One

Chapter Ten

"Dianne," he said, grabbing her attention as she walked past.
She turned to face him. "Yes?"
He took a deep breath. "Look, I know what I did wasn't good or fair on you and I'm really trying to make you see that I still care. But, I can't do that when you won't even hold my hand. You're acting so weird at the minute and it's tiring."
Dianne immediately felt annoyed and jumped to her own defence straight away. "Well, if you hadn't of lost all of my trust I might've been a bit more 'normal' around you."
He crossed his arms angrily. "So you're saying you don't trust me?"
"Yes," she said sternly. "I think it's pretty obvious that I don't trust you."
He began to pace in front of the redhead, breathing heavily. "You're not bloody giving me a chance. I'm really trying. I want you to see how much I care for you but you are ignoring it!"
"If you cared for me, you wouldn't have thrown my trust away in the first place," Dianne said, quite calmly given the situation. She was starting to feel more and more threatened as he paced in front of her, his words sounding more like a growl, but she would never let it show.
At this, he stopped pacing and grabbed Dianne's shoulders tightly. "It was a mistake! How many times do I need to tell you?!"
Dianne didn't change her demeanour, despite now feeling scared of the man in front of her, her arms throbbing. "Don't touch me," she whispered calmly. He stepped back and leaned against the wall, watching her as she stood deep in thought choosing her next words carefully, absentmindedly running her hands over her now-sore shoulders. "I gave you everything of me, I learned to trust you with every fibre of my being. I wish I never bothered. You had my heart in your hands and you threw it away for some girl in a club. I let you back in because a small part of me still believed we could go back to how we were before but I was clearly wrong. You've been acting differently. Anytime I mention Joe, you get irritated. Don't deny it," she said as he opened his mouth to interrupt. "You do. Anytime I have to go to work, you ring me at least eight times when you know full well I can't answer you. You're so.. controlling. And this relationship isn't working."
"But Dianne," he pleaded; he was getting desperate.
She held up her hand. "This relationship will never work again. I don't trust you and I'm not happy. You don't trust me either and you're not happy. You're just trying to force something because you don't want to let go. But you need to, for both of us. This needs to be over. This," she gestured between them, "needs to be put in the past and we both need to move on."
"Stop making decisions for me," he growled, stepping closer to Dianne. "I'm not letting you go."
"You will be happier with someone who trusts you," Dianne said, hoping he couldn't hear the scared wobble in her voice. "And that persons not me. So," she took a deep breath, preparing herself for what he might do. "Take your things and leave." He stopped from walking towards her and stared angrily at the girl in front of him, anger coursing through his veins.
"No."

A few minutes later, Dianne found herself locked in her bathroom, her body pushed up against the door as he stomped around outside. Tears were coming in their masses as she stood frozen, terrified. He was refusing to leave her apartment and Dianne couldn't predict his next move anymore. Having never seen this side of him before, she could no longer see where the man she had loved was. He was gone, hidden inside the body of someone so unlike him. After being in the bathroom for a couple of minutes waiting for him to calm down, Dianne heard the door to her apartment open and slam shut. Then silence. No angry footsteps. No frustrated sighs. No loud noises. Her shaky hand on the door, Dianne unlocked it and pushed it open, stepping out into the hallway cautiously. She checked around her apartment, sighing with relief when she noticed all his things had gone, his key for the front door was on the table along with his pass to get into the car park. There was no doubt that he wasn't coming back but Dianne didn't want to be alone; she needed to be with someone. Pulling her phone out, she scrolled through her recent contacts to see who she could ring. Amy was out with Ben, spending time together before tour kicked off. Oti was busy choreographing for a musical. Her thumb hovered over Joe's contact, hesitating.
"Just do it," Dianne whispered. Pressing on his name, she held the phone up to her ear and began nervously picking at her nails on her other hand. As the call connected, Dianne sighed in relief.
"Di? You okay?" Joe asked straight away, having heard her sighing.
"Uh yeh. Would I be alright to come over?"
"Of course," Joe said without hesitation, having sensed the wobble in her voice.
"Thank you," Dianne said quietly, "I'll see you in a bit." She ended the call and ordered an Uber straight away. Whilst she waited, she grabbed a hoodie from her wardrobe and changed into some leggings. From her hand, her phone buzzed so she slipped some trainers on and grabbed her keys, leaving the apartment as quickly as she could. She rushed downstairs and into the back of the waiting car, giving her Joe's address before letting herself sink into the back seat.