"Straight From The Heart"
Rated T
Disclaimer: I do not own anything associated with the Total Drama series, including the show and it's characters. Total Drama and its characters are owned by FreshTV, Jennifer Pertsch and Tom McGillis. Anyway, this is mostly a 'what if' scenario fic. This takes place after Total Drama All-Stars and Pahkitew Island, and yet what would happen if Heather and Alejandro didn't become a couple on All-Stars. Anyway, I hope you'll still enjoy it! :D
P.S.: I apologize if I do seem to make Heather a little OOC. But at least I did my best to make her the bitchiest she could get.
The place: The Total Drama Christmas Party.
The time: 7:30 p.m.
In the winter following the conclusion of the All-Stars/Pahkitew Island season, the producers arranged for the reunion to be in the form of a Christmas party. It was held in the finest establishment that the show could afford: the Playa de Losers. With the show's attorneys still struggling with their legal battle, the producers proved to be much kinder and nicer than their sick host. Chris's treatment of the campers being so merciless, painful, and relentless, it was refreshing for Playa de Losers to provide a much more relaxed and laid-back feeling.
The entire resort was decked out in the finest Christmas decorations known to man. There were a huge combination of green and red Christmas lights adorning the walls, the finest holiday music blasting from the stereo, and a tremendous gallon of eggnog that was covered by a giant keg. On top of all that, there was a huge gigantic tree covered with ornaments, silver boas, and all the best decorations one could imagine. The star felt a bit different, tough. Instead of a glowing angel, it was displaying a nice, star-encrusted replica of Chris McLean himself. Besides, what would a Total Drama party be without its ego-obsessed host? Of course, it was the reason why Topher attended his party (considering his love for Chris McLean).
It was definitely the spirit of Christmas.
Everybody was having a good time and sharing a laugh while they would sing carols and eating a nice batch of delicious Christmas cookies. Again in the spirit of the show, the cookies were shaped like their host's head. The smell of gingerbread filled the evening air with a pleasant aroma. Yes, it definitely felt like Christmas time.
The former contestants who had attended this Christmas party were having the time of their lives. Geoff and Bridgette decided to make out next to a Christmas tree, Cameron was running away trying to hide from Sierra, Shawn and Jasmine were busy dancing to Christmas tunes, Topher was busy searching for Chris just like always, Owen was busy chugging the rest of the egg nog while Tyler, DJ, Dave, Cody, and Sam cheered him on, Lightning was busy flexing in front of Anne Maria like a showoff, and so far, Duncan was trying to get either Courtney or Gwen to dance with him (which failed by the way). It felt like party city to them.
Unfortunately, one specific contestant didn't feel jolly as the rest of the them.
Who was this one contestant you ask?
It was none other than the Queen Bee herself, Heather. Perhaps the most deceitful person that every camper knew on the show. But off-camera, she was by far, the most popular person as well. She was popular for a multitude of reasons. For starters, no matter what one thought of her, no male contestant could deny that she was hot. With those long luscious legs and that long silky black hair, there was absolutely no denying it. Despite of her malicious actions in Total Drama Island though, people had to respect her as a competitor. The image of her manipulating the Latin mastermind to claim the million in Total Drama World Tour was still fresh in many people's minds. No matter what their opinions were, they had to respect Heather at the end of day one.
Throughout the rest of the Total Drama series, she was put in the worst kind of hell she would ever feel. Losing her precious locks to the dumbest blonde that she ever knew, having to become dipped in tar by a female geek with glasses, and having her tooth knocked out by her most hated enemy LeShawna. That was just the physical damage. There was that, and then there was Alejandro.
In retrospect, Heather could see why she fell for him. They were both evil. They both had evil siblings that were the instigators of their self-serving natures. They were the two greatest antagonists in Total Drama history. And then he kissed her at the end of World Tour. While the kiss was nice to begin with, her primary goal was the money. In her mind, it was always money first and love later. But unfortunately, she got cheated out of the million, no thanks to an obsessed Ezekiel. The aftermath had closed with Alejandro being stuck in the robot machine due to him being badly burned by lava.
No one knew where Heather would meet up with him again.
That was until Total Drama All-Stars happened. And to make matters worse, she and Alejandro met once again. But their little reunion came with shock and awe.
