Summer of Love

Chapter 21

Oliver

Neil Steel: Hold on to your helmets, laddies, the villa’s in for another bombshell.

Darcy Meadows: ‘Two couples will be leaving tonight.’

Jack Obiaka: ‘Well, this sucks.’

Neil Steel: You’ve got that right!

The contestants filed into the villa, Niall and Stella holding hands as though they might be forcibly separated at any moment.

Oliver enveloped them in a hug as soon as they were inside, unable to say anything with the weight of emotion pressing against his chest. Losing Niall right after losing Declan felt like the end of something.

Holly ripped herself away from Owen to join their embrace, her normally tough exterior cracked by the tears falling down her face.

‘It shouldn’t be me staying, it should be you.’

Stella shook her head vigorously, and Oliver noticed that she was also crying.

‘You need to stay, it’s not your time yet.’

Niall tucked Holly under his arm.

It would have been comical, with Niall being about twice her size, if both of them weren’t choked up.

‘We’ve had a good run; we’re ready to take on the real world.’

Holly glanced back at Owen.

‘Maybe it’s my time, too.’

‘Absolutely not,’ Oliver said, surprising himself.

‘No one else is leaving, all right? No more talk of giving up.’ Stella gave Oliver a watery smile.

‘I’m going to miss you both so much,’ Oliver continued, since he couldn’t bear silence.

‘We’ll see you on the other side,’ Jack said, saluting Niall before wrapping his arms around him.

As they said their goodbyes, Oliver’s eyes drifted to Declan.

He remained at the edge of the group, studying the floor with an expression Oliver recognised as carefully smoothed-over.

He was seized with the desire to reach out, to comfort him, before remembering they weren’t speaking.

Niall must have noticed his panicked expression, gently prying him away.

‘Everything okay?’ he asked in a low voice.

‘It’s going to be weird without you here,’ Oliver said, pushing Declan to the back of his mind.

Niall sighed. ‘I hate to say it, but I’m relieved.

I was tired of being told that a healthy relationship with Stella wasn’t enough drama.

But I’m obviously sad to leave you all.’

The lump in Oliver’s throat grew.

‘I’m gonna miss you.’

‘I’ll miss you too,’ Niall said, pulling Oliver into his famous bear hug.

‘And Oliver,’ he said, a serious look on his face, ‘if you have real feelings for someone, don’t let them go, no matter what the producers throw at you.

They couldn’t shake me and Stella because we refused to play their game.’

‘Right,’ Oliver said, his eyes involuntarily flitting back to Declan.

He was watching Stella and Maeve’s tearful embrace expressionlessly, and Oliver’s chest tightened.

He looked back at Niall.

‘Don’t worry about me, Eavie and I are solid.’

Niall’s eyebrows drew together.

‘Think about it, okay?’

Oliver nodded.

‘Okay.’

The two of them rejoined the group, where Zoe was now hugging Stella and whispering something in her ear.

Paige finally stepped into the scene.

‘All right, lovebirds, we have to get going.’

Oliver gave Niall, Stella and Owen each a final hug as they departed the villa.

Watching them go, he found Maeve at his side.

‘Mad, isn’t it?’ she said softly.

‘Guess true love doesn’t make for good TV.’

‘Watch out,’ Oliver deadpanned.

‘If you’re right, you and Jack are next.’

She gave him a small smile.

‘Viewers seem to like you and Eavie together, though. I’ve heard it’s playing well with the audience.’

She gave a pointed glance towards Brian.

‘Little birdies.’

‘Oh,’ Oliver said, startled but gratified.

‘But who knows, maybe me and Eavie will be just as boringly happy as Niall and Stella in a week.’

‘Hmm,’ Maeve said, the corners of her lips pulling down.

She gave him a final pat on the arm as Brian called that it was time for lights out.

Eavie glanced at Oliver and Maeve, a question in her eyes, before turning to prepare for bed.

Oliver sat in bed, anxiously waiting for Eavie to come back from the bathroom.

He’d always felt at ease with her before, but he’d been too caught up with Declan to overthink anything.

Now, Declan was sitting on the next bed over, staring at the ceiling, but he felt further away from Oliver than ever.

Imogen returned from the bathroom with her hair pulled back in a plait and her face shiny with product.

She exchanged soft words with Declan, and Oliver couldn’t stop himself from glancing sideways at them.

