Chapter Text

Bobby woke up to the sound of curtains being pulled open and a beam of sunlight was cast over him. He groaned and stretched, blinking in the sunlight. A shadow was cast over his face and when his eyes focused, he saw it was Noah.

"Alright Bobs?" Noah whispered.

Slowly, Bobby sat up in his bed and rubbed his eyes, "Mmhm. What time is it?"

"10 AM. I just woke you up because I'm leaving for Glasgow in an hour." Noah's voice was practically dripping with sympathy. "Glasgow" used to be familiar and comforting but now was reduced to a trigger word for Bobby.

Bobby sighed and pulled himself up, leaning back on the headboard, "Oh."

"I was just wondering if you wanted to come with me? It might be good, to finally talk to her and stuff."

"Noah, it's been a month. If she wanted to talk to me she would've called, or even texted."

Noah perched himself on the end of the bed, "I know but you can't hide here forever. You've got the bakery back in Glasgow and your whole family lives there."

"I've been fine running the bakery from here, I know I need to go back soon but I- I just can't. Not yet. Maybe in a week or something? I just need more time to clear my head."

Noah ran his hand through his hair and stood up, "Yeah that's fine, you know me and Hope are here if you need to talk though. Maybe while I'm gone you could go for a walk? Get coffee? Hope's got a day off so don't waste it, It's pretty rare nowadays."

Bobby chuckled a bit, which surprised Noah, "Maybe. I'll see you tomorrow." Noah smiled and started to head out the room but Bobby suddenly sat up and stopped him, "Noah wait..."

"Yeah?" There was a slight paused and Noah raised his eyebrow waiting for an answer.

"Can you make sure she's alright?"

Noah smiled, "Of course Bobs. Promise."

As soon as Noah was out of the room, Bobby curled back into his duvet and started to think about Sophia. He allowed his mind to wander as he drifted off...

"This is disgusting," Sophia said as she was rummaging through the cupboards, opening various things, tasting them, and then throwing away what she claimed were "inedible". Bobby spied that she was throwing away his favourite dark chocolate, Fry's Chocolate Cream.

"Oi! Lass! I'll eat that!" He grabbed the pack of chocolates from the bin and put them back in the cupboard.

Sophia's face scrunched up in disgust, "How do you eat that?"

"What do you mean? It's chocolate."

"Yeah, but horrible dark chocolate. I might have to move out if this is the food you eat!"

"Oh come on Soph, you couldn't leave me even if you tried." Bobby winked and stuck his tongue out at her.

"Well you don't wanna make me try," she said while reaching up, pinching his side and causing him to yelp in pain.

"Why do you hurt me, fair lady?" He joked, holding his hand out so he can hoist her up. She placed her hand in his and his thumb gently caressed her soft skin before he yanked her up off the floor and snaked his other hand around her waist.

She gasped in surprise and her body against his raised his heart rate. He quickly and swiftly placed her on their new marble counters and began kissing down her neck, gently sucking and marking where he knew she loved it.

He pulled away from their intimate moment, gasping for breath. He just barely whispered, "I couldn't wait to get you like this in our new kitchen."

She raised an eyebrow and looked at him from under her lidded eyes, "That's what you were picturing the whole time we were picking the counters out, huh?"

He chuckled, "Yeah, possibly, maybe."

She pecked him on the lips before joining up the freckles on his cheeks with the tip of her finger.

He loved when she did this. He'd gone from getting slack in school for having freckles, to having the love of his life adore them and admire them. He truly couldn't wait to put a ring on her finger and make her Mrs Mckenzie. His smile stretched from ear to ear at the thought.

He interrupted her freckle counting to nuzzle his face into the crook between her head and her neck, breathing in the perfume he'd brought her at Christmas. Her long, black hair draped over his face as she kissed the top of his head.

"I love you, Robert." She whispered.

"I love you, Sophia."

The fighting had started 2 weeks after that day. He tried to block out the shouting and bad memories from his mind and focused on the good.

The days where she was his future, and he was hers.

Bobby restlessly wandered around the jewellery shop, praying that no press had seen him and his sister walk in there.

"Bobby, you're making me nervous. Stop jumping around and pick your girlfriend out a ring!" Delilah huffed, pulling a "Chelsea face" as Bobby would call it. Hands-on hips, bottom lip jutted out and head tilted to one side impatiently.

"This is a BIG deal, Dee. If anyone gets a photo of us in here I'm busted."

He nervously shot a glance at the store clerk. It was a 60-something-year-old man who probably didn't know how to turn his camera on, no photos there.

"So, which one are you thinking?"

"She needs something unique. I've always loved it when she wore blue, it compliments her dark hair and dark eyes. Sapphire?" Bobby darted his eyes around the room for where the sapphire maybe, and spotted a counter with a few.

One caught his attention in particular. It had two pear-shaped sapphires on either side of a white diamond. The band was simple and silver, so it didn't overpower the jewels.

