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“Hi, I’m Jared Padalecki…”

“And I’m Jensen Ackles…”

“And we’re getting married!”

They spoke in unison, grinning at the screen as the cheesy music started playing.  Highlights from the series were displayed as the announcer spoke. "From a country-wide search, we started with 100 singles.  Our proven match-making technique gave us 10 couples in a race to the altar.  With $500 000 in prizes at stake, just which couple will find true love?”

The director paused playback, and looked at his two stars.  “Well?  What do you think?”

Jared couldn’t stop grinning as he announced, “That’s awesome, man!” 

Jensen, however, sunk his head into his hands and groaned.  

Several weeks earlier…

“Welcome everybody!”  Kripke stood in front of the group, microphone in hand, and smiled at the expectant faces before him.  Under the bright lights, he smiled for the cameras.  “I’d like to thank you all for participating, and once again, congratulations on making it this far!” His words were met by the enthusiastic cheering of the thousand Texas finalists.

Jensen slumped in his seat, not quite able to believe he was here. 

“Now, you’ve done well through the pre-screening process.”  Kripke wandered back and forwards across the stage, looking intently at the stunning faces before him.  It was no coincidence that every single person there was extraordinarily good looking.  Oh, there was the token geeky looking guy or bookish girl thrown in for diversity but the majority were your typical Hollywood level of attractiveness.  It reminded Jensen exactly what he’d signed up for. 

And despite the fact that he hated being here, he had to try.  For his mother’s sake.

“So now we move on to the next stage of the process – the personality profile!”  Kripke winked at the camera.  “We’re using our patented technique assessing 29 dimensions of relationship compatibility.  From your childhood daydreams to your everyday likes and dislikes, we’re going to come up with a profile that our computer will match to the partner of your dreams… someone who might be sitting right here in this room!”

Enthusiastic applause broke out as the cameras panned back and forward.  Pasting a smile on his face, Jensen did his best to look excited.  He’d always been told he was good at acting and this was going to be the greatest challenge of his life.

He wondered, for a moment, just how stupid the viewing public was.  To find a soulmate in an auditorium full of 1000 good-looking people?  Unlikely.  Chances were, there’d be a few ‘real’ couples that came out of this show and the publicity machine would milk it for all it was worth.  But a forever marriage?  The whole ‘til death do us part’ thing?  Jensen hardly believed in that. 

Which was why he was prepared to make this sacrifice: if he did end up a finalist (and that was the reason he was here, to win), he didn’t expect it to last.  He might get lucky and end up married to a great girl.  But he wasn’t going to put any pressure on her after the show.  Jensen himself would have more than enough to think about by that time. 

“Now I want to remind you all, that you have to be absolutely honest during the profiling.  Don’t give us the answers you think will make you more easily matched.  Because if you’re matched with someone who doesn’t fit you at all, we’re going to find out….”  His voice grew softer.  “Besides, don’t you want the best possible chance to be matched with that special person who will fit you completely?!” 

“Yes!” roared most of the crowd.  Jensen was sure most of the girls here were former cheerleaders.  Perhaps even a few still were, given that the age limits for the show were 18 to 30.  He’d only just scraped in on that one. 

“Okay, onto logistics.  We’ll be running you through alphabetically.”  Of course.  Jensen was always one of the first.  “But before that, we need one more shot of you all smiling and waving.  On three… One, Two, Three!”  Jensen cheered with the rest of them, and when the girl next to him jumped to her feet and started waving, he did too.

He was here to win.

----

Hours later, Jensen still wondered if he’d done the right thing.  The quiz had been fairly straightforward, but the question over "preferred gender" had given him pause.  He was mostly straight, but he’d checked the box for “either”.  He felt a little guilty but knew it increased his chances of winning if his pool was the full complement of people rather than restricting it to only the women who’d been selected.  And he knew the producers were on the lookout for at least one gay couple. 

He slumped in his chair, wondering when the day would be over.  They’d been told to stick around for interviews, assuming the computer deemed them ‘match-able’.  A couple of other events like this had previously been held in other states and Jensen knew that the show had already picked 44 finalists for the actual show.  They didn’t have a specific number for Texas, but with 3 more cities to go, there were no guarantees.

