ENJOY :D
*first TDI fic*
Something About You.
Have you ever been in love?
Horrible isn't it?
It makes you so vulnerable. It opens your chest and it opens up your heart and it means that someone can get inside you and mess you up. You build up all these defenses, you build up a whole suit of armor, so that nothing can hurt you, then one stupid person, no different from any other stupid person, wanders into your stupid life...You give them a piece of you. They didn't ask for it. They did something dumb one day, like kiss you or smile at you, and then your life isn't your own anymore. Love takes hostages. It gets inside you. It eats you out and leaves you crying in the darkness, so simple a phrase like 'maybe we should be just friends' turns into a glass splinter working its way into your heart. It hurts. Not just in the imagination. Not just in the mind. It's a soul-hurt, a real gets-inside-you-and-rips-you-apart pain.
I hate love.
-----
Man this sucks, Duncan thought angrily as he sat in the bed above DJ, hands folded across his chest. He had been awake for at least 3 hours, his thoughts jumbled and racing. No matter what he tried to do, his mind just wouldn't let him go to sleep. What the fuck was keeping him awake?
Courtney.
He clenched his teeth and sat up abruptly, glancing downwards at the other boys in the cabin, all sleeping silently, and sighed. Why was he thinking so hard about her now? He thought briefly of hitting his head against the wall to knock himself unconscious but quickly dismissed the idea. He laid back down and closed his eyes, trying to conjure up sheep and the Sandman but all that popped into the dark was Courtney.
Courtney kissing him.
His eyes slowly came back up and he turned towards the wall, preparing to bang his head so hard against it, it'd bleed. Not only was he restless because of a girl but this was Ms. Goody-goody. Sure, she was pretty and something, albeit he had no idea what, attracted him to her. What was is about her? What?
He intended to found out.
Duncan swiftly hopped out of his bed and tip toed towards his suitcase, bringing out his swimming trunks. He changed into them as quickly and quietly as he could and walked out of the cabin.
Courtney woke to he feel of somebody sitting on her bed. She yawned and very drowsily opened her eyes, blinking rapidly to clear them of sleep and stared up into the slanted eyes of Duncan.
Her surprise tempted her to scream but he clamped a hand on her mouth, signaling silence with a finger and then motioned towards the cabin door. She raised an eyebrow and he slowly stood up, careful not to wake the other girls who were sleeping. He lightly grabbed her hand and tugged it. She got the clue and got up, letting him lead her outside into the dark.
It took her a moment to realized that he looked like he had gone swimming. Or he was prepared to."Duncan," She said, rubbing her eyes. "What are you doing? It's like four in the morning. Shouldn't you be sleep?"
Shit, if only I could sleep. He shrugged. "I'm not tired."
Courtney yawned. "Well, I am. I'm going to sleep and I suggest you hurry up and run back to your cabin before you get caught-"
"Get caught sneaking into the girls cabin?"
She saw he had a mischievous smirk on his face. "What are you up to?"
"Me? Up to something? What would make you think I'm up to something?"
She narrowed her eyes. "I'd love to stand here and play mind games with you Duncan but sadly, I can't." She turned around but stopped when he grabbed her elbow.
"I was thinking about going for a swim." He stated, raising his eyebrows. "Care to join me?"
She gave him a look of disbelief. "It's four in the morning! I'm tired."
"Is that a no?"
"Of course it's a no!"
He let go of her elbow and put hands on hips. "Come on Princess, you know you want to."
"I most certainly do not want to!" She turned to walk away but this time, she stopped, biting her lips. She could feel Duncan's stare at her back. She spun and saw he was smiling. "WHAT!? What's so funny?"
He shook his head. "Nothing." There was silence.
"I'm NOT going."
"Alright."
More silence. "I mean it Duncan, it's early, I'm tired and the water is probably freezing."
"Probably."
They stood staring at each other for a beat. Finally, she sighed angrily, threw her hands in the air and exclaimed, "FINE! But only because I'm already awake. If the water's cold, I'm coming back, do you hear me? Four in the morning and you want to go swimming? How ridiculous does that sound? Ugh, you have the.." She continued to mutter to herself as she walked back into the cabin, face flushed.
