Chapter Text
Previously on "Marry Me...."
We scoured the country for that one elusive thing that everyone dreams of... love. From thousands of applications to hundreds of matches generated by our patented Marry Me! matching system, we came up with our finalists. Each person got sent on three dates, and from that, they had to choose their future husband or wife.
Sparks flew when Julian and Kiralee met for the first time. Whereas poor Harry didn't know where to look...on any of his dates! Can he overcome his chronic shyness? Our two Texan boys, Jared and Jensen, seem to have won a few hearts already. But will they win the hearts of each other?
Stay tuned for tonight's episode of Marry Me!"
---
"Welcome to the house, couples! Your first challenge today is to sort out living arrangements." Gretchen smiled saucily at the camera. "Now, unfortunately we have to lay down a few ground rules." She pointed out the cameras that captured all of the communal areas. "You're not going to be spending that much time here, but if anything special happens between you and your partner 'after hours', so to speak, rest assured that we will be capturing it on camera."
Ugh. Jensen knew that was the point of the game, to show a romance developing start to finish, but it was a little creepy, wasn't it? Filming their every move?
"Rest assured there are no cameras in the bathrooms, and if you find you're having an intimate bedroom encounter, my advice would be to turn out the lights." She went on to explain that they would not air any nudity or sex, but what Jensen gathered from the carefully worded instructions was that if they chose to have sex in the house, they risked it getting leaked. At the very least, some poor intern would have to review the footage.
He glanced at Jared, but Jared's face was impassive. What was he thinking? What was Jensen thinking? The idea of sex, real, actual sex - as part of a tv show - was something he hadn't really considered. Up until now, it had been an abstract concept. But now, there was a living, breathing person in front of him with whom it was a theoretical possibility.
Or a practical one. Just how far did they want to go to try and win this competition?
Jensen tried to picture himself kissing Jared. They'd come close, and he flushed, thinking of the moment on the dance floor. Yeah, Jared was very attractive. Even if he wasn't at all who he'd expected when he signed up for the show.
"We have twelve couples here. One half of each couple will live on the East Side, the other person on the West. You'll meet in the communal areas - dining, living room, rec room. But it's up to you to choose your roommates."
That was both good and bad. Bad, because Jensen barely knew anyone else here. (He'd had a maybe 10-second conversation with a woman called Dell.) Good, because the idea of living with Jared while dating him seemed a bit too intense.
Gretchen did a quick head count to ensure no one had snuck off to check out the rest of the house. "If you don't like your roommate, that's bad luck, so choose carefully. Now, I want you to all line up in two lines, facing your partner."
Watching the couples was pretty entertaining. There were two guys who seemed pretty tight already - maybe they'd met at auditions? - who ensured they were standing on the same side, opposite a stunning redhead and a gorgeous blonde. Actually, he realised, almost everyone in the room met Hollywood standards of attractiveness. For once, Jensen felt like he didn't stand out.
"Okay, teams, now we're split down the middle. West side, East Side, go!" He watched as the two buddies grabbed each other and bolted up the stairs, obviously looking for the best room. A tough-looking blonde girl tugged on Jared's arm; Jensen reflected he'd seen them laughing together earlier. He turned to check out his own roommate options - and discovered that half were gone already.
This meant that by the time Jensen made it up the stairs, the only remaining beds were in the four-person dorms. Great, just great. He would've preferred a little more privacy than this! A pale girl with a British accent stood outside the doors. "Right, we should arrange this by gender," she announced. "Boys in the left dorm, girls on the right."
Jensen shrugged. That was fine with him.
"Who died and made you queen?" asked a tough-looking blonde, Kate, he thought her name was.
"I spent years in Boarding School in England," the girl replied. "Trust me, it's far easier this way, even if we are all supposed to be adults!"
Glancing around at the group, Jensen wasn't sure that was true. In addition to the British girl, there was another girl who looked ... decidedly young. As for the guys - he wondered if he could actually be friends with any of them? They were the competition.
