#larnold

In my humble opinion:

Mark - Paige

Witney - Lindsay

Hayley - Jenna

Derek - Dove

Val - Sharna

Music blaring, hips swaying, and sweaty bodies moving against each other in a desperate manner. Looking around, Layla took a sip of her drink, before turning back to her group of friends. “Looks like Maui hasn’t changed at all,” she yelled over the music, releasing a drunken laugh. Downing her third drink of the night, which was nowhere near over, Layla’s eyes scanned the crowd, searching for a guy who could entertain her for the night. She wasn’t always like this; hell, even before tonight she wouldn’t even go out with a guy unless she knew everything there was to know about him. However, celebrating a recent graduation from her community college back home, Layla decided to go a little crazy tonight. Suddenly, her eyes were trained on a heavily tattooed man. His short black hair and slender build made him seem all too familiar. Layla felt she knew him, but she couldn’t quite put her finger on where from, or who exactly he was. Then, he turned his neck about ninety degrees, and the girl caught a glimpse of a shiny hoop attached to his bottom lip. That’s when the realization hit her, and it felt like a brick to the face. “A-Arnold?”

Instantly, Layla felt her cheeks heat up and it was like his eyes had sucked all the air from her lungs. As she stared in awe at the man, a rush of feelings coursed through her veins. First, there was a warm, familiar feeling. Not long after, however, that feeling was replaced with a fiery hot rage that spread quickly throughout her body. She began to reminisce on their past; more specifically, their breakup. He’d treated her so terribly, and it reminded her so much of her ex, that she just had no choice but to end it. And then, he left. Said he couldn’t stay because he’d just end up hurting her again, and he just couldn’t risk it. Little did he know, though, leaving brought her more pain than him staying ever could. But as Layla stared at the man she once loved so desperately, all the anger seemed to melt away. And it was replaced with the feeling of thousands of butterflies fluttering around her stomach.

“Hey, Layla..” Arnold had to yell over the sound of the blaring music. “W-What are you doing in Hawaii? Didn’t you leave? Go back home?” Layla asked. She had a ton of questions she wanted to ask him, and as hard as she tried to contain them, she just couldn’t. The questions just seemed to spill out of her mouth, and she just couldn’t contain them. Realizing the man was just staring at her blankly, Layla clamped her mouth shut. “S-sorry.” She stuttered, her hazel colored eyes darting quickly around the room. Just as she was about to open her mouth again, she felt Arnold grip tightly onto her arm. Noticing him tug on her arm, she decided to follow him to where he was leading her. The pair made their way outside, and Layla couldn’t help but release a sigh. “What are you doing here, Lay?” Arnold asked, and Layla could sense something etched in his voice. Remorse? Sorrow, maybe? Perhaps even concern? She wasn’t sure, but whatever it was, gave her another warm feeling inside. It seemed as if he still cared, and LAyla couldn’t help but smile to herself at the thought. “I-I left to go back to school, b-but came back for a vacation. What are you doing here?” Layla responded, shooting back a quick and snappy response. “I wanted to visit. Is that not allowed or something?” His voice was etched with disgust, and Layla could feel herself physically shudder at him. Obviously, she had no intention of seeing Arnold ever again, but she’d hoped he’d be a little less cold if she did. “Well, if you’re just gonna stand there -” He began, but Layla soon interrupted him, her drunken mind moving faster than the sober one. She spoke up without a second thought, “Excuse me? God, I remember you not always being the nicest guy around, but you’re just flat out being an asshole tonight. We haven’t even been talking for two minutes, and you’ve already pissed me off to the point where I don’t even want to look at you any longer.” She could’ve gone on, but the sudden feeling of lips against her own cut her words short, and her thoughts scattered. She had no idea how to respond; all she knew was that she didn’t want it to stop. Bringing her hands up, Layla entangled her fingers with the taller man’s hair. She pushed her body against his, and allowed herself to melt into him. As they stood together, lips and bodies pressed tight against each other, Layla felt a sense of peace she hadn’t felt in a long time. Pulling apart, Layla drew in a breath, before resting her forehead against Arnold’s. The two stayed in that position until their breathing evened out. Layla’s hazel eyes scanned Arnold’s face, taking in every detail. Then, as their eyes met, it was like her entire world came crashing down. She was in love with Arnold, and as much as she wanted to believe she was happy and okay without him, she most definitely was not. Mentally punching herself for letting such a man go, Layla released a sigh. “Why did you have to do that? I thought I was over you, damn it.” Feeling a warm hand on her chin, Layla’s eyes fluttered up to Arnold’s. Softly and slowly, he connected their lips once again. Layla felt shocks spread throughout her entire body. “Because I still love you.” Arnold whispered against the girl’s lips. Her breath caught in her throat as the words exited his mouth, and she was instantly filled with joy. The pair separated again, but Layla couldn’t stop herself from wrapping her arms around the thin man. Resting her head against his chest, she released a contented sigh. Layla felt her eyes flutter close, as she focused on the sound of his heavily beating heart. She let herself fall into a deep sense of peace, focusing only on the sounds around her. Aside from Arnold’s heart beating in her left ear, the only sounds she heard were the dull bump of the club music, and the whistling of the raging wind.

