A/N: Hi there. TDAS has inspired me to write again. If my work's still any good, let me know and I may consider making a comeback? I love you all so much and thank you for reading.

Gwen sifted idly through the pages of her sketchbook, gray eyes sweeping over pencilled moonlight skies, flawlessly drawn hearts bleeding their blackened souls out, and the rough outlines of a familiar individual smirking back at her. Actually, he didn't look exactly right on the paper. His dog collar was missing and his eyes were without detail, devoid of any mischief or anger the real thing's were notorious for conveying.

In other words, he looked too much like a hero and that had to be fixed.

She took pencil to paper without a second thought, cautious about the amount of pressure she applied and keeping the curving lines steady. There was no room to be thinking of anything else. It was simply too problematic; she would think on her situation and then over-think about it, and then she would get frustrated at herself for thinking so much and then stop thinking altogether until she simply couldn't help herself and thought about it again. Gwen wished, not for the first time, that she had never allowed herself to get roped into the complete stupidity that was the Total Drama series. Perhaps then, she wouldn't have so many issues.

(Or at least she wouldn't have so many issues that she still wanted to make out with even if they so thoroughly frustrated her. Damn that boy and the feelings he made her have.)

"Do I really look like that?"

Gwen gasped, instinctively slapping an arm over her work as she craned her neck to peer at Duncan. The way he looked right then, Gwen thought, with that cool smile on his face and the flaming orange sunset outlining him in a hazy sort of glow, was completely unfair. She'd have to draw it later.

Duncan sat down close to her, resting his chin on her shoulder. So that he could snoop on her and be lazy at the same time, she recalled him saying the first time he had done the same thing eons ago. Now it was commonplace. Gwen barely glanced at him before her eyes drifted back to her incomplete drawing. She was about to start in on it again when Duncan spoke, his hot breath on the skin of her neck causing a savage tingling sensation to streak through her veins. The shivers were difficult to suppress, but she managed. Commonplace.

"Why're you so pissed about being a villain?" he mumbled. The way he said it - as if he was on the verge of sleep or a petulant child getting the last word in even though the argument had already been lost - made the matter sound so much less trivial than she had made it out to be.

Gwen sighed, dropping her pencil and wondering if it was really that trivial and she was merely doing that thinking thing too much again.

"Because," she began, pursing her lips and tilting her head to get a better look at him, "I don't like that everyone's perception of me is that I'm a horrible-terrible-lying-cheating-boyfriend stealer."

"I'm aware that Courtney thinks she speaks for every single person in the world, but you do realize she actually doesn't, right?" He smirked at her. Gwen was instantly reminded of her drawing, and made a mental note to be a little more confident in her artistic abilities.

A long, thin line of air shot from between her lips as she pulled away from Duncan, dropping her sketchbook and pencil beside her.

"She's not the only person who feels that way." She frowned, suddenly finding it difficult to look at anything but the fraying hem of her skirt. "I want to clear the air so badly. I didn't mean to hurt her and I think she knows it, but she's so stubborn I can't get a word in edgewise or even try to sneak in a sentence via a bunch of stupid flowers."

"I hope you weren't planning on trying that tactic again. I lit those flowers on fire this morning."

"Seriously?"

"Nah. I was hoping it would get you to smile. Or beat me up. Either way I would've been turned on."

A ghost of a smile found its way to Gwen's face as she halfheartedly smacked him on the arm. He grinned and caught her hand, instantly beginning to toy with her fingers. She responded in kind albeit unconsciously, soft fingertips migrating in order to touch any sliver of familiar calloused skin they could reach.

"I don't think I'm a villain." she explained resignedly, a frown deepening the lines of her face.

Duncan gave her a look that was hard to describe, but somehow it made her feel stupid for declaring such a thing.

"You're not." he assured her. "Hell, I don't even think that I'm a villain. If there was a third anti-hero team, that would be more my speed."

"You'd probably be the only one on the team." Gwen pointed out.

"Exactly. My team would win for sure."

She smiled feebly at the remark, pulling her hand from his and dropping it in her lap. Duncan frowned. She couldn't be sure of the exact reason for it.

Her hand slipped into her hair and fiddled with the dyed locks, an old nervous habit she had suddenly reacquired shortly after they arrived back on the island. "You don't think I'm a villain?" she asked hopefully.

He shrugged in response. "You're on the team and all, but that doesn't mean you're as bad as Heather."

"Don't remind me of that nickname!" Gwen whined, groaning as she covered her face with a hand. Duncan rolled his eyes even though she couldn't see.

"You've really got to stop caring about what people think of you." he informed her laxly, shoulders slumping and expression perfectly passive.

Slowly, Gwen pulled her hand from her face and tilted her head to eye Duncan curiously.

"...When did I start?"

"I would say right around the time you started feeling guilty. See, you're way too nice to be a villain. When you feel bad about something you punish yourself for it. It's totally not something mentally sound people do. But I like you anyway, so you're welcome." He might've laughed then leaned over and kissed her cheek. Gwen couldn't tell. She was so focused on the problem she didn't realize she had and how it actually did make complete sense, not to mention validated the fact that she was a hero even if her current stance in the game didn't reflect that.

"I..." she gazed at Duncan with a genuine expression of confusion and awe. "I think you solved my problem. Or part of it anyway."

He shrugged and smirked, an expression that would be forever ingrained in Gwen's memory. She smiled at him, her heart suddenly beating more rapidly. "It's what I do. What you do, however, is test how well sketchbooks work as headrests."

"What? I don't do tha - Duncan!"