Bobby, meet Lucas

day 5 - have a cookie

The communal bedroom is still dark when Bobby wakes up. It's relatively quiet, other than the not-so-gentle snores coming from Noah's side of the room. He's quickly grown used to the sound - Bobby's always been a great sleeper - so he's pretty sure that's not what woke him up.

There are no clocks on Love Island, a fact he both loves and hates. Loves because he's not tied to a schedule, hates because it's disorienting. If it weren't for the sun rising every morning and falling every evening, he would have nothing to ground him in this psychological experiment called a reality dating show.

The bed is cool, he realizes, and he rolls over to see that the other half is empty. He sighs. He never could keep a woman in his bed, but this might be a new record.

Tess. Tess Lennon. No relation to John, or so she says. The most gorgeous girl in the villa, and somehow he's the one who bagged her on the first day.

Well... sort of.

He had a feeling when he first came in and saw the other guys that he would be the last one picked, so he wasn't too upset when each girl came in and none of them called out his name. What he didn't expect was that he wouldn't get picked at all, but would instead be paired by default with someone whose own first choice was stolen from her. It would have been a blow to his ego if that someone hadn't been as gracious as Tess was, smiling at him and acting like she wasn't bothered.

It was only the first day, she said. There was still lots to play for.

And he tried his hardest with her, but it was clear within a day or two that they would only ever be friends. That's how she sees him, at least. Bobby might feel differently, but his feelings don't count for much when they're not returned.

As he's thinking about her, he hears the soft padding of footsteps, and then hushed voices - one of them being Tess's. There's a gasp, and he can see the outline of Priya's silhouette as she sits straight up in her bed, causing Rahim to groan and roll over beside her.

"New boys?!" she whispers loudly, and Bobby's heart sinks into his stomach as Tess replies in the affirmative, no longer trying to remain quiet.

Oh.

New boys.

Boys. Plural.

He's not dumb, and he's seen this show before. Hannah was the first to get dumped, which means it's the boys' turn to be vulnerable. And the addition of not one, but multiple boys makes his position that much shakier.

He's already in the friend zone with Tess, and he's pretty sure that after four days of not a lot of grafting from the others that none of them harbour any hidden romantic feelings towards him. And the feeling is quite mutual; he's only had eyes for Tess since day one. The other girls are gorgeous, sure, and he'd been flattered when Priya briefly stole him from Tess. But there just... isn't anything there with any of them.

So unless the new guys are total jerks (completely possible), there's a strong chance he'll be the next one to pack his bags and catch a flight back to the UK, away from the glorious Spanish sun.

He sighs.

By this time, the whole bedroom is in a flurry. The girls couldn't contain their excitement over Tess's news, inadvertently waking up the rest of the boys, who are none too happy. It's one thing to be woken up early, but another to find out that their place is in jeopardy.

"I bet they're hot," Gary grumbles as he feels around his bedside table for his glasses. He glances over at Bobby and gives him an up-nod. "Mornin', bruv."

"Morning!" Bobby flashes a bright smile, pretending he's not affected by what's going on. He's good at pretending - it's been his defence mechanism for years. That and humour, which Marisol was quick to point out.