The Challenges of Love Chapter 21: Liars Not So Anonymous, a total drama series fanfic

The Challenges of Love

21. Liars Not-So Anonymous (Chris vs. Ex's III)

Update… yeah… I'd say more if my brain wasn't mush. I swear, school work has the same effects on your brain as drugs. It gets to the point where you're one big addicted mess. All I think about half the time these days is darn school. Work Rehab, anyone?

Ahem… anyways... you may want to read it in sections (yay for overuse of dividers to make decent bookmarks) so you're eyes don't hurt, you don't get bored (I'd cry if this happened), etc. I didn't want to split it up into another chapter, because I didn't think it'd be fair to all the OC's. But if you want to read it all in one sitting, go for it. I just don't want to get sued for eye appointments O.o

Shout-out goes to Blond with a Brain for her epic idea for Lauren/Val. Which won't completely carry-out until next chapter ;D

And thanks Greenie, for being a wicked awesome challenge-beta.

I don't own Total Drama Island or anything associated with it, Halo, The Hulk, Max and Ruby, Bambi, or Neosporin.

In Case You Already Forgot…

-Challenges Completed to Date: Speeding in the Dark, Getting Schooled, Can You Give Your Number, Paintball Wars, Influencing the Competition, Total Drama Rerun, Life Swap, Fight(ing for Love) Club

-Ladies Eliminated to Date: Rachel Haynes, Mandy Cassiders, Jade Smith, Ulli Schmidt, Nina Peterson, Victoria 'Vikki' Love, Isabelle 'Bell' Marely, Kristina Colmar, Sapphire Caligre, Leila Claires, Kayla 'Stormy Swift' Anderson

-Ladies Left: 13

The 'Ex' Quick Guide and Their Former Lady (in order of when they take the challenge):

-Brad/Shelly: He's all man, all flirt, and all for Chris. His little stunt hitting on Chris got him to start off on a bad note with Patrick. He and Shelly have an unresolved past that's left them both feeling out of sorts with each other.

-Andy/Al: Chris has a bromance going with this scene-kid, who smashed the host's window with his guitar case instead of taking the door. The closest he is to Al is getting into verbal spats, otherwise he hates her and thinks the breakup was "the worst." He has a 'thing' for Maddie, which he's determined to act on.

-Steve/Roxie: A jerk in every sense, he wants Roxie back and thinks he's the best thing ever. Roxie, for some reason, blames him for ruining her… how he did is still a mystery.

-Ren/Dawn: He has some serious skeleton's making some noise in his closet and is hinted to be living with a girl. He seems to be very interested in Dawn, who's interested in Chris, who thinks she might still be into her ex.

-Alix/Katroina: With his adorable vibes and obvious traits of being a nerd, he's an ex and good-friend to Katroina. He's still a bit unsure of if Chris is a good match for her and seems to be a interested in getting to know Dawn due to his weakness for brainy girls.

-Berko/Maddie: To say he hates his ex would be an understatement. He's out to destroy any shot she has at staying longer or being happy with Chris. While she suffers, he plans on getting with some girls… if they'd give him a shot. He too has a bromance with Chris.

-Dom/Krissy: How this sweetheart ever put up with Krissy is beyond anyone. But nevertheless he's a devoted friend who wants her to 'act right' and be treated well and he just wants her happy. He calls her 'Moe.'

-Patrick/Serenity: He's pretty hot for Chris… and could care less about Serenity or her own flame for the host. In fact, the only other person he's really noticed is his 'enemy' for Chris Brad (see below). He has a penchant for enjoying Raspberry Burst Smirnoff in excess.

-Andrew/Lena: A fellow environmentalist, he misses what he has with Lena and wants her back. He harbors a dislike for Chris over the way he treats her.

-Daniel/Lea: By far the most off-kilter ex. His thoughts convey him as controlling, violent, and extremely possessive. He seems to think Lea's his 'property' and he's come to take her home, though she seems more than through with him. He currently wants to smash everyone's face in, though Chris's is at the top of his 'to hit' list.

-Vallen/Tawni: He's Tawni's best guy friend… and has no idea who Chris is. Really. Chris doesn't know what to think about their relationship…

-Terrance/Charlie: Because Charlie "willingly touches" Terrance, the two guys are not each other's fan. Terrance wants Charlie to get back with him instead of wasting her time with Chris.

-Jordan/Laruen: A cocky guy who's confused along with the rest of the group, but obviously knows something they don't. What IS up with the 'Val' thing…?

A lot of jabs were being taken at ethics with this challenge. Was Chris Maclean right to be forcing the girl's and their ex's into a situation where he could take advantage of them? Was he right to exploit them for ratings and his own benefit? Was it okay to risk embarrassing them?

While those are questions that should have been strenuously mulled over before entering into the challenge, it wasn't until now that they besieged the host. Needless to say, he wasn't a fan of his conscience deciding to heckle him as Shelly and Brad were being strapped into side-by-side polygraph machines. He eyed the low screens on the table, both bearing a separate name in accordance to the victim across from it. It would confirm their words by flashing red and green accordingly to expose them.

He should be excited to take things up a few notches, but he felt wind in his veins. Chills. Could he be nervous? But why? It's not like he was in their position.

"Afraid of what you're gunna find out?" LeShawna teased, picking up on the darting eyes above his over-used smirk. "The truth isn't always pretty."

Chris chuckled at her attempt to warn him. It's not like they were friends. Had the girl forgotten how he tormented her on Total Drama? Was she that sweet? Stupid teenager. "I'm pumped," he replied, looking drop dead serious. "I can only imagine the stories we'll get to air. And I bet we'll hear some pretty creative stiff that makes Tucker Max [1] look like his life is boring."

The assistants dodged away as soon as everything was setup and Chris leaned back smugly. "You two cozy yet?"

"Not really." Brad frowned as he tried to get in a comfortable position. "These seats are stiff!"

"Generally metal chairs are."

Brad: "Chris is hot and fun to get fired up, but he's not my type. Maybe a FWB or something, but I couldn't date a guy who looks so happy about putting my butt in this much pain." He shakes his head and huffs. "Well, you know what I mean."

"Right, as I said, you two are my guinea pigs for the game Truth or Lie. Heh, I couldn't even get any interns for this one! Imagine that, huh?" Awkward laughs all around. "Yeah, good stuff. So, as I was saying, you two are going to be asked a series of twenty random questions per person."

He smiled, which was a typical indicator that he was finished explaining things. Shelly narrowed her eyes a bit, trying to figure him out. "That's it?"

LeShawna wasn't quite convinced either. "Yeah – that's it? I get threatened with shocks on the Aftermath to tell the truth but nothing happens to them? That's just ridiculous!"

"Whoa – you talk way fast. I didn't catch any of that. Not that I care." LeShawna fumed and crossed her arms. The efforts it took to keep civil were ridiculous. Chris shrugged her off and rounded on Shelly. "Babe, that's it."

Shelly smiled and unwound the tightness from her muscles. "So if I get shocked or anything, I get to kill you?"

"I'll even provide the weapons," he promised.

"Don't worry, you two! LeShawna's got your back! I'll try to keep him from giving you two a tough time!" Chris finally gave LeShawna some acknowledgement in the form of a heated glare. She tapped the table. "What?"

He shook his head. "No use explaining it to an amateur. Just let me run the show and you sit tight until it's all over, mmkay?"

LeShawna: "I don't know who he thinks he is, but I don't appreciate being talked to like that. He better get his act together and realize how to treat a lady."

Cody: "So I was thinking that LeShawna would be a pretty good addition to my show. But I don't know how Gwen would feel about that. I mean, they ARE friends. Besides, I wouldn't really want to put my future girlfriend in that position, y'know?"

Maddie: She has a black permanent marker and is writing something in big, bold letters on the wall of the bathroom stall. She pulls away and nods at her work, giving a little giggle. She leans into the camera and says, "Don't ask me where I got the marker," and places said marker down. As she takes off, the camera doesn't even need to zoom in to see the large 'Maddie + Chris = 3' written there.

Chris pulled out another flat screen from under the table and put it between Shelly and Brad's screens. "Like I said, I'll ask ten questions per person, going back and forth. We'll start off easy – dude, tell me – what's something you know that Shelly wouldn't tell me on national television?"

Brad's eyes shrank and he gulped as he felt Shelly give him a death glare. Wanting to get on her good side, he took a deep breath and said, "Ugh… nothing. She's got nothing to hide."

The green light for Brad's screen shone red onto Chris's face as his lips pulled back into a smirk. "Oh, well, I guess she does! LeShawna, you've got a button under your arm rest, do you mind pressing it?"

LeShawna, unsure of what was going on, hesitantly lifted up her chair's armrest to find a button. "This is some James Bond action right here."

Shelly: "If she wanted to see James Bond action she should've seen me scaling Chris's place. Or jumping from the plane. Or just me in the house in general. Man, doing all this for Chris is nonstop excitement. I think this should be filmed or something. It'd be an awesome show!" She sits and smiles, than realization dawns on her and she hits her head. "Oh… blonde moment…"

LeShawna gave a careful flick to the button and looked around for a sign that what she pressed worked however it was supposed to. On cue, a large scoreboard dropped down from the ceiling. On it was two sides: Truth and Lie. The bright green number two was under Truth, and an equally bright red one was under Lie. Chris clapped his hands. "Niiice effects! They even got everything color coded like I asked."

"What is that?" Brad asked. Shelly was too angry with the fact that Brad got caught lying to even form words.

"You see, I was lying before. There is more to this challenge than what I had originally said there was!" The competitors all glared at Chris. LeShawna looked at Shelly. "I know you said you wanted to kill him, but I don't mind doing the job for you."

Chris swiped off imaginary tears from under his eyes. "Yeah… surprises are something I do from time to time. Hehe." He got his wits back together and pointed a well manicured finger up to the scoreboard. "So I'm assuming everyone see's this board here, right?... Yes?... No?... Yes. Okay, well this is for you two," he informed Brad and Shelly, dragging an invisible line with his free hand between them. "Now you both can keep track of what LeShawna and I see on our screens. It'll help you out since this is all part of today's challenge!"

"What exactly is the 'full' challenge?" Shelly asked, hoping to get an honest answer this time.

Chris obliged… finally. "I'm glad you asked. To help motivate everyone to be honest, there's a catch!" LeShawna shook her head in defeat and Shelly sighed. Why couldn't he just have told them all this before again? "Why's everyone look so annoyed? Whatever. As I was saying, the three girls with the highest number of lies to truths ratio are up for elimination. Everyone else is exempt. So let's say every other ex-couple gets a perfect, hmm? Well then, Shelly's automatically up for elimination. Sucks a lot, huh?"

Shelly: "Heck yeah it does!"

LeShawna: "I knew it! He's still as sneaky as ever. Why on earth do all these girls want to date a sadistic jerk like him? They should just go scout some hotties in the club, take them home, and call it a night. There's no reason to be feeding this man's ego."

"Back to the question." Chris turned to Brad. "Answer honestly now – if you lie, you could put Shelly here in quite a pickle. I'm going to ask you again, bro: what's something you know about Shelly that she won't tell me on national television?"

Brad sighed miserably. "Pretty much anything about her sixth grade year is off the table, man."

Shelly bit her lip and watched as the score changed to show evidence that he was indeed telling the truth this time.

"Ohhhkay, that's vague, wanna be more specific?"

"No can do. As much as I want Shelly to give me a shot to redeem myself, I want to live so much more."

Chris crossed his arms and muttered angrily. Since he didn't give any sort of distinctive answer, it couldn't be held against him. He'll just have some digging to do later is all. "Fine, back over to Shelly. Shelly, I've been missing an awful lot of candy from my stash recently. Are you responsible for that?

The blonde sighed. "I didn't want you to find out this way… but around last week I dropped my fork after it bounced off whatever Chef was serving for lunch, and I found your stash. But I mean what kind of person tapes chocolate bars under the table anyways?! So I tried just one since the food here sucks and I was starving… and one turned to twelve… and well… yeah, that's all I have to say about that. It was pretty good though."

"Yeah, I know," he growled. "It's expensive Swiss chocolate. You couldn't tell by reading the wrappers?"

