The producers prohibited our access to alcohol by locking up the bar. Dozens of liquors and red wine bottles were stashed in lower cabinets. A small lock hung on the top of the mini-fridge built into the cabinetry, preventing our consumption of white wines and chilled drinks. They were going to make sure this dumping was as painful as possible.
The dumping drew nearer, and the Islanders could feel it. Tensions built in the girls' dressing room as absentminded girls bumped into each other and rapidly untangled their hair. I had a bowling ball sitting in my stomach as I took my place at my vanity. My outfit for the evening was a white bell-bottom romper with halter straps that tied behind my neck. I watched myself in the mirror as I attempted to make the bow as perfect as possible, not too big, and not too stringy. Once my feat had been accomplished, I moved on to making my face TV-ready. It was the most makeup I'd done all season, with a full face and a smokey eye. I'd just finished rolling mascara onto my lashes when Polly squeaked from her vanity.
Like the very first recoupling, her hands were shaking so badly, she couldn't put on her eyeliner. "Is anyone free to help?" she asked.
I misted my face in setting spray and stood from my vanity. "I'm coming, Polly."
"Phew, thank you!" Polly sat down on her hands to make them stop shaking. "I don't know what's wrong with me. I'm so nervous."
"Don't worry, Polly. America loves you and Lucas together," I comforted her.
Polly bit down on her lip. "I hope that's still true. What if they liked him better with Julie?"
I looked around at the other girls who had stopped prepping to look over in disbelief. "I don't think anyone thinks that," I said.
"I'm right here!" Julie called from her vanity.
"You like Gray now, though. You can't claim Lucas anymore," Peach reminded her bitterly.
"Don't be envious, sweetheart. Green's not a good color on you," Julie smiled snarkily and returned to the purple nail polish sitting in front of her.
I rolled my eyes and returned my attention to Polly. Her liquid eyeliner was easy to hold in my hand and I instructed her to relax her face as I carefully swooped two lines close to her lashes, then gave her little wings.
Peach ran a comb through her hair. "Whatever happens tonight, I love all you guys. We're sisters now. I care about every one of you."
"Thanks, girl. That's real sweet," Abby smiled as she braided her hair into two pigtail braids.
A soft knock came from the bedroom door. After a verbal invitation, Charlie stepped into the room. He looked incredibly handsome, with a striped white shirt tucked into blue trousers. "Maddie, are you ready?"
"Yeah, I can be." I handed Polly back her eyeliner and smoothed out my outfit. Charlie waited until I had stepped out into the hallway, then closed the door behind us.
"You look great," he smiled and held out his arm for me to take. "Shall we?"
"Yes?" I laughed and held onto his arm. "Where are we going?"
"I think we should have a chat before the dumping, you know. Make sure we're on the same page and all that." Charlie led me down the hallway to the top of the stairs and held me carefully as we descended. He watched my heels on every step. We exited the villa and walked out into the garden. Charlie pulled a daybed out from beneath a palm tree and invited me to cuddle. He laid on his back and me on my side, one arm wrapped over his torso as we watched the stars sparkle and revolve around us.
"I don't think we'll be going home tonight," Charlie whispered to me.
"Why's that?"
"Because... I've waited so damn long for a moment like this. I'm going to be kinda pissed if this gets taken away." Charlie smiled and then looked down at me with eyes glowing from lit tiki torches.
I couldn't describe it; Charlie made me feel warm. Warm like how vanilla smells or how cotton feels. At that moment, with the stars and the moon watching us, I didn't care whether we went home or stayed there.
I leaned in and kissed him, my hands cupping his jaw as he pulled me closer.
"Get a room!" Giselle's voice boomed from the balcony overhead.
"Yeah... get a room!" Polly giggled. The two of them stepped inside and the balcony door slid shut again.
"It was nice while it lasted," Charlie joked and wrapped his arm around me once more. He smiled at the first sign of affection I'd shown him since the recoupling.
"So... the dumping. Let's talk about scenarios," I said. Charlie nodded in agreement and watched the sky, preparing to listen. "If we stay... well, that's preferable, honestly."
Charlie smiled down at me. "Well, that's what I was hoping you'd say, I guess. And if we get dumped?"
"Then I think it will be okay." As I said it out loud, a small smile tucked into my lips. I sat up and tucked my knees underneath me, looking down at him from my new higher stance. "It's going to be good, actually. We're both living near campus... it's not even long distance. We could make it work."
He reached out and grabbed my hand, softly rubbing the skin with his thumb. "And you want that, right? If we get dumped tonight, you're not going to block me on Instagram and completely forget that I exist?"
"Does that even sound like me?" I asked.
Charlie smiled. "Well, you were mad at me twenty-four hours ago, so..."
"For good reason," I interjected.
"Right." Charlie nodded. "But if we made it into the final-"
"Don't jinx it!" I reached down and knocked on the wooden frame of the daybed.
"I think we should talk about it. If we made it to the final, and we won... I'd split the fifty thousand dollars with you. Would you?"
"No, I'd take all fifty grand and run," I joked. "I'm not a dick, Charlie. We'd split the money."
