The One With All The Firsts
A/N: We didn't want to leave you guys hanging with just the prologue... so we worked our asses off to get this first chapter done and ready to post tonight! You're welcome. It's a monster.
Beca's jaw dropped as the car slowly traveled up the long driveway towards the biggest house she'd ever seen. It could only be described as a mansion, and she momentarily forgot her nerves about meeting the other nineteen strangers she'd be trapped inside with for the next six weeks. The car slowed to a stop in front of the door and the driver exited to pull her suitcase from the trunk for her. She got out of the backseat, thanked him for his help, and grabbed the suitcase handle, only hesitating for a moment before walking towards the open front door.
The house was just as stunning on the inside, with a wide entryway that led into a wide-open main floor containing a spacious kitchen, dining room, and living room. She could see people milling around chatting sporadically and noticed a few more in the backyard by the pool through the floor to ceiling glass that made up most of the back of the house. Before she could move into the main room, a boyish face appeared directly in her line of vision sporting an excited grin.
"Hey! I'm Jesse," he said happily, making her notice the red solo cup in the hand not extended towards her and wonder how many drinks he'd had already.
Old habits die hard, and Beca found herself immediately annoyed by his exuberance and lack of boundaries. "I'm not interested."
The shock in his eyes almost had her bursting out laughing, going from happy to stunned in a matter of seconds. In an equal amount of time she remembered why she was there and the fact that someone was recording everything she said and did, the feeling dousing her more effectively than a bucket of ice water. A glance toward the ceiling to spot the black camera hanging in the corner had her feeling even more self-conscious.
"Sorry, reflex. I'm Beca," she said, hoping it came across appropriately apologetic.
Jesse recovered quickly, his grin widening as they shook hands. "It's cool. This whole thing is weird, right? I'll see you around."
Just like that, he was gone, and Beca took a moment to watch him bounce back into the kitchen where an ungodly amount of liquor bottles were strewn across the countertops.
"Talk about your crash and burn… way to win 'em over, Short Stack."
Beca turned to the side and raised her eyebrows at the large blonde who'd witnessed her entire exchange with Jesse. Shrugging, she offered her hand.
"Can't win 'em all," she said, forcing a smile. "Beca."
"Fat Amy," the blonde said proudly, shaking her hand.
Beca froze for a second, deciding to just go with it after a long pause. "Right, okay then."
"C'mon, you look like you could use a drink," Fat Amy said, clapping her on the shoulder and moving past her into the main room. "Leave your bags over there," she threw over her shoulder with a careless gesture towards where she'd been standing a second ago.
Beca took a deep breath and slowly rolled her suitcase over to the growing pile. She needed the extra few seconds to compose herself and remember this was all supposed to be fun. Suddenly the idea of being imprisoned with nineteen strangers seemed more like suicide than fun, but that was nothing alcohol couldn't cure.
She lifted her chin and strolled confidently into the living room, the few people remaining inside glanced her way and moved over to say hello. Fat Amy was at her side in an instant, shoving a solo cup into her hand. Beca knew the sooner she had a buzz going the more relaxed she would be.
After meeting Benji, Flo, Emily, and Tom, Beca decided to explore the backyard, the pool, and the patio area calling to her. She could see the beach in the distance, and it made her hopeful they'd get to spend some time on the beautiful white sand.
There were even more people to meet outside, clearly enjoying the gorgeous Hawaiian afternoon. Theo, Luke, Donald, Aubrey, and the most intimidating woman she's ever seen introduced themselves, the last calling herself Kommissar without any explanation and no one was brave enough to ask for one. Again, Beca found herself going with it, though she moved away from the statuesque blonde towards the edge of the pool near the hot tub.
"So, what's your story?"
The voice surprised her, not expecting anyone to follow. She turned to see one of the guys shuffling slowly behind her, searching for the name to go with his brown skin and backward baseball cap over dark hair.
"What do you mean?" Beca asked back, still desperately searching for his name despite knowing he said it less than two minutes ago.
He seemed to recognize her struggle, offering, "Donald, but you can call me DJ."
Beca raised an eyebrow, asking, "DJ?"
"Donald Jr.," he said with a chuckle. "It's much simpler. And yeah, what's your story… what brought you here?"
Beca took a sip from her drink, needing the extra time to formulate her answer to that question. She wasn't prepared for the burn of alcohol combined with what must be pure sugar, coughing into her elbow until the sensation passed.
"Fat Amy make you that?" He smirked knowingly.
"Yeah," Beca gasped, "I've clearly made many mistakes in life."
Donald laughed again, but strangely it made her feel comfortable instead of embarrassed. "She made me one too, but I passed it off to Flo after the first sip. No way I could stomach the whole thing."
Beca glanced down at the offending cup, wondering what she should do with it. Deciding to just hold onto it, for now, she met his even gaze, "I guess I'm here to change things up. I suppose we're all here to find our perfect match but… do you really believe in that?"
Donald shrugged, glancing back at the house. She followed his gaze to see that more new arrivals had appeared since her own entrance. "Honestly, I don't know. I'd like to think I'll come out of this with some sort of relationship, but I'll take six weeks in Hawaii and some solid friendships and count myself lucky."
Beca nodded in agreement, momentarily forgetting the poison in her cup as she took another sip, this time spitting it out onto the grass. The remainder of the cup's contents followed immediately, not risking a third taste.
"In all my years bartending I've never tasted something as horrible as that."
Donald perked up a bit, asking, "You're a bartender? Sick… someone who knows how to make a drink."
Beca nodded, having decided not to disclose the actual details of her occupation. She'd spent enough hours behind the bar… still does… for it to be true. "What do you do?"
"I'm a sous chef at this place in L.A. No big deal," he answered. "Paying my dues and hoping to move up the chain and open my own place someday."
"That's actually kinda awesome," Beca replied, surprised at his unexpected answer. "My bar doesn't serve food, but… the owner has been thinking about expanding."
She wasn't sure why she decided to keep her business to herself, especially since she actually felt a connection with the man. He had kind eyes and a welcoming smile, his easy-going stance making her feel comfortable in his presence. In preparation for coming on the show Noah had made her watch an entire previous season, and one of the main things that had stuck out to her was that most of the people were in menial jobs and were there for exposure. Beca wasn't sure what to expect but had a feeling that owning her own successful business might have her standing out from the rest of the house.
Donald lit up at that admission, offering, "They definitely should. At least to give all those drunks some apps to soak up the alcohol so they can keep drinking. Keeping it simple with like wings and jalapeño poppers and other small stuff; would be super easy and probably make them a shit ton of money."
Beca couldn't help but smile at his excitement when he started talking about food, even more surprised at how much she liked his simple musings. Maybe she needed to think more seriously about expanding and adding a kitchen.
"Yeah, that does sound cool. Maybe I'll bring it up when I get back to work."
Donald grinned, "Sweet. Well, we're both empty and there are more people inside… should we go get refills and be social?"
Beca nods in agreement, falling into step with him as they make their way back inside the house to loud chatter and minor chaos.
Beca was thoroughly overwhelmed at the number of people in the house, amazed that they were still waiting on two more. She wondered exactly how they were all going to fit, vaguely remembering the bedroom setups from the season she'd watched with Noah. A glance to the side informed her Fat Amy was about to pour another round of tequila shots, making her stomach turn at the thought of more alcohol. She hadn't eaten anything since arriving, quickly spotting the bowls of pretzels and chips and grabbed a handful. The pretzels helped immensely, already full of regret while still holding the shot in her hand waiting for the rest of the glasses to be distributed.
Before they could cheer and down them, a newcomer appeared in the entryway causing Fat Amy to yell loudly for everyone to wait while she poured one more. Beca turned to get a glimpse at the woman, momentarily stunned at the gorgeous redhead beaming a perfect smile at the lot of them.
"Ginger! Take a shot!" Fat Amy shouted, shoving the glass into her hand without waiting for an answer.
To her credit, the woman didn't bat an eye when she took the glass from the blonde and downed it immediately. Fat Amy nodded in approval, though her words reprimanded the woman as if talking to an impatient child.
"Very good, but this time wait for the rest of us."
The redhead laughed and nodded in agreement as she poured another shot.
Fat Amy turned around to the rest of the group, shouting, "In honor of only needing one more person to complete the group!"
Beca laughed at the absurdity of it, plenty buzzed enough to find Fat Amy's antics funny and clinked glasses with Donald before they all emptied the glasses. Her eyes were drawn once more to the redhead, who was now circling through the group introducing herself. Beca stuck her hand out when it was her turn, only for the woman to completely ignore it and wrap her in a hug.
"Oh okay, another one with no boundaries," Beca joked, lightly returning the hug.
The redhead let out a musical laugh and stepped back, saying, "It's true. Hi, I'm Chloe."
Beca smiled back genuinely, feeding off Chloe's bubbly personality. "Beca. Nice to meet you."
Chloe nodded opening her mouth to respond before she was cut off by a male voice.
"Who's ready to get fucked up!"
The entire room turned to look at the last arrival, a relatively normal looking guy that put Beca on edge immediately. It was always the normal looking ones that turned out to be the weirdest mother fuckers, and this guy was setting off every alarm bell in her brain.
Fat Amy rolled her eyes at the man, bluntly asking, "Who the hell are you?"
"Bumper Allen, at all your services ladies. You should all be so lucky to be my perfect match. Now… who's gonna make me a drink?"
Beca took a quick glance around at all the raised eyebrows, unwilling to let the first day get off to such an awkward start now that everyone had arrived.
"As the only professional bartender here, I believe that responsibility falls to me," she announced, with way more bravado than she felt.
Her words were met with cheers at the knowledge they had an experienced mixologist in their midst, and they cleared her path towards the kitchen immediately. Beca felt more comfortable when she reached the bottles of liquor arranged along the countertop, searching quickly in the fridge for some limes. In no time at all she whipped up a cocktail and a pitcher of margaritas to the approval of her new housemates, the party, unfortunately, getting interrupted before it could get started.
A new voice cut through the introductions and loud getting-to-know-you conversations. "EVERYONE! ATTENTION PLEASE! I NEED EVERYONE OUTSIDE BY THE POOL RIGHT NOW!"
Beca knew this was someone important as not even Fat Amy offered a rebuttal to their new marching orders. She glanced around and saw an African American woman with a short blue mohawk gesturing for everyone to get outside. Realizing it must be one of the producers, Beca poured herself a drink and followed the crowd outside onto the grass near the pool. The woman waited until they were all assembled before introducing herself.
"Hi… Welcome to Hawaii," she said, pausing with a small smile to allow for the cheers. "My name is CR and I'm the lead producer on the show. Let me explain how things are going to work while you're here. The show will be broken down into mini weeks, lasting four days instead of seven, starting tomorrow. You'll have a challenge day, a date and Truth Booth day, a matchup ceremony day, and then a day off before everything resets. You're to wear your mics at all times except showering or during water activities. You're to cooperate with any and all production personnel around the house, challenge sites, and date activities. Do not tamper with or disable any cameras and microphones that have been placed throughout the house. Everyone signed the appropriate waivers before being selected agreeing to these terms, so there shouldn't be any issues. If something comes up you find a crew member who will bring you straight to me, or you come directly to me. Any questions?"