Kate gave the girl a black look as they filed into the dorm. Jensen lifted his eyebrows at the other guys and they casually wandered into the other room, pretending he didn't care where he slept, but a bit of privacy would be nice. He, thankfully, ended up with a bed next to the wall as Julian gallantly offered to take one of the middle bunks. His other roommates flipped for it - Lee in the corner, Xander in the middle.
"You know, guys, this is good. That way I can keep an eye on the door."
"An eye on the door?"
"You know, just in case something comes through it."
Right on cue, Jack stumbled into the room. "I'm not sure if I'd call meself 'something', mates, but I'm wonderin' if you've got room for one more?" Apparently his roommate had kicked him out already. "Said he didn't like the way I smelled, then threatened to shoot me with an arrow."
He lifted one arm, sniffed under his armpit. "Smells fine to me!"
And with that, he plopped the mattress he'd been dragging with him onto the floor, and settled down.
Cynically, Jensen wondered if this little bit of interaction would make it on air as well.
---
"There's gotta be a catch here. Right?" Jared flicked through the stack of folders in mock-frustration. "But I just don't see it."
It was just the two of them (and a cameraman) in a tiny room. Jensen was getting to the point where he didn't even notice the crew so much any more. (The cameras, however, were another story.)
"Well, there's a reason this isn't actually a challenge. Pick a wedding planner. How hard can it be?"
This was the first actual wedding related activity they'd been assigned. The "getting to know you" activities were still ongoing, but apparently they needed to pick a wedding planner early so that the studio could get the appropriate contracts in place. They'd been given a list of almost all the wedding planners in LA who were, truth be told, frequently out-of-work actors filling in time. That meant they were more than willing to offer their services for a minimal fee in return for television exposure.
As a result, almost every dossier was exactly the same. Glossy, generic, with a lengthy list of all of all the weddings the planner had overseen.
"I think their intention is to drive us insane with boredom." Jared couldn't sit down, he was bouncing from wall to wall. His energy was one of the things Jensen liked about him, but occasionally, it drove him to distraction. Especially when they were supposed to be focussing.
"Put us in a locked room together and see what happens?" Jensen joked.
"Haha, very funny." Then he froze. "You know, Kate and Derek were in here before us. I bet they had sex on that desk."
Jensen pushed his chair back in disgust. "Thank you for that, Jared. That's exactly the sort of image I wanted to have in mind while I am sitting here trying to choose a wedding planner! Oh, and did I happen to mention that it was for our wedding?" He didn't want to get mad, but apparently Jared's frustration was rubbing off on him.
"Hey, hey, I'm sorry." Jared came up behind him, laid his hands on his shoulders. "It's just weird, you know. I haven't even proposed yet and we're already doing this stuff?" His hands started a gentle massage; it was the first time he'd done this, but it worked. Again, the thought struck Jensen that they really were well matched because intuitively, Jared knew just what to do.
Feeling calmer, he replayed Jared's last words in his head. "Hang on a moment, who says that you get to propose? What if I want to do it?"
"I'm taller!" was Jared's response.
"Taller? That's your sole justification for making me the chick in this relationship?"
The moment he said it, even in jest, Jensen wished he could take it back. But thankfully, Jared had decided to run with the joke. "Taller, smarter, better looking... let's face it, Jen, the cameras love me, and I bet you will cry oh-so-beautifully when I get down on one knee in front of you." He slapped Jensen's shoulders, the brief moment of tenderness long gone.
"Oh, you want me to cry, huh?" He spun to face Jared. "Well, you're gonna make me cry if you don't help me pick a wedding planner so we can get out of here!"
Heaving a theatrical sigh, Jared picked up the closest three folders. He paused on the second one. "Hey, this woman sounds funny. She's been in politics, she made her own wedding dress, and, oh, she runs a charity." He held up the front page for Jensen to see - there was a grainy black and white photo of a smiling couple. Underneath was a picture of a freaky looking carved pumpkin. "The greatest wedding planner in the world!" said the logo.
