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Chapter Text

Episode 1

[This summer, things are about to get hotter than ever…sexy singles are packing their bags in search of  love, lust, and maybe a little drama. It’s the ultimate test of attraction — where bombshells drop, heads turn, and loyalty is always under fire. Who will find a connection? Who’s just here for a holiday romance? And who will be in the drop zone before the week is out?

Get ready for grafting, gaslighting, and a whole lot of drama — because this is…

LOVE ISLAND.]

“Now I want you to stand up in the back of the jeep and dance around to the music that we will eventually add in post.” The producer glanced up from her clipboard, smiling softly at the five men standing in front of her. Her brunette hair was pulled back into a tight ponytail and her cheeks were turning pink from the summer heat. She gave off don’t mess with me vibes and Max knew immediately that he should probably stay on her good side this summer. “You should look like you’re happy to be here.”

“I am ecstatic to be here.” George smirked, rubbing his hands together as he began to walk towards the row of jeeps parked at the end of the drive. His bathing suit was as clean cut as swimwear could get and the sunglasses he picked were classic. Overall, he gave off the air of being well put together. He oozed confidence and excitement as he greeted the driver and began to ask questions about the proper set up for the ride. It was clear to everyone else that George was someone who liked to be in control and enjoyed being in the know of what was happening around him. 

Logan, the lone American, glanced around at the open top Jeeps, then back to the producer who was now trying to direct the others to a car in the lineup. He appeared to be more nervous than George, tension clear in his posture as his eyes flickered from the back of the jeep to the producer and back. “Is this totally safe? Like did anyone test this out?” 

“Where is your sense of adventure?” Kimi asked, laughing as another producer took their time to mic him up. Kimi grinned, his smile lighting up his young features, as he stood completely at ease. He was absolutely the most excited out of the group of five and Max knew right away that he would probably need to keep him out of trouble during the first couple of days. Kimi quickly made his way to the last jeep in the lineup when the producer indicated where they wanted him. It made sense to end with the most animated out of the bunch.

“I am going to kill Victoria when I get home.” Max muttered, crossing his arms over his chest as he watched Kimi climb over the door and fall into the backseat of the car. His blonde hair glittered under the Spanish sun as he took in the predicament in front of him. He never planned on joining a dating show but his sister decided that she was sick and tired of how lonely his life has become and signed him up without his knowledge (apparently she thought this would be a fantastic opportunity for him to step out of his comfort zone).

He began to quickly analyze a plan of attack on which car would be the least horrible to enter on. Max surveyed his options of Kimi, Logan, and George. Unfortunately Pierre was not an option at this point as he would have probably been the safest option out of the group. Making small talk with George seemed like punishment and Logan, Max wasn’t sure he could handle all that nervous energy so soon in the experience. Shaking his head, Max rationalized that it would probably be best if he rode with the teenager in hopes of pulling him back in if needed. “I’ll ride with you Kimi.”

“Excellent, ” Kimi laughed, moving over in the jeep to make room for Max, “You and I will become the best of friends, I can feel it.”

Max turned back to the producer with wide eyes, as if he was asking where did you find this kid . Cursing under his breath in Dutch, Max knew that whenever he exited this villa the first thing he was going to do was send his sister an angry text message for signing him up for this shit.

“I’ll ride with the nervous one.” Pierre sighed, adjusting his sunglasses and fixing his hair real quick before joining Logan at the 2nd jeep. Logan swallowed, before  putting on a brave face and shrugging his shoulders when helping Pierre climb into the car. It was clear that Pierre was not too keen on riding in the first jeep and leading the parade. Who could blame him really?

“Remember to dance around and have fun! We want the viewers back at home to fall in love with you during this moment!” The producer sang, before motioning to the 1st jeep to begin the small parade to the villa. Looking at the other producers, she grinned when whispering, “I love when we get fresh meat.”

“God help us,” Max groaned, grabbing Kimi’s arm and pulling him back as their jeep surged forward. He turned to Kimi, shooting him a worried look when the younger started dancing like he had no fear in his body. Max took one last look at the producer waving them off, narrowing his eyes at her as she laughed. She must love her job way too much . Kimi slapped Max on the back with a loud cackle, redirecting his attention towards the villa ahead.

“Love Island 2025, here we come!” 

💕🌴🔥💋📱🕶️💔

“I didn’t see a lot of dancing coming from the last car,” George snickered,  opening the door to the villa that would become their home for the rest of the summer. Max rolled his eyes as Kimi started pleading his case that he was trying to get Max to join him to no avail. George promised Kimi that he saw the effort that he was putting in and that he was only teasing. Shooting a quick glance at George, Max rolled his eyes when he winked back and redirected his attention elsewhere. This guy is too much.

“Not much of a dancer.” Max shrugged, voice low in thought, as his eyes began to wander around the entrance of the villa. He took note of a staircase that had a neon sign t o the bedrooms next to it and another sign down the hall that said to the hideaway. “What’s the hideaway?”

“If you’re lucky, that’s where you can go to get some one-on-one time with your partner,” Pierre smiled, wiggling his eyebrows in ineuendo as he sat down on the large sectional sofa in the middle of the main room. Above the sofa was a mirror with the words the doghouse printed on it in pink. It was clear that the sectional was big enough to sleep on in the event that someone was either kicked out of their assigned bed or really didn’t want to sleep next to whomever they decided to couple up with.

Max frowned as he looked back towards the hideaway and the neon lights that were glowing in the distance. He was about to ask a follow up question when another producer clapped her hands to draw everyone’s attention.

“Alright boys! We will call you out, one at a time, to walk into the backyard to meet the other five single boys who already made their entrance,” the producer explained as she motioned towards the sliding glass doors behind her. “Daniel Riccardo, our host, is there and he will introduce you to five new boys and then you will decide who you will couple up with for the first couple of days.”

“It’s starting,” Logan whispered, carding his fingers through his hair and giving the room a small grin. His nerves suddenly seemed to go away and he gave off more of a quiet confidence now that the game was beginning.

“We are going to have Kimi go first.”

“We are starting with the best, no?” Kimi laughed, bouncing on his toes and grinning at the camera man who started to follow him towards the door.

“After Kimi we’ll have Logan, Pierre, Max, and then George.” The producer looked up from her clipboard before giving them all a small smile. “I think we have a pretty good group of boys out there for you all. Very cute!”

“Have you ever watched a season of Love Island mate?” 

Max turned quickly to see George grinning at him over his sunglasses. He rolled his eyes again at George as Max shook his head no and took a minute to glance at Logan who was now exiting the villa. Victoria signed me up for this because I’m a workaholic who has no time to date, none the less have time to watch Love Island.

“This is where we stand there in the sun while the Australian host tries to sneak in some small talk before we see if any of the five boys waiting there find us attractive. I’m banking on at least two stepping towards me and wanting to couple up,” George smirked. Despite not knowing what boys were waiting by the pool, he gave off this air of confidence that Max had a hard time understanding at this point in time. “And since I’m last, I get to steal whatever boy I want.”

“Congrats?” Max stuttered, no longer sure if he would mesh well with George after all of this dramatics in the first couple of moments together. While he waited for his turn to come up, Max silently thanked every producer in his head that he wouldn’t have to couple up with George for the first couple of days.

“Max? We’re ready for you!”

“I guess that’s my cue,” Max sighed, backing away from George and thankful for the interruption. He nodded at the producer who was reminding him of where to go and took a deep breath.

“Count to three in your head then walk towards Daniel. He’s the one with all the tattoos and the only one in normal clothes. Hard to miss really.”

One. Two. Three.

Max plastered on a smile as he walked through the sliding doors and took his first steps into the backyard. It took a second for Max’s eyes to adjust to the bright sun as he made his way to a grinning Daniel who was laughing with the eight other boys standing there. Max took note of the small kitchen, firepit, bench swing, cluster of bean bags chairs, and the row of day beds that he passed on his way to his mark next to the host. If he turned his head slightly to the left, Max would also see a small open air gym resting there with an outdoor shower to the side. This villa seemed to have everything covered for a group of ten boys trying to find love and survive the summer.

“Take a look at this blonde haired, blue eyed stud we have here,” Daniel grinned, slapping Max on the back (and out of his thoughts), once he was close enough. Blinking quickly, Max turned his attention back to the row of men standing in front of them with a weak smile.

Logan was standing next to a brunette, a few inches shorter than him, that seemed to have the largest grin on his face. Pierre was standing next to a tall, lanky brunette and seemed to be whispering to him in French. Finally in the lineup, stood three boys that Max did not know. 

“Max, how are you mate?” 

“I’m fine,” Max answered, glancing to his left and frowning when he noticed Kimi standing by himself to the side. “What happened with Kimi?”

“Ah Logan stole his man but don’t you worry! He will get paired with whoever is left over at the end,” Daniel said before blowing a kiss towards Kimi who grumbled to himself under his breath. “Now let’s focus on you Max, tell us a bit about yourself.”

“Um my name is Max and I’m 27.” 

“Anything else to add Maximus?” Daniel laughed weakly, glancing at the camera man with wide eyes as if to say this is who you casted for this reality tv show. “Anything else at all?”

“I’m a nurse but I sim race in my spare time,” Max shrugged before turning to Daniel who nodded his head in approval. “Also my name isn’t Maximus, it’s just Max.”

“Alright just Max, anything else you would like to add?”

“What are you looking for?” Max asked, affronted at the idea that he wasn’t answering Daniel’s questions correctly. No one told him he would have to partake in another interview.

“Alright boys, let’s keep a little mystery about our boy here. Please take a step forward if you would like to couple up with Max.”

Taking a deep breath, Max looked up to see one person step up for him. The boys standing next to Logan and Pierre stayed where they were which was totally fine with Max. He wasn’t really planning on stealing any boys this early in the game to begin with. He wasn’t even sure if he was too keen on the idea of stealing another boy at all. At least not this early.

“Carlos! Our Spanish king! Please tell everyone why you stepped up for Max.”

“He seemed like someone who I would have some things in common with,” Carlos shrugged with a soft grin. “He’s also not terrible to look at.”

“Oh god,” Max mumbled, cheeks flushing as he tried to cover his face with his hands. “Thanks?”

“Max! You now have the chance to pick who you would like to couple up with. You can either choose to couple up with Carlos or you can pick any of the boys standing in front of you. Max, who will you be sharing a bed with tonight?”

Deciding that he wasn’t willing to ruffle any feathers yet and that it was nice that the choice was already made for him, Max answered: “I’ll pick Carlos.”

“Excellent choice!” Daniel sang, grinning when Carlos let out a little “hoot” of excitement. “Please stand next to Carlos as we welcome our last islander George!”

Max crossed the turf green before stopping next to Carlos and offering a small hug. See Victoria, I can be personable ha! Carlos wrapped his arm around Max’s shoulder before murmuring in his ear, “I am glad you picked me.”

Max rolled his eyes with a small grin, taking the compliment but not letting it go to his head quite yet. Max wasn’t naive, he knew that he had only known Carlos for all of five minutes and knows how quickly things can and will probably change.

“Let’s hear it for our next couple, George and Alex!”

Max turned his attention back to Daniel as he clapped for the next pairing that was made. He turned his head to his right and to glance at George and Alex. Max thought that Alex seemed like a nice guy on first impressions and was curious to see how he would mesh with George. Who was Max to judge?

Daniel waved Kimi over before motioning to the remaining boy standing by himself at the end of the pool. “Our final couple will be Kimi and Gabriel!”

Kimi laughed, skipping over to Gabriel and pulling him into a cuddle. Max smiled softly at the scene and hoped that Gabriel isn’t too upset at being the last boy to be paired up. Gabriel seemed to take it in stride, even making a small joke to Kimi who bit his lip in response.

Daniel took another look at the five couples in front of him before accepting a glass of champagne from a producer. The producer then went around and handed a glass of champagne to each boy in the semi-circle, pausing for a moment at Kimi before confirming that he was in fact old enough (a fact wild to Max because why would they cast a child to begin with. Kimi just looked young, that's all.). Locking eyes with each boy in the villa, Daniel straightened his posture before raising his glass in a toast and letting a large grin spread across his face. 

“Here’s to another summer of friendships, heartbreaks, drama, and most of all love! Let’s hope that one of you finds the love of your life in this villa!”

Chapter Text

Episode 2

[The sun’s out, the pool’s full, and  – it can only mean one thing… Love Island is BACK, baby! 10 boys. 5 beds. One villa hotter than a group chat on Valentine’s Day. They’re tanned, toned, and ready to crack on.

They’ve packed their best swim shorts, fake designer shirts, and about three litres of hair gel each – but there’s one thing they didn’t pack…

Subtlety.

And what better way to get to know the boys… than to drag out all their dirty little secrets? This is Love Island – and nothing stays zipped up for long.]

Sleeping in the same room wasn’t the weirdest experience for Max as it might have been for the others. Max was used to on-call rooms when he was on night shifts or working the ER on his rotation so sleeping with people he only met hours ago was per the course. If he was lucky and there weren’t any doctors hogging all the beds, Max would be able to steal a cot. When luck wasn’t on his side, Max would chug down another red bull and allow his body to function on caffeine and pure determination.

What was strange, however,  was sleeping in the same bed as a stranger who he just met and was (possibly) trying to start flirting with. Stretching his legs and reaching up towards the headboard, Max let out a small hiss before rolling over and checking the time on his producer issued phone that would be his for the rest of the summer or at least, until he was dumped. He has no contacts saved and was told the day before that this would be used for the producers to keep in contact with each islander to announce events. He was also encouraged to take photos but Max barely did that back home so why would he do it here?

Deciding that it was futile to try and go back to sleep, Max opted to get up in search of some coffee instead. Snatching a pair of sunglasses on his way out of the bedroom, he started his walk down the stairs that would let him exit the bedroom. Max passed the living room with the giant sectional couch (that could probably fit a couple of people sleeping on it if need be it was that big) and the pull out bed that had neon letters reading dog house pointing to it, before sliding open the glass door and squinting as the bright sun awoke his senses.

“I need to get used to this,” Max mumbled, making his way towards the kitchenette on the far side of the deck. Sliding behind the large island, Max smiled softly at the small Nespresso machine that will have to work for the summer. From what he was told by Alex, this was a huge improvement from the bottled cold brew and instant espresso that islanders had to use in the past. 

As the espresso brewed, Max took a moment to think about the unique group that he now was a part of. There was Alex, the veterinarian technician who had at least 10 pets waiting at home for him; Esteban, the frenchman who had a crazy obsession for all things Marvel; Gabriel, the young Brazilian who shared a passion for racing with Max; and Franco, the fiery Aregentinian who wouldn’t stop bragging about the fact that he was chosen by both Kimi and Logan.

And then there was Carlos. It wasn’t that he didn’t get along with Carlos per say, Max just didn’t feel the spark that people say you get when you meet someone you plan to develop feelings for. Call him a secret romantic but Max was looking forward to the spark. Carlos was nice enough and he didn’t steal all the blankets at night, which were nice qualities to have in a potential match, but Max had a feeling that they might be better suited as friends.

“Buenos dias!” 

Max looked up from his coffee and smiled softly as Carlos took a seat directly across from him at the island. His eyes were a little puffy with sleep and his hair was artfully ruffled, looking way too good for someone who just woke up (which wasn’t fair at all ). 

“Did you sleep well?”

“I've had worse. Would you like a coffee?” Max laughed, grabbing another mug from the cabinet behind him to start preparing another cup. “You can have this one.”

“You are a lifesaver,” Carlos groaned. He grabbed the offered mug with both hands before taking a big gulp. He let out an exaggerated sigh of relief, grinning at Max over the rim of his mug with twinkling eyes.

