Second Chances

Day Three, Part Three - Recoupling...

"I think you should wear the teal one, it'll bring out your eyes." She whispers, then looks through her clothes next to me.

I pick up the teal dress and hold it up to me in the mirror, AJ winks behind me then wanders off to get ready herself.

I want to clear my head before any drama, so I take the dress and some make up into the bathroom with me. I close and lock the door, my body instantly sags against it as I have a moment to myself.
I turn the shower on and undress, pulling my hair into a bun to save it getting wet. I step under the spray with a sense of relief as the warm water hits.

What the hell is going on with me, I'm not like this anymore! This is the behaviour of season 2 Love Island Luna with all the mixed emotions and being drawn in by Noah. Although this time, we were a couple and there wasn't a Hope to contend with. Then there was sweet, passionate and sexy AJ, I hadn't felt this pull physically for a woman since...

A banging on the door brings me out of that thought.

"Are you almost done? I need to get in there to brush my teeth." Comes Chelsea's voice.

I chuckle to myself for a moment, but get out of the shower and quickly wrap a towel around myself. I unlock the door and swiftly pull Chelsea in, before locking it again.

"You doing the recoupling in a towel babe?" She laughs.

"Ha ha! Very funny. No I just needed to clear my head beforehand." I say walking to the sink and leaning my hands on the edge.

Chelsea's arms come round my waist and she rests her chin on my shoulder. "Wanna talk about it?"

I look at her through the mirror, I see the concern on her face.

"It's... I think I really could like AJ. She is... well you've seen her she is absolutely stunning, she is funny, caring and we get on really well but... it's Noah, he's got this way of pulling me in. You know how I was last time after the villa. Even when I was still with Bobby, it felt like a piece of me had been taken away." I look down at my now white knuckles from holding on to the edge of the side too hard.

Chelsea moves back and spins me round to face her, she has a slight look of relief probably because I didn't say anything about Levi. Before she shifts her expression to more of a confident and stern look.

"Forget about last time, we have been given this amazing opportunity to come back. The past is in the past, just focus on moving forward. Who knows who'll enter the villa next. Let's just get through tonight and see where that leaves us. Hmm?" She hugs me.

I pull her tight and take a deep breath. I shake myself out of the weird funk I'd gotten into, moving back from Chelsea.

"Well I better get dressed, otherwise this recoupling might be a bit risky." I joke, plastering a smile on my face. Then get dressed, before following Chelsea back to the girl's dressing room to finish getting ready.

Making my way now out to the garden, my heart is in my throat at the possible outcome of tonight's recoupling. Not only for the reason of who will pick who, but for the fact of who will be going home.

The girls are asked by production to sit spaced out around the firepit, while the guys are asked to line up in front of it. The silence is deafening as we all wait for the text to kick things off. A phone pings, making us all jump and look around to see who it would be.

Miki stands up, holding her phone up to read the message. "Looks like it's me going first tonight. Right okay." She clears her throat. "This boy is funny, kind, rather good looking and I think it's fate bringing us back together again. So the boy I'd like to couple up with is Bill."

Bill grins from ear to ear, the entire time Miki is talking. As soon as his name is called, he rushes over to her side and kisses her on the cheek.

Next to go is Chelsea, she is a big ball of energy as she makes her way through the speech and with no surprise picks Levi to recouple with. As they hug, I swear he gives me a quick sad longing look. As he and Chelsea pull apart he puts on the smile again, I focus on the remaining boys in the line.

Genevieve was a hard one to read with who she was going to pick as she made her speech, it could be between Bruno or Rohan. Eventually she picks Rohan and they grin at each other nervously, then continue to wait for the rest of us.

It was down to Talia, AJ and myself.

I will for my phone to buzz in my hand, but an excited Talia stands up as hers beeps.

"Yes! It's me. Okay, so as most of you know I've had my eye on this person since the start. They've definitely had people grafting hard for them, but I'm going to shake things up and pick them because I don't see myself with anybody else. So the person I'd like to couple up with is..."

My eyes lock with AJ and I can't help but feel a little sad that I'm not the one she'll be sharing a bed with tonight.

Talia continues, after the dramatic pause. "AJ."

AJ smiles but I notice it doesn't quite reach her eyes, she hugs Talia and mouths a 'sorry' to me. I shake my head to say it's okay. My phone beeps in my hand, I take a breath and read aloud.

"Luna, as Talia has chosen to couple up with AJ you are the last girl to pick in tonight's recoupling. Meaning that not one, not two but three boys will be going home tonight, please make your choice now."

I gaze at the guys standing in front of the firepit.

Tai, Will, Bruno and Noah.

They look crestfallen at the sudden change to the outcome of Talia picking another girl. Noah looks down to the ground, avoiding my eye contact. The other three shuffle back and forth awkwardly.

"I'm sorry that I can't pick all four of you, but what a crowded bed that would be." I joke.
"I have loved getting to know all of you, you're all fantastic. It's just, the guy I'd like to couple up with is because of the history we have. I'm not sure what that means for us in the long run, but I'm not ready to say goodbye to him yet. So the boy I'd like to couple up with is Noah."