#the bachelorette but rowaelin so it's better hehe

[leiawritesstories]

It Happened Off-Camera

Rowaelin Month 2023, day 10: Guest Stars with Chemistry

a continuation of the dating show au prompt i wrote a while ago ;)

Word count: 2.4k

Warnings: language, innuendo, flirty Fenrys, naughty jokes, and i have no idea how a reality show works so i just made up stuff about that lol

Enjoy!!!

@rowaelinscourt

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Views spiked almost 200% after last week, Aelin! The producer's comment echoed in Aelin's mind. We can't wait to see what the numbers look like when this week's episode airs.

She grimaced and turned away from her bathroom mirror. Although her villa was a camera-free zone, she wouldn't put it past the production team to find some loophole in that rule and sneak footage of her alone in her private space. Last week's episode had been an incredible success, though, what with her stupidly romantic date with Fenrys and the satisfaction of watching sniveling little Sam get booted from the suitor list.

Speaking of Fenrys...he was the first man she'd put down on the second-date list. He was just as charming and suave as the rest of the men on the show, but his infectious laugh and penchant for cracking inappropriate jokes at highly inappropriate times were right up Aelin's alley, so to speak. But she was famously close-lipped about her suitor list, both for her own sanity and for the drama.

So it was no surprise when the entire production crew gasped collectively when she and Fenrys went on a second date.

He rented a little rowboat and took her out onto the property's gorgeous lake, bringing her to the opposite shore, where he'd set up a picnic, complete with blankets, charcuterie, and wine. The camera crew followed them at a discreet enough distance, allowing Fen to lean over and whisper into her ear as he helped her out of the boat.

"Let's hope the subtitles don't pick this conversation up," he murmured, "because I don't need thousands of people hearing me tell The Bachelorette that I'm fighting a boner."

She snorted and playfully smacked his shoulder. "I wouldn't be worried about that if I were you, Fen. It's not like it's visible or anything."

He gasped in theatrical shock. "Aelin!"

"Fenrys," she cooed, the portrait of innocence. "You promised me food?" She raised her voice to camera-ready levels.

"Indeed I did." He gestured broadly to the picnic. "And even dessert, if you play your cards right." He wiggled his perfectly groomed eyebrows, playing it up for the cameras.

She laughed. "Slow down, Moonbeam. I'm one of those three-dates-before-going-home girls, you know."

"I was so hopeful!" He faked a dramatic groan. "Does this mean you'll grant me a third date, milady?"

"Maybe." She sipped at her wine, unaffected by the way he laid his head in her lap and stared imploringly up at her. "You're cute, Fen, but puppy eyes don't work on me." She leant down and whispered her next words too softly for the crew to hear. "Only bedroom eyes do."

Faster than she expected him to react, he raised his body and propped his arms on either side of her, pressing himself almost indecently close. "Thought you wanted three dates before that, Ae," he purred, playfulness and lust mingled in his dark eyes.

"Indeed," she murmured. And she pushed him gently back to his place. "No need to rush yourself, Moon Moon."

~

After the picnic, Fenrys rowed them back across the lake, stopping in the middle so she could gaze up at the blanket of starry darkness that laid across the property where filming took place. "Up there," he whispered, loud enough to be heard. "You can hardly see any constellations in the city, but they're so gorgeous out here."

"I was half expecting you to drop the not as gorgeous as me line," Aelin teased.

He snickered. "I can call myself gorgeous if you want, but I'd rather hear it from you." He paused, a roguish grin curling across his lips. "Moaned, ideally."

She coughed out a laugh and doubled over, almost toppling out of the boat. Swiftly, he lunged to catch her, righting both her and the boat. He cracked a quiet joke about not rocking the boat just yet and rowed them back to the shore, back towards the house where the rest of the candidates were waiting.

At least one of them was probably stewing at the fact that Fenrys had pulled a second date.

Just before they reached the pier, the boat bumped against something below the water's surface and rocked sharply.

