The others

Boys

A/N Hey people, a little bit of a shorter one for today to sort of balance up for how much longer the last chapter was. Hope you enjoy it either way! x

Joe sat there frozen.

His heart thumping so fast it felt as if it were preparing to jump from his chest. His palms became sweaty and the grip he had on his cup became looser and looser, prompting him to place it down on the table.

No...

It was an otherwise simple concept. A negative attribute that sometimes just had to be dealt with. But as Joe watched the other man interlock his fingers with the woman who he had wanted nothing more than to be with, he felt as if his entire world began crashing down. As if the walls to the small café became tighter around him. As if the air in his lungs was taken by this other man. And as if the smile on his face was erased away by the cruel hands of the Australian.

"Morning Joe." Dianne responded with a smile as she settle down on the seat opposite him.

Joe continued to look at her. His mouth agape a little as he took in the devilishly cruel way in which her lips remained flat and emotionless. The suggestion being that she didn't seem to care about their little arrangement at all. That the entire ordeal the two of them had gone through that week was nothing more than a ploy for her to get her way.

"Joe?" She muttered again, waving a palm in front of his eyes that seemed to be stuck onto hers.

"Huh, oh sorry." The brunette muttered, shaking his head a little as he regained his focus. "Morning." He eventually responded, putting the consistent swarm of thoughts and emotions in his mind to the side for a moment, allowing him to act as a functioning member of society.

"Are you okay?" She questioned tauntingly.

Gritting his teeth a little, beginning to suppress the anger that suddenly rose within his chest, Joe nodded softly. "Yuh-huh." He muttered, taking a sip of his drink to allow the sudden addition of the lump in his throat to be pushed away from the delicacies of his voice.

"Good." Dianne replied, before swivelling her head away from the brunette and off towards the ever extending queue at the till across the room from their seated position. "Right I'm going to grab a coffee. Do you want anything?" She questioned, looking across to the other man next to her.

"Oh, I actually got this for you." Joe interrupted sliding the americano across to the redhead, stopping the other man from interjecting. "I-uh... I'm sorry I didn't get anything for you, I had no idea we'd be having... company." Joe prompted, finally turning his attention to him.

"Of course, where are my manners." Dianne fussed. "Joe, this Ant... my boyfriend."

"Pleasure to meet you." Ant responded, his thick Mancunian accent pummelling into Joe's ears as he extended a large hand out to the brunette.

"Likewise." Joe responded, a small smile on his face as he shook his awaiting palm - praying to god that his disappointment in the redhead and his hatred at himself for being so gullible was hidden.

The three of them shared a gentle silence.

A wide, content smile thrown across the Mancunians features as he sat there taking in the busyness of the London café. The redhead settled next to him slowly exhibiting a rouge blush upon her skin as she continued to look over to the younger man from Wiltshire opposite her. The man who was seething as he too looked back at her.

"Right, I'm going to go grab myself a tea. Do you want anything babe?" Ant questioned into the silence as he got up from his chair, leaning across and pressing a small peck onto the redheads lips as he did so.