Packing up all of her things, and having to move from the mansion back into the cabin was just another prod to her bruised ego. It wasn't fair. She had won! She had worked just as hard as anybody else on that team to earn that night in the spa hotel!
Well.. maybe she hadn't played the game as well as she could have. And maybe she wasn't the best 'hero', but the others just didn't understand! They were fairly new at this, but she had been here for three seasons. She knew how this game worked. You had to stay completely focused on the game, without any other interruptions, or else you would downright lose. This game wasn't about making friends, it was about trying to win a million dollars! So why was she put on the villains team for simply embracing it?
With a heavy heart she left the giant spa hotel and made her way to the girls side of the too-familiar cabin. She placed her suitcase on a random bottom bunk, and began to unpack her things, not caring if somebody had already taken this spot. They were at dinner, and she was here, so priority ruled, and she was the priority.
The rest of the villains stick around the campfire, hesitantly poking at their bowls of what could only be labeled as a gruel-cement hybrid. With a frustrated sigh, Gwen knocks her food from her lap and into the fire. It cackles loudly, licking at the grey slush that begins to turn to charcoal.
"What are you moping about?" Heather snarks at Gwen's right, but after a moment of consideration, switches her tone. "I mean- is something wrong, Gwen?"
"Everyone thinks I'm a villain!" She exclaims wearily, making fists in her hair, unaware of Heather's flat expression.
"That again? I thought you'd be totally bummed about your boyfriend," It takes all the self-control she has not to add the word lame-o before it. "being put on the opposite team. Remember what happened with Trent?"
Gwen drops her face into her hands, and heaves herself up off of the stump she'd sat down on. "I'm going to bed."
She moves over to the cabin, pausing at the bottom step when she hears a familiar voice from within. Courtney was most likely to bite her head off as soon as Gwen opened the door, but she couldn't exactly blame her- Gwen had been nothing but unintentionally rotten to her lately.
Deciding it best to bite the bullet, Gwen summons her courage and nudges open the squeaky screen door.
Courtney turns her head as she hears the door open, scowling once she sees Gwen. "You mean we have to share the same cabin?" she snaps, fire blazing in her eyes. "Ugh. This is so uncalled for! Stay far, far away from me," she spits out at her before finishing to put her things in the creaky drawers. She wishes she had something to distract her from the brooding goth; at least in the hotel they'd had TV.
Gwen groans, wanting to explode and somehow make Courtney believe her that everything that she'd done to her was just an accident. "I didn't mean to kick the bucket of leeches on you! Or the trash! Or the flowers!" she protests, her voice rising in pitch as she does so. "It was an accident! Can't we just let the past stay in the past? I mean, we're teammates again. Don't you think we can try to be a little more friendly..ish?" she concludes lamely.
Courtney guffaws, turning her head. "When pigs fly! We may be on the same team, but we certainly aren't teammates. And mark my words, the next time we lose, you're the one getting sent home," she replies acidly, wishing that glares could kill. Or.. at least mildly injure. She didn't need anymore lawsuits on her head.
Seeing that this would most likely be a one-sided argument, Gwen tosses her arms up into the air and climbs into her bunk across from Courtney's. If she'd been back home, she would have spent a few hours playing video games with her brother or doodling away in her sketchbook to cool down, but here, there was no escape. Only cameras in every corner, waiting for the drama to unfold.
Well, Gwen wasn't going to give them anymore fodder to paint her as the bad guy. Mark her words!
Eventually, Heather joins them in the cabin, and they all start to drift off to sleep.
A few hours go by before the screen door creaks open, bringing Courtney back into consciousness. She gasps sharply when she removes her sleeping mask, seeing only a figure in the doorway, illuminated by the moon.
Before she can scream or throw something in the figure's direction, she hears Duncan's voice hiss at her to be quiet. He wasn't there for her. Inching forward over to Gwen's bunk, he leans over and murmurs something in her ear. Gwen grumbles something in return and waves him off.
Duncan chuckles before hoisting himself into Gwen's bed alongside her, making the goth hiss in protest. "What?" he whispers in her ear. "It's lonely being with all those losers in the mansion. I just wanted to see if you were okay in here. I know Queen of the Harpies must have been giving you a bad time," he says, knowing full well she could hear him. He also knows that she's going to call him out on it in 5, 4, 3, 2..
"I can hear you!" Courtney hisses angrily.
"Then put in your damn earplugs and go to sleep. I definitely liked it better when you were blanking me," he says with a smirk before grinning at Gwen. "What do you say we blow this pop-stand? I'll sneak you into the hotel, you can bunk with me for the night and be back before anyone knows you're gone," he murmurs in her ear. "Even Courtney."
Gwen considers rejecting his (admittedly kind) offer, but considering how hard she had been blanking him herself lately, and how badly she wanted to be out of here...
"Alright, fine. Let's go." She wiggles out of the blankets and grabs the hand he extends to her, a little smile coming onto her face when he bends down and pulls her into his arms. It's extremely dorky, but at least there were no cameramen in sight to see them.
Duncan smirks and reveals another leech in his hand before ever so slightly nudging it under Courtney's blanket. "A little present, for the newest villain of the team. Maybe if I act like less of a hero, Chris will come to his senses and put me back here with you," he says with a smirk, kissing Gwen's head. He opens the door carefully so it won't creak before pulling Gwen out, both of them feeling a bit more freedom in the cool night air.
