Fic: RPS (Jared/Jensen): In It for Love [9 / 16] | R | 7015 words
Title: In It for Love [ 9 / 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): The house has shrunk to eight houseguests and Jared introduces the new challenge--one that's going to lead to a double elimination.
Word Count: 7015 (this part)
Disclaimer: Never happened, no affiliation.
A/N: I...should just give up on ever getting a whole episode to fit into one post. -_-
Master Post: Master Post
Part 8 | Master Post | Part 10
Episode 5 - First Half
The house now had almost half the population that it had started with. It was odd, especially after just wanting some time to himself for so long, but Jensen was starting to feel just a little bit lonely. Mike apparently was, too, because he had officially moved in with Jensen and Tom last night, bringing all of his stuff over and taking over Mary’s old bed. It was kind of like having a slumber party with the world’s biggest kid, Jensen figured, what with the way that Mike had tried to keep him and Tom up all night telling stories. At least they hadn’t been ghost stories, so Jensen supposed that he should count his lucky stars on that one.
Jensen stretched on his bed and brought the blankets up to cover his head. It was entirely way too early, of course, actually only eight o’clock in the morning, and if Jensen was back home, he’d still be sleeping. He wasn’t in Texas, though, getting ready to start just another ordinary day. He was in California, getting ready to start a day with Jared Padalecki and that made all the difference in the world. Jensen spent a few wistful moments considering skipping breakfast in favor of a bit more sleep but he knew it really wasn’t an option. Jared would be down in the kitchen, so it really wasn’t as if Jensen was going to miss it.
Funny how all of his priorities had been rearranged in such a short little time, adapting to Jared’s schedule. As he slipped out from underneath the covers, his eyebrows rose because Mike and Tom were still sleeping, which he’d expected, but they were curled together in the same bed, which he definitely hadn’t. He blinked at them, bemused, before shrugging and meandering into the bathroom, set on making himself look his best for Jared. Not wanting to waste too much time, just in case Jared had to leave soon, he did a quick job of it and fifteen minutes later, he was heading down the stairs two at a time.
He slowed before reaching the kitchen because there was showing enthusiasm for seeing someone and then there was being pathetic, and entered the room, calm and composed. Jared, though, to Jensen’s immense disappointment, was nowhere to be found. Instead there was only Lita, eating a bowl of cereal and leaning up against the cabinets. Her eyes locked on him and her mouth rose in a small smile. “He left already,” she said, accurately guessing what Jensen had been hoping to find. “He had to set up our next challenge.”
So apparently it was business as usual around the house this morning. Jensen tried to feel too disappointed by that. After all, the next challenge met the next chance at a date with Jared. Still, he really could have used the extra boost of energy Jared seemed to infuse in him.
Lita was still talking, unaware that Jensen didn’t particularly want to hear what she had to say after ‘he left already.’ “You know, Jensen,” she said, dropping her spoon into her bowl, “you really should learn how to be a little bit more subtle. I mean, you’re going to drive him away if you appear too eager. Like Felicity, you remember how she used to be all Jared-this, Jared-that? You don’t want to be that person.”
Jensen blinked at her, not knowing quite what to say, so he ended up nodding and saying “Ah,” as he backed out of the kitchen and headed out into the main room. He didn’t quite know how to take Lita’s advice because on one hand, she was only voicing what Jensen himself was already thinking but yet on the other…Lita was a bitch.
He supposed that he should really take it with a grain of salt. Rolling his shoulders uncomfortably, Jensen glanced around for ideas on what to do with the long stretch of Jared-less time that he was apparently in store for. He could possibly go hit the gym because now that Georgie was gone, he’d have the place to himself for the most part and, well, Jensen thought that he could use the exercise. It certainly wouldn’t hurt. He sighed, though, because that sounded like entirely way too much work. Frankly, he’d rather… Jensen turned his head to look at Jeff’s little closet.
He was about due, anyway. Jensen strolled over to the closet, made sure that no one but the cameras were looking and then entered, closing the door softly behind him. He sat down in the usual chair and stared straight ahead at the camera, wondering if it was just always running or if it had a motion sensor detector on it or something. Anything was possible, he supposed.
He dropped his eyes from the camera to look down at his hands which were trying to twist into a pretzel. “I don’t think this gets any easier,” he confessed and, just from the words leaving his mouth, it felt like a small weight lifted off his chest. “It gets harder from here on out.” He jerked his head up, a wry smile on his face, but he wasn’t looking at the camera-instead focusing off to the right of it. “I mean, here we all are, all competing for the same guy. It’s crazy. Stupid, actually. Sometimes I wonder what I’m doing here. Then I see Jared and…” he shrugged. “I’m like ‘oh. That’s why.’ And then I watch everybody think the same damn thing.” He sighed and finally brought his eyes around to look straight into the camera lens, seeing the blinking red light telling him it was recording. “Jealousy’s gonna eat me alive before this is over.”
Jared came back just after eleven. Jensen had been sitting on the couch with Misha, watching Misha play with the gigantic apple again as they talked about 'life on the outside.' At the moment, it actually kind of felt like Jensen was in prison, so he felt that it was only appropriate to use the terminology. He actually wasn't even allowed off the premises unless he was accompanied by Jared and the fancy gates of the mansion might as well be barbed wire. Facing the door, Jensen saw the minute that it opened and he was up onto his feet, heading towards Jared as the man struggled inside with his arms full of various bags. “Want some help?” Jensen offered and felt his heart do a familiar stutter when Jared grinned up at him.
“Sure,” he said. “I was trying to help them out and guess I bit off more than I could chew.” Jared jerked his head back at a couple guys in jeans and T-shirts, struggling with more bags and Jensen blinked. “Couldn’t see letting them do all the work when I was right here, you know?”
“So you decided to show off,” Jensen teased, taking a few of Jared’s bags.
“Damn straight. I have to meet a quota, you know. So many people impressed in a month or they’ll kick me out of the Impressive Club.”
Jensen stopped dead, holding the bags as he stared at Jensen. “…There’s not a club that’s called that.”
“Sure there is,” Jared replied, walking past him. “They just won’t let in anymore because I’m not ten anymore. Oh, hi, Misha.” Jensen smiled, following after Jared as Jared handed Misha few bags as well and together they carried them all into the kitchen. Jared dumped his on the island counter. “Just set them anywhere,” he said, shaking out his arms. “Didn’t know that those would be so heavy.” Jared laughed at himself, rubbing at his right arm and Jensen hurriedly pushed his own bags onto the counter as well and moved next to Jared. He knew exactly what he could do.
Jensen ran his hands over Jared’s arm, forcing himself to breathe regularly as Jared grinned down at him. “I, uh, took a few classes in massage,” Jensen murmured. “Maybe I could…”
Jared willingly submitted himself to Jensen’s touch, groaning gratefully. “Few classes in massage? In case you needed to seduce somebody? Not that I’m complaining.”
Jensen chuckled. “Not exactly.” More like he’d been in training to be a physical therapist when the whole writing thing had taken off. Jensen dug his fingers into the muscle of Jared’s lower arm and worked his way up as Jared licked his lips and groaned again and, God, this was kind of hot… Jensen shifted awkwardly but he wasn’t about to let go of Jared.
Misha set the bags that he’d been carrying beside the others. “What’s in these, anyway?”
“Stuff for the next challenge,” Jared said and Jensen pressed down firmly, reminding Jared that he was there and making him groan again. The rest of the guys were filing, in as well, setting stuff up and Jeff followed them in, marking things off of a checklist.
“Okay. Set that up over there,” Jeff said, muttering to the guys. “Yeah, just like that.”
Jared raised his head and looked over at Jeff, his free hand sliding over Jensen’s arm. “Hey, Jeff?”
“Yeah?” Jeff answered, looking up from issuing orders.
“How much time do we got?” Jared asked and Jensen paused, wanting to know the answer as well.
Jeff glanced at his watch. “About an hour,” he grunted and returned to his checklist.
“Good.” Jared’s hand tightened on Jensen’s arm, dragging Jensen’s attention away from Jeff and back to him. “Because Jen here says that he’s taken a few massage classes and I want to see how good he is.” Jensen’s stomach did a complete flip. Did Jared just suggest…?
Jeff smirked but didn’t look up from the clipboard. “I’ll send Chad when it’s time.”
“Thanks,” Jared chirped and the next thing Jensen knew, he was being dragged past Misha with Jared saying a “Sorry, Mish, I’ll see you in a little while,” and being pulled up the stairs to Jared’s room.
Oh God. Oh God. Jared was taking Jensen up to his bedroom hoping for a massage. Jensen had a hard time trying to catch his breath because this definitely made up for not finding Jared this morning. Jensen’s heart was beating at double-time as he followed Jared. Jared was coaxing him with soft cajolings of “This way, Jen” and charming smiles but Jensen thought at this point Jared could have been leading him into Hell and he would have happily gone.
