Colder than ice

'In the end, it's him and I'

Thursday October 17th, 2013.

The knock on the door woke Dianne up. Sighing she looked at the clock, 2:45, it was probably the post man. Grabbing her pink dressing gown, she wanders slowly to the door, she was not expecting Joe to be standing there.

'I heard you were sick.' He states, taking in the girl before him, she shrugs. 'I thought you would like some company.' She smiles as he hands her a box of chocolates. 'And I know that you have the house to yourself.' She nods, biting her lip slightly.

'Don't you have sixth form?' He shrugs.

'I've taken the day off.'

'Joe.' She protests. 'I'm supposed to be the thick one.' She sighs, wrapping her hands around his waist, 'I'd kiss you, but you will catch my cold.' He locks lips with her gently, pushing a stray hair behind her ears.

'It doesn't matter.' I smile gently, 'And you aren't thick. I don't want to hear it again.' She him up to my bedroom, taking off her dressing gown and getting back into bed. He takes off his shoes and jeans, getting in the other side and pulling her close. Her hair smelt of that coconut shampoo she likes to use, and the Victoria secrets body spray she liked. Gone are the days when she would use the Charlie spray, he liked this one more.

'Who told you I was sick?' She questions, pulling the duvet up more.

'Amy mentioned you weren't at college today, so I took I figured it out from there.' He smirks. 'I thought you would want the company, we can watch whatever you want.'

'Even the little mermaid?' He nods.

'I knew you were going to say you wanted to watch that.' He passes her the remote control that was on his side of the bed.

'I miss not waking up with you.' She tells him, 'I can't sleep as well.' He nods in agreement.

'It's cold.' It occurs to the redhead that she actually misses having another body in bed with her. Until Ruby, they slept in bed more or less every night from when she was seventeen. She thought it would make her feel better, but him not being there made her feel worse. It was cold, she even missed his light snoring. She just couldn't ask him to come back into bed. She didn't know how too. Maybe now was the time to cut their losses. It occurred to her that Joe didn't want this anymore. Maybe he was doing it because he promised the kids, she knew how much he adored them.

'I can't wait to have our own place.' She tells him. This memory has brought up a whole other set of feelings. For the first time in months, she can imagine the joy and excitement she felt when she first moved in with Joe. The place was awful, but they didn't mind, they were together. They were able to call it home. They stayed there until she fell pregnant with Matilda, when they brought their own house. The one they lived in now. She knows that if they split up it will be sold. All those memories tied to the place makes her choke up.

'Are you okay?' A gentle voice brings her out of her thoughts, a box of tissues handed to her. She nods, unable to speak. She looks down at the hand being held out for her. She grabs it, suddenly she feels better.

'I'm sorry.' She mumbles. He shakes his head, and she wonders why he's still here. She's been awful to him, unnecessarily so. She didn't need to be that mean to him, or the kids. It's not their fault, they hate it so much they've more or less moved to other places. She knows that Matilda hadn't slept in her own bed in well over a month, being at friends most nights. She knows that she's got a boyfriend, she heard one of daughter's friends mention it.

She wonders if Joe knows? They were close, after everything he manged to maintain a relationship with their kids. Hers was in tatters, but surely if he knew, he would have mentioned something. Matilda doesn't even know that she knows. Theo spends all his time at school, she's immensely proud of him for wanting to be a doctor. She just can't get the words out, not to him, not to anyone. She's aware that the meeting is ending, she follows Joe out and gets in his car, putting the heating on because suddenly she's cold. He gets in the other side. They sit in silence for the first bit, it's only when they are driving down the country road, on the way back.

'Joe.' She says quietly, studying his face for a reaction. 'Joe I'm sorry.' She says quietly. 'I want this to work.' She says quietly, watching his face to smile. 'I love you.' 

A/N. Any more guesses on who Ruby is? You will find out in the next chapter, I'm just interested in who you think she is! I also feel that I should clarify that Teddy is Theo's nickname and Maddie's is Matilda's nickname. Anyway let me know what you think :)