Thinking Out Loud

Chapter 1

"Good morning fiancé." Dianne pressed her lips against Joe's softly when he had finished speaking.
"Morning. That sounds really weird."
"It's a good weird," he said with a smile.
"It is." Dianne caught Joe's eye and laid her left hand on her stomach over the covers, looking at her ring. "I still can't believe it. Why'd you do it on your birthday though?"
"Because," Joe started, bringing Dianne's hand up to his lips and kissing it softly, "You wouldn't be expecting it and I wanted it to be somewhat of a surprise. I know we talked about it but I didn't want you to know when it was coming, if you get me?"
"I get you. Well, I wasn't expecting it- if you couldn't tell by my face."
Joe laughed. "I know we haven't been together for that long, but it just feels... right." He pulled Dianne closer to him.
"It does." She smiled shyly as Joe kissed her forehead. "But, unfortunately for you Joseph, I've got to go and dance because, in case you've forgotten, that's my job."
Joe pouted. "At least your partner is old and-"
"If you are trying to say that you'd be worried if he's better than you, I don't want to hear it. You are and always will be better than any of them. But don't tell anyone I said that."
"I won't," Joe chuckled and rubbed his hand over Dianne's shoulder, "Go and get ready. We don't want you being late for your first day."
"Okay." Dianne kissed Joe once more before rolling out of bed, heading straight into the bathroom to get ready. Joe laid on his back staring at the ceiling. These next few weeks would be hard whilst Dianne was working. The time they would get together would be limited but they were stronger than ever and Joe knew they would be just fine.

"Right, I'll see you at about eight maybe? I'll message you when I'm on my way back." Dianne reached up and kissed Joe's lips.
"I'll have dinner waiting for you," he said with a smile. "Do any of the pros know yet? About us?"
"Luba and Amy. I messaged them last night but that's it. I need to leave, see ya. Love you." Dianne turned towards the door, pulling down on the handle and stepping into the corridor.
"Love you too, see you tonight!" Joe called as the door was just about to close. Dianne smiled widely as the door clicked shut behind her and made her way to the lift, starting the what would become the regular commute to a studio somewhere in London.

"Hey guys!" Dianne called as she walked into the studio and dropped her dance bag to the floor. The pros that were already there were gathered by some chairs on the opposite side of the room, catching up after not seeing each other for a while. Dianne made her way across the studio and found a gap in the group, standing in it and joining in the conversation. A piece of red hair fell in front of her face so she reached up with her left hand to tuck it behind her ear, making the new diamond on her finger very noticeable to the rest of them.
"Oh my god, Dianne!" Janette gasped as she saw the sparkle of the ring on Dianne's finger. "When did that happen?!" The rest of the pros, who hadn't noticed, all turned to look at Dianne before they started to congratulate her, encasing her in a group hug whilst she blushed, her cheeks a furious shade of pink.
"Last night," she whispered shyly, the dimple in her cheek deepening as a smile lit up her face. "He asked me last night when we got back from dinner."
"Wasn't it Joe's birthday yesterday though?" Neil asked. "I bloody hope it was, I put a message on my story for him!"
"It was, don't worry," Dianne laughed, "but he did it on his birthday so I wouldn't expect it. We'd been talking about it before hand and he wanted it to be more of a surprise."
"So cute!" Katya cried. "You are so perfect for each other!"
"Mhm," everyone agreed, nodding their heads in unison. The shade of pink returned to Dianne's cheeks quickly as she looked to the floor, hoping her bright red ponytail would cover up the flush in her cheeks.
"What's happening?" Anton had walked in not long after Dianne but they had been too busy fussing over the Australian to notice.
"Dianne's engaged!" Katya shouted excitedly from the middle of the clump.
"Congratulations darling! That's fab news!" Anton pulled Dianne in for a hug, pressing a kiss to her cheek as he did so.
"Thanks Ant."
"Is everyone here?" The choreographer, Jason, asked as he walked over. "Congrats," he nodded towards Dianne.
"Yep, everyone's here," Oti said.
"Right, let's get started then. Today is only a recap of this weeks dances so you can get off to your celebs as quickly as possible." The clump began to disperse but Amy and Luba, who were Dianne's best friends, hung back and pulled Dianne into a three-way hug.
"I'm so happy he proposed," Amy said, a wide smile painted on her face.
"About bloody time," Luba joked. "He's waited long enough!"
"He wanted to do it for ages, he just wanted the timing of it to be right," Dianne explained.
"Ah, I'm just so happy for you both," Amy sighed.
"Me too." Luba nodded her head in agreement.
"Thank you," Dianne said, her twinkling eyes giving away just how happy she was.
"Di. Amy. Luba. We need you three!" Someone called from behind them.
"Sorry, we are coming!" All three of them giggled before running into the starting positions.

