Chapter Text
When Oliver had gotten approached via his instagram, to participate in a reality dating show, called 'Sight Unseen', that would potentially end up in marriage and stream on one of the biggest streaming websites, there was, his first instinct, had been to run the other way.
However, as he’d talked it over with his best friend, Adam, who’d watched the show with his fiancée before, he'd reconsidered.
Apparently you’d get to have a free vacation in Mexico with your match and overall, it could just be a great thing to add to his life experiences.
He loved trying new stuff in general, and who knew, maybe he would meet someone special along the way.
His parents would welcome that for sure. He was already 26 and his father liked to remind him of that, every opportunity, he got. His siblings had already been married at that age, not to mention his parents, who got married when they were both only 22.
Nobody in his circle seemed to care, that it was different nowadays, and people, often took more time dating around in their 20’s, but if he was being perfectly honest with himself, he already had enough of that dating lifestyle, himself.
He was kind of a hopeless romantic, had always loved literature, poetry and the idea of being with one person, forever. This seemed kind of, out of place and old-fashioned in today's fast lived society though and maybe, it just had to do, with the fact, that his parents had been married this long and to him, had always looked like they truly loved each other.
So many of his friends, grew up in divorced homes and they seemed to have come to a different conclusion, in their request for love, than him.
It was more short lived and less attached, since there could always be someone better yet, waiting around the next corner, or more likely, just one swipe away.
Online dating was the curse of his generation and frankly, he was getting tired of it.
So maybe, meeting someone, side unseen , could just be the beginning of an epic love story, he could someday share with his grandchildren, when he was all old and wrinkly.
The only thing, he’d been somewhat concerned about, was the fact hat he was a professor, working at Columbia University, and the idea of his students watching his love life develop on tv, including the physical aspects, didn’t sit right with him.
However, Adam had convinced him, that they wouldn’t show anything inappropriate and you’d only have to talk about the things, you are comfortable, talking about, in font of the camera.
And it wasn’t like, they were children anymore. His students were all grown up people, with love- and sex-lives of their own, so would it really be so bad, if they knew, he had one too ?
Despite, being old fashioned, he was by no means a prudish person but dating in New York had been exhausting the last couple of years and so he decided, he’d give it a fair shot; see where it goes.
So, when he’d arrived at the filming location, somewhere, a little outside the city, he was mainly excited for what was to come and the much needed time, off from work.
He had to stay at a hotel for a couple of days, before filming officially started and when he walked into the mens lounge, that day , he was surprised by the number of people, who were there. He’d never watched the show himself, in order to really take in the experience as an experiment and he felt, the less he knew about how other people had lived through it or how it would be perceived from the outside, the better.
So, there were about 15 men, including himself, getting situated, either at the bar, on the furniture of the living area or elsewhere around the big lounge.
Fortunately, it looked inviting and comfortable, with a big kitchen, a pool table and even a workout station, that could come in handy. He usually was a morning run person, but a good gym session always worked wonders when it came to stress relief or getting out of your head and back into your body.
Exercise in general had been his preferred kind of therapy, as his father had taught him and his siblings, from an early age.
„There is nothing, that doesn’t get better, with a good workout; your body’s all tired, you sweat everything out and your brain releases endorphins, that last for hours after the activity.“ He used to say. They had all been growing up, practicing daily physical activity, and he’d kept at it, till now.
He went to sit on a stool by the bar, nodded to the two other guys, next to him before the hosts of the experiment, a famous married couple, walked in and explained the premise of the show, as well as the timeline of the next few weeks to them and the cameras.
Apparently, the pods were now open and everybody would go on a number of short dates, where they could only hear the voice, of the women on the other side of the wall. After the first round, the’d have to reduce the total number of people they wanted to keep seeing, from 15 to 7 and then, the next round of dating would begin.
It all sounded quite intense, but he thought, it might be fun. Oliver enjoyed stimulating conservations and he had to admit that in todays world of tinder and sliding into other’s dm’s on insta, that wasn’t very often on the table anymore. In fact, it was all about instant gratification, and that felt empty and lonely, after a while.
And so, the process began and he had his first couple of dates in the pods.
Out of the 15 women, he’d spoken with, there’d been about 4, who he thought, he might have potential with, so it wasn’t hard to reduce it down to 7.
By the end of the first day though, he was tired and a little bored of asking and answering a variation of the same ten basic questions over and over, and so when the producer’s stated, that was it for the day, he felt glad.
Coming back to the man’s lounge, everybody was winding down and a few of the men had taken in upon themselves, to cook up dinner for the whole group.
Oliver actually enjoyed cooking, quite a bit himself, and so he planned on offering his skills the following day, and opened up the novel he brought, to have something to do in between dates, when a young man with black curls sat down next to him, on the yellow sofa.
He hadn’t noticed him being there before and now he tried to understand, how he could possibly have missed him.
