THE SECRETS WE KEEP.

- LAY YOUR LOVE ON HER (PART 2).

DIANNES POV:
The tricking pattern of the carpet floor worsened my already drunk state, my feet falling over one another after each step I took. Luckily, the protective hand of Joe on my waist was there to keep me standing, just as we reached our destination. "You looked beautiful tonight Di.. you really did" As always his compliments brought a harsh pink dusting across both my cheeks, and all I could do to hide it was drop my head to rummage through the items in my pocket for my room key. "Um Di? Just with how you are, I didn't know whether you'd like some company, you could stay with me?" His nervous stuttering made the request even cuter, however with my eyes near closing and my head spinning like a waltzer, my company would not be the best at this time. "I-I.. I'm not feeling the best right now, sorry.." My heart sunk to the pit of my stomach watching the previously cheerful smile disappear from his lips, his gaze dropping from mine as he mumbled out a response I could not catch. For the entirety of our meal all I had wanted was for it to hit ten-thirty, where everybody would pack everything up and be ready to head out, which would mean time for Joe and I to be together. But when the opportunity has arised, something in me has changed, and now all I want is to be alone.

Saying nothing more, his hands clasped lightly around my wrists to place my forearms over his shoulders, to which I instinctively snaked my arms around his neck to pull him closer. To have him holding me in this way, without the darting glances at our surroundings, made me wonder whether this journey we were on would ever be unscathed by the drama of articles and press photos. Whether one day, in the distant future, we would be able to hold each other like this in a public place, somewhere where the judgment and speculation was no more, somewhere the love we felt for one another was accepted as love and not a curse. All night I had been continually drinking in the bad boy look Joe was sporting; the low buttoned pattered shirt that ran down his body just enough to catch a glimpse of his chest, the rough of the leather jacket accentuating his long, slender neck. His obvious attractiveness made it harder to depart from him, how I wished I could pull him through the door with me just for a sneaky kiss. But all the other aspects, the sweet boy behind it all, made me realise how good company he would be. What warmed my heart was the way when our eyes would meet, his would be full of a certain softness.. the way his tone was gentle around me, his voice was never raised.. and the way without any judgements he would be with me at my most vulnerable of times.

The door already open ajar, my bed calling out my name in despair, nothing could stop me from capturing my lips with his one more time as a final goodbye. My pleading rang true, as my fingertips finally got the chance to run through the perfect set of brown locks just once more. The cold pads of his hands dancing across the small of my back earned a quiet gasp, the gentle applying of pressure sending a shiver up my spine. I have always been that annoying person to preach about living in the moment, to never wish away your life to experience one small period of time for a little longer. But this was one of those times that I prayed for it to stop, even for a minute longer, just so I could stay in his warm embrace. However my wishful thinking proved to be false, his lips leaving mine to only have me wanting more from him. "See you tomorrow.." The smug smirk knowing what he had done to me only seemed to increase the sexual tension in this corrider, and make him seem even hotter than he already did. But just watching turn that corner to leave me, as I had wished, all alone, broke my heart into small little pieces you could bundle up in your hand.

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JOES POV:
The crash of a fist against my door, which I'm certain would have woke the whole hall up, was from an extremely impatient auburn-haired Strictly contestant, wine bottle in hand with two glasses in the other. "Stace it's like 11, why are you-" Not even a chance to strike up a conversation, she had managed to slip through the small gap between myself and the doorframe, to make herself at home on the spinning chair in the corner of the room. "So.. we all see the way that girl looks at you, in the first stages of love, where every look is filled with so much admiration and complete adoration and you speak so highly of one other.. god we aren't all blind Joe!" Watching her flick off the lid of the bottle with so much ease and pour the strong scented golden liquid into each glass worsened my confused look, beginning to believe maybe all of this talk was just drunken chatter from Stacey. However, her teacher-like stance on the chair, legs crossed and nestling the glass between her two palms like a cup of steaming coffee, led me to believe that maybe this was serious from her. "What exactly is it that you're waiting for?"