The side-door opened and Jensen sat up.  False alarm.  He saw a stream of daylight through the door and figured there were no rules telling him that he had to stay in his numbered chair all day, and stood up.

Once outside, he breathed deeply.  The air was crisp, but with a hint of warmth on it.  Soon winter would be over and Jensen couldn’t wait.  It had been particularly hard on his mother and he knew that the arrival of the warmer months could only make things easier. He frowned for a moment, feeling guilty for being so far from home, even though it was only a few hours.  If he made it onto the show, he’d have to move to LA for the duration of the filming and that would be even further.  What if she took a turn for the worse?

Lost in thought, he barely noticed the tall guy who stumbled past him and sprawled into a nearby chair.  “I swear, I felt like I was back in school again!” 

Jensen blinked.  The guy flashed him a smile that was warm and friendly, a far cry from the fakeness he’d been exposed to all day.  “I didn’t realize this gig would involve actual work!  200 questions, what’s with that?”

Smiling in return, Jensen said, “Yeah, I know what you mean.” 

“You ever done anything like this before?”

“Never,” Jensen replied.  “I don’t even watch reality shows!”

The guy laughed, and said, “Me neither.  But I’ve got a friend who made it to Top 100 in American Idol, and she told me what to look out for.”  He gave a conspiratorial grin to Jensen.  “It comes down to this.  If you’re pretty and charismatic, you’ve got it made.”  He put his hands behind his head and leaned back with a self-satisfied smirk. “And I’ve got both of those covered!”

Typically, Jensen would’ve been totally put off by the display of arrogance, but the guy had such a laid-back manner, and yeah, as he said, charisma in spades, that Jensen was drawn to him regardless.  The guy surveyed Jensen for a moment, a shrewd look in his eyes.  “And from what I can tell, you shouldn’t have too much trouble either, dude.  That’s assuming the show can handle more than one good-looking Texas boy!”

“I’m sure they’ll choose more than one from today,” Jensen countered.  “There are hundreds of gorgeous people here!”  He gestured around the courtyard, and realized that in broad daylight, a good percentage of the girls were covered in thick layers of make-up so there was no telling what they really looked like. 

The guy grinned again, something Jensen was finding oddly calming.  “We’re not all Texans here today, my friend.  Some people will do anything to get themselves on TV, and so there are people from as far as Alabama who picked this as their audition location!”

Huh.  That made sense.

“Dude, you really have to read the fine-print if you’re gonna win this thing.”   He stood up and stretched, and Jensen again noticed the guy stood a head and shoulders taller than most of the people there.  “Look, I know we’re technically competing against each other, but let me give you some free advice.   You’ve got to play to win.”

“Oh, trust me, I am,” Jensen countered, thinking back on his earlier decisions already.  His audition video had been full of energy and smiles; he’d made sure his profile read like the perfect all-American boy, not to mention the answers he’d selected on the quiz put him in the best possible light wherever possible.  “But did you ever stop and think what happens if you win?”

The guy paused, a playful frown crossing his face. “I get on TV?”

Jensen had to laugh.  So did the other man, who continued with, “Kidding!  I know, I end up married.  But let me tell you something.”  He motioned Jensen closer, and furtively looked from side to side.  “Marriage, well, it’s a big deal to me.  It’s one of those things I always thought I’d do properly one day.”  His voice grew softer, and Jensen moved closer, intrigued.  It was rare for a complete stranger to open up to him so fast.  “You know, marry your childhood sweetheart, that kind of thing.  Where you love the person more than anything else and you just want to be with them and nothing else matters.”  He absently rubbed his ring finger and for a moment, Jensen thought he was talking from experience.  “So I don’t know if I’d actually go through with it, y’know?”

Jensen did know.  He’d read the fine print, and even if he ended up as part of the final couple on the show, he still didn’t actually have to get married.  Sure, it meant throwing away the ultimate prize money and he would be crazy to do that, but Jensen liked the fact that there was an escape clause.  “Then why are you here?” he had to ask. 

“I could ask you the same question,” the other guy countered.  “This whole shtick, it’s the sort of thing that girls love.  Any guy here is either so desperate he can’t get a date for himself, or he’s got some other motive.” 

“I think you might be right,” Jensen replied. Thank God he wasn’t the only one. 

