Chapter Text
Gabby still had a lot of emotions going through her head after last night’s reveal from being furious at Alec for believing he had any right to kiss her girlfriend to heartbreak at the fact Ellie didn’t say anything about it.
So that is why she was now spending her time picking apples with Grett. She didn’t want to be near any of the other “heroes” or “villains” right now. She just wanted to spend time with her new bestie after all they experienced together last challenge. Speaking of Grett, she decided to speak up at this very moment in concern for Gabby.
“Hey Gabby, is everything okay? You seem a bit tense?” Grett asked in concern as they stood atop a tree branch.
“Pfft, I’m fine. I’m just happy we got rid of Yul. Now things will be more peaceful at camp and we can get rid of Alec next.” Gabby smirked vindictively to hide her inner sadness.
“Gabby, we should probably talk about what Aiden told us last night.” Grett said softly.
“About that? Well it’s simple, we blindside Alec at the next elimination.” Gabby shrugged.
“Well obviously, but have you talked to Ellie since you stormed out on her last night?” Grett asked curiously.
“No. I’m still not ready to face her after she lied to me about something so major for the second time now.” Gabby said apprehensively as she jumped down to the ground with Grett following.
“I know what Ellie did was wrong but all couples have their spats and unlike Yul with me, Ellie seems to appreciate you.” Grett reminded the nature lover which made Gabby stare off into space, deep in thought before Alec, Riya, and Ellie walked over.
“Team, we need a meeting.” Riya said sternly which made Gabby narrow her eyes. She was not in the mood to deal with this.
“Ugh, what is it?” Gabby rolled her eyes.
“Look, we can all agree that Yul leaving was not a major loss but now the numbers in our alliance are starting to dwindle. It’s now five villains and three heroes and we can’t allow the heroes to overtake us.” Riya said angrily.
“How can I trust Alec again after he nearly KISSED MY GIRLFRIEND?!” Gabby shouted at the librarian which made him step away fearfully.
“Gabby, please calm down.” Alec said nervously, “I understand why you’re angry. What I did was inexcusable but we need to stay together. If we don’t, the heroes will just pick us off one by one.”
“Pfft, just leave me alone.” Gabby grunted furiously before walking off.
“Want some company, Gabby?” Ellie asked with a hopeful look.
“Actually I do.” Gabby said with a glare before grabbing Grett’s hand and then the apple basket, “Come on bestie. We need to get more food for camp.”
Grett smiled apologetically at Ellie before walking off with Gabby making Ellie tear up a bit. Gabby saw it out of the corner of her eye and began tearing up herself but she quickly wiped them away. No, she was not about to fall for Ellie’s pity party, she didn’t want to talk to her right now. She just couldn’t.
XXX
Ellie sniffed as she wiped her eyes before Riya slapped her on the back of the head which turned her sadness to momentary rage.
“What the fuck, Riya?!” Ellie asked incredulously.
“You’re getting too emotional over this. Gabby is clearly overreacting to this nonsense. She’ll be running back to your arms in no time.” Riya scoffed indignantly, “We still need to think about our next target.”
“Aiden made the finale last time, didn’t he? Let’s just vote for him and spare us all the trouble.” Ellie rolled her eyes.
“Now you’re speaking sense. Yes, we’ll be voting for Aiden tonight.” Riya smirked.
“Good. Now that we covered that. I need to be alone.” Ellie sighed miserably before walking off ignoring Riya’s skepticism and Alec’s remorseful gaze as she continued walking, she didn’t care about that right now. She didn’t care about the Heroes’ and the Villains’ Alliances, or the game, or even the money.
She just wanted Gabby to talk to her, make some outlandish remarks while trying to be cool, do something super eccentric, or even just cuddle up to her. She didn’t care, she just wanted Gabby back.
After a while, she sat up against one of the trees, her vision going all blurry thanks to her tears, and after an overwhelmingly long period of holding it in, she finally let herself cry.
XXX
Ally couldn’t stand to be around Jake and Aiden right now. Yes, they were technically in an alliance but after what Aiden pulled last night, she felt an overwhelming amount of guilt for not stepping in more to stop Aiden from telling Gabby about the Alec situation and even then, Jake and Aiden seemed to be getting along with each other better than her so going on a walk by herself seemed preferable right now.
Suddenly, she heard faint sobs from the distance and silently gasped when she saw Ellie sitting near a tree as she cried but soon she noticed Ally standing there and quickly wiped her tears before smiling nervously.