The group remained silent, having been through a much more detailed version of this when they agreed to be on the show.
"Good," CR nodded her approval at their immediate compliance. "Gail!"
Beca's eyes widened at the raised voice, glancing around as an attractive blonde strode over to her side, nodding at the words the producer whispered in her ear.
"Everyone meet Gail, the host of the show. She'll be leading you through the weeks, challenges, Truth Booths, and matchup ceremonies," CR explained, despite the fact they'd been briefed on this.
Gail gave a cheesy smile, dramatically saying, "Welcome to Hawaii. I'm looking forward to working with all of you and helping you find your perfect match!"
Beca rolled her eyes, already having doubts that her perfect match was here. She'd had a good conversation with Donald but remained skeptical of the process and promise of the show that they'd found her soulmate.
CR gave Gail a tight smile, turning back to the group. "We're going to film the introduction now. Gail will introduce the show and talk to you all. Hopefully, it won't take long to get all the shots we need. Just stand there and cheer and look positive and happy about everything she's saying."
Beca bit her lip to keep from laughing, glancing around at the mildly irritated expressions on most of her housemate's faces as a makeup person spent a few minutes touching up Gail's face. The woman definitely seemed a little extra to her, but Beca supposed that was all part of being on a show like this.
Gail finally nodded to CR that she was ready, whispering a quick "thank you" to the makeup girl making Beca's eyebrows raise momentarily, not expecting such politeness after the way the woman carried herself.
"Hey everyone, how was your trip in?" Gail asked pleasantly as the crew got into position.
Beca murmured a quiet answer along with most of the cast, again surprised at the mindless small talk that ensued between the host and one or two of the cast.
CR's voice cut through the chatter. "Okay, Gail are you ready? Know your lines?"
Gail shot her a quick thumbs-up, moving back a few paces to stand on a small mark painted into the grass. If Beca hadn't been looking closely she would have missed the spot completely, the entire sequence of events reminding her that reality television was far from reality.
At a signal, Gail's mouth formed into a wide smile. "Welcome to Maui," she began cheerfully, "and the most ambitious matchmaking experience ever created!" After a suspenseful pause, she continued, "This is Are You The One?!"
Beca glanced around as a few of the cast cheered and whistled, clearly buying into Gail's excited tone. She had to admit, the woman was good… polished and professional as she delivered her lines.
"You ten guys and ten girls have everything going for you, except for one thing… love. You're all here because you have one thing in common," Gail teased, again pausing and shooting a knowing look at them. "You suck at relationships."
Beca chuckled knowing that at least for her that was a massive understatement. She hadn't dated anyone seriously and had never gotten far enough with a boyfriend to introduce him to her family, let alone say those three terrifying words.
Gail continued her speech, the next part rolling off her tongue as if she'd said it thousands of times. "Each one of you has been put through an extensive matchmaking process, using psychologists, compatibility testing, professional matchmakers, and your family, your friends, and yes, your exes… bottom line is we've been able to find an ideal match for you."
Beca felt the anxiety return to her stomach, picking right back up and mixing unpleasantly with the alcohol now coursing through her system. She definitely needed another drink to accompany thoughts of finding her soulmate or perfect match or whatever these people were selling. A quick look around told her that most of the group was just as ready for Gail to move on from this part as she was.
Gail's expression turned mischievous as she said, "So, here's the question. If your perfect match was standing in front of you, would you even know it?"
Beca grinned at the several comments of "No" that rang out from around her.
"As a group, you're gonna have ten chances to pair up as ten perfect matches. If you pull it off at the same time, you'll leave Hawaii rich, in love, and take home one million dollars!" Gail raised her voice excitedly as she announced the prize money, eventually drowned out by the cheers and applause of the entire cast.
Beca couldn't help but cheer along with the rest of her castmates. The money didn't mean a whole lot to her, but it was part of this whole journey or experience or whatever and she knew she had a role to play along with everyone else.
Gail held up a hand to regain their attention. "Oh yeah, there's one more thing. You guys are here to do one thing, find your perfect match. To keep you focused on that, I'm giving you some tough love. If at any matchup you guys blackout, meaning you get no matches, your prize instantly drops by two hundred and fifty thousand dollars."
The group looked around stunned at the news, the reality check hitting hard despite knowing it was coming.
"You're all here to find love," Gail continued. "So if you follow your hearts, every penny of that million bucks is yours."
Beca glanced around at the less confident expressions, knowing that it was probably going to be difficult to stay focused on that goal once feelings started getting involved and relationships started to form.
"Get settled in and start getting to know each other tonight… tomorrow is your first getaway date challenge!" Gail finished to more cheers before CR stepped in to stop them all from running back to the house.
"Great stuff, let's run it one more time for extra footage," she instructed, ignoring the groans from the entire cast.
By the time they'd finished filming the little intro to the show, Beca had gained a whole new appreciation for the magic of television. The first take going so smoothly had been an anomaly, having to stop and start numerous times to account for wind, random noises, Gail running lines out of order or not getting them quite right… it was terrible. After several hours of everyone growing increasingly more and more frustrated, CR finally called a wrap to the session when apparently they "got everything they needed" and allowed the cast to return to the house to eat, drink, and get to know one another better.
It wasn't long before Beca took up a post as a temporary bartender again, getting the drinks flowing so smiles and laughter permeated the house. Once alcohol was distributed everyone calmed down and the fun began, Beca abandoning her post in favor of a conversation with Donald, Chloe, and Luke. She kept to herself the surprise at the way Chloe and Luke were already flirting heavily, although not too surprised as they were both drop-dead gorgeous. Luke definitely had the blonde athletic vibe going, which had her even more astonished when he admitted to being a radio DJ into all kinds of random music. Beca mixed as a side hobby and grinned as they went back and forth comparing eclectic tastes.
The hits kept coming when Chloe admitted to starting medical school that fall, Beca's jaw-dropping open borderline rudely at the admission. Closing it quickly, Chloe laughed it off saying, "Yeah, I know it's not what you'd expect."
The three recovered fast, Luke smoothly saying, "Beauty and brains… I think I'm in love already."
Chloe shook her head, though her smile remained light and teasing. "It's night one, Romeo… why don't you sleep on it."
Luke winked at her, "When you know, you know… you know?"
Donald rolled his eyes, saving Beca from having to do it and instead allowed her to laugh at his antics. "You guys are ridiculous. Don't do anything stupid the first night that fucks shit up for everyone else. Come on, Becs… I bet I can mix a better drink than you."
Beca raised an eyebrow, retorting, "That's the funniest thing you've said yet."
"Unless you're too scared to accept my challenge…" Donald trailed off, shrugging as if it wasn't a big deal.
"Fuck no. You're on," Beca shot back, jumping to her feet.
Luke cheered at this change of events, shouting to the rest of the house, "Hey! Bartender mix-off happening right now in the kitchen!"
A resounding cheer went up from the other room occupants, and Beca smirked at Donald. "You're so dead, DJ."
He didn't look phased, "We'll see."
They made their way over to the kitchen and the makeshift bar. Beca wondered for a moment how they were going to make this fair when a leggy brunette she'd spoken to once stepped in and started shouting rules.
"Grab doubles of everything so it's even! No one gets an unfair advantage and any official judges have to be blindfolded right now!"
"Who died and made Stacie the mix-off head judge?" Luke asked, no one bothering to answer him.
Beca nodded her head, now remembering the stacked brunette's quick introduction. Whoever was her perfect match would definitely be happy about it, glancing again at the brunette who was all boobs and legs.
"Who's gonna judge? We need 3 so someone wins!"
After a short debate, it was decided that Chloe, Kommissar, and some guy named Theo would be the judges. Beca took note that although it was two girls to one guy, she'd bet money that Kommissar wasn't a fruity drink type of girl. Someone else started yelling about blindfolds, causing Theo to shrug and remove this shirt to tie it folded up over his eyes.
Luke quickly removed his shirt, sliding behind Chloe to blindfold her next to the approval of every other woman in the room. Even Beca had to admit his abs were impressive, wondering exactly how much he starved himself to look that way and thanked him for his sacrifice.
Fat Amy arrived at the right moment, letting out a shrill wolf whistle at the sight of Luke and Theo's skin on display. "The two of them might be my next boy toys!"
Chloe gestured in what she thought was Fat Amy's direction, raising her voice to be heard over the constant chatter, "Get in line!"
"You don't want none of this, ginger… trust me."
Beca laughed at their joking, recognizing the light tones. Eventually, another shirt was procured for Kommissar, this one coming from the tall black guy that Beca vaguely remembered as being on leave from the military. They had two military boys in the group, one Army and one Navy and both incredibly attractive, although the white guy gave off a slight frat-boy vibe to her.
Just as they were about to get started, Stacie announced, "Okay you have to make the same drink. Otherwise, it's not fair."
Beca wasn't expecting that, although when she thought about it she admitted it made sense.
Donald agreed as well, adding, "Fine, but I get to pick the drink! Beca already has an advantage over me!"
"Yeah, because you weren't going on and on about how your palate is incomparable or anything," Beca scoffed, rolling her eyes at him. "But fine, I'll wipe the floor with you no matter what drink it is."
"We'll see about that Short Stack!" Fat Amy called out, turning her attention to Donald. "What's the drink?"
Donald studied her for a moment, before saying, "Let's keep it traditional. Moscow Mule!"
Theo scowled at his suggestion. "Seriously?"
"I'm playing to win, bro," Donald shot back, busying himself with what he needed.
Beca laughed, agreeing immediately to the challenge. "This will be too easy," she said confidently, already reaching for the vodka in front of her. "Even with this cheap-ass vodka."
She whipped up the drink easily, adding a little something extra that she new would confuse the hell out of the three judges and make them want more at the same time. She was blocked off from Donald by a few people unable to see what he was doing but knew that he would fall short no matter what he served up.
Stacie waited until they were both finished, calling out, "Okay, both our bartenders are done! Bring my judges over here and line them up please!"
Luke, Fat Amy, and Navy boy whose name Beca couldn't remember walked the three participants over and arranged them in a line. Stacie grabbed Donald's drink and offered it to each of them one by one.
"Drink number 1," Stacie said, a strange quiet falling over the room as if respecting the judging process.
Beca watched the three take a small sip, clearly taking their roles seriously. It would have been hilarious to her if her pride wasn't riding on the outcome.
Stacie allowed each judge to have another sip, before reminding them, "Drink number one. Got it, memorized it? What do we think?"
There was a general consensus that it was a very good Moscow Mule, with all the usual flavors coming through nicely.
Stacie continued without hesitating, "Stiff competition here! The judges seem particularly pleased with that. Okay, time for drink two!"
Beca handed over her cup and Stacie repeated the process, offering it to each of the blindfolded judges starting with Theo.
He sipped from the cup and immediately snapped his head up. "Woah… there's something different in that one!"
Chloe reached out blindly from beside him, asking excitedly, "Let me taste it!"
Stacie guided her hands to the cup, pulling back as she sipped and copied Theo's head snap up as if she could see the culprit. "Oooh, that's good."
The cup was passed to Kommissar who was the last to taste Beca's drink and the only one to not snap her head up as if looking around. She did, however, purse her lips as her eyebrows narrowed in apparent confusion, taking a second sip almost immediately.
