The One Where Love is Blind
A/N: So what had happened was... my husband gave me the flu. So it's his fault. He had it for two weeks and I managed to not get it, and just when he was feeling better it hit me. I was THIS close to not getting it. But I did, and it knocked me out good.
I finally started feeling better after two weeks of misery, Arsto set me up with this chapter outline, and I was determined to bang it out in time to resume our usual Sunday updates. Except SURPRISE! It's still Saturday. Our gift to you all for your patience and understanding.
It was late by the time most of the group woke up after the matchup ceremony, the alcohol flowing well past the time the sun rose into the sky. Beca eventually found herself out in the backyard near the pool with a bottle of water and a breakfast sandwich, desperately waiting for the aspirin to kick in and relieve her of her pounding headache. Luke was seated beside her on the grass looking equally worse for wear, a few bites already missing from his bacon, egg, and cheese biscuit.
"They know we only get love and money if we're alive at the end of the show, right?" Luke groaned, laying flat on his back after abandoning his breakfast.
It took her a minute to process a response, eventually answering, "I think so. We're all gonna need liver transplants if we keep going at this rate."
Luke sighed, reaching up to rub his head. "Except Benji and Emily. They didn't even drink that much while they were in the house. Is it weird not having them around?"
"A little bit," Beca thought, taking another sip of water. "I don't know, I didn't talk to them a whole lot. It'd be weirder if you left… or DJ… or Chloe."
"Ugh, don't talk to me about Chloe."
Beca glanced at him, raising her eyebrows. "Why's that? I thought you didn't like her?"
Luke glanced at her, "I don't… I mean, not like romantically. She's super cool. But she's still all starry-eyed over Chicago and he hooked up with Calamity again last night."
"Seriously?" Beca rolled her eyes, unable to contain her frustration. She felt like she was doing well hiding her feelings for Chloe, but it irritated her to no end the fact that the redhead seemed to be growing closer to Chicago.
Beca knew she had no right to feel that way, that Chloe didn't share her attraction and was here to find her perfect match in one of the guys, but now that she had acknowledged her feelings Beca knew there was no turning back. She would just shove everything way down deep and get through the rest of the show and return to her life and try to forget most everything about the whole experience. Yep, that sounded like a great plan and she was sticking to it.
"Yeah…" Luke trailed off, now looking over at the house. "I know Chloe doesn't know… there's no way she'd still be into him if she knew he was sleeping with someone else."
Beca shook her head, "How does she not know? How does the entire house not know for that matter? It's not like we can really have secrets from each other."
"No clue," Luke answered, grabbing his sandwich. "They're being a little sneaky about it, but not THAT sneaky. Anyways, how are you doing after that whole Theo fiasco?"
"Fine," Beca answered honestly, finally digging into her breakfast despite it being dinner time. "I think I always knew something wasn't quite right with him."
Luke glanced at her curiously, "Really? The whole house had you two pegged as a perfect match."
"I mean I was starting to think it could be," Beca replied, "But it's hard to explain… I was holding back and I didn't know why. He was great, but something was missing."
"I thought you guys were just taking it slow… a la Ben and Emily," Luke joked. "Figured there was some reason why you two weren't banging all over the house like Stacie and Tom."
Beca scrunched her face up at the thought, not finding it pleasant at all. "Dude… gross."
Luke laughed, falling back onto the grass. "I mean if you didn't want to sleep with him I'd say that's a pretty clear sign. Were you even attracted to him?"
"Yeah, a bit," Beca shrugged. "He's good looking and in shape… I'm not blind."
After a moment, she added, "It was something else."
"Or someone else."
Beca froze, glancing over at him only to find Luke's eyes closed, relaxing a bit. "I don't know."
"All I'll say is that if you aren't into Jesse you better let him know now," Luke commented, his eyes still closed. "That dude is super into you."
"Oh, yeah… I know," Beca sighed. "We've already talked. I told him I only see him as a friend, and he took it well. We're gonna be friends. I think he's going after Aubrey."
Luke nodded, but didn't answer as he finally opened his eyes and sat up to finish off the last of his biscuit. They sat in comfortable silence for a few minutes, Beca's heart dropping as Chloe appeared through the back door. She spotted the pair of them, eyes lighting up at the sight and immediately made her way over to join them.
"This spot taken?" Chloe asked cheerfully, sitting down on the grass to complete the triangle.
Beca shook her head, eyes looking hesitantly at Luke who was avoiding making eye contact with Chloe. She realized just how much he cared about the redhead, and that not telling her about Chicago and Calamity was seriously weighing on him.
"Nope, all yours," Beca answered, shooting the redhead a tentative smile.
Chloe sat down, eyeing the two of them carefully. "I feel like I just interrupted something. What were you two talking about?"
Luke finally glanced at Chloe, saying, "I was forcing Beca to talk about Theo… just making sure she was okay after all that shit went down."
"Are you okay?" Chloe's concerned gaze trained intently on her was almost too much, and Beca quickly nodded.
"Yeah, I'm good," she said, taking another sip of water. "I was telling him I think I always knew something was off."
Chloe's expression turned interested. "Really?"
"Something was holding me back," Beca shrugged.
Luke repeated his earlier phrase, grinning, "Or someone. Come on Bec, don't be shy. We're all friends here."
Beca flushed red, wanting nothing more than to not have this conversation around Chloe who was looking more and more curious.
"If there's anything to tell you'll be the first to know," Beca replied, hoping to pacify him.
Chloe studied her, asking, "Is there someone else you're into?"
Beca glanced at her, allowing herself one moment to appreciate how gorgeous Chloe was. "No… not really," she answered. "I'm not sure how the rest of the time here is gonna go for me."
"I'm sure you'll find someone, Bec," Chloe's tone was positive and her smile supportive. "I mean, I didn't think Chicago and I would get along at all, but he's actually really sweet."
Luke abruptly stood up at that, commenting, "I'll let you ladies have some girl talk. I need some more water anyways."
Chloe didn't seem to mind Luke leaving, nodding and giving him a small wave.
Beca hesitated, finally asking, "You… you really like him?"
"Yeah, I do," Chloe answered thoughtfully. "He's different than I thought he would be once I started getting to know him."
Beca didn't answer, feeling like she was just punched in the stomach. She knew she needed to be supportive, the way Chloe had supported her when she was spending most of her time with Theo. It wasn't Chloe's fault she had these feelings, and it wasn't fair to take out her frustration and disappointment on her friend.
"You don't like him."
Beca snapped her head up to meet Chloe's gaze. "I didn't say that."
"You didn't have to," Chloe replied, a small smile on her face. "I know he's a little rough around the edges and a little… blunt at times, but he's a good guy."
"I just… I don't think he's right for you," Beca finally said, looking around the yard for anything to distract her from this conversation. "You're right, I don't like him and I don't think he's your match."
Chloe's smile faded a bit, making Beca feel worse. "I think he could be my match… and at least he's trying with me. He's the only one who's showing he's interested in getting to know me and he seems to genuinely want to pursue me."
Beca didn't answer, feeling the slight bite to Chloe's words. This conversation was going horribly and she needed it to be over five minutes ago. Luke had the right idea to escape, and it was taking everything inside of Beca not to tell Chloe exactly what Chicago had been up to and exactly what she thought of him.
Forcing a smile to her face, she got to her feet and finally said, "If you like him then I'm happy for you." After a second, she added, "I'm gonna grab a drink. I'll talk to you later."
Beca left Chloe looking some combination of sad, hurt, and confused, feeling like a total jerk but needed to put some space between them. Dealing with her feelings for Chloe was proving to be much harder than she thought.
Beca shuffled along with a few others into the living room and found a spot on the couch between Donald and Luke, glancing up at CR who was waiting impatiently beside the television. Challenge days were not her favorite at all, and she wasn't excited that they'd been informed to dress in athletic clothes and sneakers. It reminded her of their first obstacle course challenge and Beca didn't need to be told that coordination was not one of her skills.
"What do you think we're doing today?" Donald asked, nudging her shoulder gently. "You guys had the last challenge so it's probably on us today."
"I hope so," Beca sighed, "I'm not excited about forced activity."
Luke chimed in, "It's bribery. If you win, you get to leave the house. Worth it, right?"
Beca shrugged, "Yeah, because that worked out SO well for me."
"I mean… at least you found out sooner rather than later that Theo's a jackass," Donald mused, scooting closer to her to make room for Lilly to sit on his other side.
Luke nodded in agreement. "Truth."
"Okay, can I have everyone's attention!" CR's voice cut through the conversations happening around the room, silence falling immediately. "Good. Okay, today is challenge day. Everyone is going to participate, but it's mainly for the gentlemen. We've set up an area in the backyard for the challenge. You will pair up, the ladies will be tied to stakes on one side of the area while the boys will be across from them and blindfolded. Ladies, you'll have to direct your partner to wherever you are, they'll untie you, and then you lead them back to the starting line and ring the bell. First three couples to ring the bell will win the challenge and the getaway date. Got it?"
Beca muttered to Luke, "No, I have so many questions."
"Why do we have to be tied up?" Aubrey asked, looking unhappy.
"It's an additional challenge for the boys to have to untie you while still blindfolded. They cannot take off the blindfold for the entire challenge, or they'll be disqualified," CR answered, her stoic expression in place.
Bumper asked, "How am I supposed to undo knots while blindfolded? That seems impossible."
CR rolled her eyes at him, "Your partner can help you… you can be intuitive about it… you can just give up and not win the challenge… whatever you do is up to you."
Before anyone could ask another question, CR announced, "Okay, that's enough questions. I'll be back in a few minutes when Gail is in position and we're ready for you."
With that, she strode quickly out the back door leaving the group in momentary silence.
"Did you hear her? We get to pick our partners," Aubrey's voice was excited. "This is our chance to control who goes into the Truth Booth tomorrow. We could get back to back perfect matches."
"She's right, we need to be smart about who we partner up with," Chicago nodded, backing up the blonde.
"So, we definitely want Tom and Stacie," Bumper said, looking around the room. "But everyone else is kinda a toss up."
"Lilly and I are a match," Donald said, sounding frustrated. "You guys have to trust us."
"Fine, whatever," Chicago said, brushing him off. "You and Lilly partner up. Chloe and I will as well."
Beca felt her stomach roll at the way Chloe smiled and nodded in agreement, wondering if she should have just told the redhead how shady he was.
"I think Beca and Theo should partner up," Unicycle added, shrugging at Beca's glare.
"No fucking way," Beca scoffed. "Why would you think that's a good idea?"
"Just because you guys fought doesn't mean you aren't a perfect match," Unicycle argued. "You two were one of the strongest couples in the house and it wouldn't be the worst thing to know if you two are a match."
"Well too fucking bad because I'm not partnering up with Theo for this challenge," Beca retorted, crossing her arms over her chest. "I already told Luke I'd partner with him."
