alfie buttle enthusiast

THE ROOM THAT had been revealed to you was small, basically a box, but had a wall lined with a cluster of monitor screens. There was a double bed tucked into a corner and a desk chair in front of the monitors.

A desk chair that already had an occupant.

“What are you doing in here?!” You gasped, wheeling your suitcase into the room and leaving it in the corner.

“God, girl, don’t sound too excited.” Alfie scoffed, standing up off the chair and bringing you in for a hug. “Been in here all day, I’ve seen everything.”

“So, what’s going on? Where’s my chair.”

“You gotta sit on my lap, girl.” He smirked, sitting back down in the spinny chair with his arms out in welcoming.

“Imagine if Eddie got gone instead of me. You’d be sitting in his lap.” You quipped, plonking yourself down on his lap. “Also.” You turned your neck, pressing a chaste kiss to his lips, “That’s from Alhan.”

“Not from you?”

You rolled your eyes, giving him another kiss.

“Right, tell me what we’re doing in here.”

“The voice of God told me that we’re in here until tomorrow, just watching. Then, when we go back in, it’s up to us for what we do with our information.”

“We’re going back in?!”

“Yeah, I’m pretty sure.” He nodded, grinning at your excitement.

“Okay, I’m telling the girls everything immediately.”

“Mmmm…” He clicked his tongue, tilting his head in doubt.

“No? Should I not?” You frowned.

“Got a clip earlier, of Expressions and Chian talking about how it’s good we’re both gone. Then Chian said ‘We didn’t even need to get Reader out first’, or something along those lines.”

Your jaw dropped dramatically, having not expected that.

“So, I would tell Indiyah and that’s it.”

“Okay.” You nodded, turning your attention to the monitors as everyone came filtering back in from the challenge arena.

The content was relatively boring, so you leaned back against him, sighing.

His arms came around your waist, subconsciously grabbing at your thighs.

“Saw you and Ben.” Alfie muttered, like it was something he’d been putting off.

“Hm?” You shuffled, turning to be sitting across him so you could look at him while he spoke.

“You and Ben? Flirting?”

“When?” You frowned.

“The porridge with honey, the morning hugs, the skateboard thing.”

“… Alf, that wasn’t flirting.” You spoke softly.

You had no idea why the two of you were whispering, you were the only ones in the room, but it felt necessary. Almost like the conversation didn’t need to be heard by the whole world.

“It felt like it.” He hummed, his thumb rubbing back and forth over your thigh.

“Well, I don’t fancy him.” You said sincerely.

“Yeah? Who do you fancy then?” He smirked.

“You, if you keep up this act about ‘fixing up’ on the outside.” You grinned, turning back to the monitors as a conversation about the voting pecking order took place.

From what you discovered, Eddie was adamant that Indiyah was lying about her temptation. His explanation made a lot of sense, because the math didn’t add up about the number of cats and how much money she received, however you refused to turn your back on your girl.

When you got back into that house, you were going to defend her with your life.

The boys had placed Chian at the top of their pecking order, simply because she would be an easy target to get rid of, however Expressions and Ben were hell bent on not voting her off, simply because of previous promises they’d made.

“Ex doesn’t care about promises.” You kissed your teeth, still bitter about the fact his vote for you sent Alfie ‘home’.

Alfie’s chest rumbled against your back as he chuckled at your comment.

From what you had gathered, their pecking order was Chian, Indiyah and Expressions.

“Also, Expressions doesn’t have any kids and he took his temptation.”

You could’ve give yourself whiplash with the force in which your neck snapped around.

“What?!”

“Yeah, he made it up.” Alfie laughed behind his hand at the ridiculousness of it all, “And Chian knows.”

You snorted, “There’s no way.”

“Swear down, girl.” He held his hands up.

“Also, I knew about his temptation. He’s such a liar!” You scoffed, throwing your hands up.

“I cannot believe the amount of information me and Alfie are gathering. It’s insane! Everyone is so sneaky I can’t believe Ex has been lying about his kids!”

The rest of the day was just Alhan whisking the girls aside, trying to convince them to vote for Chian in the next vote, whenever that was. His tactic was to weasel his way into their minds and remind them that voting for someone they’re least close to, is better than voting for someone just because.

“He’s so sneaky.” You tutted.

“This guy, bro.” Alfie cackled as he gave Saffron a piggy back into the bathrooms to talk in private.

Another game plan that you’d picked up on, was that Chian wasn’t as confident in the girls’ togetherness as she was with the boys’. She’d spoken to Expressions in the shop about how the girls were unstable and there was no real alliance, so she wanted to get more involved with the guys. Expressions had told her that he’d try and get them onboard, but they weren’t his biggest fans at the moment.

“Why would she say that?” You frowned.

“She’s trying to win so she wants to be with the strongest group. It is true, the girls aren’t very together.”

“No, I know, but she didn’t need to admit that to him because he can now go and tell the guys that the girls are fractured. Ugh!” You huffed, rubbing your temples, “I have all this information and I’m scared I’m going to forget it!”

“I’ll—“

You stopped him, “You will not remember anything, Alfie. You’ll remember that Alhan cracked a few zingers and that’s it.”

“Still using my lingo ‘n’ that? C’mon.” He grinned, kissing the back of your neck.

“Oh, shush.”

Upon further watching, you’d discovered that the numerous things that Alhan had been blamed for were all as a result of Eddie’s tomfoolery.

“That’s weird. It’s weird that he’s still keeping it going, like, not being honest.” You spoke your mind.

Alfie nodded in agreement, “Yeah, I agree. It’s like he wants Alhan out.”

“I get wanting someone out of the house, but to frame someone for things that are annoying, that’s silly.”

“Mhm.”

“Also his vendetta against Indiyah is so weird. It’s so weird.” You stressed.

“Reader and AB, please get ready for bed as your fellow Insiders reside for the night.”

“Thank you, God.” You jokingly said to the camera, getting off of his lap and opening up your suitcase, taking your pyjamas out.

When you turned around, Alfie was stood just in his boxers.

“Forgot you slept like that.” You hummed.

“No you didn’t.” He laughed, getting into bed and tucking his hands under his head.

“Turn around.” You scoffed, flapping your hand at him.

“So extra.” He huffed, rolling over.

“We’re not back together, I’m not changing in front of you.”

“Yet.”

You rolled your eyes at his cheekiness, changing into your pyjamas and leaving your mic pack on the side next to his, climbing into bed beside him.

“This is cozy.” You hummed once he’d turned around.

The lights dimmed and you were left in darkness.

You burst into little giggles.

“Fuckin’ hell, you still get like this before bed?” He groaned, pinching his nosebridge.

“No, no, it’s just with you.” You cackled, clutching onto his wrist as you laughed uncontrollably into the dark.

You managed to calm down after a while, turning to face away from him with the intention of getting to sleep.