One little incident involving one of the competitors (mostly Scott) forced the so-called 'Drama Machine' to fall down a huge 1,000 foot cliff and into the murky waters below. The machine over-rode itself, breaking down in pieces and causing a huge explosion. And out of the waters came Alejandro himself. It had been a year since Alejandro was trapped in the machine.
The reunion was bitter and unpleasing. The little lava incident ran through Alejandro's mind very clearly, and he wanted to make Heather pay for what she did to him. It was just a matter of where and when Alejandro would strike back.
In surprise, Alejandro had managed to get Heather at the right time in the form of a dinosaur egg challenge. Heather had him beat at first, but when she realized that Alejandro took her immunity idol behind the rock, the Queen Bee was outraged. The only time she would fool Alejandro again, and it ended with him turning the tables on her.
And as much as Heather hated it...
...
...
...she was actually impressed by him that he would make things even with her.
Maybe Alejandro wasn't that bad of a person to begin with, especially when he stood up for her name's sake when he fought his brother Jose on TV. She was pretty much touched by the way that Alejandro felt about her and telling her to call him. No one had ever done that for her.
After his elimination, Alejandro returned to Playa De Losers to find Heather waiting for him. She told him everything that she saw on TV. Her heart poured with such emotion that she hugged him. In exchange, Alejandro hugged her back. And just to disgust the rest of the people, the two shared a romantic kiss with each other, therefore solidifying themselves as a power couple. The two both realized that they didn't want the money after all. Love was the only thing the two ever needed.
She was happy.
And he was happy.
So far, things would've been better from here.
Except that there was one problem...
...
...
...it didn't happen.
All Heather got was total loneliness and no money at all. Alejandro never mentioned her after his defeat of Jose, and he never mentioned her to call him. He did mention to her to start anew as a perfect couple, but she ended up rejecting him. What she did get in return was her pushing Alejandro off the pier. At least it brought satisfaction to her face.
Yet, it still wasn't enough to cheer her up.
Back at the Christmas party, Heather was watching Alejandro hang out with a bunch of girls, which happened to be Katie, Sadie, Lindsay, Sky and Sugar. Heather on the other hand, watched in disgust as the Latin Lover bragged about his greatness. Obviously, a look like that sensed jealousy inside her. It was a sign that she was still jealous and that she still had unresolved feelings for him. But she was way past that already.
Just to sooth her anger a bit, the weary Heather washed her emotions off with some creamy eggnog. Yet, it was a tactic that was much to her chagrin, was failing.
"Look at Alejandro..." Heather said watching from afar. "Talking to those girls as he's some sort of big-shot. Talking to them about his muscles, good looks, and everything in between. I can't believe I thought he was hot. I can't believe I even fell in love with him..."
Far away, she could hear the conversation between Alejandro and the girls going on in her brain.
"Yeah, I was actually born that beautiful," Alejandro said to Sadie. "The doctors told me that I was so handsome that I didn't want to be smacked in the bottom. I got a butt that doesn't even need smacking, to be truthful."
"Ahhh, he's so muy caliente..." Sadie gushed at him.
"Totally muy caliente..." Katie gushed as well.
Their little mushy conversation made Heather sick as hell. If only there was a mute button to Heather's life, then that would make her feel better. Then she wouldn't have to listen to Alejandro boast. Even so, there was no shutting him up, much to her distaste.
She then looked around at the Christmas decorations in disgust as well.
"Ugh, this party sucks," Heather scowled. "It's like they think a fat man in red giving random crap to people can suddenly solve all their problems. Like their problems suddenly cease to exist. I should've never come here to this party in the first place. I would've stayed home instead, but no, my nice sassy mother told me I have to get out of the house because it's good for me. Yeah, right..."
Most of the contestants failed to notice Heather's grinchy mood. Who could blame them? They were busy being merry in a merry atmosphere; it would only be natural to assume that everyone else was in a similar mood.
But in a strange twist of fate, one contestant had a keen eye, and noticed the one contestant who wasn't in the same holiday spirit.
That contestant would be the male model himself, Justin. Perhaps he had motive for noticing what no one else did. While there was nothing wrong with chilling with his band, The Drama Brothers, for a majority of the third season, his permanent absence in the show allowed newcomer Alejandro to steal his thunder as the heartthrob of the series. And as the new alpha-male, it was only fitting that he fancied the most desirable female of the series to be his own.
