THE SECRETS WE KEEP.

- FAMILY REVELATIONS AND A NIGHT TO NEVER FORGET (PART 1).

merry christmas to my lovely, lovely readers! i hope that, after the strictly christmas special you all enjoy this and it brings you back to the time of joe and dianne on strictly. unfortunately, i'm feeling a little self conscious about this chapter considering it was written in october. however i hope you all enjoy and please do share this around with your friends :)

JOES POV:
The initial breakage of sunlight against the dusk shone it's blinding beams through our curtain's slit, the rectangular shape glaring down onto Dianne's face to supply this illuminated glow to her features. During our slumber our interlocked position was separated for personal space, however our synchronising heartbeats were audible from a distance. I reached out a hand into the chill atmosphere to tuck a red tendril behind her ear before letting this palm descend to cup around her cheek, my thumb lightly tracing over the incredibly soft skin beneath it. The longer this stare endured onwards, the more her natural beauty in this morning setting astonished me. There was intense gratitude on my behalf for the alignment of the stars over a specific period of time. Comprising together this formal email and forwarding my acceptance of their offer to the producers was a decision that ultimately lead to the meeting of myself and Dianne, the invisible linking forces merging together into an integrated line above our heads, coiling itself around our bodies to tug us into this peculiar situation. The concept that our meeting was purely a project of fate was slightly terrifying, for one foul move or a silly mistake could divert us upon an entirely different pathway and the people in our lives may have never entered it at all. But with the knowledge that my choices inevitably lead to this woman, my dance partner once a complete stranger, lying entangled in my arms induced a smile of pure happiness to my lips.

This lingering staring contest against her closed eyelids was rudely adjoined by a melody pummelled to the wooden doorframe and a faint bellowing of my name. My scanning of her features was broken by head's raise in the direction of this voice, to be met by Zoe's head peering in for a glance at our condition. "Oh.. hello," I shuffled upwards from my reclined position, letting out a yawn from the abrupt movements and rubbing my fists against my eyes to discard the particles of sleep in the crevices. "I was just coming to check on you, it's getting late," accepting my verbal response as an invitation into the bedroom, she proceeded further until her whole body was visible sloping on the frame, her arms folded over one another on her chest. My assumption previously was that, by the luminance of the streaks peaking through the curtains, the clock's hands were nearing the early dawning period, providing us with enough time for Dianne and I to partake in the couples activity of preparing breakfast before she was able to slip out of sight without either of our guests noticing; however my phone was displaying the time of 10:11, our latest awakening to date since Strictly Come Dancing rehearsal times overcame our lives and schedules.

"Alf and I are going to make us all some breakfast.. I'll tell him to put out an extra plate," her sly wink and quiet sniggering alluded towards the cloaked body laying to my left before she shuttered off down the hallway, not a sound audible until the noises of her toes pattering on the staircase was incredibly faint. My inner child emerging on the mentioning of a meal, this naive behaviour an identical parallel to my younger self clambering over my sister's bed to violently shake her awake just to open our presents on Christmas morning, her peaceful mien paused my hands in the air before letting them fall back to my sides. For Dianne to still be asleep at this late hour - the worries of a future performance escaping her at this moment for the transportation into a dreamland universe  an altered reality to distract her from the pressures and strains evident in the everyday life of a professional dancer - it was an extreme rarity that shall not be disturbed. "I'll be back in a moment.. okay?" I whispered into her hair as my lips gently caressed the side of her head in a delicate kiss before tracing over Zoe's footsteps.