“Ally-“ Ellie began before Ally interrupted.
“Don’t bother trying to brush this off, I already saw you crying. I’m guessing Gabby didn’t take the situation well.” Ally said in concern.
“No… she really didn’t.” Ellie said tearfully.
“Do you want to talk about it?” Ally asked carefully which made Ellie hesitate, Ally was in the opposing alliance after all but she wasn’t sure if she could deal with these emotions alone, and the others weren’t exactly good emotional support right now.
“I miss her, Ally.” Ellie sighed miserably.
“You mean Gabby? Aren’t you two together now?” Ally asked curiously.
“Physically we are together, but mentally… I’m not even sure what we are anymore.” Ellie explained with tears in her eyes, “Ever since Aiden exposed the kiss, she’s taken every opportunity she can to avoid me. She barely speaks to me anymore. I’m so worried she might be falling out of love with me and the worst part is that I wouldn’t even blame her. First I couldn’t tell her the truth about the Villains’ Alliance and now THIS?! It makes me worried if our relationship can survive.”
“Hey hey, calm down. I’m sure it’s not as bad as you think. How long have you and Gabby been together again?” Ally asked helpfully.
“For two years now. Why?” Ellie asked skeptically.
“Okay, and have you ever had to deal with this sort of situation before?” Ally asked curiously.
“Well… some guys have tried flirting with me before but to the extent Alec went, no we haven’t.” Ellie answered honestly.
“Well I think the difference here is that Gabby’s never had to deal with someone making advances on you the way Alec did. She probably just needs reassurance that you’ll always be there for her.” Ally told Ellie which made the latter smile tearfully, regaining some hope for their relationship.
“Thanks Ally. I needed to hear that.” Ellie said gratefully.
XXX
Alec was not looking forward to today’s challenge. The man knew he was on the outs after Aiden exposed what he did and it was clear as day that Riya was his only true ally at this point. Gabby and Grett were sure to backstab him given the circumstances, the heroes were willing to take advantage of any cracks in the alliance that they could, and Ellie…
She probably hated him by now and had very good reason to. After how much he backstabbed her and let her down, Alec certainly wouldn’t blame Ellie for wanting him out of her life for good.
He was so deep into his misery, he almost missed Kristal’s explanation about how today’s challenge was going to go. They would be racing across four locations in the island in pairs and the last pair to arrive would have their TikToks analyzed and whoever had the worst TikToks would be eliminated.
Well… at least Alec could potentially survive one more elimination.
“Without further ado, here are the pairs. Gabby and Grett, Riya and Aiden, Jake and Ally, and Alec and Ellie.” Kristal announced smugly.
“WHAT?!” Gabby asked incredulously.
Oh great…
“On your marks, get set, go!!!” Kristal announced happily before Alec began running behind Ellie. He caught a glimpse of Gabby glaring at him before Grett spoke up.
“Gabby, we have to hurry.” Grett told her new friend who shook off her furious look and began running alongside Grett.
Good. At least now Alec can properly try to apologize to Ellie.
“Ellie, we should talk… about what happened…” Alec stammered nervously.
“The first obstacle is on the cliff. We gotta go.” Ellie coldly remarked, running further ahead from the bookworm. Yeah… this wouldn’t be easy…
XXX
Riya was not happy with this situation.
Not only was the Villains’ Alliance practically at the brink of collapse right now, but of all the people she had to be stuck with for this challenge, it had to be the biggest thorn in her and Alec’s side.
If Riya was being honest with herself, she felt really bad for Alec, Ellie, and Gabby although she dare not admit it out loud. In Riya’s opinion, she felt like no one was truly the bad guy in this situation. Alec made it clear he was drunk when he attempted to kiss Ellie, and Riya doubted he was lying about that but obviously Ellie and Gabby were not at fault for how they felt about what Alec nearly did.
Nonetheless, Riya really respected Alec and if she had to clean this mess up to help him stay in the game, she would and there was no doubt about that.
But until then, she had to focus on keeping herself in the game first so once she got to the top of the cliff, she read the instructions on her phone.
“ You must floss to music in mid-air while diving off a cliff. ”
“Ugh! I can't believe I’m stuck with you.” Aiden grunted in annoyance.
Oh right, she nearly forgot the pathetic twerp was still here.
“It’s no pleasure for me either, shortstack. Especially given what you pulled last night.” Riya glared furiously at the bi-colored boy.
