Mia and David returned back to the cabana.

      "What took you guys so long?" Layla asked with a  cheeky smile.

    "Yeah. It was taking forever." Natalie said, watching them.

   "Kinda hard to find a bottle you know." David said to them. Mia sat down beside David as quiet as ever.

     Alex nudged her. "Hey, you're quiet." He said to her almost in a whisper. "Did something happen?" He asked.

     "No. Not at all." She flashed a small smile at him. Mia had told David that she was in no rush to be in a relationship. Of course she only said that because the only person she wanted was with someone else.

     "Let's start." Natalie placed the bottle on the floor and spun it around. The bottle points at Alex. "Truth or dare." Layla said to him.

     "To make it exciting, I'd go for dare."

     "I dare you to... Perform a lap dance on Ryan." Natalie smiled at Alex.

    "What!" Ryan exclaimed. The others laughed at the thought of Ryan getting a lap dance from Alex.

    "You heard the lady." Alex walked up to Ryan, trying to strut like the girls.

     "That's it man!" David cheered him up.

     "Don't you dare, don't you dare Alex." Ryan was amused as Alex straddled him. "Get off me, this is so disgusting." He tried to pry Alex off him.

    "Your ass has to feel his dick babe!" Natalie cheered Alex.

    "This is so crazy." Mia laughed at the sight.

     "You've got this Alex!" David clapped his hands.

     "Y'all are crazy. Get off me you brat." Ryan said pulling Alex away.

     Alex rocked himself on Ryan, laughing and screaming before he finally left Ryan.

     "I could feel your boner dude." Alex snickered at Ryan.

     "Shut up asshole!" Ryan rolled his eyes. "To be clear, we are not doing that again."

     "Babe, we're just getting started." Layla laughed at his funny face.

    "You really did great," she highfived Alex as he took his seat. "I'm gonna have a lap dance later." She gave him a quick peck on his lips. "It's your turn to spin the bottle."

    "Here we go." He spun the bottle around and it pointed at Layla. "Truth or dare baby girl?"

    "Truth." She said instantly.
 
    "Wait wait!! Please babe let me ask, please?" Natalie said to him.

    "Be my guest." He allowed her.

   Natalie giggled... "What's your best sex position?" She smirked.

    "That's a bit private babe." Alex said between his teeth.

    "What, she chose truth didn't she? So Layla, tell it to us."

    Layla chuckled, glancing at Ryan who was looking away. "I like control. Woman on top." She smiled.

     "That's hot." David said to her.

   It suddenly became hot for Mia... Woman on top? What the... But wait, there was no reason to get jealous, right?

    "Il mio amore, what's wrong? You okay?" David asked her when he noticed she kept staring into nothing.

   "Nothing. I feel hot, do you?" Mia asked him.

    "No, must be the hoodie." David said to her. "Maybe you should take it off for a while."

   Mia nodded. David assisted her in unzipping the hoodie and taking it off her body.

    "There. Is that better?" He asked.

   "Yes. Thank you." She said. Her eyes collided with Ryan's but she quickly looked away.

    "Now it's my turn to spin." Layla said, spinning the bottle. The bottle stopped, pointing at Mia.

   Mia's heart skipped a beat when she saw the bottle stop.

     "Truth or dare Mia." Layla said and all eyes turned to Mia.

     "Tru-truth." Mia stuttered nervously.

     "Do you believe in love?" Layla asked her.

   "Pfft! What kinda question is that? Everyone believes in love." Natalie scoffed.

    "Natalie I can't ask all those questions of yours." Layla told her.

   Mia looked at Layla. "I love my mom. But speaking on romantic love, honestly, I was taught that that kind of love makes people stupid, you do crazy things because of it. I never belived in it." She said to Layla.  

   "Even until now?" Layla asked.

    "No." She shook her head. "I realized love takes you by surprise, you don't know when it happens. You just wake up and find out that you don't look at the same person the same way. You actually feel the need to be with the person, his name alone makes you smile. You love being crazy just because of that person that it makes you want to lose your mind." Mia said calmly. That's when she noticed that everyone was staring at her, listening to her.

    "What's the most heartbreaking thing that has happened to you because of love?" Layla asked again.

    Mia gave a sad smile... "Honestly, I don't even remember the past." Her mom had told her nasty things Mia herself did when she was younger just because of love. "But... Present? I do." Her eyes wandered and it held Ryan's. "Falling in love with someone who's never gonna be mine." She said quietly but they all heard her.

     Ryan parted his lips partially, he didn't break the eye contact. Alex was the only person that noticed the both of them.

    Mia looked away, clearing her throat. "We should continue." She managed to smile. She spun the bottle  and this time, it pointed at Layla, again.

      "Me again!" Layla chuckled.

   "You can't choose truth anymore." Natalie told her. 

     "So it's dare then." Layla nodded.

   "Is it okay I don't want to be the one to give her the dare. I wouldn't know any." Mia said to them.

