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Chapter Text

Max has no idea what he’s doing here.

There were probably thousands of other ways this could have gone, but somehow, all his questionable choices have led to this. There really had been so many opportunities to not have things play out like this, to be literally anywhere else right now. So many chances out of this that Max could’ve taken. But he didn’t. Because he’s stupid. And so now, Max is on Love Island, and he has no one to blame but himself (and maybe Victoria). Fucking great.

A hairstylist is fussing over his hair, and he’s trying not to flinch away. Something about getting him “camera ready” for his opening interview. Max thinks he looks fine, but whatever. His eyes scrunch on instinct when a makeup brush sweeps over his face.

“Try to keep still.” Max tries.

This whole idea was a mistake. He and Victoria had been joking when they had submitted the application, thinking it wouldn’t even be looked at. Victoria swore it was funny.

But it hadn't been a joke when he got an email a few weeks later letting him know he’d made it into the interview rounds. It did seem a little funny, though. Victoria laughed a bit in disbelief. Max had just stared at the screen. Daniel straight up cackled when Max told him, he and Victoria had been the ones to tell Max to go through with it, Daniel had even offered to pay. He was just about to turn down the offer when Victoria hit his arm, because for one hundred thousand dollars, maybe it was worth a shot if he had already gotten in this far. After exhaustive follow up and phone interviews, and with a lot of his answers fed to him by Victoria, somehow, despite himself, he’d made it through to being a contestant.

Which brought him here, sitting in front of a camera, looking at the production crew behind it and waiting for the signal to give his opening statement.

Max is starting to feel like all the money in the world wouldn’t be worth what he’s about to go through.

The marker claps.

“Hi, I’m Max, I’m twenty seven years old, and I’m an engineer.”

“Can you tell us anything else about yourself?” Asks the interviewer. 

“I’m from the Netherlands but I live in Monaco, I’ve got two cats at home,” the interviewer is still looking at him expectantly. “And I play a lot of video games,” he grins. “Sim racing mostly.”

“What do you look for in a partner?”

Victoria made him memorise this.

“Someone I can laugh with, it would be nice if our personalities complimented each other. I feel like that makes it easier for good communication, and I really value honesty and vulnerability in a relationship. And the cats need to like them too, obviously.” Apparently mentioning Jimmy and Sassy would endear him to an audience.

“Do you think you’ll find the one on Love Island?” She prompts. Max laughs sharply. No one else does, the sound rings out. Maybe this is the part where people say yes, that they’re hoping to fall in love or get a happily ever after. But Max has never really liked lying.

“No. I don’t think I’ll be finding love on this show.” He says it lightly, with some humour. The camera crew looks slightly uncomfortable. Maybe he was supposed to lie during this part, or at least say something about seeing “where things go”. He didn’t exactly have much frame of reference, because Max didn't watch Love Island, and in this moment, he’s realising that he probably should’ve done some research.

“Thank you Max.” The camera cuts. “Please make your way to the exit, we’ll have someone show you to the Villa.” He can’t seem to leave this room fast enough. On the way out he hears an assistant being told to bring in the next one, and Max would be lying if he said he wasn’t at least a little curious. He goes with a film crew member who points him in the direction of the area in the Villa where all the other contestants are supposed to meet.

There’s two women and another guy he can see already waiting there, chatting with drinks in hand. There’s also numerous cameras set up in the area. Right. He knew being on a reality show would mean a lot of cameras being shoved in his face, but the more he looked, the more he noticed that they seemed to be everywhere.

He really should've watched a few episodes with Vic when she asked if he wanted to make fun of it with her.

“Hey!” One of the women greets him. “Welcome!”

“Thanks!” He replies. “I’m Max.” He offers his hand to her.

“Kelly.” She shakes it. The other man there steps forward.

“Bloody hell, mental that we’re actually here. I can’t believe I signed myself up for this.” He chuckles. “I’m Lewis,” he holds out his own hand to Max, who takes it.

“I’m Evie,” the woman with long box braids introduces herself. “To be honest, I just thought the show would be fun. Best case I get some prize money and a boyfriend out of it, worst case I get to hang out in a luxury resort for a few months, free of charge.” Max joins in when the other two laugh at that. “So,” she puts her drink on the table. “What do you guys all do?”

“I’m a journalist,” says Kelly. “Sports writing, mainly, it’s where I specialise.”

“I’ve got a business, back in England,” says Lewis. Evie lets out a low whistle.

“What’s the business?”

“ViVoiture. The clothing brand. We’ve been doing some work with non-profits for sustainability and underprivileged youth.” He says, and Max fights the urge to roll his eyes a little. Sure, maybe Lewis was doing a good thing. While making sure that everyone on the show, and everyone watching this episode knew it.

“Shit, you guys are huge.” Says Evie. “I just play with wires.”

“Ah, Electrician?” Asks Lewis.

“Yep, not as glamorous as a high fashion brand, but I like it. What about you, Max?”

“I’m a mechanical engineer, so right now I’m working on designs for electric engines.”

“And how come you're on the show?” Asks Kelly.

“My sister convinced me to do it,” Max confesses. “When I actually got through the first application rounds I just went through with it and here we are!” He laughs.

