Note: There are a few musical references, so here's a list of songs to give credit, and so you can look them up and enjoy along with the story, if you're into it:

Joni Mitchell, Case of You

Joni Mitchell, River

Joni Mitchell, Last Time I Saw Richard

Ruth B, Don't Disappoint Me

Neil Young, Harvest Moon

They made small talk as they walked. A few times she wandered closer to him and gave him a friendly bump. Once she even held on to his arm, but only for a moment. She seemed a little nervous.

Noah offered her a change of clothes so that she didn't have to stay dressed up all night. He gave her some sweat pants and a hoodie. Too big for her, but definitely more comfortable than a ball gown. "Do you remember when you told me I wasn't the hoodie type? I was so mad at you for that." She smiled at him.

"You were? I'm sorry."

"Yeah I didn't let on, because you were clearly having a day and feeling down. But you sounded so disappointed in me! It was so unfair. I can be casual! But we're supposed to turn it up to stun all the time in the villa. And, well..." he could hear the nerves creep into her voice, "I guess I just wanted you to like me?"

"Well, I did like you. I do like you." he corrected himself.

Noah opened a bottle of wine while she looked around his living room. She was impressed that he had a piano. It was a family heirloom that his mother was considering donating. He didn't really play, but didn't want it to leave the family, so she had agreed that if he took care of moving it, he got to keep it. He showed MC his record collection, and let her pick which ones they listened to. She put on Joni Mitchell's Blue. One of his favorites. He recalled listening to his dad's copy when he was 12. He heard the lines

Remember that time you told me

you said love is touching souls?

Well surely you touched mine,

'cause part of you pours out of me

in these lines from time to time.

He remembered thinking, so that's what love is. I'll have to remember that.

They discussed music, work, gossip they had heard about the other Islanders. He noticed she got quiet and looked sad when River and The Last Time I Saw Richard played.

"So..." he mustered up his courage to ask what he'd been dying to know. "Bobby."

It wasn't actually a question, but she understood the intent. "Bobby" she sighed. "You two haven't been in touch?"

"No, I'm shit at keeping up with friends, I'm afraid."

She smiled to herself, realizing that though this may be true, he had somehow kept up to date on her whereabouts. "Well, I suppose you know we aren't together anymore."

"Yeah I heard. I'm so sorry," he said sincerely.

She looked upward and took a shaky breath. Despite her efforts, a tear rolled down her cheek. "Wow, I'm sorry to get so emotional so quickly. I blame the wine." She tried laughing casually. Noah just sat quietly waiting for her to continue. He considered telling her that she didn't have to talk about it, and changing the subject. But he badly wanted to know.

"I don't know. There's no real quick and easy explanation."

"I'm happy to listen to the long, complicated version, if you want to share."

"Actually...that would be nice. I never get to talk about this stuff with someone who really knew Bobby. It's strange having you here right now. Good strange!" she reassured him. "And yeah. That would be nice."

He smiled at her reassuringly, his eyes full of tenderness. She could imagine him being an amazing older brother. He must have listened to his sister's concerns countless times with a similar expression.

"It was great for awhile. Truly amazing, even. I moved to Glasgow right away. We figured I could play music from anywhere. I'd be traveling around to different gigs, I may as well travel from his place. Plus with the prize money, we were able to afford it easily. I didn't even get rid of my old place in case I needed to stay there when I came to town." She barks a humorless laugh and rolled her eyes, "Thank God."

"I guess I just felt isolated in Glasgow. He had friends, but I only had him. And at first, that was okay. I mean, I loved his friends, and Bobby's love is like sunshine pouring over you all the time. But well, eventually you're not gushing over each other anymore. Things shift, you know? It's not all gazing into each other's eyes anymore. It's about gazing out onto the rest of the world, side by side. I knew that was going to happen eventually. I just thought we'd be good at that part."

Her voice cracked as she finished speaking, suddenly heavy with emotion. She stopped to take another sip of wine. "There was this girl. An old friend of his. Well, I got the impression that they'd always had a thing for each other but it had never happened, you know? Anyway, turns out I was right because she confessed her feelings for him, and Bobby cannot STAND to be the cause of someone else's unhappiness."

"What happened?" Noah couldn't believe Bobby would actually cheat on someone, especially MC. He had so many opportunities in the Villa and had never even been tempted.