Apparently, that was what drove Justin to his boiling point. He had a mindset similar to his (except that Alejandro was more successful), and it was infuriating to see, in his mind, a Latin carbon copy of himself swoop in and steal the girl he felt should have been his all along! And now, at long last, he finally had a chance to regain his former glory!
Taking in a deep breath, he approached the Queen Bee slowly. Few things in this world were scarier than an enraged Heather.
"Umm... Heather?"
Heather turned around, feeling very surprised to see him.
"Justin?" She said, appearing angry again. "What the hell do you want?"
"You seem kinda angry there," Justin replied. "Like you don't want to be here."
"I'm always like this, Justin!" she retorted. "And I don't want to even be here, let alone be in the same room as Alejandro!"
"Is there something wrong?"
"No, there isn't! And it shouldn't be none of your business, anyway!"
Justin sighed. "Look Heather, I'm just concerned. You shouldn't be angry during the holidays. Christmas time is just the occasion when you should be joyous with those you care about, and to end each year on a happy note."
"What's there to be joyous about?" Heather scowled. "No one cared about me enough to even give me a damn present! My parents were 'too busy with work', and the one guy who I thought really liked me to get me a gift is out there flirting with other girls! How am I supposed to celebrate with those who care about me when no one even cares enough to get me one lousy present?"
Justin was taken aback. He wouldn't have guessed that Heather felt so hurt the entire time.
"Christmas isn't about the number of gifts you receive," Justin replied. "As long as you know in your heart that people care about you, and I can assure you they still do, then you can still enjoy the true essence of the holiday season."
"Oh cut the crap, Justin!" Heather said, yelling at him now. "Anyone can tell you're just bullshitting me! You're probably doing this as some sort of sick prank LeShawna thought off! Do me a favor and go mess with some other bimbo! As for Christmas itself, screw it!"
With that, she left with a huff, leaving Justin increasingly concerned. He knew Heather wasn't one to be overly jolly, but he couldn't think of an instance where he had seen her this down before. Something was clearly off here and the male model needed to know why.
"Something is clearly off here," he mused. "She specifically mentioned presents. What on earth could I even get her?"
An idea suddenly hit him. Back in Total Drama Action, when he had that little crush on Courtney, he emptied nearly his entire pocket on a beautiful ruby necklace crafted in the shape of a heart, in hopes that he would win the heart of the fiesty CIT.
Unfortunately, the only things Justin got him were an angry rejection and a foot right to his balls. Despite all the pain the necklace had already caused him, he decided to keep it anyway, just in case he met a special someone that he could use it on.
In his mind all along, it was clear. His special someone was Heather. The ruby was meant to be given to Heather. And what better time was there to give it to her, when all she was desiring was one gift? It may have only been one gift, but what a gift it would be for her to cherish this moment!
Wasting no time, Justin hurried up to his room where the ruby was hidden. He swung open the closet door to retrieve the precious gem...
...
...
...
...only to leave the model smacking his head in stupidity. He had allowed Owen to room with him until his room was deemed livable once more, but his kindness came with a horrible price. Owen's pile of smelly clothes filled nearly the entire closet. The horrible stench flooded out of the closet, and prompted Justin to immediately close the door.
"Oh, damn it! Owen!" The model shrieked in disgust.
Once he regained his composure, he stood by the door again, contemplating his options.
"Ok, it's not all that bad," Justin spoke to himself. "There's a spectacular gift for Heather inside that closet. And yet, there's also the worst smell known to man. Present... smell... Present... smell..."
After about a minute of thinking aloud, Justin finally made his choice. The opportunity was once in a lifetime, to present his lost love with a gift sure to win her over. It was worth climbing the highest of mountains for. Even if it was a mountain of stench.
Plugging his nose, Justin opened the door once again and began searching through the enormous pile. For an hour, he worked tirelessly, going through Owen's stained shirts and pants and worst of all - underwear - but to no avail. With all his efforts looking like they'd be all for naught, Justin considered throwing in the towel.
"Ohh, this is hopeless!" He wailed. "There's no way that ruby's in here. It probably got moved or something. Maybe I can just buy something from the gift shop and hope Heather takes it well..."
With one last attempt, Justin threw aside a final shirt and found the necklace!
But something was wrong...
...
...
...the site wasn't that pretty. Trapped under all that filth, the ruby necklace was unsurprisingly covered in filth. The crimson hue was visible no longer, replaced by a yucky shade of brown, making it look like crap.
