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august 9th 2024
[ 8 days until kimi goes home ]

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TIME HAD FLOWN BU IN THE LAST WEEK, each day that passed was well spent, no one was unhappy. except maybe diego. valentina had kept to her word and ignored the spanish boy. any advances he made, she would just push him off or turn away.

the guilt arabella felt when she witnessed the dejected look on diego's face was unmatchable, it hurt her, but she knew she shouldn't meddle.

kimi had asked her if she knew why valentina was acting the way she was, as diego had mentioned it to the other boys. bella panicked of course, telling him that the colombian girl had her reasons but it wasn't her place to say. kimi had accepted that answer, knowing he wouldn't get much else out of her.

but today, was not a day to worry about val's petty reasons of ignoring her fling. today was the day valentina would be taking part in a surfing competition and it had the whole of the maldives in festivities.

it was a yearly tradition, every august, was the national surf competition of the maldives. val had told the friend group that she had been taking part for years, but had never really been too competitive. she also told them that she felt like she had made some real progress this year and felt ready to really participate now.

so, at around eleven in the morning, the whole friend group wandered out of their resort. they were on their way to the beach where valentina told them the competition would take place. she'd wait for them there, as she needed to be there earlier to prepare and warm up.

they had no trouble finding the spot they had to be, as signs and flags led the whole way there. tons of people were already gathered at the beach, they just had to find valentina now.

"how the fuck are we gonna find val with all these people around?" dino complained to the whole group. just as he said that, arabella's eyes fell on their friend. "easy. she's right there." she smiled, starting to walk towards the colombian girl.

as the group of eleven made their way over, valentina spotted them and waved happily. arabella could tell that she was excited about the competition, she could tell by the way her friend smiled.

"hi guys! thanks for coming!" val said as the group got close enough. lucy immediately pulled her into a hug, "girl shut up, of course we were coming!" the dark skinned girl said as she pulled back. linnea, elvira, nerissa and arabella nodded along, "we weren't gonna miss our girl winning." elvira smiled.

the six boys were talking amongst themselves as the girls squabbled and talked. just then, a loud air horn sounded all over the beach, "that's my que, i gotta go. i'll see you after!" valentina said, quickly turning on her heels and walking off to her team.

as bella turned, she came eye to eye with diego. "i need to talk to you." his voice was in a tone she hadn't heard before. she didn't know what it meant.

her eyes shifted to kimi for a split second, wondering if the boy had snitched on her knowing something about valentina.

"yeah, sure. what's up?" she played it cool, not wanting to blow her cover. diego pulled her a little further away from their friends as he spoke again, "do you know what's up with tina? she hasn't spoken a word to me in like, a week." he asked, his voice now a little softer then before. they kept walking until they found a spot that was a little more secluded, so they could speak in peace.

the look on diego's face made arabella feel even worse for lying to his face, "i noticed that but i haven't asked, i thought maybe something happened between you two and she'd tell when she wanted to." she answered smoothly, but if you really looked, you could've seen that she was straight up lying.

diego seemed too frustrated to catch onto her blatant lie, "as far as i know, nothing happened. she's just ignoring me and it's starting to piss me the fuck off." the boy replied, his voice getting louder and angrier the more he spoke.

"maybe she has a reason? i really don't know." bella lied again, it wasn't as smooth as last time and that was a fatal mistake.

"you're lying. i can hear in your fucking voice, you're lying bella." diego was furious now, and she was actually starting to get scared. "no, diego, i—" she started, only for him to interrupt.

"no, arabella! i know you're fucking lying to me! tell me why valentina won't speak to me." he took a step towards her as bella took a step back. "diego, you're scaring me. back off." she tried to get him away from her.

"tell me!" before diego could take another step, kimi and paul came to her rescue once again. "diego, bro back off!" paul tried to grab his shoulder but the spanish boy shook him off angrily.

"no! bella knows why val is ignoring me and she won't fucking tell me!" he tried to walk towards bella again as two more of their friends arrived on the scene, this time santiago was there.

