Dianne opened one eye, taking in her surroundings quickly. Sunlight filtered in through the gauzy white drapes that hung across the wall of windows, and the light sound of snores and airy breaths echoed around her. She squeezed the eye back shut, willing herself to go back to sleep, before realizing her full bladder wouldn't let her. With a sigh, she rolled over, aiming to quietly head to the bathroom.
However, a heavy weight over her waist stopped her movement. Opening her eyes again, she gazed down and realized the heavy object was an arm...an arm attached to a floppy haired Joe Sugg. When they had finally left the cabana and gone into the big shared bedroom the night before, everyone had been fast asleep. Joe and Dianne had been forced to quietly climb into the remaining bed without talking, and go to sleep, shyness taking over both of them as they had fallen asleep curled up facing opposite sides of the bed.
Although that had clearly changed in the middle of the night, as Dianne realized it wasn't just Joe's arm that was touching her - their legs were also intertwined, and her back was flush against his chest.
Taking a moment to enjoy the feeling of his body against hers, the urge to wee became too strong to ignore, and Dianne reached out to lift Joe's arm off her waist. She heard him let out a muffled groan as his grip tightened.
Dianne let out a little giggle before she whispered, "Joe! Let me go! I'm about to wee in the bed!"
"Don't go," he mumbled against her shoulder.
Dianne rolled her eyes before tugging his hand away. "Okay fine, but be quick, you're so nice and warm," he relented, a pout on his lips.
Dianne giggled again before running to the loo. On her way back into the bedroom, she took in her surroundings - each of the beds was filled by a couple, all still sound asleep, despite the bright sunshine starting to peek through. She pondered for a moment about what time it was...when they'd be woken up for the date competition they'd been promised...and what the next few weeks were going to bring.
---
In a half-awake haze, Joe felt the mattress dip as Dianne pulled back the covers and crawled back in. He couldn't help the smile tugging at his lips as he felt her move closer and lift his arm back up and over her waist, snuggling in close to his body.
"Are you awake?!" she whispered as she noticed his smile.
He opened one eye, catching her gaze. For the first time that morning, he took in the sight of her. No makeup, hair pulled back in a haphazard ponytail - and the unrelenting sparkle still in her eyes, as her head moved a tiny bit closer to his. He felt his stomach flip.
She smacked his arm softly and giggled again, as he rolled onto his back, moving his arm so it was behind her back, her lifting her head and resting it on his shoulder. That giggle, he thought to himself, would be his downfall. He had a vague memory of falling asleep about as far away from her as he could have been in the bed - something about sleeping in the same bed as someone he had just met had made him unexpectedly shy.
"I swear when we went to sleep," he whispered and pointed across the bed. "You were over there."
Dianne blushed a deep pink before responding, "Yeah well when I woke up, you were holding me hostage with your arm."
"I was not!" Joe retorted indignantly.
Dianne's jaw dropped as she started giggling again, "Yes you were! And then you told me not to go when I was about to wee myself - wait, do you not remember doing that 2 minutes ago?"
Joe grinned sheepishly. "I'm a deep sleeper."
Dianne returned the smile and snuggled deeper into his side, before whispering, "You're comfy."
Joe reached for her cheek, turning her face to look up at his.
"Attention Oasis Island lovers, date competition will start in 30 minutes. Please make your way outside to the pool, wearing your swim attire."
---
Dianne couldn't help the groan that left her lips as the voice came over the loudspeaker. Joe stilled his movements, his hand still resting on her cheek. He tipped his head back and let out a loud sigh.
"Let's go," he frowned, as they both rolled out of the bed.
30 minutes later, Dianne walked out onto the lawn, blinking in the bright sunlight. She could just make out Marisol's shadow heading straight toward her.
"Hey Marisol -" Dianne started.
"Good morning," Marisol interrupted curtly, her mouth turned down into a slight frown. "You and Joe certainly got comfy last night."
Dianne looked at her confused, "What are you talking about?"
"You two. Spooning all night. I swear the cameras only focused on you guys, it took a massive effort to try and push the editors into focusing on Peter and Jasmine's weird in-sync snoring instead. But I think I managed to get the job done."
Dianne, still lost, opened her mouth but before she could get any words out, Marisol started again, "Anyway - this morning, I need you to throw the competition, okay? You and Joe can't win this one."
Dianne felt a wave of anger course through her. "What are you talking about? I'm not going to throw a competition."
"You have to," Marisol sighed. We need the first storyline to focus on Quinn and Jay. They're the current "it" couple - the cameras already found them making out behind a tree they thought was out of view. We need them to win the date."
Dianne's eyes narrowed. "You might need them to win the date, but I certainly don't."
