Souls Tied: A Love Island Tale (Aaron x Rob)

The Villa Becomes a Warzone

Aaron felt his throat tighten as he watched Ariana glide like a model towards the exit. Liv was now seated next to Rob and Leah was standing alone.

What if she gave me a chance?

The unknowns swirled through his mind. He was clearly enjoying his time with Kaylor so far, but it was also still early.

I mean, she is giving Margot Robbie...

Suddenly, the islanders' heads turned towards the neon "loves me not" sign at the opening where Ariana was headed, and in came two more men. One sported a light blue button-up and black pants, and the other, who stood a head shorter, had on a black shirt and ankle-length khakis. Their strides perfectly matched and they wore sly smiles as they high-fived Ariana on their way in the villa.

"Hello, hello!" Leah was the first to greet the new bombshells, "I'm Leah, I'm newly single!"

"Connor," replied the man in black.

"I'm Hakeem," said the other guy who had his arms open to give Leah a friendly squeeze.

"Newly-single-Leah..." Connor chuckled as he joined them with a side hug.

"Yeah, my man got stolen!"

Aaron's attention was taken away from the new boys when he noticed Rob staring off into space defeatedly. He couldn't bear to imagine what it would be like in his shoes, but his feelings felt validated when the other OG guys circled around him.

"Hey!" Hakeem called to them as he skipped towards the swarm of girls, "Are all the guys gonna say what's up, too? Y'all gonna say what's up? I'ma say 'cool to y'all' but I'm gonna go over here real quick and say 'what's up,' ya know!"

"What the f*ck is going on?" Kendall sighed, "I'm not f*cking sleeping tonight..."

The other guys reciprocated his confusion with subtle nods and mumbling. They all sat back down by the fire pit.

"This sh*t's kinda f*cked up," Coye chimed in, "I ain't got nothing to worry about!"

"You ain't got nothing to worry about, for real, for real," Kordell agreed.

Rob still sulked in silence, but this time with his arms crossed over his head. The five of them watched Hakeem and Connor chat and cackle with the girls.

"I was not expecting the f*cking two boys to come in," Aaron broke the silence.

"You're not good, I'm not gonna lie to you," Kordell sighed to Rob, "You're f*cked."

"I'm f*cked..." Rob repeated.

"Do you wanna go for a quick chat?" Liv asked as she wandered over in their direction.

Rob nodded and followed her up the stairs towards the couch that resided under the neon "soul ties" sign.

"Bro, I wanna hear this conversation so bad," Kordell said once they left.

"Yeah, I knew she was coming here," Coye agreed, "She came here with hella confidence."

The boys continued to watch the rest of the group in the distance. Connor linked arms with Kaylor and Hakeem outstretched a hand towards Leah, and the pain in her eyes completely disappeared. Both pairs wandered off.

"Yo, bro, he's walking like the damn terminator, bro," Kendall pointed out, eyeing Connor and Kaylor along with Aaron.

"Yeah, bro, he's flaring them f*cking lats like he's a f*cking..." Aaron paused to think, "Dorito..."

Kendall sat up and swung his arms back and forth, imitating Connor's Edward Scissorhands-like gait. Kordell and Coye giggled and began to do the same thing. Aaron smiled, wishing to mentally capture the moment and briefly forgetting about Kaylor.

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Aaron admired himself in the bathroom mirror later that night. He could hear the girls chatter in their vanity room and the rest of the guys discuss sleeping arrangements in the bedroom to accommodate the newcomers. Patiently waiting for Rob to finish using the shower, he watched the fog creep up around the glass, framing his head and shoulders as he ran his fingers through his spiky brown hair. Moments later, he turned the faucet off and stepped out, wrapping a fluffy white towel around his waist.

"So..." Aaron began, "How are you feeling?"

"Huh?" Rob looked up, startled.

"You know... about Liv... and Leah..."

"I mean, I was not expecting that..." Rob stared back down at his feet, "I thought I would be the last guy she picks."

"Why so?"

"Um, I don't know... the other guys were right there. It looked like she was kinda looking at you... and Kendall, I think..."

Aaron gulped. Yes, he could confirm that he shared some flirtatious conversation with the Aussie as she had with everyone else.

"Are you gonna talk to Leah?" he continued.

"I don't know... I guess it's still early..."

"I think you should."

But Rob ignored Aaron's simple advice. Instead, he threw on a pair of boxers and joined the others in the bedroom.

Hmmm... he doesn't run his mouth very much...

A few minutes passed, and Aaron finished getting ready. He slipped in bed next to Kaylor, wondering if the night would hold any more passionate moments like the first one. Everyone else crawled into their beds, but he specifically noticed Rob shuffle toward Leah, who was going to sleep alone tonight.

"I'll talk to you tomorrow," he assured her, giving her a quick side hug before joining Liv.

That f*cker did listen to me!

Aaron grinned at the thought of this guy taking his advice to heart. Shortly after, the room turned dark, and he sank his head in his pillow.

I'm certainly here for love, but this could be the start of a very special friendship...