minnie 𝜗𝜚

BEING IN A couple since day one was … good. You think. You weren’t too sure how to feel about it. On one side it was consistently stable, on the other side, you were wondering whether you were too quick to settle down.

It wasn’t like you hadn’t tried to explore connections with the other boys, because you had, it was just that none of them were particularly your cup of tea.

Alfie was lovely, he really was, you just wished sometimes that he’d try a little bit harder. You were starting to think that he was growing too comfortable in your couple and thought it was okay to start slacking.

It had only been a week and a half, so maybe you were just being a little dramatic, but it didn't change how you felt by any means.

The morning was chill. Nothing dramatic apart from a bowl of sliced fruits slid your way and refilling your water bottle numerous times whenever you asked him too.

When your phone chimed with a message, you shot up from your place on the day beds, reading the message over before gasping and squealing.

“Oh my God!”

“What?” Hannah asked, grabbing onto your wrist to pull your hand down and read the message.

“She got a message?” Morgan muttered from beside Alfie.

“‘Reader and Oscar, Marcus and Emma are waiting to take you on a date. Please go and get ready’!”

“No way!” Hannah screamed before beginning to jump up and down with you out of excitement.

“Shit.” Alfie muttered, rubbing his bottom lip.

“Why’s she so excited?” Morgan frowned, “Bit weird.”

“Nah, ‘s alright.”

All of the girls helped you get ready, Holly curling your hair while you did your makeup and Mehreen stood to the side, showing you your different outfit options.

You didn’t have long to pick, so you just threw on the most put-together-looking combination she threw your way and stumbled to put your wedged heels on as you went down the stairs.

“Ooo, look at you!” You awed at Oscar, who was wearing a white button-up top open with some black shorts. “Bye, Alfie!”

“No hug? The fuck, girl?” He scoffed playfully.

“Aw, come here.” You grinned, wrapping your arms around his neck and pecking his cheek.

“Don’t miss me too much.” He hummed, patting your ass lightly as you let go.

“Cocky, you.”

“Duh.”

Pulling away from him, you interlocked your arm with Oscar’s and made your way out of the villa and to the cars that would be taking you to your date area.

The boys and Alfie shared a bit of a knowing, worried look before the doors closed and they were blocked off from the outside world.

Marcus was a nice guy.

The date was a little across-the-table scene with a thin vase of flowers between you and a fruity mocktail to share.

You got to learn a bit about him, finding out that he was semi-pro footballer at 29 and had three siblings, consisting of two brothers and one sister. You made a comment about how big his family was, which then prompted him to respond with ‘Yeah, makes me want an even bigger one when I get the chance’.

The remark took you aback a little, not expecting him to be so forward about the possibility of creating a family on the first date.

He was different to Alfie — more bold, more straightforward — and you couldn’t decipher as to whether you liked it or not.

Marcus had good chat, you’d give him that. He didn’t talk about himself too much, and he seemed genuinely interested in getting to know you as a person. Across the patio, you could see Oscar getting along with Emma pretty swimmingly as well.

By the time you made it back to the villa, the sun had set and everyone was in their ‘glam’ outfits. It was kind of perfect, to be honest, because your outfit fit the vibe and it saved you having to change again.

“We’re back!” You exclaimed, hand still locked in Marcus’.

“Yay!” Hannah cheered, waddling over to you the best she could in her maxi dress and heels, “Hi, my love!”

“Hi!” You grinned, hugging her tightly.

“Were they holding hands?” Archie grasped Alfie’s shoulder as they walked off.

“Fuck.” He replied in a mutter, “Am I fucked?”

“Nah, nah, nah. Just be cool.”

You greeted Alfie when he joined, but he didn’t seem too excited to see you again, which put you off a little. You were expecting a grand gesture of sorts, maybe a spinning hug or an offer to go and chat, but all you received was ‘Hi, y’alright? How was it?’.

The girls pulled you to the side, sitting around the mini fire pit so that Emma could introduce herself properly and then you could both debrief the details of your date.

They all seemed really stoked for you, sensing that this was a man who might be willing to put a bit more effort in than Alfie.

“Wait, how old is he?” Mehreen double-checked.

“29.”

“Girl!” She scoffed out laughter, “Age gap much?”