Max laughed again at his partner as the sliding door to the patio flew open and more islanders came pouring out. Pierre and Esteban came out first, arguing with each other in French while making their way towards the bean bags by the pool. Logan, Kimi, and Gabriel followed behind, Kimi waving his arms as he was deep in a story from his year at university. George, Alex, and Franco were the last ones to exit the villa. Franco took a sharp left and walked towards the small gym set up alone while Alex and George made their way to Carlos and Max. Here we go Max. Time for some small talk.

“Good morning gentlemen,” George sang. “Anyone in the mood for a cuppa?”

“We’re good thanks,” Carlos said, winking at Max and earning another blush from the slightly taller man. “My partner made me a cup of coffee this morning.”

“How cute,” Alex grinned, resting his head in his hands as he watched George place two mugs on the counter in front of him.

“What do you think they have in store for us today?” Max asked, taking a small sip of his double espresso as he turned his attention to the new couple next to him. 

Alex kept his eyes on George as he let out a deep sigh. “My guess is either a bombshell or a challenge of some sorts.”

“A bombshell?”

“A new boy,” Carlos answered, grinning as Max’s eyes widened in response. “Don’t worry Max, I cannot imagine they would steal me from you.”

“We’ll see about that,” Max muttered, stealing an apple from the fruit bowl in front of him and taking a large bite. 

George carefully poured the boiling water over the tea bags in the two mugs before glancing up at Max and Carlos, "Any thoughts on the other couples so far?"

"Isn't it too soon to tell?" Max questioned, rasing an eyebrow as he watched George pass Alex a mug.

"Not for some couples."

"I don't think Logan and Franco will last that much longer," Carlos offered, standing up from his seat and bringing his empty cup to the dishwasher. "I mean Logan looks to be actively avoiding Franco this morning."

"Hmmm," Alex hummed, taking a small sip of his tea before turning his attention over his shoulder to wear Franco was lifting weights in the small gym. He turned back around to the small group he was talking to before pausing when Kimi stared screaming.

“I GOT A TEXT!” Kimi called from the day beds, jumping up and waving his phone in the air. He took a deep breath before reading out the message, “Islanders, it’s time to air some dirty laundry! Today, you’ll be playing Excess Baggage. Each of you has a secret that’s about to be spilled… and it’s up to the others to guess who’s been hiding what! #NoSecretsSafe #BagDrop #SpillTheTea.”

Max placed his mug down on the counter gently, placing his sunglasses back over his eyes before turning to the trio standing by him. “What the hell is excess baggage?”

[Welcome to your very first challenge: Excess Baggage.

Each lad has a little something hiding in their suitcase – and no, we’re not talking about a rogue pair of novelty boxers. We’re talking confessions, drama, and maybe a few red flags flapping in the breeze. One by one, a suitcase will come down the conveyor belt. The islanders will be split into two teams and will take turns guessing who matches to what secret that will be revealed in the luggage. To make a guess, a member of the opposite team must snog the contestant they believe the secret is about.

Max, Kimi, Pierre, George, and Logan will be on one team while the other team will consist of Gabriel, Carlos, Alex, Franco, and Esteban.

From secret exes to ghosting disasters, one by one, their baggage will be revealed… and the rest of the villa has to guess who it belongs to.

Will the truth bring the boys closer together… or start the season with a scandal before the sun sets on day one?]

“This is so exciting,” Kimi cheering, clapping Max on the back as the producers finished setting up the baggage claim set in front of them

“More like nerve wracking,” Logan murmured, watching as the producers began rolling in several suitcases. 

“Logan you really need to relax,” Kimi deadpanned, crossing his arms over his chest and raising an eyebrow at the timid man.

“Alright gentleman, we are ready to start,” a producer clapped, standing at the end of the set. “We will start with the team of Max, Kimi, Pierre, George, and Logan before alternating each suitcase. Don’t forget to kiss the islander you think the secret is about when making your guess.”

Max was about to ask if he had to kiss any islander when the conveyor belt whirled to life and he was pushed to grab the luggage by George.

“You’re up Dr. Max,” George chuckled, rubbing his hands together as he waited to hear the 1st secret.

“I’m a nurse not a doctor,” Max mumbled, lifting the suitcase off the belt and reading the name tag attached quietly to himself. Rolling his eyes, Max raised his voice and read outloud, “This islander claims his celebrity look alike is Pedro Pascal.”

“Well I mean, I bet we can confidently say who this is about,” Pierre snicked, glancing at George who nodded his head in agreement. Both boys turned to Max who let out a small groan when George sent a small wink his way while Pierre puckered his lips in a small kiss. I hope you are enjoying this Victoria.

“We think it’s about Carlos,” Logan smiled, finally starting to enjoy himself a bit and getting a nod of approval from Kimi.

Max sighed before walking over to Carlos as causally as he could. Glaring at his teammates' grinning faces one last time, Max turned back around and placed a small kiss on the corner of Carlos’ mouth. “You are correct mi amor,” Carlos smirked, gently pushing Max back over to the other side with a light laugh.

Franco took a step towards the conveyor belt, smiling back at his team as the next suitcase slid down. Lifting the luggage up, Franco shuffled closer to the center before slamming the suitcase back down, startling the group. “This boy has been the other person in a relationship.”

“Now we are getting spicy,” Pierre murmured to Max as Franco stared down their team. Each boy in the lineup was trying to keep a steady face so as to not give up any clues on who it could be. Strategy.

“I know who it is,” Franco announced, confident in his answer and not even taking a moment to discuss his thought process. His teammates looked on with confusion written on their faces as they watched Franco walk directly to Kimi and place a deep kiss on his lips.

“Woah there,” Kimi laughed, pushing Franco back and wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. “Love the enthusiasm but it’s not me.”

"I could have told you that," Alex groaned, waving his arms at Kimi with a light laugh, "Look at him! Would Kimi ever be the mistress?"

There were whispers of agreement from the other team as everyone waited patiently to see which boy would admit that it was him. After a long pause, Logan stepped forward with a raised hand (almost like it was in defeat) and let out a large sigh, “It was me.” Franco didn’t even look upset at being incorrect, shrugging when Logan narrowed his eyes at him and grinning when he took a second to wipe his lips with the back of his hand.

“No!” Max gasped (and cared more than Franco apparently), suddenly finding himself a willing participant in the game, despite all the complaints he gave the producers on the way to the challenge set. This game was still stupid but now, now it was getting interesting.

“I didn’t actually know I was the other person until his boyfriend came home and saw us in bed together. I now do a deep social media dive on every potential boyfriend before committing.” Logan admitted before walking over the conveyor belt to move the spotlight onto another boy.

From there, more secrets were spilled with some islanders guessing correctly and others… not so much.

“This boy once made an entire cake from scratch for a partner’s birthday.” Logan placed a small kiss on Esteban’s cheek, who admitted that it was him and that sadly, the cake didn’t turn out the way he envisioned it to be. The cake sadly ended up tasting more like baking soda than vanilla at the end of the day. But hey, it was the thought that counts!

“This boy once sent a nude to his mom.” Esteban went next and incorrectly guessed George as everyone on his team insisted that it would be something that the Brit might do. Pierre groaned when he revealed that it was him. He then proceeded to explain to the group how he accidentally mixed up the wrong text threads on his phone and he never regretted a drunken mistake more.

“This boy was mortified when his family dog found a used condom and paraded it around the house.” George correctly guessed Alex (the vet, makes sense) who smiled into what Alex later admitted was not the first kiss the two have shared in the villa. 

“George moves quick,” Kimi mumbled, earning a laugh from Max as there was a small pause in the game before Gabriel made his way to the conveyor belt.

“This boy still follows all his exes on instagram.” Gabriel correctly guessed Kimi who laughed when explaining he only has one ex and that she is still close with his family so it felt weird to unfollow her.

“This boy broke the boycode with his best mate’s ex.” Pierre rolled his eyes as he made a beeline towards Franco, giving him a quick snog before placing a small kiss on Esteban’s cheek. “I think we all know that this has to be Franco.”

“Well you all would be right then,” Franco shrugged as Logan turned to whisper something in Kimi’s ear, earning a small nod in return. Interesting. Maybe Carlos was onto something this morning.

“This boy once ghosted someone…then got back together with their ex on the same day.” Alex’s eyes widened as he walked over to the other team, sighing as he took in which islanders were left. “Because I don’t want to guess the boy I am partnered up with, I’m gonna hope it’s Max.”

Alex placed a small kiss on Max’s cheek before patiently waiting for Max to confess it was him. Max looked down the line, waiting for someone else to confess to the red flag because it sure as hell wasn’t him .

“It was me,” George mumbled, looking away as Alex sulked back to his spot on the other side of the conveyor belt. He tried to meet Alex’s eyes from the other side of the set but Alex wasn’t having it. “Can we talk about it after the game? Please?”

Noticing the small tension that began to creep in, Kimi jumped forward and grabbed the next suitcase that shuffled down the conveyor belt.“This boy has never had a boyfriend.” Kimi blushed as he placed a small kiss on Gabriel’s lips and smiled when he was confirmed to be correct.

As the last islander to guess, Carlos took his time grabbing the remaining suitcase and rolled it over to the lineup of the opposite team. He grinned, reading the secret to himself before announcing out loud, “This boy once faked an injury to get out of a date.” 

Carlos proceeded to walk down the line, tapping his finger on his chin, pretending to be in thought. “I think I can take a pretty good guess as there is only one boy left.”

Carlos smiled before placing a hand on Max’s waist before pressing his lips to Max’s for a gentle kiss. Max closed his eyes, sinking into the kiss for a moment before Carlos back away with a small nip to his bottom lip.

“Cheeky.” Pierre giggled, taking in Max’s stepping back and brushing his hair out of his eyes.

“Well, was it you?” Kimi asked, patiently waiting for Max to claim the red flag.

“Yes, it was.” 

The producer clapped her hands as Max confirmed Carlos’ guess before the challenge officially ended. Glancing down at her phone and sending out a text, she thanked everyone for a great job before walking over to the other head producer with a small grin. Deciding to ignore whatever that was, Max accepted the water bottle from an intern as everyone started to make their way to the villa. He watched as George tried to catch up to Alex who was quickly walking back to the villa, hoping the two could talk out this red flag. Kimi latched arms with Logan as the two kept sneaking glances at Franco while whispering to one another. 

Noticing Gabriel hovering in the back by himself, Max took it upon himself to wrap his arm around the younger’s shoulders and guide him back towards the villa. Gabriel smiled when Max took this opportunity to start talking about the time he had one of his coworkers give him a cast to get out of this date with his sister’s yoga instructor.

Chapter Text

Episode 3

[It’s a brand new day in the Love Island villa… and the boys are feeling fresher than their freshly bleached teeth. But while the lads are busy flexing their abs and their chat… they’ve got no idea what’s coming.

Because somewhere nearby… a bombshell is getting ready to turn their whole villa life upside down.

Will it be bromance or heartbreak? Loyalty or chaos? And more importantly… Will anyone actually make breakfast?

Get ready, boys. The game is just getting started.]

As something he has grown accustomed to, Max woke up before everyone else. Still not used to not being on call, Max found it hard to adjust to his lack of schedule and stay in bed longer than necessary. Instead, Max decided that now would be the perfect time to check out the pool for the first time. Despite being here for two full days, he has yet to see anyone actually get into the pool and use it properly. Which is a shame really.

To avoid waking anyone, Max tiptoed into the bathroom after grabbing a blue patterned swimsuit on his way and quickly changing. He grabbed his sunglasses that he left near the sink and walked quickly down the stairs before anyone could start to stir. Taking off his mic pack and leaving it by one of the bean bag chairs, Max dove straight into the pool. 

The water felt refreshing when Max emerged from the bottom, dragging his hands down his face to wipe off the excess water that collected around his eyelashes. Placing his sunglasses back on correctly, Max began to float on his back as he mind began to wander back to the last two days of being in the villa and everything that has transpired so far. He has successfully shared a bed with a stranger, tried to flirt with cameras in his face, seemed to create a little group with the younger islanders, and (despite what he sister thought) hasn’t gotten in trouble with production yet. Victoria, if you are watching, I promise you I am trying to form a relationship out here but there are slim pickings right now.  

Before Max could get too lost in his thoughts, he felt the water ripple around him and adjusted his balance against the small waves that were passing over him. Placing his feet on the bottom of the pool, Max looked up to see Kimi and Gabriel sitting on the edge and splashing their feet in the water.

“Good morning Max,” Kimi smiled, adjusting his mic to make sure it was on correctly and working, giving a quick thumbs up to the camera man hovering nearby.

“Good morning,” Max nodded, swimming over towards the boys and resting his arms on the edge, making sure to be close enough so that their mics could pick up his part of the conversation if needed. You’re welcome production . “You two alright?”

Gabriel glanced at Kimi before shrugging and looking out at the view behind the pool. “Kimi and I have decided that we are just going to be a friendship couple for now.”

“Oh,” Max gasped quietly, eyes wide as he turned to Kimi, “and you agree?”

“I was the one who suggested it. Gabriel is going to be one of my closest friends in this villa, well besides you of course.”

Max smiled softly at the pair, impressed that these two came to a rational and mature decision this quickly in the villa. Letting out a small hum of understanding, Max closed his eyes to enjoy what was left of his relaxed swim before the quiet was broken up by the rest of the boys coming out of the bedrooms. There goes his quiet morning . Taking a deep breath, Max dunked himself under the water one last time before pulling himself out and shaking his head, sending water everywhere.

“Max!” Kimi and Gabriel laughed, rolling their eyes as Max grinned at them before grabbing a towel and wiping off his chest.

“How are things going with Carlos?” Gabriel asked, jumping up from the edge of the pool and gently nudging Max’s shoulder.

“Okay I guess?” Max shrugged, offering Kimi a hand to assist him in standing. “I’m not sure if there’s romantic feelings forming there though.” 

“Could have fooled me,” Kimi smirked, taking a small sip from his designated water bottle with his name printed down the side. “That kiss yesterday was pretty spicy." 

Max rolled his eyes at Kimi’s antics before Gabriel clapped him on the shoulder as he made his way past him to make his way to the rest of the group. “At least you’re not partnered with George. You two are like oil and water amigo.”

“At least who is not partnered with me?” George asked, peering over his sunglasses at the trio as they joined everyone at the firepit. 

“Don’t worry about it,” Kimi sang, turning his head to wink at Max before finding a seat next to Alex on the half moon shaped bench. George’s expression softened at Kimi, reaching over to ruffle the younger’s hair from the other side of Alex. He watched with furrowed brows as Kimi pointed at him, then at Max before sticking his tongue out like he was saying yuck .

Letting out a small sigh as George continued to question Kimi on who wouldn’t want to be partnered with me , Max sat down at the fire pit and adjusted his sunglasses so they covered his eyes. He did not need George to see his eyes as he returned Kimi’s faces behind his back. However, before George could question the look Kimi gave Max, Franco jumped up from his seat. 

“Not another activity,” Max groaned, throwing his head back against the bench and hoping for one day to relax. At the rate they’re going, Max is beginning to think he won’t have another day off until the end of the summer.

“I got a text,” Franco screamed, despite the fact that everyone was literally sitting right in front of him, “Islanders, it’s time to spice things up! Today, you're playing a cheeky game of Truth or Dare . Gather around the firepit and get ready to lay it all bare… #NoSecretsInTheVilla #DoubleD areYou”

[What better way to stir the pot than with a good old-fashioned game of… Truth or Dare ? It’s the perfect excuse to spill secrets, plant snogs, and test just how loyal these Islanders really are. So grab your drinks, form a circle, and get ready for some truths they’ll regret… and dares they’ll definitely deny tomorrow.

