Lessons in love

chapter 11- maybe i was wrong

"Mamma"
Rinas strong, familiar arms wrapped around her daughters small frame as she hugged her for the first time in almost a year. Even though dianne came home for christmas every year, a situation like this felt oddly familiar. She had been alone at Christmas before. Last year she had returned to australia without joe, but it was different then. They were still together, unlike now where she was properly alone.

This trip was going to be hard. If she didn't have her Joseph with her in australia then he was definitely on face time every other second. Her family knew how much the couple would call when they were apart. Every spare minute would be spent messaging eachother, calling, checking in with the other and now that was all gone. It had only been a few seconds that dianne had been back in her mothers arms and Rina could already tell dianne wasn't right without him. The girl she was hugging so tightly wasnt her daughter, she seemed to be a whole differnt person, one she didn't recognise.

"Hey sweetie"
Rina whispred softly rubbing her hand across her daughters back, which she knew dianne needed. She needed that motherly love she hadn't been able to experience in so long. Also without Rina being there for her during one of the hardest times of her life, she had to make up for it.

It was pretty safe to say, this breakup was one of the hardest things she had ever gone through. She hadn't been able to recover yet and even though it had just only been a month and it would take longer than that to heal, she was hurt and deeply. Especially after their run in just two days ago.

"Are you ok darling?"
Rina could see her daughter looked sad. That usual smile on her face, glow in her skin, and overall excited aura she just radiated had been stolen. It was a feeling ao deep down inside of her but Rina could see it.

"Yeah I'm ok"
She lied and Rina knew she was lying but dianne didn't feel ready to talk about things the second she had got off the plane.
Her father was there too and she turned to him, his arms falling around her small body and he also could see she wasn't herself. This wasn't their daughter who had come home. It was a version of her that was so broken and lonely, a version of dianne they hadn't seen since she was suffering with her eating disorder almost ten years before. Despite that, she was still different and thats what made them both realise almost instantly that this breakup had made dianne feel like she had never felt before.

She was unhappy.
Depressed even.

"Hey daddy"
Diannes voice muffled into his shirt as she held onto him just like she used to do when she was younger.

"Hey dot"

"I've missed you so much dad"
She had, she had missed him so much. She always missed her family but there was a part of her that knew she had missed him more because she felt as if she didnt have a man in her life that loved her anymore. So to be back with the first man that ever loved her and would love her forever made her happy.

"I missed you too dot. Are you ok?"
He looked at her and even in her eyes, you could see her pain.

"Mhm, yeah, I'm glad to be home"
That hit hard for mark and Rina. Of course australia was where she grew up and spent the most of her life so it was home but since meeting joe, diannes home was wherever he was. Australia wasnt home. He was home. Joe was her home.

"Well shall we get you back?"
He asked. Dianne nodded before the three of them walked through the airport and into the car park before driving home.

All dianne wanted was to get back in the familiarity of the home she had grown up in. Nothing since the breakup had felt like home. She was well and truly lost but now she was back where she belonged; with her family in her hometown and as they drove up to that house there was no other feeling like it. She felt she was where she belonged and it was only made better when she walked in for the first time in a year.
It was no different than what it was before, except for this time her bedroom felt lonely. She was alone.
Joe had spelt in that bed with her the past five years, every time they visited together but now it was just her.