They looked perfect together – Declan had stopped brooding to pull at one of her braids playfully.

That was the difference between him and Declan: through either years of practice or natural instinct, Declan always seemed unaffected.

As Eavie joined him in bed and the lights flicked off, Oliver’s mind wouldn’t settle.

The sick feeling in his stomach that he had carried for the past day had solidified into something resembling resentment.

Declan had been spooked so easily into ending things that Oliver had to believe that his feelings were less intense, or easier to ignore.

The worst part was that he’d never know the full story.

He doubted that Declan would ever let him close enough to talk about it.

At the same time, Maeve and Niall were right.

Oliver was doing well, by all appearances, with Eavie.

He hadn’t been in danger of elimination that night, which was still shocking to him.

He’d never thought he could get this far on the show.

He’d also never thought he would genuinely be interested in someone, or that it would end like this.

He swallowed and rolled over, wrapping his arms around Eavie.

He couldn’t face Declan, even in the dark.

If he committed himself to Eavie, to winning the show, he could convince himself it had all been worth it.

He had to convince himself it had all been worth it.

The money to move to New York would be consolation enough for his broken heart.

Any semblance of Oliver’s old morning routine was gone now.

He lay in bed with Eavie as late as he possibly could, until the rest of the contestants had already gone out to the kitchen.

Eavie seemed to take this as encouragement, snuggling closer to him.

‘Sleepy?’ she murmured, propping herself up on an elbow and looking down at him.

She looked strikingly beautiful in the morning light, and Oliver hated himself for feeling nothing towards her.

It would’ve been too simple, he supposed, to fall for someone he could be with publicly.

‘You’re usually an early riser.’

He suddenly wanted to be anywhere else.

‘Everything’s great,’ he lied.

‘Shall I make you breakfast?’

‘You’re the best,’ she said, her hand on his cheek and her face drawing slowly closer to his.

He swung himself hurriedly off the bed.

‘I can hear your stomach rumbling,’ he said, in response to her put-out expression.

‘You need food in you.’

He gave her a parting smile, steeling himself for whatever awaited him outside.

Declan was sure to be somewhere in the vicinity, and though Oliver knew he should be prepared for that eventuality, he’d been too distracted to consider what their new relationship would look like or how they would play it for the cameras.

It was even stranger to think that thousands of people would be watching him, heartbroken, and not understand what had happened.

Thankfully, as he exited the villa, he was met with only Jack and Maeve in the kitchen.

Jack waved him over to where he sat overlooking Maeve’s attempt at cooking bacon.

‘All right?’ Oliver asked, as Maeve flinched away from spitting oil.

‘Care for some assistance?’

‘ Please help,’ Jack said.

‘She’s the least domestic bird I’ve ever met.’

‘I’m the breadwinner, Jack, you can’t have it all,’ Maeve said, removing the burned bacon from the pan.

Oliver came to her aid.

‘Shall I do a demo?’ he joked, moving around the counter to put his hands on her shoulders.

Eavie exited the villa just then, heading for the counter.

‘I see you haven’t started,’ she said, looking at where his hands rested on Maeve’s shoulders.

Oliver dropped them.

‘Maeve was giving it a go, but intervention was necessary,’ he explained.

He started on breakfast, flipping bacon and scrambling eggs as he became increasingly frustrated that no one had mentioned where Declan was.

‘Imogen,’ he said, when she finally joined them, ‘where’s your man?

Thought you would be keeping him on a tight leash.’

He plated Eavie’s breakfast and passed it to her across the counter.

‘The producers have other ideas. They’ve taken him to the Love Shack,’ Imogen said.

‘Why? Are you looking for him?’

‘No,’ Oliver said quickly, in what he desperately hoped was a casual tone, ‘just wondering where he is.’

‘Mhm,’ Imogen said, narrowing her eyes at him.

Thankfully, at that moment, Maeve interrupted.

‘Oliver,’ she said, ‘let’s have a chat, okay?’

‘Uh—’ he started, his eyes darting to Eavie.

‘Come on,’ Maeve said impatiently, grabbing his hand and practically dragging him away from the kitchen.

When he glanced back, Eavie was frowning at them.

Sorry , he mouthed in her direction.

Maeve settled onto a nearby couch, patting the spot beside her.

She had a strange energy about her – it was clear she wanted something from him and wasn’t going to leave without it.

‘All right?’ he asked, not sitting.

