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narcissasdaffodil · 2 years

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I’m Not In Love

S2 | Marisol/Lottie | 3.3k words

Read on A03 here

This is my submission for the @litgwritersroom lie detector prompt.

Marisol had been struggling to sleep properly ever since she coupled up with Graham, and this morning was no exception. She got herself a coffee and a plate of toast as she curled up on the roof terrace. The snoring was doing her head in, and it didn’t help that Graham also snored.

It didn’t help that things were rocky between her and Eira too. She had kissed the other girl the night before Casa Amor and acted on her crush on the other girl. She had felt brave, but seeing Graham at Casa Amor had made her retreat back into the closet again. She had pretended to be more confident in her sexuality than she actually was, and it had backfired on her majorly.

She was too caught up in the rush of having someone like her genuinely that she latched onto Graham easily. Maybe they weren’t the best match, but he liked her, or at least pretended to, well enough. She had discovered from Eira that Graham was using her , and the rumours had hurt their friendship. The other girl was far more comfortable in herself and her sexuality than Marisol, and it was difficult for her to manage.

She heard footsteps on the roof terrace, and looked up to see Lucas, a coffee and plate of toast in hand. She had got closer to Lucas after they had briefly been coupled up, and she saw him as a close friend.

“Mind if I sit with you? I can’t sleep.”

Marisol patted the bench next to her, she had a mouthful of toast, and he gave her a thumbs up.

Once she swallowed, she sighed. “Me neither… I thought I’d be happy with Graham, but I can’t get the rumour that he’s using me out of my head. If Eira wanted to hurt me for kissing her, she certainly achieved that.”

Lucas sighed. “Look, it’s not a rumour. He admitted to using you to get into the Villa. I’m genuinely sorry, you deserve better. As for Eira, well… she’s stuck with Bobby and is understandably frustrated about that…”

“So… she’s gone off at you, too? It’s not your fault that the public wanted to keep you and Angie safe. You two are a good couple, and I like Angie. She’s a great person, I’m happy for you two. And, Eira deserves better. She hasn’t forgiven him for Operation Nope, which I understand. He risked their relationship just to test Nope, and everything fell well and truly apart...” Marisol took a sip of coffee after her voice trailed off.

Lucas grimaced. “Not exactly… She was actually happy for me and Angie. And she wanted to leave with Kassam. She doesn’t see any point in being here, all of her couples have been dumpster fires. She’s fuming with Bobby for saving her. But I’m glad that you support us. You’re my closest friend in here, so it’s good to have your support.”

Marisol grimaced. “He was trying to make up for destroying their relationship, I suppose. It’s a shame it didn’t work. And I can relate to the couple troubles… If Graham’s really using me, I guess I deserve it, especially after Rocco too. I pushed Eira away, and didn’t listen to her when she said he was ‘too good to be true’.”

“You don’t deserve it. You’ve just made some mistakes, like we all have. And do you like Eira? You seem pretty focused on her.”

Marisol laughed loudly in response. “Well… I doubt she’d ever give me another chance. And I do, I have from the start. She’s got me wrapped around her little finger well and truly. But I’m too scared to go for it. My ex girlfriend was awful, and I don’t want to break myself into little pieces like that again. I can’t let myself.”

Lucas sighed. “There’s nothing wrong with trying. And maybe apologising to her for not believing her? It’s worth a try.”

Marisol heard flip flops on the roof terrace, and looked up to see Angie in her pyjamas. She was relieved it was her who had come to join them; she had hit it off with the other girl unexpectedly quickly. “Am I interrupting anything? I woke up and you had gone.”

“No, we just can’t sleep. The snoring seems to have gotten far worse lately. Graham, Noah and Lottie are foghorns combined together. And I regret picking him.” Marisol stuffed her mouth with the remains of her toast and swept the crumbs onto the floor to dodge conversation.

“Fair enough. Trouble in paradise, then? You’ll get through it, I believe in you.” Angie nudged Marisol’s arm as she sat next to her, and Marisol offered a wobbly smile.