They hit the top of the stairs and Jared pulled Jensen into his room, gently closing the door behind them that, quiet or not, carried a note of finality. Jensen licked his lips nervously and fought not to rub his sweaty palms on his pants. “How do you want me?” Jared asked coyly and Jensen swallowed. Any way Jared preferred, Jensen thought? He was good with that.
But Jared apparently wanted an answer. He looked at Jensen expectantly, eyebrows raised and Jensen swallowed hard, trying to get his voice working again. “On…on the bed?”
“I was hoping you’d say that,” Jared teased and immediately fell over, landing on the bed with a soft whomp. He snuggled down on the bed, getting comfortable as he rolled over onto his stomach, displaying the smooth slope of his back and the curve of his ass and Jensen nearly had to pinch himself to convince himself that this was happening. Then Jared got another brilliant idea and sat up just long enough to take off his shirt before laying back down, pillowing his head on his crossed arms. “How’s this?” Jared asked and Jensen tried to find words that weren’t just a whimper.
“It’s, uh, it’s great.” He crossed over to the bed and looked down at Jared who grinned back up at him, waiting patiently. Licking his lips again, Jensen knelt down on the bed, putting his hands on Jared’s smooth back again. He bit back a whimper as he got to work, kneading out the kinks in Jared’s muscles, his fingers moving over Jared's warm skin.
“Might go better if you straddled me,” Jared murmured and Jensen paused. Jared had a point and, after all, straddling was right up the alley of the true purpose of all of this, but Jensen still thought it was a very Bad Idea. Because then Jared would definitely be able to feel Jensen’s hard on and Jensen would be pressed against a very nice spot that would probably distract him from doing anything at all besides mindlessly rubbing himself against it. But he still took a deep breath, moved closer, and slid his leg over the small of Jared’s back. He leaned forward, using the better leverage to his advantage and Jared moaned appreciatively. It did nothing to stop the painful throbbing in Jensen’s crotch. “Yeah, Jen, just like that…”
Jensen forced himself to focus, wanting this to be as good as possible for Jared, show him what he could do and, uh, maybe cement himself just a little more. He worked his way from Jared’s shoulders down his spine, mentally cataloguing each defined muscle as his fingers traced it, loving the feel of Jared beneath him. Each time his fingers dug into a knot, Jared would groan and then Jensen would have to suppress a shiver.
After one particularly heartfelt moan and an answering twitch of Jensen’s dick, Jensen huffed a laugh because Jared Padalecki was his own personal porno at the moment. How long they stayed in that position, with Jared stretched out on his stomach and Jensen overtop of him, Jensen was unsure because, in his head, he was going to make this moment last forever. Eventually, however, Jared moved from the boneless sprawl Jensen had put him in, slowly rolling over onto his back on the big bed and bringing his hands up to cup Jensen’s head and drag him down for a kiss.
So much for this just being a massage. Giving up any pretense of this experience being anything but foreplay, Jensen dropped his body against Jared’s rubbing just enough to send sparks through his nerves as Jared licked inside his mouth. Jared pressed his thumbs against the hinge of Jensen’s jaw, encouraging him to open wider and, with a soft moan, Jensen obeyed. Jared attempted to devour his mouth, tongue dueling with Jensen’s.
Jared’s hands skated down Jensen’s neck and slid across his chest, fingers flicking at Jensen’s nipples underneath his shirt and Jensen shivered, hips jerking forward against Jared’s stomach. Jared choked off a whine, his own hips lifting and arching to press against Jensen. Jensen broke the kiss to suck in a deep breath, starting to pant and fuck but his jeans were too tight. “God, Jensen…” Jared said, pulling Jensen back for another kiss.
Jared rolled them, sending Jensen’s world spinning as Jared pushed him over onto his back. He wasn’t about to complain, though, when Jared settled between his spread legs, pressing down against him, hips rolling gently against his. He moaned and clutched at Jared’s hair, holding on for dear life as Jared ran his hands over Jensen’s chest again.
Jensen arched up into Jared, shivering at his “oh, yeah, Jen…” and how Jared’s hands moved to Jensen’s inner thighs, holding him spread. “Like that?” Jared asked and Jensen bit his lip and nodded. As if he was ever going to say no.
“Hey, guys, Jeff says we’re ready.” A knock accompanied the statement and Jensen nearly jumped off the bed in surprise. Jared was the only thing that kept him where he was.
Frozen on top of Jensen, Jared stared down at him before closing his eyes and whispering, “Fuck…” before raising his voice. “Be right there!”
“I’m sure you will,” was the sly response and Jensen sighed, thinking that it was really too bad that some deep, dark pit somewhere hadn't swallowed Chad up by now. Jensen took back every nice thing he’d ever thought about Chad because Chad was a dick.
Jared was already rolling off of him and Jensen could have screamed in frustration. Just a little more time, that was all he was asking. Maybe just one night where they didn’t have to cut it short. Was that too much? “Sorry, Jen,” Jared murmured, holding out his hand for Jensen to take. “I think I messed you all up.”
Jensen frowned at that, wondering just what the hell Jared was talking about before it hit him like a Mac truck that he must look more than a little debauched at the moment. He was sure, though, that he couldn’t look any worse than Jared because, well, Jensen had a thing for Jared’s hair and it showed. “Same here,” Jensen replied with a small smile and Jared chuckled, turning to look at himself in the mirror on the far wall.
“Damn,” he said, smoothing it back down.
“Just be glad I don’t wear lipstick,” Jensen told him and Jared barked a laugh.
“Aww, Jen, but you’re so pretty, you don’t need it,” Jared said, still laughing, and Jensen smiled but dropped his eyes to the floor to stop the resulting blush. He couldn’t help it. Jared thought he was pretty. Granted, Jensen would prefer something a little bit more manly, but hey, he’d take what he could get. “Me, on the other hand, I could probably use some.”
An image of Jared in lipstick crossed Jensen’s mind and it was so ridiculous he had to join Jared in laughing, too, nearly doubling over as he turned away. “Hey,” Jared protested. “I think I could do it. What do you think, a nice pink shade? Or do you think I could pull off a red?” He backed up to the door, gripping the handle. He jerked his head at the door. “Come on, Jen. Let’s go join the rest of the group.”
Jeff lined them all up in the kitchen and as soon as Jensen had walked in on Jared’s heels, he’d seen what had been in all the bags that he’d helped Jared carry in. Lining all the counters, they were surrounded by different foods and spices and fuck but this was going to be a cooking challenge, wasn’t it?
On the island, though, there were cleaning supplies of every size and shape, standing in front of a tower of paper towels and that just had Jensen confused. Jared, standing next to Chad, looked at all the houseguests. “Hi, guys,” he said. “Welcome to your next challenge.”
Chad grinned. “And it’s a two-parter so you bitches better have come prepared!”
“Right,” Jared said, nodding. “And, because of that and, uh, more importantly, that means that two people are leaving tonight.” He said the words steadily enough but his face was strained even though Chad kept smiling. Jensen could feel the entire mood of the room drop at the news that they were going to have to survive a double elimination tonight, and, glancing around, he saw that not a single one of his fellow castmates looked confident. Tom looked worried and Lita looked downright terrified.
“First,” Jared said, having paused just long enough to let the information sink in, and obviously wanting to get this bit of exposition over with as soon as possible. “We have to clean this house because I don’t know if y’all have noticed but we’ve only been in this place for a week and it’s already looking kind of trashed. Jensen’s eyes were automatically drawn to the sink where the dishes had been starting to stack up. Huh. He’d been wondering about those. And he knew that the pizza boxes from yesterday’s movie party were still sitting in the screening room. “Plus,” Jared continued, “I’d like you all to meet a few friends of mine.”
Jensen frowned because if Chad was anything to go by, Jensen wasn’t sure if he really could take meeting more of Jared’s friends, but then Jared stepped back and made a grand gesture but what came walking in wasn’t on two legs. In from the mudroom came Sadie and Harley and they were both filthy. Sometime between Jensen’s last meeting with the dogs and now, Jared had apparently taken them through a swamp or two because the dogs were coated with mud and debris. Harley looked ecstatic while Sadie just looked miserable.
Jared shrugged. “Meet Sadie and Harley,” he said. “As you can see, they also need to get clean.” As if on cue, Harley shook, scattering dried mud onto the kitchen tile and Jensen winced. “So team up, guys, because we’ve got the kitchen, the bathrooms, the dogs, and the great room with the side rooms.”
…They were going to be Jared’s little housewives, weren’t they? Jensen didn’t think that he’d signed up for this. Next to him, Misha nudged him with an elbow. “Let’s take the dogs,” he whispered and, Hell, that sounded as good as anything. He nodded.
