Big Bang: Hopeless Places 2/15
Jared wakes up five hours later feeling like he got hit by a truck. It’s only seven in the morning, but he’s so used to getting up early for runs that his internal clock won’t let him go back to sleep. He sits up slowly on the bed, trying to figure out exactly how much he had to drink last night. It didn’t seem like much, but those little shots sure packed a punch.
Jared groans and stumbles towards the kitchen. He stops as he passes Cowboy, who’s sound asleep on his stomach. Jared thinks for half a second before shaking him awake out of spite. The other man scrunches his nose and turns to face him, eyes squeezed tight shut. Jared notices that he has dozens of freckles scattered across the bridge of his nose and under his eyes. Make-up must have covered them yesterday. Jared leans in closer, holding his breath. He straightens up fast when Cowboy blinks awake. “Jared?”
Jared clears his throat. “Up and at em’. They always wake people up early on these things, let’s get a head start.”
Cowboy pouts at him. “If I stand up, I’ma puke, dude.”
Jared rolls his eyes. “Don’t be a baby.” But Cowboy does look a little green, and he drank twice as much as Jared did. He leans down and scoops the other man up, blankets and all, ignoring the indignant squawk from Cowboy.
They’re right beside the kitchen, and Cowboy’s barely even conscious so it’s pretty easy to carry him. Jared sets him down gently in one of the big chairs around the island and pulls the blanket tighter around him. “Sit tight, I’ll make us breakfast.”
Cowboy glares at him, which is adorable with the pillow lines all over his face and his sleep mussed hair. He looks like a cat someone woke up from their afternoon nap. Jared chuckles to himself at the comparison and opens the fridge. The cold air hits him instantly and Jared has to pinch himself before he can decide it’s real.
The fridge is chock-full of every kind of food you could ever imagine. There’s eggs on the top shelf, five different kinds of juice, and, hell yes, bacon. A fuck-ton of bacon. Jared quickly finds a pan and gets the coffee machine working. Within minutes, the whole kitchen smells like simmering grease.
“Dude, this place is awesome,” he tells Cowboy. Who looks like he might have fallen asleep on the island.
Jared places a cup of coffee in front of him and watches in amazement as he reaches out, eyes still closed, to take a gulp from the mug. Cowboy opens his eyes to gaze up at him. “Is that bacon?” Jared nods. Cowboy takes another sip from the mug, cradling it close to his chest. “Marry me,” he purrs, looking for all the world like a cat with a bowl of cream.
Jared’s just dishing out the bacon when the gong sounds from the front door. Cowboy scurries down the ladder to check it out, blanket and all. He returns a moment later with a sealed envelope, ‘Read Me’ written on it.
He settles back into the chair, ripping it open and clearing his throat. “Morning guys, we had a great time last night, but sadly for two of you, your twin chance at love has ended. We’ll be at the mansion at ten AM so you can get in your last word before the elimination tonight. Love and kisses, Justin and Justina.”
Jared glances at the clock. It’s almost eight. “Think we should wake up the others?”
Cowboy gives him a look, bacon hanging half-way out of his mouth. “And share the food? Hell no.”
Jared shakes his head. “Okay, but soon.”
Cowboy agrees, but when they’re done with breakfast, he says they should get a chance to shower first. “That’s the whole reason you woke me up so fucking early isn’t it?”
It’s eight-thirty by the time they finish. They’re on their way to wake everyone up, when Cowboy stumbles across the arcade room, and who can blame them for stopping for a couple games of air hockey. Really.
Jared beats him three times, and Cowboy walks out in a huff. “It’s those long arms, man. There’s no way I can reach as far as you.”
Jared runs to catch up with him, “Don’t be a little bitch just ‘cause you have T-rex arms,” he says.
This results in an impromptu wrestling match, which Cowboy wins, if only cause he fights dirty. From his position on the ground where Cowboy has him pinned, he manages to get a glimpse at the clock. “Holy shit, it’s nine-thirty! Their gonna murder us.”
Cowboy’s off of him in a second, pounding on doors and making as much noise as possible. “Hey pansies!” He yells. “The twins are gonna be here in half an hour, get your lazy asses outta bed!”
Jared smirks at him. “Pansies?” Cowboy shrugs.
The house is suddenly full of activity. There’s only so many bathrooms, and the people who weren’t quick enough to get in are pounding angrily at the doors. Blondie’s near screaming, hair in tangles around her head and still wearing last nights dress.
“I swear to god if you don’t get out of there in 5 minutes I’m breaking this fucking door down!” She shrieks. Jared and Cowboy retreat to their room, hiding in the bazillion pillows of the Holy Grail.
“Do you think they know we’ve been up for two hours?” He asks.
Cowboy gives him a scared look. “I won’t tell if you don’t.”
Jared nods. He wants to live, thank you very much.
