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Jake sits around the firepit, his arm outstretched along the back of it watching the expressions on the boys’ faces— Mason is grinning like a Cheshire cat, Tim looks his usual laidback, no care in the world self and Rohan is unfortunately saddled with sitting next to Jasper and listening to whatever he’s telling him with smug smirk pulling at the corners of his mouth.
And, Levi? He’s sitting on Jake’s left hand side leaning forward with his elbows on his shaking knees staring into the flames like he wants to jump headfirst into them.
The girls approach and Jake catches Georgie’s eyes, her hand tightly interlocked with Talia’s as they take their place around the firepit exchanging nervous glances and uncomfortable smiles. Jake winks, watching the way Georgie’s face softens and some of her anxiety disappears, her mouth tilting upwards slightly.
You got this. He mouths to her.
So do you. She mouths back, wrapping her hand around Talia’s wrist and leaning in close to her side.
The order for the recoupling will be:
Jasper, Levi, Mason, Rohan, Tim, Jake.
Jasper is predictably outlandish with his recoupling speech— all to end up choosing Allegra again.
Levi stands and Jake catches the way that Georgie straightens, nervously chewing on her bottom lip as she avoids eye contact with him— he’s seen them together, the way that they have been dancing around each other for days, the secret looks and Levi’s more… longing looks whenever she disappears to a different area of the villa. Fuck if he doesn’t pick her.
“Okay.” Levi breathes out. “I feel like I’ve been waiting a long time to have a chance to say this.” And he laughs, a little unsure of himself but he lifts his head and catches Georgie’s eyes. “The girl I want to couple up with tonight has been a really strong presence in the villa since day one and I’ve had an amazing time getting to know her.”
Georgie smiles, dropping her gaze to the floor where her ankles are crossed over each other.
“In the last few days, I’ve done a lot of thinking about what I really want… but I wasn’t sure until today when this girl showed me I was making the right decision. The girl I want to couple up with is…”
Jake looks across the firepit and sees the breath that Georgie is desperately holding, her fingers fidgeting at her sides now, all of her tension hunched in her shoulders which are almost touching her ears.
“Georgie.”
Jake smiles to himself when Georgie just stares at Levi like she can’t believe he said her name. Her face lights up in that childlike wondrous way as she rushes towards him, letting Levi sweep her up in his arms and leave a lingering kiss on her cheek.
“Happy?” Jake whispers to her, leaning over when they take their seats, Georgie tucked underneath Levi’s arm.
“Is it that obvious?” She asks him, unable to keep the giddiness out of her voice as she squeezes his arm.
“At least you might stop pining now.” He jokes, arching an eyebrow at the rapid shake of her head that he receives in response. “No?”
“Nope.” Georgie grins. “Now you get to listen to me gloating all the time. All the time.”
“And that’s me leaving the Villa.”
“You wouldn’t. You couldn’t leave me behind.” Georgie whispers certainly, barely skipping a beat over his loose threat and whilst she’s most definitely kidding as she looks over at him, Jake thinks she might actually be right.
Jake thought he might meet a girl he liked on Love Island, a girl who he could picture a few months ahead with, a girl that maybe he might not have won with because god—knows he’s not the most outrageous or entertaining man in the world but one that he wanted to try for real with once the solace of the villa is just a distant summer memory.
He never thought that he would meet his best friend. He never thought he would meet someone like Georgie Sutton.
On paper they’re completely different— she’s a firecracker, sometimes outspoken, always willing to step in to defend somebody else and she radiates confidence no matter what room she’s in. Georgie is his total opposite in so many ways but together, together she does what most people can’t and she brings out a side to him that he forgets he has. The best side of him.
The recoupling continues around them, Georgie threading her fingers through Levi’s as his arm hangs around her shoulders. Mason shrugs off Levi picking his partner and chooses Cherry. Rohan couples up with Erikah, Tim chooses Talia and makes a joke that elicits an eye roll from her as she joins his side.
Georgie sends him a thumbs up and a toothy grin as he stands up last and looks at Jen waiting alone at the firepit, the flames reflecting off the gold rings on her fingers. He chooses her and feels better for it when she gives him a grateful smile and a friendly hug, it’s never going to be anything more than a friendship couple but it’s enough, for now at least.
Jake catches Georgie’s eyes as they look around the couples— some new, some old, some happier than others and some that are just still relieved to be here.
“Everybody happy then?” Tim asks, his arm around Talia’s shoulder waiting for someone to break the silence but when no enthusiastic reply comes, he just laughs. “Was it something I said?”
*
Jake stands his pillow up and lies back in bed, an arm around the back of his head as he looks around the bedroom and listens for the usual chaos filtering in from the dressing room and Allegra’s voice above everybody else’s as she tries to shove her and Jasper’s coupling down the other girls’ throats.
The boys are chatting amongst themselves when a figure appears at the side of Jake’s bed but they don’t wait to be invited in, no, the mattress bounces as they jump onto the bed and Jake feels his eyes drag towards Georgie who is making herself comfortable with her legs tucked underneath her.
“Get out of my bed.” Jake puffs out, stretching out and pushing his foot against her calf.
“Kicking a gorgeous girl out of bed? No wonder you’re single, Wilson.” Georgie tuts and reaches for the pillow behind her, sending it towards him, Jake not expecting the thwack to his stomach as she makes contact with him.
He catches it and clutches it to his chest, laughing loudly, the sound echoing across the room as Georgie tilts her head towards him.
The next time he looks across at her, she’s looking over to her empty bed and chewing anxiously on her lip, twisting her fingers into her camisole and avoiding his eyes, something that Jake has learned she does when she feels uncomfortable. Reaching out, Jake laces their fingers together and waits for Georgie’s shoulders to sag and for her to turn back.
“It’s Jen.” She whispers, careful not to let anybody other than him hear her. “I just feel… bad. We had a chat before the recoupling but I just feel like… I guess I just didn’t expect him to pick me and now things are— ” Georgie admits, unknowingly squeezing Jake’s fingers a little harsher. “Jesus, what’s wrong with me? I just feel awkward and it’s not like her and Levi were doing well but— ”
Jake laughs but not at her, no, because she sees her humility as a bad thing when it’s the opposite, especially in here.
“What are you laughing at?” Georgie pokes, frowning and sobering him up quickly enough to keep her from abandoning him for her own bed.
“You’re too kind for your own good, you know.” Jake smiles at her, rubbing his thumb over the back of her hand.
To which Georgie, expectedly so, rolls her eyes.
“Shut up.” She grumbles but she grins, despite herself, as she lies down on the bed beside him staring up at the ceiling as islanders start spilling into the bedroom. “But thanks.”
“Anytime.”
It’s nice, it always is, Georgie’s his biggest comfort in the villa— he doesn’t have to try with her, try to be someone he’s not, try to get her like him in some elaborate kind of gesture because she already does. He notices her head turned towards the door, her gaze on Jen and Allegra standing there with their heads pushed together.
