Pre-Show Casting Special
"I can't believe you fucking helped him do this. I should kick you both out." Jensen threw the phone at Steve, but Steve was ready and ducked out of the way.
"You're the one who's been complaining you haven't been on TV since Days of Our Lives."
"It's a reality show. I'm not doing a fucking reality show. How did you even sign me up without me knowing about it?"
"It's MTV. They think everyone wants to do their shit. We just made a video and wrote your name a couple places." Chris shrugged like he hadn't just signed Jensen up for a stupid gay dating show.
"You made a video? How the fuck did you make an audition video without me knowing?"
"You talk about him and his show enough. We didn't even have to edit it a lot."
"I'm kicking you both out of my house."
"If you could afford to kick us out, you would've kicked us out when we had sex in your bed." Chris smirked, leaning back on the couch and trying to pull Steve with him. At least Steve had the fucking sense to resist before Jensen killed them both.
"I can't do this show. I'm not doing reality TV, especially not some gay show where I compete for another guy to like me."
Chris should know better. Chris was still trying to pretend he had a girlfriend anytime he got any press.
"It's not that gay. Brody didn't go gay on the first season. He's not looking for a boyfriend. He's looking for a new best friend. Unless you throw yourself at him and admit you've been jacking off to his show, they'll never know you're gay. You don't think I looked into it before I let Chris send in the tape?" Steve looked at him like he was the crazy one.
"So it's what? The guy version of that Paris Hilton show? Competing to be some guy's new best friend isn't going to get me real work."
"Jared's doing it, so he must not think it's going to kill his career." Steve shrugged.
"He's not a fucking contestant! This shit isn't even real. That Brody guy probably gave the guy his prizes and never talked to him again."
"So you're just scared Jared's going to be an ass and not live up to your expectations." Chris smirked at him like he'd do it just to prove Chris wrong.
"I'm not falling for that shit. You can't manipulate me into doing this stupid show."
"I don't care if you do it. But you will. When I called as you, they promised Jared would be at the final audition."
~*~
Jensen wasn't going to do the show. He was just going to meet Jared, tell him he liked Supernatural, and explain that he wasn't really going to do the show. It wasn't like he had to take time off work to fly to LA. He was just driving down to the MTV office in LA so he could get out of this without upsetting anyone. MTV was making a lot of movies these days. If his agent ever got him anything again, he didn't want any bad blood going around.
The receptionist barely looked at him when he checked in. He couldn't even explain to her that he was turning down the show before he was herded into a room with thirteen other guys. A woman in a suit nodded him into the only empty seat before she started talking.
"Okay, here's how it's going to work. There are fourteen of you here. Only seven of you are going on the show. You'll interview with producers first. Some of you will get cut then and a car will take you back to the hotel if you need it. You'll interview with Jared and Chad last. They don't actually have final say on if you get picked, but obviously if they hate you, you'll be going home."
Chad? Who was Chad? Everyone else nodded like they knew-probably because they knew more about Jared than his acting. Jensen probably should have looked into him more, but all the shit that could be found online was usually just that. Shit. Actors put on whatever act they wanted for the public and he'd rather not get any ideas and be disappointed. Steve claimed there were all kinds of rumors about Jared and his co-star online, but even Steve admitted that didn't mean a damn thing. Jensen liked Jared's acting. He thought Jared was hot. Looking up things like who Jared hung out with on weekends and what kind of toothpaste he used had always seemed creepy. Now, it felt like a disadvantage.
The producers' questions were boring, but they didn't give him a chance to say anything except his answers. Had he been on TV before? Had he been on a reality show before? Was he trying to use the show to further his career? (They seemed disappointed when he said he wasn't.) Was he gay or bisexual? (He lied, but the guy with him had to be stopped from going on and on about his boyfriend Tom.) How much did he drink? Had he lived with a lot of people before? The producers didn't ask even one damn question that seemed to have anything to do with Jared after they figured out he wasn't an insane stalker. Not that he really expected them to care about anything except making good TV.
"So when do you think we get to meet Jared?" Another of the waiting contestants asked as Jensen poured coffee from the pot in the corner.
"I guess after we all go through the producers."
"Right, right. This is just huge man. I read online that he just broke up with his girlfriend."
Jensen knew Jared had a girlfriend. He'd read it in an interview after she was on that episode of Supernatural, but he'd tried to stay away from stuff about Jared's private life. He wasn't giving hits to the kind of websites that posted that shit everywhere. Jensen nodded, hoping the guy would get the point that Jensen thought he was creepy as fuck.
"Hey! Drill sergeant says it's your turn with the producers," The guy who couldn't stop talking about his boyfriend pushed between them and pointed to the woman ushering them all around.
"Shit! Thanks!" The crazy fan took off for the door.
"If he gets picked and one of us gets picked, we need to make sure Jared knows to hide his underwear from that guy."
"Yeah."
