Happy Christmas Everyone! Hope you have a wonderful day and a huge shoutout to my lovely Beta! ️ ️
Day 4 - The First Challenge
The islanders were woken that morning by the loud noise of someone's phone. She lifted her head from her pillow, looking at the lightly snoring Peter next to her and covering her head with a pillow as the phone didn't stop. She looked around the dark-ish room and realized it was Uriah's phone. She lobbed her pillow hard at him and he whined, sitting up and grabbing his phone.
"Guys, wake up, I have a text." Everyone groaned, moaned and eventually sat up in bed so they could find out what the f was going on.
"Islanders, today you'll be taking part in your first challenge. Girls get ready and head to the daybeds, boys get ready and assemble in the lounge." She and the others finally decided they had to get up. She saw Tobias sleeping on the floor and furrowed her brows as he got up. The girls went into their dressing room to glam up, ready for the day and the boys did the same, calling out and gloating that whatever the challenge was, they were going to win it. Tobias had remained behind, as had she. She hoped perhaps he would explain himself after his cold behaviour from the night before.
"Why are you on the floor?" She tried to keep her voice steady and not betray the hurt she was feeling. He had really mucked it up and he seemed to understand that by the way he looked at her.
"I was an asshole." She nodded, looking down at her hands. Not daring to raise her eyes to look at him. She knew she would break if she looked at him.
"Mmmhm. No shit." He sighed and paused for just a moment as if he was trying to find the right words.
"I'm sorry Tris, I've been cuddled up with Nita for 2 nights but the moment you and Peter decide to be grown up and both sleep in a nice comfy bed… I just, I don't know. I really like you Tris, I feel like we have this amazing chemistry, like we've just clicked. I want to make my intentions very clear that at the next coupling up if I get the chance I will choose you…. If that's okay with you obviously." He got up from the ground and crossed the room with a few large strides, crouching down to be in front of her at her level. He raised her chin gently so she was looking at him. She was feeling so many different things, she was so conflicted. She and Tobias clearly had a connection, but did she want to couple up with him? She pondered how Nita would react, how the group would react, whether she would be happy in a couple with him. The answer to those things were she didn't give two flying fucks what anyone else thought and she thought that she really would be happy with Tobias. They just seemed to bounce off each other so easily. She thought they could forge something truly beautiful.
"If we do get the chance, I really do want to couple up with you." The corners of his mouth curved up into a big goofy grin and he put his big hands on either side of her face, leaning in close.
"I really want to kiss you… is that okay?" He whispered, like his breath had been taken away. She looked from his gorgeous deep navy eyes to his full, soft, kissable lips. Her heart was pounding in her chest and a hot blush was spreading up from her cheeks down to her chest.
"Kiss me…." She whispered and he leant in, pressing his lips to her petal soft rosey ones. He kissed her firmly and oh so deeply. She mewled softly, breaking away from him and breathing deeply. She sighed and looked up at him with a grin.
"Wow that was…" she trailed off as he stayed close, resting his forehead on hers.
"Amazing." They both finished together and as Uriah shouted Tobias' name they separated. It was only then they noticed Lauren watching from the doorway. He dropped a kiss to her head and went to the door of the boys dressing room.
"I'll see you in a bit Tris." She blew him a kiss and got up from bed, pulling the scrunchie from her hair. She made her way into the dressing room and passed Lauren and Nita.
"Bitch." Nita coughed but Tris just ignored her, sitting down in her chair.
"We all have your back Tris, don't you worry." Shauna's voice was quiet but sincere. Tris smiled gratefully, opening up her makeup.
"Thanks Shauna. I really appreciate it from all of you." She murmured, sighing softly. She could just sense that that day was going to be a hard one. She was going to face the anger of Nita and Lauren who seemed to be getting very close. It would be nice if it didn't feel like they were plotting something. The two girls were obviously here to win, finding love was very much secondary. The rest of the girls really believed maybe they could meet the one.