She squeezes his hand and sits up, “Night J.”
“Night, Gee.”
She lets him go and clambers off the bed, jumping into her own bed and diving under the covers as the mattress dips beside her, Levi climbing in and immediately bringing her into his embrace, whispering something in her ear that makes her blush.
Jake makes small talk with Jen but it’s almost immediately clear that she’s preoccupied by something, or rather someone else but she still thanks him again for picking her before settling down on her own side for the night, just as the lights shut off.
*
He can’t sleep but that’s not that unusual, the villa runs hot despite the air conditioning and the sound of soft and loud snoring mingling into one from several different beds. Pushing himself up onto his elbows, Jake makes out a figure moving across the bedroom only to hear Tim’s sleepy drawl and what he thinks are the words shut up as he throws a hand out trying to bat the silhouette away.
He’s exhausted though, not wanting to be awake and feels his eyes starting to drop again as a breeze from somewhere off to the side runs over his body, a relief from the heat crawling and curling around his muscles. At least Jen isn’t a restless sleeper, having barely moved since they said their goodnights.
He’s almost asleep again. Almost, when the raspy shout from upstairs has him shooting up like he’s just been woken from a nightmare.
“What the fuck?! Are you fucking serious right now?!”
The sound of the voice is instantly recognisable, the Bristolian twang, familiar . Georgie’s voice.
“What was that?” Tim calls out, Talia's sleepy groan accompanying him as she’s knocked out of his embrace by him sitting up.
“I think it’s Georgie.” Jake says, already untangling his legs from the covers and climbing out of bed, trying to find his bearings in the darkness and across to his friend’s bed that’s empty, both her and Levi having disappeared and fuck, how didn’t he notice that a moment ago?
He heads towards the light filtering in from the roof terrace aware of Tim and Talia on his heels, the latter yawning beside herself but she was out of bed just as quickly as the boys when she heard it was Georgie.
The terrace is… it’s a sight.
The fairy lights hanging above the door adds a certain ambience to the tension that starts to suffocate them as soon as they step out into the night, the triangle of Georgie, Levi and Cherry asking questions that Jake isn’t sure he wants to know the answer to.
Georgie is standing just outside the door with her arms folded across her chest glaring at Levi and Cherry who are standing up looking like school children caught misbehaving by the headmistress.
“Right, I’m coming out here to lay down the law. Georgie, didn’t you tell Levi to shut it?” Tim asks, pushing past Jake and staring right at her but is quickly deterred by the silence that shrouds them. “What the hell is going on out here?”
Georgie doesn’t answer, she’s still staring at Levi and Cherry, her lips gapped and her eyes crinkling in the corners but not like they do when she’s in the sun or trying to hide her yawn behind her hands, she looks like she’s about to cry and that throws Jake headfirst onto the what the fuck is going on?
“Shut the fuck up, Tim.” Levi growls, squaring his shoulders but he doesn’t meet his eyes, he doesn’t meet anybody’s.
“I— I—” Georgie says as she turns and catches Jake’s eyes, silently pleading with him for help, and he wants to, Jesus, he wants to go over there and fix everything but— Georgie suddenly shouts, her voice raspy and it catches in her throat every word. “Levi wasn’t in bed and I saw the light from the terrace so I came up here to find the pair of them fucking getting off!” She yells but her voice betrays her, trembling as she turns to look at them again, neither Levi or Cherry looking in her direction.
Jake sucks in a sharp breath, his entire body going rigid at her words but it’s Tim who loses his temper first, stepping towards Levi with his lips curled up into a snarl.
“Levi! What the hell are you playing at?!”
He doesn’t get an answer and Georgie doesn’t move. It’s like a scene from a horror story that they’re all living, her feet are frozen to the spot and she’s looking past everybody over the horizon, into the abyss of black in the near distance, her eyes glazed over and her fingers shaking at her sides.
Jake’s heart breaks for her but he’s ever the calm in the storm. He has to be, even if he wants to do nothing more than swing for Levi.
“Okay everyone, listen up. Obviously this is confusing for all of us, but it’s the middle of the night and not the time for an argument so I think we all need to go back to bed before it gets out of hand.”
Levi looks at Cherry before crossing to Georgie but she’s pointedly refusing to look at either of them now, her mouth contorted into a fierce scowl. Tim and Talia agree quietly, both of them exchanging a secret look as they make their way towards Georgie, squeezing her in a hug before making their way downstairs.
Levi and Cherry follow them off the terrace, their heads bowed.
Jake starts to reach for his friend’s hand but she’s already stomping off towards the seating, sitting down, bringing her knees to her chest and looping her arms around them, dropping her chin to rest against them. In silence, complete unsettling silence.
“Gee?” Jake calls out gently, following her over and dropping into the empty space beside her.
She doesn’t flinch, keeping her face pushed against her knees as she starts to shrink in on herself, letting her hair fall loosely around her shoulders as if she’s trying to hide herself away.
“Georgie—”
She turns to look at him, her face crumpling and a single tear slipping down her cheek that she tries to hastily bat away but it’s futile because as soon as one falls, she’s crying and unable to stop.
“Come here.” Jake sighs and opens his arm out for her to fall into, her head hitting his chest as she curls her own around him, holding onto him like he’s the only stable thing in her world that’s rapidly crashing down around her.
Her cries turn to sobs and she chokes on every single one of them, eyes screwed shut desperately trying to wish the last ten minutes away, clinging onto Jake but he doesn’t mind, doesn’t care, he just holds her as tightly as he can, rubbing soothing circles against her back as if he can erase it all.
“I’m so stupid.” Georgie snaps, berating herself like any of what happened is her fault. “I can’t believe I fucking fell for it when he’s just doing to me what he did to Jen, oh god. Jen’s going to think I’m an idiot for not listening to her— ”
“Gee, this isn’t your fault.” Jake promises, moving his hand to lift her head, staring into her watery eyes that are filled with so much hurt and pain. So much. “This is on him, unless you made him go and kiss Cherry, then it’s his fault and only his.”
“Yeah.” Georgie breathes out. “But I’m coupled up with him. What did I do?”
“Nothing. Nothing, babe.” Jake whispers, bringing her back in, letting Georgie rest all of her weight against him, hushed murmurs come from the bedroom and the sound of crickets surround them out on the terrace but most of all, Georgie’s hiccuping cries echo in Jake’s ears.
The night slips away in stars covering the pitch black sky, Georgie stares up at them at one point, tear tracks drying against her cheeks as she rests her head against Jake’s shoulder, wanting to stay in the embrace until the end of time itself because at least they’re alone. Together.
But, it can’t last forever and Georgie reluctantly lets Jake lead her downstairs, their hands still interlocked.
“Levi’s gone to sleep on the daybeds.” Talia smiles sadly when the pair of them make their way back down to the bedroom. “He figured you wouldn’t want to be near him tonight.”