"Shit!" Fenrys yelped, digging the oars into the water to counterbalance the sudden tilt, his muscles straining as the boat jostled and rocked again. "Hold on, Ae, I--fuck!" He spoke too late.

With a splash and a high-pitched "Shit!," Aelin went flying over the side of the boat, drawing in a sharp breath just before she plunged fully into the icy lake water. It might have been early summer, but the lake was far from pleasantly warm. She held her breath and extended her arms and legs, pushing at the water as she tried to work back to the surface.

But the godsdamned ridiculous, overly formal dress she'd been put in clung to her in all the wrong ways, constricting her range of motion, and those stupid heels were caught in what felt like a tangle of roots and wouldn't budge. Hell.

Aelin tried to keep her pounding heart under control as she bent back downwards and reached for her shoes, fumbling with the stupidly fucking tiny straps and buckles until she'd managed to free her feet from the damn things. Her lungs ached and burned with the effort of keeping her breath held. Push, Galathynius!

Partially freed, she pushed towards the surface, swearing violently to herself as she struggled against the godsdamned dress. Air rushed from her lips in a stream of silvery bubbles, and she clamped her lips back together, willing herself not to let go of any more precious breath even as she struggled to float.

Then a pair of strong, muscled arms wrapped around her waist, and she was pulled to the surface in a stroke of powerful, purely masculine strength.

She gasped and spluttered, chest heaving as she caught her breath. Her hair was plastered all over her face and her makeup ran in smeared trails, destroyed by the icy lake. Teeth chattering, she noticed the cameras zooming in on her waterlogged form and rapidly crossed her arms over her chest.

Her lack of a bra meant her nipples were rigid behind the dress, and the assholes editing the footage would never let that go unnoticed.

"Are you alright?" The man who still had his arms around her deposited her on the pier and grabbed the floating dock for stability, peering anxiously into her face. It wasn't Fenrys, as she'd thought.

It was Rowan Whitethorn.

And now her heart was pounding for multiple reasons.

"I-I'm f-f-fine," she managed to get out through chattering teeth and shivers.

"Hey!" Rowan hoisted himself out of the lake in a smooth, sleek lift that made Aelin immediately think of Anthony Bridgerton, and directed his next yell at the handful of men and crew members standing around watching Aelin shiver. "Get Miss Galathynius some damn towels! Have you never seen someone almost drown before?"

She smiled to herself. Maybe the man was more of a gentleman than she'd given him credit for initially. "I'm f-fine," she repeated, but the tremors shaking her body belied her words.

He crouched back down next to her, grumbled something about useless idiots, and laid two fingers against her pulse. "We need to get you inside," he murmured. "Can I pick you up?"

"Yes." Normally, she would refuse, but this wasn't normal.

Rowan scooped her into his arms, letting her nestle against his warm, if wet, chest, and strode towards her villa, leaving a trail of slack-jawed suitors, eager camera crew, and one flabbergasted Fenrys in his wake. "I wish they'd all fuck off," he mumbled into her sodden hair. "Yeah, yeah, it's a drama, but really?"

"Can't let the knight in sopping armor go unnoticed," Aelin quipped, her humor unharmed.

He chuckled. The deep rasp of it went right between her thighs. "If I wasn't on the damn show myself, I'd be the person punching the cameraman right about now."

"No need for that," she returned. "Just...just get me home." Exhaustion had overtaken her more than anything else.

"I will." She clung to the solid surety of those words and closed her eyes for the rest of the short walk to her villa. When he reached the steps, Rowan paused, suddenly unsure how to proceed. "Uh..."

"I don't think I can walk," Aelin admitted. "So, if you'll bring me inside, that would be lovely." She met his concerned pine gaze. "It's okay, Rowan. Plus, my villa is strictly no-cameras."

"Okay." So he walked up the stairs, pushed open her front door, brought her inside, and nudged the door closed behind them. Holding her stable with one arm, he locked the front door and then carried her into the kitchen. Gingerly, he set her down, but kept one arm around her waist for stability. "Where do you need to go?"

