The others

What happens in Wiltshire......

"Where are we sitting?" Dianne questioned as she hopped onto the train, an obvious spring in her step and air in her lungs as she dragged a bright pink suitcase behind her.

"Umm... coach F." Joe began as he too followed the bouncy red head up onto the west bound train. "Seats 70 and 69." He finished with a gentle wiggle of his eyebrows as he looked across to the Australian with a cheeky grin strewn across his lips.

"You're disgusting." Dianne bit back jokingly with a roll of her eyes and a gentle giggle escaping her lips. Hoping to hide the blush that had secretly begun travelling up her cheeks in response to the crude Joke Joe had made for the fifth time that morning, and instead walking along down the carriage, her eyes following the numbers on the overhead compartments before reaching seats 70 and 69.

"Umm... Joe..." She began, her voice no more than a whisper as she looked back at the younger man who was standing behind her in confusion.

"What?"

"I think we might have to sit somewhere else." She whispered further.

"Why?"

Not wanting to speak any more, Dianne pointed down towards the seat, shuffling slightly as she felt Joe lean over her body and inspect the area that her her index finger was noting towards.

"Oh..." He spoke out in response. "Is he definitely asleep, or is he... dead?" Joe questioned his voice now in a whisper to not disturb the man before them.

"Nah, he's asleep his chest is moving." Dianne muttered as she noticed the rise and fall of the portly stomach to a little old man slumped over in seat 70, whilst a newspaper, flat cap, and wooden walking stick took up the residence of seat 69. His eyes shut and a gentle snore escaping his wrinkled lips.

"Aww, look at him." Dianne cooed softly as she continued to look at the older gentleman. "Joe, I don't want to wake him up."

"No me neither, maybe we should just sit on the floor instead." Joe suggested with a shrug of his shoulders, something which was reciprocated by the red head as she continued waking along to the other end of the carriage - practically tiptoeing away from the gentleman in the hopes of not waking him up.

"This'll do right?" She eventually spoke once they were out of earshot from the sleeping man, pointing down to an uninhabited space by an emergency exit, before she casually sat down in front of a sign reading 'fire exit - do not block', clearly not realising the irony of her action.

"Yep..."Joe mumbled in return, running a hand through his hair as he removed the jacket from his body. "An hour and a half on the floor, what could possibly go wrong." He said, his already aching muscles screaming at the idea of hiding out in the cramped space on the desolate corner of the train.

Before long the train had begun its journey to the west. With Joe and Dianne sat impossibly close to one another on the floor, their legs entwined and their eyes flicking onto and off of one another as they laughed the entire way out to Joe's neck of the woods. The window of the erratic mechanical door they were lent up against showing the slow transmission between the built up city they had spent their days in, out into the open fields which Joe missed more than anything in the world.

As ever, Joe found himself in the best of moods as he sat with the redhead. Her characteristic zest for life, sense of humour, and quick wit allowing him to bounce off of her in a way which he recently found that he just couldn't with other people. The onslaught of sarcastic comments, random jokes, and abysmal comments causing a few disapproving glances to be thrown their way as they hollered outside of the first class carriage. And in a very weird way, Joe found that he truly felt relaxed for the first time in over a week.