“Too fucking right.” Jake mutters, moving his arm to securely wrap around Georgie’s shoulders, she’s only able to manage a small quirk upwards of her lips as she reaches out to squeeze Talia’s hand gratefully, letting her make her way back to bed. “You going to be okay?”
“Not my first rodeo.” Georgie laughs though it comes out bitter and flat. “Thank you, J.” She murmurs, wrapping her arms around him.
He kisses her temple and watches as she slinks away to her empty bed, crawling under the covers and lying at the very edge of the bed cuddling her pillow and staring at the wall.
Jake sighs, he could kill Levi.
*
Jake gets up early, early enough that those bloody birds that start singing every morning are nowhere to be seen. He tried to back to sleep last night but he couldn’t help letting his eyes trail over the Georgie shaped lump in the bed across the room, she didn’t move much but he did, hoping that Jen wasn’t disturbed by all of his tossing and turning but when he glances over at her, she’s still out cold. Well, at least that’s something.
Georgie is still where she had been hours earlier, curled up at the edge of the bed but at least she’s asleep now even if it’s somewhat, fitful.
He can’t even stand and pretend that it was just a bad dream because Georgie’s brow is furrowed deeply as though she’s replaying the events over and over in her head, like she’s forced to watch it on repeat until it drives her to despair.
Jake makes his way into the bathroom, splashing water repeatedly over his face to try and wake himself up but it’s pointless, he’s exhausted and pissed off.
Making his way downstairs once ready for the day, he stops and follows the water droplets on the floor towards the kitchen— stopping at the edge of it, snapping his head up to Levi— and the water still sliding off him having clearly just gotten out of the pool.
And, Jake, well, his blood fucking boils at the sight of him leaning casually against the island sipping from his water bottle.
“Mate—” Levi starts, looking a hell of a lot more sheepish than he had a second earlier, his arms outstretched in front of him as he readies to launch himself into some kind of excuse.
“— Oh no.” Jake laughs but it lacks any sort of mirth. “I’m not your fucking mate, what the hell were you thinking?!” He asks, unable to stop his voice rising or his temper starting to flare.
The question is simple, what the hell was he thinking? Except it throws Levi immediately onto the defensive as he slams his bottle down on the counter, hardening his stare towards Jake and puffing out his chest. Jake raises an eyebrow slightly, letting the other man have the floor.
Levi sags slightly, shaking his head.
“It wasn’t what it looked like, I know we kissed but it wasn’t that big of a deal. Cherry and me, we just…” Levi looks almost pained by the words coming out of his mouth and in another life, Jake might actually feel for him but not when he saw his best friend in the villa break down in that way, not when he saw her heart split right in front of his eyes.
Levi takes in Jake’s appearance with a thick swallow, narrowing his eyes at him and noticing that his breathing is heavier and rougher than usual.
“I like her, man.” Levi admits.
“Cherry?” Jake snarls. “Because you made that pretty fucking clear last night.”
“Georgie.” Levi bites, letting Jake rile him up. “I do but I’m not apologising to you for last night, you’ll never get it, it was just a moment. Do you even like any girl here?”
Jake ignores that.
“Congrats on your fucking moment, do you have any idea how Georgie feels or don’t you give a fuck?!” Jake throws at him, and yeah, he can feel himself seething as he takes a couple of calculated steps towards the athlete. “You’re a joke, mate.”
Levi takes a step back, holding his hands up and Jake feels his own balling into fists at his sides, shaking with the anger that’s become almost impossible to conceal.
The door out to the lawn swings open and the jovial sounds of Tim, Mason and Rohan talking about something are mingling with Jasper’s accent cutting in and adding a completely unrelated anecdote. Tim stops abruptly when he notices the two of them in the kitchen, throwing out an arm to clothesline Mason, his eyes widening slightly— so, Mason doesn’t know yet.
Jake shakes their sudden appearance off but a sound interrupts him, Levi’s laughing, laughing at him and Jake almost swings for him there and then.
“Me? A joke? You’re the one out here fighting for her instead of just admitting you have a thing for Georgie. ” Levi chuckles, one hand one thrown over his stomach as everything seems to slot into place. “You want her and she doesn’t want you.”
“Fuck off.” Jake sneers.
“Alright, alright. Pack it up.” Tim chimes in, having seen enough and stepping between the two of them, one hand on both boys’ chests. “Levi, mate, you don’t really have a leg to stand on here. I mean, you did kiss Cherry.”
“Bro, what?!” Rohan calls out, his eyebrows flying up to his hairline.
“You did fucking what.” Mason draws out his words slowly, carefully. “You kissed my girl?”
Jasper doesn’t say anything, happy to stand back and watch the inevitable chaos unfold around him, rubbing his hands together like he’s a villain in a James Bond film (and it wouldn’t surprise Jake if he somehow already knew about last night) but all eyes are now on Mason who is staring at Levi as if looks could most definitely kill.
It’s comical, the scene that’s starting to unfold in the kitchen. Mason is barely constraining himself from jumping Levi and punching him in the face. Tim, credit to him, is doing his best to keep Jake and Levi from each other despite being a good foot and a half shorter than them both. Rohan is unsure whether he should be egging them on or start looking around for producers that are waiting to jump in the moment it turns violent. Jasper, well, he’s just moving about the kitchen making himself a cup of coffee despite the tension so thick that even a chainsaw couldn’t cut through it.
Jake looks at Levi once more, shaking his head.
Georgie is his friend, if not his best friend in the villa and he likes her and yeah, fuck, she’s gorgeous, he’d be blind not to see how beautiful she actually is. Green eyes that sparkle in the sunshine and her blonde hair falls over her shoulders in waves that remind him of the sea hitting the shores. She’s funny, intelligent and she’s almost as passionate about cooking as he is.
And, yeah, maybe back on day one, he did want to couple up with her but it never worked out that way and the moment seemed to have passed them both by. Levi though, he’s looking at Jake like he’s just asked the million dollar question and his smug smile is so punchable— grinding Jake up the wrong way. Mason makes a move towards Levi but Jake snaps first, loses control, sees red— however you put it, he shoves Levi backwards with all the force he can muster and watches as he falls back into the fridge.
Levi hisses, his hand climbing to his shoulder and Tim’s cry of for fuck sake falls on deaf ears because no sooner than Levi has straightened up, Jake punches him, catching him square in the face with his left hand causing him to stumble into the counter.
“Enough!” One of the producers screams from the sides, Jake thinks it might be Natalie and only catches sight of her pulling her headset off as she rushes towards the pair of them with a storm brewing in her eyes. “What do you two think you’re playing at?!”
Jake backs off, he’s done. So fucking done. Blood trickles from the cuts on his knuckles as he drops his hands to his sides, whatever.
“J, what the fuck was that?” Another voice reaches his ears, Georgie.
Turning around, he winces at the shocked look on her face, her arm looped through Talia’s— the latter looking at him the same way his mum used to when he’d done something wrong.