He pressed himself up against you, arm around your waist.

“Hi.” He whispered.

“Hi.”

“I am really sorry about last year.”

Your eyebrows furrowed and you rolled over, facing him.

You could feel his breath on your face.

“You said already.”

You could hear his head shaking against the pillow.

The fact that you and Alfie were the only ones in the room made everything feel like it was emphasised a hundred times more.

“It’s not enough, and I don’t think it’ll ever be enough.” His hand came up to cup your cheek, “Reader, I am so fucking sorry for just letting you walk away from me like that. I should’ve said ‘I love you’ back. I should’ve, and I’m so sorry I didn’t. I don’t know why I didn’t, because I do love you. I love you so fucking much, angel.”

You swallowed back the emotion building in your throat, “It’s okay. You’ve said it now, that’s what matters. I love you too.”

You were expecting his lips on yours at some point within the night, but you weren’t expecting them so soon.

His fingers curled around the back of your neck, twisting in the strands of your hair, pulling you closer.

You hummed against his mouth, winding your arms around his neck as he shifted, moving to rest on top of you, caging you between his biceps again.

Cheekily, you pulled back and leaned to the side, biting into the thick, bulging muscle beside your head.

He chuckled, “Hope that leaves a mark for tomorrow.” And then swept your mouth up into another kiss.

This one was more desperate, his barrier beginning to slip down as his hunger and neediness began to show.

“Hmm, Alf—“ Your hum turned into a moan as his hand found your breast, squeezing at it with the grip you could never forget, “Fuck.”

He pushed your pyjama top upwards, baring your chest to his feastful gaze while speaking lowly, “Missed these.”

“Oi! There’s cameras in here! I don’t need my tits on Netflix.” You hissed.

“I’m covering you, girl, chill out.” He scoffed, lowering himself further so that you weren’t visible from any overhead angle.

His lips descended down your skin, finding the peak of your breast with practised ease and wrapping around it, sucking lightly.

“Fuck—“ You whined, feeding your fingers into the curls on the back of his head, tugging them gently. “Wait, seriously, Alf.”

His head came up, “What?”

“I don’t— I can’t have sex when I know there’s a camera here.” You muttered.

“I’ll tell them to cut it out. I’ll threaten them.” He smirked, kissing at your neck.

You snorted, shaking your head.

His hand snaked down, feeling for you over your sleep shorts.

“Fuck, you’re soaked.”

“It has been over a year.” You muttered.

“You haven’t had sex with anyone since we broke up?”

You shook your head, “Have you?”

“No, me neither.” He replied, “Feel how hard my fucking dick is, surely that’s enough for you to know.”

You grinned, reaching down and palming him over his boxers.

“Jesus Christ, Reader.” Alfie groaned, dropping his head down to your collarbone as you pushed his boxers down, holding the heavy weight of him in your palm.

His hands hooked into your sleep shorts, tugging them down along with your knickers and dropping them to the floor.

“Fuck, you’re so beautiful.” He mumbled, sliding his middle and ring finger through your folds, collecting your slick on the tips of them before putting them in his mouth, “Taste fucking amazing, too.”

He found your clit like it was purely retained in his memory, the action of his fingers moving in tight circles punched a moan from your mouth.

Your hands latched onto his shoulders, pulling him down so he was kissing you again.

You needed to do something to drown out your sounds.

While his lips moved against yours feverishly, his fingers slipped down from your clit to your entrance, teasing the hole before pushing forwards.

“F-Fuck.” You stammered breathlessly, nails digging into his shoulder blades.

“Don’t even need to see her to know how wet she is. Can fuckin’ hear it.” Alfie’s voice rumbled through the air.

It was true.

Lewd, wet squelches came from between your legs as he began thrusting his fingers in and out whilst curling at the perfect time. Your thighs trembled, threatening to slam shut and close around his wrist.

“Oh God …” You whispered, hips shifting against the mattress until he pinned them into place.

He was still perfectly positioned over you, his chest pressed firmly against yours.

His fingers were unrelenting, a driving force behind them that was his need to see you cum again. It had been far too long since he’d seen that perfect sight, and he was almost one hundred percent sure he was going to nut just from the memory of your scrunched up face and clenching walls around his digits.

You bit down on your lower lip, muffling your own sounds.

“Can’t wait to have you in my apartment. Gonna have you fuckin’ screamin’, darlin’.” He promised lowly, lips finding the curve of your breast, beginning to suck at the skin.

“I’m gonna cum, Alf.” You croaked, voice strained from trying to be quiet.

“Alright, wait.” He muttered, retracting his fingers and tugging his boxers off completely.

“Fuck, quick.” You whispered, taking his cock into your hand again and pumping it a few times while guiding him towards you.

You swiped your thumb over his tip, collecting his precum onto the pad of it and slipping it into your mouth, humming at the taste.

“You’re unreal.” Alfie scoffed quietly, notching his tip at your entrance, letting your arms curl around his neck again before pushing in.

You buried your face into his neck, biting down on his shoulder, your pathetic moans being absorbed into his skin.

“God, I’ve missed you.” He gasped for breath, nudging your nose with his.

There was something so soft and intimate about this, that you couldn’t help but giggle tearily, your hand coming to his cheek, thumb rubbing over his cheekbone.

“I love you.”

“I love you too.”

His hips moved slow and leisured, not rushing anything simply for the sake of savouring the moment and making it special, but also because he didn’t want the headboard to clatter against the wall of the set.

“Want me to go faster?” He asked, peppering kisses along you jawline and the column of your throat.

You shook your head, “This is perfect.”

He nodded, “Okay.”

Though he was holding back the urge to start picking up his pace and fucking you like he hated you, he remained steady and controlled, letting himself feel everything.

Your legs came up, hooking around his waist and keeping him even closer.

There was a warm heat in your heart, one that wasn’t born of pleasure, but of pure adoration and love for the man above you.

You let out a breathy, whiny moan right next to his ear, one that would’ve only been audible to him even if there were other people in the room.

“I missed you so much, Alf.” You gasped when his tip stroked against your g-spot.

He pressed a kiss to your jawline, “Missed you too. Got you now, though, darlin’, and I ain’t letting you go again.”

You grinned into his shoulder as his hoarse promises rumbled against your neck.

His hips continued to roll into yours, fulfilling you both physically and emotionally.

You both ended up orgasming together, his chest pressed flush against yours as your legs fell slack on the mattress.

His forehead laid against your collarbones until you lifted his head up, brushing the damp curls back from sticking to his skin.

You smiled at him, pressing a kiss to his nose.

“You alright?” Alfie asked, his thumb stroking over your hipbone.

“Never better.” You giggled breathily.

“Honestly, that night with Alfie was exactly what I needed, like … just time for us two to talk and rekindle an old flame … Yeah, hoping things get to stay this good.

