How many people out there could proudly say that they had been on some sort of television show? Probably a lot, if they counted background appearances on the news or something equally as unimportant. But how many of those positive responses would be from actual appearances, where they did something memorable? Won a game, made some money, or embarrassed someone? Not very many, for sure.

That was what made Geoff and Bridgette's story so interesting. They had found their start—and each other—on reality TV, and somewhere along the way, their past lives became irrelevant as the fame they both had somehow accrued meant so much more. Yes, this meant that they were giving up who they had been pre-Total Drama for the sake of what the show had bestowed upon them, but it was worth it; they had not only found true love and a lasting companionship in each other, but they had found the calling their lives had been needing.

They were the best hosts of trashy talk shows that the world had ever seen. One of them was just so kind to everyone that she built their trust up, and then the other was more than fine with hurting whoever they were talking to for the sake of ratings. Audiences loved it, even if their friends didn't, and with every show they hosted, their reputations got bigger and bigger. So what if neither of them had actually won any of the seasons of their show they had been in? That wasn't relevant when they had more fame between them than any of those has-beens did, with few exceptions.

What had started as a consolation for them blowing a chance at a million dollars had become a life-changing experience, and there was nothing in the world that would make either of them change their minds about what they had done. Geoff, once known as a party dude who had turned into a mean-spirited person who hated his friends, had fallen back into some in-between, did miss getting to be the life of the party, but what kind of person wouldn't love to get to be the voice of the red carpet party instead? And Bridgette, the kind-hearted surfer chick, definitely had given up all forms of surfing that weren't just for fun, but she was as sweet as she had always been and enjoyed getting to know so many people through her line of work.

Hosting gigs came and went. Awards shows, specials, even getting to announce a live hockey game, all were things that they got to do over the course of the years following their last appearance on Total Drama. It was a hectic life, going place to place for whatever job was calling for them, but they managed at each other's side.

One thing that did weigh heavy on their hearts was their friends from on that show that had given them this grand life opportunity, but with so much on their plates, how were they supposed to keep up with the others? Addresses and phone numbers changed too often to keep tabs on them, and as time went on, those old faces faded from memory, replaced with the revolving door of famous people they met through their work.

There was one face that did pop up from time to time, however, and it was the one face that they wouldn't have been there without: Chris McLean. He wasn't always around, and they never knew when he would come back into their lives, but he was almost guaranteed to be the reason they were jetting across Canada for something or other. He loved that two people from his little reality show had gotten to nearly the same level of fame as he had, and whenever he got the chance to come hang out with them, he was certain to take it.

"Do you think we'll be seeing Chris tonight on the red carpet?" It was a few hours before the yearly Gemmie awards ceremony, and much like the previous six years, it was going to be Geoff and Bridgette doing the interviews as everyone entered the auditorium. Like before every event they were at, Bridgette was doing her own hair, as she refrained from using the unnatural products that beauty crews so heavily tried to force onto her, and while she pinned her hair up she liked to make small talk with Geoff, who wouldn't so much as bother to get ready until they were about to be on camera. "Or do you think he's going to take this year off?"

"The dude goes every year! A Gemmies without Chris is like one without us, Bridge! It just doesn't happen!" Geoff let out a laugh, reclining back in the director's-style chair he was sitting in. "He'll be the first person we see, promise."

She smiled a bit, taking another pin and sticking it in her hair. "I don't think you should promise something like that. I just have this feeling that maybe, just maybe, this will be the first year he isn't there to remind everyone about where we came from."

"So maybe he likes trying to derail us for the sake of gross stuff! We can't hold it against the guy, can we?"

"I guess we can't…" She turned from the mirror to look at Geoff, right as he leaned back a bit too far and sent the chair, and himself, tumbling to the floor. "Oh no! Geoff!"

"Heh, I'm okay," he said with another laugh. "Just, uh, forgot that those chairs aren't the best for catching some z's."

Bridgette came over to his side and helped him up, him laughing as she did. "You really should stop doing that, especially before something as important as the Gemmies."

"You're being really uppity right now. Did something happen that broke your flow or something?" Geoff did a wave motion with one of his arms to demonstrate what he was talking about, and Bridgette rolled her eyes in response. "Okay, what's the prob?"

"Nothing's the problem! It's just…" she took a deep breath, before walking back over to her mirror to continue working on her hair. "I heard something earlier today on the news and I can't help but be thinking about it, that's all. No big deal."

The laughter stopped, as the chair was righted and Geoff got back into it. "No big deal? You know the rule, no watching news before we have a gig. Bad vibes, yeah?"