“You’ll be a natural.” Lewis claps a reassuring hand on his shoulder. The firmness of it is calming, and Lewis’ whole presence seems to carry that same energy. It almost feels like they were just friends hanging out, and not performing in front of a hundred cameras.

Two women introduce themselves as Lily and Isabel. After that there’s two more guys, Oscar and Kimi. The latter looks young, and is rocking back and forth on his feet with nervous energy where he stands next to Max.

“Do you think people actually find love here?” He asks, Max picks up his Italian accent.

“Maybe,” Max replies. “But to be honest, I think it’s mostly just for the cameras.” Kimi looks disappointed at that. Max feels a little bad. “But I’m sure you’ll do fine,” he adds quickly. Kimi looks slightly hopeful at this.

Another woman introduces herself as Doriane, who is shortly followed by a man wearing navy blue shorts and a loose white button up, worn open to show off a toned torso. As he gets closer, Max is able to see that his eyes are green, and that he has dimples when he smiles.

“Hey!” The man says. “I’m Charles.” The same process of people excitedly greeting and asking him about his work starts up, like it’s been for every single other contestant. It’s all very repetitive and performative, and Max might be bored out of his skull. Slightly. Which he feels like shouldn’t be happening here of all places, but he’s starting to think that Love Island is just a boring show.

“Do you guys know if there’s any others arriving?” Charles asks.

“You might be the last one, mate,” says Lewis. 

“It’s great to meet you guys. I’m sure we’ll all get to know each other very well over the next few weeks, non?” He smiles. Max has no idea why, but he has a feeling he’s going to hate this guy. Maybe it was something in the way he spoke, or how he seemed to demand attention without even saying anything, he just pulled people in somehow. Like the sun, if the sun sucked and spoke with an annoying French accent. Charles looks at Lewis, curiously.

“Are you Lewis Hamilton?” He asks the man.

“Yeah,” he grins, “Do we know each other? You seem familiar.”

“I’ve done a modelling show for one of ViVoiture’s collections, a few years back. It’s great to meet you, man.” They shake hands. Of course they fucking know each other.

“You’re a model, then?” Isabel asks. Max is impressed he’s remembered so many names.

“Ah, I used to be, while I was studying. I’m an architect now actually.”

“Oh, that’s so cool, do you have a favourite type of building to design?”

“I do a lot of apartment and office buildings, they get boring fast so it’s a fun challenge to keep the designs fresh and new.” Max tunes out the rest of the conversation. Although thankfully, he can see someone coming over to talk to them, some kind of crew member? Max leans over to Kimi and lowers his voice.

“What happens now?”

“Usually the host comes to meet the contestants to give us instructions.” The younger replies. “I haven't seen this guy before. He might be new this season.”

“Huh.” Max watches the blonde man half-jog up to the group with a wide smile on his face. His hair is soft and swoopy, and he wears a black button up with a blazer thrown over it. The effect is somehow both elegant and casual. Max joins in the cheering when he beams at them.

“Welcome to Love Island everyone!” He says. Loud cheering erupts at this. “I'm Nico Rosberg, and I have the absolute pleasure of hosting this season. And what amazing contestants we have!” People laugh at this. As Max looks around, most people are smiling and talking animatedly to Nico as he weaves himself expertly through the contestants, keeping a lively conversation with each person. It’s impressive to watch, the way he manages to include everyone in the conversation in a way entertaining enough for TV, without missing a beat.

Until he gets to Lewis.

Max wouldn't have caught it if he weren't watching so closely, he doubts the cameras would have picked it up. But when he turns to Lewis, Nico falters, just for a moment, before continuing like he had before. And Max would have written it off entirely, if it hadn't been for the fact that Lewis had done the same, with that same look of almost panic for a fraction of a moment before continuing, and was now a shade paler as Max could see what was now obviously a strained smile as he talked.

Weird.

Then again, these were people that had signed up for a reality dating show. 

And Max was now one of them.

“Well guys, we’ve got some very interesting people here, who you’ve hopefully gotten a chance to know a little now,” Nico addresses the group. “So how about we start the coupling up process?” For some reason, that is met with more cheering (which Max also participates in) as Nico gestures for them to join him. At least the accommodation here would be nice. Once Max actually has a chance to look around, the island is actually sort of beautiful. All the trees create a lush green around them, and he can hear the sound of waves crashing from here, the promise of beach and sun the next day.

“So, how come you’re here?” Charles has started walking next to Max, likely after getting around to all the other islanders first. 

“Honestly? I didn’t think I'd get on the show.” He tells Charles. “My sister told me to go through with it for the prize money.”

“How unromantic of you.”

“What can I say? I don't think true love is going to come from a reality TV show.”

“Fair enough,” he shrugs. “But word to the wise, if you want people to vote for you, and you know, avoid elimination, you’ll need to convince them you actually are in love.”

“Elimination?” Max asks. Charles looks at him, bemused. It’s pissing him off.

“Do you not know how this works, seriously?” His voice tilts up on the last word, and it’s laced with incredulousness. “Max, people who don’t couple up have to leave. Have you even seen the show you’re on?”

“...Probably. At some point.”

“Wow.”

“Shut up.”

“Rude.” Charles teases. “You should talk to me later, I can give you a run down.”

“I know how the show works.”

“Mmm.” It sounds mocking, but at least Charles leaves him alone after that.

