hello again, beautiful people✿✼:*ﾟ i told you that it would take me a little longer to update, but here it is at last. as i mentioned in the previous chapter, this is an extra day, so the events happen between Day 11 and Day 12. i'll keep adding days like this when necessary, because there are challenges i wanted to include in this fic :3 i hope you have a good time reading♥ thanks for all the support, you guys are amazing.

The crane operator is standing in front of a full body mirror, all dressed up. The room is warm, with lots of windows and white curtains that flow with the light breeze. The scent of his minty bodywash is the only thing he can smell, like if he had showered recently. His beard is evenly trimmed and his spiky hair styled, things he doesn’t do unless it’s a special occasion. For now, the only thing he is able to focus on, asides from how tight the dress shirt feels against his neck and upper chest, is the twisting but exciting sensation making itself at home in his belly, similar to butterflies. He huffs again— he hates wearing dress shirts buttoned all the way up.

Chapter Text

Day 11.5

At the lawn – Noon.

Whispering can be heard from the bean bags as Minni saunters closer. Marisol and Hope are sitting closer to each other, talking in confidence, but they stop once they notice the sound of the younger girl’s light footsteps near them. Despite not having been able to hear them, the brunette already knows what they’re talking about. It turns out that her playful kiss with Bobby was seen practically in front row by Noah and Hope, who were hanging out in the roof terrace at that time. According to Priya, the dark-skinned girl was the one who spread the gossip across the Villa like wildfire, and now everyone thinks that Minni and Bobby are in a romantic couple.

As an amazing addition to this situation, since she woke up Minni has noticed that her partner has been rather distant. She doesn’t blame him— the ambience after the kiss was awkward, to say the least, but it had been also a game, meant to mean nothing. Or at least that’s what she thought. Now she’s worried that his strange behavior is because he caught feelings after that and suspects that Minni would never think of him as more than a friend; her best friend in here, actually.

For this reason, the girl has decided to put her doubts about Gary and her chat with Chelsea on the backburner for now, as she tries to figure out what is happening to Bobby. She has been pacing around the Villa looking for him, when she walks past the two girls.

“Hi babes, have you seen Bobby?” Minni asks, looking at them through a yellow pair of sunglasses.

“Aw, you two are so cute together,” Hope comments with a smirk. “And no, I haven’t seen him, hun.”

The Cantabrigian rolls her eyes at her first comment.

“Oh, don’t be like that,” Marisol says, pulling another bean bag closer to them. “Come and chat with us. We want to know everything.”

Minni reluctantly lets herself fall on the beanbag, willing to clarify the situation. “There’s nothing to know. We’re just friends.”

“Well, in my opinion ‘just friends’ don’t kiss like that,” Hope snaps back.

With a defeated sigh, the physics student looks at her directly. “It was just a kiss,” she states once more. “We were bantering.”

“Whatever you say, babe,” Marisol shrugs. She leans back and shields her eyes from the sun, relaxed. “You know what I think? You two have always got along so well, you have the same type of humor and laugh at the same dumb things— you even cook together practically every day,” she declares. “You definitely click on the friendship aspect, and now it just looks like you’re clicking on another level too and don’t feel ready to admit it.”

By this point, the brunette knows it’s useless to repeat that she and Bobby are just friends, so just shakes her head lightly. She tries to distract herself as she stays in her place, because walking away right now would just make Marisol’s theory more believable.

While Minni tries to think of a way to let everyone know that Dick is not a romantic couple, her cobalt eyes scan the Villa. She sees Gary’s muscular body splayed across one of the daybeds, tangled between a bunch of bedsheets; she guesses that he fell asleep after having lunch. Next, she sees Lottie, Priya, Chelsea and Ibrahim in the kitchen, each one of them doing something different. In the other side of the Villa, at the gym, Jakub is lifting weights and Lucas is spotting Noah. There’s no signs of Bobby yet.

Suddenly, a shout from the outdoors kitchen can be heard. “Guys, I got a text!” Ibrahim yells.

After hearing him, the girls stand up and head there without exchanging any words. When most of the Islanders are reunited in the kitchen, the golfer starts reading out loud.

