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Ally has sparkles in her eyes. It was the first thing Gabby had noticed when she laid eyes on the brunette. She couldn’t help but stare at her, not only was she pretty but she was also an excitable, easy to be around girl much like Gabby herself. They couldn’t help but click easily, despite not being on the same team for most of the season, Gabby was drawn to the girl for a seemingly unknown reason.
There was something about Ally. Something about her that made her feel different, a feeling the girl hadn’t felt since her crush on another girl from Poland, though the two of them knew it was doomed from the start. Gabby had always gotten lost in her moments with Ally, be it simply talking — mostly about the girl’s favorite games, a topic Gabby didn’t know much about, but would joyfully listen to, occasionally adding her typically odd remarks — or not really saying anything to each other at all. Gabby always took those moments of surprisingly peaceful silence as something to appreciate, despite her disdain for silence. It was just more comfortable with Ally.
Gabby was used to mistreatment. It wasn’t any different here, till she met Tess and Ellie. The two were always there for her, assuring her as she went about the game. It helped a lot, her ‘slip ups’ in personality becoming more frequent than they were on her former season, which truth be told wasn’t really accidental. Gabby was always an open girl, conforming wasn’t something that she was good at, nor did she want to. Ally was in the same position, she noticed.
Gabby observed her behaviors frequently — she’d always been an observant person, despite nobody really noting that, it was a trait Gabby gained during her confinement, observing the walls seemingly thousands of times . — and noticed something about her. She was insecure, badly so. As the merge went along though, Ally seemed to be gaining the former confident persona she had back, due to her allies throughout the game. Gabby wanted to find a way to make her smile too. Why? She wasn’t sure exactly, but seeing Ally smile (especially due to something she said herself) always had it’s way of making her feel strangely flustered.
Gabby had been more lonely since Ellie left. It wasn’t like it was a bad break-up, no, it was a mutual decision. They were still good friends, but somewhere over the first year they realized it was merely that. The two weren’t exactly in love, and that was fine, Ellie was her best friend after all. It only came with the cost of being alone. Gabby wasn’t good with that at all, only worsening whatever condition she had. The doctors never had a clear diagnosis, a disappointing fact, Gabby always wanted to believe she wasn’t weird. She didn’t want to be “weird”, or creepy, but it seemed like that was the most common consensus on her character.
The first moment she could recall her and Ally having a genuinely ‘major’ interaction was some night after the first days of the merge. It was late at night, and Gabby couldn’t sleep. It wasn’t anything big keeping her awake, she just had nights she couldn’t bring herself to sleep, often being riddled with a strange sense of unease, a complete contrast to the usual positivity that surrounded her. Gabby never relied on others opinions, no, but the lack of comfort for years now had a way of getting to her a bit too much some nights. She decided to go on a walk, something that often calmed her nerves in the past, and still does to this day, being able to distract herself with the beauty that was nature, as well as the animals it contained.
As she crept out of the tent, trying not to wake anyone up, she was met with the cold night air. It brought a sense of comfort, despite the breeze, something she needed. She walked quietly through the campgrounds, following her lead to the forest, she stopped as she found a secluded area with a rather pretty scenery. She hadn’t gotten time to explore camp like this before, mostly due to the stress of the game, or just the people around in general, so she wasn’t able to truly pay full attention to the forest like she was now. She sat there quietly, she didn’t really know how much time had passed, but that didn’t matter as she heard a slight rustle of the leaves.
She turned her head to the sound, it came from the path she had just walked across. Sure, it could’ve just been one of the newly allowed animals at camp walking the same trail, as she was in the middle of the forest, but this sounded different. She had grown used to hearing the sounds of the animals by now, observing enough to know this sounded like something else.
“Hello..?” She called out to whatever — or rather, whoever — was there. Her comfort was disturbed, and for all she knew, it could be one of the contestants she hated most. That put a sour expression on her face almost immediately merely thinking about the possibility of someone like Yul, or those.. traitors, Aiden and Tom approaching her. Her distaste had faded though when she saw who it was.
Ally had approached her. The girl didn’t even seem like she’d been sleeping either, which Gabby had failed to notice. Ally had this confused expression on her face, it was strangely cute to Gabby, but her focus was quickly taken off of that as Ally began to ask something.
“Gabby..? What are you doing out here?” She questioned, which was fair. Usually people didn’t sneak out of a group shared tent to sit out in the woods.
