Second Chances

Day Four, Part Two - In a tizz...

The two winners jump and scream that they'd won the challenge, the rest of us clap for them. Talia's phone beeps with a message.

"Talia and AJ as the winners of today's challenge, you have won a date night in the hot tub with a bottle of bubbly."

Talia wraps her arms around AJ's neck and kisses her. I stand there irritated but try not to show it, it surprised me that it did annoy me slightly seeing it. Talia finally pulls away, AJ's smiles but then her eyes meet mine, it looked as though she were searching for something and I just shrug nonchalantly smiling back, turning towards Noah.

I couldn't let her see that I was upset, we'd only known each other 3 days. Besides it could just be a bit of fun to her until the next person comes in, it's not like we were together and besides that I'd done more than that with Noah... Speaking of...

"The challenge was fun, we should probably go and chat?" I pointed away from the others.

He nods and follows me to the kitchen. I offer to make him a cup of tea and prepare it the way I used to know he had it from memory, a little bit of milk and 1 sugar.

"Thanks." He says sitting on one of the bar stools, then silently looks out to the landscape.

I move a stool beside him and sit down. "We should probably talk about what happened last night."

"Hmm." He nods, looking round and waits for me to continue.

I wasn't sure where to start or what to say. "Last night, we probably shouldn't have... As much as I enjoyed it, you know you always were good with your hands. We shouldn't have... You know."

Noah turns to look down at his tea, his hands cradling the mug. "I think I got carried away, you just smelled so good when you got into bed. I think the mix of that and emotions running high from you picking me at the recoupling and us kissing, I thought great we could go back to being what we were and before I knew it my hand wandered. I woke up this morning a mixed bag of emotions - excited that you'd let me in after all this time, but then that soon turned to the thought that it has been a long time since we had 'that'. I think I overstepped the mark and I'm sorry I should have spoken to you first, instead of just acting."

"It was a long time ago. Yet being back here, it feels like no time has passed at all." I reply, with a small smile as he looks up at me again.

He looks deep into my eyes, like he is trying to see what's going on in my mind.

"I kissed AJ last night." I blurt out.

"Oh." His face falls immediately.

"I didn't plan on doing it, it just happened. After we had our chat at the firepit, she pulled me aside and we just..." I bite my lip.

Noah tries to hide the hurt on his face by forcing a smile. "Luna, it's okay. It's not like we are a couple, you've got to explore your options."

"Noah, you..." I get interrupted by AJ walking towards us, giving us a wave.

Her cute smiling face makes my heart skip a beat, "Hey guys, can I steal Noah for a moment please." She asks.

"Oh, yeah of course. We will chat more later." I turn and say to Noah, a little surprised it was him she wanted to chat to.

I leave them in the kitchen and go off to see what Chelsea is up to. She's laying on the sun loungers flirting it up with Levi, I didn't want to disturb them so I left them to it. The other islanders seemed to be talking in their couples also.

I take myself to the pool, sit on the edge and dip my feet into the cool water. I pull my shades down and watch the interaction between Noah and AJ for a few moments.
Curiosity sparked within me as I observed the smiles on their faces, leaving me intrigued about the topic of their conversation. I wish I could be a fly on the wall, to hear what they were saying.

I was surprised that AJ had managed to get away from Talia long enough for a conversation with somebody else.
Speaking of whom, Talia shortly re-emerged into the garden scanning for AJ, I watch as a look of concern crosses her face when she realises AJ is not where she left her on the swing. As she looks around, she spots me by the pool and I give her a wave. Seeing that I was alone and that AJ wasn't with me I see her visibly relax and walk towards Genevieve and Rohan.

I take off my sunglasses and microphone attachments, laying them on the ground behind me. I slide into the water, take a deep breath and sink underneath for a few moments to collect my thoughts.
The sounds of the villa fade away and I clear my mind of Noah and AJ and what they could be talking about.
I don't want this drama again! I just want to find someone without this happening, without the hiding away, without secret past history to come bite me on the arse. I don't want to be in another situation of sneaking off with someone who's in another couple.

My thoughts are interrupted as someone splashing into the pool makes me jump. I re-emerge and see Levi's smiling face in the pool with me and Chelsea sitting at the edge looking at me with concern.

"You okay bra?" Chelsea says with worry in her tone.

"Mm hmm, yeah why wouldn't I be?" I say.

"You had a weird look on your face while sitting here and then you just submerged yourself into the water. I know when you're not yourself hun." Chelsea gives me a sympathetic smile.

Levi climbs out of the pool and dries off. "I'll leave you two to chat."

I pull myself out of the pool and sit beside Chelsea, she hands me a towel. I wipe my face, sighing.
"Okay, so I'm not exactly okay. I mean nothing is majorly wrong, I'm just in a tizz about things. I'm getting myself into a bit of a muddle already and it's only day four. I kissed two people on the same night, then things happened with Noah and I just don't want to fall back into a pattern of what happened with us last time we were here or feeling like I'm sneaking around with AJ, when Noah put his feelings out to me. Now those two are in the kitchen having a chat and I'm not sure what it's about."

"Things happened with Noah?" Chelsea asks curiously.

I bite my lip. "You have to promise not to tell the others."

"Babes you know I won't, I mean I haven't told a soul about you and..."

I give her a look to not say it and she pretends to zip her lips, lock it and throw away the key. She peers at me through her long lashes, giving me the big doe eyes.
I wasn't any good at keeping secrets from her for long, she always managed to get the information out of me eventually. She was a lot better at keeping secrets after the whole 'gossip sneezer' situation, she was the only person I told about the 'thing' I'd had after Bobby.

I clear my throat and decide to just come out with it. "Well, we kind of... Noah and I... we did bits last night in bed."

Chelsea's mouth hangs open in shock, but quickly morphs her face into a smile. "Bra! You cheeky minx, that's great that you two are finally working things out."

"Chels that's the thing though, we haven't worked things out. It kind of just happened and I didn't stop it. I'm not even sure I want to work things out, I think I actually like AJ and I want to figure out my feelings with that, if Talia would just leave her alone for 5 minutes." I sigh again, placing my head into my hands.

"I know I've said this to you already, but don't rush your feelings. It's still so early on, you've got plenty of time to figure things out. Yes, Noah and you have a history but only you guys can decide if that means there is still something there worth pursuing or not. Keep exploring things with you and AJ, as there is definitely a physical connection there. I mean I've seen it with my own eyes. Besides, you never know when a new bombshell will come in and they may make your head completely spin 360, you just never know what will happen next."

I pull Chelsea into a hug, she squeezes me tightly back. I whisper, "Thank you."

She chuckles and whispers back. "You're welcome."

She stands up and stretches, then puts her hand out to help me up. I take it and hop up beside her. I see she suddenly has a twinkle in her eye.

"Uh oh, you've got that mischievous look." I say.

"I have an idea, to get you and AJ to have a bit of private time together. I'll be back." Chelsea grins at me, before running off into the villa.

Oh god! What was she planning?!