<Islanders, pucker up and get ready for one of the steamiest challenges of the season. The girl who gets rated the best kisser will be rewarded with a special gift tonight. #snogathon #usechapstick.>

“Another kissing challenge?” Lottie huffs. “Are you serious?”

“This will be interesting,” Marisol comments, raising an eyebrow.

A smile forms in Minni’s face; if there’s something she has experience in and enjoys doing is kissing, despite this being what brought her the trouble of people thinking she fancies Bobby. She doesn’t feel overly confident, but she knows that she’s definitely not a bad kisser, plus there’s already at least two boys in the Villa, Rocco and Gary, that have complimented her on it. Being this right up her alley, she hopes her simple skill can earn her the mysterious price, whatever it is.

In the daybeds – Noon.

“Ugh, why does this have to be so bloody tight?” Gary huffs, fumbling with the collar of a white dress shirt as he tries to loosen it up somehow.

The crane operator is standing in front of a full body mirror, all dressed up. The room is warm, with lots of windows and white curtains that flow with the light breeze. The scent of his minty bodywash is the only thing he can smell, like if he had showered recently. His beard is evenly trimmed and his spiky hair styled, things he doesn’t do unless it’s a special occasion. For now, the only thing he is able to focus on, asides from how tight the dress shirt feels against his neck and upper chest, is the twisting but exciting sensation making itself at home in his belly, similar to butterflies. He huffs again— he hates wearing dress shirts buttoned all the way up.

“Babes, it’s not the shirt’s fault that you have those pecs,” Chelsea giggles next to him. She’s all dressed up too, wearing a long light blue formal suit, her blonde hair up in a complicated braid. As she speaks, she keeps looking for something inside a big suitcase, which is placed next to the full-body mirror. “Besides, you can’t wear anything else for a wedding. It would be a crime not wearing your fanciest outfit.”

“Wedding?” Gary asks, a rush of confusion washing down on him.

Once again, he scans himself up and down in the mirror, his light blue eyes widening. Then, hears Chelsea let out an airy cackle next to him.

“You’re so funny,” she responds with a smile. “Oh, here it is!” She takes out a small box and opens it with an enthusiastic grin, a jet-black bowtie appearing between her fingers. The blonde girl wiggles it in the air as she trots closer to Gary. “Let’s get this done with. We’re gonna be late!” she exclaims.

Without waiting for a response, she gets in front of Gary and rapidly puts the bowtie around his neck, tying it expertly. Perplexed, he stares at her all the while across the mirror. The blonde man is so puzzled that he can’t grasp proper words to ask her what’s going on, or why he’s dressed up like this, or even why they’re in that situation at all.

“Come on, Gary. Everyone must be waiting for us!” the girl urges, smoothing the front of his dress shirt and throwing him a black jacket. “You don’t wanna be late to your own wedding, do you? Put that on and let’s go!”

A cold feeling rushes through Gary’s veins after hearing her last phrases. My wedding? Dazed with shock, he puts on the jacket and Chelsea immediately pushes him outside the room, a huge beam in her face.

In no time, Gary finds himself standing under a beautiful isle adorned with light pink roses and fairy lights, a crowd of people sitting in white chairs in front of him. He sees his nan and his mom in the front row, wearing their fanciest attires, then all of his family in one side of the venue. He doesn’t know the rest of the guests, but he can spot Rahim, Priya, Lucas and Noah in the background. His best mate Dicky is right next to him— Gary guesses he’s his best man. When the blond catches his eye, his mate smirks and nudges his shoulder encouragingly. Gary, too nervous to respond or do anything else, turns his sight to the corridor in front of him, which is made of white and light pink petals and delimited by shimmery ribbon. His breathing quickens while he scans the entire place, rummaging in his memories to try and remember who the hell is he marrying and what could have caused this sudden mental gap.

A few seconds pass before a traditional wedding music starts playing, echoing and reverberating on the walls. A girl dressed in a fancy white wedding dress appears at the end of the corridor, arm in arm with none other than Bobby, who is wearing a formal traditional Scottish apparel. A white veil covers the girl’s face, so Gary can’t distinguish who it is just yet. He tries to look at signals in her way of walking, her figure, anything, but everything is blurry because he now realizes that he forgot to put on his contacts— he can barely see all of the sudden.

