Fic: RPS (Jared/Jensen): In It for Love [11 / 16] | R | 7925 words
Title: In It for Love [ 11 / 16 ]
Author: dragonspell
Fandom: RPS
Pairing: Jared/Jensen (and Jared/a slew of other characters including Misha Collins, Tom Welling, Mike Rosenbaum, Danneel Harris, Sandy McCoy and some OMCs and OFCs)
Rating: Currently R (eventual NC-17)
Warnings: AU. Cheesiness. Fandom cliches. The usual drill.
Summary (fic): After a drunken dare, award-winning writer Jensen agreed to on a reality television show to vie for the attention of megastar Jared Padalecki who he's had a crush on for years. Only Jensen doesn't know how he's going to be able to tolerate all the other contestants and their widely varying personalities and he's pretty sure that you're not supposed to be able to get used to somebody filming you 24/7.
Summary (part): After having Jared curl up in bed with him in the middle of the night, Jensen has to deal with the consequences and life in the house goes on, throwing him another challenge.
Word Count: 7925 (this part)
Disclaimer: Never happened, no affiliation.
Master Post: Master Post
A/N: So. Some people were saying that they wanted this? =) Sorry for being so late on it. ^^;
Part 10 | Master Post | Part 12
Episode 6 - First Half
The bed was warmer than usual. In fact, it was kind of sweltering. Jensen frowned, blearily wondering when he’d arrived in the tropics and where was the cruise ship as he kicked at the covers but when the ‘covers’ grunted in protest, Jensen’s eyes flew open. What the hell? He could barely even moved, weighted down by a solid form on his chest despite how he struggled. Pinned down to the bed, he came face to face with a sleepily blinking Jared who was, for all accounts and purposes, laying on top of him. Jensen blinked, stilling, his breath catching in his throat and his hand automatically slid down to check his boxers. He nearly sighed in relief when he realized that he was still wearing them. Thank God. The last thing he needed was him having sex broadcasted across national television. He’d never be able to meet his mother’s eyes again.
Jared was staring down at him. Then, like he suddenly got it, he smiled and the man had no damn right to look that gorgeous in the morning. “Mornin’,” Jared murmured.
“Mo…” Jensen swallowed and tried again. “Morning.” He searched Jared’s face, wondering what else he was supposed to say but unfortunately it was too damn hard to think with Jared’s hand lightly tracing his hip. Jensen’s entire focus was on the slow slide of Jared’s fingertips and how they moved the fabric of his boxers against his skin.
“Thanks for letting me stay,” Jared said. His dimples were really just ridiculous. They made him look all of ten years old but Jensen was well aware that it wasn’t a ten year old’s body that he was sharing a bed with. Jared was taking up more his fair share and then some and radiating enough heat to make a furnace jealous.
Jensen sucked in a quick breath, forcing himself to breathe before he passed out, needing oxygen to his brain. “Any time,” he replied, just because it sounded smooth-sounded like something that he should say.
“I might have to take you up on that,” Jared told him, smiling as he stretched. His hand pulled on Jensen’s boxers, dragging the fabric across his morning erection. Jensen hissed as his eyes closed, shivering. “You alright?” Jared asked.
Oh, just peachy. Ready to say damn the cameras and fuck Jared into the mattress, reenacting his favorite nighttime fantasies which Jensen was sure would play fantastically on primetime TV. On the plus side, he might possibly get a new career out of it.
Still. Jensen reached down and grabbed Jared’s hand, keeping it from moving any more. “I’m fine,” he said. He dared to meet Jared’s eyes-a mistake because Jared grinned, understanding, and moved closer so now it wasn’t just a hand dragging Jensen’s not so loose boxers across his dick but rather Jared’s thigh pushing up against him. Jensen choked on a whine and tried to slide away but Jared kept him pinned.
“You feel fine to me,” Jared murmured, his leg rubbing suggestively.
Jensen shuddered and pushed at him. “Stop.” As far as protests went, it wasn’t much of one, like a strike with only one worker, because Jensen couldn’t summon up any real intent to put behind it. He didn’t want Jared to stop. He just didn’t want it to be on camera.
At the whispered word, though, Jared loosened his grip, allowing Jensen the room to escape if he really wanted to-but that was the problem right there. Because when Jared bent his head to nip at the sensitive skin of Jensen’s neck, Jensen wasn’t going anywhere. He clutched at Jared, holding him close as Jared chuckled, knowing that he’d won. Jared slid his hand over Jensen’s bare back, palms pressing hotly against his skin. Jensen jerked his hips forward, riding Jared’s thigh and Jared groaned, biting down a little harder.
Jared moved his mouth up to kiss Jensen’s lips and Jensen willingly let him slip inside, not minding the stale morning taste. Jared, though, pushed away, getting up on his hands and knees to hang over Jensen as he stared down at him. “We should probably get up,” he said regretfully.
Jensen turned his head to look at the clock beside his bed, seeing 7:24 proudly displayed in red. “It’s not even seven thirty,” he muttered. What the Hell could be so pressing this early in the morning?
Jared huffed a laugh and let his head drop against Jensen’s shoulder. “That’s the problem,” he replied. “You get to sleep in because you don’t have two dogs and Jeff banging down your door.” Jared sighed and rolled off of Jensen completely, much to Jensen’s disappointment. “And if he doesn’t find me in my room at eight, he’s going to freak.”
Or possibly send out all of the camera men on a search and destroy mission. That worried Jensen a little bit more than Jared getting the sharper side of Jeff’s tongue again-after all, Jeff hadn’t killed Jared yet, so Jensen was thinking that Jared’s skin was pretty damn thick. Jensen rolled his eyes but let Jared stand-up. “Plus,” Jared said, reaching down to touch Jensen’s arm. “This way there’s still a chance that I can sneak back into my room without anyone noticing.” That was a good point. Jensen had forgotten about everyone else. He wasn’t sure how they’d all react to something like this but he did know that he didn’t really care to find out because he was already well aware of how he’d react.
“So.” Jared leaned over to give Jensen a quick goodbye peck but Jensen’s reflexes were too sharp and his defenses weak: he caught Jared and demanded more which Jared happily gave, slipping his tongue back in. By the time that they broke apart, they were both panting and Jensen was more than ready to keep going but he felt a little pang of disappointment as Jared rapsed, “See you in a little while,” and pulled away, walking resolutely out of the room.
Well fuck. Now he was going to be thinking about this morning all day. Jensen glared down at his crotch. And probably fighting his baser instincts, too. This sucked.
Jensen wandered downstairs and into the kitchen about a half hour after Jared had left him. It was the time that it had taken for him to get his stupid dick under control again before emerging from under the covers and heading to the bathroom to make himself presentable. When he walked into the kitchen, though, he had a sneaking suspicion that maybe he should have gotten up a little earlier. He must have missed one of Jeff’s phone calls or something because everyone was in the kitchen, all apparently having a meeting that he hadn’t known about. Jensen’s eyes were instantly drawn towards Jared, who was standing in the center of the room, quietly talking to Lita, his hands on her shoulders. What he was telling her, Jensen couldn’t hear but he felt a surge of jealousy anyway which he quickly squashed. Jared was allowed to talk to other people, damn it. Even cheap strippers.
Misha was twirling on one of the stools next to Danneel and Sandy both of whom had stopped talking as soon as Jensen had entered the room. They were now glaring at him, sharing the same expression and Jensen blinked at the sheer nastiness of it, wondering if he should possibly run away because he wasn’t quite ready to die. He still had things to do-Jared to sleep with! He started to raise his hands in surrender but Danneel sniffed and looked away while Sandy turned her glare on to the floor as if it had personally offended her. Wondering what was going on, Jensen glanced over at Ben who was leaning against the wall with his arms crossed, carefully looking at nothing at all. At least, Jensen figured, it wasn’t his usual stance of parade rest again.
Jensen frowned and stepped closer to Misha, figuring that he was the safest one at the moment to approach. “Hi, Misha,” he said. He nodded at Sandy and Danneel, neither one of whom was looking at him. “Sandy. Dani.” The girls didn’t acknowledge him and Jensen felt a flutter of nervousness. They’d never ignored him before. “So, uh…” Jensen nodded towards Lita and Jared. “What’s going on?”
Misha grinned as Sandy huffed. “Jared stayed out all night,” Misha answered and Jensen’s blood ran cold.
“What?” he asked automatically, breathless but sharp. The answer to his own question slammed into him as soon as the word was out of his mouth but that led how did everyone know already?
Danneel rolled her eyes. “You already know,” she said. She sighed, turning to look at Jared and Lita. “Apparently Lita waited outside of Jared’s room all night.” Danneel glanced over at Jensen. “Jared wasn’t in there.”
Well no. Because he’d spent all night in Jensen’s bed. Jensen swallowed and stared at Danneel, looking for a hint about how he was supposed to respond to that, wondering if she was as upset as Lita, but Danneel cracked a small smile. “Jared found someone else to spend the night with, didn’t he?” she asked slyly and Jensen felt a small flush creeping up his neck.
There was no use in lying. Jensen nodded and Danneel snorted. “So someone’s a little jealous now.” As if Lita hadn’t done the exact same thing herself.
“I’m not the first one,” Jensen said quietly, flashes of jealousy rocketing through him as he remembered the image of Lita, freshly woken up, slipping out of Jared’s room. Danneel smiled sardonically at that while Sandy glanced up, shocked. Jensen stared at her, wondering if this was news to her and how it could be possible that she hadn’t known. He wasn’t always the most observant guy and yet he’d known immediately. The way that she was gaping at him, though, made him think that perhaps Sandy’s ivory tower was a little higher than he’d originally thought. He refused to believe that someone as famous as her could be that naive.