“Fuck.” Jake mumbles, his chest heaving as he and Georgie look at each other, her face a blank sheet, lips parted. “Georgie?”
His heart twists and splits into two at the anxiousness that’s clouding over her eyes, how she’s chewing on her lip, digging her teeth into the flesh of it harsh enough that she could draw blood and he’s the reason she feels like that. Him. Nobody else. Fuck.
He wants to go to her, to explain himself, to smooth away her anxious wrinkles but he can’t because no sooner does he try and approach her, two of the producers are hauling both him and Levi away from the rest of the islanders who are watching the scene unfold like it’s a new blockbuster and into a quiet room away from cameras and prying eyes.
Leaning against the wall, Jake tilts his head up and notices the blood spilling out of Levi’s nose as he holds a bunch of tissues to his face.
“You two have to be fucking kidding me?” Natalie hisses, fingers pressed to her temple as she paces the room in front of them. “A bust up? Really? Do I look like I get paid enough for you boys with your massive egos to start scrapping? What? Now neither of you have anything to say? Bloody brilliant.”
Jake pushes his hands into his pockets and stares at a patch on the floor, his heart thrashing around in his chest as the adrenaline continues to course through his veins like his bloodstream is one continuous log flume ride. He knows Natalie is staring at him but she sighs and approaches Levi instead, dropping her voice a few octaves as she asks him a few questions in a hushed tone? Are you okay? Is it broken? Do you need to go to the hospital to get it checked?
What was he thinking? Jake doesn’t lose his temper like that, not anymore. Not after years of working as a chef, a head chef, his days of flipping out when something doesn’t go his way are long gone. He’s supposed to be the calm one, level—headed, he’s become the problem solver over the instigator, fuck sake, he’s nearly thirty? Why’s he acting like a teenager gagging for a scrap? He’s supposed to have left these days behind.
“Is it broken? If it is, I think you deserve it but I’m not supposed to say that.” Natalie interrupts him, coming to stand at his side, her anger has mostly dissipated and she’s only looking at him with a look of mild exasperation.
Jake pulls his hand out of his pocket and winces, it’s aching and stinging but his knuckles have stopped bleeding leaving only dried blood decorating his fingers. He doesn’t think it’s broken though, which he supposes is a plus. It kills him to flex his fingers but he manages it, wiggling his hand in front of Natalie’s face as she fights back a strained smile.
“I reckon I’ll live.” Jake smirks.
“If you start fighting the other lads again, trust me, you won’t.” Natalie warns him. “What even caused that? Georgie?” She asks him and gives him a knowing smile.
Jake grimaces, which for Natalie, is answer enough as she pushes him towards the door with one last look and a formal and last warning, she’s throwing open the door and letting him out like a kid being released from detention
*
The sun feels like a welcome relief when he steps out into it, a little shaken that he wasn’t thrown out for punching someone and Jake immediately starts scanning the area for Georgie but she’s already rushing towards him from the beanbags, having noticed him first as if she’s been waiting for him.
“Are you okay?” She asks him, scanning every inch of his face and curling her hands around his wrists, thumbs against his pulse points which start to thrum that little bit faster. “Are you getting kicked out because—?” She stops herself quickly, pouting her lips at him, and the worry on her face is nothing short of adorable, all wide eyes looking up at him.
Jake softens at the concern encompassing her, realising he’s never noticed the gold flecks in the green of her irises before and how you can notice it a lot more when the sun hits her eyes directly. The corners of his mouth pull upwards as she waits on tenterhooks for him to answer her question, her grip on his wrists tightening.
“Nah.” He grins but it feels a little uneasy. “I just got a bollocking instead.”
The sigh that falls from Georgie’s lips is almost melodious but more so, it’s full of relief and he doesn’t get a chance to brace himself before she’s throwing her arms around his middle, hugging him to her and resting her chin on his chest, gazing up at him and squinting in the sunshine.
Fuck, she really is beautiful, Jake realises, all sunkissed skin and freckles dotted across her face, scrunching up her nose and swiping her tongue across her lips shiny with the same lip gloss she wears every day, always finding her reapplying it, smacking her lips together in her reflection on her phone.
“Can we go and chat?” Jake asks, squinting down at her.
“Of course, babe.” Georgie smiles reassuringly at him, following him away from the curious eyes of the islanders lounging around the pool and over to the daybeds, Georgie flopping down on one with her eyes closed and a relaxed sigh slipping from her lips.
Nowhere in the bloody villa is private, Jake spotting Allegra and Jasper watching them like meerkats, heads pushed together not even trying to hide the fact they’re definitely trying to eavesdrop.
Sitting on Georgie’s other side, Jake presses his tongue to the roof of his mouth and shakes his head, he really lost it all because of a snide comment and now that his heart rate is starting to settle, he feels the embarrassment sinking in. Georgie studies him and the six stages of what the fuck that are crossing his face, fighting to be the expression that stays, her hands clasped together in her lap.
“Why?” She asks, breaking the silence, her voice unusually soft but she doesn’t lift her head, just tucking her hair behind her ear instead. “Why did you punch him?”
She sounds disappointed, fuck, fuck, fuck, Jake what have you done? Why? He wishes he could tell her, explaining that Levi making an off—handed comment riled him up to the point when he became the man he’s spent years trying not to be anymore.
“I—”
“I don’t need defending, you know.” She continues, pulling at a loose thread in her bikini string. “Like, I’m upset, sure but I don’t need you or anybody else to get into trouble for me.”
“I wasn’t.” Jake promises her, which is true, it’s got nothing to do with defending her honour or fighting her battles for her. “It wasn’t about you, I just saw red, it doesn’t usually happen.”
“Really? Not even in your kitchen?” Georgie asks, teasing him and finally meeting his eyes. “You’re telling me you don’t get all Gordon Ramsay in the heat of the moment?”
Jake chuckles. “Why? Are you put off?”
Georgie scrunches up her nose in that adorable way she does before letting her lips stretch into a smile.
“I think I’ll take my chances.” She shrugs, wrapping the loose thread around her finger until the tip turns white.
“Mad at me?” Jake wonders, testing the waters as he moves to mirror her position on the bed, legs stretched out in front of him.
“Fuming.” Georgie answers but the ghost of a smile on her lips gives her away and she lifts her head just enough to meet his eyes. “I’m sure I’ll forgive you.”
Islanders, it’s time to find out how much you trust each other.
Get ready to get wet in a game of Sink or Swim.
#trustissues #dropitlikeitshot
Jake waits at the challenge stage with Georgie standing opposite him, he pulls faces at her until her resolve melts and she starts giggling, shut up she mouths across to him but he just holds his hands up feigning innocence.