“Oh please. You’re just mad because I screwed over your alliance. Alec got what he deserved.” Aiden rolled his eyes.
“Then by that logic, James also deserved to be exposed for what he did to you, right?” Riya said, smirking a bit smugly as Aiden narrowed his eyes at her. Yeah, she went there.
“God, why are you all constantly bringing James into this?! At least he apologized and changed!!! Ellie kept very important secrets from Gabby twice now and never even intended to talk to her about the kiss!!!” Aiden crossed his arms angrily.
“You don’t know that she wouldn’t have said anything. Ellie wasn’t exactly put in the most desirable circumstances and she could’ve just been waiting for the right time to tell Gabby about the kiss but you didn’t exactly give her that chance and made sure to paint her in the worst light possible and now her relationship with Gabby is strained and that’s all on you.” Riya said sharply which made Aiden look away sheepishly. Good, he deserved to be called out for once in his life.
“Let’s just focus on this stupid dance.” Riya told the e-boy before they got ready to jump off the cliff.
XXX
Ally had honestly nearly considered re-doing her TikTok after jumping off the cliff with Jake but given the unfortunate circumstances of her position in the game, she realized she could handle looking a little silly in her TikToks, plus even if she wasn’t the biggest fan of Jake, he was the only one she really trusted given the events of last elimination.
It was probably a good thing she didn’t focus too much on the TikToks because if she had been a little less focused, she might’ve nearly missed the golden wristwatch nearby. So as soon as she saw it, she pointed it out to Jake and immediately headed back to Kristal to claim their immunity.
Now it was just her and Jake at the finish line, standing together in awkward silence before Jake spoke up.
“Hey, I… actually wanted to talk to you.” Jake spoke up awkwardly much to Ally’s surprise, but she was cautious.
“If this is another remark about Hunter, I swear…” Ally began glaring before Jake interrupted.
“No no, it’s not that. I swear. I just wanted to apologize to you… about how I’ve been treating you overall. From my jealousy over your growing bond with Ashley to the remarks I made about Hunter. Given everything that’s happened, it’s given me some time to reflect and make me realize that I did treat you unfairly.” Jake said remorsefully.
Ally’s eyes widened in shock, Jake was actually apologizing, and this time he seemed genuine. Honestly, Ally was kinda hoping this day would come.
“I just want to know… why did you start getting jealous in the first place?” Ally asked curiously.
“This is gonna sound so stupid but Fiore was spewing shit about how Ashley was going to replace me with you and since Ashley was the first friend I made in a long time, well… that kinda scared me. It’s not an excuse, especially considering we should all know by now not to trust Fiore but I’m hoping it at least explains things. I’m willing to call a truce if you are.” Jake explained before extending his hand hopefully.
Ally stared at Jake’s hand, contemplating if Jake was truly being real with her but at the end of the day, despite all Jake did to her, he was still the most trustworthy person left at camp ever since Aiden exposed what happened between Alec and Ellie.
“Yeah, I’m willing to work with you too.” Ally smiled back as she shook Jake’s hand.
XXX
Doing the WAP was the most agonizing experience of Ellie’s life. Out of all the downright embarrassing TikToks Ellie was forced to endure, this had to be the worst one. Seriously, what were these idiots planning to do if Fiore somehow made it this far?!
Well either way, the dance was over now, and now Ellie could focus on driving the speedboat back to the finish line before Riya and Aiden or Gabby and Grett did. She was mostly hoping for Riya and Aiden to get last though as she had no reservations about either of them getting eliminated.
“Ellie, can we talk?” Alec asked solemnly.
Oh god, not this again.
“About what?” Ellie narrowed her eyes furiously.
“You KNOW what I want to talk about. About me nearly kissing you.” Alec said sternly.
“It’s already exposed at this point, what does it matter anymore?” Ellie asked angrily as tears began to slip from her face. Goddamnit, not here, not in front of Alec.
“Ellie, I’m trying to apologize. I really didn’t mean for this to escalate the way it did and I never meant for you or Gabby to get hurt.” Alec said desperately.
“Is that all you have to apologize for?” Ellie asked with narrowed eyes, “What about the times you constantly backstabbed me and devalued me as a person?! I didn’t think of you as just an ally back then Alec, I thought I was your FRIEND, but you constantly proved me otherwise. You’re only apologizing now because your back is against the wall.”
