The New Girl

[May] - Coastal Insecurities (1)

Joe sung a little tune under his breath as he rummaged through his wardrobe, trying to find his Army style jacket Dianne had brought home for him a few weeks prior that she'd found at a charity shop. She had been doing little things like that lately - not that Joe was surprised by her generosity, but more surprised that she thought of him in those moments when she was shopping with friends.

He thought about her, too. All the time, if he was honest. It was a new, and somewhat scary feeling, to realize that his life did not just revolve around himself anymore. They still hadn't officially defined the relationship, but they seemed to be on the same page, focused only on each other, and in agreement that their current pace worked.

Though he couldn't help but smirk to himself as he remembered a month ago, when he and Dianne had taken that "next step", effectively speeding up their pace just a bit. And he couldn't help but feel his pulse rate quicken when he thought about how he'd almost called her his girlfriend...a few times now, just barely catching himself in an effort to not scare her away. Dianne knew the commitment phobic Joe - not the soppy, weirdly emotional Joe that had begun to think differently about life ever since he'd kissed that petite redhead down the hall.

Suddenly feeling the urge to hug her, he completely abandoned his search for the jacket and headed out of his room down the hall toward Dianne's.

"Joe?" she called out when his footsteps became too loud for her to ignore, and he grinned, knowing that they'd become so comfortable she could even recognize his walk.

"At your service, ma'am," he replied in a silly voice, slipping through the cracked door and heading toward the Aussie who was mimicking his prior stance, stood staring at the racks of clothing she had in place of a wardrobe. Looping his arms around her waist, he gently pulled her back toward his chest, letting his mouth land soft kisses along her neck.

When she remained stiff in his arms, he lifted his head momentarily to frown toward her, "What's up?"

"I can't figure out what to pack," she sighed dramatically, letting her head tilt back onto his shoulder as if she was too exhausted to continue.

Chuckling quietly at her dramatics, he turned back to look at the empty case laying open on her bed, "Haven't even started, eh?"

Dianne groaned, turning to escape his grip before he pulled her back even tighter, landing another loud smacker of a kiss on her cheek.

"Alright," he smirked, releasing her and turning toward a dresser, "Let's start with the basics."

"Get out of my underwear drawer, Joe," Dianne retorted without even looking at him as she began to rifle through a pile of dirty clothes on her floor.

"I'm just trying to help you out," he replied innocently, but listened to her and retreated to the bed, laying down on his stomach and propping his head up on his hands.

"You're really just going to lay there?" Dianne whined as she studied the way he lounged, scrolling through his phone.

He shrugged, knowing he was winding her up.

Dianne rolled her eyes, before flopping down next to him and rolling him over so she was laid on top of him, sighing happily as he instinctively wrapped his arms tightly around her middle, getting what he had come into her room for as she hugged him back just as tight.

"We're both absolute rubbish at packing," he finally murmured into her ear.

"Let's make Casp and Oli do it," she replied, her voice suddenly soft and sleepy.

"Don't fall asleep on me, Buswell," he warned, already feeling her body relax heavily on top of him, knowing his words probably didn't even make it to her ears.