His vision gets more and more blurry until he can only see the first row of guests, Bobby and the bride, who walk closer and closer as the music resonates in the illuminated venue. Gary notices that the people he can see are witnessing the scene with huge smiles, clearly happy for the couple. His eyes go instantly to his nan, who is tearing up a little and drying her face with a tissue; he has never seen her cry before.

The music begins to lower in volume and, prior to Gary being able to register what is going on, Bobby and the girl have already arrived to the isle. The pastry chef whispers something to him before walking away to take place in the first row. Without being able to comprehend what he just said, because all of his senses are muffled now, Gary blinks a couple of times in confusion.

In complete silence, the girl stands in front of him, and his vision gets more and more blurry as time passes. He can barely see what’s in front of him, but he smells a sweet raspberry scent. Minerva?, he thinks.

“Cat got your tongue?” he hears her whisper in a kind voice behind the veil, making him feel that his stomach is going to explode and butterflies are going to escape right from inside him.

“I— I…” he stutters, but no proper words come out.

Being her usual self, she simply chuckles at his response. “It’s alright. I’m nervous too,” she admits quietly, so none of the guests can hear them.

The crane operator smiles, a wave of relief washing down all over him. He doesn’t care that he can’t see, that he can barely hear what’s happening on his surroundings. He feels safe somehow, despite all of this. “Are we—?" he starts asking, but gets interrupted by an authoritative toned voice calling from right beside him.

“Gary.” He turns around to see that Dicky is no longer there. Out of the blue, Lottie has taken his place and is grabbing his arm, urgently pulling him away. “Gary, come on,” she says, shaking him. A choir of gasps is heard from the people around them, who are now staring in shock. “Gary!”

Gary jolts upright, the bright sunlight hurting his eyes when he opens them. It takes him a couple of seconds to adjust his vision again and realize that he’s at the Villa, lying on a daybed. He stares down and sees bedsheet marks on his arms, and then rubs his face, which still feels numb from slumber. A small groan comes out of his mouth.

“Wh— what’s…?” he mumbles, slowly coming back to reality.

Shielding his eyes with his forearm, he looks around and notices that Lottie is standing next to him, her pale and slender arms crossed in front of her chest.

“You fell asleep,” she tells him, quirking an eyebrow. “Get up. Ibrahim’s got a text.”

Still dazed and a little confused for waking up so abruptly, the blond man manages to speak. “Go ahead. I’ll catch up in a minute,” he says.

“Fine,” Lottie responds with a shrug.

Once the girl has left, sauntering confidently towards the outdoors kitchen, Gary lets out a long sigh and slumps down in the mattress, feeling so silly and ashamed. Since he saw Minni and Bobby kissing last night, he kind of gave up in the idea of turning her head— at this point, he thinks it’s practically impossible. And as the competition just becomes harder, he doesn’t know if she’s ever going to have eyes for him anymore. He hasn’t decided yet if it’s right to keep pursuing her, less if he should get his feelings towards her out in the open. What’s more inconvenient than that, is that the whole country knows that he still has a crush on her, because he can’t seem to shut up about it when he gets asked about it in the Beach Hut.

In honest words, Gary mainly feels bad for himself; he pities himself for liking the girl who everyone wants, and who evidently doesn’t want him anymore. Now he doesn’t know how in hell he’s going to look at Minni straight in the eye without dying from embarrassment, after dreaming of her in a white wedding dress and getting married to none other than him.

After a few seconds, he sits upright and pats across the bed until he finds his optical glasses, which are engulfed between the bedsheets by his feet. He fumbles with them, his emotions messing with him and making his movements uncharacteristically clumsy. When he puts them on and can see more clearly, he stands up and stretches, his muscles puffing and bulging as he moves. He arrives to the kitchen not long after, all the Islanders being gathered there and chatting a bit as they wait for everyone to get there so Ibrahim can read the text out loud.

Minni’s slim figure appears at the corner of Gary’s eye and he can’t avoid turning slightly to catch a glimpse of her. Bloody hell, he thinks and growls internally, when he realizes that she’s all dressed in white.

Snogathon – Afternoon. ♪

“Too much tongue. It gave me washing machine vibes,” Lucas states. “I’ll give her a five.”