"Oh yeah, because that's really helpful," Chicago replied sarcastically. "You two are definitely not a match."
Luke didn't let her down, raising his voice slightly as he said, "Says who? Beca and I get along great. Maybe we are a match."
"You two have about as much sexual chemistry as that camera over there."
"Sorry if I'm not taking your opinion on sexual chemistry very seriously," Luke shot back, his tone full of warning.
Beca bit her lip, noticing the confused look on Chloe's face. She was almost begging the redhead to figure it out on her own, but it didn't seem like she was going to be that lucky.
"This isn't getting us anywhere," Fat Amy cut in, rolling her eyes at Luke and Chicago. "Man candy, if you think you and Beca might be a match… fine, partner up."
Luke immediately put his arm around Beca's shoulders and she leaned into him, doing her part to shut the rest of the room up.
Jesse spoke up, "I think Aubrey and I should match up. We've been connecting."
Aubrey nodded, shooting him a small smile. "What about the rest of you guys… any thoughts?"
Unicycle nodded, "Yeah, I'll match up with Kommissar. We did get four beams in our last matchup ceremony, but I doubt she and Bumper were one of them."
Kommissar shrugged, "Sure, why not."
Fat Amy replied, "I'll go with Bumper."
Before they could finish discussing the rest of the couples, CR returned. "Alright, let's go."
That effectively put a halt to the discussion as everyone rose from their seats and followed CR outside into the backyard. Beca looked around for the challenge area, quickly realizing it must be in a far corner away from the house.
"Okay, the challenge is set up in the same spot where the archery one was," CR explained, gesturing out towards the back of the yard. "It'll be the same opening sequence where you guys jog over to Gail. Look excited and happy about it being a challenge day. I'll give you the cue once all the cameras are set and ready to go."
Beca nodded along with the rest of the group, spreading out a bit from the tight cluster they'd been standing in for CR's instructions.
"I knew television was staged, but this has been eye-opening," Jesse commented from a few feet away.
Beca nodded, glancing at him. So far he'd been completely respectful of her decision to not want anything romantic with him, and since that particular obstacle had been removed she found him to be funny and someone she could seriously see being friends with.
"Yeah, I know what you mean," she agreed. "Makes me realize why actors always tell people never to get into acting. Can you imagine doing this over and over for a living? I'd go insane."
Jesse replied, "I couldn't do it. Although my dream job is to score movies, so maybe that's not all that different?"
Beca glanced at him in surprise. "Really? I didn't know that… that's pretty cool. I think it's different."
"Yeah," Jesse smiled. "I mean, you kinda avoided me for the whole time in the house until now, so…" his barb didn't hold any real heat, and Beca knew it was the truth.
"Yeah yeah, I'm a jerk, we all get it," Beca sighed dramatically.
Jesse laughed, "Only a little bit. But I see where you're coming from… I could see us being really good friends even after this craziness is over."
Beca could hear the sincerity in his voice, thinking for the first time that this experience was actually going to change her life… just maybe not in the initial way she anticipated. Whether she ended up with her perfect match or not, she'd met some amazing people that she wanted to stay in touch with after the show ended. First on the list was exploring expanding her bar and potentially seeing if Donald was any good as a chef.
"Hey! We're rolling!"
CR's frustrated yell had them all looking around to locate her, knowing at least some of them had missed the cue.
"Sorry!"
"My bad…"
CR called out, "We'll go again in thirty seconds! Get ready!"
Beca shot Jesse a slightly guilty grin, watching him fight back his laughter at the lead producer's frustration with their group so early in the shoot.
"Stop it," he chastised, trying to compose himself. "Don't make us have to redo this shot over and over because of me."
Beca chuckled at that and took pity on him, looking at the rest of the group to clue her in to when to move. When the people towards the front started jogging she fell into step, trailing slightly behind knowing they liked to have small gaps so everyone was seen.
Thankfully they didn't have to reshoot their entrance, miraculously getting all the angles they needed on the first try with Gail enthusiastically welcoming them to the area with open arms.
"Hey guys! How're we doing today!"
They all responded with a chorus of "Good!"
"Awesome," Gail replied, her perfect smile in place. "Still riding that high of four beams at the last matchup ceremony?"
"We're feeling good, Gail," Bumper answered, the rest of the group nodding along. "Four beams felt great."
"I bet," Gail agreed. "Let's keep that momentum going."
They all clapped and cheered, Beca following along doing her best to look positive.
"Alright you guys, it's time for our next getaway challenge!"
That led to more cheering, this time more enthusiastically with the reward being a day out of the house. Beca knew how important these challenges were, but this time she honestly wasn't sure she wanted to win. After her last getaway date experience, she thought staying the house and keeping a low profile might be her best option.
"Communicating and working together under stress are important parts of a relationship," Gail began, Beca glancing around as a few people murmured in agreement. "This challenge is going to put both of those abilities to the test. I'm calling this challenge… Blinded By Love!"
The group had mixed reactions after already getting the information about the challenge from CR, some laughing and others groaning at the title of their challenge.
"Here's what we're going to do… You will pair up into couples. The ladies will be tied to those stakes over there," she explained, gesturing to one side of the yard. "Gentlemen, you will be blindfolded and placed at the starting line over there," she continued, pointing to the opposite side of the challenge area. "Ladies, you'll need to direct your partner across this grid around the random obstacles in the way until they reach you, untie you, and then it's your job to lead them back to the starting line and ring that bell."
Beca glanced at a bell with a string attached to a pole at the starting line. The obstacles were simply more stakes panted randomly between the two sides.
"The first three couples to ring the bell will win the getaway date!"
The group cheered at the mention of the date, knowing full well by now what was expected of them during Gail's speeches.
"Now, you guys are partnering up for this challenge and you know how important that is… because who you partner with here is who you could be standing next to in the Truth Booth," Gail reminded them, probably unaware of the whole planning session they'd had thirty minutes ago. "The Truth Booth is the only way to validate whether or not a couple is a perfect match. This choice is crucial, you guys… so choose wisely."
After a moment of silence, CR called out, "That's great, Gail! Great job. Okay, we're gonna have a little footage of you guys deciding who to pair up with, so pretend like you aren't sure and didn't just plan it all out inside."
Beca laughed at the few surprised looks, knowing by now that CR knew everything that happened in the house about as fast as it occurred. She had to admit she was impressed at the level of control the producer had over this massive operation.
"Alright, let's go!"
The group looked around sizing people up.
"Aubrey, we got this," Jesse said, making the first move to call out a couple and stepped over to stand beside the blonde.
Luke and Beca locked eyes and nodded, also moving to stand beside each other. The rest of the group followed suit, moving around into position until there were nine couples ready to start the challenge.
Gail waited patiently and resumed talking once they were set. "Alright guys, we've got nine couples. Awesome. Okay, let's be honest… is anyone a little nervous for this one?"
"Yeah, I'm worried Bec is gonna run me straight into all those poles," Luke joked, his arm settling comfortably around Beca's shoulders.
"Don't worry, I'll protect your pretty face," Beca quipped back, the group laughing at her joke.
"I'm not nervous at all Gail," Stacie called out confidently. "These guys need to be reminded every once in a while who's really in charge."
Tom deadpans, "I don't need to be reminded. I'd have to be allowed to forget to need a reminder."
Gail joined in with everyone else, laughing lightly at the banter. "Alright, well that settles that. Gentlemen, let's get those blindfolds on. Ladies, let's get you tied up and see how well you give directions."
After that line crew members swarmed in with rope and blindfolds, getting everyone ready and in place to begin the challenge. Beca rolled her eyes as an assistant tied her to one of the poles, wondering how long it would take for Stacie or Fat Amy to comment.
"Never thought my first time on a pole would be tied to it," Chloe commented from beside her, making Beca's eyes widen comically.
"Nice, Chlo!" Stacie called out appreciatively from a little ways down the line.
Kommissar on Beca's other side added, "This is going to be so great. I hope all of them face plant at least once."
Beca laughed at that, asking, "Are you going to make Uni run into a pole on purpose?"
"No…" the blonde trailed off suspiciously. "What? It'd be great television. They'd probably reward me."
"Tempting," Beca replied, a smile still on her face. "Oh man, they lined them up all over the place."
It was true, the boys were definitely not lined up opposite of their partner, making the challenge that much more difficult.
"It's all going to be chaos anyways when it starts and we all start screaming at them," Chloe sighed, shifting her weight from one foot to the other. "I'm not even sure I want to go on this date."
Beca glanced at her, asking, "Why not? I thought you and Chicago were hitting it off."
"We are," Chloe replied, shrugging, "But then we might get voted into the Truth Booth and I don't want a repeat of that experience. It was weird."
"But you wanted me to do it?" The words were out of her mouth before she could stop them, freezing as Chloe looked at her surprised.
"Who told you that?"
Beca backpedaled, "No one. It's nothing. Forget I said anything."
Chloe's mouth formed a line, looking something between upset and guilty. Before she could say anything, CR announced they were ready to begin shooting.
Kommissar muttered, "You two better sort out your shit. That was awkward as fuck."
"There's nothing to sort out," Beca whispered back, thankful that Chloe was looking in the other direction at something Aubrey was saying.
Gail stood off to the side to commentate on the off chance she could be heard over the shouting that was about to ensue. "Okay, guys are you ready?"
The group shouted back "Yes!" Beca focused her gaze on Luke who was currently coiled like he was about to take off sprinting despite the blindfold. Swallowing, she readied herself and waited for Gail to start the challenge.
"Go!"
Chaos. Pure and utter chaos. Before Beca could even say a single word, Luke sprinted directly ahead into one of the poles and ended up on the ground. Thankfully he'd his arms in front of himself to block obstacles, but it didn't keep Beca from bursting out laughing at how ridiculous he looked.
All of the guys were approaching the challenge differently, while most of the girls were shouting directions at the top of their lungs. The exception was Lilly, who's voice was already so quiet that Beca felt bad knowing Donald had zero chance of finding her without an absurd amount of luck.
Stacie and Fat Amy's voices could be heard above the rest, but only Tom seemed to be listening to the instructions. He was taking measured steps with his hands out in front of him as well, but Stacie's clear instructions had him cross the area first and begin untying her from the pole. Beca did hear a clear, "You can tie me back up later" from the tall brunette, nodding as that was more along the lines of what she expected.
The rest of the guys were a mess. Donald and Luke were now doing amazing matching impressions of zombies, Bumper was clearly confused by whatever Fat Amy was screaming at him, Theo was frowning and continuously bumping into Chicago despite their targets being on opposite ends of the line, and Jesse was simply standing still with his head cocked to the side as if he couldn't pick out Aubrey's voice from the seven screaming women who were all growing increasingly more frustrated with their chosen partner.
