Ciaran was cooking dinner as Reine paged through a magazine, taking Lottie’s magic divination test. She smiled as she read her description as a complex sheep. It was silly. A dreary spring rain pattered outside as occasional heat lighting flash lighting up the rivets of rain that ran down the windows. Once again, their neighbor started his nightly karaoke, and Reine sighed. “I thought you were going to talk to him about that. We’ve not had a good night’s sleep in weeks.”

“I just couldn’t. The guy seems to be having a rough time of it.” Ciaran said. 

Reine rolled her eyes, “You never can.” 

“Sorry,” Ciaran mumbled.

“That’s what you always say to finish the conversation, but nothing ever gets solved,” She stood up. “I’m done with this.” 

“What do you mean?” Ciaran asked.

“I would like to sleep tonight, so I’m going to go talk to him. Since you refuse to.” Reine stated.

 Ciaran grabbed her arm. “Reine, please don’t.”

“I have the right to sleep peacefully in my apartment, Ciaran. This is ridiculous.” Reine pulled away from him.

“I think we need a break,” he said. He started throwing his clothing in a bag.

Reine’s hurt showed in her eyes as she retorted, “Oh, so now you want to have a backbone. Instead of talking to the neighbor, you’d rather turn tail and run back to Waterford. It’s apparent you spend more time there and than here anyway. Why not just say that’s where you want to be?” Realizing the lack of sleep was getting to her, she sighed. “Look, I’m super tired. I shouldn’t have said that. But it hurts that you will stand up to me but not stand up for me. I think you are right. We need a break. I’m going to talk to the neighbor.” She walked out the door.

After a lengthy discussion with the neighbor, who was more than willing to oblige, Reine returned to the apartment to find Ciaran and Kerry gone. At first, it was a few days, and Ciaran didn’t call. Reine wondered if she should reach out. 

No, if he couldn’t stand up for her and wasn’t willing to make a move, why should she keep pushing for something he wasn’t inclined to try for. After the Villa, this how it had been. She was sick of it. Six weeks went by, and she heard nothing. 

Reine had thought about dating again. Her brother Ben had set her up on a date. The guy was nice enough, but there wasn’t any spark between them. So they had a fun date and left it at that. 

A few weeks later, Reine was looking into booking a trip, and her phone notified her of a new message in the Love Island group chat.  Elladine told everyone she had rented a boat and wanted all the former Islanders to enjoy a holiday. This was perfect. Reine smiled from ear to ear as she typed in her RSVP.