Chapter Text
Ilya Rozanov never got nervous or anxious, or at least it wasn’t something he was very open about with anybody. It surprised him, though, when he realized how nervous he actually was when someone knocked on the door.
He had known this was coming, of course. He had been in sequester for the past five days with no contact with anyone aside from his chaperone, Harris. Shortly after arriving in Mallorca five days ago, Harris Drover had introduced himself to him as his ‘plus one’ for everything he needed to do, had led him to his hotel suite, and immediately confiscated his phone. Ilya had been tracking the days in his head as the TV was blocked and there were no clocks in the room. Love Island took isolation pretty seriously and made sure every single contestant was cut off from everything and everyone in the outside world.
The peace and quiet of being on his own after five slow, agonizing days had become something he enjoyed. It had given him time to properly enjoy his surroundings. He had become fond of the way the waves sounded when he woke up, and the smell of salt in the air when he opened the windows. It had also given him time to fully process what he had signed up for: being surrounded by hot people while everything he did was broadcast on national television. He had no problem being surrounded by beautiful women and attractive men. That usually was a regular Thursday for him. He was skeptical that this show even worked. It wasn’t like he truly believed he’d find someone he could share the nights with when the silence became too suffocating and he began to spiral.
It was still an experience, he kept thinking to himself. He had only come to terms with this recently, and when a producer slid in his DMs to ask whether he’d be interested on appearing on the new series of Love Island he had thought, Why the fuck not? He knew he was hot, that he could pull whoever he wanted. He wasn’t really doing the show for the love part if he was being real with himself, he was doing it because he’d grown bored of seeing the same people in the same clubs. The apps were also more of the same. He was certain he'd get good exposure. And maybe —just maybe— the whole thing would be something he could laugh about later with his friends.
Both Ryan and Victor had absolutely encouraged him to say yes as soon as he had told them. Even Evan and Caitlyn had been supportive, Caitlyn mostly, as she kept gushing how exciting it would be to see one of her closest friends become famous overnight and see his career take a new turn. Not that he wasn’t expecting the same thing. He had been waiting for his big break outside of Beckenham Town for a while, and he was not dumb. He knew what a show like Love Island could do for his career. He was a great footballer — he just hadn’t been lucky when it came to teams. Or love, but that was completely different. Maybe the silence was really giving him too much room to wander.
Ilya knew it was all part of the Love Island experience, to feel alone at the beginning, to be alone with his thoughts, not that he needed more time to properly go down the rabbit hole of why he felt alone all the time despite knowing his friends loved him and he loved them back. He really did need to leave this hotel sometime soon.
He hadn’t realized he had already smoked two cigarettes and his fingers had been absently tapping against the small table. How long had it been since he spoke to someone aside from Harris? Had it really been five days or had it been longer? Fuck. He really needed out of this room. He was startled once again when he heard another soft knock at his door.
“Ilya? It’s Harris. Can you please open the door?” Harris called from the hallway.
Ilya stood and crossed the balcony and into the bedroom, stopping only when he reached the door to open it. There stood Harris with that characteristic smile that had become Ilya’s only constant since arriving in Palma.
Harris let himself into the room and gestured to Ilya to sit down, while he sat on the couch right in front of the bed. Ilya walked back to the balcony where he picked up another cigarette and lit it up. He turned. Harris was shaking his head. “You really need to stop doing that, you won’t be allowed to smoke that much when you’re in the villa,” Harris said, nodding toward the cigarette in Ilya’s mouth.
“It’s only one,” Ilya lied. “It’s not like I can do much while being locked up in this room now can I?”
“Yeah, well that’s about to change, you’re going in tonight.” Harris said casually. “I was coming to check in and see if you fancied a workout or maybe an early afternoon swim, but things changed very quickly, the producers asked for you today specifically.”
“They did, huh? Well, about time. I was about to start going crazy here”. Ilya let the smoke of the cigarette fill his lungs before letting it out in a slow puff and putting the cigarette out. He should start listening to his chaperone if things were about to be different.
Harris let out a laugh. “I know it’s not ideal, I did try to warn you when you arrived a few days ago but you wouldn’t let me.”
“Yeah, yeah, whatever. So you’re here to pick me up for tonight, yes?”