"Give me that." Jensen scanned the file - in no way was this woman an expert wedding planner, given that her resume listed all kinds of random acts. But maybe that was what they wanted. He looked at the photo more closely - okay, she wore too much make-up and her husband looked decidedly feminine - maybe she was. That would make for interesting television, right? One thing that did stand out from the resume was that she was obviously very intelligent.
Given that she was married, that made her much less likely to hit on either of them and cause unnecessary drama. (So the show had made him cynical already. So sue him.)
He glanced at the stack of folders one last time, knowing they were full of generic resumes with different faces.
"Hell, it's not like doing the unsafe thing has backfired on us yet." Jensen looked meaningfully at Jared. "So we pick someone fun?"
"Done." Jared high-fived him, and grabbed the file back. He turned his mega-watt smile to the camera (even now, that smile caused Jensen to go a little weak at the knees) and held up the dossier. "We choose the fabulous Misha Collins!"
---
"Welcome back, viewers! Now, I'm sure you all remember the story of Derek and Stiles. Best friends who grew up in the same small town, who both seemed to have endless dating disasters." A cut to Derek, dancing awkwardly with a girl, and Stiles watching him from across the room, shaking his head.
"I just don't know what we're doing wrong," Stiles explained. "I mean, me, I can understand, I'm kind of a spaz sometimes. But Derek? Look at him! Just look at him!" The camera did, panning up his body as he took his shirt off. There was even a cheesy drumbeat to match.
The scene cut to Derek, who looked pretty uncomfortable. "Yeah, it was Stiles' idea."
"And what did you think of the whole thing?"
He stared at the camera for a while. "Sounded like fun."
Stiles jumped into the shot, picking up the rest of the story. "We were in my room one night, researching, um, things, and the ad for this show popped up. I guess you could say that we dared each other to do it, and I never thought we'd make it through the auditions, much less onto the actual show. And have you seen some of the women here? Man, I should've done this years ago!"
"You weren't legal years ago," Derek cut in, a hint of a smile (the first the viewing audience had seen) on his face. "You weren't even legal until last month."
"Well, I am now. Look out, ladies of LA. Stiles Stilinski is coming to town!"
"Please welcome to the stage...Stiles!"
The crowd applauded - it was one of the more subdued reactions, but that was just because they didn't know him yet.
"We sent you on three dates, Stiles. Do you want to tell us what you thought of them?"
"Okay, firstly, all of the women here are absolutely stunning. Seriously incredible. I could've been happy with anyone! But there was one lady in particular who captured my heart from the moment I saw her face. She was a vision of beauty, perfection in human form, an angel who's come down from heaven to greet me...."
Gretchen eventually had to cut him off. "Well, Stiles, now is your chance to see who your match is. Come on down and open the door!"
The look on his face was priceless. "Lydia!" He dropped to his knees and kissed her feet.
In the meantime, Lydia was fuming. "What the hell?" she almost screeched. "I didn't pick him! I chose Jackson!"
The screens behind the stage showed Lydia debating between boxes A, B and C, finally settling on C.
"Are you sure about that, Lydia?" Gretchen joked. "I think your subconscious picked Stiles instead. After all, the computer gave you two an 89 percent match on intelligence!"
Stiles, in the meantime, had picked himself up off the ground and was now trying to hold Lydia's hand. Lydia was having none of it.
"Well, it seems like this couple is going to be very entertaining to watch. Will Lydia admit to herself that she did choose Stiles?"
"I did not!"
"Will Stiles be able to win her over with his unique charm?"
For once he seemed lost for words.
"Will this be the surprise couple that makes it all the way to the altar and into wedded bliss?"