Her laughing stops abruptly as Levi and Cherry approach, having returned from their shopping trip to stumble straight into an unexpected challenge. Jake holds his hands behind his back watching Levi’s attempts to catch Georgie’s eyes but she takes more interest in her nails and then him, a gentle pleading in her eyes that Jake catches. He winks at her and she sticks her tongue out at him in return. He winces when he catches the state of Levi’s face, it’s not ruined but it’s a little busted up and sure, yeah, Jake regrets losing control and punching him but he’s not going to lie and say he hates himself for it.
Jasper and Allegra host the challenges, gesturing to the two dunk tanks on the stage behind them as they explain the rules, taking their host roles to a new and frankly more annoying level.
“Great.” Georgie mutters and stares straight ahead at Levi. “A trust challenge is just what I fucking need right now.”
Everybody takes their turns, giggles and arguments overlapping each other as some couples decide to be sweet and save each other, others dunk each other after swearing and crossing their hearts that they wouldn’t and tensions arise between others (Erikah dunks Rohan and the tension can be heard in the wading of water).
Jake watches as Georgie and Levi take their places on the dunk tank seats, Georgie looking straight ahead and shrugging off his vain attempt to apologise to her. Levi saves her but Georgie dunks him and she catches the way Jake punches his fist at his side with a fond eye roll.
A few rounds go by before Jake and Georgie take their seats. Georgie giggles at him as she presses her button, blowing him a kiss.
“You’re dunking me, aren’t you?” He asks across, feigning offence as he slams a hand over his heart.
“Of course not, babe.” She says, between small bouts of laughter. “I wouldn’t do that to you.”
Jake hits the water a few minutes later and looks up through droplets of water on his eyelashes at his best friend sitting on the platform kicking her legs in the water, realising that he can’t even be mad at her for it.
Jake hauls himself out of the tank and slides across the stage wrapping Georgie up in a hug, soaking her through as she tries to twist herself out of his grip with wild giggles as she wraps her hands around his arms trying to pull them away.
“Serves you right.” He gloats, squeezing her once more before letting her go, already missing the sunny smile she sends him as she steps back into line.
Again, a few rounds go by before Jasper, who is rubbing his hands delightfully gestures to the tanks behind him.
“The matchup you’ve all been waiting for… Cherry and Georgie!” He announces as the islanders fall silent.
“Of course.” Georgie hums but Jake watches as she doesn’t attempt to make a move for the tank.
“Come on, Georgie, I’m dying to see this one.”
“Tim, read the fucking room.” Talia groans, sending him a blithe stare.
She shuffles over to the tanks carefully, taking her time to climb the ladder with an anxious glimmer in her eyes as she meets Jake’s eyes and the bright smile he sends her to try and ease some of it. You’re okay, he mouths to her and feels lighter in himself when she nods back at him.
“Georgie, before we start, I want to apologise for what happened last night, I really didn’t want us to get off on the wrong foot like that and I would really like it if we could talk, I owe you a real explanation.” Cherry’s voice is timid but still holds her usual conviction even if her smile doesn’t reach her eyes.
“Sure. Whatever.” Georgie huffs and slams her hand on the button with Cherry delicately pushing down on hers.
Georgie stays sitting and Cherry takes the plunge, literally. Tim snickers, earning himself a glare from Jen and Jake.
*
Nobody feels like discussing the challenge or why some of the dunkings seemed to be a little more personal than others. The girls and boys split off and Georgie turns around, making a cutthroat motion towards Jake as she follows the girls towards the pool eliciting a small chuckle from him as he slings an arm around Rohan’s shoulder and follows the boys towards the kitchen.
“Erikah’s definitely being off with me.” Rohan groans, burying his face in his hands, scrubbing his fingers along his sunburnt cheeks.
“Yeah well.” Levi laments. “Georgie won’t even look at me.”
“Can you blame her?” Tim asks for Jake who, to his credit, wasn't going to say anything.
Levi looks over at Jake out of the corner of his eye, like he might say something but in the end he snaps his mouth shut and lets Rohan and Tim take over the group instead with them bickering over something that none of them had even realised had started.
Jake’s not listening, he leans against the island and finds the girls lazing around the pool, Georgie lying on a floatie that bumps into Talia’s, not realising because she’s already looking back over at him above the rim of her sunglasses.
*
No matter how much Jake doesn’t think about it, he can’t stop himself from doing just that, even whilst he’s in the gym, lifting weights which was supposed to be a distraction to begin with.
Georgie, Georgie, Georgie. She plays on his mind on repeat with every rep and Levi’s cocky voice echoing in his ears, does he like her? More than a friend?
It’s not that he never considered it, he remembers seeing her on the first day and thinking that he would love to get a chance to couple up with her— she was confident, sexy and when she smiled at him, his stomach did that stupid scrunchy thing. It never happened though and they got to know each other in a different way, as friends and it wasn’t that they agreed to shut down the possibility of something more, it was more… unspoken.
Because Georgie had her eyes on Levi and Jake wasn’t about to get in the way of that, forgetting for a moment, what show he’s been accepted onto.
He doesn’t regret it, god no, Georgie is the best kind of person to have in your corner, Jake knows that, it’s just. Well. His coupling with Jen isn’t going to last, maybe for another few days but they’re never going to become a romantic couple. He tried it with Talia but the spark just isn’t there and they’ve both come to a point where if it’s not working, it’s not going to work. What’s he supposed to do? Wait for a bombshell to come in and hope she’s exactly his type and wants him straight off the bat? Can he even afford to live on that chance and risk getting dumped? To risk leaving her behind?
With Georgie it’s easy, so easy, seamless, reminding him of the kinds of relationship that everybody he’s ever met talks about, the kind of partnership that his best mates who are already married and popping out kids with talk about. Is it too late to try and pursue that? More importantly, does Georgie even like him in that way? Does he? Who’s he kidding, of course he fucking does.
“Looking good, J.” Georgie whistles from behind him.
“Yeah, I bet.” He grunts, forgetting his train of thought to continue with his reps, tightening his grip on the weights, his fingers trembling under the strain.
He looks at her out of the corner of his eye as she drops onto the grass, hands tucked underneath her. Then there’s that, during their low time during the days when there’s no challenges, dates or other such dramas pulling everybody together, they seek the other out. The last time Jake saw the girls, they had migrated to the kitchen to make mocktails and argue whether they should be sweet, spicy or both but Georgie still came over to him, wanting to be with him instead.
“Show me?” She suddenly asks him and Jake nearly drops the weight onto his foot.
“How to lift weights?” Jake asks her slowly, making sure that’s what she wants.
“I know how to lift them, Jake. I mean doing whatever you’re doing.” She waves her hand airily, gesturing to the weights in his hands. “You keep stopping anyway.”
She’s right, he’s completely lost his rhythm although he doubts it was there to begin with, he’s been distracted since he started. So, he does, pulling her up to stand in front of him, placing the weights in her hands because with a pointed look at him, she says they’re not that heavy which feels like an insult, but it’s Georgie, so he lets it slide.
She follows his instructions as he shows her how to do it properly. He’s not an expert by any means, hell, he barely finds the time to go to the gym these days between working at his current restaurant and planning for his own.