“Just don’t let them,” he gestured back towards the auditorium, “ever hear you say that.   They’re looking for believers, man.  They’re looking for the people who will make great television.”

Pasting his biggest smile on his face, Jensen did his best cheerleader impersonation.  “Hi!  I love puppies and kittens and hope to meet a girl who will make me the happiest man in the world!”

“That’s the spirit!”  The two laughed. Suddenly there was movement from the courtyard  back towards the auditorium. 

“They’re going to announce who gets an interview!” one girl shouted, obviously excited. 

“And there goes cheerleader number 728,” the guy said as he scrambled to his feet.  “I so hope I don’t end up with one of those!”

“Good luck,” Jensen said, and shook the guy’s hand before heading back into his assigned seat.

It was only much later that he realized he’d never asked the guy his name. 

-----

Pop music played as the picture segued into the words, JENSEN ACKLES. 

"Jensen was born in Dallas, Texas and comes from a close knit family.”  There was a shot of him sitting outside with his family, morphing into him hanging with his sister, cooking for his parents, and then a montage of Jensen’s social life.  “Jensen also has quite the voice and writes songs in his spare time.”  A clip of Jensen singing filled the screen next. 

“He was one of our most-matched contestants by the computer, and it’s no surprise why.  The match rates for Jensen’s dates were 89%, 92% and 98%, one of the highest matches on the show!”  The picture changed, to one of Jensen filling out his quiz.  “But of his 3 dates, did Jensen actually hit it off with any of them?”

---

“And in 5, 4, 3, 2….” and the director pushed Jensen onto the stage, where he greeted Alison, the bubbly young host, with a hug. 

“Welcome, Jensen!” she said and gestured him towards his seat.  "Congratulations on making it this far!"

"Thanks," he replied, doing his best to project a cool and confident persona.  "It's great to be here." 

Alison continued as if she hadn't even heard him.  “We’re here today to introduce you to your three dates!”

He smiled the best he could, still uncomfortable with all of the stage lights on him.  It was ridiculously bright up on the stage and he knew this was only the first of many such segments that he, a top-100 finalist, would have to film for the show even though there was no guarantee all the clips would be used.  He didn’t envy Alison one bit, having to do the exact same introduction spiel all day with various contestants, each time making it as fresh as the first.

“How are you feeling today, Jensen?” Alison asked.

“Pretty nervous!” he said.  They’d encouraged honesty, said it made for better television.  Even if he took an instant dislike to one of his dates, they’d said to be honest about that too.  "Never thought I'd be doing something like this, but hey, here I am."

That was true.  Only about 200 people had been called back for interviews the day of the personality screening and Jensen’s interview had gone surprisingly well.  After the conversation with the guy in the courtyard, he’d felt remarkably relaxed – and good – about the whole thing.  Just knowing that there was at least one other person who wasn’t taking the ‘marriage’ part of the show seriously made him feel so much better. 

“Well, according to our computer, you are one of the most desirable candidates!” Alison said, reading from the auto-cue in front of her.  “So let’s get those introductions under way.”

She looked off-set to the director.  Jensen knew that in the studio next door, another finalist was being prepped for her meeting with Jensen.  Later the whole thing would be spliced together to become seamless but for now, there’d be a lot of breaks in the action.  Jensen didn’t really mind.  It gave him another moment to collect himself, to prepare to be charming and genuine and sweep his dates off their feet.

“Okay, Jensen, if you can stand behind this door.”  OF course it had to be over-the-top: a big cardboard door that he got to stand one side of, and then open, to witness one of the dates-of-his-dreams. 

“And…we’re good to go!”  The cameras rolled closer as Jensen reached out and opened the door, smiling hugely.

“Hello!”  The girl was blonde, his height, and no surprise, looked like a cheerleader.  She even bounded into his arms and gave him a huge squeeze, pressing her breasts up against him.  “I’m Kristen!”   She wiggled, giving that extra contact, and yes, some of the contestants were obviously pulling out all stops from day one. 

“Jensen,” he replied, gently pushing her away from him so that he could look into her eyes, “and I’m very pleased to meet you.” 

