Real(ity) Feelings

Chapter 7

The next three days passed in a blur. Joe could hardly believe he had been in the Oasis Island mansion for five days - in some ways it felt like it had passed in a blink of an eye.

But in other ways, he realized as he looked down at the sleeping redhead curled into his side, it felt like he had always been here. Like he'd always known this beautiful and slightly mysterious woman who had completely swept him off his feet.

He reached out and brushed a lock of hair out of her face and behind her ear, letting his hand linger on her head for a few seconds, lightly massaging her temple. He wanted nothing more to lean down and kiss her soft lips. But he resisted, mainly because he didn't want to wake her up, but also because they surprisingly hadn't shared another kiss since their first on the blanket three nights ago.

Somehow they hadn't had another moment to themselves as the other couples and production team constantly interrupted or infringed on their private conversations. Joe and Dianne had found themselves alone exactly two times in the last 72 hours - the first, in the backyard again after dark, when they were rudely interrupted by the production team ushering them inside to fix an outdoor camera rig. And the second, yesterday morning in the bathroom. Joe smiled to himself as he remembered grabbing Dianne's hand and pulling her to him as she turned to leave after brushing her teeth. She had looked surprised, but the sparkle in her eye got brighter as he leaned in - their moment ruined in an instant as Luke rushed in yelling loudly about his contact falling out of his eye.

He felt like the time between their first kiss and now was increasing the expectation - heightening the tension. He felt like it needed to somehow be extra special. As Joe continued to brush his fingers through Dianne's bright red hair, he leaned his head back and exhaled slowly, closing his eyes and finding himself drifting back to sleep.

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Dianne could feel Joe's eyes on her, before she had fully woken up. She focused on keeping her face neutral and her eyes closed to see what he would do next. She felt like a teenager again - hoping, and wishing and dreaming for him to kiss her again.

She felt his soft touch on her face, brushing a lock of hair behind her ear, as his hand remained near her temple, massaging her head lightly. It took everything in her not to reach up and crash her lips on his, but she decided to wait a little longer before moving. She had kissed him first last time - it was his turn to make a move.

His hand remained absentmindedly rubbing her head, as she felt his head move back down onto the pillow as he exhaled slowly. She could feel his body relaxing again at her side.

"He fell asleep!"Dianne thought to herself in shock. "He bloody fell back asleep!"

She felt a giggle rip through her throat before she could keep it in, and she felt Joe's whole body jolt back awake, his muscles tensing up quickly as he opened his eyes to take in his surroundings, looking out confused.

She couldn't stop her body from shaking with silent laughter, tears beginning to form in her eyes as she watched Joe look around frantically trying to figure out what was happening. As realization came to his eyes and he looked down, his eyes meeting hers, she snorted out loud, which just made her laugh even harder.

"What the hell?" Joe asked, his voice heavy with sleep as he looked around dazed.

Dianne took the opportunity to roll over on top of him, her chin resting on his chest. She still shook with silent laughter, but the giggles slowed as Joe wrapped his arms tightly around her back, pulling her as close to him as possible.

"You're crazy," he said softly, loosening his arms and running his fingertips up and down her back softly. Dianne felt shivers go up and down her spine as she looked up into his ocean blue eyes.