“No,” Danneel replied, holding up a finger. “But you are the first one that he actively chose.” Jensen’s stupid heart started to beat at double-time, hope squeezing his chest. The first one that Jared chose to spend the night with. He wasn’t too thrilled with how ‘first’ implied that there would be a second, but Jensen chose to ignore it. He’d been first. “Everyone else had to ask.”
Sandy swung around to gape at Danneel. “…Have you…” She closed her mouth, letting the question hang unfinished, and Danneel raised her eyebrows.
“Have I…?” Sandy refused to continue, staring resolutely at the floor and Danneel shrugged, turning back to Jensen. “So, we’ve been a little jealous since we found out.”
“Oh,” Jensen said. He couldn’t think of anything else because he was first. And instead of him being wildly jealous of all the gorgeous people in the house, they were jealous of him. Jensen felt higher than a kite, intoxicated with the knowledge. He kind of liked it.
Danneel shrugged again. “I figure that you just won the first round,” she said with a smile-one that was half-playful and half-serious. “We can fight about it later.”
“…I’d rather not,” Jensen replied truthfully. He had a feeling that Danneel would be able to stomp his ass with one hand tied behind her back and he really didn’t want to find out if he was right or not.
“You know what?” Jared said, his voice rising and laced with irritation. They all stared at him, shocked at seeing him angry. In the entire time that they’d been in the house, Jensen had never even seen Jared annoyed but here he was glaring at Lita. Seeing the slowly developing tick in Jared’s firmed jaw, Jensen felt an urge to hide behind the island counter like he was six and he had no idea how Lita was managing to stand up straight instead of curling in on herself in fear. “No, you don’t have that right. What I do with anyone else here is between them and me and that’s not up for discussion!”
“I just think that a little bit of consideration-” Lita said, cutting in, her voice rising too.
“Everybody here deserves consideration!” Jared snapped. “It’s not just you! I didn’t do it just to spite you. Everybody else seems to understand that, why don’t you?” Jared stared down at her, the tick in his jaw fully pronounced now and Lita snarled, whirling around to stalk out of the room.
Jared shook his head and worked his jaw before turning to look at everyone else. “Sorry,” he said. “I’m…going to go take a walk. I’ll be back.” He headed in the opposite direction of Lita, storming outside.
There was silence in the kitchen after he left-everyone still staring at the door-and Jensen thought that his early assumption of it being a bad day had been a good one. Apparently he was psychic. Go him.
Lita had holed herself up in one of the bedrooms, refusing to have anything to do with the rest of the house until Jared apologized or something and Jensen quietly hoped that Hell would freeze over first. He hadn’t let Lita’s antics bother him because, frankly, he’d much rather that she be locked in a room somewhere instead of baiting him like he knew she would if she was loose and prowling around.
Jared had come back eventually after the squabble in the kitchen, but he’d unfortunately disappeared into the gym with Ben. Unfortunately because it meant that Jensen wasn’t about to follow him. Jensen knew that he wasn’t exactly a slob or anything but he really didn’t feel like embarrassing himself any more than he already had today. Walking in on Jared and Ben benching some ridiculous amount that would be two to three times more than he could wasn’t in his game plan. The gym was Ben’s domain. Jensen would have to content himself waiting outside of it.
The whole reality show thing was messing with his exercise regimen, too. Jensen didn’t like knowing that he was being recorded sweaty and exhausted on the treadmill or anything. Some guys looked hot like that. Jensen didn’t think that he was one of them. He hadn’t been in the gym since he’d been here and the only real exercise that he’d gotten had been the volleyball game during the first challenge.
Morose, Jensen wandered into the main room. He felt just really sort of lost without Mike. It was worrying just how reliant that he’d become of the other man during his stay in the house-Mike had made the whole experience feel a lot less oppressing. And it was hard to play pool by yourself. Jensen thought, though, that he’d be coping better if at least someone in the house was currently talking to him. Misha, his best bet with Jared and Ben in the gym, was meditating, however, and Sandy and Danneel, despite Danneel’s apparent understanding this morning, still were subtly ignoring him.
Matter of fact, they were both sitting on the zebra-striped couch in their bikinis, facing the opposite direction from him and engaging in the girliest of girl things: painting their toenails. Jensen was feeling just desperate enough to ask if he could join them-as long as he didn’t have to wear a bikini, too-before he remembered that there was one thing girlier than painting nails: gossiping.
Jensen froze, not daring to move a step closer because he’d just heard his name. “I just don’t feel that it was the right thing to do,” Sandy was saying. She had her head bent, studying her feet as she applied a hot pink, the brush currently dangling in mid-air.
Danneel laughed as she slicked red over her own nails. “You’re acting like he’s the only one that’s spent the night with Jared.”
“I thought he was,” Sandy replied sullenly. “I can’t believe that Jared…”
“Honey,” Danneel told her, amusement lightening her voice. “Jen’s just the latest in a long string. Jared’s not exactly a virgin, you know.”
“I know that.” Sandy set the bottle of nail polish on the table beside her. “Do…do you think that they did anything?”
Danneel laughed. “With Jensen? I doubt it.”
“Something could have happened,” Sandy insisted.
“Not in this house it couldn’t,” Danneel disagreed confidently. “Jensen’s more aware of where the cameras are than a paranoid schizophrenic. They bother him.” Jensen winced because it was true. He just wished that Danneel had a nicer way of putting it because…he kind of sounded like a freak. He couldn’t be the only one that the cameras bothered.
“Now Lita, I’d worry about.”
Sandy stared at Danneel. “She’s spent the night with him, too?”
“You’re kidding right?” Danneel closed her bottle and shook it. “She’s spent more time with him than anybody. It’s probably why she’s still around.”
“Jared wouldn’t-”
Danneel shot Sandy a look. “Jared’s a guy. He’s not going to refuse, now is he? And she’s probably only helping her career.” Jensen glanced away, wondering how correct Danneel’s theories were. On the one hand, he’d like to be just like Sandy and think that Jared was above all that but on the other… Jensen had slept with a couple of guys just because they’d thrown themselves at him before. Sure, he’d felt horrible afterward-mostly just wondering exactly how drunk he’d been the night before-but he’d still done it.
Nothing that happened in this house, though, could even remotely resemble a drunken one-night stand. Jared had to be well aware of that. Everything was being recorded, after all, and at least with Jensen’s former indiscretions, they hadn’t been recorded to hold over his head for all eternity after the fact. Unlike anything that happened in this house. And Jared hadn’t tried anything last night, so it was a distinct possibility that he hadn’t…
Jensen snarled to himself. He was as bad as the damn girls, contemplating who did what with whom.
“Just be glad that Justin’s out of the house,” Danneel continued. “Him and Lita nearly got into it a few times at four in the morning after Jared kicked them both out.”
“Are you serious?” Sandy asked incredulously.
“Oh, he tried every night. Sat right outside Jared’s door until Jared caved.”
“That’s disgusting!” Danneel shrugged. “How can you not care about this?” Sandy demanded.
Danneel stood up, wiggling her now dry toes in the fuzzy rug. “Who or what he does before we get together isn’t any of my business as long as he’s cautious about it.”
As far as ways of dealing with this situation, Jensen thought, it was healthier than some others. After all, his solution had been to just go crazy so maybe he should try Danneel’s careful denial. Except that Jensen wasn’t sure if he’d be able to tell the difference between what she considered actually being together and whatever limbo that they were in now. Because right now sure felt a whole hell of lot like dating…just with way too many people.
“I don’t agree,” Sandy told her quietly, looking down at her toes again.
“Think of it from Jared’s side,” Danneel said. “If it was just you and him, would you sleep with him?”
In a heartbeat. “Boyfriend and girlfriend?” Sandy asked, glancing up again.
“Boyfriend and girlfriend,” Danneel replied, nodding. “Going steady, however you want to put it. Would you sleep with him?”
Sandy smiled ducking her head like she was thinking about it at that exact moment. Jensen knew that he sure was. “Possibly,” Sandy said coyly.
Danneel rolled her eyes. “Of course you would. Now look at this way: Jared’s dating all of us.”
“It doesn’t count,” Sandy told her, wrinkling her nose. “Because you can’t date this many people at once.”
“Welcome to reality television,” Danneel said and let the statement hang in the air as she padded out of the living room, heading for the pool. Sandy watched her go, her mouth twisted unhappily, and Jensen could relate. He sighed, quietly backing out of the main room.
“Are you all ready?” Jared asked with a grin. He had them all lined up in the main room again, awaiting their next challenge that Jensen was sure was going to suck. Hard, too, judging by the way that Chad was grinning at them. Jensen was fast learning that whatever Chad thought would be awesome was a possible big pain in the ass for Jensen.
“To show us what you got!” Chad added and Jensen had a quick, horrible flashback of the first day and Chad’s Polaroids. Oh please, God, no. He’d kill Chad first.
Jared glanced over at Chad. “Okay, it’s not as creepy as he makes it sound.” Fair enough. Jensen was convinced that Chad could make watching grass grow sound creepy. “We’re going to put on a talent show.”
Jensen closed his eyes and wished for the Polaroids to come back. “And you are all the stars, bitches!” Chad chimed in. Great. Now he got to make a fool out of himself on national television as well, participating like a 7th grader in a contest. On the plus side, Jensen though, at least he’d already made a fool out of himself for going on the show at all so what was one more indignity.
“Right,” Jared said. “So y’all need to pick something you’re good at that you want to show off and you’ve got two hours to prep before you go up on stage. The winner will be decided by Chad and me and whoever wins gets a date with me. Sound good?” There was the usual nodding and Jared grinned, giving them all two thumbs up. “Great. So I’ll see you all in the screening room in two hours!” He turned away, pulling Chad up the stairs, presumably to his bedroom to wait for the time to be up and Jensen watched him go, trying not to feel too much like a lovesick teenager.
Unfortunately, he was aware that it was only going to get worse because he knew himself and his own personal rock bottom was still a long way off. Jensen knew that he could sink deeper.
