Chapter Text
He kept catching himself staring. Longer than he needs to, harder than he should.
. . .
Bryce had never thought of a guy this way. The thought that he could like a male crossed his mind once or twice growing up, sure, but it was never as intense as the day he met Zach.
It was the second day in the villa. The boys were all warmed up to each other. Despite having just met, it wasn’t hard for them to talk about their connections, not yet competitive over the girls. It was, after all, the whole point of the show. As they cooked breakfast, the girls got ready upstairs and the boys all hung around the savoury waft of bacon. Zach walked over and simply picked up one of the pieces on Bryce’s pan, cursing under his breath and throwing it onto a napkin.
“Fuck, that is hot,” he muttered, somehow expecting his gesture to go more smoothly than it did. And Bryce definitely picked up on that, a grin on his face. “It was literally just sizzling on the pan,” he spoke back, a snort leaving his nose.
Zach looked back at him for a moment and opened his mouth to speak before pausing. He didn’t really have anything smart to say, knowing he’d done it without thinking at all.
“Yeah that was pretty dumb,” he agreed with a laugh, the two of them giggling a little before calming down.
“So.. how’s all, like, this going for you? Like your connection and stuff?” Bryce casually spoke, eyes down on the pan rather than the boy in front of him. Somehow, he found himself getting lost in the other’s eyes, which felt fucking stupid considering they both got paired up with girls not even 24 hours ago.
It was something about how big and brown they were. How sweet the boy looked. It was almost too much to look at.
”Uhh, yeah. I don’t know. To be completely honest, I’m not really feeling Kenzie as much as I think I should,” the boy began with his little accent, immediately pouring his heart out to this blonde boy who he’d just met the day prior. “She’s beautiful and funny and all that, but I don’t feel much.. chemistry? I don’t know, we’ll see,” he added.
Bryce nodded, unconsciously pushing a strand of hair behind his ear before he flipped the bacon on the pan. “Yeah that’s fair. Like, I know I definitely do like Trinity. A lot about her. I think there could be something there, but it’s like, too early to know for sure,” he spoke back, pausing slightly in between words as he thought and spoke simultaneously.
The two stood in silence for a few moments, lost in their own thoughts before Bryce finally turned off the stove and looked up to meet Zach’s gaze.
He didn’t say anything. The curly haired boy also kept quiet as the two had their eyes on each other. It was a gesture that could’ve meant anything- maybe even nothing. It felt like ages, but they’d only looked at each other for a few seconds, and so what? Did that mean anything at all? Was it supposed to?
“Wow man, I’m fucking lost in your eyes,” Zach then spat out, immediately snorting and bursting into laughter at his own words. It was a normal thing for him to do. He naturally flirted with people in a joking way, it’s simply how he was. Outside and inside the villa. Even in times where he meant it.
Bryce felt his face run hot, thinking for a split second that the other could read his mind. But that was crazy. He didn’t have a response to say on the spot. So, a simple “Dude what??” easily came out of his mouth, also following the other in laughter.
And after that first conversation, Bryce always found himself pulled in by the other’s gaze. By him in general.
. . .
It’d been over 2 weeks in the villa now. Being around people constantly with no time alone really helps grow connections. And in love island, that was kind of the point.
The cameras were finally off from rolling and Zach and Bryce were fucking around in the speakeasy.
“Ok and what the fuck even is that?” Zach asked, an appalled look on his face after smelling one of the colourful glass bottles.
Bryce, curious as well, snatched it from his hand and smelled it too. A small gag left his mouth before he immediately handed it back. “Holy shit. I thought it was just, like, water and food coloring?”
“I might be stupid, but I think it is”
”That shit can go bad?”
”I don’t fucking know?” Zach spoke back, furrowing his eyebrows slightly and genuinely wondering if this was common knowledge.
He set it back on the shelf and dropped down on the couch, sinking back into it with a loud sigh.
Bryce did the same, eyes over on Zach for a second before then speaking. “You good or just being dramatic?”
Zach raised his eyebrows defensively, clearly joking but not letting that shit go easily. “I must not be hearing right. Did you just call my ass dramatic?” he questioned, the ‘t’ silent within his accent.
”Well darling, you are a bit dra-ma-ic” Bryce pronounced in an English accent, a smirk playing on his face instantly. He tried not to, but it was fun to make fun of the others words sometimes.
“Ohh and now you’ve done it,” Zach then scoffed, chucking a pillow at the boy before jumping onto him. The two of them wrestled against each other, Bryce pushing Zach off before the brunette came right back at him again. Somehow, it ended up with Zach coming back a bit too hard and the two of them landing on the floor.
”Fuck,” Bryce muttered, groaning softly as pulled his back up very slightly from the ground. A smile remained on his face nonetheless.
Zach grinned, hovering over the male and looking down at him. Bryce fit almost perfectly under him. It wasn’t a thought that’d ever crossed the brunettes mind before. But with the two of them on the floor, Zach on top of the blonde, he couldn’t keep his eyes off the other.
Bryce had slowly opened his eyes, recovering after taking both of their weights from falling off the couch. And his first sight? The boys puppy eyes scanning his face. What the fuck.
He wanted to move. He wanted to get up and walk out, play it off with some stupid joke. Though, he couldn’t manage to get a word out. Bryce had been jealous of Kayda over almost all the challenges, wanting the boy positioned right where he was in this moment. And now that he was here, he was frozen? Maybe because he never thought it’d actually happen.
And Zach? He was thinking the same thing. Thinking how perfect the boy looked right under him, how his hair perfectly fell back against his forehead despite its usual random, messy appearance. But everything screamed at him, telling him to get up off him and get out of there.