Thinking Out Loud

Chapter 7

Dianne sat in front of the mirror, a tired and jet-lagged girl staring back at her. She could see the tiredness in her eyes but there was more emotion hidden beneath the reddened whites. Happiness. Ever since Joe had proposed, Dianne felt a little bit more complete; she had pretty much everything she had ever wished for, the only thing missing was children but that could wait.

They had landed late last night and hadn't really done anything except struggle to stay awake when they should be awake and sleep when they should be asleep. It had been taking every last bit of strength to keep their eyes open for just one hour, having both wanted to wait until ten before they gave up and let their bodies sleep. When they had gotten into bed, neither had had the chance to even say goodnight before they'd crashed, falling asleep as soon as their heads had hit the pillow. Joe had suggested they set an alarm so they could attempt to get their body clocks back on Uk time, but when it had gone off he turned it off and went back to sleep. Dianne had woken up at 10, Joe not long after. Luckily for them, they had a few days before rehearsals started for the live tour.

As she sat in front of the mirror, Dianne applied a light layer of makeup, just enough to cover the dark circles and puffy eyes, to make her look and feel more alive. She was dressed in workout leggings and one of Joe's jumpers that she had nicked from his wardrobe. Having finished getting ready, she walked downstairs slowly and straight over to where Joe was still laid on the sofa, his limbs spread out as much as possible. Dianne ran over to him and laid her whole body down on top of his heavily, making herself a dead weight.
"Ah, Jesus Dianne. Are you trying to kill me?!" Joe gasped, all the air in his lungs having been pushed out from her movements. Lifting her head from his chest, she grinned at him.
"Um, I haven't decided yet," she said innocently.
"Well, I'd prefer if you decided against it."
"Stop moaning, let's go food shopping. I. Am. Starving." Dianne got up and dragged Joe with her.
"Are you going out in my jumper?" He asked.
"Yes, why? Is there a problem with it?"
"No-"
"Good, because I wasn't planning on changing it."

"Where's the chocolate aisle?" Their trolley was mostly healthy things but they were reaching the 'sweetie cupboard' end of the supermarket.
"We've already got chocolate."
"Oh well." Dianne rushed ahead of Joe, who was pushing the trolley, and found the sweets aisle, going straight to the end where the chocolate was. She pondered for a few moments deciding which she wanted.
"This one." She leaned forwards and grabbed a bar of Malteser's chocolate. Running back to Joe, she dumped it into the trolley and looked up at him.
"Happy now?" He asked, his eyebrows raised slightly.
"Yes," she nodded, "what else do we need?" Joe checked the list and stuffed it back into his pocket.
"Your tampons."
"Oh yeh, that's this way I think." Dianne pointed to the left.
"Lead the way, Buswell. I don't have a clue."

Dianne sat on the sofa, her legs stretched out in front of her, a cup of tea in between her cold hands, and a bar of broken up chocolate resting on her legs. Joe came over and sat down next to her as he took a square of her chocolate.
"You know, we haven't announced our engagement properly yet," Dianne said, "and I've seen a couple of articles floating about so maybe we should just do it. Then at least the press can stop speculating."
"Yeh, okay. Have we got any pictures where your ring is noticeable?" Joe asked, pulling his phone from his pocket and flicking through his camera roll, "I haven't, have you?"
"Not sure, you can have a look." Joe reached for Dianne's phone, unlocked it, and checked her camera roll. "Have I?"
"Nope, how have we managed that then? We weren't even trying to keep it a secret!"
"What should we post then?" Dianne asked as she sipped her tea.
"Maybe we could take a picture of your hand resting on mine on my leg?" Joe suggested, "that could be quite cute."
"Okay, hang on then." Dianne sat up carefully and gave her tea to Joe to hold whilst she moved her chocolate. She put both things on the coffee table and leaned back, shifting slightly so they could both sit in the corner of the sofa. Joe placed his hand on his leg, Dianne put hers just on top and smiled as the flash made her ring sparkle.
"Do you like that?" Joe asked. He showed Dianne the picture and waited for her to nod. "Are we posting on mine or yours?"
"We can do both, but I want a different picture for mine."

Minutes later, they each had a picture to upload. Neither had captioned it with anything more than a love heart, wanting to keep it simple. They pressed upload at the same time.
"And now, we wait for our phones to explode," Joe said with a smile. Not even seconds later, he checked his Instagram to see it had already blown up. "That didn't take long."
"I can't wait Joe."
"Wait for what?"
"The next step for us."
"Which is what?" Joe asked, taking their phones and leaving them on the coffee table.
"I'm not sure, I'm ready but I don't know if you are," she said softly.
"What gorgeous, what are you thinking?"
"I think I've been ready for a while," she mused, "I've known for a while."
"Are you going to tell me or leave me guessing?"
"I'm scared," she breathed. It was true, she'd never had to tell someone something so big in her life, and the prospect was unnerving.
"Don't be scared Di," he soothed, "I think I know what you're going to say."
"Which is?" Dianne held her breath.
"A family." Dianne breathed a sigh of relief.
"How long? How long have you been thinking about it?" She asked gently. If this was scary for her, it must be for him.
"Uh, couple months maybe."
"What comes first, house or baby?" Dianne questioned. Joe thought for a moment. If they started house-hunting soon, there was a chance they could be in a new house for when a baby came, but there was a chance they wouldn't.
"I think," he started, taking a deep breath, "I think we start looking for a house, and then try."
"Yes," she breathed, "I can't wait Joseph."
"Neither can I." He moved slightly and pulled Dianne on top of him. "I can't wait to take another jump with you gorgeous." He captured her lips in his own in a slow and passionate kiss. "I love you so much."