"See, isn't it nice to have the confirmation?" Charlie asked with a thin smile. His hand reached out to play with my hair. "I can honestly say I've never been happier."
"Yeah?"
"Yeah," he confirmed. He looked down at me and snuck a quick kiss before the rest of the group barged out onto the grass.
"Wake up, love birds!" Gray yelled as he jogged over to our daybed.
Charlie reluctantly released his lips from my own and watched as Gray rounded our cozy seater. "This better be important, dude." He had a playful twinkle in his eye that encouraged my gaze to stay locked on him.
Gray rolled his eyes and pushed Charlie's shoulder. "If it wasn't important I wouldn't be interrupting," he stated and held out his phone toward us.
Charlie's eyes squinted at the glowing screen. "Shit. Here we go, I guess." He stood to his feet before offering me a hand up. "It's go-time."
"Oh," I looked between the two of them and allowed Charlie to help me to my feet. I continued holding onto his hand as he led me over to the firepit. My heart was beating with such vigor that I'm sure he could feel the pulsing in my palms. We took our seats beside Peach and Connor as the others gloomily trickled in.
Beside me, Peach sniffled so quietly that it could have been ambiguous for a whistle of the wind or the ruffle of the trees. But I knew her better and immediately wriggled an arm behind her to hold her waist. She turned at the feeling and smiled at me gratefully; in her eyes was all the communication that I'd needed. She had convinced herself that she was going home tonight. I shook my head silently and leaned toward her, pulling her into a tight hug. She rested her chin on my shoulder until the clicking of Arielle's heels invaded our evening.
"Good evening, Islanders. I hope you're all doing well. As you know, tonight, two couples will leave the villa. America has been voting for their favorite couples, and the couples with the lowest number of votes will be going home tonight." Arielle looked around our group, her piercing blue eyes cutting across the firepit and increasing our anxieties. "The first couple going home tonight is..."
I clutched Charlie's hand tighter, with part of my thoughts hoping to stay in the villa with Charlie. But most of my brain was focused on manifesting that Peach would be able to stay and have the opportunity to work things out with Gray.
"Blake and Abby," Arielle announced. My free hand covered my open mouth as I watched the naturalistic duo step forward and stand to the left of Arielle. Their fingers were intertwined. "And the second couple going home tonight is..."
I took a deep breath and reached over, finding Peach's empty hand and giving it a solid squeeze.
"David and Ella," Arielle announced. The two Casa Amor newcomers approached the host and stood to her right, looking around our group with a mixture of fondness and melancholy. "Blake and Abby, David and Ella. You were voted the least favorite couples, and must leave the villa tonight. You have thirty minutes to pack your bags and say your goodbyes." Arielle nodded to our group and ducked out to avoid the horrendous amount of crying that was about to occur.
Surprisingly, even Peyton looked sad to see Blake go. As our group surrounded the departures and swaddled them in hugs and goodbyes, Peyton quietly made her way over to Blake. They hugged for a long time, slowly swaying left and right on the turf until Peyton pulled away. There was a mess of mascara around her eyes that transferred onto Blake's shirt, but he didn't seem to mind. He told her that he cared about her, and wished her well, before heading upstairs with Lucas, Charlie, and Gray to pack.
"I'll miss you guys a lot," Ella squeaked from beneath the pile of women enveloping her in a group hug. "It was really cool having a big group of friends, even if it was just for a little while."
"Hey, you're a midwestern girl, like Maddie and me. You can hit us up anytime," Peach said. I nodded in agreement.
Ella grinned at us gratefully and pulled us into a hug. "Will you two help me pack?" she asked.
We nodded and followed Ella and Abby upstairs to the girls' dressing room. They immediately walked to their wardrobe and began tossing in the clothes that they'd brought with them, not bothering to fold any garments.
"What's next for you guys?" I asked.
Abby was quick to go first. "Blake and I are moving forward, that's for sure. I'll move in with him, or he'll move in with me. I guess this is sort of a blessing in disguise; now we get to start our life together!" She grinned and began stuffing shoes into her luggage. "Unless he pretends I don't exist outside the villa, but I know he won't do that," she smiled and looked over to Ella. "What about you, girl?"
Ella shook her head and dabbed at her nose with the back of her wrist. "I don't know. Love Island didn't really work out for me, and that's okay! There's plenty of fish in the sea-"
"Actually, Blake says that the world's fish population is depleting due to climate change," Abby interrupted.
"There's plenty of plastic in the sea, then," Ella laughed. "As charming as it is to refer to men as plastic. Maybe now that I've been on national TV, boys in Michigan will find me more desirable." She stopped and shuddered. "Or maybe I'll move out of state..."
"Whatever happens, reach out. I'd love to have a little Love Island girls group chat or something," Peach said.
As the two girls finished packing their reality TV lives into neon suitcases, we followed them down the steps and waved our last goodbyes. David reached over and gave Polly a tight hug, Blake bowed to the group, Ella wished everybody the best, and Abby reminded us to realign our chakras every once in a while.
With suitcases in hand, our four Islanders exited the villa.