"santi get him away from bella." lucy intervened. santiago didn't hesitate to stand in front of diego, pushing him back against his shoulder, "you're scaring her man, this won't help anything."

santiago's words finally seemed to get through diego's anger as his face fell. diego's eyes shifted from santi to arabella, who was now standing in kimi's arms, looking at him with surprised eyes.

the realization of his actions came crashing onto him as his eyes bounced between santiago's serious face and arabella's shocked one.

bella could see the tears forming in diego's eyes when their attention stayed on her. he stepped towards her, santiago letting him pass, as he knew there was no ill intent anymore.

kimi however, did not know that. he pushed bella further back as he stood in front of her. diego was a good few inches taller then him, but he was still willing to step in for his girlfriend. "kimi, it's fine." arabella told her boyfriend, who looked back at her with a conflicted look.

she smiled at him before walking out from behind him, meeting diego half way. bella saw the first few tears start to fall from the boys eyes, and she hugged him. "i'm sorry, i'm sorry, i'm sorry." he kept repeating as he hugged her back tightly.

"it's okay, it's okay to be mad. i would be mad too." arabella comforted as diego let out a sob into her shoulder. the girl could faintly hear santiago telling kimi and paul to let them be.

she felt so guilty for having to lie to him, but she knew that if she told him the truth, valentina would never forgive her either. "i'm sorry for lying, di. but i really can't tell you. val would literally kill me, i'm actually a little scared of her sometimes." arabella ranted a little into the embrace.

the comment at the end seemed to lighten the mood a little, as diego let out a broken laugh while pulling away from her. "she can be kinda scary." he agreed, wiping his tears away. "i really am sorry bella, i didn't mean to scare you." he smiled but it didn't reach his eyes.

"it's fine, i promise. i was just surprised." she waved it off, "let's get back to the others, i think it's already started."

the eleven friends stayed seated on the sand between all of the other people watching for literal hours. when it was finally over, valentina came out second. everyone cheered for her as she finally came back over to her friends.

it was already sunset by now and it was a mutual decision that they would eat at home for the evening. so that meant santiago would order something again.

all of the couples we individually cuddled up on the couches of the italian boys' house, except for diego and valentina, who were sitting next to each other but with inches between their bodies and both on their phones.

suddenly, valentina stood up, "anyone else want a drink?" she asked, as different variations of 'no' were called out.

arabella was dozing off on her boyfriends chest, so she hadn't payed any mind as diego now stood up to follow after the colombian girl.

a few minutes later, she faintly heard dino and paul say they had to take a piss and would be right back, she laughed tiredly at it.

she was almost asleep when dino came rushing back from the kitchen, that you had to walk through to get to the bathroom in their house. "guys! come on!" there was no explanation but there was definitely urgency in his voice.

it instantly awoke arabella as she sprung up from kimi, who followed immediately after her. as she rushed her way towards the kitchen, she could hear the argument.

"it's your fucking fault! i came second because of you." she could hear valentina accuse diego, as she finally stepped into the kitchen. she could see the girl point and angry finger into diego's chest.

the boy his eyebrows furrowed, "what the fuck? i didn't do anything?! you haven't even spoken to me in the past WEEK?" diego retorted, defending himself.

"no! you distract me too much! you made me lose my fucking focus diego, i just can't." valentina's voice broke mid-sentence as tears started to flow.

arabella decided that enough was enough, "val." she called her friend, who whipped around to see the whole friend group standing in the big opening to the kitchen.

the look of embarrassment flooded over both of their faces as valentina opted for walking off, angrily wiping her tears away.

diego stood there, seemingly taking in that he had argued with someone again for the second time that day. it wasn't like him, not at all actually.

"that went well."

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CEE SPEAKS !
okay so!!! i don't wanna see ANY hate on my guy diego. he's just a boy and he's heartbroken and hurt!!!!

also this is 1700 words and i'm TIRED. the things i do for you sara.

*.• dedications !
L0VENYMPH everlarksaep halfwayheart joaoflms besos4nico