“I… I just feel like it’s my fault that Eira lost Kassam. She genuinely liked the guy, yet they were in the bottom four couples and I somehow dodged the dumping with Graham, despite it being ‘blatantly obvious’ he was using me. She’s been avoiding me because of it. She did warn me about Graham, but I didn’t take her seriously…”

Angie patted Marisol’s shoulder. “It’s hardly fair you’re the only one taking the heat from her. She hasn’t discussed it with me once, apart from complimenting us as a couple. What drew you to him, anyway? It seems like a weird choice.”

“Apart from Rocco, he was the only one to show genuine interest in me. But Rocco was stringing all of the girls along anyway… It just felt good to be desired by someone, and the sex was okay, at least. But, there’s nothing special drawing me to him. And I don’t exactly like how he keeps calling into question my bisexuality. He did the same with Eira, but she wouldn’t stand for it, and quickly fired back at him. She’s got an inner strength that I don’t, and cares about people…” Marisol trailed off quickly when she realised she could quite easily list more things she admired about Eira than about Graham.

“You deserve someone better, who cares about you without strings attached. Sex that is just ‘okay’ doesn’t count. Let me guess, he gets himself off and doesn’t make much of an effort with you.”

Marisol blushed at Angie’s frankness. “Umm… Pretty much. I suppose the only person I can see that way is Eira. I can easily list things I notice about her, and things I admire about her. Like the way she stands up for people she cares about. She even stood up to Graham for me…”

Marisol tugged at her hair and took a sip of her coffee. It was freezing cold from how long she had let it sit, and she shuddered at the temperature. She felt herself float off, and blocked them out until she finished her icy cold coffee and went downstairs to wash up. As she washed up, she couldn’t stop thinking of Eira. She had picked up a lot from the vet quite quickly, most of it was cat related. Cats and ducks were two of her special interests, and Eira was one of the only people in the Villa she had told about her duck blog.

Once she was done washing up, she made her way into the bathroom. She found herself staring at her own reflection as she brushed her teeth. And in the shower, she kept getting lost in ways she could have handled this mess better. Her usual 5 minute shower lasted half an hour, until she heard people banging on the door for her to hurry up, and she quickly hopped out, wrapping a towel tight around her body and scooping up her pyjamas as she left.

She quickly got ready in the dressing room, and as she was about to leave, Angie squeezed her hand. “Wait for me. I won’t be long. I’ve enjoyed having someone to chat to.”

Marisol’s eyes flickered back to her wrist, and gasped when she noticed her wrist was bare. She quickly slipped a bracelet on her wrist to cover her soulmate tattoo. Everyone had small tattoos on their wrists to signify a soulmate, and hers was an elegant, thin black cat with vibrant green eyes. The tattoo gave her a little hope, she kept trying to figure out who would be the cat.

Her eyes flickered down, and she spotted a panther tattoo on Angie’s wrist, which was glowing. Just as she noticed it, Angie pulled her hand away. “Lucas is my soulmate, our tattoos started glowing when our hands touched. That’s how you know.”

Marisol nodded and made her way outside with Angie by her side. They settled together on the loungers with Lucas, and she scanned around for Graham. She couldn’t spot him anywhere, until she noticed a blur of red hair, and her eyes widened as she noticed that Shannon and Graham were very close together. She forced herself to look away, and took a deep breath. She could feel her anxious cats growing inside her, and heard them mewling in her stomach.

“Wow… I didn’t expect that. What about Rahim?” Marisol’s breath caught in her throat, and she focused on not letting herself get overly upset.

“He’s going to be just as blindsided as you. Neither of you saw it coming. I’ll admit I didn’t either. Are you alright?” Lucas nudged her arm, and she let out a soft miaow in response.

“Not… not really. It feels hypocritical to be getting upset, after what I did to Gary with Rocco. Ouch.” Marisol spun her bracelet around her wrist and stared down at it.

“Just ignore them and focus on us. You can get through this, I promise. You deserve better than him.” Angie squeezed her hand.

Just as Marisol started to wish for a distraction, the silence was broken by a scream, and Marisol pulled at her ear.