In hindsight it was kind of obvious that Max would need to make himself likeable to the audience on a reality dating show. Unfortunately, he absolutely hadn’t thought about it before. Maybe that’s what Charles was doing, making friends with everyone, playing nice for audience approval. A strategy. Max would respect it if he hadn’t already decided that Charles was going to be his least favourite person there.

Nico stops in front of a semicircle made of heart shaped platforms.

“Alright, men, I’m going to ask you all to step into these circles for me.” Nico asks. Max and the other men oblige, as they now face Nico and the women. “Ladies, for this coupling ceremony, you’re going to be choosing the man you feel you had the most chemistry with during the introductions. When it’s your turn to pick, you will stand on the platform next to your choice. However-” Oh god. “If the one you want isn’t free, you can also choose to steal a man that’s already been chosen by someone else, so first pick here won’t necessarily save you.”

Most chemistry? No one here had talked for more than ten minutes, how the fuck are they supposed to know who they want to date right now? Max hasn’t exactly been trying to flirt with people earlier, maybe he should’ve been. He hadn’t known elimination was actually on the table.

“First up we have Evie!” Nico announces. The woman receives several cheers of encouragement as she moves between the guys, eyes moving up and down each of them playfully, but still with a calculating scrutiny. She takes her time considering her options before her eyes land on Charles. Of course he’s the first pick. Max thinks privately that she’s too cool for him, way out of Charles’ league. 

“Lily, You’re next up.” Max remembers she mentioned just finishing an engineering degree when she introduced herself earlier. Unlike Evie, she doesn’t take the time to consider options as she heads straight to Oscar, who is smiling shyly as she snakes her arm around his waist.

“Hey there,” she says.

“Hey to you too,” he responds.

“Aha, I could see these two making eyes at each other.” Laughs Nico. 

Surprisingly, as Kelly takes her turn after Lily, she stops in front of Max. 

“I’ll be choosing Max tonight, definitely.” She steps up next to him, and Max returns her smile, trying not to look too relieved.

As Isabel scans the couples and remaining guys, her eyes narrow cheekily at Charles and Evie. She’s met with exclamations from everyone as she walks towards him.

“Oh! Evie! Your man’s been stolen, who are you choosing now?” Nico asks.

“Lewis, absolutely.” She replies. To Evie’s credit, she doesn’t look bothered at all by this, and happily joins her new partner as they greet each other.

“Right,” Nico claps his hands. “That just leaves two last contestants uncoupled. Doriane, who’s it going to be?”

“I’m choosing Kimi,” she walks up to him. “We definitely talked the most before coming here.” Kimi looks about as relieved as Max felt, as he giggles at something Doriane tells him. Max tries to seem natural, despite the fact that they’ve been asked to stand right where they are for a few drone shots or something like that. He keeps an arm wrapped around Kelly’s waist as he sneaks glances at the other couples. Nico starts talking again, a signal that the close up camera is back on them.

“Looks like we’ve got our couples, you all look absolutely gorgeous together,” he says. “Now, I’m going to leave you all to explore the villa, so you can get nice and rested up for what we have in store for you tomorrow!” At least Max would get to sleep tonight in a bed.

-

Shared beds.

They have to sleep in the same bed as their current partner.

Max really, really should’ve guessed that, because in hindsight it’s pretty obvious.

It’s not like he’d never had girlfriends before, he’d had more than a few relationships in uni. Hell, he and Daniel had even messed around once or twice before awkwardly agreeing they were better off as friends. Max had shared a bed plenty of times. But it was one thing with a friend or partner, and another with a complete stranger on a reality dating show. What was Kelly expecting tonight? What would the other couples be doing? Surely people didn’t actually have sex here, for the sake of everyone else sharing the room.

Max can feel Charles’ eyes on him, and makes sure to react with the same played up amazement everyone has when they walk into the room. Just so he doesn’t give the man any more satisfaction over his lack of Love Island knowledge.

When they eventually split off into groups around the Villa, Max finds himself sitting down with Kelly, Oscar, and Lily. He’s got an arm around Kelly, who is leaning into him slightly. Lily has her legs draped over Oscar’s lap, and Max feels a little sorry for the guy, who looks like he doesn’t quite know what to do with himself.

“So they’ve totally got some crazy challenge planned for us tomorrow, right?” Says Lily.

“Absolutely,” says Max. “I think we should all be a little scared to be honest.”

“Nah, surely he takes it easy on us on day one.” Oscar almost sounds like he wants to make it true by speaking it into the universe.

“No way,” Kelly sits up a little straighter. “Remember what they did last season? I wouldn’t put anything past them.” Max doesn’t particularly feel like letting the viewers know that he has absolutely no clue what that means by asking her to clarify. Even if he now desperately needs to know what happened last season, for his sanity.

“Lily, you said you were doing an engineering degree right?” Not his smoothest topic change.

“Yep. I’m heading into my final year right after the filming for Love Island ends.” Max cringes in sympathy. “It’s been torture but at least it’s over soon.”

“Last one’s the worst, for sure,” says Max. “What field are you looking at?”

“Environmental. You said you were doing something with electric cars at your job, didn’t you?”

“Yeah! Maybe we’ll end up working together even.”

“Ha! Imagine.” 

“So, how are you all feeling about the first night?” Asks Kelly. Oscar grins nervously.

