35 Ways to Say 'I Love You' | Joanne (One Shot Series)

Garlic (Quality Time)

"What do you want for dinner?"

Joe had learned that the question he had just asked could have any number of answers. Sometimes, Dianne was too hungry to care. Sometimes, she had something very specific in mind and wouldn't compromise on what her belly wanted.

"I have no idea. Why don't we pick something together?" Dianne reached across the couch and pulled a recipe book off the table. Since they had started their cooking channel, they had been gifted more and more food-related products from companies. The book had been delivered a week or so ago, and both of them had been excited by it. "Everything's pretty healthy. And it's all vegetarian so we don't have to worry about the fact that you're fussy about fish and I'm weird about most meat" she explained. "Why don't we see if we can agree on something?"

Joe patted the space next to him and Dianne curled into his side, opening the book and resting it on his lap.

"Is there a section for, like, easy to cook things?" Joe asked, leaning down to rest his lips on his girlfriend's head. "We don't have that many ingredients and I'd rather not have to traipse out for fancy stuff. I'm already quite hungry."

Dianne flicked to the contents and pointed. "Simple Suppers? That sounds like what you want." She turned to the right page and began to turn the pages. "We always have noodles, so can we have something at least a little different?"

Joe nodded. "Of course. Oh! That looks cool. Chickpea burgers."

"Maybe. Although you might be weird about the texture. Do you like falafel?"

"It's alright" Joe said. "OK, let's keep looking."

Dianne turned the page. "Sweetcorn fritters?"

"Maybe. They look really nice, actually. Let's keep looking and then decide from our shortlist. I..." Joe cast his eyes down, "I'm enjoying doing this with you. I don't really want to get up. I've wanted a cuddle all day."

Dianne grinned and leaned close, kissing her boyfriend on the cheek. "You're so cute." She looked back at the book. "Oh, what about a frittata? We could have the leftovers for lunch."

Joe nodded and wrote it down on his phone. "It's added to the shortlist." He looked at the book, noticing Dianne flicking past a few pages. "Are most of them pasta?"

"Unfortunately" she said. "I don't mind if it's got a chunky sauce so I don't have to have the pasta, but these aren't like that."

"Fair enough, you little weirdo. Oh! Go back a page."

Dianne did as Joe requested. "Oh, that does look good. Do we have everything?"

"Potatoes, onions, garlic, herbs, chickpeas, spinach. Yeah I think we've got everything."

"Let's make that today, then. We can keep the others on that list and then have them another time."

Joe grinned. "Are we cooking together today?" They had taken it in turns over the last few weeks, but the idea of spending an evening in the kitchen with his girlfriend was weirdly exciting. They had got into a routine since they had been back to work, and they had made sure to put aside time to spend with one another, but the idea of a spontaneous few hours warmed his heart.

"Come on, little one" Dianne said. "Let's get everything ready." She patted his leg before getting up, holding out her hand for him.

The pair walked into the kitchen. Joe set the recipe book on the side and read out the ingredients as Dianne found them.

"Is that everything" she asked once she had put everything on the counter. Joe nodded and held out his hand for a high five.

"Teamwork" he said with a smile. "Right, let's cook."

Joe set about cutting an onion as Dianne cut up the potatoes.

"OK, done" she said, grinning as she realised Joe was still only halfway through his task. "I'll never understand how you can do stuff so slowly."

"I'm just careful, Dianne" Joe said, still focusing on the onion. "You know I like to do things properly. I'm a sensible boy."

Dianne rolled her eyes. "Well, I guess they do say opposites attract. Anyway, how much garlic do we need?"

"Three cloves."

Dianne grabbed the bulb of garlic from the side. "Is this a clove?"

Joe gasped. "No! That's a bulb. We just need three of the little... cloves. Jeez, I think three of those would kill us."

Dianne smiled. "True. I guess it's a good thing you're not a vampire."

"And that we're both eating it. I always used to check how much garlic was in food in restaurants before I ordered it on a date."

"Even with me?" Dianne asked, walking over to her boyfriend and wrapping her arms around his waist. "Did you do that with me?"

Joe shook his head. "Not after the first couple of times, no. I realised pretty quickly that you didn't care. We were too into each other to be bothered."

"True" Dianne agreed. "I don't think anything would have stopped me from kissing you. Once I'd finally plucked up the courage, I was going for it." Joe couldn't help but smile as Dianne spoke. She poked his cheek. "I knew that, once I kissed you, there was no going back. I was already falling for you, I just needed you to kiss me back. I needed to know that I wasn't imagining the way you looked at me."

Joe knew he was blushing as he put the knife down carefully on the side. He turned around in Dianne's arms and used a finger to tilt her head up slightly. Leaning in, he kissed her lips gently.

"I love you."

Dianne smiled. "I love you too. Anyway, let's get cooking. The potatoes and the onions need to go in the big pan. Then we need garlic."

///

"OK, that's actually delicious" Dianne said, feeling Joe's eyes on her as she took the wooden spoon from her mouth and put it back in the pan.

"It's a good thing we haven't got guests" Joe said, gesturing to the spoon. "I hope you're not sick. We've both got shows to do."

Dianne giggled lightly. "You'll be fine. Stop moaning. Anyway, it's ready."

Joe got two bowls out of the cupboard and set them on the side. Dianne served up two portions and got two forks from the drawer. They moved to the other side of the counter and sat down next to one another on the leather stools.

"I loved cooking this with you" Joe said as they ate. "It was nice just to do that together."

Dianne nodded. "I get what you mean. It's nice to have a free evening to do this kind of thing every once in a while. Just being in this house with you, doing stuff like this, makes me realise how far we've come. This time last year, we were sort of nervously flirting and now we live together. I could never have dreamed we'd get this far this fast, but I'm so happy."

"Me too" Joe said. "I think this is what people call 'domestic bliss'."

"We're a good pair" Dianne said. "We work well. I don't think there are many people who could put up with me in the kitchen. I know how annoying I can be. I get ahead of myself and I get confused."

Joe took a bite of his dinner before smiling at Dianne. "I'm glad I was there today. Imagine if I'd left you to it and you'd put three bulbs of garlic in here."

Dianne shook her head, smiling. "We'd stink. It would be coming out of our sweat for weeks. Nobody would want to dance with me. Well, except you because you'd be stinking too."

"You know what?" Joe said after thinking for a moment. "I don't think there's a time where, if you asked me to dance, I'd say no. It wouldn't matter to me if you were stinking of garlic, or if you'd not brushed your teeth for a week."

"That" Dianne said with a smile, "is true love."