She still had plenty of reason to worry — Noah could still have feelings for someone else, the new islander could still steal one of them from each other, the new islander could be someone that one of them fancies. It was probably best never to be comfortable on Love Island, especially not this early in.
After her conversation with Noah earlier, Rose was feeling as confident as she could possibly be about the new prospect of a new islander. In stark contrast to the worried expressions and shaking hands of the other women in the dressing room, Rose touched up her makeup in a relative state of calm. She thought about her sweet conversation with Noah, about the careful kiss he’d placed on her cheek, his comment about keeping things fair. She’d managed to keep her gushing to a minimum when she ‘debriefed’ with Lottie, mostly focusing on listening to complaints about Rocco — of which there were many. He was a huge flirt and seemed to like all of the girls just as much as the one he was partnered with, which was already making the larger-than-life Lottie feel small.
“You don’t deserve that, babes,” Rose said, smudging her brown eyeliner with a q-tip. She was going with a slightly more natural look for their first party, having already removed the caked makeup from the day and started anew. “You have to have some sort of respect for your partner, even if you’re not set on staying with them.”
Lottie, in stark contrast with Rose’s toned-down makeup look for the night, was sharpening the wing of her eyeliner and applying an even deeper shade of plum to her lips. “Right? Disrespectful, that’s exactly how it is.”
“What’s wrong, Lottie?” Marisol asked, peeking around the mirror that divided them to intrude upon a conversation she was not a part of. “Things going poorly for you too?”
“I’m just hoping it’s a new guy tonight.” Lottie pouted.
“What about you, Rose?” Marisol asked. “Feeling alright?”
Rose smiled, thankful at least that Marisol had dropped trying to call her nicknames. “I had a nice conversation with Noah earlier, we agreed to stick together for now as long as we have a choice. He’s a good guy.”
“Aww,” Lottie drawled. “Look at Noah being a gentleman.”
Marisol rolled her eyes. “At least one of us is doing well.”
Rose shrugged. She felt as though Marisol was oversimplifying things. She still had plenty of reason to worry — Noah could still have feelings for someone else, the new islander could still steal one of them from each other, the new islander could be someone that one of them fancies. It was probably best never to be comfortable on Love Island, especially not this early in.
“I’m going to get changed,” Rose said. Marisol’s negativity was infectious and negativity was the last thing she needed. “I’m pretty sure the guys are already out on the lawn waiting for us.”
Lottie agreed, “Good call.” And, before Rose had even gathered her clothes to go to the bathroom to change, Lottie had dropped her swim top and started changing in the middle of the dressing room.
Rose tried to hide her blush, looking away and back to her clothes cubby as quickly as possible once she realized what was happening. She grabbed the first dress she saw, a silky green mini dress with spaghetti straps, and all of the necessary undergarments, and ducked into the restroom. The bathrooms were as private as the Villa got, but even then there were a few cameras directed at just the right angles to catch important conversations by the communal sink and cheeky shots of islanders showering. It was a careful geometry looking at the mounted cameras trying to locate possible blind spots. After just one day in the villa, Rose was already tracing sight-lines every time she walked into a room.
She chose a corner by the toilet — undignified but certainly private — and began undressing. Perhaps, by the end of her time in the Villa, Rose would be less of a prude. Perhaps she’ll eventually become used to her body being seen and then blurred in post-production by some poor media intern. But she wasn’t going to press herself too much on the first day.
Rose dressed as quickly as possible, also aware that other girls getting ready may also barge in at any moment — there were no locks on any of the doors in the Villa — and mussed her hair once more in the mirror before returning to the dressing room. Thankfully, all of the girls were clothed once she returned.
“Ready, babes?” Lottie asked, flashing her stiletto nails as she held out a hand. She was dressed in a sleek black dress with mesh sleeves that showed off her tattooed arms. Her hair was pinned back to one side with a vintage-looking silver clip.
“You look nice.” Rose touched the clip on the back of Lottie’s head. “This is gorge.” She took Lottie’s offered hand and gave it a squeeze.
“It was my grandma’s,” Lottie said. “I’m wearing it for luck.” Rose found Lottie’s superstitions charming, especially in a place that felt so outside of reality as the Villa. It made her wish she’d brought something to be made a talisman herself, even if she’d never been the type to believe in that sort of thing before.
“Ready girls?” Hope called. She was standing with her arms crossed in the doorway, looking impatient even though she’d only just put her shoes on. “The boys are waiting.”
Lottie rolled her eyes. “And they can wait a bit longer.”
Marisol trotted out of the bedroom, her shoes in her hands. “I’m ready!” She hopped on one foot to fasten a strap on her heel and then switched, fastening the other just as quickly. “Let’s go.”
Hannah, who had been much quieter in the dressing room than she had been the rest of the day, stood from her dressing bench. She wore a grave face and a simple sundress, looking much the same as before, the same long braid in her hair and the same light makeup on her face. Rose’s chest panged. She hoped Hannah didn’t feel underdressed. “I’m as ready as I’ll ever be,” she said.
Hand in hand with Lottie, Rose took the steps down from the dressing room and then to the deck. Relief washed over her at the sight of Bobby and Noah idly chatting, it was heartening to see them getting along. It meant that whatever flirting she’d engaged in — purposeful or not — was not enough to create a rift in the Villa. Early days, she reminded herself, she had done nothing wrong.
“Hey girls!” Gary waved from the lawn. He had a completely different vibe in his evening clothes, looking much less like a typical lad in square glasses and nice jeans. “We waited for you!”
Lottie gave Rose a look and Rose understood her meaning at once: Gary cleans up well…
He wasn’t her cuppa but he could certainly be Lottie’s.
“We had to get our look right, you know!” Hope laughed. “Now the party can get started!”
The islanders whooped along with Hope, doing their best to shake the uneasy feeling left by the bombshell text.
“Thank you for waiting for us,” Rose said as she and Lottie separated, drifting towards their respective partners.
Instead of Noah, whom the thanks was primarily directed at, Bobby responded, “We didn’t mind one bit, lass.” He winked at her.
Rose smiled in kind, but took Noah’s hand and said, “Thank you both.” Being near the two boys at the same time felt like walking into an active war zone.
“Let me get you a drink?” Noah asked, ducking his head closer to hers as he spoke, effectively cutting Bobby out of their circle. “They’ve got all sorts.”
She squeezed Noah’s hand. “Lead the way.”
“So,” Noah said, voice quiet as he spoke only to her. “I heard talk of a girls-only full moon ritual tonight. Are you planning to take part?”
Rose laughed, recalling Lottie’s insistence that the full moon on the first night of filming was an omen and that they should take care to honor it by convening in the moonlight. She’d gone along with it in the moment because she wanted to befriend Lottie and earn her trust. She shrugged. “Might be a laugh,” she said. “Lottie is really something.”
Noah pouted. “I was hoping you’d prefer to get a head start on sleeping with me—“ He cut himself off with a startled expression. “I mean, er, on sharing a bed.” Shaking his head, he started over. “I was hoping you’d like to cuddle instead.”
For his sake, Rose demurely hid her giggle behind a hand. “I knew what you meant,” she reassured him. “But, sorry, I’m all about the girl code.”
“Was afraid you’d say that.”
“I was going to ask how you felt about sharing a bed, but I suppose I’ve got my answer.” From the corner of her peripheral, she saw the rest of the group descending upon the bar, she had to shift gears quickly in case she didn’t have time for this conversation later.
Noah seemed to understand her meaning perfectly, grinning ever-so-slightly and nodding in confirmation. “I’d be up for it as long as you are,” he said. “No funny business, of course.”
She leaned in conspiratorially, easing her nerves with a joking tone. “Do you think any of the couples are going to be up to funny business right off?”
“Lottie and Rocco I could see,” he said with no hesitation. “I feel like Rocco would try it with anyone, though.”
“He hasn’t much flirted with me,” Rose corrected. “I think he knows I’m not the type to try it with.”
“Or that you’re a terrible flirt,” Noah teased. “Can’t be bothered.”
“Hey!” She lightly smacked his arm. “Your manner of flirting isn’t much better, so I don’t want to hear it.”
He shrugged coolly. “Takes one to know one.”
Rose huffed and rolled her eyes, but she couldn’t keep the smile from her face, she could tell that Noah’s teasing was affectionate.
“What are you two on about?” Gary asked as he shuffled back behind the bar. It was now too late for Noah to make Rose that drink, so she hoped Gary’s bartending skills were up to par.
“Just chatting,” Rose said, sharing a sly grin with her partner. “Where’s Hannah?”
Gary rolled his eyes, not a good sign. “She’s upset about something again. I swear that girl has cried on me twice and we’ve just met.”
“Poor thing…” Rose took a seat at the bar and watched Noah do the same. She turned so that her knees were facing his, doing her best to keep him in the loop while she talked to Gary. Normally, at a pub with her friends, she wouldn’t be concerned with making such clear delineations between platonic and romantic encounters, but things were different within the context of Love Island. She didn’t want to strike up a conversation with a guy that she wasn’t interested in and have her actual crush get the wrong idea. Noah, for his part, seemed to get the message. He laid a hand carefully on her knee, glancing up for permission and gracing her with a smile when she gave it.
“I feel for her,” Rose said. “This is all a touch overwhelming.”
“But you’re not crying all over your lad, are you?” Gary scooped ice into a shaker with an unsteady hand. It was clear that he’d expected to have a much more enjoyable first day, Hannah must really be getting to him. “Do you want a drink?”
“What can you make?” She wanted to humor him while also changing the subject. She hoped he would launch into trying to impress her with his bartending knowledge.
“Not much, I was just going to make some vodka crans,” he said. Then, “Do you think there’s anyone else I can pawn Hannah off onto?”
As she thought of what to say, Rose felt Noah begin tapping his thumb on her knee. She wondered if the gesture was simply absentminded movement or if he was anxious. It made her wish Gary would leave them alone so that she could find out. She said, “I don’t think that’s a nice way to think about your partner. I mean, it’s fine if you don’t like her but she is a person, no?”
Gary seemed to deflate. “You’re right,” he said. “Sorry.” As he began shaking the cocktail shaker, the other islanders gathered around.
“What are you making?” Lottie asked, shouting over the din of ice rattling against metal.
“Vodka cran.” Gary stopped shaking the drink. “Want one?”
Rose breathed a sigh of relief as the two began a conversation of their own, cutting her and Noah back out and into their own bubble. She leaned in close to his shoulder and waited for him to incline his ear. “You planning on doing any grafting?” She asked in a whisper, shooting a grin to let him know that she was half-teasing. At this intersection, though, she wouldn’t mind either way. There were people they both wanted to get to know better, but she also didn’t want to push Noah away if he happened to want to stay by her side.
He gave her a look. “You trying to get rid of me?”
“Not at all!” She frowned, trying to seem cool had backfired. “I just don’t want you to feel like you have to stay glued to me out of obligation.”