Justin's jaw dropped in disbelief. All his hopes seemed to evaporate before his eyes. The one gift he felt could sway Heather's heart was ruined, and it was all thanks to Owen's nasty dirty clothes.
"No…" He muttered. "No, no, no, no, no. There has to be a way. This must be fixable!" He told himself, panicking as he desperately tried to rub the filth off the gem. "This can't be permanent. Soap and water oughtta do it. It'll be good as new in no time!" He declared optimistically as he rushed to the bathroom sink.
No time was apparently longer than he thought. For another hour, he scrubbed furiously in an attempt to clear the ruby gem of its filth. While it wasn't easy, slowly but surely, the gem was starting to regain its stunning shade of red. When the task was finally completed, the ruby had finally regained all of its former glory.
"Finally!" Justin exclaimed in exhaustion. "My work here is finally done. A gift worthy to present to Heather!"
Within seconds, Justin was out the bathroom door and had exited his room to find Heather. The ruby seemed to glisten in his hand, as if it were telling him that everything was gonna be all right.
"Everything will be all right." He told himself. "In fact, everything will be great! I'm on my way to present the gift of a lifetime, and nothing else can stop me from my task now!"
Upon reaching the elevator, he frantically pressed the button to head up. The door almost immediately opened, and behind the door...
...
...
...revealed to be the squeals of his fangirls, Katie, Sadie, and Beth. While Justin was yet relieved that they had initially stopped following him to chase after Alejandro during season three, it had disappointed him that he was seeming to lose his appeal. So while their return to gushing over him was a welcoming sight, he was obviously not in the mood for such gushing at the moment.
"Oh my gosh! Hi, Justin!" the girls exclaimed simultaneously, rushing up to the model and crowding around him.
"Oh um, hi ladies!" He laughed uncomfortably. "I appreciate your enthusiasm, but I kinda have to do something right now…"
"We should go with you, Justin!" Beth cut him off, with Katie and Sadie nodding vigorously in agreement. "It'll be so much fun!"
Justin's mind raced. He knew from experience that there was no shaking off these fangirls. Once they found their target, they stuck like glue. Using this logic, he did the only thing he could think of.
"Hey, look over there," Justin pointed far away. "Alejandro's got his shirt off!"
The girls looked around wildly. "What? Where?"
"Oh, crap. I guess you didn't see him. I betcha that he went around that corner, I think."
"No problem, Justin!" Katie nodded.
"I can't wait to see Alejandro without his shirt off!" Sadie squealed.
"Not if I get to see him first!" Beth said, pushing both Katie and Sadie out of the way.
"Hey, get back here!" The BFFFL's said, chasing after Beth.
As the girls started to bicker, Justin sensed his opportunity and rushed into the elevator.
"Thank goodness that's over," Justin sighed in relief as the doors shut in front of him. "Bullet dodged there. Now, onwards!"
Once the elevator reached Heather's floor, Justin stepped out into the hallway and nervously approached the Queen Bee's room.
"Okay, don't panic Justin, everything's gonna will be okay..." Justin sighed. "Crap, I just pray this'll be okay."
After about a minute of standing there, muttering to himself, he hid the necklace behind his back and knocked nicely.
"Whoever it is, get out!" Heather's voice called from the inside. "I don't wanna see anyone right now!"
After a long pause, Justin finally responded. "Heather, It's me again. I just wanted to stop by and see how you were doing."
"Still looking shitty, thanks for asking," She called out again. "Can you just go? I don't want your help. I don't need anyone's pity for one day, thank you!"
"It's not pity. It's more… concern." He replied, choosing his words carefully. "No one should feel like this during the holidays. No one deserves to be like this, Heather."
"Ha, well that sounds an awful lot like pity to me!" Heather said, getting more angrier. "The holidays mean nothing to me! What's Christmas about nowadays? Really? We're secular people now, all we do is use this time of year as an excuse to buy a bunch of shit and sing songs and bake cookies, and try to hide all our problems just so we can look happy. This isn't any different from March or July or October. These mean nothing! The decorations, the food, the lights, the fucking tree! They don't mean anything. They don't come from the heart!"
The raven-haired girl finished her livid rant breathing heavily. Justin really feared for his life at the expense of a ruthless Heather, but he decided to take his chances no matter what.
"Well, if someone truly means it, any gift comes from the heart." He finally responded.