They hear voices drifting in from the kitchen a moment later. “Smells like bacon in here,” one says. Cowboy gives him a panicked look. “They were awake long enough to make bacon?” says another. Cowboy grabs his hand, sneaking towards the ladder.
“Quick,” he whispers. “Before they figure it out.”
They’re in the living room, trying desperately to find a place to hide when Jared spots the confessional booths. He gestures at them silently, trying to hold back his laughter when Cowboy scoots along the wall like they’re in a spy movie. He holds up his fingers one at a time, and on three they make a mad dash across the room towards the booths. Jared hears an angry “Hey!” from the kitchen before they slam the door shut behind them.
He turns around and finds himself nose-to-nose with Cowboy. This thing was obviously not built to hold two people. Especially not two people of their size. Cowboy pushes him onto the stool behind them and settles down on his lap. Jared hooks his chin over the other man’s shoulder, looking at the camera in front of them.
“We’re hiding,” Cowboy says in an exaggerated whisper.
Jared nods. “We got distracted in the arcade room and forgot to wake everyone up.”
Cowboy starts talking animatedly about how great the house is and how he wants to live in it forever. Jared doesn’t necessarily agree, but he provides random commentary anyways, tightening his arms around Cowboy’s waist so he doesn’t fall off. He realizes abruptly that they’ve only known each other for a day and he’s not even a little uncomfortable with Cowboy being perched on his knee. He smells like Old Spice and bacon this close up; it’s a pretty great combination.
The sound of the gong jolts him out of his thoughts, and they stumble out of the booth to open the front doors. Justin and Justina are standing on the step looking like something out of a magazine, color-coordinated outfits and blonde hair lit up by the sunlight behind them. Cowboy grabs Justin’s hand, talking a mile-a-minute about how he has to try out the arcade room. Justin looks kind of stunned, but he follows behind, giving a wave to his sister before turning the corner.
Justina smiles fondly. “He’s a different one.”
Jared laughs. “He sure is.”
They go out to the pool side and talk for awhile. Well it’s mostly Justina talking and Jared nodding his head, but Jared finds herself liking her anyways. She’s really sweet, and she bounces when she talks. Which is great, ‘cause her tits kind of jiggle every time she does it.
They’re interrupted by Butch, who shoulders Jared out of the way to plant a kiss on Justina’s lips. She grimaces and tries to push him off, but there’s nowhere for her to go with the pool at her back. Jared frowns. “Hey dude. Back off.”
He grabs Butch by the shoulder, pulling him around to face him. The guy looks like he has roid-rage, muscles bunching and face turning an unnatural purple color. “Fuck off!” He yells, shoving Jared roughly.
Justina looks scared, Butch’s hand possessive on her arm. Jared steps up into his space. “Take your fucking hands off her.”
Before he sees it coming, Butch swings at him, hitting him hard on the cheek. Jared hears Justina cry out, and he can taste the blood flooding his mouth. She’s next to him in a second, cupping his face. “I just bit the inside of my mouth,” he mumbles. “I’m fine.”
The screen door slides open and Jared looks up to see a bunch of people standing there, as well as about five camera men. Cowboy pushes through the crowd, Justin in tow. He drops Justin’s hand when he sees Jared kneeling on the ground and runs to his side. “What the hell happened?”
Jared gestures to Butch, still standing by the pool, huffing like an angry rhino. Cowboy wastes no time getting up in his face. Jared can’t make out what he’s saying but it obviously riles Butch up because it’s mere seconds before he takes another swing. Fortunately Cowboy sees it coming and steps back, dangerously close to the pool. He’s still taunting the larger man, cocky smirk on his lips. Butch lunges at him, grabbing him around the torso and they both hit the water with a splash.
Everyone’s gathered around now and Jared notices security standing by the sidelines. Butch gets a couple good hits to Cowboy’s face and Jared realizes that he’s trying to force his head under the water. He’s up on his feet and in the pool before he has to think about it. Jared pushes through the water as fast as he can, cursing how slow the weight of his clothes makes him. He can see Cowboy’s arms scrabbling for purchase where Butch has him around the neck and Jared fights to stay quiet. It’s not hard, Butch is grunting and swearing under his breath, too focused on Cowboy to notice Jared behind him.
When he finally reaches them, Jared gets him into a headlock, holding him just low enough so his mouth is underwater but he nose stays above. Even an idiot like Butch can figure out if he thrashes around too much he won’t be able to breathe, so he settles down pretty fast.
It’s not enough for Jared though, Cowboy surfaces with a gasp, clutching at his neck. Jared knees Butch hard in the kidneys, forgetting for a moment everyone gathered around them.
That’s when security finally decides to step in, wading into the pool fully clothed and ripping Jared off of Butch. He’s angrier than he’s ever been in his life, the image of Cowboy’s head disappearing under the water burned into his eyelids. One of the guys pushes on his chest. “It’s over buddy.”