Let the games begin!]

One of the producers entered from the villa and placed two clear fish bowls filled with paper prompts on the unlit fire pit. She winked at the group before backing away and singing to the boys, “I’m sure you all know how to play truth or dare.”

“What are we children?” Esteban laughed, sitting up and rubbing his hands together as he suddenly got very excited for a game he was groaning about moments ago. Pierre laughed at his partner’s antics, placing a small kiss on his cheek before pulling out his phone from his pocket when he heard that familiar text chime. This chime was going to haunt Max’s dreams.

“Pierre,” he read aloud from the text message on his phone, “please pick truth or dare.” Pierre looked around the group for any suggestions before saying with a shrug, “Let’s start easy and pick a truth.”

Pierre reached down into the left bowl, fingers swirling around through all the papers, before selecting a cream piece of paper from the collection. Clearing his throat, Pierre read the question out loud for everyone to hear “Are you happy with your current couple?”

The group turned their attention to Esteban, watching his facial expression before snapping their heads back to Pierre to hear his answer. And this was only the first turn.

“At this moment, I am happy to be paired with Esteban. It is early but there is no one else I would rather be with.”

Max glanced at Esteban from the corner of his eyes and noticed how his previous smile shrunk a bit at Pierre’s response. If you asked him, that answer was pretty standard and definately not what Esteban was hoping for (if the small frown forming on Esteban’s lips said anything about how he was currently feeling). Making a mental note in his head to keep an eye on the dynamic between those two, Max rationed that those two were not as stable as they tried to portray to the villa.

Kimi received the next text and reached over from his spot to grab a piece of paper from the dare jar: “Kiss the islander you find the most attractive.” Considering his options, Kimi surveyed the group in front of him before getting up and placing a tiny kiss on Esteban’s lips.

“Kimi!” Pierre laughed, eyes widening as Kimi sat down and stretched his arms back.

“I like the tall, skinny brunettes.” He shrugged, completely honest as Alex and George whistled at him. “Try not to take Alex away from me,” George teased, nudging Kimi’s shoulder with his own and sending a small wink Alex’s way.

Everyone turned to look at Gabriel as his phone buzzed on the bench next to him. Also choosing dare, he read from the paper: “Kiss the person on your left for ten seconds.” Max laughed as Gabriel leaned into Logan and proceeded to kiss him for what George stated was “more than 10 seconds mate”.

From there, it was almost a free for all for the islanders to participate in the game. Carlos had a three-way kiss between George and Alex (which Max tried not to look too much into considering he was partnered with Carlos and he was the one pushing for a romantic connection, not Max), Esteban admitted that he is currently working on his own superhero comic book when he is not working at an advertising agency, and Logan had to take a shot off Franco’s stomach. Franco’s dare was tame as he just had to simply dive headfirst in the pool with his clothes on while Alex admitted in a truth that he does like George but does think that they may need to slow down just a little bit. George, ever the proper gentleman, nodded his head and agreed and insisted that they would go at their pace. George then took the final dare and had to switch clothes with another islander, gladly switching his peach shorts for Gabriel’s brightly colored floral matching set.

Grabbing a piece of paper from the truth bowl, Max read the last piece of paper out loud as a small knot formed in his stomach: “Why did your last relationship end?”

Taking a moment to think back to over a year ago, their last conversation played in Max’s mind as he remembered the heartbreak in her eyes and the acceptance in his. Max smiled sadly before answering the group as honestly as he could while still being respectful to his ex, “We were just in different places. We had a bit of an age gap and she was ready for marriage, kids, the whole thing. I was only 26 at the time and didn’t feel ready for that big of a commitment. I was finally finding my footing at my job and I wouldn’t be able to provide that reliable schedule that she wanted in a partner.”

The boys nodded their heads, respecting Max’s answer and not daring to bother Max with any follow up questions. Not like Max was planning on answering them anyway. With that final confession, the group ended the game of Truth or Dare for the day and the fish bowls were taken away.

💕🌴🔥💋📱🕶️💔

“Can I sit?”

Max looked up from the bean bag chair he was sitting on and patted the space next to him to invite Pierre to sit down. Max took a small sip of his gin and tonic, side eyeing Pierre as he waited to hear what he had to say. Max and Pierre weren’t the closest in the house per say but Max liked Pierre. He was someone who, despite appearing in a hot and cold relationship with his partner, was pretty honest and funny. Max could potentially see Pierre as a friend on the outside when this whole summer experiment was over. 

“I like how direct you are Max, you don’t play around and I feel like you would be good at advice,” Pierre started with a soft expression on his face. Flickering his eyes to Esteban and back, he turned his attention to the setting sun as his fingers played with the grass underneath them. “I think Esteban is more into us as a couple than I am at the moment.”

“I would agree.” Max hummed after a moment, honest in his answer and just stating the observation that was obvious to anyone watching their interactions of the last few days. Glancing back at Esteban, who was in a lively conversation with George and Kimi, Max spoke softly when he continued, “I also don’t think there is anything wrong with not sharing those feelings right now. We’ve only been here for three days, no need to settle down quite yet.”

“I know that! But he keeps telling me how happy he is already and I don’t think I’m there,’ Pierre admitted, bringing his glass of wine to his lips and taking a rather large sip. “I fear I’m just overthinking everything.” 

“Not really,” Max shrugged, “if we were a couple of weeks in and you still feel this way after a few recouplings, then you should feel concerned.” We haven’t even been here for a week yet.

A comfortable silence fell over the duo as Pierre took a minute to reflect on his conversation with Max. “Thanks Max,” Pierre finally whispered moments later, clapping him on the back before standing up and making his way over to Esteban who grinned when Pierre draped his arm over his shoulder.

Confused as to why Pierre was still proceeding to show Esteban affection and mixed signals, Max reclined further into the bean bag and decided that he can only do so much. Enjoying the quiet conversations that were going on behind him, Max closed his eyes and exhaled. Debating if he should make himself another gin and tonic or not, Max jumped when his phone went off, suddenly pausing any future plans.

“I got a text!” Max called, abandoning what was left of his drink and jumping up. The group paused and turned to look at him, a mixture of excited and worried faces. They were a few days in and all they had were two challenges, they were all waiting for the other shoe to drop.

“Max, it’s time to get your graft on! A new bombshell is waiting to turn up the heat… and they want to meet you at the hideaway. Don’t keep them waiting…#HotTubHeat #BombshellIncoming”

Max swallowed hard before looking up to see Kimi running towards him screaming. “We must get you into something hot, no?” He laughed, looping his arm through Max’s as he announced that he was going to help him pick out a bathing suit for his date. Dragging Max into the house, Kimi kept a constant commentary about how excited he was for him and how this would be a great opportunity for him. If Max listened close enough, it was almost like he could hear Victoria’s voice in his ear: What if he’s the one Max? How exciting would that be?

“Oh god,” Max mumbled, flushing as he was pushed down to sit on the bed while Kimi went through his wardrobe.

“This black one is fun.” Kimi winked, throwing the said swimwear at Max as more boys entered the bedroom.

“First bombshell,” George smirked, wiggling his eyebrows at Max’s nervous expression “How exciting.”

“Don’t have too much fun,” Carlos sang, a smile still big on his face as Max walked past him to change in the bathroom.

Max quickly brushed his teeth, splashed his face with some water, and ran his fingers through his hair as Gabriel rattled on advice about how to flirt (while Max appreciated the effort, he wasn’t that awful at flirting).

“Confidence is key.”

“Thanks Gabriel,” Max chuckled, ruffling the younger’s hair as he walked past him to start his trip to the hideaway. It was hard to ignore the feeling of being watched as he made his way down the illuminated hallway towards the elusive hideaway. Taking one last glance back, Max saluted his housemates and opened the door to a small hallway that led to an open room with floor to ceiling windows that were covered by maroon curtains.

There was a bed in the center of the room, low to the ground, and covered with cream silk sheets. At the end of the bed, there was a chest that had who knows what in it and an archway to the right that led to an ensuite. From where Max was standing, he could see an enormous waterfall shower and a tub big enough for two. Turning to the left, Max walked to the pair of glass doors and gently pushed it open to the terrace that had a small dining table, a hammock, and there on the farside, the expected hottub.

What was not expected, however, was the curly haired brunette soaking in there with a glass of champagne in his hand. Grinning, he stood up showing off his built physique. Victoria once told him that this would be the moment that there would be some sort of bombshell song playing in the background once the interaction aired back at home.

 With a wink, the brunette extended his hand and gently shook Max’s, “I’m Lando.”

Chapter Text

Episode 4

[While the rest of the villa is busy sipping prosecco and pretending not to eavesdrop… one lucky Islander is about to take a dip into dangerous waters. 

Because waiting at the hot tub… is a bombshell with confidence and absolutely no intention of playing it safe. Will sparks fly? Will jaws drop? Or will this late-night soak cause a full-blown meltdown in the morning?

One thing’s for sure… this villa just got a whole lot hotter .]

“I’m Lando,” the brit grinned, shaking Max’s hand before sinking back into the water. “Care to join me Max?”

Max laughed weakly (trying his best to come off as cool and confident) as he took off his mic pack and raised it above his head as he carefully climbed into the hot tub. Taking a seat, Max slipped the mic over his head and glanced over at the camera man to get his nod of approval. No water damage, Max considered that to be a small win considering he slipped twice on his way in. Smooth Max, real smooth.

“How are you? Excited?” Max asked, resting his back against the hot tub and placing his mic pac on the small wall behind him. Crisis averted. 

“Buzzing.” Lando smirked, pausing the conversation to pass Max a second glass of champagne that he was hiding behind him, fingers brushing at the transfer. “So how old are you Max? What do you do? Where are you from?”

Taking a small sip of the bubbly drink, Max raised his eyebrows at the rapid fire questions that were shot his way before answering, “I’m 27, a nurse, and currently living in Monaco.”

“Well, Max, I am 25, a twitch streamer, and I am also currently living in Monaco. I’m surprised we never met before considering how small Monaco is.”

“I used to live in Belgium with my mom before I moved after uni,” Max shrugged, sinking a little deeper in the water as Lando shifted a little closer. Okay, this could be a good sign.

Lando reached his arm out of the water and let it relax on the lip of the tub, his fingers brushing the freckles on Max’s shoulder. “So are you more of a giver or a receiver?”

“Fuck,” Max coughed, choking on his champagne at Lando’s 180 degree turn of questioning he was subjected to. How forward was this guy? Is this normal first date conversations now?  “Excuse me?”

Lando sighed, leaning his head towards Max before deciding to change the direction of the conversation when he noticed how awkward Max became, “Let’s try this one instead: Are you here for love or the money at the end?”

"I'm not sure I know what you mean?"

"Have you really not seen this show?" Lando laughed, leaning forward with bright eyes as he took in the faint blush spreading across Max's chest. "The winning couple at the end are each given an envelope with either $50,000 or nothing. The person who grabbed the card with the money has the opportunity to either keep the entire amount or they can choose to split it. So love or money!"

“I would like to fall in love.” Max stuttered, wiping off the excess champagne from the corner of his lips and taking a deep breath in an attempt to calm his racing heart. Turning his head to the side, Max shot a wide eyed look at the camera man to his right who looked like he was desperately trying to hold back a laugh. Seriously what the fuck?

“A romantic,” Lando mused, giving Max a coy look. “Are you open to talking to other boys other than Carlos? Or are you closed off?”

“I’m staying open,” Max admitted, feeling his cheeks begin to heat up either from the temperature of the water or from the way that Lando was looking at him. Max was a man, and it was flattering to be appreciated for how he looks every now and then (even though he really didn’t understand what others saw).

Lando sent Max another smirk before launching into a story about his latest stream where he was playing FIFA against his friends. Max made sure to laugh and nod at the appropriate places, appreciating how open and friendly Lando was. Max in turn shared a story about an emergency room patient he had who would constantly escape the nurses and run around the ER naked before security was called to get him. Lando giggled at the story, looking up from behind his glass as he took another sip of champagne. Just when Max thought that he was finally getting comfortable (and that maybe, maybe he could see himself leaning in for a kiss) a producer shot Lando a look and pointed to their watch. Noticing the movement, Max turned to Lando with raised eyebrows as Lando suddenly looked a bit shy. 

“I hate to cut this short Max, but I actually have a second date lined up,” Lando admitted, standing up to pull Max in for a tight squeeze. “I had a lot of fun.”

Max stood up to accept the hug and tried his best to make his exit from the hot tub as graceful as possible (unlike his first attempt which he knows he will be dissecting later that night). He tried to come off as smooth and not to let his worry show at the idea of another boy coming to spend time with Lando.

“You have given me a lot to think about Max.” Lando smiled, sinking back under the jets and closing his eyes as the producers started to set up for the next date.

“I’ll see you later?” Max questioned, brow furrowed as he accepted a towel from one of the producers and paused a moment to wait for Lando’s response. Max waited for a minute, standing in front of the terrace door before making his way back to the main villa when Lando remained silent.

As he walked into the living room, Max took his time to play back the date that both confused and intrigued him at the same time. Max quickly snuck upstairs to change into a soft white t-shirt and comfortable shorts before joining the rest of the boys who were lounging on the day beds. Kimi was the first one to perk up at Max’s entrance, a big grin on his face.

“Max! Come tell us about your date!”

Sliding into the daybed with Kimi and Gabriel, Max took a deep breath before smiling softly at the group. “His name is Lando and he seems nice, forward but nice.”

“Is he fit?” George asked, pulling out a sleeve of biscuits and offering them towards Max. Max nodded his head, accepting the snack as the rest of the boys erupted in snickers. This was a side to Max that they have yet to observe and George was loving it.

“It’s about time we got some fresh meat,” Pierre grinned, winking at Esteban who pushed his shoulder in retaliation.

Max relaxed into the group, laughing as Kimi started to tell Max about the game of charades they were playing while he was away. Looking around at the group that he has now become more comfortable with, Max frowned when he noticed that someone was missing. Doing a double take, Max’s stomach dropped when he realized that the missing boy was on the second date that Lando mentioned.

Noticing his face, Alex sent Max a soft smile and placed his hand on Max’s knee. “Carlos got a text about his date right before you came back.”

“Good for Carlos,” Max swallowed, pulling the blanket that Kimi handed him earlier tighter over his shoulders as the chill from the cold finally began to sink in. “Lando did tell me that he had a second date but he didn’t mention who it was.”

“It’s kinda weird that he didn’t mention that he would be inviting your partner,” Kimi murmured, grabbing a pillow and holding it to his chest as Logan and Gabriel nodded in agreement.

“It’s fine,” Max shrugged, standing up and pulling down the legs of his shorts that were riding up from sitting down and showcasing a lot more thigh than what Max deemed appropriate for tv, “I’m gonna get a drink real quick before we start playing twenty questions with Max.”

As Max made his way across the deck, he paused for a moment as he heard a soft “I’m not sure what to think about this Lando character taking a couple on his dates and not telling the other.” Deciding he didn’t want to hear the rest of the conversation, Max made his way towards the kitchen and took a moment to lean against the counter and just close his eyes. Of course he took Carlos, who wouldn’t?

“You okay?” Pierre asked, scaring Max and making him jump in the process. He laughed loudly and apologized to Max as he took a seat at the bar.

“Well my heart is now racing if that’s what you’re asking,” Max sighed, placing a pot of water on the stove and grabbing a mug from the cabinet next to him.