In the morning, you were awoken by a quiet alarm, since you couldn’t alert any of the other Insiders that you were actually still on set.

You yawned loudly, stretching an arm out and accidentally hitting Alfie in the face.

“Sorry! Sorry, I forgot you were here.”

He groaned, rubbing his nose, “‘S alright.”

The two of you got ready, putting on tracksuit bottoms and white shirts before sitting at the monitors again, watching intently.

The boys were once again talking about their pecking order of Chian, Indiyah and Expressions.

“No.” You groaned, “Get Indiyah off the list.”

“It’s just— She’s only on there ‘coz she’s a threat. Chian is there ‘coz it’s easy pickings, Indiyah is there ‘coz she’s trouble. Expressions is there ‘coz he’s jarring.” Alfie picked apart the boys’ decision.

“Indiyah is only on that list because Eddie has some weird thing against her.” You scoffed, “If they were worried about a threat, they would be talking about Saffron too because she’s also in the same mindset as Indiyah.”

“You think we get in there and tell them to sack off Saffron instead of Indiyah?” Alfie asked, rubbing his top lip.

“I don’t know,” You mumbled, watching Saffron on the cameras, “I really like Saffron, but I’m closer with Indiyah so … it might have to be the case.”

“AB and Reader!” KSI’s voice came through the monitor speakers, “Your time in the secret room is up. However, before returning to the Inside house, you must choose one Insider to eliminate based on what you’ve found. Once you’ve discussed, you may return to the house and break the news. That Insider will be leaving immediately.”

You gaped, jaw hung open as you looked to Alfie.

“Shit, girl.” He muttered, “Best get plotting then. Immediately I’m thinking Ex, just purely ‘coz he’s jarring and he doesn’t like you.”

“You can’t— In a game like this, you can’t vote based on who’s jarring. You have to be strategic. We need to think, who’s a liability for ourselves and other players?”

You both took a minute before sharing an acknowledging look.

“Eddie.”

“He’s been framing Alhan, so he’s a liability to him, but by default of that, he’s been lying to the whole team, therefore … can we trust him?”

“True.” Alfie nodded, “But Ex has been lying in here from the start. And Chian, technically.”

You waved a hand, shaking your head, “Alhan and Marlon will get him out with us at a separate time. We need to use the information we’ve got to strategically vote people out. If we tell the people we trust — I’ll tell Indiyah and Saff, you tell Alhan and Marlon — about them two lying, then we can dwindle it down little by little.”

He hummed, “Yeah, and I don’t think people will vote Eddie off just for the framing shit, except Alhan obviously. But, they won’t think it’s that deep.”

“Yeah.”

“So what are you saying, we make this a petty throwaway vote and use our information to bring shit down?”

You grinned nodding with a shared high-five.

“Bonnie and Clyde, baby.” Alfie cheered, the both of you beginning to zip up your suitcases.

When you crossed through the elevator into the processing room, you came up with an idea.

“Act really nonchalant. Like, let’s just go back in there and sit down.”

“No, I’m gonna be so cringe with it.” Alfie snickered, hands on your shoulders as your quietly crept through the halls.

The two of you kept snorting and chuckling through the house until you pushed the bedroom doors open.

“Anyone order two fuckin’ legends?!” Alfie exclaimed.

“Oh my God!” Indiyah screamed, rushing up from the make-up station and towards you.

You crashed into each other in a tight embrace as Alfie, Alhan and Marlon jumped around together in excitement.

“No way!” Saffron squealed, joining in on the hug.

The three of you began jumping in a circle, tripping over each other's feet and cackling loudly.

“Where’ve you two been, man?!” Alhan asked, hugging you once you’d unravelled from Indiyah and Saffron.

“It’s a secret.” You grinned, hugging Marlon and Ben too.

“Hi babe!” Chloe exclaimed loudly, smiling brightly as she hugged you close.

“Hi!”

“Alright, tell us everything.”

“Okay, we do have some shit news.” Alfie said, scratching the top of his head, “Let me explain. Basically, we were in this little room which was just a bed and monitors, but … we’ve seen and heard some things.”

“This doesn’t sound like shit news.” Alhan scoffed.

You continued on from where Alfie left off, “We’ve been told that … Um, we have to vote someone out based on what we’ve seen and heard.”

“Oh, shit.” Ben muttered.

“Yeah, Extreme pack your shit.” Alhan commented.

“No, no, um …” You twiddled with your fingers, looking to Alfie.

“We picked Eddie.” He revealed.

“What?!” Everyone gasped.

“Just … We had to pick someone, and we saw that you framed Alhan for all the watermelons, and also the monster you stole from Saffron.”

“We get that you’ve gotta lie and trick your way to the finale but … yeah. We had to pick someone.” You added.

“No, no, that’s okay.” Eddie nodded, “Do I leave now?”

“Yeah they said you’ve gotta leave immediately.” Alfie nodded.

The group banded together to help him pack his things, saying a farewell and seeing him off into the elevator.

You sent a nod of confirmation to Alfie, watching him wander off with the boys. You took Indiyah’s hand and dragged her to sit on Alfie’s bed in the corner of the room away from everyone.

“Let me debrief everything quickly and then you ask questions.” You kept your voice a quiet hush and she nodded, “You, Chian and Expressions are in the boys’ pecking order of votes, Expression took his temptation, Chian was conspiring with Ex to get me voted off in order to get through to Alfie and Eddie and the boys are convinced you’re lying about your temptation.”

Indiyah stared at you blankly for a moment, blinking before replying, “What?”

You huffed, “Don’t make me repeat it.”

“They think I’m lying?”

“It made sense, their explanation. But, I believe you. They just said, like, when you explained it, the maths didn’t add up about how many cats there were and how much money you added to the prize fund.”

“Oh my God, when explaining it my focus wasn’t on the maths.” She scoffed, “I was excited to say I did something for the team.”

You nodded, “Don’t worry, I believe you.”

“So, I’m on the boys’ list for elimination?”

“You’re second, Chian is first and Ex is third. Alfie is talking to the boys now to convince them to swap you out for Saffron.”

“What? Why Saff?” Indiyah pouted.

“Their whole reasoning is that they see you as a threat, so I said technically Saffron is also a threat because she has the same mindset as you. I just really don’t want you to go home because you’re the only girl I honestly genuinely trust in here. Like, I love Saff, but I love you more.”

Indiyah nodded, “Thank you for having my back. How do you know you can trust Alfie?”

“If he’s fucked me over then I’m fucked ‘coz…” You pulled the neckline of your white tank top down, revealing the reddish bruise on your breast.

“Oh my God!” Indiyah gasped, cupping her mouth with her hands.

“Yeah.” You chuckled nervously, letting your shirt fall back into place.

“Did you sleep with him?”