“Ah.. Nothing.” Gabby sighed, putting her head in her knees. “I’m just.. not good with being alone” She replied, a strangely solemn undertone to her voice. It made Ally feel a bit bad, she had never seen the usual happy-go-lucky girl so down. “That’s why I prefer to look on the happy side of things!” Gabby continued. She had noticed Ally’s disappointed expression, it made her upset, coming to the assumption it was just her making Ally sad. Ally’s expression became a bit lighter, and she walked over and sat down next to the girl.
“You aren’t alone, Gabby.” She stated. “I know what it’s like to feel that way, but there’s always someone out there who is willing to spend time with you.” She smiled, putting a hand on the other girl's shoulder, Gabby’s eyes lit up almost immediately as Ally continued. “Like me.” She added, smirking. Gabby was surprised. Ally wanted to spend time with her? It wasn’t like Gabby thought no one liked her, no, it’s just that ever since Tess and Ellie left, everyone had seen her as what they did before. The crazy girl with no point of value, even her alliance did, which she betrayed her best friend for.
“You want to spend time with me?” Gabby tilted her head, a hint of excitement in her voice as thought about it. Before today, Gabby and Ally hadn’t interacted much, she didn’t expect Ally to jump at the thought of it. Ally had viewed Gabby the same as Gabby viewed her, a pretty girl who seemed to brighten the room. It was only a matter of time before they inevitably talked. Ally nodded.
“I know just the thing we could do.” She commented, which only confused Gabby more. Ally had reached into her pocket, suddenly pulling something out. A nintendo switch. This warranted a surprised gasp from Gabby. “I know what you’re thinking, I just couldn’t help but sneak it in!” Ally added, shrugging. They didn’t seriously expect the girl to go without it, that would be crazy.
Gabby was surprised at first, but went along with it. They’d played a lot of games, mostly Ally’s personal favorites, but some she thought Gabby would like as well. And she was most certainly right, Gabby had a lot of fun playing with her.
These interactions became a lot more frequent, especially due to the fact Ally didn’t have anyone to play with either, Hunter and Tess were eliminated earlier than Ally would’ve desired, but playing games with Gabby was a good substitute. She was excitable, always ready to compete in it and certainly funny. Ally appreciated the commentary. Of course, they had to keep their interactions mostly secretive, so as to not be caught by one of the hosts, but Ally always found her way of sneaking in backup switches to places before, and she was not gonna give up this time either.
Gabby thinks about that night a lot, how it started everything. It was friendly gaming, but something about Ally made her feel happy. Unusually so, Gabby knew she had a way of mistaking her feelings but this felt right. Being with Ally made her feel safe, she didn’t feel that a lot in her home, or previous team. Ally seemed comfortable as well, Gabby was always there to cheer her up. That was the thing about Gabby, she was there to cheer her friends up after any inconvenience, she was there to defend her friends when others couldn’t. She was determined to get revenge on those who hurt the people she loved, her best and yet worst trait by far. At least Gabby was there to defend her from her heavy haters.. especially a specific leading duo in the current competition, one Ally couldn’t stand. Gabby didn’t have a particularly good opinion on Aiden or Jake, either. Gabby and Ally spent a lot of time when they were together, Gabby had fun playing games and certainly had fun showing Ally her interests, she even tried showing Ally how to speak polish (She wasn’t exactly great at it, but that’s to be expected.)
Gabby planned to take Grett and Ally to the finale. She didn’t have a good opinion on anyone else, Riya and Alec blatantly disliked her (despite being her supposed allies, god, it reminded her of her former alliance with Grett), Jake and Aiden were traitors, not to mention the ‘strength’ (aha, yeah.. It’s that. She hated them for that, not for her friends.), Yul was.. Yul, and Connor was in the opposite alliance. She had no other choices, if the final five was up to her, it would be her, Tess, Ellie, Grett and Ally. She missed the two. Nights went by, and became easier due to the games she had played with her new found friend, and things seemed to be looking up for them once Yul was eliminated. Hint, ‘seemed to’, as the very next challenge Gabby was eliminated. Eliminated by her hallucinations. The intrusive thoughts she had of leaving her friends, self destructive tendencies overwhelmed her despite how hard she tried, but she wasn’t exactly fond of the idea of going to the hospital again.