Chloe, who Beca now assumed has supersonic hearing, reached her hand back out towards the blonde asking, "Are you drinking the rest of it? I need another taste."
Kommissar reluctantly passed her the cup, needing Stacie's guidance to reach her mark before saying, "That one was better."
Chloe sipped the drink again, nodding in agreement. "So much better. What is that?"
Theo shook his head, mumbling, "I'm definitely not getting a second sip, am I?"
Chloe laughed at him, taking one more small sip before blindly moving the cup in his direction. "Here… quit whining and I'll let you finish it."
Beca bit her lip to hold in a laugh at the way Theo reached his hand out, nowhere near where Chloe was holding the cup.
Stacie allowed him to finish the drink before taking the cup back and putting it next to Donald's on the countertop, the man already frowning in defeat.
"The winner is…"
"BUMPER!"
Beca spun around to look at the man, now drunkenly standing on the countertop with his own shirt off and tied around his forehead like a chubby version of Rambo.
A voice from the back that Beca didn't recognize shouted, "Asshole… you didn't even make a drink!"
Bumper rolled his eyes in the direction of the voice, retorting, "It's a party and I'm drunk. Clearly, I'm the fucking winner!"
Chloe had stepped over to Beca, whispering in her ear, "I know it was yours."
Beca smirked, asking, "And how are you so sure?"
Chloe winked, "Because I know these things. Also, he looks like someone just wiped the floor with him at his own drink."
Beca looked over at Donald who was indeed sporting a kicked puppy expression. "Valiant effort."
"Whatever, your drink kicked my ass," he said, though his good-natured tone belied any real anger. "If it was food the tables would be turned."
"No doubt," Beca agreed immediately. "I can't cook to save my life."
"Did someone say food?" Fat Amy interrupted, appearing and inserting herself into the conversation. "Someone around here can cook, right?"
Donald looked resigned, saying, "So… who's hungry?"
Late into the night, Beca found herself wedged into a spot on the couch between Donald and Jesse, having gotten over their initial awkward meeting to discover the guy wasn't that bad despite his desperate love for all things movies and movie soundtracks. Donald had proven to be one hell of a chef, quickly whipping up spaghetti for the entire house while letting loose expletives that would make Gordon Ramsay proud at having to use sauce out of a jar. Beca thought it was some of the best spaghetti she'd ever had, having no qualms about sauce out of the jar, which only served to dig the knife in a little deeper.
Producers had appeared randomly throughout the evening to drag individuals into some sort of private confessional or interview room and Beca was thankful her turn had not yet arrived. Just her luck, it all proved irrelevant when Luke appeared and drunkenly grabbed her hand.
"Come on, let's go talk to the cameras while I'm too drunk to remember what I'm saying."
Beca skulled the last of her drink, thinking that sounded like the best idea ever. "Good idea… let's go."
They stumbled together through the house to the room clearly marked with a sign on the door, bursting inside to find several of the crew lounging around chatting.
One glanced over at them with a knowing look and asked, "You guys ready to film?"
Luke nodded, helping Beca over to the couch before collapsing down on it beside her and draped his arm over her shoulders.
The crew flew into action to avoid missing anything, the door slamming shut in seconds. Beca looked around the room at the plain decorations, wondering what kind of crazy soundproofing they'd had to do to keep the outside noises from coming in.
Luke didn't waste any time staring straight into the camera and announcing, "Chloe is my match. I just know it. She's so fucking hot, dude…"
He trailed off and Beca realized he wasn't going to continue on his own. "Yeah you could do worse," she joked, poking him in the side before leaning into his embrace. They'd definitely hit it off earlier with their discussion about music, but in a completely platonic way. They both felt it, and it actually made their interactions easier without the awkwardness that attraction can provide. "She's pretty fucking hot."
Luke found his voice again, grinning wildly, "So fucking hot. I've always had a thing for redheads. The matchmakers must have known."
Beca's head was swimming with alcohol, happily buzzed and feeling looser than she'd had in a long time. "That's so crazy! What if you find your match on the first fucking night! Chloe's great!"
She honestly believed it, thinking back to the redhead telling them of her future plans and how she wanted to travel and all kinds of shit that should probably put her way out of any guy in the house's league.
"Back at you Bec! You and Donald are like two peas in the fucking kitchen!"
Beca shot him a dopey grin, breaking into a laugh at the thought. "I don't think that's right."
Luke shook his head, insisting, "I AM RIGHT! He cooks the food, you pour the drinks… match made."
"That's fucking scary as fuck," Beca mumbled, the thought of finding her perfect match proving to be a slightly sobering one.
As if they could sense their names being spoken aloud, the door banged open revealing the pair with beaming grins, clearly drunk off their asses.
Chloe looked hurt, accusing, "You guys talkin' to the cameras without us?!"
Donald didn't say anything, instead pushing his way into the room to plop down on the couch beside Beca. Chloe followed suit, instead perching right on Luke's lap and sliding an arm easily around his neck. Beca grinned at the interruption, secretly grateful for a reason for Luke to withdraw his arm from where it had been laying heavily across her shoulders.
"We're terribly sorry," Beca said, not sounding apologetic at all.
"Yeah!" Luke joined in, adding, "We needed some bro time!"
Beca smirked at the fact they were so in tune with each other despite only having met hours ago. "Right?!"
Donald broke in, asking randomly, "Hey! Who would be easier to sleep with… Captain America or a great white shark?"
Luke, Donald, and Beca immediately answered, "Shark" at the same time Chloe confidently said, "Captain America."
Chloe twisted around to shoot Beca a curious look, one eyebrow raised.
It took her brain a few seconds to catch up, Beca finally realizing what she said and broke into drunken laughter. "I'm way too fucking drunk for serious questions."
The rest of them started laughing along with her until the crew realized they weren't getting any more usable footage out of the foursome and kicked them out.
It was all hot Hawaiian sun and clear blue skies for their challenge day, making Beca wish she was down on the beach instead of sneakered up on the grassy lawn beside the pool. The yard was massive, but it couldn't compare to the white sand teasing them from afar. CR was explaining how they were supposed to start over there somewhere and all jog over to where Gail would be waiting to welcome them gleefully to the challenge… or something like that. It was all so staged and scripted it amazed her that anyone believed the charade.
"I should have gone into editing," Jesse muttered from beside her, Beca rolling her eyes and nodding in agreement.
Most of the cast were in agreement on how obnoxious all the cameras and crew and shooting things over and over again was, not boding well since it was only day two. They had a long, long way to go before the six weeks were up. Hopefully, by the end, it would all be worth it.
CR clapped her hands, announcing, "Okay, Gail's ready. Everyone clear on what to do?"
The chorus of yes's had her giving them a hard stare of disbelief, before retreating to her spot behind the cameras.
"Okay, we're rolling in five, four…" CR trailed off and gave them the signal, to which only about half of the group started their movement towards the show's host.
"Damnit, stop! Get back here and do it again," CR looked as annoyed as she sounded, making Beca feel a little guilty for missing the cue.
They got it right the second time, all smiles and happy jogs over to where Gail was waiting for them.
"Hey, guys! How are we doing?" Gail sounded as chipper as ever.
The group responded with varied forms of good, great, awesome, and cheers as instructed.
Gail nodded her approval, continuing, "Good, good, well… welcome to your first getaway challenge!" She paused appropriately to allow for more cheers, making Beca wonder if people were seriously already that excited about leaving the house.
It had only been one day and she was pretty thrilled with their living arrangements, despite discovering that the bedrooms were actually just one gigantic room filled with mattresses, pillows, and blankets like they were all having one big sleepover. She'd ended up passed out between Chloe and a girl named Flo and felt reasonably protected from any unwanted advances from the guys… it was only night one after all.
"The winning couples will go on a private helicopter ride and get to see the beautiful Hawaiian coastline from the air, followed by separate private dinners on the beach!"
Beca's eyes widened at that information, never having been in a helicopter before. It sounded fun, and the private dinner on the beach might actually be a nice opportunity to really get to know someone better. She finally looked around the grassy expanse to see some sort of obstacle course set up. Her enthusiasm was evaporating the longer she studied the course, starting with hurdles and ending with some sort of sticks on the ground. Not good.
"This challenge is designed to see how well you and your chosen partner work together!" Gail continued cheerfully. "You'll have to navigate this obstacle course consisting of relationship hurdles, relationship baggage, and then use the tandem walkers together to navigate the relationship minefield."
Beca sighed, not wanting to be a part of this at all. She looked around to see varying levels of excitement from her castmates, wondering who would pair up together. She could say now she knew everyone's names, barely, but there were definitely some that looked like they belonged together.
Gail continued her explanation, "The hurdles each have something written on them, so you go over things you've been through and under what you haven't. You're all here because you've got plenty of relationship baggage to sort out, so grab three that apply to you and drag them across that line over there. After that, both of you need to use teamwork and communication to use the tandem walkers to slalom through those relationship mines and cross the finish line!"
Beca bit her lip, shaking her head slightly at the enthusiasm with which all these instructions were delivered. She was definitely going to fall flat on her face. Multiple times. Coordination and athletic activity were not her strong suits.
"The three couples with the fastest times through the course will win an amazing getaway date and get you guys one step closer to that million bucks!" Gail informed them, pausing again to allow for cheers at the mention of the money they could win. "Alright, pair up with someone you want to go on a date with and let's get this party started!"
Beca automatically glanced around, noticing Jesse looking hopefully at her from her left. Thankfully before he could say anything, a pair of brown arms wrapped around her waist from behind and Donald's voice calmed her freak out before it could happen.
"You and me, Beca. We're gonna kill this."
Beca shot Jesse what she hoped was an apologetic look before breaking Donald's hold and shooting him a grin. "You really don't want that date, do you?"
He laughed, answering, "A bartender and a chef in an athletic challenge… what could go wrong?"
"Everything," Beca deadpanned.
The rest of the couples formed quickly. Gail looked around at the producers and must have gotten some sort of cue to begin the next phase.
"Okay, so we've got Chloe and Luke up first!" Gail announced, gesturing for the couple to take their places at the starting line.
Chloe and Luke high-fived as they took their places and waiting for Gail to signal them to start. Beca vaguely thought she'd never seen a more athletic couple, glancing around to realize that Aubrey and Tom could give them a run for their money, as well as that girl that introduced herself by saying "Jane, but everyone calls me Calamity," and her partner, Army boy Chicago. Beca felt more and more self-conscious by the second as Chloe and Luke easily dominated the course, seamlessly weaving through the signs labeled with relationship mines on the tandem walkers and crossing the finish line in what seemed like the blink of an eye. The group cheered as Chloe let out an excited shriek and jumped into Luke's arms, wrapping her legs around his waist.
"Fuck, this is going to be worse than I thought," Beca muttered as the crew quickly reset the walkers and sandbags that represented their relationship baggage.
Donald chuckled and whispered, "Don't worry. If we suck, we suck. No big deal."
Beca nodded as Stacie and Theo went next, followed by Jesse and Flo, neither flowing through the course as easily as Chloe and Luke. Aubrey and Tom did well, while Calamity and Chicago moved through it so quickly Beca was sure they beat the first pair handedly. She would have been impressed if her reaction wasn't cut short by Gail's announcement that she and Donald were next.