"I wasn't watching, just listening," she clarified, before continuing with, "and besides, it wasn't anything to do with either of us. It had to do with Chris."

Geoff watched Bridgette put a few more pins in her hair before he said anything else, a bit transfixed with how her simple touch was enough to make her look very similar to a movie star. "I'unno, Bridge, it doesn't matter if it's watched or listened to. The news is still bad news, and now you're giving me the vibes from it." He shuddered, rocking the chair again. "Nothing's going to stop the Chris-man from being here tonight, and we'll see him on the carpet like we do every year."

"And if we don't?"

He shrugged. "Then we don't, and he'll probably hit us up for coffee or something. The man's always here though, and you know that."

"I guess I do know that, but—"

"No buts. Just accept that I know what I'm talking about and keep doing that hair thing." Geoff nearly fell out of the chair again, its legs clattering against the wood floor as he finally let them get back to their proper positions. "And maybe finish that up quick? I've got a bad feeling about me being in this chair much longer."

She sighed, realizing that it was going to be a losing battle if she attempted to justify her decision to listen to that news, and so she did what he asked of her and soon enough she was ready to go and he was still lounging around in his pajama pants. "So you expect me to get all dolled up as quickly as I can, and yet you're still going to sit around looking like you just woke up?"

"Chill out babe, I know what I'm doing. Don't rush perfection." There was a slight problem to his claims of perfection, that being that he had no honest idea where his nice pants for awards ceremonies such as this one had gone, but he wasn't going to just admit that straight-up to Bridgette's face. In fact, he wasn't going to acknowledge it as a problem until he absolutely had to—or until it was time for them to meet with the production crew and he was still wearing his pants with the little puppies on them. "Okay, maybe I sorta lost my nice pants somewhere back home," he finally admitted, much to the displeasure of his girlfriend, "and maybe I don't have anything but these and some shorts."

"Then wear the shorts then?" she suggested in return, giving his pants a disgusted look. "I don't think anyone would appreciate you wearing those on the red carpet. Can you imagine the headlines? 'Famous host wears puppy pants to Gemmies!' 'Geoff looks like total fool in front of the celebs!' It's the wrong idea to keep wearing those."

He grabbed at his tie that he had put on and tugged it a bit. "Problem, Bridge. Those shorts are the ones I wore yesterday."

"Why is that a problem? I've seen you wear the same shirt for a week straight before!"

"Yeah, I know, and I'd be down for wearing those shorts if you hadn't spilled that plate on me at dinner and," he tugged his tie a bit more, "I'm not saying this is all your fault, but I think it's all your fault."

"My fault? How is it my fault that you tripped me?" She pantomimed wringing his neck for a second, before taking a deep breath and trying to collect herself. "You're just going to have to wear the dirty shorts. Maybe someone on the crew will have a solution to that mess."

In theory, it was a good suggestion, but the reality was that no person on the crew for the entire ceremony had any sort of solution for a stain on a pair of board shorts. To make matters worse, it was a near unanimous vote for Geoff to wear the pajama pants, the ones covered in little puppy dogs, on the red carpet. The lone dissenter, Bridgette, would just have to deal with the fact that her boyfriend was making a total fool of himself for the cameras, and there wasn't a single thing she could do about it.

If things weren't bad enough at that point, she was still worrying, albeit only on the inside, about whether or not they would be graced with the presence of their dear friend and one-time tormentor Chris. The worry that he wouldn't show up, that his face wouldn't appear right next to hers on screen and there wouldn't be any clarification on what she had heard on the news that morning, was enough to make her ignore the fact that Geoff was wearing a dress shirt, a tie, and pajama pants. It was enough to make her space out in her first couple of interviews with the early-arriving stars.

But nothing would have been enough to distract her from the fact that she was going to have to talk it up with someone from her past, someone she had no idea was going to be there—or, at least, she was supposed to talk to the person. The person had other plans, and those involved making Geoff the carpet personality that she talked to. "Oh my gosh, it's Gary from the island!" the high-pitched and still so airheaded voice of Lindsay said, rushing to shake Geoff's hand. "I didn't know you were famous!"

"And I didn't know you were going to be here at the Gemmies!" he replied, letting the handshake happen for a few seconds, before pulling away to look as cool as he could. "What brings you out here to the red carpet?"

She blinked at him, as if she was unable to process what she had just been asked. "You didn't know that I'm on a show that got nominated tonight?" she asked, her eyes starting to brim with tears. When he admitted that he didn't, not because he didn't care but because his schedule didn't allow for him to watch anything, she seemed to perk up a bit. "Oh, in that case, I'm here because I got nominated for being on the best fashion show ever!"'