“Everybody set?” Jared called. “We’re meeting back here in an hour and GO!”
People surged from Jensen’s right, heading for the kitchen island, but Misha darted forward, grabbing a hold of Harley’s collar. Sadie danced away but came to a stop beside Misha. “Come on, Jensen,” he said, dragging the happy, unsuspecting dog outside to the hose with Sadie following suspiciously. Jensen grimaced, reaching into the still roiling crowd and grabbing out the bottles of dog shampoo. Sandy dashed around him, holding a bottle of Windex and a roll of paper towels, heading for the main part of the house, Danneel close on her heels. Mike cackled and took off for parts unknown with Tom which left Ben with Lita, bringing up the rear. Jensen hunched in on himself and ran out the door after Misha.
Misha had hauled Harley into the middle of the yard and was now holding the hose and Jensen was reminded of just how big Harley was and this was going to suck, wasn’t it? He should have chosen an easier task with one of the others because, frankly, if neither of the dogs liked baths, then Jensen had the sneaking suspicion that he and Misha weren’t going to easily make them take one.
Except that Jensen had possibly underestimated Misha’s way with animals because Harley just plopped himself right now on the grass and let Misha run the water over him, mud and debris falling off in waves. Misha was murmuring, “Good boy, that’s a good boy,” as he helped slick off the dirt and Jensen just shrugged, opening up a bottle of shampoo. Sadie laid down on the grass, groaning at all of them, while Harley just wagged his tail happily.
“That’s a whole lot of dog,” Jensen muttered and Misha grinned.
“Yes, it is.” He helped Jensen start to lather the soap in, covering every inch of Harley’s fur and they were turning the small section of lawn that there were standing on into a veritable mudpit. Giving up staying clean as a lost cause, Jensen fell to his knees and began scrubbing in earnest as he wondered just exactly what bog Jared had taken the dogs, to.
Misha grabbed the hose again, using to wash out the soap and what was left of the mud, showing orange fur underneath instead of the nearly black dog that had walked into the house. “Finally,” Jensen said and Misha smiled again. This was actually going easier than Jensen had thought it would. For the most part, Harley was holding still, liking all the attention and not even minding the water and Sadie was waiting her turn, apparently just wanting to be clean again.
When they finished with Harley, they let him go and he took off, rolling in the grass while they turned on Sadie, stripping the mud off of her. She patiently stood and let them do their thing, only her eyes betraying how much she’d rather be anywhere else at the moment. “Such a good girl,” Misha told her as they scrubbed over her ruff before he grabbed the hose again.
The water was starting to get more than a little cold by the time that they finished with Sadie and let her go but Jensen still stuck his hands into it, washing off the soap and whatever mud was clinging to his arms. Misha did the same before they turned the hose on their clothes, trying to get the worst of the mud off before going back in the house.
“That was quick,” Jensen said. It had only been a half hour and Jared had told them they had twice that-he even had time to go get changed, which was a minor miracle…
“Too quick,” Misha replied and pointed at Harley who had snuck back and was rolling in the mud that they’d just washed off of him.
“You have got to be kidding me!” Jensen reached for Harley, snagging his collar easily and they turned the hose on him again. With the water turning freezing, though, Harley wasn't nearly as cooperative, dancing away from the cold while Jensen snarled. He glanced over his shoulder, hoping that Sadie wasn’t getting into something while being unsupervised, too, but she was sitting in front of the door, staring back at him.
Misha giggled, spraying Harley down one last time. He turned the water off while Jensen dragged Harley to the front door and prayed that his collar didn’t come off because judging by the way that Harley was wistfully eyeing the mud, he’d be right back in it in a heartbeat. Jensen relaxed, a little, though, when Misha got in front of them, saying “Here, boy!” and drawing Harley’s attention towards him. Harley happily bounded towards Misha who quickly backed up into the house, opening the door and letting Sadie in. Jensen followed them all and closed the door behind them, wincing as he dripped onto the tiled floor.
Misha slapped him on the arm. “Good work,” he said before ambling off into the kitchen.
“Yeah,” Jensen said, following him.
Ben and Lita had apparently gotten stuck with the kitchen because Ben was putting away the dried dishes even if Lita was nowhere to be found. Jared was standing in the middle of the kitchen, talking with Chad but stopped as he saw the dogs come in. “Hey, guys!” He bent down, to scratch them as they sat at his feet.
Chad sidled away. “They’re wet.”
“They just got a bath. Didn’t you?” Jared asked the dogs, sweet-talking them.
“They still stink,” Chad said, wrinkling his nose.
Jared rolled his eyes. “They smell like wet dogs.”
“No, they don’t,” Misha cut in. “They smell like…” He held up a bottle of shampoo, reading the label. “…All-Natural Vanilla and Apple Extract with Added Oatmeal for Sensitive Skin.”
“See?” Jared raised an eyebrow at Chad who still looked skeptical before he turned to Misha and Jensen. “Looks like you guys had fun,” he said, grinning at their soaked clothes.
“Absolutely,” Misha replied.
“Loads,” Jensen deadpanned. Freaking laugh riot to wash two dogs the size of Shetland ponies. He didn’t know why he didn’t do it everyday.
Jared laughed and jerked his head towards the main room. “You still got twenty minutes if you want to go change.”
“I don’t know, Jay,” Chad said. You don’t to have want a wet t-shirt contest?”
Jensen blinked and looked down at himself, sincerely hoping that the damage was not that bad. With a bit of relief he saw that, no, nothing was showing through his dark blue shirt. Thank God for small favors. “No,” Jared replied. “Because I wouldn’t be able to pick a winner. We’d have to call it a tie.” He winked and Jensen didn’t even try to stop the small flush. He just slunk out of the room and headed for the stairs.
Jared and Chad inspected the house after everyone was done. Harley and Sadie were deemed ‘acceptable’-Jared said they looked great, Chad said that they still stunk, the kitchen was ‘spotless,’ and the bathrooms were ‘well-organized’ but Mike and Tom had missed some popcorn left over from the small food fight in the screening room. This made Mike snort and Tom looked worried.
Jared assembled them all back in the kitchen. “Thanks so much for your hard work, guys! The house looks great.”
“Dude, you could totally bring your mom over now,” Chad said.
“Yeah I could,” Jared replied and Jensen glanced down at the floor, wondering if that was a hint of something yet to come-meeting Jared’s mom. Would it be like a normal meeting of the parents or would it be more like a circus with all the hoopla of that only a reality show could bring. And, more importantly...would she like him?
“I really think Ben and Lita won this one,” Jared said and Chad nodded his agreement. Jensen glanced over at Misha who shrugged because seriously? They’d lost because Chad didn’t like how dogs smelled. That was irritating. Lita clapped happily and Ben cracked a smile. “What you two win,” Jared continued, “is first choice at what you’d like to do for the next challenge.”
“You are all going to be good little housewives for Jay-man, here,” Chad said, his voice stepping over Jared’s, “and cook up some good dinner!” Jensen let that sink in-that instead of the date being all about food, Jared was going to have the challenge be all about it. He should have known this was coming. He glanced around at his competition and didn’t know whether he should feel worried or not. How were you able to spot a good cook, anyway? Mike had an eyebrow raised but Sandy looked worried while Danneel looked downright determined.
Jared turned to Ben. “Everyone’s gonna have a recipe they can follow or you can chose your own. Do you want to prepare an appetizer, an entree, two side dishes, or dessert?”
Ben paused, giving it some thought before answering. “Since I’m first, let’s say appetizer.”
“Good choice,” Jared congratulated and handed him a card. “You can either follow that or do whatever you’d like. Lita?” he asked, turning to the other side. “Appetizer is already chosen but which one of the other three do you want?”
Lita smiled. “If Ben’s picking the first course, then I want the last. Because I know how much of a sweet tooth you have,” she cooed. Jensen rolled his eyes.
“I’m looking forward to it,” Jared replied warmly, handing her a card as well. He discarded the rest on to the island before turning to the rest of the group. That leaves two entrees and eight different kinds of side dishes for you all to choose from. Recipes are found on there, ingredients are on the counter. Chad and I will see you all in two hours!”
Jensen sighed as the he felt the familiar surge of people around him. He was really starting to get sick of all these challenges and the pandemonium they tended to cause. Having two in one day was really starting to make it obvious to him just how irritating they were. Trying to stay out of the brawl that seemed to be starting up, he reached into the crowd and pulled a claiming card/recipe out of the pile. He yanked his hand back before anyone could grab the card away from him as he heard Mike loudly asking how did you make a salad.