The second meeting went much the same as the first, only this girl was a gorgeous brunette.  After she’d left the stage, Jensen looked to Alison and quipped, “What, no kooky dates for me?”  The people he’d talked to backstage, who’d already been matched, had warned him that every so often, there was a match that had been set up purely for entertainment value.  One girl was in tears over being matched with what she called, “The biggest freak I have ever seen in my life!”  Jensen could only guess what the guy looked like.

Alison smiled at Jensen, and there was a hint of mischief in her eyes.  “You never know, Jensen!  Just remember that we’re not the ones who chose the matches, you did with the answers you gave!” 

Okay, now he was worried.  Cheerleaders he could handle, although he’d been kinda hoping for a girl with a bit of depth as well.  Someone he could talk to. 

He took a deep breath, and opened the door.

Shock crossed Jensen’s features, shock which was totally reflected in the face of the person who stood on the other side of the door.  The very tall person.  The very male person.  The very good-looking male person that Jensen had already met on the first day.

He swallowed.  Yes, he’d ticked that he didn’t mind dating guys, but he didn’t think he’d actually be matched with one.  Ever since Jensen had got the news he’d been selected, he’d been positive that he’d be matched with girls.  After all, the finalists were an even split, 50 men, 50 women.  The idea of dating a guy had been pushed to the back of his mind.  And suddenly, here it was, on national television, and guess what?  Jensen was coming out to his family and friends in a whole new way. 

It was the other guy who recovered his voice first, after they’d spent about ten seconds staring at each other and in Jensen’s case, inwardly panicking. 

“Hi,” and his smile lit up the stage.  “I’m Jared.”  He held out his hand, no hugging here, and Jensen was very glad for the handshake.

“Jensen,” he replied, noticing how huge the guy – Jared-‘s hands were.  “Um… it’s nice to meet you.”

“You too!” he replied, and added, “Man, I was waiting for them to spring this on me.” 

“Spring what?” Jensen managed, momentarily forgetting that the cameras were still rolling.

“Well, my first two matches were girls, so I figured the third one had to be a guy.  Keeps things interesting, you know?”  Jared touched him, lightly, on the shoulder and suddenly Jensen knew that things would be okay. 

---

The rules were strict: no interaction with dates unless it was on-camera, and there were no cameras around after-hours until the twenty finalists had been selected.  Jensen reflected that it could have been worse, he could have auditioned for Big Brother but he knew that would have really driven him out of his tree.

His dates were all scheduled for tomorrow,

He was terrified.

He’d have half an hour with each date and based on that, he had to choose one of them.  Based on that, he’d have to choose the person he would marry.  And given that he never really pictured himself marrying a guy (nothing against Jared, the guy seemed pretty cool), that meant he was left with two options.  Kristen or… oh shit, he’d forgotten her name.  Candy?  Cindy? 

He pulled out the folder of bios he’d been given, realizing it was time to sit down and read.  He’d avoided doing that so far, knowing that information made it more real.  At the moment, they were still abstract personalities, pretty girls who’d entered a competition.  He couldn’t even remember if he’d felt a thrill at meeting them.  And he highly doubted that the matching program had been all that accurate.  Okay, he liked a pretty girl as much as the next guy, but seriously, he wasn’t the bubbliest person in the universe and it seemed crazy to foist what seemed three hyperactive matches on him. 

This show was gonna kill him.

The first bio – Kristen’s – read exactly as he’d expected it.  Born in Detroit, she moved to Hollywood several years ago and was currently working as a personal trainer.  She listed her personal interests as singing  - okay, that was obviously one thing they matched on -, keeping fit and “enjoying the LA lifestyle”, something Jensen suspected was a euphemism for attending countless auditions in the hopes of making it big, just like every second person who lived in the city.

Kandyse’s background was a bit more interesting, as she’d been born in South Africa and moved around a lot, but other than a love for travel there was nothing particularly illuminating about her in the biography.  That just left Jared, and it didn’t take Jensen long to realize that not only was the guy full of energy in person, but his (extremely long) list of favourite activities left him breathless. Not to mention the photo of Jared covered with two dogs – his personality just jumped off the page.  It was a shame, because of the three bios, Jared’s was the one he most resonated with.  It made sense, with their similar backgrounds, that they’d have a lot of shared interests.  Again, it was obvious why Jensen had been matched with him. 

He sighed and looked at the clock.  It wasn’t late, but he’d only been in LA a few days and life was so much faster paced compared to home.  And the schedule was full-on, obviously; the show needed to weed out people as fast as possible. 

