Don't Disappoint Me

We wanted them to be the future

"Hey Junebug!" Bobby called out.

"Yeah babe?" June poked her head out of the hotel bathroom, lipstick in hand, one half of her lips done.

"My mate Noah lives around here! We should look him up."

"Ooh he's fit! I've always wanted to meet him." She winked at him. He grabbed her around the waist flirtatiously, "You're a minx! You know that?" Bobby was filled with the light excitement of being on his first trip with her.

"But that's a great idea, really, babe. You should text him."

Bobby felt a sudden pit of anxiety form in his stomach, realizing that Noah may not know that things had ended between him and MC. It might be strange to show up with some other girl.

Although, June wasn't just some girl. She had been one of his best friends before Love Island. She had been the one to return his wallet with a fully punched reward card to his favorite coffee shop. He had invited her out for coffee, using the reward for her, and they had clicked right away. But younger Bobby was much more insecure, and he waited too long to reach out to her again after that. By the time he did, she had become exclusive with another guy. They had remained friends, though, and became quite close. She had broken up with that other guy while Bobby was in the Villa.

So yeah, he had been thrown when June confessed her feelings for him. He had never considered leaving MC for her. He was devoted. But he was also crushed at the idea of hurting June. She was a true friend. She was the emergency contact kind of friend. He was so sad that he couldn't be there for her now, but he loved MC, and it was no contest, really.

MC had not been so easily convinced, however. She was sick with anxiety about June, among other things. MC had never spent so much time alone in her life as she had when she moved to Glasgow. It was a painful contrast to the constant close companionship of the villa. Bobby was just returning to his old life, but to MC, it felt like he was escaping her all the time. She was used to spending all day, every day with Bobby. And used to being the center of his attention, since she was far and away the most important person in the villa to Bobby.

Bobby recalled one of their fights about June.

"I hear what you're saying, that this is just normal for you, that you two always spent this much time together. But from my perspective, I was that person to you. And now it feels like you don't have room in your life for the two of us or something. And that you're choosing her every time."

Lass!" He got onto his knees and grabbed her hands, begging her to believe him. "There's nothing between us! I come home to you every night!"

"And you text her the whole time you're here!"

He groaned in exasperation.

"I believe you that nothing has happened! I'm just trying to tell you how this feels for me."

"I don't know what you want me to say! You want me to stop talking to her?" the rare, angry tone creeping into his voice.

"No! I just want you to hear me."

"WHAT?!" He joked, pretending he couldn't hear her.

She didn't laugh. She felt dismissed again. She just shook her head and walked out of the room.

Bobby felt a pang when he remembered how she used to laugh at every joke, even the lame pranks in the villa. She was his number1 fan, always on the inside with him. When she wasn't laughing, it was crushing for Bobby, whose worldview was based on the idea that laughing together = love.

It was as though a glass barrier had come between them and neither of them could see it, and both thought that the other one just wasn't willing to step forward.