And I don't know what I'm cryin' for, I don't think I could love you more

Once Carly was caught up on everything going on with Kim and Vivian and the others, she was all smiles. Marley recognized that look on her sister’s face, and she wasn’t sure if she liked it.

Normally, Carly was a pretty upfront person. Marley could count on her sister not to pull any crazy schemes or do any backstabbing. But every once in a while she would show that conspiratorial grin, and that’s when Marley knew that all bets were off. She had something tricky planned, and Marley wasn’t sure she was going to like it.

She grabbed her sister and pulled her aside before Carly could get a word out.

“What are you planning?” Marley demanded, narrowing her eyes.

Carly gave her sister an innocent smile. “I don’t know what you mean,” she said, straightening her apron and batting her eyelashes.

Marley’s eye twitched. “Don’t give me that,” she muttered, shaking her head. “I know you, Carly. You’ve got something up your sleeve.”

Ever since Carly had revealed that morning that she was planning to pull out all the stops and get closer to Nick, Marley had a strange feeling in her stomach. It wasn’t jealousy- no, she knew what jealousy felt like.

…Okay, maybe part of it was jealousy. Carly had asked her if she was okay with her plan, and Marley said she was. That had been somewhat of a lie. Marley was bothered that her sister was giving it her all in trying to seduce Nick. Not because she felt entitled to him or anything, but because she knew that, if she had to compete directly with her sister, she was going to lose.

I know it’s not a competition. Nick has enough love for both of us. But… these feelings I have for him… I don’t know if they’re the right thing. Marley was well aware of her position on the show, or rather, her lack of position. She wasn’t a contestant. She wasn’t part of the harem. She was Carly’s support, when she wasn’t a shackle around her sister’s ankle.

I know not being a contestant shouldn’t get in the way of anything. Obviously it should. Holly isn’t a contestant and Nick’s head over heels for her. But for me…?

For Marley, things were just… different. She’d been conscious of her feelings for a long time, but why she hadn’t acted on them, well… not even she could fully verbalize a reason that made sense to her. It left her feeling uneasy and uncertain, which were feelings she hated having.

That left her in the awkward position of just hoping that everything would work out. Stalling, that was what she was doing. But her sister wasn’t stalling. Carly was planning to go all-out in appealing to Nick as a member of his harem, and how she planned to do that, Marley didn’t even know.

But when her sister went all-out after something she wanted, it was usually the right move to get out of the way and let her.

Marley didn’t want to do that. But she also knew better than to stop her sister from going after Nick, if that was what she wanted. So long as she was doing it the right way.

“You really don’t have anything planned?” Marley squinted. Her sister still had that mischievous gleam in her eye.

“Weeeelllll… maybe I have a bit of an idea of how I can get him to focus on me,” Carly giggled.

Marley pinched her lips together. “…Mind filling me in on this plan of yours, then?”

To her surprise, her sister actually acquiesced. Carly leaned forward and whispered her plan into Marley’s ear.

“…Huh?” Marley pulled back in wide-eyed surprise. She looked at her sister incredulously. “…Seriously?” She asked. “That’s it? That’s really all you’re planning?”

Carly blinked. “What were you thinking I was up to?” She asked, confused.

Marley let out the breath she was holding. “…Never mind. It’s not important,” she said, shaking her head. She’d gotten so caught up in her doubts and insecurities and the wildness of this game that she’d almost forgotten her sister really did just want people to have fun.

Even when there was something she was after.

“Wish me luck?” Carly offered her sister a lopsided smile, and Marley just nodded.

Having been given “permission” (not that the absence of it would have stopped her) Carly flounced over to Vivian and Kim and shared her plans with them.

“So, you’re trying not to make an embarrassment out of yourself, right, Kim?” She asked the tomboy. Carly and Kim had never been particularly close, but she had a positive view of the other girl thanks to her friendship with Dani.

Kim nodded slowly. “Yeah… not any more of an embarrassment than I’m already making of myself with these clothes, anyway.”

“Oh, I think you look great!” Vivian encouraged her. “And trust me, if there’s something that I know, it’s fashion!”

Kim sighed in exasperation and rolled her eyes. She gestured to the heiress while looking at Carly, giving her a “You see what I have to deal with?” sort of expression.

Carly covered her mouth and snickered. She got the idea. “Well… I think I have an idea that will solve your problem!” She said. “Nick will be so focused on me… he’ll hardly be able to notice what you two have going on.”

She looked back and forth between the two girls. “…Assuming you’re both okay with that? I wouldn’t want to deprive you of a chance to do a little butler seduction,” she giggled, not even sure what that would look like.

Kim clasped her hands together. “Oh, PLEASE,” she begged. This looks nice and all, but if I could skip out right now and not have Nick anywhere near me, that would be great.

“Yeah, uh… I’m… I’m fine,” Vivian said. Her face was bright red, which surprised Carly. She wasn’t used to the heiress looking embarrassed like that. Vivian waved her gloved hands. “If you want to keep Nick’s attention off me, you have my FULL support, believe me.”

After what happened last night, Vivian wasn’t sure she could keep a straight face when she saw him again.