"Chris, all I saw was chocolate. There was little thinking to be had when one of my favorite things in the world is nearby. The only other time we ever get properly fed is at elimination ceremonies. That's just sad."

"But Chef told me he made Chocolate Lava Cake last night! Didn't he?"

Shelly winced. "You mean that brown brick that was spitting some dark yellow goo at anyone who got within two inches? Yeah, no one tried that."

Chris rubbed his eyes. "The poor guy… I'll have to break the news gently to him." He waved his hand away. "Or maybe I'll lie to him too. Anyways, stop making small talk! You're getting all these truth points and we're not even getting anywhere! Brad," the ex blinked, "how did things end between you two? By the way, who ended them?"

"Shelly dumped me when she walked on me in bed… with another guy… in our apartment." He bit his lip. "It was pretty bad."

"Why don't you get revenge, man? You don't like her still, right?"

Brad turned completely away from Shelly as a bitter feeling built up. "I want revenge, don't get me wrong. I really wish she'd let me explain things. But I'm not about to go outta my way to make her miserable, 'cause I mean, what would that solve?"

Shelly gave a small smile and leaned back, feeling a lot safer than she had a couple of moments before. "Thanks, Brad. Maybe we could talk after this?"

Brad and her shared a genuine smile. Not keen on the idea of the homosexual who was recently hitting on him deciding to switch teams to get with his hot blonde, Chris decided to meddle ever so slightly. "What makes her tick man? She doesn't like snakes, I know that much."

"Aw man, she hates snakes!" Brad said, laughing at the memories and overlooking Shelly's crestfallen look. "Her bros used to always throw their python on her when she slept and apparently she'd freak out when she woke up! And, dude," Brad was laughing hysterically at this point, the memories flooding back, "she has this weird thing where she spazzes if feet touch her! Her reaction is priceless! And –"

Shelly: Her arms are crossed and she just let's her head shake. "I've always thought of myself as an optimist. But between Chris probably getting a new stash for his candy and Brad mouthing off about my deepest darkest secrets, I'm starting to understand how emo kids feel."

Brad: "I feel bad, 'cause I mean I just let loose everything I knew about her in nothing flat. It was great to share though. I thought I'd never get to tell anyone about those great stories! And… and… crap. Shelly probably hates me now. Again." He sighs.

Al wasn't keeping tabs on people, put she was pretty sure she hadn't seen Shelly or her ex-guy since they got there. She was able to remember not seeing her friend when she stepped off the dance floor, got a drink, and tried to relax for a few minutes before heading back out. Feeling worried, she ditched the bar and went over the booth she remembered seeing Lauren at. Glad to see she was still there (with Lena and Andrew no less) she slid in and waved. "Hey guys! Have you seen Shelly?" she shouted over the music as best she could. Her throat was sore from singing along to every song that had played thus far.

The trio shrugged, though Lena did lean in and say/shout, "I saw Cody take her and Brad somewhere. Probably to the VIP room. I hope they're alright, they've been gone a while!"

Andrew raised a brow. "I'm sure they're fine, Lena. What could happen to them in a VIP room if Chris and his security team and camera people are there?"

Lena smiled. "Well, if Chris is there, I bet that means the challenge is held in there. And a game like Truth or Lie sounds like he's trying to get dirt or something."

"Yeah, I can see him with, like, a polygraph machine or something!" Al joked. She shared a laugh with Al, neither noticing Lauren or Andrew's paranoid expressions. Though as Lauren was looking away, she noticed a familiar face. "Oh gosh, is that who I think it is?"

Lena and Al looked around. "Who? What? Where?"

Eventually, their eyes landed on a sore sight: Leila Claires flipping her pretty hair as boys lined up around her.

"Huh," Lena said curiously. "I wonder what she's doing here."

As they were looking at her, Shelly and Brad stormed over to their booth. "Al, go get Andy and I'll take you to the VIP room," Shelly said looking uncharacteristically angry. Brad was behind her waving her hands screaming apologies and going on about how he should get to explain that, too.

Al nodded slowly, trying to spot him. "Sure, is everything okay? What happened?"

Shelly growled and gave Brad such a fiery look that he shut up and took a step back. "I don't think you wanna find out as badly as you think you do."

As Chris explained the rules to his next victims (Al and Andy), LeShawna was giving the scoreboard a day dreamy sigh. Under Brad and Shelly's name on the wall behind the official board were the former couples names. The last ex-couple, Brad and Shelly, had gotten a Lie to Truth ration of 1:19. That was pretty impressive, though since Brad basically had no problem getting distracted enough to go on about Shelly's secrets, it was also very bad.

Once again, she was questioning the girl's dating kinks.

At least Chris was going to be reasonable enough to give everyone else a heads up on the challenge when they came in. Unlike the first pair, the rest of the couples would be filled in on the situation so they could act accordingly. Was it fair? Not really, but as far as playing by Chris's rules went it was as kind as he'd get.

"So hold up bro, lemme rephrase what you just said," Andy said, twitching around beneath the wires that linked him to machines he couldn't pronounce the names of. "So if I lie, the ho get's affected?"

"Yup!" Chris said. Al banged her head to the back of her seat and wished he had her headphones in to calm her down a bit.

Al: "So… if I have to rely on Andy to tell the truth to win, I'm one-hundred percent sure I'm going to be up for elimination tonight."

"Okay, we'll start off easy –" LeShawna began, hoping to cut Al a break.

"Oh, no need for that," Chris pressed. "These are state of the art! I wanna just cut to the good stuff."

"By all means," Andy agreed.

"'By all means,'" Al repeated quietly in a deep cocky voice before snorting.

Al: "And if I don't go home, the stories Andy'll share will leave me so emotionally scarred I'll be wishing he would've lied. One or the other, there's no way I'm coming out of this happy."

"So, Andy my man," Chris started sweetly, "what's something Al over here wouldn't want me to know that you know?"

With the same look a doctor had on their face when they were telling the family their loved one didn't make it, Andy whispered, "Dude, she's so not here for you."

Al's head perked up. LeShawna snapped out of her daydream. Chris arched a brow. In unison, the three chorused together a shrill, "WHAT NOW?"

Andy nodded looking completely serious. The worst part was when a small one popped up on the score board. "I thought she liked me too. Y'see, I'm a lead singer of a big local band back home called Madame My Name is Glory. Catchy, huh? It was supposed to be called Madame My Name is Al, but she didn't want her name in it… she even came up with the title, but that's an inside story…." Andy's eyes glazed over, as if he was remembering a time in his life. Way back to when he wasn't a douche. "I used to party with Al all the time back when we were friends. She was a funny drunk…."

Al cursed herself for blushing at the memory of trying to figure out a name for his band. It wasn't her fault they took her out to a restaurant and the waitress kept pestering her for her name! Chris tapped his chin absently. "Uh-huh, yeah, so how does your band fit into her not being here for me? What the heck is she here for?"

"She's here for fame, obviously." Andy nodded towards himself. "As I said, I'm talented and famous. And I mean the only reason she's sooo into music is because I got her into it with MY band. I think she got jealous, 'cause then she had to go start her own shit band. She took all our gigs and everybody freakin' loves her stuff, but she just did it to get to me."

"For the thousandth time," Al grumbled, "I didn't start a band to overshadow yours, I just wanted to make my own stuff with my band mates. It's not all about you, Sellout."

"STOP CALLING ME THAT!" he roared, wriggling against his wires even more. "You started your band after you dumped me for having groupies!"

"Not so much having groupies as much as having groupies," she pointed out coldly. "And your personality did a one-eighty when you started getting more of a fan base. You went from my childhood best friend to my first love to a total dick!"

"I was going to ask you to marry you at my next show and you dumped me!" Andy argued back. "You were everything to me and you threw it right back in my face! Face it, you used me to get ahead and once you got what you wanted you shoved me aside."

LeShawna tapped her desk to get their attention. "Before you two rip each other's heads off, did you just say you wanted to marry her? Isn't she kinda young?"

Andy shrugged. "We were nineteen, sure. But I thought she was real for me. She wasn't."

It was all silent as everyone muddled in the exchange. Al coughed, and an audible 'Sellout' could be made from the slurs, which ignited another argument.

"Chris, come on!" Andy croaked, turning to the host desperately. "We were bro's right off the bat! I wouldn't lie to you – you're proof's on the screen! Al here is nothing but a –"

"SHUT UP!" The aggression behind that had everyone turning to see Al's face streaked with tears. Even Chris had stopped enjoying the fight to see that she was so upset. She was always so smiley and sweet he didn't even know she could cry. "You believe I used you because you can't imagine me being anything but a jerk, but it isn't really true. I came here for love. I found it in Chris. So back off and stop trying to ruin everything."

She looked to Chris, her face drenched. She was hurt to see him looking thoughtful and nodding at her ex like they had just made a pact. "Chris, tell me you're not buying this!"

"It's all good to hear, but actions speak louder than words," Chris mused. "Besides, bros over hos."

"Amen to that," Andy agreed. He seemed absolutely thrilled that he had won. Despite the fact that the Truth board was filled and there hadn't been one lie, he'd done his damage. She'd be going back home with him tonight no questions asked.

Al bit her lip and sat sulkily in her chair. Deciding she was through with it she fought against the wires and bolted out of the room, all thoughts of finishing up the challenge gone from her thoughts.

Al: She's writing something on the wall and she twists and sits back down. Behind her, Maddie's name in her message was scribbled out and another word was written above it. Instead of 'Maddie + Chris = 3' it now read 'Sellout + Chris = 3.' She put her headphones back in despite the club music blaring and flashed the peace sign. "Screw this, I'm going to wait in the limo to go home. There's no way I can stay and have fun now." She looked down at the marker and left it behind the toilet as she dodged out.

Andy came out and headed straight to the bar. Luck for him, he had been released just as LeShawna had started to come over to him and try to rip him a new one. To add to the fun factor, he just gotten some serious revenge. Nice. It turns out that even though he knew Al was there for love, he had somehow convinced himself to believe she wasn't, and lo and behold it worked. So much for a top notch polygraph machine.

"Hey, how'd it go?"

Andy turned around to see Maddie smiling up at him, and he had to admit he lost his breath. The girl was seriously hot. She had a sheen of sweat on her and she was looking up at him for answers… heh, he could give her some answers all right. "Fine. Well, on my end at least."

During their dancing and idle chat, he'd managed to show Maddie a side she must've trusted – his old side – because she seemed to see him as a friend. She worried her bottom lip and Andy resisted the urge to do it for her. "I guess that means Al did bad on whatever the challenge was?"

"Ohhh yeah," Andy told her, taking a sip from his drink. "Real bad."

Maddie shook her head. "Dammit all! I mean, I obviously want to win, but I love Al to death! I hope she doesn't get sent home. She's one of my closest girls."

Andy nodded, an idea coming to mind. He leaned in and decided to try and ruin Al's reputation with her friend in case his ex stayed. "Y'know, she isn't really here for Chris. Which is why she probably will be sent home tonight."

Maddie blinked. "Huh?"

He nodded. "It's all true. You see, Al just wants fame. She's just a sellout." He felt victorious are using her nickname for him against her. He leaned in slightly, and shook his head. "Not like you… though I can't help but wish you weren't here for him… though if you stay or go, I can promise you'd win me if you don't mind sneaking off to a back room…" He leaned fully down and pressed his lips to hers, sealing his promise with a kiss.

Though it came to an abrupt halt as Maddie shoved him back, his spine snapping against the bar.

"You… you dirty rotten bitter bastard," she snarled dangerously. "I may not have known Al as long as you, but I know her better than you. She's not like that and if she gets sent home tonight unfairly because you lied to Chris – "

"You'll what?" He said, coming down to kiss her again.

Halfway down she somehow managed to take the heel of her shoe into his crotch. He doubled over into the bar stool in pain as she crossed her arms. "I'll do that, but with a sharp object. Now go crawl in a hole and get over yourself, you creep."

Andy was crying, not handling the pain or rejection very well. "B-but I thought –"

"You thought wrong. And kiss me or anyone else again, and forget kicking, I'm just going to starting pulling things off."

He cringed and back away. "You – you heartless bitch!"

She looked down at him, thoroughly disgusted. "If I'm a bitch, what does that make you?"