“To be honest, I'm scared that people are gonna start fucking right away.” He says. 

“My money's on Charles and Isabel,” says Kelly. “I mean come on, did you see how she looked at him?”

“Definitely,” Oscar agrees, Lily is nodding along to this, and Max tries not to picture it.

“On that note, I’m going to get ready for bed.” Lily gets up and stretches her arms. “I’m exhausted after all that.”

“Same here,” says Kelly. “I think all the girls are headed to the dressing room, we should join them.” The two leave together, leaving Max and Oscar alone. 

“We didn’t get much chance to talk during the introductions.” Says Max, painfully aware of the awkward silence. “How are you finding the show?”

“It’s a big change, no phones for starters.” He jokes.

“Yeah. I know my sister’s dying to know what it’s like and I can’t even tell her.”

“No distractions from Love Island I guess. I think it’s also something about making sure we don’t have access to the outside world. That way we can’t see what the public thinks of us until after we’ve already left.”

“That’s terrifying.”

“Yep.” They sit there for a moment before Max hears a voice behind him.

“Hey.” Max turns his head to see Kimi. 

“Hey, Kimi!” The younger man smiles at him, and Max feels oddly protective over the guy that he has literally only known for this evening.

“The girls have gone to talk to each other in their dressing room, can I join you two?” He asks.

“Please,” Oscar gestures to one of the empty spots on the couch.

“Excited for tomorrow?” Kimi asks.

“Curious to see what they have planned for us.” Max chooses the polite alternative to confessing that he’s absolutely scared shitless. And of course that’s when Charles and Lewis decide to show up.

“Hey guys!” Oscar greets them.

“Hey, mate.” Says Charles. He takes the seat next to Max and addresses everyone. “First night, how are we feeling about all the couples?” The question is innocent enough, but Max can’t help but think that Charles is trying to stir the pot with this.

“I was so nervous to be honest,” says Kimi. “But I’m glad it was Doriane.”

“You two are adorable.” Charles agrees. “Max, how about you? Who are you liking so far?” Charles is actually smirking at him as he asks this. Max kind of wants to punch him.

“Ah, well it’s still so early. We’ve only been here a couple of hours.” Max tries to laugh it off.

“Happy with Kelly?” What the fuck was he trying to get at?

“I think we could be a good match, yeah. I really like her.” And it’s not lying, Kelly seems great, and maybe Max could grow to like her. Love her even, eventually. He reminds himself that he just needs to play the game for a bit. His comment earns him some teasing from the other guys and Max wants to leave the island and never come back.

He can feel Charles’ gaze on him, burning, and for the sake of his pride, Max refuses to acknowledge it. Eventually they’re alerted that it’s nearly time for lights out, and he doesn’t even have the relief of knowing he gets a room, or even a bed to himself. By the time Max is lying in the dark next to Kelly, surrounded by the rustling of sheets and the light snores of the other contestants, he is deeply uncomfortable and full of regret.

But he’s gotten this far, and he might as well stick it out now.

These next weeks will be torture.

Chapter Text

Max has always been an early riser. Sleeping in makes him feel tired, groggy, depressed, every hour ticking by making it harder to get up with the knowledge of just how much of the day he’d already wasted. So it’s no surprise that by the time he’s awake, he looks around to see a still dark room with the blinds shut, full of sleeping people. Max honestly isn’t sure if he’s allowed to get out of bed before lights on. Even if it wasn’t a set rule, he didn’t want to start breaking the unspoken norms of the show. At least not on the first day, anyway.

The ceiling, much like the rest of the Villa, is modern and uninspired. Max still stares at it anyway, because he has nothing better to do right now. He wonders if he’s supposed to be waking Kelly up with a good morning kiss right now, he’s not really sure of the norms on this show. She lies next to him, sleeping peacefully. Kelly is pretty, Max knows that she’s beautiful, like everyone else in the villa, and she’s clever too, the few conversations with her revealed a sharp tongue and quick wit. He supposes that it makes sense, considering she’s a journalist. She’s the kind of person that Max should fall in love with, if he tried. That he will fall in love with, if he wants to win.

And the competitive side of him wants that more than anything.

Eventually, finally, the lights turn on, signalling for everyone to wake up and start getting ready for the day. Max watches as people blearily rub sleep out of their eyes and say good morning to each other. Cheerfully to a friend across the room, and softly to the partner they’ve been sharing a bed with. An illusion of domesticity, pried into by greedy cameras. Charles, in the bed next to his (just his luck) kisses Isabel slowly as she leans into it. The sound is disgusting, and Max can only thank whatever god is listening to his desperate prayers that he didn’t hear anything from them last night.

Kelly thankfully seems to share Max’s efficiency in the mornings. She plants a kiss on his cheek before slipping out from under the covers to go to the women’s dressing room. Max, after probably being awake for over an hour now, takes the opportunity to do the same and get some clothes on. And maybe make some breakfast, depending on if they actually got to use the kitchens here. 

Max usually wasn’t the type to worry about what he wore, but now, looking at the outfits he had brought onto the show, he has no frame of reference for what counted as a typical outfit here.

“Black button up with the shorts you've got there.” Max whips his head around to see Lewis watching his current wardrobe crisis with slight amusement. 

“Thanks mate.” Lewis gives him a nod and continues on his way.

