I'm sorry for not updating in forever! I swear I'm not dead; I've been super busy and my muse has been flaky at best. Please accept this really cute Nawn oneshot and forgive me for not posting frequently enough. For those following Total Drama Island Rewritten, an update is on its way!
I don't own Total Drama.
After their years being tortured on Total Drama, it was no wonder that such bonds had been forged between the competitors that several of them had chosen to live together once they all moved out on their own. But after years enduring some pretty awful shit as a team, some of the former contestants of Total Drama Island had such strong friendships that not living together seemed preposterous.
Izzy and Owen were back together again, and Noah hadn't seen either of them all morning, but he could take a hint from the "please join" sign that Izzy had hung on the her bedroom door and the suspicious lack of the ginger-haired psycho hosebeast that morning at breakfast. He really didn't want to think about what two of his best friends got up to behind closed doors, or why Izzy had a sign requesting additional participants.
If Cody hadn't been at Sam's for nearly three days straight for the Halo Tournament that Sam was hosting, Noah suspected that the blue eyed geek would have heeded Izzy's request and entered the terrifying domain that was Izzy's bedroom. Noah didn't want to know, but unlike Noah, Cody didn't plug his ears and flee the room every time Izzy tried to tell them all about her toys.
Some might have struggled to live with people like Owen, Izzy and Cody, but Noah was the youngest of a brood of nine, so he wasn't bothered by the presence of others. His numerous siblings had taught him how to tune out the real world so he could focus on reading his book, although Izzy's battle cries were enough to break the concentration of anyone in earshot.
A loud thump! made the bookworm cringe, and he twitched, before giving up on trying to read in his bedroom. Much like the living room, the den and the kitchen, it was much too close to Izzy's bedroom to allow him to escape the war cries hailing from down the hall.
Annoyed and desperate to escape, Noah pondered going to the park, but he disliked the effort of doing things. If he wanted to read at the park, he'd have to walk or – knowing Noah - drive to the park and then walk around until he found a free bench, and the bookwork hated to waste as much energy as it took to do all that. No, he'd just have to find another room to read in.
"Noah?" A gentle voice called as he made his way down the hallway, and he halted, turning with a bored expression to face one of his other housemates, who was standing in the doorway to her bedroom.
"Yes?" He asked, annoyance edging his usually deadpan tone.
"You're welcome to read in here if you'd like; it's quiet."
Noah's unimpressed expression didn't change, but the lack of energy required if he accepted the blonde's offer was too appealing to him, and with an annoyed sigh, he nodded and made his way into her bedroom.
Of course, he'd expected something dark blue or green decorated with peace signs, not a plain hospital white bedroom with simple furniture and lots and lots of potted plants. A squirrel sat on the windowsill of her open window, eating nuts from a bowl that she had laid out.
An ipod sat in a docking station on the dresser, playing the awful background music that Noah would have expected from a yoga studio – and perhaps should have expected from Dawn as well. Of course she would play that ridiculous relaxation music. She worshipped the earth – 'mother nature' – and she meditated for hours and hours in a single day. She lived in a mystical fantasy world where aura reading was a legitimate thing.
"I can finish my yoga routine later." Dawn told him as she sat down on the yoga mat in the middle of the room. "For now, I'll just meditate."
"Go wild." Noah shrugged in indifference. If she was hoping he'd protest so he could watch her in provocative poses, she was sadly mistaken. Noah was the king of indifference and quite frankly, the possibility of watching a girl do yoga was not nearly as exciting to Noah as was the prospect of reading his book, undisturbed.
"I'm sorry that the only places I can offer you to sit are on the floor or my bed."
"I can see you entertain often." Noah quipped sarcastically before climbing onto the girl's bed and positioning himself for reading.
He wasn't used to not being disturbed when he tried to read. His numerous siblings were not content if he was, and went out of their way to make reading as difficult as possible for him. Owen always asked about whatever Noah was reading and kept asking until he had divulged every detail of the story until there was no point Owen reading it himself, and Cody just tried to read over his shoulder which, while not terrible disruptive, annoyed Noah a great deal. And Izzy usually tried to initiate a game of tug of war whenever she saw Noah with a book in his hand, and as a result, Noah had a growing collection of books that Izzy had bitten a chunk out of.
