One Shots | Alexia Putellas

Love Island

Summary: A PR trip to the Love Island Villa and and Instagram prank makes feeling that were so clear to everyone but Alexia and Sofia, come to the surface.

Word Count: 10k

A/N: Rewatching Ted Lasso with Jamie going on Lust Conquers All and my own Love Island addiction are to blame for this one.

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SOFIA

I folded another cover-up, placing it at the top of my suitcase, but the whole time I couldn't help but be hyper aware of Alexia's presence behind me. She was sprawled across my bed, one arm tucked under a pillow, her head lying on it as she watched me with those warm hazel eyes that made my stomach feel fuzzy.

In the early summer, late evening light filtered through my Barcelona apartment windows, casting everything in that golden hour glow that felt almost too romantic for what we were. Whatever we were.

"You're taking too many clothes; you're only going for two nights," Alexia said in that accented English she knew I loved. Ever since I let slip that I liked it, she'd been using it more and more despite the usual Catalana we spoke in.

"You don't understand," I replied, holding up two nearly identical dresses. "Callie and I have a very specific aesthetic we're going for."

She laughed. A genuine laugh that I'd become addicted to over the past two seasons. "For Mallorca? You're going to the beach, no?"

"Something like that." I wasn't being deliberately vague; it just hadn't come up, and it felt weirdly childish to say it out loud.

The Love Island thing felt silly to explain, like admitting I was still the same girl who'd grown up glued to the telly every summer, watching beautiful people couple up and recouple in a villa that might as well have been on another planet.

It started as something Callie started watching, and because she was my cool older sister, not that I would ever admit that, I also wanted to watch it. Over the years, it became less of something we wanted to watch and more of something we needed to watch every summer. Even when we'd both moved away at nine o'clock every day, the TV was ready, and so was FaceTime, ready to watch and debrief shitty reality TV.

Except now we weren't going to watch it, we were going to actually see it. My love for this show was no secret, and when the PR time reached out asking if I wanted to have a tour of the villa before the new season ... I don't think I could have said yes fast enough.

Alexia shifted on the bed, and I heard the rustle of my duvet. "Come here," she said softly.

I abandoned my packing, because I had an incredibly big soft spot just for her. That was the problem, wasn't it? I was completely gone for her, and she had no idea. Or maybe she did, and this was just how she wanted things to be. Comfortable, easy, and undefined.

I crawled onto the bed beside her, and she immediately pulled me into her side, her arm wrapping around my shoulders like it belonged there.

"You'll miss me?" she asked, and there was something playful in her voice, but also something else. Something I didn't dare read too much into.

"It's two days, Ale." I laughed.

"That's not an answer."

I tilted my head up to look at her. Her hair was still damp from the shower she'd taken after we'd made dinner together. There was a small smile playing at her lips, and I wanted to kiss her so badly it physically hurt.