Once Max is dressed he follows the other man in the direction of the kitchen. There's a producer on her phone standing just in front of it as he makes his way over.

“Max!” She waves him over. “Hey, great stuff yesterday. We'd like you to get some more interactions with Charles today, particularly during challenges, it's a good dynamic. Also, if you could bring up Evie when talking to Lewis, viewers will be wanting to see how he's feeling about the match.” 

“Uhh, sure?”

“Great, appreciate it. The kitchen’s just been supplied with things to make breakfast, you can head on over.”

“Thanks,” says Max. She's already back to looking down at her phone and typing furiously. 

Lewis and Lily are already there, going about their respective routines, quiet, in an “it’s early” way. Lily smiles at Max when she notices him.

“Coffee?” Lily asks him.

“Please.”

“You making anything for breakfast?” Asks Lewis. “They’ve got basically everything here.” Max opens the fridge to see what he has to work with. He’s pleasantly surprised by the fact that, sure enough, it seemed to be stocked with anything they could ever need. 

“Holy shit.” He looks at the endless eggs and avocados.

“Do you cook?” Lily places a mug full of coffee in front of him.

“Yeah, most nights.”

“Mm, better than a lot of other guys can say. You should use that. Marketable skill.” She advises.

“It’s true,” says Lewis. “Surprising amount of guys who can’t.”

Lily nods. “Remember that guy last season?”

“Oh god, I forgot about him,” Lewis groans. “Glad he left early.”

In the interest of not being like that guy last season, Max makes a giant stack of pancakes, which thankfully people seem to appreciate. It even inspires some hope that he might not be the first person off the island. Marketable skills, he muses.

—

Apparently producers are taking it easy on them on the first day. Not that Max is complaining. After breakfast he has plenty of time to lounge around the villa. There’s even a gym in one of the rooms, which Max will use. For sure. Eventually. It’s late morning once Max decides he’s officially bored and heads out to the courtyard.

The only ones there are Charles and Lewis, up to their shoulders in the pool, deep in conversation that Max can’t hear. Lewis looks up and waves to him.

“Max! Come join us!” He calls. Sunglasses are perched on his head, and Max can see a few new tattoos exposed without a shirt on, warm skin glowing under sun. He’s somehow both hot and elegant, without it looking like he’s even trying. It’s a little annoying, but mostly impressive.

Max pulls his shirt over his head, and sits down on the edge. Lewis swims up to him and lowers his voice conspiratorily. “They can’t pick up what we’re saying in here. No mics allowed in the pool.” 

“They’re not water-proof.” Charles smiles like they’ve uncovered some kind of secret. Which Max supposes this kind of is.

“Yeah, these things look cheap.” Max jumps in, the cool water enveloping him as he fully submerges himself. “So, what are you guys talking about, then?”

“You, actually.” Charles smiles. His hair is slightly damp where he’s clearly dunked his head under earlier, water droplets are splattered across his shoulder, and trailing down his hair to land on his face. 

“Yeah?” The word comes out a little strangled. Max clears his throat.

“About why we’ve all signed up for this.” Confirms Lewis. “I was just telling Charles about your… sister, right?” He asks, Max nods. “Who you said got you to sign up.”

“Victoria.” Max shakes his head bemusedly. “She’s going to lose her mind when the first episode airs.”

“Maybe you should introduce us after the show. I like her sense of humour.” Charles jokes. And he had to be joking, because that would imply he and Max would actually keep in contact after this. Max turns to Lewis instead.

“So how come you’re on the show?” Max asks. “You own a designer brand. That’s got romance and money covered, surely.”

“Branding.” He states simply. “For ViVoiture. We’ve been a high fashion brand for years, but recently we’ve been wanting to go in a different direction. And when you’ve already built a certain reputation like ours for yourself…” He pauses. “My head of marketing thought it would be good for the company’s image. Make us feel more approachable.”

“Different direction?”

“Our clientele has always been rich white people, the company’s always been about luxury and exclusivity. It never sat right with me, fashion should be accessible, you know? It’s taken the brand too long to realise that. Longer to actually act on it.”

“I’ve seen you guys on instagram, it’s a good start with the charities.” Says Charles.

“Yeah? Well let me know if you ever want another modelling gig, it’d be nice to catch up after this.” 

“Absolutely mate.”

They lapse into silence for a moment, the sounds of water lapping at the pool’s edges in the background.

“How are you both going so far then? Is being on the show how you thought it’d be?” Lewis asks them both.

“It’s a lot more sitting around than I assumed.” Charles props his arms up on the edge of the pool. “I guess they’re trying to give us time to have interactions, build connections and all that. They really don’t show the audience all of the boring shit. Not that you would know, Max.”

They should let him dunk Charles’ head under the water. For his sanity. Lewis looks between the two of them.

“Have you not seen Love Island before?” He asks incredulously.

“That’s what he told me, right Max?” 

“I have seen the show,” Max retaliates. “A little.” He pauses as Charles raises an eyebrow. “Sometimes I was in the same room when Vic had it on.”

“Oh my god you don’t know anything about it.” Lewis sounds half amused and half bewildered. Max just shoots Charles a glare.

“What? No mics, remember? They can’t use this footage.” Charles says.

“They can probably still hear this!”