"I'm Mike. I know you weren't listening in the interview. That's okay. That thing was just weird." Mike nodded to the other guys in the room. "Everyone else seems pretty normal though. I've been talking to some of the other guys."
"That's good, I guess." Jensen wasn't sure how any of these guys could be normal if they were trying out for this show. Then again, he hadn't actually told anyone he was turning it down yet.
"Yeah. You know a couple of them just got picked up by some promoter in a bar? I guess they wanted some guys who didn't really know who Jared is."
"Why'd you sign up?" At least Jensen had the excuse that he didn't actually sign up himself.
Mike shrugged. "I don't get to travel much and I've never gotten to meet a lot of people outside of my hometown. I've been with Tom forever and I'll miss him, but if I win, we could come out here together. He's so hot. I'm sure he could model. It'd be a lot of fun. Plus, on the first one, the one with Brody, the token gay guy left on the first episode just because he couldn't fit in with the other guys. My people need better representation."
"There was a gay guy on the first one? No offense, but don't they think the show sounds gay enough already?" Jensen still couldn't figure out what exactly made it so different from a dating show.
"It's not supposed to be like that, but don't worry. If that's what you have in mind, I won't tell anyone you lied in the interview. I promise I'm not your competition, either. I'm just in it to have some fun and do some cool stuff. I wouldn't fuck up things with Tom even for Jared Padalecki."
Jensen was about to argue, but the guy from before came back in the room.
"They cut me. I can't believe they cut me," he mumbled, falling into a chair a few feet from them.
The guy he'd sat down next to shrugged. "Aren't you leaving, then?"
"No. I gotta wait here to go back to the hotel with everyone else and pack." He slouched in the chair and pulled an iPod out of his pocket, pushing the headphones in his ears to block out everyone else.
Jensen tried to tell himself he wasn't happy the producers hadn't kicked him off already. He just wanted to explain to Jared himself was all.
"Jensen?" Jensen looked up to see that the woman now had a clipboard. She waved at him until he nodded to Mike and followed her door a long hallway. "You're doing your next interview. You've got ten minutes. Jared has other things to do while he's here."
Jared. He was about to meet Jared. Not that he cared. He'd met actors before. Chris had even met Jared once at some WB event. He liked to remind Jensen whenever he had a chance that he'd shook Jared's hand and everything. If Jensen cared at all, it wasn't because Jared was an actor on his favorite show. It was just because Jared was hot. He'd be just as attracted to Jared if he met him in a bar.
"I'll come back when your time is up."
Jensen didn't even have time to check his reflection in the mirror before she pushed him in the door. Jared was sitting behind a table with another guy. Jensen recognized him from Gilmore Girls. Not that he watched Gilmore Girls. He just caught it sometimes on cable. It was interesting to see how Jared's acting ability had developed over time.
"Hey man." Jared stood up, reaching out to shake his hand. Jared had really big hands. Jensen couldn't be blamed if he thought of those hands next time he jacked off.
"Hey." Jensen sat down when Chad nodded but didn't offer his hand.
"So they gave me all the videos and the applications and stuff, but I wanted to meet everyone in person. Can you believe they said I didn't have to? Like I'd do something like this and not even try to be friends with the guys."
"You watched my video?" It would be really fucking nice if he had a clue what was in that video.
"Yeah. I gotta admit some parts of it were a little weird. It kind of makes you look like you have split personalities. I liked the half where you seemed normal." Jared tried to smile, but he couldn't cover that he'd considered Jensen might be a freak.
"I don't know. I didn't make it." Maybe he could at least get Jared to give him a copy so he could see how much revenge was in order.
"You didn't make it?" Jared exchanged a look with Chad.
"My friends are assholes. I didn't even know about the show until I got the call to be here today. They made the video by planting cameras and cutting in stuff they had from a friend of ours goofing around with his camera. Chris probably did the half that makes me look like a freak or a stalker and Steve probably did the good half. I don't even know what they wrote on my application. I probably don't want to know."
"Seriously? Well, that explains why the interview you just did doesn't match any of the other shit at all." Jared laughed. "It's cool. I was bitching that I couldn't get anything during hiatus and this asshole made a reality show seem like a good idea when we were drunk."
Chad just shrugged. "It's your fault for putting yourself on the MTV list with that weird scary prank show."
"So if you didn't want to do the show, why'd you show up?" Jared asked.
"I-" Jensen stopped. He didn't want to do the show, right? Fuck. He should have made the secretary listen to him. He couldn't say no to Jared fucking Padalecki when he was looking at Jensen like that. "I don't know."
"I know it sounds really lame, but MTV promised me we'll get to do some cool stuff." Was Jared really trying to convince him to do the show? Jensen was sure it was supposed to be the other way around.
"Yeah. It could be fun."
"And if you win, you get my old LA condo and a car." Jared smiled. It was even more blinding in person than as Sam on TV.