You chewed your bottom lip, nodding.

“Was there no camera?”

“There was.” You whined, hands on your head, “It was just in the moment. We had the duvet up, his body was covering mine.”

“Were you loud?”

“I tried not to be.” You cringed.

She began laughing, “Oh … my— Reader! I can’t believe this!”

“Shhh! Shhh!” You giggled, covering her mouth with your hand.

“Sorry! Sorry!” She managed to compose herself, “Was it good?”

You nodded firmly with a sly grin.

“Oooo girl!” Indiyah cheered, clapping, “Wait, so are you back together?”

“Um … I don’t really know? I think it’s more of a ‘we have each other’s backs in here’ and then when we get into the outside world we can discuss it properly, but … It was really good.”

“I bet! Lucky bitch.” She scoffed, “I’m jealous you’re actually getting some.”

“Oh, what, you and Marlon don’t have anything going on?” You smirked.

“No, it’s … Ugh, it’s so complicated but whatever. Whatever. I’ll let you know if it goes any further but I doubt I’ll be fucking him.” She nudged your side.

Your cheeks heated up and you curled in on yourself, before perking up, “You cannot tell anyone!”

“Who am I telling? I don’t trust anyone here but you either.”

You breathed a sigh of relief, the both of you standing as Alhan ordered for everyone to congregate in the living room.

All of you sat on the couch whilst he stood before you in the centre of the room.

“Right, the knowledge is pretty shit, yeah?” He began, “Basically, the two temptations we don’t know. Marlon was honest about his, so they made me pick— I said no to Indiyah, so if I have to explain it, we lose 25 grand from the prize fund, or you have to tell everyone the thing about your temptation.” He pointed to Expressions.

You looked to Alfie, confused as to where this had come from but he just motioned for you to shush, so you did.

The guy nodded, taking Alhan’s place in front of everyone and began revealing the truth.

“When I went into the room, if it was anything to do with football I knew straight away that I wasn’t taking it. But, what they offered me was WrestleMania 42 tickets backstage, Las Vegas. I’m a big, massive … I love wrestling.”

Eventually, he explained his way through the fact that he took his temptation and lied about it originally.

“Honestly, Alhan is so smart for doing what he did by having Expressions expose himself … this is kind of coming together with mine and Alfie’s plan of bringing everyone down. Sounds kind of evil.”

Surprisingly, there wasn’t much of a kick off about it, and everyone channelled their shock into Alhan’s secret phone ringing in his pocket.

Everyone stared at him with wide eyes and slack jaws as he held the brick-looking object, turning to ringing off.

You and Alfie were sniggering to yourself as Marlon looked half-disappointed half-amused.

You’d caught the phone challenge on the monitor’s right before you left, but seeing him fumble a secret so bad was absolutely hilarious.

Somehow, he managed to play it off as his dad being in hospital, so the producers told him to keep a phone on him in case of emergencies.

“Shouldn’t you go and take it, then?” Alfie jabbed a thumb in the direction of the bedrooms.

“Oh, yeah, yeah.” Alhan nodded, his feet scuffing along the floor as he walked away.

Chloe followed him, untrusting of his words.

The group descended into a conversation about tattoos, in which Indiyah revealed she had five, Ben had one on his foot which rubbed off in 12 hours, and Saffron was trying to get all of hers lasered off. You explained that you had a silhouette of your cat on the back of your shoulder and some meaningful lyrics at the bottom of your leg in the style of an anklet.

Then, the TV chimed with a notification.

The message alert read ‘Ben, Saffron, Chian and Alhan, please head to the challenge arena’.

Everyone was in a state of confusion as to why only four people had been called off, but they went anyway, leaving the rest of you alone.

“What d’yas think it is?” Chloe asked.

“Maybe that challenge from last season. Lights Out?” You guessed with a shrug, settling back under Alfie’s arm, which was slung over the back of the sofa.

“Oh, shit, yeah.” Marlon nodded, “So people are going home?”

“Yep.” You popped the ‘p’ with a sigh.

You fiddled with Alfie’s fingers as they sat in your lap, trying to find something to do to cure your boredom.

After about fifteen to twenty minutes, another alert sounded on the TV.

‘Marlon, Chloe, Expressions and Indiyah, please head to the challenge arena’.

“What about us?” You pouted, “We’re just left alone.”

“The other lot will probably come back.” Expressions said, “So they leave and we go in.”

“Oh, yeah.”

Once that group of four had departed, you were left in silence with Alfie.

Comfortable, peaceful silence.

He moved, lying back on the sofa with his back propped up against the back cushions, and you shifted with him, lying with your head on his chest.

“How do you feel about sending Eddie home?”

“I don’t really care.” You admitted honestly, “Sorry if that’s horrible but … there’s only going to be one winner, so …”

“I know what you mean.” Alfie hummed, running his fingers through your hair.

Footsteps sounded on the floor, making you perk your head up.

Chian, Alhan, and Ben returned.

“Where’s Saff?” You frowned.

“She got sent home.” Chian revealed solemnly.

“No!” You gasped, sitting up straight and your hands slapped over your mouth.

“Shit …” Alfie muttered.

“It was Lights Out—“

You cut Alhan off, “I knew it!”

“And Ben and Saffron were on the bench. Me and Chian picked Saffron to go, unfortunately. It’s just the way of the game.” He shrugged.

“Oh, no, I feel so bad she didn’t even get to say goodbye to us all.” You pouted.

Chian piped up, looking at you and Alfie, “Did you two not have to go?”

Alfie shook his head, “I guess ‘coz we sent Eddie home earlier, then … we don’t have to be involved?”

“I just wanna know who’s gone home in the other lot.” Alhan said.

“Mmm.” You hummed, “Who do you think—“

“Expressions. If he ends up on the bench he’s going home.”

You looked at Alfie.

Your plan was working. It was slightly off-track, but all in all, things were coming down, and the both of you had barely even opened your mouths to the man group.

YOU MADE EYE contact with Alfie across the sofa, thumb in your mouth as you anxiously nibbled on the skin around it.

“Stop.” He mouthed to you, and you moved your thumb from your mouth.

“There’s been a lot of talk about alliances,” Ethan read from his card, eyes tracking over everyone, making sure there were no rulebreaks, “So, it’s time to see who you can really trust. Each of you will head down to Room 19 and cast your vote for someone to eliminate.”

Your hands flew to your cheeks, jaw hanging loose and open, “Fuck…”

“That person will be going home this evening.”

“Oh my God, no. That’s disgusting.” Chloe scoffed.

“First person to vote will be Alhan.”

Everyone was a fidgeting, writhing nightmare as the threat of elimination loomed over you all.

“I think I’m going to send my vote to … Um, Expressions. Just because I feel like he has some kind of weird vendetta against me? There’s constant comments that are made, and there’s no one else in the house that I get along with less than him so … Yeah.”

