Last Girl Standing

Things in the house seemed so different with Louis and Haley gone, and Jenna could tell that the boys were already missing their best friend, especially Harry. It would only get worse as they left the house one by one, but the whole competition would be done before they knew it. The winner would be crowned, off to the vacation of their dreams, and the boys would all be reunited again, hopefully each of them with a girl still on their arms.

With Liam’s hand wrapped tightly around hers, Jenna tugged nervously at her bottom lip, while they all waited for Tanisha to give out the instructions for the next part of challenge. Heart racing a mile a minute, Jenna wondered how difficult the challenge would be and whether or not she and Liam could do it. She wasn’t quite ready to be sent home, but she knew no one else was either. The boys all wanted to be named the winner, mostly for bragging rights, and Jenna didn’t want to be the one to stop Liam from winning.

Liam placed a quick kiss to Jenna’s temple, before pressing his lips to her ear. “Don’t worry, babe. We’ve got this.”

He gave her a reassuring smiled and Jenna instantly felt worlds better. Liam had faith in her and that was all she needed. Ever since their first kiss, whenever everyone around them was doubting their relationship, Liam always had faith in Jenna. No matter what anyone else said or thought, Jenna meant the world to him and he didn’t need a competition to prove that. He was happy just to be standing there with her. Winning would just be a bonus.

“As you all know,” Tanisha said, looking out at the group with her sweet smile. “Life will always throw you curveballs, and in today’s challenge, we’re throwing you two.” There was a noticeable tension in the group, as everyone waited for her to continue. “For this challenge, not one, but two couples will be sent home, leaving only our top two to compete in a special challenge for the ultimate prize.”

Jenna felt her heart begin racing more quickly. Two couples being sent home meant double the chance for them to lose. They’d made it through the last challenge, but only by the stubble on Liam’s chin, and this one was sure to be more difficult.

“Our second curveball is in the challenge itself. Sometimes, curveballs take important moments in your life and put them out of your control, and that is what we will be doing now. The winners and losers of this challenge will not be chosen based on anything you do, per say. It will be based on what you have done in the past. As you know, our cameras have been following you around for a large portion of the competition, including the dates you went on. In this challenge, we will take the footage from your previous dates and show it to our judges, who will then pick the winners and losers of the challenge, based on the footage alone.”

Jenna couldn’t decide whether the challenge would be a good thing or a bad thing, but it certainly took away a bit of her nerves. Since the challenge was based on what happened in the past, she didn’t have to worry about any athletic challenge or another terrifying trust test. All she could do was hope that the dates she and Liam had before would be enough to put them through to the final round.

“Now, I’m sure everyone is dying to know who our judges will be,” Tanisha said, with a devilish grin on her face. “You’ve met them once before, but last time you did, you were competing against them.” Tanisha held her arms out, to the door opening behind her. “Please, give a warm welcome back to the exes.”

Once again, the boys’ exes walked through the door, minus Eleanor. Jenna locked eyes with Danielle immediately, who gave her a soft smile. All the power was in the exes hands now and there was nothing they could do but wait anxiously while the exes watched the videos.

Jenna imagined it must have been some cruel torture to watch your ex on a date with another girl, but the boys’ exes didn’t seem to mind.

The group watched through the footage of Niall and October, Zayn and Abelia, and Harry and Sadie, before the footage of Liam and Jenna finally appeared on the screen. Each couple had gotten a clip of one date, and Jenna and Liam were no different.

Their footage showed the night on the beach, when the two of them had ran out of the restaurant to get away from everyone else. They hadn’t realized a cameraman had followed them out and hid behind some thick brush to capture their date, but Jenna was thankful they had.

Just watching herself and Liam on the beach brought back a flood of good memories, and a large smile fell to her face. His thumb began caressing the palm of her hand, as they watched themselves laughing, with Liam’s arms wrapped around hers. Jenna wanted to watch the video a thousand times over and hoped they would put it on air, just so she could record it so she could have it forever.

All their time in the house, she’d hated the cameras, but she never thought about the small bit of good that they did. They’d captured every happy moment between her and Liam, and with any luck, she’d have them to hold onto forever. It was a small win for all the torture the cameraman had put them through, but it was worth it.

When the footage had finished playing, the exes left the lawn for a brief moment to discuss who the winners and losers would be. Those few moments felt like hours to the contestants, but the exes were back in the blink of an eye.

After the exes whispered their decision to Tanisha, their host smiled out at the contestants.

“After much deliberation our exes have come to a decision,” Tanisha said, as she folded her hands in front of her, a large grin spread across her face. “Harry and Sadie, Liam and Jenna, congratulations on making it to the final round of Love Games. The last challenge will put you through the ultimate test, so we have a special date planned for the four of you to get your spirits up in preparation.”

Tanisha turned to the other contestants, her large smile replaced with a soft one. “Niall and October, Zayn and Abelia, your love game has ended. It was a pleasure having each of you here and I wish you all the best. Please pack your things and get ready to head out of the mansion.”

It was down to just the four of them: Harry, Sadie, Liam, and Jenna. At that moment, they were probably the four happiest people in the world.

Jenna couldn’t stop the large smile that appeared on her face, but she tried to mask it so she didn’t hurt the losing contestants even more. She and Liam would have their own time to celebrate later, as they were one step closer to the finish line.