Noah gave her knee a light squeeze. “It might be good to chat with some other people, but only if you’re okay.”
“I can take care of myself,” she assured him, and she expected him to politely reassure her again. What she didn’t expect was for him to immediately excuse himself, leaving her alone with Gary and Lottie. She hadn’t been lying when she said his grafting other girls wouldn’t bother her, but she couldn’t help but feel discarded in the moment.
“Everything alright, love?” Gary slid a pink cocktail toward her. “Where’s laddy off to?”
She took the drink and stirred it dejectedly with the tiny plastic straw he’d garnished it with before taking a sip. “Grafting.” The drink tasted much stronger than she would have liked, which is what she got for letting a crane operator bartend.
“Rose?” A warm hand landed on her shoulder, and she turned to see Bobby smiling wide at her.
She smiled back though her mind reeled, feeling a little like he’d caught her momentarily playing the role of damsel in distress. “Hi,” was all she managed to say to her knight in beachy, floral armor.
“Noah leave you all alone?” Bobby asked. “I thought better of him.”
Rose sighed, seeing no point in hiding what was obvious. “I told him he could,” she explained. “I just didn’t think he’d be so eager.”
“Well lucky for you—” He slid into the barstool Noah had left open with ease, his knees almost knocking with hers as she hadn’t had a chance to turn away. If he minded the proximity, it didn’t show. “I’m here to keep you company all you like.”
Despite her mixed emotions, Rose chuckled at Bobby’s cheerful demeanor and stayed put, allowing their legs to remain touching. “To be clear, I told him he could go.” She allowed her face to fall into a full-on dejected pout. “I chased him off.”
Bobby rolled his eyes. “Forgive me, lass,” he said. “But I overheard. He’s not supposed to actually take you up on the offer like that.”
Not in the mood to chastise her partner, even if Bobby’s words were vindicating, Rose changed the subject. “How are you feeling with Marisol?”
He tapped his nose, then pointed with his thumb in a smooth motion, indicating Marisol’s approach to their left. He stood and offered a hand. “Fancy a chat on the daybeds?”
Rose nodded, taking his hand and sliding off the barstool before Marisol could interrupt them. She called to Gary, “Thanks for the drink!”
The dismissive way in which Noah had abandoned her may have left a bitter taste in her mouth, but it did its job to make her feel significantly less guilty in her desire to entertain Bobby’s advances. She allowed him to keep his hand wrapped around hers as they walked to the daybeds, ignoring a look from Noah and carefully dodging Marisol and Hannah along the way. When he finally let go, they were seated on the edge of one of the daybeds and far enough away from the other islanders that they wouldn’t be overheard. Of course, the cameraman that followed them was an exception, but he did his best to make himself scarce.
“I feel we haven’t gotten to chat at all.” Bobby’s hand fell gently to her bare thigh, grounding Rose in the conversation and making her forget the camera operator entirely. “I wanted to ask you something, though.”
Something about Bobby’s effortlessly casual way of speaking put Rose at ease. She’d never gotten along with men like Bobby before, usually finding quiet guys like Noah to be more her type, but Bobby gave her the impression that he was concerned only with her the entire time they were speaking. So far, all of her conversations in the villa had been distracted ones — the cameras and bright lights and new beginnings making it that much harder to connect — but speaking with Bobby was completely different, the conversation felt as intimate as speaking with an old friend.
“What’s that?” Rose asked, leaning closer to him as if she could further close off the rest of the world. She cracked a smile and joked, “And don’t ask where my head is at.”
“Damn.” Bobby sucked his teeth, feigning disappointment. “That’s exactly what I was going to ask, though!”
Rose shook her head, giggling. “I think I’ve already had enough of the villa speak.”
“Same here, actually,” Bobby said. Then, “I was actually going to ask you if it was alright that I kissed you during the challenge.” His voice was matter-of-fact, conveying uncharacteristically earnest thought behind the question.
“Oh…” Rose flushed, remembering the warmth of his rough hand on her chin, tilting her face up towards the sun so that he could kiss her cheek. The gesture had been so caring and intimate in the way he’d sensed her apprehension and asked permission. She almost couldn’t believe he was asking for reassurance when he’d been so careful in the first place. “Of course it was alright.” Her voice came out stilted, overwhelmed by the memory and by his thumb tracing intrepid circles above her knee.
Bobby took his hand away and leaned back on the daybed. A flicker of something resembling self-consciousness passed across his face, so quickly that Rose thought she might have imagined it. “You’re a shy one,” he said. His voice was soft like he was trying to match her level of energy. “I don’t want to — I don’t know —” He frowned, struggling to find the words. “I don’t want to make you uncomfortable if…” He trailed off.
It was a strange feeling, the ache Rose felt seeing Bobby shrink into himself. His confidence seemed to come so easily that seeing it slip — even momentarily — was jarring. She reached for his hand without a second thought, the desire to reassure him overpowering any apprehension or guilt she may feel about reaching for a man who is not her partner.
“Do you really fancy me the most?” She asked, laying her hand gently atop his. “That’s who you were supposed to kiss.”
Bobby grinned, confidence back in a burst. “I do.”
“Then I see no problem, you just followed what was written on the card.”
“Is that okay?” Bobby asked. “That I fancy you? You and Noah seem to be getting on for the most part.”
“It’s day one, yeah? I don’t think it would be wise to put all of my eggs in one basket already.” That was how she felt, but it sounded much simpler said out loud. Inwardly, her head was already beginning to be done in by trying to quantify her feelings for the two men.
Bobby turned his palm up to face hers and closed his fingers around her hand, using their linked hands to pull himself closer. In a deepened voice that made butterflies swarm in Rose’s abdomen, he asked, “Are you saying you’d like to put some eggs in my basket?”
“If you’ll have them,” Rose laughed, answering without hesitation.
“Oh, I’ll have ‘em, lassie.” His accent went gruff, emphasizing just how keen he was. It struck Rose that this felt like a far cry from the conversations she’d had with Noah so far. While Noah was committed to playing it cool and only just letting her know how he felt, Bobby seemed to lay his intentions bare. “And for the record,” he added. “I’m prepared to earn a proper kiss from you.”
“Earn?” Rose’s voice caught in her throat, only allowing the one word to pass.
“Aye. Earn.” He raised her hand to his lips and ghosted a searing kiss to her wrist. The way Bobby cycled between easy jokes and confident flirting was dizzying, but the natural magnetism he possessed allowed him to pull it off quite well.
At a loss for words, Rose smiled and gave his hand a gentle squeeze. In opposition to the burning stare she’d felt from Noah, Bobby’s gaze betrayed obvious infatuation. She could not be sure whether it would last, but she felt comfortable, for the moment, to bask in it.
-
hiii it’s been a second, so sorry!! thank you all to everyone who has commented, reblogged, or messaged me about this fic, i’m glad you’re excited for it!! also i was gonna put a real kiss in this one but no. slow burns only. <3
anyway i’m in love w the player!bobby theory and desperately think that you see the full force of it if hannah chooses him in the final recoupling bc ain’t no way bobby said that incredibly romantic speech without any help from hannah herself. it was scripted af and came out of left field. when mc chose someone else, bobby knew he’d never win for love anymore and did the next best thing (and likely, his original motive for joining love island the first place): bobby played to win for that cash prize. and man if it were anyone other than hannah (or hope i guess?), he likely would have gone all the way to AT LEAST top two.
it’s entirely plausible, btw, since it was obvious bobby was a fan favourite and the public ALWAYS kept him safe from elimination (until the final recoupling, where i think some would have had doubts about his sincerity w hannah). if bobby partnered up w lottie or chelsea, he could have gotten away with that whole “i didn’t know how much i wanted it to be you until you said my name” bc they, ya know, actually bonded w each other. bobby would have milked that friends to lovers trope for all it was worth.
A spinoff of Ashes and Lilies in which Corporal McKenzie hopes for a chance at love.
Written for this month’s Character Spotlight, submission from banirareiko
Pairing:Bobby/MC
Word count:4900+
Note: Post WWII AU. There may be some inaccuracies for the sake of plot and dialogues. Contains major spoilers for Ashes and Lilies (but can be read as a standalone).
Shameless Self Promo:Clickhere to read Ashes and Lilies (recommended before diving into this oneshot).
Seeing Kaminski fall in love during the war and going through all the stages of emotions that came with it made Bobby realize that he, too, would like to experience love himself.
C-rations had always been notoriously known for tasting like absolute crap, and to Corporal Robert, or Bobby as he preferred to be called, McKenzie, that kind of crap would make for perfect culinary experiments when he wasn’t on the battlefield. In fact, testing out weird and borderline inedible concoctions from military rations had been the one thing that had helped him stay sane and positive during his deployment to Japan towards the end of the Second World War. The operation in Okinawa was simply too harrowing, too bloody and deadly, with too many casualties from both sides, and in honesty, he would’ve lost it long ago had he not picked up this odd hobby of his and had someone to share the results with.
It was during this operation that he befriended Private Kaminski, one of his underlings that he considered his own little brother, and the only one person in the unit he was leading who was willing to eat whatever bullshit it was that he had put together from the ration packs they got. Truth to be told, Bobby had been a bit suspicious when Kaminski suddenly became obsessed with finding out about the Okinawa Lily Corps nurses when they returned to Japan under General MacArthur to assist with restoration. Still, he didn’t want to ask about it, and simply offered to pull his back alley connections to help his junior out.
He didn’t need to ask anyway. Kaminski ended up confiding in him on their way back to the United States that the younger man had fallen in love with one of the nurses who had perished, and he had finally accepted that she was truly gone after having that information confirmed to him twice. Or so he had thought.
When Kaminski came back from his little trip to Japan with the nurse who turned out to have survived, and their daughter, and the nurse’s entire family in tow, Bobby was so happy for his junior. If there was one thing Bobby could say about Kaminski, it was that this little brat truly had a heart of gold and deserved all the happiness in the world after an entire year of painful heartbreak thinking that he had lost the love of his life forever to the atomic bomb dropped on Nagasaki last year.
But at the same time, seeing Kaminski with a wife and a child shortly after the war got Bobby realizing that he, too, would like to experience love and meet someone who would be his other half in life.
—
“Yes! Free money!”
Erin Kimura gave her older brother a look as he screamed on top of his lungs while their father pulled out a check from an envelope addressed to the family from the United States government, but soon found a huge grin stretching across her face as her eyes fell upon the numbers written on the slip of paper.
“Now I don’t blame you anymore, Willem,” she elbowed her brother playfully as he slinged an arm across her shoulders, “That is indeed a lot of money.”
To make up for the horrible treatment the Kimura family had been subjected to in the Japanese internment camps during the war, the government had sent them a whopping twenty thousand dollars now that they had been allowed to return to their small but cozy apartment in Manhattan. That was more than enough for Erin’s family to last for an entire year, if not longer.
