The Catalyst | Joanne

Chapter 16

"And now we wait" Joe said to the camera with a smirk. "Dianne messaged me to say she was getting on the boat about 20 minutes ago, so she should be..."

The click of the door caused Joe to duck down and hide. He smiled to himself; this was a ridiculous idea but one that he hoped would make his girlfriend smile. They had managed to get pretty much back to normal after their disagreement, but it had all felt very mature and sensible. Joe missed the silly side of their relationship- hopefully, he thought, this would help bring it out once more.

"Hello?" he heard his girlfriend call out into the seemingly empty apartment. "Joseph?"

Joe lifted the camera, smiling. "I'm in here."

Hearing Dianne's footsteps moving closer and closer, he crouched down ready to pounce. Dianne opened the door, Joe grinned knowing that the hidden camera on top of the TV was catching every second of her reaction.

"What the hell..." she began, looking around the spare bedroom. The spare bedroom which was now essentially a ball pit.

"Surprise!" Joe leapt up from behind the bed, launching a few balls Dianne's way. She screamed and he burst out laughing, wading his way over to her and wrapping her in his arms. Dianne pushed him away, shaking her head.

"No. No cuddles for you" her hand moved up to her chest, "bloody hell, Joe. You could have killed me. My heart can't take much more of this." Her expression softened, showing how amused she actually was. Moving back towards him, she leaned into his body and smiled. "You're an idiot, you know that right?"

Joe nodded.

"How many balls are in here?"

Joe looked down at his feet, knowing Dianne wouldn't believe the answer. "About 6,000."

She gasped. "Serious?"

He nodded. "Serious."

"The lengths you will go to to prank me, Joseph Sugg" she responded with a grin. "Well, have fun clearing them up. I'm not helping."

Dianne began to walk out of the room, but was stopped in her tracks when a plastic ball hit her on the back. Turning around, she bent down and picked up the offending ball.

"Oh" she said to Joe, her eyebrow raised, "it's like that, is it?"

Joe bent down to grab an armful of balls and began to throw them in Dianne's direction. She tried to move out of the way, whilst picking up as many as she could to launch back at him.

The game ended with the two of them laid on the floor in the hallway, surrounded by coloured balls, panting breathlessly and sweating more than they should be.

Joe rolled over, leaning his head on his elbow. "Anyway," he said with a smile, "how was your day?"

Dianne smiled. "Good. Amy and I are going to book out a few mornings at the studio to work on some new stuff. Just to get back into the swing of things."

"Cool" Joe replied, rolling one of the balls back and forth across the floor with his spare hand. "Did you film anything today?"

Dianne shook his head and Joe sat up, leaning against the base of the stairs. He looked at her, concern showing on his face. "You haven't filmed much at all since you got back" he said quietly.

Dianne shrugged. "Well, there hasn't been much to film. You've been vlogging and stuff anyway so I didn't feel a need. Plus, it's nice to take a break every now and again. This is my only chance to relax before the show starts- I'd rather not spend all of it editing."