It was confirmed: LeShawna hated Chris Maclean. It was a conformation she willingly shared with him in a loud, echoing voice.

"She was torn apart!" she told him, talking on behalf Al who could've been anywhere by now. "And you just sit there and smile. You are a snake in the grass if I ever saw one."

"It's called ratings," Chris explained for the umpteenth time. "How I actually feel has nothing to do with it."

"Oh yeah? Well – she froze, taking his expression in. Chris was rubbing his forearms uncomfortably and he was training his eyes on different points in the room every other second. Almost like he was a guilty man. LeShawna finally smiled for the first time since Al left. "Oh," she said knowingly.

The host scoffed. "'Oh' what?"

"You feel bad. You're not as much of a sadist as you used to be, are you?"

Chris rolled his eyes. "I don't feel bad. I'm worried about the equipment she may have ruined when she left!" He just about rolled his eyes as LeShawna rolled her own at his pathetic excuse. "Whatever, where's the next pair? I thought I told Andy to send in Roxie and Steve? What's the hold up?"

On cue, the door squeaked open and revealed a limping Andy, who was holding himself securely and looking as depressed as Al had. He ushered Roxie and Steve in before crawling away.

"Who mauled him?" LeShawna asked. "He wasn't in good shape. Not that he deserves otherwise…"

Roxie and Steve shrugged. "No clue."

A snap of Chris's fingers summoned the Polygraph Helpers and moved the plot right along. "LeShawna, how about you give the whole rule explanation thing a go? See if you learned anything yet." LeShawna did so (while making sure to substitute an insult for Chris's name whenever possible), giving Chris some time to think. He shouldn't care that the girls were looking so upset by the time they left. He needed to harden up.

He caught Roxie's sapphire blue eyes searching him out across the room and he offered a hint of a smile. It dropped when he realized it was there. No way was he changing his mind and risk hurting feelings. It was all a part of the process. He just needed to stop caring so much, or he'll damage his reputation.

"- and that's it." LeShawna finished, throwing a haughty glance to her co-hort. "You can start being a tool now."

"Thanks!" he said, not the least bit offended. "Because LeShawna here wants to jazz things up a bit, I'll ask a different sort of invasive question. Hey Steve, you first. So Roxie's hot, rich, and has the whole Dancin' Queen thing going for her. So why the hell did you let her go?"

Roxie smiled proudly. Steve wasn't so happy about the question. "Forget you, Maclean. I'm trying to get her back, but you and your stupid challenge isn't helping me." Before Chris could retort, Steve looked over at Roxie desperately. "Listen, sexy, I know I screwed up, alright? But really, enough is enough. You've had your fun but it's time to get back to me."

"How'd Romeo here blow it?" Chris asked the brunette beauty.

She looked away from her ex and huffed at the memory. "I caught him having dinner with a pretty little strawberry blonde… after he deciding to bail out on one of the biggest dance competitions of our careers."

"Sure, blame me," Steve said. "If I remember correctly, you seduced a few judges while we were dating." He leaned in a bit to the direction Chris was sitting across from him. "She's good at seducing to get what she wants. Not that it'll matter to you since she's not going to be hanging around with a loser like you for very long, but still."

Chris pouted. He was sooo not a loser. The only thing that made it better was the screen flashing red.

"I didn't seduce them, remember?" Roxie's screen was green. "After making love to me the first few times he tried to get me to 'persuade' the male judges. It wasn't my style, but we joked about it. I didn't realize how serious he was!"

"It's in the past," he said without batting an eye. "So you want me back yet or what?"

"Why are you so bent on getting her back?" LeShawna asked, honestly curious. "It's obvious she don't want you."

He laughed. "Seriously? I'm hot, she's hot. We'd get so much publicity for our work – besides my love for her, of course."

"Say what now?" LeShawna interrupted, glaring at his red screen. "Oh no baby, don't you go running your mouth off like that when I'm around!"

LeShawna: "Well somebody's gotta keep these jerks in line!"

Tawni: She's shaking her head at the message written behind her. She grabs the marker and crosses out Sellout, writing her name over it. "Tawni plus Chris equals heart," she reads off. "Has a nice ring to it."

By the end of the 'interview' Roxie and Steve's score was the lowest. All the lies, of course, had come from Steve when LeShawna was busting him for being a dirtbag to Roxie when they were dating. She hadn't realized what she'd done until it was a little too late.

"I'm sorry, girl!" she told Roxie, hugging her before she left the room to coax in the next people. "I'm sure Chris won't send you home anyways! Right, Chris?"

"Your words, not mine!"

Roxie smiled anyways and patted LeShawna's arms. "It's alright. I've obviously got bigger problems. I think Steve's onto the fact I actually like Chris and I'm not going back to him. I just hope he doesn't tell my dad about this show. He doesn't exactly know yet."

"What're you two whispering about?" Chris hollered. "At least wait to gossip when the camera's are close enough to catch you!"

As a camera man ran over, Roxie and LeShawna split up. Chris had enough dirt.

"So you aren't going to get back with me?"

The moment Roxie and Steve had made it back into the club, he was acting immature. He had his foot beating against the floor and was hovering over her, daring her to fight him.

"No," she told him hotly. "Now if you'll excuse me, I've got to find Ren and Dawn. Then I'm going to go dance. And please, stop trying to pressure me into a relationship with you. I don't want to screw things up with Chris. I really do like him, Steve. Please respect that."

She took off for her friends and Steve slouched. Well that sucked. But he shrugged it off. There were plenty of other foxes he blew off when he got here that might not like Chris as much as his ex. Like the girl who was talking about saving the whales or whatever was pretty fine. Or maybe Leila Claires – he heard she was here tonight.

"I'm pretty much an alcoholic."

Dom, Dawn, Krissy, Ren, and Alix stared blankly at Patrick as he downed another shot like it was no problem. Yup, he was definitely not a lightweight. He had been challenged Andy to shots after Andy decided to stop walking and just stick to sitting at the bar.

"So you mean you get drunk whenever you go out to a club or party?" Dom asked, hopeful that he limited his time with alcohol.

"Sometimes. And sometimes I drink at home alone for the helluvit," Andy admitted, his words slurring together slightly. "Yup. I get drunk alone."

"That's the worst kind," Alix said sympathetically. Dawn nodded solemnly.

"Shut up," Krissy argued. "What's wrong with drinking every now and then?"

"Moe, drinking alone is a serious sign on alcohol dependence." Dom looked down sadly. "It's how my mother's alcoholism started. It's sad how people don't take addiction more seriously."

"Oh blah-blah about that." Krissy rolled her eyes. "That's such a lame story, Dom. You must've complained about your mom drinking to me, like, a thousand times already. Grow a pair already, God."

"Sorry," Dom said softly, looking like a lost puppy.

Dawn shook her head. "What? No, Dom, don't apologize. That's your life. It's alright to talk about it. And I completely agree, people don't take addictions as seriously as they should." Ren dropped his glass onto a table and shoved it away. Alix smiled wide, giving a thumbs-up to his soda.

"Hey Dawn, Krissy, guys," Roxie greeted sounding a bit rushed. She had struggled through the crowd to find the art student. "I'm going to take you and Ren to the VIP room."

That got Krissy's attention. Before Dawn could blink Krissy had shoved her to the side to talk to Roxie. "Oh, so what's the challenge exactly?"

Roxie helped Dawn stand up straight and gave Krissy a stern look before answering. "I'm not allowed to say, but it really isn't anything to get excited about." Out of the corner of her eye Roxie caught Steve seducing a few girls. She smiled, realizing she felt more sad for them being so easily fooled than she did herself for being betrayed by him. Her feelings for Chris were strong enough to overcome her cataclysmic relationship with her ex. She never felt more sure of him than then.

As soon as Ren and Dawn came to the door to the VIP room, Roxie promptly took off to go back to the dance floor with all the other girls and more friendly ex's. Ren poked the door a few times and looked at Dawn with blank eyes. "Um, so what now?"

Dawn grabbed the doorknob. "Now we go in."

He grabbed her wrist and put it back by her side, shaking his head. "Nah, I don't think that's exactly how it's supposed to work. It seems to obvious. And this Chris guy isn't going to make things easy." Dawn opened her mouth and he shushed her. "Trust me on this, my instincts with stuff like this is always spot on. Let's just wait here until he comes get us."

Dawn: She's drawing on the wall, talking with her back to the camera. "I'm not sure I can picture Chris holding doors open to welcome us in to any of his challenges. Actually, I can see him making me hold the door so he can walk through." She chuckles as she caps her marker and places it back down. "Ren's request – more or less an order, I admit – made me wonder what would happen if I went against the typical routine. Maybe make Chris come to me? It's a different way of thinking, but I'm interested to see where it goes." She shrugs and leaves. The bathroom wall now reads "Dawn + Chris = 3." To send a stronger message, a sketched man with great hair and shining teeth is holding hands with a shy-looking girl with a faux hawk and glasses.

It took a total of six minutes before Chris grew impatient.

Chris leered at LeShawna, who had her arms crossed and was leering right back at him. He nodded to the door. "You wanna go find out what's taking so long?"

The teenager brought her attention to the current scores. "Don't go making dragging me into your issues. Girls gotta stick together – you know how it is."

"Don't drag you into my issues?" Chris repeated, his jaw slack. "You're helping with a challenge. I think you're an official middle party."

"You're crazy," was her only answer. "You want to get something done you man up and do it yourself."

She was challenging his masculinity now, was she? He rose up, flexed his muscle for the camera nonchalantly, and went over to the door to prove he could get things done. He opened the door and saw Ren pacing outside the door and Dawn waiting calmly.

"He ain't coming out Dawn!" Ren told her, but choked on his words when he saw Chris standing at the door. Chris smiled at a job well done on his part and showed them both in before slamming the door shut behind him. "You two get in those chairs and our well-paid assistants will strap you in."

Ren stared at the seat and his eyes went wider as Dawn causally did what was asked of her. "So wait – Chris, you're into bondage and stuff? Is this even allowed to be shown on TV?"

LeShawna shook her head. "He's not going to strap you in and take advantage of you if that's what you're thinkin'." Ren nodded in understanding and sat in the seat as Dawn had, letting himself get wired without a complaint.

Ren: "I don't think this Chris guy is right for Dawn. From what I've seen on his shows and from being here, I wish she'd just leave him and come back to me." He shakes his head solemnly. "But I had to go and screw any chance of that happening over already, didn't I?"

"As you're getting strapped in I'll fill you in on the details." Chris motioned to the wires with his hand. "Obviously you two crazy kids are going undergo a lie detector test. It's an advanced, right? Right. So I've got only twenty questions to spare, and to make sure Small Town here remembers she's in a competition, we're going to compare the amount of truths to lies you both have. So say you guys lie a total of… let's say nineteen times and tell one truth. Well then, consider yourself up for elimination next to two other ladies who like to lie. Or maybe there guy likes to lie. But really, does it matter?"

Dawn: "So he's fine with holding myself accountable if Ren decides to lie? How does this help us get closer, again?"

The host gave a smile to Ren, his teeth sparkling with brilliance. "So, Ren –"

"Wait a minute, why are you asking me stuff first?" Ren asked defensively.

Chris looked over at Dawn, who gave him a worried look and stretched her sights to the ground, her eyes drained of expression. Hm, so it would seem there's a secret between them that neither want to bring up. Chris nodded knowingly. "I know what's up here."

Ren sat up straight. "What? You do?" He looked at Dawn with hurt in his eyes. "Why would you tell him about her? You're not the type of person to do that."

Dawn shook her head. "I never said anything about her, Ren. That wouldn't be right and it has nothing to do with me anyways. Your personal life isn't really my business anymore. And I wouldn't do that to her, she's so young."

Chris's head was a whirl of confusion. "Whoa, I back up! I was thinking you two were still married or something. But there's another chick involved? Are you people polygamists or something?"

Ren tried to come up with a response but was too flustered to think of one. Still, his stuttering was apparently cute enough for several camerawomen giggle. Dawn's chest was feeling tight at the accusation as well. "Chris, that's far off. Trust me on this one, its' way far off."

