Cannon narrowed his eyes at the way Sweet Pea gleefully stamped her hooves before reaching for the carrots, poorly feigning jealously as his dimples betrayed him. Sure, Atreus looked like a wet dream come true— and Cannon would be very interested if he weren’t straighter than a cowpoke. That didn’t mean he wasn’t above flirting, thoroughly delighting in being pursued.

“I wasn’t surprised to hear that you were,” he returned. He’d crossed paths with enough Hollywood types to know who the clear fan favorite would be, and Atreus was the whole package. Even Cannon couldn’t compete with that level of enthusiasm and a face that said America’s Sweetheart. “Looks like I’m going to have to step up my game if I still want to be your one and only,” he lamented.

Atreus scoffed, delighted by the idea of Cannon trying even if he wasn’t sure whether Cannon was referring to being his one-and-only or Sweet Pea’s. He shrugged lightly, petting the horse’s nose softly before reaching to wipe his hand on his jeans. 

“Who doesn’t want to find love? I can use all the help I can get.” He offered with a smile. “If they happen to be loaded, so be it. I won’t complain.”

Allie nodded, remembering how brutal her first show was. It definitely felt like the producers intentionally left you unprepared, in the guise of getting an authentic reaction, when in reality they were only hoping you’d do something you’d likely regret later.

“Definitely. A lot of it depends on how long you actually want to be on the show.” she explained, “If you want to stick around, listen to the producers and/or create drama anywhere you can.” 

Atreus was listening carefully, though he was thinking less about the dynamics of the show and more about what he hoped to gain by being part of it. Love had always come easy to Atreus, but finding anything healthy never had. 

“I want to stay on the show.” He stated simply. “I mean, I want to meet someone. The show is just a means to an end, right?” He asked, truly oblivious to how naive he sounded.

“Yeah basically. They want to know what’s going on in my life, what I’m into, who I’m into.” Allie replied with a slight shrug. “And you know this is real TV, right?” she asked jokingly, gesturing to the camera only semi discreetly hidden in a nearby bush. 

Atreus glanced towards the cameras, unsure if he was supposed to be looking at them or not. “Oh, yeah. Yeah, I know.” He laughed nervously, trying not to second-guess his decision to be part of this. He had flown under the radar for awhile now and he didn’t want anyone looking at his past too closely. 

“But you’ve been, like, on other shows, right? Got any tips for me?” He asked curiously.

Allie laughed and stopped the video, turning to Atreus again. “Easy. Let the fan speculation begin. They’re going to be all over this.” she laughed, realizing this show could actually end up being a lot of fun. 

Atreus had no idea what had just happened. Were they gonna send videos back? Who knew. He helped Mrs. Houghton with her Facebook but he was beginning to realize he was even farther behind than he’d thought.

“So that’s it?” He asked with a faint grin. “Like... people just watch that and then talk to each other about it? Like real TV.” He mused.

“You’ll be great.” Allie assured him, stepping close to his side and turning towards the phone she was now holding up to frame both of them together. She glanced over at Atreus with a smile before pressing the record button. 

“Hey everyone! I’m checking in here from Missouri - not a sentence I think I’ve ever uttered before in my life. Anyway - it’s really nice, and I think I’ve already made a friend. He’s really cute so I wanted to show him off.” she announced in a slightly louder-than-normal voice and grinning broadly. 

Atreus leaned into her side to keep them both well within the frame, not about to make a bad impression on whoever was on the other side of this thing. He beamed as Allie glowingly introduced him. 

“Hey guys! We’re on the show together. You guys better be watching.” He grinned, pointing at the camera.

“Oh hardly,” Allie said with a fair amount of fake modesty. “I’m an influencer, I promote fitness and other lifestyle brands.” she explained. “Speaking of, want to be the first new friend from the show I introduce to my followers?” she asked, holding up her phone. 

“Oh, shit, really?” Atreus was obviously impressed by this even though he had only a loose grasp of what it meant. It sounded like fun, anyway. 

He perked up even further as she offered to introduce him to her fans. “Yeah, totally. How does it work?” He asked curiously, eager to be part of whatever it was.

“Don’t worry about it.” Allie laughed, sensing his regretful discomfort. “I’m only really known in certain circles, and my demo is really just women and guys who mostly use the internet to look at successful women they could never attain.” she explained. “But I can’t complain, I get to do what I love and I make a living at it, so it’s all good.” she added, not wanting to sound too arrogant. 

“Oh wow,” Atreus still had no idea what kind of fame she was talking about, making a mental note that he needed to start reading Mrs. Houghton’s People magazines. Or at least look at the pictures.

“You’re a model then?” He asked curiously. “Unattainable is everyone’s type, I think.”

“So, you want someone utterly uncharming and very unpleasant on the eyes? You might be on the wrong show. ” Allie asked teasingly. 

