Tonight

Chapter 14

Dianne felt her breath catch as she watched the beads of water flow through Joe's floppy hair, over his chiseled face, and disappear underneath his black band tee, that was caked in mud. She wasn't sure why she had thought shoving Joe Sugg into a cramped, tiny shower while attached to him with handcuffs was a good idea...but in the moment, it was all she had wanted to do. Now though, the logistics of two adults in a tiny shower were a bit puzzling.

Joe clearly felt the same, as he sputtered under the water for a moment before pulling Dianne under the stream, chuckling to himself as he watched her squeal at the warmth as the mud began to melt out of her hair under the stream of water. 

"This was not my best idea," Dianne muttered to herself as she tried to spit out the mixture of water and mud that was now flowing down her face and into her mouth.

"On the contrary," Joe mumbled back, stepping forward to absorb some of the falling water, raising his free hand to brush the mud out of his hair. "I think this was one of your better ideas. Dog shit be gone."

Dianne rolled her eyes, now fully removed from the water, watching as Joe rubbed his face and head clear of all the remaining dirt. She noticed his face was scruffier - his 5 o'clock shadow much more pronounced now at 5am, than it had been at 5pm the day before. She smiled to herself as she realized they'd been attached for more than 12 hours - and the amount that had happened in that time was almost too much to fathom.

"Scooch over," Dianne interjected Joe's happy sigh, shoving him back toward the shower wall and stepping back under the stream of water. Closing her eyes, she let out a content sigh as she felt chunks of mud fall from her matted hair onto the shower floor.

"Jesus, are you bleeding?" Joe's panicked voice broke her out of her shower reverie, and her eyes snapped open, watching as Joe stared wide eyed at the shower floor that was now a mixture of muddy brown and bright red. She stifled a giggle as Joe reached forward, his hands roaming over her body, seemingly checking every inch of her exposed skin for cuts. She smirked as he seemed to linger a bit too long on her exposed midsection, his fingertips lightly dancing over her belly button and down the curve of her hips, briefly pulling on the waistband of her skirt to check the skin underneath. He glanced up, his eyebrows knit together, before he drew back, a look of confusion on his face. "Why are you smiling? Dianne, you're bleeding, you've been cut somewhere..."

Dianne let the giggle escape, before reaching out to link their free hands, "I'm not, but you're very sweet to check."

Joe raised his eyebrows, his panicked voice reaching a new octave, "Dianne!"

"It's not blood," Dianne giggled again at his concern. "It's hair dye."

The realization hit Joe all at once, his eyes rising to her now soaking wet hair, watching as small red droplets fell from her head, staining the pristine white shower. He reached out, running his hand through her hair , watching as the red rivulets of water flowed through his fingers. "Jesus," he repeated again, this time in awe.

"It's a shame I didn't bring a touch up bottle of dye," Dianne chattered away, as she continued to wipe the mud off her face. "I'm due for one soon, and I could have made you help."

"What's your natural color?" Joe asked, seemingly out of the blue as he continued to stare at her hair. 

Dianne smiled at the innocent question, stepping back to grab a bottle of shower gel, "Brown. Just boring brown."

"Not boring," Joe murmured, still lost in thought. "Beautiful. Beautiful brown."

"How do you know it's beautiful?" Dianne teased, her heart rate quickening again at his flirtatious words. "You've never seen it."

Joe shrugged, "Because you're beautiful. You could have piss yellow hair and it would still be beautiful."

Dianne stared at him, mouth gaping at the casual utterance that had just come from Joe's mouth - like he hadn't even thought about the words before they flowed out of him. She noticed the light blush on his cheeks, and she could feel hers heat up to match. She fumbled with the shower gel bottle, opening it and pouring a hefty amount onto her palm.