It's in the little things: One-shots x2

Wife behaviour

Lockdown 3.0.
Like so many others, both Joe and Dianne found themselves planted in the same daily routine, each day blending into each other, each week passing by without a single glimmer of hope for the potential light at the end of the coronavirus tunnel. With each day demonstrating the same miserable, cold weather, a sense of never-ending darkness and a serious lack of social interaction, the young couple turned to the internet to fill the present void in their usually busy working and social schedules.

As a social media star in his late twenties, Joe naturally found himself searching for new ways to entertain his growing audience; an audience which has grown with him, since his early days and hilarious pranks on Caspar, through Strictly Come Dancing and the subsequent relationship with his dance partner-turned-girlfriend, his stint on WestEnd and now his new found love for Twitch streaming. Almost-daily streams, ranging from Call of Duty, GTA. AmongUs and even a Sims series with Dianne had provided some form of escapism over the past few months and a chance to play with old friends, new friends and subscribers and also offering his darling girlfriend, a brief moment of alone time.

You see, dear reader, like any truly loving couple- Both Joe and Dianne treasure every moment spent together, especially when you consider the fact that until COVID-19 reared its ugly head, this couples relationship found itself revolving round several periods of separation ranging from a few days, to up to two weeks apart. In fact, the silver lining of such a global disaster, is that it offered nearly a year for the young couple to revel in each- others touch, share memories together and co-exist quite peacefully but like anyone else in this situation, the loving couple had come to realise just how important it was to have their own personal space and moments to themselves during the day. Their love had reached new heights during this testing time and at certain times, so had tempers, as the pair learnt to spend 24/7 together, locked in from the out.

And so, daily routines settled quickly; Dianne, finding herself more motivated in the mornings, chose to get up and make herself and her Joey breakfast, find her way back into his arms for a morning snuggle and then set up some form of workout, often opting to stream it for her own followers, with the hope of growing her popular wellness channel to new heights. Whether her love participated or not, this was her designated "me time"; a time for self-expression, to cleanse her body and mind and clear away any clouds which might have been hovering. Working out daily offered her the chance to keep both her body and mind harmonised whilst she wasn't dancing full time and often acted as a way to tame her busy mind.

Not being a natural early riser- Joe often found himself staying in bed after the familiar warmth beside him had left, missing her touch but not enough to go looking for it. After all, he knew she was coming back...they were stuck inside together. Instead, Joe found himself much more productive in the evening and the later hours of the day, a time where his girlfriend often found herself lacking energy- something they had quickly learnt about each other during their time training for Strictly. During these later hours, Joe found himself turning to Twitch more and more often, enjoying hours of playing various video games, entertaining his fans without the need to film the say, boring, daily routine he had fallen so comfortably into and providing the opportunity to catch up with Oli, James, Jonno and so many of his other friends. Of course, such streams have to be carefully planned around his work life, which thankfully could be done from home and as a result, Thursdays stream had the catchy title of "8-late" and offering Dianne yet more free time, in which she chose to binge watch every film on Netflix...

It was times like this where Dianne found her true emotions seep through the emotions she tried to keep in check during the day. Undoubtedly, this stage of COVID had been the hardest for her, like it had been for so many others- it had prevented her from being able to travel for Christmas, the opportunity to see her family for the first time in a year and most recently, had cancelled the tour which her and Joe had been working so hard for over the past year. Of course, it wasn't all bad: Dianne had all this extra time to fall even further in love with her doting boyfriend, to focus on Buswellness, work on her upcoming podcast and fitness wear launch. But on days like this, the negative outweighed the positive and she found herself snuggled in the middle of their shared bed, staring at the wall, lost in her crushing thoughts of what could have been, unaware of how much time had slipped past until she felt the bed dip and a strong, slightly cold arm snake its way around her waist.