Jensen retreated to a corner of the kitchen to read what he’d grabbed, hoping that it wouldn’t be too involved. He wasn’t that bad of a cook but he wasn’t exactly a five-star gourmet chef, either. Glancing down at the lines on the card, though, he breathed a sigh of relief, considering himself lucky that Jared wasn’t a five star kind of guy. Written on the card instead of filet mignon or anything like that was just simply steak. The recipe listed a rub to put on the meat and that was it. Besides a quick note that Jared preferred his to be cooked medium. Jensen breathed a quick prayer that he’d gotten off lucky because he heard Sandy bemoaning that no way would she be able to pull cooking anything, let alone the casserole that she’d drawn. Jensen knew he could cook a steak.
The rest of the houseguests were tearing around, knocking over boxes and bags, digging through the groceries for the things that they needed. Mike was claiming nearly all of the produce though Sandy was demanding the broccoli and Lita was trying to steal the strawberries. “You’re not going to need strawberries for a fucking salad!”
“You don’t know! Maybe I want to try something different!” Mike said, blocking Lita’s dodge.
“It says right here that I need the strawberries!” Lita yelled, shaking the card at Mike. Jensen grabbed the packages of steaks off the counter and retreated again, glad that no one was fighting him for ingredients. Knowing that he had time, he grabbed a beer out of the refrigerator. He moved next to Ben as he started pulling off the wrapping and either Ben had a seriously complicated recipe or he was creating something of his own. Ben glanced over and caught Jensen’s raised eyebrow, and he smiled as he turned back to dicing everything into tiny pieces.
“Remember that first date?” Ben asked quietly and was he rolling stuff into tiny balls over there?
…The first date. That had been the group one, right? Had it only been a week ago? It felt like a lifetime. Jensen had some spotty memories of a girls’ volleyball game and a fancy restaurant.
“I’d never tasted food like that before,” Ben continued, carefully measuring out spices and putting a little bit on each tiny ball. “I mean, I’d liked cooking before but after that…it was like my eyes were opened.” Ben glanced up and he looked as if he’d won the lottery just from being able to cook for somebody. “Started reading a lot of books. Think I might know what I’m gonna do with the rest of my life.”
Jensen tilted his head. “Seriously?”
“Yeah,” Ben said, turning back to his tiny masterpieces. “This is something new that I wanted to try.”
“Huh,” Jensen replied, letting Ben get back to whatever he was doing. Across the room, apparently Lita and Sandy had won the fight with Mike or they had given up because he didn’t hear any more arguing. Instead, he just heard Danneel complaining that the pasta wasn’t going into the water like it was supposed to and Jensen wasn’t an expert, but he was fairly certain that you were supposed to boil the water first.
Also, Jensen really didn’t like the way that Tom was eyeing the microwave because he knew that Tom had drawn the other entree and judging by the cuts of meat, that was going to be chicken.
Lita, on the other hand, was bragging that Jared as just going to love her cake though she seemed to have some confusion with the difference between a teaspoon and a tablespoon. And Misha was quietly molesting tofu.
Jensen really hoped that he wasn’t going to be expected to try everything.
In the end, Jensen tried to time the steaks as close as possible, wanting them to be hot for the meal but not overcooked and, all in all, he thought that he did alright. He’d ended up at the grill outside, just finishing up when Jared peeked his head outside. “Hey, Jen,” he said. “Smells delicious. Everything all set out here?”
“Yeah,” Jensen replied, keeping his eyes on the steaks and only sneaking glances at Jared instead of getting distracted staring. Using the tongs, he pulled the last cut of meat off the grill and slid it onto the platter that he’d brought out with him.
“Good,” Jared said with a grin. “’Cause I’m starving.”
Jensen thought that Jared must always be starving with the amount of food that he packed away but hey-Jared was also a pretty big guy. Jensen imagined that those calories went into maintaining Jared’s…rather impressive physique.
As they walked inside, Jensen saw that everyone was just putting the finishing touches on their food-Mike was dumping everything into a bowl, Sandy was putting a slightly extra crispy casserole on the table and Lita was slathering her cake with an entire tub of icing. Oh, and Ben was squeezing lemon juice on each individual little piece of high class. Jensen raised his eyebrows and set the steaks on the table, putting them up for Jared’s inspection. Chad smirked from the opposite end of the table, though at what, Jensen was quite sure.
Jared breathed deeply as he took a seat. “Smells great guys.” That had to be an exaggeration. Jensen stared dubiously at Tom’s pork chops and Misha’s tofu. Jared, though, apparently didn’t see a problem. He first popped one of Ben’s appetizers into his mouth and his eyes flew open in surprise. “Ohmygod…” he slurred and then swallowed. “Dude,” he said, looking up at Chad. “You so have to try these!” He bounced in his seat to turn completely towards Ben on his left. “What are these?”
Chad grabed one of Ben’s little masterpieces and bit it in half, embarrassingly starting to moan. Ben smiled and shrugged. “Just something I decided to try.”
“Dude,” Chad said, shoving the rest in his mouth. “You decide to try pineapple on your pizza-this wasn’t just trying. This was, like, epicly succeeding.” Jensen eyed the little balls of dough and spices curiously before deciding to try one himself as did everyone else. Jensen stared at it in his hand for a few moments before putting it in his mouth and suddenly he understood Jared’s reaction. Damn…
He wondered if he could get away with taking another one. And Ben should definitely cook for the rest of the time that they were in the house, Jensen was sure of it.
While Jensen was distracted waxing poetic in his head on Ben’s new found culinary expertise, Chad grabbed a steak off the top, cutting into it immediately. “Not bad,” he said, popping another bite into his mouth and Jensen snapped out of his reverie to think that he personally should receive a medal for not telling Chad to fuck off. ‘Not bad.’ Seriously-he might not have gone all out like Ben certainly had but exactly done nothing. Chad was already moving on, though, dishing up other things onto his plate but he bypassed the chicken with a “I don’t think they’re cooked, man…”
Besides that, it was Chad that Jensen was here to impress anyway. No matter what he said. “Oh, wow,” Jared said, trying some of Sandy’s casserole, “This is really good guys!” Jensen wondered if he was just being nice or if it really did taste better than it looked. Jared, though, was trying bits of everything-at least with everything that wasn’t Tom’s cuts of chicken. Jensen noted that Jared didn’t touch those. At Jensen’s steak, he paused and moaned and Jensen felt himself flush. “A taste of Texas, that’s what that is,” Jared said and Jensen nodded, partially hiding his still red face behind a napkin. It wasn’t his fault that Jared could get him stirred up so easily-it was practically Pavlovian at this point, what with all the time that Jensen had spent making out with Jared already.
Jared even gamely tried Misha’s tofu, his eyes flying open in surprise with an almost insulting “It’s good!” Luckily, Misha took it as the compliment it was meant to be and smiled happily.
Chad was the first one to grab the cake that Lita had made, cutting himself a big piece, no matter how hard Lita glared at him for ruining her presentation. Jensen had to admit, it did look pretty-she smothered it with icing and had decorated it with strawberries-but now it was missing an entire corner. Chad ignored her and put a big bite into his mouth. He paused, face starting to freeze before he finished chewing and then swallowed. Lita frowned at him and Jensen hid his smile behind his napkin, reminding himself not to try Lita’s cake. Apparently it wasn’t as delicious as she thought it was going to be. Chad opted merely to lick the frosting off.
Jared chatted happily with them about his new movie and what scripts that he’d been reading as he ate, paying them compliments about the food along the way. Or, at least, as close as he could come to a compliment, anyway. The best that he could manage about Lita’s cake, after he was done, was that she’d done such an amazing job decorating it.
Jensen tried everything, too-except for the chicken, of course, which was still sitting untouched. He even tried Misha’s tofu and had a quieter version of Jared’s reaction-apparently Misha knew how to make tofu taste good which was definitely a trick that Jensen wanted to learn. Mike’s salad wasn’t much to look at-everything in huge chunks in the bowl-but it was rather hard to mess up lettuce and tomatoes, really. In the end, though, it didn’t really matter how good or bad anything tasted because Jensen only sampled. He didn’t have much of an appetite after tasting Ben’s contribution because, frankly, he was pretty sure that it blew everyone else out of the water. And that really kind of sucked knowing that right up front.
After he was finished, Jared wiped off his mouth and took in the sea of expectant faces around him. “Want to thank you all for making Chad and me dinner,” he said. “And I guess now that I really should pick a winner.” Jensen glanced down at his lap because he knew that he’d done a good job on both tasks, but, he already knew who’d one this one by about several yards. “I’ve got to go with Ben,” Jared continued, “because those whatever-they-were were amazing and you’re going to have to make them again soon.”
Jensen nodded and chuckled with the rest of the crowd, clapping politely like everyone else and tried to feel disappointed that Jared was going on yet another date with someone else. It was just the rules of the game, after all. It shouldn’t matter-yet the fact that he lost was leaving a bitter taste in his mouth that he couldn’t even claim was because of Lita’s cake.