They moved over to the starting line, Beca eyeing the first hurdle labeled "FEAR OF BEING VULNERABLE" and dreaded the thought of having to go over the first one.
At Gail's loud "Go!" Beca sprang into motion, so distracted with getting over the first hurdle she barely noticed Donald vaulting over it beside her, his long legs easily clearing the bar. Beca continued on to the second, thankful to be going under the "DATING APP DRAMA" as well as the "INTIMIDATION." She wasn't so lucky for the next two hurdles, having to jump over "ONE NIGHT STANDS" and "HAVING A WALL UP" before crawling under the last one labeled "FEAR OF COMMITMENT." Beca honestly wasn't afraid of a relationship, she was just picky and wanted it to be with the right person.
They moved on together to the relationship baggage and Beca immediately grabbed a sandbag labeled "TRUST ISSUES," ignoring the surprised sound Donald made beside her. This challenge was going to bring some shit out of the dark and into the light. Beca knew she wasn't moving particularly fast with the heavy bag, but felt like she held her own dragging her three over the required line. She barely spared a glance at Donald's "JEALOUS," "CLINGY," and "MANIPULATIVE" bags thrown carelessly beside her own.
Beca was feeling more confident when the approached the tandem walkers, Donald slotting in behind her on the wooden planks as each of them grabbed the appropriate ropes.
"Okay, we're gonna go right then left," Donald said to her confidently. "Right."
Beca lifted her right foot but forgot to lift the rope attached to the right plank, meaning they went exactly nowhere. "Fuck, my bad."
It took several tries for them to get the hang of it, moving agonizingly slowly through the course. It took ages to reach the first sign that read "CHEATING" and finally found their groove around "CAN'T COMPROMISE." It felt like an eternity before they passed the final sign of "TELLING LIES" and they mercifully crossed the finish line to cheers from their castmates.
"Thank fucking God," Beca gasped, completely winded and out of breath as Donald wrapped her in a hug.
"Hey, no matter what else happens we did it and we didn't look like total idiots," Donald replied.
"Good point," Beca admitted as they made their way back over to the rest of the group and slapped a few high fives.
She felt a whole lot better about their effort watching Benji and Emily take their turn next. Beca was in disbelief that there were two less coordinated people there than her and Donald, but she was also grateful that they weren't going to have the worst time. Bumper and Kommissar made an equally hysterical pairing, falling over several times on the tandem walkers before eventually crossing the finish line.
Fat Amy and another nicknamed housemate who asked to go by Uni, short for Unicycle which he apparently rides all the time back home, also did surprisingly well. Beca was impressed with Fat Amy's coordination on the tandem walkers, although she suspected the woman of not being completely honest when she went under all six hurdles. The true shock of the day though was watching Zeke from the Navy and Lilly, a quiet Asian woman that Beca still hasn't heard utter a single word, completely dominate the course. The entire house roared with applause when they finished in what had to be record time, equal parts elation and true disbelief.
It took a few minutes for the crew to get their bearings and gather them all back together in one place for Gail to announce the results.
"How are we feeling? That looked like some difficult stuff to navigate," Gail said, her voice taking on a wise tone. "Chloe, you and Luke seemed to be on the same page?"
Chloe nodded, smiling up at the blonde man. "Yeah, we've kinda clicked and we work well together."
Gail nodded happily, turning to the other side of the group. "Benji, you and Emily didn't look like you were having a great time out there."
Benji blushed a little, bashfully admitting, "I think a lack of athletic coordination was our problem. There's plenty of chemistry between us," he finished, boldly slipping an arm around Emily's waist.
To her credit, Emily grinned happily and leaned into his embrace.
Gail smiled, "Well I'm glad you're not letting that get you down." Moving on spectacularly, she announced with a flourish, "Congrats on a great first challenge! The winners are… Zeke and Lilly!" She paused for the group to applaud.
"Luke and Chloe!"
Beca cheered, happy for her friends to get the opportunity to go on a fun date.
"And… Chicago and Calamity!"
The latter two couples hugged happily as their names were announced, with Lilly seeming to give Zeke some sort of notice that he'd be better off not touching her.
Gail didn't notice and continued on with her lines. "Congratulations to all three couples! I can tell the rest of you are looking around and trying to figure out who their perfect match could be. Well, there's one true way to find out. The Truth Booth," Gail said, pausing again for dramatic effect.
"The Truth Booth is the only way to confirm that a couple is a perfect match. Those of you who did not win the challenge must vote one of the three winning couples into the Truth Booth. Now, you need to take this seriously because the more people you find out to be a perfect match the closer you are to that million bucks!"
More cheers all-around at the mention of the money, making Beca realize this could potentially get really old, really fast.
"Alright good job everyone! You three couples go get ready for your date! The rest of you… figure out who you're gonna vote into that Truth Booth. I'll see you tomorrow for that vote," Gail finished smoothly, only having to wait a moment for CR to step into view and clap.
"Great work. We had some sound issues during that final speech so let's run through it again real quick," CR said, her no-nonsense voice piercing through the slight wind.
Beca sighed as the cameras got back in place and the group reformed back into the couples from the challenge that had disintegrated immediately when Gail said they could go. Of course, it wouldn't be that simple.
Zeke asked loudly, "Wait, are we going on the dates now? It's almost dark…"
CR answered, "No, the dates and the Truth Booth vote will be tomorrow. We just have her end it like that because of how we'll cut the footage in post. Each episode has to be trimmed down to forty minutes."
Beca sighed, knowing that a minuscule amount of footage would be used in the actual show and knew that the producers and editors would cut it in the most dramatic way possible.
"Okay, we're all set to run it again!" CR's voice rang out, causing them all to stand up straighter and stare at Gail as she started over from the end of the challenge.
The rest of the day and evening was spent winding down from the challenge, followed by dinner and more drinking and getting to know each other. Beca was amazed at how quickly she was starting to learn things about the other people in the house but chalked it up to simply being forced in such close proximity to them with zero breaks. The getaway dates were looking more and more attractive by the minute.
The next morning saw the rest of the house waving goodbye to the three couples as they left on their date before resuming business as usual around the house. To everyone's surprise, Tom and Theo whipped up lunch for everyone and served it outside by the pool.
Beca was suitably impressed with the homemade pizzas the two created, finding a secluded spot a hammock before someone discovered her hideaway.
"Is this seat taken?"
Theo popped into view, looking curiously at the hammock.
Beca glanced at him, unsure about inviting him into such close proximity when they barely knew each other, but again reminded herself she was there to have fun and put herself out there and with another drink, she wouldn't care who was in the hammock with her.
"Depends," she answered lightly. "Will you get me a refill?"
Theo nodded, "Sure. Whatcha want?"
"Something not sweet."
He returned a few minutes later with a couple of beers and Beca could have kissed him. They'd been surviving completely on liquor and Beca didn't even know beer was an option.
"All the crew had was Heineken," Theo said as he handed her a cold bottle. "Hope that's okay."
Beca smiled appreciatively, replying, "I'll take what I can get. Do we even have beer?"
Theo shook his head. "No, I think they want us as drunk as possible as much as possible, so they're pushing the vodka and tequila pretty hard."
Beca balanced carefully in the hammock and invited him to lay beside her, noticing how smoothly he slid in so they both didn't end up on the ground in a heap.
"I've noticed," she sighed, struggling to find a comfortable position now that they were side by side.
Theo realized the problem, carefully maneuvering until his arm was under her and she was able to lay her head back against his shoulder. It was way more intimate than she was expecting, but a few long sips of her beer brushed the cares away.
"I haven't gotten to chat with you yet," Theo spoke into the calmness of the afternoon. "Tell me something about you that you haven't told anyone here yet."
Beca hummed thoughtfully, taking one more sip of her beer before answering, "My parents are divorced. It was for the best, but I think part of my relationship issue is the fact that I don't want that to be me."
Theo nodded, replying, "Funny, my parents are also divorced. I was young when it happened, but it definitely affected me."
"It doesn't matter how old you are, it still hurts to see your family broken apart," Beca murmured, finishing the beer and tossing the empty bottle lightly onto the grass. "Did your mom or dad ever re-marry?"
Theo nodded again, Beca feeling his stubble brush gently against her hair. "My dad did… he did the whole blended family thing with his new wife. Rough times there for a bit, but it eventually smoothed out."
Beca chuckled at how much they had in common. This whole experience or journey or whatever they were supposed to call it kept throwing her new curves just when she was feeling like she got the hang of it.
"Siblings then?"
Theo hummed, "Mm-hmm. I have four sisters. Two from my parents' marriage and two stepsisters after my dad re-married. The estrogen was through the roof for a while."
"I cannot imagine," Beca said, the horror evident in her voice.
"What about you? Siblings? Parents re-marry?" Theo asked curiously, the hand curled around her starting to gently brush over her arm.
Beca nodded, "Both mine re-married. I was an only child, but I got two stepbrothers when my dad and Sheila tied the knot. We all got along reasonably well, and it only got better as we got older."
"When did your parents split?"
Beca felt herself relaxing more and more into Theo's touch and their conversation, happy to discover someone who'd been through a similar upbringing to her own. "When I was around eight. My mom joined Doctors Without Borders and their marriage couldn't handle the long separations. She actually ended up marrying one of her colleagues and now they travel all over together. He had never married and didn't want kids, so it ended up working out well. She's happy, so I'm happy."
Theo smiled and gently squeezed her wrist. "I'm glad it worked out. My mom never remarried or even really dated as far as I know. She might have kept it from me, but it makes me sad sometimes to think that she's all alone."
"Hope you didn't mind her knowing that," Beca joked, needing the gentle reminder that everything they said was being recorded.
Theo brushed it off though, quipping, "It's only day three and I already know that's the best thing that will come outta my mouth this entire experience."
Beca chuckled along with him, knowing it was probably true.
"Okay, enough of this heavy shit," Theo changed the subject. "What are the best and worst dates you've ever been on?"
"Oh shit, you really went deep with that one," Beca teased, wracking her brain for the information.
Theo didn't miss a beat. "Yeah well, I'm not ready to learn about your favorite color or what you want to be when you grow up."
Beca laughed, "Touché. Um, okay let's do worst dates first. End on a high note."
"Love it. You go first."
"Okay," Beca took a deep breath, the memory coming back to her instantly. "I'd only been out with this guy like two or three times, nothing serious, and he invited me over to his place for dinner. He offered to cook, I thought it was romantic… it was gonna be good, right? Wrong. I literally watched him put raw chicken in a microwave and then try to serve it to me on a paper plate. A fucking paper plate!"
Theo fought back a gag at the idea. "That's disgusting!"
"Yeah, tell me about it," Beca agreed. "Then he was stunned when I told him I'd lost my appetite."
"He's lucky that's all you told him. I'm guessing it didn't work out?"
"No, for some reason we weren't meant to be," Beca deadpanned, breaking into a smile when he poked her side. "Okay, your turn."
Theo inhaled slowly, "Hmmm worst date ever. Oh yeah, of course. It was my fault, naturally. It's always the guy, right?"
"Obviously," Beca joked back, enjoying their banter. "Continue."