Chris took her word (and confirmed it with the green screen) and he nodded, his smile still bright on his face. "Heh, right, I was just pulling your legs. Hehe… eh… yeah, so, back to this secret young girl! Wait, young girls?" His eyes squinted and he leaned towards Ren's direction, whispering, "Do you, like hurt little girls? 'Cuz I mean I'm not a fan of kids or anything, but even I know where to draw the line, man."

The ex tensed. "What? No! God you're nasty. Who'd even think of that?"

"Hey you can't be too careful! If killers can get on reality shows, I guess other freaks can too [2]."

"If you want to get to know Dawn why don't you just stick to asking her questions about her not me?" Ren questioned. "Why bother getting to know that I was held back to graduate with her –" Dawn rolled her eyes, Chris chuckled – "instead of stuff like why she has a Ms. Independent Complex.

Dawn arched an eyebrow. "Ms. Independent Complex?"

Ren panicked, realizing he may have insulted her. "Oh, I meant that you like to do everything for yourself and you don't like people meddling with your stuff. Don't be upset, it's true. I couldn't even pay for you when we went on dates. We were going Dutch at the end of our relationship! I mean, what's wrong with letting the guy do the guy things every now and then?"

Chris had seen the face Ren was wearing before. He knew it well – it was a face he'd had on after many confrontations with girls he'd seen in the past. "You cheated."

Ren's head hung low, and he nodded. "I always flirt. It's my thing, it's how I talk to girls. But I got a bit too carried away with one girl. Dawn's mom introduced me to her best friend's daughter, and well… things got hot quick. I didn't know she was seventeen."

Chris scratched his dark hairs lightly spotting his cheeks. He needed to shave. "Seventeen, eh? Hey, that's practically legal. So I'm guessing she's the young chick you two wanted to hide from the big bad host?"

Ren was about to say something and Dawn answered for him. "Yes."

Chris knew she was lying without checking the screen. LeShawna gave a small, private shake in Dawn's direction to let her know she was caught.

The air got heavy after Dawn's answer and no one spoke. The only smile in the room was fitted to Chris's features. He tapped his table. "Daaaaaaawn. You're not telling the truuuuuth." He sang out.

Dawn shook her head. "Another time, Chris. This has nothing to do with me."

"Oh? But I think it does." Chris looked over to Ren, eyes narrowed. "You want to answer man? I count silence as lies. She'll be in the bottom for sure if you don't put it together."

Dawn shook her head at him. "It's fine, Ren. He won't send me home even if I got to the bottom."

A strange tension set Chris into the offensive. "Oh yeah? What makes you so sure?"

"Because she's the best damn thing and you'd be an idiot to mess up like I did and let her go," Ren said plainly. It was the closest thing to regret Dawn had ever heard in his voice. He was always so sure of himself, but this guy now looked ready to break. "I got the girl I cheated on Dawn with knocked up! I have a daughter with her. When Dawn's mom told her I was a going to be a dad, she ended things. She didn't know 'til then. She had every right to…" He snorted. "Yeah, I'm done talking."

Chris looked over at Dawn, who was watching her ex with too much compassion. She was either a good person or she cared about her ex, something that sent an ill shiver in Chris's stomach. He nodded to LeShawna to just ask some filler questions like she always did. Yeah, he was done talking too.

Katroina wasn't into the party scene. Usually because she ended up taking care of the 'victims' of a situation that had gone awry. Like right now for instance. While everyone was having the time of their lives booty shakin' and drinkin' and doing whatever it was they were doing, she was holding back some Leila Claires's hair as she threw her guts up in the toilet.

Well, truth be told, Dom was the one holding back the model's hair. He'd come across her looking a bit out of it and since Katroina had seen him struggling to help her she'd come over to see if everything was alright. She may not like Leila's personality, but she was still a person. It was around the time her and Dom were taking her to the girl's room that Leila decided to throw up on Katroina's shirt and fall slack.

Now Katroina was rinsing her shirt off as best she could in sink while wearing Dom's shirt. He insisted she take it, seeing how she couldn't walk around with a puke pattern all night and going shirtless was out of the question. So, as a gentleman should, he removed the clothes on his back and gave it to her before going into the stall to help out Leila, his back turned to give Katroina privacy in the empty bathroom.

He'd been so kind. She couldn't imagine why Krissy would let such a guy go. Not that he was her type, he was far too sweet. He felt more like a protective brother than a boyfriend, but still. He was a good match for any other girl.

"Katroina? Are you in here?" Dawn came in and she looked at the scene. Her friend cleaning her shirt while wearing a baggy green shirt and Dom rubbing Leila's back while she hurled and groaned into the toilet.

"This just might be a bit more awkward than talking about Ren's baby to Chris."

Dom looked up. "Whoa, Dawn, you're a mom? I had no idea you and Ren had a child! Who's she look more like?"

Katroina: "Dawn and Ren have a child together? Since when? I mean… she… has a kid?! I suppose that's the reason she didn't read my 'Wait Until Marriage' pamphlets I was handing out the first week we were there."

Dawn: "If I'm not getting stereotyped, abused, or misjudged then I'm guilty by association."

"No," she quickly clarified. "It's Ren's and another girls. Not mine."

"Oh," Dom said softly. "I'm sorry."

She smiled. "Don't be. Now, Katroina, I'm supposed to take you to the VIP room, but you look a bit busy…"

Katroina smiled serenely, giving her stained shirt a defeated look. "I'll follow you out in a second. Do you mind grabbing Alix real quick?" Dawn nodded and left so that Katroina could look over at Dom's back. "Do you mind if I borrow your shirt?"

"Keep it," he said, patting Leila's back still. "I don't mind. You could use it more than I could."

She thanked him and left, leaving Dom to sigh alone as Leila coughed and leaned into his chest. He smiled sadly at her, and tried to clean her mouth off with a piece of toilet paper. "You're one of those girl's who don't take addictions seriously enough, aren't you?" He got a groan for an answer.

Katroina wasn't into the challenge scene. She could do without being hurdled into physically and emotionally taxing tribulations on a sporadic basis for Chris's amusement and ratings. Sure she was expecting to undergo a lie detector test – every show had it these days as far as love was concerned – but seriously, was it necessary to be strapped down? From the aggravated look masking LeShawna's face, she could tell he wasn't going to respect his or Alix's personal information at any rate.

Her spirits only rose after hearing the challenge regulations. Despite relying on another person to be honest for her benefit and possibly being humiliated, she wasn't threatened with bodily harm. It was a step up for the host in her book. Maybe she was changing him after all.

Chris cracked his knuckles and gave Alix a look that made him shake in his chair, his wires rattling. "Say Alix, you don't look like you've ever been laid. How'd you get Katroina to date you if you've got no game?"

Alix shook more violently. His face was a more violent red than anyone's had been so far that night. "It's rude to kiss and tell, but just so you know, I've been across the Baseball Field."

LeShawna burst into laughter at the corny phrase. He must've been some sort of closet pervert, because the green screen was proof that he had been with at least one girl. Chris nodded. "Hm, not bad for someone who looks like they spend all their time playing Halo."

He shrugged. "I mean… it's really no big deal."

"So, how far have you got with Katroina then?"

LeShawna: "How did I not see that one coming?"

Shelly: She whistled innocently as she crossed out Dawn's name and replaced it with hers so the message now read 'Shelly + Chris = 3.' She also decided to draw an arrow and label the sketch of Dawn as 'Shelly after she dyed her hair and got a hair-cut and glasses.' "There. Muuuuch better."

Alix shook his head. "Oh no. I'm sorry but I refuse to go there. That's between Katroina and myself. I would never –"

"UHP UHP UHP! Denying me an answer, are you? That's a strike out in my book!" he tapped a few keys and had the computer count his answer refusal as a lie. "There. You give no answer, I give you no good credit. Fair?"

Katroina felt her face fall. "Actually it really isn't all that fair."

Chris blinked. "Oh. Well then, memo-to-self on that one. But it's really too late to change my ways now. So back to hassling the nerd! Alix, how far have you gone with Harvard?"

"I can't say!"

"Alix, how far have you gone with Harvard?"

"I refuse!"

"Alix, how far –"

"Chris, cool it!" LeShawna cut in. "He's not going to change his mind on this one. Just ask other questions."

Katroina sighed. "Thanks."

LeShawna smiled. "Don't sweat it. I do what I can."

Chris begrudgingly did as he was asked and looked at Katroina. "What's your name?"

"Katroina Geddes."

"What's up with the wardrobe change? I don't like you wearing Dom's stuff."

She debated, then said outright: "Leila threw up on me and Dom and I were helping get her in order. He gave up my shirt so I wouldn't be shirtless." Chris frowned and walked over, taking his shirt off. Before she could ask what he was doing, he had tucked his on over Dom's shirt and over the wires before going back to his seat. He casually went back to work.

"What're you going to school for?"

Katroina inhaled and smelled Chris's strong fresh cologne and his natural… how could she describe it… earthy scent. He reminded her of the woods. It fit. "I want to be a politician or an environmentalist. I hope to do something to help people and make real changes… and thank you."

"Don't mention it. It looks good. But anyway, what's Alix wanna do?"

The room may have been dim, but only Katroina seemed to notice his flushed chest. He was blushing. He must've been afraid she'd reject it. She smiled and thanked him again before answering, "He wants to be an engineer."

Chris felt dominance and pushed forwardly confidently. "You guys still friends?"

"Yeah, we had a mutual breakup. We're better off friends."

"Cool… So how far has he got with you?"

"Oh baby, why did you have to lie to me?

I can't play no more games.

These thoughts are slowly controlling me,

You're turning off the flame."

The music broke into a loud boom, and Maddie waved at Tawni. She'd convinced the 'DJ' to play one of her favorite songs for her. She needed to bang her head and release the strain she was feeling from all the drama going on around her. The challenges, her ex, her friend's ex, Chris – she just partied it out. With a beat in her body and a drink in her hand, she was feeling better already.

Maddie didn't have it easy and she had a lot of regrets and mistakes to show for it. Too many regrets and mistakes. But she learned. She was good person, a smarter person for it. She wouldn't let her ex or any other idiot ruin her self esteem or her taint her optimism. The only guy that mattered now was the one who kept his promise and brought her to a club.

Now all Chris had to do was dance with her.

She felt someone yank her arm and she turned to see who the offender was only to see Katroina. She hadn't expected her to be in a middle of a mosh pit, so she gave her all her attention. Katroina yelled something, but it was too loud to make out what. Maddie thrust her drink into some random stranger's chest and grabbed Katroina's wrist to take her outside the crowd to where she could make out what was going on. "What's up, Katroina?"

"I'm taking you up to the VIP room. Alix is somewhere getting Berko now."

She nodded. The thrill of being with Berko wasn't too great, but Chris would be there. She tugged at Katroina's shirt and smiled fiendishly. "What did you do to Chris up there?"

Katroina brushed at the shirt. "It's not what you think. He only gave me his shirt because he was jealous of me wearing Dom's shirt." Maddie arched a brow and she shook her head. "It's nothing, really."

"I'll take your word for it," Maddie assured her, making sure to bop to the music before heading up the steps.

"Ya'll got that?"

LeShawna was given the mission of explaining how the challenge was going down. Berko had a vindictive air to him and Maddie just felt low. Besides stressing herself she understood in a much clearer light how awful Al must be feeling. Even she had to admit, this wasn't one of Chris's more fun ideas. And Berko wouldn't make things easier. Not that she expected him to cooperate to begin with.

"If it's alright with you, LeShawna, I want to start the questioning," Chris cut in.

LeShawna shook her head. "I figured you'd want to. Guess I can't stop you then?"

"Oh no, you can't. Don't believe me, go check your contract." Chris nodded to the blonde. "Maddie Babe, how's the club treatin' you? I figured it'd be pretty spot-on to your standards."

"It's sweet," she agreed. "I've actually never been to this one. Nice pick."

"I know, right?" he nodded. "And the music's real good tonight. I wonder who the DJ is?" Maddie snickered. She had a feeling he'd find out sooner or later. "What 'bout you, Berk Meister?"

"I hate to agree with It," he said, glaring at Maddie, "but it's aws. You pretty much own, man."

"Good to hear, good to hear. Anyways, onto putting you two in awkward situations and feel more embarrassed than high school ever could! But where to start, where to start…" He jabbed a finger at Berko. "You look trustworthy!" Maddie snorted. "So since I got nowhere with the last ex-couple, I wanna know with you guys: how far did you get with Maddie?"