Part 8 | Master Post | Part 10
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): The house has shrunk to eight houseguests and Jared introduces the new challenge--one that's going to lead to a double elimination.
Word Count: 7015 (this part)
Disclaimer: Never happened, no affiliation.
A/N: I...should just give up on ever getting a whole episode to fit into one post. -_-
Master Post: Master Post
Part 8 | Master Post | Part 10
Episode 5 - First Half
The house now had almost half the population that it had started with. It was odd, especially after just wanting some time to himself for so long, but Jensen was starting to feel just a little bit lonely. Mike apparently was, too, because he had officially moved in with Jensen and Tom last night, bringing all of his stuff over and taking over Mary’s old bed. It was kind of like having a slumber party with the world’s biggest kid, Jensen figured, what with the way that Mike had tried to keep him and Tom up all night telling stories. At least they hadn’t been ghost stories, so Jensen supposed that he should count his lucky stars on that one.
Jensen stretched on his bed and brought the blankets up to cover his head. It was entirely way too early, of course, actually only eight o’clock in the morning, and if Jensen was back home, he’d still be sleeping. He wasn’t in Texas, though, getting ready to start just another ordinary day. He was in California, getting ready to start a day with Jared Padalecki and that made all the difference in the world. Jensen spent a few wistful moments considering skipping breakfast in favor of a bit more sleep but he knew it really wasn’t an option. Jared would be down in the kitchen, so it really wasn’t as if Jensen was going to miss it.
Funny how all of his priorities had been rearranged in such a short little time, adapting to Jared’s schedule. As he slipped out from underneath the covers, his eyebrows rose because Mike and Tom were still sleeping, which he’d expected, but they were curled together in the same bed, which he definitely hadn’t. He blinked at them, bemused, before shrugging and meandering into the bathroom, set on making himself look his best for Jared. Not wanting to waste too much time, just in case Jared had to leave soon, he did a quick job of it and fifteen minutes later, he was heading down the stairs two at a time.
He slowed before reaching the kitchen because there was showing enthusiasm for seeing someone and then there was being pathetic, and entered the room, calm and composed. Jared, though, to Jensen’s immense disappointment, was nowhere to be found. Instead there was only Lita, eating a bowl of cereal and leaning up against the cabinets. Her eyes locked on him and her mouth rose in a small smile. “He left already,” she said, accurately guessing what Jensen had been hoping to find. “He had to set up our next challenge.”
So apparently it was business as usual around the house this morning. Jensen tried to feel too disappointed by that. After all, the next challenge met the next chance at a date with Jared. Still, he really could have used the extra boost of energy Jared seemed to infuse in him.
Lita was still talking, unaware that Jensen didn’t particularly want to hear what she had to say after ‘he left already.’ “You know, Jensen,” she said, dropping her spoon into her bowl, “you really should learn how to be a little bit more subtle. I mean, you’re going to drive him away if you appear too eager. Like Felicity, you remember how she used to be all Jared-this, Jared-that? You don’t want to be that person.”
Jensen blinked at her, not knowing quite what to say, so he ended up nodding and saying “Ah,” as he backed out of the kitchen and headed out into the main room. He didn’t quite know how to take Lita’s advice because on one hand, she was only voicing what Jensen himself was already thinking but yet on the other…Lita was a bitch.
He supposed that he should really take it with a grain of salt. Rolling his shoulders uncomfortably, Jensen glanced around for ideas on what to do with the long stretch of Jared-less time that he was apparently in store for. He could possibly go hit the gym because now that Georgie was gone, he’d have the place to himself for the most part and, well, Jensen thought that he could use the exercise. It certainly wouldn’t hurt. He sighed, though, because that sounded like entirely way too much work. Frankly, he’d rather… Jensen turned his head to look at Jeff’s little closet.
He was about due, anyway. Jensen strolled over to the closet, made sure that no one but the cameras were looking and then entered, closing the door softly behind him. He sat down in the usual chair and stared straight ahead at the camera, wondering if it was just always running or if it had a motion sensor detector on it or something. Anything was possible, he supposed.
He dropped his eyes from the camera to look down at his hands which were trying to twist into a pretzel. “I don’t think this gets any easier,” he confessed and, just from the words leaving his mouth, it felt like a small weight lifted off his chest. “It gets harder from here on out.” He jerked his head up, a wry smile on his face, but he wasn’t looking at the camera-instead focusing off to the right of it. “I mean, here we all are, all competing for the same guy. It’s crazy. Stupid, actually. Sometimes I wonder what I’m doing here. Then I see Jared and…” he shrugged. “I’m like ‘oh. That’s why.’ And then I watch everybody think the same damn thing.” He sighed and finally brought his eyes around to look straight into the camera lens, seeing the blinking red light telling him it was recording. “Jealousy’s gonna eat me alive before this is over.”
Jared came back just after eleven. Jensen had been sitting on the couch with Misha, watching Misha play with the gigantic apple again as they talked about 'life on the outside.' At the moment, it actually kind of felt like Jensen was in prison, so he felt that it was only appropriate to use the terminology. He actually wasn't even allowed off the premises unless he was accompanied by Jared and the fancy gates of the mansion might as well be barbed wire. Facing the door, Jensen saw the minute that it opened and he was up onto his feet, heading towards Jared as the man struggled inside with his arms full of various bags. “Want some help?” Jensen offered and felt his heart do a familiar stutter when Jared grinned up at him.
“Sure,” he said. “I was trying to help them out and guess I bit off more than I could chew.” Jared jerked his head back at a couple guys in jeans and T-shirts, struggling with more bags and Jensen blinked. “Couldn’t see letting them do all the work when I was right here, you know?”
“So you decided to show off,” Jensen teased, taking a few of Jared’s bags.
“Damn straight. I have to meet a quota, you know. So many people impressed in a month or they’ll kick me out of the Impressive Club.”
Jensen stopped dead, holding the bags as he stared at Jensen. “…There’s not a club that’s called that.”
“Sure there is,” Jared replied, walking past him. “They just won’t let in anymore because I’m not ten anymore. Oh, hi, Misha.” Jensen smiled, following after Jared as Jared handed Misha few bags as well and together they carried them all into the kitchen. Jared dumped his on the island counter. “Just set them anywhere,” he said, shaking out his arms. “Didn’t know that those would be so heavy.” Jared laughed at himself, rubbing at his right arm and Jensen hurriedly pushed his own bags onto the counter as well and moved next to Jared. He knew exactly what he could do.
Jensen ran his hands over Jared’s arm, forcing himself to breathe regularly as Jared grinned down at him. “I, uh, took a few classes in massage,” Jensen murmured. “Maybe I could…”
Jared willingly submitted himself to Jensen’s touch, groaning gratefully. “Few classes in massage? In case you needed to seduce somebody? Not that I’m complaining.”
Jensen chuckled. “Not exactly.” More like he’d been in training to be a physical therapist when the whole writing thing had taken off. Jensen dug his fingers into the muscle of Jared’s lower arm and worked his way up as Jared licked his lips and groaned again and, God, this was kind of hot… Jensen shifted awkwardly but he wasn’t about to let go of Jared.
Misha set the bags that he’d been carrying beside the others. “What’s in these, anyway?”
“Stuff for the next challenge,” Jared said and Jensen pressed down firmly, reminding Jared that he was there and making him groan again. The rest of the guys were filing, in as well, setting stuff up and Jeff followed them in, marking things off of a checklist.
“Okay. Set that up over there,” Jeff said, muttering to the guys. “Yeah, just like that.”
Jared raised his head and looked over at Jeff, his free hand sliding over Jensen’s arm. “Hey, Jeff?”
“Yeah?” Jeff answered, looking up from issuing orders.
“How much time do we got?” Jared asked and Jensen paused, wanting to know the answer as well.
Jeff glanced at his watch. “About an hour,” he grunted and returned to his checklist.
“Good.” Jared’s hand tightened on Jensen’s arm, dragging Jensen’s attention away from Jeff and back to him. “Because Jen here says that he’s taken a few massage classes and I want to see how good he is.” Jensen’s stomach did a complete flip. Did Jared just suggest…?
Jeff smirked but didn’t look up from the clipboard. “I’ll send Chad when it’s time.”
“Thanks,” Jared chirped and the next thing Jensen knew, he was being dragged past Misha with Jared saying a “Sorry, Mish, I’ll see you in a little while,” and being pulled up the stairs to Jared’s room.
Oh God. Oh God. Jared was taking Jensen up to his bedroom hoping for a massage. Jensen had a hard time trying to catch his breath because this definitely made up for not finding Jared this morning. Jensen’s heart was beating at double-time as he followed Jared. Jared was coaxing him with soft cajolings of “This way, Jen” and charming smiles but Jensen thought at this point Jared could have been leading him into Hell and he would have happily gone.