Jensen felt the low vibration of his cell phone.  Who could be calling him at this hour?  Maybe his sister, although she KNEW he wasn’t allowed to spill anything at all about what was going on.  The confidentiality agreement had run for pages and that was just one part of the contract Jensen had signed. 

He picked up his phone and frowned.  Unknown number.  “Hello?”

“Hey, is that Jensen?”  The voice was vaguely familiar.

“Speaking,” he replied. “Who is this?”

“Hey, it’s Jared.  Jared Padalecki.”  Oh, so that was how you pronounced it.  “From the show.  Look, I hope you don’t mind me calling, but…”

“Hang on a second,” Jensen interjected, “You’re not even supposed to be talking to me before our date!”

Jared laughed, saying, “Dude, we already know each other.  I thought I should call so we can sort out our game-plan before the cameras are on us tomorrow.”

“Game-plan?”  Jensen wasn’t quite with it yet.  “And besides, how did you even get this number?”

“Google, my friend.” 

“What?  I’m sure my number’s not on Google!”

“No,” Jared replied, sounding delighted, “but your bio says that you sometimes sing at a bar called “Sandros”, and there’s only one of those in Dallas. It didn’t take much to convince the owner that I’d seen one of your gigs and wanted to book you for a show.” 

Jared was quite the detective, it seemed.  “I’m assuming you’re a good singer, otherwise I just embarrassed myself royally to get your phone number!”

“Oh, I’m good,” Jensen assured him, “Probably better than anything you’ve seen, growing up in the back of nowhere!”

And just like that, they were off, joking around like they’d known each other forever.  And in some ways, they had, because Jared was just like his buddies from home. Here in LA, where so many of the people seemed like a different species entirely, it was good to have someone normal to talk to.

“So anyway,” Jared interrupted, twenty minutes later, “how are we gonna play this tomorrow?  I’ve been talking to a few people who’ve already done their dates,” –of course he had- “and apparently a lot of people are going straight for the romance.  You know, the whole, ‘you are the most gorgeous person I’ve ever seen’ stuff – not that I don’t think you’re attractive, Jensen, I do, but if we sit there and simper at each other, well, are either of us gonna have a good time?”

Jensen was still stuck on the attractive compliment.  Okay, he liked hearing Jared say he was attractive.  That was … unexpected. 

“You still there, Jensen?”

“Oh, yeah.  Sorry, just thinking.”  And now that Jared had him thinking about the dates again, he was worried.  How would he play it?

“About how you’re going to throw yourself into my arms the next time you see me?”

“Oh baby, you have no idea what you’re in for,” he shot back, totally deadpan.  Jared’s laughs on the other end of the line warmed him inside.

When he calmed himself down, Jared said, “Or we could do that!”

“What, the over-the-top gay couple?”

“Sugar, I can’t wait til I can take you shopping back home and introduce you to my pets!”

“Pets?”  Jensen grinned to himself.  “I’ve got quite the tiger I’d like you to meet!”  The minute he said that, he paused.  He couldn’t believe the words had just come out of his mouth, him. Jensen Ackles was the straight man in any conversation, but there was something about the force of nature that was Jared Padalecki that was dragging him into a whole new realm of gutter-talk.

“Oh god, can you imagine their faces if we say that on camera tomorrow?!”

Jensen could, and that was enough to stop him cold.  “Jared, as much as I’d love to do that, I don’t think we’d have a chance in hell of making it through to the next round if we piss them off.” 

“You’re right,” Jared said soberly.  “And I know I said I’m not really here to win, but it’d be nice to go all the way, you know?  Enjoy the ride, have a blast, be in the studio, all that great stuff.”

“Mmmm.”  He tried to sound as non-committal as he could. 

“I’ll be honest with you, Jenny – can I call you Jenny? – No wait, that’s too girly,” and now Jensen was smiling again, the banter easily restored, “the real reason I’m here is to break into acting.  I know, it’s a cheap shortcut, but I was going nowhere back home.  And then I heard about this show and it seemed like something fun to do.”  He paused.  “I needed something fun.”

“I hear you,” Jensen replied, not quite ready to probe deeper, but knowing that Jared would probably share the rest of it with him in time.  “I needed something fun too.”