“Everyone’s done so well in the challenges, but today … Expressions made a comment towards Reader during her challenge that I wasn’t a fan of. Again, don’t think he’s a bad bloke, but … gotta vote for someone so I’m voting for him.”

Expressions was the last person to vote, and by that point you were itching to jump up off of your seat and beg for them to end this torture.

“So, you guys have all gone down to Room 19 and cast your votes …” Ethan dragged out the moment, causing you to feel this awful pit in your stomach, “I can now reveal that the person that had been eliminated is …

AB.”

There was silence.

Your head snapped towards Alfie immediately, lips parted and a familiar burning forming behind your eyes.

“Could you please collect your things and head down to processing?” Ethan finalised, exiting the house solemnly.

Alfie nodded, getting up and walking towards the bedrooms.

Alhan was up immediately, kicking a cushion forwards and sending a couple of loose items skidding across the floor.

The boys followed Alfie through into the bedrooms, whilst you were frozen in a state of shock, staring at the seat your ex-boyfriend was previously sitting.

They spent a while all standing around, trying to figure out how this could’ve possibly happened considering all of the boys were supposed to vote for the same girl. It was then that Eddie revealed he’d voted for Indiyah instead of Saffron, and Alfie himself had voted for Expressions instead of Saffron.

“Does that mean Reader voted for you? Surely all the girls must’ve voted for you?” Expressions rambled on.

“Nah, she didn’t.” Alfie shook her head.

“Bro, come on.” Alhan tilted his head, “You said yourself she could be playing everyone in here and you wouldn’t know.”

In the living room, back on the sofa, Indiyah reached across to you, rubbing your back.

“Reader, hon? Are you okay?”

You remained wordless, pulling your hoodie up over your mouth to hide the violent trembling of your lower lip.

“Oh, babe.” She cooed, shuffling closer to you and holding you, rubbing your arm as your eyes squeezed shut, fat globs of tears spilling down them.

It physically hurt to know that he was going to be walking away from you again.

“He’s leaving me again.” You sobbed quietly, hiding your face out of sheer embarrassment from being so emotional.

“No, no.” Indiyah shook her head, her tone stern but gentle, “We’re not doing this. It’s not like that this time.”

“Reader …” Saffron whispered gently, sitting on your other side and rubbing your knee as Chian and Chloe stood in front of you, all of them muttering words of reassurance and encouragement.

The boys spoke for a few more minutes until Alfie came back in, parting the circle that the girls had made around you and taking your hand, pulling you up and out of the room.

You cupped a hand to your mouth, letting out a sob.

“Did you vote for AB?” Expressions asked you immediately.

“What?” You whimpered.

“Why’s he gone out then? All you girls must’ve voted for him.”

“Bro, back off, seriously.” Alfie said, pushing him away from you, “Just leave it, let me talk to her. Get out of her face.”

“You think I voted for him?!” You exclaimed.

“Alright! Alright! It’s calm, it’s calm!” Alfie placated you, standing in front of you. “Stop, darlin’. Just breathe.”

“Are you blaming her?” Alhan exclaimed as well, laughing purely out of shock.

“How can he say that?!”

“Alhan, chill, bro.” Alfie turned his attention to you, “Stop. Stop.” He shook his head, caging you into his arms, “None of that, ‘kay? It’s alright.”

“It’s not fucking alright.” You cried.

“What is going on?” Chian poked her head out the door.

“Exterminator is pissing Reader off.” Alhan scoffed, still pacing as a way to release anger.

“I don’t think an elimination has ever been this explosive before, Jesus Christ. Reader’s crying and overwhelmed, Alhan is pissed off, Expressions is in Reader’s face. How is AB the calmest person there?!”

“Come on.” Alfie huffed, picking you up.

You wrapped your legs around his waist, arms around his shoulders and face buried in his neck as your tears dribbled onto his skin.

He carried you into the bedrooms, and all the boys left, leaving you two to have your moment.

He sat down on his corner bed, having you in his lap, facing him and straddling his lap.

“Oi, c’mon now, no tears.” He muttered, wiping your cheeks.

“It’s not fair.” You croaked, “You didn’t even do anything wrong.”

“I reckon it’s the spending thing, you did warn me about it.” He chuckled, trying to lighten the tone, “It’s fine, okay? I’m just happy you’re still here. Win it, yeah?”

“How?” You croaked, “I feel like we bridged the gap between the boys vs girls thing and now you’re gone it’s gonna be so weird. Like, the boys are just gonna send the girls off. There’s no guarantee I’m safe.”

“I will talk to them, okay? I promise you, if I find out any of them have voted you out at any point or nominated you for any type of elimination, I’ll lose my shit.” He began pretending the box with someone, making you giggle tearily.

“You’re leaving me again.” You whispered, tone broken.

“No, I’m not, angel. You’ll see me soon when you win all that money.” Alfie smiled, tucking your hair back, “And when we get out, I’m gonna sort things out. Properly this time. I’m trying harder. I’ll be so much better for you. I hate having to do this whole thing on television because I know there’s bare cameras around, but I promise you with my whole heart I will fix things when I see you on the outside. I’ll be a proper boyfriend this time, yeah?”

“Why did you never say it back?” You asked, eyebrows furrowed, “It was all I asked you to do in an argument where I was convinced you didn’t want me anymore, and you couldn’t even say it.”

“I just … I was in shock. I swear, that was all. I didn’t think it was real, at the time. But clearly it was and you weren’t muckin’ about. I see that now. But, Reader, I promise you I love you more than fucking anything. ‘Kay? Please please please never doubt that.”

You let out a cry, nodding, “I love you too.”

He wrapped you in a hug, letting you bury your face in his neck again. He sighed heavily, feeling your chest wrack against his. His hand caressed over your head, stroking through your hair.

“Who did you vote for?” He asked in a whisper.

“Expressions. You?”

“Same.” He nodded.

Your head poked up and you frowned, “Really?”

He nodded again, “He has some weird vendetta against you, I didn’t like it.”

“Oh, okay. I thought the same.” You hummed, resting your chin on his shoulder.

“Hey, look at me.” He hummed, cupping your cheek, “Give us a kiss.”

You didn’t even hesitate, it was like second nature. The hands clasped behind his head pulling him closer as you pressed your lips to his.

There was so much passion behind it, an entire year of pent up emotion and longing for each other.

It didn’t take long for positions to be switched.

You both kicked your slippers off, you lying back on his pillow and him clambering over you, not disconnecting your lips for a second.

He was starving for you.

Alfie grabbed his covers, pulling them up over the both of you so the majority of both of your bodies were covered except for the tops of your heads as your lips moved in a synchronised dance you thought you would’ve forgotten by now.

“Alf …” You muttered against his lips as he nudged your legs apart, allowing his body to sink closer to yours.