Having ended his stream shortly before 1am, Joe tiptoed up the stairs where he had hoped to find his lover, tucked up in bed and snoring lightly, as she always did, her red barnet sprawled across his pillow as she clutched his side of the covers to her face. Instead of that endearing, peaceful sight, the young man from Wiltshire was greeted by the image of his girlfriend, sat rigid in the middle of their bed, staring at the wall with her rising emotions written clearly on her face. It was not the first time he had found Dianne in this state. Over their two and a bit year relationship, there had been several times where he had learn to deal with emotions and quickly; firstly during samba week, where his fiery, red-headed dance partner had collapsed in tears during a particularly stressful session, then again during pro tour when she had reached a hotel in London, unable to go home yet was greeted by her Joseph waiting for her and more recently...the haunting night when it had been announced that Dianne couldn't travel home to her native Australia for Christmas. At first, she had taken it quite well, choosing to focus on the positives; they could spend their first Christmas together in the UK, a fantastic roast and of course, she wouldn't have to spend six weeks away from him but as the night moved on, Joe had found her in a similar position to now.

Sitting peacefully by her side, he hesitated slightly, gauging the situation before whispering in her ear softly, pulling the tense woman into his loving arms. "Dotty, love? You look...well I was going to say upset but I'll go with emotional. You good?" Breaking her gaze from the blank wall, the smaller woman felt her body relax into the familiar grip- something about her boyfriends' touch made the negative feelings she had earlier, melt away like candyfloss in a puddle. Sighing deeply, Dianne's body felt heavy as she rested against Joe's chest, leaning back and closing her eyes as she let the calm wash over her restless mind; "I really like it when you stream during the day Joey. Means I get to bring you to bed with me, how selfish am I? I'm horrible, I don't know how you put up with me for this long." Her tone humorous but laced with emotion.

The pain in his lover's voice was nothing something that Joe enjoyed hearing but he knew it was something they needed to work through at Dianne's pace. Noting the under tone of humour, he decided to follow that approach, "Di, it's not selfish my love, just typical wife behaviour- you're allowed to be a little jealous of Twitch. Honestly though, I'm so grateful for how patient you are with me and my gaming. I could only have dreamed to find a girl who was willing to embrace my vlogging...yet here I am, holding the girl who vlogs WITH me and lets me game late! God, you've perfect." Joe teases lightly, his fingers finding their way through her famous red hair and tracing soft patterns along her scalp. Chuckling at her boyfriends', Dianne sat up slightly, holding her own body weight but not changing their position, "WIFE behaviour? I think you've skipped a few steps there Joey boy...I thought we were doing the house and dog first, then maybe a proposal. At least ASK me before marrying me!" She fires back, the laughter long replacing any negative feelings that had laced her tone before.

This kind of light-hearted banter is what their very relationship had been built upon, starting as light joking and building to their daily pranks in their shared flat. Pulling her back against his body, the pair settled once again, Joes hands crossed over Dianne's stomach, left hand to right hip and vice versa as Dianne's hand wound its way through Joe's messy locks. "Says you! Posting clips of us in the future, married and dancing away at 70 years old. Saying that, you do know that I do fully intend on marrying you. One day, you WILL be my wife...if that's what you want of course." A combination of the way in which she was being held and hearing the words that meant the most to her, meant that the bubbling negative emotions had all but fallen away, the dark clouds had cleared and all she could see was the natural rainbow in her mind. Joe had this rare talent of making everything in her somewhat chaotic life feel better, even just for a moment.

"You know I want that Joey, I drop enough hints...I'll be waiting for that day. Now...I know you want me to talk about what's going on with me but being emotional is exhausting and your chest is so comfortable. Can we just stay like this? Deal with everything tomorrow please?" Gazing down at the small frame rested against him, her eyes fluttering shut and her breathing evening out, Joe chose to let it go for now. "Of course love. The one emotional thing dad taught me though...never go to bed upset, so will you be okay? I love you my girl, always. I can't wait to call you my wife." When he received no response, Joe could see that his girlfriend, once filled with emotion and tension, had slipped off into a peaceful slumber and so, kissing her head gently, he pulled the covers over the pair of them, vowing to return to their earlier conversation tomorrow.

Hey guys! Guess who has had a sudden burst of inspiration! This is a slightly different writing style that I'm playing around with so lemme know if you like it or not! As always, I welcome all feedback!

Lockdown 3.0 has been much harder for the majority of us so please please don't struggle alone! Reach out to a friend, to family, to me! I'm always willing to listen💚 sending you all my love!

FB x