Warm
A DXC Oneshot
"You cold, Princess?"
The tan teenager nearly tripped in surprise at the voice behind her, heels catching on an outcrop of cement that had never been smoothed over in construction. Righting herself quickly and tossing the boy an annoyed look, the girl huffed. "N-no, I'm not cold. I'm p-perfectly fine." The constant chattering of her teeth challenged her statement. Attempting to draw attention away from the contradictory sign, she added, in an irritable tone, "And can you stop with the immature pet names?" Tossing her chocolate colored locks once over her shoulder—and immediately regretting it upon the onslaught of cold air hitting her bare neck— she picked up speed as she walked the cracked pavement, this time making sure to avoid any ledges that she could potentially trip over.
Teal eyes twinkling in amusement, the teenager following her chuckled, settling his hands inside his coat pockets. Ignoring her question, he replied with a knowing smirk, "If you're not cold, then why do you look like you have hypothermia or some shit?" He subtly increased his own speed as to match hers, long legs allowing him to catch up at a rather leisurely pace.
Courtney scowled at his response, as well as the foul language. Pulling her fashionable but thin cardigan tighter around her petite frame, she tried (and failed) to stop the violent shivers that were coursing through her entire body. It was January, the middle of winter, and the temperature was rapidly approaching zero. She would have thought to have brought a warmer jacket, but had been too preoccupied with making sure she looked presentable for her Spanish presentation that afternoon. Needless to say, she did excellently and had been very pleased with herself and her outfit—that is, pleased until she started her long trek home. It was about a three mile walk, not bad in good weather, but absolutely horrid in cold like this. Courtney internally cursed herself for telling Bridgette that she didn't need a lift home. Now not only did she have to spend nearly an hour in blistering wind at the risk of frostbite, but she also had to deal with this neanderthal for a good portion of it.
The brunette sighed. Life just loved to spite her, didn't it?
As she moped about her lack of luck, she subconsciously noticed Duncan's steps beginning to match hers and felt an arm drape itself across her shoulders. For a short moment, Courtney forgot that this was Duncan—Duncan, the pig, ogre, delinquent that she hated. She actually leaned in to him, basking in the warmth of his body heat. But only for a short moment. Remembering herself, she jerked out from his grasp and threw a sneer at the cocky expression on his face. "Don't touch me, pig. I don't want your disgusting hands on any part of my body."
The prep almost immediately regretted her choice of words when a wide grin spread on his pierced face. "Oh, I wouldn't be too sure of that, Princess. I can think of several places that you'd want my so-called disgusting hands on," he remarked slyly, scanning her figure with his beautiful eyes and shooting her a wink. Face now a bright red from the implication, Courtney averted her gaze to the ground.
"Y-you're such a pig, Duncan." This time the stutter wasn't due to the cold though, and the young man smirked in slight triumph.
He enjoyed the way her blush grew even deeper as he replied, "You know you love it."
There was a somewhat awkward, somewhat companionable silence after that comment, as Courtney had no ready comeback for him and Duncan didn't really feel an urge to push her any farther than he already had. They simply continued walking next to each other without speaking, chancing occasional glances when they believed the other couldn't see. And try as she might, Courtney just couldn't seem to chase her blush away.
A particularly hard, and not to mention cold, gust of air suddenly attacked the two teenagers, causing Duncan to grimace and Courtney to let out a yelp. The boy turned his head to the girl next to him to find her shudders had intensified greatly, her dark eyes had narrowed into slits, and her fingertips were turning white as they clutched at the fabric of her cardigan. He felt his lips inch down into a frown.
He leaned close and nudged her in the side slightly with his elbow. His eyebrow raised questioningly. "Are you sure you're not cold? I can give you my sweatshirt if you want it."
Despite her better judgement, Courtney gave him a small smile before she shook her head, face turned down against the wind. "That's nice of you to offer," she replied politely, manners kicking in, "but really, I'm okay. Anyway, if you gave me your coat, then you'd be cold too, and then we'd both be in the same boat. It would just be pointless."
The girl seemed satisfied with her logic, but Duncan couldn't help but chuckle and roll his eyes; he'd forgotten how stubbornly independent she could be. Studying himself and Courtney as they continued walking along, an idea came to mind and his face lit up. Had Courtney seen the mischievous gleam his teal orbs held in that moment, she would have been more prepared for what was about to come. But, alas, she didn't.
Shrugging his arm out of the warm sleeve of his jacket and internally wincing at the frigid air, Duncan used his other hand to unzip the front of his garment. Courtney observed him curiously for a moment, confused, until his now free right arm reached out and wrapped around the brunette's waist over her thin clothing. As he pulled her body against his own, cloaking her in the combined warmth of the thick fabric and his body heat, he reveled in her immediate gasp of surprise.
Cheeks burning with chagrin and eyelashes fluttering over wide eyes, Courtney breathlessly demanded, "Duncan, just what are you doing?" Her feet tripped underneath her, but the large hand securely cradling her form held her upright.
The teen boy initially smirked at her flushed face, but quickly replaced it with an innocent grin. "What do you think I'm doing, Princess? I'm keeping you warm." A moment passed as he simply watched her flustered expression amusedly. "Is it working?"
Grudgingly, and only after the passing of a very reluctant pause, Courtney admitted it was.
She scowled at his smug smirk.
A/N:
Hey all! I thought of this about a week ago and only just finished it today... I'm not so sure about the ending, but whatever! Just a little something to entertain you guys until the next update of Complicated. I promise I have been working on it! :)
-Scraps