Georgie, though, hangs onto every single word he says to her.
He brings his hand up to rest against her hip, fingers curling around her scorching skin, thumb resting against the top of her bikini bottoms and he’s almost certain he hears her breath hitch.
“Like this?” She asks but her voice holds no conviction and she’s looking at his reflection through the mirror.
“No, like this.” He murmurs, sliding his hand down her arm to cover her hand with his own and fix her positioning. “There. Perfect.”
Georgie’s smile is beaming, her eyes sparkling as she tilts her head back to look at him, their faces inches apart as she tugs her bottom lip between her teeth— her smile dropping, replaced with something else that he can’t put a name to.
Anticipation, maybe.
It’s like time stops around them, the air fizzing with something that hadn’t been there previously and subconsciously, deliberately, Jake’s eyes fall to her lips, so full and plush and fuck, they really are so fucking kissable. Georgie’s eyelashes fall and sweep across her cheeks, inching towards him or maybe he’s just imagining it.
No, he’s not, because he’s leaning in too.
“Georgie? Can I pull you for a chat?”
And there’s the ice bucket of water thrown over the pair of them that has them leaping back from each other like two teenagers that have been caught by their parents. Jake takes the weight from her as she turns towards Levi, nodding mutely.
Taking a second to hesitate, she looks back at Jake over her shoulder and he’s almost certain that he sees a flicker of disappointment in her eyes.
Placing the weights back on the rack, Jake winds his hands around the pull—up bar and lets it hold his weight as he swings backwards on his heels, a thousand thoughts racing through his mind like his brain has turned into Silverstone.
One wins out though and that’s just how much he wanted to kiss her.
*
Jake doesn’t see Georgie until the evening, not even filing out of the dressing room with the other girls so he migrates to the terrace for a bit of quiet before the evening really starts to begin— running into Jasper and Allegra who are all smirks and smudged lipstick as they walk past him like he isn’t even there.
The chatter from downstairs filters up, Tim and Rohan are throwing out a couple of bars that he can hear Talia and Erikah objecting at the tops of their voices to and then the door is pushed open. Georgie stands at the entry, an orange halter—neck dress flowing over her body, contrasting against her bronzed skin, clutching her lip gloss in her hand, unsurprisingly.
“Hey.”
“Hi.” She replies, giggling slightly as she steps out into the mild evening air. “How come you’re hiding?” She asks, dropping into the empty space beside him, resting a light hand against his forearm.
“Clearly not hiding, Gee. You found me.” Jake disproves, lowering his leg from where it had been propped up on the table. “Where did you go? You haven’t been with Levi this whole time have you?”
She shakes her head and wrinkles her nose, tightening her grip on his arm as she looks up at him through her eyelashes and strands of her hair blowing in her face.
“Um.” She sucks in a breath. “Levi wanted to apologise and wanted to see if I’d give him another chance.” She says slowly, like she’s testing the words out and she wraps her arms around herself, and Jake knows the way his heart starts beating a little faster isn’t a coincidence.
“And…”
“I said I didn’t want to couple up with someone who said they liked me only to kiss other girls behind my back so I… kinda broke up with him.” Georgie shrugs a shoulder half—heartedly, shifting to tuck her legs underneath her, letting her words sink in for a moment. “I’m not that fussy, you know, I just want a guy who likes me.”
“Just that?” Jake asks, trying to keep his voice steady under the millions of thoughts rushing through his head.
“Well. And they have to be fit.” Georgie smirks and Jake knows he isn’t seeing things as she trails her eyes up and down his body before suddenly catching herself and snapping out of it. “I hope I did the right thing…” She sighs, and lets Jake take her hand properly.
“You’re a smart girl, Georgie. You know you did.” He promises even if a part of it feels unspoken.
It’s nice, calm, peaceful— the way it always is when they’re together, always gravitating towards the other when they want to find solace away from the others. They don’t need to fill their time together with needless small talk or any talk at all, more than happy to relax in each other’s company just happy to know that the other is there.
Except.
“Can I ask you a question?” Georgie asks him, turning and knocking her knee against his thigh.
Jake nods, hesitating when he sees the nervous flickering in her eyes, overcome by a sudden insecurity that wasn’t there a moment ago, should he be nervous? Is this going to be one of those it’s not you, it’s me conversations even though they’re not in a relationship? Has he inadvertently done something to upset her?
“Shoot.”
“Do you ever… did you ever…” Georgie groans as she tries to steady herself, fighting back an usual hesitancy, unable to find the right words. “Was I ever an option for you? Like romantically?”
Jake thinks he’s just been run over, crashed into by a high speed train and thrown hundreds of metres down a track, he’s reeling. Has Georgie just asked him that? Has she seriously just asked him if he ever wanted to couple up with her because the answer is fucking yes, a hundred per cent yes.
He feels like he’s dreaming, sort of.
“I know we’re friends, best friends but… could we have been something else during our time here?” She continues but it sounds echoey in his ears as Jake looks at her, fighting back the urge to smile like a kid in a sweet shop with all of his pocket money. “I know I wanted Levi from pretty much the moment I walked in here but you, Jake, there’s no one else like you in here, the way I feel with you is… I guess, the way I’ve always wanted someone to make me feel and I just wonder if things would’ve been different, you know?”
Pinch him, slap him, shake him until he wakes up from this dream because there’s no way that Georgie is saying those words to him. Except, she is.
“I wanted to couple up with you, on that first day.” Jake laughs despite himself, dragging a hand through his hair. “The second I saw you, I thought you were gorgeous, I still think you are. I knew I wanted to get to know you.”
Georgie beams at him but it’s different than the way it has been before, there’s an adoration swirling in the depths of her irises as she reaches for his hand again, threading their fingers together that wasn’t always there, or at least Jake doesn’t think it was. But there’s also want. This time, he knows he’s not imagining it.
“That’s. That’s good.” Georgie giggles and slides closer to him. “Do you think it’s too late?”
“For what? Us?” He asks her, wanting to reach out and frame her face, to kiss her, to finally taste that lip gloss that shines in the light. “No, I don’t.”
Georgie dips her head, her cheeks flushing scarlet and Jake’s heart races, god, what is this girl doing to him?
“Will you kiss me?”
And then, his heart fucking stops completely.
Reaching out, Jake tucks Georgie’s hair behind her ear and lets his fingers trace the curve of her cheek and the line of her jaw, the pad of his thumb pressing against her bottom lip, Georgie’s eyes widening ever so slightly.
“I thought you’d never ask.”
He kisses her and it feels like Jake can breathe for the first time in forever. Georgie draws closer to him, wrapping an arm around his waist and deepens the kiss, sliding her tongue between the seam of his lips and drawing a low groan from him in response.
Georgie kisses like she acts, wanting to take control, fiery and full of passion and before he has a chance to realise what is happening, she swings one leg over him and straddles him using his shoulders for balance.
