The others

Ifs and buts

"We came over as quick as we could!" Oti said breathlessly as she opened the door to Dianne's flat. Causing the tearful redhead to jump slightly from her curled up position on the sofa, despite knowing that the two boisterous dancers would be coming over to rescue her.

"Are you okay?" Janette questioned as she gently shut the door that the South African had thrown carelessly open.

Shaking her head, Dianne sniffled slightly in response. A blanket held up to her chin as she laid down in a tearful ball, tissues scattered around her as tears promptly cascaded down her skin. It had been an understandably long day for Dianne. It had been one filled with Cha-Cha steps and upsets. But the time she had spent alone in her flat, waiting for two of her closest friends in the world to show up, had seemed to be the longest wait of all.

Looking around the flat, Oti and Janette couldn't help but scour their noses up a little. There were piles of clothes on every surface, the cleanliness of them all being somewhat questionable. Uncleaned dishes piled up high in the sink, and an eminent air of sadness which seemed to be lingering in every corner, seeping into the furnishings and solid oak floor.

"What happened D-buzz?" Oti pressed as she settled down on the edge of the coffee table before her friend. Obscuring the redheads view of the muted episode of friends she had clearly put on in a dismal attempt to cheer herself up.

Knowing that there was no way she could keep this in any longer, Dianne roused herself from her carelessly slouched position on the sofa, gently throwing the soft blanket she held up to her chin off of the top half of her body as she sat up right, Janette quickly settling down next to her, wrapping a reassuring arm around her tired body.

Sighing softly, Dianne ran a hand through the tatty nature to her once luxurious, red tresses. A nervous habit she had unashamedly picked up from the man who had been running loose around her mind all week.

"Joe." She whispered softly. Her voice hushed and gravelly as the hoarse nature of her tears took a grasp on the already tightened nature of her throat.

"Oh..." The South African followed. Her facing falling a little at the suggestion that it would ever be anything but the young man from the West Country. "What's he done this time then?"

"Well, no it's not even as if he's done anything, it's... It's more what I've done, and I just..." Dianne stopped herself mid sentence, the mere mention of his name and the words she had thrown at him in the training room earlier seeming to be a little too much to deal with as she once again found herself choking up, prompting the brunette beside her to squeeze her that little bit tighter.

"Did you guys... um... did you... y'know, again?" Janette asked, her voice soft and subtle as she tip-toed around the intrusive subject matter.

"No, no not at all... we just... Hit an impasse I suppose." The Australian shrugged casually, sniffling slightly as she brought the used tissue gripped in her hands up to wipe the remainder of mascara from falling down her tear stained cheeks.

"What's an impasse?" Oti questioned, a little baffled by the term.

"You know... hit a reef, a barrier, we just... I just... ruined everything." 

Oti and Janette shared a look of despair. It was a look which neither of them were expecting to give one another that night. But as they sat there, slap bang in the middle of their best friends chaotic life, they couldn't help but feel a little useless. Dianne Buswell was well known for her upbeat nature. She was well known for a high morale, and never putting herself - or anyone - down. So to see her sat on her teal blue sofa, a tissue in her palm as tears slowly clambered down the structures of her cheeks - bobbling over the gap where the infamous dimple on her right cheek should have been laid - seemed to break the dancers hearts.