"Seriously?" He should have known there was some prize other than being Jared's friend. Probably because no one expected them to really stay friends after it was over.
"You really didn't know anything about this show." Jared shook his head and laughed.
"Not really."
"So are you going to do it? I promise it'll be fun." Jared grinned jumping in his seat like he believed it. He was making Jensen believe it, too.
"Are you saying I'm in?"
"If you want. The producers already liked you or they wouldn't have let you in here for me to decide."
"Then I'm in." Jensen said it without thinking. It was stupid. He shouldn't be doing this show. But Jared burst into a smile and got up, coming around the table and wrapping Jensen in a bear hug. Fuck. Jared was huge and his arms wrapped all around Jensen, holding on for longer than Jensen expected. Jensen was so fucking screwed.
~*~
"I got picked, too!" Mike ran up to Jensen after his meeting with Jared. Jensen was still waiting for Steve to show up with his suitcase. He was supposed to have one with him so he could go back to the hotel with everyone else if he got picked, but he hadn't planned to do the show, so he hadn't packed a damn thing. At least Steve had answered and Chris wasn't home. Steve had only laughed a little before agreeing to bring everything Jensen asked for.
"That's great." Mike was a little crazy, but if he was happy to be the token gay guy, then it would take suspicion off of Jensen.
"I gotta go call Tom before they make me cut off contact and all that shit for the show." Mike ran off, pulling out his phone. Mike was the sixth guy who'd come out celebrating. Most of the guys who came out from meeting the producers hadn't even seen Jared. Only two had been rejected by Jared himself. Only the first one, the crazy obsessive fan, seemed to care that he was going home already. All the other guys were just standing around waiting for a ride back to the hotel. He'd heard some of them making plans to go out and see LA before they got back on airplanes the next day.
The door to the big room opened and Jared walked through with Chad right behind him. The woman with the clipboard strode across the room to meet him before anyone else could get to him. She shook her head at whatever he asked but he just smiled and said something else Jensen couldn't hear. The woman shook her head again, but she pointed to the crazy fan across the room. He was still staring at his iPod, not even noticing that he was in the same room as Jared. Not that Jensen could blame him. He'd looked up the first few times the door had opened, but he'd stopped after seeing the third person celebrating over getting picked for the show.
Jared walked to him and he looked up when Jared's shadow fell over him. Jensen couldn't hear what Jared was saying, but Jensen watched as Jared smiled and signed the man's season of Supernatural.
Great. Jared was even nice to fans when they were crazy. Jensen wasn't fucking doomed at all.
~*~
Jensen was too fucking tired to think about what he'd gotten himself into when they finally got back to the hotel. He never imagined it would take so long to sign up for a fucking reality show. It took him even longer because not only did he have to go through all the normal contracts to agree that MTV could sue his ass if he spoiled the show or if he contacted unauthorized people during filming, he also had to work all the shit out with his agent so he didn't get sued. Not that his agent gave a shit. Dan was just happy he was finally doing something besides sitting on his ass.
"Dude. That's what you're sleeping in?" Mike had been rooming with one of the guys who was getting sent home, so they'd moved that guy out and moved Jensen in. Mike seemed to think that meant the cameras were already there, but Jensen had actually read everything he signed. The papers said filming started tomorrow and they didn't even have mics yet.
"Why? Tom'll be pissed you saw some other guy in his underwear?" Black boxer briefs were acceptable sleepwear. Besides, Steve was an asshole who hadn't packed him anything to sleep in.
"Tom knows he doesn't have competition." Mike pulled a t-shirt on with his pajama pants and looked in the mirror. "You really didn't watch the show last time did you?"
"No?" Jensen was sure he wasn't the only guy who hadn't watched the first season. He'd talked to some of the other guys and the few that had been recruited knew even less than he did.
Mike smirked and shook his head, but didn't explain further. "So, before the cameras show up and we can't talk, you changed your mind about doing the show because you have a thing for Jared, right?"
"No." Mike seemed like a nice guy, but one day of friendship didn't mean he trusted Mike not to out him on TV.
"Dude, if I out you, I kill my token gay man status and I look like an asshole. Plus, if I already figured it out, you're not covering very well. You need backup if you don't want the whole country to figure it out."
"It's not that bad." If Mike was going to think it anyway, there probably wasn't a point in arguing. Off-camera. If Mike tried to out him on camera, he'd deny.
"I'm just saying it could get that bad and I'll have your back. That's all." Mike shrugged and climbed into bed.
"Thanks, but I'm not gonna try anything anyway. Maybe if I get a vibe, I'll think about something after the show." Though it was probably good he'd gotten Steve to promise to call his parents and let them know that if he made it far enough that they got on the show, they had to pretend he was straight for all the cameras. The last thing he needed was his parents finding out from the network and thinking it actually was a dating show.
"Good luck with that."
~*~
Read Part 1 of 6 plus Epilogue of A Complicated Love and Affection Between Two Men by Aleia