‘I couldn’t spend another second without you telling me what’s going on.

You look awful,’ she said.

‘Now sit, please.’

‘Gee, thanks,’ he said, sitting nonetheless.

She gave him a look.

‘I’ve never seen you stab toast quite that dramatically before.

Something’s going on, and I’m the only person who’s willing to ask.’

She placed a hand on his shoulder, her eyes softening.

‘Talk to me.’

‘It’s—’ he started.

She cut him off. ‘It’s not about Niall and Stella.

Don’t start bullshitting with me.’

‘You know Niall was one of my mates,’ he said weakly.

‘This place is mad, and if you don’t have anyone to confide in, it’s impossible.’

‘So, confide away,’ Maeve said dismissively.

‘You have me, Jack, Eavie… you have Declan.’ She gave him a pointed look, as though waiting for him to contradict her on the last.

He looked down at his hands, folding them in his lap.

‘I don’t know what to say – maybe the pressure’s catching up to me.’

‘So what did you two row about, then?’ she asked matter-of-factly.

Oliver frowned at her.

‘Nothing… I guess we don’t get on as well as I thought.’

She raised her eyebrows.

‘Why would you say that?’

‘Because,’ Oliver said, barely able to get the words out, ‘none of this is real.’

Maeve shook her head.

‘You don’t believe that, I know you don’t.

You know how I feel about you is real.

How’s it any different?’

‘Of course it’s real with us,’ Oliver said, trying to find the words to make her understand.

He felt a desperate urge to tell her everything, only tempered by the knowledge of the cameras lurking in the corner of his vision.

‘It’s different with Declan.’

‘Okay…’ Maeve said.

‘You know you can tell me anything, right?’

He glanced at the nearest camera and she inclined her head slightly.

‘Thanks, Maeve,’ he said with forced cheer, wrapping his arms around her.

‘If you ever can talk about it, I’m here,’ she murmured, just as Oliver saw Declan approaching in the corner of his vision.

He expected Declan to continue ignoring him, to have something to say to Maeve instead, but he didn’t.

Declan looked directly at him, and Oliver’s throat went dry as he stared into bottomless blue eyes.

‘Hey,’ Declan said, voice low.

‘Paige wants to see you in the Love Shack.’ His tone was warning, and Oliver understood that nothing good was coming.

Still, he felt almost relieved having Declan beside him again.

‘Uh-huh,’ he managed.

‘Thanks for letting me know.’

‘Sure,’ Declan said gruffly, looking away.

When Oliver entered the Love Shack, Paige was reading notes off her clipboard.

‘Hey there.’ She smiled at him in a way that put him on edge.

It was the sort of smile designed to make him comfortable, but he didn’t know how comfortable he should be with her at the moment.

‘Hi,’ he said, sitting.

‘How’s it going?’

‘Good, good,’ she said absently, before fixing her intense gaze on him.

The red light blinked on.

‘So, how are things with Eavie?’

‘Things are great,’ he started cautiously.

‘I think she’s the girl for me.’

He could hear the boredom in his own voice, the repetition of words he’d been regurgitating for two weeks.

He thought of his conversation with Maeve the night before, of the fact that the audience turned on couples who weren’t involved in enough drama.

‘Could you…?’ he asked, gesturing to the camera.

She flicked it off. ‘What is it?’

‘Could you tell me what you think is a good strategy?’ It felt weird to ask for her advice outright.

Paige frowned. ‘To be frank, your ratings aren’t great at the moment.

People like you, but you need to be packaged correctly, and it’s not working as well as it used to with Eavie.’

She paused before adding, ‘I still think you have potential to win this, if you trust me.’

He was surprised by her harsh presentation of his chances.

‘So… what? It doesn’t matter what I say about Eavie?’

‘Exactly.’

He scratched his head.

‘So why ask, then?’

‘Because I want to know how it’s going before we jump in.

Just give me your honest answer.’

Oliver wasn’t convinced that honesty would work in his favour, but he nodded anyway.

The red light blinked on again.

‘It’s been a tough week for me, and Eavie has been incredibly helpful.’

‘What’s been going on?’

Oliver should have anticipated that follow-up.

He decided to be as vague as possible, hoping she would move on quickly.

‘I guess I didn’t expect to make it this far, and I didn’t realise how hard it would be to be away from my mates.’

‘And you’ve now lost Niall, and you and Declan are on the outs as well?’

Oliver stiffened.

