THE SECRETS WE KEEP.

- BROKE BUT BALLING.

DIANNES POV:
The start of a new week rolled around, groundhog day coming to us again. As happy as I was leaving the studios on Saturday night with Anthony, after Joe and I had secured another week in the competition, it came crumbling down in front of me. I knew he'd most likely read the stories. He was an influencer after all, his phone is like his third arm. He must have read them surely.. right?

Showing signs of life in me, I arose from the comfort of my bed, knowing the boy I was usually excited to see was waiting for me. I splashed water on my face and gave my teeth a quick brush as I tried to refresh myself for the day ahead. I'd been preparing myself all morning for the tension - the awkward moments of touching each other, the haulted gazes at the other. My mind tormented me with the thought of Joe - what would he think of me now? Over the weeks we had spent together, our bond had become closer and it was becoming more evident that feelings were there for him. Maybe even more than at the start.

I changed into my usual training clothes just in time for the bing of my phone who was giving me the needed push out the door. I got into my uber, immediately dropping my head and taking my attention back to my buzzing machine. I'd turned my phone off last night after all the alerts of story mentions and headlines filled with false information I couldn't handle to look at. As hard as it was to admit, Anthony and I's relationship had worsened because of the main love story killer - distance. We loved each other, I'm sure I still do. But the constant upset at the missed phone calls and delivered text messages, and the persistent need to be together, made my heart ache and whine. Thinking back to how we were, I now know the only thing keeping me there was what would happen next. The glooming cloud of false articles, the news stories full of "sources" and most importantly.. the dance partner I was slowly falling in love with.

The door holding all of that imagination was slammed shut before I could go venture any further, my phone beeping away to itself in my bag. The driver glared at me through his rear view mirror, trying to send a silent message to me to look at it. I sent back a sheepish smile to him before taking the phone from my bag. I opened it up, the text being from an unknown number. 'How strange..' I thought to myself as my fingers tapped before I could take a second thought and the picture loaded up. My eyes widened, my jaw dropping down slightly at the edit I had saw. Throwing it back in my bag in shock to ignore it, letting out a loud sigh of dismay which earned another unhappy look from my driver.

—

For this weeks performance Joe and I had been assigned the famous Cha-Cha. For me, this was one of my favourites styles to perform - the sharp hip movements, the quick feet changes, the music to excite the audience - I just loved it. When I broke the news, Joe looked like a child on Christmas receiving socks. In light terms he was not happy. With almost every other dance we have done he could loosen up and add in his own personal swing to the routine, something that I could tell sent his creative side roaming free. Unfortunately for Joe, this time every hip movement and forward step had to be perfect for it to look good. But as his dance teacher (and only that Dianne) there was no doubt in my mind that he would be able to remember the choreography. The execution on the other hand.. may be a different story.

To my surprise, no words about my current situation had been spoke. Almost as if he's ignoring how it's everywhere. Even his name is mentioned.. why isn't he saying anything? My inner dialogue ran wild with the explanations to why this boy hasn't mentioned something so big - "Maybe he just hasn't seen them? I guess that's plausible. Social media isn't his whole life, he might like to take a Sunday away from it. Or maybe, for my sake, he just doesn't want to bring it up?"  I mean, this could hurt how he's viewed by the public, it could hurt his whole career and reputation. Worrying me was one headline I had reread a thousand times - "Is YouTuber Joe Sugg the cause for "smitten" Strictly couple Dianne Buswell and Anthony Quinlan's breakup?"