Carly nodded, pleased that everyone seemed to be on the same page. “Well, great!” She clapped her hands together cheerfully. “Let’s do it, then!”

Ella had mentioned that Nick would probably be coming down to breakfast sometime soon, so that would give Carly the perfect opportunity to get to work. And indeed, a few minutes after she’d worked things out with the other girls, Nick finally arrived at the Banquet Hall, with three women trailing after him.

“So that’s where Gina’s been all morning,” Dani said, scratching her head as she looked at the satisfied expression on the punk girl’s face.

“She seems to be in a good mood,” Dawn noted.

Ella’s face flushed and she sank down in her chair. She knew why Gina was smiling like a cat that had gotten her cream, but even with as far as she’d gotten with Nick, she still felt herself getting embarrassed at the thought.

“Hey Daddy!” Sylvia waved at Nick. But then she saw the troubled look in his eye and she lowered her hand and sat up straight, figuring that maybe it wasn’t the best move for her to put too much pressure on him without asking first.

Carly, on the other hand…

“Greetings, master,” Carly purred, skipping right up to Nick and curtsying before him. “It’s a pleasure to greet you this early in the morning.”

She leaned over to give him a good view of her breasts, even though her modest uniform only hinted at her cleavage. The real focus was on her eyes, which turned upwards towards him with a soft, wet, yearning warmth.

Needless to say, Nick was taken aback by the sudden, overt act of flirting on Carly’s part. He had gotten so used to her being such a chill friend that he didn’t know what to make of her suddenly greeting him with such a seductive gesture.

Especially when she licked her lips, reminding him of what he and Gina had just finished getting up to in the Master’s Suite.

Mary and Holly were both shocked as well. Mary looked like she wasn’t sure what to say, while Holly looked like she knew exactly what to say, but also knew she probably shouldn’t say it.

Marley was silent as the grave.

“What do you think?” Carly stood up straight and gave Nick a little twirl. “This is my outfit for today, so I just thought I should get in character. You like?”

“Uh… yeah, Carly, it looks really nice,” Nick said, nodding. “Um, anyway, I actually have something to talk with everyone about today,” he revealed. “It’s really important, is everybody here?”

“Rose isn’t,” Gina noticed. “I think she’s the only one.”

Kim nodded. She had noticed that too, but didn’t want to draw attention to herself.

“You think she’s alright?” Mary asked worriedly. She turned and looked at Kim. “You’re her roommate this round, right, Kim?”

So much for keeping a low profile. Kim nodded. “Yeah, she was asleep in our room when I left to go, uh… deal with some stuff. With Vivian.”

She glanced at the heiress and pleaded with her eyes for Vivian to draw the focus off of her. But before Vivian could do that, she realized that Nick had already moved on and was sitting down at one of the tables. Apparently, he didn’t have the energy to focus on a couple of butlers.

Relief washed over Vivian and Kim saw the other girl’s body visibly relax.

“Well, I guess we can wait for her, then,” Nick said.

Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin wasn’t going to wait. Before either Mary or Holly could sit down she already slid into the seat right beside Nick, and rubbed right up against him. She tilted her head up to show him her beaming smile, and batted her eyelashes.

Nick smiled politely at her, relieved that she hadn’t decided to sit in his lap instead, given her most recent transformation. And she’d definitely considered it- but she was learning how to be considerate of when he wanted stuff like that, and when he didn’t.

Carly cleared her throat and set a glass of orange juice down in front of Nick, catching him by surprise. “Would you like something to drink while you wait, master?” She cooed.

Nick stared incredulously at Carly. He knew she was a generous person and that she liked to get into character when she cosplayed, but this was a little egregious. “Uh… Carly… are you sure about this?” He questioned.

She tilted her head to the side. “Whatever do you mean?” She asked with a smile. “I’m happy to help you out, master!”

Holly snickered. She liked seeing Nick get flustered about stuff like that, especially when it wasn’t due to her.

Nick, on the other hand, just found himself very confused by the surreal experience. He looked over at Dani, wondering if she had any ideas as to why her girlfriend was suddenly fawning over him like this. But Dani just shrugged and gave him a cheeky thumbs-up.

So much for that.

“It’s alright, master, I know you’re a little confused,” Carly said, moving to start giving him a backrub. Mary looked up at her from her seat on the other side of Nick, and tried to figure out what was going on here as well.

“This is a little more than just getting into character,” Nick said. His face began to burn with embarrassment as he realized that the other girls in his harem were all looking at him.

Before he could tell Carly to stop, though, he suddenly felt the soft warmth of her breasts pressed against his back. That made him freeze in place.

Then she brought her lips up to his ear, and softly blew.

“Shhhh… it’s fine…” Carly’s voice was a sultry whisper. “You had a really stressful night last night. And I can tell you’re under a lot of pressure. This big, hard… conversation we’re all about to have… you should really take opportunities to relax when they come to you, master. You wouldn’t want to get so tense you… explode.”