“I’m excited!” Sandy gasped, closing her hands over her mouth. “What should I do?” She turned to Danneel who blinked at her before swinging around to Misha. “I don’t know!” Sandy didn’t turn to Jensen, because she hadn’t actually talked to him all damn day. He tried not to be hurt by it because what did it fucking matter to him that the princess had had her ivory tower rocked, but, when America’s Sweetheart gives you the cold shoulder, Jensen couldn’t deny that that he didn’t feel something.
It was just a good thing that he currently had other things on his mind. Who could think about Sandy when another chance at winning a date with Jared was on the line. Unfortunately, Jensen was in the same damn boat as Sandy because he didn’t have a fucking clue either. Which was awesome. Actually, Sandy was probably having the opposite problem as Jensen-she undoubtedly had too many flashy, showy talents that she could use while he had nothing. His biggest talent was writing for crying out loud-that wasn’t something that played too well in a talent show. Jensen had a few panicky moments where he considered running around in circles just for the exercise and contemplated the relative merits of doing something horribly mundane like just standing in front of Jared or something because he had nothing when the answer to his problem smacked him right between the eyes.
That wasn’t to say, though, that it made him feel any better in the slightest. Okay. So there was a talent that Jensen could draw upon that might be flashy enough to even possibly win him the date though there was just one tiny little flaw in the plan. Jensen didn’t know if he’d be able to manage to pull it off.
It was just a hobby he had-something fun that he did with Chris and the guys and he’d never been really serious about it. Now, Jensen was wishing that maybe he should have practiced a bit more, maybe have insisted that Chris give him a few pointers, but he’d never dreamed that there’d actually be a day when he’d be forced to use his non-existent skills. Because usually he avoided situations like this and Jensen knew that he should just take this all as a sign of how much his life was currently sucking.
Well, fuck. Okay, so musical talent it was. He wasn’t singing, though. He refused to sing.
He’d probably choke halfway through, anyway, Jensen thought miserably. He’d never performed without Chris to prop him up and never for anything more serious than a beer from Steve, so the nerves would eat him alive.
Beside him Lita was loudly bragging about her various ‘skills’ while Sandy bounced up and down, letting her inner cheerleader shine bright and Jensen’s entire next advance said that she was going to write some kind of stupid cheer and twirl a little baton in a short skirt. Ben, Misha, and Danneel were all talking to Jeff about what they’d need and Jensen thought that he should probably join them. It would be awfully damn hard to pull of playing Jared a song without some kind of musical instrument, after all.
Jensen smoothed his palms on his jeans, drying them, because he hadn’t been this nervous since the first time he’d gotten a chance to meet Jared and he hoped that he made it out of this alive.
The guitar that Jeff had tracked down for Jensen from God knows where twanged sourly under Jensen’s nervously plucking hands and Jensen quickly silenced it, trying to make it look like he’d just been moving the guitar. So far, though, no one was particularly looking at him, so Jensen would take that as a win.
He was ‘backstage’ of the talent show quietly awaiting for his turn on the executioner’s block and trying desperately not to puke as all the what ifs spun through his mind. What if Jared hated it? What if Jensen sucked? Jared would be too nice to say so outright. At least Chad was out there, too, though, because Chad was nothing if not brutally honest. He’d make sure to point out if Jensen sucked or not. It was one thing that Chad was good for.
Two hours of prep had not been nearly enough time as far as Jensen was concerned. He’d rather have taken a week. Or, you know, the rest of eternity. He at least felt fairly certain, though, that he had the basic chords down so that was something.
Jensen was at the back of the line, too, having drawn the shortest straw so the wait for sheer agony. The longer it took, the more confident he was in the fact that he was not going to make it, especially as he saw the other ‘talents’ being displayed. Sandy had gone first, in an entirely too short, pleated skirt that Jared and Chad had liked just a little too much as she’d bounced up and down enthusiastically, waving pompoms and pronouncing Jared as “number one and his Oscars weigh a ton! He’s gonna put us to the test! To see who of us is the best! He’s a catch, a guy with merit! Sweet and funny, I do declare it!”
How was Jensen supposed to compete with that? Cheerleaders were, like, standard jerk off fantasy number 3 for straight guys-right after French Maids and Catholic Schoolgirls. Jensen had watched it all with his heart in his throat, cursing Jared’s bisexuality again and wondering if he should just scrap the whole damn thing. The only thing that had stopped him from running right there and then, actually, was Jeff standing behind him-Jensen was a fast runner but he had no doubt that Jeff could take him down faster than a defensive lineman.
Sandy’s little stunt had lasted a painful five minutes as she jumped and clapped and ran through a list of Jared’s ‘assets’ in rhyme while Jared laughed and Chad cheered along with her. After she’d left the stage, Chad had even started repeating some of the catchier lines making Jared chuckle again and, fuck it all, blush. Jensen had clenched his teeth at that to stop a snarl and he had yet to let up on the pressure.
Ben had gone next with a rather inspired combination of working out and cooking-lifting weights while he served Jared food on platters and that had been a hit with Jared, too. Of course it had been. It was food after all. Better yet, it had been food served by a military-grade hottie in nothing but some short shorts all oiled up and glistening.
…Jensen was starting to sense a distinct theme of skimpy costumes. He felt overdressed in his black button down with the rolled-up sleeves and gray dress pants but at least he thought that he looked nice and he knew that if he were to be wearing as few clothes as Ben when he did this thing, he definitely wouldn’t make it to the end.
Danneel, of course, had followed up Ben’s act in a form-fitting leotard and tights as she contorted herself into the most impossible positions, damn near making Jared’s eyes pop out of his head. When she’d bent over backward and spun around to put her leg behind her head, Jensen was surprised that Jared hadn’t needed a napkin to wipe up the drool. Fantastic. Jensen would have killed himself trying to get into half the positions that Danneel effortlessly contorted herself into.
The only good news about any of it was that she was followed by Misha who, at the very least, was fully dressed. And not in anything skin-tight, either. Unfortunately, his talent had also been musical and Jensen was wondering again how he was supposed to compete but in a very different way because strumming on a guitar was one thing but Misha had been playing wine glasses like he was Sandra Bullock trying to win Miss America. Jared and Chad had both sat in amazement.
The absolute worst thing about any of this, however, Jensen thought, had to be who’d followed Misha on and who Jensen was supposed to go after. Screw Sandy in her tiny skirt and Ben in his shorts, Danneel with her twisty-twiny, ways, Lita was currently working a stripper pole like a pro, dancing to Motley Crue of all the stereotypical clichés and throwing away any ambiguity that had been left surrounding the question of whether she was an exotic dancer or not. She’d already lost her shirt, prancing around in nothing but a bra and a tiny skirt that did nothing to cover her G-string. So far she had yet to trip over her stiletto heels but there was always hope because that was the only thing that would make any of this any better. Jensen wanted to sink into the floor and die.
So much for winning.
Lita swung the pole again, kicking up a leg even higher than Danneel had done, showing off absolutely everything and Jensen was just glad that he wasn’t in her line of sight. Jared and Chad were, though, and they certainly weren’t looking away. Matter of fact, Chad had jumped to his feet, waving around a fistful of dollar bills like he’d completely forgotten where he was. Or maybe he just didn’t care. Jared had a little more restraint but he wasn’t saying no to Chad coaxing Lita closer.
Lita let go of the pole, dipping down in front of Chad and tugging down her skirt to let Chad shove a few singles underneath the hot pink string of her practically non-existent underwear as Chad cheered and the music boomed. She smiled at him and shimmied her way back to her feet, turning her full attention onto Jared.
Jared smiled, leaning forward in his seat, not nearly as shameless as Chad but still enjoying the show. Lita shook her tits at him, miraculously managing to stay inside her lacey bra that was too small to leave anything to imagination let alone actually hold her up in any way. Jensen averted his eyes, shading his face with his palm and trying not to look. Beside him, Sandy was covering her eyes while Danneel’s lips twisted sourly. Ben was staring at the floor and Misha’s eyebrows had permanently joined his hairline.
“Okay, then,” Misha murmured and Jensen knew just how he felt, only more so because at least Misha was already done. He didn’t have to follow that. Christ.
He was going to be lucky if Jared and Chad had enough brain cells left considering that all the blood in their bodies was undoubtedly being funneled away from their brains.
Lita swirled and twirled some more before she finally managed to lose her skirt, sliding it off over her hips and twirling it around on her finger and shooting it off towards Jared and Chad, just like she had her shirt. Chad caught it, waving it around before he tossed it into Jared’s lap as Jared laughed. “Yeah, baby!” Chad yelled, “take it off!”
He was a little late considering the fact that if Lita were to take anything more off, it would probably be illegal. Jensen was already wondering if they’d crossed that line a while ago considering the skimpiness of Lita’s underwear.
Encouraged by Chad, Lita squatted on at the front of the stage, directly in front of his drooling face even if she only had eyes for Jared. Then she slowly rose to standing again, cocking a hip as she moved upwards and bending over at the waist. Chad whistled some more and she moved back to her pole, wrapping a leg around it and finishing with a flourish and the song ended, hands up in the air and the only thing keeping her (partially) upright was the bar behind her knee. Jensen quietly groaned to himself and willed the pole to break.
Anything to stop Jared from possibly thinking that Lita was sexy. An air-raid. Alien invasion. Anything. But Chad and Jared were clapping and cheering and Jensen had to face the fact that it just wasn’t going to happen and that, yes, he really had to follow a stripper in a talent show. Life currently sucked.
Jensen didn’t have anything remotely sexy planned-he didn’t have a cheerleading uniform on and he certainly didn’t plan on taking off any of the clothes he was wearing and he’d probably die if he tried any of Danneel’s positions. He just had a guitar and an incredibly cheesy song that a friend had taught him years ago.
