Summer Love

Day One

Once aboard the plane, the girls settle in the tiny seats and get ready for the next day and a half journey to Islay, Scotland. After a 36 hour journey that includes a day full of partying in the hottest London clubs, the group finally arrived to the island of Islay. They managed to find an uber to take them to the coast of the island, where they boarded the only ferry to Eroda. For the next two hours, the four of them decided to pass the time by playing UNO. Taylor tried reading a book but quickly realized that was a bad idea.
"So apparently I get seasick, who knew? Can I join your game?" Taylor sits down still feeling ill.
"Only if you're ready for me to kick your ass" Lexi joked. The most intense game of UNO to ever happen followed. Plus four cards were thrown out like it was pocket change. The integrity of the group was challenged, and bonds within were damaged, especially when Lex and Taylor teamed up to hit Shannon with a whopping eight cards. Before they knew it, they had reached the tiny island of Eroda. Once everyone had their luggage and was off the boat, the girls realized they had no clue where they were supposed to stay. Liv noticed a brunette man in fisherman gear standing by the edge of the dock and walked up to him.
"Excuse me sir" Liv tapped him on the shoulder and the man turned around, flashing Liv a brilliant smile before dropping it when he recognized her. Shocked, Liv chokes out a "Niall?" before she looks over to her friend group, them not paying any attention to her and the man.
"Liv? What are you doing here? Is Lexi with you?" Niall stutters out.
"Uh, yeah... We decided to take a girls' trip and booked the first flight we saw, what are you doing here? Shouldn't you be in New York?"
"Listen that's a long story, why did you come over here" Niall panics, trying to avoid Lexi from seeing him.
"Oh shit, uhm do you know if there's a place we can stay? Literally, no planning went into this trip." Liv chuckles and Niall tells her of a nearby inn and says he'll talk to the owner to arrange them a room. She thanks him and goes back to the group, ushering them away from the dock and to the Inn before dropping the news of who she spoke to.
"Niall as in my ex Niall?" Lex states, shocked.
"No Niall as in some random man who I felt the need to mention yes your ex Niall." Liv sarcastically states.
"Maybe it's a sign Lex" Taylor gently touches Lex's shoulder "everything did end out of the blue, maybe now you can get answers."
"I don't know if I want answers though.."
"We can always beat him up." Liv shrugs.
"Ooh yeah, that's a good idea. Let's do that." They all chuckle "I know you guys think I'm joking but I promise I'm not"
"We're not beating Niall up..... Yet. Listen, this could be the closure you need, or who knows you guys can work it out. Y'all were so cute together" Taylor noted
"Ughh didn't we come here to forget about boys? Let's go get drunk or something"
"Can we at least check in first? This luggage is heavy." Liv whined
"Fine. Let's go."
All four of the girls walked to their inn to get settled. As they opened the door they were greeted by a tall guy with short hair and tattoos. He smiled softly at them.
"Hi ladies, what can I do for you?"
"Um, Niall said he was going to call for us. We need a room" Liv responded
"Oh yes of course!" Liam states excitedly "You guys will be in room seven just up the stairs. The local pub is next door if you wish to relax and have a drink once you get settled."
"Perfect" Shannon grins and they head upstairs to their room.
"A pub next door? Sounds like the perfect way to stop thinking about boys." Lexi sighs with relief. Little did she know that boys would soon be the only thing on their minds. The girls entered their room, taking immediate notice of the outstanding view from the room. Shannon drops her luggage and steps onto the balcony, gazing at the sunset.
"I have a really good feeling about this trip." She smiles, spinning to face the other three girls standing in the room unpacking. "Now, let's go get wasted."
Stepping inside of the small pub the group took immediate notice of how crowded it was. Shannon spots a group of guys playing pool in the corner and comes up with an idea.
"Ladies" she gathers them into a circle "you see the group of guys over there" she points behind her and the group turns to look.
"Ooh that blonde one is kinda cute," Taylor says giggling.
"You have the weirdest taste in guys I swear, anyway what about them" Liv responds.
"Little flirty flirt and we get free drinks" Shannon proposes. They all nod in agreement before turning and walking towards the group asking to join in on the game. Niall was amongst the men playing pool and smirks before deciding to introduce the girls and pair them up.
"Alright lads, let's show these lovely ladies how it's done" he chuckles "Liv, you're with Harry", a curly-haired boy walks over to Liv before grabbing her hand and placing a soft kiss upon it.
"Pleasure to meet you love" his raspy accent making Liv's stomach fill with butterflies.
"Y-you too" she blushes, locking eyes with him and feeling everyone else disappear. She snaps out of it when she hears Lexi call her name.
"You good" Lex asks, raising an eyebrow tauntingly. Liv brushes it off and notices that it seems everyone has already been paired up. Shannon stands next to a skinny man with the most striking blue eyes and a hint of stubble across his face.
"That's Louis" she feels Harry's breath against her ear and he leans in. "Super sweet guy, he runs the coffee shop down the road and a wicked football player. Over there with your friend" he points to where Taylor is laughing at something Lewis said, his arm already wrapped around her waist. "Is Lewis, probably the funniest man I've ever met, seems like he's getting on with your friend pretty well" he chuckles.
"I'm Liv" she giggles nervously and smiles.
