In Another World

Chapter 2

As Dianne stepped through the door of the strange apartment with AJ, Neil and Katya, she couldn't help feeling slightly out of place. Of course, she had been invited – she was part of the show, after all – but turning up at the home of one of the contestant's siblings to celebrate the birthday of someone she had never met was a bit of a weird situation! It kind of put into perspective why not many of the Strictly cast and crew had shown up. Not only did most of them already have plans, but it felt pretty intrusive to show up at a stranger's birthday party, no matter how well-intentioned the invitation was.

The redhead smiled in relief when Zoe rushed over to welcome the group, "Hey guys!" she greeted happily, "It's great to see you, thanks for coming!"

"Thanks for inviting us", AJ replied, which was followed by a chorus of agreement from the other professional dancers.

Zoe smiled, "Well, it means a lot to have you all here," she responded before gesturing around, "And please, make yourselves at home!"

"Thanks," Neil replied as he glanced around the apartment, "Nice place, by the way".

Zoe nodded, "Yeah, even I have to admit that my brother has pretty good taste!"

AJ grinned, "Ah yes, the infamous Joseph Sugg!" he remarked jokily.

"You know him?" Katya questioned in surprise.

AJ shrugged, "Not personally, but I've seen some of his stuff," he replied, then smiled at Zoe, "And yours too, of course".

The young woman smiled coyly, "To be honest, I was quite surprised that any of you knew who I was; the social media 'world' is pretty small," she admitted, "Sometimes I feel like I don't really belong on the show with all of the 'real' celebs".

Dianne was taken aback by Zoe's words. Admittedly, she hadn't known anything about her until they had started talking properly during the rehearsal process. And, even then, a career in YouTube wasn't something that Dianne had ever thought about before. But the idea that Zoe didn't feel worthy of taking part in such a great show like Strictly was kind of disconcerting.

She immediately spoke up, "Of course you do," Dianne argued as she stepped towards her, "The world's always changing, right? And even if people don't know who you are right now, they will once you show them your awesome dance moves!"

Zoe smiled gratefully at the redhead, "Thanks," she murmured, then grabbed Neil's arm, "Well, I'm relying on you to get those 'awesome dance moves' out of me!"

The ginger man grinned and squeezed her hand, but quickly put a finger to his lips, "Shh, no-one's supposed to know until later!"

"Sorry!" Zoe hissed before gesturing for them to follow her, "Come on, let me get you guys some drinks before it all kicks off!"

As Dianne noticed Zoe relaxing, the redhead did the same. The music and alcohol also helped to relieve the tension, and she glanced around the apartment to see whether she recognised anyone else. Dianne grinned as she spotted a familiar face across the room, and she quietly excused herself from the group so that she could spend a bit of time with him; and hopefully check out some of his moves before rehearsals started!

---

Once Joe reached the bottom of the staircase, he was enveloped in a hug from his sister, "Thanks again for doing this," she murmured, "It's been amazing!"

Joe chuckled as he gave her a quick squeeze, "You're welcome, but don't speak too soon..." he warned her before pulling away, "There'll probably be broken lights and alcohol stains everywhere by the end of the night, which I'll have to clean up!"