“Are you sure about this?” Jake asks, breaking the kiss (though it takes almost all of him to do so).
“I’m sure about you.” Georgie promises, curling her hands around his neck. “And that’s all I care about.”
He closes the gap again and kisses her again, nipping at her lip before soothing over it with his tongue. Peach, of course her lip gloss is fucking peach flavoured, he doesn’t care if it fits because now that he’s tasted it, he never wants to stop.
Gripping her hips, he lets Georgie deepen the kiss again, letting her take all the control she wants to, he’d let her do anything to him he’s pretty sure of that.
“Um.” She laughs once she’s pulled back, lips swollen and kiss—bitten. “That was fun.”
She’s adorable, Jake grins at her and holds her close.
*
Georgie watches him walk away as he sheepishly scratches the back of his neck, approaching Jen, Talia and Erikah who are sitting on bean bags that have been pushed together, drinks in their hands.
“Jen? Can I talk to you?” Jake asks her, he never did have a good poker face because Jen just has to take one look at him to jump up from her beanbag to usher him away.
The moon reflects in the ripples of the pool as Jake pushes the toe of his trainer into the ridge at the edge as he tries to figure out his words— does he just say it, build up to it, apologise first. He should do that.
“What’s up?”
“I kissed Georgie.” Jake throws out in a rush, cringing as his words settle and the realisation dawns on Jen’s face but like Georgie, she doesn’t immediately show how she’s feeling. “I’m sorry.”
Jen laughs and sips from her glass.
“Finally.” Jen laughs harder. “Oh, babe.” She sighs, pouting at him when she clocks the confused look on his face. “You don’t hear the way she talks about you, do you? We’ve been waiting for this.”
Jake thinks he could pass the fuck out.
“Who is we?”
Jen bites her lip, placing her glass on the floor by her feet as she starts listing off names (me, Tim, Talia, Rohan) and explains that they’ve known that he and Georgie have a thing for each other even if they didn’t know. Jake chuckles because, yeah, when Jen explains in detail the evidence that the five of them have gathered over the last few days, it makes him wonder why it took him so long to realise that he wanted to be with her, really be with her.
“Thank you for telling me.” Jen smiles, squeezing his side and kissing his cheek. “I know we were never really a real couple so I’m glad she’s found a good one in you.”
Jake hugs her but notices that her gaze falls on Tim, throwing down on the lawn, both of them having quiet realisations of their own.
*
There’s very obvious space between Levi and Georgie in bed but she’s not paying him any attention anyway, she’s looking at him, unable to hide the cheesy grin behind her hands as he winks at her across the room.
“Oh, that’s me!” Georgie calls out when a text tone rings through the room.
Islanders, there will be a recoupling tomorrow evening. The girls will choose their partners.
#toughdecisions #sleeponit #freshstart
She reads out the text to a silent bedroom but when she looks up from her phone, she looks straight at Jake, a secret smile playing on her lips.
*
Islanders, today’s challenge will find out how you really ‘feel’ about each other. Please go to the garden to play ‘Love is Blind’.
#feelinggood #handson #nopeeking
“I don’t know about you girls but I can’t wait to feel the boys up.” Allegra smirks, brandishing the blindfolds in the air.
“I think it’s a bit grim.” Talia grimaces, looking around at the expressions on the boys’ faces, some more excited than others.
“Yeah. I don’t know how much I want to feel up Levi at the moment.” Georgie sighs, accepting one of the blindfolds held out to her. “But I guess there are others.” She muses, deliberately looking straight at him, Jake laughs nervously.
Jake stands in the line watching as the girls edge forwards like gazelles taking their first steps in the wild, holding hands like they’re each others’ lifelines as they start to approach like the world’s slowest stampede. Then he notices him, the new guy joining the rest of them with an easy—going smirk on his face.
He freezes as Georgie stops in front of him, arms outstretched in front of her as her fingertips make contact with his stomach, running her nails down his abs.
“Oh. Wow.” She whispers and Jake has to bite down to not say anything as her hands trace his body, flinching slightly when her fingers drop lower. “Damn.” She mutters softly, moving her hands all over his body, feeling his arms before touching his jaw. “Wait.” She stops and lets her face soften. “Hi.”
Jake doesn’t say anything, he can’t but he feels a warmth spread through his chest at the recognition slowly blossoming on her face. How badly he wants to keep her here, to encircle his arms around her waist and tug her close enough that she’s pressed against him.
“I’ll see you later.” Georgie nods, blowing him a kiss before stumbling off in another direction.
She finds Levi a couple of minutes later and by that time, Jen is standing at his side. The buzzer sounds and the girls rip their blindfolds off, exhaling a collective gasp at the new boy that Erikah has already attached herself to.
“Who the hell are you?” Georgie asks, cringing at the sound of her own voice. “Sorry.”
Never change. Jake mouths across to her.
He gets a middle finger stuck up in reply.
*
“Did you enjoy feeling me up then?” Jake asks, dropping down to sit at the edge of the pool beside Georgie.
“Oh yeah.” She sighs, leaning back on her hands and letting the sun trail over her body, glitter glistening off her chest and stomach. “I can’t wait to do it without the blindfold next time.”
Jake chuckles and wraps his arm around her shoulders, leaving a kiss against her temple.
Jake lets the silence surround them for a couple of minutes, happy to keep Georgie locked in his embrace until she sighs, and it’s not a we’re in a villa in Southern Spain living our best lives kind of sigh, it’s forlorn and… anxious, like the cloud around them had suddenly spun away leaving nothing but reality and on this show, reality is never a good thing.
“I’m nervous about tonight. Like, what if I’m last to pick? What if I don’t get to pick you?”
It’s the first time he’s really seen her this stressed over a recoupling, the last one, coupling up with Levi was different because her hopes weren’t that high, it was a surprise but this time she wants him. She wants him in a way that she hasn’t wanted anybody in this process, not even Levi (and yes, he does feel a little smug about that).
Jake’s lips twist down in a frown when he pulls himself out of his head, he knows exactly how she’s feeling— he’s been feeling it too. What can they do though? Apart from hope that is. They’ve come further than Jake ever thought they would though, two days ago— Jake was lamenting that he might not even have a chance to be with her, unsure if Georgie even felt anything for him and now, in less than a couple of hours they might be a couple.
Even if they don’t, there’s going to be another chance and if it comes down to it, Jake will walk out of the villa early if it means they have a shot of giving this thing a go in the real world.
Georgie twines her fingers with his, resting her head against his shoulder and puffs out a small breath looking around the deserted pool— the rest of the islanders spread around the villa, mostly getting to know Reese.
“Reese is fit.” Georgie says, lifting her eyebrows as she studies his reaction, Jake doesn’t rise to the challenge but he doesn’t have to because— “but I already fell for you, so the others can have him.”
Fell for—
Wait. What?
