A/N. As much as I like Noco, it interrupts Owen/Izzy and Coderra, which are pretty much canon.

So I've taken the liberty to put Noah in a random encounter at a recent TOTAL DRAMA reunion where he'll end up with either Courtney or Bridgette, two of the most viable Noah pair ups in my opinion. Mostly because Katie, Sadie and Beth all suck and I can't see Noah being able to take Lindsey's stupidity for more than one date.

So here we have it...

The Reunion: Noah and the CIT.

Great.

Who he would consider as his two closest "friends" from Total Drama were now dating Nutty McNutty and Nutty McNuttier.

One was trying to teach the bigger male the art of the camel by straddling his neck and making camel noises and the other was squeezing the smaller male into a death hug every time he tried to speak and Noah was getting sick of this reunion already. Yes, it could be said that at least they had girlfriends while he was flying solo but if being single meant not scouring the nut farm for a girlfriend then he'd deal with it. Of course his problem getting girls might be due to that sole moment that he became chiefly known for in Total Drama history, and even the nuts thought that he "kissed a guy", so yeah, there was no living that one down.

Noah went over to the punch table, not the one where Duncan was giving out free punches to Harold. He wasn't stupid enough to go to THAT "punch" table since Duncan would probably love another "nerdling" to line up for a thumping. But instead Noah went to the one serving actual beverages. It was only then that he bumped into someone familiar.

"This is the worst reunion ever." Noah stated, monotone.

"I know right? I can't believe they made us come. It's a complete waste of our time."

Courtney was clearly still steaming about Gwuncan. Noah could tell by the way she kept casting him dirty looks. Courtney had been on the rebound with the whole Alejandro thing but Noah had to admit, the guy was smart and Noah wished he had thought of it first when he was still in the game. But then again, that type of thing only really worked for guys that looked like Alejandro.

"Couldn't you get your lawyers to get you out of it?"

"You know, I probably could have." Clearly Courtney had never heard of sarcasm before. "But they've shortened their 'business hours'."

"Shocker."

Courtney had her arms crossed and now her dirty looks were directed at Noah instead of Duncan. Hey, at least he had an impact this time. "And what's that supposed to mean?"

"I mean that they're probably purposefully avoiding you. They don't actually expect someone to get every penny's worth out of them, that's all. And you can be scary at times even to guys dealing with criminals on a daily basis."

Speaking of criminals… Noah didn't even have to bring it up. "I am so over him."

Noah rolled his eyes. "Didn't say you weren't."

"And I don't care in the slightest that he prefers someone else over me."

Noah knew he was in trouble but there was no escape, because here came the waterworks and there was no one around to save him from it. And worst of all if he managed to insult her now when she was most vulnerable, he just knew a kick to the kiwis was coming (it was always the kiwis with her).

"Duncan is a jerk," no truer words had ever been spoken. "I didn't know what you saw in him. Heck, half the world probably didn't know what you saw in him."

She was sniffling, eyes tearstained and voice all blubbery. "I know! I was a…"

"CIT, we know." Everyone knew. Noah rolled his eyes again.

Courtney wasn't done yet. "And I deserved better than that…"

Did she? Probably. Noah knew enough by assisting the egotistical maniac Chris that she must have thought she did. Courtney kind of thought she was better than everyone, that's why she got along with Heather oh so well.

"Yeah, that's your problem."

"What is?"

"You aim too high." He raised his hand up to demonstrate some high level.

"And you aim too low. Really has there been even one season where you expected to win before?"

Noah ignored her. "You expect too much out of everyone else and yourself and when other people don't meet those expectations you crush them like a bug." Noah put it how it was, without a trace of emotion because it didn't directly affect him, thank God. "Of course Duncan couldn't live up to that, he's a petty criminal. Not to mention he's stupid." Duncan was doomed to never meet Courtney's expectations. Not even Justin met Courtney's expectations and everyone mooned over him for a season. "I don't know what you want out of a guy but I can't imagine one single human is going to meet all your demands."

