Love Island

Chapter 42 - Prince Eric and Moana

Too much time passed on that beach as I stood in front of Charlie, every English, Spanish, and Hawaiian word suddenly purged from my brain. If I'd counted the time, it would've been minutes until I finally said something. Only the slow, blinking red light of a recording reality TV camera was able to shock me back into this dimension.

"Please, say something," Charlie whispered just inches from me. "Whenever you're ready."

"What do you expect me to say to that?" I asked, stepping away from him to put more space between us. "You can't just say that and expect things to get better between us."

Charlie took a step forward. "I mean it, Maddie. I'm falling in love with you. I can't get you out of my head."

I shook my head as a single tear dropped onto my cheek. "Even if you mean it, that doesn't excuse the way you've been treating me. Pushing me aside like I'm your second choice! Not talking to me, flirting with someone else in front of me, and then telling me you're in love with me? I'm begging you to understand how that doesn't make sense!"

"You've never been my second choice," Charlie corrected me. "After what I did, I thought you'd never be able to forgive me! So yeah, I admit, I started pushing you away. Because I didn't want you to push me away first."

"That's a shitty excuse," I shook my head. "What you assumed would be my behavior is not a reason!"

"Well how about this, you didn't give me time to explain myself," Charlie defended. "I've never told a girl this before. I tried to tell you how I felt twice today, but both times you walked away angry. I tried, Maddie." His eyes started glistening beneath the light of the stars. "What I did was wrong, and terrible. I hurt you more than I realized. I'm sorry, I really am."

I stepped away from him and sat down in the sand, facing the black crashing waves that foamed at our feet. "You didn't seem very interested in me before Casa Amor, either. This feels a lot like a trick, Charlie."

He took a seat beside me, a comfortable distance away. "I was very interested in you before Casa Amor, you can ask Peach or any of the guys. On our first date, right here on the beach with our paintings, I was showing you how I felt. I was flirting just about as hard as I could... and then, of course, you literally ran away!"

"Because how shitty does that look to have a crush on your best friend's ex-couple?" I questioned. "That goes against everything I'd been preaching since day one: loyalty." I took a deep breath and stared out at the water. "I'd prefer to be alone right now."

"I'm not leaving," he declared.

"Why not?"

"Because I'm not going to leave you on this beach, Maddie. I'm not walking away from my problems, I'm sitting here trying to fix this." Charlie ran a hand through his Prince Eric hairstyle. "I want to do whatever I can to make this better."

A soft sigh escaped my lips, a mixture of exasperated exhaustion and frustration. "I'm just trying to understand everything. You liked me this whole time?" I asked.

"Yes."

"You pushed me away because you were insecure that I was going to push you away first?" I asked.

His face revealed a twinge of discomfort. "Not proud of that, but yes."

I covered my face with my hands. "When did you try to tell me this earlier?"

"Once in the bedroom, when you directly asked me what was going on. I couldn't really think, and I'd just gotten done with my beach hut interview, and all the questions were about you. And then again at the bar. Twice at the bar, actually. Once before Ella showed up and the again right before you stormed away."