You Are My Sunshine

Chapter Twenty-Eight: You Are My Star

"Are you going to tell me what we are doing?" Gabriella asked softly, she was curious about what he had planned for tonight and she couldn't wait to see what he had planned for them this time. 

The last month had been tense and Gabriella was surprised how fast things seemed to be moving, she leant back in her car seat watching the world pass them by; things had really changed for them in the past couple of months. 

"It's a surprise," Joe teased smiling at his girlfriend, he had wanted a night to themselves and he liked the idea of taking Gabriella on a date; they had sort of skipped that part and had gone serious with Elena in their lives. 

They had barely had any time with one another, their serious talk about the future had made Joe think and he wanted to spend more time with his girlfriend. 

Gabriella raised an eyebrow at him, she chewed on her lip curious about what Joe had planned for date night; they had started doing them a lot more since their talk and she enjoyed having one night a week where Joe was hers. 

It had been an agreement that the couple had both come to; Elena would spend the night with Gabriella's parents while they got the night to themselves. 

Gabriella couldn't imagine what Joe had planned tonight, last week he had taken her bowling and for pizza; it had been so much fun and Gabriella knew it had been one of her favourite date nights so far. 

They'd been able to relax and Gabriella couldn't believe that Joe kept coming up with all these new ideas for things they could do; she doubted that he would be running out of ideas any time soon. 

It didn't take them long to arrive at their destination, Gabriella looked around confused not seeing anything around them; she had no idea where they were right now. 

"Come on," Joe announced climbing out of the car making Gabriella stare after him, she furrowed her brow before sighing; she unbuckled her seatbelt before she climbed out of the car after him.

Gabriella looked around not seeing anything, they were in the middle of nowhere and she wondered what Joe was planning; she peeked down at the wrap blouse and skinny jeans that she was wearing hoping that this was okay. 

"It's not a long walk," Joe reassured her appearing at her side with a basket, he laced their fingers before leading her away from the car. 

Gabriella followed after him, she couldn't help but feel a little excited about what he might have planned; she guessed that it was some sort of picnic that he had put together. 

They walked in silence until they reached the area that Joe had picked out, he grinned moving to set a blanket down on the floor before signalling for Gabriella to sit down. 

The evening was beautiful and they had a wonderful view of the sun slowly setting behind them, it was very romantic and Gabriella couldn't believe that he had done this for her. 

Carefully taking a seat, Gabriella was glad that she had brought her metallic shrug; she doubted the warmth of the day would last long and tonight was going to be beautiful. 

Joe sat down next to her and opened the basket to sort out things for them, he had spent ages trying to figure out what to do and he had turned to a couple of his team-mates for ideas. 

It had been a lot of work preparing for tonight and Joe didn't care, he wanted tonight to be special for them and they deserved this time together; they were wonderful parents to Elena and they needed some time to them sometimes. 

Especially considering the fact that they hadn't really been dating that long before Elena was born.

***

"I can't believe you did this," Gabriella said with a shake of her head, they had long since finished dinner and were now laying back on the blanket staring up at the stars; it had been a wonderful date for them. 

Joe smiled rested his head against Gabriella's, it was better than he had thought and he was just glad that it hadn't rained yet; the night had been beautiful and he was a little disappointed that they had to head home. 

It had crossed his mind that they could check into a hotel but they both had work early in the morning and they couldn't risk being late. 

"Come on," Joe said moving to get to his feet an idea popping into his head and he couldn't resist, he held out a hand for Gabriella to take so that he could help her too her feet. 

Raising an eyebrow at him, Gabriella took his hand and allowed him to pull her away from the blanket; she followed him only a few steps before he gave her a little twirl. 

It was hard not to smile when Joe was being so sweet, Gabriella honestly couldn't believe that she got to call him her boyfriend; he was so wonderful and she couldn't help but love him. 

Joe wrapped his arms around Gabriella and held her close, the two of them swayed in silence wanting this moment to last for as long as possible before they had to go home. 

"I love you," Joe said smiling down at Gabriella, he ducked down to kiss her knowing that he was a very lucky man; he could have ended up married to Georgina and he would have never done this with her. 

It seemed that everything that had happened was fate and Joe couldn't imagine what the future would hold for them but he was more than willing to stick around and find out what was waiting for them. 

Opening her mouth to reply, Gabriella stopped when she felt a drop of rain hit her; she barely had chance to look up before it started to pour down, she flinched a little surprised while Joe cursed. 

Not wasting a moment, Joe ducked down and threw his girlfriend over his shoulder before hurrying to collect the basket and blanket; they had to get back to the car before they were soaked.

"Joe," Gabriella shouted clutching at her boyfriend's shoulder as he hurried them back to the car, they weren't more than five minutes away and the rain was now coming down fast and hard on them. 

Joe couldn't help but laugh as he tried not to slip in the mud or drop anything that he was carrying, he hurried back the way that he had come and was relieved that it didn't take him long to spot the car in the dark. 

"Charles Joseph... put me down," Gabriella squeaked worried that he was going to drop her, she was almost relieved when they reached the car and he finally set her down. 

Joe laughed unlocking the car and moving to put the things in the boot, he could feel the rain running down the back of his shirt and he doubted it would last long. 

"You are such an idiot," Gabriella said shaking her head with a smile on her face, she watched him not moving to get into the car; she didn't really care about getting wet. 

Tonight had been wonderful and she was a little sad that they had to head back to the apartment now, her parents would have Elena until tomorrow afternoon when Gabriella picked her up. 

"I am your idiot," Joe told her walking back to her side, he wrapped his arms back around her and grinned knowing that they would have to get a move on before the weather had the chance to get worse. 

"Yes you are," Gabriella replied kissing Joe, she gently pulled her towards the back of car and opened the door; she didn't see the harm in having a bit of fun here before they got going. 

Joe grinned following eagerly after his girlfriend, he guessed they could stick around for a while to see what happened.