She was escorted out by Grett and Ally, the others didn’t care much to come with. Her and Grett said their tearful goodbyes, and so did she with Ally. Gabby remembered the words Ally said to her before she left. “I’ll win this for you, Gabs!’. It was sweet, especially coming from her. Ally had a pretty voice, she’d listen to her talk for hours if she could. Gabby admired her as she grabbed onto her hands that night, her pretty brown hair that tied itself into a messy ponytail, the video-game merch she typically wore with a short jean jacket covering it up just a bit. She had light skin which contained a few, barely noticeable freckles, soft lips, and the prettiest teal eyes that lit up whenever she talked about games. It was something Gabby could get lost in.
When she had arrived at the motel, she was greeted by Tess and Ellie, saying their bittersweet greetings and such. Gabby was glad to be back, she wasn’t great with dealing with the competition and was happy to be with her friends.
It wasn’t long before Tess pointed something out though. The way Gabby stared at her best friend as she walked away, Gabby was certainly not subtle when it came to attraction, often becoming completely smitten with the person when she felt something for them. She couldn’t help it, affectionate words were her love language and she didn’t like hiding it. When Gabby was confronted with the idea, she wasn’t entirely against it, no. Gabby fell fast, she always had the habit of doing so, it was what she did with Ellie. This was different though, Tess noticed too, and the lack of competition as well as her friends gave her time to think. The more she thought about it, the more she liked the girl in general. She was sweet, misunderstood and passionate, Gabby understood that.
A while passed, waiting at the motel, and she was pleasantly surprised to see Ally make the final three. She still remembered sitting down on the bleacher, rooting for Ally to win the season. She had cheered on Ally, assuring her she could win this. The memory wasn’t exactly all good, Gabby was resentful over the fact Ally was practically cheated out of the game due to Riya, if she had been there she’d be sure she told Ally and made sure Riya got what she deserved for eliminating one of her besties. It at least gave her time to do this, she thought as she approached Ally. She was sitting by the tree after losing, tears in her eyes as she thought about how she proved everyone she knew right, about how she couldn’t win this. It was almost a complete mirror of the first night they truly ‘met’ as Gabby sat down next to her. She tried to reassure her.
“I lost, Gabby. I lost.” Ally said to her, her tone was one of pure defeat.
Gabby crossed her arms. “It wasn’t fair.” She complained. “They’re both traitors!” Gabby added. Ally couldn’t exactly disagree, her own ‘ally’ threw her away like she was a piece of trash. “If I was there I would have hit them with a hammer for you!” She added, smiling ‘evilly’. That warranted a slight laugh from Ally.
She wiped her tears. “You don’t have to do all that.” She replied, before quickly adding.. “But it would be fun to see.” She joked. She didn’t really have as much malice as she did for Jake, but Riya was a different story. She blatantly used her, she was the worst person both her and Gabby had probably met, if you excluded Yul. They sat there for a bit, Gabby explaining all her cartoonishly ‘evil’ plans. The loss of the money hurt, alot. She knew her family would doubt her, but she had learned that approval seeking wasn’t causing her anything but pain. It was moments like these she realized, she needed to do what made her happy.
By the time the finale was over, everyone was of course upset with the result, but there was no choice but to move on. Gabby and Ally agreed to keep contact, often hanging out with their other friends, even making amends with Jake. The hangouts they had got longer over the months, it started to feel like dates. The two were close now. Very close, an unexpected duo that seemed to last even after the show. It seemed to all be building up to that one moment.
Ally was sat in front of her, the atmosphere felt different than usual. They spent the day hanging out, going places (including visiting the animal shelter, Gabby was even able to get a job to work with animals that she occasionally let Ally visit!) and having fun, but something changed in the moment. It wasn’t bad, no, but it felt like something between the two changed. It was a late night, and Gabby was supposed to go home, but she ended up staying. They were sitting down in Ally’s room, occasionally stealing glances. It took a lot of courage, before Ally was able to say this, her hands holding onto Gabby’s.
“Gabby, I.. I like you.” She stated awkwardly, she wasn’t good with confessions whatsoever. Gabby was surprised, a faint blush coating her cheeks.
It was hard to come up with a response, but Gabby responded positively. “I like you, too..” She paused. “I love you, Ally.” she corrected.
“I love you too, Gabby.”
She leaned forward, disregarding her games for now, disregarding everything to be with her, as she planted a kiss on her lips.