The Greatest of Them All

You'll Get Yours Yet

Notes: Thank you SO MUCH to my essential group of talented friends who helped me a TON with this chapter. Christy, Monica, Nash, Heather, Prim, and Meroboh, this chapter wouldn't be half as good without your input!

"What did I miss, mate?" Gary had a broad smile and a bounce in his step as he ran up to Bobby, punching him genially on the arm.

Bobby was watching Sadie walk in the opposite direction toward the kitchen. She had just finished private conversation with Gary, whose cheerful demeanor was unsettling. This was not the reaction he had expected. She herself looked almost cocky before she spotted Bobby watching and gave that indecipherable nod. A haze of disappointment hovered like a fog over his own mood.

"Oh, uh," Bobby answered distractedly, "Hannah just got a text. There's going to be a 'Happily Ever After' challenge in a few minutes."

"Excellent," he replied, looking chuffed. "Happily ever after seems to be the order of the day, then."

"What do you mean?" Bobby asked, prickles of foreboding crawling up his arms.

"Well with the final recoupling and all," he said lightly, but then leaned in conspiratorially and murmured to Bobby. "Plus, Sadie's feeling cheeky today. She says she has something special planned for tonight." He shook his head, smiling almost shyly.

A nauseating combination of confusion and repulsion swept through Bobby. Gary seemed happier than ever. He swallowed back his disgust, unable to actually respond. He didn't want to think about Sadie fucking Gary, much less make light of it.

He hadn't imagined Sadie as someone who would forgive something like this, but he really had only known her for a few weeks. Did she think she deserved that treatment? His heart sank at the thought.

But surely Gary wouldn't be this cheerful if she had brought up the Lottie thing. Was she just going to ignore that it ever happened? Or was she playing some kind of long game?

"You alright, mate?" Gary asked Bobby.

Before he could answer, Hannah called out, "It's time for the challenge, you lot!"

"Oi! Game on, then!" Gary said. They made their way to the challenge area.

A few moments later, Sadie approached the rest of the Islanders with Henrik trailing close behind. Energy sparked off of her. Her eyes looked almost dangerous. What had they been discussing? He ran through a variety of scenarios that could explain her mood, none of them reassuring.

He quieted the jealous flurry in his mind and pulled his face into a smile as he caught Sadie's eye. She returned a friendly smile, but there was something guarded about her that he couldn't pinpoint.

Gary ran over to Sadie and draped an arm over her shoulders. "Ready, Poppet?"

She unwound herself from his grip, giving him a coy look, and said, "Let's do this."

Hannah called for everyone's attention. "Ok Islanders, this is how it works. This is the Happily Ever After Challenge. We'll ask you a question about where you see yourself in five years. You and your partner will write your responses on your boards."

"If your answers match, you can step forward." Henrik gestured to several rows of large heart decals on the ground that trailed to a flowery structure on the other side of the stage. "First couple to reach the arch wins."

Gary called out, "I think Sadie and I have gotten this thing pretty much sewn up!"

Bobby heard Lottie suck her teeth in annoyance, putting a sound to his own irritation. Gary was such an asshole. He had never tried to hide his lad behavior. In fact, he mostly seemed proud of it. But it was hard to believe he could stoop this low.