“I know, I know!” You pressed your hands to your cheeks, “But he’s so fit.”

“He is gorge.” Holly nodded in agreement, “More than Alfie?”

You sighed heavily, pursing your lips before speaking, “I don’t know— No, I do. Alfie is definitely more my type, but he’s just been lacking in the effort department, and that’s not something I appreciate. Like, if you want me, please let it be known to the world.” You dramatically threw your hands up to the sky.

“I remember you saying.” Lana noted, “He’s just too comfortable, babe. Hopefully this’ll give him a kick in the bollocks.”

“Yeah.”

On the other side of the villa, the boys were having a much similar conversation, except Alfie was keeping quiet, watching Marcus speak with ego.

“I think the date went really well. She’s a lovely girl, stunning, seemed to take my flirting well and all, so, yeah. Pretty chuffed.”

James glanced at Alfie momentarily before barking out in laughter, “Alfie’s fuming.”

“What?” Alfie blinked, “Nah, nah I’m not. It’s fine. I understand, she’s a proper looker. No hard feelings.”

“I’m gonna go and pull her now, actually.” Marcus said before departing from the boys and making his way over to you.

You beamed at the sight of him, meanwhile Alfie was muttering under his breath, “Y’just spent 3 hours with her, what else could you possibly have to say?”

“And you wanna say you’re not fuming?” Archie cackled, slapping his thigh.

“I’m not fuming, I’m just … Argh, lads, don’t.” Alfie’s fingers came up to dig into the corners of his eyes as he laughed through his ‘tantrum’.

“You’re jealous.” Christian shrugged.

“Yeah, but you’ve got every right to be. You’ve been coupled up since day one. I’d be more concerned if you weren’t arsed, to be honest mate.” Morgan gave his two pence.

“Look look look look look!” Archie gasped, and all the boys heads snapped in the direction he was looking at.

Marcus had his arm around your shoulders as he guided you toward the seating area under the terrace.

“Cheeky bastard!”

“You reckon he’s trying to get a rise out of you?” Morgan asked, looking at Alfie.

“I dunno … If he is, that’s just a bit pathetic. Like, you’re in here to find love and you’re dedicating all of your time to pissing off some random guy?”

“To be fair, on the date, he didn’t ask about you at all.” Oscar explained.

“Is that worse, though?” James but in, “Like, is that more inconsiderate?”

“You lot are scrambling with my head, man.” Alfie groaned, running a hand through his hair, “Bare stressing me out. Chill.”

“We’ve just got your back, mate.” Christian patted him on the shoulder.

Your chat with Marcus was going well.

He was sitting rather close to you, fingers skimming the edge of your thigh mindlessly. He asked how you felt about the date, and whether or not you were still willing to get to know him having now been put in an environment with both him and Alfie. You told him that you were, and Alfie being there didn’t change anything for you because you weren’t closed off by any means.

Speaking of, he seemed to be making his way over to you both pretty purposefully.

“You okay?” You hummed once he was close enough.

“Yeah, do you wanna go chat?” He nodded to the side.

“Yeah, ‘course.” You agreed, nudging Marcus’ hand off your thigh and making the move to stand up, until he stopped you.

“It’s okay, you two stay here, I’ll go get a drink.”

“Okay, thanks.”

“Cheers, mate.” Alfie nodded, taking his place beside you and getting extremely comfortable.

He took your legs, slinging them over his lap and threw his arm over your shoulders, keeping you tucked nice and tight into his side. You loved it. This was the type of treatment and behaviour you wanted to receive from him, not passive touch and barely meaningful conversations.

Your fingers found the hand that was dangling beside your head, interlocking with his perfectly and letting your thumb stroke over his first finger.

“Y’alright, beautiful?” He started.

“Oh, so now I’m beautiful?”

He frowned, “You’re always beautiful.”

You hummed, acknowledging his words but not giving him half as much attention as you would’ve done had you been a bit more happier with his treatment towards you.

“What?” He nudged your knee with his lightly, “Talk to me.”

“Just …” You huffed, picking your head up and turning to look at him, “You haven’t even been giving me the time of day recently, and now that someone wants me, you’re like a territorial dog.”

“Am I? I don’t think I am.”

You raised your eyebrows, a light smile on your face, “Alfie.”

“What?”