The girls had slowly trickled outside, past the pool and to the daybeds. Nita and Lauren were both shooting Tris evils and god did some of them want to smack the ugly spiteful looks off their faces. It was almost ridiculous, that they felt they had this overwhelming claim over boys they had known for literally 4 days.
"So the name of the game is Are You Listening? Each of us has a card with questions about the islanders and whoever has the most right answers, boys or girls, wins." Christina read out the text she had been sent and handed out the named cards to each islander and some gel pens.
She turned her card over and on it were four questions. She hmm'd, reading through the first printed question.
'Which Islander Asked if she could be introduced to Fictional Fashion Designer Edna Mode?' That one was easy. Tris wrote Nita and dotted the I with a little heart, as she always did. A bad habit she'd picked up in high school and continued into her business as she was in the business of happily ever afters and it seemed fitting.
The next question;
'What did Uriah call Zeke while wrestling him on the first day in the villa?' Hmm… hmmm. She wrote dickhead but she couldn't be totally sure. She wasn't paying total attention to their showing off on the first day so it was a total guess.
'What NFL team did Zeke mention he had recently competed against?' Cubs. Easy. That was how he'd originally tried to flirt and graft on Lauren.
'According to Four what does Scran Stand for?' Shit cooked by the Royal Australian Navy though the Brits may argue differently. That made her giggle slightly. It was a ridiculous thing and she guaranteed no one actually knew who had come up with that.
She grinned, thinking she probably got a lot of them right when Uriah came outside calling the girls up to the fire pit. They all assembled together, Uriah and Chris stood up presenting the answers.
"So! First up! Peter!" Peter had gotten ¾, Nita 0/4, Zeke had 2/4, Lauren ¾, Will had 4/4, Marlene had ¼, Shauna had ¾ and Eric had 3/4.
"Four! It's your turn. So our first question for you was, 'Where are Zeke and Uriah from?'" He hummed, almost trying to trick everyone into thinking he didn't know.
"The Port Madison Reservation in Washington State." Everyone clapped and cheered.
"Correct! Next question, which islander is the worst snorer?" Christina asked, eyes scanning across the group. There was no question.
"Peter! Hands down. Sorry mate but you shake the whole villa!" Peter chuckled and shrugged his shoulders. He knew it was true.
"Absolutely right! So, which islander famously told the bad joke 'so did you hear that oxygen and potassium went on a date, it went ok'?" She knew this one and Will's face kind of gave him away with his embarrassment.
"So I wasn't actually here for this joke but from what I understand it was Will. Nice trying to throw me off though." She remembered telling Tobias that bad joke over texts on their phones over the last few days. She'd helped him get that one and she couldn't hide her smile.
"Final question for you Four! Which Islander has connections, being friends with The Clintons, Several Kennedys, Sandra Bullock and Jeoff Bezsos." She tried to keep her poker face, not wanting to do Four anymore favour's. She reckoned he probably already could work out from the list of people who it might be.
"So this one threw me for a second but I had a real think about this and I'm pretty sure it's Tris." She grinned at Tobias and started clapping prematurely but she was super proud that he'd managed to figure it out.
"You would be correct! Tris has planned weddings for all of them or their children! So Tris, it's your turn now. Ready?" They had saved her for last and she was absolutely bricking it. She shook her head no but the presenting pair carried on anyway, simply laughing.
"Tris. Your first question was 'Which islander asked if they could be introduced to fictional fashion designer Edna Mode? You said?" Zeke tapped out a drumroll and Tris grinned knowing she had definitely had it right.
"Nita." Everyone cheered and she did a little celebratory wiggle.
"Okay okay next question. What did I call Zeke while wrestling with him on the first day in the villa?' You said Tris?"
"…. Dickhead…" She grimaced, knowing by the look on Uriah's face it was wrong.
"Hmm, unfortunately that is wrong, Tris. The right answer was Pansycake." She shrugged, having no idea what Pansycake even meant.
"What NFL team Did Zeke mention he had recently played against?"