“So here we are, in LA!”  And just like that, the excitement was back.  “What do you say we go out on the town tomorrow night?   After the dates we’ve got two days until call-backs.”

Looking at the clock, and reflecting again how surreal the whole thing was, Jensen agreed.  He’d signed up to win, but maybe he could have some fun along the way, and really, what was so wrong with that?  “Hey Jared, I should get some sleep, but we still haven’t decided how to handle our date tomorrow.” 

“Oh yeah, but you know, Jensen, I’m not so worried about that any more.  We should just hang.  Chill.  Have a good time and let the rest take care of itself.”

Jensen found himself nodding, realizing that they’d already been on the phone for longer than half an hour so the date should be no trouble at all, even if there were cameras filming their every move.  “Do we let on that we met each other at the auditions?”

“Nah, I think we should surprise ‘em with how well we hit it off with our first meeting.  After all, that’s the stuff that great television is made of, right?”

“You really do want to make it big in Hollywood, don’t you,” smiled Jensen.  “Okay, I can do that.  No stupid romance, no over the top acting, just nice and natural.”

“Deal.”

----

“And…welcome back to “Marry Me!”  The music blared as Alison smiled into the cameras.  “We have another ten contestants with us in our studio today!  As you know, we sent each person on three dates with the people that our patented matching system set them up with.  Today, one by one, they get to make their choice.  And if their partners choose them back, we know we have a perfect couple!”

A montage of images flashed across the screen as Alison continued, “Jensen Ackles.  One of our two Texan boys, he’s made many of the hearts here all a-flutter!  His first date was with Kristen, and I’m going to show you a little excerpt of that right now.”

Kristen, breasts on show to the whole world, leaned provocatively across the table and fed a spoon of ice-cream from her sundae into Jensen’s mouth.  She winked at the camera, and the point of view changed to show Jensen looking decidedly embarrassed (and also in the direction of Kristen’s ample cleavage).

“Jensen’s second date was Kandyse.”  This footage showed a more relaxed Jensen, and a smiling Kandyse, and much eye-contact as they chatted.  “And finally, we sent Jensen out with the irrepressible Jared.”  The clip was of the two of them laughing over the mountain Jared had managed to construct out of two coffee cups, assorted sugar packets, and a leaning tower of straws. 

“Three great dates.  Three awesome people.  Just who will Jensen choose?”

---

Backstage, Jensen was pacing and trying not to be ill.  Last night Jared had dragged him out yet again and they’d hit a few too many bars.  Jensen couldn’t even remember how he’d gotten back to his hotel room.  And now, he was paying for it.

The make-up girls had been extremely upset with him when he’d dragged himself into the set that morning.  “You’re lucky you’re pretty,” one of them chided him, “because if you weren’t, not even make-up could help you now!”

He glanced at himself in the mirror, glad to see that he didn’t look as bad as he felt.  Today wasn’t going to be so hard, was it?  All he had to do was make a choice.  And then hope that the choice got him through to the finals. 

Jared, being far better plugged in to gossip than he was, said he had nothing to worry about as long as he could sell the romance angle.  “You’re hot, you’ve got a great personality, and you had three great dates.  What could possibly go wrong?”  According to Jared’s sources, at least two contestants had quit due to their matches, and several other couples had barely managed a conversation.  “And there was one guy who serenaded every date he had, and he couldn’t even carry a tune!”

That’d made Jensen feel slightly better, but he still didn’t like the idea of having to choose his future life-partner from the three.  If he won, he was choosing someone For Life.  It freaked him the hell out.  And when he tried to ask Jared about it, wondering who he should pick, Jared had gone strangely silent.

“I can’t help you with that one, man.  I’ve got to make my own decision too.”

“Yeah, but-“

“If they knew we tried to rig things beforehand, we’d be busted off the show so fast we wouldn’t even get to say goodbye!”

So here Jensen was, in the green room, ready to head out and announce his decision, when he still didn’t even know himself which one he’d choose.

He was ushered onstage, into the chair opposite Alison’s.  “Hello, Jensen!”

She was always so perky. “Hi Alison.” 

