One

Chapter Eleven

"Dianne, you need to wake up now." She began to stir, coming round to her senses. As she sat with her eyes closed, Dianne paid attention to the warm hand resting on her stomach to the arm supporting her, and the soft breaths on top of her head. Opening her eyes slowly, Dianne felt butterflies flit about in her stomach when she realised where she was. The arm around her was Joe's, the body she was leaning against was Joe's, the hand now stroking over her skin was Joe's. Dianne felt a warm and fuzzy feeling flood her body, rushing to every inch of her skin as an uncontrollable smile spread across her face.
"Di?" The softness in his voice made her swoon and her heart leap. Shifting slightly, Dianne moved so she could see Joe's face properly.
"Yeh? She said softly, her voice breaking slightly from sleep.
"I didn't want to wake you but I figured you wouldn't sleep tonight and you need to, we go to Birmingham tomorrow," Joe explained.
Dianne smiled. "Thank you. For everything. It.. it means a lot."
"You're welcome. And if there's ever anything else, you know where I am."
"I do," Dianne nodded.

"I'll see you tomorrow," Dianne said as she hugged Joe. Their embrace lingered, neither really wanting to let go but both knew they needed to.
"Yeh, see you tomorrow," Joe smiled. Waving, Dianne walked out of the door and left Joe beaming.

From in his bedroom, Byron heard Dianne leave and jumped off his bed, practically running to see Joe stood staring after her, a wide grin on his face.
"Joe," he started, clicking to get Joe's attention. "You need to explain."
The smile didn't fade from Joe's face as he turned to face Byron and shrugged his shoulders. "There's nothing to explain Byron, really. There's nothing happening between us."
"Joe, you and I both know that's not entirely true," said Byron. He placed a hand on Joe's shoulder and forced him over to the sofa. "Details."
Joe sank into the cushions and, gazing at the ceiling, started to speak. "I think I like her, like like her-"
Byron snorted. "Well that's fairly obvious."
"Oh, is it?"
"It is now, it hasn't been any other time you've been together I don't think," Byron said, reassuring Joe after having sensed doubt in his voice.
"Good."
Byron rolled his eyes. "You're not giving me any details bruh, why was she here?"
"She had an argument with her boyfriend-"
"Wait, the ex?" Byron asked.
Joe nodded. "Yeh, it's complicated. But they fell out, he left and Dianne didn't want to be on her own. Amy and Oti were both busy so she came here. She said that I was the only other person she trusted enough to let me see her like that. But that just means we're friends."
"I wouldn't be so sure," Byron said, shaking his head. He watched with a smile as Joe's eyes lit up at the possibility.
"Mhm." Joe didn't move, just carried on staring at the ceiling with a happy and content look on his face.
Taking a deep breath, Byron stood up and walked away.
"Already whipped," he muttered under his breath as he walked past Joe. As soon as he reached his room, Byron jumped on the bed and grabbed his phone, setting up a group chat with all their friends, bar Joe. He quickly typed a message and pressed send.
Alright lads. Operation 'Get Joe a redhaired Girlfriend' has begun.

Dianne walked into her apartment, a dreamy glint to her chocolate eyes. For the first time in a while she didn't feel sad or lonely, she felt full and content and the bubbly feeling that ran through her body whenever she was around Joe was certainly helping. She'd never felt it before, never felt such a strong attraction to him. Sure, it could have been there, suppressed for so many reasons but now Dianne was free to explore this new found crush without a heavy feeling of guilt on her chest. It was like she was drunk on happiness. Somehow, she had managed to spend a good few hours at Joe's yet she could have sworn she was only there for a couple of minutes. Admittedly, she had been asleep for a lot of the time. Sleep had not been her friend since getting back from Australia; she had often been restless due to her mind working in over-drive or Dianne just hadn't felt tired. Either way, the much needed nap she'd had at Joe's was the best sleep she'd had in a long time. Dianne felt the need to talk to him, to hear his voice again as she dropped onto the sofa, rubbing her still-sleepy eyes.
"God girl, you've got it bad."