“Fuckin’ missed you so much, angel.” He broke apart to whisper, stroking your nose with his before connecting your lips again.

Your hands held onto either side of his face, thumbs rubbing over his cheekbones while his biceps bulged on either side of your head, his forearms holding him up above you.

His tongue slipped past your lips, rolling against your own and making you grin into the kiss. You let a soft moan pass from your mouth into his.

It wasn’t fast or rushed or panicked, it was slow and dedicated and controlled.

The tips of his fingers scraped along your hair, keeping it pushed back out of your face.

“Where are Alfie and Reader?” Saffron asked while everyone was gathered in the hallway outside the showers.

“Probably fucking.” Alhan deadpanned, foot kicking and sliding against the floor, still in a mood that his mate had been voted out.

They all looked between each other.

“There’s no way they’re actually.” Chloe laughed.

“Nah, I gotta check.” Eddie shook his head.

“No, one of the girls go. It’s gotta be sneaky.” Marlon said.

“I’ll go, I’ll go.” Indiyah whispered, creeping up the stairs and silently crossing the hallway and glancing into the bedroom.

Through the glass doors, all she could see was bedsheets rustling on top of Alfie’s back and the sound of lips smacking.

Her jaw dropped and she ran back to the group, squealing.

“Are they? Are they?” Chloe asked.

“I couldn’t tell but they’re definitely doing something. Oh my God! Why are my cheeks hot?!”

“You just watched AB and Reader make out with each other, maybe?” Alhan deadpanned again.

A loud ding rang throughout the house.

“Can it fucking wait?” Alfie groaned, dropping his head to your collar bone.

His hair tickled your neck and you giggled, pushing him up and back.

“I like this, by the way.” You hummed, threading your fingers into the curls on the back of his head, “Could be a bit longer, but.”

“Yeah, I know. My barber fucked me before this.” Alfie scoffed, cupping your face once you’d stood up and swiping away the messy lipliner around your mouth.

You walked back into the living room, everyone eyeing you.

Alhan began clapping loudly, “Walk of shame.”

“We didn’t fuck, bro, what are you talking about?” Alfie frowned, pushing his friend away jokingly.

The TV was lit up, and everyone took their seats on the sofa, you under Alfie’s arm, which curled around your waist, resting on your outer upper thigh.

Another ding made, and the TV changed to rows of names and who voted for who. It read:

Expressions — Reader

Chloe — AB

Indiyah — AB

Saffron — AB

Alhan — Saffron

Ben — Saffron

Marlon — Saffron

Chian — AB

Eddie — Indiyah

AB — Expressions

Reader — Expressions

“Okay, the girls makes sense.” Alhan muttered, running his fingers through his beard.

Alfie’s head snapped up to look at Expressions.

“What? I didn’t vote for you.”

“Why’d you vote for Reader?” Alfie asked, freakishly calm, but you could feel his hand clenching against your thigh.

“Wait, yeah.” Marlon mumbled, looking to the man as well, “What the fuck?”

“You can’t be mad at me when youse were all saying you were gonna vote Reader off!” Expressions shouted.

You played with your lower lip, feeling a little awkward about being in the centre of attention.

“We said it as a joke!” Alhan shouted back, “It was ragebait to AB ‘coz it’s funny pissing him off. We were never actually— Oh my days, man!”

“Why’d you vote for her?” Alfie asked again.

When you looked up, you could see the muscles ticking in his jaw.

“Alf, stop.” You whispered, “It’s fine. Be mad that you’re going home. Not over one vote.”

“No, I wanna know why.” He demanded in a low voice, pursing his lips.

“You two also voted for me.” Expression argued, gesturing to the TV screen.

“Oi, Sidemen, if you’re here can you reload everyone’s reasonings?!” Alfie shouted out to the house.

There was silence.

“Nah? Calm.” Alfie grumbled, standing up with Alhan.

“Why did you vote for Reader? I’m so confused.” Ben mumbled, doing a mental count of the votes on screen.

You spoke first, admitting your reasoning, “I voted for you because I feel like you have some sort of … issue with me. Like, I don’t know. I don’t know. I just got those vibes… Clearly, I was right.”

“It was just a throwaway vote.” Expressions shrugged, “I didn’t think you would be voted out and I didn’t wanna send anyone home.”

“That’s snakey.” Marlon muttered to Alfie and Alhan.

“Yeah.” The latter agreed.

“And he was having a go at Reader saying ‘Oh, you picked AB, you picked AB’ he didn’t even fucking vote to keep him safe!”

“Why’s he picked fucking Reader?” Alfie frowned, still shaking his head.

“I can hear you.” Expressions said.

“Shut up. Don’t care.” Alhan shrugged, unperturbed by the confrontation.

You stood up abruptly, moving towards Alfie and holding him still with your hands on his waist.

“Stop.” You hissed, “Don’t turn it into a big thing. It’s one vote. I don’t care. I’m not arsed. Stop it. I don’t want the attention or drama on me.”

“He’s got a vendetta against you, darlin’.”

“I know, but he’s one person out of the ten of you. I. Don’t. Care.”

“Okay, let’s rephrase this.” Alhan hummed, “If he voted for Saffron, like we planned, it would’ve been a draw. If Eddie voted for her, it would’ve saved AB, but he wasn’t aware, so it’s fine. He’s got a reason.”

“Where did the Saffron thing even come from?” You flapped your hands.

“The whole girls vs boys thing. She’s like the leader of the girls movement.” Marlon said.

“God, this is such a mess.” You huffed, rubbing your temples.

“Oi, we got your back.” He muttered, standing behind you with his hands on your shoulders, “Fuck that, you ain’t leaving. You gotta get to the final or AB will hunt us down on the outside.”

You must admit, that made you laugh.

“You boys go talk, I’ll stay with the girls.” You hummed, waving them away and joining the girls on the couch.

“Hey, babe. You okay?” Chloe asked.

“I’m okay, yeah.” You nodded, turning to Saffron, “You alright?”

“Do you know what that’s about?” She questioned, gesturing to the amount of times she was voted for.

“I literally just asked them it came out of fucking nowhere, like, I never knew they were planning this.” Your eyes widened as you explained, “They said it’s just the boys vs girls thing and how they felt like you were the leader of the girls side. Kind of like how you all voted for Alfie.”

“I haven’t done anything wrong?” Saffron’s voice broke.

“Oh my God, no!” You gasped, wrapping your arms around her, “No, it was just a thing of them wanting to get the girls out one by one.”

“It’s just hard knowing half the people in here want you out.” She sniffled.

“I know, I know.” You hummed.

“Are you doing okay?” Chian double checked.

You nodded, “Me and Alfie are going to be having a chat on the outside. He said the boys have my back, but I don’t know how 100% I am about that.” You whispered.

