Two Birds of a Feather

On Bended Knee

Joe woke up to Dianne coming into their bedroom, a tray of food in her hands. He yawned widely and rubbed his eyes as she came closer to the bed, setting it down in the middle. Joe carefully pulled himself into a sitting position and held the tray still whilst Dianne got back into bed.
"Happy Birthday" she said softly, reaching over to kiss his cheek.
"Thanks gorgeous." He turned his head and caught her lips, kissing them quickly before they broke apart and looked to the tray of food. Joe grabbed his bowl of granola, fruit and yoghurt and dug his spoon into it, shovelling a mouthful in.
"Jesus Christ!" Dianne laughed, slightly shocked, "are you hungry?!"
"Very" Joe said through a mouthful of food. "We had dinner really early last night so we could go out and still be back at home at a more reasonable hour" he explained. Joe had been out with the likes of Oli and Caspar last night to celebrate but they had all been fairly sensible, making sure they were back home by midnight. "I didn't even drink that much."
"I guess 28 must be sobering you up" Dianne shrugged as she bit into her toast.
"Maybe so. Does getting closer to 30 make you boring?" He asked, keeping his face straight. Dianne turned her head and tried to see if he was joking but she couldn't read his blank expression.
"Well, am I boring?"
"No."
"I think that answers your question then" Dianne said with a smile.
"Good, I don't want to be boring. I'd rather be known as a prankster for the rest of my life."
"Are you sure you're not hungover? You're saying some very... weird things."
"I only had a couple and I'm not that much of a light-weight especially when I have a full belly, which I did."
"Okay then." Dianne looked at Joe out of the corner of her eye before returning to her toast.

"What are we doing today Di?" Joe had a plan and he didn't want anything to spoil it.
"We are going out for dinner, nothing special, but I haven't planned anything for in the day. I couldn't think of anything."
"Perfect."
"Wait, what's perfect?"
"Oh, it uh it doesn't matter" Joe said quickly, way too quickly for it to go over Dianne's head. She looked at him suspiciously through narrowed eyes.
"You are so weird, you know that right?"
"And you're not" he retorted.
"Nope, not at all."

Joe walked downstairs to see a small collection of presents and cards stacked on the football table.
"They're not all from me, well most of them are, but the others are from Zoe."
"Thank you." Joe reached out and pulled Dianne into a hug.
"That's alright."
"Do you want me to open them now?"
"If you want."
"Okay." Joe stood beside the table and picked up the presents he knew to be from Dianne- he had seen scraps of the wrapping paper in the bin last night. He took them over to the big chair and sat in it, putting the pile beside him.
"Any particular one you want me to open first?"
"This one." Dianne took one from the pile and handed it to him.

Joe put the last present from Dianne on the floor beside him and pushed the wrapping paper off his lap. He patted his knees in the hope Dianne would get the hint that he wanted a hug. She sat down, one leg either side of his body, and wrapped her arms around his neck, leaning her head into his shoulder.
"Thank you for my presents, I love them all" he said, kissing her shoulder and snaking his arms around her back.
"You're welcome." They stayed hugging for a few minutes until Dianne got uncomfortable. She pulled back, shifted into a better position, and then hugged him again.
"You're very cuddly this morning" Joe whispered as he kissed her head.
"I love you. So much. And I'm so happy to be with you."
"I love you too, more than anything."

"Joe, cars here!" Dianne shouted up the stairs to where he was in their bedroom.
"Okay, I'm coming." He reached into the back of his sock draw and took out a small black box. "This is a good idea" he reassured himself before hiding it in his coat pocket. "You've got this Joe."

Throughout dinner, Joe couldn't help but stare at Dianne with a powerful rush of emotion. Every time she smiled or met his gaze or giggled, Joe's heart exploded and he felt the butterflies in his stomach. They were uncontrollable and sent a strong tingling feeling coursing through his whole body. He'd never noticed it before. Yes, those feelings had been there, but he'd never felt them so strongly. Joe found himself getting lost in her eyes very easily as the rest of the world disappeared to him; the only thing that mattered was her and her happiness and Joe was determined to keep her feeling loved up for the rest of both of their lives.
"Joe" Dianne said suddenly, putting her cutlery down, "why are you looking at me like that? I'm trying to talk and you're distracting me."
"Sorry, looking at you like what?" Joe asked shyly. Was he really making it that obvious?
"Like I'm some sort of precious... thing, like a diamond or something."
"Sorry, I can't help it" he whispered, embarrassed that he was indeed making it that obvious.
"You're adorable." Joe smiled before putting a piece of his dinner into his mouth, gesturing with his hand for her to continue what she was saying.

As the waiter left the bill on their table and walked away, Joe went into his pocket for his card.
"What are you doing?" Dianne asked as she watched him reach for it.
"Getting my card?"
"You are not paying. It's your birthday. I'm paying. Put it away."
"Let me pay half?"
"Absolutely not." Joe opened his mouth to protest but saw the waiter coming back with the card machine in his hand.
"Fine" he grumbled, admitting defeat and sitting back in his chair. Dianne smiled and turned to the waiter to pay.

Joe switched the lights on in their apartment as they walked through the door. Dianne went upstairs immediately to get changed into some comfier clothes as it was getting late and she was bound to fall asleep sat on the sofa with Joe, giving Joe some time to plan how he was going to ask. The box was still tucked neatly into his coat pocket so he slipped it out and went to sit on the sofa, hiding it underneath one of his scatter cushions. He switched the tv on and sat nervously waiting for Dianne to come back downstairs, which she did a few minutes later. Sitting down next to Joe, she cuddled into his side and watched whatever was on the tv. Joe stroked her hair and watched her with a smile.
"Joe, you're doing it again."
"Sorry, I can't help it. You're the best thing in my life and I want it to stay that way for the rest of it. I want to keep you safe and loved and happy forever." Joe swallowed thickly before sliding off the sofa, the ring box in his hand and getting down onto one knee. Dianne, who had been so close to falling asleep, sat up slowly in shock, her hands going up to her mouth.
"I know we've only been together for just under a year but I'm ready to take this next step with you. So." He took a deep breath. "Dianne Claire Buswell, will you marry me?"

This is the last one shot for now. Third book is in the making! Xx