Berko's eyes got dark. "We never did more than make-out."

Chris laughed. "Hehe, yeah right!" He looked at the green screen and his laugh burned out into an nervous cough. "Oh, bummer. How long were you two dating, again?"

"Four months."

His eyes brow's knit together as he made eye contact with Maddie, who looked back at him with confusion and anxiety. "No way. She's all passion and fun. I can't see her containing herself for a week."

"Yeah, me either. But she's a total cock tease. If you want a girl who'll put out, she's not the one to go for. All she ever wants to do is talk and shit. It's so lame."

Having been through this routine more times than she could count, Maddie hardened up and went into bitch-mode. "You only love girls when you think it'll get you into their pants. You're all good until you don't get what you want, you man whore."

His bloodshot eyes roved over her and he shook his head. "You're hot, you know? It's a shame you decided to keep your pants on because you wanted to get to know each other before 'taking that next step' or whatever." He seemed so clam at first, but he flipped and his voice was rising. "I might've wanted to sleep with you, but all you wanted to do was use me to get you ID's to go get drunk in clubs and hit on whoever showed interest. I'm the whore? At least I give what I put out."

"Can you blame me for wanting to be close to you?"

"We could've been close if you would've spread your legs open at least one God damn time."

"I am not listening to this!" LeShawna nudged Chris. "Go on, interrupt! Do your host business."

"Maddie, you got nowhere with him in four months?"

LeShawna dropped her head to the desk. Of course he only card about the sex.

Maddie was still on edge. "Is that all you guys want from me? A good fuck? Well you know, I'm a person. There's more to me than a gender and a hot set. You know what? You all can go to hell. Let the rest of my answers be lies, I don't care. Forget this shit."

Berko smirked. His ex was doing his job of sabotaging her for him.

Chris nodded slowly. "LeShawna, can you let Berko go and go get the next two? I wanna talk to Maddie for a sec."

LeShawna looked unsure of herself as she actually did what he wanted. Berko made sure to fist-bump the host and remind him that they were tight before following the former TD contestant out. Maddie hadn't removed her glare from Chris, who was just studying her from where he sat. Eventually he got up and went towards her to undo her straps, making sure to stroke her skin and get as close as he could before he untied her arms and let her ram him away. When she was free he rested on his knees and looked up at her. She crossed her arms and carried on with her glare. "You're a dirtbag," she said. "You're just how you seem."

"You're not how you seem," he quipped. "Why're you all touchy-feely if you don't want to be?"

"I do want to be," she countered hotly. "I just want something deeper before I just go 'all the way' or whatever. I take it seriously. But if I want something, I go for it. Like right now."

She leaned down and kissed him fully on the lips. His hands went right to her neck, clasping his fingers together and taking her head to a comfortable angle. She melted on the spot and leaned in closer, sinking from her chair to his lap. He stopped the kiss to flick her hair off her forehead and place a kiss on her roots. "This might shock you, but I'm glad you're like that."

Maddie's jade green eyes brightened. "Really? I don't believe that."

He nodded and helped her up. "No, really. It's not like I'm a sex addict… well, a confirmed one anyways… or I did the show to find someone to feel up. Wanna know a secret?" She nodded, smiling at him as she hooked her arms around his waist and he did the same. "I didn't even want to do this crap show."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah. I don't need this to find a girlfriend." He considered her and smiled genuinely. "But it could be worse." He broke into a laugh. "By the way, since you called the challenge off you only got one truth in since I only asked one question. You're def on the bottom, babe."

She shrugged. "Yeah, I guessed as much. I was pretty pissed." He laughed more. "Yeah, you were."

Maddie debated letting him know something before sighing and giving in. It might work against her, but she wouldn't be like Krissy and be a jerk just to assure a win. "You know, Al's here for you."

He nodded, swaying with her to the music they could barely hear coming from the club. "I know. I'll take care of that later."

She nodded into his chest, realizing her cheek was brushing against his chest. She arched an eye brow up at Chris. "Nice outfit change, by the way."

He nodded. "Thanks," he said.

Maddie: "There's no competition between Chris and Berko. I've made more progress with this self-acclaimed sadist then any boyfriend I've ever had."

Krissy: She's swaying around the marker, trying to write things on the wall. She puts her marker down and nothing but scribbles around the project has been added. "Everything's blurry. I have no ideas whats is ups theres," she says, her words hard to make out and she added syllables and 's's at random. "I can'ts figures out what I wrote, either." She blinked and went into a giggle fit.

"Why are you being so nice to me?"

It was an innocent enough question. One Dom had been asked from many people before in his life. He stared down at the pretty little sex symbol cuddled in his arms, giving him a pained look. She looked like she had a rough night before she decided to attempt getting smashed.

He rubbed her shoulders and leaned against the wall of the stall. "I'm just trying to do the right thing. You're hurting and you're sick. Just focus on feeling better."

She nodded slowly and curled into his chest. He was certainly fine, that was obvious. Though he wasn't as hot as Chris or a lot of her other boyfriends, he had a cuteness factor they hadn't possessed. He was too soft is what it was. "Chris is such an asshole," she admitted to this total stranger.

"Who? Chris Maclean?"

She nodded, suspicious of how he guessed so fast. But she went with it anyways. "Yeah, him. It reminded me this photo shoot I had to do where I was Desdemona and this guy had to act like some pissed off Othello. He was a total douche on and off the camera. Just like Chris Maclean."

"Oh… well, my friend's on the show. I'm her ex, so I'm here to help her with the challenge." He rubbed his neck. "But if he's not a good guy, maybe I should let her know…"

"Really? Who's ex are you?" she asked.

"Moe's. Er, Krissy's."

She nodded. "She's a total bitch."

He sighed. "There really is more to her than what she let's on. She's just misunderstood."

Leila gave a hallow laugh. "So you're into bad girls, huh?"

"Not really. Though I was friends with her when we were younger. She changed, but I really like the person she used to be. I think it's still down there somewhere. I thought dating her would bring it back out but she dumped me since I wouldn't… well… do anything with her."

"Nothing?"

"Nothing. I didn't want to take advantage of her. No matter how willing she seemed for anything I couldn't help but see her as someone who was confused and didn't really know what she wanted. Stupid huh?"

It was true. He was too soft. This realization had her curled up and crying in his chest not even seconds later. Why couldn't she be good like him? Was this why she couldn't have love and be happy? And here he was: this loser – this common nobody she just met – wasn't even trying to take advantage of her. He was just being a nice guy. Was he gay or something?

"So Chris doesn't like you," he cooed. "You could say that for everyone but one girl who'll win the thing. You see the thing is this is a show and life doesn't end when you're time on it does. If he is your true love, well then you'll get together one day. If he isn't then you'll find that lucky guy. Trust me. Sweet girls like you don't stay on the market very long."

Sweet? He's condoling her? What possessed him? "… Do you know who I am?"

"I think you look familiar but I'm not sure. I heard a new friend of mine here who helped me get you in the bathroom call you Leila Claires though."

She laughed. "You don't keep up with pop culture, do you?"

"Not really," he admitted.

She considered him for a moment then asked, "Say, what's your name anyways?"

"Dominic Henry," he said. "But most people call me Dom. You can too, if you want."

She smiled, and her heart felt warm looking at him. The moment was ruined as Krissy entered the bathroom and tripped over to the Confessional Stall. Dom watched her with worried eyes and they widened in concern as she slurred whatever she was trying to say. As she came out she looked at him and waved. "I wanna go home. Chris can meet me there."

It took a while for him to figure out what she said, and he tensed. "What about the challenge?... You know forget the challenge, you look really wasted. I'll take you back to his place."

Leila panicked a moment. The thought of her new boy toy leaving didn't feel right with her. What did she feel? Jealousy?

"I have to go," he told Leila, slowly setting her to the stall wall. "I'm sorry to leave you like this –"

"What if I took her back in my limo?" Leila asked suddenly. She couldn't believe she offered to do something for someone else. When had that happened?

He looked her over and nodded. "Thanks. That'd mean a lot."

He hooked both the girls on either arm and hauled them up and through the crowds. Leila smiled and snuggled into his arm. Oh yes, she was glad she came back.

It was the secret to success. He had to be just like that guy. Here was some average looking schmo with two hot girls on either arm. They were both leaning against him like they wanted o get closer. And – wait, was that Leila Claires and Krissy? Hold up, that was Krissy's ex! Everyone thought he was some sweetheart. Heh, they should see this. He must've had secret motives this whole time.

Berko tipped his glass to the three walking out, wishing for them to have as half of a good time as he was planning to have. The scene was enough motivation for him to decide to go find a pretty face and make with the haste. He felt bad for the hot sassy girl who had brought him out here. She was muttering something about needing Krissy for the challenge next.

He walked around for a bit when he spotted cute blonde with some pink highlights in her hair. She was talking at a booth to that Lauren girl, the hot environmentalist chick, and the ex for the hot environmentalist chick. There was some other guy there, but he could care less about him.

"Hey babe," he asked the girl with the pink highlights. "Wanna dance?"

"Watch how you talk to Charlie, man!" The guy beside her said, his eyes narrowed. Berko decided this guy must be her ex.

Charlie shook her head. "I'm not up for it at the moment, sorry."

Berko nodded. He looked over at Lauren. "Hey sexy, you've been down and out all night. How 'bout we –"

"Don't make me hit you," was the usually fun and laughing girl's morbid answer. The environmentalist patted her back sympathetically and Lauren gave her a small smile. "Thanks, Lena."

"Ohhhkay." He looked at the last girl – Lena – and was about to say something when her boyfriend looked like he was about to do something. "Okay, okay! I'm out. Sheesh you guys are frigid."

He figured he'd just have to bounce around more when he saw a sight sent from heaven just a few booths away: a hot girl sitting all alone. She looked familiar… Lea was her name, wasn't it?

"Hey baby," he said to the doll face, trying his best to sound seductive and manly. "How about we go spend some time alone in a room instead of you spending your time alone in a booth?"

She wouldn't meet his eye, opting to look around at anything but. "I would leave quickly if I were you. I can't say I'd be willing to save you from Daniel if you tried anything. You don't seem like the type to change without having sensibility threaten you."

He dropped down beside her, raking a hand up her leg. "Ah babe, I don't wanna change. Though I don't mind changing into my birthday suit, if you know what I mean –"

"WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?"

Berko's head snapped into the direction of a booming voice and his eyes broke wide open. It looked like the Hulk was fast approaching and people in his way were diving into the crowd to be out of it so he wouldn't punch them away. He was glaring directly at Berko, who gulped.

"See, now he's upset. It's because he's so possessive," Lea informed the shaking womanizer, who hadn't had enough sense to remove his hand from her thigh. As Daniel grew closer he got some wits back and he bolted up and away without a word to her.

"I'll be right back, Lea. Excuse me for leaving you alone again. Stay here." That was all her ex had time to say before he took off like a mad man after Berko.

Lea felt she was being stared at and saw Lena, Lauren, Charlie, Terrance, and Andrew all observing what happened from the corner of her eye. She sighed. Daniel really was setting up a dramatic panorama she'd rather not be associated with. Not feeling like having him cling to her again (it had taken a good hour before he felt 'comfortable' enough to leave her for two seconds to go get drinks) she just put her head into her palms and daydreamed about being with Chris in the VIP room. She had to get called up sometime this year, right?

When Chris wants something done, he generally expects it to be done how he wants it. His challenges were of upmost importance to him especially. When he wrote them up and actually had the order in which the girls would go figured out he wanted the notes to be followed down to the last dotted 'i.' This was why he frowned at LeShawna as soon as she brought in Serenity and Patrick.

"I remember wanting them to be after Dom and Krissy," he told her. "Where are Dom and Krissy?"

"According to the guy who just wanted some, he said they left. Well, I don't really know if that's what he said fer sure since he was running away from some guy who looked like he was about to rip him apart."

Chris was ready to dial her number in, have her eliminated – but something told him he'd want to get to the bottom of things first. Exploit her, then eliminate her. "Fine, but all her questions count as lies then." He looked at Serenity and Patrick, who were already in the seats and waiting to be questioned. He looked at LeShawna skeptically. "I told them the rules coming up so we wouldn't waste more time. I want to be outta here as soon as possible."