He waved to get the attention of his sister. She walked over and he pointed at it, tapping his finger on the glass, "That's it. That's the one."

Delilah hesitated, "The price is... umm..."

Bobby turned to look at her, "Dee, I won Love Island. I have £25,000 in the bank. We used savings for our house. I have a business. This is the ring, regardless of the price."

Delilah laughed, "Sorry, I just forget that my brother is rich and famous." She winked and got the attention of the worker, "Excuse me, please may I try on this ring for sizing?" She said, pointing at the ring.

Bobby had taken one of Sophia's pandora rings from the jewellery box on her vanity while she'd been out and given it to Delilah to get an idea of the size. Delilah's finger was the identical size to Sophias, so his plan had worked perfectly. Now the only thing that could go wrong is that someone snaps a photo of him inside the jewellers.

The man gave Delilah the ring and she slipped it on her finger. It fit her finger like a glove and only made Bobby 100 per cent certain that it was the one.

Truth to be told, he knew Sophia could care less what the ring looked like, it was more him that actually cared. He wanted to make sure she could show it off to their friends.

Gone were the days when her having a hickey on her neck was enough for people to know she was his, this was the next level.

Bobby paid and practically skipped out of the building, Delilah just behind him doing a little run to catch up.

"So, you haven't actually told me how you're gonna do it. Spill."

"Honestly Dee, I have no clue. I figured I'd take it everywhere with me whenever I'm with her, and I'll just know when to do it."

Delilah smiled and hugged Bobby from the side as they walked down the sidewalk, a spring in their step.

It was perfect timing as well as when they turned the corner onto the main street fans started stopping Bobby to take photos and soon a crowd formed around them. He could tell all the attention was exciting Delilah, her eyes lighting up as people asked her and Bobby for photos.

After a while, they finally made it to the car, sighing with relief. They looked at each other and burst out laughing, sharing a high five.

Just before Bobby started up the ignition he squeezed Delilah's shoulder, "Nailed it sis."

It had all gotten too much for them. The pressure, the jobs, the media, everything. They'd been given therapy by the Love Island producers and coaching lessons on how to deal with anxiety and stress, but even after both of them had gone MIA on social media to have a break, the paparazzi and constant criticism didn't stop.

One time they'd been sat on the roof of their house. It was a spot Bobby had deemed safe enough to sit on at night that was sheltered by trees from the road and any possible press. They were having a heated but playful discussion on what was better - cupcakes or muffins - when a drone had buzzed past them snapping a few photos.

Obviously the media had to twist reality and made it look like a real argument.

Bobby knew he should've been home more and spent less time working late at the bakery, but when he was home she was either working on the computer at her desk or already asleep.

It had even gotten to the point that they hadn't done it for 2 weeks, which was a while for them. He usually couldn't keep his hands off of her.

He wouldn't say their spark was dying or dead, it was more like it was running out of fuel and being suffocated. Suffocated of air, they had no room to breathe, couldn't post a picture on Instagram without speculations and trolls watching their every move. It was so tiring being picture-perfect.

And God forbid having normal relationship problems.

That was what had done it for Bobby. A normal fight about "who didn't wash the dishes" always felt like the end of the world when in the public eye. They'd been counselled and trained on how to deal so the producers could make sure they weren't gonna throw themselves off of a cliff, but it didn't mean it wasn't hard.

He knew he was still wildly in love with her after 1 month of not seeing her face. It was still picture perfect in his mind, imprinted forever.

He longed and longed for a phone call. That was all he needed.

The last words he spoke to her as he left the house were "Call me when you're ready for me to come home."

Home.

She was his home. Surely if she wanted him back she would've called. But here he was, a month later, still waiting for that phone call.

Bobby was dreading hanging out with Hope today.

He loved her and Noah, but today was quite a big deal, being the 1 month anniversary, and he just wanted to lay in bed and cry.

Usually, Bobby acted like he didn't really care. Like nothing could hurt him. He'd put up a big wall of humour and pretend everything was fine. He didn't need anyone's attention, but in reality, he was just too scared of it. Scared of not being good enough, or getting hurt. Scared to let anyone in. He was afraid that his heart would break into a million pieces if he let anyone in.

So why the hell did he choose to let his walls come down on national TV?

He'd let Sophia in, let her know that he cared, that he could be hurt, that not everything was always fine. He told her he was scared that he wasn't good enough and he poured his heart out to her even if there was always the potential that she could break it.

And even though it seemed like his heart had evaporated, something in his mind knew it wasn't over.

And that's why he's choosing not to cry today. Today will be the day HE will call HER. Loving her too much was his fault, and he couldn't blame her for building her walls down, even if it's just to pick up the phone and dial his number.

He was going to shower, get dressed, go hang out with Hope and maybe take some photos with fans just like he'd done with his sister that day out shopping.

If she didn't want him back, that was going to hurt like hell, but that's a problem for future Bobby to deal with, because right now, present-day Bobby had just had a moment of enlightenment.