"Right, well right after I went to college my dad and step-mom bought a lake house," Theo explained. "They wanted a fun place for family vacations and quality time and shit. Anyways I'd been sorta seeing this girl and I invited her up one weekend to hang out. A couple of my sisters were there and we all went out on the boat to go tubing and water skiing. She wanted to see me ski and I didn't want to admit I'd never done it before, so I just went for it. It was a fucking train wreck… I've never face planted into the water so hard. Safe to say she was not impressed, I was sore for over a week, and she broke up with me two days later."
Beca winced at the mental images. "Ouch."
"Yeah both my ego and my ass were bruised that day," Theo laughed it off, clearly over any lingering heartbreak. "Anyways, now for the best dates! I need to know what I have to top."
"Fair enough, although bringing me that beer was definitely the best thing that's happened to me since I arrived," Beca replied, shifting slightly to turn into his body and slide an arm over his waist. There really was not enough room in a hammock unless you were laying on top of each other, which she basically was.
"Okay, so best date ever… that's actually an easy one," Beca said, the memory bringing a smile to her face. "It was a Tinder match, San Fran native like me…"
Theo interrupted, "Oh, you're from San Francisco? I've never been but always wanted to go."
"Guess you'll have to come visit me and my bar after the show then," Beca replied, wondering immediately after the words left her lips where they came from. Knowing there was nothing she could do about it now, she resumed her story.
"We texted back and for a bit and realized we both had a good sense of humor, and he invited me to go to Alcatraz with him."
"Makes sense," Theo quipped. "Tried to lock you up on the first date."
"Hilarious," Beca retorted, rolling her eyes. "We ended up pretending to be clueless tourists the entire time and annoyed the shit out of our tour guide with dumb questions. Every time the guide tried to say something he'd refute it with fake facts or false information that confused the shit out of everyone else on the tour. At one point he was spouting on and on about escapees and scared the shit outta some woman and her kid and I swear the guide was about to punch him. We were politely asked to leave the tour after that," she finished with a laugh.
Theo chuckled along with her. "Sounds like a fun time. What happened to the guy?"
Beca hummed thoughtfully, finally answering, "We dated for a few months, but I think we both knew we were better as friends. Some things aren't meant to last… romantically. I think I remember seeing on Facebook that he got married earlier this year. Good for him."
Theo nodded, placing a kiss to the top of her head instead of responding before starting on his own best date story.
"I don't think my best date can top that, but it was definitely the time I took this girl to the Shaky Knees Music Festival. The Smashing Pumpkins headlined and put on an amazing show," Theo recalled wistfully. "Still the best I've ever been to."
Beca nodded, "That sounds fucking awesome. The Smashing Pumpkins are awesome. I don't know what you're talking about, that blows my best date outta the water."
Theo shook his head, "We'll have to agree to disagree on that, but yes, I love that band. They're one of my favorites."
Beca tilted her head up to look at him. "No way… mine too."
Theo met her gaze, nodding slowly. Beca felt the moment suddenly spike, recognizing the look in his eyes and felt her heart start to beat faster. Theo didn't hesitate, slowly moving his head to press his lips to hers. He kept the kiss chaste, allowing Beca to pull away after a few seconds and look back at him, her cheeks flushed red.
"Hey! Lovebirds! Quit making out and come vote for the Truth Booth!"
Beca jerked up in the hammock to see Stacie grinning like an idiot at the pair of them, her sudden movement disturbing their careful balance dumping both of them to the ground in a heap.
"Oooh, epic fail. Are you okay?" Stacie sounded mildly concerned, probably appropriate for the one-foot fall they suffered.
Beca gingerly got to her feet, brushing off grass and dirt from her clothes. Theo beside her was doing the same, with the added bonus of shooting Stacie a particularly dirty look.
"Sorry but we gotta vote in the next ten minutes or the world will end or something," Stacie shrugged, not looking sorry at all for interrupting them.
Beca's eyes widened, wondering how time had passed by that quickly. Theo gestured for her to go ahead with Stacie, and she nodded not knowing what else to say. It had been fun getting to know him, and yes she'd appreciated their little cuddle in the hammock, but she wasn't sure about him being her perfect match. He was a little too sweet for her taste, a little too kind and understanding and, well… similar.
"You two looked awfully cozy in that hammock," Stacie teased as they wound their way back to the house to the large TV screen in the living room. The crew was already set up to film them making their choices, with CR off to the side staring intently at her phone. She looked up as they approached, shutting the device off and motioning for them to come over to her.
"Hey, are you guys ready to vote? Good, you can do it together. We'll film you walking up to the screen," CR paused to point at the large screen showing the pictures of the three couples. "Take a minute to think about your choice, feel free to add any commentary you want, and then touch one of the couples to lock in your vote."
Stacie shrugged, "Seems easy enough. Ready?"
Beca nodded, "Yeah, think I can handle that."
They retreated over to where CR instructed them to start their approach and waited until she gave the signal the cameras were ready before walking over to the screen. A different camera was there to catch their deliberations before casting the votes.
Beca glanced at the three couples, offering, "I don't know about Zeke and Lilly, but either of the other two could be matches."
Stacie studied the photos carefully, before shrugging and tapping on Chloe and Luke's photos. "They're hot together."
Beca nods in agreement as the taller brunette strolls away, taking another second or two to think about it.
"She's not wrong," she says to no one but the remaining camera and crew, tapping on the same couple and locking in her vote.
It was all Beca could do to keep from laughing as she watched CR and her team of producers try to wrangle her housemates into the living room before the three couples returned from their date. After drinking for most of the day, it'd be a gross understatement to say the group was being less than cooperative. Naturally, Bumper was at the front of the pack, refusing to get out of the pool while apparently, no one could find where Benji and Emily had escaped to. Beca thought they were an adorable couple, hoping they were each other's perfect match as they'd both probably be devastated if they weren't.
Beca decided to follow instructions and made her way into the living room, sitting down on the massive sectional couch. People slowly trickled in and she found herself squeezed between Jesse and Theo as more of their housemates piled in. Finally, they were all assembled with CR at the front of the room.
Bumper interrupted her before she could speak, bluntly asking, "What does CR stand for anyway? Chill Ruiner?"
Beca rolled her eyes at his dumb joke, seeing that CR didn't find it amusing either.
"It stands for none of your damn business," she replied easily, glancing around to make sure her crew was getting set up. "Okay, the rest will return from their date in about ten minutes. Gail is getting ready and she'll come out a few minutes after they get back and go through your first Truth Booth. Any questions?" She blatantly ignored Bumper's hand in the air and walked away.
Beca chuckled along with Jesse at CR's treatment of Bumper, knowing the guy was just an idiot. He wasn't a bad guy, but he was also someone that Beca prayed was not her perfect match. She did not mesh with his loud personality and spontaneity and pension for doing stupid things… well, at least the same kind of stupid things he did.
"We all voted for Chloe and Luke, right?" Kommissar asked, looking around the room. "They were the obvious choice."
Fat Amy shook her head. " Wrong twiggy, soldier boy and girl are clearly a match. Did you see how they hit it off from minute one?"
Benji looked confused, asking, "Wait, is Calamity in the army too? I thought she was a paramedic."
"She's an EMT," Flo replied helpfully. "We arrived at the same time and were in the same car from the airport."
Theo mumbled beside her, "Same damn thing."
Beca didn't bother to correct him, knowing that while similar they were definitely not the same thing.
Stacie's voice rose above the rest, "Well I voted for Chloe and Luke. They're hot and they'd be hot together."
"Except they're not a match," Fat Amy countered. "You're hot but I don't see you saying you and Luke are a match."
Stacie smiled at the compliment, "I know, right? And we could be… but he's not my type."
Beca looked at her doubtfully. "Hot isn't your type?"
"I go for the classic tall, dark and handsome," Stacie's voice dropped, her eyes suddenly locked on Tom's who didn't seem to mind the attention at all.
"Of course you do," Aubrey rolled her eyes. "So generic."
Stacie eyed her for a moment, replying, "Don't go getting all jealous that you're not one of my match possibilities."
Aubrey didn't bat an eye, retorting, "Yeah the fact we're both straight has absolutely nothing to do with it."
Beca's eyes widened at Stacie's expression to that comment, but Bumper interrupted before the brunette could answer. "That's hot. You two should test out all this angry chemistry."
Stacie shot him a dirty look. "Don't be a dick. Anyways, I can always appreciate the female form but… he's a hunter," she smirked, gesturing lewdly to her crotch.
Beca couldn't help her grin, asking, "You call it a dude?"
Stacie winked at her just as the missing three couples traipsed into the room from their dates. The room noise grew in volume as they were peppered with questions about the helicopter ride and how the dates went and if they hit it off. Only Zeke and Lilly seemed to not have had an amazing time, the taller man already moving away to grab a drink from the kitchen.
After a few minutes, Gail entered the room and moved to stand beside the TV hung on the wall that showed pictures of the three couples up for the Truth Booth. CR joined her after a moment and shouted for them all to quiet down.
"Okay, this is your first Truth Booth vote," she said in a more normal volume once the group was quiet. "Gail will explain how it works and say her lines, the couple voted into the booth will go down that pathway. You will enter the booth, stand opposite your picture on the screen, lock in by standing on the platform and holding hands, and wait to see whether you're a perfect match or not. A small crew will be with you to film the walk there and back, as well as getting the reaction from the rest of you who will wait here and see the result on this screen," CR explained, gesturing the to screen behind her. "Gail will go over all of this again for the viewers. Okay, let's go."
Gail nodded as the woman moved away and took up her place beside the TV. At some signal from somewhere behind Beca, her camera-ready smile morphed into place and her eyes glanced around the room.
"How're you guys doing?"
A chorus of affirmative answers sounded back at her, making her smile widen even more.
"Good!" Gail repeated enthusiastically, continuing on in her regular tone, "Well, look, it's time to reveal your votes on who's heading to the Truth Booth. Let's take a look at these votes."
A slight pause before continuing, "The couple that's heading to the Truth Booth is…" Gail trailed off and simply turned to look at the screen as if waiting for the results to magically appear.
Beca followed her gaze, staring as the screen flashed into a transition until Chloe and Luke's pictures were the only ones remaining, larger and filling the entire screen side by side. The room broke into cheers, happy with their decision. Beca glanced at the chosen couple, seeing both happiness and nerves on their faces as Luke suddenly took a large gulp from his drink.
Gail smiled at the reaction, asking, "Who voted for Luke and Chloe?"
Beca raised her hand, looking around to see that only Fat Amy had hers down.
"Oh wow, an overwhelming majority," Gail observed, turning her gaze to the couple in question. "Are you guys as sure as the people here that voted for you?"
Luke looked at Chloe before answering, "I think we definitely could be a match. We connected right away and had a great time on our date. If Chloe's not my match… damn, this might be harder than we thought."
Gail nodded, happy with his answer. "Well, if you are a perfect match you'll be moving out and spending the rest of the time together in the honeymoon suite, but you'll be back every week to rejoin us for the matchup ceremony. But if you're not a perfect match, you'll be back in the house and back in the game."
Gail paused again for dramatic effect, making Beca wonder if she practiced this stunted speech pattern regularly to have it so nailed down.
"It's time to head to the Truth Booth," Gail said, suddenly taking up a more serious tone. "Good luck."
