Neil Steel: Watch out! Declan’s on a warpath!
Declan walked into the Love Shack for the first time without having a good sound bite prepared. He had been sure it would be him, not Rhys, going home during the recoupling – fame and followers could only excuse so much, and he’d been slipping up for the last week. It had taken almost being eliminated for him to realise how much he wanted to stay, just to have more time with Oliver.
Paige watched him carefully. ‘Big night for you,’ she said, turning on the camera.
Declan shifted his eyes away from the blinking red light. ‘Yes, it was.’
‘Did you know Imogen would pick you?’
He tried to remember the few words he and Imogen had exchanged on the date to figure out what kind of edit theproducers had given it, but it was useless. There was little chance they hadn’t aired that scene as the absolute shit-show it was, and he had forgotten to give them any follow-up material. If he had been thinking, he would have spent the past two days focused on winning Imogen back in full view of the cameras.
‘Honestly?’ he said. ‘Not in the slightest. But I’m grateful she did.’ He’d spent the last hour trying to figure out Imogen’s strategy. It made sense on a basic level: she was an influencer, and for anyone making money off Instagram, followers outweighed poor social conduct.
‘I was surprised,’ Paige said, ‘given what happened on your date.’ She inflected the sentence like it was a question, but Declan only shrugged.
‘I guess she likes me enough to overlook that.’
‘I guess she does,’ Paige said, and Declan couldn’t decipher her tone. He blinked at her and she turned the camera off, rubbing at her eyes. ‘You must know your image hasn’t been great recently. I mean, between the fight with James and that date with Oliver, you seem like an entitled prick who doesn’t like people messing with his stuff.’
‘Zoë mugged me off,’ Declan said. ‘I’m allowed to be upset.’
‘Sure,’ Paige said easily. ‘But that doesn’t give you the right to act like an ass.’ She sighed. ‘Look, people love to root for the slighted party. And if you hadn’t flown off the handle, maybe the audience would still be on your side.’
That gave him pause. ‘The audience isn’t on my side any more?’
Paige pursed her lips. ‘Your ratings aren’t what they used to be.’
‘What can I do?’ Declan asked, realising how thoroughly he’d messed up. He’d let his guard down, operated solely on emotion, and now he was paying for it. It had been days since he’d even considered the audience.
Paige cocked her head. ‘You lost Zoë because she didn’t know you cared. Putting your heart on your sleeve and actually showing some vulnerability would give the viewers a reason to like you again.’
‘Right,’ Declan replied, dismissing that idea automatically. The last week had been the most real he’d been on the show. Clearly, his lowered ratings had to do with him dropping the act he’d been carefully crafting his entire career. And showing people the real him, all of him, wasn’t an option.
Paige turned the camera back on. ‘So, let’s hear it honestly, how are you feeling?’
‘Well, I’ve had quite the week…’ Declan said, stalling as he figured out the exact wording and cadence of his next words to maximise sympathy. ‘Zoë dumped me and I acted like a prat and pissed off one of my best mates. I’m deeply ashamed of what I’ve done, and I’m so glad to have this second chance at love. Imogen gave that to me, and I’m going to spend the rest of my time here making it up to her.’
Paige’s eyes narrowed. ‘Hmm… and what exactly was going on with you and Oliver on the date? I don’t think we discussed that last time.’
Declan took a deep breath. This question he’d at least prepared for. ‘It was… misplaced emotions. I was still angry about James and I took it out on Oliver.’
She stared at him for a moment too long, but just as Declan started to feel uncomfortable, she sighed. ‘Fine, thank you. Off to bed.’
Declan walked back into the now-claustrophobic bedroom. An extra bed had been shoved in to accommodate the additional couple, leaving barely enough space to walk between them. Imogen was waiting for him, brushing her long curls over her shoulder. She wore a matching pale pink pyjama set and she smiled when Declan settled on his side of the bed.
‘Just FYI, I’m a bit of a restless sleeper,’ she said cheerily. ‘I don’t want to accidentally kick you, so it may be best that we don’t cuddle.’
‘Oh, er… sure,’ he replied, taken aback.
‘Great!’ Imogen leaned over and kissed him on the cheek before diving over to her side and pulling the duvet up, effectively ending their nightly pleasantries. Declan turned away from her and saw Oliver lying on the opposite bed, close enough that Declan could’ve reached out and touched him. Their eyes met, twin smiles playing at their lips.
Hi, Oliver mouthed at him.
Hi, Declan mouthed back.
They were grinning like idiots, but Declan didn’t care. Looking at Oliver’s face, he knew he didn’t need to take Paige’s advice. No need to bare his heart on national television; that wasn’t what people wanted to see from him anyway. He’d be the Declan King everyone loved, and he and Oliver could continue on the way they had been the past few days. It wasn’t much, just a few stolen glances and secretive smiles, but it was more than Declan had ever let himself have before. He couldn’t believe that what had started as a desperate attempt to fix his fake love life had resulted in something as real and extraordinary as Oliver.
‘Everyone ready?’ Paige asked, bouncing from one foot to the other.