She disappeared back inside and reappeared with her swimming suit on a few minutes later.
It felt like hours to Duncan, who had sat down on the steps leading to the cabin, eyes half closed. He turned when he heard the door close. "Took you long enough."
She sent him a look and he stood up, stretching. Courtney saw the bags under his eyes but no comment about them. "Well lead the way." She mumbled, a towel thrown around her shoulders.
He smirked, bowed mockingly and motioned. "After you Darling." She rolled her eyes and stomped off towards the lake, Duncan following close behind.
It took a lot longer to reach the dock then Duncan had predicated. It was still deadly dark and Courtney had stumbled more then a few times until she had simply grabbed his hand tightly to keep her balance. They walked hand and hand from there on.
He lead all the way to the edge before she retracted her hand. He still had that mischievous look on his face she didn't trust.
"Well?" She said once they stopped.
'Well what?" He asked.
"We're here. Now what?"
"Now we swim." He put two hands on her shoulders and pushed. She shrieked, flailing her arms, reaching for something to to grab hold of but found nothing. Duncan watched her go splashing into the water and burst into laughter.
Courtney surfaced with her teeth clenched and eyebrows narrowed, the towel floating a way before her. "DUNCAN!" She screamed angrily, already shivering. "This water is FREEZING! YOU LITTLE-" She stopped in mid sentence when he dived into the water next to her.
"It's not that cold. Swim around for awhile and you'll heat up. " He said once he had surfaced, smirking. She instantly attacked him, grabbing the towel and throwing it at him. He caught it.
"UGHH, I knew I shouldn't have come out here! My hair is soaked!" She leaped towards him, preparing to give him a few slaps on the shoulder but he was too fast, grabbing her around the waist and holding her tightly against his chest.
"You're hair's fine. Would you calm down and pretend to enjoy being with me?"
The warmth from his body warmed her and she felt her face burn. "That's going to be pretty hard to do." She muttered, her earlier anger disipating. Truthfully, she did enjoy being with him. She always had.
"I'm sure you can manage it." He let go of her and she turned around, suddenly not wanting him away. He floated on his back, pedaling his arms backwards.
"I thought I told you that if the water's cold I'm-"
"Going back to the cabin? Lighten up sweetheart. How long has it been since you've just chilled for a day?"
Too long. "I'll have you know that I've chilled plenty of times." She said, swimming behind him.
"Name once."
Courtney was almost disgusted to find out that none came to memory. Instead, she puffed up her cheeks. "Just swim, juvenile delinquent."
He smirked. "Oh ho ho, is that hostility I sense? Seems as though Ms. Perfect isn't as perfect as she likes others to think."
"Bite me." She muttered, swimming back over to the dock. She raised herself onto it and Duncan watched as she sat down on it, her feet dangling over the edge, staring out somewhere.
He kept on backstroking, watching her expression. She felt his eyes on her. "What?"
"Wanna do something?"
She gave him a questioning look. "Like what?"
His smirk returned. "Skinny dip."
Courtney instantly blushed and turned her head. "No!" She exclaimed in disgust. He swam over and raised himself out of the water to sit beside her.
"Oh come on, it'll be fun."
"No way! There's probably all kind of diseases in that lake!"
"Courtney." He said in a slight whine.
"I said no!"
"Where's that girl who helped me raid Chef's fridge?"
"She's no longer here. This whole thing is crazy Duncan. You sneaking into the cabin, me coming out here, us swimming and now you want to skinny dip?! You're insane."
"Why? Because I like to have fun?"
"Fun can be had without breaking the rules."
He leaned in to her. "I beg to differ."
She gave him a look."Is that so?"
"I don't get it. Why do you have to abide by the rules so much? Haven't you even broken curfew? Got arrested? Got suspended?"
"Of course not. I'm an A plus student, been at home exactly when my parents wanted me to and don't stray on the wrong side of the law."
Duncan laughed. "Now I know why you're so uptight."
"I'm uptight because I respect people?!"
"Well....yeah."
Courtney folded her arms across her chest. "And what about you? Huh? Have you ever received an award for best attendance? Ever been offered a scholarship?