“A little more tongue and it would have been like kissing a camel. I’ll give her a six anyway,” Bobby jokes.

Ever since the kissing challenge began, Bobby and Lucas have been very direct with their feedback on the girl’s kissing technique, making various Islanders laugh or pissing off the girl in question. Minni knows it’s not personal and that this is just a game, but that doesn’t mean she hasn’t gotten progressively nervous as all the girls have had their turn before her. It seems like she’s going to be the last one to get to kiss the boys.

“Gary, could you please rate that kiss out of then?” Hope asks. She’s the one who’s been hosting the challenge, remaining pretty confident despite having earned a rating of less than four in every boy except for Noah, because she only pecked them all and went full-on with her partner.

“I’ll go with a… seven,” he says with a cheeky smile.

He shuffles in his place, having to stand up still and with his hands clasped behind his back, plus being blindfolded, for so long already becoming a bit uncomfortable for him. He hasn’t had an incredible kiss yet, just good ones, which is kind of a disappointment despite having enjoyed the challenge so far. As of now, he knows that there’s few girls left, if not one. All of the sudden, the outside noises get muffled, so he guesses the noise cancelling headphones got activated again. This challenge has been an interesting experience for him, to say the least.

“Just a seven?! Really?” Lottie growls, rolling her eyes. Gary doesn’t respond and none of the boys react, making her figure out that they can’t hear her now.

Nonetheless, all the girls shush her. Reluctantly, she walks towards them and slumps over her place in the bench.

“Now is girl number six’s turn,” Hope says enthusiastically, pointing at Minni.

“Finally,” the younger girl whispers and stands up, feeling a little shaky. She manages to pull a smile and lets out a nervous laugh as she walks to get in front of the line of boys. Before she can even start, Hope clears her throat loudly. Minni turns around and sees the dark-skinned girl signaling a small wooden platform next to her. The brunette whines. “Do I really have to use that thing? It’s kind of embarrassing.”

Behind her and sitting in the bench, Marisol speaks in a quiet voice, just in case. “It’s for us, the short ones,” she shrugs. “Or they’ll know it’s you.”

With a childish pout, Minni grabs it and places it in front of Ibrahim, who is the first Islander in the queue. The girl has to cover her mouth to stop a chuckle at the ridiculousness of the situation as she steps on the small platform and ends up pretty much at the golfer’s height. Before doing anything, she looks back at the girls once more, looking for a little reassurance. Chelsea is quick to wink at her, and Priya puts her both thumbs up with a smile.

“You go girl,” mouths the second one, encouraging. “Best for last.”

The blue-eyed student exhales a little to relieve some tension and then grabs Ibrahim’s face, guiding him towards her. She kisses the boys one by one, trying to do her best and displaying all of her skill, focusing on her task as much as it is possible, because she wants to prove to herself that she’s an actual good kisser and that Gary’s and Rocco’s compliments weren’t just lines with intentions to flirt, more than because she wants to win the unknown prize. Besides, it would be fun to have the youngest girl of the group, presumably the most unexperienced one, win this challenge, particularly because Priya’s score is insanely high.

Minni goes through Ibrahim, Bobby and Lucas, and luckily doesn’t get any comments or jokes like some of the other girls. She doesn’t know if this is good or bad, but at least she’s not getting embarrassed on the spot. Surprisingly, she sees the corners of Lucas’ lips tug a little and then maintains them curved in a small smirk as she walks to the next boy, which is Noah. The brunette knows for a fact that kissing him will cause a scene from Hope; it already happened with Marisol and Priya. So, because she’s not up for that kind of drama and yet having to listen to her about people not being allowed to kiss her man like that, Minni decides to do something different instead. Smiling, she looks back at Hope, then winks at her and grabs Noah’s face with both of her hands. The dark-skinned girl’s eyes go wide for a second until she realizes that Minni leans Noah down to kiss forehead gently, and then palms his upper chest when they separate.

Noah lets out a laugh at the gesture. “Cute,” he comments with a small smile.

Once more, Minni walks down the platform and moves it so it’s positioned in front of the next boy. She hesitates on stepping up, Jakub’s imponent and pale frame in front of her. It would be a lie saying that kissing him isn’t an icky concept to her. He’s not that bad and most girls actually think he’s good-looking, but what is a major turn off for Minni is remembering that he actually thinks humans can breathe in Mars. The girl cringes— if she wants the points, she has to do it.

