Something Great

21. We ready

She eyes him thoughtfully, "About you and me?"

He brings his eyes to hers and she can see all the emotion behind them, "Yeah," he says quietly.

Maddi sighs and falls back further into the couch, "But you're with Hope?"

He turns to give her an annoyed look, "Don't start with Hope. I don't want to talk about her."

"But you're literally in a couple with her. And you said you wanted to get to know her, and crack on. You friend-zoned me in front of everyone before coupling up with her." Maddi's talking a mile a minute.

Noah furrows his brows, "Okay, wait." He holds up his hands defensively. "I think you're forgetting the most important part of my recoupling speech where I said that I wanted to choose you."

Maddi opens her mouth to say something, but nothing comes out.

Noah continues, "I wanted to choose you, Maddi. Since the beginning. You're the one that told me not to pick you. Because of Bobby... but now you're not in a couple with him anymore."

Maddi nods along, despite the fight rising in her chest. She may have chosen Bobby, but Noah flirted with Priya while telling Maddi he was all in for her. But it's Noah...

"So," he says, "I want to know how you feel about me and you." He eyes her, waiting for a response.

"I think you know how much I fancy you," Maddi starts, "I have from the moment you stepped in the Villa."

A small smile plays at the corner of Noah's lips.

Maddi continues, "But things are so complicated now."

Noah frowns, "What do you mean?"

"Like, with you and Hope. You're together. She's obsessed with you, and has made it very clear that I'm not even allowed to be doing this," she gestures between them. "And before, Priya chose you. She chose you because she was led to believe there was something between you two. And now with the new boys—"

Noah interrupts, "What about the new boys?"

Maddi looks up at him with her big green eyes and sees frustration in his. She feels herself growing smaller in his gaze. "Nothing. Forget I said anything."

"No," he demands. "Are you saying you're going to crack on with Lucas?"

Maddi shrugs, "I don't know. I fancy him, and he fancies me."

"So he says," Noah spits.

Maddi furrows her brows, "What's that supposed to mean?"

He sighs, "Don't you think it's a little convenient that the one girl he fancies is the most available one in the Villa?"

Maddi stiffens, "You're saying that he just sees me as the easiest option? Is that how you see me? I'm easy?"

Noah's eyes go wide, "No! No, Maddi, that's not what I meant."

Maddi cuts him off, "That's exactly what you said!" She gets up from the couch and storms over to the stairs, "You know. I've been so devastated over the fact that I lost you when I chose Bobby... but now that I know that you just see me as an easy option, I'm over it."

She turns to stomp up the stairs but Noah reaches her before she can. He grabs her hand and holds her back.

"Maddi, that's not what I meant," he pleads.

Maddi holds back her tears and pulls her hand away from him. She takes the stairs two by two and doesn't look back, leaving him deflated at the bottom.