Beca tried to call out to Luke but he clearly couldn't hear a word she was saying as he started in the wrong direction, making her want to facepalm over and over again. Beside her, Chloe wasn't having much better luck, however on her other side Kommissar had managed to get Uni most of the way there before running him straight into the last pole of the bunch. Beca glanced at the blonde who was laughing and telling him to get up, pretty confident she'd done that on purpose.
The nightmare continued for Beca, now watching Luke walking back towards the starting line instead of towards her, feeling oddly reminiscent of the boat challenge where she wish three people would just win already so it could end. A bell ringing enthusiastically told her that Stacie and Tom finished first, which also basically sealed up who would be entering the Truth Booth so nothing else mattered. Unicycle was working on freeing Kommissar, and at the opposite end of the line she could see that Theo had arrived and was also working on the knots holding Flo back. That was a couple that still seriously confused her, but she didn't have time to think about it now.
"LUKE! TURN YOUR ASS AROUND!" Beca yelled at the top of her lungs, now able to be heard as it quieted down with more people closer to being rescued.
It caused a whole new laughter meltdown as Luke immediately froze and spun slowly around until he was facing the right direction and Beca yelled out again, "STOP! OKAY, MOVE!"
Beca wasn't sure how many poles he'd run into at this point, but it was enough to make him move extremely slowly with his hands waving around in front of him. She was almost in tears laughing at his expression, clearly sharing her opinion of needing the challenge to be over… or to have never taken place.
"BEC! YOU'RE THE FUCKING WORST!" Luke yelled back at her as his hands bumped into another pole.
Beca leaned over laughing, unable to say anything in response as she could see Kommissar and Flo leading Uni and Theo back towards the bell at the starting line.
"Thank fucking God," Beca gasped as they took turns ringing the bell, officially ending the challenge.
Gail yelled out, "That's it! We have our three winners!"
The rest of the guys immediately removed their blindfolds, no one else even coming close to challenging for the top three spots. Luke and Jesse were still in the middle of the course, Donald was on the wrong side of the line, and the rest had either just reached their partner or gotten stuck on the knots.
Luke ripped his blindfold off and glared at Beca. "Do you have any idea how many times I ran into a pole? There aren't even that many out here!"
Bea nodded, gasping for breath. "You ran into the same one like three times," she informed him, Luke clearly not appreciating her contribution.
"I'm leaving you tied to that pole."
"Kinky," Beca retorted, knowing he didn't mean it as he'd already walked over and begun to work on the knots.
Beca glanced to the side to see Chloe looking them, though the redhead looked away when their eyes met. Her expression had seemed like a mix of disappointment and confusion, which Beca chalked up to losing the challenge. She knew Chloe had probably wanted that getaway date with Chicago, but unfortunately the guy joined the Army instead of the Navy and couldn't get the knots untied. Secretly Beca was thrilled, making a mental note to joke about it later with Luke who freed her in seconds while Chicago was still struggling with the knots.
Beca decided to put Chloe out of her misery, stepping over and saying, "Here, I'll do it."
Chicago rolled his eyes, "I got it."
Beca held her hands up, trading glances with Chloe before shrugging, "Sure, okay dude. Whatever."
She turned around and fell into step with Luke, who nudged her shoulder curiously. "Why would you want to help him?"
"Chloe, not him," Beca scoffed, the idea of voluntarily helping Chicago not a pleasant one.
Luke hummed, "Ah, okay. Got it."
Beca felt her heartbeat pick up in her chest, wondering, "What do you mean?"
Luke glanced at her for a moment, as if deciding what to say. "I get it," he said slowly, holding her gaze.
"I don't know what you're talking about," Beca replied, rolling her eyes for effect.
Luke laughed, "Okay, sure. Well, when you do, I'm here for you."
Beca held her breath, wondering how he could have possibly figured it out. Something in her just knew though, and she also knew that having a friend who understood what she was struggling with would only help her survive the rest of this show.
"Thanks."
They reached the starting line where CR was gathering everyone for Gail's wrap up and ending explanation, falling into silence while they waited for everyone to assemble.
"Okay, everyone get set. Let's try to wrap this up quickly. This shoot has gone well, let's finish strong," CR said, sounding encouraging for the first time in Beca's recent memory.
Gail nodded, smiling confidently at the group. "You guys have fun with that challenge?"
The group shrugged and the blonde host laughed. "Not one of my favorites from the season so far, but the viewers will get a kick out of you guys stumbling around blindfolded. It'll be worth it."
Beca grinned at the disgruntled looks on most of the guys faces. One of her favorite things on the show was when Gail reminded them that the host persona was all an act and she was actually a human with normal thoughts and feelings. Also, she was funny as hell.
Gail seemed to receive her cue from CR, nodding sharply before morphing her face into that television-ready mask.
"Well, that was certainly one of the more interesting challenges we've had so far," Gail commented, her tone good-natured as the group chuckled at her joke. "As you know, the first three couples to ring the bell will go on the getaway date. So, congratulations to Tom and Stacie, Unicycle and Kommissar, and Theo and Flo!"
Every clapped and cheered for the winning couples, some exchanging smiles in relief at having a solid couple to vote into the Truth Booth.
"You guys have won a fantastic day snorkeling with all kinds of ocean life, including sharks and sting rays!" Gail announced, adding, "Followed by a group dinner at an amazing restaurant right on the water."
The winning couples grinned excitedly, exchanging hugs and high fives with some of the others.
"The rest of you have an important job to do," Gail reminded them. "You have to vote one of these three couples into the Truth Booth, the only way to validate if you're a perfect match or not. So choose wisely."
Beca waited for her to dismiss them, but Gail clapped her hands together and kept on speaking.
"So you guys have made it to about the halfway point and I wanted to do something special to help you celebrate that," Gail hinted, smiling mischievously. "So tonight I'm throwing you all a Luau party on the beach to relax and just have a great time! Also, Benji and Emily will return from the honeymoon suite to party it up with you guys!"
Beca's jaw dropped at the announcement, figuring that there would never be any actual surprises on the show. CR or some other junior producer usually made sure they were briefed on anything and everything going on to avoid confusion and delays.
The group around her yelled and cheered excitedly at Gail's news, already anxious to get the party started.
"So guys, break out those Hawaiian shirts and everyone be prepared to get lei'd!"
"It's gorgeous and quiet and calm… we're having a good time so far getting to know each other better, but I do miss the craziness of the house a little bit."
Beca smiled as Emily sucked down a giant gulp of whatever fruity drink she was working on. She was glad that Emily and Benji were connecting well in the honeymoon suite, and couldn't think of a better couple to have been their first confirmed match. None of the other couples were really ready for that amount of one on one time, knowing it probably would have been a disaster to get a perfect match too soon in the game.
"That sounds amazing, Em," Aubrey said sincerely, clearly happy for the other woman.
Beca nodded in agreement, turning slightly away to look around the beach party Gail had thrown them. The host herself was nowhere in sight, but the cameras that had become so commonplace in her life she barely noticed them anymore were present. There was a DJ set up to one side and a bar on the other, tiki torches framing the area under a beautiful night sky. She'd been playing with the lei the bartender placed around her neck upon arriving all night, wondering if it was too soon to remove it.
She moved towards the bar, motioning to her empty glass as she left Emily, Aubrey, Chloe, Fat Amy, and Flo behind. The bartender traded her empty glass for a fresh pina colada, which weren't her favorite but apparently only fruity drinks were on the menu tonight. She was pretty sure Bumper and Fat Amy had weaseled a few shots out of the man earlier in the evening, but they weren't supposed to get hammered drunk tonight.
As she turned away from the bar to look back around the party, she saw Theo approaching her wanting to talk.
"Hey Bec," he started, looking as hesitant as he sounded. "Can we talk?"
Beca sighed, not wanting to talk to him at all. "No?"
She purposely posed her answer as a question, not wanting to be a complete asshole but also completely against having the conversation.
"I've been giving you space, but I really want to talk," Theo tried, maintaining a safe distance between them which she appreciated.
Beca scoffed, "Theo, it's been three days. That's not giving me space, that's a long weekend."
Theo held his hands up defensively, "Okay, that's fair. But also in this house three days is like a month. I just want to talk."
"HEY! BACK THE FUCK UP!"
Both their heads snapped to the side at the shout coming from so close, Luke striding over and wrapping his arm around Beca's waist. Theo eyed them carefully, unsure of exactly what was happening.
"Wait, are you guys actually…" he trailed off, looking at them in disbelief.
Luke's mouth formed a smirk. "That's right, so stay the fuck away from my girl. You had your chance, now man up and accept that Beca wants to be with me."
Theo didn't look entirely convinced, but simply nodded and turned away. Beca bit her lip and turned to hug Luke, burying her face in his chest to keep Theo from seeing her grin at his outlandish suggestion.
"Seriously? Your girl?" Beca muttered into his shirt.
Luke's voice murmured dryly from somewhere above her head, "Well I didn't think calling you my bro would have gotten the desired result."
"Oh my God, you're so stupid," Beca laughed, finally leaning back to look up at him.
"Fine, next time I won't save you from pining lover boy. See if I care."
Beca rolled her eyes, "Okay, stop being so dramatic." After a second, she said sincerely, "Thank you. I did appreciate the save."
Luke nodded, giving her another hug. "Anytime, dude. That's what friends are for. But uh, everyone is staring at us, so maybe we should split for a bit, yeah?"
Beca pulled away immediately and looked around to see that yes, almost everyone else was giving them some sort of stare, be it curious or stunned or disbelief. Her eyes instantly gravitated to Chloe, who's expression remained unreadable. It wasn't a happy one, that's for sure. Making up her mind, she shuffled over to the redhead.
"That was awkward," she opened, thankful everyone seemed to have gone back to whatever they were doing before Luke made a giant scene.
Chloe hummed, "I didn't realize you and Luke were actually together."
Beca's eyes went wide, glancing around to make sure they weren't too close to anyone else. "We aren't. He's just doing me a solid with Theo… in his own insane way."
"Didn't look that way to me," Chloe countered, a wry smile on her face.
"Because half the time I can barely keep from bursting out laughing," Beca retorted, rolling her eyes. "He's so ridiculous about it. But at the same time, it's weird because I'm really thankful to have him as a friend. It's nice to have someone who listens to me and cares about how I feel."
Chloe met her gaze, saying quietly, "I care about how you feel."
Beca paused for a second, unable to keep the desperation at bay for a moment for Chloe to mean that as more than a friend. Shaking herself out of it, she told herself that Chloe was just replying in context and knew that she needed to stop reading anything extra into the things Chloe said. It was only going to make things worse.
"Thanks," Beca answered. "I didn't think I would make friends here, so… that's pretty cool."
Chloe raised an eyebrow at her response, but before she could say anything Chicago appeared at her side and took her hand.
"Chlo! Let's dance!"
Beca's stomach dropped as Chloe turned to look at him, not waiting for the redhead to reply. "Have fun," she said, knowing the words didn't sound as genuine as she wanted them to and turned away from the couple.