"Bathroom." She found her balance, wobbling only a bit, and led him down the hall to the master bedroom and its attached bathroom. She made it all the way into the modern, marble-and-glass space before her stomach roiled and she lurched away from him. "Gods," she groaned as she bent over the toilet. "Why now? Why tonight?"

Unexpectedly gentle, Rowan's hands swept her wet hair away from her face and rubbed her back in soothing strokes. "It's alright, Aelin. Just let it all out."

She retched a couple more times before her stomach settled down and her body started insisting that she get out of her uncomfortably wet clothes and into a nice warm bath. "Rowan?"

"Yeah?"

"I...I need a bath."

His tan cheeks flushed an adorable shade of bright red. "Do you need me to leave?"

She blew out a sigh. "I'd say yes, but--oh hell," she cursed as her legs gave out beneath her. "Well, it seems I'm still unstable."

"Okay." He glanced around the bathroom for a minute, unsure, and then went and turned on the bathwater, filling up the sunken marble tub with steaming heat.

"Unzip me, please," she requested, feeling her face burn crimson with the awkwardness of the request. To her relief, he didn't comment, just fumbled with the wet satin before finding the tiny zipper and carefully pulling it down the length of her back. She peeled the sodden material off her body and dropped it on the floor, not caring that she wasn't wearing any underwear, and walked down the steps into the deliciously hot bath.

Behind her, Rowan drew in a sharp breath. "Aelin." If she was in any other reality, she'd swear that there was predatory violence underlying his tone.

"What?" Safely submerged in the water up to her shoulders, she turned to look at him.

Poorly-concealed wrath tightened his handsome face. "Who did that to you?"

So he'd seen the scars slashing across her back. "Car accident. Happened when I was a child," she said, simply, boiling the truth down to its most sanitized version. And because he still looked like murder, she added, "The drunk driver who hit the car I was in died on impact."

He relaxed. A smidge. "I'm sorry."

"It's alright." She leaned back into the bath, a small, soft moan escaping her as the hot water eased the tension in her muscles and warmed her chilled body back up. A thought dropped into her mind, and she cracked her eyes open. "You can use the shower if you need, Rowan."

He was still fixed where he stood, and she could have sworn that she saw dark desire flicker in those forest-colored eyes of his. "What if I want a bath?" he asked, and fire licked down her spine at the sound of his voice, low and rough and thrumming with leashed need.

And with that question, Aelin got the unmistakable sense that she'd found her bachelor.

"Then the steps are right there," she breathed, holding his intense gaze, feeling her body electrify the longer he stared at her. The longer he dragged out the charged silence, though, the more she began to question. "Unless I've read the room wrong, in which case I'm an idiot, and--oh gods, I fucked up, and--"

"Aelin." Clothes hit the marble floor with a wet thud and Rowan's chiseled body cut through the steaming water until he stood right in front of her, reached out, and caught her chin with his fingertips, tipping her head up to his. "You didn't read anything wrong."

Her breath hitched at his closeness, at the heat between them that had nothing to do with the bath. "Rowan," she whispered, hardly daring to believe the scene was real, "kiss me."

"What about the three date rule?" Gods burn her, he had a sense of humor, too?

"You found the loophole," she grinned. "Rescue the damsel in distress, and that counts as three dates."

"Lucky me." And Rowan kissed her.

~

Aelin blinked awake to bright sunlight, rumpled sheets, and Rowan Whitethorn snoring behind her.

She couldn't control the grin that blossomed across her face as she laid there, snug and warm in the cocoon of his arms, and listened to the adorable, snuffling snore emanating from the most controlled man on the show. Unable to help it, she rolled over and looked into his slumbering face, reaching out to trail her fingertips lightly over the tattoo that spiraled down his arm.

"I can feel you staring," he mumbled, eyes still closed.

"Can you blame me?" She dipped her head, brushed a featherlight kiss over his lips. "You're adorable when you snore."

He grumbled something incoherent. "I don't control that."

"And it ruffles your feathers, I know," she teased. "I think it's--oh!" Her teasing was cut off with another kiss.