“Relax, they can’t kick you off the show for living under a rock. Maybe your cluelessness will be endearing to the audience.” 

“Not really something I want to find out,” Max says. Charles makes a suit yourself gesture, and continues to relax with his arms stretched behind him on the edge of the pool.

“So,” says Lewis. “How are you doing so far, Max? Seeing as this is your first impression.”

“It’s not so bad,” he replies. “I wish they’d at least tell us what we’re doing, though. I feel like I’m always waiting for something to happen.” Max runs his fingers through his damp hair.

“Ah, well we’re all in the same boat for that one, the production crew probably wants to keep us guessing. It’s good for the cameras.” Says Lewis. For some reason it brings back last night into Max’s mind, the way Lewis and Nico had reacted to each other. Max decides to test a theory. 

“What about Nico?” He says nonchalantly. “He seems nice.”

And Max knows he’s not imagining it a second time when Lewis freezes up again, a slight shock in his eyes for a fraction of a second before being concealed again, just at the mention of the name of their host. With the way Charles glances over to meet Max’s eyes, maybe it wasn’t just him that noticed.

“Yeah. He does.” The words aren’t that convincing, but Max doesn’t mention it, and neither does Charles. It’s not long before a member of the production crew gently reminds them not to spend too much time in the pool. 

Max spends most of the day after that making small talk with the other contestants. Kimi is apparently an influencer who had signed up to increase his online following, and hopefully find love (which Max can't tell if it was just said for the audience, or if Kimi genuinely believes that it’s something he can get from this show.) Doriane tells him about how the soccer team she plays for had needed more promotion to help with their funding, and how she was thinking about auditioning for the show anyway. Oscar, apparently, had only auditioned for the show when he lost a bet with some of his friends. The guy is also a pilot, which Max finds out in the same conversation.

It’s getting into the evening when it finally happens. 

“Can all Islanders please gather in the lounge now.”

The announcement rings out through the villa, taking Max by surprise.

“There’s a PA system here?” He asks Kimi.

“Apparently. I guess they don't leave it in the edits. Come on, we'd better head over.”

Max exhales sharply.

“Time to see what they've got planned.”

—

Nico is there to meet them in the lounge. The seating is set up in a U shape, allowing everyone to face each other clearly. Their host has that same magnetic presence and styled blond hair as he did last night.

“Islanders!” He booms. “I hope you all slept well on night one of Love Island, because it’s time to welcome you all to your first game.” Max looks around him. “And don’t worry, we’re starting you off with an easy one. I’m sure you’ve all played truth or dare before.” 

Okay, this was okay. Truth or dare was simple. 

“Think of this as an icebreaker, a way to get to know each other a little better.” Max could just do whatever dumb shit people dared him to do, easy. 

“Now of course, we’ve added some stakes. If you refuse to do a dare or answer a truth you’ve been given, there’ll be a punishment in store for you tomorrow.” There’s a collective groan as he announces this.

“Do we get to know what it is?” Asks Lily.

“You’ll find out,” Nico’s voice is too cheery for Max’s liking. “This is why we’ve added another twist,” Nico continues. “Each person has a one time use ability to intercept someone else’s truth or dare. This will not count as the other person forfeiting, so you’ll be able to save them from punishment. There is no obligation to use this pass at all, but if you choose to do so, you can’t for the rest of the game, so be smart about it.”

Max looks around. There weren’t many people he’d intercept something or yet. Would he be expected to do that for Kelly? Maybe he would save it for her, in case he needed to do something chivalrous.

“Now, before I leave you to it, I’ll be drawing a name to see who goes first.” Nico dramatically reaches into the slips of paper. “Looks like it’s-” He quickly clears his throat before continuing his sentence. “Looks like Lewis will be starting you guys off! Good luck everyone.”

“He doesn’t stay to supervise?” Max asks. Kimi Shrugs.

“Depends on the challenge. I think sometimes they like to let us do our own thing to let the dynamics play out.” They both turn back to the group, who are watching Lewis nervously as the man searches for a target.

“Hmm…” He hums.

“Oscar. Truth, or dare?” He asks.

“Uhh, shit. Truth.” 

“If you had been able to choose your partner at the start, who would it have been?”

“Hate to be cliche, but Lily, definitely.” The answer is met with people fawning over the couple with arms around each other. It’s a bit much for two people who met yesterday, but Max could respect the strategy. He’s willing to bet that a lot of viewers like the hopeless romantic types.

More rounds pass. Doriane ends up having to tell them her biggest fear (heights), before she dares Evie to blindfold herself to see if she can tell the difference between Charles and Lewis kissing her (she can). After removing her blindfold, victorious, the woman then turns to Charles.

“Charles.” Evie says playfully. “Truth, or dare.”

“Truth.” The safe option. Max could’ve guessed he’d pick that.

“Okay then. Which couple do you think has the least chemistry here?” She asks. The man scans the lounge coolly, revealing nothing in his expression. Analytical under a casual guise, Max notices. Unfortunately, Charles seems to plan things more than he lets on.

“Max and Kelly,” Charles finally decides. And Max bites his tongue, even though Charles obviously has it out for him and is now trying to sabotage him. The room breaks into a chorus of “ooohs” at the statement, which takes away some of the awkwardness that would've otherwise filled the lounge. Not all of it, though. Charles just shrugs at Max and Kelly.