"I don't need your pity gift!" She exclaimed. "You probably just bought something from the hotel gift shop! I can personally tell you that if that's the case, I will smash your gift to pieces!"
"Wow." He breathed to himself. "It's a good thing I found the ruby."
Justin then heard a frustrated sigh from the door. "Look, if I just take the gift, will you get out of here?"
"If you take the gift, then yes, I'll leave you alone."
Another sigh. "Fine. Come in. The door's unlocked anyway."
With another deep breath, Justin opened the door and stepped inside the room to see a depressing sight. Heather was on her bed with her face buried on the pillow, and the room around her felt so much like a mess. It was almost like a tornado hit this place and ruined everything in sight.
"I have it if you want to see it." He said after taking in the surroundings.
"Just give it to me." Heather muffled, "I'll look at it later."
"Trust me, Heather. You want to see it now."
And then, Heather finally took her head out of her pillow. "What? Did you manage to get your hands on a diamond necklace or something?"
"Well," Justin sighed. "It's not really a diamond, but..."
Carefully, Justin finally took his hands from behind his back, and presented the necklace to Heather.
For everything the beautiful gem had gone through, it was an incredible sight. The shiny platinum frame had shined in total harmony with the lights adorning the darkened walls. The gem's pulsating shade of crimson had seemed to glow in the spirit and energy of Christmas into one amazing jewel. The heart shaped wonder seemed to represent everything right in the world, and everything that was right about Christmas.
Heather couldn't believe what she saw. She felt speechless. The ruby was truly the most beautiful thing she had ever seen. All her previous woes and problems concerning Alejandro were forgotten in that instant. Nothing else mattered, for she was entranced by the priceless treasure before her eyes.
"Justin, I..." Heather gasped. "Thank you. This is the best present anyone's ever gotten for me."
"Well, I went through a lot to get it," Justin chuckled. "I wanted to use it on someone I felt was truly worth it."
"And you think I'm that person?" She gasped.
"Yeah," He nodded, "You may be mean, but deep down, I know you still have heart inside you. You deserve it."
They sat in comfortable silence for about a minute. Justin was in satisfaction that all his work had paid off as Heather was still overwhelmed by the amazing gift in front of her. Instead of her usual snare, Heather surprisingly shot him a smile.
"Soooo..." Justin said, breaking the silence. "I see the night is still young. You wanna head back to the party?"
"You know what?" Heather smiled at him. "Yeah, I do. Christmas is a time to be merry. Let's go."
They got up and began to walk out the door, but as they were doing so, Heather accidentally dropped the ruby.
"Oh, I'll get it!" They said simultaneously.
But as soon as they went down to pick up the ruby, they saw something hanging on the doorway. It was full of green leaves with red berries attached to it. As to their surprise, they identified the object in one simple word:
Mistletoe.
"Oh... um..." Heather started.
"There's a mistletoe." Justin said, blushing through his cheeks.
"Yeah." She nodded.
"Should we?"
"Well, it is a Christmas tradition." Heather considered. "We can't just ignore it."
"All right, um, let's do this." He giggled.
Carefully, both Heather and Justin began to lean, and finally pressed their lips against one another. The feeling was incredible for both of them. They could feel the fire unleashing inside them with the fuzzy feeling in their stomachs, and the overwhelming surge that was rushing through their bodies felt like a dream. That kiss felt like a dream coming to life for them.
When the two finally parted, they both had huge smiles on their faces.
"That was... that was..." Heather breathed, blushing all around.
"That was... amazing." Justin responded. "Should we head down?"
"We should."
As they started towards the elevator, Heather turned to her new boyfriend while putting on the ruby-encrusted necklace.
"Merry Christmas, Justin." She said to him.
"Merry Christmas, Heather." He said to her.
As the two leaned in for another kiss, they couldn't help but feel that this was a sign. Everything around them seemed more than perfect. A perfect romance, a perfect gift, and sealed the night with a perfect kiss. Both Justin and Heather couldn't help but feel this was the work of Christmas magic.
And to believe the gift was definitely straight from the heart.
Well, this was very touching to my heart. Even if you're not a loyal Justin/Heather fan, I hope you'll still love this fic as it is. It may be a bit too rushed for my taste, but nevertheless, I think it was still romantic and touching. And if you're also asking, this is very AU-ish.
Anyway, feedbacks are welcome and most importantly, Merry early Christmas (even though we only have two months to go)!