He shook his head. "Can't say I have."
"Exactly. I'm too uptight? Then you're too loose. If you break too many rules then you'll eventually end up in prison."
"Been there, done that." He leaned in again. "Tell me, how does it feel to live, eat and breath on following the rules and then breaking the biggest one of all?"
She sent him a confused look. "What are you talking about?"
"Princess, I think I've just figured out why you continue to push me away." He was smirking, obviously amused. "You need me. You really do. I bet your parents expect you to marry a rich, successful guy and have wonderful, perfect children which is bullshit. So when you became attracted to me, you freaked."
Courtney gave him a dangerous look. "You have no idea what you're talking about."
But Duncan ignored the statement. "You're thinking to yourself, wondering how and why you could fall for someone as 'underachieving' as myself. You'd hate to disappoint your parents. Hate to disappoint everyone. Wouldn't you Courtney?"
She didn't answer.
"But you already have, or you think you have. Because falling for me, getting involved with me, would be like breaking every single rule you've ever grown to follow."
Courtney remained silent.
"Isn't that right Princess?" Duncan's voice softened so much, it was almost incoherent. "You're afraid aren't you?"
"SHUT. UP." Her voice was hoarse, strained as if she was holding back sobs. "You don't know ANYTHING about me."
"In actuality, I do. I know more about you then you'd like to think. Wanna know how?"
Courtney didn't respond for a beat. "How?" She breathed.
He smiled wryly. "Because I'm just like you." So that was what it was, he thought breathlessly, that was why he had that special connection with Courtney. She was afraid of disappointment and he was scared of rejection.
He'd never admit it aloud however. Not to her. Not to anyone.
He thought she could tell though by the way she was staring at him. He thought she could see right through him, right into his heart. FUCK.
Courtney felt about ready to break down. She had never heard someone explain her emotions so comfortably, so comfortably. As if he had a big telescope that could analyze her soul. He was right on the mark too. That moment when she had kissed Duncan had been the most terrifying moment of her life, filled with regret and sorrow and happiness.
Happiness? Her eyes teared. Yes, total, spectacular blissful happiness. And she had felt that way after it also, every time he was around.
Was it just the sheer fact that Duncan was everything she had wanted to be that attracted her to him? He was cool, calm and collected. He didn't seem to be afraid of anyone. Didn't care about anything. He didn't have parents breathing down his neck and demanding nothing but excellence. He didn't know the stress of it all and, more importantly, the pain. That old saying was right, she thought absently, it got lonely at the top.
But he most definitely had his own problems, she knew. He had been in and out of jail probably more then once so that profited to issuses. She wondered how his parents felt about that. She wondered how he felt. She wondered how good his relationship was with them. The sense of wanting to know so much about him overwhelmed her. She really was falling for this guy.
Was it because that she was so jealous of his carefree attitude, so envious about the way he could look the other way that she had become attached to him?
And what about him? Why did he like her? She suddenly had to know.
"Why'd you drag me out here?" Was the next words from Courtney's mouth, surprisingly calm. He was a bit taken aback by the question.
He shrugged. "Because I couldn't sleep.....and I wanted..to spend time with you."
"Why?"
He looked towards he sky and then back at her. "Are you asking why I couldn't sleep or why did I want to spend time with you?"
"Both."
"I couldn't sleep because all I could think about was you." She glanced at him and saw that he was smiling lightly, eyes warm. "And I wanted to spend time with you because....." He paused, as if unsure and then said, "because I love you." He almost smacked himself over the head. Had he just said what he thought he had!?
Courtney smiled, wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him. "Why do you love me?"
He rolled his eyes. "What is this, 20 questions?" She gave him a pout and he sighed. "I don't know..there's a lot of reasons I guess. Because you're so much like me but then again so much different. It's like we can keep each other in line. Shit, I don't know, it's just...something, something about you. I haven't fully figured out what exactly that something is, but I will."
"Is it a good something?"
Duncan smirked, pulled her close, kissed her and when they parted, he whispered, "It's a very good something."
:D
Thanks for reading. Comments, criticism, whatever is acceptable.