After they separated, breaths ragged, Rowan twined a lock of her hair around his fingers, uncertainty flashing across his face. "Ae?"

"Hmm?" She held his gaze. "You can talk to me, Ro," she murmured, reassuring him the same way he'd comforted her last night.

He exhaled heavily. "Last night...it...what's going to happen?"

"Well, I'm going to start dating you," she replied. "I'll probably keep one or two other guys around because the contract says I have to, but as of now, you are the only man in my life." She traced the angle of his cheekbones. "Why?"

"Because--" The normally unflappable, granite-faced businessman fumbled for words. "Will you promise to keep a secret, Ae?"

"Of course." She laced her free hand into his and squeezed. "I promise."

He worried his lower lip, took a steadying breath, and dropped the biggest bombshell of the whole show on her.

"I have a daughter."

~~~

TAGS: please lmk if you want to be added or removed or if there's any problems :)

@live-the-fangirl-life

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[leiawritesstories]

rowaelin dating show fic?❤️ also i love your work!!

there aren't nearly enough heart emojis to express how ecstatic this ask made me feel ❤💕❤ here please have all of my love and a little something i whipped up 🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰

~~~~~~~~

The first date had been an absolute disaster.

Aelin didn't typically give such terrible reviews, but she was only being honest. The date with--what was his name again? Oh, right, Sam--had gone so poorly that even calling it a "trainwreck" would be generous. And she had even cut the guy some slack for being a half-nervous wreck the whole time.

Perils of dating The Bachelorette live on camera, or something.

Hell, even Aelin had taken weeks to get used to the eerie sensation of the cameras watching and recording everything, lurking in the background and waiting to send off their footage to some team of producers who'd no doubt edit a perfectly innocent exchange into sordid tabloid headlines. Never in a million years would she have guessed that she'd be chosen as the Bachelorette; also, never would she have guessed that she'd be enjoying the experience so much.

Since arriving at the shoot location, it had been a whirlwind of meeting the crew, negotiating what she was and was not willing to have filmed, negotiating social media, meeting her agent and manager, and getting a rundown on the twenty-four men who'd be competing for...well, for her. She'd received dossiers on each man and had read each file thoroughly, noting down the few that stood out to her.

Sam Cortland, 25, software designer. Fairly wealthy, boyishly attractive, had a charming dimple that appeared when he grinned, he was the only contestant who'd made her genuinely smile during the first episode.

Fenrys Moonbeam (yes, it was his actual name), 26, photographer and occasional male model. The man was a treat for the eyes, all height and muscles and espresso-toned skin and silky-soft golden curls that Aelin was jealous of. If nothing else, she'd have to steal his haircare routine.

And...Rowan Whitethorn, 28, entrepreneur--according to his file, at least. He hadn't hesitated to share that he was, in fact, the egregiously wealthy CEO of his own company, which he'd built from the ground up. The casual arrogance that had rolled off of him as he spoke about his business success was almost enough for Aelin to rethink her appreciation of his physical beauty.

Aelin sighed deeply as she strode up the front steps of her villa, painfully aware of the cameras tracking her steps, unlocked her front door, went in, and locked the door behind her. She'd been very clear that her villa was filming-free unless she invited a camera crew inside, and gods, she needed the space to just breathe. And kick her expensive shoes across the floor. And muffle a strangled scream in a designer throw pillow that probably cost more than her whole set of bedroom furniture.

Gods, that date with Sam had been an absolute nightmare. It had started off so well, with the two of them sharing easy conversation and laughing over the delicious dinner, but as soon as he'd said he wanted to take her on a "romantic stroll through the rose garden," Aelin had felt her stomach churn.

It was so...cliché. Painfully cliché. Whatever sparks she'd felt when she met Sam had been snuffed right out after that date.

Which left her two possible options: the gorgeous, flirtatious rogue whose slow grin could make her panties disappear, or the gorgeous, arrogant CEO whose dangerous smirk sent her heartbeat pounding.

Either way, she was headed straight for trouble.