“I’m sorry, again. But I was talking about this Lando situation.”

“I mean, Lando can ask out whoever he wants, that’s the perk of being a bombshell. Besides, Carlos and I are not exclusive or anything.” Max poured the hot cocoa mix into his mug and checked to see if the water had a chance to heat up yet. He wasn’t even sure if he wanted the hot beverage but he really just needed something to do with his hands.

“It’s a little weird that he took out both you and Carlos though, out of everyone in the villa,” Pierre said, raising his eyebrows at Max who refused to make eye contact with him. “And Carlos had been in there longer than you.”

Max looked up at Pierre at that last statement, frowning when Pierre nodded in confirmation. Taking another deep breath, Max poured the heated water into his mug and stirred the powder in quickly. He held the hot mug in both hands as Pierre continued to stare at Max, waiting for a response or reaction from the younger man.

“I think I am becoming quite unlucky with love in this villa…”

The rest of Max’s sentence died off as the sliding doors slammed open and Carlos and Lando walked out. Carlos had his arm wrapped around Lando’s shoulder, who currently had the largest grin on his face. The duo were laughing at some conversation they were sharing and walked right past Max and Pierre to the rest of the group. George jumped up first, giving Lando a handshake and slapping his back as he introduced him to the rest of the group.

The entire time Lando was meeting the rest of the islanders, Carlos' eyes were focused on the younger and Carlos had his hand firmly planted on the other’s lower back. Once introductions were completed, Lando turned back to grin and Carlos who launched right into a retelling of their date.

“I’m beginning to think you might be right,” Pierre agreed, snapping Max’s attention away from his partner and, by the looks of it, new partner.

💕🌴🔥💋📱🕶️💔

[It’s a brand new day in the villa, but for our boys… it’s not just another morning brew and abs check in the mirror. 

Because tonight marks the very first recoupling — and with connections still forming and a few boys firmly sat on the fence, anything could happen.]

“Have you talked to either Carlos or Lando yet?” Alex asked, plopping down in the bean bag chair next to Max as they enjoyed what was left of their quiet morning.

“No,” Max murmured, taking a small sip of his coffee before turning his head to frown at Alex. “And Carlos slept downstairs on the sofa last night while Lando slept on the bed that pulled out from the wall.”

“Ahhh,” Alex nodded, pausing to think through his response and to think of the best thing to say to Max in this moment. “Maybe he wanted to be respectful to both you and Lando.”

“Maybe. It was weird to wake up alone though.”

“I do think you should have a chat with both of them.” Alex advised, taking his sunglasses out of his hair and bringing them down to cover his eyes. 

Conjuring up some courage, Max turned his attention to the villa to see Lando and George walk out and head towards the small gym on the side of the green. Thanking Alex with a small nod, Max stood up and made his way across the lawn to the two boys who were lifting weights in the light heat. Clearing his throat, Max stood there awkwardly as Lando and George paused their conversation to turn their attention to the new boy at the gym.

“Could I steal Lando for a second?”

“Sure mate,” George smiled, squeezing Max’s arm before heading towards Alex.

“Do you mind if I…” Max stuttered, motioning to the workout bench where Lando was currently sitting.

“Please join me.”  Lando placed the weight down, shaking out his hands before spinning on the bench so he was directly facing Max. “I wanted to talk to you anyway.” 

“That’s good.” Max nodded, rubbing his hands on his shorts as he felt his nerves start to kick in.

“I wanted to tell you that I had a great time on our date last night.”

“Did you…” Max murmured, narrowing his eyes at Lando who suddenly was no longer able to make eye contact. Oh shit .  “But you had a better time with Carlos.”

“I did,” Lando whispered in agreement, brushing back his curls as he bit his cheek deep in thought.

“We can just become friends, apparently I’m really good at that,” Max laughed, taking the rejection quite well if you asked him, and nudging Lando’s shoulder. He hoped that this small gesture would show Lando he’s not too upset about basically being dumped by two boys in the span of 24 hours. At this rate, it should be called Friend Island not Love Island.

“You’re a good guy Max,” Lando smiled, wrapping his arms around Max in what became a tight squeeze. “There is going to be someone who walks into this villa who will be here for you, I can feel it.”

“Thanks Lando,” Max whispered, returning the hug before standing up and stretching his arms. “You still need a gym buddy for the morning?”

Lando laughed loudly, launching into an arm exercise that the two could do this morning. Before Lando could convince Max to use the kettlebell to his left, Carlos jumped up and stood up on one of the day beds. Max knew what Carlos was going to say before Carlos read out the text message, there was only one thing that hasn’t happened yet since he walked into this villa a few days ago.

“Islanders, tonight there will be a recoupling. Lando, Alex, Esteban, Logan, and Max will choose between George, Pierre, Kimi, Gabriel, Franco, and Carlos. The boy who is not picked to be in a couple will be dumped. #DecisionsDecisions#SingleAndShaking.”

Chapter Text

Episode 5

[It’s the moment they’ve all been waiting for… or dreading.

Tonight, the power shifts — and someone’s about to find out if they’re a hot commodity… or heading home solo.

The Islanders have spent days grafting, flirting, and doing whatever it takes to secure their place in the villa. But now, it’s decision time… and not everyone’s feeling confident. Will it be love at first pick? Or heartbreak at the firepit?

Grab your popcorn — because the first recoupling… is about to change everything.]

Sitting down at the fire pit, Max ran his fingers through his hair as he watched the producers line up George, Pierre, Kimi, Gabriel, Franco, and Carlos. The boys were directed to stand in front of the remaining boys before a producer flicked on the flames to the fire in the center of the u-shaped bench.

“This is nerve wracking,” Logan whispered to Max, leaning his body towards Max as the producers adjusted the lights one last time to make sure everything was ready for the ceremony. Max nodded his agreement, smiling softly at the boy to his left as  he watched Lando awkwardly pull out his chiming phone from the corner of his eye. Here we go ladies and gentlemen.

“Lando, as the newest islander, you must now choose the boy you’d like to couple up with. Please stand up and make your choice.#FirstPickPressure #SetTheTone #FirepitFeels” Lando read out, looking up at the boys in front of him before following the directions and standing. Max's eyes flickered to the line up of boys in front of them, no doubt in his mind who Lando would select out of the options given.

“I would like to couple up with this boy because even though we haven’t known each other long, there was this spark that I picked up on straight away. This boy is kind, funny, and has a great head of hair. And while I am aware that I only came in yesterday, I think that in time, we could have something great. So the person that I’d like to couple up with is…” Lando started, glancing at Max at the corner of his eye before exhaling a deep breath. “Carlos.”

Max clapped as Carlos stepped up from the line and walked straight to Lando with a big grin. It was weird for Max to watch Carlos and Lando share a kiss as it was only a few days ago that he was matched with Carlos and it was only the night before that he was in the hot tub with Lando contemplating whether or not he should kiss him. It was there that Max realized that Love Island moved in crazy ways and that he’s simply just along for the ride. Although, it is becoming apparent that it’s not going in his favor, at all.

Waiting his turn, Max smiled as Alex picked George (after gushing out how polite and dreamy George was) and Esteban picked Pierre (who made sure to mention their French connection that could hopefully lead to a French kiss in the future), both duos deciding to stay matched up in their original pairs. These picks were predictable but Logan's choice...

Everyone watched with bated breath as Logan stood up for his turn. With his original partner being Franco and with Kimi and Gabriel still waiting, no one was quite sure where Logan was going to go with his match. And honestly, Max didn’t blame him. Max has watched Logan pace around the villa all afternoon once they got the recoupling text. The kid looked like he was going to be sick once he realised that he would be the one making the decision to save somone and that two of his closest friends would be in danger of going home.

As Logan started his speech about who he was going to choose, it suddenly dawned on Max that he would be the one deciding who would be going home. “Although there might not be a romantic connection, I cannot imagine sending this boy home this early in our adventure. So the boy that I would like to couple up with is… Gabriel.” Logan smiled, laughing when Gabriel ran up to Logan and lifted him up in a big hug.

With a deep breath and a pat on the shoulder from Gabi, Max stood up to face Kimi and Franco. Kimi was looking down at the ground, worrying his lower lip between his fingers while Franco stood tall. Knowing that no matter who he chose he would be hurting someone tonight, Max took a second to steady himself. “I want to couple up with this person because even though we would only be creating a friendship couple, this boy deserves a chance to find love. He has the biggest heart and I think everyone would agree with me when I say that we would all miss him too much if he left. So the boy I would like to couple up with is…my best friend Kimi.”

At the sound of his name, Kimi’s eyes flicked up to Max. There were a couple of tears stuck in the corners of his eyes that he attempted to brush away as Kimi pulled Max into the tightest squeeze. “Thanks Maxie.”

“Anytime,” Max whispered, guiding Kimi to sit next to Gabriel who pulled him into another tight embrace. There was never any doubt of who Max was going to save when he faced the two remaining islanders, Kimi was like a little brother to him and Franco… was unfortunately just Franco.

Franco looked to the side as his phone rang for the final time in the villa. “Franco, as the only single islander, you have now been dumped from the villa. Please take a few minutes to pack your belongings and say your goodbyes.”

Max jumped up first, patting Franco on the back as he whispered a small apology. “No hard feelings mate, we’re good.” Franco frowned, avoiding Logan’s attempt at a hug as he walked towards Carlos to start his goodbye.

“He’s just hurt, he’ll be fine later,” Max whispered, encourageing Logan with a small smile when he noticed the small frown begin to form on Logan's face at the interaction. “You had to do what was right for you.”

“Thank you for saving Kimi,” George whispered to Max as he pulled him into a hug. “That kid has somehow managed to become my little brother over the last couple of days.”

“He’s starting to feel like my son,” Max joked, making George roll his eyes before he gently shoved Max away.

“But seriously, thanks Max.”

“No worries.”

Max turned his attention to Franco who was in the middle of Alex and Carlos, insisting that they would help him pack. Max nodded towards the villa to the rest of the group, motioning to Franco starting his exit. Pierre and Esteban nodded back, rounding up everyone else and guiding them towards the front door so that everyone could say goodbye one last time.

“Franco you will be missed buddy!” Pierre sang, turning everyone’s attention to Franco coming down the stairs with his suitcase.

“We’ll stay in touch, yes?” Kimi asked, bouncing on his toes with nervous energy as Franco walked past to stop directly in front of the door.

“Maybe,” Franco shrugged, not in the mood for small pleasantries after just being dumped on live television. “Maybe not.” Okay then…

“Good luck,” Max nodded, crossing his arms over his chest as he noticed Kimi, Logan, and Gabriel start to look uncomfortable at the interaction. Giving everyone a small salut, Franco walked out the door, down the driveway, and ended his Love Island journey with just as much fanfare as he started it with (which was very little according to Alex and Logan).

💕🌴🔥💋📱🕶️💔

“Max…psp….Max.”

Letting out a small groan, Max squinted at the light that was filtering in the room through the light curtains covering the windows. Why the hell was he being woken up right now? It’s the first day he semi-slept in since he entered the villa. After his eyes adjusted, Max sighed when he turned to see Kimi staring at him, 6 inches from his face.

“Hmmm,” Max hummed, pulling the duvet cover up to cover his shoulders from the sharp sting of the air conditioner. “Did you sleep alright?”

“No Max I did not!” Kimi huffed, rolling over and flopping on his back dramatically in the shared bed. “It took me ages to fall asleep because of all the making out.”

“George and Alex make out every night Kimi, this is nothing new.”

“No but Lando and Carlos are!”

“Be lucky that you are facing a wall and not lying directly across from them,” Max whispered, making sure to lower his voice when he peered over his shoulder to see everyone else still asleep. It was way tooo early for this . “Is that really what’s bothering you?”

Kimi sighed, rolling over to face Max once more and scrunching up his nose as he thought of the answer to Max’s question. “I guess I was freaked out because I almost went home last night.”

“Understandable,” Max nodded, placing his hand under his head to sit up more in the bed. “You know there was never a doubt in my mind that I was saving you right?”

“Thanks Dad,” Kimi mumbled, pulling Max into a deep hug and resting his head on his chest. “You’re the best.”

“C’mon, I’ll make you some waffles,” Max laughed, getting out of bed and walking towards the wardrobe to pick out a red pair of swim trunks with starfish on them that he knew Victoria would roll her eyes at the minute she saw him wearing those on tv.

“Best partner ever.” Kimi giggled, jumping up and running off to grab the shower before anyone else woke up.

Rolling his eyes, Max quickly got changed and made his way outside to start on breakfast for what started as just for Kimi but would eventually end up being for the entire house. Max walked around the kitchen and started to collect the ingredients he would need to get the waffle batter started before anyone else could join him. 

“The chef is in!”

Jumping at the break in silence, Max looked up to see Carlos slide past him to start brewing a morning coffee. “What’s on the menu chef?”

“I’m making waffles to cheer Kimi up,” Max explained, finding the waffle iron underneath the stove and starting to heat it up. “He had a rough night.”

“Understandable.”

“It didn’t help that your nightly activities with Lando kept him awake either.”

“Oh,” Carlos blushed, rubbing the back of his neck as his cheeks turned red. “He heard it?”

“We all did,” Pierre groaned, plopping down on the bar stool and dropping his head on the counter. “I could have lived a hundred lives without knowing that Lando has started calling you his ‘chili pepper’.”

“Oh no,” Max laughed awkwardly, placing the 1st done waffle on a plate and passing it to Pierre. Despite never wanting to pursue a romantic relationship with Carlos, it still felt a little weird to discuss Lando’s interest in him.

“Don’t tell Lando you heard that,” Carlos whispered, turning around quickly as Lando entered the kitchen, cheeks turning pink in response to the teasing,

“Heard what?”

“Nothing!” Carlos shrieked, kissing Lando on the cheek before grabbing him a glass of orange juice.

Max and Pierre started laughing when Lando turned to shoot them both a look of confusion. Max shrugged at Lando, pretending to know nothing, before passing another waffle to Kimi who had finally finished getting ready for the morning.

“Thanks Dad,” Kimi sang, sitting next to Pierre and focusing his attention to pouring syrup into each hole in the waffle.

“Don’t ask,” Max warned, feeling everyone’s attention snap to him after Kimi’s comment. Kimi continued to cut his waffles, completely oblivious to the silent conversation going on around him.

“I got a text!” Esteban screamed, running into the kitchen and putting a pause on breakfast. “Boys, it’s time to make a splash! Today, you're taking part in the Baywatch Challenge. Get ready to don your red shorts, show off those slow-mo runs, and rescue hearts as you compete for lifeguard legend status. #SlowMoSizzle #RescueMe #BaywatchBabes”

[Things are heating up in the villa — and no, it’s not just the weather. 

Today, the boys are slipping into something barely there for the ultimate test of strength, speed… and serious slow-motion strutting. That’s right — it’s time for the Baywatch Challenge.

Our brave lifeguards will take on a sun-soaked obstacle course, including:
A slow-mo beach run
A “rescue” mission — featuring a lucky boy of their choice
And, of course, a heroic pose-off.

The other boys will be watching, judging, and scoring their efforts.
The boy with the most points will earn the title of Villa’s Fittest Lifesaver!

Time to grab your floaties, flex those muscles, and give us the full David Hasselhoff.]

“Do you think we will have to wear costumes for every activity?” Max asked, swinging his lifeguard whistle between his fingers. He had to admit that while the red shorts and matching bomber jacket were a bit much, everyone looked pretty good. Kimi giggled as a producer placed some white zinc underneath his eyes and nose, giving the effect of white sunscreen and adding to the entire outfit.