“Now Jensen, you’re the first to come through so we haven’t yet got the answers from your three dates. However, we can’t wait to hear your number one choice, to see if he or she will also choose you.”  Behind their chairs was a green screen and Jensen knew it’d be used to display the photos of Kristen, Kandyse and Jared once the show was put together.  “But first, if you could give us a few words about each of your dates?”

He’d prepared for this part, so it wasn’t too difficult.  Jensen made sure to say nice things about all three of them, because he knew they’d get to see the footage one day. 

“Aw, those are some very cute stories there Jensen!  And I’m sure I heard more than a bit of interest there….?”

Jensen sat back and gave her a coy smile, even though he was panicking on the inside.  “Yeah, there may have been a bit of interest!”

“So Jensen, it’s the moment of truth.  It looked like you and Kristen had some great physical chemistry there.  And with Kandyse, a great conversation.  Jared turned you into a joker, so the question is… which one of them would you marry?”

He looked at the cameras.  The choices whirled through his head. Kristen, well, that was the kind of girl who’d help him win.  She’d sex up the show, she was hot, and he was sure she’d be great in bed.  But what if he had to marry her?  Would they even last a month?

And then, although he almost hated himself for being so calculating about the whole thing when the show was about romance, he had to consider what she’d do to his chances. Yes, they’d look good together. They matched and he could picture them blowing away the competition by singing a duet or two. But would there be any more than that? He’d seen some of the other couples: there was one pair who you just had to look at to see their smokin’, natural attraction. Blair and someone, they were a shoe in.

He and Kristen just couldn’t match that. Even if she was cute and bubbly. 

Kandyse, on the other hand, had showed surprising depth.  There wasn’t any chemistry there, which was disappointing, but she was exactly the kind of beautiful girl that Jensen would be proud to take home to his parents.  She was the sensible choice.  And hey, maybe they would grow chemistry in time. But to win? They’d be the ‘nice’ couple and in the world of television, nice was synonymous with boring. No one ever noticed, or voted for, the ‘nice guys’. They’d be out by week two. 

And then there was Jared.  Irrepressible, irreverent Jared who’d broken so many of the rules already, mostly just to ensure that he, Jensen, had a good time.  And yes, Jared was hot.  There were sparks, at least on Jensen’s side, even if neither of them had actually said anything.  (For that matter, Jensen didn’t even know if Jared was actually gay; he might have done the same thing as Jensen and chosen ‘bi’ for the sake of increasing his match potential.) 

He smiled to himself as he thought of just how much fun they’d had on their fake date. It hadn’t taken long for Jared to help him completely forget the cameras, launching into some insane (and very likely exaggerated) story of a prank he’d played on his friend Chad. Jensen had laughed harder than he had in ages (and he was sure that anyone watching that footage would too). And then there was the dare, to build a tower of swizzle sticks and the final results even had the wait-staff giggling. 

Jared had it all. Good looks, charisma, and that star quality. It wasn’t even a question that a million teenage girls would vote for him on the basis of that alone, regardless of who his partner was. 

The choice was obvious.  Jensen didn’t let himself think about it a second longer.  And although he knew that his chances of actually winning the final marriage round would drop to almost zero, damn, they would make for some good TV.  And hopefully pick up most of the interim prize money on the way. 

“I choose Jared Padalecki.”

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“Welcome to tonight’s show, where, at long last, we announce the Top Ten Couples!   These are the couples that both chose each other after their dates AND had the most sizzle when we saw them together.” 

“You all remember when Kiralee and Julian first set eyes on each other.  We thought the building was going to catch on fire, with the number of sparks between those two!”  The picture flashed to the couple in a passionate kiss that seemed to go on and on.  “And then we have the couple that surprised everyone.  We all saw the fun that Jared and Jensen had together, but who knew that their bromance was actually a romance-in-the-making?”

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“You picked me!”

“Dude, you picked ME!”  Jared had a way of turning it around that was both cute and hilarious.  He raced forward and picked Jensen up in a huge bear hug, whirling him around.  “And we made it through!  This is so, so awesome.”

His face buried in Jared’s shoulder, Jensen managed a muffled, “I know!”

There were cheers and continued applause around them, and Jared reluctantly put the shorter man down.  “Thank you, thank you,” he said, holding up one hand and slinging the other arm around Jensen.  “I can’t tell you all how great it is to be here today….”