     "I'll do it." David volunteered. "So Layla, I dare you to...  Feed Ryan this chocolate with your mouth."

     "That's gonna taste more delicious." Natalie grinned.

   Layla laughed... "Okay." She turned to Ryan.

   "Layla I don't think —" Ryan got interrupted when Layla placed a finger on her his lips.

   "It's just for the show." She whispered in his ear. Layla placed the chocolate bar between her teeth.

    Ryan sighed, leaning closer to Layla. He carefully bit on the chocolate, that's when Layla pulled him closer. She wrapped her hand around his neck, French kissing him.

  "I think this vacation was a good idea." Natalie whispered happily at Alex.

     Mia quickly looked away from the scene. It was really disturbing, her heart was pricking. Ryan pulled away quickly, feeling guilty.

     Layla smiled at them, spinning the bottle on the ground. It pointed at David.

      "Truth or dare David?" She asked.

   "Dare!"

    "Okay. I dare you to kiss Mia." Layla said to him.

    "What?" Alex glanced at Mia.

     "I totally agree! You guys look good together." Natalie said to them.

      David and Mia turned to each other. They were both unsure and uncertain.

      "Mia you don't have to—" David is cut off as Mia's lips pressed against his. He pulled her closer and she parted her lips, letting his tongue in. His hand found it's way to her head, raking his fingers through her hair. It was taking forever to pull away as they kissed passionately.

     "I'm sorry." She whispered against his lips before pulling away, panting with swollen lips.

    Ryan couldn't believe that happened, he stared with his eyes wide open in surprise.

      "Super clean you guys." Natalie nodded, clapping twice.

      Mia didn't dare look at Ryan. Why did she kiss David? She was only acting on impulse. Seeing Ryan kiss Layla made her react that way.

    Ryan got up and walked out of the cabana.

    "Ryan where are you going?" Layla asked but he ignored her.

   "I think it's a wrap for one night." Alex finally said. "Natalie, we should go." He said to her.

     Natalie nodded... "It's been a long night, we should all get some rest. Goodnight." She said to them before leaving with Alex.

     Layla glanced at Mia and David. "I'll leave you both." She smiled, getting up to leave.

   When Layla was out of sight, Mia sighed. "You should leave too. I wanna be left alone." Mia told him.

   "Will you be okay?" He asked, showing concern.

     "I'd be fine." She nodded.

    "Okay. Call if you need anything." He said to her as he stood up.

    "David, about what happened." She looked up at him. "I'm really sorry, I shouldn't have kissed you. I was not think—"

    "There's no need to apologize." He cut her off before leaving.

     Mia felt really bad for him. Damn Ryan for doing this to her. She sat in the cabana alone, trying to make peace with herself. After almost fifteen minutes, she decided to sleep it off.

      Mia strolled back to the condo unit, she met Ryan on her way. She ignored him, trying to walk past him but he stopped her.

     "Can you excuse me, I need to pass." Mia said without looking at him. Ryan remained silent making Mia sigh, she tried going around him but he stopped her. "For goddess sake Ryan! Get out of my way."

   "How could you do that?" He said to her, clearly showing how irritated he was.

   Mia ignored his question as she tried to leave, Ryan gripped her arm. "Let go of me." She took away her hand from his grasp.

    "How could you?" He asked her.

   "Why?" She finally looked at him. "Did I do anything wrong? You have no right to ask me any questions." She answered coldly. 

     "You did that to get back at me. Dammit Mia!" He raised his voice.

    "Don't you dare raise your voice at me, do not blame me. It's my choice, just like you made yours." Mia said rudely.

     Ryan glared at her... "You have no idea what is going on between Layla and I."

    "I don't care what is going on! Did you really think I wanted to kiss David the way I did?" She scoffed. "It was you! Ryan it's you I want, not David not anybody else. For the first time in my life, I felt jealousy. All because of you, I can't think straight anymore. I felt like suffocating when Layla kissed you but how can I when you were never mine to begin with." Mia broke down into tears. "I wanna slap myself to wake up from all these drama and forget you ever existed. How can I forget? You can't just forget you love someone can you? Ryan I love you, I love you dammit! It's killing me that I'm betraying someone who has done nothing wrong to me." She said between her tears.

    His eyes fell... "Universe I'm sorry, I would never —" 

   "Just stop." She wiped away her tears. "You're making it more difficult for me." Mia said, leaving him.

    Mia went up to her room, just when she reached the stairs, she saw David looking at her.

        "David?" She was horrified seeing him there. "Wh-what are you doing —"

    "Mia I heard everything." He said with a rigid facial expression.

     "What are you talking about?" Mia swallowed nervously.

    "Why didn't you tell me? Why didn't you tell me the real reason why you didn't want us to be together?" He frowned at her. "Why didn't you say that it was someone else? Why didn't you tell me it was Ryan." He said to her. 