She makes it quick and, honestly, it ends up not being as bad as she thought it would be, although he used way too much tongue for her liking. Finally, she moves her silly wooden platform for shorties and puts it in front of Gary, who is the last boy in line. Unconsciously, her eyes go bright just by looking at him. She can’t say that she isn’t excited to have the chance to kiss him again, even if it is just a game. In no time, she can feel Lottie’s sight digging holes in the back of her neck, making her hesitate a little.

“Get in!” Chelsea exclaims from behind her, trying to be quiet. “Whoop, whoop!”

Her encouragement washes away her friend’s tension rapidly and, after that, Minni puts a hand on either side of Gary’s face, a grin forming in his lips. The young woman can’t help but want to grin as well, but tries to play it cool and manages to keep her facial expressions under control.

She thought that after trying so hard to hide her attraction for Gary for such a long time, she wouldn’t feel much when kissing him. But she was wrong— as soon as their lips touch, sparks fly just like the first time they kissed, sitting on a daybed under the twinkling night sky. She feels his lips tense at the sudden explosion of endorphins, and then relax against her, leaning forward to get nearer.

A gasp escapes the crane operator’s mouth, inevitably. He’s not sure who’s kissing him, but it’s the best kiss he’s had so far and he finally feels something. Curious and definitely wanting more, he tilts closer and closer and reciprocates the slow kiss with the same energy the girl is kissing him.

When she runs her fingers across the hair on the back of his head, Gary’s knuckles go white behind his back as he fights the urge to unclasp his hands to touch her. Her lips mold against his and their tongues go around each other so easily, their movements being so in sync, all of this forming a pleasant knot in his belly so fervent that he knows he couldn’t possibly describe if Hope asks him later to give his opinion on her technique. As of now, he can guess who it is the mysterious girl in front of him, because he hasn’t met anyone else who’s kissing is this slow yet so electric. He smiles against her lips.

Gently, Minni pulls away, her heart thumping unbelievably fast against her ribcage. She lets out a small breath and steps down the platform. Turning around nonchalantly and like if nothing had happened, she smiles at the girls and returns to her spot in the bench. Lottie’s intense and green glare follows her, but she doesn’t say anything because she knows best than to push the brunette’s buttons.

Subsequently, the boys proceed to give their rating as Hope asks them one by one. Minni can’t hide a smug smirk when she realizes that she earns above eight points with the first three of them.

“Noah?” Hope asks next.

“I’ll give her a six,” he shrugs. “Points for creativity.”

Minni smiles, feeling already a little triumphant, now knowing that the lack of commenting about her kissing was because they didn’t have much to criticize. Hope moves to mark the scores on the board and picks up a card from the set of cards that had been handed to her to host the challenge.

“Jakub, could you please describe that girl’s kissing technique and rate it out of then?” she asks, reading the card.

The bodybuilder grins, confidently. “Slow and sensual,” he says. “I’ll give her a nine.”

Cringing from embarrassment, Minni goes red and covers her face with her hands. She didn’t even put any effort in him and although his words are nice, the guy still thinks penguins can fly. The rest of the girls exchange looks, surprised by how the younger girl seems to be taking over the scoreboard of this challenge.

“You are kind of slaying,” Marisol whispers to her with a stunned laugh. “Who would’ve thought?”

The blue-eyed student doesn’t know if to take her words in a good or a bad way, but lets it pass as soon as she notices that Hope has finished writing Jakub’s score and is now talking to Gary.

“Gary, could you rate that kiss out of ten?” she asks, lastly.

The crane operator takes a moment to think. He really wants to give Minni’s kiss a ten, because she surely deserves it, but is not sure if it will get him in trouble with Lottie later. He concludes that it’s not a big deal anyway, giving that this is just a game, after all.

“I’ll give her a ten,” he responds with a goofy smile.

The Cantabrigian instantly feels all eyes on her and can’t avoid blushing with pink color. It’s a shame that Lottie’s poisonous stare makes her feel uncomfortable when she should be enjoying the fact that Gary gave her a ten. Of course it was possible that he would give her that high of a rating; the connection and chemistry between the two is undeniable even when they try to deny it and push each other away.