"Which one? Designing With the Stars? I've heard rave reviews about that one."

"From the looks of what you're wearing, I think your stylist might watch that show." It was said as a joking comment, but there was no joking when it came to the effect Lindsay's words had on Geoff, who looked down at his pants and looked back up to his companion's face, his expression one of disgust; it would have been a fun little incident had the cameras not followed him as he had looked, and at that moment, the entire viewing public of the pre-show for the Gemmie Awards knew that this man, who everyone lauded as a great interviewer, had no sense of style to speak of. "And, uh, I'm totally a judge on Clothing Bug. You should watch sometime. You might learn how to dress yourself."

He stuttered for a moment, trying to come up with a comeback, but the only thing he could manage was, "H-heh, yeah, probably. I don't always look this bad though. Just when I forget to pack my pants."

"A good man knows to always have extra pants for the camera." Grabbing his hand again, not for a shake but to pat it with her other hand, Lindsay turned so that she was staring the cameras dead-on and smiled. "Anyone who watches my show so knows that."

It was a moment for everyone watching at home to laugh and enjoy, but there on the red carpet, it was a moment that filled Geoff with nothing but embarrassment. "Maybe I should watch it sometime. Thanks, Lindsay. We'll see you later at the ceremony, yeah?"

"I guess so. I didn't know doggy pants were allowed at the Gemmies though." She shrugged, letting go of his hand and turning to continue her way down the carpet. "Bye, Gary!"

The fact that she had gotten his name wrong twice didn't even sink in until long after Lindsay had breezed by the next few reporters, and when it did hit him that she hadn't called him the correct name, there wasn't much he could do about it except mutter to himself that his name was Geoff, not Gary. And all Bridgette, who was the next reporter in line, could do was wish that this terrible night would end without anything else bad happening to either of them.

There would be no such luck, especially when there was something that she needed to know and someone she really wanted to see, and that information just wasn't coming. Celebrity after celebrity came down the carpet and they did their jobs diligently, being the funny and charming characters that the world had gotten to know them as, but still on the inside, Bridgette was fretting. Normally by the half-way point in the event was when Chris would make his appearance, and if he hadn't shown up yet, then would he ever? Would she be able to get the news she needed verification about from him that night, or would she have to wait until a later date?

It was five minutes before the Gemmie Awards ceremony was to start, and the stragglers were coming down the interview alley, all in far too much of a rush to want to be talked to by the media. "I can't believe he isn't here," she said, approaching Geoff. "You were so sure he'd be the first one here and now this is the end and he's still not here!"

"Who's still not here?" Geoff, being observant as ever, looked around for a moment. "I don't see anyone who matters. Hey, guess how many people complimented my pants!"

"This isn't the time for you to be proud of making yourself look like you just rolled out of bed! This is when we get worried that Chris isn't here!" There were few times that Bridgette actually lost her cool, and this was one of them. "Something must have happened to him and, oh no, what if he's never going to come to anything like this again? Doesn't that worry you at least a little bit?"

He shook his head. "Nope. Nothing bad ever happens to Chris. 'cept getting thrown in jail that one time, and having his plane blown up, and all that other stuff."

"You really aren't helping your case right now." She looked to the beginning of the carpet, where the media crowd that had been present all night was starting to disperse to find better vantage points for the ceremony. "I just hope he's okay, wherever he is."

"It's charming how worried you get about me sometimes." The voice, coming from a bit behind the two, was coupled with a laugh that was half-maniacal, half-dead inside. "You know I always make it to the Gemmies, even if I don't have a show up my sleeve for the year."

Bridgette's face lit up and she turned around, seeing Chris standing there. "I never know with you. You're getting old, and…"

"Old? Me?" He almost looked offended by her saying such a thing, but the presence of the laugh made it clear he wasn't hurt in the slightest. "Doing the reality show stuff can really drain on a guy sometimes. I was busy working on my plans for the next big thing when I lost track of time and almost missed getting here to see my two favorite campers!" In an uncharacteristic move for the guy, he opened his arms for them to approach him for a hug, and they took up the offer, the three of them hugging for a little bit there on the red carpet; if it had been any other people who had once competed on that show, he wouldn't have made the gesture, but it was Geoff and Bridgette, and he saw them more as colleagues than he did people he once made do horrible things on television. "And you two will love what I've got in the works!"

"We will?" It was said simultaneously, in varying tones of surprise.

He nodded. "You sure will! I'm going to pull a few strings, get you two out of whatever contracts you're in now, and you're going to be working with me!"