‘Yeah…’ he said. ‘It’s been tough, since those were my two strongest friendships in the villa.’

‘So… what is your relationship with Declan now?’ Paige asked neutrally.

Oliver’s heart raced – her expression was unreadable as ever, but he knew how easily she sensed weakness.

‘We were mates,’ he said, hoping in vain that she would leave it at that.

‘It’s clear that the two of you didn’t have just any friendship.’

‘Things get intense in here,’ Oliver said, his face growing hot.

‘I got a lot closer to people than I expected, including him.’

‘How close?’

‘What kind of question is that?’ Oliver said, tone clipped.

‘You want me to quantify how close our friendship was?’

Paige stared back at him with that same blank look.

‘No, actually, I’d like it if you were honest with me.’

‘What—’ he started, scrambling.

He took a steadying breath.

‘What exactly are you asking me?’

‘I’m asking you if your relationship with Declan is entirely platonic.’

Oliver lost any feeling in his face.

‘Of course it is. That’s ridiculous.

Men can be friends and touch each other and talk about their feelings.’

‘Yeah?’ Paige asked, her voice growing tight, a hint of emotion finally coming out.

‘How many of your mates have you been snogging?’

‘Turn the camera off.’ Oliver didn’t realise he’d said the words, but when he heard them, he knew they were his own.

He couldn’t feel any part of his body other than the pounding of his heartbeat in his ears.

Paige’s poker face broke, and she looked concerned.

It reminded him of how she’d acted in the living room at the manor house, cajoling.

‘Oliver, you’re not in trouble here, okay?

But I need to know what happened.

That’s my job.’

‘Turn the camera off,’ he said again, his voice firmer.

She hesitated before flicking the switch on the camera.

‘I’m listening.’

‘What did you see on the hike?’

She frowned.

‘The hike?’

‘This is bad,’ he said, not thinking about who he was talking to.

He knew, without any consideration, that this conversation would ruin everything.

‘Oliver…’ Paige said slowly, as though he might run out of the room at any provocation.

‘You’re not thinking this through.

This doesn’t have to be a bad thing.

It could be a very, very good thing for you.’

‘Yeah, well, it’s not, okay?’

he snapped, fear finally catalysing into anger.

‘You knowing about… whatever it is you think you know about… is exactly what I didn’t want to happen.’

‘Why?’ she asked, surprised.

‘We both want the same thing, don’t we?’

He sighed, running a hand through his hair.

‘I doubt that.’ At the moment, the only thing Oliver wanted was to be able to look at Declan without feeling a corresponding ache in his chest at the thought that he couldn’t touch him.

‘I have the audio feed,’ she said cautiously, ‘of you and Declan in the bathroom at the manor.’

‘ What? ’ That was worse than he’d feared.

He hadn’t imagined that she had proof.

Evidence of his relationship with Declan could cause irreparable damage.

Oliver knew well the lengths that Declan had gone to ensure his sexuality stayed a secret.

He’d turned his mic off, hadn’t he?

He tried to think back through all that had happened on the double date, and couldn’t think of a single moment where he would have checked if they were being recorded.

They were off set, and Paige and Brian weren’t around.

They were in the bathroom .

Weren’t there laws about that kind of thing?

‘I was tipped off, and I went looking to see if it was true, or if he was making it up.’

‘James,’ Oliver breathed out in recognition.

No one else would have gone to the producers with something like that.

Paige ignored him. ‘I’ve been trying to get one of you to admit there was something going on, but you’ve given me nothing, and Declan’s even worse.

I mean, I never expected him to react like that to the posts,’ she said, frowning.

Oliver felt a jolt of understanding, of pure anger.

It hadn’t been bad luck, bad timing.

The fight hadn’t been his fault or Declan’s, it had been Paige’s.

‘So it seems the only way is to be upfront: what are your feelings for Declan King?’

He wanted to laugh at the absurdity of her question.

How she assumed he could express something that he didn’t even fully understand.

‘What? You thought I would sit here and admit to you that I love him if you asked nicely?’

‘Are you saying you love him?’

He had never imagined he could get this angry over something that wasn’t even real, over a television show, but he felt like he was about to burst out of his skin.

A strangled sound came out of his mouth.

‘Why didn’t you tell me about the audio?’

He was shocked by the betrayal he felt over that small detail, but it seemed vital for him to understand.