She didn't want to see the pair of them out on the dance floor, smiling and laughing and having an amazing time. Instead she walked over to where Luke, DJ, and Lilly were chatting and slipped her arm around the blonde's waist, leaning into him comfortably.
Luke raised an eyebrow at her for a moment, a quick glance around making him settle immediately.
"You okay?"
"Yeah, Bec, Theo isn't giving you too many problems, is he? We'll beat his ass," Donald joked, though she could tell his concern was real.
Beca shook her head, "I appreciate it, DJ, but that won't be necessary."
Lilly added helpfully, "I know where to hide a dead body."
"See? We're totally set up for this," Donald grinned. "Lilly's favorite show is Dexter."
Luke deadpanned, "That's not creepy at all."
"I liked Dexter," Beca shrugged. "I didn't make it all the way to the end, but I enjoyed it… despite the whole killing people thing."
"He's a very complex character," Lilly nodded. "Then again, I've also seen every episode of The Bachelor, so…"
Beca chuckled at that, unable to watch that level of trash herself.
"Okay, we're going to get a refill," Donald said, gesturing at his and Lilly's empty glasses. "You two kids have fun without us!"
Beca rolled her eyes at that while Luke laughed, turning a little more serious once they were alone.
"You wanna talk about it?"
"About what?" Beca played dumb, sipping from her drink.
Luke nodded his head in the direction of the dance floor, Beca glancing over to see Chloe and Chicago dancing much closer together than she wanted to witness. Averting her eyes to meet Luke's, she shook her head.
"Nope, definitely not."
Luke hummed for a minute, finally saying, "For what it's worth, I don't think it's just you."
Beca rolled her eyes. "Don't be ridiculous."
"I'm not," he said, shaking his head. "Just a vibe, that's all."
Beca hesitated, wondering if keeping up this charade of denial was her best course of action. Luke clearly knew she had feelings for Chloe and was being very tactful in the way he addressed it, which was appreciated. That being said, the minute she admitted it out loud to someone else it would become so much more real. She was already having enough trouble keeping her feelings under control, admitting it to Luke, as supportive as he seemed to be, might be the last push to make her time around the redhead unbearable. Beca wasn't ready for that, to give up the last semblance of control and friendship and the ability to act like a normal human who wasn't crushing on a girl she only met a few weeks ago.
Making up her mind, she replied, "I appreciate it, really, but you're imagining it."
Luke held her gaze. "No, I'm not. But, if you're not quite ready to see it… or talk about it… that's okay. You don't have to say anything, Bec. It's complicated."
"Understatement," Beca muttered, unable to help herself.
Luke laughed, releasing all the tension of the moment. "It'll be okay. I have a feeling."
Beca smiled, "Yep. Soon this will be over and we'll all go back to our lives."
"Hopefully you'll still be in mine. You're my best friend in this house," Luke admitted. "I'm lost as to who my perfect match is, so I figure as long as you're cool with it we can keep kicking it together."
"Sounds like a plan to me," Beca nodded. "But you should try to get to know the others… they matched you up with someone for a reason."
Luke mused, "I was thinking that it's not the craziest thing to think we could be a perfect match. I mean the sexual aspect of it is all wrong with us, but we connect on every other level."
Beca shrugged, "Maybe. It's definitely possible, but something tells me no. I could do a lot worse than you, though," she added, shooting him a wink.
"Ditto."
Beca settled onto the swing on the back deck that had a good view of the pool and backyard, both spaces currently unoccupied as most of the group was still recovering from the Luau. While the couples going on the date today had to stay relatively sober since snorkeling while hungover or still drunk was discouraged, the rest had no such obligation and most were smashed at the end of the night. Beca didn't partake to that level but definitely downed more than one as the night went on and Chloe and Chicago got closer and closer. It was both painful and nauseating, the alcohol numbing her just enough to be distracted by Luke and Donald's takeover from the DJ to become a live show.
She desperately needed these few moments of peace and quiet, her feet gently pushing the swing back and forth with a light breeze feeling amazing on her face. The estate they were staying in was gorgeous and Beca hadn't taken enough time to appreciate that fact. It was such a crazy experience that sometimes the little things slipped through the cracks. She knew they were pushed and prodded to focus on finding their match and building relationships at every step and turn, but she also didn't want to take for granted the opportunity to experience a new place that had so much beauty all around. Who knows if she'd ever return to Hawaii anyways, especially the way this was all going… she might never want to come back by the end of the show.
"What's going on with you, lately?"
A soft voice broke her concentration, looking up to see Donald motioning beside her and nodded for him to sit down.
"What do you mean?"
Donald shrugged, "I don't know… you've just seemed off. Did that whole deal with Theo mess with you more than you wanted everyone to know?"
Beca sighed, knowing that was the easiest explanation and that it wouldn't lead to any further questions. "Yeah, a little. It wasn't so much that I thought we were gonna be together forever, it's more just what he said."
"I get that," Donald commented, his long legs taking over rocking them back and forth. "I mean, I work in the food service industry, which is close enough to bartending. He was a jackass to think about your job like that."
Beca bit her lip, deciding to come clean to Donald. "Well, it's a little more than that. I wasn't exactly honest with everyone about the whole bartender thing," she began, quickly continuing at his raised eyebrow, "I mean, yes, I'm a bartender… but I also own the bar."
His eyes went wide, exclaiming, "Oh shit! Becs! That's amazing! Well done." After a second, his expression turned understanding, "Oh, okay, I think I get it…"
Beca nodded, "Yeah, so when he suggested I could just bartender anywhere… that struck a nerve. My bar is special to me."
"I bet," Donald agreed. "He didn't know, though, right?"
"No, and he apologized when I told him," Beca admitted. "And I honestly believe he meant it… that he was sorry. But it was his whole way of thinking that was the nail in the coffin. That service jobs are somehow lower or lesser in some way. I could never be with someone who looked down on someone else for any reason, let alone the way they choose to provide for themselves."
Donald sighed, "I get that. I don't know if he really believes that… I do think he's a good guy. But, I respect that you don't want to be with him. If he keeps bugging you let me know."
Beca smiled at him, "Thanks, but I can handle him."
"Luke seems to be helping," Donald laughed.
"Luke's way of helping is to announce to the whole world that we're together," Beca rolled her eyes.
Donald shook his head, but he confessed, "I don't see it, but you two wouldn't be the weirdest match this show could come up with."
"No argument here," Beca replied, knowing it was true. "Bumper and Kommissar could still be a match."
"I'll believe it when I see it."
Beca chuckled, her laughter fading as Chloe and Chicago appeared through the back door and set off hand in hand across the yard. Feeling the tightening in her stomach, she stood up abruptly.
"I'm gonna go vote for the Truth Booth. Wanna join?"
Donald shrugged, "Sure. Why not?"
"So who'd you vote for?"
Beca glanced at Luke as he flopped down onto the couch beside her, the rest of the group slowly shuffling into the living room to shoot the Truth Booth sequence.
"Tom and Stacie. Do you actually think either of the other two couples has a shot at being a match?" Beca asked.
Luke shrugged, "No, but we clearly suck at this so who knows. Either way, we need to split Tom and Stacie up before they break the bed in the sex den."
Beca made a face at that statement. "Gross."
"Better them than Chicago and Calamity, I guess," Luke mused, leaning back against the cushions and closed his eyes.
"Wait, is that seriously still going on?" Beca looked down at her lap in disbelief.
Luke hummed in the affirmative, not bother to say anything else.
Beca shook her head, muttering, "Chloe deserves so much better than him."
"Agreed. I know an equally awesome person who also deserves someone better than the asshole she initially shacked up with," Luke grinned, eyes now open and looking at her.
Beca smacked his thigh, "Shut up. Seriously."
Luke shrugged and closed his eyes again. Beca knew he wanted her to tell him on her own terms but also knew the man was having fun poking and prodding it out of her. It would be infuriating if she didn't know he meant well, and also if it wasn't so true.
"Okay! Everyone get in here and find a seat!" CR's voice cut through the group's chatter, gaining everyone's attention. "The group date couples will be back in about five minutes and we'll get going. We've already had some issues today, so let's try and have this go as smoothly as possible."
Beca groaned at that news, leaning over so her head was on Luke's shoulder. "This is gonna take all night, isn't it?"
"Oh, for sure," Luke agreed, reaching up to pat her head. "There, there."
"You're such an asshole."
Luke laughed at her expression when she straightened back up to glare at him. "Yeah… maybe that's why I've never had a successful relationship and resorted to coming on this show."
Beca grumbled, "I'd believe it." After a second, she looked back at him, "Why did you come on this show? You're a good guy.'
"I have commitment issues," Luke admitted freely, seemingly not bothered by his problems. "And trust issues. It's a whole thing. I also do stupid things to avoid getting hurt."
"And now you're cured? Ready for love and your perfect match?"
Luke grinned, "Obviously. No, I still have stuff to work on, but I've been single for a year now and really want to change. Maybe the right girl will swoop in and make an honest man outta me."
Beca chuckled at that, replying, "Good luck with that if you keep going around announcing we're together."
"Whatever. Theo's a dick and I'd do it again to make him leave you alone." Luke didn't seem bothered by whatever impression they'd given off to the rest of the group. "Ugh, incoming."
Beca glanced up to see Chloe and Chicago walk into the room and find spots on the couch, his hand immediately going to rest on her knee.
"It's fine… I'm fine," Beca murmured, just barely loud enough for him to hear.
Luke whispered back, "Yeah, great, good for you… what about me? I might punch that guy square in the face if I get the chance."
"Violence isn't the answer," Beca quipped, though admittedly she'd like to see him give it a shot.
"It's an answer," Luke shot back.
Beca looked over at the couple, noticing that while Chloe was distracted by whatever Aubrey was saying on her other side, Chicago's eyes were locked on something a little to the right of her and Luke. She leaned forward to see Calamity sitting very close to Zeke, laughing softly at some joke he must have made. Everything clicked into place, Beca realizing that while she wasn't sure if Chicago actually had feelings for Chloe or not, he definitely still had feelings for Calamity.
Turning back to Luke, she whispered, "You think Calamity is the real problem behind all this bullshit?"
Luke didn't hesitate, answering, "Oh yeah, totally. I mean, she's definitely stringing Chicago along, I just can't stand him for lying to Chloe about it and for still sleeping with her while he's trying to… I don't even know, do whatever he's doing to get over her. It's crazy."
"Why did you sleep with her, then?" Beca asked curiously.
Luke rolled his eyes, "Because I was drunk off my ass and she's hot and was down. Sometimes it's not more complicated than that. I wish I hadn't done it though. That's the kind of shit that keeps getting me in trouble."
Beca nodded, having made enough stupid relationship decisions and hookups to avoid judging anyone else's actions.