"I'unno about that, man," Geoff said, backing out of the hug with his hands up in front of him. "I like the contract I'm in. I get some holidays, and free cars, and it's nice. Don't make me lose that."

"Geoff, come on, be serious about this! We wouldn't be where we are if it wasn't for Chris and his shows, so we should take his offer, whatever it is." Bridgette too stepped back from the hug, but not in the same way Geoff had, and she tilted her head slightly to one side as she looked at Chris, waiting for him to explain what he was talking about. "Even if it means giving up everything we already do, I'm sure what we will be doing is worth it."

"That's the spirit!" Chris grinned, etching many wrinkles into his face that had appeared over the years. "Man, I love talking to someone with reason."

She couldn't help but laugh. "It's not every day that someone says I've got reason."

"Well, you do. You know it's the dumbest thing ever to turn me down." His chest puffing out a bit in pride, or perhaps an act of showing them who had control, he went to continue speaking, but a cameraperson stopped him, asking if they could maybe move off the red carpet for this touching reunion. "Sorry, do you know who I am? I make golden shows, and I'm sorta talking about my next big thing, thank you very much!" The person didn't take the hint well, asking them to move again, but when Chris threatened the person with having to become an intern on his next competition show, they listened and backed off. "Wow. Rude. I could use someone with such gall on a show sometime, but whatever."

"So, what's your plan?" It wasn't so much that Bridgette was impatient, because she was normally all for just talking and getting to the important stuff when it came around, but there was an awards show they could have been watching, and standing on an almost empty red carpet just wasn't as fun as watching the Gemmies was. "Is it for us to host alongside you on a new season of one of your shows?"

The sound of absolute horror that Geoff made at that suggestion, coupled with the concerned look that Chris gave her, told her that what she had just said was probably the worst idea ever. "Uh, let's be realistic. I love your work, guys, but working next to me is different. You won't get any screen time and no one will remember your names after we're done. I just don't think your careers are ready for such disappointment." Said with a laugh, Chris made it sound a lot like he was being sarcastic, but the truth was that he meant it. He was the center of attention whenever he ran a show and he knew it. "But I can do you one better. You two, your own show, my rules. Sound good?"

"Good? That sounds like it's just going to end bad for us, and I think I'd rather lose all my popularity because you're on camera than have to host for you." Geoff grabbed Bridgette's arm and tried to pull her away, but she stopped him, much to his shock. "Bridge? Are you listening to this? He's crazy!"

"Says the guy who had to wear puppy pajama pants on the red carpet!" She got his hand off of her and turned her full attention back to Chris, who was staring at her, waiting for her response to his proposition. "I don't know, though…our own show? We've kinda got one of those already, on the radio…"

"Yeah, I know, listen to it all the time. Love when you decide to mention me or something I've done. Really humbles a man."

"And you want us to give that up, for whatever you want us to do?" She raised an eyebrow, becoming a bit suspicious about what was happening. "That doesn't make sense."

He paused for a second before he replied, and then shrugged. "Things don't always make sense, Bridgette. Maybe you'll be able to keep doing that and do this thing at the same time, I don't know. I don't usually figure those things out until later in the planning process."

"Later in the planning process? You mean, you're asking us to drop everything and agree to be part of your new thing without all the plans already made? Maybe Geoff is right, maybe this will just end bad for us." She was about to turn and walk off, but Chris began to laugh his typical laugh and it caught her by surprise. "What's so funny about me doubting you?" she asked, hoping his reply would convince her that not leaving right then was a good idea.

"You haven't even heard my idea yet and you're about to run. Come on, you guys have to realize that I made you famous, and that this is the least you can do to pay me back for that. Just listen to my idea, and trust me, it's a good idea." He was really digging to get them to stay, in a pleading manner that the Chris they had known forever before would never so much have considered.

But this was not the Chris who once hosted Total Drama Island, and they had no reason to doubt that he wouldn't at least suggest something interesting. "Okay, we'll listen, but if you say anything weird…"

"No worries, Geoff, I'm not going to say anything weird. Or illegal. Actually, it's the legality thing that's got me coming to you two, believe it or not." He looked around at the sparse crowd for a few seconds, before setting his gaze on the two before him. "Now, to continue this conversation, shall we go somewhere a bit more private? I don't want the media catching wind of this idea quite yet. Don't need them telling the world until it's time."

Although he literally had just told a guy minutes before that they weren't going to leave, leaving was exactly what they did then, even if the destination was a makeup trailer for the camera crews. "What's such a big deal that we've got to come in here to talk about it?" There was slight confusion in Bridgette's voice, blending in with the rising fear that whatever was going to be suggested was what she had heard on the news earlier on in the day. "You're not," she swallowed down hard, "d-dying, are you?"