"Nothing! I mean, he didn't cheat on me. Well, not technically anyway. But he didn't really choose me either if you know what I mean. When he told me about her, he made it out like he was trying to let her down easy, but I could tell it was eating him up inside. He hated being in that position. And it felt like he kept doing things for her to make up for the fact that he didn't leave me for her. Like they started hanging out more. They texted all the time. It's not that I wanted him to cut her off, by any means. But I felt overlooked! It just feels like he values the harmony of the group over my feelings sometimes."

She had begun to get worked up and stopped to take a breath. She cast her eyes down sadly. "I probably didn't handle it very well. I should have trusted him after everything we went through on the show...He said she was just a good friend, but she clearly fancied him. I got jealous. Which you know he hates."

"I can totally understand why you'd be jealous. I mean, it's only natural, and it doesn't sound like you were channeling Hope by any means."

She gave him a knowing look. "Yeah, let's talk about that in a minute."

"Oh no, do we have to?"

"Yes, but first let me keep monopolizing your attention"

He smiled at her. He wanted nothing more than to give her his attention. It felt inappropriate that he was dissolving into a gooey crush while she recounted her heartbreak with Bobby. But her honesty and her willingness to pour her heart out to him, even though they hadn't spoken in over a year, was so seductive. It was like she was letting him look at her naked.

"Well, you know Bobby," she continued. "He uses his humor as a defense mechanism. Marisol was right about that one. He's honestly not great in hard times. If you aren't bringing him ecstatic joy, he avoids you." Noah noted a hint of bitterness in her tone. "He would joke off any attempt I made to have a tough conversation about my feelings. Which did NOT help my insecurity. Do you remember how he was after Casa Amor? He couldn't be coupled up with me and so he withdrew? Spent all his time with Lottie. You and Hope were separated in name only! You still acted like a couple. I guess he was feeling insecure but he really pushed me away. It started to be like that almost all the time. And in the villa I had to make the effort and reach out to him to bring him back. But out in the real world, it didn't feel like he wanted me to reach out. I felt like I was smothering him."

Noah felt a flare of anger towards Bobby. He thought MC was smothering? Had he met Hope? It felt so unfair of him to make her feel that way. "What an idiot" was all he said.

MC looked into his eyes, her gaze serious. They sat simply looking at one another for several moments, until she broke his eye contact and shook her head. "There were other little things too. Fame is hard. He wasn't very sexually driven, and never seemed to want to have sex anymore." Her eyes widened suddenly realizing that she shared that personal of a detail. "Wow, okay you should probably take this away from me," she gestured to her wine glass.

Noah smiled and replied, "I'll say it again, what an idiot." She burst into one of her lovely laughs.

"So anyway, yeah, we eventually did have some serious conversations and in the end, he just wasn't motivated enough to make it work with me. And I couldn't live a life where I was lonely even in his presence. So I moved back home. We're still on friendly terms. I mean, Bobby is on friendly terms with everyone. I'm not special." She rolled her eyes.

"I wouldn't say that."

She chuckled, and added quietly, "Well, that's how it feels." Noah realized the record player had stopped, and the room had become quiet.

MC's focus turned inward and he patiently waited for her to return to the moment. He wasn't used to seeing her subdued in this way. When she seemed to come back to reality, her eyes focused on the piano. She stood up and quietly walked over to piano bench, swaying a bit, and sat down. She started playing a light melody, almost like a lullaby, and began singing quietly along. He hadn't heard her play the piano before. And he hadn't heard her sing in earnest. Just that one time she sang Toto to surprise him. Suddenly, he was imagining her singing their children to sleep.

It was probably the wine that opened her up in that way. The recent heartbreak probably didn't hurt either. Despite her career, she didn't typically like to show off her skill. She wasn't like Rocco, who played his guitar at parties to get chicks. But Noah could tell she was tired of holding back. Keeping up appearances. She was using the song as a catharsis. He could hear the heartbreak and the hope in her voice. He thought her eyes might have shimmered when she sang the lines "I want to make memories that won't make me sad one day. Tired of being everyone's the-one-that-got-away" as though she were on the verge of tears.

Don't disappoint me. Promise you won't.

Noah was mesmerized. He could listen to her play for hours. He had just done that, but this was different. This was unpolished, unrehearsed. She was so sad. It had been hard to tell at first. But she had unclasped something inside herself, and was pouring it out in front of Noah. He'd never felt closer to anyone in his life.