Marisol gazed directly into Dianne's eyes, "Listen, just trust me. This is what I do for a living. If Jay and Quinn get this date, the focus will be on them for a week. You and Joe can stay under the radar. Which is always better for your longevity on the show - which is the main goal here, correct?"
Dianne bit her lip as she looked off in the distance and saw Joe standing along the edge of the pool - in swim trunks and another white tee. He looked innocent - happy, even. She hadn't told him about her dreams of breaking into the dance scene in London - she hadn't technically lied, she WAS a hairdresser back in Australia. But she was also a competitive ballroom dancer on the side, and her dream was to make it on a British tour - or even on to a TV show like Strictly Come Dancing.
She couldn't tell Joe though - she had to keep this to herself, at least for a little while. It looked and sounded desperate and so predictable - another young woman going on TV to try and get famous. She knew Joe would judge her, and what she felt with him was so much stronger than anything she expected. No, she had to keep the two things separate - for now.
"Alright - I'll do my best to not win this stupid competition," Dianne sighed, trying not to be annoyed by the joy on Marisol's face.
"Thank you," she breathed. "You won't regret it. I promise."
---
"Are all the couples ready?" the cheery host yelled across the pool. After some unenthusiastic murmuring, she brought her hand down and screamed "GO!"
The goal was to rotate, each person taking turns to dive to the bottom of the pool and retrieving puzzle pieces that they then had to race across the lawn to piece together. Prior to the start of the game, Joe was having an enormously hard time keeping his gaze off his partner - Dianne was wearing a black one-piece bathing suit with a plunging neckline and cut high up on the thigh. She was the most gorgeous creature he'd ever seen - and it was almost enough to distract him from the competition. Almost.
Whipping off his t-shirt, Joe dove straight into the pool, grabbing the first puzzle piece he saw. As he came back up to the surface, he smirked as Dianne's gaze lingered on his bare torso for a beat too long before jumping in herself. They went back and forth, each bringing puzzle pieces to the surface. When they had everything they needed, they raced across the lawn.
"I'm sorry Joe, I'm terrible at puzzles," he heard Dianne whisper as he started to piece everything together.
"You're fine, just sit there and look pretty," Joe whispered back, laughing out loud at Dianne's indignant face as she crossed her arms.
"I am not just a pretty face Joseph Sugg!"
Joe stopped and grasped her hand, "You know I was kidding. You're definitely the smartest one here. Now put your puzzle brain on and help me figure this out! This date is ours."
He thought he saw a flash of something in Dianne's eyes - guilt maybe? But then she had turned her head down toward the pieces as she started trying to piece a few together. He turned his attention back to the task at hand.
"Shit!" Dianne exclaimed. "These two don't fit, do they? I swear they did, I just wasted 5 minutes trying to find other pieces around them."
Joe turned to look, wondering how on Earth she had thought those two pieces go together. He stared at her, trying not to laugh. "Okay, you weren't lying. Puzzles aren't your thing. How about you just hand me the pieces and tell me if you see any obvious connections?"
They continued to work another ten minutes, but as Joe realized with disappointment, the other couples were soon bypassing them. To his left, Jay and Quinn were seconds away from putting the last two pieces in the puzzle. As he heard the air horn blare, he dejectedly dropped the last few pieces from his hands onto the ground.
"I'm sorry Joe," he heard a quite voice next to him. "It's all my fault, I screwed it all up."
He felt his heart swell a bit as he shifted his gaze to the redhead beside him, who looked crestfallen. "Hey, stop it! It's not your fault at all - how many times did I stare at this damn piece wondering where it went? It was a joint failure, okay? We both suck at puzzles!"
She let out a giggle as he continued to roast himself, "And how about my swimming skills? Jay found about 5 puzzle pieces in the time it took me to find one. I thought my scrawny arms would help me slip between all those muscles, but I guess not..."
---
Dianne felt the massive giggles she had felt on the daybed the night before start to rise in her throat. Before she knew it, she was crying with laughter as she thought about Joe floundering around in the pool. It was true, she had royally screwed up the puzzle - on purpose. But Joe was also right - they were probably equally terrible at the competition as a whole.
She reached out and wrapped her arms around his neck, and simply whispered into his ear, "Thank you."
She felt his head shift against hers as he pulled back an inch - his eyes searched hers, a smirk still playing on his lips. Before she knew what was happening, his lips were pressed against her cheek and his arms were wrapped tightly around her waist. All too soon he was moving back, pulling her by the waist back to the pool as they lined up to finish filming the competition and to find out what Jay and Quinn would be doing that evening.
Dianne reached up and placed her hand on her cheek, smiling to herself. She could still feel Joe's lips on her, her skin still tingling in anticipation of feeling them again.