Jensen knew that he was singing too. That was the only way he had any chance of at least beating Misha and his surprisingly musical glasses. He still probably didn’t hold a candle to the rest of them but whatever. He could at least try, damn it.
And Chris would give shit if he went home because he hadn’t tried, chewing Jensen out about not learning a single damn thing that Chris had taught him. And at least if Jason ever watched the show-oh please, God, no-he’d have something to be proud of.
…Or tease Jensen about until Doom’s Day.
Fervently hoping that he would do well enough that Jason wouldn’t have a reason to resort to the later, Jensen slowly walked out onto the stage that Lita had already vacated. Jared clapped enthusiastically as Jensen came on. Chad was less animated, most likely because he was a little distracted, considering how he was still staring forlornly at the curtain that Lita had disappeared behind. Jensen rolled his shoulders uncomfortably. Fucking Chad.
“Hi, Jen,” Jared greeted him, waving and he was too damn cute to resist. Feeling like a complete dork, Jensen raised his hand in a half-wave back. Jared was looking just as good as ever, with his hair slicked back and dressed in a suit like he was attending the Oscars or something. Jensen could have happily jumped him and his James Bond look right then and there even if Jensen now thought that he would have preferred Jared with his hair all messed up, shirtless and smiling sleepily in Jensen’s bed.
Just a personal preference.
“What have you got for us?” Jared asked and Jensen held up the guitar as he sat down on the stool that one of the crew had ninja-ed out for him.
He cleared his throat. “Just, uh, got a song for you…” Jared grinned and Jensen ducked his head. He couldn’t look at those dimples and still think. “A friend taught it to me a long time ago and I thought that I’d play it for you if you don’t mind.”
“You gonna sing, Jen?” Jensen swallowed-he didn’t have a choice here. Of course he was going to.
“Jensen sings?” Chad asked, snuggling back down in his seat now that he had finally realized that Lita was not going to come back out on stage. “Cool.”
“Uh, I, uh, don’t really but…” Awesome. He was going to shoot himself in the foot before he even started. Deciding that he’d better just shut up before he dug an even deeper whole, Jensen hit the first chord of the song and just launched into it.
It started out slow with an A before slipping into the more complicated C sharp minor and Jensen found himself straining to get his fingers into position before the song went into a D and then back to an A. He could do this. He could so do this.
He missed his mark the first time around and so played the intro twice, hoping that Jared wouldn’t notice. He shouldn’t ought to-there was absolutely no reason why Jared should actually know the song. Jensen swallowed hard and pushed everything away. He didn’t need anything else-couldn’t have anything else or he knew that he’d choke.
“Well I can feel his heart beat from a thousand miles…” Jason was going to give him shit for changing the lyrics, he knew it. And Christ, where was his volume? Jared was smiling at him and Jensen closed his eyes, singing louder. He needed to focus, damn it. “And the heavens open every time he smiles. I’m running to him, that’s where I belong. I’m running to him like a river’s song…”
His fingers stumbled over the chorus before they got it down, but he pushed right on through, not letting himself worry about it. There was no use worrying about-the only he could do was get better. “He give me love, love, love, love, crazy love…” Jensen let himself get lost in the rhythm on the song, foot tapping in time to the strum as he sang along. “He give me love, love, love, love, crazy love.”
Somewhere along the way, he lost track of time and before he knew it, he was out of lyrics and his fingers were hitting the last few chords, running on instinct. Jensen hit the last strum and let the sound of the guitar linger, hearing it reverberate for a few moments before he dared to open his eyes again.
He only saw the polished wood of the stage, his eyes trained downward and he took a beat before he looked up, automatically focusing directly on Jared. God, it was seeing the damn sun. Jared made him able to breathe again-the man was on his feet and actually clapping and it was better than an entire crowd full of people because Jared was the only one that mattered anyway.
A smile cracked Jensen’s face and he ducked his head back down, feeling far too elated to think that any of this was happening. He didn’t even care if he won the contest at this point because, fuck it, he’d been damn good and nailed that sucker and, more importantly, Jared had liked it.
Jared had liked it. The statement echoed over and over in Jensen’s head and he felt his chest swell. Hell yeah. He was awesome.
Jensen stood up from his stool and took a bow before retreating behind the curtain, just in time to join the queue of people heading back out onto the stage. They lined up like obedient show dogs but, for once, Jensen was too giddy to care.
“First of all,” Jared started, clapping his hands in applause, “y’all did an awesome job today.”
“Awesome!” Chad repeated, giving them all a thumbs up. It would have even been a nice gesture if he hadn’t followed it up with an obvious leer at Lita.
Thankfully, Jared kept things rolling, not bothering to stop for Chad’s bit of perviness. He was probably used to it by now. “Personally, I think you all are great and I’d love to pick everyone as the winner.” Jensen glanced down the line of contestants, thinking that, even if that would have worked for Jared, Jensen wouldn’t like it-if only because he wouldn’t want to share the date with everybody else. He saw other houseguests giving the same look, though Danneel was the most obvious about it. “But there can be only one winner.”
Jared started on the end, pointing at Sandy. “Sandy…what can I say?” He gave her an up and down, taking in her outfit before coming back up to meet her. “I love your pompoms.”
“He really likes them,” Chad added, whispering conspiratorially. Jared elbowed him with a grin.
“Shut up! You’ll ruin my chances!”
“Dude,” Chad said, looking down his nose at Jared-not an easy feat considering that Jared had four inches on him. “Your chances with the ladies were ruined long before I showed up.”
Jared rolled his eyes. “Anyway. So, Ben. Ben, Ben, Ben…” Ben had yet to actually put on a shirt and Jensen stared carefully at the wall as Jared took a few moments to appreciate that fact. Fucking gym rats. “Your food was phenomenal. I’m starting to learn that that’s the norm for you.”
“Yeah, man,” Chad piped up. “Don’t suppose you have any leftovers?”
Ben laughed and pointed over his shoulder. “I think the crew might have taken off with them.”
Chad’s eyes widened comically. “Seriously? Those fuckers!” He turned to glare over at Jeff who was standing off to the side, arms crossed and watching.
Jeff blinked and glanced behind him at a few of the crew members who suspiciously tried not to look like they were chewing. Jeff turned back to face Chad, shrugging as he grinned. “Boys were hungry,” he said. Then he nodded at Chad. “That last comment’s gonna have to be edited out, too.”
“What?” Chad yelled.
“Can’t say fuck on the air,” Jeff told him. “Now quit looking at me. Let Jared do his thing.”
Jared had been watching them both, his head turning between them but now that Chad was silent and pouting beside and Jeff was expectant, he smiled. “Moving on. Danneel. I was really impressed with your act and, uh, well, definitely more than a little turned on.”
Danneel winked at him, striking a pose. “You haven’t seen anything, yet. I’ll give you a private performance later.”
“Oh, I hope so,” he said, ducking his head as his grin widened. He reached up to scratch the back of his head, laughing at himself and came back up to meet everyone’s eyes again. “So, Misha…that was an absolutely amazing performance and I have no idea how you pulled it off.”
Misha took a bow. “All in the fingers,” he remarked, holding them up for Jared’s inspection.
“I’ll have to take your word for it.” Jared turned to face Lita who, unlike Ben Jensen was incredibly grateful to note, had managed to find her clothes again. “Wow,” Jared said, shaking his head. “That had been just wow. I’m still trying to cool down.”
“Yeah,” Chad said, snapping out of his pout, “I’d love a repeat performance.”
Lita winked and gave the same offer as Danneel had yet, for some reason, Jensen minded it a whole lot more. “Only if Jared’s there,” she told him.
Chad nudged Jared in the ribs, nodding. “Yeah…”
“Dude,” Jared said, teasingly. “Stop perving on my girls.”
Chad sighed. “But they’re so damn hot, J-man…”
Lita giggled and Jensen resisted the urge to roll his eyes because Jared was looking directly at him. Throat suddenly dry, Jensen stared back. “Jen,” Jared said, “that was totally unexpected. I mean, I had no idea. And it was awesome.”
Jensen licked his lips and stared at the floor, wondering if he should say something. If he should follow Danneel and Lita’s lead and offer a private performance or something. Except that he knew that any private performance that he would offer to Jared probably wouldn’t involve the guitar nearly as much as it would involve a distinct lack of clothes-once Jensen was naked, he didn’t think he’d have much of an urge to just play a song.
“It was very good,” Chad replied. “I mean, we could have used some drums in here or a couple of girls doing back up-” He cut himself off and that was when Jensen finally looked up. He saw Chad shrinking away from Jared as Jared glared him into submission. Jensen tried not to think that it meant anything other than Jared just being exasperated by Chad stepping on his toes again but failed miserably. His heart was already trying to beat out of his chest.
“Which is why,” Jared continued as if he hadn’t just been interrupted, swinging back around to smile at Jensen. The sudden change from threatening to welcoming was going to give Jensen whiplash. “I decided that you’re the winner of the talent show challenge. It was like I got to see a part of you that you normally keep so hidden away and I really liked that. Congratulations.”
Jensen’s world was narrowing down to a tiny pinprick of focus-just room enough for him and Jared and even though he was sure that he was about to hyperventilate sometime real soon, it was fantastic. Not only was he not going to have to swallow the idea of someone spending time with Jared but it was an actual date-a date with just him and Jared and no chance of one of the other houseguests possibly intruding or interrupting them. Jensen forced himself to remain still instead of possibly jumping up and down like an excited teenage girl. Or squeal. There was to be no squealing. Period.
Jared was still smiling at him. “So, Jen, I’ll see you in an hour and the rest of you, I'll see later.” That’s right. Jensen had forgotten that there were other people in the room-Lita was out and out glaring at him and Sandy just looked crushed. Jensen tried not to think it, because he was sure that it made him a horrible person, but the only thought running through his head besides his inner teenager squealing in unholy joy was a very smug ‘too damn bad.’