“I’ve got a text!” Eira’s voice carried around the Villa, and Marisol hopped up to follow it. She held hands with Angie as they walked over to the kitchen, and stood close enough to hear Eira.

Marisol found herself tuning out, she only caught part of the text. Something about a lie detector test, which made her frown. There wasn’t anything else that could possibly be thrown at them; she doubted that there were more secrets in the Villa.

They separated, the girls disappearing inside to the bedroom, while the boys stayed in the kitchen. She sat down on the bed and played with her bracelet. She was toying with whether to go hard on Graham or not, part of her was tempted to, but she wanted to take the high road, even if he wouldn’t.

She scribbled down a list of questions on her note card quickly, and when she looked up, she noticed Eira was still going. To her surprise, Eira flashed her a smile once she was finished.

“Are you going hard on Bobby, then?” Lottie asked.

“Oh, come on, of course I am. He disrespected our couple with his schemes before, then had the nerve to save me when I wanted to leave with Kassam. I want to pick his brain, see what the fuck he was thinking.” Eira’s voice was icy cold, reminding Marisol of the snow Eira was named after, and Marisol shivered.

Eira nudged Marisol’s arm. “What about you? You can’t be going easy on Graham. I saw him with Shannon by the way. Just thought I’d let you know, like a friend would.”

Marisol grimaced. “I’m not. There’s too many unanswered questions for me to go gently on him.”

Eira squeezed her hand in response. “Good for you. Looks like you’re not blinded by the fanny flutters, then.” Marisol blushed bright red as Eira shared a wink with Lottie.

“N… No, definitely not. I’m sorry for not believing you, you were telling the truth all along.” Marisol stared down at her lap and her words were muffled by her hair as she spoke.

“Look, I know I’ve been harsh on you, but you deserve much better than him, trust me. You need to believe in yourself a little more.” Eira gently squeezed her hand and softened her tone, and Marisol nodded in response.

They were all ready, and they gathered together the cards into a neat pile. Marisol followed the others downstairs into the living room and sat down in front of the TV screen.

Focusing was difficult, and she zoned out until she noticed Hope and Bobby on screen together. Marisol noticed a strange glint in Eira’s eyes, and prepared for Bobby to get wrecked by the questions.

“Bobby, were you playing the game, yes or no?” The first question made Bobby grimace, and his mouth twitched.

“No.” The machine buzzed red, and everyone gasped.

“Do you regret saving Eira?”

The second question was another no, but this time it was the truth.

Marisol’s breath caught in her throat as she waited for the final question.

“Is there anyone else in the Villa you’d want to be coupled up with instead of Eira?”

“Yes.” The machine read it as true, and when Marisol looked at Eira, her green eyes flickered slightly. The colour matched perfectly to her cat’s eyes, but Lottie was also green eyed.

Marisol’s phone beeped as she was launched out of her mind. She was next, with Lucas asking her the questions, and her heartbeat echoed in her chest as she made her way into the separate room and was hooked up to the machine. She felt nervous, but glad it was Lucas.

“Okay… Marisol, do you regret bringing Graham back from Casa Amor?”

Marisol smiled as she answered. “Yes.” She was relieved when the machine flashed green, and Lucas gave her a thumbs up.

“Do you see a future for you and Graham?”

Marisol’s no came just as quickly as the first answer, and it was true.

“Marisol, would you prefer to be coupled up with someone else in the Villa?”

“Yes.” She was confident when she answered her final question, and it lit up green.

It was a relief to get unhooked from the wires, and she followed Lucas back into the living room, settling back next to Angie again. Eira and Gary were both missing, and Marisol was worried about the other girl. She was doubtful that Bobby would go hard on her, but was unable to predict for sure.

“Eira, did you cheat on anyone while you were coupled up?”

The first question was a quick no, and Marisol suspected it was slightly too quick from the machine buzzing red.

“Would you prefer to be coupled up with Lottie?”

Marisol’s eyes widened at the question, and her heart was in her mouth as she waited for the answer.

“No.” This time it went green, and Marisol let out a sigh of relief. The next one ended up true as well, and Marisol heard her own phone beep again. She scanned the room for the person she was asking questions to, and as she left, she discovered Eira was already set up.

