The ivy had been a particularly nice spot for breakfast on an usually cold morning in march. Zoe and alfie had driven the much more loved up couple, that being joe and dianne, into the city with them and they had strolled past the restaurant, deciding it would be a nice spot to grab something to eat before heading the the beach.
It had been the first time dianne had visited them at their home. She had of course met them before at numerous strictly live shows and on the live tour but this was the first time she had gone to brighton.
She had been nervous. Of course she knew zoe and alfie but she felt as if something this time round was different. It was the first time she had visited their home and she was worried. She did love his sister and her boyfriend alfie, they all got on really well and they had welcomed her into their family, but this time it was like she was meeting them all over again. This was a time to spend proper time with them and get to know them more whereas every time before this had just been a quick interaction where she had no need to worry. They had been to chewton glen all together but alot of that time, joe hadn't left her side. She was going to australia and he wanted to spend time with her before she went. They could have proper chats and tell then about her life before joe which was something she had never really had to do before. Her previous boyfriends had always been dance partners so had come from all over the world and they hadn't been together long enough to meet eachothers families because they had been constantly touring.
Her life with joe had been like that so far. It had been busy and been filled with dancing but unlike anyone she had previously been with, he had always made time for her and wanted her to meet and get to know his family. It was still early days, they had only been together a little less than 4 months but he was sure she was something special and so he wanted her to get to know the people he loved most.
For her it was much more difficult though. Her family were 9000 miles away and she hadn't even yet joe speak to her parents properly. There had of course been a few hellos exchanged over facetime but they hadn't sat and talked. She was nervous about introducing him to her family, yet his had made her feel so welcome. She felt like a 3rd child to tracey and his grandparents were lovely too. He had taken her to visit them back in January and his nan had prepared an incredible dinner for them. It was the cutest. Zoe was like the sister she had always dreamed of and wanted growing up. The two of them were around a similar age, had similar interests like makeup for example and had a good relationship already.
However dianne felt abit awkward this time. She had recently learnt how long zoe and alfie had actually been together and it was playing on her mind. It was coming up to 7 years and they had known eachother longer.
No ring.
No babies.
She felt guilty for wanting to know, but she had asked zoe if she planned to have children and despite her answer being a certain yes, dianne was left wondering.
Her and joe had only been together 4 months but zoe was a year younger than her and was at a place in her life where she wanted to be.
It didn't necessarily alarm her but she had expected her life to go a little differently. She was approaching 30 and hadn't yet been in a long term relationship. She didn't know if her and joe would be long term yet either. She had hoped they would be but it was still very early on to tell. She had also done nothing but hop between countries, hotel rooms and rented apartments since she was 18. She had no where to call home which was a struggle for her.
She had always imagined her life to be straight forward. She had always wanted to dance around the world but she had hoped she would find someone to settle down with whilst she was still young, have children in her 20s and then she could return to dancing when they had reached around 10 years old. It hadn't worked out like that though and so seeing zoe and alfie so loved up, with a house and dog it hurt her a little. It didn't come from a place of jealousy but she wanted what zoe had. She wanted the house, the dog, the future and she didn't. She had technically no current address. Her flat had been left to Johannes and their rat intruder who lived in a hole under the stairs, she had neglected her rent asking Johannes if he could pay more and more each month and she had been staying at Joe's when she hadn't been staying in hotel rooms.