He was sure that if he’d known, he could have done things differently, could have fixed things before it was too late.

Paige pursed her lips.

‘I was trying to make it easier for you, so you didn’t feel threatened by me.

I wanted you to feel like you could confide in me.’

She paused, studying his stony expression.

‘Oliver, I’m on your side here.’

‘Good job,’ he bit out.

‘That’s worked out fantastically , hasn’t it?

I don’t feel threatened at all right now.’

She folded her arms. ‘Can you hear me out before yelling at me?’

‘Go ahead,’ Oliver said woodenly, knowing he had no say in the matter.

‘I have an idea,’ Paige said, looking as though she’d been sitting on this speech for a long time, ‘and if you agree to work with me, you’re guaranteed to win this thing.’

‘Does this idea involve me coming out on national television?’ Oliver asked sarcastically.

‘Well, yes,’ Paige replied, biting her lip.

‘Here’s the bottom line: I can’t sit on this audio.

If Darcy finds out I knew about this and did nothing, it would destroy my career.

I’ve already left it for longer than I should have.’

‘You’re going to air it?’

he asked, his tone flat.

He didn’t allow himself to think too deeply about what that would mean for him or Declan.

‘Yes.’ She leaned in.

‘But we can take control of this narrative. If you tell the world that you love Declan, that’s not just good television, that’s groundbreaking .

The two of you would have this thing in the bag.’

‘That’s if you assume Declan reciprocates my feelings,’ Oliver said, still without any emotion.

‘You may have noticed we aren’t speaking at the moment, which would suggest he doesn’t.’

Paige sat back. ‘Of course he does. Being on a straight dating show isn’t the easiest way to start a gay relationship, and I’m sure that’s caused problems.’ She looked to Oliver, seemingly for confirmation, and he gave her a blank stare.

He was beginning to suspect all of his and Declan’s problems were sitting right in front of him.

‘But with my support – and Darcy’s blessing – the two of you could just…

be together.’

‘Yeah, that’s grand,’ he said, ‘except we’re not together.’

Paige waved that away as though she knew better, infuriating him further.

‘If you confess your love to him, do you think he’d be able to hide his feelings for you?

His choices would be to lie, badly, and make himself look like an ass, or to acknowledge what the two of you have.

And when we air the audio, it will be clear that those feelings are reciprocated, so there’s no chance of you looking the fool.’

Oliver thought back to the weeks in which he and Declan had been friends, before he had suspected there was anything else between them.

Declan had years of practice at pretending to be straight, but Oliver had no idea how he would react to the scenario that Paige proposed.

Maybe he would cave under the pressure and acknowledge that there was something between them.

A part of him – a part he was immediately ashamed of – wanted confirmation from Declan that the whole thing hadn’t been in his head.

‘People would root for you,’ Paige continued imploringly.

‘The first openly gay couple on Summer of Love . That’s major , Oliver.

The audience is already obsessed with the two of you together.

And think about after, all the sponsorship opportunities – you’re looking at hundreds of thousands of pounds here.’

‘And if I don’t want to do it, if I’m not interested in the money?’

He was surprised to find it was the truth, that there was no amount of money that would make her offer appealing.

Paige frowned. ‘Like I said, I want you to be able to control this narrative, and to get everything you were hoping for. But I still have to give the audio to Darcy. It’s my job on the line.’

Oliver tried to conjure the tiniest amount of sympathy for Paige’s situation, but found he couldn’t.

She had put him in an impossible situation – he was going to be outed on television, alongside Declan.

He could try to mitigate the damage, denying that anything else had happened between them.

Or he could profess his love to someone who wanted nothing to do with him.

‘Did you talk to Declan about this?’ he asked finally, his voice coming out hoarse.

Paige looked slightly encouraged.

‘No, he doesn’t know anything about it.

I had the feeling if one of you would act, it would be you.’

His laugh was short and sardonic.

‘Right.’

She leaned forwards again, sympathetic.

‘I understand this feels like a difficult decision for you right now, since it’s so sudden.

You have time to think about how you want to go about this.

The audio clip airs on Sunday, either way.

So you have some time to get ahead of it, to show your side of the story.’

He found himself nodding.

Paige was still looking at him in that concerned way that made him want to scream, so he stood and let himself out of the room without another word.

He had three days to make a decision, but, if he was honest with himself, he already knew he would do nothing.

If Oliver could be relied upon for anything, it was letting things happen to him.