They hit the top of the stairs and Jared pulled Jensen into his room, gently closing the door behind them that, quiet or not, carried a note of finality. Jensen licked his lips nervously and fought not to rub his sweaty palms on his pants. “How do you want me?” Jared asked coyly and Jensen swallowed. Any way Jared preferred, Jensen thought? He was good with that.
But Jared apparently wanted an answer. He looked at Jensen expectantly, eyebrows raised and Jensen swallowed hard, trying to get his voice working again. “On…on the bed?”
“I was hoping you’d say that,” Jared teased and immediately fell over, landing on the bed with a soft whomp. He snuggled down on the bed, getting comfortable as he rolled over onto his stomach, displaying the smooth slope of his back and the curve of his ass and Jensen nearly had to pinch himself to convince himself that this was happening. Then Jared got another brilliant idea and sat up just long enough to take off his shirt before laying back down, pillowing his head on his crossed arms. “How’s this?” Jared asked and Jensen tried to find words that weren’t just a whimper.
“It’s, uh, it’s great.” He crossed over to the bed and looked down at Jared who grinned back up at him, waiting patiently. Licking his lips again, Jensen knelt down on the bed, putting his hands on Jared’s smooth back again. He bit back a whimper as he got to work, kneading out the kinks in Jared’s muscles, his fingers moving over Jared's warm skin.
“Might go better if you straddled me,” Jared murmured and Jensen paused. Jared had a point and, after all, straddling was right up the alley of the true purpose of all of this, but Jensen still thought it was a very Bad Idea. Because then Jared would definitely be able to feel Jensen’s hard on and Jensen would be pressed against a very nice spot that would probably distract him from doing anything at all besides mindlessly rubbing himself against it. But he still took a deep breath, moved closer, and slid his leg over the small of Jared’s back. He leaned forward, using the better leverage to his advantage and Jared moaned appreciatively. It did nothing to stop the painful throbbing in Jensen’s crotch. “Yeah, Jen, just like that…”
Jensen forced himself to focus, wanting this to be as good as possible for Jared, show him what he could do and, uh, maybe cement himself just a little more. He worked his way from Jared’s shoulders down his spine, mentally cataloguing each defined muscle as his fingers traced it, loving the feel of Jared beneath him. Each time his fingers dug into a knot, Jared would groan and then Jensen would have to suppress a shiver.
After one particularly heartfelt moan and an answering twitch of Jensen’s dick, Jensen huffed a laugh because Jared Padalecki was his own personal porno at the moment. How long they stayed in that position, with Jared stretched out on his stomach and Jensen overtop of him, Jensen was unsure because, in his head, he was going to make this moment last forever. Eventually, however, Jared moved from the boneless sprawl Jensen had put him in, slowly rolling over onto his back on the big bed and bringing his hands up to cup Jensen’s head and drag him down for a kiss.
So much for this just being a massage. Giving up any pretense of this experience being anything but foreplay, Jensen dropped his body against Jared’s rubbing just enough to send sparks through his nerves as Jared licked inside his mouth. Jared pressed his thumbs against the hinge of Jensen’s jaw, encouraging him to open wider and, with a soft moan, Jensen obeyed. Jared attempted to devour his mouth, tongue dueling with Jensen’s.
Jared’s hands skated down Jensen’s neck and slid across his chest, fingers flicking at Jensen’s nipples underneath his shirt and Jensen shivered, hips jerking forward against Jared’s stomach. Jared choked off a whine, his own hips lifting and arching to press against Jensen. Jensen broke the kiss to suck in a deep breath, starting to pant and fuck but his jeans were too tight. “God, Jensen…” Jared said, pulling Jensen back for another kiss.
Jared rolled them, sending Jensen’s world spinning as Jared pushed him over onto his back. He wasn’t about to complain, though, when Jared settled between his spread legs, pressing down against him, hips rolling gently against his. He moaned and clutched at Jared’s hair, holding on for dear life as Jared ran his hands over Jensen’s chest again.
Jensen arched up into Jared, shivering at his “oh, yeah, Jen…” and how Jared’s hands moved to Jensen’s inner thighs, holding him spread. “Like that?” Jared asked and Jensen bit his lip and nodded. As if he was ever going to say no.
“Hey, guys, Jeff says we’re ready.” A knock accompanied the statement and Jensen nearly jumped off the bed in surprise. Jared was the only thing that kept him where he was.
Frozen on top of Jensen, Jared stared down at him before closing his eyes and whispering, “Fuck…” before raising his voice. “Be right there!”
“I’m sure you will,” was the sly response and Jensen sighed, thinking that it was really too bad that some deep, dark pit somewhere hadn't swallowed Chad up by now. Jensen took back every nice thing he’d ever thought about Chad because Chad was a dick.
Jared was already rolling off of him and Jensen could have screamed in frustration. Just a little more time, that was all he was asking. Maybe just one night where they didn’t have to cut it short. Was that too much? “Sorry, Jen,” Jared murmured, holding out his hand for Jensen to take. “I think I messed you all up.”
Jensen frowned at that, wondering just what the hell Jared was talking about before it hit him like a Mac truck that he must look more than a little debauched at the moment. He was sure, though, that he couldn’t look any worse than Jared because, well, Jensen had a thing for Jared’s hair and it showed. “Same here,” Jensen replied with a small smile and Jared chuckled, turning to look at himself in the mirror on the far wall.
“Damn,” he said, smoothing it back down.
“Just be glad I don’t wear lipstick,” Jensen told him and Jared barked a laugh.
“Aww, Jen, but you’re so pretty, you don’t need it,” Jared said, still laughing, and Jensen smiled but dropped his eyes to the floor to stop the resulting blush. He couldn’t help it. Jared thought he was pretty. Granted, Jensen would prefer something a little bit more manly, but hey, he’d take what he could get. “Me, on the other hand, I could probably use some.”
An image of Jared in lipstick crossed Jensen’s mind and it was so ridiculous he had to join Jared in laughing, too, nearly doubling over as he turned away. “Hey,” Jared protested. “I think I could do it. What do you think, a nice pink shade? Or do you think I could pull off a red?” He backed up to the door, gripping the handle. He jerked his head at the door. “Come on, Jen. Let’s go join the rest of the group.”
Jeff lined them all up in the kitchen and as soon as Jensen had walked in on Jared’s heels, he’d seen what had been in all the bags that he’d helped Jared carry in. Lining all the counters, they were surrounded by different foods and spices and fuck but this was going to be a cooking challenge, wasn’t it?
On the island, though, there were cleaning supplies of every size and shape, standing in front of a tower of paper towels and that just had Jensen confused. Jared, standing next to Chad, looked at all the houseguests. “Hi, guys,” he said. “Welcome to your next challenge.”
Chad grinned. “And it’s a two-parter so you bitches better have come prepared!”
“Right,” Jared said, nodding. “And, because of that and, uh, more importantly, that means that two people are leaving tonight.” He said the words steadily enough but his face was strained even though Chad kept smiling. Jensen could feel the entire mood of the room drop at the news that they were going to have to survive a double elimination tonight, and, glancing around, he saw that not a single one of his fellow castmates looked confident. Tom looked worried and Lita looked downright terrified.
“First,” Jared said, having paused just long enough to let the information sink in, and obviously wanting to get this bit of exposition over with as soon as possible. “We have to clean this house because I don’t know if y’all have noticed but we’ve only been in this place for a week and it’s already looking kind of trashed. Jensen’s eyes were automatically drawn to the sink where the dishes had been starting to stack up. Huh. He’d been wondering about those. And he knew that the pizza boxes from yesterday’s movie party were still sitting in the screening room. “Plus,” Jared continued, “I’d like you all to meet a few friends of mine.”
Jensen frowned because if Chad was anything to go by, Jensen wasn’t sure if he really could take meeting more of Jared’s friends, but then Jared stepped back and made a grand gesture but what came walking in wasn’t on two legs. In from the mudroom came Sadie and Harley and they were both filthy. Sometime between Jensen’s last meeting with the dogs and now, Jared had apparently taken them through a swamp or two because the dogs were coated with mud and debris. Harley looked ecstatic while Sadie just looked miserable.
Jared shrugged. “Meet Sadie and Harley,” he said. “As you can see, they also need to get clean.” As if on cue, Harley shook, scattering dried mud onto the kitchen tile and Jensen winced. “So team up, guys, because we’ve got the kitchen, the bathrooms, the dogs, and the great room with the side rooms.”
…They were going to be Jared’s little housewives, weren’t they? Jensen didn’t think that he’d signed up for this. Next to him, Misha nudged him with an elbow. “Let’s take the dogs,” he whispered and, Hell, that sounded as good as anything. He nodded.