“Don’t be stupid, ‘coz you’re not. You haven’t pulled me for a chat in days, and now Marcus takes me for a date and has a little cuddle with me, you’re all over me again.”

“Is that what the issue is? We don’t talk?”

“I just …” You rested your head back on his arm, “I’d appreciate a bit more effort.”

He hummed, bringing his other hand down to rest on your shin, rubbing up and down.

“I’m sorry.”

“Are you?” You clicked your tongue.

“I am.” He nodded, “Tomorrow, I will bring you breakfast and a coffee, oat milk not normal,”

You laughed at the detail.

“And then I will hog you the whole day. Anyone tries to pull you for a chat and I will fight them off. Sound good?”

“Mmm … I might get a bit annoyed with you after a while.” You joked, “Or maybe you’ll get annoyed with me.”

“Reader, I could never get annoyed with you.”

“How’d you know? You haven’t spent more than fifteen minutes with me alone in the past four days.”

“Oh, c’mon.” He groaned, rolling his eyes and resting his head to the side, leaning it on yours, “I’ll make it up to you.”

“What if Marcus wants to talk to me all day tomorrow?” You quipped.

“He can fuck right off.” Alfie murmured, pressing a kiss to your temple casually.

“Alfie.” You tutted, slapping his thigh.

“I’m serious. Gonna super glue our hands together tonight.”

“Oh, no, don’t do that.”

“Why not?”

“‘Coz then I can’t use them.” You teased, smirking in a way that had his brain short circuiting and trying to come up with a response to your innuendo.

“What you gettin’ at, girl?” He grinned.

“No, nothing.” You shrugged, feigning innocence.

“You proper mess with my head, you know that?”

You turned your head, keeping eye contact with him as you beamed.

“Good or bad?”

“Oh, good. But, only ‘coz it’s you. Anyone else and it would be a nightmare.” He replied, blinking excessively in a way that told you he was nervous, but he didn’t want to seem like a pussy for refusing to maintain eye contact.

“I feel the same about this protectiveness.”

“Really? Is it doing it for you?”

“Mmm maybe a little bit.”

“Yeah?” He smirked, leaning in a little.

You nodded, poking your head forward the rest of the way until your lips were interlocked with his.

His arm tightened around your shoulders, keeping your head in place as one of yours came up to cup his cheek.

It was perfect, soft but passionate in all the right ways. It wasn’t all about the tongue, but he let it be known how much he wanted you through the glides of his against yours.

Hannah gasped, “They’re snogging.”

Mehreen nearly broke her neck with the speed in which she turned around to glance.

“Aw, yay.” Holly whispered, clapping quietly with small movements so it wouldn’t be audible.

When you pulled back, he came in for another, this time offering you light pecks rather than a full, tongue-in-mouth debacle.

“Happy now?” He chimed.

“No. You can rub my feet before bed.”

“Fuck sake.” He huffed, puffing his cheeks out and leaning his head on your chest.

You giggled, wrapping your arms around him properly and kissing the top of his head.

“God, you are so clingy when you wanna be, aren’t you?”

“Sorry, you just whinged at me for not being clingy enough!” He scoffed.

“I did not whinge!” You exclaimed through laughter.

“You fuckin’ did!”

“Oi!” You shoved him back.

“No, no, I’m playing,” He grinned, his hands finding your waist, “I kinda like when you put me in my place.”

“Okay, chill.” You snorted before reaching out and running your thumbs over his shockingly sharp canines, “Also, I like these.”

“Yeah? They’re sharp, ennit?”

“Mm, you’ve got proper fangs.”

“Good for biting.” His lips upturned, pressing his lips to yours again.

You grinned into it, happily clasping your hands at the back of his head and keeping him close.

The only thing that was able to pull you off of each other was the sound of production alerting you that it was time for bed.

Reluctantly, you dragged your lips off of his and sighed.

“C’mon, big boy.” You patted his pecs.

“Do I get a cuddle in bed?”

“No.”

“No?!”

TODAY HAD TO be the worst day in history — well, for you, anyway. Just a week ago, you’d found out that your boyfriend of two years had been seeing another girl for four, which technically made you the other woman. Upon confronting him about it, he flipped the entire thing around onto you, ultimately ending the break up under the guise of ‘knowing you were seeing multiple other men’.