Harris shook his head. “No, not yet at least, we still have a couple of hours, I am here to give you a brief schedule of how things are going to go, because as soon as you are put in one of the cars, the experience will begin and it’s up to you what happens.”
Ilya entered the room and sat across Harris on his bed, expecting for the man to continue. “First, I do need to ask you to start packing, although I don’t see that much of a mess, just put your things in your big suitcase and also pack a small one with essentials and the outfit you want to wear tonight.”
“Pack an outfit? I thought you said you wanted me to be ready?” Ilya raised his eyebrows disapprovingly.
Harris chuckled again. “No, I’ll be here to pick you up in a bit but we still have to go through a small orientation before you’re fully going into the villa. You can leave the big suitcase near the door, someone from the staff will take it as soon as you leave and it’ll be dropped off at the villa as soon as you arrive”. He paused. “Now, Ilya, it’s very important that you listen to everything I’ll say because things will move very quickly from here on out. You’re coming in as a bombshell, which I’m sure you’ve already realized, but you’re just not going in alone”.
Ilya had been expecting something like this, he either was going in alone, guns blazing, or he was walking next to someone as part of some crazy twist to cause drama. If only Caitlyn could see him now, she’d be proud of the knowledge he had picked up after watching a few episodes with her and Evan at their apartment.
“Do I get to meet this other person or..?” He trailed off as he noticed he’d been fidgeting with his thumb.
“Actually yes, this is why it’s important that you’re ready when I come back, you’ll have a few moments to change and then you’ll meet her so that you get acquainted. It’s important for production that you form a bond before going in so you have someone you can trust inside.” Harris smiled again before continuing. “After, a producer will go over some things that have happened in the villa recently and go over some of the islander’s names and pictures, so that you go in with an idea of who you’re interested in. I’ll leave you to start packing and I’ll be back in a bit.”
Ilya nodded, letting it sink in, and waved goodbye to Harris as he immediately got up to start packing. All of a sudden, he felt excited for this whole thing to start. Remember, why you’re doing this, Ilya. You’re not looking for anything else. A voice said inside his head, he chose to ignore it.
****
Harris had not been kidding when he had said things were going to move quickly. He had barely had any time to put on the outfit he had chosen (black slacks, a black sheer button up that was a bit too tight but made him look hotter than usual, a few buttons opened where his mother’s golden chain shined through, paired with some white sneakers) and put on some cologne before he was rushed out the door again.
He was led to a room where two women were already waiting. The one closer to the door had long, wavy brown hair. She looked more or less his age, and she kept tapping on her phone. She looked up when she noticed him and smiled.
“Ah! Ilya! There you are! We were waiting for you. My name is Christina, I work with Harris, I’m also a chaperone.” The woman said, holding out her hand.
Ilya immediately shook her hand and stayed quiet.
“Well, now that you’re both here, I guess introductions are in order.” Christina continued. “Ilya Rozanov, meet your fellow bombshell partner, Svetlana Vetrova.”
The second woman in the room finally came into his view. She was gorgeous, tall with tanned skin, red curly hair and captivating olive eyes that felt like they could see right into his soul. She spoke first.
“Rozanov? Are you Russian by any chance?”
“Yes”. Ilya answered in Russian and she smiled.
“I see this will go well, I’ll leave you to get to know each other and Gen, a producer will come and give you a brief overview of the last few days. Good luck to both of you!” Christina gave Svetlana a brief hug and exited the room.
“So, Ilya, which part of Russia are you from?” Svetlana asked in Russian.
“Moscow, moved to London when I was a child. Son of a businessman, I’m sure you know how that goes” Ilya answered in his native tongue, just because it already felt comfortable.
Svetlana startled out a laugh. “Oh, I do know. Same thing here, luckily for me, I didn’t have to follow into my father’s footsteps. I’m a model. What about you?”
“Semi-pro footballer, I guess we have that in common huh? Two Russians who decided not to work for their fathers”. Ilya allowed himself a smile. She was really easy to talk to. He guessed he probably should become comfortable opening up, he was going to have to do that a lot in the next few weeks. Just to make new friends right? The same voice in his head said. Yes, just friends.
“I do think we’re going to become very good friends”. Svetlana said, examining him with a smirk, as if she was reading his mind. “And since we’re going to be best friends, I need to know, what exactly are you here for?”
Ilya stared at her for a moment, deciding whether or not he could truly confide in her. He decided to test her instead.