He had a date with Jared.
Part 10 | Master Post | Part 12
Author: dragonspell
Fandom: RPS
Pairing: Jared/Jensen (and Jared/a slew of other characters including Misha Collins, Tom Welling, Mike Rosenbaum, Danneel Harris, Sandy McCoy and some OMCs and OFCs)
Rating: Currently R (eventual NC-17)
Warnings: AU. Cheesiness. Fandom cliches. The usual drill.
Summary (fic): After a drunken dare, award-winning writer Jensen agreed to on a reality television show to vie for the attention of megastar Jared Padalecki who he's had a crush on for years. Only Jensen doesn't know how he's going to be able to tolerate all the other contestants and their widely varying personalities and he's pretty sure that you're not supposed to be able to get used to somebody filming you 24/7.
Summary (part): After having Jared curl up in bed with him in the middle of the night, Jensen has to deal with the consequences and life in the house goes on, throwing him another challenge.
Word Count: 7925 (this part)
Disclaimer: Never happened, no affiliation.
Master Post: Master Post
A/N: So. Some people were saying that they wanted this? =) Sorry for being so late on it. ^^;
Part 10 | Master Post | Part 12
Episode 6 - First Half
The bed was warmer than usual. In fact, it was kind of sweltering. Jensen frowned, blearily wondering when he’d arrived in the tropics and where was the cruise ship as he kicked at the covers but when the ‘covers’ grunted in protest, Jensen’s eyes flew open. What the hell? He could barely even moved, weighted down by a solid form on his chest despite how he struggled. Pinned down to the bed, he came face to face with a sleepily blinking Jared who was, for all accounts and purposes, laying on top of him. Jensen blinked, stilling, his breath catching in his throat and his hand automatically slid down to check his boxers. He nearly sighed in relief when he realized that he was still wearing them. Thank God. The last thing he needed was him having sex broadcasted across national television. He’d never be able to meet his mother’s eyes again.
Jared was staring down at him. Then, like he suddenly got it, he smiled and the man had no damn right to look that gorgeous in the morning. “Mornin’,” Jared murmured.
“Mo…” Jensen swallowed and tried again. “Morning.” He searched Jared’s face, wondering what else he was supposed to say but unfortunately it was too damn hard to think with Jared’s hand lightly tracing his hip. Jensen’s entire focus was on the slow slide of Jared’s fingertips and how they moved the fabric of his boxers against his skin.
“Thanks for letting me stay,” Jared said. His dimples were really just ridiculous. They made him look all of ten years old but Jensen was well aware that it wasn’t a ten year old’s body that he was sharing a bed with. Jared was taking up more his fair share and then some and radiating enough heat to make a furnace jealous.
Jensen sucked in a quick breath, forcing himself to breathe before he passed out, needing oxygen to his brain. “Any time,” he replied, just because it sounded smooth-sounded like something that he should say.
“I might have to take you up on that,” Jared told him, smiling as he stretched. His hand pulled on Jensen’s boxers, dragging the fabric across his morning erection. Jensen hissed as his eyes closed, shivering. “You alright?” Jared asked.
Oh, just peachy. Ready to say damn the cameras and fuck Jared into the mattress, reenacting his favorite nighttime fantasies which Jensen was sure would play fantastically on primetime TV. On the plus side, he might possibly get a new career out of it.
Still. Jensen reached down and grabbed Jared’s hand, keeping it from moving any more. “I’m fine,” he said. He dared to meet Jared’s eyes-a mistake because Jared grinned, understanding, and moved closer so now it wasn’t just a hand dragging Jensen’s not so loose boxers across his dick but rather Jared’s thigh pushing up against him. Jensen choked on a whine and tried to slide away but Jared kept him pinned.
“You feel fine to me,” Jared murmured, his leg rubbing suggestively.
Jensen shuddered and pushed at him. “Stop.” As far as protests went, it wasn’t much of one, like a strike with only one worker, because Jensen couldn’t summon up any real intent to put behind it. He didn’t want Jared to stop. He just didn’t want it to be on camera.
At the whispered word, though, Jared loosened his grip, allowing Jensen the room to escape if he really wanted to-but that was the problem right there. Because when Jared bent his head to nip at the sensitive skin of Jensen’s neck, Jensen wasn’t going anywhere. He clutched at Jared, holding him close as Jared chuckled, knowing that he’d won. Jared slid his hand over Jensen’s bare back, palms pressing hotly against his skin. Jensen jerked his hips forward, riding Jared’s thigh and Jared groaned, biting down a little harder.
Jared moved his mouth up to kiss Jensen’s lips and Jensen willingly let him slip inside, not minding the stale morning taste. Jared, though, pushed away, getting up on his hands and knees to hang over Jensen as he stared down at him. “We should probably get up,” he said regretfully.
Jensen turned his head to look at the clock beside his bed, seeing 7:24 proudly displayed in red. “It’s not even seven thirty,” he muttered. What the Hell could be so pressing this early in the morning?
Jared huffed a laugh and let his head drop against Jensen’s shoulder. “That’s the problem,” he replied. “You get to sleep in because you don’t have two dogs and Jeff banging down your door.” Jared sighed and rolled off of Jensen completely, much to Jensen’s disappointment. “And if he doesn’t find me in my room at eight, he’s going to freak.”
Or possibly send out all of the camera men on a search and destroy mission. That worried Jensen a little bit more than Jared getting the sharper side of Jeff’s tongue again-after all, Jeff hadn’t killed Jared yet, so Jensen was thinking that Jared’s skin was pretty damn thick. Jensen rolled his eyes but let Jared stand-up. “Plus,” Jared said, reaching down to touch Jensen’s arm. “This way there’s still a chance that I can sneak back into my room without anyone noticing.” That was a good point. Jensen had forgotten about everyone else. He wasn’t sure how they’d all react to something like this but he did know that he didn’t really care to find out because he was already well aware of how he’d react.
“So.” Jared leaned over to give Jensen a quick goodbye peck but Jensen’s reflexes were too sharp and his defenses weak: he caught Jared and demanded more which Jared happily gave, slipping his tongue back in. By the time that they broke apart, they were both panting and Jensen was more than ready to keep going but he felt a little pang of disappointment as Jared rapsed, “See you in a little while,” and pulled away, walking resolutely out of the room.
Well fuck. Now he was going to be thinking about this morning all day. Jensen glared down at his crotch. And probably fighting his baser instincts, too. This sucked.
Jensen wandered downstairs and into the kitchen about a half hour after Jared had left him. It was the time that it had taken for him to get his stupid dick under control again before emerging from under the covers and heading to the bathroom to make himself presentable. When he walked into the kitchen, though, he had a sneaking suspicion that maybe he should have gotten up a little earlier. He must have missed one of Jeff’s phone calls or something because everyone was in the kitchen, all apparently having a meeting that he hadn’t known about. Jensen’s eyes were instantly drawn towards Jared, who was standing in the center of the room, quietly talking to Lita, his hands on her shoulders. What he was telling her, Jensen couldn’t hear but he felt a surge of jealousy anyway which he quickly squashed. Jared was allowed to talk to other people, damn it. Even cheap strippers.
Misha was twirling on one of the stools next to Danneel and Sandy both of whom had stopped talking as soon as Jensen had entered the room. They were now glaring at him, sharing the same expression and Jensen blinked at the sheer nastiness of it, wondering if he should possibly run away because he wasn’t quite ready to die. He still had things to do-Jared to sleep with! He started to raise his hands in surrender but Danneel sniffed and looked away while Sandy turned her glare on to the floor as if it had personally offended her. Wondering what was going on, Jensen glanced over at Ben who was leaning against the wall with his arms crossed, carefully looking at nothing at all. At least, Jensen figured, it wasn’t his usual stance of parade rest again.
Jensen frowned and stepped closer to Misha, figuring that he was the safest one at the moment to approach. “Hi, Misha,” he said. He nodded at Sandy and Danneel, neither one of whom was looking at him. “Sandy. Dani.” The girls didn’t acknowledge him and Jensen felt a flutter of nervousness. They’d never ignored him before. “So, uh…” Jensen nodded towards Lita and Jared. “What’s going on?”
Misha grinned as Sandy huffed. “Jared stayed out all night,” Misha answered and Jensen’s blood ran cold.
“What?” he asked automatically, breathless but sharp. The answer to his own question slammed into him as soon as the word was out of his mouth but that led how did everyone know already?
Danneel rolled her eyes. “You already know,” she said. She sighed, turning to look at Jared and Lita. “Apparently Lita waited outside of Jared’s room all night.” Danneel glanced over at Jensen. “Jared wasn’t in there.”
Well no. Because he’d spent all night in Jensen’s bed. Jensen swallowed and stared at Danneel, looking for a hint about how he was supposed to respond to that, wondering if she was as upset as Lita, but Danneel cracked a small smile. “Jared found someone else to spend the night with, didn’t he?” she asked slyly and Jensen felt a small flush creeping up his neck.
There was no use in lying. Jensen nodded and Danneel snorted. “So someone’s a little jealous now.” As if Lita hadn’t done the exact same thing herself.
“I’m not the first one,” Jensen said quietly, flashes of jealousy rocketing through him as he remembered the image of Lita, freshly woken up, slipping out of Jared’s room. Danneel smiled sardonically at that while Sandy glanced up, shocked. Jensen stared at her, wondering if this was news to her and how it could be possible that she hadn’t known. He wasn’t always the most observant guy and yet he’d known immediately. The way that she was gaping at him, though, made him think that perhaps Sandy’s ivory tower was a little higher than he’d originally thought. He refused to believe that someone as famous as her could be that naive.
“No,” Danneel replied, holding up a finger. “But you are the first one that he actively chose.” Jensen’s stupid heart started to beat at double-time, hope squeezing his chest. The first one that Jared chose to spend the night with. He wasn’t too thrilled with how ‘first’ implied that there would be a second, but Jensen chose to ignore it. He’d been first. “Everyone else had to ask.”