Jake’s not stupid, he knows that there’s a difference between Georgie wanting him and admitting she’s fallen for him, has she, really? She fell for him? Him? What is it about this girl and her desire to kill him before he reaches the magic thirty.
“Fallen for me, huh?” He muses. “You kept that quiet.”
Jake doesn’t have to look down at her to know that she’s rolling her eyes at him, full of fondness— fondness that’s aimed at him, only him, because he’s the only guy in the villa that she wants.
Which is something that if you’d have told him on day one, he would’ve laughed you out of the villa.
“I like you, J. A lot.” Georgie tells him, facing him, their hands interlocked between them. “I’m being serious, fuck, you know I hate being like this.” She gestures broadly, cringing. “Open. I’m not good at it but… for you, I think it’s worth it. I don’t want to blow this chance with you.”
“You won’t.” Jake soothes, bringing her hand to his mouth and leaving a kiss against the back of it. “Because I’m right there with you.”
“Promise?” And she holds out her other pinky towards him.
“Promise.” He nods, hooking his own around hers, after all, they’re friends first.
*
The air is yanked unceremoniously out of Jake’s lungs when the girls approach the firepit, Georgie is beautiful, well, she always been but the black velvet dress she’s chosen hugs her curves in all the right places as she climbs the steps, giggling at something Talia is saying to her.
Gorgeous. Jake mouths.
Handsome. Georgie mouths and takes her seat inbetween Talia and Jen.
Standing around the firepit waiting to be chosen is like the boys have been transported back to their school days, waiting around in a group as the two team captains pick them and praying they’re not the last ones to be. Jake notices the boys looking straight ahead, some looking at the firepit and others looking anywhere but at the girls and each other, desperate not to show any signs that they’re bricking it.
Reese gets to choose a girl first and picks Erikah. Rohan scowls and Jake winces.
Jen picks next, picking Tim in a switch up for the ages, she sends Jake an apologetic glance but he doesn’t notice it because his eyes have been on Georgie the entire time. Allegra picks Jasper and when nobody raucously applauds them, she gets the hump, which comes as a surprise to literally nobody.
Cherry apologises to Georgie during her speech before coupling up with Rohan and then, then it’s finally Georgie’s turn.
“Um. So.” She giggles, her cheeks flushing as she lifts her palms to press against them. “It’s no secret that the last couple of days haven’t been my finest but if it wasn’t for them then I wouldn’t have realised something that I think I’ve known all along.”
Jake holds his hands behind his back, balancing on his heels and there it is, that scrunchy feeling in his stomach that was there one day one.
“Me and this boy have been friends this whole time but people always say that friendship is a good foundation for a relationship and I’m starting to think that they might be right. I know I’m making the right choice for me, for us… so, the boy I want to couple up with is…”
Their eyes meet across the firepit, amber glaring back against the green in Georgie’s eyes, softening when she notices the crossed fingers at his side, like she was going to pick anybody else but him.
“Jake.”
He crosses the firepit in two steps, sweeping Georgie up in his arms and kissing her immediately, holding her face in his hand.
“Fucking finally!” Someone, Tim, yells out from behind them.
It’s dizzying, the way that this girl makes him feel, his girl, maybe not officially but he’s sure that they’re on their way. He’s more sure of her than anything else in his life, okay, maybe cheffing, but he’s got a sneaky feeling she might just top that too.
Taking their seats, Talia sends her a wink, tongue pressed between her teeth as she steps up last to choose. Georgie tucks herself into Jake’s side, an arm around his waist, shuffling in to be as close as she can and Jake just about resists the urge to pull her onto his lap.
Talia’s speech includes mentioning how important her girls are to her and she chooses Mason, leaving Levi single.
The relief of the recoupling lasts for all of five seconds before a text comes through announcing that tonight the public will be voting for their favourite couple and that the couple with the least votes will be dumped. Reese and Erikah and Levi are immune but it sends heart rates spiking and nervous glances to be exchanged.
“I’m sure this was supposed to be a holiday.” Mason laments. “Oh well.” He shrugs it off, an arm loosely hanging around Talia’s shoulder.
Tempers start to flare, Rohan and Reese starting on each other, Jasper not taking Mason’s banter well and Tim and Allegra starting to argue— which, to be honest, is always a highlight.
Though if you ask Jake, he’s barely taking any notice of it because as he looks down, the light of the flames are illuminating Georgie sitting at his side, chin tilted upwards and smiling at him, like she can’t quite believe how well tonight turned out.
To that, Jake will say neither can he— he’s coupled up with her, his best friend… when it seemed impossible.
Time passes so slowly in the Love Island Villa, it feels like he’s lived a lifetime since that first day, since coupling up with Talia and watching Georgie get left with Jasper and for them to clash heads as soon as they said two words to each other. It feels like he’s aged and has the brand new grey hairs to show for it as the days have passed and the feelings he managed to put under lock and key for the sake of friendship. So, he feels like he’s dreaming, sue him, he couldn’t be happier.
“See? Nothing to worry about.”
“Until they decide to throw another curveball at us? Any exes you’re still in contact with?” Georgie frowns, circling her arms around his waist, he knows she’s joking but he still leans down and placates her with a kiss.
“There’s nobody you need to worry about.” He promises and he means it because no other girl could ever come close to Georgie Sutton.
“Guys! Come join us!” Talia shouts, waving them over and who are they to turn down free cocktails waiting for them (with a side of unneeded drama but such is the show they’re on).
The arguments have ceased slightly but Tim, like the way that Jake has grown to love him like a brother, is still his usual chaotic self and chasing after Allegra whilst shouting unintelligible words at her that are responded with her sticking two fingers up at him.
Talia hands them their cocktails, grinning when Georgie notices that hers has been garnished with a cherry.
“Hilarious, Lia.” She grumbles as she pops it into her mouth anyway, curling her hand around Jake’s waist. Jake kisses her cheek and her frown disappears immediately.
“See!” Talia cheers, sipping her own. “If it wasn’t for Cherrygate, you two wouldn’t be together.”
Jake raises his eyebrows, his thumb resting on the rim of his glass at Talia’s words because she’s right, which isn’t a surprise but when he stepped out onto the terrace into whatever the hell the other night was, he didn’t think for even a second that he would be coupled up with Georgie right now.
Jake’s never been one to agree with the whole everything happens for a reason mindset, no, he believes more in if you want something, you have to work for it and he has— he’s worked hard for everything in his life and he’s grateful for all the paths he’s walked to lead him to where he is. But, without, and he rolls his eyes, Cherrygate, he isn’t sure if he would’ve made a move, or if Georgie would’ve made a move, so to speak.
Georgie clinks her glass against Jen’s at his side and takes a sip, covering the hand that’s resting on her waist with her own and Jake squeezes her, feeling Georgie relax at his side and when he glances down at her, he finds her already looking up at him with the familiar sparkle in her eye, lips gapped slightly, he’s willing to accept that some things do happen for a reason.
After all, it helped him, the best friend get the girl.