“Do you want to get a cake or something?” Will winked at her as their father went to tell their mother about the money, “Seeing that now we have some extra money and we finally can get something nice for ourselves after a whole year of eating shit at camp.”
That, and because Will knew that his baby sister had a massive sweet tooth.
“That sounds good honestly,” Erin smiled at her older brother, “Angel food cake?”
“Angel food cake,” Will nodded and threw himself onto the couch and kicked off his slippers, “Can you go pick it up? My back hurts after carrying all those document boxes for dad.”
In all honesty, Erin had always had a love-hate relationship with her older brother. She loved him to bits because he was, well, her brother. A good one actually. But at the same time, he was extremely annoying because his head was always somewhere else. He meant well, but he could be inconsiderate sometimes because of how much of an airhead he was and that frustrated Erin to no end.
For example, right now, she just wanted to pull his ear hard for making her go get the cake by herself.
“Willem where–
And as usual, her brother was already dead asleep on the couch before even telling her where he would like to get the cake from. So much had already changed since the end of the war, and it pained Erin to have to accept that the bakery her family usually would frequent had closed. The Kimuras never got a chance to try a different place before being hauled off to the internment camp, and had never had the opportunity to go around much since they were released only two months ago anyway.
Erin supposed she had no other choice but to walk around the city to look for a new bakery. She really wanted that cake.
Ugh. Fine.
—
Since being honorably discharged from the military after his service in the war, Bobby had been slowly but surely reintegrating himself back into society. The war had been traumatizing, but he was trying his best to take it one day at a time moving on with his life, and he was more than grateful that he was able to do so doing what he loved.
In the past couple of months, he had opened a small bakery tucked away on 42nd Street, between 6th and 7th Avenue, near Bryant Park, and lovingly named it “The Cake Man.” Business had gone surprisingly better than he had thought; even though he wasn’t exactly making bank, he did have a steady stream of customers who loved his baking, and to him, that was more than enough.
Kaminski and his wife sometimes came by, too, and seeing his junior feeding cake to his lady made Bobby’s heart warm and ache at the same time.
He was still waiting for love to come to him, but so far, he had never really felt that spark with anyone just yet.
Sighing as he finished up dusting powdered sugar on top of a freshly baked angel food cake, Bobby forced himself to smile,
Well, just stay positive and–
He was cut off by the chiming sound of the bell on the bakery’s door, and immediately thought maybe, just maybe, today would be the day for him after all as his eyes fell upon who it was that had just entered his store.
It was a girl with shoulder length dark hair and wide dark eyes in a baby blue and white polka dot dress, looking a little lost as her eyes scanned the rows of cakes in the glass case against the wall.
Hot damn.
—
Erin literally had no idea how she ended up in the Bryant Park area during her search for her angel food cake despite having gone past a couple of different stores in the past hour. In all honesty, there was just something not quite right with those stores. Not that there was anything wrong with them, it was that to Erin, something was just missing.
Something that she somehow felt like she probably could find in this tiny bakery on 42nd called “The Cake Man,” even when she was a tad bit disappointed that there was no angel food cake to be seen in the glass display case in the bakery despite the heavenly smell of freshly baked sweets and pastries, or so she thought.
“Welcome,” a cheerful male voice said and snapped her out of it, “I’m the cake man who owns The Cake Man. How can this cake man help ya?”
Erin almost snorted at the term “cake man” being repeated three times in two sentences, but held herself back as she looked away from the glass case to address the source of the voice, and immediately felt a little giddy inside as her eyes met a pair of warm honey eyes.
Cute.
The man who had just introduced himself as the owner of the bakery was tall and very attractive with a lean but toned body, light brown skin and fluffy textured hair, and Erin would be damned if this man wasn’t the most eye-catching man she had ever seen in her entire life.
“Like what you see?”
The man grinned, snapping Erin out of it as he waved a hand over himself and then continued, “Though I’m not sure if it’s me or the cakes you’re thinking of right now anymore.”
Erin felt heat rush onto her cheeks as the man winked,
Oh, definitely not the cakes. Not anymore.
But she supposed she should still ask if he had some angel food cake in the back somehow and get going. She couldn’t afford to stay much longer in this bakery and get distracted by this good-looking man, as much as she found him a total babe on the eye. She didn’t feel ready to entertain the thought. Her family literally just got released from prison not long ago, and she wanted some time for herself to get back to normal life–
Why am I getting all rational right now? Just get the cake and go home.
But when Erin finally got her shit together, the man had already disappeared into the door leading to the back of the store. He wasn’t gone for long, though. Before she could call out for him, he emerged from the kitchen, carrying a box of–
“Angel food cake–
“Freshly made,” the man grinned happily, “Did I guess right?”
How the hell–
As much as Erin was resisting herself, a smile broke across her face as she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear,
“How did you know that?”
The man simply laughed, and Erin decided that the sound of his laughter was the happiest sound she had ever heard beside her own brother screaming “sweet freedom” the moment her family was released from prison. His laughter was light and cheerful, but at the same time, there was something Erin couldn’t quite put a finger on. Something warm and hearty. Something she knew deep down she wanted more of, yet her mind refused to let herself accept it.
“You didn’t seem into any of the cakes in the case, and the only thing I usually make that I haven’t put out today yet is angel food cake,” the man shrugged, “So I thought I might as well try my luck.”
That’s actually kinda adorable.
“Oh. And here I thought you had the power of mind-reading,” Erin raised an eyebrow at the baker teasingly, “You just got lucky today, then.”
The man simply shook his head with a chuckle, “Damn right I did. It’s not like everyday a pretty girl like you comes into my bakery.”
He just called me pretty– Wait… He just called me PRETTY?
Erin honestly didn’t know what to do next besides standing there dumbfoundedly with her jaw dropped and her eyes wide opened in shock as the man smiled and began wrapping the cake box.
What the hell? Get yourself together. You came here to get your cake, not to flirt with the baker.
Erin was so screwed. Will would have a field day when he heard about this.
—
“There you go.”
Bobby handed the girl her cake box with a huge smile plastered on his face, but in reality, he was shitting himself inside. Especially when the girl was in her trance for a second there, probably shocked that his big mouth had just slipped that he thought she was pretty.
Real smooth, Bobby. Real smooth.
Having the box presented in front of her seemed to snap the girl out of it, though, as she bashfully smiled and accepted the cake from him, a lovely shade of pink bloomed across the pale skin of her face.
“How much do I owe you,” the girl asked, “for the angel food cake?”
Don’t do it, Bobby. Don’t do it. Just don–
“It’s on the house, sweetheart,” Bobby grinned, “consider it an attempt to win you over.”
Damn it, Bobby. You just did it.
As much as Bobby was cursing himself inside his head, deep down, he just knew that he had to take this chance. There was just something so intriguing about this girl, yet also quite familiar, that he just wanted to find out more about. She was pretty, but he doubted that she was just a pretty face. If he wanted a chance at experiencing all the magic Kaminski had told him about, then he had to take that leap of faith now, before losing the opportunity to do so forever.
The girl simply blinked at him, but then shook her head. Just as he had thought.
“You don’t have to do that. Let me pay for it.”
Might as well take the plunge then.
“No,” Bobby smiled, “I insist.”
To his disappointment, though, the girl shook her head again, “Please don’t. Let me pay.”
Bobby supposed he shouldn’t overstep the boundaries, then.
“…Alright,” he sighed, “That will be a dollar. Thanks.”
His heart broke a little when the girl handed him the bill, if he was being honest. He kind of hated himself now, actually. Maybe he shouldn’t have flirted with her that openly. Maybe he should’ve saved the jokes for another occasion. Maybe he shouldn’t have placed a bet with his heart just like that.
Still, he steeled himself and forced a smile back onto his face as he pocketed the bill.
“Thank you,” the girl smiled before turning to leave, “I appreciate it.”
Oh well, I shot my shot.
Bobby sighed inwardly as he watched her go out the door, but then, he almost had a heart attack when she turned back to look at him with a bright smile on her face. And to Bobby, that smile of hers was the sun itself– brilliant and warm. That was more than enough to lift his mood, if he was being honest.
“I never got your name,” she called out, “Can’t keep referring to you as Cake Man when I gush about your cake to my brother.”
Bobby supposed he should take what he could get. At least for now.
“Call me Bobby,” he grinned, “though Cake Man works just fine.”
The girl giggled, and Bobby decided that it was the most angelic sound he had ever heard in a very long time.
“Let’s save Cake Man for when we’ve been acquainted for longer–
What does she mean by longer? Wait– Is she…
Bobby felt his heartbeat quicken again.
“Nice to meet you, and I’ll definitely come back,” the girl smiled at him one last time before leaving for real, “I’m Erin. See you soon.”
Bobby could only manage to wave at her with the smile still frozen on his face as she turned and walked out the door, the cake box safely cradled in her arms.
Erin… Her name is as pretty as she is.
—
Erin had been cursing herself the entire train ride home. She knew that she had hurt Bobby a little bit by refusing to accept his gesture to give her the cake for free; he wasn’t actually that hard to read, in all honesty. He definitely was a jokester, a flirty one if anything, and despite her brain telling her that this was the last thing she needed right now, her heart fluttered at the recollection of his cheerful voice and warm smile. And for that, she mentally kicked herself for having been a tad bit mean to him, even when she knew she didn’t do anything wrong.
Oh well, I have no idea what to do now.
She knew she liked Bobby right away. He was a fun person to be around, and she felt like maybe, just maybe, hanging out with him could teach her how to enjoy life again after being held in prison for a whole year.
The rational side of her was slowly losing, if she was being honest, and she wasn’t actually as scared of that as she had expected herself to be.
Should I confide in Will?
As much as Erin hated to admit it, her airhead brother probably would have some surprisingly insightful advice for her.
Because only between the Kimura siblings, Will had actually been secretly spying on Japanese spies for the American army during the war from the internment camp, and therefore, had met all kinds of people around him and had a lot of experiences interacting with different people.
Nobody besides Erin and Will himself knew this. Not even their parents.
—
“So what you’re saying is that you could’ve gotten this amazing angel food cake for free and you turned down the offer because you were being a prude?”
Erin honestly just wanted to chuck her napkin at her brother, who had just deadpanned the statement as he shoved a forkful of cake into his mouth and raised an eyebrow disapprovingly at her.
“Missed opportunity,” Will shook his head, “This cake is so good.”
“I know,” Erin glared at her brother, “Shut up.”
As much as she was annoyed at Will, what he said made sense. She could’ve just taken the cake for free. It wasn’t like Bobby’s offer came with any strings attached anyway. She just let her initial shock at Bobby calling her pretty cloud her judgment, and honestly, now she felt a little silly for that.
The cake was indeed amazing, though. It was so light and fluffy and not overly sweet, and the arrangement of berries and dollops of cream just made the entire thing so balanced and refreshing. This cake was probably even better than the ones she and Will used to get at the old store they used to frequent if she was completely honest.