Just a couple of seconds pass before Lottie stands up, raging. “What the—?!”

Rapidly, Marisol catches her arm and pulls her down to sit back on the bench.

“Woah, our first then!” Hope exclaims, trying to change the subject and ignore the Aussie’s outburst. “Better watch out for your men, girls,” she adds, playfully punching Minni’s arm. The girl just smiles at her, guessing that she wouldn’t be that happy if she would’ve dared to kiss Noah.

Needless to say, Minni is pleased with her score so far, and immediately looks at the board with the intentions of doing the math to know who won the challenge. When she realizes that her and Priya’s score are practically the same except for Gary’s ten, she opens her eyes wide, but doesn’t say anything and lets Hope take her time to count the points. Later and after Lottie has calmed down, the retail ambassador starts announcing the places in which the girls ended up.

“… and our stop snogger, just one point above the second place is… Minni!”

“Oh my days,” she giggles as the Islanders applaud and Priya, who finished in second place, gives her a cuddle in a way to congratulate her. All of this is certainly a confidence booster for Minni, specially after everything that has gone down since she arrived to the Villa. Before she can say anything else, her phone makes a sound. “I got a text!”

<Minerva, congratulations on being the best snogger. Your reward is special date and a night in the Hideaway with your current partner. #anightoflove #keepsnogging.>

Some Islanders gasp and others immediately begin to cheer, congratulating them both and wolf whistling at Bobby, who does his best not to look surprised and attempts to show enthusiasm, when in reality he knows the situation could take a weird turn specially because he has been avoiding Minni as he tried to figure out how to tell her that he doesn’t want to be in a romantic couple with her by any means, without hurting her feelings. Still standing at the end of the line, Gary stays quiet, whereas he tries to process that it was his score of a solid ten which gave Minni the win.

In the Hideaway – Nighttime. ♪

Much to the surprise of both of them, Minni and Bobby were able to shake off the initial awkwardness during their special date in the patio of the Hideaway, as they drank fancy wine and enjoyed the view amongst fairy lights and slow music. It was extremely romantic indeed, but they managed to make it seem like any other bean bag or kitchen conversation.

Full of the delicious dinner they got served, they enter the Hideaway room, still dressed in their date outfits. Minni lets herself fall on the gigantic bed, which is adorned with velvety red bedsheets and an unnecessary amount of silky cushions and pillows. She can’t believe this is her first time in here, and that she’s not planning to make use of the place, or at least not the use they invented it for. Despite the fact that she looked for Bobby the entire morning to have a chat about last night’s situation, now that she is actually next to him she doesn’t know how to start talking. Without saying anything, she stares blankly at the ceiling, attempting to focus in the orangey and reddish color of the neon tubes that make the entire scenery look sultrier.

Bobby does the same as her, lying on his back right at her side, no romantic chemistry between the pair despite the ambience. The Scottish is still undecisive about how to approach Minni regarding what happened last night. This is so unlike him— he’s always down to have a good time, even if it includes kissing or doing bits, with friends and never catches feelings. But this felt different, because it felt like he was kissing a childhood friend, someone who he was absolutely not supposed to kiss and who can never picture himself doing something like that again if it isn’t for a challenge, like this afternoon. And the fact that he initiated the kiss thinking he truly fancied her, then his crush vanished all of the sudden and after that he felt so weird, has him feeling fidgety and anxious, worried that she may have started liking him or seeing him in another light following that single snog. None of that was supposed to happen and he surely didn’t plan any of this, and less expected to, on top of that, having to go into the Hideaway with her.

There’s silence for a good minute, until Bobby is the one to speak. “I think we should finally address the elephant in the room,” he tells her.

“What elephant?” Minni asks, a bit confused at first.

“Last night,” he responds, shortly.

“Oh,” the girl answers, her eyes opening a little wider. She doesn’t know what to expect from this conversation, but is glad that she’s not the only one who thinks that they have to talk about it. She wishes she could have the same opportunity to chat to Gary, specially after he gave her kiss the best rating out of all. “Okay,” Minni says as she props herself up using one elbow so she can look at Bobby in the eyes while he is lying down on his back. “So... did you feel something? Like, any differently?” she asks, hesitant.