“I like dressing up,” Lando shrugged, unzipping his jacket and adjusting his mic pack. “I hope we do this all the time.”

“Of course he likes the costume, look at his body,” Logan mumbled, earning a silent laugh from Max for the comment.

“Alright, before we start the obstacle course and heroic posing, I need to capture a slow mo run of all my men!” One of the producers clapped, looking at the lineup of boys with a gleam in her eye. 

“Kill me now,” Max sighed, straightening his posture when a producer glared at him and pointed towards where everyone else was lining up. He rolled his eyes, muttering under his breath about how stupid he will look,  before joining the others and listening as the producers instructed them to just jog as one group and that this footage will be slowed down in post.

“Let’s look like we are having fun boys!”

On the count of three, the islanders completed a light job about 10 yards so that the camera man had enough on tape. Max made sure to smile, not wanting to get scolded by one of the producers again.

“Looks great and you all appeared decently happy!” A group of producers nodded in approval as they watched a playback of the run. “Alright, let’s reset and then we will have Carlos run the obstacle course first.”

During the challenge, Max had to hold his stomach from laughing so hard at everyone’s performance. Carlos was up first and despite how well he performed during his attempt of surfing in the wave pool, he struggled with picking Lando up and carrying him through the wet sand pit that ended up resembling cement. Another highlight was watching Esteban struggle with the monkey bars section of the course, falling straight on his back earning gasps and loud cackles from everyone watching.

Max stood at the beginning of the obstacle course, swinging his arms across his chest while doing a light jog to warm up. What can he say? He is competitive to a fault.

“Let’s go Max!” Kimi cheered, standing at the final portion of the course, sunscreen completely wiped from his face after sweating in the afternoon heat.

Kimi blew the whistle before Max took off towards the wave pool to start his attempt at surfing a way. Max looked solid for a quick moment, seeming to handle the way when suddenly he slipped off the board and fell straight back into the water. He emerged from the pool to hear Kimi asking if he was okay while the other islanders were screaming in laughter. Climbing out of the pool, Max brushed his head back and out of his eyes as he made his way to the monkey bars.

“How do you do this with your hands all wet?” Max screamed, trying to dry his hands on his wet shorts to no avail.

“Now you know how we felt!” Carlos laughed, high fiving George as the two shook their heads at Max’s attempt.

Despite the doubts he had, Max did a decent job swinging across the bars and landed on his feet to the cheers of the crowd. Walking over to Kimi, he looked at the pit of wet sand then back at Kimi, the cogs in his brain turning as he came up with a plan.

“Jump on my back.”

“What?” Kimi laughed, shock on his face as everyone else was either carried in their partner’s arm or over their shoulder.

“It’s the best way to do this I think,” Max shrugged, facing the sand before looking back at Kimi once again, “Jump on my back.”

Kimi launched himself at Max, wrapping his limbs tightly around him as Max started to spring across the sand. The combination of the carry and the speed of which Max ran allowed the two to quickly get across without either boy falling into the pit.

“You are so smart,” Kimi breathed, climbing down and grinning at his partner. “You didn’t even stumble once.”

“I say we all deserve a round of drinks after that,” George sang, wrapping his arms around both Max and Kimi as the group started to walk back to the villa. “Margaritas on me!”

Chapter Text

Episode 6

[It’s a quiet afternoon in the villa… and the boys are none the wiser. They’re laughing, lounging, and absolutely convinced there is no way we would have two dramatic days in a row.

But little do they know… tonight, the game’s getting a double upgrade.

Two new boys are about to land—and they’re not here to play wingman.

So while the lads are busy comparing six-packs and sipping margaritas like it’s fine wine… they might want to brace themselves. Because in this villa, loyalty lasts about as long as a tan line.]

“It’s too quiet,” Esteban whispered, hand shielding his eyes from the sun, as he walked up from the pool to the daybeds where most of the boys were lounging to escape the afternoon heat.

“Why would you say that?” Gabriel whined, pulling the sheet over his shoulders as he tried to enjoy a nap in the small moment of peace they have. “You know when you say something like that, something always comes up! We literally just finished that challenge thingy two hours ago.”

“Too much down time,” Esteban murmured, taking a large gulp of his water and freezing when Alex came jogging, phone waving in the air, from the bench swing where he was talking with Carlos.

“I swear to god Esteban,” Gabriel hissed through clenched teeth as Alex came to a halt at the end of the bed, winking at Max, Gabriel, and Kimi before opening the text message and clearing his throat.

“Boys, tonight two new bombshells will enter the villa. They have each chosen three boys they want to date. Each bombshell has chosen one boy to prepare a starter, one to prepare the main course, and one to prepare the dessert. #HungryEyes #MakeaMealofit” Alex read out, grin growing as he read out the details of the date.

“Why are you smiling?” George yelled, wrapping his arms about Alex’s waist who simply laughed in response.

“It might be nice to go on a date, that’s all,” Alex admitted with a small shrug. George protested lightly in return before stopping in place as another text tone filled the small space.

Logan jumped up, pulling out his phone with a grin as he read out: “Logan, Oscar has selected you to prepare his starter.”

“Oh god, what are you going to make?” Kimi snickered, well aware of how bad Logan’s cooking skills are. They were quite pitiful if you asked Max.

“I don’t think I know how to make a starter,” Logan gulped, looking around frantically at his friends as the reality sunk it that he would actually need to cook something for someone other than himself.

“Lando, Oscar has selected you to prepare his main course.” Lando read out as his phone went off next. “I can’t cook for shit either.”

“Poor Oscar,” Max whispered, earning a loud laugh from Esteban who nodded in agreement. Oscar couldn’t have selected two of the most clueless boys to cook him something.

Carlo seemed to frown a bit when Lando read out the text but his expression quickly changed to a small smirk as his phone also chimed: “Carlos, Oscar has selected you to prepare his dessert.”

“At least Carlos can cook,” George chuckled, nudging the Spainaird whose cheeks started to turn a bright red when everyone's heads snapped to him. “I guess Oscar won’t starve after all.”

“Aw look at the couple who has the cook for someone else,” Esteban teased, earning a small laugh from Pierre in return. Lando rolled his eyes as he scotted closer to Carlos in the daybead and brushed back a piece of hair that was hanging in Carlos' eyes.

“I wonder who the next bombshell will pick,” Kimi gushed, kneeling on the daybed as he looked around at the remaining boys. A little bit of hope bloomed in his chest at the idea that maybe, the next bombshell could pick him.

There was a small silence that filled the air before the chiming noise filled the air once more. “Carlos, Charles has selected you to prepare his starter,” Carlos squeaked, in complete shock that he was selected by both bombshells to create a dish.

“Oh don’t look too happy,” Lando groaned, slapping Carlos’ chest as the other couldn’t stop the large grin that began to spread across his face.

“It’s definitely flattering.”

“Someone else needs to get picked,” Gabriel groaned, sitting up in the daybed and pulling the covers down so that it pooled in his lap. “If not, this will be boring for the rest of us.”

“Ah ha! Pierre, Charles has selected you to prepare his main course.” Pierre laughed, fist pumping Lando and completely ignoring the grimace that took over Esteban’s face. Esteban tried his best to hide it, even offering a small chuckle in return, but Max wasn't fooled.

“There is one more left,” Kimi sang, winking at Max and ruffling his head. “I bet it will be you, Romeo.”

“You don’t know that,” Max groaned, covering his face with his hands as he felt that familiar flush start to creep in.

“You are a very hot speciman Max, I have no doubts that you will be next.” Kimi confidently stated, turning to Gabriel who shrugged his shoulders in defeat, knowing there was a good chance that Max would be selected over either of them.

“Kimi, you cannot just…” but whatever Max was going to say was cut off by his phone going off next to him. Lifting the phone, Max’s eyes widened as he read out the final text of the day: “Max, Charles has selected you to prepare his dessert.”

[Things are about to heat up faster than a George Foreman grill, because tonight, bombshells Charles and Oscar are going on dates.”

And in true villa style, the boys are playing chef—each one dishing up a course for the lucky lads. Well… maybe lucky is not quite the right word because the lack of cooking skills amongst these boys is pitiful. Cheers, mate.

Let’s just hope the food’s hot, the chat’s hotter, and no one serves heartbreak for the main course…]

“What do I do?” Logan stressed, hands on his hips as he took in the ingredients laid out on the counter island in front of him. “What is he doing with raw shrimp???”

“Ignore him Logan,” Max sighed, sidling up next to the young American and taking the lemon out of his hand. Ignoring the clacking of pans as Carlos grabbed what he needed from underneath the stove, Max instructed Logan to take a deep breath and relax. “I will help you.”

“Can you be my dad too?”

“I am collecting children faster than I am catching feelings,” Max mumbled, placing a cutting board and a knife in front of Logan. Reaching across, Max grabbed a head of lettuce and placed it on the board and nodded towards the green. “Cut that Logan.”

“Yes chef!” Logan saluted, grabbing the knife and cutting the lettuce in a way that showcased his lack of cooking skills (and nearly giving Max a heart attack).

“Please watch your fingers,” Pierre pleaded, wincing everytime Logan got a little too close.

“Fold them over like this,” Max demonstrated, trying to help Logan learn the proper method before placing a block of parmesan cheese on his board. “Grate that when done.”

Putting the chaos of the kitchen in the back of his mind, Max grabbed a wooden bowl and collected the ingredients he needed. He blocked out Carlos screaming and Logan’s crash out over what side of the grater to use while he whisked together some lemon juice, olive oil, dijon mustard, salt, and some pepper.

“How is the cheese coming?” Max asked, joining Logan at the counter with his nearly finished salad dressing.

“Umm…”

“Good enough,” Max sighed, placing the disaster of the cut lettuce and grated cheese into the bowl. He moved past Carlos to grab some tongs and started to toss all the ingredients together. With a soft smile, he grabbed two plates from the shelves and started to dish out the completed dish.

“Caesar salad!” Max presented, sprinkling a little extra cheese on top before looking up at Logan with a large grin.

“You might have just saved this date,” Logan breathed, pulling Max into a tight hug. Max let out a loud laugh before pushing Logan away and straightening his shirt. “Save all that energy for Oscar.”  

“Hello Boys!”

All the boys in the kitchen turned around quickly to see two new boys walk directly into the kitchen. Both boys were around the same height as Max although one of them was sporting a bit more facial hair than the other. Not that Max minded, he found the stubble to look quite effortless but just scruffy enough to be charming (in his humble opinion). The second boy was fit, clean-cut, and composed. He had a calm energy about him that was definitely needed in this chaos of a kitchen. Max’s attention quickly snapped back to the first boy who smiled softly when he caught Max’s eye.

“I’m Charles,” He announced, keeping eye contact with Max for a pause before flicking his green eyes to the rest of the boys in the kitchen.

“Do we have another Frenchie?” Pierre teased, leaning on his elbows as he grinned at Charles.

“Monegasque.” Charles corrected, softly laughing when Pierre’s eyes widened in embarrassment. 

“Oscar,” The younger one nodded, eyes widening at the mess on the counter.

“Oscar, let’s go sit so we can start our dates, yes?” Charles sang, gently grabbing his arm and leading him towards the two small white tables that were set up by the door. 

“Fuck me,” Carlos whispered, the kitchen frozen as everyone watched the two bombshells walk away. Max's eyes were still trained on Charles as he watched the duo head towards the two tables set up in the middle of the yard. He watched Charles placed his hands gently on Oscar's shoulders, offering him a small smile and what seemed like some soft advice before the two seperated and sat down at their own tables.

“What Carlos said,” Logan breathed, shaking his head to clear his vision before grabbing his starter and walking towards his date with Oscar.

“Wish me luck amigos,” Carlos grinned, grabbing his shrimp dish and leaving with a spring in his step.

“I will not do that,” Pierre snorted, moving behind the counter and taking a moment to figure out what he was supposed to make to impress Charles.

“They’re hot,” Lando smirked, pushing Max out of the way so that he could start his main course.

“Yeah he is,” Max murmured, his eyes still focused on the brunette as he stood up to greet Carlos with a kiss pressed to each cheek.

“Oh Maximus are we going to duke it out over Charles?” Pierre questioned, raising an eyebrow as he flitted around the kitchen (Lando and Pierre were slightly less chaotic, but not by much). 

“Maybe,” Max shrugged, flickering his attention to Logan and Oscar and smiling when he saw Logan appear comfortable and confident. “This is the happiest that I have seen Logan so far.”

“Don’t tell me that,” Lando whined, placing some cheese slices on some bread before pressing them together to make a sandwich. Max watched in shock as Lando added butter to a pan and added the sandwiches to toast. Oh God, he’s making a toasted sandwich as his romantic main course.

“Stop complaining! Or has Carlos already lost his shine? Side note: are you making grilled cheese?”

“My specialty,” Lando grinned, waving the spatula at Max to avoid answering Max’s first question. Max settled into his seat, pouring himself a small glass of wine as he waited for the main course chefs to make their way out of the kitchen. Glancing over his shoulder, Max blushed as his eyes locked with Charles once more who sent him one of the most awful winks he has ever seen in his life.

“Quick Lando, Carlos and Logan are coming back,” Pierre panicked, pouring his overly al dente pasta into 2 bowls and topping them with some of the leftover cheese from Logan’s starter. Lando sliced his sandwiches into two triangles each and placed them on two plates just as the two boys came back.

“Can’t talk boys, I got a boy to impress,” Pierre smirked, grabbing his dishes and making his way towards Charles.

“Poor Esteban,” Logan mumbled, taking the seat next to Max at the counter. Max nodded in agreement to Logan’s comment, knowing for a fact that Esteban seemed to be oblivious to the mixed signals Pierre has been sending his way over the last few days.

“Good luck Lando,” Carlos whispered, pressing a kiss to his cheek before going back to the kitchen to make a dessert for his next date.

“How was your date Logan?” Max asked, grabbing two mugs from the coffee bar before measuring out some dry ingredients.

“It was really good,” Logan breathed, resting his head in his hands as a dreamy look took over his face. “I think I really like him.”

“I’m happy for you,” Max said softly, opening the fridge and grabbing a can of lemon lime soda.

“What are you making amigo?” Carlos questioned, looking up from the fruit plate that he just finished assembling.

“A cake,” Max shrugged, adding a splash of the soda to his dry ingredients before placing both mugs in the microwave.

“You are a scary genius,” Logan whispered, watching in awe as Max took out two perfectly formed cakes from the microwave a few moments later.

“One of my coworkers showed me how to make this during a rough shift.” Max admitted, placing the cakes on their own plates and taking out the vanilla ice cream from the freezer. Looking up at the dates ahead, Max started to scoop some vanilla ice cream on each plate once noticing that both Lando and Pierre were saying their goodbyes.

“Maybe I made a mistake going for Lando,” Carlos jokes, pointing at Max’s dessert then comparing it to his own plate of just cut up fruit. Max decided to put a pin in that comment, he had no time to dissect that with Carlos at this moment and honestly, he didn't really care to. 

“Good luck Max,” Logan smiled, patting him on the back as Max made his way towards his date.

“Go Dad!” Max turned quickly and groaned when he realized that all the other boys who were not chosen were standing on the terrace outside and watching the whole thing. Kimi was standing on top of the bench, hands cupped around his mouth as he cheered on his partner.

“Dad?” Charles asked, letting out a small gasp as Max placed the cake and ice cream down in front of him. “Oh wow!”

“I hope that’s a good wow,” Max teased, freezing for a moment when Charles stood up to place two quick kisses to his own cheeks. Taking a deep breath, Max sat down across from Charles before pouring himself a glass of water so he had something to do with his hands. Be cool Max, be cool.