"We can order room service," he suggests. "I happen to know that the shit you guys ate tonight was less than eatable, so I can have a pepperoni pizza up stat."
Gwen leans back a little from his arms to examine his face. She sighs. "Do you really have to mess with Courtney like that? I mean-" She trails off with a quick shake of her head. "Nevermind. Pepperoni pizza sounds great. ..What's got you in such a giving mood, tonight?"
"I dunno. Guess I just miss you, Babe. You've been blanking me out as much as Courtney has, lately. Something you wanna talk about?" Duncan asks, raising his eyebrow. "Is it the whole 'villain' thing? Don't let it get to your head. Chris is just trying to mess with you and piss you off so he can get more ratings from all those assholes called 'Courtney fans', who really just need to mind their own business, and stop picking on my girlfriend."
Gwen laughs softly and wiggles out of Duncan's arms, moving to stand next to him instead. "Wow, maybe I really don't know you very well. You're never this sweet. I think that leech you took for me might've sucked out a little too much blood." She takes his hand and pulls him up the steps. "Come on, it's cold out here."
"Hey, if you're cold, I can always warm you up," Duncan backtracks, wrapping his arms around Gwen's waist and throwing her over his shoulder. "I said we'd be sharing my bed, didn't I?" he says devilishly before sneaking through the back door of the hotel and heading up the stairs to his room.
"There's plenty of things you don't know about me, Dollface. Some good, and some very, very bad." Duncan pauses to put her down on his bed before giving her a kiss.
She smiles, returning the kiss lightly and laying back against the pillows with a sigh of relaxation. Oh yeah, this is definitely where she belonged...
To her left, Mike, Cameron and Sam are all snoring and muttering in their sleep. Gwen snorts. "Good luck getting to sleep with all this nose... Should've stole a pair of earplugs from Courtney when I had the chance."
"See? I told you that you're really a villain," he teases before leaning against his own pillows, keeping an arm wrapped around Gwen while pressing the buttons necessary to order his girl a pizza.
Try as hard as she could, Courtney couldn't get to sleep after that. She cursed herself as she wished there was a clock somewhere in this disgusting cabin. She half wished Sierra was still here, so she could check the time on her cellphone. Then again, the crazy nut would probably sense a distress with her 'Cody-senses' and go insane. Still, she'd risk it. She climbed out of bed, ignoring Heather's soft snores, and heads outside with her towel in tow.
A midnight swim should clear her mind, if nothing else.
The beach is deserted enough, nothing but the comically large toilet sitting on the edge of the dock to keep her company. Peering into the water, she sticks a foot in it first, testing it's temperature. It was chilly, but that's more or less what she'd expected... Summer had gone by, leaving a chilly Autumn behind.
She takes a deep breath before diving into the water, shuddering once the cool water hits her skin. Hopefully a swim would be just the thing to put her to sleep for a few good hours. She looks at the hotel longingly, lights still shining from almost every room. No doubt she would be able to sleep in there, with the five hundred thread count sheets, and the pure goose down pillows.
Courtney sighs longingly before sinking underwater, trying to get the cold to shock her out of whatever longing she was feeling. They'd just have to try harder to win the next time. She scowls at the thought; every person on this team thought of only themselves, and she wasn't looking forward to see how the next challenge would go down.
She was just about to call it a night and get out of the lake when she heard someone approaching. "If this is one of the camera men, I legally need to warn you that I have a black belt, and I'm not above brutally injuring whomever pisses me off," Courtney snarls.
Duncan just laughs. "I wish I had a camera right about now. What you have oon is so. suggestive."
Courtney feels unwanted shivers go down her spine as she rolls her eyes and hoists herself on the dock, grabbing her towel and wrapping it around herself immediately. She has no intention of talking to him, especially not after he took her place on the stupid Heroes team.
"Aw, c'mon Courtney. I thought we were over the whole 'blanking' phase. Can you at least hit me or something?" Courtney turns around and glares at him.
"Don't you have a pasty girlfriend to get back to? If you're looking for sloppy seconds, put on a Cody mask and go wake up Sierra. But don't bother coming to me," she snarls angrily before turning around and marching away.
"Okay, Court, that's gross on a whole new level. I like it," he said mischievously, running up to her and throwing his arms around her waist. "But who said my seconds needed to be sloppy? If my memory serves correct, you are the very opposite of sloppy," he says in her ear. "Let's go for a swim, like old times. Forget about this stupid competition."
Courtney doesn't hesitate to knee him in the groin to make him let go of her. "THe fact that you'd think that I'd even consider that makes me want to take you for a mental evaluation test," Courtney says, smirking as she watches him in pain. She holds the towel tighter around herself, feeling proud of her accomplishments. Now she could go to bed peacefully.
"Hey Princess, you've got a leech stuck to your ass."
Courtney stiffens and flails about, trying to remove the vile little pest. How did that thing even get there in the first place? And how did she not notice it? The answer comes to her as quickly as the stream of swears that she wants to spew at him; Duncan.
Maybe she would have fared better on Boney Island.