"The Chicago Cubs!"
"Correct!"
"Right Tris; this is the final question of the challenge. What did Four say that Scran stands for?" She looked at Tobias and he winked at her, knowing she definitely knew the answer.
"Shit cooked by the royal Australian navy, though the brits may disagree!"
"That is correct! ¾ for you Tris! That puts the girls at 10 and the boys at a staggering 17! Guess some of us have been listening! That means the boys win! Well done lads!"
"So as the boys have won the challenge, your prize is the option to swap any couple with another. You have until this evening to decide. Once you've decided everyone should assemble for the decision to be announced." Several gasps could be heard and she found Tobias' comforting navy blue eyes immediately. He smiled, seemingly almost excited at the prospect of this. This could change everything for the better or for the worse. They may not get another chance like this.
The boys had gone inside to discuss the possible options to swap couples. They now had the power to change the couples ahead of a recoupling on Friday. Any boy could argue he wanted a different partner, as a way to get to know someone a bit better.
"Well I'm gonna get the ball rolling, I'm happy with Christina and don't want to swap." Uriah was stern and certain. He wanted to stay with Christina.
"Me either. I'm happy with Marlene." Hmm that interested the other boys as they saw the slight twinge of something in Will's eyes when Uriah talked about Christina. It was becoming more and more clear as time went on he might have a little crush on Christina.
"I wouldn't mind swapping with Eric if it came down to it." Zeke sheepishly admitted, gaining an inquisitive look from Eric. He realized he'd been a bit blind to Zeke's affections for Shauna and in turn Her affections for him. He thought about the other girls in the Villa and wasn't sure who he would like to be with instead of Shauna. He liked Lauren, she seemed nice enough, a bit two faced maybe, but gorgeous. He figured they probably wouldn't make it outside the Villa but maybe someone else would come along and he could really win it with Lauren. A nice chunk of deposit for a new house for himself. His ex had taken him to the cleaners, taken him for everything he had. She had royally screwed him over after cheating on him. Really added insult to injury. He'd kept that close to his chest, the ex wife and 2 kids thing. He didn't want to scare anyone off but he was in it to win it a lot more than he cared to admit so wouldn't stand in the way of anyone's happiness. With Lauren he had a real chance, even if they didn't swap today he considered whether he should pick her at the next recoupling. It would be a proper fuck you to his ex as well. Look at me. I've won love island with a woman who's 10x the woman you ever were.
"Guys… I think we all know who we should swap. Let's be honest here." Peter butted in, motioning between himself and Four. The other guys looked at the two men and nodded.
"Four, have you spoken to Tris about it at all? I don't want it to come as a shock if that's what we decide to do." Four nodded, leaning back into the chair a bit more, trying to relax as all the attention was on him and his feelings.
While in the navy, particularly the SEALs, he'd learnt very quickly to shut off how he felt. He'd seen some pretty atrocious things and it was better in combat to pretend they don't exist and carry on instead of losing yourself in empathizing with the pain and suffering of others. He had his mission, the target/objective was all that mattered. That and his brothers. Men he would lay down his life for or would take a life for. It had proven hard for him to deal with at the beginning, the loss of life, innocent or not. He had learnt to deal with it though, tattooed over the scars he'd gained in combat and tried to move on. The transfer to civilian had been a steep learning curve aided by a friend of his, Amar. Amar was ex-army and ran a prolific private security firm which he'd been recruited for in the blink of an eye and this had helped him still feel connected to his service and weekly therapy sessions had aided him for nearly a year after getting home. He was doing better with emotions and feelings but he still found himself remembering sometimes, a car backfire or shout could bring him back.
"Four?" He snapped to attention then.
"So what do you think?"
The girls were sitting all together, wondering who the boys would decide to swap. Tris, somewhat selfishly, hoped that they would come to an agreement to swap her and Peter and Tobias and Nita. She wasn't sure that's how it would work out, it seemed far too easy. Could it really be so simple? She wondered as the girls discussed how things were going.