“Sorry, had to answer honestly.” 

“Wow, brutal.” Kelly laughs lightly. If the comment bothered her, she sure as hell doesn't show it. “Your turn to ask now.”

“Maybe I'll ask Max then.” Charles smiles. Bastard. “Truth or dare?”

“Dare.” As soon as he says it, he knows it's a mistake, because Charles looks pleased. He gets up to grab the blindfold that Evie had used for her dare, and stands in front of Max.

“Turn around for me.”

“You haven’t told me the dare yet.” Max does what he says and lets him put the blindfold on him anyway. Whatever dare Charles gives, he would do. He isn’t about to give him the satisfaction of chickening out, of looking like a total coward on TV. Fingers brush through his hair as Charles slips the mask over his eyes, and he’s cast into darkness.

“Simple.” He hears Charles say. “I’ll choose someone to kiss you, and you have to guess who.”

“Let’s see who you choose, then.”

“You won’t be seeing shit, mate.” Lewis jokes. Max hears giggling, soft movement as he assumes whoever is chosen gets up and makes their way towards him. Max takes in a breath, and suddenly another pair of lips are against his own, a hand brought up to his cheek to guide him. His mouth moves on instinct, opening up slightly when he feels a tongue slip in, deepening the kiss. The only woman he’s actually kissed at the villa so far has been Kelly, who he’s pretty sure by now that it isn’t. Before he has time to register how dumb he probably looks on camera, blindly reacting to the kiss, whoever Charles had chosen pulls away. Max hears a wolf whistle from someone, he laughs awkwardly under the blindfold. Charles is speaking again.

“You can take it off now.” Max does, looking around to see anything that would tell him who it was. All he finds is Charles staring at him intently, same unreadable but slightly smug expression as his eyes lock with Max’s. For some reason, he’s caught off guard, pinned down by it.

“Can you tell who it was?” Charles asks. Max remembers that this will absolutely be televised, and snaps out of it.

“Uh… I have no idea,” he laughs, casually.

“You have to guess anyway.”

Max scans the room, Evie winks at him. A good enough guess.

“Was it Evie?”

“No.” And the smugness in his voice makes Max want to punch him a little. “I guess you’ll be finding out when you watch the episode.” Max looks back to Evie, who sticks her tongue out playfully.

“Seriously?”

“Should’ve guessed better,” Charles says. “Your turn.” The annoyance flares up in his chest.

“Isabel.” Max says. “Truth or dare?” The woman pauses, moves her hair to the other side, and makes a decision.

“Truth.”

“What’s your least favourite thing about Charles?” The question is met with exaggerated shock from the others, played up for a screen. Max knows the question is petty, he doesn’t care. Charles is looking at him, he can feel the eyes, and Max fights the smile.

“Wow, haha.” She thinks for a moment. “Uhh… Sorry Charles, but you're terrible to share a bed with.”

“What? You had plenty of space!”

“I woke up with no blanket,” she complains. Charles looks sheepish at this.

“Alright, alright, next round, please.” Charles begs. Isabel glances around the room, and lands on Kimi, who sits up a little straighter at the attention.

“Kimi, truth or dare?”

“Dare.”

“Maybe you can…” She looks around the room for inspiration. 

“What do we think of a little hair cut? I dare you to let me cut off some of your hair.” Isabel asks.

Kimi freezes a little, struggling to fully keep the panic off his face as his hands go to his hair.

“You're serious?”

“You could forfeit.” She suggests.

Kimi's eyes meet Max's, and it's a plea for help if he's ever seen one. And for some reason, Max feels weirdly protective over Kimi, despite having only met the guy yesterday.

Fuck it.

“You can give me a haircut instead.” Max speaks up.

Thank you. Kimi mouths at him. Isabel wields a pair of scissors from the kitchen. Once she's close enough to Max she lowers to a whisper, too quiet for the cameras to pick up.

“Are you sure? I was kind of meaning for him to forfeit.”

“Yeah it’s fine.” Max dismisses. He brings his voice back up to the normal volume. “Just a tiny bit, yeah?”

“Turn around then.”

“I don't get a mirror?”

“Trust the process.”

Max is absolutely not a trust the process guy. So he just sits nervously as Isabel picks out some hair to cut.

“How about here?” She asks the others, pointing with the scissors. “Yeah?”

Max hears the blades criiiick together. And he’s never been the type to care that much about his appearance, but he hopes she at least did it somewhere that wasn't too noticeable.

“I"m not really sure what to do with this now.” She holds out a chunk of Max's hair in front of him. “But you're all done! Gorgeous.” She admires her handiwork.

“Oh wow, you can see where it's missing,” Oscar looks at the back of his hair.

“It’s not that bad,” Kelly reassures him.

“You owe me one Kimi.”

“Absolutely.” The man nods.

“Since Kimi was technically the one given the dare, is it his turn now?” Evie asks.

“Probably.” Says Max.

“Okay then,” says Kimi. “Kelly, truth or dare?”

“Dare.” She sits up a little straighter next to Max.

Kimi considers for a bit, before Charles leans over and whispers something to him. Which probably doesn’t mean anything good. Kimi nods.

“Kelly, I dare you to jump in the pool, fully clothed.” Kelly’s expression changes to a mixture of amused and annoyed. And shit. Max had just used his intercept to help Kimi. So much for on camera chivalry.

