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

Fawk, Aaron!

The Fijian birds chirped a gentle morning tune, and the sun lightly toasted the villa grounds. Instead of waking up to an artificial blinding light and the stench of a dozen bodies in one room like any day on the island, Aaron was relieved to be greeted by a summer breeze for once, and Rob quietly snoozing next to him...

Rob...

Aaron's heart swelled as he watched him toss and turn another time. Of course, he was still hurt by what Kaylor did yesterday, but as a friend, this guy should not be taken for granted.

A friend...?

Suddenly, he caught a glimpse of the other islanders stumbling out of the bedroom.

"Rob..." Aaron whispered, nudging his companion.

Rob slowly sat up, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. Aaron admired his messy brown hair, a goofy morning hairdo he did not often get to chuckle at with Kaylor usually being the first person he woke up to.

"Rob, everybody else's up."

"Already?"

"Can I get you something to eat?"

"Sure..."

After a few weak attempts, Aaron finally crawled out of the blanketed mess under Soul Ties. He threw on the black T-shirt he had worn the previous night and started to make his way down to the kitchen, but he could not help but to glance back at Rob one more time.

"Thank you," he mouthed before turning back around.

He dreaded spending the entire night dwelling over Kaylor, and fortunately, the pain subsided when Rob was next to him, but it was now time to address it again. He joined Kendall, Hannah, and Connor in the kitchen and was greeted with a somber side hug from Kendall, who was the first to notice his sulking.

"How are you feeling, boo?" Hannah asked, eventually catching on to his feelings.

"Pretty good..." Aaron sighed, "Just pretty deflated."

"I'm sorry, I hope you're okay."

"That's alright..."

"Yeah, I can definitely tell you care about her a lot, but I have to be honest with you because that's what I was going to talk to him about..."

Hannah pointed at Kendall, who Aaron forgot was also a victim of his girl snogging Hakeem during the game.

"For us," she continued, "It was literally a challenge, it was a game. Honestly, I chose Hakeem just to be petty, like, just to let him know, like, 'f*ck off,' basically. And I didn't even kiss him, to be honest. I fell in the f*cking water and drowned, like, you know? I don't f*cking like that guy!"

"I don't know, like, it just caught me off guard, and then in my head, I was like, 'I don't understand why she would have done it,' and the only plausible reason why I think she could've done it was because she obviously felt some sort of way towards him. She's had two kisses with two other guys that supposedly she's not interested in, like what? Is she gonna keep saying that until she's kissed seventeen people and say she's not interested? Do you know what I mean? If you're not interested, then don't do it! Like, I get if you're interested and you've come from a conversation beforehand, then that's fine, and you're pursuing that, that's fine, I get it. Just have the conversation with me first, but don't do something that contradicts what you're saying! I trusted her, but then I was like, 'Now do I not trust her?'"

Before Hannah could open her mouth again, Kaylor came marching over in their direction. She beckoned Aaron to follow her with a piercing blue-eyed glare, and he immediately put down the loaf of bread he had grabbed to make Rob's breakfast. She led him to the ivy-adorned sofa under "All The Feels."

"I f*cked up yesterday big-time," Kaylor huffed, "I shouldn't have done that. The reason why I'm so upset is because the last thing I want to do is hurt you because I really like you, so I'm just, like, mad at myself."

Her voice broke and the tears began to escape. She dabbed at her wet face, unintentionally smudging mascara onto her cheeks. Aaron's mind started to wander.

Maybe Hannah was right. Yes, she made me feel sh*tty for not talking to me first, but at the end of the day, she's exploring and maybe she doesn't think it's me after all...

"Don't be mad at yourself," he finally sighed as he rubbed Kaylor's arm, "Part of me is like, 'I get it' because, yeah, it was the challenge, and you were more than right to do that. I just, I don't think I would've done it to you, so I just expected the same back. If you would've had a conversation with me beforehand, then I would've understood, but obviously you didn't know that's what you were going to do, so I get that, but you hadn't communicated that with me and that's where I started pranging out. That's where I started thinking, 'Oh, do I actually trust her?'"

"No, I understand. I really didn't think that it was going to bother you like it did, but do you know what bothered me?"

Aaron gulped and braced himself. He could smell a storm brewing.

"When you turned around and slept with your boyfriend!" Kaylor complained, "How do you think that made me feel?"

"Listen, Kaylor, I'm sorry, it was his idea..."

"You're being a whiny two-faced b*tch right now! How could you go from being Mr. 'You Should've Talked To Me First' and then stab me in the f*cking back and leave me in the bed alone? How do you think that made ME feel?"

"No, you don't understand! YOU hurt me first by kissing, like, a hundred boys in the games and then Rob saw how sad I was and offered to lend me a hand!"

"But you were my best friend in the villa, my strongest connection! I love you, Aaron, and it was f*cking sh*tty of you to sleep with someone else! You're making me look stupid! THIS SUCKS!"

"And I'm sorry, okay? One, Rob and I are just friends, and two, I shouldn't have gotten so worked up over the challenge! We're here to find love, and you're exploring your options, but why can't I? Listen, I overreacted..."

"FAWK, AARON!"

"What I meant to say was..."

"AARON! FAAAAAAAAWWWWWWK!"

Aaron bolted away from Kaylor, who was still a screaming and crying mess, and rushed to the dock. He let out a frustrated scream that echoed across the Pacific waves. Yes, Kaylor did punch him in the gut the other day, but thanks to Hannah's guidance, he was able to pull his head from out of the clouds and remember that he wasn't married to her.

Hell, this is Love Island! There are plenty of fish in the sea, I shouldn't be wasting my time on one girl who keeps dragging me in the f*cking mud!

But if he didn't pursue Kaylor, which girl would it be? He could wait for another bombshell to strut in with her stilettos and stringy bikini and risk getting sent home before that happens, or he could nurture another connection in the meantime.

There's only one person here who has shown me nothing but love... Maybe I should be pursuing that connection instead...