“So, what made you turn down free food?” Will asked before shoving another forkful of cake into his mouth, “Besides you being an idiot and panicking at someone calling you pretty?”
“I don’t know, honestly,” Erin sighed, “I guess I’m an idiot. Bobby was really nice and I’m kinda into his jokes. And his looks, to be honest.”
“Dear sister,” Will chuckled, “you are indeed an idiot. Loosen up, we’re not in prison anymore and I’m here to help us get back on our feet too. Let yourself enjoy a bit of fun. Who knows. He could end up being my brother-in-la–
“I’m gonna stop you right there,” Erin held up her fork in between herself and her brother, “I literally just met the guy today.”
“So?”
“Too soon.”
“Doesn’t matter,” Will shrugged and cut himself another slice of the fluffy cake, “I’d say follow your heart and give it a go. I’ll even come with you to get another one of this treasure of a cake later this week if it helps.”
Erin gave her brother a half smile.
She supposed her brother had indeed been a good brother despite being a prick most of the time.
—
Will kept his promise. He did, indeed, accompany Erin to pay Bobby’s bakery another visit a few days later to get another of that heavenly angel food cake.
“The Cake Man, really?” Will snorted the moment he saw the colorful sign hung on top of the door to the bakery, “You weren’t kidding.”
“Shut up,” Erin punched her brother lightly on the shoulder, “I never said I was.”
As hard as Erin was trying to keep herself still, her heart had begun slamming hard against her ribcage the moment her nose caught the wafting scent of freshly baked cake all the way from the corner of 6th and 42nd as she and Will were heading to The Cake Man. Sure, she was excited to get another one of Bobby’s amazing angel food cakes, but she would be lying if she said that the cake was the only reason why she felt absolutely giddy and bouncy right now.
The thought of seeing Bobby again sent butterflies straight into her stomach.
“It’s gonna be fine,” Will smiled reassuringly, “If he does anything indecent I’ll beat him up for you.”
“Will you, though,” Erin snorted, “Somehow I doubt it.”
Her brother only shrugged as he opened the door to the bakery, “Let’s hope I won’t have to prove it to you, then.”
—
For the past four days, Bobby had held out hope that Erin would make good on her words. Every single time he heard the bell chime, he got excited for a second there, but instantly became disappointed that it wasn’t Erin who came by.
Well, except the one time that Kaminski and his now-pregnant-again wife dropped by. Bobby was always happy to see a friend at any time.
“Well, have a little faith. At least you know she’s alive,” Kaminski had told him (and immediately got his ear pinched by his wife). And in all honesty, the younger man was right. The war was over. There was no need to be anxious about not being able to see someone ever again for good.
Bobby supposed he should be patient.
And patience did pay off today when he saw Erin in a yellow sundress walking into his bakery, accompanied by a man who he hoped was the brother she had mentioned to him.
“Hey, you came back!”
To his pleasure, Erin’s face lit up immediately the moment her eyes fell upon him. But before she could say anything, the man with her stepped forward and offered his hand to Bobby, an amused smile twisted on his face,
“You must be Bobby. I’m Erin’s brother. The name’s Willem Kimura,” the man grinned, “Pleasure to finally meet the mastermind behind the best angel food cake I’ve ever had in my life.”
“Thanks!” Bobby laughed in response, but then something just struck him.
Willem Kimura… Wait–
“Are you by any chance,” Bobby suddenly dropped his voice low enough for only Willem to hear, ignoring the way the other man raised his eyebrow quizzically and Erin frowning in confusion, “WhisperKimura?”
When Bobby was still in the military, he just couldn’t help it but hook himself up with several contacts in order to give himself a leg up when he was deployed to Okinawa. If he was being completely truthful, doing so was the only reason why he managed to emerge unscathed from the war and get his hands on classified information on both sides, and also how he managed to get Kaminski the information his junior needed in the search for his beloved nurse back then.
One of his points of contact was an American-born Japanese who moonlighted as an American spy by pretending to be a Japanese spy in the United States, who was named Willem Kimura but went by the code name Whisper.
Willem’s face didn’t give anything away, but the way his grip tightened around Bobby’s hand told Bobby all he needed to know.
“I see,” Willem nodded and mumbled through gritted teeth, “Your name is Bobby… You must be the Corporal Robert McKenzie that I was in contact with, then. Not that hard to figure out to be honest.”
And to Bobby’s surprise, Willem instantly laughed right after.
Erin just stared at them with confusion written all over her face, and Bobby immediately felt guilty. However, before he could say another word, Willem cut in,
“Erin, sister, I know this guy. Never met him in person before, though, but never expected him to be a baker now.”
“Wait a minute,” Erin frowned, her eyes flitted between Bobby and her brother, “How on earth–
“He’s a veteran. I sent him codes and all that when he was deployed in Japan,” Willem laughed again, before turning to Bobby, “She knows about all that. Only her, though. But it doesn’t matter. The war’s over.”
Oh.
Wait–
Before either Erin or Bobby could react, Willem patted Bobby on the shoulder as if they had been drinking buddies for ages and grinned at his sister,
“I’m gonna take a smoke. Behave, you two.”
With that, he headed out, leaving both Bobby and Erin staring at each other awkwardly.
That’s some serious whiplash that just happened.
—
“So…”
“This is… interesting.”
Erin had never expected that her own brother turned out to have known Bobby all along. But to be fair, in the war, the only contact Will and Bobby had of each other was through sending codes, so it would make sense that they never really knew what the other person looked like until just now.
What a coincidence it was.
“I did not sign up for this when I tried to give you the cake,” Bobby grinned bashfully, and Erin found the way his cheeks turned red was just so adorable, “I guess it’s a bit weird to know that I flirted with the sister of my informant, if anything.”
Erin smiled, “I guess so.”
Bobby shrugged, “Oh well, that was funny at least.”
“It was.”
Despite her last attempt at reasoning with herself, Erin found the way her heart warmed at Bobby’s awkwardness pleasant. She supposed she did owe him an apology after all. Even when she technically didn’t mean to, she did come off a little rigid the other day, and the slight sadness in his eyes that she saw when she refused his offer was something she didn’t really want to see again.
Especially now that she knew he was a veteran who had seen the horrors of war. He deserved happiness, and if she could give it to him, even as a friend for now, she would gladly do so.
As Bobby gave her a tentative smile while arranging cakes on the display case, she broke the silence,
“Hey Bobby. I’m sorry I was a bit rude to you the other day. You only wanted to be nice and I just wasn’t used to being called pretty, you know.”
That stopped him in his track, and he instantly turned to face her, a good-natured smile on his face as he waved her off,
“It’s all good. Don’t worry about it sweetie.”
His smile was still warm as he continued, “You are objectively pretty, though. And look, no harm done. You did come back and I’m happy to see you today.”
Oh damn it.
Butterflies, butterflies, butterflies. That was all Erin could feel blooming in her stomach and spreading all over her body from the inside.
Maybe Will’s right. This could be the start of something good actually.
“I’m happy to be back here, too. That cake was amazing!”
Giving Bobby the brightest smile she could give, Erin reassured Bobby as she locked eyes with him, and immediately allowed herself to get lost in the sea of warm caramel and honey behind the long lashes on his eyes.
Bobby’s face broke into a grin. Erin’s heart fluttered again.
“Glad you liked it.”
And then, his face dropped into a more serious look. As if he was nervous. But Erin was certain that he had nothing to worry about again this time.
“Erin…” Bobby forced another smile onto his face, “Would you like another angel food cake?”
Of course, you goofball.
With an encouraging smile, she nodded, but clearly, that wasn’t what Bobby was anxious about, because right after that, his Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed hard and found the words to ask her another question.
“And, erm… Is it alright if I put it on the house this time?”
Called it.
The Erin of last week would’ve turned him down again. But the Erin of today was different. She supposed she could give him a chance and try. Who knew, this could maybe lead to a solid friendship.
Or, she hoped despite her prudish brain, this could blossom into something more than friendship. Something beautiful. Something she had never experienced before.
Something she would cherish forever.
“Sure.”
The way Bobby’s face lit up happily at her response was definitely worth it. And Erin wanted to make his day even better.
An idea crossed her mind. An unconventional one, too, but to hell with gender roles. She was Willem Kimura’s sister after all.
Oh what the hell? Let’s do it.
“Nothing is free, though,” she winked at him, “Let’s make this even. How does going to the movies together next weekend sound? I want to get to know you more, and Will certainly approves of this idea.”
Bobby froze for a second in shock, but then, the biggest smile Erin had ever seen from him stretched across his face as his eyes twinkled excitedly,
“Glad to hear your brother approves, darling. I want to get to know you more, too. It’s a date, then?”
Erin chuckled at his adorable reaction, not realizing that her eyes themselves had already begun to reflect the twinkle in Bobby’s,
“It’s a date, Cake Man.”
—
Kaminski’s gonna want to hear all about this. I hope I can find what he found in Kana with Erin. Ah, screw that. I know I can find it with Erin. She literally laughed at the joke I made at the movies earlier about how a pornstar skipped a filming day because he couldn’t come.
/trəʊp/ a significant or recurrent theme; a motif. For Bobby month, we decided to do a little ‘trope roulette’.We each got a random trope, and had to write a fic based on it. My trope was: Medical Romance.
Brit sighed, dragging her ass out of bed, smacking the snooze button on her alarm, before grumpily having to go back and switch it off properly so it didn’t go off while she was in the shower.
Why the fuck did she agree to this fucking shit?
She pulled her hair into her shower cap, and stepped in to the shower, frowning, as she let the water run over her shoulders. She only stood there for a second, relishing how stupidly hot the water was, but not daring to turn the tap even a millimetre, because the alternative was ice cold. Fucking shitty London plumbing. She washed, and hopped out, washing her face in the sink, and brushing her teeth, before deciding whether or not to put makeup on that day.
She stared at the dark circles under her eyes. The 3am starts weren’t exactly ideal for anyone, but as someone who was physically incapable of going to bed at a responsible time… yeah, nah.
Brit decided to skip makeup. She was only going to get covered in blood, puke, and piss anyway, and have to shower again at work. No point. Some days she wondered if life would be easier if she just shaved her head, too.
She pulled on her clothes, and her super fuckin stylish nursing shoes, and pulled on about three layers and a coat. And a scarf. And gloves.
Any British people who judged her could fuck off.
—
She stopped by the convenience store next door to the hospital. No way could she be bothered spending 10 pounds on a proper breakfast when the convenience store sold protein bars and a coffee for 2.50
As she walked through the staff entrance at the rear of the hospital, her cheap-but-shit coffee in hand, she heaved a dramatic sigh.
3:55am. Great. Basically fucking late.
Brit clocked in, stuffing half her protein bar in her mouth, as she downed her already lukewarm coffee. She made her way to the locker rooms, changing into her scrubs, and made her way over to the nurse’s station for handover.
