart, and rather like a cowardly lion wanting nothing more than to find the woman who could make him brave again.
"Please." He muttered softly, looking deeply into the emerald green of her eyes in such a way that seemed to break her. A look which she was clearly privileged to receive from him, yet in the same way not worthy enough to have been given herself five years before.
Sighing softly, Kerry ran a hand through her blonde locks. Her shoulders slumping forwards slightly deflated before she straightened them once again.
"Alright fine... She's in the shower at the moment but what do you want me to tell her?"
Allowing the breath he didn't know he was holding to pass through his lips, Joe gave the woman before him a curt nod of his head in gratitude for her cooperation.
"Just tell her that I really, really enjoyed last night and that I want nothing more than to take her out again tomorrow night somewhere in Monaco. And that I'll meet her for dinner down on the promenade for half past six tomorrow night, that is if she wants to go of course."
Kerry nodded in understanding. The singer and the dancer sharing a few content nods of approval of the brunettes plan in which they both agreed to partake in properly. Joe forever grateful that Kerry had eventually been so accommodating, whilst Kerry was continuing to figure out the realness behind his words - only to conclude that he wasn't attempting to ruin the redheads life like he had to hers.
"Thank you." Joe smiled softly as he gave her another nod of his head, before tucking in his white shirt which had begun to come loose around his torso before beginning to wonder back down the corridor.
"Joe!" Kerry called out in a moment of haste to catch his attention. "Please be kind to her."
Smiling sincerely, Joe nodded once in agreement, allowing a warmth and gratitude to spill over the Londoners heart before she watched him continue to walk away from her before she shut the door and went back into the sanctity of her room. Letting the confusion and hurt she felt for the boy to leave with him, and instead finding a moment to settle herself and open up to the idea that perhaps the redhead wasn't being naïve at all, and that maybe he really had changed. Or maybe even that she had fallen for the same trick she had fallen for five years ago all over again.
"Who was that?"
Looking up from the floor from where she had casually zoned out in recuperation of the encounter, Kerry looked over to where the question had come from. Green eyes meeting brown as she took in the stature stood before her. Her red hair wrapped in a towel upon her head, whilst her body was wrapped in another. Small droplets of water from the shower she had taken balanced on the angles of her collarbones. A small silver necklace dangling around her neck and landing at the centre of her chest.
"Umm... it was just Joe." Kerry answered somewhat solemnly as she straightened herself from her leaned position up against the door she had just closed, before raising a hand to her face to wipe the corner of her eye and the skin just underneath her nose with a gentle sniff.
"Oh..." Dianne answered, a little shocked to hear the name fall from her friends lips. Prompting her to stumble slightly until she was sat on the side of her bed, continuing to stare up at the blonde as she sat down, rearranging her towel slightly in order to protect her modesty.
"Yeah." Kerry hit back as she took in a large breath, allowing a polite smile to rise on her lips as she too settled herself down. Taking a seat in the inconspicuous arm chair in the corner of the room by the door with a hefty sigh escaping her lips as she looked over at the redhead.
"W-what did he want?"
"He, believe it or not, wanted to speak to you... Something about asking you on another date."
Nodding once in understanding, Dianne couldn't help the small smile that rose upon her lips. A small almost, inconsiderate smile which ignored the woman sat opposite her and the conversation they had shared barely a couple of hours before. One which had played on the redheads mind so much that she had camped out in their bathroom for an hour before deciding to take the shower she told the other woman she was about to take.
Kerry on the other hand could not ignore that conversation she had shared with the redhead. She could not ignore the subtleties she had given her as words of warning about the young man who had seemed to change so much in the space of one very brief conversation.
There was a part of her that still wanted to be right. That still wanted that cocky, arrogant, hellish specimen of a man who had tormented her on that fateful night nearly five years ago to do the same to the Australian sat smiling gleefully before her. Yet what was bigger than that was the strain she felt beginning to covet every single fibre of her being as she considered the meeting she had just had with the same boy. His hopeful stare and effervescent charm seeming to have the same effect on her that it had five years ago. A time where she too would have felt excited at the prospect of seeing him once again, and would have without a shadow of a doubt wanted to take that opportunity with both hands.
"Did... did he say anything else?" Dianne questioned into the subtle silence which had overcome the two of them.
"Yeah." Kerry nodded in response, her polite smile beginning to fall slightly as she did the man she despised one hell of a favour. "He, uh... He said that if you would like to, he would want to meet you down at the promenade tomorrow night at six-thirty so he can take you out for some dinner when we dock in Monaco tomorrow."
As the message fell from her lips, Kerry watched as the woman before her stood up with a wide, genuine smile on her face. Her drastic movement causing the towel wrapped around her head to tilt slightly off the centre point of her skull, slowly unravelling a little and hinting at the stain of red hair dye upon the once white fabric. A clear sense of excitement exuding from the woman who had received a piece of news in something which was no more than a minute long conversation containing four sentences, something which was for some reason feeling like the hardest thing Kerry had ever had to endure.
"Are you okay with this?" Dianne questioned once she sorted out her hair and towel situation. Her smile wider than the Londoner had ever seen it before, and a hopeful glint in her eye which was so similar to Joe's that it was almost frightening.
Shrugging slight, Kerry brought her hand up to her face, her elbow planted firmly on the arm of the chair as her fingers obscured the slight uncontrollable wobble of her lower lip. "Doesn't matter what I think Di. It only matters what you think. Besides, I'm not in a position to judge you for liking him when I used to as well." She answered with a curt nod of her head. Her voice ever so slightly wobbly as she gave her explanation. Watching carefully as the redhead, smiled, nodded, then retreated back into the bathroom. Shutting and locking the door behind her, leaving the blonde to fend for herself.
Kerry continued to sit there for a while. Maybe two, three minutes at most. Her mind taking in and attempting to justify the way she was feeling. That afternoon she had gone through all the emotions possible, most of them completely inexplicable. She had been happy, excited, curious, angry, distrusting, surprised, hurt, and now as much as she hated to admit it, she was jealous.
Jealous of the fact that a perfectly kind, funny, beautiful woman had been asked on a second date from a man who clearly cared for her.
An option which she was never even offered after that fateful night, five years ago.