Charles took a big bite and moaned as soon as he swallowed the dessert: “Max this is soooo good.”

“Thanks,” Max whispered, looking away and avoiding Charles’ gaze. Max is aware that he’s not always the best at taking compliments, especially when he was on dates with boys who he believed to be out of his league. Which Charles absolutely was.

“So why does the young Italian up there call you Dad?” Charles repeated, resting his cheek on one hand as his eyes combed over Max’s features. "Is there something I need to know there?"

“Kimi and I are in a friendship couple and I’ve been helping him settle into the villa,” Max admitted with a small shrug. “I think I have like three sons here now.”

 “Oh I love that!” Charles clapped, leaning in to whisper to Max gently, “I think Oscar might become my son so you won’t be the only daddy in here.”

“Oh wow,” Max swallowed, flushing again as Charles let out a loud cackle before placing a scoop of ice cream in his mouth. Max mirrored Charles, enjoying the comfortable silence for a moment as he took a small bite of the cake he made. Not bad at all Max, not bad at all.

“So Max, tell me something that no one else in the villa knows yet.”

“Trying to learn all my secrets are you?” Max laughed, taking a bite of his ice cream before taking a deep breath and answering: “I used to have a bit of a temper growing up. When I was into carting, before I quit, I used to be known as Mad Max.”

“I used to do carting too!” Charles grinned, eyes lighting up at the fact that they had something in common. “I quit before I got to single seaters. My brother, Arthur, still races though so it’s nice to go watch him when I can.”

“So what do you do now then?” Max asked, placing both hands on the table, palm up.

“I’m an architect,” Charles answered, dragging his pointer finger across Max’s palm, tickling the skin there. His eyes were trained on Charles' finger, the barely there caress of his finger tips that left goosebumps on Max's arm, nefore Max sank into the way he just felt comfortable being around Charles.

“And you are living in Monaco as well?”

“As well?” Charles questioned, looking up at Max through his lashes before returning his attention to Max’s palm. “Your accent seems to say otherwise.”

“My parents divorced when I was young so I spit my time between Belgium and the Netherlands.” Max whispered, eyes focused on Charles’ finger drawing circles on his right palm. “I moved to Monaco five years ago when I became a nurse.”

“That’s hot,” Charles teased, laughing when Max’s face turned bright red again. “You struggle with taking compliments don’t you.”

“Maybe a little,” Max shrugged, stopping Charles’ roaming fingers and linking them together with his. “I’ll just have to get used to it.”

“If you’re better at giving them, feel free to give me compliments all the time.”

“I’ll have to test that theory out sometime.” Max laughed, lifting up their linked palms and pressing a tiny kiss to the back of Charles’ hand.

“It seems their date went well,” Charles whispered, nodding his head to where Oscar and Carlos were ending their date with a hug, "But I think we ran out of time."

“We should do this again,” Max rushed out, standing up quickly as the other boys started to ascend onto them.

“I would like that,” Charles smiled, pulling Max into a deep hug and holding it a bit longer than what he did for Pierre and Carlos. Not that Max was keeping track (that's a lie, he totally was). “I’m actually going to leave you now as it looks like my son would like to debrief our dates.”

“Yeah, of course.” Max stuttered, letting out a small “oof” as a weight was slammed into his back. Turning his head, Max rolled his eyes as he saw Kimi laughing behind him with Gabriel and Logan in tow.

“Thanks for the date Max!” Charles sang before looping his arms through Oscar’s and pulling him towards the bench swing away from the other boys. Watching him walk away, Max let out a shaky breath as deep in his chest, beneath his nerves and excitement, a small spark began to burn.

Chapter Text

Episode 7

[It’s the day after two bombshells rocked the villa with their first dates… and the boys are still trying to piece together what just happened.

Some are feeling confident. Others? Sweatin’ like they’ve just done ten rounds in the hideaway sauna.

With new connections forming and old ones cracking, tonight’s recoupling could bring love… heartbreak… or the most awkward recoupling we have seen so far.

One thing’s for sure: the boys better bring their A-game—because in this villa, nothing’s certain except drama... and gym sessions.]

Sneaking out of the front door, Max took a seat on the front steps before lacing up his trainers. The moment he woke up this morning, Max felt this jittery, nervous energy that he hasn’t felt since he made the decision to get on the plane to Spain. In an attempt to relax his mind, Max decided that he was going to try and go for a run around the villa. With there being too many objects in the way with the backyard, he figured that the front driveway might be his best bet. It took him a couple of minutes to sneak out of the bedroom before he reached the second obstacle of slipping past Charles and Oscar who were sleeping on the Murphy bed in the living room.

Taking a deep breath, Max did a quick scan for any producers before quickly starting his run. While Max wasn’t the biggest fitness enthusiast, he knew that he should probably keep up with some sort of routine if he plans to spend the rest of his summer sitting around shirtless. It was seriously like no one knew what a shirt was when the sun was out. 

Since coming to the villa, this was the first time that Max was truly alone. There were no producers coming in to add another twist, no roommates wanting to have a conversation every moment of the day, and best of all, no mic pack capturing every little word he utters. It was nice to just take a moment away and the only noise being his feet hitting the pavement. It was almost therapeutic in a way.

Completing his fifth loop of his made up circuit, Max came to a slow stop when he noticed one of the producers standing at the end of the driveway, arms crossed over her chest and a scowl on her face. 

“Well shit,” Max mumbled, wiping the sweat off his forehead with the bottom of his shirt and waiting for the scolding that he knew was coming his way. 

“Good morning Max,” The producer frowned, disappointment clear in her voice as she waved Max’s mic pack in the air. “Enjoy your run?”

“I was until this moment,” Max shrugged, accepting the mic pack and beginning the process of putting it on. “How much trouble am I in?”

“Oh so much,” The producer sighed, turning around and glancing at the cameramen who were in the process of setting up their equipment for today’s filming. “You do know that there are cameras almost everywhere in this villa? We saw you sneak off for a run as we were getting ready.”

“I was not aware of that, no.” Max answered slowly, eyes flickering past the prouder and narrowing when he noticed the cameras mounted next to the door. One was facing the front door as the other faced the driveway to capture the arrivals of all future bombshells. Damn it. “Is anywhere safe in this place?”

“Some angles of the shower are,” a cameraman shrugged, looking up from his lens and winking at Max, “We rather not capture everything that happens in there.”

“Don’t get any funny ideas,” the producer sang, crossing her arms over her chest before raising an eyebrow at Max, “I hope you know I’m going to have to punish you for this.”

“Huh?” 

“In about twenty minutes, you are going to go down to the gym area and you are going to use the outdoor shower to rinse off the sweat you worked up,” The producer explained, a sly smile growing on her face as she watched Max’s eyes widened in horror. “We’re talking about a full shirtless shower scene here Max.”

“Me? Wouldn’t you rather film Carlos or Lando?”

“Oh we have enough of those two.” The producer waved off, laughing when Max’s eyes widened in apprehension. “This is your punishment for sneaking off. We’ll come get you when we’re ready.”

“You cannot be serious.”

“People on the internet think you’re hot Max,” The producer laughed, enjoying the way Max suddenly wanted to be anywhere but there, “You need to enjoy it.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah. I’m going to grab a drink.” Max sighed, flipping the cameramen a middle finger when they started laughing at him and the small flush that was creeping onto the high points of his cheeks. 

“We love you Max!”

“You all suck!” Max sang, no malice in his voice as he made his way to the backyard of the villa. 

Max made a beeline for the kitchen and opened the fridge to grab one of the sport drinks in there. Slamming the door shut, Max gulped down a third of the bottle before spinning around and choking when he noticed Oscar watching him, a glimmer of laughter in his eyes but otherwise quite composed.

“Good morning.”

“Good morning,” Max whispered, wiping off his mouth with the bottom of his shirt before fully facing the other boy with a weak smile. “How did you sleep?”

“Charles is a blanket hog,” Oscar shrugged, taking a small sip of his coffee as his eyes scanned Max over. “In case you were wondering.”

“Um thanks, I think?” Max stuttered, feeling his cheeks flush at the implication Oscar was making. 

“You left quite an impression on our friend.”

“I could say the same about you,” Max countered, leaning against the counter behind him and taking another sip of his sports drink. “Some may say that our Logan was quite smitten.”

“Oh,” Oscar blushed, the first real reaction that Max has seen from the Australian since he came into the villa the night before. “That’s nice to hear.”

“But you didn’t hear it from me,” Max warned, pointing his drink bottle at Oscar and laughing when Oscar nodded. 

“And would you say that you were quite smitten with my friend?”

Max was about to answer Oscar but was saved when Charles walked over, causing Max to lose any train of thought that he had. How does he look this good first thing in the morning?

“Good morning gentlemen,” He grinned, sitting next to Oscar and smiling up at Max. “What are we talking about?”

“Max was about to tell me all about how he helped Logan make his starter last night,” Oscar grinned, winking at him over the edge of his mug.

“Did you really?” Charles asked, excitement in his voice as he heard this news for the first time.

“Oh god,” Max laughed, covering his face with his hands before admitting, “I may have helped a little.”

“Master chef Max,” Charles grinned, leaning forward to get closer to Max. “Could you make me breakfast this morning since you’re so skilled?”

Before the conversation could continue, a producer walked out of the house, hands covering the sun from her eyes as she scanned the backyard. When her eyes landed on Max, she let out a large grin as she pointed to her watch before pointing to the gym area. 

“Fuck,” Max mumbled, placing his drink down and pushing off the counter.

“What is happening?” Charles asked, looking at Max before glancing back at the producer who has now started whistling at them

“I kinda got in trouble this morning,” Max admitted, rubbing the back of his neck as he felt his cheeks warm thinking of what he had to do next. “So I’m going to need a rain date for that breakfast.”

“What did you do?” Oscar asked, eyes bright as Charles wrapped his arm around his shoulders.

“Max!”

“I have to go,” Max sighed, starting the process of taking off his mic pack. Once everything was in his hands, Max started his walk to the gym, shooting the producer a death stare upon passing her on his way to the gym. Grabbing his shirt by the back collar, Max ripped it off and placed his belongings on the workout bench nearby. He reached forward, adjusting the water for the outdoor shower before shooting one last look at the cameraman nearby.

“Do I really have to do this?”

“Yes!” The producer screamed, hands cupping her mouth as her voice carried across the yard from where she was now standing near Oscar and Charles.

Taking a deep breath, Max stepped under the spray of water and reached for the shampoo that was left out there. Proceeding with the shower routine, Max tried to ignore the camera that he knew was there and looked down as he grabbed some of the body wash next. He opened one eye quickly to peer towards the kitchen where Oscar’s and Charles’ jaws were on the floor. Rinsing off as quickly as possible, Max opened both eyes fully to shut off the water and grab the towel that one of the producers left for him. He took his time drying off, running the towel through his hair before lowering the cloth to rub it against his chest. Feeling like he was being watched, Max looked up right in time to see Charles blush and look away quickly after being caught.

“You’re welcome,” The camera man whispered, nodding to where Charles and Oscar were huddled in the kitchen. Max swallowed hard, mumbling something about getting dressed before he would embarrass himself anymore. Heading towards the sliding doors, Max looked back one more time to see Oscar laughing at Charles who was resting his forehead on the counter in what appears to be defeat. Maybe that shower wasn’t the worst thing in the world afterall.

💕🌴🔥💋📱🕶️💔

“I heard you gave quite the show this morning,” Lando sang later that afternoon, joining Max on the day beds with a flop.

“It wasn’t intentional,” Max hissed, pushing his sunglasses up the bridge of his nose so as to not give away that his attention was currently focused on Charles and Pierre talking by the pool.

“A little bird told me that a certain green-eyed beauty was entranced.”

“Really?” Max asked softly, turning his attention back to Lando who was heavily nodding.

“Would I lie to you?”

“You have been known to keep information from me.”

“But never lie!” Lando protested, smacking Max with a pillow before shifting closer to Max when Carlos joined them. 

Carlos rested his hand on Lando’s knee before leaning over to view Max a bit better, “Rumor has it you had the boys flustered this morning.”

“Kill me now…” Max groaned, throwing himself back against the pillows as the couple next to him erupted in giggles.

“But seriously,” Lando whispered, eyes flickering around to see who was nearby and could overhear them, “Pierre has been in a mood since finding out.” 

“I talked to Esteban last night and he seems pretty confident in their pairing.” Carlos admitted, closing his eyes and relaxing into Lando’s hold.

“Pierre was having doubts about Esteban since before the last recoupling,” Max admitted, eyebrows raising as Pierre leaned forward to place his hand on Charles’ knee. It made Max feel icky watching their conversation but like a car crash, he couldn’t look away.

“Pierre, the game player…” Lando cackled, shoulders shaking as Carlos slapped him and told him to sit still. “Who knew?”

“Not Esteban.” Carlos answered, letting out a small groan as the familiar text tone filled the air. Max sat up straighter, peering out into the yard as Gabriel jumped up from his bean bag chair. Oscar was the only one who appeared to be confused, openly admitting to everyone last night that he had never even heard of Love Island before his sisters signed him up for the show. Which Max greatly appreciated because it meant that he wasn’t alone in his lack of Love Island lore and the fact that apparently, sisters love to watch their brothers embarrass themselves on reality tv dating shows.

“I got a text!” Gabriel screamed, taking off his sunglasses and squinting his eyes as he read off the message, “There will be a recoupling tonight. The power is in your hands. #Choose wisely. #HeartOnTheLine”

💕🌴🔥💋📱🕶️💔

“This is nerve wracking, no?” Charles whispered, standing next to Max in the lineup as, for the first time this season, everyone stood in a straight line.

“Last time we did this, some of us were sitting at the firepit.” Max whispered back, listening to the producers explain that with this recoupling, everyone was fair game. They instructed everyone to wait for their phones to chime as they would indicate what the picking order will be. 

“I promise you all that we randomly generated the order for tonight,” The producer explained, making sure to make eye contact with everyone in the lineup. “And if it makes anyone feel better, since we have an even amount of islanders, no one will be going home tonight.”

Kimi let out a deep breath from the other side of Max, making a quick sign of the cross as he closed his eyes and said a small word of thanks.

“Good luck everyone!” The producer waved, walking out of frame and standing next to the camera man as everyone waited for the first text chime to go off.

Grinning widely, Logan looked up from his phone and walked across the deck to stand at the fire pit facing the rest of the boys. With a deep breath, Logan rolled up the sleeves of his button down and started his speech: “I want to couple up with this islander because before he got here, I wasn’t sure I was going to find anyone for me. I went from a partnership with a boy who just liked the attention to being in a couple with someone I consider a great friend. This boy was the first one that made me think that this experiment could actually work. So the boy I would like to couple up with is… Oscar.”

Max started cheering immediately, super proud of Logan as he pulled Oscar into a deep hug and sat down with his arm around his shoulder.

“He was Oscar’s number one,” Charles whispered to Max, smiling softly at the duo who couldn’t keep their grins off their faces.

Alex jumped out of the line next, walking over to the fire pit and turning his attention to George. “I want to couple up with this boy because he has been my partner since day 1. Despite how stiff he may appear, he is kind and funny and is excellent at late night cuddles. I feel pretty lucky to start my journey with him and hope I can continue on my journey with him for as long as possible. So the boy I would like to couple up with is… George.”

As Carlos was called next, Max’s heart started beating in overdrive as he looked around to see who was left. There was of course Lando but it would only be a matter of moments before Carlos finished his speech and picked him. All the way to the left stood Esteban, looking cool as a cucumber and not at all phased at the possible outcome of this recoupling. Between Charles and Esteban stood Gabriel, who looked genuinely happy for Logan and seems to have accepted that he will probably end up in another friendship couple. 