Beca watched them leave through the back doors as some of their housemates cheered them on, wondering if they actually found a perfect match on their first try. Jesse seemed to be wondering the same thing beside her, unable to say anything before a voice cut him off.
Gail called for quiet, saying she still had to explain what was going to happen for the viewers. The group fell silent so the host could resume her monologue.
"They're going to enter the Truth Booth and lock in as a couple," Gail explained patiently as if the people in front of her didn't know exactly what was about to happen. "When they see if they're a perfect match or not, you will see at the exact same time right here," she finished, pointing at the giant screen beside her.
The group cheered with excitement at a cue from the production team, Beca joining in after a moment realizing this was supposed to be a surprise to them.
"Good luck you guys," Gail repeated from earlier, "And I'll see you right back here tomorrow for the matchup."
"Guess she's not sticking around for the results," Jesse said as Gail swiftly left the room. "How crazy would it be if they're a match? Like bam, first try… perfect match," he mused as if Gail's little explanation interruption never happened.
Beca nodded, feeling nerves suddenly flood her stomach. "Yeah, that'd be insane. I don't know why but like… I'm nervous for them."
Jesse nodded, "No, I get it. Imagine you show up at this house and two days later you're told this stranger is your perfect match and you have to spend the next five weeks alone with them. That'd be insane."
"That's completely fucking insane," Beca agreed, suddenly extremely happy she wasn't taking that long walk to the Truth Booth. "I wonder what they're feeling."
Theo chimed in from her other side, "Probably something along the lines of, oh shit, I'm not ready for this, I don't even know this person, I don't want to be here anymore, at least they're fucking hot."
Beca laughed at his answer, feeling like she'd be thinking all those thoughts and more. The wait was agony, almost an hour going by until CR finally informed them that they'd had a few issues filming the pair walking to the booth that caused the delay, but the results should be coming through any minute now.
It seemed like everyone in the room was holding their breath waiting for the screen to change. Suddenly a thick black box appeared across the center of the screen blaring the words "NO MATCH!" in block white letters.
The room erupted with different reactions, the loudest being Fat Amy screaming, "I fucking called it!"
Beca glanced with wide eyes at Theo, wondering how they were supposed to do this nine more times. The stress from the first one had her heart racing despite Chloe and Luke not even being a match.
"This is fucking insane," Beca muttered, shaking her head. "Think they'll be upset?"
Theo shook his head, "No, they didn't seem that infatuated with each other. I think they'll brush it off and start to explore other relationships."
The room calmed down as they took stock of the situation, realizing they failed the first chance and confirming a perfect match.
Surprisingly, Calamity was the one to speak up, saying, "They might be upset about it, so let's make sure we're there for them if they need it. That was stressful as fuck for me… I can't even imagine being the one wondering if it's gonna be a match."
The group nodded in understanding, Zeke and Chicago running to grab a new round of drinks for everyone while they waited for Luke and Chloe to complete their reaction interviews and walk back to the house. It was another long wait before they appeared, Luke looking more crestfallen than Chloe, who to Beca's surprise immediately went to her for a hug.
Beca wrapped her arms around the redhead, whispering, "Hey, you okay?"
Chloe whispered back, "Yeah, but that was the scariest thing I've ever done in my life."
Beca chuckled and waited until she pulled back. "Guess your perfect match is still around here somewhere."
Chloe looked a little relieved as she glanced around the room. "I wouldn't mind never going back into that booth again. It was super weird."
"What's it like?" Stacie asked as she, Aubrey, and Calamity joined in giving Chloe a supportive group hug.
"It's completely white inside, like fucking unnaturally white, with a little platform facing a TV screen," Chloe explained, her expression still a little freaked out. "And we just stood there on the platform holding hands, staring at giant pictures of ourselves while lasers flashed around until it said no match. All for dramatic effect, of course, but it was still some freaky shit. When the results came up, I wasn't sure if I was more relieved we weren't a match or just to get out of the booth."
Aubrey smiled at that, saying, "I get it. It'd be weird to meet your match right away and have to leave the house after the first matchup. We're all still getting to know each other."
Chloe nodded, "I'd really like to make some friends before I meet the love of my life… if it's up to me."
Beca grinned, "Well, lucky for you this friend is a bartender and there's no better way to celebrate new friendships than drinks."
Stacie cheered her words, "I'll drink to that, bitches! No perfect matches today so let's get drunk!"
Beca was relieved that both Chloe and Luke seemed to brush off their result of no match, guessing Theo was right about it not being that serious. A glance at the other side of the room showed Luke chatting easily with Tom and Chicago, deciding to focus on Chloe now and catch up with her friend later.
After partying and drinking into the early morning hours and sleeping a majority of the day away, their group managed to drag themselves out of bed and look presentable for the matchup ceremony being filmed the following night. They'd been told it had to be done at night for the beams of light to be visible and were also warned that it was a lengthy shoot that would tire everyone out by the time it was over.
Beca picked out a simple dress and heels to wear to the ceremony, knowing that at least since the boys were choosing first the girls would be sitting for most of the shoot. They all got ready together, trading off hair and makeup tips and even a few of the women borrowing clothes before heading downstairs to meet the guys in the kitchen.
Fat Amy called out, "Hey, let's do a shot before the ceremony!"
Tom nodded in agreement, chiming in, "Yeah, a ceremonial shot!"
The laughter and jokes grew as the pair lined up shot glasses along the counter and ran a bottle of tequila along them until they were all full. Beca grabbed her glass, eager for some liquid courage to calm the nerves growing in her stomach. This whole experience fucked with her mind way more than she was expecting, and she easily joined in asking for a second before they walked over to the constructed stage area where the matchup ceremonies were to take place. After two shots production intervened and cut them off, insisting it was time to relocate for the ceremony before they got too drunk.
Beca walked slowly along the stone path and gratefully took Theo's offered arm for balance when he fell into step beside her.
"Nervous?"
Beca glanced up at him, answering, "Terrified… for no reason at all. How stupid is that?"
Theo shook his head, "Not stupid at all. But at least you get to just sit there until someone calls your name. I actually have to get up there and declare that someone is my perfect match."
Beca stayed silent at that, knowing it would be her turn next time in a few short days. "Are you gonna pick me?"
Theo smiled at her, "Of course. As long as no one else does before I get called. They haven't told us the order yet."
"I didn't even think of that," Beca sighed as they reached the open area staged for the ceremony.
It was beautiful, with flowers and decorations around the edges. A simple podium stood at waist-height in the middle, wicker chairs with comfortable looking cushions on one side arranged on three different leveled risers. There was a small platform sitting in the open space to the other side at the back next to the chairs. The girls were instructed to each pick a chair and sit down while the boys were directed to stand in the empty space to the right of the chairs, all of them eventually facing the podium and the dark beams behind it that would hopefully light up. Once everyone was in position, CR began explaining how the night would go.
"Okay everyone, get ready for a long night," she started, not beating around the bush about how complex these ceremonies would be. "The ceremony is simple enough in principle. Gail will call up a guy, they'll chat for a minute or two, he will say who his perfect match is, the lady will come up and join him, Gail might engage her if she chooses, if not they will place their hands on the podium screens to lock in the match, and finally, both will return to a seat together. You all with me so far?"
Beca nodded, glancing around at a few glazed looks and just knew this would take all night.
CR continued on, "Good. After everyone has locked in their perfect match, Gail will initiate the sequence for the lights over there to shine the number of perfect matches you picked. You all know if you get ten perfect matches you win the prize money. The odds of that happening tonight are extremely small, so don't get too excited. At periodic intervals, we will pull some of you away for interviews… don't worry, it's nothing bad, mostly just reactions on picks or choices. It's going to be long for everyone, so please be patient and follow instructions."
Gail strode in looking bright and fresh as always, her hair perfectly styled in place and makeup flawlessly done.
CR greeted her, "Hey Gail, we're just about ready." Turning to the whole room, she raised her voice a bit and instructed, "Okay, the first shot will be the boys walking into the room to stand where they currently are now. The ladies will already be seated in their chairs waiting. Let's move… we have to be done before sunrise."
An hour later Beca fully understood exactly why this was going to take all night. They'd only just gotten enough footage of the boys walking in and getting properly into place to move on to Gail's opening lines explaining what was about to happen for the viewers. It also made it perfectly clear why they got the day off after shooting the matchup ceremony, as Beca knew she was getting all of zero sleep tonight.
CR's voice rang out, interrupting her thoughts, "Okay, we've got what we need. Gail, we're ready for your intro."
Gail nodded, moving into place and began speaking upon her cue. "Welcome to your first matchup. This is your first shot at a million dollars!"
There were some happy murmurs throughout the cast with a few side comments here and there, but Beca's stomach was back in knots. She was wondering again what possessed her to do something this stupid, suddenly having a mental image of no one picking her and being left seated alone in her chair.
"All you guys gotta do is correctly identify your perfect match," Gail said teasingly, holding her hands out as if it wasn't a difficult task.
Beca gave a tight smile as most of the ladies around her played along, calling out how it wasn't so easy to accomplish that task.
Gail smiled, continuing on, "Every single one of you has to choose correctly. If just one of you is wrong then you're not ten for ten, and you're heading back inside empty-handed to start all over again." She paused, before adding, "And remember, if you get zero matches tonight… a blackout… your prize instantly drops by two hundred and fifty thousand dollars."
More nervous looks were thrown around, Beca hearing CR's warning in their head not to keep their expectations for the night low. Shit, she'd completely forgotten that part about the blackouts. As if they didn't need another terrifying factor in the equation to worry about.
"Tonight, we're gonna begin with our ten guys," Gail said informatively. "Now don't worry ladies, each week we're gonna alternate between who gets to choose their perfect match. Guys and then girls. Guys, the order has been randomly chosen, and when I call your name I just want you to join me right up here, make your choice, and then the two of you will place your palms on the handprint touchscreens," she paused gesturing at the podium in front of her, "and lock in as a couple."
After a brief pause, CR shouted out, "Cut! Sorry, Gail, we've got a boom mic that dipped into the shot at the very end. Run through that last bit again please."
Beca held in a groan, knowing that this was just the beginning as Gail smoothly ran through the instructions again to CR's satisfaction.
"Great, okay let's keep going."
Gail nodded, looking back at the group of them. "Let's get started," she said, her tone taking on a weight it normally went without. "First up… is Benji."
Beca glanced at the shy boy who looked almost relieved at going first.
"Come on up here, Benji," Gail said, welcoming him up as he walked to stand in front of the podium. "Are you nervous?"
Benji smiled back at her, suddenly looking much more relaxed. "I was when I was standing back there, but now that I know I'm first it's actually easier."
Gail gave him a knowing smile, asking, "I take it you've made a connection already?"
"I have," Benji admitted, turning to shoot Emily a smile. "Emily and I have had a really good time getting to know each other and I think she could be my match."
"No reason to delay any further then," Gail played along, asking, "Benji, who is your perfect match?"
Benji replied confidently, "My perfect match is Emily."
Gail's smile widened as the girls cheered for the couple. "Alright Emily, come on up."
Emily rose from her chair blushing furiously as she walked up to join Benji at the podium.
