"so the boy I would like to couple up with is — Ciaran."

Emeline stood in front of the firepit with bated breath, her eyes were still glued to the floor as she waited for Maya to break the silence. She couldn't bring herself to look up in fear of the reaction her very impulsive decision would elicit.

"Okay, Emeline please make your way to Ciaran."

Maya brushed her hand over Emmie's shoulder in a comforting manner, urging her forward.

Finally, the blonde girl looked up from the wooden decking and bit the inside of her cheek as she saw Ciaran stood up and waiting for her, he wore an undecipherable expression; something that only worsened Emmie's nerves.

"I'm sorry." She whispered as she reached the bench, sitting down next to Ciaran with a sigh. He only hummed in response but his hand reached for her own.

"Sam and Harriet, both of you are now single — you will be able to take part in the next recoupling... Good luck." And with that, Maya was gone almost as quick as she arrived.

—— beach hut ——

Emeline

"I can't help but think Ciaran was a bit disappointed that I chose to recouple with him." She sighed and began to chew at her fingernails nervously. "I'll just have to talk to him."

"Can I talk to you?" Ciaran grabbed ahold of Emeline's hand and led her into the villa, dodging the dispersing islanders on his way.

The pair made their way up to the terrace in silence — Ciaran didn't even know what to think, his mind was a whirlwind of what it's and maybes whilst Emeline was overthinking her decision.

Ciaran sat down and motioned for the girl to take a seat next to him.

"I wanted to have a chat with you up here to clear things up."

He repositioned himself on the bench and sat back to make himself a bit more comfortable.

"To tell you the truth I do want to get to know you better but at the same time I also want to get to know Nicole as well." The rugby player pulled on of the cushions onto his lap and watched Emmie's reaction intently.

"I don't want you to be kept out of the loop at all which is why I'm being so upfront because the last thing I would want is for anybody to be hurt because of my actions or choices."

The blonde girl toyed with the hem of her dress as she looked at Ciaran speaking. He was definitely very emotionally intelligent, at least enough to know that the recoupling was an unusually hard process for her.

She looked down at her fingers momentarily before looking back up at him. "Well I appreciate your honesty, I want to get to know you more... I mean of course I do or I wouldn't have chosen to recouple with you —" Emeline stopped speaking and internally screamed at herself for rambling.

"But, you don't owe me an explanation for anything — we've been coupled up for literally five seconds." She laughed and watched as a similar expression crawled onto ciaran's face.

"We're both free to get to know other people, as well as each other." She finalised.

After her conversation with Ciaran, Emmie had joined Mimii and Ayo on the daybeds as they engaged in random conversations. Mimii seemed to really like Ayo but Emeline wasn't too keen on him yet. And not too long after, the islanders were given notice that it was time to get ready for bed.

The Mallorcan weather was unrelenting. Although the sun had set hours ago, it felt as though heat clung on desperately to any and every surface possible. Emeline sat around the dressing table removing her makeup with micellar water and cotton pads. She refused to use makeup wipes because they always made her skin break out, no matter what brand.

"It's so hot." She groaned.

"Tell me about it." Mimii poked her head up from behind a makeup mirror opposite the blonde girl and smiled. "But you're hotter." The brunette playfully winked and burst out laughing at her own corny joke.

"I'd say your pickup lines on parr with Sean's sweet jokes babe."

"Okay my little peach ring."

"Mimii you're pushing your luck." Emmie gasped out, trying to stifle her laughter as she removed the gloss from her lips.

Jess walked into the dressing room with  a towel wrapped around her torso; having just come from the shower.

"What's so funny?"

Mimii and Emmie made eye contact and burst out laughing.

Jess couldn't help but let out a giggle as she watched the pair laughing uncontrollably; Emmie still had a damp cotton pad in her hand but it fell to the floor as she doubled over and laughed even harder at a short mimii had made when she was laughing.

"I can't deal with you guys." The older brunette giggled to herself and rummaged through her part of the closet for some pyjamas.

The laughter soon died down and the room fell into a comfortable silence as the three girls got on with what they were doing.

"So, how are you feeling about the recoupling" Jess pried as she finished buttoning her blouse. "I can't say Harriet is pleased." She added.

Emmie finished removing her eyeshadow before reaching for her toner and cleanser with a sigh.

"You know what, I'm happy with my choice... Some people might not be but I've got to accept that I'm not here to appease to people's wants, I'm here for myself and that's the bottom line."

The girl opposite Emmie clapped quietly and shot her a smile. Emmie loved Mimii, she was the only person besides Ciaran and Samantha that truly made her feel welcome.

After she finished applying moisturizer to her face and wrapping her long hair up into something that resembled a bun, Emeline made her way to the bedroom; followed by Jess and Mimii. The latter gave Emmie a tight hug before sliding in bed next to munveer.

Ciaran shot Emmie a wide smile from their bed on the other side of the room. He had the covers peeled back on the other side signifying that it was where she would be.

"You were up there for ages." He grasped one of Emmie's hand and tugged her down onto the bed softly. "Almost fell asleep sitting up."

The lights switched off immediately as soon as everybody had made their way to bed, plunging the room into darkness.

"If I don't clean my makeup off properly, I'd be a human dot to dot in the morning." They both laughed at Emmie's statement and shuffled under the covers.

The esthetician focused on the man in front of her as she lay on her side. Although the room was dark, she could still make out the features on his face due to their inevitable closeness, she watched as his eyes struggled to remain open; fluttering closed every once in a while from exhaustion.

"Goodnight Ciaran."

"Goodnight Ems."