"Well it would be great if Tris would stop grafting on my man but whatever, I'm secure, I know he'll stay with me." Tris wanted to scoff, Lauren had clearly passed on what had been said that morning but Nita still seemed to think she was better than her. Tris didn't think she was better than everyone else, she and Tobias just seemed to have this connection. A small spark to begin with that was slowly growing into mighty flames.
"I wouldn't be so sure biatch." It was rare for Marlene to be snarky, she was a very mellow person but Nita was pissing her off big time.
"Oh yeah? Why would someone like Four want someone like Tris? She's not even pretty! What does she have that I don't! Like come on! You're fat for fucks sake." Tris felt herself become anxious and upset by Nita's harsh words. She'd never really been bullied as a child and had always been fairly popular at Abnegation Catholic School for girls. Her parents had been devout Catholics, she however was a lot more agnostic and had troubles connecting with faith.
"Nita that is enough!" Tris was shocked that the person who had told her off was Lauren.
"Four likes Tris. Grow up. I'm getting sick of you slagging off and bitching about the other girls when they've been nothing but nice!" Lauren continued to explode on Nita which shocked Tris even more. The girls seemed like they had gotten really close and were both equally as evil as one another. It looked like she may have judged Lauren a bit too harshly.
"I thought you were on my side Lauren!" Nita looked pissed as hell, like someone had lit a fire inside her and now she was aflame with rage. Tris could almost have sworn she had seen smoking coming out of her ears.
"I am on no one's side. Tris I'm sorry, the way I've been acting has been completely out of line. I'm sorry, I hope you can forgive me. Excuse me." She walked away from the group then and like a child throwing their toys out of the pram, Nita stormed away to sit by herself. She was pissed and everyone knew it.
"Well fuck her. Don't pay her any mind, Tris. No mind at all. You are beautiful and Four would be lucky to have you. Okay?" She smiled softly at Shauna, accepting a tight hug from her.
It was a little later and the girls had all been dolling up for the couple swapping. She'd put on a gorgeous milkmaid puffy sleeved light yellow dress with pink flower details that fell to the middle of her shins and had a cute not too cheeky thigh high split. She had sorted out her curls letting them delicately fall over her shoulders and frame her face.
"Girls, let's head to the fire pit!" Uriah called up the stairs, having led the challenge earlier he would be the one to announce whatever decision they had come too. She was somewhat selfishly hoping that the boys had come to a decision that could possibly mean the pair could try out being together before the next recoupling. She wasn't sure if it could really be that easy but deep down she felt that everyone else was pretty happy. She noted that Lauren and Nita had sat at opposite ends of the fire pit, not even looking at one another. There was clearly no love lost there at that moment.
"So ladies, we thought long and hard about this and it wasn't an easy decision at all. But we wanted to give some of our good friends a chance at happiness. So we've decided to swap Nita and Four and Tris and Peter." She couldn't believe it. Her face was pure shock and awe as Tobias made his way over to her. She couldn't move for a second as she recovered from the shock but she jumped up and threw her arms around him as she stood up. He kissed her like he had that morning and she returned the passion he was giving her.
"I can't believe it. Thank you guys so much." She let him hold her close as they sat down and he tucked her under his arm.
"This is completely ridiculous. You're actually joking. If you want her over me then you're crazy!" Nita stormed away then, everyone watching on as she disappeared inside. She had made no friends and Lauren, her only friend, was absolutely livid with her at that exact moment.
"Wow… She's so wrong, Tris. I hope you know that. I feel so lucky to have you in my arms." She kissed him again, so excited. They were finally going to get their chance. She tried to push the worry of whether it would last and whether they would get to stay together to the back of her mind for now and just enjoy the moment.
Wow! What an explosive day huh! A challenge won by the boys and a couple swap finally lets Tris and Tobias Be together. Will it last? Guess we will have to wait and see! Until next time viewers, this has Been Love Island USA