"Benji, Emily, it's time to lock in," Gail instructed, watching as they each placed a palm on the correct handprint sensor. After a moment she said, "And you're locked! Go ahead and take your seats."
Beca recognized the relief evident on both their faces as they made their way back to sit together on Emily's chair while the rest of the group clapped. The crew swirled around them getting them walking back to the chair from multiple angles, making Beca wonder how many times they went back and reviewed the footage only to find unusable due to a crew member in the shot.
"Theo!"
Beca's heart started hammering at the next name to leave Gail's lips, wondering if he was actually going to pick her to be his match and if that scared her more or less than not being chosen at all. She watched him walk confidently up to the podium and meet Gail's eyes.
Gail didn't waste any time asking him the all-important question. "Theo, who is your perfect match?"
To his credit, Theo didn't hesitate in his response. He spun around and met Beca's eyes, "My perfect match is Beca."
The girls around her cheered as the guys clapped politely, Beca glancing around nervously to see Jesse looking a little unhappy at the turn of events, making her wonder if he planned to pick her as well. Not having the mental capacity to think about being involved in a potential love triangle, she focused solely on not tripping over her feet as she joined Theo in front of the podium.
Gail gave her a warm smile, asking, "Beca, do you think Theo could be your perfect match?"
Beca shot him an embarrassed smile, answering, "Um, yeah I think he could be. We've got a lot in common and he seems like the kind of guy I need… totally opposite from the kinds of guys I've dated in the past."
Gail nodded, her expression turning into one of knowing. It unnerved her a bit, having her wonder if the woman was trying to tell her something or if she was just encouraging the drama and speculation.
"There's only one way to find out. Theo, Beca, it's time to lock-in."
Beca took a breath and placed her hand on the sensor pad beside Theo's, watching as a scanner seemed to run up and down the length of the screen before removing it to see a black bar across both screens that read "LOCKED!"
"And you're locked," Gail's voice had lost a shred of its previous enthusiasm after the first couple, but it didn't bother Beca at all. "Go ahead and take your seats."
Beca felt the relief flow through her as they walked hand in hand back to the chair she'd previously occupied alone, thankful to have someone beside her to keep her company for the rest of the shoot. Chloe caught her eye, the redhead giving her an encouraging smile-inspiring her to mouth 'Good luck' back to her.
"Okay, that was much scarier than I thought it was gonna be," Theo admitted softly in her ear. "Could you tell?"
Beca shook her head, murmuring, "Not at all. You hid it spectacularly."
CR interrupted the shoot, saying, "Okay, let's take twenty minutes so we can get the reactions from the first two couples. Benji, Emily, Theo, Beca, follow me please."
Theo sighed and stood up, offering a hand to Beca who was equally resigned to her fate. "Look at it this way," he said, clearly trying to put a positive spin on things. "Once we do this we're done for the night. We'll just get to sit there and watch everyone else go through this bullshit."
"Good point," Beca agreed, allowing him to pull her to her feet. "Okay, let's get this shit over with."
They followed Benji and Emily out into the yard where the crew had constructed a special setup for the private confessions or interviews or whatever. CR was already there motioning to the crew and giving instructions.
"Okay two of you will go at a time," she said, motioning to the two separate areas lit up with what Beca considered an excessive amount of light. They were a fair distance apart and sectioned off a bit to help with noise control. "The other will wear these headphones and listen to music so it's completely private. Cheap, I know, but it's the best we can do out here. The crew will feed you the standard questions and all you have to do is answer. So, ladies first."
Beca moved towards one of the interview spots, following instructions on where to stand and look and how to not come across like an idiot.
"What do you think about Theo? Make sure to kinda repeat the question in your answer so the viewers aren't confused."
Beca nodded, waiting for them to cue her to begin speaking.
"Just talk whenever. We're recording everything and will cut it in post." The guy looked a little frustrated with her, making her want to get it right.
"Right, sorry. I think Theo is great. We had a chance to get to know each other more today and I think he could be my match," Beca said, feeling self-conscious that the few crew members around were completely judging her.
"Are you attracted to him?"
Beca's eyes narrowed for a split second, forcing her expression to return to something she hoped looked positive. "Theo's an attractive guy. I'd be lucky if he was my perfect match."
One of the camera guys made a frustrated noise, saying to the one who seemed to be in charge, "Fuck, just blew a bulb. We need to reset and get her to say that last bit again after I replace it. The lighting was off."
Beca fought to keep from rolling her eyes, knowing that technical difficulties were part of the process. They swapped the burnt bulb for a new one quickly and had her record her last answer.
"Okay, you're done. You can head back to the main area while we finish up with Theo."
Not minding the rude dismissal for one second, Beca immediately turned and headed back to the main area where the rest of the group was milling around chatting. Jesse was the first one to spot her, making his way over to greet her.
"Hey, how was it out there?"
Beca shrugged, "The usual. Asked me a few stupid questions to get some sound bites and sent me on my way."
He nodded understandingly, looking increasingly more awkward as he finally admitted, "I just want you to know I would have picked you… if he hadn't."
Beca raised an eyebrow at him, making him take a step back. "I just mean… sorry, I just think you're cool and I think if you got to know me you'd find me pretty cool too."
That comment earned him an eye roll as Beca bit her lip to keep from completely dismissing him again the way she had when they first met just to be funny. Before she could answer him, she spotted Theo returning to the group out of the corner of her eye and the image of a love triangle popped into her head, dominating all other thoughts. Jesse wasn't a bad guy, and for all she knew he was her perfect match, but the desire to keep this journey as drama-free as possible won out over any other curiosity. Her goal of staying away from the drama as much as possible was in danger of blowing up in her face before the first week ended, and she wasn't prepared for that to happen so quickly.
The crew was calling for them all to resume the same position they were in before they left, studying a monitor to ensure the guys were all standing in the right order and that the two couples in the chairs were positioned correctly. Gail strode back to the podium, taking up her place and waited for the cue to continue the ceremony.
"Next up is Jesse!"
The group clapped as Jesse walked up to the podium at a much slower clip than Benji or Theo had, clearly looking nervous about his selection.
Gail shot him a smile, asking, "How're you feeling right now, Jesse?"
"A little nervous," Jesse answered honestly, but he returned her smile.
"Have you made a connection in the house yet?" Gail prodded slightly, trying to get some information out of him.
Jesse glanced back at the women, turning back to Gail to say diplomatically, "Every woman in this house is amazing. For me… it takes a little longer than a couple days to be sure if there's something there, you know?"
Gail nodded, "It can be dangerous to jump into something too quickly, however, you still have to pick someone tonight to be your perfect match. So, Jesse, who is your perfect match?"
Jesse glanced back again at the chairs, taking a few long moments before coming to a decision. "Gail, my perfect match is Aubrey."
Beca craned her neck to see Aubrey's reaction, surprised to see a pleasant smile on her face as she rose to meet Jesse in front of the podium.
Gail greeted her with a welcoming smile, asking, "Aubrey, how do you feel about this match?"
Aubrey stood comfortably beside Jesse, answering, "Jesse's a great guy. We've talked a little bit and he's sweet and funny."
"Sounds like this might be a match after all," Gail proposed hopefully. "Jesse, Aubrey, it's time to lock-in."
Beca held back a yawn as the couple placed their hands to the touchpads and locked in as a couple before returning to the chairs.
Gail didn't waste any time moving right along, announcing the next name.
"Chicago!"
The man strode confidently to the podium to cheers and claps from the rest of the house, laughing at something one of the remaining guys called out.
"You seem to be a popular one," Gail said by way of greeting.
Chicago shrugged, "I think we're just all getting along really well so far."
Gail nodded her agreement, asking, "Chicago, who is your perfect match?"
"My perfect match is Calamity," he said, turning to shoot a grin at the woman who was already rising out of her chair before her name left his lips.
Once she'd joined Chicago at the podium Gail commented on it, missing nothing.
"Calamity, you seemed very confident that he was going to say your name," she hinted, allowing the woman to expand for her.
"We've definitely hit it off. Our date was incredible," Calamity replied, their arms naturally slipping around each other's waists.
Chicago added, "I definitely think she could be my perfect match."
Gail smiled, "I hope you're right! Chicago, Calamity, it's time to lock-in."
Theo leaned closer to whisper in her ear, "How fast are these ceremonies gonna get old? I'm already bored outta my mind and we're not even halfway done."
"Kill me now," Beca replied watching Chicago sit down and Calamity perch comfortably on his lap, looking completely comfortable with each other.
After another break for solo interviews, their run of good luck of no delays ended before Gail could even call the next name, having technical difficulties delay the shoot for almost two hours. There was nothing for them to do while the issue was fixed, having to stay in the matchup ceremony area and simply wait it out. Finally, they were able to continue, Theo having resorted to poking Beca in random places to make sure she stayed alert and attentive to the proceedings.
"You're like a child… pay attention or we'll get yelled at."
"Shut the fuck up."
CR looked visibly frustrated as she finally made her way over to Gail, whispering something to her before addressing the cast. "Okay, we're back on. Let's go we're running out of time."
Beca's eyes widened, looking at Theo. "It's not even midnight… how are we running out of time?"
Theo shook his head, "I really don't want to know. This is awful."
"This is the part they don't fucking tell you about when you're signing your life away," Beca shot back, watching Gail get ready to resume shooting.
"Next up is Donald!"
Beca watched him stroll easily up to the podium, suddenly thinking that she probably should be sitting with him. Of all the guys she'd met so far she definitely felt like they had clicked the best, and now had no idea who he would choose.
Gail didn't waste any time, simply greeting him before asking, "Donald, who is your perfect match?"
Donald looked back at the women left available and said, "My perfect match is… Stacie."
The claps and cheers definitely felt a little forced after the long hiatus, but Stacie smiled brightly when she reached the podium and placed a kiss on Donald's cheek.
Gail's host persona forced its way through to the surface, asking, "Stacie you seem pretty happy about this choice. What about Donald makes you think he's your perfect match?"
Stacie answered easily, "DJ is super chill and hot and funny and he cooks amazing food. What more could a girl want?"
"Well, when you put it that way," Gail trailed off teasingly, allowing the rest of the group to laugh and cheer at her answer. "Donald, Stacie, it's time to lock-in."
After they'd taken a seat together on Stacie's chair, Gail clapped her hands and looked at the remaining guys. "Five down and five to go, we're halfway there guys!"
It took everything within her not to groan. They'd been at this for hours and were only halfway done.
"Next up is Tom!"
Beca could appreciate Tom's all-American good looks, studying him as he walked to the podium. He looked like he stepped out of the clean-cut, college quarterback handbook and fully understood why more than one of the women in the house had crushes on him.
Her brain's musings had her missing the idle chit chat between him and Gail, focusing back in when she asked the all-important question.
"Tom, who is your perfect match?"
Tom smiled, "My perfect match is Chloe."
Beca laughed at Chloe's surprised look, knowing the pair hadn't had a conversation yet. She watched the redhead walk up to stand beside Tom, admitting they made a good-looking couple. Then again, the house was full of attractive people who all made good looking couples, so she probably shouldn't be so surprised.
"Chloe, you looked shocked that Tom picked you." Gail had perfected the art of posing a statement like a question.