—
It seemed like hours before she had a chance to sit down, but it had probably only been half an hour. But even so, her stomach was longing for the rest of the protein bar she had in her coat pocket in the locker room.
“Brit! You’re on mornings now?”
She recognised his deep, booming voice long before she saw him.
“Hey, Johnno. I swapped with Martine for a few months so she can do that night course, remember?”
“Ahh that’s right. Hey, can you take a look at a burn for me? You got a sec?”
She shot him a look. “Yeah. What’ve you done this time?”
“Not me. One of my boys. Can’t tell you what he did, though. But it’s a sticky liquid burn.”
Brit rolled her eyes. “Fuckin’ hell. This again?”
Johnno smiled. “Yeah. But I don’t think you’ve met this one. He’s my baker. And he’s my favourite. But don’t tell him that. He’s all ego as it is, and he’ll make my life hell.”
—
Brit nodded, and followed Johnno to the room she’d stuck him in. A group of boys hung around outside the door, quietly chuckling to someone inside.
“Oh god, it’s Brittany” one of the boys whispered quietly. The boy he whispered it to sniggered quietly.
“He’s gonna be so pissed at Johnno.”
Brit saw the boy in question from the back first, leaning over the sink in the medical room. His dreads were tied back and covered in a hairnet. It was almost comical to see them straining to be free. She wondered why he bothered with his hair like that if he worked in a kitchen full time. Surely it would’ve made more sense to just keep his hair short?
“D’you put it back under the water, lad?”
“Yes,sir”
Brit shot Johnno a look as they walked in. Johnno just rolled his eyes, shaking his head. But as she walked over to inspect the damage, Brit was finally able to see the boy’s face as he turned toward her.
He was cute as fuck. She almost tripped over.
His face immediately fell upon seeing her, and a slight blush ran through his cheeks. He whipped his head around, trying to see Johnno, and kicked out his leg, aiming for Johnno’s.
“You’re a fuckin’ asshole, Johnno.”
His thick, Scottish accent made her smile.
“Just wait until you hear her talk. You’re gonna love this one, mate.”
Brit furrowed her brow. “Why, what’s wrong with how I talk?”
The boy groaned loudly as he heard her. “Johnnnnooooooooo”.
“He loooooves Australian girls.”
The other boys just laughed. The blanket rule in Johnno’s kitchen was that if they did something dumb, Johnno would take them upstairs, fetch the prettiest nurse he could find and make them tell her what they did.
It was actually pretty effective at getting them to think twice before doing stupid shit. And the nurses were well aware of it, too. Brit found it beyond flattering that Johnno often asked her to come.
She liked the Kitchen staff. For some reason, all the kitchen people just seemed to be wonderful people. They seemed to really care about the patients, too. The kitchen people were good people.
“So what’d you do?” she asked.
He sighed. “I was tryin’ to make jam.”
She raised an eyebrow. “Can the hospital not afford its own jam?” She said, judgementally.
“Aye, it can, but it’s not right for what I needed it for.”
“So you decided you could just do better? Figures.”
He furrowed his eyebrows at her, making the skin between them crinkle adorably. “How?”
“Ego-related injury. Classic Scottish move.”
The boys outside the door cracked up laughing, and he grinned at her. She shooed the others away, and Johnno directed them to promptly fuck off. She started setting up the exam table, as the boy watched her move around the room.
“I’m Bobby, by the way.”
“Brit”
“Funny name for an Aussie.”
She rolled her eyes. “Wow, did you come up with that all by yourself?” She said, her voice dripping in sarcasm. “Johnno, is he really your favourite?”
Johnno gasped, and so did Bobby. “Johnno, is that true?” He fluttered his eyelashes at Johnno, and placed his free hand over his heart. “I can’t believe you’re tellin’ everyone I’m your favourite!”
Brit shot a playful glare at Johnno, who looked at her with utter betrayal.
“Ohyeah,Johnno, I forgot to tell you. You never called Martine after she sucked your dick, so now all the nurses hate you.”
Johnno blushed, and Bobby cracked up laughing. He turned back to face her, grinning madly. “Fuck, I like you.”
“Well, I don’t like you. I don’t like people who hurt themselves doing dumb shit.”
“You picked the wrong profession, then, didn’t you?” Bobby joked, and she shot him a disapproving look.
She motioned for him to come over and sit opposite her at the exam table. He shook the excess water from his arm, and sat opposite her.
Brit took his arm, inspecting the burn while it was still wet. The water had managed to wash most of the jam away, but it was bad. It was actually a reasonably bad burn. She looked up to tell him the bad news, but basically froze as she saw him up close for the first time.
She was completely taken aback by how fucking handsome he was. His face was dusted with freckles, almost like God had thrown some tiny chocolate sprinkles on the best-looking boy he’d ever made, just because he could. Just… absolutely salt bae’d the shit out of him. Old meme. But whatever. It was the best description she could come up with.
The freckles gave him an effortlessly boyish look that perfectly suited the dreads. If he’d had a clean haircut, he’d have looked too boyish. But even with his hairnet on, she could tell the dreads would grow him up a bit. But she wasn’t about to start looking at his hair. Because she was completely, absolutely, and one-hundred-per cent fucking floored by his eyes. His eyes were like gold. She’d never seen eyes like his before. They were such a light brown that they looked like they were made of honey. Or caramel. Or…Amber.Amber was the perfect word for them.
“Woah.” she whispered.
“I could say the same about you, lass” he whispered, flirtily.
She shot him a disapproving look. “I was talking about your burn, idiot.”
She looked down, beginning to clean it off, working quickly as Bobby continued to blatantly hit on her.
“You may not want to be callin’ me an idiot. It only makes me want to impress you more.”
Johnno chuckled. “Bobby, this is meant to be a punishment. Not an opportunity to flirt.”
Bobby’s smile dazzled her up close. “Well, gosh, Johnno, gettin’ me this close to a nurse this pretty? Gettin’ to look into Brit’s beautiful eyes? You can punish me whenever you want, mate. In fact, I might start doin’ dumb shit on purpose.”
He rested his chin on his other hand, grinning at her, biting his lip.
Brit rolled her eyes, “I swear, sometimes you boys forget you’re wearing hairnets.”
Johnno cracked up at the way she shut him down, and she tried not to smile as Bobby immediately reached up and pulled it off, grinning at her.
His dreads came tumbling out of it, falling mostly to one side, almost flawlessly into position.
Oh god, she was in trouble.
He. was. fucking. gorgeous.
She almost groaned at how fucking gorgeous he was. There was a cockiness about him that screamed fuckboy at her… meaning he was precisely her type.
“Better?” he grinned.
“Much worse.” She said, incapable of thinking of a comeback.
She finished cleaning the burn, and took out some dressings.
She pointed at his arm. “This is bad. Like, actually bad. It’ll probably scar. You need to change the dressing every day. And I’m only showing you how to do it once, so pay attention.”
She showed him how to dress it, and he seemed to be paying close enough attention. She handed him the supplies he’d need for the next few days.
“Come by in a couple of days and I’ll check it. I’ll drop some more gauze off at the kitchen on my way home”
Bobby smiled at her. “It’s a date. Thanks, Pretty Britty”
She scoffed, her mouth falling open slightly at the cheeky nickname. He winked at her, and as he got up, the intoxicating scent of fresh bread and cinnamon filled the room. It must’ve been trapped in his dreads. It almost made her drool.She’d have to go and get her protein bar afterwards. Her stomach growled loudly, and Bobby and Johnno shot her a look.
She shook her head, laughing. “Shut up. I had half a protein bar for breakfast.”
She waved them off, and they made their way to the lifts. She watched them as they walked away, and Bobby turned to look at her a few times.
Brit rolled her eyes, and went back to work.
—
Not even an hour later, Brit’s stomach was rumbling again. The other half of her protein bar hadn’t even scratched the surface of her hunger. She’d have to take her break early. Maybe she could get one of the other nurses to…
“Brit to the nurses station please, Brit, station”
The intercom interrupted her thoughts, and she groaned. She walked briskly over, and as she rounded the corner. The other nurses watched excitedly as she approached with suspicion. Her friend and work-mum, Janet, eyed her as she approached.
“What?” she asked, as Janet handed her one of the closed food carriers from the kitchen downstairs. She opened it, and furrowed her brow.
“It’s a danish?”
“Read the note, babe.”
Not going to let a pretty girl go hungry, even if she’s mean to me.
Oh, fuck off, he didn’t.
Brit’s stomach exploded with butterflies. Fucking hell. This was… wow.
This boy had balls.
Janet gasped. “Oh my god, Brit’s blushing. I never thought I’d see the day!”
The other nurses squealed, cracking up slightly as Brit hid her face behind the box.
“He brought me breakfast!Who fucking does that?”
She looked down at the danish, and for one-billionth of a millisecond, considered not eating it, just to spite him. She immediately picked it up and bit into it.
Oh fuck.
She wasn’t sure if it was just because she was starving, or because he was god’s gift to pastry, but it was absolutely fucking delicious. The jam in the middle especially. Holy shit. She wondered if this was the jam he burnt himself making. It wasn’t a regular type of jam. It was… guava? Guava jam? What a wild concept she thought. But it fucking worked.
She groaned loudly, talking with her mouth full. “Ohhh fuk, iz reahry good” and the nurses giggled.
Brit quickly finished it, feeling the energy almost immediately returning to her body as the sugar hit her stomach, as Janet picked up the note and turned it over.
“Oh my god, Brit, it’s got his number on it”
She blushed again, covering her face, as she took the note, as the others excitedly showered her with questions. They really should have been getting back to work, but holy shit. Bobby was bold.
Brit suddenly became acutely aware of the clatter of trolleys around her. Oh god, they’re serving breakfast. She wondered if he’d come up again. Fuck. Fuck.Did she want him to?
Was she nervous?
She saw one of the ladies she didknow from the kitchen, and called her over. “Hey, Marcie, what kind of jam is that? On the danishes?”
Marcie grinned at her. “There are no danishes on the menu today, love. He made that one for you specially. I think he’s already plannin’ your wedding”
Brit groaned, as the other nurses cracked up laughing.
Marcie paused for a second. “You should ask him about the jam, though. The motivation’s almost as sweet as the jam.”
She nodded to behind Brit, and she turned. Bobby was standing behind her, eyes sparkling like the golden colour they were.
“I mean, I don’t know, the jam’s pretty sweet”
The nurses snickered, as Brit blushed again. “Was it guava?”
He looked surprised. “Aye, well picked! Didn’t expect you to get it”
She fell into step with him, planning on checking blood pressure as he dropped off food.
“So what’s the story with the jam, then?”
“Ahhh, patience, Pretty Britty. All in due time. You’ll just have to walk with me.”
They bantered back and forth, Brit checking on patients as Bobby dropped off their breakfast. All of the patients seemed to brighten as they went around the ward, as he cracked jokes and told them how beautiful they all looked. But as they came to the last room, she noticed he had two trays left.
He dropped off the last one, and then stopped at the lift.