Niall and Lexi make awkward eye contact, Niall's smile breaking a bit. "Um, I have to go to the bathroom, I'll be back in a bit" she whispers nervously, gently placing her hand on Taylor's shoulder before leaving. Taylor eyes her as she hurriedly walks to the ladies' room as an excuse to get away from her ex-boyfriend. Giving a small smile and promise to return quickly, Taylor leaves behind Lewis and the rest of the group, follow after Lexi to check on her. She walks in to see Lexi sitting on the counter crying softly. Lexi looks up when she hears Taylor enter the room
"I wish he didn't affect me like this. It's been a year almost! I should be over him by now," she cries harder. Taylor walks over, joining her on the counter.
"Hey, it's okay. Totally normal for you to feel like this, especially given the history and suddenly seeing him on an island in the middle of buttfuck nowhere." Taylor wipes away her tears, "but you can't let it kill you even if it hurts like hell."
Lexi looks up and smiles "That would make a great song. Have you tried songwriting before?"
"You know, I'll keep that as a backup" she jokes, "Listen Lexi, you're the baddest bitch I know, don't let this break your heart. Now let's go out there and show him what he's missing." They both smile. Lexi fixes her mascara before heading back out. There is no way she can let him know she was crying. After giving Taylor an "all good?" look, they were on their way. They exited the restroom only to find the pool table taken over by some strange men. Looking around the pub, they spot Louis waving at them from a booth in the corner and make their way towards them. Niall stood up for them to slide into the booth, Taylor coming to sit beside Lewis and Lexi being forced between her and Niall.
"Hi Niall, nice to see you," Lex said dryly
"Sooo, why did you guys come to Eroda?" Harry could sense the tension and tried changing the subject.
All of the girls chuckled. "Well, it's kind of a long story" Liv replied
"How about you give us the shortened version?" Harry joked
"Basically, Liv's ex is an asshat and we found out that he's engaged to this girl when they have only been dating for like a year and a half. We just decided that a girls trip was much needed" Shannon answered. The group looked at Liv in sympathy, which she quickly brushed off.
"It's fine, he's a total pig anyways." The pub fell silent.
From across the pub they hear shouting, "How dare you!?" a bearded man came running towards Liv. She cowered into Harry's lap, hoping he could help her.
"What the hell is going on?" Taylor asks Lewis, confused.
"You can't mention that animal in the pubs here, bad luck or something."
"What, a pig?" Liv asks.
"Shut the fuck up, don't say it AGAIN" Lewis says exasperated. As more patrons begin to make their way towards Liv, Harry gets an idea and quickly throws her over his shoulder before running out of the pub, the rest of the group quickly following after him.
"Well, welcome to Eroda I guess" Lex cracked a joke, the rest of the group laughing politely.
"Sorry about that, the locals are pretty big on superstitions and stuff. None of us are from here so we don't really understand it." Louis chuckles, scratching the back of his neck awkwardly. While everyone is standing outside the pub talking about the wild start to the night, Lewis pulls Taylor away from the group.
"Do you wanna ditch them and go for a walk around the village?" he asks nervously. She smiles, blushing lightly and nodding. He smiles and takes her hand, leading her away from the group and towards the heart of the village.
A few minutes pass and Shannon notices that there's someone missing. "Guys? Where's Taylor?" She asks, the others being alerted to the absence.
"Uh, yeah Lewis is gone too" Louis looks around for the missing couple when the girls' phone ding with a text.
"Walking around with Lewis. If I get murdered DO NOT prosecute him. He caught ME slipping, that's on me."  reads a message from the groupchat. Lexi reads the text aloud and chuckles.
"Yeah they'll be okay."
They soon noticed how late it had gotten and the boys offered to walk the girls to the inn. Upon entering, they were once again greeted by Liam, who smirked when he noticed the lads walking in behind them.
" I see you've met the idiots, wasn't there another in your group?"
"She ran off with Lewis after an incident at the pub." Harry laughs. "Seems like you forgot to mention the taboos of the island."
"Yeah, thanks for that" Liv sarcastically states, cheeks heating up in embarassment. Harry lets out a loud laugh before pulling Liv in for a hug, his larger frame engulfing her. She pulls away as Shannon and Lexi bid the group of boys goodnight. Liv's smile fades a bit realizing the night has to come to end. Harry looks her in the eyes before leaning down to whisper a quiet "goodnight love" and planting a kiss on her cheek. Her smile wide as she heads up to their room and gets ready for bed. Once the three girls are settled they begin to discuss the events of that night. Theirs laughs can be heard from the heart of the Inn where Taylor had just bid Lewis goodnight. Hearing them, she smiles and gives a wave to Liam before heading up the stairs and into the room. All the girls look at her with the "spill the tea" look when they notice her wearing Lewis' jacket. Taylor rolls her eyes and tells them all about her evening with the Scottish man. She tells them about how they walked around, Lewis showing her his favorite shops and even stopping to get a snack from the local shop before walking her back to the Inn and giving her his number.
"We just talked" she says nonchalantly, shrugging off the coat and changing into her jammies.
"Talked my ass, you have the glow" Shannon pointed out, the other girls nodding in agreement.
"We really did! He was super sweet and he held my hand the whole time and help I already like him." She groans out flopping on the bed.
"Seems he likes you too.. Maybe you'll get the summer romance you dreamed of." Liv says.
"What about you and Harry? You looked like a lost puppy!" Lexi giggles out. Liv threw her pillow across the room, knocking Lexi to the ground with a thud. The girls laughed before deciding it was time to head to bed and get ready for their next day on the island that was full of surprises.