“Everybody set?” Jared called. “We’re meeting back here in an hour and GO!”
People surged from Jensen’s right, heading for the kitchen island, but Misha darted forward, grabbing a hold of Harley’s collar. Sadie danced away but came to a stop beside Misha. “Come on, Jensen,” he said, dragging the happy, unsuspecting dog outside to the hose with Sadie following suspiciously. Jensen grimaced, reaching into the still roiling crowd and grabbing out the bottles of dog shampoo. Sandy dashed around him, holding a bottle of Windex and a roll of paper towels, heading for the main part of the house, Danneel close on her heels. Mike cackled and took off for parts unknown with Tom which left Ben with Lita, bringing up the rear. Jensen hunched in on himself and ran out the door after Misha.
Misha had hauled Harley into the middle of the yard and was now holding the hose and Jensen was reminded of just how big Harley was and this was going to suck, wasn’t it? He should have chosen an easier task with one of the others because, frankly, if neither of the dogs liked baths, then Jensen had the sneaking suspicion that he and Misha weren’t going to easily make them take one.
Except that Jensen had possibly underestimated Misha’s way with animals because Harley just plopped himself right now on the grass and let Misha run the water over him, mud and debris falling off in waves. Misha was murmuring, “Good boy, that’s a good boy,” as he helped slick off the dirt and Jensen just shrugged, opening up a bottle of shampoo. Sadie laid down on the grass, groaning at all of them, while Harley just wagged his tail happily.
“That’s a whole lot of dog,” Jensen muttered and Misha grinned.
“Yes, it is.” He helped Jensen start to lather the soap in, covering every inch of Harley’s fur and they were turning the small section of lawn that there were standing on into a veritable mudpit. Giving up staying clean as a lost cause, Jensen fell to his knees and began scrubbing in earnest as he wondered just exactly what bog Jared had taken the dogs, to.
Misha grabbed the hose again, using to wash out the soap and what was left of the mud, showing orange fur underneath instead of the nearly black dog that had walked into the house. “Finally,” Jensen said and Misha smiled again. This was actually going easier than Jensen had thought it would. For the most part, Harley was holding still, liking all the attention and not even minding the water and Sadie was waiting her turn, apparently just wanting to be clean again.
When they finished with Harley, they let him go and he took off, rolling in the grass while they turned on Sadie, stripping the mud off of her. She patiently stood and let them do their thing, only her eyes betraying how much she’d rather be anywhere else at the moment. “Such a good girl,” Misha told her as they scrubbed over her ruff before he grabbed the hose again.
The water was starting to get more than a little cold by the time that they finished with Sadie and let her go but Jensen still stuck his hands into it, washing off the soap and whatever mud was clinging to his arms. Misha did the same before they turned the hose on their clothes, trying to get the worst of the mud off before going back in the house.
“That was quick,” Jensen said. It had only been a half hour and Jared had told them they had twice that-he even had time to go get changed, which was a minor miracle…
“Too quick,” Misha replied and pointed at Harley who had snuck back and was rolling in the mud that they’d just washed off of him.
“You have got to be kidding me!” Jensen reached for Harley, snagging his collar easily and they turned the hose on him again. With the water turning freezing, though, Harley wasn't nearly as cooperative, dancing away from the cold while Jensen snarled. He glanced over his shoulder, hoping that Sadie wasn’t getting into something while being unsupervised, too, but she was sitting in front of the door, staring back at him.
Misha giggled, spraying Harley down one last time. He turned the water off while Jensen dragged Harley to the front door and prayed that his collar didn’t come off because judging by the way that Harley was wistfully eyeing the mud, he’d be right back in it in a heartbeat. Jensen relaxed, a little, though, when Misha got in front of them, saying “Here, boy!” and drawing Harley’s attention towards him. Harley happily bounded towards Misha who quickly backed up into the house, opening the door and letting Sadie in. Jensen followed them all and closed the door behind them, wincing as he dripped onto the tiled floor.
Misha slapped him on the arm. “Good work,” he said before ambling off into the kitchen.
“Yeah,” Jensen said, following him.
Ben and Lita had apparently gotten stuck with the kitchen because Ben was putting away the dried dishes even if Lita was nowhere to be found. Jared was standing in the middle of the kitchen, talking with Chad but stopped as he saw the dogs come in. “Hey, guys!” He bent down, to scratch them as they sat at his feet.
Chad sidled away. “They’re wet.”
“They just got a bath. Didn’t you?” Jared asked the dogs, sweet-talking them.
“They still stink,” Chad said, wrinkling his nose.
Jared rolled his eyes. “They smell like wet dogs.”
“No, they don’t,” Misha cut in. “They smell like…” He held up a bottle of shampoo, reading the label. “…All-Natural Vanilla and Apple Extract with Added Oatmeal for Sensitive Skin.”
“See?” Jared raised an eyebrow at Chad who still looked skeptical before he turned to Misha and Jensen. “Looks like you guys had fun,” he said, grinning at their soaked clothes.
“Absolutely,” Misha replied.
“Loads,” Jensen deadpanned. Freaking laugh riot to wash two dogs the size of Shetland ponies. He didn’t know why he didn’t do it everyday.
Jared laughed and jerked his head towards the main room. “You still got twenty minutes if you want to go change.”
“I don’t know, Jay,” Chad said. You don’t to have want a wet t-shirt contest?”
Jensen blinked and looked down at himself, sincerely hoping that the damage was not that bad. With a bit of relief he saw that, no, nothing was showing through his dark blue shirt. Thank God for small favors. “No,” Jared replied. “Because I wouldn’t be able to pick a winner. We’d have to call it a tie.” He winked and Jensen didn’t even try to stop the small flush. He just slunk out of the room and headed for the stairs.
Jared and Chad inspected the house after everyone was done. Harley and Sadie were deemed ‘acceptable’-Jared said they looked great, Chad said that they still stunk, the kitchen was ‘spotless,’ and the bathrooms were ‘well-organized’ but Mike and Tom had missed some popcorn left over from the small food fight in the screening room. This made Mike snort and Tom looked worried.
Jared assembled them all back in the kitchen. “Thanks so much for your hard work, guys! The house looks great.”
“Dude, you could totally bring your mom over now,” Chad said.
“Yeah I could,” Jared replied and Jensen glanced down at the floor, wondering if that was a hint of something yet to come-meeting Jared’s mom. Would it be like a normal meeting of the parents or would it be more like a circus with all the hoopla of that only a reality show could bring. And, more importantly...would she like him?
“I really think Ben and Lita won this one,” Jared said and Chad nodded his agreement. Jensen glanced over at Misha who shrugged because seriously? They’d lost because Chad didn’t like how dogs smelled. That was irritating. Lita clapped happily and Ben cracked a smile. “What you two win,” Jared continued, “is first choice at what you’d like to do for the next challenge.”
“You are all going to be good little housewives for Jay-man, here,” Chad said, his voice stepping over Jared’s, “and cook up some good dinner!” Jensen let that sink in-that instead of the date being all about food, Jared was going to have the challenge be all about it. He should have known this was coming. He glanced around at his competition and didn’t know whether he should feel worried or not. How were you able to spot a good cook, anyway? Mike had an eyebrow raised but Sandy looked worried while Danneel looked downright determined.
Jared turned to Ben. “Everyone’s gonna have a recipe they can follow or you can chose your own. Do you want to prepare an appetizer, an entree, two side dishes, or dessert?”
Ben paused, giving it some thought before answering. “Since I’m first, let’s say appetizer.”
“Good choice,” Jared congratulated and handed him a card. “You can either follow that or do whatever you’d like. Lita?” he asked, turning to the other side. “Appetizer is already chosen but which one of the other three do you want?”
Lita smiled. “If Ben’s picking the first course, then I want the last. Because I know how much of a sweet tooth you have,” she cooed. Jensen rolled his eyes.
“I’m looking forward to it,” Jared replied warmly, handing her a card as well. He discarded the rest on to the island before turning to the rest of the group. That leaves two entrees and eight different kinds of side dishes for you all to choose from. Recipes are found on there, ingredients are on the counter. Chad and I will see you all in two hours!”
Jensen sighed as the he felt the familiar surge of people around him. He was really starting to get sick of all these challenges and the pandemonium they tended to cause. Having two in one day was really starting to make it obvious to him just how irritating they were. Trying to stay out of the brawl that seemed to be starting up, he reached into the crowd and pulled a claiming card/recipe out of the pile. He yanked his hand back before anyone could grab the card away from him as he heard Mike loudly asking how did you make a salad.
