Two Birds of a Feather

Singed, Sealed, Delivered

"I miss you already!" Joe called as the door closed behind his red-haired girlfriend. Dianne had just left for Here Come the Girls, leaving Joe alone for the day and night for the first time in a while. She knew she would miss him but, thankfully, she would be busy with the tour and shows. Joe, on the other hand, would not be surrounded so the hole usually filled by Dianne was very much empty.

Joe had only been home alone for a couple of hours but the loneliness was already beginning to hit him. All he had wanted to do was FaceTime Dianne to keep him company but she was at rehearsals and wouldn't get a spare minute until she went to bed. Taking him from his thoughts, Joe's phone began to vibrate as Jacks name flashed across the screen. Reaching for his phone, Joe answered the call and pressed the object to his ear.
"Ello mate!"
"Joseph, are you lonely yet?"
"Yes. And I'm dying of boredom" Joe admitted, expecting Jack to take the mick out of him.
"Ah, I've come at the right time then."
"Oh god, you sound suspicious."
"Tomorrow, 12pm. Meeting by the 02. Bring warm clothes."
"If we are walking over the 02, you can get lost."
"We aren't. It's a surprise."
"I'm scared. Is Mikey gonna be there?"
"Yep, all of us."
"Ughhh, he might try and push me off."
Jack laughed. "We aren't climbing over the 02!"
"I don't believe you but I'll be there. I'm lonely and my house is empty." 
"Okay, I can pop over later, if you want of course?"
"Oh go on then."

Joe slumped onto his sofa, thoroughly bored. To make himself busy, he had spent most of the day tidying and sorting his apartment. When Dianne got back from tour in a couple of days, Joe planned to ask her to move in and, hoping that she would say yes, he had wanted to make sure that there was room for any more of her things. It was stupid, he thought, how she'd only been gone a few hours which Joe was used to but there was something about knowing she wouldn't be back for a couple of nights that didn't sit well; Joe knew he wasn't going to be able to see her for a couple of days and he hated the thought of it.

When he climbed into bed after a solemn day, the only thing he wanted was to smell the scent of Dianne's freshly washed hair and kiss her delicate lips. As Joe settled into the pillows, his body fully submerged in the bedding, he subconsciously reached his right arm across the bed like he did every night- only this time Dianne wasn't there to hold his hand or to cuddle into his side. In that moment of loneliness, Joe knew what his mind was telling him. He knew he wanted to spend the rest of his life with Dianne, from those first glances of her in the bar to the rushed conversation on the pavement outside of the airport and then to everything that followed. He had known when he first laid eyes on her again after those two years that she was a gem that he couldn't ever lose. But it was too early to even think about,way too early. Their relationship was going from strength to strength but, as others kept reminding him, they had only been officially together for around five months and Joe knew he needed to wait for at least another six before he even began to consider the possibility of that step. For now, Joe planned to ask her to officially move in.

•••

"I'm going to ask Dianne to move in with me when she gets home tomorrow. Is that a bad idea?"
"Aw Joe, oh my god."
"Zoe, I didn't ask you to freak out. I need to know. Is it a bad idea?"
"No!"
"Good because I've just got a key cut."

Pulling his jacket tighter around his neck, Joe rushed from the cab and up into his apartment, a new key in a grey suede bag tucked inside his pocket. Dianne's train was due to the station in around an hour and Joe still hadn't quite planned out how to ask her.

Joe had an idea as he pulled on his shoes. Quickly, he tested the new key just to make sure and slipped it back into the bag and into his pocket, leaving his key on the side. He grabbed his car key and left quickly, knowing exactly how he was going to do it.

Standing on the almost empty platform late at night, Joe leant up against the wall just beside the gates. Dianne didn't know he was picking her up, she thought she was going to be dropped off at hers by Amy on her way back home so as much as Joe wanted to tell her he was here waiting, he couldn't. After a few minutes, Joe heard the rumble of a train coming into the station, screeching to a halt. The doors opened and late-night workers and travellers stepped down onto the platform and started the next parts of their journeys. Joe could hear the faint accent of his Australian and that of a Welsh coming down the platform. Stepping out slightly, Joe made himself more obvious to Dianne and the rest. When she saw him, she stopped walking and tilted her head to the side, a big smile painted on her face. Joe walked over to meet up, smiling as she began to laugh.
"What are you laughing at you weirdo?"
"I didn't think you were picking me up, you surprised me." She let go of the handle on her suitcase and reached up to wrap her arms around his neck. They held it for a moment before Joe pulled away.
"Come on, it's freezing and you look knackered."

As they stood in the lift going up to the top floor, Joe could gradually feel his palms getting sweatier, his heartbeat starting to race slightly though he tried his best to cover it up. When the lift doors opened and Joe led Dianne out and to his door, Joe pretended to look for his key, knowing all too well he'd left it in the kitchen- on purpose. Dianne stood back and watched him with a look of confusion as a frown crossed his brow.
"Have you got your key?" He asked.
"My key? Joe I don't have a key." Dianne's words were hesitant and conveyed just how confused she was.
"Oh, I've got it." Joe pulled the suede bag from his pocket, untied it and let the new key fall into his palm. He held it out to Dianne and watched as she picked it up in slightly shaking hands.
"Are you trying to ask what I think you're asking?" Dianne questioned, signalling to the key, her eyebrows raised.
"What? That you can open the door?" He said with a grin.
"With my key?"
"With your key." Dianne stepped forward, unlocked the door and pushed it open; Joe followed her in with her suitcase and left it by the door, where it had sat those years ago when Dianne had been on someone else's headline tour. His heart swelled as he noticed the difference. Dianne had her own show, she was not backing up other dancers. He walked into the kitchen and picked up some flowers he had had delivered with a note saying:
Welcome Home
Passing the bouquet over to Dianne, Joe smiled as he saw her read the note first, sniffed the flowers once before she put them down and wrapped her arms around Joe's neck.
"Thank you" she said softly. "But will you please answer the question?"
"You haven't answered mine yet."
"Joe, you so cryptic."
"Woah, big word."
"Shut up. What was your question?"
"Will you move in with me?" Dianne's heart fluttered.
"Oh Joseph, I'd love to."