---
Jared could not stop laughing as they watched the playback. Of all of the introduction sequences, it had to have been one of the best. The entire room was laughing, even Lydia herself. "I know, I know, not my best moment," she said, not having to say what the rest of them were thinking - that she'd ensured she and Stiles were memorable from the start. And to get the votes of the viewing public, you had to stand out.
However, she was seated far from Stiles and obviously hadn't warmed to him yet.
Stiles was actually looking a little lost - in a house full of big personalities, he hadn't quite found his niche yet. Jensen totally understood how he felt. Even Stiles' BFF Derek seemed distant, well, to be honest, he was twined together on the sofa with his match. (It was obvious they were sleeping together already - Kate didn't seem like the type of girl who would wait around. And if Jensen were totally honest with himself, who wouldn't want to hit that?
Not that he was looking.)
But seriously, a house full of attractive people, tension high in the air, and every moment of their day job focussed on creating romance? If they got through to the end of the show without any more hook-ups he would be extremely surprised.
Like Jared and his roommate. Jensen frowned. Kara seemed like a really cool girl - tough, but funny, just like Jared. She loved to hang back and kick it with the guys and already had a reputation in the house as a pool shark. Jensen really liked her.
"Hey! Ackles!" She'd noticed him staring. "Stop mooning over your boy!"
"Mooning? I'm not mooning. I'm just...appreciating his aesthetic." Since Kara and Jared were wedged into a loveseat together, she'd thankfully assumed he was looking at Jared, who preened at the compliment.
"What can I say, I'm pretty irresistable!" And it was true, after seeing Jared on his other two dates beside Jensen, it had been obvious that Jared could pull who ever he wanted.
"Better watch out, Jensen, who knows what's going on behind locked doors!"
He resolutely ignored the bitchy comment. He hoped Blair got kicked off the show soon. Tomorrow they were back to the challenges, which meant they were another day closer to the first couple being eliminated. So far, Jared and Jensen had been kicking ass.
He had no fears about being in the bottom three, but apart from that first night of dancing, they hadn't exactly been romantic. Once the numbers of competitors started dropping, they'd have to be able to sell the romance to get the votes. But they had been so busy, with challenges and required tv viewing of the episodes and even the drama of queueing for a shower in a house full of twenty-four people (and several cameramen from time to time).
At least everyone was in the same situation.
The episode screening continued, continuing to show everyone meeting their matches. At least now he was starting to remember everyone's name. Even if there were three red-haired women in the house. Jensen winced as he watched his own dates - deciding he really needed to work on his stage presence for the dramatic stage interview - and found he was very curious to see Jared's other two matches. One was a tiny dark-haired girl, and Jared actually winced when he saw her. (Jensen would have to ask him about the story behind that later.)
The other match? Was Kara. Jared's roommate.
Jensen watched the rest in mild shock, as the show finished on the decidedly soppy first meeting of John and Dell. The episode screening was over, which meant they were finally free to leave. All Jensen wanted to do was get some sleep but maybe the time could be better invested chatting to Jared.
Or not.
Kara was already dragging Jared to the kitchen for beer, and it seemed that party night was every night here in the "Marry Me" house. Someone turned up the music and a redhead was pushing aside the couches to make space for a dancefloor. Jensen wasn't particularly in the mood for dancing, but he knew that Jack would already be passed out in the dorm, snoring loudly enough to wake the dead. ("Funny you should mention that," Jack had said when Blair accused him of the same thing one morning, and then launched into yet another ludicrous tale that they found hard to believe. Then again, Jack thought he was a pirate. Enough said.)
He wandered into the kitchen, figuring that it would get him away from the inevitable requests to dance. Kara and Jared were still there, intently talking. He froze, not wanting to intrude, and watched Kara laughingly punch him in the shoulder with an easy familiarity.
"I love you, Jay, I really do," she said.
Then the two of them looked up to see Jensen there, and all three of them instantly knew that this moment - and the horrified look on Jensen's face - would be broadcast to the world.