I think you're special, and crazy composed. Maybe we're ruined. Maybe we're not. Might as well find out, 'cause we're all we got.

He came and sat next to her on the bench while she played. Watched her hands move around the keys. As she finished the song, she moved a little closer to him on the bench, so their legs were touching. She leaned her head on his shoulder, hands still resting on the keys. He wrapped his left arm around her and rested his head against hers.

After a moment he stood up and walked over to the record player.

Neil Young's Harvest Moon started playing as he walked back to her and offered his hand. As recognition poured over her, she broke into a sweet smile, eyes still glistening. "I love this song." She put her hand in his and he pulled her close.

Come a little bit closer, hear what I have to say.

Just like children sleeping, we could dream this night away.

They swayed slowly to the song, keeping a little friendly distance between them.

When we were strangers, I watched you from afar.

When we were lovers, I loved you with all my heart.

Noah thought about how they had never been lovers. Not yet. He closed his eyes and smelled her hair, noted how the scent mixed with his own from the hoodie she was wearing.

There had been one moment in the villa where there was a hint of something more. When things crossed a line, but it had been in front of everyone else, and all in the spirit of the game, so the moment passed by relatively unnoticed.

During the heart rate challenge, they were all three sheets to the wind. Everyone had been taking the liquid courage route to try to manage their nerves before and after dancing for each other. Noah had flirted with MC after she told him and Hope that they were hot and getting her worked up. He wasn't proud to admit that he felt quite titillated by the fact that MC had dated women before. It's not like he hadn't fantasized about having a threesome with her and Hope.

"Deep breaths ladies." Hope had coached the girls as Noah performed.

"Did you say, 'Deep'?" he said as he approached MC, walking away from Hope. He let himself go a little bit too far, and she had definitely noticed the look on his face.

Then when it was her turn, she made a beeline for him. It was all for Bobby, of course, who loved it when she teased him. But maybe she enjoyed it a little bit too? She could have flirted with any other boy there, but she chose him.

She had worn a short silk robe over black lacey lingerie and high, high heels. He'd seen her in skimpier bikinis before, but the outfit was somehow more exciting. The weeks of flirting had built up a tension between them. Also, he just liked her so much. He wanted to touch her. His lizard brain was thrilled at the opportunity. When she straddled him to grind on him, he had unconsciously run his hands up the outside of her thighs and under her robe, where no one else could see. Before he could stop himself, he hooked his thumbs under her underwear, just on the outside of her hips, but held them tightly for just a moment, almost threatening to tug them down, while lifting his hips towards her, bridging the little bit of polite distance she had left between them. She could feel his erection pressing against her. Her eyes widened in surprise, but they were full of fire. Her face flushed. He noticed the goosebumps on her arms. He could tell it excited her. She popped up quickly from his lap, and Noah immediately released her of course, trying to play it off as silly, filled with shame that he'd been so bold.

But before heading towards Bobby, she leaned over his shoulder, letting her hair fall down around his face, placing her mouth next to his ear, and breathed a hot gasp. "Noah."

"OI! MC! Do you mind?" Hope yelled at her. If it had been any other girl, Hope would have been in a rage, but she trusted MC. She gave him a small smile as she stepped away from him and strutted over to Bobby. They each had their own steamy moments with their respective partners that night. But for a brief moment, while Bobby had his head between her legs, she let that moment with Noah slip deliciously through her mind.

"You know I don't think we've had a dance together since the heart race challenge," she said with her head lying against his chest, not looking at him. Noah blushed furiously with embarrassment and excitement. Could she somehow know I was just thinking about that? Why would she be bringing that up now unless...

He screwed up his courage. They were still wrapped in each other's arms when he said, "You know, I'd be lying if I said I didn't wonder what could have been between us." She stopped swaying, but didn't pull away.

After a long moment, with her head still resting against his chest, she responded, "Yeah?"

He moved his hands to her arms, pushing her away so that he could see her face. His shy nature would normally have led him to retreat from such an ambiguous response, but he refused to back down. He calmly looked in her eyes, his own gaze gentle, "If I had stepped forward that first day, do you think you would have picked me?"

He expected her to hesitate, or bumble a breezy response in an effort to let him down easy. But she simply, quietly said, "Yes." His face lit up with a smile. He thought he would feel a stab of regret, of what might have been. But instead he just felt happy that she had liked him. That she would have chosen him.