this years love

meeting

joe's pov

today was the day i would be meeting my dance partner, i was feeling pretty nervous since normally everything is in my control when i make videos. i was worried i would let whoever i was dancing with plus my grandparents down since they are the reason i'm doing it. Most people didn't know who i was when i was announced so i sort of feel like i need to prove myself.

i decided i would try and get to know a few people before i was partnered up, i had heard of most of the celebs, it was just the pros i didn't really know.

"it's joe right?" someone said tapping on my shoulder, i spun round to see stacey dooley

"yeah, it's so nice to meet you! i'm a big fan of your documentaries" i said whilst exchanging a hug

"awe thank you"

"haha no worries, please tell me i'm not the only one feeling really nervous"

"no, i'm with you on that joe. i keep thinking what have i let myself in for!" she laughs

i agree and before we know it we're being called to the dance floor to find out our partners, i watched as people got partnered up and after a while it was my turn.

"the girl that will be keeping you in line while you're not online is......"

i could feel my heart beating like crazy

"it's dianne!"

***

"so joe, tell me about yourself" dianne said

"well i'm 26 and i'm a youtuber, not that interesting to be honest" i said suddenly feeling a bit nervous

"hey, don't be nervous" she said rubbing my shoulder gently, i flashed her a smile before asking her about hereself

"well obviously i'm a dancer, i'm 29 and i'm from banbury in australia!"

"i love australia!" i replied feeling more confident

"awe i'm glad! so you've been then?"

"yeah, melbourne and sydney"

"you have to come to perth soon!"

"that would be incredible"

"but first, we gotta dance" she said laughing

"are we starting monday 10th?" i asked

"yeah, i'll tell you what dance we will be doing then but don't worry, honestly it'll be fine! and we have the party tonight so you'll get to know everyone way better"

"do you mind if we exchange numbers?" i asked

"yeah of course!"

it was quite a few hours later and i was at home in bed. today had been great, dianne was so nice and i couldn't wait to dance with her. since the show was launching on my birthday i came up with the idea of inviting all my mates over plus the strictly lot, i forgot to say at the party so i just texted dianne and asked her to ask the pros or contestants since i only had her number.

***

8th september

"hey joe, happy birthday!" dianne said pulling me in for a hug

"awe thanks" i said, i introduced her to zoe and alfie who had basically set up the party for me since i tried last night but all my balloons went down.

after a while, most of the strictly lot were there along with all my mates and it was getting close to strictly starting.

there were quite a few of the female pros here but zoe reckoned i had janette, and my mates had guessed all different people.

"it's dianne!" everyone cheered and i ran over to give her a hug and then sat back down watching the rest of the show.

***

"joe, come on, let's dance!" dianne slurred as she pulled me to the side of the room and started dancing. i wasn't as drunk as she was and obviously hadn't got a clue what i was doing since i'm not a proffessional so she was basically just dancing around me whilst i tried to move in a non awkward way. she was just laughing, hopefully she wouldn't remember how shit i am.

"let's get another drink!" she exclaimed pulling me over

"di, i think you've had enough for tonight" i said, she pouted

"drink some water, you'll thank me tomorrow when you aren't so hangover" i passed her some water, she rolled her eyes but drank it anyway. most people had left by now, it was just me, dianne, amy, zoe and alfie.

"di, do you want me to take you home? you look too drunk to go alone" amy said coming over to us, she hadn't drunk much either and was probably more sober than me

"i'm not that drunk!" she slurred

"yeah you are, i'll get your coat and bag" i said dashing off quickly since she looked exhausted

i quickly came out giving her stuff to her, gave her a quick hug and then they were off. zoe and alfie were staying the night so we agreed we would all clean up in the morning.

***

monday

"come in if you're good looking!" dianne exclaimed, i came running in filming with my camera

"heyyyyy" i said giving her a hug

"so, the dance you will be learning first is......the jive!"

"i'm trying to remember which that is" i said, nervously laughing

"haha, you'll learn soon enough" she replied, the camera men walked out leaving us alone for the rest of the day

"ok so we are going to be dancing to take on me"

"love that song"

"i'm glad, we clearly both have a good music taste"

"great minds think alike" i said which made her laugh

"ok, so we're gonna start at the top of the stairs in the middle, then run down them...." she explained the whole dance before teaching me some of the basic steps and then starting the routine. luckily we had two weeks to learn this dance since i was finding it pretty hard, dancing is definetly not natural for me! soon enough it was time for lunch

we were both sat down eating our lunches

"how about we do a quick fire getting to know each other questions?" dianne said

"yeah sure, you start" i replied

"any siblings?"

"zoe my sister, you?"

"two brothers, andrew and brendan"

"what made you start dancing?"

"andrew was a dancer and i remember watching him and seeing the girls in pretty dresses and make up just wanting to wear them. i didn't even really care about dance too much, i just loved the costumes. i started to actually concentrate on what my teacher was saying, i realised i was pretty good and fell in love with it"

"that's so cool, wow my life sounds boring compared" i said laughing

"i'm sure it's not! what did you do before youtube?"

"i was a roof thatcher"

"no way!!"

"do you even know what that is?"

"not really, something to do with roofs i'm guessing" she said laughing

"yeah, that's why my youtube name is called thatcherjoe"

"that's so cool, you're not boring at all!"

"haha thanks, should we get back to dancing?" i said

"ooh look at you wanting to dance, go on joe!" she said, both of us laughing

a/n: i'm terrible at endings! i know loads of people have made a book out of their strictly journey, but i wanted to try one too. i'm intending to post a chapter every other day xx