“So. The jam. You actually want the story?”
She nodded.
“You gotta come with me and play along, then.”
She smiled. “Go on then. Colour me curious.”
He smiled, as the lift arrived to take them to their destination.
He reached in, pressing the button.
Hospice.
Brit’s face fell a little, as Bobby left the trolley near the service lift for later retrieval. He walked her down a long hall, and nodded to the nurses at the station there, who nodded him on. He knocked gently on a door at the end of the hall, and swung it open as a voice invited him in.
“Abigay, how are you, you beautiful creature?
“Is that Bobby? Me alright, boy.” Her soft Jamaican accent was beautiful, and seemed to pull Brit further into the room. Abigay must have been nearing a hundred, a beautiful coloured scarf wrapped around her head.
But Brit could tell from the way she was staring that Abigay’s eyesight had long since left her, and the tiredness in her voice signed that her final days wouldn’t be long behind.
“A pretty girl, for one. I’ve brought one of the nurses from downstairs up with me. She’s very pretty. Almost as pretty as you, Abi. Her name’s Brit.”
“Ahhh, me take your word for it. You finally found yourself a nice girlfriend?”
“Aye, she will be, she just doesn’t know it yet.”
“Hi Abigay. It’s lovely to meet you.” Brit smiled, making Abigay chuckled softly.
“Likewise, girl. But Bobby, you haven’t brought just a pretty girl for me to not be able to see. What is that delicious smell?”
Bobby chuckled, as he lifted the tray onto the table near her bed. He opened it, and the wafting scent of guava filled the room. Abigay breathed deeply, as Bobby started to cut up some toast.
Her eyes filled with tears. “Oh Bobby, you ‘ave not gone and done it.”
“Aye, Abi, I have. Burnt myself up good doin’ it, too. I’ve been making jam for near ten years and never once burnt myself, I make one batch for you, and I have to get patched up by the prettiest girl I’ve ever laid eyes on. I don’t know what you did, but this is your doin’, I’m sure of it.”
Abigay chuckled, as Bobby took her hand, gently placing a small piece of toast with guava jam on it. She brought it to her mouth, and tasted it, and the tears that had welled up in her eyes immediately spilled. She pushed the tray away, holding her arms out to him, and pulling him into a hug.
“It tastes just like home, boy. Exactly like home.”
Brit felt the tears start dripping down her own face as she covered her mouth.
“Oh Abi, listen, you’ve made her cry” Bobby laughed.
Abi waved him off. “Gwaan, I can manage this part on me own.”
Bobby nodded Brit toward the door, and she sniffled loudly.
Who the fuck was this guy?
As he closed the door behind him, he turned to her, smiling. “Thanks for that. She’s been buggin’ me to find a nice girl for months. And she’s not got long. So I thought I’d make her day.”
“Is she a relative?”
He shook his head. “She hasn’t got anyone in the UK. Could never afford to move back to Jamaica either.”
Brit waited for him to keep talking.
“I’m half Jamaican. Didn’t spend heaps of time there, but when I did, I was learnin’ to cook. And me and Abi have struck up a friendship, of sorts, over the months. And she’s been goin’ on about this specific jam she used to have back home. So I made it for her.”
Brit was just completely speechless. “Why are you showing me this?”
He shrugged. “Abi told me to just spread some good in the world, and see what sticks. Tried to do somethin’ nice for her, and it directly led me to meetin’ you. Felt like a sign.”
“Plus, you made two pretty decent jam puns there. Spread? Sticks?”
Bobby turned to look at her, his amber eyes absolutely sparkling, as he grinned at her. “Aye, so I did.”
They got back in the lift, and as the doors opened for her floor, he smiled at her again. She stepped out without a word, but smiled back, tucking her hair behind her ear.
—
It was almost exactly three minutes later when she decided she wanted to see him again. She picked up some extra gauze and bandages for his burn, and walked to the service lift, immediately pressing the button for the main kitchen.
She walked with purpose through the halls, down to where she knew Johnno usually worked with his team.
And as soon as she walked in, she saw him.
But boy, did he look surprised to see her.
She smiled at him, holding up the gauze she’d brought with her, as the boys in the kitchen ooooooooooed at the fact she’d come to see him.
Brit walked straight up to Bobby, handing him the gauze.
“I told you I’d bring these down… but now I’m thinking… given that your burn’s on your arm, it’s probably going to be easier to have someone do it for you.”
“I was thinkin’ that, yeah” he chuckled.
“Well, then, I guess that means you’ll be seeing me every morning for the next ten days then. I’ll do it for you.”
He grinned at her, the sparkle in his eyes returning once again.
“You’re just doing this so I keep making you breakfast danishes.”
“Nah, you don’t have to bring me breakfast.”
“Oh, and what if I wantto?”
“Well, then, you can make it at my place before we leave”
She stood up on her tiptoes, planted a quick kiss on his lips, and turned and walked out, as the boys hooted like idiots and jumped around him. She gave Johnno the finger as she did. And glanced quickly back over her shoulder at Bobby, who was surrounded by hollering men, but looked like he’d just been struck by lightning.
These 3 am wakeups were going to be alotmore fun, now.
we had a beautiful, magic love there. what a sad, beautiful, tragic love affair
It was raining.
Bobby sighed. He hated the rain, how it would always fall in the middle of the summer, ruining a good, perfect day, making him go home, and return to his bedroom. She, on the other side, used to love the rain. The sound, the smell, the way it would dramatically fall against the windows and make it cool down a little. She loved to nuzzle in Bobby’s arms as it fell, sometimes they watched something, and sometimes the only sound in the room was the beat of their hearts in sync. He almost learned to love the rain.
But she wasn’t there anymore.
With the breeze that was now moving the windows of his little house, she was gone. One, two, three, four, five days, Bobby trying to be logical once again, to be back to reality. She let the cat and her toothbrush but took Bobby’s heart with her, so suddenly, he couldn’t make it make sense. Now, in her absence, he felt like parts of him were missing. The warmth of his body, the smile on his face, the chain hanging from his neck, all the things that made him feel as if god himself was gracing him were gone.
Cause she wasn’t there anymore.
So he got used to dreaming of her, let the sleep carry him away, his recollections rocking his heavy boy and leading his mind to a land where she was still smiling as she said his name against his lips, a brush so soft that could only appear when two people trusted each other. It was like they didn’t have to talk about things when it was just the two of them, the silence could keep them company, but even so, they would always fall into warm conversations.
Waking up was the worst thing that could happen to him during those days. His lonely bed waiting for its owner to come back and reclaim her possession just as much as his body did. He ached for her in the mornings, slowly realising she wasn’t there so he could wrap his arms around her and smell her shampoo before cooking her breakfast. He had to eat alone now.
The cat—Mr. Midnight, as she would call him—nuzzled against Bobby’s bare legs. He wondered if the little thing knew that something was missing or if he could see that the hands that patted him now were tougher than before. If not, if the cat could be spared the pain, then Bobby envied him. How good it would be to not need to say goodbye?
Bobby stood up, letting the duvet fall back to bed as he made his way across the room, still infested with the scent of her, still filled with her memories. He could see it now, so clear, his mind still lingering on it. It wasn’t supposed to be like that.
They had been fighting for the past few days and now he couldn’t even remember the reason. It all seemed so silly. The moment it all went wrong still dancing on his mind. He had tried to avoid it, the conversation. If he could just stop and try to listen to it.
But he never thought she would go. It wasn’t supposed to go like that. They loved each other, didn’t they? He thought they did. They were so happy, so fucking happy, and he took it for granted, the same way he did with everything in his life. So life itself decided to take it from him, like a mother that takes your toys away when you’re not playing it right.
He tried to fix it. Over and over again. Kissing her neck, lying her on the bed, fucking the pain away. That was the part he was good at. That was the thing he would do. Nothing could be wrong when she was sighing his name and scratching his back, could it? But that was just enough for the day, sometimes, the week. The problems would come back, circling them like dark clouds.
He sighed again, moving to the shower.
She was everywhere he looked. Dancing in the middle of the room, playing with the cat, laughing on his bed, changing clothes in front of the cupboard, listening to weird music on her headset as she sat down on the floor, moaning his name against the wall, begging him to kiss her, singing in the shower, applying makeup in front of their mirror, watching TV on the couch, cooking breakfast in the morning, smelling the flowers she grew by herself. Every little corner of their house had her face, body and soul imprinted on it. She was like that song you can’t get out of your head.
He stumbled inside the bathroom, shoving his head under the shower and running his hands through it, the dreadlocks he was so used to having, now gone, replaced by a buzzcut in order of a painful memory. “I love your hair,” she would say with a smile on his face as she ran her fingers through it and every time he remembered it, his chest would send waves of hurt to his body.
Feeling the weight of his own actions crush his body, he turned off the shower, stepped out of it and headed back to the bedroom, grabbing his clothes from the cupboard. His eyes avoided her dresses, her perfumes, her shoes, as they hung there, watching him slip inside his trousers, his suit. Torturing him with the constant reminder that she should be there.
He remembered watching her. How the three words slipped through his lips as she kissed them for the last time, making her smile and say them back, even though they were a little too late. How she stepped inside of the train without sparing a single glance back, like him, thinking things would be fine after a while. The chain around his neck held a picture of her, glistening against the lights of the station. The handwritten letter in the inside pocket of her coat filled with all the words he couldn’t seem to say. If he had a little more time, he would make it better, he knew that.
It was supposed to be just a trip. He thought it was just a trip.
But she wasn’t coming back.
The train ran off its tracks. Her mother told him.
Not now.
Not ever.
He remembered the silence. The white walls. The nurses walking around, looking so busy. The sirens. The feeling of losing the love of his life. How he stood there, waiting for something, anything. How their friends and family tried to keep him confident. But miracles never happened in real life. She wasn’t coming back. He hung on. She gave up. And for the life of them, they couldn’t go back. It was it. The end of their thread, broken, cut. His eyes leaked just like the rain that fell against the ceiling.
The doorbell rang as he adjusted his tie, the cat meowing by his feet. Bobby turned, avoiding looking at his haggard face in the mirror. He reached the front door, jumping over the piles of clothes that were now clustering in the living room before opening it.
Gary stood on the other side of the door, his face filled with pity, sympathy and concern as he watched Bobby. The clothes he was wearing were matching the ones in Bobby, both of them dressed for the day. He hugged Bobby, patting him slightly on his back, the softest he ever did. Not a week ago, Gary was there drinking with them and now…
“I’m so sorry, Bobby,” Gary said, his voice sounding so careful as if Bobby could break at any given moment. “We’re all gonna miss April, she was one of a kind.”
Bobby swallowed hard, feeling the tears pricking his eyes. “I know…”
and i can still see it all in my mind, all of you, all of me, intertwined. i once believed love would be black and white but it’s golden
The church bells were ringing; a piano was playing softly within. The sky was clear blue, like even the weather couldn’t find a reason not to celebrate today. The day was as full of sunshine as the faces of the welcoming party outside the church.