Patrick: "I was really hoping Chris would take advantage of me tonight, but I wasn't hoping it'd be like this!"

"I'm sure you do," he muttered. "So, we know the deal already? Then I'm just going to ease right into things then. So Serenity, something I've been dying to know – why did you date a guy who obviously does not play for your team?"

"Whoa," Patrick interrupted. "I never said I was gay."

Chris, LeShawna, and Serenity all stared at him as he glared back. "Sugar, you just seem –" LeShawna shook her head. "We all assumed you were. We're sorry."

"I'm not!" Chris said hotly.

"Shush boy." LeShawna batted him away.

Chris pouted and looked at Serenity. "Fine, fine, whatever… so who ended things?"

"Patrick did," she admitted. "We were together three years, got engaged, then I noticed he was acting differently. One day about a year ago, I woke up and he had just up and left. But since every other aspect of my life sucks, I wasn't really shocked to have things get worse for me."

Chris tried to picture this guy before he started acting 'differently' and found he couldn't do it. "Well since your life is pretty much a fail what made you to apply to the show and try to get with me?"

Serenity: "That seat was stiff as hell. And my arm itched where the tape-stuff was. But every time I tried to itch it those stupid weirdoes who put it there in the first place flipped out." She shrugs in defeat. "It's hard to focus on being interrogated when you're suffering."

"In all honesty I didn't want to do this show."

Chris snapped his finer at her, laughing all the while. "Riiight. Who wouldn't want to be on a show and have a chance to get with me? That's a riot."

"Chris, I'm being serio-"

"Riot!"

"Chris, I'm telling the truth. My screen's gre-"

"Riot."

She rolled her eyes and dropped it. "Really. I was dared from a friend of mine to go on the show. And it was a great excuse to get away from my tortuous job for a while. But then I started to really like being here and started to really like you, and well…" She blushed and looked up away. "I guess you could say I'm glad I got to be here."

It was quiet and everyone was just letting her confessions sink in. Patrick decided to promptly ruin the moment. "She watches Max and Ruby."

"What's that?" LeShawna asked.

"Some kids show. And her anime addiction's pretty bad. Have you read her books she's writing, too? They're all dark and depressing, and –"

"Patrick, what the heck?" Serenity asked looking not-too please."

"Stop, I need to tell Chris what's up with you! I want him!" Silence. "I mean… I want him to know the truth about you!"

LeShawna: "She really doesn't have any secrets. He started to make stuff up after a while. And he pointed out she had boobs as a reason for Chris to not like her. I think… just maybe… someone's in denial? Just maybe?"

Serenity: She's writing on the wall and she sits down. It now has 'Serenity + Chris = 3' along with her name written above a crossed out Shelly's. "So I pretty much hate my life at the moment, but I don't think I'll be on the bottom. I just know I'm going to have to win tomorrow's challenge if I want to prove that I really want to be here. Stupid Patrick… and I don't see why he had to bring Max and Ruby into this!"

Andrew had given up trying to flirt with Lauren to make Lena jealous. He was just doing subtle little things to try and make his ex jealous for him, but she seemed either oblivious or too focused on taking care of her distressed friend to even notice. What upset him was how kind she was. They could be out dancing and having fun but she's here making sure this girl's not lonely.

He smiled. Actually her sweetness was one of the things he admired about her most. Still he hadn't gotten to take her out for a while now, so this passed up opportunity made him disheartened.

"Someone looks sad." Andrew looked over to see Patrick at his side an Serenity over by Lena. Andrew nodded to the guy. "Yeah man, I just want – " He froze as he felt a pressure on his knee. "Want to work some of that tension out?" Patrick asked him in a flirty manner.

"Andrew, c'mon! Time for you and I to go to the VIP room!" Lena said merrily, leaving the booth behind Serenity and motioning for him to tag along. Andrew coughed and jumped out of the table. "Yeah… uh, you have a fun night," he told the blonde and waved at Lauren.

Patrick growled. "Curse Serenity. She takes all the fun boys away!"

Laruen arched a brow then had a devious idea. "There should be some guy styling his hair in the bathroom right about now. His name's Jordan, if you want to know." She smiled victoriously as Patrick zipped off in a heartbeat.

Hearing about the challenge, Andrew knew he wouldn't want to look like scum and lie so he might have a slim chance at being the guy to go home with Lena. Seeing her follow the no-show host with her eyes, her lips curved without thought, made his blood simmer and turn his skin white hot. He was counting down the moments before he set the room on fire with his body temperature. There had to be a way to have Lena lose so she'd be with him without coming out looking like a bad guy! But how…?

"So I talked to Lena about you before, making you the only ex I really know decently," Chris said offhandedly, sizing up the fellow environmentalist. "She said you teach chem at the high school she teaches bio at?"

Andrew couldn't believe his ears. Lena talked about him to Chris? His skin was burning for a whole other reason now. "Yeah, it's true."

Chris's brown eyes darkened. "I hate chemistry."

Lena tilted her head in the same manner Chris did when he was thrown off. "Really?"

Chris laughed. "Nope. Not really. I like chem. Props to you bro."

Andrew laughed dryly. "Aren't you full of humor?"

Lena: The walls been changed… again. Now Lena's name is above a list of crossed out names so that she's the one equaling some love when added with Chris's name. Her name has also been written above the picture. To make sure she added her own touch, she put 'I love Lena' on Chris's shirt. "This is neat," she commented, smiling proudly at her altercations. "And now it's accurate, too."

"Of the highest quality, mind you. But this is isn't about me – oh, well let's be serious, it's always about me – but there needs to be a somewhat focus on you two, of course." He looked back at Andrew. "Lena's pretty much told me her life story, so I'll be honest. I don't know what to ask you."

"Sure, she told you her life story. So you mean to say you know that she snores?"

"Ohhh yeah." Chris winked at her, remembering all the times she fell asleep next to him on the roof.

A plan was forming now. Andrew would just have to bring out all the dirt he had on Lena so Chris would have no choice but to eliminate her. It had to work!... If only he had some dirt on Lena. "Um, she's eaten a hamburger before, you know. All of one. Every bite. I'm sure a cow somewhere was crying over it."

"Actually, she's told me that, too." Lena nodded as Andrew looked over to her for verification. He couldn't fathom that she'd tell him that. She didn't tell anyone that. What alternate universe had he been dumped on?

A memory flashed in his mind. Something that might be enough to convince this idiot that Lena was not a good match for him. He was afraid of hurting Lena, but he had to do it… he had to pull out the big guns. "Oh, well ," he said in a friendly manner, not letting on how much he hated the host. "I guess since she's told you everything, you know about her criminal record."

The look of loss on Chris's face made it all worth it. "You said criminal record?"

Lena worried her lip. "Chris, I wanted to tell you myself! Andrew, let me tell him please. I was just waiting to do it alone together so he wouldn't think I was hiding anything."

"Oh no no no no, you had a shot. I wanna hear what Bambi Lover's got to say."

Andrew cringed. Bambi Lover…? "You know how Lena's an environmentalist of course considering you know everything else there could possibly be to know about her." He feigned shock, "To be honest, I'm a bit surprised she hasn't let you know that she ended up in jail a few times!"

"A few times?" Chris and LeShawna said simultaneously. They eyed each other wearily, finally on the same page.

"Oh yeah. She's protested and organized a bunch of sit-ins and stuff," he told Chris looking serious as can be. "She's familiar with the opposite side… of the law!"

…

"Hold up." Chris tried to collect his bearings. "You're telling me that she got sent to prison for protesting?"

"Yes I am." Andrew nodded firmly. "She just would not leave private property or forests, even when asked or give warnings. They could've gotten more violent. Maybe one day," he said ominously, "they will!"

…

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

Andrew sat stunned as Chris and LeShawna burst into fits of hysterics, clutching their stomachs and tearing up. He couldn't understand it! Wasn't this guy put off? At all?! Chris wiped his eye and nodded to Lena. "Guess you're pretty badass, even though that's really not that big a deal. Still, that's so freaking hot."

Andrew smacked his head against the back of his chair. There was just no getting rid of this guy.

Daniel looked slightly disheveled when he got back to the booth. He sat beside Lea and put his arm around his shoulder. She almost toppled over under his heavy arm. The guy lifted weights so often he probably was becoming one. She noticed his clothes flecked with blood and the red tinged on his knuckles. She sighed. "You just had to fight him?"

Daniel nodded. "Anything to keep my precious protected."

Lea tried to shake herself free of him, but he just brought her closer. "Really, Daniel, it wasn't necessary to hurt him. He didn't bother me all that much. He would've left me alone when he realized I wouldn't cooperate."

"That's what that imbecile wants you to think," Daniel said. "You can't be so carefree, Lea. There are bad men out there."

"I'm not carefree," she said simply as if stating a random fact. "I just know that –"

"No, you don't know," Daniel said roughly, his free hand grinding his fingers into her neck so she'd look him in the eyes. "I'm here to protect you, Lea. You don't know that much when it comes to men."

Lea put her own hands to the wrist and tried to tug him off her face. She flatly stated, "I don't, do I?"

"No," he agreed. He took his hand off her face and smacked her hands away. She refused to let herself look down to see how red they were. "You broke up with me, after all. What a mistake that was."

"Yes, what a mistake on my part. How could I break it off with a guy who cares oh-so much about me?" She wished she could say something along those lines, but defending herself would be out of line. Her parents had selected this guy for her after all, and she never spoke out against him. Who knows what her parents would do if he told them she was uncivil towards him? Who knows how he'd react?

Feeling helpless (and slightly annoyed), she bowed her head and kept blinking until the sting of tears in her eyes dissipated.

He pet her hair. "I forgive you,"

"Lea, Daniel?" Lena and Andrew cut-in. "You're turn to go up. We can lead you –"

"It's not needed, Ms. Greene," Daniel insisted. "I asked Cody where it was so I may take Lea up myself. Thank you, both of you, though." He smiled sweetly and, with his arm still around Lea, led her up.

"Hey man, I hate to break this to you – no, wait, I don't. Yeah, she's not dating you anymore, bro. Hands off the possible love interest."

Daniel had come in, arm still slung over Lea. One of Lea's hands was rubbing her sore neck. She was afraid it'd be red. The last thing she wanted was to be the source of drama. Daniel pecked the top of Lea's head (it was enough reason for Chris pout in his seat and whine to LeShawna) and the two split off to sit in their chairs. LeShawna explained the challenge and immediately following a few assistants came over to connect the wires to the former couple. "You're going to have to put your hand down real quick, hun," one of the assistants said. "We put a suction pad on the inside of your wrists."

"Oh," Lea said softly. "Alright then."

She brought her hands down and let them press it into place. Right after they left. Lea felt calm since they hadn't said anything, but the calamity crashed when she saw Chris narrow his below her chin. "Why do you have red marks on your neck?" He looked up at her, confused and – was that hurt in his eyes? Why would he be hurt?

"Daniel put them there," she answered honestly. His glare focused on her told her that if she said anymore she might get to see more of his bad side than she'd ever had before. A glimpse of it as he wrung out her neck was enough, thanks.

Chris leaned back in his chair, looking dejected. Than his eyes got cold and he smirked nastily. "I didn't think you were the kind of girl, Lea. Frankly I'm a bit surprised you'd let this guy go vampire on your neck after just meeting up with him again tonight. A bit loose, hmm?"

Lea sighed. He took it the worst possible way, obviously. "Actually, Daniel had not made these out of a romantic gesture, but rather he –"

"Lea has been close to me all night," Daniel cut in snobbishly. He glared at her, daring her to say anything against him. "We haven't left our booth until now. Isn't that right, Lea dear?"

Lea felt those familiar sting of tears and she looked up to a corner of the room, begging them to be gone. "That's right. But you interrupted me. I was saying that he had a grip on my neck to hard. Ergo red marks."

Her glossy eyes made Chris's insides swell. He didn't need to see the screen to know who was being honest.

"I didn't hurt you!" Daniel roared. "How could I hurt you when I love you?"