Because, simply put, this was the most gorgeous person, he’d ever seen in his life; alabaster skin, long dark lashes, a sharp jawline and if Oliver looked close enough, he could even see the hint of freckles on his nose. The young man’s lips were plumb and rosy and his body was slender yet solid and athletic looking.
Oliver was bisexual and in his personal life, most people knew that, but he hadn’t come out to his family and wasn’t planning on ever doing so, either.
He figured, he’d eventually just settle down and merry a nice girl, he’d be attracted to and that would be that, no need to cause any drama to the family dynamics.
Of course, that was still the plan now but, fuck me, he thought, nobody had ever prepared him for this; spending the next ten days in the same living space as this beautiful creature, in front of him.
Good thing, I have a great poker face, he thought, after the initial shock had gone through his system, and in his most casual voice, he said, „I’m Oliver, haven’t seen you here before.“
The young man, and he really seemed quite young, with his smooth skin and bright, green eyes, turned towards him and smiled. „I’ve seen you though. But you were pretty focused on catching the logistics of this thing, earlier today. Like, if you hadn’t seen the show before.“
„I haven’t.“ Nothing to be ashamed of, he thought.
„Oh, I thought everyone had by now, my grandma even watches it.“
„Well, I don’t usually watch a lot of realty TV in general. I find it a tad dramatic.“ Oliver said.
„That’s probably why she watches it, she’s quite dramatic herself. Me too, I suppose, at least in my head, I can be.“ The other man admitted openly.
„Might be an age thing, how old are you anyways ?“ He really felt, all of a sudden, like he needed to know.
„20 but I think it’s my personality, my mom said, I was born with a certain temperament. Might be cultural as well, I’m Italian.“ He shrugged his shoulders.
„I thought you might be. You don’t look very American to me.“
„You on the other hand …“ the guy chuckled.
„Hey.. careful now.“ Oliver said playfully, he knew how he looked and he’d be lying if he said, that he wasn’t aware that most people found him to be, conventionally attractive, and while that was a privilege for sure, it hadn’t gotten him what he really wanted, yet.
„Why are you here anyways, looking like that, it can’t be hard for you to find someone ?“ The black haired man was looking him up and down now in a way, that made Oliver suspect, he wasn’t so straight either. He liked that thought very much, even though it wasn’t very useful in this situation.
„I could ask you the same thing.“ He said and deliberately let his eyes rest on the boys sinful lips, what the hell, he thought, I’m just looking..
„Me ?“ He asked, blushing slightly and Oliver wanted to keep getting that reaction out of him, because if even possible, he looked even more gorgeous that way.
„Yes, you. Why are you here, aren’t you a little young to get married anyways ?“
„To be honest, I just really like the idea of falling in love in an unconventional way. I’ve never really been in love before, you know.
I got approached to do this, it’s not like I sought it out myself.. but when I got asked, I just thought, it could be a cool experience at worst and an epic love story at best, so what’s to lose ?“
„I See.“
„And you, why are you here ?“
„Pretty much for the same reason. Nothing much to lose and maybe something comes of it.“
„Have you liked anybody yet, in particular ?“ He sounded genuinely interested.
Yes, Oliver thought.
„I’m not sure, there are about four women that I think, there’s potential there. What about you?“ He said instead.
„Can’t really tell yet. It’s a bit awkward, this whole thing. I feel much more comfortable now than I did, talking to strangers all day, and It’s not like I know you either.“
The other man admitted, searching for his eyes.
„I know what you mean, I guess it’s just a new experience. You never told me your name, by the way.“ Oliver didn’t only feel more comfortable than he had all day, he felt more comfortable, than he had the last few months, talking to this stranger, not to mention, the crazy attraction, that made him want to pull the guy up in his lap and press their bodies together while shoving his tongue as deeply into that sensual mouth, as possible. He almost didn’t care about the other 13 people, still being around, but the thought of the installed cameras, gave him just enough pause, to engage his frontal lobe again.
„Elio“ the guy answered the question and smiled.
Elio, Oliver thought, he loved how that name sounded all soft and beautiful, like the boy, sitting next to him on the couch.
He took in and out a deep breath and tried to concentrate on his novel again.
Shortly thereafter, the food had been ready and everybody sat down together at the huge dining table, in front of the kitchen area.
Elio and him automatically sat down next to each other and because the table was quite full, with having 15 people sit at a space that was meant for ,more or less 10 max., they were so close, that their thighs and knees ended up being pressed up against each other’s under the table.
Maybe, just maybe, that was also the result of Oliver, leaving an extra couple of inches between himself and the guy on his other side.
But it felt good and Elio didn’t move away during the whole dinner, if anything, Oliver felt the younger man’s leg push a little into his at some point and when Elio had then looked at him with a hint of sparkles in his emerald green eyes, Oliver was quite sure, that they were flirting.
Well, I’m not married yet, he thought, smiling to himself and then confidently placing his hand on Elio’s upper thigh, squeezing it lightly.