“Seriously? The chlorine is going to be so awful for my hair. And clothes.” She laments.

“I can take the dare,” Charles offers nonchalantly.

Oh.

So that's how it is.

“I won't say no to that.” Kelly smiles at him.

The pool isn’t far from the lounge they’re sitting in, and in no time they’re all crowded around, cheering Charles on. He jumps in, clothes and all, resurfacing shortly after and rubbing the water out of his eyes. There’s some light cheering at the feat, and when Charles hauls himself out of the pool, he gives Max a god-awful wink before smiling at Kelly.

“How’s the water?” She asks.

“Cold. Ugh, my clothes.” And as if this couldn’t get any worse, Charles lifts his shirt over his head, a motion that is still surprisingly graceful considering how soaked the fabric is. He pushes his hair out of his face.

“I might need to get changed before we go back to the lounge, I’ll be back soon.” Max sees a crew member take his shirt off him to get dried properly as Charles heads towards the dressing rooms. The rest of them go back to the lounge, a few people getting drinks while they wait for the game to start up again. Evie taps on Max’s shoulder.

“You want to know who kissed you?” She asks.

“I know it definitely wasn’t you,” Max replies. “Tricking me for no reason, damn.” 

“To be fair, I never said anything.” She says innocently. “That was all you.”

“Lesson learned, never trust you again, got it.”

“There you go,” she laughs. “It was Isabel, by the way. Her and Charles have turned out to be the trouble makers here I think.”

“Yeah, they both seem a bit…”

“Like shit starters?” Evie suggests.

“Exactly.”

Charles joins them once more, and the game continues for a few rounds after that. The questions get a little tamer, except for when the first forfeit of the game happens, as Oscar refuses a dare from Doriane. 

(“No way. I’m not drinking that, I’d rather get punished tomorrow, oh my god.”

“Coward.”

“It’s raw eggs!”)

Eventually a crew member lets them know to wrap things up, which Max thinks they could’ve been a little (a lot) earlier on. It’s late enough by now that they’re called in for dinner, the guys and girls separating for meals again. Lunch and dinner aren’t filmed, Max discovered, and it’s a nice break from that feeling of constantly being on camera. It’s almost enough to make up for the food they get served. Apparently Love Island had the budget for a giant villa, but not to hire actual chefs. To his left, Kimi is poking at his food, making a face.

“This pasta is offensive.” He says to Max.

“It’s not that bad.”

“They should apologise to me personally. And maybe the whole of Italy too.” Kimi looks down at his plate, annoyed. 

“It is kind of watery.” Max agrees.

“Ugh, talking about the food is making me depressed, new topic.” Kimi decides. “Fun game tonight, yeah?”

“Mm. I love forced contestant drama.” He huffs at Max’s comment.

“I haven’t said thank you for the hair thing yet.” Kimi says. “You really saved me, I was scared she'd cut half of it off. And you know, my content kind of relies on it.”

“Your hair?” Max asks incredulously. Kimi nods, like it’s obvious. Influencers are so weird. 

“That dare was a bit far, honestly,” says Max. 

“Actually, Isabel apologised to me before we went to dinner.”

“Really?”

“She said she felt bad for putting me on the spot like that. Apparently the producers had told her to try and get someone to give up, or to get someone to take a dare for someone else. She thought I would just forfeit. Which I would have.”

“She did that because the producers told her to?”

“They didn’t tell her to do that exactly. They just gave her a, uh… push. They haven’t given you any directions?”

“This morning they told me to talk to Charles more.” Max admits. “But what are they going to do if I don't do what they say? Not like they can kick me off the show for it. And I don’t think they’re allowed to force us to do anything.”

“Is talking to him that bad?” Kimi asks. “He's pretty nice actually.”

“Ugh.”

“What? We were both up late this morning, and he made me breakfast!”

“He can cook?”

“Not really, he managed to burn toast. But it's the thought that counts, right?” Kimi gets up and scrapes his leftovers into the bin. Max does the same, placing his bowl with the rest of the dishes.

“I just feel like he’s playing some kind of game.”

“Max.” Says Kimi. “Do you know where we are right now?”

“Ok yes, obviously this is-” he gestures around them. “But he told you to give that dare to Kelly, right? He knew I had already used an intercept to take yours, so he knew that he could swoop in, play the hero, and look good in front of the viewers.”

“He did give me the dare, but you might be overthinking this a little.” Kimi stands up. “He’s just playing the game, same as all of us.”

“Maybe, yeah.” 

“Stop being so paranoid, it ages you.” Kimi says. Max baulks at him.

“Hey, I look my age!” He complains.

“Eh.”

“You’re awful.”

“You can use some of my skincare tonight.”

“Dick.” Max shoves him lightly as they enter the dressing room. Kim giggles.

—

Going to bed on Love Island for the second night is only marginally better than the first. If only for the fact that Max at least knows what to expect now. He’s sure that eventually, like many things, this bizarre experience will eventually become routine. Kelly kisses him good night, it’s drawn out and lazy, surrounded by the smell of fresh linen coming from the clean sheets on their bed. Max really tries to ignore Isabel and Charles doing the same in the bed next to theirs.

The lights turn off, and Max closes his eyes.

One day down.