They didn't hear the front door open, but all conversations stopped and morphed into greetings and cheers when the three couples returned from their date. Beca was glad to see they were all smiles, though some bigger than others, and that there didn't seem to be any lingering drama or fighting from the day.
Tom and Stacie seemed as enamored with each other as ever, making Beca feel confident in her vote to send them to the Truth Booth. They would definitely make a striking couple and she was totally fine with not having to see them making out all over the house for the rest of the show. They could take that shit to the honeymoon suite.
"Here we go," Luke muttered as Gail swept into the room and took up her usual spot beside the large screen displaying the photos of the three couples.
Beca nodded in agreement as CR moved to stand beside her, the group settling down fairly quickly at the sight of the two women.
"Thanks," CR said, nodding in appreciation when they all fell into silence on their own without having to be told. "Tonight should be a regular Truth Booth shoot. Nothing out the ordinary, so let's get started."
Gail waited for CR to give her the signal, opening up to the rest of the room to start off the shoot.
"Hey, guys! How're we doing tonight?"
The chorus back was jumbled but overall sounded positive.
"How was your Luau last night?"
More cheers answered that question, with a few answers shouted out.
"It was awesome, Gail!"
"Really fun!"
Gail smiled and nodded, "That's great! I'm glad you were able to let loose and have some fun. Now, we've got some business to attend to."
The room turned serious as Gail gestured towards the screen. "You had to choose one of these three couples to vote into the Truth Booth, the only way to determine whether or not a couple is a perfect match. It's time for the results."
Beca felt pretty confident about who would be going into the Truth Booth, not surprised when the screen flashed to reveal larger side-by-side photos of Tom and Stacie.
"Tom and Stacie!" Gail announced, turning back to face the room and gauge the pair's reactions. "How do you guys feel about this?"
Beca glanced behind her to see as well, happy that neither looked bothered at being chosen.
Tom answered, "We talked about it on our date… that we would probably be voted into the Truth Booth. I think we're both ready to find out if we're a match."
Stacie nodded in agreement, "Tom and I connect on a lot of different levels, so… I'm excited to find out if he is my perfect match."
Gail smiled, informing them, "Well, this vote was unanimous. Seems like everyone in the house recognizes the connection you two have and want to see if it's a match."
After a small pause, Gail continued, "Now remember, if you're a match you will leave the house and spend the rest of your time here in Hawaii together in the honeymoon suite… and take one more step towards that million bucks!"
The group clapped at Gail's words, despite knowing what was coming next.
"However, if you aren't a match you'll be right back here in the house and have used up another one of your chances to confirm a perfect match," Gail reminded them. "Tom, Stacie, it's time to head to the Truth Booth. Good luck!"
Beca clapped encouragingly along with the rest of the group as the pair walked out the back door, settling into the couch to wait for them to film all the in-between footage before the results were revealed.
Gail continued her usual speech, "Okay guys, you know by now that when they see the results in the Truth Booth… you will also see them at the same time on the screen here. Good luck, and I'll see you all tomorrow for the matchup."
There were a few nods and "Bye Gail's!" thrown at the host as she made her exit, most of the group starting up small conversations while they waited for the results to come in. It took about an hour before CR shouted to notify them the results were coming through.
Beca gripped Luke's knee, staring intently at the screen hoping to see good news. They wanted to keep the momentum going after their first perfect match last week. The screen flashed before revealing the black box across the photos blasting the words "NO MATCH!"
"No…" Aubrey trailed off, clearly disappointed.
"Fuck," Unicycle muttered, gently throwing the decorative pillow he'd been holding down onto the floor. "Fuck."
"Damnit," Zeke sighed, adding, "They're gonna be pissed."
"They're gonna ignore it and keep fucking anyways," Kommissar commented, Beca finding herself nodding in agreement. That was definitely the most likely outcome.
"Well, that's a bummer," Luke said, leaning back into the couch and rubbing his hands through his short hair.
Beca knew that Tom and Stacie had been their best shot at another perfect match out of any couple in the house, except maybe Donald and Lilly. Their confidence had started to rub off on her, now fully believing that the pair was a match. Convincing everyone else was still a work-in-progress, but she felt like they had a decent shot at winning a challenge soon. Lilly had a wide variety of skills… according to Donald, anyways.
Tom and Stacie walked back through the door after about thirty minutes, both looking dejected.
"Before any of you bitches say anything," Stacie started, holding up her hand. "Just don't fucking say anything."
Beca kept her mouth shut, watching the pair of them head off to the kitchen alone. They continued to have a quiet conversation amongst themselves, with none of the group seemingly interested in interrupting them.
Luke chuckled, "That's about right. Let them figure their shit out tonight and we'll deal with all this bullshit tomorrow."
"This is exhausting," Chicago sighed, shaking his head with disappointment. "If we don't get our act together we won't be leaving here with love or money."
"Guess we better get our act together then," Bumper replied, looking around the room, "Because I'm leaving here with both."
Beca murmured, "Well, if Bumper can do it…"
Luke laughed, agreeing with her, "Yeah, for sure. We've got this."
It was definitely the strangest day in the house so far, and Beca wasn't exactly sure what prompted it. As thankful as she was that it was the boy's turn to choose at the matchup that evening, all nine of them had gone off together early in the afternoon and shooed away any of the girls who tried to see what they were up to. The producers didn't seem to mind their actions and did nothing to discourage it, making Beca figure they must be up to something incredibly stupid… and therefore entertaining.
"They're gonna fuck it all up for us, aren't they?" Stacie sighed, leaning a little closer to the bathroom mirror to do her eyeliner.
"What the hell could they possibly be doing? This isn't some crazy puzzle… we got four matches last time so we're on the right track," Calamity added, frowning as she tried to decide between two different dresses.
"Whatever they're up to, they don't want us to know about it," Chloe said. "I tried to go outside by the pool earlier and Bumper told me to, "go the fuck away."
"Rude," Flo muttered, adjusting her flowy top.
Calamity shook her head, "If they make us blackout I'll kick all their asses."
"I'll help," Kommissar nodded, her tone serious.
"Me too," Fat Amy joined in. "It'll be way easier than that time I wrestled a kangaroo."
Beca snorted as the other girls exchanged dubious looks, Fat Amy not noticing the reaction to her statement.
"Okaaaay," Beca mumbled under her breath, standing up and stretching her arms over her head. "I'm out," she announced, leaving the room and headed downstairs to see if the boys were done plotting.
She entered the empty kitchen to discover the answer to that question was no, shaking her head frustratedly. The rest of the girls joined her within the next ten minutes, and she mixed up a pitcher of margaritas for them to sip on while they waited for the boys. It was another thirty minutes before the guys appeared downstairs dressed for the matchup, looking a mix of determined, annoyed, and pleased.
"What the fuck were you guys doing all day?" Calamity asked, crossing her arms over her chest.
"Strategizing," Unicycle replied, looking around. "Where are the matchup shots?"
"I'll get them," Zeke volunteered, circling the island to grab shot glasses from a cabinet.
Beca slid the tequila across the counter towards him. "It's all you."
Zeke made a right mess of pouring the shots, trying and failing to smoothly move the bottle along the row of glasses. Tequila went everywhere but no one seemed to mind, passing the glasses around quickly and raising them in the air.
"To a great matchup!" Chicago called out.
"To new strategies!" Bumper added, sounding positive.
"To actually making progress," Unicycle finished, clinking his glass with Bumper's before downing the shot.
Beca rolled her eyes and threw back the shot, using her margarita as a chaser which was way more effective than another tequila-based drink probably should have been.
Stacie paused with hers, toasting, "To all you idiots who are gonna make us blackout," before tossing her shot back.
The girls murmured in agreement, and Beca could only agree with Stacie. She had a bad feeling about this matchup already and only prayed that Donald and Lilly would save them from blacking out. They needed one other match besides Benji and Emily, and those two seemed confident they were one.
The walk to the matchup ceremony area was a slow one, with several low arguments happening over what the boys were keeping so secretive. It was clear some of the girls were not happy about being kept in the dark, but the boys were sticking together and everyone's lips were sealed. Beca found it all interesting, wondering if it was prompted by a producer or if the guys came up with it all on their own.
They reached the set and CR had them pause for a moment to make sure all the cameras were in position, signaling the ladies to walk in first and take their seats. She smiled as she passed Emily and Benji, already seated in one of the chairs on the bottom level waiting for them. Beca felt a lot of the tension leave her as she sat down in her chair, knowing that now her only job that evening was to sit and wait for her name to be called.
It took the guys several tries to get their entrance filmed to CR's satisfaction, a few of them looking even more frustrated than before by the time they were ready for Gail to begin speaking.
"Hi guys, welcome to your fifth matchup," Gail greeted them, her smile perfectly in place.
The group responded in kind, the host having grown on them over their time spent together.
"And let's welcome back Benji and Emily, your first confirmed perfect match!"
They all clapped and cheered at that, Benji and Emily blushing slightly as they smiled at the shoutout.
"How's the honeymoon suite been?" Gail asked, taking a moment to let them have the spotlight.
Benji grinned, "It's been amazing. We do kinda miss being around everyone in the house, but we've been really getting to know each other and connecting and it's been awesome."
Gail nodded as he answered, waiting for him to finish before saying, "That's what the honeymoon suite is all about. Congrats guys."
Benji and Emily both thanked her, his arm coming up to rest along the back of her chair as they settled in to watch the matchup.
"How are the rest of you feeling tonight? After this matchup, we'll be at the halfway point, so it'll be a great status check for you guys," Gail commented, looking around at the group.
"I think we're feeling good, Gail," Jesse answered, "The guys got together today and really strategized for this matchup ceremony. We're hoping to learn a lot tonight."
"Really," Gail sounded impressed. "I noticed you said the guys. The ladies weren't invited?"
"No, we weren't," Calamity called out, not impressed.
Gail seemed to sense the tension between the two sides, and Beca bit her lip to keep from laughing at the realization of what she'd so innocently stumbled upon.
"Zeke, the ladies don't seem too happy that you guys excluded them. What was your intention today?"
Zeke shifted a little, answering, "Gail, we were really trying to figure out how to gain the most information possible out of the matchup tonight without blacking out. If we keep picking the same people over and over, we're not going to win the money."
"Last time you guys got four beams," Gail reminded them. "Doesn't it seem like you're on the right track already?"
"It seems that way, but the matchup before that we went backward," Chicago chimed in. "We all put our heads together today to figure out the best strategy moving forward… and as much as we wanted to include the ladies, we're the ones picking tonight."
Beca clenched her teeth at his words, having a few choice retorts she'd like to shout over at him but decided to hold her tongue instead. Nothing good would come of it, and she'd already had enough little spats with him. Also, the only thing that would probably result from arguing with him is a pissed off Chloe, which was definitely something Beca was trying to avoid.
"Kommissar, what's going through your head hearing what the guys have to say?"
