One

Chapter Five

"Morning Di, how you feeling?" Joe hugged Dianne quickly as he walked into the greenroom first thing on Friday morning.
"I'm good, how are you feeling? We've both got an emotional couple of days ahead of us I reckon."
Joe chuckled. "Very true. I'm good but could I speak to you in private?" Joe had a nervous feeling in the back of his mind and it had been bothering him ever since he went to bed last night.
Dianne looked immediately concerned. "Yes, of course. Where do you want to go, your dressing room?"
"Please," Joe nodded and turned, leading Dianne through the corridors and into his own private dressing room.
"What's up?" Dianne asked as soon as the door was closed. Sitting down on the sofa, Joe sighed heavily as he leaned back and closed his eyes. "Tell me," she said, sitting down next to him.
"It's just... ah I don't know how to explain it. I'm quite worried about all of this ending. I'm worried about losing you, you're one of my best friends now and I don't want to have to miss you- I want to keep in contact. And I'm scared I'll regress loads before the tour." She stayed in silence for a minute, letting Joe's words go straight to her heart.
"We'll keep in contact, don't worry about that. You're one of my besties too, and as for regressing. I think you'll surprise yourself, you know," Dianne said, rubbing a hand over his knee. "And if you're still that worried, I can rent a studio out a couple of days before we start and we'll have a few hours' lesson. If it'll make you feel better, I don't want you to feel uncomfortable."
"Thank you," Joe sighed, relieved. "That would be so good."
"You good now?" Dianne asked. She patted Joe's shoulder as he nodded.
"Yes, thank you."
"If there's anything else at any point, just speak to me. I imagine we'll be quite emotional," Dianne smiled as she stood up. Joe pulled her into a hug and kissed her cheek.
"Let's get back," he suggested, "they'll be wondering where we've gone."

"Psst," Joe whispered into Dianne's ear, poking her arm. "Can we try and make Giovanni jump? I'm still trying... and failing."
Dianne turned to face Joe and grinned. "Yes." She jumped up and raced off to a doorway she knew he would be coming through when him and Faye finished their runs. "You go on that side," she whispered to Joe as he caught up to her.
"Okay." Joe slid his phone out of his pocket and started to record.
"You two are done," someone called, "Ashley and Pasha, you're up." Joe and Dianne waited with bated breath for Giovanni to come, smiling across at each other as they heard footsteps.
"Boo!" They both shouted as the Italian walked through the door.
"Nice try," he grinned, "but you didn't get me."
"You got me!" Faye cried as she walked through the door, her hand over her chest as she breathed deeply.
"For gods sake!" Joe laughed, "you're impossible!" He turned to Faye, smiling apologetically. "Sorry."
"We'll get him before the end of the show tomorrow," Dianne said, before she nodded her head back to the ballroom, "Come on Joseph, we should head back."
"See you!" Giovanni called as he walked away With Faye, leaving a defeated Joe behind.
"It's my whole bloody brand," he whispered to Dianne as they walked back in, "I've made a career out of pranking people and I still can't get him!"

•••

Dianne woke early on Saturday morning and made herself coffee straight away. Cup in hand, she sat back on the hotel bed, her still-aching legs stretched out in front of her. From beside her, her phone screen lit up as it started to vibrate, her mum's name flashing across the screen, a smile spreading on her face as she reached for her phone.
"Hi Mum!"
"Hi Dot, I didn't wake you did I? I wasn't sure what time you'd be getting up for today."
Dianne took a sip of her coffee. "No, I was already up. Anyways, how are you?"
"I'm good, had a busy week getting everything sorted for Christmas."
"Ah, I can't wait to come." Dianne sighed happily;  she was going to get to see her whole family in roughly a week's time and she couldn't wait.
"We can't wait either. How are you Dot? You've got a very busy day ahead of you!"
"I'm actually no where near as stressed as I thought I'd be. I think I've been quite calm all week, Joe would probably say otherwise," she laughed.
"How is Joe?" Rina asked, "I can imagine he's more stressed than you!"
Dianne leaned back and smiled. Her mum was right. Joe was nervous, but he had definitely been worse. "He's good, a bit anxious about what's going to happen after the show's finished but he's been so good to teach every week."
"Bless him. Well I need to get off. Let me know how tonight goes?"
"Of course. See you soon, love you!"
"Good luck, love you!" Dianne listened as the call disconnected and dropped her phone beside her, sipping on her coffee steadily.