How was that for a Thursday in November.
Bobby rode up with Noah and a few other of the lads from the show. The whole group had been invited. Bobby had apparently been extremely close to being shafted off the guest list, and he wasn’t all that surprised. Not when he and the bride had spent the entire summer in the Villa together, even exchanging the ‘I love you’. At the time, Bobby could see them exchanging a different set of vows; vows she’ll now be exchanging with someone else.
If it wasn’t for the guys, Bobby might never have come. He had half a mind to run still, to escape the church grounds, never looking back, as he dashed between the rose bushes. Long before he’d first dropped those three little words he knew he felt them, and even now, long after he had first let them fall from his lips, he knew he still felt them. He was as certain now as he had been back then.
The unnatural heat of today was almost as strong as it had been back on that challenge platform; the sound of the distant birds chirping away in the background; the smell of the breeze carrying warmth and fresh country air. He closed his eyes and it was like he was back there, back before everything fell apart.
Neither of them had known her ex boyfriend had been waiting for her to come out. He laid it on thick, never letting up, a never-ending train of apologies as he begged for forgiveness. No doubt she had never looked as good as she had winning Love Island.
Bobby had seen it coming before it happened. Just a month after they left the Villa, she sat him down and ended things, saying she was going to give things another go with Levi. They had history, a past, all this time invested in each other already. From what Bobby knew of their past relationship, that history was full of Levi cheating on her with some cherry lips and a mountain of shining red hair.
From the moment Levi appeared back in her life, Bobby knew she would leave to go back to him, giving Levi the chance and the ammunition to hurt her again. Bobby wasn’t bitter, and he wasn’t hanging about waiting with an ‘I told you so’, and nor was he hanging on to welcome her back sobbing into his open arms. It just was. This was reality and he wasn’t spending forever imagining the different realities where she ran back to him. For all Bobby knew, she might even end up forgiving Levi again if - when? - if - he cheated on her once more.
But all that breaking up was just five months ago. She had come to him a month after the split to tell him Levi had proposed, and she had said yes, and that it was happening soon. Bobby was still adjusting to it until the very morning the day came.
And that day was today.
Bobby woke up; the fog that had sat in his head in the months building up to today was dissipating, clearing the way to really think straight; his bad mood, his sullen air, was all blowing away like the clouds in the sky, leaving his sights clear.
His stomach was still in knots, but he was entering a church to watch the woman he loved get married to some douchebag who never treated her right. Was he going to say anything? Was he going to rudely barge in, find her, tell her what a mistake she was making, that if she did this she could be regretting it for the rest of her life? Surely, if he did that, made her call the whole thing off, that could be what she regrets for the rest of her life.
His heart lost speed as they made their way under the arched doorway of the church. The white ribbons adorned the length of the room, going from pew to pew, tying together the small bouquets of flowers at each end. White, silver, and blue, so very elegant, but he always knew her as golden.
She was the bright day; the colour of sunshine; sweet like honey, as lovely as a daffodil. She was the representation of joy, and if laughter was a person, it would have been her. She was Summer; the air, the breeze, the daze.
At least, that’s how he knew her in the Villa. That’s how she looked in the dozens of photos that were constantly splashed across hers and Levi’s socials. Every time he had seen her since the break-up, she looked more like a painting of her old self. Or had the cracks always been there, and Bobby had been too stunned to see?
No.
No. She had always been enough. She had always been true. She had always been honest.
Maybe he was just fooling himself, talking himself into seeing her unhappiness because he wanted it, selfishly so. Maybe he was waiting for her to wake up and realise she wanted him instead. Maybe he was holding out for her to call off the wedding. Maybe he was hoping that she would spot him in the crowd and the whole façade would crumble, the show would stop, and she would come back to him.
He knew she wouldn’t. She couldn’t. Nothing like that happens for real; it’s too selfish, too inconsiderate, the exact opposite of her.
It would have been easy to hate her. He had every justification. He had read the tabloids, seen the theories. She had always meant to run back to Levi. They only broke up so she could go on the show and get famous herself. She only accepted the slot on the show to make him crawl back in the first place.
Everyone had a theory, and Bobby had read them all, but they didn’t know her like he knew her. They didn’t see her like he saw her. That was not her.
She had come onto the show a heartbroken girl, and built herself back up again in Bobby’s arms. He would do it again, even if it ended with them exactly where they were now, just so he could have that time with her. He would always have the Summer. Summer would always have them. They had been in love.
Blazing and true, it had been honest and heartfelt. It was what they both needed at the time; they were who each other needed. Never had anything felt so right in Bobby’s life, and he thought that she had felt it all too.
He’d never forget her face when Levi showed up at her door just two weeks after the show ended. The shock, the hurt; it was genuine, because she was genuine. The only fake thing about her had been those nails. Oh, and the hair extensions.
Still. Bobby took a deep breath as they found their seats. This was it. This was the new reality. She was getting married. She knew what she was doing. It wasn’t like she had been held at gunpoint for the past five months, forced to smile as she picked colour schemes, floral arrangements, and how many entrees they were going to serve.
That yes had come from her own lips.
Bobby couldn’t help but wonder how gleeful it might have been, how happy in that moment she had really been. She must have been happy enough. She must be the happiest she’s ever been. He had to accept that, he had to accept that he needed to move on.
This was going to be the first step, the lads assured him. They were rallied around, hands on his shoulders, patting him reassuringly at every moment, making sure he was watched at all times lest he run away sobbing.
Well, Bobby had no plans to do anything like that. He was going to sit in his seat and be happy for her. If anyone asked why he looked so uncomfortable, he’d blame it on the pew.
Actually, he did need to take a leak.
He patted Noah on the thigh, leant in, to whisper, “I need to pee.”
“Did you not go before we left?” Noah asked, frowning at him like Bobby was his kid brother or something.
“No, I forgot.”
“I told you to go before we left the house -”
“Well, I forgot. Jeez, you wouldn’t think I had other things on my mind -”
“I’m not letting you go on your own.”
“What? What do you think I’m going to do? Go hunt her down and -”
“She’s not here yet,” Lucas butted in, turning to lean over the back of his pew from the seat in front of them. “Chelsea just updated the group chat that she’s just getting her rollers out.”
Bobby raised his brows at Noah. “See. I’m literally just going to be a second.”
“Yeah, he’s got the kilt on, so he can just whip it up over one of those rose bushes outside,” Gary said, joining in with a grin.
“Okay, you are not peeing in the church flowers,” Noah said, shaking his head at Bobby like it was his idea.
“I wasn’t going to! God, why are you guys acting like I don’t know how to behave? My plan was always, always to find the toilets, believe it or not,” Bobby said exasperatedly.
“Should someone still go with him?” Ibrahim offered. “Just in case.”
“In case what?” Bobby asked, now flummoxed. It was like he had a history of being a mental case. Whatdid they think he would do?
Ibrahim shrugged. “I dunno, like hide in a cupboard to jump out at the bridal party or something?”
“Why would I do that?”
“To be fair, I wouldn’t be surprised if you did something like that,” Henrik added, turning into the conversation with Lucas’ other side.
Bobby shook his head. “You guys really think I would do anything to try and ruin her day?”
“I mean, I don’t think it would be intentional -” Lucas begins, but Bobby cut him off by slicing his hand through the air. He cut them all off.
“I’m going before I wet myself in church,” he says, getting up.
“Again?” Gary offers, eyebrow raised.
“Again?” Bobby repeats, voice pitched. This one made him pause.
“Didn’t you tell us a story about you wetting yourself at -”
“That was at a sleepover. And also, I was six. I have more restraint these days.”
“We’ll see.”
Bobby got up and went. He found the toilets easy enough, down a hall just off the front door. There was a cue already, showing he wasn’t the only one without foresight to go before they got there. He would rub that in Noah’s face when he got back.
Bobby took out his phone while he waited. The group chat was exploding; the girls were keeping them constantly updated on their every move, updating the bride’s every move.
Bobby felt still again as he imagined her in her white dress, getting her make-up done, holding a bouquet that matched the ones dotted around the church. He was about to watch her gliding up the aisle, eyes adoringly on the only man that mattered to her today, and he was going to watch it from the side-line.
He closed his eyes again, seeing her not from the side, not from one amongst the crowd, but centre stage, above everyone else, just him and her.
His eyes shut tighter as he saw her giving him the look she had the first time they exchanged those words. He swapped the ‘I love you’ for ‘I do’. She didn’t need to say I love you because it was all over her face, the look of love clear as the day they’d woken up to.
And the best part, the very best part - it was only for him.
Bobby and her, and they were in love, and it was just them, living in the sunshine. And if the rain did come, well, he didn’t mind living in rainbows.
One message popped up in the chat, stuck out like a daisy among weeds. It wasn’t from her, none of them were, though they were all about her.
Lottie: Is Bobby there? The bride doesn’t believe us that he’s shown up!
Chels:BOBBY, IF YOU’RE THERE GIVE US A SIGN!!! WAVE!! AN EMOJI! ANYTHING!!
… Was she worried he wasn’t going to be here? She really, really wanted him to come along? After everything?
More importantly, was the thought that he wasn’t going to go upsetting her? Why would it matter so much? They were ‘old flames’ now. Though, she had apparently really, really fought to get him invited at all. So he knew there was something.
His heart was racing still when he got back to his seat. The guys congratulated him for not running away and not doing anything daft. Bobby just pushed a stupid grin on his face and got quiet.
“Hey, the girls are leaving the hotel,” Henrik said, voice laced with excitement.
“Finally,” Gary said. “Let’s get this show on the road.”
Show.
It was all a show.
For months, Bobby had been putting it on, pretending he wasn’t seeing the whole world putting it on, too. It was all a show.
He loved her. He loved her and he didn’t want to be here. He didn’t want to watch her marry the wrong guy. Even if she didn’t want to be with Bobby, she could do better than someone who had cheated on her. Even if it wasn’t with him. She could do better.
Everyone deserves someone who’s willing to give them their whole heart. You can’t do better than that, and Bobby doesn’t want to watch anyone - let alone the bride of the day - be with anyone less than they deserve.
Everything feels like it’s all happening at once. The place goes quiet, but it’s buzzing with noise.
The piano is playing; louder and quieter at the same time. The groom and all his men lead their way to the front of the room where the priest is waiting.
Bobby could not dispute how happy Levi looked right then. He was suddenly buried by an avalanche of guilt for wanting to rob Levi of the joy and happiness that she brought into the world. Maybe Levi had changed, maybe he was better now, and maybe he wouldn’t break her heart again. Bobby had to believe it. He had to.
Even as his heart was pounding, longing for her - for him - for anyone to do something. Don’t say yes, don’t say yes, please, please, don’t let anyone say ‘I do’.