You were emotionally exhausted, sitting on the train by yourself with a pathetic meal deal in front of you that wasn’t even that appealing anymore.

It was late, like sundown moon out kind of late, and the train was barely occupied, just you and another guy in the compartment.

He was visibly tall and muscular, a cap on his head and his nose buried into his phone. You weren’t glancing at him too much, trying not to appear like a total freak, but he was very attractive. He had facial hair framing his mouth that looked rough and coarse, and his hand smothered his phone.

You took the same approach that he did, using your device as a distraction. However, every time you went on it, you were reminded of your just-turned ex.

Old snap memories from a year ago, Instagram highlights, old wallpapers that you had saved to your phone, ancient text messages from your parents about whether he was coming for tea.

It made tears well in your eyes, and you let out a little wet sniffle, wiping them as they fell and leaving your phone face down, resting your head on the window.

That was a bad call.

You should’ve kept your phone open, so you had an excuse to ignore the weird man that had added himself to the carriage with you and the other passenger, but you hadn’t.

His posture was awful, and he reeked of must and other unpleasantries.

The entire carriage was empty, apart from the table opposite you, of course, and he still decided to sit next to you.

You shut your eyes, trying to focus on the music blaring in your ears, but his presence lingered like a bad omen.

You could feel him fidgeting next to you, like he had an unstoppable itch. It made you uncomfortable, because you could never predict his next move.

His voice carried, appearing over the noise of your music.

He was talking to you, but you were ignoring him.

“Oi!” He exclaimed, two fingers touching the side of your head and knocking it to the side.

Eyes shooting open, you clutched everything tighter to yourself; your phone, your airpod case, the jacket wrapped around you.

Your eyes were wide with panic and fear, and you slowly removed one airpod, not wanting him to react physically again.

“What? Sorry, I couldn’t hear you.” You tried being polite, your voice small and meek.

“‘Coz you’ve got your headphones in you daft bint!” He laughed obnoxiously, “Wanna give me your number?”

“Um …”

Your eyes darted around, catching sight of the other man across the aisle.

He still had his eyes trained on his phone, headphones on too, but you could tell he wasn’t really listening to anything. Like he’d turned his music down to hear the commotion without truly acknowledging it.

He was alert and aware, but not engaged.

“No, I have a boyfriend, sorry.”

“Oh, so what? You prudish? Come onnnn.” He groaned. “Wanna go bathroom?”

“No, thank you.”

“No? Why fucking not?”

“Wh— I— I just said, I have a boyfriend.” You spluttered, feeling tears burn in your eyes from fear, your hands trembling on the table in front of you.

“Like you girls care. All you lot always going out.” He laughed, reaching a hand out and grazing a finger under your chin.

“Please don’t.” You curled in on yourself.

“Oi, mate.” The man across the aisle finally spoke up, “Leave her alone, yeah?”

The relief that flooded your body was insurmountable.

“What? Who are you?”

“Does it matter? Just leave her alone. She clearly doesn’t want to talk to you.”

“You’ve got some right cheek talking to me like that, why don’t you fuck off?” The creep's voice was beginning to increase in volume, and someone at the complete other end of the carriage had gotten up and disappeared through the sliding doors.

“Nah, come on, get up.” He slid out of his own chairs, gesturing for the man to stand and leave, “You’re making her uncomfortable. Go.”

“Bro, she clearly wants it.”

“No, she doesn’t. Get up. Leave.”

“What’s your name? What’s your name?”

“Alfie?”

“Alfie, yeah? Fuck off.” He suddenly swung an arm over your shoulders, making you writhe in an attempt to get him off of you, “Trynna enjoy—“

You weren’t expecting Alfie to react physically, but you’d be lying if you said you weren’t relieved when he latched his hands around the fellas jacket and yanked him off of his seat.

It did startle you, but you settled fairly quickly when it clicked to you that the man’s stale existence had gotten further away from you.

“Get out.” Alfie sneered, pushing the man away.

“Do you wanna fucking go?!” He shouted, causing an entire scene.

Alfie stayed pointing to the train doors. The outside world was slowly coming to a halt as the train prepared for pulling into the station.

He was quick to grab his belongings and put them in the overhead space next to your suitcase and sit down in the seat next to you.