Sandy swung around to gape at Danneel. “…Have you…” She closed her mouth, letting the question hang unfinished, and Danneel raised her eyebrows.
“Have I…?” Sandy refused to continue, staring resolutely at the floor and Danneel shrugged, turning back to Jensen. “So, we’ve been a little jealous since we found out.”
“Oh,” Jensen said. He couldn’t think of anything else because he was first. And instead of him being wildly jealous of all the gorgeous people in the house, they were jealous of him. Jensen felt higher than a kite, intoxicated with the knowledge. He kind of liked it.
Danneel shrugged again. “I figure that you just won the first round,” she said with a smile-one that was half-playful and half-serious. “We can fight about it later.”
“…I’d rather not,” Jensen replied truthfully. He had a feeling that Danneel would be able to stomp his ass with one hand tied behind her back and he really didn’t want to find out if he was right or not.
“You know what?” Jared said, his voice rising and laced with irritation. They all stared at him, shocked at seeing him angry. In the entire time that they’d been in the house, Jensen had never even seen Jared annoyed but here he was glaring at Lita. Seeing the slowly developing tick in Jared’s firmed jaw, Jensen felt an urge to hide behind the island counter like he was six and he had no idea how Lita was managing to stand up straight instead of curling in on herself in fear. “No, you don’t have that right. What I do with anyone else here is between them and me and that’s not up for discussion!”
“I just think that a little bit of consideration-” Lita said, cutting in, her voice rising too.
“Everybody here deserves consideration!” Jared snapped. “It’s not just you! I didn’t do it just to spite you. Everybody else seems to understand that, why don’t you?” Jared stared down at her, the tick in his jaw fully pronounced now and Lita snarled, whirling around to stalk out of the room.
Jared shook his head and worked his jaw before turning to look at everyone else. “Sorry,” he said. “I’m…going to go take a walk. I’ll be back.” He headed in the opposite direction of Lita, storming outside.
There was silence in the kitchen after he left-everyone still staring at the door-and Jensen thought that his early assumption of it being a bad day had been a good one. Apparently he was psychic. Go him.
Lita had holed herself up in one of the bedrooms, refusing to have anything to do with the rest of the house until Jared apologized or something and Jensen quietly hoped that Hell would freeze over first. He hadn’t let Lita’s antics bother him because, frankly, he’d much rather that she be locked in a room somewhere instead of baiting him like he knew she would if she was loose and prowling around.
Jared had come back eventually after the squabble in the kitchen, but he’d unfortunately disappeared into the gym with Ben. Unfortunately because it meant that Jensen wasn’t about to follow him. Jensen knew that he wasn’t exactly a slob or anything but he really didn’t feel like embarrassing himself any more than he already had today. Walking in on Jared and Ben benching some ridiculous amount that would be two to three times more than he could wasn’t in his game plan. The gym was Ben’s domain. Jensen would have to content himself waiting outside of it.
The whole reality show thing was messing with his exercise regimen, too. Jensen didn’t like knowing that he was being recorded sweaty and exhausted on the treadmill or anything. Some guys looked hot like that. Jensen didn’t think that he was one of them. He hadn’t been in the gym since he’d been here and the only real exercise that he’d gotten had been the volleyball game during the first challenge.
Morose, Jensen wandered into the main room. He felt just really sort of lost without Mike. It was worrying just how reliant that he’d become of the other man during his stay in the house-Mike had made the whole experience feel a lot less oppressing. And it was hard to play pool by yourself. Jensen thought, though, that he’d be coping better if at least someone in the house was currently talking to him. Misha, his best bet with Jared and Ben in the gym, was meditating, however, and Sandy and Danneel, despite Danneel’s apparent understanding this morning, still were subtly ignoring him.
Matter of fact, they were both sitting on the zebra-striped couch in their bikinis, facing the opposite direction from him and engaging in the girliest of girl things: painting their toenails. Jensen was feeling just desperate enough to ask if he could join them-as long as he didn’t have to wear a bikini, too-before he remembered that there was one thing girlier than painting nails: gossiping.
Jensen froze, not daring to move a step closer because he’d just heard his name. “I just don’t feel that it was the right thing to do,” Sandy was saying. She had her head bent, studying her feet as she applied a hot pink, the brush currently dangling in mid-air.
Danneel laughed as she slicked red over her own nails. “You’re acting like he’s the only one that’s spent the night with Jared.”
“I thought he was,” Sandy replied sullenly. “I can’t believe that Jared…”
“Honey,” Danneel told her, amusement lightening her voice. “Jen’s just the latest in a long string. Jared’s not exactly a virgin, you know.”
“I know that.” Sandy set the bottle of nail polish on the table beside her. “Do…do you think that they did anything?”
Danneel laughed. “With Jensen? I doubt it.”
“Something could have happened,” Sandy insisted.
“Not in this house it couldn’t,” Danneel disagreed confidently. “Jensen’s more aware of where the cameras are than a paranoid schizophrenic. They bother him.” Jensen winced because it was true. He just wished that Danneel had a nicer way of putting it because…he kind of sounded like a freak. He couldn’t be the only one that the cameras bothered.
“Now Lita, I’d worry about.”
Sandy stared at Danneel. “She’s spent the night with him, too?”
“You’re kidding right?” Danneel closed her bottle and shook it. “She’s spent more time with him than anybody. It’s probably why she’s still around.”
“Jared wouldn’t-”
Danneel shot Sandy a look. “Jared’s a guy. He’s not going to refuse, now is he? And she’s probably only helping her career.” Jensen glanced away, wondering how correct Danneel’s theories were. On the one hand, he’d like to be just like Sandy and think that Jared was above all that but on the other… Jensen had slept with a couple of guys just because they’d thrown themselves at him before. Sure, he’d felt horrible afterward-mostly just wondering exactly how drunk he’d been the night before-but he’d still done it.
Nothing that happened in this house, though, could even remotely resemble a drunken one-night stand. Jared had to be well aware of that. Everything was being recorded, after all, and at least with Jensen’s former indiscretions, they hadn’t been recorded to hold over his head for all eternity after the fact. Unlike anything that happened in this house. And Jared hadn’t tried anything last night, so it was a distinct possibility that he hadn’t…
Jensen snarled to himself. He was as bad as the damn girls, contemplating who did what with whom.
“Just be glad that Justin’s out of the house,” Danneel continued. “Him and Lita nearly got into it a few times at four in the morning after Jared kicked them both out.”
“Are you serious?” Sandy asked incredulously.
“Oh, he tried every night. Sat right outside Jared’s door until Jared caved.”
“That’s disgusting!” Danneel shrugged. “How can you not care about this?” Sandy demanded.
Danneel stood up, wiggling her now dry toes in the fuzzy rug. “Who or what he does before we get together isn’t any of my business as long as he’s cautious about it.”
As far as ways of dealing with this situation, Jensen thought, it was healthier than some others. After all, his solution had been to just go crazy so maybe he should try Danneel’s careful denial. Except that Jensen wasn’t sure if he’d be able to tell the difference between what she considered actually being together and whatever limbo that they were in now. Because right now sure felt a whole hell of lot like dating…just with way too many people.
“I don’t agree,” Sandy told her quietly, looking down at her toes again.
“Think of it from Jared’s side,” Danneel said. “If it was just you and him, would you sleep with him?”
In a heartbeat. “Boyfriend and girlfriend?” Sandy asked, glancing up again.
“Boyfriend and girlfriend,” Danneel replied, nodding. “Going steady, however you want to put it. Would you sleep with him?”
Sandy smiled ducking her head like she was thinking about it at that exact moment. Jensen knew that he sure was. “Possibly,” Sandy said coyly.
Danneel rolled her eyes. “Of course you would. Now look at this way: Jared’s dating all of us.”
“It doesn’t count,” Sandy told her, wrinkling her nose. “Because you can’t date this many people at once.”
“Welcome to reality television,” Danneel said and let the statement hang in the air as she padded out of the living room, heading for the pool. Sandy watched her go, her mouth twisted unhappily, and Jensen could relate. He sighed, quietly backing out of the main room.
“Are you all ready?” Jared asked with a grin. He had them all lined up in the main room again, awaiting their next challenge that Jensen was sure was going to suck. Hard, too, judging by the way that Chad was grinning at them. Jensen was fast learning that whatever Chad thought would be awesome was a possible big pain in the ass for Jensen.
“To show us what you got!” Chad added and Jensen had a quick, horrible flashback of the first day and Chad’s Polaroids. Oh please, God, no. He’d kill Chad first.
Jared glanced over at Chad. “Okay, it’s not as creepy as he makes it sound.” Fair enough. Jensen was convinced that Chad could make watching grass grow sound creepy. “We’re going to put on a talent show.”
Jensen closed his eyes and wished for the Polaroids to come back. “And you are all the stars, bitches!” Chad chimed in. Great. Now he got to make a fool out of himself on national television as well, participating like a 7th grader in a contest. On the plus side, Jensen though, at least he’d already made a fool out of himself for going on the show at all so what was one more indignity.
“Right,” Jared said. “So y’all need to pick something you’re good at that you want to show off and you’ve got two hours to prep before you go up on stage. The winner will be decided by Chad and me and whoever wins gets a date with me. Sound good?” There was the usual nodding and Jared grinned, giving them all two thumbs up. “Great. So I’ll see you all in the screening room in two hours!” He turned away, pulling Chad up the stairs, presumably to his bedroom to wait for the time to be up and Jensen watched him go, trying not to feel too much like a lovesick teenager.
Unfortunately, he was aware that it was only going to get worse because he knew himself and his own personal rock bottom was still a long way off. Jensen knew that he could sink deeper.