Beca half-turned to look at Kommissar, who was carefully considering her answer.
"We're going to blackout," she answered honestly.
Gail raised her eyebrows dramatically, making Beca once again appreciate her ability to raise the drama of a situation tenfold with simple actions and questions. Just like there was a reason that CR had produced the show for so long, there was a reason that Gail had hosted for an equally long amount of time.
"Boys? Any response to that?" Gail asked, tossing the ball back into their court.
"We'll let the beams do the talking, Gail," Unicycle called out, to nods and murmurs of encouragement from the rest of the guys.
"Well, I think that says it all," Gail wrapped up, her smile back in place. "Gentlemen, when I call your name you will come up here, choose your perfect match, and then the two of you will place your palms on the handprint touchpad and lock in as a couple. If all nine of you choose correctly, you'll all be leaving here with love and one million bucks!"
They shouted and cheered at that statement, trading smiles and grins around the room.
"But… if just one of you gets it wrong, then you're not ten for ten and you're heading back to the house tonight to keep figuring out why you're getting it so wrong." After a pause, she continued, "And if you fail to add any new beams, that is a blackout and your prize would instantly drop by two hundred and fifty thousand dollars."
There were more murmurs and groans and a few denials thrown out before they settled down and allowed Gail to keep moving forward.
"Let's get started," Gail said, clapping her hands together. "First up tonight for the guys is… Luke!"
Beca's heartbeat picked up a bit, wondering if she was about to be picked first. She knew if it were up to Luke he'd definitely pick her, but she wasn't sure if he was going to go along with whatever strategy the boys had decided on.
"Luke, how're you feeling about tonight?"
"Gail, I'm feeling great tonight," Luke replied, looking very relaxed as he stood in front of the podium.
"Are you on board with this strategy you guys have come up with?" Gail asked curiously.
"I think that a lot of good things were said today, but I don't agree with who they want me to pick tonight," Luke answered honestly. "Hopefully they aren't too upset with me, but I know who I'm picking."
"Fuck, come on Luke!" Unicycle called out, clearly frustrated.
"Sorry boys," Luke shrugged, turning back to Gail signaling he was ready to get on with the show.
Gail didn't disappoint, prompting him, "Luke, who is your perfect match?"
Luke grinned, spinning around to meet her gaze. "My perfect match is Beca!"
Beca couldn't help her smile, shaking her head slightly as she got up and walked to stand beside him at the podium.
"Interesting, you two were matched up last week as well when you guys got four beams," Gail commented, looking at the pair of them.
Luke nodded, "I think Beca and I could have been one of those beams, and she's the only person I want to be standing up here with tonight."
Gail gestured towards the podium saying, "Okay, Luke, Beca, it's time to lock in as a couple."
Beca reached out and placed her hand on the touchpad beside Luke's, watching the green bar scan up and down before the matching "LOCKED!"
Luke grinned and chivalrously offered her his elbow, easily slipping her hand through to grip his arm as they walked back to her chair.
"Happy you went first?" Beca whispered when they got back to her chair and were comfortably seated.
"Dude, I just saved you from having to sit next to Uni all night," Luke whispered back. "You owe me for the rest of this show."
Beca's face gave away how horrified she was at that thought. She didn't hate Uni or anything, but she knew they were not a match. They had nothing in common and there was a reason they hadn't had a full conversation in the first five min-weeks of the show.
"Thank you."
"No problem."
Gail called out, "Next up is Bumper!"
Beca watched him stride to the podium, a new question popping into her mind. "Who were you supposed to pick then?"
"Fat Amy," Luke smiled, "Which honestly wouldn't have been that bad for me. I hope I get matched up with her at least once. Her commentary on these ceremonies is probably amazing."
"Oh, yeah… for sure," Beca agreed, wondering if any of that type of thing would make it on the televised episodes.
They focused back on Gail and Bumper, the host questioning his opinion of the guys' strategy.
"So, Bumper, we just saw Luke decide to go against what you all planned out for tonight. What do you think of that?"
Bumper shrugged, "Luke has to choose who he thinks gives us the best chance at a beam. Tonight for the guys… it's equally about eliminating certain possibilities as it is about getting the most possible beams."
"Interesting," Gail commented at his response. "What are you supposed to do tonight?"
"We think that it's a strong possibility that Kommissar and I are a perfect match. We don't want to blackout, so a few of us are picking the same people as last week," Bumper answered. "That's why while we didn't discuss Luke picking Beca, it's not a huge deal because they could have been one of the four beams from last week."
Beca at least agreed with that logic. "At least one of you guys has a brain."
"We aren't all chiseled jaws and abs you know," Luke jabbed playfully, feigning offense at her comment.
"Coulda fooled me," Beca quipped back, squirming as he poked her side.
"Stop!" CR's voice cut through whatever Gail's response had been. Everyone froze, turning to look at the producer.
"Luke, Beca, what the fuck is going on in that chair?"
Beca narrowed her eyes, turning to glare at Luke who just shrugged.
"Sorry," he called down to her.
"Just a reminder that all of you on stage are in at least three-quarters of the shots during the ceremony," CR said wryly, still staring at them. "I know it's difficult to sit still for so long, but too damn bad."
Beca elbowed him in the ribs as soon as CR turned to go back out of the shot, feeling a ton of satisfaction in his responding, "Oof."
"Serves you right, that was your fault," Beca whispered, looking quickly around the room.
Most of the other people had turned back to look at Bumper and Gail, but Chloe was still looking at her and Luke curiously. Beca felt her heart sink a bit, realizing that Chloe definitely thought there was something going on between them. Fuck! Beca told herself it didn't even matter since Chloe wasn't interested in her anyway, but she knew deep down it mattered to her. The only person she was genuinely interested in out of everyone in the house was Chloe, and it mattered to her what the redhead thought. Beca might never have a shot with Chloe, but that didn't mean she wanted her to think she was hooking up with Luke… or any of the guys in the house.
"Bumper, who is your perfect match?" Gail asked, drawing her attention to the man standing at the podium.
"Gail, my perfect match is Kommissar."
The blonde nodded and rose from her chair to join him, Gail not wasting any time telling them to lock-in. They placed their hands on the touchpad for a few long seconds before turning and walking back to her chair.
Instead of a break, Gail kept on going and called the next name.
"Jesse!"
Luke reached around to rest his arm across the back of the chair and Beca leaned comfortably against him to watch Jesse's exchange with Gail.
"Hi Jesse," Gail greeted him with a smile.
"Hi Gail," he replied, coming to a stop at the podium.
"I feel like tonight is going to get repetitive, but are you on board with the strategy?"
Jesse chuckled, "Yeah, I can see that." He paused before continuing, "I'm sure they can fix it in post."
Gail winked at him. "So, Jesse, who is your perfect match?"
"My perfect match is Aubrey."
Aubrey smiled, looking slightly surprised as she rose from her chair and walked up to join Jesse at the podium.
Gail, always observant, picked up on it immediately. "Aubrey, you looked surprised when Jesse said your name."
Aubrey nodded, "I'm happy, I just wasn't expecting it. We were matched up last week, so I had assumed he would pick someone else."
Jesse said, "True, but we also knew that we couldn't just change everything from last week since we did get four beams. Aubrey and I were one of the pairs that we thought had a strong chance of being a perfect match."
Gail nodded her understanding, directing them, "Okay, it sounds like you guys have put a lot of thought into your selections tonight. Jesse, Aubrey, it's time to lock-in."
The pair placed their hands side by side on the touchpad sensor and locked in, returning to the empty chair hand in hand.
CR strode out onto the set, calling, "Okay, let's break! I need the three couples to film reactions out in the yard that way!"
Luke rose first and offered his hand to Beca, gently pulling her to her feet. "Ladies first," he said, gesturing for her to lead the way.
"Such manners," Beca replied, walking down the few steps before moving towards the yard in the direction CR had pointed. "Your mother would be so proud."
Luke grinned, "You'll have to meet her and tell her that in person. She'll never believe it if it comes from me."
"That's moving a bit fast for me," Beca joked as Luke fell into step beside her. "How about you take me on a date first?"
"That can be arranged," Luke hummed. "I think you've underestimated the lengths I'll go to impress my mother. She's perpetually disappointed in me for not having a conventional job or bringing a nice girl home to meet her."
Beca laughed, "You better not make things worse by bringing me home then."
Luke sighed dramatically, "She called the last girl I introduced her to a real-life Barbie and told me I could do so much better." After a second, he added, "That girl just passed the bar exam in New York and works for some major corporate law firm in the city."
"Did you tell her that?"
"I mean… I'm alive so…" Luke trailed off with a smirk. "Admittedly she was a highlight of my dating life. Definitely not the norm."
They reached the setup, Luke gesturing again for her to go first. Beca nodded and moved into place underneath the astonishingly bright lights.
"Hey, guys. Right here?"
"A little to the right… yeah, perfect."
"Okay, Beca, ready?" A producer peeked out from behind the camera to meet her gaze.
"Yep, let's do this"
"Okay, great. How'd you feel about the boys' announcement or strategy tonight for the matchup?"
Beca composed herself, then immediately rolled her eyes dramatically. "Are you kidding me? This is what they spent all day doing?" She shook her head as if she was so disappointed in them, eventually saying, "This is why women should be in charge."
The guy behind the camera laughed, eventually reigning it in at a look from the producer. "How do you feel about Luke picking you?"
"Luke and I really hit it off as friends right from the beginning. He wasn't someone I initially thought could be my match, but we get along so well I'm starting to think… yeah, maybe he is my match."
The producer clapped, "Perfect. You're done. Luke, step on up."
They traded places and it took a moment for the crew to adjust for the height difference between the pair of them.
"Okay, Luke, talk a little about what the guys discussed today and the strategy you all came up with."
Luke nodded, jumping right into his answer. "We know that since the Truth Booths are not going well that we're gonna have to be strategic with our choices at the matchup ceremonies. The guys got together today to try and plan out a few matchups that would be really telling based on if we get a lot of beams or a few. We need as much information as possible, and this is one way to do it."
He paused, then continued, "The guys came up with a strategy today to pair certain people together to try and eliminate them as a possible match. Most of us will be picking people we've never matched with before, and a few will try and repeat the matches from last week. Hopefully, it works out."
The producer shot him a thumbs up, moving on to the next question. "Why did you pick Beca?"
Luke winked at her before looking back into the camera. "Beca is my best friend in the house. I love hanging out with her. We matched up last week and got four beams, so I really think we could be a match."
The producer called out, "Perfect. That's a wrap for you two. Head back to the stage."
Luke stepped out from beneath the spotlights, shaking his head slightly to clear his vision. Beca sympathized, knowing most people had no idea how bright it was, or how much heat those lights gave off.
"You okay?"
Luke shook his head one last time, his voice irritated as he answered sarcastically, "Oh yeah, aside from going from normal to blind and sweating my ass off in two minutes I'm great. Perfect, even."