"Hiya Tim. How you doing?" Dianne said cheerfully as her new partner walked into their rented studio.
"Not too bad, thank you. A little nervous and scared but that's all right. You?"
"I'm very good thank you." They met in the middle and shared a hug quickly before Dianne moved to plug her phone into the speakers.
"Right. We are gonna do a quick warmup, then we'll stretch a little otherwise you won't be able to move tomorrow and then we can start with the very basics of the routine," Dianne said as she walked back over to Tim, some energetic music vibrating round the room.
"What dance are we doing?"
"You are doing an American Smooth, well we are."
"Oh god, okay. Right, come on Tim you got this."

"For your first day, I'm really impressed. You've learnt the first bit of the dance and you are starting to understand it all a bit more."
"Thanks Dianne. I'm knackered."
"When you get home, have a hot bath and make sure you get some sleep. Same place and time tomorrow."
"Will do. My cars here. Thank you for today, I've actually really enjoyed myself."
"Good." They hugged each other quickly before Tim waved goodbye and left. Dianne's car was only a couple of minutes away so she quickly gathered up her stuff, tidied the studio up so it was exactly how she left it, turned off the plugs and lights and closed the door behind her, dance bag slung over her shoulder, phone in her hand. She walked downstairs quickly to the ground floor and out into the fresh air of London. Her car arrived so she climbed into the back and pulled out her phone to tell Joe she was on the way home. Sitting back in her seat, Dianne stared out of the window, watching the world go by. Today had been bitter-sweet. She had a new partner for the new season but it seemed to only bring up sad emotions about last year. Last year had been perfect for Dianne, and she couldn't help but miss it. Dianne thought she'd give anything to dance properly with Joe like that again, it just wasn't feasible.

"I'm home." Dianne let the door shut behind her as she kicked off her shoes, dropped her bag to the floor and hung up her jacket in their coats cupboard. The smell of food wafted through the apartment and Dianne, who was in need of a hot dinner, followed the smell into the kitchen where Joe stood, slaving away over the stove.
"Hey house husband," she said with a grin.
"Oh hi, I didn't hear you come in." Joe looked up from the pan and smiled. "You look... tired."
"I am. And in desperate need for whatever this is." She waved her hand over the food.
"Turkey curry with naan bread and poppadoms."
"Oh my god, yesss," she sighed. "I can't wait for it."
Joe laughed slightly. "How was your first day?"
"Good. Tim's lovely but he's not a dancer at all. It's fine though, it'll be fun."
"If he had the same first day as me, he won't be able to move tomorrow, poor bloke."
"He's not done as much as you, he's just that little bit older."
"That's harsh. He's 51. I'm 28. Big difference."
Dianne giggled. "Sorry."
"I'll let you off." Dianne walked round the counter to Joe and rested her chin on his shoulder, letting her eyes search the side of his face.
"Um, Dianne?"
"Yeh?" She blinked to bring herself out of her daydream.
"I can't dish up with you leaning on me like that."
"Oops, sorry. I got distracted."
"By what?!"
Dianne grinned. "The spot on your nose."
"Shut up!" Joe pushed her away playfully. "You're not touching it!"
"Pleaseeeee," Dianne whined. "Let me pop it."
"Absolutely not."
"Don't be so boring." Joe gasped, forming his mouth into an 'o' shape.
"You told me getting closer to 30 doesn't make you boring!"
"I've changed my mind."
"I'm gonna get you."
"Like to see you try." Dianne ran from the kitchen end to the living room, climbing over the sofa and slipping down between the back of it and the window. Joe watched her with a grin on his face and began to plate up two dinners.
"Your dinners ready!" He called as he put their cutlery in their usual places. Dianne, way too hungry to carry on, jumped up, climbed back off the sofa and walked back to the counter, sliding into her seat and began to eat.
"This is so good," she tried to say through a mouth full of food. Joe smiled at her as he carried on chewing the same piece over and over and over.
"Joe," Dianne swallowed, "I know you like to eat slowly because you are scared of choking. But chewing that same piece of turkey 24 times is a little excessive."
"Don't tell me you've been counting" Joe said after he had finished his mouthful.
"Course not. Jeez, how weird do you think I am?!"