A 'Sim'ple Story

Hearts on the Line (1)

"You went to work?" Joe asked in shock as he took in his housemate's dishevelled appearance in front of him.

To say that the last few weeks had been tough on Dianne would be an understatement! They hadn't been a walk in the park for Joe either, but he wasn't the one who had been caught up in a fire. The redhead was still dealing with the physical and emotional effects from that experience, made even more difficult by her and Joe's one-night-stand, which they were both reminded of every time they saw each other. But she didn't want to dwell on it, so Dianne threw herself into work; attempting to do as many late shifts as possible to keep her from thinking about what she was going through. And the young woman also knew that the less time she could spend in Joe's company, the better. Dianne understood that she couldn't avoid him forever (and she remembered what happened the last time they had left things unresolved), but she just wasn't ready to deal with their relationship yet.

"Yeah, I have to pay rent somehow," she replied slowly, "Besides, I do actually like my job, I don't mind going in!"

Joe nodded, "Yeah, but after what happened..."

The Australian forced a smile onto her face, "Thanks for your concern, but I'm fine".

"Dianne, you went through something really traumatic," Joe pointed out, then jokily added, "And you were in a fire as well!"

The young woman sniggered at the jest about their night together, "I'm handling it".

"That's great," Joe assured her earnestly, "But it's okay if you need some help, I'm sure your boss wouldn't mind you taking some time off if you needed it".

"But I don't need it," she countered determinedly, "I don't need anything".

Joe snorted, "Yeah, you do," he argued before gesturing up and down her body, "You need a shower, you need sleep, and you need Jesus!"

Dianne scoffed, "Thanks a lot, Joseph!" she replied sarcastically, "And you need your technicolour dream coat!"

The younger man chuckled and shook his head, "I guess I deserved that," he conceded, then grimaced, "Sorry, Di".

"No drama", she replied with a shake of the head, hoping that he would catch onto the double meaning. His remark hadn't really offended her, so she wasn't going to hold it against him. But, more importantly, Dianne didn't want any more tension between them.

It appeared as though Joe understood her, as he nodded, "Thanks".

There was a lingering silence as the two of them held each other's gazes across the kitchen counter, which didn't help with the 'no drama' thing! The redhead excused herself by claiming that she needed to 'go and find Jesus', oblivious to the chuckle and warm smile that she received from Joe as she hurried away.

It was getting increasingly harder for the pair to deny their feelings, especially after their night together; which should have felt wrong, but had actually felt so right. But Joe and Dianne still refused to have a proper conversation about it, fearing what it would mean for their friendship as well as their living situation. Dianne, in particular, dreaded a future without the person she considered her best friend, and the home that they had been sharing these past few months. Joe had similar reservations, worried about what he stood to lose over what he could gain from putting his feelings out there. The pair questioned for the millionth time whether they should take a leap of faith; whether it was worth the risk.

---

It turned out that Joe had been right about Dianne the previous night, not that she was surprised. The redhead's long hours at work had physically and mentally exhausted her, and as much as Dianne hated the awkwardness in the household, she knew that she couldn't continue on the dubious cycle of overworking and overthinking. So, Dianne awoke after the longest sleep she'd had in years, feeling refreshed; and the sight of Joe preparing breakfast certainly helped to lift her spirits. However, she was brought back down to Earth with six simple words: "We should check up on Nancy".