“I’m excited!” Sandy gasped, closing her hands over her mouth. “What should I do?” She turned to Danneel who blinked at her before swinging around to Misha. “I don’t know!” Sandy didn’t turn to Jensen, because she hadn’t actually talked to him all damn day. He tried not to be hurt by it because what did it fucking matter to him that the princess had had her ivory tower rocked, but, when America’s Sweetheart gives you the cold shoulder, Jensen couldn’t deny that that he didn’t feel something.
It was just a good thing that he currently had other things on his mind. Who could think about Sandy when another chance at winning a date with Jared was on the line. Unfortunately, Jensen was in the same damn boat as Sandy because he didn’t have a fucking clue either. Which was awesome. Actually, Sandy was probably having the opposite problem as Jensen-she undoubtedly had too many flashy, showy talents that she could use while he had nothing. His biggest talent was writing for crying out loud-that wasn’t something that played too well in a talent show. Jensen had a few panicky moments where he considered running around in circles just for the exercise and contemplated the relative merits of doing something horribly mundane like just standing in front of Jared or something because he had nothing when the answer to his problem smacked him right between the eyes.
That wasn’t to say, though, that it made him feel any better in the slightest. Okay. So there was a talent that Jensen could draw upon that might be flashy enough to even possibly win him the date though there was just one tiny little flaw in the plan. Jensen didn’t know if he’d be able to manage to pull it off.
It was just a hobby he had-something fun that he did with Chris and the guys and he’d never been really serious about it. Now, Jensen was wishing that maybe he should have practiced a bit more, maybe have insisted that Chris give him a few pointers, but he’d never dreamed that there’d actually be a day when he’d be forced to use his non-existent skills. Because usually he avoided situations like this and Jensen knew that he should just take this all as a sign of how much his life was currently sucking.
Well, fuck. Okay, so musical talent it was. He wasn’t singing, though. He refused to sing.
He’d probably choke halfway through, anyway, Jensen thought miserably. He’d never performed without Chris to prop him up and never for anything more serious than a beer from Steve, so the nerves would eat him alive.
Beside him Lita was loudly bragging about her various ‘skills’ while Sandy bounced up and down, letting her inner cheerleader shine bright and Jensen’s entire next advance said that she was going to write some kind of stupid cheer and twirl a little baton in a short skirt. Ben, Misha, and Danneel were all talking to Jeff about what they’d need and Jensen thought that he should probably join them. It would be awfully damn hard to pull of playing Jared a song without some kind of musical instrument, after all.
Jensen smoothed his palms on his jeans, drying them, because he hadn’t been this nervous since the first time he’d gotten a chance to meet Jared and he hoped that he made it out of this alive.
The guitar that Jeff had tracked down for Jensen from God knows where twanged sourly under Jensen’s nervously plucking hands and Jensen quickly silenced it, trying to make it look like he’d just been moving the guitar. So far, though, no one was particularly looking at him, so Jensen would take that as a win.
He was ‘backstage’ of the talent show quietly awaiting for his turn on the executioner’s block and trying desperately not to puke as all the what ifs spun through his mind. What if Jared hated it? What if Jensen sucked? Jared would be too nice to say so outright. At least Chad was out there, too, though, because Chad was nothing if not brutally honest. He’d make sure to point out if Jensen sucked or not. It was one thing that Chad was good for.
Two hours of prep had not been nearly enough time as far as Jensen was concerned. He’d rather have taken a week. Or, you know, the rest of eternity. He at least felt fairly certain, though, that he had the basic chords down so that was something.
Jensen was at the back of the line, too, having drawn the shortest straw so the wait for sheer agony. The longer it took, the more confident he was in the fact that he was not going to make it, especially as he saw the other ‘talents’ being displayed. Sandy had gone first, in an entirely too short, pleated skirt that Jared and Chad had liked just a little too much as she’d bounced up and down enthusiastically, waving pompoms and pronouncing Jared as “number one and his Oscars weigh a ton! He’s gonna put us to the test! To see who of us is the best! He’s a catch, a guy with merit! Sweet and funny, I do declare it!”
How was Jensen supposed to compete with that? Cheerleaders were, like, standard jerk off fantasy number 3 for straight guys-right after French Maids and Catholic Schoolgirls. Jensen had watched it all with his heart in his throat, cursing Jared’s bisexuality again and wondering if he should just scrap the whole damn thing. The only thing that had stopped him from running right there and then, actually, was Jeff standing behind him-Jensen was a fast runner but he had no doubt that Jeff could take him down faster than a defensive lineman.
Sandy’s little stunt had lasted a painful five minutes as she jumped and clapped and ran through a list of Jared’s ‘assets’ in rhyme while Jared laughed and Chad cheered along with her. After she’d left the stage, Chad had even started repeating some of the catchier lines making Jared chuckle again and, fuck it all, blush. Jensen had clenched his teeth at that to stop a snarl and he had yet to let up on the pressure.
Ben had gone next with a rather inspired combination of working out and cooking-lifting weights while he served Jared food on platters and that had been a hit with Jared, too. Of course it had been. It was food after all. Better yet, it had been food served by a military-grade hottie in nothing but some short shorts all oiled up and glistening.
…Jensen was starting to sense a distinct theme of skimpy costumes. He felt overdressed in his black button down with the rolled-up sleeves and gray dress pants but at least he thought that he looked nice and he knew that if he were to be wearing as few clothes as Ben when he did this thing, he definitely wouldn’t make it to the end.
Danneel, of course, had followed up Ben’s act in a form-fitting leotard and tights as she contorted herself into the most impossible positions, damn near making Jared’s eyes pop out of his head. When she’d bent over backward and spun around to put her leg behind her head, Jensen was surprised that Jared hadn’t needed a napkin to wipe up the drool. Fantastic. Jensen would have killed himself trying to get into half the positions that Danneel effortlessly contorted herself into.
The only good news about any of it was that she was followed by Misha who, at the very least, was fully dressed. And not in anything skin-tight, either. Unfortunately, his talent had also been musical and Jensen was wondering again how he was supposed to compete but in a very different way because strumming on a guitar was one thing but Misha had been playing wine glasses like he was Sandra Bullock trying to win Miss America. Jared and Chad had both sat in amazement.
The absolute worst thing about any of this, however, Jensen thought, had to be who’d followed Misha on and who Jensen was supposed to go after. Screw Sandy in her tiny skirt and Ben in his shorts, Danneel with her twisty-twiny, ways, Lita was currently working a stripper pole like a pro, dancing to Motley Crue of all the stereotypical clichés and throwing away any ambiguity that had been left surrounding the question of whether she was an exotic dancer or not. She’d already lost her shirt, prancing around in nothing but a bra and a tiny skirt that did nothing to cover her G-string. So far she had yet to trip over her stiletto heels but there was always hope because that was the only thing that would make any of this any better. Jensen wanted to sink into the floor and die.
So much for winning.
Lita swung the pole again, kicking up a leg even higher than Danneel had done, showing off absolutely everything and Jensen was just glad that he wasn’t in her line of sight. Jared and Chad were, though, and they certainly weren’t looking away. Matter of fact, Chad had jumped to his feet, waving around a fistful of dollar bills like he’d completely forgotten where he was. Or maybe he just didn’t care. Jared had a little more restraint but he wasn’t saying no to Chad coaxing Lita closer.
Lita let go of the pole, dipping down in front of Chad and tugging down her skirt to let Chad shove a few singles underneath the hot pink string of her practically non-existent underwear as Chad cheered and the music boomed. She smiled at him and shimmied her way back to her feet, turning her full attention onto Jared.
Jared smiled, leaning forward in his seat, not nearly as shameless as Chad but still enjoying the show. Lita shook her tits at him, miraculously managing to stay inside her lacey bra that was too small to leave anything to imagination let alone actually hold her up in any way. Jensen averted his eyes, shading his face with his palm and trying not to look. Beside him, Sandy was covering her eyes while Danneel’s lips twisted sourly. Ben was staring at the floor and Misha’s eyebrows had permanently joined his hairline.
“Okay, then,” Misha murmured and Jensen knew just how he felt, only more so because at least Misha was already done. He didn’t have to follow that. Christ.
He was going to be lucky if Jared and Chad had enough brain cells left considering that all the blood in their bodies was undoubtedly being funneled away from their brains.
Lita swirled and twirled some more before she finally managed to lose her skirt, sliding it off over her hips and twirling it around on her finger and shooting it off towards Jared and Chad, just like she had her shirt. Chad caught it, waving it around before he tossed it into Jared’s lap as Jared laughed. “Yeah, baby!” Chad yelled, “take it off!”
He was a little late considering the fact that if Lita were to take anything more off, it would probably be illegal. Jensen was already wondering if they’d crossed that line a while ago considering the skimpiness of Lita’s underwear.
Encouraged by Chad, Lita squatted on at the front of the stage, directly in front of his drooling face even if she only had eyes for Jared. Then she slowly rose to standing again, cocking a hip as she moved upwards and bending over at the waist. Chad whistled some more and she moved back to her pole, wrapping a leg around it and finishing with a flourish and the song ended, hands up in the air and the only thing keeping her (partially) upright was the bar behind her knee. Jensen quietly groaned to himself and willed the pole to break.
Anything to stop Jared from possibly thinking that Lita was sexy. An air-raid. Alien invasion. Anything. But Chad and Jared were clapping and cheering and Jensen had to face the fact that it just wasn’t going to happen and that, yes, he really had to follow a stripper in a talent show. Life currently sucked.
Jensen didn’t have anything remotely sexy planned-he didn’t have a cheerleading uniform on and he certainly didn’t plan on taking off any of the clothes he was wearing and he’d probably die if he tried any of Danneel’s positions. He just had a guitar and an incredibly cheesy song that a friend had taught him years ago.
Jensen knew that he was singing too. That was the only way he had any chance of at least beating Misha and his surprisingly musical glasses. He still probably didn’t hold a candle to the rest of them but whatever. He could at least try, damn it.