“Hi. You’ll be fine.” Eira smiled at her, and Marisol sighed in response. She didn’t understand why she was being asked two sets of questions, but all would be revealed soon. She was hooked up to the machine again, then she got ready for the questions.

“Marisol, were you using Graham to make me jealous?” Eira’s eyes glinted as she asked the question.

“Y… Yes.” Marisol stuttered as she answered it, and was relieved when it lit up green.

“If you could go back to Casa Amor, would you do anything differently?”

The next question was another yes, and the machine lit up green.

“Do you know there is multiple girls in here that fancy you?” The third question stunned Marisol, and she found it hard to answer. She supposed one was Eira, but she didn’t understand who the other could be.

“No.” It flashed green, and she was relieved to get unhooked again.

The questions had made her nervous, and she jumped when Eira caught her arm. “I like you, of course. But Lottie likes you and would drop Gary for you. Why else do you think she was so hard on you before? I’d give her a shot, even if you don’t like me. Besides, Noah’s expressed interest in me. Our kiss really made him unable to forget me.”

Marisol’s breath caught in her throat. “No…No way! I’d understand Angie or Hope more, but not her.”

The unexpected bombshell caused her to zone out for the rest of the challenge until Lottie nudged her arm.

“Can we talk? In private.”

Marisol nodded as she led Lottie upstairs to the roof terrace, and took a seat.

“I know you like Eira, but there’s something important I want to say. We did kiss, that’s likely why the public didn’t trust her relationship with Kassam. But I like you, too. I can’t explain why, but look.” Lottie removed her black cat bracelet to reveal a duck on her wrist, and Marisol felt their hands drew closer together unexpectedly. She gasped when she watched Lottie’s tattoo gain a golden outline, and her own tattoo vibrated on her wrist.

“But… I don’t understand. You hate me…” Marisol’s protests were muffled by Lottie pulling her forward as they started to kiss. She was stunned into silence by the unexpected kiss, but it felt like lightning in a bottle. Her lips were vibrating, and she felt more alive in a way she didn’t when Graham kissed her.

When Lottie pulled away, Marisol couldn’t move. She was completely stunned and staring into space. She couldn’t even fathom the idea that this would be possible.

Lottie had been sniping at her since the very start, and had turned on her after Roccogate. She couldn’t understand why the person she hated the most out of everyone in the Villa was her destiny, but it made some sense.

“Wow. You’re the cat, then. I suppose that makes sense, with your eyes. We’re glowing now.” Marisol was a little breathless as she forced out her words, and Lottie laughed.

“I know. The minute I found out about your duck blog, I had a feeling it was you. I was just as shocked when I first discovered it, but we do click, in a strange way. You’re a Virgo, right?”

Marisol quickly nodded at Lottie’s question. She was unsure how Lottie had guessed, and as she was about to ask, Lottie winked at her. “You give off typical Virgo vibes. You’re pretty quiet, that’s unexpected.”

“What… what made you work out it wasn’t Eira? You two are very close after all.”

“There’s no spark, or no glittering eyes. Your eyes have changed colour slightly. It’s linked to soulmates, and the soulmate theory overall. And look!” Lottie pointed out a duck and a cat on the roof terrace, and Marisol watched as they came closer to them. The cat settled on Marisol while the duck was on Lottie’s lap.

She had heard of soulmate animals, but never fully believed it. But her new pet cat made the soulmate theory real, even though she struggled to understand why. Soulmates and magic were linked together, which explained the animals. She stroked the cat absentmindedly, and she dreamt of their future when she closed her eyes. It seemed easy to dream of having barbecue for Christmas dinner, and sharing a flat with Lottie and multiple cats. Along with Lottie reading her fortune using tarot cards, and Marisol having a new necklace with the Virgo symbol on it. She saw a version of herself who was less serious and straight laced, but still happy. They’d go on double dates with Angie and Lucas too, and sometimes triple dates with Eira and Henrik, who had unexpectedly hit it off.

#litg #love island the game #litgs2 #litg fanfic #fanfic #litg marisol #marisol x lottie #marilottie #i’m not in love

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