And so, Noah kept glancing suspiciously around the room, anticipating disruptions that never came. He had read three full chapters before he started letting himself get fully engrossed in the story and stopped checking for possible distractions.
It wasn't until he sat up in search of a lamp that he realized that he'd been reading on Dawn's bed for most of the day. Stretching, Noah glanced around the room and found that Dawn was still meditating, and looked as though she hadn't moved a muscle since she'd invited him into her bedroom several hours prior.
As if on cue, Dawn blinked and glanced around the room as her eyes adjusted to the decreasing amount of light. Fixing her imperturbable blue-grey gaze on the bookworm, she spoke. "I have a lamp in my closet if you'd like me to get it for you."
Tempted by the offer to stay and read in peace for just a bit longer, the bookworm decided against it. "Nah, I'd better not hide out for too long or the others might worry because they haven't got anyone to pester."
"They mean well, you know." Dawn answered with a smile. "That's just their way of letting you know that they like you."
Noah shrugged as he stood up, using his finger as a bookmark even though he'd already committed the page number to memory. "Well then, my life would be better if they liked me just a little less."
"You don't mean that." she said, standing up to show him to the door.
He stepped out into the hallway, and turned back to the girl who had so kindly offered him sanctuary. He wasn't sure what exactly he should say to her. He could make a sarcastic jab at the blonde, but he doubted he would have been able to justify it – he could mock stupidity, and though her religion was something he found absolutely preposterous, making a jab at it would have been completely unprovoked.
His free hand rubbed the back of his neck as he found himself doing something he wasn't exactly used to – being sincere. "Er. . . thanks for letting me have some peace and quiet today."
"You don't have to thank me, it was just nice to have some company."
He raised an eyebrow. One could hardly describe their interactions that day as company. Company implied that had interacted, and he really didn't consider their short exchange to be sufficient enough to classify it as interaction.
She furrowed her brow. "I mean, Izzy is great company, but it's difficult to meditate around Izzy."
"It's difficult to much of anything around Izzy."
"You're welcome to come back tomorrow if you wish."
Noah's seemingly permanent expression of not impressed took a momentary break, and he almost smiled. Almost. "Thanks. I might just take you up on that."
"I look forward to it." Dawn said, stepping back into her room and preparing to shut her door behind him. "Good night."
"Night." Noah said, turned towards his own room, only to find Izzy standing just down the hallway with a huge grin on her face.
"Noah-boa and Dawnie-bee makin' babies!" the redhead announced, clapping her hands and nodding. "Izzy approves!"
"No, actually we were just enjoying some peace and quiet." Noah said, despite knowing that Izzy was not likely to believe him.
"Oh, there you are! We were starting to wonder where you'd gotten to." Cody said as he and Owen walked into hallway. "Where have you been all day?"
"Noah and Dawn hooked up!" Izzy answered with an enthusiastic nod.
"No we didn't." Noah said, groaning inwardly.
Cody and Owen momentarily looked surprised, but Cody's face quickly changed to a pleased grin and he stepped forward, raising his hand for a high five. "Score! Dawn's a total babe. Didn't know you had it in you, dude!"
Noah rolled his eyes and brushed past the trio, on route to his own bedroom. "That's not what happened."
"Dude, don't leave me hanging!" Cody complained as Noah disappeared into his own room and shut the door behind himself with more force than he usually would have used.
Leaning on the back of his door, he took a deep breath. Despite the teasing he was sure to receive from their roommates, Noah had already decided that it was worth it to spend the day with Dawn again tomorrow.
And perhaps Dawn was right about the two of them being good company.
Plot twist: Izzy and Owen are actually LARPing and Noah just has a dirty mind. And so do you.
Actually, what Izzy and Owen are doing is up to you. You get to decide what you think they were actually doing because you'll never find out so whatever you choose is the correct answer.
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