"Oh my god, I forgot about your hair!" Dianne laughed as she saw the now red-haired Joe waiting with the rest of the cast in the reception of the hotel.
"How could you forget?! Look at your hands! I wanted Dianne Buswell red!" Joe moaned, "not this! This is like your Auntie Sharon's hair colour!"
"Eh, it'll be fine. You can wash it out tomorrow."
"She's lying," Neil whispered into Joe's ear having overheard their conversation. "She used that same dye on me two years ago. It never washed out, and now I'm ginger!"
Dianne pushed Neil's shoulder gently. "Shut up you!"
"Great!" Joe cried, "I've been screwed over by my dance partner and now I'm gonna be a ginger!"
"Hey!" Neil said, pointing to his orange hair, "what's wrong with being ginger?" He raised an eyebrow as Joe grinned.
"Nothing mate." A call from the front of the group told them the bus to take them to the studios was ready for them and so they all filed out of the reception, ready for the long and no doubt emotional day ahead.

"That's karma," Joe said, nodding to Dianne's stained hands.
"For what?! I didn't want to bleach your hair!" Dianne pulled her hair into a ponytail and rubbed some more hand sanitiser into her reddened skin. "They look quite funny though," she smiled. "But people will definitely be able to see my red hands when we dance tonight."
"Oh god," Joe sighed, "I didn't even think about that!" He ran his fingers through his long and slightly unruly fringe. "Yet another reason why dying my hair red was a bad idea!"
"Wait," Dianne said, turning round on her chair to face him properly, "what's the other reasons?"
"I mean, do I really need to give them? Just look at me! Red doesn't suit Joe Sugg at all."
"It does! It looks cute."
Joe scoffed. "It does not! And you're such a liar, this is not coming out anytime soon- I read the box."
Dianne giggled. "Yeh, I may have... twisted the truth-"
"Lied," Joe interrupted.
"It'll come out eventually."

Joe collapsed into bed in the early hours of the morning, a mixture of the alcohol from the after party and the exhaustion of the last few months sending him to sleep almost instantly. From the faint sicky feeling in his stomach, Joe knew he was going to wake up to a unwanted hangover but it had been so worth it. He felt fully relaxed knowing he didn't have to get up the next morning and drifted off into a deep, dreamless sleep.

On the other side of London, Dianne lay awake in her bed, tossing and turning. It had been a week since he had cheated on her, and with dancing out the window, Dianne could feel the gradual pull of emotion filter into her sleepy brain as she tried to get comfortable. Her restless mind kept jolting her back to reality, and in turn, waking her up more and more. That and the alcohol in her system weren't marrying together and were slowly taking away any trace of tiredness from her body. After half an hour of failing to even get comfortable enough to convince her body to fall asleep, Dianne pushed aside the covers, slipped on her dressing gown and put some socks on before walking into the kitchen, getting a bowl of cereal to satisfy the definite building hunger in her stomach. Switching the tv on, Dianne sat in the corner of the sofa and ate her cereal as her mind raced, paying no attention to the Say Yes to the Dress USA drama unfolding in front of her. More attention was being paid to the endless train of thought running in circles in her head. Being so far away from her family was always hard, but now she didn't have a boyfriend or someone to live with, the loneliness was hitting harder than before. In the whole time Dianne had been in the UK, this was as alone as she'd been, or at least it felt that way. But maybe that was because it had all happened so suddenly and without warning. She'd gone from living with her boyfriend of two years to having no boyfriend, and no roommate in one night. It was lucky she didn't mind being home alone as Dianne had had no time to make any plans regarding roommates before she'd kicked him out. The flat had been hers originally and all he'd needed to do was take his things and leave, which he'd done Monday while Dianne was rehearsing. It was also lucky she was in a place financially where she didn't have to worry about not being able to pay rent. Smiling to herself, Dianne shook her head, not used to such mature thoughts at such a late hour, and especially not after a few drinks. Bowl empty, stomach full, Dianne left her things in the sink and went back through her apartment to bed, climbing into the warmth as a chill ran through her. Sighing, she let herself sink into the pillows and waited for her body to shut down for the night.