“If they have any real loyalty to AB, then they will keep you in.” Indiyah said.

“Yeah, I agree.” Chloe nodded.

“Still, I don’t wanna … I still wanna bridge the gap between the boys vs girls ‘coz it’ll be so awkward if we’re in a completely separated house, but … my loyalty lies with you guys.”

“Hell yeah, girl.” Indiyah whooped.

“I feel so dumb for full body crying earlier.” You admitted.

“Don’t be. Don’t be.” Chian shook her head, “Your situation with AB is so much more complicated and different to just some random person you magically got close with being voted off.”

“Yeah, honestly! I think you held yourself together really well, actually.” Indiyah assured you, “Whether the outside viewers think you over reacted or not, it doesn’t matter. Fuck what they think. You know your true feelings, and so does AB. That’s all that matters.”

“It felt really nice to get the girls’ reassurance that I didn’t overreact to Alfie getting voted out, because it really felt like I did. I did say I was sensitive before I came in, so now you guys have seen it properly.”

In the shop, you, Chian, Marlon, Alhan and Ben sent Alfie off with a glass of prosecco, one of 15 (which cost £45,000 by the way) before walking him to the exit.

“I would’ve been more upset if I never made any good moments, but we had a fuckin’ little movie.” Alfie spoke while hugging the boys goodbye. “And I made up with my angel girl.” He winked at you, bringing you in for a hug.

“For now.” You hummed, making the lads laugh.

“Cheeky. Oi, Reader, spend some money for me, please? Take my meal upgrades, treat yourself, whatever.”

“Oh, shush.” You groaned.

“And you lot.” He pointed to the guys as you and Chian stood with interlocked arms, “Keep her fucking in, I swear to God.”

“Yes, boss.” Marlon jokingly saluted him.

“We’ve got you, bro.” Ben nodded, dapping him up a final time.

You unwhinded your arm from Chians’ and fed them around Alfie’s neck, kissing him again before he disappeared through the doors of the elevator.

“Honestly, all I’ll say is … Good luck to Marlon, Alhan, Chian and Reader. Oh, and Ben, spend some for me. For fuck’s sake, please, Jesus Christ.”

That night, you shared a bed with Indiyah, unable to face the mattress alone knowing that the boy you had fallen for all over again was no longer a few spaces down from you. You slept back to back, though your legs ended up spread across majority of the bed, leaving her in a crumbled ball.

When you woke up, it was the first thing said to you by Alhan.

“Reader, do you want any Indiyah with your mattress?”

“Shut up, Alhan.” You groaned, yawning and sitting up beside your closest friend in here, “Sorry.”

“It’s okay. You needed comfort last night. I don’t mind.” She smiled, resting her head on your shoulder.

You and the girls went straight to the bathrooms to get cleaned and freshened up before sitting at the makeup table and redoing the same routine that you’d been repeating for the past three days.

“My gorgeous girls, where would you lot like you breakfast?” Alhan questioned, walking in with boxes of cold porridges stacked up to his chin.

“No, thanks, don’t want that.” Chloe replied immediately, unimpressed by the bland, disgusting meal.

“Here.” Ben mumbled, putting a container down beside you, “With the honey in it again.”

“Thank you.” You yawned, accepting the brief hug from him.

“Feeling better?” He asked, rubbing your arm.

“Uhm, a little, yeah. It’s just weird that he’s gone. It’s too quiet. Also, not sure how I feel about being voted off by Explosives.”

Ben chuckled, “I know, it was so out of nowhere but, we’ve all got your back in here.”

“Thanks.” You smiled, continuing with your makeup.

“I’m feeling a little better about Alfie being gone, I mean, I’m not okay with it, but … hey ho. I’m just glad I still have Indiyah, Ben, Alhan and Marlon to keep my moods up.”

In the shop, there was a range of new items added to the list.

“Can I confirm a skateboard, please?” Ben asked.

“A skateboard?!” You gasped, mind going way back to the times Alfie begged to teach you his tricks, and all the times he made you record whatever moves he was pulling at the park.

“Disposable cameras!” Saffron gasped.

Two of those were ordered as well, a picture immediately being taken.

You made sure to get one with Indiyah, her lips to your cheek.

“Everyone in!” Eddie gestured, his arm stretched out, hoping everyone was in frame as he snapped a photo.

The moment the skateboard came through, Ben took it, clipping the helmet on and kickflipping.

You laughed at his attempt, obviously not going well since he was wearing slippers and had limited space in the box room that was the shop.

“Are you laughing at me? You think you can do better?” Ben smirked.

“Should I try?” You grinned.

“Go on, Reader!” Chloe clapped as you took his space.

You mounted the board and performed a sloppy attempt at a kick flip, trying to remember the technique Alfie had taught you. Your ankle clicked, having not been used like that in a while, but the board did do a full flip, you just ended up stumbling off of it.

“Oh my God.” Alhan cackled, covering his mouth as that ridiculous laugh left his mouth.

“How did you do that?!” Chloe gasped.

“I’m just the goat.” You shrugged cockily, taking a bow and gesturing for Ben to take the stage with it again.

“Okay, well now I have to do better than you.” He grinned, a different gleam in his eye.

As if seeing you perform a skateboarding trick you learned from another man made you ten times more attractive.

“Be my guest.”

He did it once, landing bent over with his hands on the floor.

You clapped with an impressed nod.

He wasn’t as good as Alfie, though.

You all migrated to the living room, watching Ben in amusement as he jumped off of different things with the board and rolled around the floor.

“This is the maddest we’ve seen Ben all week. You give this guy a skateboard, he’s lost his head. Actually, I’m convinced it’s because AB’s gone so now he’s got a clear shot at Reader. Kinda mad, but I respect it. Game’s the game. Wait, nah.”

Ben ended up on top of the table, riding the skateboard off of it. Everyone cheered and clapped, laughing at the ridiculousness of it all.

“Reader, can you ollie?” He asked.

“I never learnt! I tried it once and the skateboard slipped out into the main road. Alfie was fuming, but I bought him a new one for his birthday.”

“Oh, AB taught you?” Alhan piped up, nonchalance running through his tone, immediately alerting you.

“… Yeah.”

“Cool, well now Ben’s gonna replace him. Take it away Mr Steal Yo Girl.” Alhan joked, pulling out a camera, “Let me get a picture for AB too.”

“You’re horrible!” You scoffed, slapping his arm, “Worst friend of all time.”

“No, I’m plotting big things, babe.” He said, “Just you wait.”

“I’m not your babe.”

“Yes you are. You’re my babe. I’ve gotta protect you so AB doesn’t slaughter me when I get out of here. I’ll genuinely never vote you out.”

“You’re such a fucking liar.”

“Nah, I’m just scared of your man. He looked like he was gonna knock Exclamation Mark's head off last night.”

