"I can't believe we get to LEAVE the mansion," Quinn cooed at dusk, raising her voice loud enough for the entire group lounging around the pool to hear.
Joe looked over at Dianne who was sprawled across the pool chair next to him, her hand shielding her eyes from the sharp ray of setting sun. He bit back a laugh at the fire in her eyes as they rolled all the way back into her skull.
"Is she fucking for real?" Dianne hissed. "Every 30 minutes. Another mention of this fucking date."
Joe couldn't help the chuckle that escaped his lips. "Jesus Christ, Di. Two F bombs in a row."
Dianne let out a low growl in response, and Joe laughed again before reaching out and wrapping his arm around her shoulders, pulling her small body over to his chair and into a giant hug. He was surprising himself a bit with how comfortable he felt around her - it usually took him ages to get to know girls. Especially the ones he liked - and he certainly liked Dianne. A lot. Enough to do things without thinking.
"Stay here," Joe whispered against her hair. "I'll be right back."
Dianne let out a quiet whine as he quickly moved out from under her, leaving her alone on the lounge chair again, before exclaiming dramatically, "What are you doing? Where are you going? Joe don't leave me here to die! "
Joe grinned and winked at her, as he beelined across the lawn and into the mansion.
---
Dianne frowned as she checked the clock for what felt like the hundredth time. Joe had been gone for about 30 minutes, and the other couples had slowly begun to make their way inside.
"You coming, Dianne?" Hannah asked brightly, "I think we're going to go inside and play a drinking game! It's too dark out here. I swear they don't' light the backyard so that they don't have to use those creepy night vision cameras."
Dianne smiled and shook her head, "That's okay, I'm going to stay out here a little longer"
"But it's dark," Hannah repeated, her face full of confusion.
Dianne shrugged. Hannah finally moved away from her chair and went to walk inside, confusion still evident on her face. Dianne sighed and checked the clock again. After an entire day of listening to Quinn and Jay flaunt their date in everyone's face, she did feel a bit closer to the other couples, even though their bonding was probably born more from their joint disdain than from anything else. But, she still didn't feel super close to any of them yet and would much rather wait in the dark backyard for Joe to return. Although she was starting to question if that would ever happen.
Finally, she heard the sliding glass door slowly slide open across the lawn. "Dianne?" Joe shouted. "Shut your eyes!"
Dianne smirked before shouting back, "I can't see anything anyway, you've left me out in the dark!"
"Just close them. Promise me they're closed."
"Fine," she sighed dramatically. "They're closed."
She could hear some rustling in the open area of the grass next to the pool, mixed with some hushed profanity laden exclamations, and she tried not to giggle as she tried to envision what Joe was doing in pitch black backyard. Suddenly, his hands were in hers and he was pulling her upright off the chair.
"Okay," he murmured softly. "Open."
Dianne blinked her eyes open, trying to take in her surroundings. Her eyes landed on the area 10 feet in front of her and she felt herself let out a small gasp. A large blanket was laid out on the grass, with about 10 lit candles of varying heights placed all around the edges. In the middle were two pillows, a bottle of red wine and two glasses.
Dianne turned to Joe, trying to blink back the tears that suddenly had appeared in her eyes. "What is all this?'
Joe looked down sheepishly, still grasping her hands, but nervously shifting his feet. "Um...a date?"
Dianne felt her heart soar, as she quickly wiped the tear away that had fallen down her cheek. She wasn't quick enough though, as Joe had decided on that moment to lift his head and meet her eyes.
---
"Way to go, idiot,"Joe thought to himself, as he looked up and saw Dianne hastily wiping away a tear. "You made her cry!"
"Hey, hey - no I didn't mean to make you cry -" Joe started in a hushed voice before he was interrupted by the mesmerizing sound of Dianne's giggles.
"Shush, you," she managed to get out between gasps of laughter, here eyes still filled with tears. "This is the most amazing thing anyone has ever done for me!"
Joe felt relief flood through his body, as a wide smile spread across his face. As he led her over to the blanket, he began rambling out loud, "You seemed quite annoyed about Jay and Quinn's date, and to be honest, so was I - so I was thinking, why can't we have our own date? There's no rule against setting up your own dates - although there might be rules against stealing the candles from foyer of the house - but whatever, I like to live life on the edge..."
