9125 Miles- A Joanne Story

Reunited

"oh how could I face the faceless days, if I should lose you now?"

London.

Joe paced around his dressing room nervously. Around 90% of him was absolutely thrilled that Dianne would be here in less than half an hour. The great land masses and oceans that had separated them for the last ten days could do one he thought chuckling to himself. But the other 10% of him was nervous. Would everything be the same as it was before? There was no doubt in Joe's mind that he loved Dianne. He loved her more than he had ever loved anyone. But there was a small niggling doubt at her return. Would they fall back into the same easy, uncomplicated relationship that they had privately built? It was different now, they were in the public eye. Joe couldn't protect her from scrutiny or other people's opinions, as much as his heart ached to. 

Just as he was debating whether or not to text her again, Joe heard a cheeky knock at his door. Smiling to himself as he recognised the knock taking the form of the Strictly theme tune, he opened the door to reveal his girlfriend stood there. Joe instantly threw his arms around her, taking in her familiar scent breathing a sigh of relief as his heart instantly repaired. 

"I've missed you so much!" he heard her mumble into his chest. He drew back and took in her perfect features. Joe looked at her cute dimple and felt a familiar rush of love towards her. How could he have thought that it would be any different? He leaned forward and connected their lips for the first time in ten days. Joe smiled into the kiss, only pulling away when they both absolutely had to breathe. 

"Come sit down," he said, taking her into his dressing room and sitting on the couch. "I want to hear everything about your trip,"

Dianne settled herself under Joe's arm and began to recount all the adventures she had taken in Australia with her family. Joe smiled and laughed as she talked and noticed that her accent seemed stronger after spending ten days in the Bunbury sunshine. 

"Are you jet lagged?" he asked, stroking her hair.

"I'm not sure. I feel fine now and I managed to sleep on the plane but who knows? I might be waking you up at 3 in the morning for a chat cause I'm bored," Dianne laughed.

"Just wake me up, I don't mind. Although, we have a long drive tomorrow," he said. Dianne's eyes lit up. 

"Where are we going?" she asked excitedly. 

"Ah, that's for you to find out," said Joe, ever the man of mystery. Dianne sighed and snuggled herself further into his body. 

Joe smiled as he realised she had fallen asleep on him. He shook his head thinking, 'not jet lagged my arse,' He looked at her while she slept, fully content to do so. Joe didn't know how long it was before his own eyes began to droop and he was sleeping too, fully relaxed, because he was holding her. 

//

"Joe, you're too far away," whined Dianne from her position on the couch. The two were having a relaxing evening following a lovely day together. They started tour rehearsals tomorrow and so were making the most of whatever quality time they had left. 

"I'm coming!" he shouted from the kitchen. Bringing her over a bowl of ice cream, Joe settled himself next to her with Dianne's legs resting over his. "Are you picking the film?"

"Yeah, but you'll have to do the remote," she said, taking a scoop of her ice cream. "I still haven't worked it out,"

Joe chuckled fondly at her and began to scroll through Netflix, adjusting his scrolling whenever Dianne demanded. After many failed attempts at picking something, Dianne had made her final decision. 

"I want to watch Hit the Road," she said firmly. Joe groaned. "Please Joseph?" She gave him the puppy dog eyes and Joe thought he could see real tears forming. In that moment, he knew that she was going to get her own way. Sighing, he searched for the film and put it on, much to Dianne's delight. 

"You look so young!" she exclaimed. "Ah how adorable,"

Dianne cuddled into Joe's chest watching the film, whereas he scrolled through his phone, unable to watch it again. It was only when a certain scene came on the screen that he really took notice.

"Where were you here?" asked Dianne, her hand pointing at the screen. Joe looked up and grinned. 

"We were in Venice, I loved going on the gondola. Italy in general is just..." he trailed off, looking at Dianne's open mouth. "Er Di?"

"Rewind it!" she cried, reaching for the remote. Joe, who was more confused than ever, rewound the film and stopped at the beginning of the scene. 

"Keep watching!" she said. "And pause when I say,"

Dianne made Joe pause at a wide shot of the entire park. It's focus was on the two boys in the gondolas but Dianne was pointing at two figures sat on the park bench. A man and a woman. 

"When were you here?" she asked. When Joe worked out when it must have been, Dianne gasped.

"Joe, I think," she was in utter disbelief. "I think that's me sat on the bench!"

Joe stood and walked over to the tv screen. He could barely make it out, but he could see a faint resemblance. He turned round to her, mouth agape.

"Who was with you?" he asked, shock evident in his features. 

"Gorka. We were doing a cruise and it was our day off. We got an ice cream and began to explore the town. I actually ended up crying to him because I'd just been through a break up-"

"Oh my god!" exclaimed Joe, sitting back down on the couch. "I remember! I remember seeing him hugging you!"

"This is crazy," Dianne laughed, her eyes wide with excitement. Joe shook his head in amazement and gathered her in his arms. 

"That is wild that we were so near each other and we had no idea that one day we'd end up meeting and falling in love," he whispered.

"It's fate, that's what it is," said Dianne. She couldn't believe it. Gorka had reassured her that she would find someone who was deserving of her and who would treat her like a princess. Little had she known, not even half a mile away, there was Joe.

"You were so close, I had no idea," Joe still couldn't get his head around it all. 

"I'm here now," she said, turning round in his arms so she could see his face. Her heart instantly melted at the sight of his floppy hair and piercing blue eyes. "I'm here, I came a really long way and now you're stuck with me,"

Joe smiled, the smile he kept just for her, before kissing her. "That sounds wonderful,"

Author's Note- Hi! Sorry it's been a long wait, I've had a crazy week getting ready for uni. I think this has about one more chapter left until I wrap it up. Thank you for still reading! It means a lot. Also, I think I'm going to do a oneshot book but it's a bit unusual. I don't think I've seen this idea anywhere else and I've read a lot of oneshot books on here. I don't know when that will be up because I'm still in the planning stage but it should be soon. Hope you're all having a great week!