“Well, we’re all here for the same reason. Are we not?”
“Hmm. I do want to find love but I won’t lie to you, if I can get a few followers or a good agency to notice me while I'm here, it wouldn’t be the end of the world”.
It was refreshing for Ilya to see that he was not the only one thinking of his career. He wondered whether anyone here was fully in it just for love and not thinking of the opportunities ahead. He didn’t get the chance to let that thought wander because the door opened one more time. A young woman with short, silver hair entered. She had a headset on her head and two phones in one hand.
“Hi! You guys must be Ilya and Svetlana right? Nice to meet you, my name is Gen. I’m a producer here at Love Island and I cannot tell you enough how excited we are to see you both in the villa” Gen stepped closer to the table at the end of the room and took the small iPad that had been sitting there and Ilya hadn’t noticed earlier.
“Now, I’m here just to show you a few clips that are important for you to see before walking into the villa, but first I want to make sure you’re comfortable with everything? Harris and Christina told you how this all is going to work?” Gen asked earnestly.
Both Ilya and Svetlana nodded silently.
“Great! Do you have any questions for me before we get started?”
“I actually do”. Svetlana said. The switch to English caught Ilya a bit off guard, he thought the fact that they could communicate in Russian with each other would definitely be beneficial for any secrets they might want to keep. “I did mention this during my interviews, so this shouldn’t be news, but I’m bisexual, what if I want to couple up with one of the girls in the villa? Would that be allowed?”
Ilya lifted an eyebrow and turned to look at Svetlana who was also looking at him, smirking. He immediately knew right there and then that he fully trusted this girl. Two bisexual Russians walking in together? Talk about bringing drama in. Producers really seemed to know what they were doing.
“Oh, honey. Absolutely it is allowed! We want you to find love. If that’s with a man or woman it doesn’t matter. We will accommodate according to the decisions you make, but we do want to encourage you to be fully yourselves. Both of you” Gen said warmly.
Now it was Svetlana’s turn to look at Ilya questioningly while he returned the smirk.
“If that is settled, let us get started!” Gen ushered them to the small couch in the room, and sat between them so that they both had a good view of the screen.
They were shown a few clips of the past few days — islanders lounging, kissing, having talks in the famous Secret Garden — but what Ilya paid the most attention to was the sole challenge that they got to see.
It was a compatibility challenge, where the couples had to answer questions about their partners. His eyes were immediately drawn to one person. A man, to be precise. He was wearing royal blue swimming trunks, his body was insane, abs that Ilya wouldn’t mind tracing with his tongue, if he got the chance. Black hair, kind brown eyes, the most gorgeous smile Ilya had ever seen and oh God, were those freckles on the man’s face?
The screen went black and Gen immediately stood up.
“Okay! I hope you were paying attention because that challenge is actually key as to why you’re both here. These two gorgeous people have been coupled up since day 1.” Gen turned the iPad back to Ilya and Svetlana and showed them two pictures side by side. The first was a gorgeous girl, long, wavy red hair with orange tones, blue eyes. She was wearing a white bikini that made her curves pop. Next to her was a picture of the same man Ilya kept looking over and over while watching the challenge. The man, Ilya thought, was incapable of taking one bad photo.
“These two are Rose Landry and Shane Hollander. They won the compatibility challenge earlier today and their prize is a date. What they don’t know is that this lovely date is going to be with the two of you, instead of each other”. Gen explained and Ilya could see the amusement in her eyes. They were definitely going in to break up the golden couple. And for some reason —not the abs, and most definitely not the freckles — Ilya couldn’t fucking wait.
Gen went on to explain that they wanted them to test their connection. Everything was fair game, and if she could give them a piece of advice it was to always follow their heart. After seeing that man, Shane, Ilya was sure he was not going to be following his heart, but might lead with his cock instead. Gen gave them a couple other instructions that Ilya barely registered, and rushed off before wishing them good luck one last time.
They were left alone for a few seconds and before either of them could say anything, Christina and Harris entered the room one more time and guided them to their cars. They were told it was a short drive to this vineyard just outside the villa where they would be going on their first dates. Ilya barely registered the trip as his mind kept wandering back to Shane Hollander and his very beautiful freckles.