Finally forcing herself out of her peace, Layla relinquished a breath. “I love you. And you have no idea how much it means to hear you say those words, but… We tried this once, Arnold…” Layla trailed off, unable to finish her thought. The thought of not having him all to herself once again was much too painful for her, but she just couldn’t risk being hurt again. “I’m so sorry.” She whispered and choked, before letting go of the man and beginning to walk away.

Suddenly, Layla felt the grip on her arm tighten, and she was pressed tightly against the man once again. “Arnold… You know this isn’t a good idea.” She tried, knowing it was useless to try to convince him once he’d made up his mind. “Layla. I don’t care, okay? I don’t care that you think it’s a bad idea. I don’t care that I’ll probably hurt you again, and that the thought terrifies you so much that you just can’t try this again. I love you so much, and I haven’t stopped thinking about you since we broke up. I regret the way I treated you, and I’m sorry I made you feel like you meant nothing to me. Honestly, Layla, you mean more to me than anyone and anything, and I cannot and will not lose you again. I refuse to let you walk away from me again.” By this point, Layla’s eyes were pooling with tears. Blinking rapidly, she looked up at Arnold. Looking in his eyes was almost painful for her. The pleading look he was giving her shred her heart into pieces. She could tell by his face that he meant every word he said; which left her with a painful decision. She could either break his heart, and completely avoid even the possibility of getting her heart broken, or she could risk it and make them both happy. But, how long would that happiness last? A few months and then they’re right back to where they were before? A place so terrible, Layla would rather witness her own death than relive. She loved him so much, but he hurt her so bad. She knew that if she turned him down, they wouldn’t speak again. If she accepted, who’s to say they wouldn’t break up after a small amount of time? There’s just as much a chance that they’ll wind up keeping their promise of forever as there is them ending again, but did Layla want it? Was Arnold even the man she wanted to spend the rest of her life with? Did she want him to be the father of her future children? She had to admit, that al sounded pretty damn great. Allowing her eyes to travel over his face, Layla tightly interlocked their fingers. “I love you. And I don’t want to get hurt again, but…” She trailed off, her eyes landing on his red, slightly swollen lips. “You used to be the person I wanted to grow old with, but when things ended, I wasn’t sure I could trust that. But seeing you tonight… it brought all of that back. You’re still the only person I can see myself with ten years from now. And you’re the only person I want to be with in ten years.” Thinking she was rambling, the girl released a loud huff of air. “Basically, what I’m saying is -” And she stopped. Standing on the tip of her toes, Layla wrapped her arms around the slightly taller man. She allowed her right hand to rest on the back of his neck, and she almost immediately felt warmth on the small of her back. The hand of his that wasn’t pressing against her back had released her arm, and was now resting softly on her hip. Layla bit her lip as she allowed her gaze to wander across his face, stopping at his lips. More specifically, the lip ring. Unable to hold herself back any longer, the girl pulled his head down to hers, and firmly pressed her lips against his. Almost immediately, she grasped his shirt, and bunched it up tightly in her hands. So tight that her knuckles turned white. But she didn’t care about the wrinkling she was causing. The only thought on her mind in that moment was Arnold and his lips and his words and that damn lip ring that was driving her absolutely insane right now. Had they not had so much to deal with, and not been in public, she would’ve gladly taken him right then and there, but there’d be time for that later.

Arnold couldn’t have been more thrilled with the fact that Layla gave the suggestion of leaving the island for a week or two. He’d never been to England before, and he was happy that he’d get to experience it with her. Just the two of them; without anyone bashing their relationship or trying to come between them. It’d just be them. Ready to just clear his head from all the shit that had been piled in. Sure, he’d pretend like nothing anyone said bothered him, but truthfully it hurt him more than anyone would ever know. Eventually everything everyone said would mess with his mind, and he’d think it was true. Pushing people away was Arnold’s speciality, and with all the talking it was easy for that guard to come back and make him push the girl he loved away. So this getaway with Layla had been the best thing to happen to him in the past few weeks.

With all the talking between Layla and Arnold, it wasn't hard to see that she'd become frustrated. What she'd been feeling that night had been there since the first time they were together, it had just been masked by the butterflies fluttering in her stomach. Now, the only feeling there was had been excitement. She was excited for what she hoped would happen that night, but also to spend some time with Arnold, the man who'd hurt someone else for doing her wrong. She knew there'd never be a way to repay him for going through that, all for her, but she'd try her hardest.

As much as she wanted things to happen between the two of them, Layla knew he'd probably be hurt bad enough to not. If that ended up being the case, she planned to stay with him, taking care of him until he felt better. As she snapped from her thoughts, Layla checked her phone, hoping to see some notice that Arnold had finally arrived back at the house. She was met with a tweet, however, saying that he could see the house, which was good enough for her. With her hair pulled into a messy, but still stylish, ponytail, a pair of slightly ripped skinny jeans, and a midriff tank top, she was ready to go.