The entendres coming out of her lips coupled with the intense physical contact was leaving Nick at a loss. It had been a long time since Carly had done anything like this. Since getting together with Dani, she’d really mellowed out. No, even before that, she’d been more reserved than she was being right now. He hadn’t had to deal with Carly’s sexual aggressiveness and teasing on a level like this since…

…He couldn’t even remember, honestly.

But he was very glad that Gina had already helped him “blow off some steam” not too long ago, or else he’d be making a bit of a scene himself.

“If there’s anything you need, more orange juice, another back massage, anything at all… you just let me know, okay?” Carly cooed in Nick’s ear before finally, mercifully, standing up straight and removing her breasts from his back. But even with contact broken the sensation lingered, just like Carly herself. Like the dutiful maid she was playing as, she made sure that she was never too far away from her beloved master.

“…Okay,” Nick said, thoroughly weirded out and honestly not sure how to properly respond to Carly’s overt sexual appeals. Of all the things he had expected to happen this morning, this definitely wasn’t on the list.

Not even close.

Marley watched her sister dote on Nick and flaunt her sexuality and forwardness for him with a heavy heart.

Seeing Carly giving it her all… everything finally clicked for her.

I get it now. That’s why I haven’t been making a move. Why I’ve just been standing back instead of acting on my feelings.

Marley dug her nails into her hip to keep her emotions from seeping out of her.

It’s my fault that it got to this point. My fault. Marley had never considered it until now, but looking at Carly “off the chain” as it were put everything into perspective.

This is how Carly was always supposed to be. This is how she feels most comfortable. Putting herself out there, being sexually aggressive… this is the way she would have been treating Nick this whole time if it wasn’t for me showing up and ruining everything.

Ever since Marley came onto the show, Carly had been different. It wasn’t just because her past had been rewritten, her sister had always been a flirt. No, what had changed in Carly’s relationship with Nick was that Marley was now at her sister’s side 24/7.

It was hard enough for Carly to have a relationship with Dani. But with Marley being around, how was she supposed to put herself out there for Nick with her sister standing right next to her, never more than ten feet away?

Maybe Carly wasn’t conscious of it. Maybe she thought that she was just doing what she always did. But from where Marley was standing, it was abundantly clear that ever since she arrived on the show, Carly had pumped the brakes hard.

She was being considerate of Marley’s feelings. Or maybe she just felt weird about doing that sort of thing with Marley right there in the room with her. Marley honestly didn’t know her sister’s mind well enough to understand exactly what was going on, but…

Still.

She got the gist.

If I had never come onto the show and become chained to her, then Carly would have been able to seduce Nick however she wanted, whenever she wanted. But always having to be considerate of my presence, always having to think about my feelings… Carly… somewhere down the line, you just stopped trying, didn’t you?

It hurt Marley’s heart seeing just how happy her sister was right now. She was completely in her element, using her sweet personality, her teasing, and her feminine wiles to get a boy’s attention and make him fall head over heels for her. (Even if Nick was putting up a better resistance than most would in his position.)

This was the way Marley knew her sister.

Yes, Carly had changed a lot since coming to the island, and most of those changes had been for the better.

Especially where Emmy was involved.

But this change?

Carly’s refusal to put herself out there, to actually try and win Nick over like the other girls were doing themselves?

This wasn’t a change Marley could support.

Carly SHOULD be giving it her all!

She SHOULD be trying to seduce Nick with everything she had!

And Marley…

Marley was getting in the way of that.

I can’t tell her to stop… no… I don’t want her to stop. I want her to keep going. She’s happy like this! She’s having the time of her life!

Marley’s sister was smiling from ear to ear. Her face was practically glowing.

But Marley herself…

What should I do? She wondered. Should I just… step aside? But… but I like Nick, too! But if I say something… if I try to put myself out there, then… then Carly… what would she do? Would she back off? Or… would she not?

That was what left Marley paralyzed. That was why she’d never really acted on her feelings.

Somewhere in the back of her mind, she knew that it wasn’t her place. She must have picked up on what her sister was doing subconsciously, and that was why she’d always made these excuses about why she didn’t like Nick, or why she couldn’t make a move on him right now.

Because Marley knew that if she did, she’d be stepping over her sister to do it.

Carly had backed off for Marley’s sake, instead of pushing forward and trying to get closer to Nick and turn his heart back towards her.

How could Marley then take advantage of that, and try to seduce Nick herself?

How could anyone?

Only a terrible person could seize an “opportunity” like that one, and that wasn’t who Marley wanted to be.

So even though it crushed her heart to watch this… she knew that this was the right way for things to go. That the two of them deserved these moments together, that her presence had disrupted and interrupted for too long.

Luckily, Marley’s torment was cut mercifully short, because at right that moment a shaken Rose walked into the Banquet Hall.

Nick noticed Rose looking uneasy. He stood up to check on her, but she rebuffed him.

“I’m… I’m fine,” Rose murmured, and went to go get food. “We’ll talk later, just… I have a lot to think about.”

“…Okay,” Nick said. He had a lot to talk about himself. And even though he wasn’t sure if this was the right time or not anymore, given how Rose seemed to feel, he couldn’t hold off any longer. So he waited for Rose to get her breakfast, and then revealed everything that had happened last night with him and Echo.