"You're absolutely right!" Noah obviously thought this was a chance for Courtney to change, but he was wrong. "I should date more than one guy!"

"What?" Noah asked, spluttering on his punch.

"No one guy is going to be good enough for me, just like you said, so I should probably go for more than one guy."

"Okay, that was not what I just said." Noah countered, "I said that you should give someone a chance."

"A chance to disappoint me?"

Noah sighed. "A chance to be less than perfect but still get to date you without being traded up, or forced to change or kicked in the kiwis." Because she did tend to do that… a lot. He sighed again, giving up because he thought she wasn't getting it. "Forget it."

Courtney was thinking. "You know what Noah, you're pretty smart."

"I get that a lot."

"And I'm going to give you a chance."

Noah's eyes grew wide suddenly and he let out a nervous laugh. Not exactly what he had been getting at. If he had wanted to ask her out he would have hoped he'd be less vague than all that. "Not really what I was going for."

"And why not?"

Noah cringed, he was going to get kicked in the kiwis now, he just knew it just for thinking about rejecting her. "Look at me. As much as I may seem like man candy to you, I don't go by the normal definition of 'hot stuff'." Noah showed off his scrawny bicep. "Plus, I thought you liked bad boys. Or smooth talking boys. Even though assisting Chris probably would have prepared me for dating someone like you."

Coffee cups thrown in his face, being called in the middle of the night… yeah, he could do all of that. Though he felt he'd get more out of it from Chris than he would from Courtney.

She seemed shocked and affronted. "You think I can't do it."

Honestly? "Yes." Answered Noah without thinking but it wasn't why he wasn't insisting on it.

"Well I'll show you. It's on. We're dating and I'm not taking no for an answer." Courtney poked a manicured finger into his chest and Noah had to admit that it hurt…

"Or let me guess… I'll hear from your lawyers?"

"Naturally," she replied smugly.

"Okay, don't sue me. I'll date you even though I'm pretty much the antithesis of everything you go for and it's obviously not going to work out."

"Oh this is SO going to work out." Courtney was determined, she had that glint in her eye there was no arguing with that. Noah smirked. He'd talked himself into worse situations before.

"I'm not going to raise my standards because of this."

"I'm not going to lower mine."

"Yet you're the one dating me."

"And you're the one dating me."

So they were both changing their standards. Noah was amused. "You're good."

"You're not too bad yourself." At the arguing thing, but of course it meant so much more (or possibly, according to Noah, in spite of the fact he was a scrawny loser). They were facing each other, smiling, making each other think which was a missing compartment in the relationships with the loons over in aisle crazy (Cody and Sierra and Owen and Izzy).

Despite all common sense that told Noah that making the first move on a girl like Courtney no matter what her lips had been saying would backfire horribly he went for it. She kissed him back. It was pure poetry, until Duncan ran over and pulled down his pants in the middle of it.

"Ha ha. Dork!"

"What did you see in that guy?" Noah had to ask, pulling his pants back up, annoyed at the embarrassing interruption.

Courtney shrugged, not even shedding so much as a tear this time. "I don't know. He's a petty criminal. Not to mention he's stupid."

Noah laughed. "Oh this is SO going to work out." And he meant it too despite earlier reservations.

"I have a good feeling as well."

"You do?" Noah was doubtful.

"Because you're so completely out of my league that it's like we're in different ballparks. And it's not like I ever have to get worried about you cheating on me."

Bruise to the ego, yes, but it was true and nothing less harsh than he'd say. "Any way you can throw a compliment in with all that insulting?"

"And you're cute when you're utterly humiliated."

"And you're cute when you're thinking of ways to take me down an extra peg." He kissed her again, slowly leaning in. If Duncan came back again, let him, Noah could always get his new girlfriend to kick him right in the kiwis. It would make a perfect night even more perfect.

The End.

Now, go and read the fic with Bridgette and then REVIEW to say which pairing you like more.

Whichever the more popular pairing is gets an epilogue!

J.L