And Chris would give shit if he went home because he hadn’t tried, chewing Jensen out about not learning a single damn thing that Chris had taught him. And at least if Jason ever watched the show-oh please, God, no-he’d have something to be proud of.
…Or tease Jensen about until Doom’s Day.
Fervently hoping that he would do well enough that Jason wouldn’t have a reason to resort to the later, Jensen slowly walked out onto the stage that Lita had already vacated. Jared clapped enthusiastically as Jensen came on. Chad was less animated, most likely because he was a little distracted, considering how he was still staring forlornly at the curtain that Lita had disappeared behind. Jensen rolled his shoulders uncomfortably. Fucking Chad.
“Hi, Jen,” Jared greeted him, waving and he was too damn cute to resist. Feeling like a complete dork, Jensen raised his hand in a half-wave back. Jared was looking just as good as ever, with his hair slicked back and dressed in a suit like he was attending the Oscars or something. Jensen could have happily jumped him and his James Bond look right then and there even if Jensen now thought that he would have preferred Jared with his hair all messed up, shirtless and smiling sleepily in Jensen’s bed.
Just a personal preference.
“What have you got for us?” Jared asked and Jensen held up the guitar as he sat down on the stool that one of the crew had ninja-ed out for him.
He cleared his throat. “Just, uh, got a song for you…” Jared grinned and Jensen ducked his head. He couldn’t look at those dimples and still think. “A friend taught it to me a long time ago and I thought that I’d play it for you if you don’t mind.”
“You gonna sing, Jen?” Jensen swallowed-he didn’t have a choice here. Of course he was going to.
“Jensen sings?” Chad asked, snuggling back down in his seat now that he had finally realized that Lita was not going to come back out on stage. “Cool.”
“Uh, I, uh, don’t really but…” Awesome. He was going to shoot himself in the foot before he even started. Deciding that he’d better just shut up before he dug an even deeper whole, Jensen hit the first chord of the song and just launched into it.
It started out slow with an A before slipping into the more complicated C sharp minor and Jensen found himself straining to get his fingers into position before the song went into a D and then back to an A. He could do this. He could so do this.
He missed his mark the first time around and so played the intro twice, hoping that Jared wouldn’t notice. He shouldn’t ought to-there was absolutely no reason why Jared should actually know the song. Jensen swallowed hard and pushed everything away. He didn’t need anything else-couldn’t have anything else or he knew that he’d choke.
“Well I can feel his heart beat from a thousand miles…” Jason was going to give him shit for changing the lyrics, he knew it. And Christ, where was his volume? Jared was smiling at him and Jensen closed his eyes, singing louder. He needed to focus, damn it. “And the heavens open every time he smiles. I’m running to him, that’s where I belong. I’m running to him like a river’s song…”
His fingers stumbled over the chorus before they got it down, but he pushed right on through, not letting himself worry about it. There was no use worrying about-the only he could do was get better. “He give me love, love, love, love, crazy love…” Jensen let himself get lost in the rhythm on the song, foot tapping in time to the strum as he sang along. “He give me love, love, love, love, crazy love.”
Somewhere along the way, he lost track of time and before he knew it, he was out of lyrics and his fingers were hitting the last few chords, running on instinct. Jensen hit the last strum and let the sound of the guitar linger, hearing it reverberate for a few moments before he dared to open his eyes again.
He only saw the polished wood of the stage, his eyes trained downward and he took a beat before he looked up, automatically focusing directly on Jared. God, it was seeing the damn sun. Jared made him able to breathe again-the man was on his feet and actually clapping and it was better than an entire crowd full of people because Jared was the only one that mattered anyway.
A smile cracked Jensen’s face and he ducked his head back down, feeling far too elated to think that any of this was happening. He didn’t even care if he won the contest at this point because, fuck it, he’d been damn good and nailed that sucker and, more importantly, Jared had liked it.
Jared had liked it. The statement echoed over and over in Jensen’s head and he felt his chest swell. Hell yeah. He was awesome.
Jensen stood up from his stool and took a bow before retreating behind the curtain, just in time to join the queue of people heading back out onto the stage. They lined up like obedient show dogs but, for once, Jensen was too giddy to care.
“First of all,” Jared started, clapping his hands in applause, “y’all did an awesome job today.”
“Awesome!” Chad repeated, giving them all a thumbs up. It would have even been a nice gesture if he hadn’t followed it up with an obvious leer at Lita.
Thankfully, Jared kept things rolling, not bothering to stop for Chad’s bit of perviness. He was probably used to it by now. “Personally, I think you all are great and I’d love to pick everyone as the winner.” Jensen glanced down the line of contestants, thinking that, even if that would have worked for Jared, Jensen wouldn’t like it-if only because he wouldn’t want to share the date with everybody else. He saw other houseguests giving the same look, though Danneel was the most obvious about it. “But there can be only one winner.”
Jared started on the end, pointing at Sandy. “Sandy…what can I say?” He gave her an up and down, taking in her outfit before coming back up to meet her. “I love your pompoms.”
“He really likes them,” Chad added, whispering conspiratorially. Jared elbowed him with a grin.
“Shut up! You’ll ruin my chances!”
“Dude,” Chad said, looking down his nose at Jared-not an easy feat considering that Jared had four inches on him. “Your chances with the ladies were ruined long before I showed up.”
Jared rolled his eyes. “Anyway. So, Ben. Ben, Ben, Ben…” Ben had yet to actually put on a shirt and Jensen stared carefully at the wall as Jared took a few moments to appreciate that fact. Fucking gym rats. “Your food was phenomenal. I’m starting to learn that that’s the norm for you.”
“Yeah, man,” Chad piped up. “Don’t suppose you have any leftovers?”
Ben laughed and pointed over his shoulder. “I think the crew might have taken off with them.”
Chad’s eyes widened comically. “Seriously? Those fuckers!” He turned to glare over at Jeff who was standing off to the side, arms crossed and watching.
Jeff blinked and glanced behind him at a few of the crew members who suspiciously tried not to look like they were chewing. Jeff turned back to face Chad, shrugging as he grinned. “Boys were hungry,” he said. Then he nodded at Chad. “That last comment’s gonna have to be edited out, too.”
“What?” Chad yelled.
“Can’t say fuck on the air,” Jeff told him. “Now quit looking at me. Let Jared do his thing.”
Jared had been watching them both, his head turning between them but now that Chad was silent and pouting beside and Jeff was expectant, he smiled. “Moving on. Danneel. I was really impressed with your act and, uh, well, definitely more than a little turned on.”
Danneel winked at him, striking a pose. “You haven’t seen anything, yet. I’ll give you a private performance later.”
“Oh, I hope so,” he said, ducking his head as his grin widened. He reached up to scratch the back of his head, laughing at himself and came back up to meet everyone’s eyes again. “So, Misha…that was an absolutely amazing performance and I have no idea how you pulled it off.”
Misha took a bow. “All in the fingers,” he remarked, holding them up for Jared’s inspection.
“I’ll have to take your word for it.” Jared turned to face Lita who, unlike Ben Jensen was incredibly grateful to note, had managed to find her clothes again. “Wow,” Jared said, shaking his head. “That had been just wow. I’m still trying to cool down.”
“Yeah,” Chad said, snapping out of his pout, “I’d love a repeat performance.”
Lita winked and gave the same offer as Danneel had yet, for some reason, Jensen minded it a whole lot more. “Only if Jared’s there,” she told him.
Chad nudged Jared in the ribs, nodding. “Yeah…”
“Dude,” Jared said, teasingly. “Stop perving on my girls.”
Chad sighed. “But they’re so damn hot, J-man…”
Lita giggled and Jensen resisted the urge to roll his eyes because Jared was looking directly at him. Throat suddenly dry, Jensen stared back. “Jen,” Jared said, “that was totally unexpected. I mean, I had no idea. And it was awesome.”
Jensen licked his lips and stared at the floor, wondering if he should say something. If he should follow Danneel and Lita’s lead and offer a private performance or something. Except that he knew that any private performance that he would offer to Jared probably wouldn’t involve the guitar nearly as much as it would involve a distinct lack of clothes-once Jensen was naked, he didn’t think he’d have much of an urge to just play a song.
“It was very good,” Chad replied. “I mean, we could have used some drums in here or a couple of girls doing back up-” He cut himself off and that was when Jensen finally looked up. He saw Chad shrinking away from Jared as Jared glared him into submission. Jensen tried not to think that it meant anything other than Jared just being exasperated by Chad stepping on his toes again but failed miserably. His heart was already trying to beat out of his chest.
“Which is why,” Jared continued as if he hadn’t just been interrupted, swinging back around to smile at Jensen. The sudden change from threatening to welcoming was going to give Jensen whiplash. “I decided that you’re the winner of the talent show challenge. It was like I got to see a part of you that you normally keep so hidden away and I really liked that. Congratulations.”
Jensen’s world was narrowing down to a tiny pinprick of focus-just room enough for him and Jared and even though he was sure that he was about to hyperventilate sometime real soon, it was fantastic. Not only was he not going to have to swallow the idea of someone spending time with Jared but it was an actual date-a date with just him and Jared and no chance of one of the other houseguests possibly intruding or interrupting them. Jensen forced himself to remain still instead of possibly jumping up and down like an excited teenage girl. Or squeal. There was to be no squealing. Period.
Jared was still smiling at him. “So, Jen, I’ll see you in an hour and the rest of you, I'll see later.” That’s right. Jensen had forgotten that there were other people in the room-Lita was out and out glaring at him and Sandy just looked crushed. Jensen tried not to think it, because he was sure that it made him a horrible person, but the only thought running through his head besides his inner teenager squealing in unholy joy was a very smug ‘too damn bad.’
He had a date with Jared.
Part 10 | Master Post | Part 12