Love. She remembered when she thought she could love him. She remembered when her parents introduced them. They were smitten with the southern gentleman he was, and Lea was swept with how polite and perfect he'd been. He treated her like a lady and made her feel like royalty.

After a while, it felt too forced. She realized she wanted something that felt more real. She felt like she could never really relax around him since every time she tried to let her guard down he'd heckle her for being uncouth. It didn't take too long for her to discover some things out about him through some mutual friends.

She found out he was possessive, though she had already been getting stronger tastes of that side of him the longer they spent time together. She heard he wanted her for sex, something she was also starting to feel pressured into and thankfully hadn't caved into. What really set her off was she heard he was violent.

She tried to stay with him to please her parents, but it didn't survive longer than a month. She ended things in person in front of her parents, afraid of how he'd react in private. Yes, she thought she could love him. Then she found out who he really was.

She let her eyes lock onto Chris's in a rare moment of eye contact. She knew how it was with him. There were no secrets, he left everything on the table as she did. She knew she loved him, but she wasn't ready to say it aloud quite yet. She was afraid he could see how much she cared for him in her eyes. Could he see right through her? She trembled and looked away guiltily.

Chris blinked, mentally begging her to look back but she didn't. Why'd she turn away so quick? She had such nice eyes, he noted. Such a nice neck, too. A neck that was marked up thanks to the closet-abuser.

"You can go back in one of the limos, buddy," Chris shot out, his hands into tight fists. He'd love to try and take that guy on… but he knew he in situations like this, he'd pick the 'flight' in flight or fight. No way he'd look like such a wimp on his own show. He did the most manly thing he could while still keeping Lea out of harm's way – he just ordered him around. "We'll make use of the footage we have. I don't want you near Lea."

"Who are you to be so possessive over my Lea? She can make up her own mind!"

Chris snorted. "Yeah, you seem like the guy who'd let her do just that. Head back now."

Daniel smiled daringly. "Fine. Come on, Lea dear. We're going."

He didn't even get to touch her wrist when Chris was on him, knocking him over into a mess of chair pieces and wires. Lucky for the superstar, Daniel was too surprised too counter attack. Too surprised and wrapped tightly in wires. Oh, and he barely felt the punches, but that's not something Chris considered.

"'Bout damn time you did something! Beat his white ass in, Chris!" LeShawna cheered supportively. Lea blinked. She'd never thought in a million years Chris would put his pretty face at risk like that, nor did she suspect he'd do it for someone else. She'd have to smile about it later when the camera's weren't on her. God forbid she look like a sadist and smile away as her old love and her new love fought over her.

She snapped off the wires as best she could and came to the side to try and take Chris off Daniel. Daniel and he hadn't punched, more tried to shove each other around on the floor. So much for men having been gifted with apt fighting styles. LeShawna grumbled as security showed up and took Daniel back to Chris's mansion so he'd be there for when everyone else got back.

LeShawna: "I was hoping to see Chris beat that jerk's face in like he deserved and maybe get a hit at his pretty lil' face, too." She shrugged. "What? Can you blame me? He put me through shows from hell and made me eat Chef's garbage. Ain't no way I wanted him to come out as clean as he went in."

Lea: The wall behind her had her name over top of a freshly crossed-out Lena's in a large cursive font. She added a stick-figure KO'ed in the background. "It's the perfect romance-cliché, really. The guy saves the girl and it's true love from there on out. But I guess it works fine for me."

"LeShawna, can you go get the next couple quick?" Chris said breathlessly, frowning at the scratches and bruises on his arms and legs he got from the scuffle. "I want a minute with Lea."

"Sure thing. You kids have fun, but not too much fun, ya'hear?" she joked as she walked out, smiling wide.

Lea knelt beside Chris, looking at his 'battle wounds' as he did. "They aren't that bad," she commented. "I've seen Daniel do worse. At least he was too startled to really fight back. If he wasn't caught in wires or he saw it coming, you'd be as torn apart as I'm sure Berko is."

Chris arched a brow. "What happened to Berko?"

"… I'm not sure exactly."

Chris nodded and sighed as he checked himself over again. "God dammit, I'll be drenched in Neosporin and ice packs tonight. No way in hell these'll be here tomorrow, that's for sure." He rolled his sleeves down and looked at her grimly. "Does my hair at least look okay still?"

She laughed and reached into his back pocket where he usually had a small case of hair gel tucked away in. She rubbed it in her palms and styled his haphazard hair. "I have to thank you, Chris," she said as she laced her fingers through his brown locks. "I appreciate what you did, though you didn't have to. I never expected you to, either."

"That makes two of us," he said lowly. "If he messed my face up, I think I'd be suicidal about now." As she leaned over him, his smile tugged down to see red prints on her neck.

"I thought they were hickeys."

"I know, you said so."

They looked at each other dead in the eyes a second time that night. Chris leaned into her hands, which were still rubbing into his hair. He tilted his head up and nudged his lips to her red marks, pecking at it testily. She sucked in a breath, not used to such contact from Chris or any guy. He pressed her neck closer to his mouth and kissed her again, though more firmly. Unsure of how she'd react, he was careful to feel her response as she nipped her. She leaned closer and he felt confident enough to try out some other ideas he had. If the red marks are her neck weren't hickeys before, he'd change that. Now when she saw her marked neck she'd think about him instead of that other jerk. He was a giver like that.

They were the best of friends.

The closest of chums.

The ultimate tag team.

… Until they disagreed on something.

"Oh! And this one time, Chris and I were having dinner in his room and I accidently flipped my cranberry sauce at his shirt – and the look on his face was priceless. He's the only guy who can make looking like a total ninny hot. How he does it is beyond me, but hell I'll take it."

"Uh-huh," Vallen said. He managed to look bored with the topic in the energy-jammed room. "Is this that guy with the shiny wig?"

Tawni clicked her tongue. "Nope, no wig on that head." She paused. "Well, I don't think so anyways. Looks pretty legit. Hey, do you think these guys' would be up for Klaxons or what? I've been hooked on them ever since Al played me some Gold song by them –"

Vallen watched her search her playlist and he snorted. Sure the show seemed pretty awesome. Hello, all the mad awesome challenges he heard about were a guaranteed thrill rush. But to have to be touchy-feely with Whats-His-Wig? Yeah, that's gag worthy.

Something whacked the side of his head and he winced back and grabbed whatever it was before it fell to the ground. He looked down at the object and blinked, trying to take it in. His lips spread into a grin – he couldn't believe it! This was the best club ever.

"Tawni! Tawni! Check this shit out!" He waved the thrown object at Tawni, who looked over at him. "It's a black bra! A hot black bra!"

Tawni squinted her eyes. "Oh, lace. That's fancy. Now give it back to the girl so she can throw it to the guy she meant to catch it."

"Haha, you're just jealous you don't have anyone throwing bras at you!"

Tawni smirked fiendishly. She flicked the music down and tapped the mic to her lips. "Alright folks. The next person to throw a bra up at me in the next five seconds gets a free drink courtesy of Chris Maclean."

A mountain of colorful brassieres were piled all around the DJ booth as people (namely girls and Patrick) all gathered around the bar and leaving a bit of a gap in the dance floor where mostly guys were stuck moving around alone. Tawni laughed at Vallen's dropped jaw. "I think I have more than you now."

He snapped his fingers. "Nope, I got this." He went to the microphone and spoke over the roar of the crowd. "Hey! Whoever throws their bras at me gets to spend some 'alone time' in a VIP room with… with…"

"Chris Maclean?" Tawni offered.

"YEAH! Chris Maclean!"

The girls looked down at their shirts and pouted. Guess they'd have to be content with drinks, seeing as they didn't have much else to throw.

"GIVE THAT BACK!" Vallen glared down as Cody jumped up and took the bra he'd got smacked in the head with. "That's Gwen's! Er, mine!"

Vallen tsked briskly as Cody stuffed it into the bag he was carrying around with him. "Sure it is."

Cody: "LeShawna didn't want to go through the crowd, so she threw up my personal possession to 'motivate me' to bring Vallen and Tawni to her. I'm kinda put-out by how well that worked."

"I'm guessing it's go-time?" Tawni asked. "That means we need someone to cover… but who to do the job…" She looked Cody up and down and shrugged. "Here Bra-Boy Wonder, think you can handle playing DJ until I get back?"

"Wha?!" Cody's eyes went saucer-wide as he took in the control board. "N-now wait a minute!"

"Thanks! Good luck!" She patted his back with enough force for him to thunk forward. She took off with her friend through the cleared dance floor. Cody gulped nervously, a blush fanned across his face. He should've gone home when he had the chance…

"… So you want to date that guy?"

Tawni nodded to the Chris as Vallen glared at him mercilessly. "Yup. Gotta a problem with that?"

"What? I'm just confused as to why you're the one that wants to get in his pants and somehow I'm stuck doing this challenge for slash with you. Like, what's wrong with this guy? HEY,GUY!" Chris looked from LeShawna and the screens to him with a disinterest. "What's your deal?"

"It's Chris," the host seethed, pointedly ignoring the question.

Vallen: "Does this guy not watch reality TV? I'm supposed to get a dinner – y'know, free food? The club scene's cool, don't get me wrong, but where the ef is the nice dinner where we all sit around and talk to What's-His-Wig about our past relationship and then –BAM– some weirdo chick comes out of the closet or something? This is just not how it's supposed to go down, obviously."

Tawni: "My cohort brings up a good point. Where does Chris get his warped ideas?" She blinks and looks at the Bathroom Memorial behind her. "Huh? What's this?..." She notices the permanent marker and snickers as she uncaps it and sets to work…

Chris waved a hand at Vallen. "Back on track – hello camera, I'm over here, thanks – now that LeShawna has filled in our little duckies on the program and they're hooked up to the machines like Frankenstein's fam, we're ready for questioning."

Vallen laughed. "Sherlock Wig on the case!"

Chris cringed. "W-w-w-"

"He said wig," LeShawna said.

"Short for What's-His-Wig," Tawni explained. "He just can't get your name down. Poor guy."

"BACK ON TRACKS AGAIN!" Chris said hotly. Where were the bombs and electric tanks of truth when you needed them? Geoff knew what he was doing on his show, Chris should've taken better notes. "I bet you haven't left Tawni's side all night."

"Got that right," he confirmed.

Chris smirked. "Oh, I bet your still feel all hot 'n' heavy when it comes to her, right? What's the deal, man? You still interested in Tawni?"

"No offense, I mean I still smile wide when I think about the old times – what good old times they were – but no, our Romeo and Juliet deal is better off as a Starsky and Hutch routine."

He blinked. Old times? Well, mine as well try… "How far did you go in these 'old times' of yours…?"

"You don't have to answer that," LeShawna snapped in. She went back into Fairy GodTeenager time. "Tawni, what's your last name?"

"Fernix!" she answered pleasantly. She looked between her ex and Chris and smirked. "You know, you two are kinda alike."

"Yeah right, moron," Chris said at the same time Vallen said it. They glared darkly at each other and scoffed.

"So you work with Tawni?" Chris said.

"Yup."

"What do you do?"

"Bouncer, duh."

Chris shook his head. "No way you're a bouncer. You've got some meat, I admit, but not enough brawn to be one."

"Keep telling yourself that, kiddo," Vallen said with an eye roll. He might not be Hulk-size, but he thought he was threatening enough to get a job done.

Chris leered at Tawni. "Tawni, is this guy really your best friend?"

Tawni: "What'd I say? They're freakishly alike in some ways. If Vallen cared more about his looks and Chris wasn't such a sissy they'd be twins. Or soul mates. Heh, as if." She left the room and the camera zoomed in on her changes. Besides the obvious altercation of the message so 'Chris 3's Tawni' she added a thought bubble above Chris's name and filled it with her name in different fonts.

Charlie went to clubs enough to know that there were some problems with the DJ if Tchaikovsky's Waltz of the Flowers was playing. She left the bar (she decided she'd take a free drink without throwing her bra at anyone thank you very much) and tried to see what Tawni was up to. It didn't surprise her all that much to see Cody panicking as he tried to find good music. She was going to walk over and try to help him when she felt someone grab her shirt. "Yo, you're next." She blinked and looked back at the guy who seemed to be hanging out with Tawni most of the night. "Vallen," she acknowledged. "Next for what? To see Chri-"

"WHAT THE HELL?!" The people in the room, if they didn't notice the ballet music yet, definitely noticed it now. Tawni was ripping across the room to the DJ booth with Hell's fury in her eyes. "Where's the rock? The techno? The – anything but freakin' classical! That's it, it's time to give you a crash course in DJ-ing!"