Beca laughed, retorting, "Well I'm gonna need you to handle that sweating problem before I'm stuck in a chair with you for the next… five hours."
"Tough shit."
"… you're not really that sweaty are you?" Beca asked, glancing at him.
"No, relax, fuck," Luke laughed. "Another few minutes and I might have been a different story though. Those lights are basically heaters."
Beca nodded, "Makes you wonder how people do it for a living, right?"
"Dude… mind-blowing," Luke answered as they made it back to set and headed straight for their chair.
Beca made sure they were positioned correctly, having no desire to get chastised twice in one shoot. CR was deadly efficient and had no patience to deal lightly with them. She was sure it was one of the many qualities that made her an incredible producer. They only had to wait a few minutes before the woman herself was standing in the middle of the set in front of the podium shouting instructions.
"Come on, move people! I want to be rolling again in five minutes! Where's Gail!"
Beca watched her put a hand to her ear, presumably hearing a satisfactory response to her question since she nodded and strode away.
"She's such a boss," Luke whispered, his eyes tracking the woman until she was standing beside a few crew members and one of the many cameras.
"Total boss. I want to be her when I grow up," Beca replied.
"Me too."
Gail walked back on set and got into position behind the podium, waiting as CR quickly crossed the stage to arrange the guys properly on the platform. Beca watched her, realizing that Theo was missing and spotted him a few seconds later walking in from the opposite area where she and Luke had just gone to film.
Luke followed her gaze, muttering, "They must have pulled him to get his reaction to me picking you for the matchup. He doesn't look happy."
"Yeah, I think you're right," Beca answered softly.
"Think he believes we're actually a couple?" Luke asked curiously.
"I don't think he did at first, but he might be starting to," Beca replied, glancing in front of her in time to see Chloe turning back towards the front of the set. "He might not be the only one."
Luke turned to look at her, his tone skeptical. "Seriously?"
Beca sighed, directing her gaze at Chloe's back. Luke picked up on the cue, again following her eyes before looking back at her.
"Oh, come on."
"I'm being serious."
Luke huffed and sat back in the chair, his arm resting once again across the back. "How do you not believe me when I said you weren't the only one?"
Beca ignored his whisper, unable to really think about that possibility right now. It was stupid and foolish to entertain the thought that Chloe might actually like her back. It was setting herself up to crash and burn and she was not about to do that… especially not in the middle of a matchup ceremony where they was no escape.
"Talk later," she muttered, knowing it was the only way to get Luke to back off.
"Finally."
Beca rolled her eyes as Gail got the cue to continue shooting.
"Next up for the guys we have… Donald!"
Beca watched him walk slowly to the podium, wondering why he looked so hesitant.
"How are you feeling tonight, DJ?" Gail asked warmly.
"I've been better," Donald answered honestly. Not waiting for Gail to ask, he explained, "My job tonight is to pick someone that I do not believe is my match… supposedly for the greater good."
Beca fought to keep her jaw from dropping in horror. "What have you idiots done," she hissed to Luke, glancing around to see surprised looks on the faces of several other women.
Luke shook his head, "Blame this one on Chicago, Uni, and Bumper."
Gail's expression turned sympathetic. "That sounds like a tough decision."
Donald nodded but seemed to steel himself. "It is. But, I'm a team player, and I agreed to go along with the group tonight."
"Yeah DJ!"
"Do what's right!"
Beca frowned at Chicago and Bumper's outbursts, but they seemed to give Donald the final push he needed to stick to the plan.
Gail glanced at the two other guys, before looking back at Donald. "Okay, Donald, who is your perfect match?"
Donald took a breath, answering, "Tonight, my perfect match is Flo."
The silence was deafening as all of the women exchanged stunned glances, Beca now having an excellent idea why the guys didn't want them to know of their plans for the evening.
"You've all lost your damn minds," Calamity said bluntly, not bothering to keep her voice down.
Kommissar and Aubrey nodded in agreement, although they didn't say anything.
Flo reached the podium and stood beside Donald, looking up at Gail expectantly.
"Flo, you don't seem too happy about this match," Gail commented, allowing her room to answer.
Flo simply shrugged, "DJ and I have barely had a conversation the entire time we've been here. I have no idea why the guys thought we should match up tonight."
Gail turned to Donald, asking, "Do you have an answer?"
Donald shook his head, replying, "I'm being a team player."
Flo deadpanned, "Every girl's dream."
Beca agreed with her sass and sarcasm wholeheartedly, knowing if she'd ended up in a similar position that evening with Uni she wouldn't have held back her true feelings at all.
Gail had mercy on them and decided not to push the issue any farther. "Donald, Flo, it's time to lock in as a couple."
They went through the motions of locking in and returned to the chair, Beca could hear Donald apologizing as they sat down. Flo, to her credit, didn't seem to be too upset with him specifically, which Beca knew would mean a lot to him. Donald was a nice guy, and she knew he hadn't picked Flo that evening to hurt her in any way.
Gail moved on from that disaster fairly quickly, but Beca had a sneaking suspicion it was because she knew there was only more drama ahead.
"Next up is Zeke!"
Beca thought Zeke looked much more confident than Donald had as he walked to the podium, making her lean in a little closer to Luke.
"Was Zeke in on all this craziness?"
Luke murmured, "Mm-hmm, he was on board."
"How do you think the night is going, Zeke?" Gail asked, wanting to get a reaction in the middle of the ceremony.
"I think it's going well, Gail," Zeke answered. "I think the guys have been really proactive tonight in trying to figure out everyone's perfect match."
Gail nodded, "That's the ultimate goal… and why you're all here. Have you decided who you're choosing tonight?"
"I have, yes. I've made a decision."
"And have you matched up with this person before?" Gail asked curiously.
Zeke chuckled and shook his head, "No, we haven't sat together at a matchup before."
Gail smiled, "Very well, good luck. Zeke, who is your perfect match?"
Zeke turned to face the women, announcing, "My perfect match is Calamity."
Calamity broke into a wide smile, standing up and striding down to stand next to Zeke.
"Calamity, you look happy to be standing here with Zeke," Gail observed. "This matchup doesn't seem to have provoked as much of a reaction. Why do you think that is?"
Calamity shrugged, "I'm not sure, honestly. Zeke is a great guy, and although we haven't spent a ton of time together, any of us girls would be lucky to be his match."
Gail smiled at that diplomatic answer, "Well, we'll have to keep going to find out who that lucky lady is. At least for tonight, it's you! Zeke, Calamity, please lock-in as a couple."
Beca drew in a deep breath as the pair locked in on the touchpad and returned to the chairs, climbing the steps to the top row and sitting down.
"One more and then probably a break," Luke muttered. "Seems like now that there's nine of us we're splitting the evening into thirds."
"Brilliant, almost made it to the break then," Beca replied, her voice low. "Hopefully the next one goes quick."
Gail turned back to the four guys still standing on the platform. "Next up for the guys is… Tom!"
Beca sat up a little, curious to see who Tom would choose now that he and Stacie were not a match. The only available women left were Chloe, Fat Amy, and Lilly.
Luke seemed to follow her train of thought, mumbling, "He's supposed to pick Chloe."
Beca hummed at that, remembering how awkward it had been the first night when the pair of them sat together.
"I'm sure he will. He doesn't really have a reason to pick anyone right now, so might as well stick with the plan," Beca reasoned, tuning out Gail's questions for the moment.
"Yeah, they sat together at the first matchup but neither of them looked super happy about it," Luke recalled.
Beca nodded, listening to his response to Gail's latest question.
"Yeah, I'm definitely going with the guy's strategy tonight," Tom said easily. "Finding out that Stacie and I weren't a match in the Truth Booth was rough. I really thought we were, so tonight I'm gonna do whatever I can to help the group and then start over trying to connect with the women here to try to find my perfect match."
"Logical," Beca whispered, impressed with his answer.
Luke whispered back, "He's actually got a decent head on his shoulders. He could remember all sorts of details today about the past matchups that most of the other guys had no clue about or had to look up.
"Are things between you and Stacie over, then?" Gail asked, extending his interview a little longer.
Tom shrugged before shaking his head. "I mean, not for me. Those feelings were real and they don't just go away. Stacie and I talked for a while last night after the Truth Booth, and I was under the impression that while we both know we need to find our perfect match… we also both want to see where this goes."
Stacie called out, "Damn right babe!"
Gail smiled as some of the group chuckled at her outburst, commenting, "Well, I guess that clears up any confusion. Tom, unfortunately, we now know it's not Stacie, so who is your perfect match?"
Tom smiled, answering, "Tonight, my perfect match is Chloe."
Chloe tilted her head slightly as she got up from the chair, walking forward to stand beside Tom for the second time in a matchup ceremony.
"Chloe, how do you feel about standing here with Tom knowing he still has feelings for Stacie?"
Beca held her breath, knowing that the entire situation was fucking awkward.
"I mean, I think Tom and Stacie are great," Chloe answered. "We all thought they were a perfect match, which is why we voted them into the Truth Booth."
Gail pushed a little more, asking, "Do you think Tom is your match?"
Chloe hesitated, finally saying, "Tom and I haven't spent a lot of time getting to know each other. I don't really think I can say one way or another if he could be my match."
"Tom, there must be a reason the guys thought you should pick Chloe tonight," Gail didn't seem anywhere near ready to let this go, which was puzzling to Beca.
"Why the fuck is she pressing this?" Beca muttered, frowning at the way Chloe's turn was going.
Luke sighed, "She knows she's found a sore spot and is going to press and press until she gets the drama and reactions that make for crazy television."
"I hate that it's happening to Chloe though," Beca sighed, knowing exactly how this show worked and what the viewers expected.
Luke hummed, finally saying, "I'm curious to see if he tells the truth about why he's picking her tonight."
"What? Why? What does that mean?"
Tom also hesitated before answering, clearly aware of what Gail was trying to accomplish. "Hopefully I don't get in trouble for this," he began with a tentative smile, continuing, "But Chloe is exactly my type. She caught my eye immediately on day one in the house, but she connected with Luke at first and it didn't take long for the connection to develop between me and Stacie. Honestly, it's just a hunch that we might be a match."
Gail beamed at him, letting Beca know that was exactly the answer she was looking for. "Chloe, how do you feel about that?"
Beca couldn't see Chloe's face, but it was a good bet she was blushing right now.
"Um, I wasn't expecting that," Chloe laughed nervously. "I mean, I'm flattered. Tom seems like a really nice guy, but I know he's got something going on with Stacie and I would never try to break that up."
Beca knew that answer put out a little of Gail's fire when the host toned down her smile back to the one they were all used to seeing.
"Alright, well Tom, Chloe, it's time to lock-in."
Beca watched them place their hands on the touchpad and lock in as a couple, Tom letting Chloe walk ahead of him as they returned to her chair in the front row.