Chloe chuckled, "Tom and I haven't said more than hello to each other since we arrived, so yeah I was a little bit surprised when he said my name."
Tom shrugged, "I mean she definitely caught my eye from day one, but she's been uh… a little preoccupied with Luke."
Luke rolled his eyes, calling out, "Don't expect an apology!"
Tom shook his head, ignoring the blonde. A look at Gail told Beca the woman might start drooling at the thought of finally capturing some tension on film. Unfortunately for her, nothing came of it and she was forced to move on.
"Tom, Chloe, it's time to lock-in."
Beca watched them go through the motions of locking in their match and returning to the chairs, wondering if they could press fast-forward on the remaining pairings.
"Bumper!"
"Oh boy," Theo whispered, echoing the thoughts inside Beca's head.
"You're not wrong," Beca mumbled back, waiting for this train wreck to unfold.
It turned out they were both wrong, as Gail didn't give the man a chance to cause any problems.
"Bumper, who is your perfect match?"
Beca held in a laugh at his slightly put out look at not getting asked a question but recovered quickly as he spun around the ladies.
"Gail, my perfect match is Kommissar."
The blonde rolled her eyes as she got to her feet, striding confidently up to stand beside him. Beca personally agreed with her, not seeing the match there at all.
Gail eyed them suspiciously, asking, "Kommissar, you don't seem particularly convinced this is a match."
"It would be an opposite's attract situation for sure," the blonde replied stiffly, keeping an inch or two of space between her and Bumper.
"Bumper, why did you pick Kommissar?" Gail asked curiously, unable to help herself.
Bumper looked at the taller woman beside him, answering, "I'm kind of an asshole most of the time, so I think you guys would match me with someone who would complement that and help keep me in line."
Beca glanced around to see plenty of surprised reactions at his logical answer, glad she wasn't the only one who believed him incapable of that level of composure and intellect.
"Also she scares me and she's hot as hell."
Jesse's voice was heard over several groans, "And there it is."
Beca laughed, completely agreeing with his reaction as Bumper and Kommissar locked in and sat down.
Theo mumbled under his breath, "Please don't break, please don't break… we're on a roll…"
CR strode forward announcing, "Okay we're gonna break for an hour. The newest couples will immediately get their private interviews done. For everyone else there's a catered table outside that way," she pointed in the opposite direction from where they were conducting the interviews. "Take a walk, get something to eat, do whatever you gotta do. When we come back we're shooting straight through until we're done."
"Guess I can't be mad anymore if they're gonna hold us hostage after this break," Beca sighed, slowly rising to her feet and feeling her joints protest with stiffness.
Theo didn't answer right away, though he looked equally unhappy. "Let's just get some food and hope we wake from this nightmare.
"Everyone get where you're supposed to be! Come on, move, let's go!"
Beca quickly returned to her chair, making sure she was sitting on Theo's left like she had been the entire night. The break was helpful, but now they were back and ready to finish the night shoot. Gail resumed her post in front of everyone, her gaze directed at CR somewhere behind the cameras before looking back at the remaining four guys.
"Next up is… Luke!"
Beca looked around as he walked up to the podium, having no idea who he was going to pick.
"Luke, how did you feel when you and Chloe found out you weren't a match?"
He shrugged, answering, "I mean I was disappointed. She's an amazing woman and I thought we were really vibing. But there are plenty of gorgeous ladies here and one of them is my match."
His words were met with cheers and claps from the women, Beca participating in support of her friend.
Theo grinned, asking, "Should I be worried?"
Beca rolled her eyes, "Just friends. You should be more worried about DJ winning me over with his amazing food."
"Noted, I'm a god-awful cook," Theo mused, not looking the least bit concerned. "Are you a jealous person?"
Beca shook her head, "No, not really. You?"
"Not at all."
His confident answer actually made him seem a little bit more attractive to her, not finding jealousy sexy at all. Gail's voice drew her attention back to the podium.
"Luke, who is your perfect match?"
Luke reached up and scratched the back of his head, finally saying, "My perfect match is Flo."
There were more sounds of surprise as Flo got up to join Luke at the podium. As if showing mercy on them all, Gail didn't mention anything strange about the pairing.
"Luke, Flo, it's time to lock-in."
Beca watched them place their hands on the touchpad and then sit down together in the empty chair. Gail turned her gaze to the remaining pair of guys still standing.
"Zeke!"
The tall man strode to the podium, greeting Gail with a small smile.
"Zeke, you're down to two choices. How do you feel about that? Is your perfect match sitting there alone?"
Zeke shot her a more teasing smile, answering, "Of course she is, Gail."
"Confidence, I like it," Gail said cheekily. "Zeke, who is your perfect match?"
"My perfect match is Amy."
"That's Fat Amy, twig boy!" Fat Amy declared as she got up from her chair.
Aubrey stared at her in disbelief, asking aloud, "Wait, you started that? You actually call yourself Fat Amy?"
"Yeah, so twig bitches like you don't do it behind my back," came the shameless reply as Fat Amy walked over to join Zeke.
Gail had no words for that exchange, simply gesturing to the touchpad for them to lock-in.
And just like that, they were down to the last pairing of the night. Beca thought she might cry in relief at how close they were to being done.
"And that leaves Unicycle!"
Everyone cheered loudly as he made his way over to the podium, spinning around and taking a mock bow before ultimately facing Gail.
"Unicycle," Gail spoke as if it was a completely normal name and not an obscure nickname, "Who is your perfect match."
He proudly turned to gesture towards the only remaining choice. "My perfect match is the beautiful Lilly."
Everyone cheered loudly, making Beca all the more certain it had more to do with the fact the shoot was almost over and less to do with whether they thought the pair were a perfect match.
"Lilly, how do you feel about this match?" Gail asked, looking at the odd couple with an appropriate amount of skepticism.
Beca saw the girl's mouth move but couldn't hear any words come out, glancing at Theo for confirmation that he was in the same boat.
"Have you ever heard her speak?"
He shook his head, looking slightly unnerved.
Gail moved right past that speed bump, saying, "Unicycle, Lilly, it's time to lock-in."
Beca held her breath as they held their hands to the touchpad and then turned to take the only empty chair left.
"Holy shit, we made it. We made ten couples," Beca whispered. "We should win the money just for making it through this part."
She must have whispered loud enough for Stacie to hear because the woman replied, "Damn straight."
Beca bit her lip to keep from laughing out loud as the crew prepped for Gail to complete the ceremony, reminding herself not to do anything to fuck it up and keep them there longer.
"Okay, you are all locked in with your matches!" Gail announced, looking at the ten couples now seated in the chairs. "Everyone feeling good?"
That question received mixed answers, everything mumbled and nothing really sticking out in Beca's mind.
Gail drove the nail in a little deeper, asking, "Feeling one hundred percent confident with where you're sitting?"
This time, several negative replies rose above the general hum and chatter, which Beca agreed with. There was no way that the way they were matched up right now was right, but hopefully, they had at least a few.
"The matchup will reveal how many couples are correct, but not who those matches are," Gail said slowly, making sure she was being clear. "Behind me are ten beams of light."
As she said the words the beams lit up, starting pointed directly at them and moving until they were pointed straight up into the night sky. The group reacted appropriately, oohing at the display. Beca was just thankful they all worked and they weren't going to have to sit through another technical fix.
"Each beam represents a perfect match. One beam is one perfect match. Ten beams are ten perfect matches… and one million dollars!"
The reaction to the money was more subdued this time, the nerves clearly settling in at being about to find out how well their initial choices were.
"Okay, it's time to find out how many of you guys have chosen your perfect match," Gale said moving around to stand in front of the podium by herself. "Here we go."
Bumper shouted from the back row, "Let's do it!"
Beca glanced around briefly, eventually taking Theo's hand and squeezing it to try and release some of the tension that magically appeared throughout the room. It was palpable, only made worse by the way the lights dimmed down when Gail placed both hands to the touchpad.
"The number of perfect matches is…" she trailed off, as a few lights over their heads turned back on, probably for reaction shots.
They waited in limbo for what seemed like hours but was probably only seconds before a single beam lit up.
"There's one!"
Beca released the breath she didn't even know she was holding, thankful that they wouldn't be losing any of the prize money tonight. Cheers and clapping broke out around her, letting her know she wasn't alone in her relief.
"Hell yeah! No blackout tonight!" Luke cheered, reminding them that their total prize was still safe.
They didn't have to wait too much longer before a second beam of light shot into the sky.
"There's two!"
More cheers and smiles were passed around as the group started to gain confidence. The happiness faded a bit at the lack of a third beam.
"What about, like… more though?" Chicago voiced what everyone else had definitely started to think.
Suddenly all the lights came back on and a strange sound let them know they were definitely done.
"That's it, you guys. Two," Gail confirmed, stepping away from the podium and turned around to face them.
Beca's heart sank at the knowledge that they were not even close to finding the ten perfect matches, her feelings given sound by the loud groans echoing around the room. The disbelief and frustration was evident, the group realizing just how far they had to go.
Stacie looked disappointed, saying, "Two matches?"
Gail repeated herself loudly, probably for the benefit of the viewers, "Two out of ten."
Beca shook her head as Jesse mumbled "Wow" from somewhere nearby.
Aubrey's voice sounded out above the rest. "We are so off…"
Gail took over, stating again, "That's only two out of ten. And, you just blew one of your chances at love… and a million dollars." Then, as if literally flipping a switch, she said positively, "But remember, your perfect match is here. You just need the find them."
Beca sighed, knowing that with only two beams the likelihood that she and Theo were a match just got a hell of a lot smaller.
Gail finished up the evening by directing them, "Head back to the house… have a good night."
They glanced around at the crew who was gesturing wildly for them to get up and exit the way they had all entered so many hours earlier. Beca got to her feet, hearing a few claps and some encouraging notions from the group.
"Come on, guys, don't worry… we can do better," Benji said, his tone hopeful.
Chloe jumped on his bandwagon, agreeing, "Totes! Next time will be better."
Just when Beca thought they'd escaped for good, CR appeared in front of them. "I need five volunteers to stay back and give a few reaction shots to the first matchup ceremony and only getting two beams. Choose or I will choose for you."
Not needing any more motivation, Chloe, Benji, Emily, Chicago, Stacie, Jesse, and Donald all immediately volunteered, as if to make sure they had enough people to stay behind. The rest of the group sighed gratefully and continued on the path, eventually joined by Jesse and Stacie to leave the remaining five at CR's mercy.
They made the journey back to the house in relative silence, all contemplating exactly how they were going to figure this puzzle out. When they reached the back door and filed inside one by one, Beca felt all the exhaustion hit her at once. A look around told her she was not alone.
Aubrey voiced what everyone was thinking. "Let's go to bed. We're not gonna figure this out tonight."
Beca nodded in agreement, unsure they were going to figure it out at all.
A/N: Massive shoutout to the best beta ever, Arsto, who proofed this entire chapter in a few hours so we could post it tonight. #hero
Hope you guys enjoyed this one! The remaining chapters will follow this general format of challenge, date/truth booth/matchup ceremony as the search for their perfect matches continues.
Thank you for all the favs, follows, comments, and support!
Both Arsto and I are very excited to be working on this story, but unfortunately we can't commit to a timeline for updates due to the length of the chapters.