"Not like that!" Kara covered, but it was too late. "Like a bro."
"Even though we got matched?" Jared had to bring it up. It was the elephant in the room, considering the footage they'd just seen of Kara and Jared on an introductory date together. Given that Kara and Jared had been roommates from day 1, Jensen couldn't help but wonder why neither of them had thought to mention this before. Okay, maybe not everyone needed to know, but Jared could've told him privately, right?
"So I'm guessing your date was worse than what they showed, right?" Jensen tried to make light of the conversation.
"Nah, it was awesome." They clinked their beers together. "But we just didn't feel that... thing."
"Yeah, that thing," Jared quickly added, but his eyes showed the lie.
"Whatever," Jensen said, now getting pissed off. "Anyway, you guys have fun tonight. I'm gonna hit the sack."
Kara frowned, and Jared looked pained. "Jen, wait. I didn't - I mean...." Frustrated, he ran his hand through his hair. "I just didn't think it mattered, you know? And then the longer we kept it a secret, the worse it seemed.
"I just didn't know how to bring it up, and then it was weeks ago so, well...." He shrugged. "Trust me, you have nothing to worry about."
By this point, not only was Kara intruding on what should have been a private conversation, but they had a couple of other spectators too.
"It's okay, I get it." Jensen managed a smile. There was no sense in letting the other competitors thinking there was trouble in paradise even before things had truly begun.
"Jensen." He finally left Kara, walked to him and placed his hands on Jensen's shoulders. "We're okay, right?"
How could he say no to that, when Jared was looking at him so earnestly?
"Yeah," Jensen conceded. "We're okay." He had to make himself believe it, otherwise they'd lose, and he could't afford that at all.
---
"Hey Mom." He curled up with his cell phone in a corner in the kitchen, voice quiet. It was early and Jensen didn't think anyone else was up yet.
"Jensen! It's so good to hear your voice!"
"You too." He stifled a yawn, but some things were more important than sleep, and this was one of the few chances he had for privacy. "I'm sorry I haven't called much, the show schedule is crazy."
"I'll bet," she said, her voice light with amusement. "They aired the third episode last night, Jensen."
Oh. Shit. He'd lost track of the days. "That was the episode where...?" he prompted.
"Where you chose your very handsome beau."
Jensen winced. He'd told his parents all about the show before he was actually on it, but neglected to mention that he'd been willing to be matched with guys. And while his parents knew he wasn't entirely straight, the only partners he'd ever brought home to meet them had been female.
"How," and he paused, swallowing hard, "how did Dad take it?"
There was a pause. "He understands why you're doing this, Jensen. We both do. And it breaks my heart for you but at the same time, I couldn't be more honoured to call you my son."
"Mom-" and he couldn't speak anymore, emotion threatening to spill out as tears. He angrily rubbed at his eyes. He didn't want the cameras to see him cry.
"So why don't you tell me more about this Jared? He seems like a nice young man."
Smiling gratefully, Jensen was able to answer. "He is, Mom. He really is. He's so much fun to be around and we work really well together. I can't tell you too much - not until the show's over, you know - but I lucked out."
They chatted for a few more minutes, then a light snapped on and Natasha slunk into the kitchen. She looked as tired as Jensen felt.
"Hey Mom, I gotta go. But I'll try and call again soon, okay?"
"Love you, Jensen."
"I love you too."
Hearing her say goodbye almost caused him to tear up again and he blinked it away.
"You okay, Jensen?" For a tough chick, Natasha could be remarkably compassionate.
"Yeah, it's just...hard, you know? Being away from home."
She looked sad. "I guess. I haven't had a home in a long time." She started brewing the coffee and Jensen realised that this was the Natasha that he liked better, the soft one who only came out occasionally. The rest of the time she was (and there was no other word for it) a badass, and her match Clint was much the same.
Jensen was pretty sure they were gonna win.