Cherries were Courtney's favorite fruit. She loved cherries- especially chilled and freshly rinsed. She loved the extra juiciness the water added, a fresh burst of flavor as she crunched into her first bite. She loved the smooth texture and sweetness that flooded her taste buds. She even loved working her way around the seed and spitting it out. They were the perfect compliment to a hot, sunny day.
When Duncan had first found out, he had been surprised and slightly incredulous. "That's not true. Whenever we order dessert at Mel's you always toss it away."
Courtney wrinkled her nose. "Those are maraschino cherries! They are a disgrace and shouldn't even be properly classified as a cherry. Most of them come out of a can. And besides, I only like Rainier cherries." After seeing Duncan's baffled expression she added, "The white ones."
"Princess, you know too much useless information." Duncan had simply said and they left it as that.
So when a volunteering opportunity to go cherry picking arose at her local food bank, Courtney was the first one to sign up. And inscribed underneath her name was Duncan's. Without his consent of course.
"C'mon Duncan! You need extra service hours to pass senior year anyway! Plus it looks great on college." Courtney begged.
Duncan snorted and sat up from his recliner to shoot her a look of disbelief. "Does it look like I plan on going to college any time soon babe?"
Courtney huffed and crossed her arms. "I'm just saying it's a plus."
Duncan settled back into his recliner, both hands occupied with a game controller. "And I'm just saying that I have better things to do than to go cherry picking. Like sit here and kick Geoff's ass in COD."
Irritated, Courtney stomped over to where the TV was and promptly unplugged the whole thing, winking the television into a blank screen. Ignoring Duncan's enraged shouts, she whacked the controller out of his hands and straddled him.
He continued to glare at her. "What the fuck Court! I was in the middle of something and you just-"
She crushed her lips to his and he eagerly responded, threading his hands in her hair. She pulled away but gave him a sly smile and crawled her fingers to his chest, walking them in circles.
"I promise that if you go cherry picking with me I'd be more than happy to return the favor." Courtney said, making sure to widen her eyes incrementally. "Please Dunky?"
Duncan smirked. "Anything?"
Courtney leaned over to whisper in his ear. "Anything."
Duncan rolled his eyes but continued to grin. "Okay fine, I'll go to the stupid cherry picking thing with you. Now can you please give me my freakin' controller back and turn the TV on?"
And that was how Duncan found himself in the middle of a field, soaking with sweat, and scorching under the blazing sun. Despite Courtney's excessive chants and reminders to pack a small towel, water, and sunblock, of course he hadn't listened and hadn't brought any of that. All he had with him was his pocket knife and phone but neither items were very useful for the time being.
He glared at Courtney for the millionth time, who was content with her sun visor and small backpack, no doubt containing all the items Duncan hadn't bothered to bring. Although the sight of her smooth, tan legs in a pair of short shorts were a bonus, Duncan could feel his normally pale complexion starting to redden.
"Can we go under the shade now?" Duncan whined as he trailed after Courtney, lugging the bright orange bucket used to collect the fruit. "It's so hot."
"Well maybe you should have brought a bottle of water like I told you to." Courtney snapped, plucking some cherries off a branch.
Duncan sneered and pulled down the branch she had previously been collecting from, which caused it to reverberate and bounce. A couple of cherries plopped onto the dusty ground and an Asian couple nearby glowered at him. "Duncan! The man clearly told us not to pull on the branches or it could break!"
"So?" Duncan shrugged and popped a cherry in his mouth. Its exterior tasted like dirt.
"Ew! What if a bug had infested itself in that?! And produced little larva in your stomach! Or a wild animal peed on it or something? You need to wash them, idiot!"
"But there was no bug and the branch I picked it from was too high for an animal to even reach." Duncan responded calmly. "Calm down Princess. Here, let's sit down." Duncan gestured to a nearby bench and Courtney reluctantly sat down with a huff.
"What are you doing?" Duncan asked as Courtney began to search her backpack.
She sighed and turned to glare at him. "What does it look like I'm doing? If I don't put sunscreen on you, you're going to like a lobster. And no offense but a sunburn doesn't exactly support nor enhance your ogreish, deplorable appearance."
Duncan raised a pierced eyebrow. "Whatever sweetheart. You totally dig it."
Courtney scowled but didn't retort. "Hold still." She commanded instead, squirting the white goop on her hands.
As Duncan complied he watched her smear sunblock on his face. The sprinkle of freckles on her nose stood out against her now sun kissed skin. Her small hands moved deftly, patting gently and quickly. Her fingers, soft and cool, stroked his cheeks and he visibly relaxed, wondering how she wasn't sweltering in the dry heat. Her brown eyes were intent at the job at hand and she licked her plump lips, wet and enticing. Her cheekbones stood out noticeably, but not too prominently and flattered her caramel skin tone nicely. He felt a random surge of affection jolt through him and he smiled at her.
"What?" She asked, having seen his smile and stopped spreading the lotion on him. "What is it?"
"Nothing darling," Duncan said sweetly. "I was just wondering- when will it be my turn to return the favor and spread white stuff on your face?"
Crunch. Courtney relished the sweet juice of her freshly bit cherry as she watched in satisfaction as her boyfriend knelt to the ground, clutching his precious jewels.
"Not anytime soon, darling."
A/N: This literally came out of nowhere. But hey, I'm not complaining. The more DxC, the better :)
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