“Oh, I get it.” The tramp began cackling, “You wanna have a go too? That’s fine, leave some for me after, mate.”

Your skin crawled at the objectifying, disgusting manner in which he spoke about you as if you weren’t right there. Or maybe that’s why he was saying it, because he knew you were right there.

“Seriously, shut the fuck up and fuck off.” Alfie snapped, his patience wearing thin.

He was a large man in stature and presence. Now that he was speaking and not taking up a singular seat in the carriage, his occupancy was blatant and loud, fighting against the obnoxious behaviour of another male.

Thankfully, the person that had left the carriage previously, had returned with a train conductor and security officer, who began to take control of the situation, and escort the man off of the train when it finally came to a stop.

You witnessed him being put in cuffs out of the window. He was still shouting and kicking as he went, throwing degrading phrases in your direction, and even going as far to spit at the window.

You flinched, like it could magically get through the glass and land on you.

“Hey, you okay?” Alfie then asked, drawing your attention away from the outside world and the peace that had now settled in the carriage.

“Yeah, um, thanks.” You smiled, your voice breaking from emotion, “Sorry, I don’t know why I’m crying.”

“It’s alright.” He shook his head, “He was a fucking creep. I’d be a little upset too.” He smiled, trying to add some lightness to the situation.

“Well, thanks for, yknow …”

“Obviously. I weren’t gonna let him treat you like that.” Alfie said, “… Do you want me to stay here? Or I can move back?”

“Oh, no, you’re okay here if you want.” You shook your head, “Don’t feel like you have to move because of me.”

“I just … didn’t wanna make you feel any worse.” He shrugged, settling into the seat beside you. “What’s your name?”

“Reader.”

“Nice to meet you. I’m Alfie, but—“

“Yeah, I know.”

“Cool.” He clicked his tongue, nodding and hesitating to speak before committing to it, “Are you okay? Like, before this all happened? You were crying already.”

“Oh, um, yeah … My boyfriend broke up with me today so I’m going back up to stay with my parents for a bit.”

“Oh, I’m sorry.” He frowned, “That sucks. Um … his loss?”

“Yeah, I guess.” You shrugged.

“Well, you are stunning, so it is his loss.”

You blinked at him for a moment, stunned by his words, and the blunt, forward nature he’d said them in.

“Shit, sorry.” His cheeks went bright red, “I didn’t mean to come across like that.”

You smiled softly, a little flushed yourself, “It’s okay. You’re not too bad yourself.”

“Yeah?” He grinned, displaying his sharp fangs for canines, “Cheers, girl.”

You continued to share cheeky, shy smiles with each other for the rest of the journey until you had to get off a couple stops before.

“Do you want my Instagram?” He blurted out suddenly.

You paused, turning back around to him, “Sorry?”

“My Instagram. Do … Do you want it? It’s no worries if not, really, I just thought I’d shoot my shot—“

“Yeah, go on then.” You nodded, handing him your phone.

Thankfully, he finished up just in time for you to step off the train, waving bye to him through the window before glancing down at your phone.

Alfie Buttle.

Jesus, he had quit the following already. And he was verified?

You got a notification of him following you back, and sending a swift message.

alfiebuttle: let us know when you get back x

yourusername: okay x

“that is a fucking joke!”

were the first words that left your mouth once you got within the warmth of your shared london apartment.

alfie was sat on the sofa, having a podcast on the tv as background noise while he edited his vlog. he looked up from the laptop screen to get a glimpse of you, only to burst out laughing.

“it’s not funny, alfie! this is ridiculous!”

you were drenched, head to toe. the ends of your hair were dripping, as were your sleeves and your shoes made an awful squelching noise with every step you took.

the worst part was that you’d only just had a shower before you left, and you now undoubtedly stunk of rain water.

“oh, poor you.” he pouted fakely, making you scowl.

you took your coat off and then shook it in his direction, causing droplets to splatter onto him.

“nah, reader, fuck off! my laptop, man!”

“see! not nice, is it?!” you huffed, hanging it up on a hook before standing there and trying to think of what to do first.

“shoes off and get in the shower.” alfie decided for you, noticing the dilemma in your eyes.

“yeah, good shout. join me?”

“sounds good.” he shut his laptop immediately.