The room went quiet. Everyone was hushed, the world was as still as it ever was going to get. The anticipation filled the room, everyone wanting to see the bride in all her beautiful glory, all eyes on her as they should be, the most beautiful woman in the world.
Bobby got to his feet like everyone else. He saw over the heads of everyone who was sitting behind them. Each hammer of the piano keys felt like someone was inside his head, knocking their fists against his skull. Was this ‘Here Comes the Bride’ or a death march?
His eyes were glistening already, just a moment before she stepped foot inside the old building, the sun at her back, making her glow like an idol handpicked by the angels themselves.
She was beauty, she was elegance, she was the stars that shined in the night and the sun that lit up the day; she was the air he breathed, she was life, she was everything.
And she was waltzing up the aisle to someone else.
Bobby couldn’t even take his eyes off of her to make sure Levi was appreciating the sight before him properly. How could he not? How could he ever imagine hurting someone so wonderful? How could Levi live with himself knowing that he hadn’t done everything he could to keep her happy?
Is that what Bobby was guilty of now? As he watched her making her way to the front of the church where Levi was waiting, expectant smile all over his undeserving face, is that what Bobby was allowing?
Could Bobby live with himself knowing he hadn’t done everything he could to keep her happy?
She stood before them all, facing Levi, and reached for his hand. Was she smiling? Was she happy? She should be, she would be - but how long would it last? How long until that smile and the sunshine within her faded out?
Bobby’s ears were ringing; he could hear the church bells again despite their stillness. He watched Levi’s and the priest’s lips moving, not catching a word, could see her jaw from the side, going up and down as she recited the well-rehearsed vows along with them.
Was his heart beating, thumping with the force of a hammer, or was it still, dead as if he was flat-lining?
And then he heard it, chorusing out among the choir of chaos in his head.
“Should anyone present know of any reason that this couple should not be joined in holy matrimony, speak now…”
…or forever hold your peace.
The words hadn’t been spoken yet. The world truly had gone still.
Hand balling into his fist, Bobby reached out to Noah, placing his fist on the other man’s thigh.
The wisp of a smile that had been on Noah’s face quickly dissipated into worry, no doubt figuring that this moment was all too much for Bobby. And it was, but not for the reason Noah probably assumed.
Looking Noah dead in the eye, Bobby said, “Should I do something really stupid?”
Eyes wide; face long; Noah paled.
He reached back for Bobby, but Bobby was already moving. All Noah could do was scramble, whispering out the most hushed, “No - !”
Gasps rang up all around the room as Bobby got to his feet, standing as bold as brass in the middle of the aisle, all eyes on him.
He was only looking at her.
“Summer.”
Summer looked at him, eyes wide, but soft. Her lips were parted, like she wanted to say something, but nothing came out. If she was stunned, at a loss for words, he couldn’t blame her. He was stunned at his own boldness, already feeling the weight of standing up so suddenly pressing him down.
“Don’t do this,” he said, blinking back any potential tears. His heart was back and it was going so fast he thought it might be trying to kill him. “Don’t say ‘I do’, please. I should have spoken up sooner, and I’m sorry for doing this now…”
He took a step forward, and that seemed to break the spell. Mutterings broke out across the room, there was some movement from those sitting around him like they were thinking of physically stopping him should he try to take another step towards the happy couple.
“Don’t marry him. He’s already proven he doesn’t deserve you, Summer. I’m not saying run away with me, but I’m asking you not to throw your life away for some guy who doesn’t even respect you enough to stay faithful.”
Jaws were dropping all around after already being picked back up. Not a soul in the place looked like they knew what do to.
But there was only face, one person, Bobby cared about now.
*****
Summer didn’t know how to feel. She stood in front of all her friends and family, in front of her fiancé’s friends and family, being asked not to do the very thing everyone was planning for over the last five months.
It had all been such a rush, she hadn’t even thought much about it beyond picking out the details. The last few months had been like living in a dream, and she had sensed that reality was about to burst her bubble. But not like this.
Bobby stood, so sorrowful, full of regret and pleading. So blue. He shut his eyes tight. She saw it in him; whatever gusto had build up that led to him standing, finally speaking out, she saw it all leave him.
He opened his eyes. Once more, they were only on her. It always felt like he never saw the world around her when she was there, that his eyes were well and truly only for her.
“I’m sorry,” he said, shaking his head. He stepped back. “I’ll go.”
Noah stood, going straight to Bobby, putting his hand on Bobby’s chest. “Come on,” he said, speaking soft, “let’s go.”
Her eyes flickered around their friends; seeing the shock, the horror, the hands held to their mouths, eyes wide in disbelief.
Bobby was half way down the aisle when Summer turned back to Levi finally.
His face was a picture of fury. He had to yet to tear his eyes off the back of Bobby’s head.
Summer understood. Of course he would be furious. He should be. And after arguing with her about him even getting invited, he was right…
Or was he?
Summer looked at him. Really, really looked at him. All of a sudden it was like she was seeing him for the first time, seeing him through the eyes of everyone else, of those not blinded by the love she felt for him once.
Her heart sank.
On her wedding day, before all of her guests, looking at her future husband. Her heart sank at the sight of him. All that happiness was turning in her stomach, but she knew what she needed to do.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered, feeling it come out of her mouth like a ghost was speaking through her. She hardly believed she had said it, but she had. And it wasn’t because of the interruption. “I’m sorry, Levi. He’s right. I can’t - I should - we shouldn’t. We shouldn’t be doing this.”
His face fell and her own matched it. She felt that loss, that sorrow, but there was something else, too… something stronger.
“Bobby…”
“Summer -” Levi tried to reach out of her, but she was already stepping back.
Summer turned to the crowd, one foot already heading down the short set of steps. “BOBBY!”
Everyone stared, the shocking just kept piling on and on. But Summer could only see him. He was under the arch, framed by the unnaturally beautiful day, like the world had come together to make her see everything so clearly that she couldn’t believe she had ever seen anything different. What was was blue had turned golden.
He turned, looking back at her like he couldn’t believe it. She felt like she had on that first day they met; the sun enveloped him that day too, like summer was trying to hug him.
Summer blew down the aisle, heart beating harder than it had on her way up, hair blowing behind her, not a care in the world how the man at the other end saw her, knowing he wouldn’t care because she was coming to him.
“Bobby.”
It came out as a gasp, a cry, as she threw her arms around him. He held her back tight, holding her like he was afraid of ever letting her go again.
“Summer.”
“Come on,” she said, breaking off the hug, but not breaking from him. Not again. Never again.
She took his hand, and he took hers, and they ran down the church steps into the glory of the bright, new day.
When those church doors shut heavily behind them, Summer stopped them again, throwing her arms around his neck once more, but this time, without the eyes of the world on them, she kissed him.
In that moment, the world was theirs. It was peace.
Villa fic, MC has been loyal to Gary through her whole journey, but after Hannah returns, she is forced to see a new side of him. Lucky for her, she has Bobby to turn to.
1940’s AU with a screwball comedy vibes. Bobby is MC’s former husband, and they are sent to solve one last case for the Newspaper they work on together before she gets remarried.
AU, Brooke Moore was Bobby’s first everything, and no one’s ever measured up to her. So when she moves back home unexpectedly - for good this time - he knows he’s in trouble.
Villa fic. This is probably the best-known LITG fic, and it’s for a reason. Bobby & Lili’s relationship is both explosive and healing, and beautiful and painful. Prepare for feelings. And prepare for smut.
AU set in the fictional town of North Point. Bobby and Barbara have been familiar for years, and Bobby’s always had a crush he thought was unrequited … until he finds out it wasn’t.
Villa fic. Villain MC who enters Love Island with one goal in mind: winning. With a sugar-coated appearance, she couples up with the boy she deems to be 'the sweetheart’ of the series, Bobby McKenzie.
Introducing our new monthly feature: character spotlight!
Each month we’ll have a special focus on one character, highlighting fanfics and fanart of them, as well as writing our own very special prompts and one shots for them. Look out for our banners, Insta pages, HC lists, and much more! Also, feel free to submit any writings, fanarts or edits, or any of your own recommendations for the character, too!
To kick off June, we’re starting with our very favourite Baker Boy, Mr Bobby Mckenzie
a huge thanks to @griever-receiver for this perfect commission of punk!bobby – i’ve had it as my icon for a while now and i’m still so obsessed with it !!!!!
“Someone once said, ‘You can’t hurry love’, Anyway, I’m pretty sure they must have been an amazing baker. It takes time and the right ingredients to craft the perfect pastry. The same goes for finding someone special. When I do find her, she’ll always have a fresh pastry in her hand and a smile on her face.”
A piece I made for @becangle, also Bobby in a suit is
What a day! Letting your guard down in the Villa seems to be the quickest way to get your feelings hurt or end up with a bruised ego. Bobby seems to have learned his lesson… or not? Let’s find out with these questions from the audience.
How has your impression of the other guys changed since day one?
I came here hoping to get along with the boys, but since we are being honest here, I have to admit they intimidated me quite a bit. Have you seen the kind of men who go on this show? I thought I would blend into the background, but everyone has turned out to be quite nice. Not all of us are friends, but we can live together… For the most part. We’ll have to see what happens next.
Since, for the most part, you and Venus have been in a friendship couple, has there been a moment where you thought about recoupling with someone else?
Oh, that’s an easy one! No, I haven’t thought about it. I’m comfortable with her and she had never said she wanted to recouple with someone else. Obviously, things aren’t the same now, and we need to talk about it, but I don’t see myself with any of the other islanders. I don’t think the other girls want me either [laughs], so I’m not pushing myself onto someone who isn’t interested… The future is a little uncertain for me, isn’t it?
How do you really feel about what happened between Venus and Rocco? Did you see it coming?
No, I didn’t. Maybe I shouldn’t trust blindly in here, but since Venus and I weren’t in a real couple, I thought she’d talked with me first. And Rocco? She could do so much better. It’s obviously an awkward position to be for me. I do feel betrayed precisely because our relationship didn’t have any romantic commitment. It was a place to be honest and that’s what hurts the most. But how mad can I really be? Venus didn’t owe me the same loyalty that Rocco owed to Sky. I thought we would be better at this, that’s all.
To the viewers, it’s quite obvious your chemistry and attraction for Venus, have you ever thought of telling her that you want something more than just a friendship? If so, why haven’t you?
Chemistry and attraction? Can’t two beautiful people just be friends? [laughs] I don’t want more than a friendship because she doesn’t want more than a friendship. If there’s anything on my side, it doesn’t matter. I won’t make myself a problem in here.
i went from originally having bobby say that, as it should be, to now having rahim say it.
all because i got bored waiting for episode 29 and restarted. im positive its because of the episode 29 update that’s getting ready to release..at least i hope that’s the case because ive never had this issue before in the past.
so the first time i got that message was during our last date, it made sense cause one of the choices mentions a ring and at that point we’re pretty serious.
though now..
since i restarted the show im getting it during our “first” date outside the villa where bobby asks about the recoupling