Jensen retreated to a corner of the kitchen to read what he’d grabbed, hoping that it wouldn’t be too involved. He wasn’t that bad of a cook but he wasn’t exactly a five-star gourmet chef, either. Glancing down at the lines on the card, though, he breathed a sigh of relief, considering himself lucky that Jared wasn’t a five star kind of guy. Written on the card instead of filet mignon or anything like that was just simply steak. The recipe listed a rub to put on the meat and that was it. Besides a quick note that Jared preferred his to be cooked medium. Jensen breathed a quick prayer that he’d gotten off lucky because he heard Sandy bemoaning that no way would she be able to pull cooking anything, let alone the casserole that she’d drawn. Jensen knew he could cook a steak.
The rest of the houseguests were tearing around, knocking over boxes and bags, digging through the groceries for the things that they needed. Mike was claiming nearly all of the produce though Sandy was demanding the broccoli and Lita was trying to steal the strawberries. “You’re not going to need strawberries for a fucking salad!”
“You don’t know! Maybe I want to try something different!” Mike said, blocking Lita’s dodge.
“It says right here that I need the strawberries!” Lita yelled, shaking the card at Mike. Jensen grabbed the packages of steaks off the counter and retreated again, glad that no one was fighting him for ingredients. Knowing that he had time, he grabbed a beer out of the refrigerator. He moved next to Ben as he started pulling off the wrapping and either Ben had a seriously complicated recipe or he was creating something of his own. Ben glanced over and caught Jensen’s raised eyebrow, and he smiled as he turned back to dicing everything into tiny pieces.
“Remember that first date?” Ben asked quietly and was he rolling stuff into tiny balls over there?
…The first date. That had been the group one, right? Had it only been a week ago? It felt like a lifetime. Jensen had some spotty memories of a girls’ volleyball game and a fancy restaurant.
“I’d never tasted food like that before,” Ben continued, carefully measuring out spices and putting a little bit on each tiny ball. “I mean, I’d liked cooking before but after that…it was like my eyes were opened.” Ben glanced up and he looked as if he’d won the lottery just from being able to cook for somebody. “Started reading a lot of books. Think I might know what I’m gonna do with the rest of my life.”
Jensen tilted his head. “Seriously?”
“Yeah,” Ben said, turning back to his tiny masterpieces. “This is something new that I wanted to try.”
“Huh,” Jensen replied, letting Ben get back to whatever he was doing. Across the room, apparently Lita and Sandy had won the fight with Mike or they had given up because he didn’t hear any more arguing. Instead, he just heard Danneel complaining that the pasta wasn’t going into the water like it was supposed to and Jensen wasn’t an expert, but he was fairly certain that you were supposed to boil the water first.
Also, Jensen really didn’t like the way that Tom was eyeing the microwave because he knew that Tom had drawn the other entree and judging by the cuts of meat, that was going to be chicken.
Lita, on the other hand, was bragging that Jared as just going to love her cake though she seemed to have some confusion with the difference between a teaspoon and a tablespoon. And Misha was quietly molesting tofu.
Jensen really hoped that he wasn’t going to be expected to try everything.
In the end, Jensen tried to time the steaks as close as possible, wanting them to be hot for the meal but not overcooked and, all in all, he thought that he did alright. He’d ended up at the grill outside, just finishing up when Jared peeked his head outside. “Hey, Jen,” he said. “Smells delicious. Everything all set out here?”
“Yeah,” Jensen replied, keeping his eyes on the steaks and only sneaking glances at Jared instead of getting distracted staring. Using the tongs, he pulled the last cut of meat off the grill and slid it onto the platter that he’d brought out with him.
“Good,” Jared said with a grin. “’Cause I’m starving.”
Jensen thought that Jared must always be starving with the amount of food that he packed away but hey-Jared was also a pretty big guy. Jensen imagined that those calories went into maintaining Jared’s…rather impressive physique.
As they walked inside, Jensen saw that everyone was just putting the finishing touches on their food-Mike was dumping everything into a bowl, Sandy was putting a slightly extra crispy casserole on the table and Lita was slathering her cake with an entire tub of icing. Oh, and Ben was squeezing lemon juice on each individual little piece of high class. Jensen raised his eyebrows and set the steaks on the table, putting them up for Jared’s inspection. Chad smirked from the opposite end of the table, though at what, Jensen was quite sure.
Jared breathed deeply as he took a seat. “Smells great guys.” That had to be an exaggeration. Jensen stared dubiously at Tom’s pork chops and Misha’s tofu. Jared, though, apparently didn’t see a problem. He first popped one of Ben’s appetizers into his mouth and his eyes flew open in surprise. “Ohmygod…” he slurred and then swallowed. “Dude,” he said, looking up at Chad. “You so have to try these!” He bounced in his seat to turn completely towards Ben on his left. “What are these?”
Chad grabed one of Ben’s little masterpieces and bit it in half, embarrassingly starting to moan. Ben smiled and shrugged. “Just something I decided to try.”
“Dude,” Chad said, shoving the rest in his mouth. “You decide to try pineapple on your pizza-this wasn’t just trying. This was, like, epicly succeeding.” Jensen eyed the little balls of dough and spices curiously before deciding to try one himself as did everyone else. Jensen stared at it in his hand for a few moments before putting it in his mouth and suddenly he understood Jared’s reaction. Damn…
He wondered if he could get away with taking another one. And Ben should definitely cook for the rest of the time that they were in the house, Jensen was sure of it.
While Jensen was distracted waxing poetic in his head on Ben’s new found culinary expertise, Chad grabbed a steak off the top, cutting into it immediately. “Not bad,” he said, popping another bite into his mouth and Jensen snapped out of his reverie to think that he personally should receive a medal for not telling Chad to fuck off. ‘Not bad.’ Seriously-he might not have gone all out like Ben certainly had but exactly done nothing. Chad was already moving on, though, dishing up other things onto his plate but he bypassed the chicken with a “I don’t think they’re cooked, man…”
Besides that, it was Chad that Jensen was here to impress anyway. No matter what he said. “Oh, wow,” Jared said, trying some of Sandy’s casserole, “This is really good guys!” Jensen wondered if he was just being nice or if it really did taste better than it looked. Jared, though, was trying bits of everything-at least with everything that wasn’t Tom’s cuts of chicken. Jensen noted that Jared didn’t touch those. At Jensen’s steak, he paused and moaned and Jensen felt himself flush. “A taste of Texas, that’s what that is,” Jared said and Jensen nodded, partially hiding his still red face behind a napkin. It wasn’t his fault that Jared could get him stirred up so easily-it was practically Pavlovian at this point, what with all the time that Jensen had spent making out with Jared already.
Jared even gamely tried Misha’s tofu, his eyes flying open in surprise with an almost insulting “It’s good!” Luckily, Misha took it as the compliment it was meant to be and smiled happily.
Chad was the first one to grab the cake that Lita had made, cutting himself a big piece, no matter how hard Lita glared at him for ruining her presentation. Jensen had to admit, it did look pretty-she smothered it with icing and had decorated it with strawberries-but now it was missing an entire corner. Chad ignored her and put a big bite into his mouth. He paused, face starting to freeze before he finished chewing and then swallowed. Lita frowned at him and Jensen hid his smile behind his napkin, reminding himself not to try Lita’s cake. Apparently it wasn’t as delicious as she thought it was going to be. Chad opted merely to lick the frosting off.
Jared chatted happily with them about his new movie and what scripts that he’d been reading as he ate, paying them compliments about the food along the way. Or, at least, as close as he could come to a compliment, anyway. The best that he could manage about Lita’s cake, after he was done, was that she’d done such an amazing job decorating it.
Jensen tried everything, too-except for the chicken, of course, which was still sitting untouched. He even tried Misha’s tofu and had a quieter version of Jared’s reaction-apparently Misha knew how to make tofu taste good which was definitely a trick that Jensen wanted to learn. Mike’s salad wasn’t much to look at-everything in huge chunks in the bowl-but it was rather hard to mess up lettuce and tomatoes, really. In the end, though, it didn’t really matter how good or bad anything tasted because Jensen only sampled. He didn’t have much of an appetite after tasting Ben’s contribution because, frankly, he was pretty sure that it blew everyone else out of the water. And that really kind of sucked knowing that right up front.
After he was finished, Jared wiped off his mouth and took in the sea of expectant faces around him. “Want to thank you all for making Chad and me dinner,” he said. “And I guess now that I really should pick a winner.” Jensen glanced down at his lap because he knew that he’d done a good job on both tasks, but, he already knew who’d one this one by about several yards. “I’ve got to go with Ben,” Jared continued, “because those whatever-they-were were amazing and you’re going to have to make them again soon.”
Jensen nodded and chuckled with the rest of the crowd, clapping politely like everyone else and tried to feel disappointed that Jared was going on yet another date with someone else. It was just the rules of the game, after all. It shouldn’t matter-yet the fact that he lost was leaving a bitter taste in his mouth that he couldn’t even claim was because of Lita’s cake.
Part 8 | Master Post | Part 10