After what seemed like a thirty-minute car ride, or maybe a bit longer — Ilya really wasn’t paying attention — another producer appeared and guided them to a small, intimate setup. Twinkle lights hung from the trees and right in the middle of a small clearing sat two tables. They were spaced far enough apart to give them privacy, each with a bottle of champagne and two glasses waiting. Neither table was visible from the other. The producer quickly helped them attach their microphones, handed them the phones they would be using to communicate and receive texts, and left them alone.
He felt Svetlana slide right next to him and give his arm a small squeeze. They both turned to each other and spoke over one another.
“Do you mind if I sit with her?”
“I want him.”
They stared at each other for a couple of seconds before they started laughing. An actual laughing attack. Ilya wasn’t sure if it was nerves or the absurdity of what they were about to do.
“Are we really about to do this? Are we really going to break them up?” She asked in between laughs.
“Fuck yes, we are.”
****
Shane Hollander felt like he was on top of the world. A week ago, or probably longer, he had lost track of time already, he had his doubts about whether this show would help him find love. He had been so excited since JJ had convinced him to apply. And so far he couldn’t be happier.
He had been coupled up with Rose since the public decided they would fit. If he was being honest with himself, he would’ve chosen her either way, and how could he not? She was beautiful, kind, funny and despite not knowing each other for that long, they had clicked so well to the point they were already winning challenges together. He was so excited to have officially chosen her to couple up a few nights ago and he was even more excited for the date they were about to go on. He wondered what they would be doing. He was just excited to talk to her in a set up where he didn’t feel everybody could listen in.
“Earth to Shane! Did you hear what I just said?”
Shane blinked a couple of times, he hadn’t noticed he had spaced out while staring at the firepit. “Sorry, Hayd, what did you say?”
Hayden chuckled and gave him a pat on the shoulder. “I said that I’m so jealous of you and Rose, you get to leave this place for a bit while the rest of us suffer with just one drink a night. It's so unfair!”
“I think it’s great,” Shane said casually. “Imagine if they let us drink the way you would at a club. Cliff over there wouldn’t be able to hold a serious conversation”
“Has he even had a serious conversation yet? Like what does he even talk to Naomi about?”
Both men looked to the daybeds, where surely enough there was Cliff explaining something to an overly bored Naomi, who really was more interested in the glass in her hand than whatever Cliff was saying. This brought Shane and Hayden to laughter.
“My best guess is no, he still hasn’t” Shane chuckled.
Somewhere a ping went off and as it was custom he heard someone yell.
“I got a text!” Everyone gathered near the kitchen where Rose was holding out her phone and reading the text loudly. “Rose and Shane, it's time for you to claim your prize, please get ready to exit the villa”.
The girls ran excitedly towards Rose, who was grinning with delight. She winked at Shane as the girls led her to the dressing room to freshen up before leaving. Before Shane could react, Carter and Hayden were also rushing him to the bedroom.
“Please tell me you’re not wearing that.” Wyatt deadpanned as soon as they were all in the room.
Shane felt himself start to panic a bit. “Why? What is wrong with this?”. He looked back at his reflection in the mirror. He really didn’t look bad? He was wearing black jeans and a fitted white T-Shirt. He had chosen a black and red plaid long sleeve to put on top that he had left open just because he was chilly but not enough to close it fully or grab a jacket. Plus, producers had given him the white Adidas he was wearing as part of the eBay x Love Island campaign they were probably running on TV when the show aired nightly. He stared back one more time at his reflection, this time concerned. Was he expected to change to a more business-like attire for this date?
“Don’t listen to him, Shane, he’s just fucking with you. You look great”. Carter said and Shane could see how he was glaring at Wyatt over the mirror.
“You look good, man. Rose is a very lucky girl! Just dab some cologne and you’re golden! You’re gonna have such a good time!” Hayden grinned at him and Shane felt himself relaxing.
He took the cologne Cliff offered him and without thinking twice sprayed it on. Cliff might not be able to hold an actual conversation with his partner, but Shane had to give it to him, the man aside from being ridiculously handsome, had some great taste in cologne.
Shane felt his phone vibrate, usually that meant it was a text from a producer, he pulled it out and read quickly how the cars were already outside.
The boys led him towards the entrance of the villa, just as Rose and the girls were coming down. She had been wearing a gorgeous red dress that made her hair look even more fiery than usual, she had, however, changed her hairstyle with her gorgeous hair now up in a neat ponytail.