"David." She slowly walked up to him. "David I'm sorry. David I'm sorry." She started shedding tears again. "Believe me, I wanted to give us a try but I couldn't because —"

              "Because you are in love with Ryan, you're in love with my friend."

   "David," she held his hand. "I couldn't tell you because I thought I could get over the feelings." She said crying.

    "When did you start having feelings for Ryan?"

      She shook her head... "I don't know, it just happened. David please, I'm sorry." She said to her.

    "Mia, him? He has a girlfriend and you know that." He said to her. He was disappointed.

      "It's not like that. I stayed away because I knew it was wrong, that's why I want to go back to Italy. To forget him. David believe me." Mia said to him.

      "Do you really love him? Do you really love Ryan that much." He was hurt.

    "I'm... I'm sorry." She said to him.

   David sighed.... "Mia." He shook his head, pulling her in for a hug.

     "Please don't be mad at me David. I'm really sorry. I couldn't bring myself to tell you the truth." She said, sobbing.

     "It's okay. It's okay. Stop crying." He said, stroking her back.
✴✴✴✴

    Inside Alex's and Natalie's room...

   "This is way too much information. So you're saying, Mia is Sophie and Sophie is... Mia?" Asked Natalie who stood, directly facing Alex who was seated by the edge of the bed.

    "Yes." He nodded.

    "And you say she doesn't know she's Sophie." Natalie said to him and he nodded again. "Why didn't you tell me?! God!" She threw her hands in the air. "We played truth or dare Alex, Layla kissed Ryan and Mia kissed David. That's so messed up."

    "Uh-huh. And you know what's more messed up, Mia and Ryan both have feelings for each other. This whole vacation was to bring Layla and Ryan together, that's why you should have told me earlier!" Natalie groaned. "But wait, why haven't you said anything to Mia? You should tell her everything."

     "Ryan doesn't want that. He's afraid the truth will scare her off. He doesn't want that, neither do I." Alex said to her.

    "Why does everything have to be so complicated?!" She rubbed her forehead.
✴✴✴

    Ryan entered the room, finding Layla on her phone.

     "Layla," he walked up to her. "There's something I need to tell you." He said, sitting beside her.

         She looked up at him and noticed the serious look on his face. "With the look on your face, it's very crucial. Let's not talk about it. When we get back to New York, we would." She told him plainly.

   Ryan stopped her from retreating to bed. "This is important. It's about you and I."

      "Ryan please let's just go to bed okay? We'll talk about it later." She said to him, pulling away from his grip.

     "Layla this is really important." He said trying to convince her.

    "No. I have a feeling whatever you wanna tell me isn't a good thing, I suggest you sleep on it and forget it. Maybe when we get back, we'd talk about it."

    Ryan stood up... "It's Mia." He said to her.

    Layla turned to him, looking confused. "What?"

         "It's Mia." He said more confident than before. "She's the one I told you about. Mia's the one I'm in love with." He said, squarely staring at Layla.

     Layla got the shock of her entire life. She was in great shock that her jaw dropped, she was dumbfounded.

    "Layla I really need us to talk about this." He said calmly.

      Layla slowly stood from the bed, taking light steps towards Ryan. "What?" She finally found her tongue.

     "You deserve the truth, I'd be a terrible person if I hide everything from you. Layla it's Mia. She is the one I told you that completes me. Layla I really need you to understand that—" Layla raised her hand to silence him.

      "Don't. I don't understand a thing you're saying. Which Mia are you talking about?" Layla was so confused about everything.

     "Let's sit first so I could explain everything." He tried touching her but she stepped away.

    "Don't touch me. I want to get something straight, are you talking about David's Mia or someone else?" She asked, Ryan nodded. "Oh my..." Layla kept moving away. "It's her? No it can't be." She shook her head.

      "Can we talk about this?" He tried to calm her down.  

     "It can't be, it can't be... No it can't be. It just can't!" It was like she was hyperventilating.

     "Layla wait. Layla I'm sorry."

    "Oh God, no." She looked at Ryan. "Tell me it's all a lie. Ryan I want you to say it to me."

     "I'm sorry." He felt so bad for her.

Layla gasped, running her fingers down her hair. "How could she... How could she do this? How.. How could she do this to me?! I trusted her!" She held her chest. 

     "Layla this isn't her fault. If you wanna blame someone then it's me, blame me. I shouldn't be hurting you this way, Layla I'm really sorry." He tried reaching out to her.

     "This has to be all wrong. It can't be her Ryan." She soon started shedding tears. "How did it happen? How come she's the one you choose to love? I'm the one here, I've been here for the last two years. It can't be right because you barely know her Ryan." She said in tears.

      "There's more to it than that and if you would just let me explain everything." He said to her.

     "I don't need any explanation! I can't take it! If it were someone else maybe I could... But Mia? Ryan this is too much! What does she have that I don't?!" She wept uncontrollably.

     "Give me a chance to explain everything, I'm begging you. Just this chance." He pleaded with heavy eyes.

    Layla stood, crying like she'd never done in her life.