Joe watched Dianne lean back onto the pillows and continue to giggle as he uncorked the wine bottle and began to pour it into the glasses. "Is red wine two nights in a row inappropriate? Are there like...etiquette rules about that?"
Dianne smiled, "I don't think so Joseph."
"Phew," Joe mimed wiping his brow. "Because I just really feel like we needed it. Not that I need wine to be around you because that's not at all -"
"Joe," he heard Dianne say quietly, seriousness laced in her voice. He looked up, connecting his eyes to hers, once again getting lost.
"Relax." She placed her hand on his arm, a slight smile tugging at her lips. "I'm not lying when I say this is the most amazing thing anyone has ever done for me."
Joe cocked an eyebrow at her, before replying, "I find that hard to believe Ms. Buswell. How have you never been treated to something better than wine on a blanket with stolen candles?"
Dianne shrugged, looking down at the blanket and beginning to play with the threads. "I haven't had the most...loving relationships in the past."
Joe looked at her, concern in his eyes. But he stayed quiet, knowing she wasn't done speaking.
"I have a tendency to date guys that are in different stages of life than me. There's always something more important - their career, their hobby, their friends. And in my early 20's, that just seemed normal. In fact, I always seemed to have something more important than my partners, too. It went both ways. I had bad boyfriends, but I was also a terrible girlfriend."
"I know I've only known you for 48 hours," Joe interrupted. "But there is absolutely no way on this Earth you were a bad girlfriend."
Dianne smiled softly. "You're sweet. But trust me. I wasn't great. As I've gotten older though, I've definitely shifted my priorities. My career is still everything to me - but I feel like I have a slightly larger space in my heart for a partner now."
Joe grinned, "So is that why you're on Oasis Island? To find a partner to fit that space?"
---
Dianne felt herself grimace, looking down into her wine glass to try and hide her reaction from Joe. Anytime the topic of "why you're on the show" came up, she felt a pang of guilt stab directly into her chest.
"I guess," she replied softly, before clearing her throat and continuing louder, "But enough about me, Joseph. I want to know how many girls you've treated to blankets with stolen candles."
She looked up with a cheeky grin and giggled as Joe looked down, his cheeks getting redder by the second.
"It's okay - you can tell - "
"None." Joe whispered, cutting off Dianne mid-sentence.
Dianne's head snapped up from her wine glass, her eyes widening. "What?"
"None." Joe repeated, a little louder. "I've never done this for a girl before. I'm not going to lie, I did plan it for someone once, but they, uh, bailed. I don't have the best track record with dating, to be honest."
Dianne felt herself reach out and grasp his hand, as he continued, hearing the vulnerability in his voice.
"And uh, I don't know. When I saw you laying on the lawn chair with lasers coming out of your eyes toward Quinn, I thought - it should be you. You should be going on that date, because you deserve to feel special. And not just when you win a stupid competition with a stupid puzzle on a stupid TV show...but every day." he finished, his voice just a whisper.
Without thinking, Dianne pushed herself forward, letting go of Joe's hand to grasp the side of his head, pulling his lips to hers. He hesitated for a split second, before kissing back, his hand finding the small of Dianne's back, pushing her even closer to him. Their lips moved against each other slowly, exploring this new connection and wishing and hoping time would stand still so they could remain this way forever.
---
Joe slowly pulled back when the need to breathe became too large to ignore. Dianne's eyes were closed, breathing deeply, a smile gracing her lips. He leaned forward again, pecking her lips quickly once, twice, and a third time before laying down and wrapping his arm around her shoulders, taking her with him.
He knew she must be able to feel his heart racing as he looked down and saw her eyes flicker open, meeting his gaze. She let out a nervous giggle, burying her head in his chest.
"So...just for future reference...the blanket and stolen candles work, eh?" Joe whispered against her hair.
She let out a little giggle and snuggled deeper, her arm wrapping around his waist and pulling him impossibly closer to her.
"Yes, Joseph. It will work EVERY time."