“Thank you, Jared and Jensen!” interrupted Alison and directed them to their seats with the other lucky couples.  “And now, the next winners are….”


“I totally thought you’d pick Kandyse,” Jared whispered, hoping the mikes couldn’t pick them up.  “That’s why I couldn’t tell you I was picking you, I didn’t want to ruin your chances.”

“Jared,” and Jensen gave him a smile, a real one, no more pretending now.  “You are my best chance.”

And with Jared’s blinding grin staring at him, Jensen knew it was true.

There was a party that night with all of the finalists – and the cameras, of course, to follow the progress of the burgeoning relationships.  Looking around the dance floor, Jensen could tell already that one or two of the relationships were about sex and not a lot more.  But that was okay, it meant less competition for him because they couldn’t show that on television!

Some of the other couples, however, looked true and honest.  And now that he’d been surrounded by the mayhem for a couple of weeks, Jensen started to understand how it might actually happen.  Thousands of applicants from around the country whittled down to the most ‘matchable’, and actually choosing each other, well, of course some had to hit it off.

Like him and Jared.  There was no question there’d been something there the very first day, an easy camaraderie that Jensen had never experienced so soon.  Sure, he had great friends, but it usually took a long time for him to trust people.  With Jared, it had been so easy. 

The music changed to something much faster and Jensen found himself tapping his foot.  Jared reached over, took the beer out of Jensen’s hand and pulled him to his feet.  “Let’s dance.”

No questions, just an assumption that he would, and despite his natural inclination to protest, Jensen found himself on the dance floor, swaying opposite Jared and hoping he wasn’t looking like an loser.  He really wasn’t one for techno.

He had to laugh, however, when he saw Jared’s attempts at dance.  The guy was too tall to even attempt looking graceful, and while he may have had rhythm, he certainly wasn't carrying it off.  “Isn’t this great?”

The last time Jensen’d seen Jared dancing was in a club a couple of nights ago, and that had been another fast-paced song, but with a girl plastered to him.  Okay, Jared hadn’t looked too comfortable about the whole thing, but even so, he’d danced better with someone than alone.

Uh oh.  Jensen wondered if Jared knew that.  He lifted his eyes to Jared’s face and saw the dangerous glint in them.  It was all of three seconds before his arms snaked out and pulled Jensen close, grinding their hips together for a moment.

The music was too loud for conversation and Jensen didn’t know what he would’ve said anyway.  That he wasn’t comfortable dancing so close?  He’d just chosen Jared as his potential husband, he had to get used to the idea of closeness!  As things progressed, surely there would be kissing, at least.  And when better to start practicing than now?

He pressed his body closer to Jared’s, feeling the long, lean warmth up against him.  Yeah.  He could go with that.  It felt good.  And it wasn’t so hard to dance now it was the two of them, he just let Jared do all the shaking and then carried the movement, so it became a lot more fluid.  He snuck his arms around Jared’s waist, and pulled their hips back together.  Oh yeah.

They ground together, and it wasn’t something Jensen ever thought about doing before, but it felt good.  Along with the alcoholic buzz, Jensen forgot that he’d never been one for experimentation, forgot that for all intents and purposes, he was barely supposed to know Jared yet, and just concentrated on the feeling.  It was good. And Jared was leaning down, his mouth coming closer…..

“Dude, they’re staring at us.”

The moment was broken.  “Oh really?”

As Jensen looked around, he realized that it was true.  Every woman in the room, and quite a few of the men, were staring at them as if they were the hottest thing that had ever walked on the face of the planet.  He could even see Kripke there, rubbing his hands together and saying something like, “Our ratings are going to go through the roof!”

Jared traced a line of sweat down Jensen’s neck, and he shivered.

“Do we make good television or what?” he whispered in Jensen’s ear.  “Just keep dancing close.  We’ll win this thing yet.”

And just like that, the moment was gone and they were back to acting.  Like they should have been from the start, given that it was what Jared wanted.  What Jensen wanted. For a moment, Jensen had forgotten, had thought that Jared really did want to marry him.

But no, he wanted a buddy to keep him sane throughout the show, until he got his fame and would then ride the train as far as possible.

And, Jensen told himself, he needed to win as much of the prize money as he could.  His mother’s life depended on it.


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End