"What? No!" Chris shook his hands in front of him as he made sure to strike that suggestion down. "Where'd you hear that, the trash news? I swear, every year I don't have a new show, they think it's because I've got a terminal disease or something. It's called, sometimes I can't find exploitable people, okay?"

"Bridge, is that why you wanted to see him so badly?" Geoff looked to his girlfriend, who nodded solemnly. "Why didn't you just say that? I could have told you that he's not dying. Nothing could kill this man, I swear."

"Pretty sure I've evaded death enough times that I'm just never going to die, thanks." The hand-shaking stopped and soon the conversation got to where it was supposed to be: "Now, you two know me because of a show. A great show! A show that really put me on the map as 'best host of a reality show' for years and years! A show that ended up costing me millions of dollars in lawsuits and almost as many restraining orders as there have been contestants!"

Bridgette had a question on that third point, and she asked it while stopping Chris, yet again, from explaining his whole idea. "They took out restraining orders? Sure, you almost killed a bunch of us, but forgive and forget! You gave so many of us the loves of our lives, so why couldn't they just think that way?"

"Yeah, turns out that mental scars and physical trauma are unforgivable, even when they got to hook up during it." He shook his head sadly, before continuing with what he had been saying before. "Anyway, that's not important. What is important, though, is that I am legally not allowed to talk to like half of the people you guys befriended out on that island, and next summer, it's going to be ten years since that whole thing happened." He waited for a reaction, but he got nothing but two blank stares. "Oh, come on, you two know that's important, don't you?"

Geoff's mind was still trying to process what was being said when he spoke next. "Means it's been about ten years since I met my sweetheart here, so I think I'd say that's important!"

"Touching thought, Geoff, but not what I was going for. Do you know what people do when it's been ten years since something happened?" Again, Chris expected a reaction, but got stares. "They have a reunion, that's what. And you two are going to host the first Total Drama reunion show, on my behalf!"

"We are?" Bridgette smiled for a second, before her face fell hard. "No, we're not. I'm pretty sure some of those people are still the sneaky, manipulative—"

"Did I say it's been almost ten years since World Tour? No, I said almost ten years since the island. Don't get ahead of yourself." The sigh of relief he got from clarifying that made him hopeful that his proposition would be accepted. "Even though I'm not going to complain if you wanted to bring in some of those other people. The fans love some of them. Might drive up the ratings for this."

"So what you're saying is this," Geoff started, finally having caught what Chris was throwing down. "You're saying we get to talk to all these people that we once competed with for money, and get to act all chummy and fun to them, just because you can't?"

"Something like that, yes. Except I don't want you to be fake with them. You still hate the people? Hate them! Fights! Drama! Ratings!" The last word was said in a bit of a sing-song voice, and Chris was raising his arms much like he did in his intros for the show. "And the best part? You two get to be in charge! Just like those Aftermath shows you used to do. Fun times, am I right?" Before either of them could get a word in, he answered his own question. "Of course I'm right. I'm always right. I'm Chris McLean. Right is almost my middle name."

It was a tempting offer, sure, but there were so many variables in play that needed to be clarified on before they made a final decision, before they signed a contract that sold their lives away to this project. And one of those first things that needed to be set in stone was simple and easy, that being that they do this on their own time, at their own pace, with their own results. It wasn't going to be a super easy project to complete, they knew, but it was something that Chris really seemed to want them to do, and who were they to turn him down when he was offering something like this to them? They would have been stupid to reject such a great offer, and as airheaded as they tended to be, they really weren't stupid. There were just going to have to be some ground rules set before they were committed.

That winter, after several meetings where those rules were made and contracts were drafted, they started on what was going to be the biggest event of their lives. They had until the beginning of the following summer, roughly six months, to get twenty people to agree to come together for a reunion show for the best experience in most of their lives. And the chances of it going off without a hitch were so astronomically small, it was more likely that Chris really wasn't able to die than it was that it would ever happen.

There wasn't any harm in giving it a shot.


A/N: Hello there! This was my NaNo 2k14 project, finally being posted for everyone to see and enjoy! It takes place as a companion fic to my other long-runner, [her, him them], and there will be points that directly reference that fic. But no worries if you haven't read that one, as the majority of this one takes place before it, and any places where the other one is directly referenced will be mentioned in the chapter prior to it. So if you've been meaning to read [her, him, them], reading this alongside it is a great idea! :D