"AH! Please! It's not my fault!" Cody insisted. "What's a club even doing with this kind of stuff, huh?!"

Charlie gave her drink to Vallen and patted him on the back. "I'll go find Terrance and head up. You seem to have some harmonizing to do."

Keeping to her word, they took off in opposite directions. Charlie sighed and tried to remember what happened to Terrance. Her worry ceased when she saw him looking around frantically, probably for her. "Terrance! Time for you to formally meet Chris!" He noticed her waving and sighed in relief, following after her with a sense of calm.

"I thought I lost you in the chaos," he said. "Hey, you know where you're going?"

"I think, I saw enough girls go up. I was beginning to wonder if we'd ever get to see him." She looked at him in fixed concentration. "He's probably going to pull a mission. I wouldn't put it past him judging on how some of the girls who came out of the room acted and looked."

"Heh, no worries, Charlie!" he assured her. "I've got your back. I'm up for anything."

"Okay, I'm not up for this."

"Terrance."

Chris waved a hand at Charlie to signal her to relax as her ex struggled against the wires. "No worries, Charlie. If your man has a tough time than we'll just fail you at the mission."

He grinned deviously, hoping that this guy that Charlie was close with would back down. His genius melted as Terrance got stiff and toughened up. "It's fine then. I… I'll suck it up, I guess. For Charlie."

Charlie smiled at him and told him comforting words. Chris shook his head. Man, did he hate ex-boyfriends. "Okay, okay, quiet down now. This isn't therapy this is real life!"

"Real life is nothing like this –"

"Not the time, LeShawna." Chris tapped the screen. "Alright, let's see how many lies we can get outta this pair! Now, just because I want to hear it and see some proof, I know exactly what to kick-start this meeting with." He rested his chin on his fist and shot Charlie his infamous Man Whore Smirk. "Charlie, do you loooove me?"

"To be honest, Chris, it's not healthy to try and get an answer you want to hear by putting someone in a threatening environment. It's bad for relationship devolepement. We start out like this, there will be a constant power shift between you and –"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, whatever." Chris pouted. "But that counts as a lie!"

Terrance kicked the floor. "Hey, Psycho-host! How's that a lie? I'm with Charlie on this one, you got some control issues, man."

"Thanks for the back-up, Terrance," Charlie said smiling. His face flushed over lightly.

"Awe, those two are such a cute couple," LeShawna teased Chris as he grew tenser and more frustrated. "Can you imagine what their kids would look like? Oh, lil Charrance and Terlie chasing each other around." He winced and muttered out a warning. "Better be nice Chris if you want them to call you uncle." This time he was angrily muttering about contracts.

Speaking of contracts… "It's not like those two are married or anything, why would they have kids?" Seeing Terrance's slightly too innocent expression had him thinking otherwise. "… Right?"

LeShawna: "Those two better not be married. That'd be the ultimate Reality Love Show cliché! And lord knows this show doesn't need any more of those."

"We weren't getting married," Terrance groaned.

Charlie clicked her tongue for Chris's attention. He spent more time give her ex angry glares than anything else. "He did, however, have plans to get engaged to me for my birthday. He tried to tell me this after I caught him in a more or less awkward situation at his own birthday party." He looked away bashfully.

"You didn't tell me!" he cried out, sinking to the floor in a manly depression.

Charlie: "Really, Chris can be very immature and narrow-minded and –" she notices the wall graffiti behind her. "… what's this?"

Charlie tried to get his attention again. "Chris, I did. One of our first days here."

"Did not!" he argued indigently.

"Yes, I did."

"Did not!"

"Chris, the machine says she's telling the truth, Sugar," LeShawna said.

"Well then the machine was charmed by her feminine whiles and is lying to cover for her. Way to seduce and screw up the equipment, Charlie. That's coming out of Chef's paycheck!"

Chef: "Damn feminine whiles. Huh, they always be giving me grief! All the mistakes they had me make… especially during the wars…" He sniffed. "I'm sorry, Mama!" He flipped from sad to frightening in a seconds notice. "But what's that gotta do with my paycheck?!"

"Any other secrets? Hmm?" Chris jabbed a finger over at Terrance. "Did you get Angel preggie or something?"

"I don't appreciate nor condole the use of common, unprovoked pet names to set my ex or myself off!" Charlie shot out.

Terrance coughed. "Umm… no."

Flash of red. "HAH! She is preggie!"

"I was not." Charlie said, and despite herself laughed. "I'm sorry, you looked really worried, Chris. You honestly think I wouldn't tell you if I had a child?"

He sighed and dropped his head to the table. "Who knows? You don't let me even touch you without putting up a fight. For all I know it's because you used up you 'touch me' quota on creepers like him." Terrance rolled his eyes.

"Chris," she laughed again and shook her head. "Relationships don't work like that. If I got physical too fast, that's going to be the base of our relationship. That's a sure way for failure. We need to make an emotional connection before we go farther."

"That's dumb," he said flatly. "I want you, you want me, I don't see –"

"She's got a tattoo!" Terrance cut in, hoping to end whatever fluff-filled moment they were bound to have otherwise.

The interest level in piqued. "Tattoo? Eh?"

"There was no reason to bring that up," Charlie hissed to her supposed ally.

"Of what?" Chris asked excitedly.

"Lips," she answered, her voice muffled as she hid herself behind her shoulder. "And only Jill was supposed to know about it."

Terrance shrugged. "Eh, I heard her talking about it to you one day when I was walking by your room. I didn't know what or where though, just that your had one."

"Thanks for bringing it up on national TV."

"Ehehehe… sorry?"

"Hey! Anyways! Where is this set of lips! Is it on –"

"I don't have to answer. That's personal."

"Oh? Well let's just guess then – by the way, that counts as a lie." Charlie sighed. "Fine!" she gave in. "It's on the right side… of my breast."

Chris blanked than his face glowed. It was his early birthday. He jumped over the table and across the room and was undoing her wires and pulling her out of the chair. "There! You're free! So let's see that tat!"

Charlie blushed furiously and shook her head. "No way!"

"Well, fine, I'll just –"

He tried to pull her shirt up as she tried to pull it down. They were struggling and wriggling against each over the evidence of the tattoo before Chris remembered why she might be so against stripping. It must have to do with the fact the cameras were there. Yeah, that must've been it. "We'll just find it later," he decided, pecking her cheek. She sat in her chair and crossed her arms, feeling well invaded. And not pleased the she was a bit upset he gave up so quickly. Oh really, what was she thinking?

This was the reason he didn't associate with common people. Because then they thought it was okay to hassle you in public bathrooms. Those uncivilized middle-class citizens!

"I could give you some nice styling tips, if you want," Patrick said coyly, leaning in far too close to Jordan than was acceptable in a bathroom. It was bad enough he'd been harassing, but now he was whispering and his breath was blowing his hair out of place. How unacceptable.

"I don't know why you think you have a chance with me," Jordan said, flicking his bangs from his eyes to see how he'd look with them aside. "If you must know, I'm determined to get back together with Va- Lauren before the night's over. If I can't, I'm setting my sights on another female I deem worthy of my affections." Patrick swooned and Jordan winced. "Key word there: female."

Patrick waved his hand at the thought. "Who wants a girl, hmm? There just gross. All you straight-guys want girls for are big boobs, and y'know what happens to big boobs? They get all saggy and stuff. How much fun can it be to squeeze that? The only big thing you should be interested in is –"

"Please, please! Just stop with the imagery!" Jordan tried to erase the thoughts that Patrick was sinking in. "You did use to have a fiancé, I hear. The Serenity girl. She seems beautiful enough – how could she make you switch… uh, teams?"

"I never said I was gay," Patrick pointed out.

Jordan's jaw fell open and he shook his head. "You, my fellow, are not right." As he said this, Brad and Vallen came in. Jordan groaned. "More of you ruffians are here now? Did you all plan to gang-bang me? Hmm? That it? My good-looks too much to resist?"

Vallen winced at the thought of 'gang-banging' anyone while Brad put his muscled arm around Jordan's waist. "I don't share," he said.

"You look real cozy there, Jordan," Vallen said, though he was chuckling at how upset Jordan seemed at being touched. Well, the guy seemed more upset his jacket was touched, but it was still an entertaining sight. "Oh by the way, Jordan, you and Lauren are up next to talk to Chris. Ter-Bear was looking for you with his hot ex. So c'mon Romeo, I'll take you there. Unless you want to take Brad up on his offer…?" He laughed as Jordan pulled him out. "Thanks, Brad."

"No prob, man!" Brad called out. He'd made a few friends here, but so far he bonded the most with Vallen. He had a good sense of humor about him hitting on guys to get a funny reaction. A few other guys had been good about it, but for the most part Vallen was just more his style. Too bad he was straight.

Brad felt someone glaring at his back and he turned to look at Patrick. He was tapping his foot with his arms crossed, glaring something fierce at Shelly's ex. "What?"

"Oh you know what," Patrick insisted childishly. "Stop trying to take all my guys, you bitch!"

Brad stuck his hands up. "Whoa there, tiger, I'm not trying to take anyone from you. I don't actually want to date these guys – dude, they're all straight. It's just funny to see their reactions!"

"Just watch yourself, baby boy, or it's on," Patrick warned, poking Brad's chest. He couldn't help but notice how firm and nice it was. He growled and ripped his hand away. It must be the alcohol talking.

Brad noticed the staring and he laughed. "Like something you see, Shortness?"

Patrick rolled his eyes. "I'm not short, you're just freakishly tall! Now just stay outta my way and we won't have any problems!"

"Do you want some problems so you have an excuse to talk to me?... or touch my chest again?"

"Yes! Wait, no! I WANT CHRIS, DAMMIT!" Patrick let out an irritated shout and took off out of the bathroom, leaving Brad to laugh at the reaction. Straight guys weren't the only guys he was interested in messing with.

"Ya'll got that?"

Having been explained the challenge, both Lauren and Jordan looked discontent. Lauren shook her head when Jordan looked over at her. "Say anything to expose me," she said too low for LeShawna or Chris to catch, "and I'll give you a haircut."

Jordan: He gulps. "Not my hair!"

Chris slapped his hands together. "Right, so, first question –"

"Back off, I'm starting this time!" LeShawna snapped. "After hearing some of the outright rude questions you wanted to try out you were bragging to the camera guy about, you'd be some kind of crazy to think I wouldn't step in."

"Hey! You can't ju-"

"So, white girl, what's your name?"

Chris gripped is head. "Seriously now? That's just impossible to get wrong! It's just –"

"Lauren Russ," Lauren answered nervously.

" – impossible to get any drama out of a dumb question like that! It's… it's..." Chris stopped his complaining when he saw the red screen. "Huh, well that's not what I expected."

[1] – Tucker Max is the author of documenting his… er… 'adventures' in books like I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell and Assholes Finish First… yeah, he's an interesting guy with equally interesting friends to boot.

[2} – This is a direct reference to "Ryan" of Megan Wants a Millionaire. Apparently he killed a girlfriend he got after losing Megan's show, tried to get away, then killed himself. Messed up or what?

The song Maddie was dancing to was Freaxxx by Brokencyde. Not easy listening tunes at any rate.

I actually took a lot out so it wouldn't be 5,000 pages… okay, that's an exaggeration, but you know what I mean. And I have at least two 'alternate endings' per girl. Sigh. And if anyone thought they weren't given enough air-time, let me know so I can balance it out next chapter. In fact if anyone sees any errors in general with anything like characterization or spelling/grammar, don't hesitate to tell me. It was hard to keep track of everything I admit and I won't go to bed happy if I know I screwed up people's expectations. Though I'm sure I did since I gave all these OC's fluff moments. And this is extremely scattered, so sorry for that ^^; Bright side: longest chapter by far. 71 pages on Microsoft XP

So next chapter we finish up the last interview, the ex's say their good-byes, and elimination. That's right… that means this challenge arc will FINALLY come to a close.