The New Girl

[December] - Holi-dazed

"I HATE how cold it is here," Dianne shivered, as she took the steps out of the office building two at a time.

"You'll be in the hot Australian sunshine soon!" Amy laughed, following suit as they hurried down the street, toward a little cafe on the corner.

Dianne checked her phone, "Yeah, something like 28 hours now."

"You really are cutting it close," Amy giggled, "Who books a tour meeting a few hours before you have to leave for the airport?!"

Dianne shrugged, "We have a lot to do Ames!"

"It could wait until you get back," Amy replied gently, and Dianne could feel her friend's eyes linger on her for a few moments. She knew she probably looked horrid - she hadn't been sleeping well, and she'd spent all morning fighting with her giant case trying to shove enough clothing for two weeks in it. Mix in a somewhat tearful goodbye to Joe and a group meeting about how stressful their travel schedule would be on tour, and Dianne was feeling a bit worse for wear.

"No, I'm glad we met today," Dianne shook her head, staring at the cafe menu. "I feel slightly better that Patrick can and will drive, but it's a lot of trains."

"It is," Amy agreed, sighing, "But our budget..."

"I know," Dianne murmured, as she took a step up to order. Once they had their lunches and coffees in hand, they found a booth near the back and settled in.

"Stress makes me hungry," Dianne mumbled into her soup as Amy giggled, watching her shove the food in at high speed.

"It will all be okay, Di," Amy's soft lilting Welsh accent doing a decent job at calming Dianne's racing heart. "I promise. All this hard work will pay off."

Dianne nodded, trying to blink back the inexplicable tears that pricked her eyes. She'd been on the verge of tears way too often the past month, and something about her friend's soft voice and the warm soup and the countdown to Australia ticking on her phone seemed to combine to push her over the edge.

"Oh, Di," Amy cooed, standing up to sit next to the redhead, wrapping her up in a warm hug. "What's wrong? It's not all the tour, is it?"

Dianne sniffled, her efforts at wiping her eyes all futile as hot tears rolled down her cheeks. When she finally felt able to speak, she sighed, turning toward the brunette at her side.

"I'm sort of freaking out about leaving," she frowned.

Amy tilted her head, clearly confused.

"I've never felt like this before," Dianne shook her head, "I'm always dying to go home for the holidays...to see my family. To have Christmas on the beach, and squeeze my niece and nephew and I still AM dying to do all that, but..."

As she trailed off, she caught Amy's knowing look, a small smile on her lips.

"But," Amy filled in her thoughts. "You're going to miss being here."

Dianne nodded.

"That's totally normal, Di," Amy squeezed her shoulders, "And honestly, I think it's kind of sweet. It means you feel at home here in the UK."

Dianne nodded again, letting her head rest on her friend's shoulder, "I do feel at home here. It's weird. Last summer, when I got off that plane and Oti and Johannes told me our flat was under water, I had this awful feeling that I'd made a massive mistake. I honestly thought I'd be back in Australia in under a month."

Amy giggled, knowing full well how the opposite had happened.

"And even though my two seasons on Strictly haven't panned out exactly how I wanted," Dianne pursed her lips, thinking back to her early exits two years in a row, "I still feel like I've found best friends for life. It doesn't even feel like work when I'm with you guys."