CR walked out into the middle of the set, announcing, "Okay! Time for our long break. Six down, three to go, so let's take a couple of hours and come back ready to finish the matchup."
"I'll miss a few things about this whole experience, but these matchup ceremony shoots are definitely not one of them," Luke groaned, standing up and stretching his sore joints.
Beca couldn't agree more.
Beca settled back into the chair with Luke, having thoroughly enjoyed the two-hour break. They'd all gone back to the house and split up into teams and had a drinking game Olympics comprised of beer pong, flip cup, and quarters. Beca and Luke had teamed up with Donald and Lilly and kicked everyone's asses. They hadn't been allowed to drink alcohol since they were in the middle of a shoot, but it was still fun nonetheless. Lilly had stunned everyone as she bounced the quarter perfectly over and over again, at one point getting twelve in a row to seal the win.
"That was amazing," Beca sighed, the close confines of the chair forcing her to lean against Luke. "We need to do that again except with liquor."
"Absolutely," Luke agreed. "Everyone out here underestimating Lilly and she was a champ tonight."
"Everyone except Donald," Beca mused. "Aren't you glad we teamed up with them?"
Luke nodded, "Oh yeah. Bragging rights for days."
Beca nodded along with him, watching the crew get back into place to start filming again. "I'm exhausted now, though. I wish we could just go to bed."
"Not a chance," Luke told her. "We still have three more matchups and then all that nonsense with the beams of light. It'll be a few hours at least."
"I'd rather be ignorant."
Luke laughed and rested his arm across her shoulders, his hand idly rubbing her upper arm.
"That feels amazing, but if you keep doing it you'll put me to sleep," Beca murmured, already resting her head on his shoulder.
He stopped the movements, sighing, "Well we don't want that. CR will definitely yell at us again if you fall asleep."
"Ugh, don't remind me. That was horrible," Beca shook her head.
"Alright, everyone! We're ready to go!" CR's loud voice cut through the chatter, rendering everyone silent. "Gail, on my cue."
Beca took a slow breath as she retreated behind the cameras to give Gail the signal to start again. "Here we go…"
"Alright guys, we're down to our last three. Next up is Unicycle!"
Uni strolled casually up to the podium, shooting Gail a wide smile.
"Hi Uni, how are you feeling tonight?" Gail asked, returning his smile.
"I'm feeling good, Gail."
Gail replied, "Wonderful. What part did you have to play in the strategy the guys have adopted tonight."
Uni answered, "I was all for it. I knew we needed to do something different to try and uncover some matches that might not be as obvious."
"Do you think it will work?"
"Well, I think it's a win-win no matter what happens," Uni explained. "If we get more beams, then it proves some of these couples that look wrong are actually right. If we don't get more beams, we can rule out a lot of possibilities with the way we've paired off tonight."
Gail nodded at his explanation, slyly asking, "Is it still a win-win if you blackout?"
A few of the ladies reacted to that question, making Beca shake her head subtly.
"Gail, we aren't going to blackout. It's not gonna happen," Unicycle replied confidently.
"I hope you're right," Gail finished positively. "Uni, who is your perfect match?"
Unicycle answered, "My perfect match is Fat Amy."
Fat Amy got up, walking past Beca muttering, "In your dreams" as she made her way toward the podium. Beca barely held back her laughter, not wanting to have to shoot the sequence over again. Thankfully she kept it together and was able to compose herself by the time the blonde reached the podium.
"Fat Amy, do you think the two of you are a match?" Gail asked curiously.
"Nope. We've never spoken," Fat Amy replied. "Also, look at his twig ass. I'd break him in half like a toothpick."
Gail's eyes went wide, clearly not expecting that statement.
Luke snorted, whispering, "No way that makes it in the final cut."
"Too bad, it was fucking hilarious," Beca murmured back.
Gail seemed to decide that the best course of action was to get Fat Amy back to her chair as quickly as possible.
"Okay, Uni, Fat Amy, it's time to lock-in."
The pair pressed their hands to the touchpad and locked in, quickly moving to the open seat on the top row.
Gail didn't hesitate in calling the next name, ready to move on from the last couple.
"Theo!"
Beca watched him walk up to the podium, leaning closer to Luke to ask, "Who is Theo supposed to pick?"
"Lilly," Luke answered. "He wasn't happy about it, but earlier he did agree to go along with the plan."
Beca watched him chat with Gail for a few minutes before indeed calling Lilly's name, earning a whole new line of questioning about her relationship with Donald.
"Lilly, you've sat with Donald for the last three matchups. How do you feel about Theo picking you tonight?" Gail asked.
Lilly glanced at Theo, answering, "I think it's wrong. DJ is my perfect match. I don't know what the guys are doing."
"Theo, why Lilly?"
Theo shrugged, "Kinda like DJ and Tom said earlier, I'm trying to be a team player here. A lot of the guys really wanted to switch things up, so…" he trailed off, letting the silence speak for itself.
"Not quite as tactful as Tom though is he," Luke muttered, Beca could hear his eyes rolling through his tone.
She kept silent though, as Gail instructed them to lock-in. Theo found her gaze as he walked back to the chairs with Lilly, but Beca looked away back towards Gail almost immediately. Thankfully there was only one person left before they moved on to the beams and finally the end of the shoot.
"Alright Chicago, Stacie, come on up here," Gail invited them, gesturing with her arms open.
Chicago nodded and shot Stacie a polite smile as she approached the podium to stand beside him.
"We've got our default couple tonight," Gail said, a hint of humor in her tone. "How do you guys feel about that?"r in her tone. "How do you guys feel about that?
Chicago shrugged, "Fine. Stacie is really cool. Kinda like Chloe earlier, I respect what she's got going on with Tom, but at the same time we've gotta figure out who the perfect matches are."
Stacie nodded in agreement, "Exactly. Tom and I definitely want to see where our relationship goes, but we also know that we still have to play the game. It wouldn't be fair to everyone else here for us to just do our own thing for the rest of our time here."
Gail nodded her understanding, asking, "So there's nothing romantic between the two of you?"
Stacie and Chicago both shook their heads no.
"As I said, Stacie is awesome. We're friends," Chicago answered.
"Alright, let's see if this default couple works for you guys. Chicago, Stacie, it's time to lock in," Gail instructed.
Beca found herself holding her breath as they locked in and returned to the only empty chair left, praying that nothing went wrong or malfunctioned and they could move on to the beams.
"Okay guys, great job! We've got ten couples matched up tonight," Gail said cheerfully, facing them still standing behind the podium. "Now remember, the matchup will show you how many of you are matched up correctly… but not who those matches are. That's up to you all to figure out."
After a brief pause, Gail pointed behind her saying, "Now, behind me are ten beams of light."
Beca bit her lip to keep from reciting this part of Gail's speech along with her, having it basically memorized by now. The beams turned on and rose up into the sky, ten lights shining brightly up into the stars.
"Each beam represents a perfect match. One beam is one perfect match… ten beams means ten perfect matches and one million dollars!"
Beca watched the beams mimic her words, with nine going dark when Gail mentioned one beam, and all ten lighting back up again matching her statements. The whole group clapped and cheered at the mention of the money, Beca joining in not wanting to have to redo the take.
"Because you correctly identified one perfect match in the Truth Booth, we start with one beam already lit up," Gail informed them, the first beam lighting back up to represent Benji and Emily. "And remember, if you do not add any more beams to that first one, that's a blackout and your prize instantly drops by two hundred and fifty thousand dollars."
"No!"
"Don't jinx us, Gail!" Uni yelled out.
Gail chuckled at him, before continuing on, "Alright you guys, here we go."
Beca held her breath again as Gail moved around to stand at the podium with her back to them and placed both hands on the touchpad to start the sequence.
"The number of perfect matches is…"
The entire group was deadly silent as they waited for more beams to light up. Beca was growing more and more anxious as nothing happened, wondering just how badly the guys had fucked them over.
Finally, a second beam lit up into the sky and the relief around the group was tangible.
"There we go!"
"No blackout!"
Beca let out the breath she'd been holding, feeling Luke relax a little beside her as well.
"I had no idea how tense I was until that beam lit up," Luke muttered, shifting slightly in the chair beside her.
"I knew exactly how tense I was," Beca shook her head, heart still racing. "It's insane that we get this worked up every damn time."
"Biology," Luke replied, still staring at the beams.
Suddenly, the lights shifted and the sound blasted that signaled the end of the matchup ceremony.
"Wait, what?"
"That's it?!"
"You guys are fucking idiots."
Beca recognized Calamity's voice on that last statement, and this time she completely agreed with the other woman.
Kommissar did as well, her tone accusatory, "This is what happens when you fuck with things that are going well. There was no reason to have so many random picks tonight and now we're right back where we started."
Gail turned back around to address them, saying, "Wow, guys. Only two matches tonight."
Beca shook her head, completely disappointed and discouraged at the number of matches.
"You guys only got two perfect matches tonight. That is the same number you got at your very first matchup ceremony four tries ago, and one of the beams tonight represented your confirmed perfect match, Benji and Emily," Gail reminded them, rubbing more salt into the wound. "That means only one out of nine was right. You guys are going the wrong direction."
The grumbling around the stage continued, with Gail letting them go at it for a few seconds before saying, "You guys are at the halfway point of this competition, and you are now literally back at square one. You have a lot of work to do to find ten perfect matches."
The group remained silent now, a few heads nodding at her words.
Gail shook her head, disappointment clearly etched on her face. "Okay guys, get back to the house and start figuring out who your perfect match is. Most likely it was not the person you were sitting beside tonight. Say goodbye to Benji and Emily, and I'll see the rest of you back here tomorrow for the next getaway challenge."
Gail gave them another disappointed head shake before turning and leaving the set, letting them rise and exit on their own.
"Well I feel like I just got caught with my hand in the cookie jar," Beca muttered, not liking the feeling at all.
"Yeah, that was a major buzz kill," Luke sighed. "Guess that strategy backfired."
Uni was trying to stay positive, claiming, "Guys, think about how much information we have now. Only one couple besides Ben and Em that matched up tonight was a perfect match. We can figure this out."
Benji replied, "You guys need to do better. Come on, that was worse than any matchup ceremony before. Work together!"
Kommissar jumped onto his words, saying, "Exactly. We all need to work together. No more of what happened today… clearly, you guys suck at this more than we do."
"I agree, no more guys or girls going off and excluding the other group when planning," Jesse said. "We need to work together or we're all going to lose."
Beca nodded in agreement, seeing most of the others doing the same. They had a long way to go to find the nine remaining matches, and if she was honest, Beca had absolutely no idea who any of them were.
A/N: Thank you so much to Arsto who really took the lead on the plan for this chapter! I definitely needed it!
Thanks to everyone who continues to fav, follow, and review!
We will now resume our regular Sunday updates