He grabbed her hand and they walked out of the villa, smiling to each other and waving back to the others. They stopped when they got to the cars and immediately a new text came in. Their smiles disappeared as they read the words on their phones.
“Shane and Rose, congratulations for winning today’s compatibility challenge. It’s now time to truly put that compatibility to the test, please get in your cars. Ilya and Svetlana are eagerly waiting for you” Shane read out loud in disbelief. He looked up at Rose who had a similar panicked look on her face.
She gave his hand a squeeze and immediately put on a reassuring smile. “We knew this would happen right? It’s Love Island after all. I’m still interested in you, Shane. Just want to make that clear before we…”
“Before we go and date other people?” Shane finished for her, grimacing and letting go of her hand.
Rose laughed nervously. “We’ll talk after okay?” And with that she got in the car and closed the door behind her. Shane stayed quiet and decided to just roll with it.
The drive wasn’t long. Ten minutes give or take. He noticed that he was being driven to the countryside, he could see a vineyard not too far from where they were. The car stopped and one of the producers opened the door, the evening chill immediately hit him and a shiver ran down his spine. He should’ve listened to Wyatt and changed the plaid shirt for a jacket. Too late to worry about this, now Shane. He thought as he was led towards a small clearing and was encouraged to walk in.
Shane wasn’t sure who he was going to go on a date with. He wasn’t sure anyone would be able to turn his head, since, well, Rose was everything he had been looking for, right? Right. A voice in his head said, but the voice didn’t sound convincing and that in itself was probably not good news. He swallowed hard and smoothed his jeans and shirt before walking towards the clearing the producer had gestured to.
He walked slowly until he was finally met with the date setup: a small table, a bottle of what he guessed had to be champagne, rested on it, the twinkle lights gave the whole thing a very romantic mood. He had been so focused on his surroundings he almost missed the man sitting at the table. The man who was now looking at him intently with a sly smirk on his face. Shane stopped in his tracks.
“Hi, Shane.” The man said in a slow, raspy voice. The first thing Shane noticed was how hot he was. The curly light brown hair, the hazel eyes that sparkled with something that Shane really couldn’t decipher. His eyes wandered towards the man’s neck and chest, his black shirt was so sheer, Shane was sure he could see an eight-pack underneath. He could feel himself blushing so he coughed to cover it up.
“I- Uh… I think you have the wrong person” He stammered. Great. It was not enough this man had made him all flustered, now he couldn’t even speak. Great job, Shane.
The man stared at him for a second and got up, walked directly toward him and Shane couldn’t help but notice his long legs and how he was a few inches taller than him. Just as he was within very close distance, the man stopped just a few inches away from him and let out a small laugh.
“So you’re not Shane?” he asked, slowly.
“No… I-“
“No, you’re not?”
“Yes, I’m Shane. Hi” Shane held out his hand and waited for the man to take it. He noticed how the man looked at him up and down before taking his hand. Shane was grateful he did because all of a sudden he felt faint from the contact and was not sure whether he was hallucinating or whether he was aware of what was happening.
“Hi Shane,” the man repeated. Shane had the sudden thought of how much he wanted to hear this man moaning his name and oh. Oh. The man gave his hand a squeeze and started dragging him towards the table. “I’m Ilya, by the way. Let me get you a drink”.
Shane sat down and was also grateful for this chair, he was not sure his legs would’ve kept him upright. He felt nervous. This was definitely not at all how he had been feeling with Rose. His train of thought was broken by a loud pop. The man — Ilya, he forced himself to remember the name — had opened the bottle and was pouring the drink over the glasses. He slid one up to Shane and held it up to him.
Oh. They were toasting. Okay, Shane could do this. He clinked his glass with Ilya’s silently and kept staring at the gorgeous man in front of him as he took a gulp. He saw the way Ilya smirked and set his glass down, put his elbows on the table and rested his chin on his hands as if he was studying Shane.
Shane felt mesmerized and let his eyes wander to Ilya’s perfect lips. He suddenly felt dizzy at how badly he wanted to taste them. He probably had been staring a long time because he saw Ilya’s smirk grow wider.
“So, Shane. Tell me” Ilya said, breaking the spell. “If I kissed you right now, would you stop me?”