The room burst into laughter and you shook your head, giggling behind your hand.

After this, everyone began playing human bowling ball, in which Eddie propelled everyone forwards on the skateboard individually with a helmet on, crashing into the water bottles and then the soft blow of a mattress.

“I’m so scared!” You squealed, “Okay, go!”

Eddie launched you forwards, the wheels rolling speedily along the smooth floor. You kept your head down, the helmet knocking bottles down as you flopped into the protective mattress.

“That’s so fun!” You gasped, taking Marlon’s hands as he helped you up.

When Eddie went, you and Indiyah pushed him forwards and the entire set shook as a result of his crash, causing loud cackling from everyone.

“I think we’re genuinely losing our minds in here. We’re using ourselves as bowling balls … what the fuck!?”

In the shop, Ben, Alhan and Marlon were gathered, plotting to each other.

“The girls have got to go.” Alhan said what they were all thinking, “I love them, but for us to get to the end, they’ve gotta go.”

“Mmm, not Reader, though.” Marlon tutted, “We promised AB.”

“Is she on our side?” Ben furrowed his eyebrows.

“Yeah, yeah,” Alhan nodded, “The only girl she’s really, importantly close with, is Indiyah. Saffron and her are getting closer, but …”

“We need to get Indiyah on side then.” Marlon hummed. “Can we use Reader for that? Do you think—“

“We can try.” Ben shrugged, “I think whatever happens, Indiyah and Reader will have the same mindset.”

“You say that but look at their votes. Indiyah voted for AB. Reader voted for Expressions.” Alhan toyed with his waterbottle, “I think us three and Reader we have to get to the final no matter what. Fuck everyone else, and I mean it.”

“Saffron’s still next to go?” Marlon double-checked.

“Yeah, yeah.” Alhan nodded, “Bro, Reader doesn’t even have to win, she just needs to be in the final. That’s all we promised AB. Then, sack her off.”

“Dude …” Ben muttered.

“Shush, you just wanna fuck her.” He deadpanned, “It’s true. The final thing and the fucking thing.”

“I don’t wanna fuck her.” Ben said exasperatedly.

“Stop acting like it then.” Alhan shrugged.

“This trio alliance is gonna do us really good in getting to the final, especially since we have Reader on our side too. But, I don’t want her to win. I wanna win. So, yeah, I swore with AB to get her to the final, but that’s it.”

In the afternoon, Indiyah got alerted that her temptation was ready in the temptation room. She was gone for a long while, around 30 minutes or so, and when she came back she had good news.

She’d managed to add £9,000 to the prize pot by having kittens standing on a circle for ten seconds without moving.

Everyone applauded her, happy that she contributed back to the prize fund.

After a rather emotional conversation with Chloe and how she spent majority of her life fretting over whether or not she was worth enough due to her looks, you ended up opening up about your past of bad relationships with food and how horrible it was now that you looked back on it, because there truly was never anything wrong with how you looked.

It’s crazy what an insecure, underfed brain can convince you of.

You found it slightly insane how much you and Chloe had in common simply from being on social media from such young ages.

A loud ding rang from the television, alerting you all of a notification, sending you to the challenge arena.

The room had doors in them, painted red and green alternately and numbered 1 to 16. Simon and KSI stood at the centre of the studio.

“Welcome everyone to Mystery Doors.” The latter introduced, “Over the course of this challenge, each one of you will open at least one door.”

Simon took over, “And, because this is INSIDE, anything could be behind those doors. So, pick carefully. We have randomised the order, and the person going first is … Saffron.”

Everyone clapped in encouragement for her as she stood to join the two men. She ended up picking door six due to it being her favourite number.

Behind the door, were chickens, and she was now tasked with acting like a chicken for the rest of the day every time a clucking noise played over the speakers. She was only allowed to stop once someone pat her on the head and called her a good chicken. If she kept it up, you’d be rewarded with 100 chicken nuggets at the end of of the day.

It was a humiliation ritual, but you must admit, it was so funny to watch her skip around, flapping her arms like chicken wings and ba-kawk.

Indiyah was up next, picking door number four, in which she had to nominate another person to play rock, paper, scissors against KSI. If he won, they took £10,000 from the prize pool. If he lost, you got to add £10,000.

Chloe asked to go, and after two intense rounds of drawing, he won, draining the already speedily dwindling prize fund.

Marlon was third to be eliminated, and he got to chose whether to add £30,000 to the prize fund or take £10,000 for himself when he gets out of the Inside house. Thankfully, he did the team player thing of selecting the first option, contributing to everyone.

You were fourth up, rocking back and forth on the balls of your feet.

“Which door are you feeling?” Simon asked.

“11. It’s my lucky number.”

It was actually the day that you and Alfie had gotten together, but the rest of the world didn’t need to know the reasoning behind your lucky number.

You slowly opened the door, scared in case something jumped out at you.

Instead, there was a stationery object.

A gold envelope with a black skull on it.

“Oh, shit, what does that mean?”

“Take the card, please stand in the middle and read it out.” Simon instructed.

You took the envelope, walking to stand between him and KSI while opening it, reading out the contents.

“Your time is up … Please head to the Processing Room and leave immediately.”

Everyone gasped loudly, Indiyah rising to her feet in protest.

“There’s no way!” She exclaimed.

“I knew it! The moment I saw that skull.” You huffed, shrugging as you accepted your fate.

The group came to say their goodbyes, and you hugged everyone as they came.

Indiyah held you especially tightly, annoyed that your fate was a loss to this stupid game and not something fairer.

“Stop laughing, prick.” You slapped Alhan’s stomach, laughing yourself.

“No, I’m sorry. I’m sorry.” He tried to hold himself together but pulled his shirt up over his face.

You gave him a brief hug.

“Kiss AB for me.”

“For you?” You laughed.

“Yeah, he knows I wanna lips him.”

“You are so, so strange.” You commented, moving to hug Marlon.

“I’m sorry, we tried.”

“It’s okay. Thank you for having my back last night anyway.”

Ben hugged you double as tight as well.

“I hope you enjoyed those two honey porridges you got.”

“Oh, I did.” You sighed, rubbing his back, “Thank you.”

Everyone was told to sit back down as you waved goodbye and walked off of set.

It was an odd feeling, being in the house on your own as you gathered your things and put them in your suitcase. It was bittersweet, because it was such a shame your time ended here, but at least you went out due to a challenge and not someone voting you out.

“Well, I guess that’s it … I wanted to get to the final. I didn’t come in here expecting to win, but to see the final day would’ve been nice. Oh well. Everything happens for a reason. It’s a bit shit but, life goes on and I’ll see everyone soon.”

In the elevator, the doors shut in front of you, and you waited to feel the movement of it going down, but it never came.

Instead, a secret door in the back panel of the lift slid open.

You turned around slowly, not expecting anything drastic, but—