“I...” the boy begins, but makes a pause. “Well, don’t you think that if I say no, you’d be kind of influenced by my response if I ask the same question to you after? Just the same as if I say yes?”

The girl looks thoughtful. “You’re right.”

Bobby sighs and thinks, pursing his lips. “Let’s do this. Let’s say it at the same time, yes or no. So no-one’s biased,” he suggests.

“Alright,” Minni agrees. “But be one-hundred percent honest. Whatever it is, we can work on it.”

Determined, Bobby nods. He doesn’t want to make her feel bad if she is really into him, because he knows how hard she took the hit when she realized that Gary didn’t fancy her anymore, but at the same time he has to be honest about this to not lead her on.

“The question is: did we feel something? At the count of three,” he says. “One... two... three.”

“No,” the two of them reply at the same time.

A long silence follows as both stare at each other in surprise. Then, because it is them, they erupt into laughter at the same time too. Alleviation fills the air and all the pressure at the prospect of losing their friendship goes away, the room looking less intimidating than before now that the two are clear that none of them caught romantic feelings.

“And here I was, worrying that you actually fancied me,” Bobby confesses with relief as his laughter dies down. “I avoided you all day, Minerva, because I was trying to figure out how to tell you.”

The girl raises an eyebrow. “Well, thanks for having me looking like a fool searching for you,” she chuckles. “Anyway, I’m so glad our friendship is intact.”

Bobby beams. “Me too,” he agrees. “You’re a good kisser, though,” he winks.

A smug glimmer gets trapped in her cobalt orbs. “I’ve had better, to be honest,” she says with a devilish smile, obviously trying to push Bobby’s buttons.

He sticks his tongue out as a response. “I’ve had better,” he mocks her, rolling his honey-colored eyes.

The girl just giggles more at his reaction, and he laughs with her for a little while.

“So… what now?” Bobby asks once they have been quiet for a second.

With a shrug, Minni shifts on the mattress. “It’s the Hideaway, after all. We could always enjoy a full night of sleep without having to hear Noah’s snores.”

Whilst pondering the suggestion, they look at each other. Then energy of the day has not gone down in either of them just yet, both feeling tireless and up to plan some mischief as their usual selves.

Minni sighs. “Actually, I’m not feeling it.”

“Me neither.”

The small talk acquires a boring tone during some minutes, whereas they look at the ceiling, not moving from their places. Bobby can already imagine tomorrow’s headlines about the pair: ‘Love Island’s Minerva and Bobby’s awkward Hideaway night’ or ‘Love Island’s couple shows zero romantic connection in Hideaway date.’ The Scottish moves to grab a pillow and runs his slender and deft fingers across the silk pillowcase.

“The bed is well comfy, at least,” he comments.

“Yeah… the pillows are nice,” Minni answers, her voice tone being monotonous as she makes the effort to keep the conversation going. “And there’s lots of them.”

Instantaneously, Bobby’s eyes go wide as an idea comes to mind. “Minerva, your intelligence amazes me.”

“What do y—?”

Before she knows what is he thinking of, a pillow hits her face with a strong force. Without being able to react quick enough, a whimper draws out of her mouth since another pillow hits her side. Bobby grins widely and evil laughs. He has now turned the tables of those imaginary gossipy headlines he pictured in his head, and now he is sure they will become: ‘Love Island’s Minerva and Bobby’s epic pillow fight.’

In the bedroom – Nighttime. ♪

“Bloody hell, Bobby!” a shout is heard even through the sound-proof walls of the Hideaway.

Inside the bedroom the lights are still on, everyone still awake and getting ready to go to sleep. All the Islanders look at each other then, perplexed and astonished. Sitting on his bed and with the white sheets scrunched at his waist, Gary’s eyes grow large in shock and his entire body tenses. He has been dealing with the consequences of giving Minni a ten rating, both from himself for literally gifting the girl he fancies a ticket to the Hideaway with another man, and from Lottie, who gave him a long scold and then decided to give him the cold shoulder for putting her kiss a lower score, and now, on top of that, he has to listen to Minni shouting from the Hideaway. He can’t believe it.

“I thought she said they were just friends,” Hope mumbles, uncomfortable.