“I used to think I would only want to be with someone famous. You know, someone who could really boost my brand and make me happy. But I guess I’m finally maturing into realizing that isn’t very realistic.” she admitted, hoping he didn’t think she was just incredibly shallow. 

Atreus glanced sidelong towards her, a lopsided grin spreading across his features. He wasn’t oblivious to his assets, it was pretty much the only thing he could chalk his survival thus far up to, but he was always gonna be a sucker for a compliment.

“Well, I wouldn’t scrap the part about finding someone who can make you happy.” He teased, leading the way towards the barns. “Are you famous?” He asked before realizing that if she was it might have seemed rude that he had to ask. “I mean, I’m not really- I’ve been pretty much isolating out here for awhile.” He added quickly, grimacing apologetically.

“That sounds a lot like the speech my mom gave me about men when I first started dating.” Allie said with a laugh, walking through the open door and wondering if everyone in this town was going to be so nice. 

“Speaking of, what are you looking for in a date?” she asked curiously after noticing the camera man lurking outside the door. 

Atreus laughed, letting the door slam shut behind them. “Wish my mom had given me that speech.” He grinned, jogging down the porch stairs and into the yard. He wasn’t oblivious to the cameras around them but he did a pretty good job pretending that he was. 

“Mm, I guess... someone who is the opposite of me.” He responded after a moment. “Not that it’s really worked out for me in the past. What about you?”

Allie was beginning to seriously wonder if Atreus was a plant here. He seemed way too welcoming and wholesome to be real and willing to be on some absurd reality TV show. 

“Yeah absolutely. You’re going to laugh but…I’ve never actually been up close to a horse before.” she admitted with a grin. 

Atreus waved for her to follow him as he headed for the exit. “Don’t worry about it. They’re weird, but not as weird as you’d think.” He promised, opening the door and holding it for her.

“Just don’t stand behind ‘em, and try not to make any sudden movements until you get to know ‘em better. They’re more afraid of you than you are of them, and all that.” He offered, mostly pointing this out because he’d been terrified of them at first.

“Awesome, that sounds great.” Allie replied, already having a hunch that she had stumbled upon one of the better contestants to become friendly with. She expected this level of attractiveness from the other outsiders, but she was guessing he had to be the best looking from the other side. 

“So what brought you to this place?” she asked curiously. 

“I travel a lot.” Atreus shrugged dismissively, far from interested into going into detail about how he’d ended up in this backwater. “I guess I was just looking for somewhere to settle down finally, and Mrs. Houghton- the woman who owns this place- she’s really sweet. She treats me like a grandson.” He beamed brightly, undeniably proud of this.

“You wanna go see the horses?” He asked suddenly, nodding towards the back door. “I can show you who the friendly ones are.”

Allie raised her eyebrows. She hadn’t expected any of the townsfolk to be non-natives as well, but it made her feel a little more at ease. 

“Brooklyn.” Allie responded. “I’m Allie” she offered, holding her hand out with a smile.

“Really? I’m from the city too!” Atreus offered excitedly. “Well, I grew up in Jersey, but I moved when I was in middle school.” He prattled, often forgetting that he’d still been a kid when he’d ran away as a teen.

“I’m Atreus.” He took her hand with a broad smile. “And I’d be happy to show you the ropes.”

“Really?” Allie asked, quickly sizing Atreus up. “Well, in that case maybe you can give me some insider info. You know, keep me from looking like a total city slicker idiot.” she suggested, glancing around to see if the cameras were rolling yet. Her previous experience with these shows told her that they definitely could be, even if it wasn’t obvious or didn’t seem like the show had officially ‘started’ yet.  

“Trust me, I feel you.” Atreus promised earnestly, leaning closer with a conspiratorial grin. “Don’t tell anyone, but I’m not from around here myself.” He offered in a stage whisper. 

“So where are you from?” He asked curiously as he leaned back.

“A distraction?” Bash frowned, not keen on that idea. “You wanna be bait?” There was a lot that could go wrong with that idea. Like the asshole guards could just decide to shoot him for being irritating as hell. He wasn’t sure what kind of distraction wouldn’t make them shoot him, too, unless he just kept them talking. Bash could see the guard tower now that his eyes had adjusted and wondered if he could climb up enough if Atreus did serve as a distraction so that he could flood the place with fire and burn them out. Then it would be easy to melt through the fence and get them to the damn boat. 

“Don’t love that idea.” He confessed, after thinking for a moment. “What if they do decide to shoot you?” Bash hadn’t come this far just to lose Atreus this close to the finish line. 

..

Atreus shrugged uncertainly, not enamored with the idea himself. It was easier to hide behind Bash, but as someone who had been trying to impress that he didn’t need a guard dog this seemed like a prime chance to prove it. 

“I don’t have any other ideas. We knew this was going to be risky.” He pointed out with obvious hesitation. “Besides, I don’t have a reputation for being a troublemaker. They’re way less likely to shoot me without asking any questions first.”