At the end of the line was Pierre who was chewing anxiously on his bottom lip, and bouncing on the heels of his feet. Kimi on the right of Max, eyes cast downward as he played with the bracelets on his wrist. And of course there was Charles, who Max was desperately hoping would pick him if his name was called or would accept Max’s coupling if Max was lucky enough to be called next. Deep in his gut, Max knew that if Pierre was called before him, he would lose out on getting to be coupled up with Charles. Despite what Esteban thought, Max couldn’t help the sinking feeling in his chest as Lando walked across the deck to sit next to Carlos.

Closing his eyes, time stood still as Max waited, hoped, for his phone to go off next. But unfortunately for Max, fate just seemed to not be on his side in this villa. Max opened his eyes slowly to watch Pierre take his place at the fire pit. It was like Max was drowning in water after that. His heart was beating in his ears so loud that he couldn’t hear a word of Pierre’s speech. He knew exactly how his speech was going to go and honestly, it wasn't worth it for Max to listen to it. He jumped lightly when he felt a small hand link with his beore smiling softly when Max recognized Kimi’s bracelets and gave it a quick squeeze as the roaring calmed down. Sweet kid.

“So the boy that I would like to couple up with is… Charles.”

Chapter Text

Episdoe 8

Charles took a step forward, pulling Max into a hug and holding there for a moment. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay,” Max whispered back, biting his tongue as he thought about asking Charles to say no to Pierre’s coupling. Just a simple, pick me instead! Could he even do that though? Glancing at Pierre over Charles’ shoulder, Max gave a deadpan stare before looking away quickly and encouraging Charles to join the others. He turned his attention to the producers to see their reactions, most of them kept a bored face while one of the interns eyes were quickly flashing from Pierre to Charles to Max and back. At least he wasn’t the only one disappointed in the outcome. 

Taking a step back, Charles lifted the corner of his lips in a weak smile before turning around and walking towards Pierre. Max watched as Charles pressed a small kiss on Pierre’s cheek, a small smile forming on his lips before he sat down next to Oscar. Pierre sat down next to him, wrapping his arm around Charles’ shoulders and avoided looking up so he didn’t have to watch as Esteban was the next boy to make his choice. What a dick.

If Max felt like shit, Esteban looked even worse. His eyes were red rimmed and there were lingering traces of tears on his cheeks as he took slow steps to the fire pit. He stood on the assigned spot, hands hastily wiping away his tears before looking up at the remaining boys. Esteban tried to fill his lungs with air but when he released that air, all that came out was a shaky breath. It was heartbreaking to watch.

“I’m going to be honest here and say that I wasn’t prepared for this,” Esteban started, laughing brokenly as he wiped away another stray tear. “I mean I had this whole speech ready with what I was going to say but I guess I was just delusional.”

“Oh Estie,” Kimi murmured, wiping away a tear as everyone watched a man try to hold himself together the best he could. It was awful, it was awkward, and it felt like this moment should have been private.

“I would like to couple up with this boy because I think he was fucked over as much as I was,” Esteban started, the islanders behind him dropping their jaws as they realised where his speech was going. “This boy is honest, sometimes honest to a fault, but honest none the less. He has been dealt the same shitty hand of cards as I was and deserves to be in a couple with someone who cares for him. I’m sorry that I cannot be that person but I promise that I will do my best to be the best wingman possible. So the boy that I would like to couple up with is… Max.”

Max looked up in shock, eyebrows raised as he took in Esteban’s sniffles, George’s dropped jaw, Charles’ blush, and Lando’s small smile. What a night of surprises, am I right?

He jogged over to Esteban, pulling him into a hug as the man started to tear up again, the cracks in his armor once again beginning to show. “It’s okay, you did great,” Max whispered, pulling back to smile softly at his new partner. “Are you okay to continue?”

“Can we sit over there?” Esteban mumbled, nodding his head to the side of the firepit that was farthest away from Pierre and Charles. 

“Yeah, we can.” Max said gently, guiding Esteban over to the other side and encouraging him to sit down next to Alex. Alex pulled Esteban into a deep hug, whispering kind words into his hair as he buried his head into Alex’s shoulder.

Kimi walked over to the firepit last, brushing his hair back as he started the final speech of the night: “I would like to couple up with this boy because he’s one of my best friends in the villa and he deserves the whole word. I don’t really have a long speech planned and there is no way I’m going to outdo Esteban’s so I’m just going to say that the boy I would like to couple up with is Gabi.”

Gabi walked over to Kimi and joined him into their secret handshake that they spent the entire day creating. As soon as Gabriel and Kimi sat down, Max could feel the tension grow exponentially. It was clear that everyone was afraid to make a move in case any sudden moment would set off Esteban or Pierre. 

In the end it was Esteban who moved first. Standing up sharply, Esteban silently moved across the yard and stormed into the villa. Everyone remained sitting for a moment, the only sound filling the yard was the small crackles of fire and the murmurs of producers as they tried to guess what would happen next. Pierre moved to follow Esteban, face full of dread, but Alex shot him down with a sharp glare.

“You stay there,” Alex snapped, shocking everyone around the fire pit. He was usually the calm, level-headed one of the group but it became clear in this moment, that Alex would do anything for his friends. Standing up, Alex dusted off his pants before turning to George and Max. “I’m going to go find him.”

“Sounds good love,” George nodded, reaching out to squeeze Alex’s arm, as Max nodded his head at Alex. He silently thanked Alex for looking after his new partner before everyone watched him follow Esteban’s path inside.

“Guys I…” Pierre started, desperately looking around at the boys who have been there with him since the first day. Charles remained frozen next to him, eyes casted down and his partner tried to defend his decision. It was clear to everyone how uncomfortable Charles was at this moment, no one having to deal with this kind of fallout for a recoupling before.

“Pierre, do us a favor and don’t say anything right now,” Gabriel interrupted sharply, crossing his arms with a frown. 

Letting out a deep sigh, Max stood up and left the group to make his way to the kitchen. The tension was starting to become suffocating and he needed a minute to process his own disappointing recoupling. Grabbing the electric kettle that George was so kind to point  out yesterday, Max started the process of making himself a cup of tea. While he wasn’t necessarily the biggest tea drinker, Max just needed to do something with his hands to avoid screaming into the void. Leaning down and resting his head against the counter, Max took a deep breath, counted to ten, then blew out the air in his lungs. He did this a few times before the kettle beeped. Pouring the hot water over the green tea that he found, Max’s stomach sank as he heard someone walk up.

“Can we talk?”

Looking up, Max frowned when he saw Pierre standing there. Letting out a sour laugh, Max brought the tea to his lips and blew cool air across the top. Fat chance.

“Please,” Pierre whispered, turning back to see the entire villa staring at the two of them. “I can’t talk to Esteban so let me at least explain myself to you, please.” Avoiding Pierre’s eyes, Max stared past him at the remaining islanders around the fire pit. Kimi, Gabi, and Logan were whispering with George, eyes flickering from the villa to Max and back. Oscar was kneeling in front of Charles, hands on the other’s knees as he whispered words of what Max could only assume were comfort. Lando and Carlos, those two had no shame and were staring directly at Max and Pierre, as if waiting for one to snap at the other. 

Rolling his eyes at deciding to be the bigger person, Max started walking to the bench swing, knowing that Pierre would get the message and follow him. Taking a seat, Max tapped his fingers against the mug to fill the small silence that rested there as Pierre tried to figure out how to start.

“I fucked up.”

“Yeah you did,” Max snorted, taking a sip of his tea and side-eying Pierre. “How could you not give Esteban a heads up before we were all standing there?”

“I didn’t know how,” Pierre mumbled, twisting the ring around his index finger to have something to do. Yeah right.

“I’m sorry but I have to call bullshit on that. You told me days ago that you were unsure about Esteban,” Max sighed, tired of the half truths he was hearing from Pierre. “You knew for days you were unsure and you led him on.”

“It’s not easy to tell someone you don’t share the same feelings as them. We’re not all you,” Pierre snapped, his eyes getting stormy as he started to get upset.

“No one ever said it was easy! But it’s the right thing to do!”

“Well I’m sorry!”

“I’m not the one who needs your apology mate,” Max snapped, eyes flickering to the terrace where he can make out the tops of Esteban’s and Alex’s heads. “I knew that if you were called before me, then you were going to pick Charles. I knew Pierre, I had time to prepare. Esteban didn’t.” He wasn’t even that close with Esteban but what Pierre did to him was shitty, terribly and horribly shitty.

An awkward silence took over the small space as the two boys who were once close had to deal with the fallout of what just occurred. Standing up, Max placed his hand on Pierre’s shoulder and took a deep breath. “If I can offer any last piece of advice, don’t seek him out tonight. Let him process and try to talk to him tomorrow. I don’t know if he’ll let you, but you can at least try.”

“Okay,” Pierre whispered, throwing his head in his hands and taking a shaky breath. Giving Pierre one last squeeze with his hand, Max started to make his way inside when Pierre called out his name one last time. Standing still, he refused to turn around as Pierre got the last word in: “Max, I am sorry about what happened. I just think that Charles and I could be something great.”

With a bitter laugh and a shake of his head, Max walked away from the conversation before he said something that he would regret. Pushing open the glass door, Max paused when he saw Esteban and Charles hugging in front of the sectional sofa.

“Thank you Charles,” Esteban whispered, pulling back with a weak smile. “I don’t blame you for this at all.”

“I still feel like this is all my fault,” Charles mumbled, turning his head and jumping when he saw Max standing there. “Oh.”

“How are you doing Esteban?” Max asked, eyes taking in the extra blankets and pillows that Esteban must have brought down from the bedroom. With there now being six couples instead of the original five, one couple would have to sleep downstairs on the pull out bed that was available. 

“If I’m being honest, not great,” Esteban shrugged, fluffing a pillow before taking a seat on what Max assumed would be his bed tonight. Not only were they shit on at the recoupling but now they were kicked out of the bedroom? Tonight just sucks.

“I didn’t realise we were picked to sleep downstairs.”

“If you don’t mind, I would rather sleep down here.” Esteban admitted, smiling softly at Max and sliding into his makeshift bed for the night. “The producers said they were willing to kick out Kimi and Gabi since they were the last assigned couple but I really don’t want to sleep in the same room as Pierre tonight.”

“Understandable.” Max nodded, rubbing the back of his neck as he stole a quick glance at Charles once more.

“I can sleep on the couch if you don’t want to share the pull out bed.”

“That’s really nice of you Max,” Esteban admitted, eyes flickering to Max and Charles before pulling the covers up to his shoulders, “I think the two of you should have a quick chat tonight.” 

“Would that be okay?” Charles asked, biting his lip in anticipation of what Max might say.

“Of course Charlie,” Max whispered, grabbing his hand and leading him to the terrace where they could talk in private. Opening the glass door, Max allowed Charles to step out first before he followed right behind. 

“Are you mad at me?” Charles mumbled out timidly, sitting down on the bench and staring up at Max with glassy eyes. His green eyes seemed brighter against the red tint that was forming around them, emotions clear on his face that he was upset about how tonight went down. Who could blame him? Max was still not over what happened.

“Of course not,” Max rushed out, sitting down across from Charles and grabbing his hands in his. “Of course not.”

“I feel like this is all my fault.”

“How the fuck is this your fault? Did you pick Pierre? Were you the cause of Esteban being blindsided?” Max questioned, releasing one of Charles’ hands to wipe a stray tear off his cheek, thumb collecting a tear and wiping it into the hair that was curling around his ears.  “I promise you, no one is blaming you for any of this. Okay?”

“Okay,” Charles nodded, a small smile forming on his lips before resting his forehead against Max’s shoulder. “Can I ask you something else?”

“Depends on what it is,” Max teased gently, resting his cheek on the top of Charles’ head as he heard Charles take a deep breath. I could stay here forever.

“Would you be upset if I tried to see if this thing between Pierre and I is worth anything?”

And suddenly I want to leave and never look back.

“Oh,” Max swallowed, sitting up sharply and slowly releasing Charles’ hands. “Do you think you could see yourself in a relationship with him?”

“I don’t know,” Charles shrugged, biting at his nail as his nerves started to kick in. “But I feel like I owe it to him to try.”

“Do you have feelings for him?”

“Yes,” Charles whispered, reaching out to Max who stood up and backed away at the admission. And suddenly I need to be anywhere but here. “But I also have feelings for you!”

“Charles, I don’t know if I can be on the sidelines waiting to see if you and Pierre work out.” Max admitted with a soft voice, hands clenching into a fist as his threshold of bad news for the day was starting to wear thin. “That’s not fair to me.”

Charles stood up slowly, brushing back his hair as he spoke to Max caoutiously: “I’ve only been here for two days Max and it’s not fair to expect me to just close myself off this early.”

“I know that Charles but isn’t that what you’re doing by focusing strictly on Pierre? What do you expect me to do?” 

“I don’t expect you to change anything Max!” Charles fought back, looking at Max with wide eyes that had a few tears trapped in the corners. “And I’m not trying to just focus on Pierre. I just want to be honest and tell you that I think I have feelings for you both and that I’m still trying to figure it out. Can you please understand that?”

Taking a deep breath, Max pulled Charles into a tight hug and placed a gentle kiss on his crown. “I can understand it, but I don’t have to like it.”

“That’s all I ask.”

“Okay,” Max mumbled, stepping back once more to create some distance between him and Charles. “I think I’m gonna sleep on the day bed tonight.”

“Don’t do that, you can sleep on the couch inside.”

“I honestly don’t think I can.”

“Max…”

“I need tonight to be upset and to wallow.”

“Okay,” Charles whispered, nodding his head in defeat as he watched Max walk past him to leave the terrace. It hurt too much to stand there and listen to Charles pick Pierre over him, even if Charles insists that he’s not trying to do that. 

“I’ll see you tomorrow, yeah?” Max smiled, the grin not quite reaching his eyes as he tried to show Charles that he was fine when in fact, he wasn’t. Searching Max’s eyes for the truth, Charles nodded his head in agreement when he realised that Max was currently hiding behind a mask to save himself. “Goodnight Charlie.”

Before Charles could wish Max a goodnight, he left the terrace and entered the bedroom to everyone’s eyes on him. George and Alex were tucked in the bed, pausing their conversation to turn their attention to Max. Kimi and Gabi were at the far bed, sitting up and waving Max over for a quick chat if needed. Max gave everyone a quick thumbs up, tired of talking for the night, before he made his way downstairs.

Max headed towards the sliding doors, sneaking past Esteban who was lying in the Murphy bed. His eyes were closed but Max knew that he wasn’t asleep, at least not yet. He made his way to the daybeds, pulling back the covers, before sliding in and covering his face with his hands. 

[Well… no one left the villa tonight but that doesn’t mean hearts didn’t break.

One Islander thought they were in a stable relationship… until they weren’t. And just like that, the person they were falling for… stood in front of them, choosing someone else.

No warning. No chance to fight. Just a smile… and a twist they’ll be feeling for days.

The recoupling is over… but the fallout has only just begun.]

Chapter Text

Episode 9

[Last night… the villa was rocked to its core.

Loyalty was tested, hearts were broken, and the boys? Well… let’s just say not everyone made it out unscathed.

One recoupling, countless regrets… and a shock decision that’s got the whole villa whispering.

Now, with the dust barely settled and tensions simmering like a poolside fry-up…

Will the boys bounce back, or is the fallout just beginning?

It’s a brand-new day in paradise… but nothing feels the same.]