“That’s not true… I… genuinely do feel awful.” Alec said solemnly.
“Actions speak louder than words, Alec. I’m not falling for this song and dance again.” Ellie said angrily before she parked the boat near the beach, “We’re here. We might as well get moving.”
XXX
Riya was really relieved that she and Aiden got third place. She knew that if it came down to the two of them for the auto-elimination, Aiden was more likely to avoid it given how good he was at these TikTok dances.
However, it was a pity that Gabby or Grett would be going home today given that both of them were a part of their alliance but in the end, if a member of their alliance had to go home, she would rather it be Gabby considering all the drama surrounding her. With her gone, she and Grett could help make sure Ellie and Alec get back on speaking terms for the sake of their alliance.
“Gabby and Grett, one of you is going home. Please bring your phones in for examination.” Kristal said happily.
“Oh, damn it.” Grett sighed as she handed Kristal her phone.
“And yours’ Gabby?” Kristal asked curiously.
“Kristal… I cheated. I accidentally dropped my phone in the water when a shark bumped into our boat.” Gabby said sadly.
“Oh shit. Was that what you wanted to tell me?” Grett asked in concern to which Gabby nodded solemnly.
“Well… I guess I never made it a rule that you can’t do that. Gabby wins by default. Grett, pack your bags.” Kristal said nonchalantly.
“What?! No!!! You can’t do that! It was a mistake!” Gabby said tearfully.
“Gabby, it’s okay.” Grett smiled reassuringly at her friend.
“No! It’s not!” Gabby shook her head.
“Hang on!” Kristal’s voice interrupted as she showed the duo a recording of Grett dancing, “Seems like Gabby must’ve grabbed the wrong phone.”
“Oh no…” Grett said worriedly.
“Does that mean…” Gabby sighed.
“Yep. Gabby is out. Follow me, it’s time to say goodbye to Gabby.” Kristal smirked as Gabby smiled tearfully at Grett while Ellie and Grett looked at Gabby in disappointment.
Riya, on the other hand, couldn’t help but feel grateful that this was the outcome.
XXX
Gabby soon found herself walking towards the bus stop where the new final seven was seeing her off. They all had a range of emotions from Jake, Aiden, and Ally’s sympathetic gazes, Grett’s worried stare, Alec’s guilty face, and Riya’s uncaring attitude but none of them could beat Ellie’s tearful look.
Gabby soon looked behind her to see the hallucination of her “evil self”, the one who was constantly encouraging her to sabotage Grett.
“Are you happy with yourself… loser?” Her intrusive thoughts asked with a mocking smirk.
Gabby rolled her eyes and for once in her life, she had a solid argument against the evil reflection.
“I am!” Gabby smirked proudly as she walked towards Grett, and she wasn’t lying, despite all the drama involving Alec and Ellie, voting Tess and Tom out, plus her intrusive thoughts starting to mess with her, she was proud of herself. She did the right thing in the end, helped Grett when she needed it most, and didn’t backstab her.
“You going to be okay without me?” Gabby asked Grett in concern.
“Don’t worry about me.” Grett smiled softly before embracing the animal lover, “Thank you, Gabby. You really helped me when I needed it most.”
Gabby smiled as she continued hugging Grett for a while before noticing Ellie walking towards them. Gabby immediately let Grett go before standing to address Ellie.
“Ellie, I’m about to leave soon, so if there’s something you need to tell me, you better tell me now.” Gabby said calmly, with everyone looking shocked at how maturely Gabby was acting at this moment.
“Gabby, I’m sorry I never told you about what Alec did and lying about the Villains’ Alliance in general. This whole situation has been tearing me up inside but I can’t imagine how much it’s been hurting you. I should’ve been upfront about everything from the start and maybe things would’ve worked out better but I just want to let you know that I love you and I’m sorry if I ever made you feel like that wasn’t true.” Ellie apologized sadly.
Gabby’s eyes widened at this. She never expected Ellie to say all of that and part of her wanted to leap into Ellie’s arms right now and say she forgave her but right here, right now, she wasn’t sure if it was the best time…
“Ellie… I…” Gabby began before the horn on the bus began honking, alerting the vegan that it was time to go so she sighed and kept it brief, “We’ll talk about this after the game.”
Gabby soon walked into the Bus Of Losers with mixed emotions. While part of her felt fulfilled in her run in this All Stars season, there was still an Ellie-shaped hole in her heart that kept her from feeling completely satisfied.