“Apparently not anymore,” Marisol raises an eyebrow.

“Well, it’s the Hideaway. I can’t blame them,” Priya shrugs.

Suddenly, the door of the bedroom bursts open, with Minni running inside. She is protecting the back of her head with her hands, her hair covered in white feathers and cotton balls. “Stop!” she screams, sprinting in the direction of the back of the room. A pillow hits the middle of her back with a thump. “Help! He’s attacking me!”

Internally, Gary sighs of relief. He watches the scene curious and intrigued, while Bobby appears at the doorframe. The pastry chef imitates an evil laugh, holding a bunch of pillows with both hands.

“You’ll never escape. I am inevitable,” he says.

“What’s going on?” Marisol asks, curious.

Minni ducks between two beds. “We started a pillow fight and he hoarded all the pillows to himself,” she pouts. “And now he doesn’t want to stop.”

“That’s what a coward would say. Get out of there and fight like a girl!” Bobby states, deepening his voice dramatically.

“I’m not a coward!” Minni peeks up in a menacing attitude, and a pillow hits her right away. “Ow!”

After seeing that, Priya takes her pillow and gets ready. “Don’t worry, hun. I got you,” she tells the blue-eyed girl before throwing her pillow at Bobby. It lands flat on his face, making him stop a for a second.

“You didn’t,” he gasps, eyeing the older girl. Not giving anyone time to react, he throws a pillow at Priya as revenge, but Rahim catches it before it can touch her and throws it back at him. The pillow hits the Scottish’s chest, making him huff.

“My hero,” Priya exclaims dramatically, hugging a blushing Rahim by the waist.

Trying to use distraction to sneak to a safer place, Minni ducks and begins to crawl, but doesn’t go far and ends up between Noah and Hope’s bed and Gary and Lottie’s when Bobby notices her.

“You won’t escape this, Minerva! You will p—!”

Another cushion hits his face, so strongly that his body swings back a little. This time it came from Gary, who is smiling smugly at him. The brunette girl sneaks a smile at him and he winks at her. He now sees this as a little ray of light and decides that this could be the perfect opportunity to get closer to Minni as he protects her from Bobby’s attacks.

“If you think I’ll be scared to go against a gym buff, you don’t know me at all,” the pastry chef announces.

“It’s on!” Gary exclaims.

Shielding the petite girl with his body, the blonde man gathers a lots of pillows and both team up to begin to throw them with brute force. None of the two know how, but they end up accidentally hitting other Islanders, who then decide to join and get some revenge, the pillow fight now becoming an equal everyone against everyone.

To avoid getting hit by a rain of pillows coming from Lucas and Ibrahim, Gary tackles Minni onto the floor between two beds while both laugh at the situation. His body is now hovering over hers, his bulky arms at either side of her. Minni pants from exhaustion, her giggles dying down when she realizes how close they are. This brings memories for both, the small gap between them becoming unbearable. Gary chuckles to relieve some tension, remembering how weird he felt after having imagined her in a wedding dress right in front of him. It all dissipates as his muscles don’t follow the orders that his brain is sending to them and, instead of backing away, starts leaning forward slowly.

The skin on Minni’s lips tingles, the remembrance of today’s kiss too fresh for her to ignore. Gary’s eyes don’t leave hers, dark and crystal blue eyes fixed on one another and not letting go. Their noses graze each other, causing her breathing to quiver.

Out of nowhere, another rain of pillows hits their trench, making Minni squeal. That unexpected interruption breaks the moment and reminds Gary that he is coupled up with Lottie now, his dumb illusion of a wedding and that he shouldn’t be doing this right now, so he closes his eyes tightly and clenches his jaw, dismissing his feelings once again.

“Let’s get some more pillows, yeah?” he whispers, his expression hiding how badly he wants her and his mouth forming a playful smirk instead.

Not understanding his mixed signals, Minni decides just to go with the flow and keep the game going. Hopefully, she will have time to process all of this once they’re safe from the pillow fight. “Alright. I’ll get them while you have my back.”

After nodding in agreement, Gary rolls to end up at her side and both stand up. Swiftly and with an odd agility, Minni reaches out to catch as much pillows as she can, whilst hiding behind Gary’s broad back.