Jared’s heart is thumping wildly and he wants to keep fighting, but he knows if he does anything more he’s likely to get kicked off the show. He pulls himself out of the pool, heading back to the group of people gaping at the edge. Cowboy’s already there, taking huge breaths and spitting out water. His lips are bloody but he doesn’t look seriously hurt. Jared wants to make sure he’s okay but Justin seems to have it covered, stroking his hair and dabbing his plush lips with a cloth. Jared feels anger starting to bubble up again, but Justina appears at his arm and he pushes it away. “My hero,” she coos.
Jared grins, letting her coddle him. Other people are trying to get her attention but Justina doesn’t even seem to notice them. There’s no way he’s going home tonight.
Jared doesn’t get a chance to talk to Cowboy before the elimination. They’re whisked off to hair and make-up right away. In the blink of an eye, he finds himself standing with the other contestants, Cowboy all the way across the room. He notices that make-up didn’t even try to cover the beginning of a pretty good black eye. Cowboy’s wincing every time he blinks, but he smiles at Jared anyways.
Jared turns away when Justin and Justina enter from the curtain in front of them, one blue, one pink. They walk up to their podiums, decorated with necklaces hanging around them .Jared can make out the little J’s on each one.
“Justin and I each have six necklaces tonight, since Butch was sent home after the conflict by the pool,” Justina starts. There’s grumbles from everyone around him, and Jared can understand why. This is bullshit. Technically, they only have to get rid of one more person.
“I know if feels like an extra person is going home, but we have to eliminate two of you, and Butch was kicked out.”
Justin nods, picking up when Justina stops. “So when we call your name, come up to get your necklace, if your name isn’t called, your twin shot as love as ended.”
Jared’s pretty relaxed, Justina already likes him. But he feels the tension in the room building at the words. Sure enough, Justina plucks the first necklace off her stand and says, “Tex.”
His heart thuds when he hears it all the same, and he takes a breath before walking up to the podium, flashing her a slow smile. When he’s standing right in front of her she continues, “You were my knight in shining armor today, and you’re super sweet. Will you accept my necklace?”
Jared looks down at her. “‘Course.”
Justina has to rise up on her tip-toes to get the necklace over his head, and he steadies her hips so she doesn’t fall off the podium. She’s giggling when she finally gets it on and bends to place a soft kiss on his cheek. Jared leaves to stand behind her and waits for Justin to take his turn.
Justin plucks a blue necklace off his stand, taking a deep breath. “Cowboy.” Cowboy smiles, strutting up to the front. Justin smiles right back, stars in his eyes. “You’re a whole lot of fun, but you’ve got a serious side too. I can’t wait to see more of it. Will you accept this necklace?”
Cowboy nods and Justin leans in to put the necklace over his head, brushing a chaste kiss on his lips.
Cowboy looks dazed, like he wasn’t expecting it, and walks over to Jared still grinning. They stand side-by-side as the rest of the names are called. He doesn’t even know the people that go home but Cowboy leans over and says, “See, those are the ones that didn’t make an impression.”
Jared tries not to laugh, since one of the girls is full out sobbing. “We sure made an impression didn’t we?”
Cowboy thumbs over the mark on Jared’s cheek where Butch hit him. “We sure did.”
There isn’t a party that night because everyone’s in a bad mood after the eliminations. They’re all sitting in the living room, but no one seems to want to talk. After a few minutes of awkward silence Cowboy gets up, “This is a bummer. Let’s go, Tex.”
He hears one of the girls snicker but chooses to ignore it. He’s had enough drama for one day. Cowboy’s already face down in the Holy Grail when he gets up there, flipping over when the bed dips under Jared’s weight.
“You look like shit,” Jared mutters.
Cowboy rubs at his uninjured eye with a fist. “Yeah, well almost getting drowned will do that to ya.”
Jared’s stomach drops at the memory. “I was going to kill him when he had your head under like that.”
Cowboy blinks at him. “What? You weren’t just defending Justina’s honor?”
Jared laughs. “Yeah well that too.” Cowboy’s accent comes out more when he’s tired, and it reminds Jared of home. The other man’s eyelid’s are drooping, but Jared doesn’t want him to stop talking. “Justin sure likes you,” he says.
Cowboy perks up again. “Yeah, we talked in the arcade before all that shit started. He’s pretty cool.”
Jared hums in agreement but doesn’t say anything else. He doesn’t really want to hear how cool Justin is.
Cowboy’s still looking at him. “Tex? Can I sleep on the Holy Grail tonight? I promise I won’t try an’ molest you again.” He’s looking at him with those big sleepy eyes, face all mottled and bruised. It shouldn’t be as convincing as it is.
Jared sighs and starts getting up, resigning himself to a sleepless night on the too small bed, but Cowboy tugs him back down. “There’s enough room for both of us doofus,” he murmurs, already half asleep.
There really isn’t since they’re both pretty big guys. But this bed is a lot nicer…
Jared doesn’t even finish the thought before falling asleep, the freckles across Cowboy’s nose the last thing he sees.
Episode Two