Pulling a pillow over his head, Max let out a loud groan when he realized that the sun was now way too bright for him to try and go back to sleep. He had the worst sleep of his time at this villa so far and was actually looking forward to relaxing a bit more. Throwing the pillow to the side, Max slowly sat up in the daybed and paused. Deep down, he knew that it would only be a matter of time before the backyard would begin to fill up with the other islanders and Max wasn’t sure if he was ready for what the day would bring. Pulling his knees to his chest, Max watched as the glass doors to the villa slid open to reveal Carlos exiting the living room. Locking eyes with Max, Carlos headed towards the daybeds and sat down in the daybed right next to him.

“Did you sleep here last night?”

“Hmmm,” Max nodded, letting the sheets pool around his waist as he rested his head on his knees. “I had one too many weird conversations last night and  wanted one night away from that situation.”

“How are you doing after last night's recoupling?” Carlos asked, twisting in his seat to face Max directly.

“I’m not sure,” Max admitted, stomach feeling queasy as he thought about seeing Charles this morning. I feel like shit but I’m going to put on a brave face just like I always do.

“You’ve been dealt a shit deck mate.”

“Tell me about it,” Max mumbled, smiling softly when Carlos ruffled his hair. “I’ll be okay though.”

“You always are.”

Standing up, Max stretched his arms over his head and let out a loud groan. “I’m gonna head in and take a shower. I feel disgusting after sleeping outside.”

“I’ll make you a coffee,” Carlos laughed, shooting Max a wink when Max walked past him to head inside with a small wave.

Slowly sliding open the glass door, Max tiptoed into the living room when he noticed that Esteban was still passed out on the pullout bed. He silently made his way up the stairs to the bedroom to grab a change of clothes. Keeping his head down, Max tiptoed his way to the far side of the room and dug around for a new bathing suit and a pair of sunglasses that he could put on once he was done with his shower. Grabbing what he wanted, Max turned around before his heart sank to his stomach. There, in the center bed, were Pierre and Charles cuddled up close together. Pierre was currently spooning Charles and Charles had his arm wrapped around Pierre’s that was on his waist. Frozen in place, Max stood there for way too long. Shaking his head, Max sprinted out of the room in an act of self preservation and slid into the bathroom. Turning on the shower and giving that a moment to warm up, Max rested his hands on the edge of the sink and took a few deep breaths. 

“You can do this,” Max whispered, looking up at his reflection in the mirror and taking another deep breath. Even as Max was trying to calm himself down, there was a little nagging voice in his head telling him that this would not be the only event today that would be testing his sanity.

💕🌴🔥💋📱🕶️💔

 “I have decided that I will no longer speak to Pierre ever again,” Kimi stated, flopping down in a bean bag and joining Max, Oscar, and Logan’s circle. “He is on my list.”

“Your list?” Logan laughed, taking a sip of his water and rolling his eyes when Kimi motioned taking out a list and writing Pierre’s name in the air.

“My shit list.”

“Oh wow,” Oscar said, looking at Max and Logan to confirm that this was a normal Kimi interaction. Upon Max’s nod in agreement, Oscar smiled softly at the younger boy. “I’m glad I’m not on it.”

“There is still time.” Kimi shrugged, staring behind Max before his eyes narrowed into a hard glare. “Charles is almost on it.”

“Kimi…” Max warned, giving Kimi a look over the top of his sunglasses.

“I’m just saying that if he thinks Pierre is better than you then he is blind! You are very attractive Max, do not forget that.”

“I’ve heard that somewhere before,” Oscar teased, voice low and eyebrow raised as the faint blush that began to spread across Max’s cheeks.

“I’m going to grab another water. Does anyone need anything while I’m up?” Max asked, quickly changing the subject away from himself. He stood up slowly, looking down at the three boys, before noticing that their eyes were quickly darting towards the bench swing behind him and back. “What?”

“Max, I think you and I should jump in the pool,” Kimi squeaked, jumping up and pulling Max towards the water.

“I’ll just grab a water real quick and then I will join you,” Max said slowly, eyebrows furrowing as Kimi gripped his arm tightly.

“The pool sounds great!” Logan enthused, running over and standing next to Kimi.

“I’ll literally be right back…”

“Now Max!”

“What is going on?” Max asked sharply, eyes flickering between Kimi and Logan as the two refused to make eye contact with him. “Just tell me.”

“Charles and Pierre are making out behind us.” Oscar sighed from the bean bag chair, taking off his sunglasses to look directly at Max. “These two idiots are trying to save you but you deserve to know.”

“Oh…” Max breathed, sitting back down next to Oscar and facing the pool where Kimi and Logan at least have the decency to look guilty. “Thanks Oscar.”

“I would want to know if it was me,” Oscar whispered, handing Max his water and offering to share. “You may want to wait a minute.”

“Thank you,” Max whispered back, accepting the bottle and taking a long sip as Logan and Kimi came back, acceptance clear that their plan was shit.

“I know it seems like Charles is all in on Pierre, but he’s not,” Oscar admitted, accepting his water bottle back from Max. “Charles thinks he needs to make an effort with Pierre first because they’re coupled up. If you asked my opinion, I told him that he should see if there is anything with you first.”

“Well if you ask me, I think Charles should tell Pierre…” But whatever Kimi was about to say was interrupted by Logan’s phone going off next to them. 

“Perfect timing,” Logan murmured, cleaning his throat and yelling out: “I got a text!”

“Oh here we go,” Oscar sighed, reading the message over Logan’s shoulder and shooting Max an exasperated look.

“Islanders, pucker up! It’s time to put your lips to the test in today’s Kissing Contest! Each Islander will take a turn locking lips with the other boys, and the kisses will be rated out of 10. The boy with the highest scores will be crowned Top Snogger of the villa! #TongueTied #SnoggingSecrets”

💕🌴🔥💋📱🕶️💔

Esteban stood in a circle of producers, arms crossed as he voice rose each time someone tried to convince him to change his mind. “I’m not playing.”

“Esteban is not going to back down,” George sighed, standing next to Max as the rest of the villa waited in one straight line for the last twenty minutes. All the way at the end near Kimi stood a board with everyone’s name on it and a grid where someone will be writing down the ranking of each kiss.

“I can’t really blame him,” Max murmured back, casting his eyes down the end of the line to see Pierre standing next to Lando and joking around.

“I don’t think he can handle people ranking his kissing skills right now.”

“I don’t think he can handle having to kiss Pierre or even Charles,” Max said, playing with the straps of the blindfold in his hand. He took a moment to think before calling out a suggestion to the producers, “What if Esteban is in charge of the board and like runs the competition?”

One producer stopped talking, smile widening at the idea and gently placed her hand on Esteban’s arm. “Would you be okay with Max’s suggestion?”

“That is the only way I will participate, yes,” Esteban nodded after several moments, standing his ground and waiting for the other two producers for further instructions.

“We will do that then.” They agreed, handing Esteban the marker and asking him to stand next to the board. “Okay, this is what will happen. We will tap you on the shoulder when it's your turn and you will take off your blindfold before starting at the end closest to Esteban. You will go down the line kissing each boy one at a time and then at the end of the round, everyone will be called on by Esteban to reveal their ranking. One for the worst and ten for the best. At the end, we will add up all the rankings and Esteban will reveal the Top Snogger.”

“Here we go,” Oscar groaned from Max’s right, causing Max to let out a small chuckle as everyone played their eye masks on properly.

Waiting patiently, Max started to list the different bones in the human skeletal system, starting with the feet. Phalanges. Metatarsal. Medial Cuneiform. Intermediate Cuneiform. Lateral Cuneiform.

“Bachelor #1 you may start!”

Tarsometatarsal Joint.Cuboid. Navicular Bone. Transverse Tarsal Joint.Talus.

Max stopped reciting as he felt a hand touch the side of his neck. He held his breath as this person leaned in and placed the gentlest kiss on the corner of his mouth. Frowning, Max felt the first boy leave and move down the line to the next person in line. By process of elimination he knew it wasn’t Lando (who is a few inches shorter than him and Max would like to think he would be able to tell) and it wasn’t Alex or George who were a bit taller than him. Maybe Logan? Oscar? It’s honestly hard to tell based on that tiny kiss.

Feeling a tap on his back, Max tuned back in as Esteban asked: “How would you rate Bachelor #1?”

“Maybe a 5?” Max shrugged, scratching his arm while hearing some boys whispering in the distance. “It felt kinda timid?”

And so the kissing contest went. Max stood blind folded as boy after boy tried to show off their kissing skills. There was Bachelor #2 who used way too much tongue for Max’s liking, Bachelor #3 who did the quickest kiss and run (making Bachelor #1 look good), Bachelor #4 was pretty good and earned a solid 8, and then there was Bachelor #5 who Max identified right away as Kimi who ended up breaking out into laughter halfway through the kiss.

Bachelor #6 though was interesting. Max felt his presence in front of him for several moments before the boy finally reached out and placed his hand on Max’s cheek. He felt a finger brush against his upper lip, no doubt in Max’s mind that the other islander was staring at the freckle that he knew was there. Max heard a deep breath pass before the boy finally pressed his lips to Max’s. It started slow, as all good kisses do, a little bite at the corner of his lip, the small flick of a tongue every now and then. It was good, it was great, and then it got better. It was like a switch was flippeded and all the sudden the kiss opened up.The hand that was one his cheek migrated to the back of his head and latched onto his head, causing Max to swallow down a small moan that threatened to slip out.

“Oh my God,” Esteban whispered, loud enough that whoever was kissing Max took an abrupt step back. 

“Holy shit,” Max whispered, touching his lips as Esteban encouraged the other boy to move on down the line. After what felt like forever, Max was asked to rank the kiss and there was no doubt of what number he would be awarding.

“10 out of 10.”

After that, all the kisses felt the same and felt like nothing at all at the same time. Nothing could compare to Bachelor #6 and Max felt like he knew who it could be but didn’t want to get his hopes up. Feeling a tap on his back, Max took off his blindfold and walked over to Esteban who was successfully blocking the board so he couldn’t see who had already gone.

“Are you ready Bachelor #10?”

Giving a small nod, Max walked over to Kimi who was the closest and pressed a small kiss on his lips before moving down the line. He decided to try a little bit more when he kissed George, Alex, Carlos, Lando, and Oscar. When Max stood in front of Pierre, he thought about just pushing past and skipping him but he knew he should play the game, just a little bit. And so Max leaned forward, rolling his eyes as he placed a short, lip biting kiss on Pierre’s lips and moved down the line to the next person. It felt too weird to try giving a more passionate kiss with Gabriel and Logan so he pressed a tiny kiss instead, just like he did with KImi. 

And then finally there was Charles. Max took a moment to collect himself before reaching out cradling Charles’ face in his hands. He brushed his thumbs across Charles’ cheekbones, tracing the skin there, before leaning in and placing a slow, sweet, and relatively closed mouth kiss across his lips. He wasn’t sure where he wanted to take the kiss but before Max could decide, Charles reached forward and grabbed onto him blindly. That spark that Max was looking for, it was there and it was burning quickly. Knowing that their time was almost up, Max pulled back slowly with a small sigh before leaning back in and pressing two tiny kisses on Charles’ cupid bow. Deciding that the kiss was done, Max made the slow walk back to Esteban and stood next to him to wait for his ranking. 

Esteban shot Max a little smirk, shaking his head as he asked the boys what score they would give Bachelor #10. Max earned a 3 from Kimi, Logan, and Gabriel (which fair, he didn’t really want a high score from anyone casually calling him dad), a 4 from Pierre (also fine from enemy #1 at the moment), a 6 from George and Carlos (a happy surprise), a 7 from Alex and Lando (good for the ego there, he will admit), and an 8 from Oscar (kinda awkward but also deeply flattering). Charles was the last to go and Max never felt so nervous. Realistically he knew this shouldn’t matter because they weren’t even coupled up but deep down, it did matter how Charles ranked him as a kisser. 

“I’d give Bachelor #10 a 10,” Charles called out, his fingers playing with his bracelet as he smiled softly to the ground. “I have no notes.”

In that moment, the grin that spread across Max’s face was unstoppable. Esteban shook his head at Max’s reaction and gently pushed him back towards his spot to play out the last two rounds. But at the moment, Max wasn’t bothered about the last two islanders. Charles ranked him a 10! Even if Charles also ranked Pierre a 10 and was more focused on their relationship for the time being, it let Max know that there was still something simmering underneath the surface between Charles and himself. 

“Okay everyone, let’s take off those blindfolds and read out the scores.”

Taking a deep breath, Max slowly took off the eyemask and squinted his eyes to read the board straight ahead. He scanned the board until he reached the sixth bachelor (who had given a 10 out of 10) and grinned when his thoughts were confirmed. There, next to the tiny little lettering of Bachelor #6, was a picture of Charles. If he looked down the column, his stomach did a small twist as he noticed that Pierre also gave Charles a 10.

“So before I announce the top three snoggers, I would like to give a round of applause to Carlos, Lando, Charles, Max, and Oscar who were the only islanders to earn a 10 out of 10 today.”

The other islanders clapped (George did so with a small scowl on his face) as Esteban was given a cue card with the top three highest scores.

“In 3rd place is Bachelor #7… Oscar!”  Max turned to the boy standing next to him, nudging his shoulder gently as Oscar blushed and covered his face with his hands.

“In 2nd place is Bachelor #2… Carlos!” Carlos came off the line to take a bow as Lando catcalled and cheered his partner on.

“And the winner and Top Snogger of Love Island 2025 is Bachelor #4…Lando!”

“Yes!” Lando screamed, falling to his knees and raising his hands in the air. “I am victorious!”

Esteban laughed loudly at Lando’s antics before a producer handed him another cue card. Clearing his throat, Esteban let out a small giggle before reading out loud: “Lando, as a reward for being named Top Snogger, you and one lucky islander will get to spend the night in the hideaway together. #KissKing #MouthtoMouthMaster”

“Carlos get out your nice underwear, we are going to have some alone time tonight,” Lando sang, throwing himself at Carlos and pulling him into a deep kiss.

“I need to brush my teeth,” Oscar muttered, pushing past the duo and heading into the house now that the challenge was complete. Alex followed after him, complaining about how they were never going to hear the end of how everyone voted him the best kisser.from Lando.

It crossed Max’s mind that maybe now would be a good time to try and talk to Charles about the challenge and to see him where his head is at. Before Max could even take a step towards him however, Pierre quickly grabbed Charles’ hand and pulled him in the direction of the day beds.

“Someone is possessive.” Logan muttered, placing a hand on Max’s back and directing him towards the villa. “You do not want to get into the middle of that today.”

“Maybe you’re right,” Max shrugged, accepting the friendly advice. As Logan started talking about how he knew that Kimi was Bachelor #5 straight away, Max turned his head one last time to catch a glimpse of Charles. He was sitting a breath away from Pierre and nodding his head as Pierre rapidly spoke in French. Every now and then, Charles would look out into the yard, almost like he was searching for something or someone. 

Max kept his eyes on Charles, attention focused on how Charles kept his hands folded together on his own lap, even as Pierre reached over to grab his wrist. It was subtle, but Max watched with baited breath as Charles casually removed his hands from within Pierre’s range and brought them to rest directly behind him so he would comfortably lean back. Flickering his eyes up, Max froze the moment that Charles’ green eyes matched with his. The eye contact felt almost scandalous, Pierre none the wiser to the staring contest, Charles and him were having. Deciding he didn’t want to test his luck with Pierre’s temper any longer, Max turned his attention back to Logan with a small smile.

“So tell me again how you knew Kimi was #5…”