Cookies
Summary: He wondered if Courtney knew how much it hurt him when she said to never call her Princess again.
In her awful spite towards Duncan and Gwen, Courtney had asked Chris if she could use his private oven. He had questioned her- "You don't wanna use the hot tub? Or the neck massager? Or the-" She had stopped him short, saying again that she would only use the oven. He shrugged and told her of course she could. "As long as you keep your hands OFF my hot tub."
So Courtney found her grandmothers recipe in her suitcase and starting baking chocolate chip cookies. They were her ultimate weakness, something she settled for in times of self-loathing and over all shame. She had baked cookies when she hadn't been able to dive head first into green jelly, she had baked cookies when she hadn't been qualified for Total Drama Action.
But this time, she hadn't just baked one batch. Or two.
She had made thirty bakers dozens. And with 360 cookies around her (which she was sure would last her the next twenty four hours, as long as Owen was kept far away) she didn't feel so lonely, or at least didn't acknowledge it.
Ultimately, she was heart-broken.
Everyone except Duncan and Gwen themselves had eaten the cookies- and of course, it was hard not to. The cookies were to die for. They were the most wonderful cookies any of them had ever tasted.
Of course, Duncan sitting in the crappy loser part of the plane with crappy loser food, he couldn't help but reach for one of the cookies. He had tasted them before- Courtney had made them for him on more than one occasion, and he wouldn't lie- those cookies were bitchin'. He held one up to his mouth, taking a bite.
It was as wonderfully crafted as he could remember, maybe better. But as he chewed, he started to feel something. He felt a horrible feeling in the base of his stomach, a small prick in the back of his throat. He felt like someone had punched him in the chest and stabbed him in the heart.
He turned to everyone else on his team, who were munching happily on their cookies. "Best. Cookies. Ever!"
He looked at his own cookie and swallowed hard, his appetite disappearing. He then jumped at a voice. "Taste good?"
He looked up to see Courtney herself, holding a cookie, dressed in an apron, still standing straight. But her face was different. Her eyes were wavering, a lot of anger, a twitch of disbelief, and- was he seeing it right?- a little bit of shame. But her red stained eyes meant that she had been crying. Hard. He could feel everyone in the plane turn to them absently, focusing on those two.
He sighed, and started, "Listen, Prin-"
She crushed the cookie in her hand, making everyone's eyes go wide. "Don't." She closed her eyes shut, shaking a bit. "Call me that." Her eye lids open quickly, and she handed him a tray of cookies. "I'm not your princess any more. I really don't think I ever was."
Duncan took the tray carefully, and their fingers brushed. Duncan felt a bit of the old electricity he always felt when he touched her, but she pulled back like his hands were toxic. She chewed her lip. "Everyone enjoying the cookies?"
Everyone else tried to smile at her, while Duncan stayed quiet. "Yeah!" Said Owen, not catching the mood that had settled over the plane. "Can you make some more?"
Courtney found herself smirking a bit. "As many as Chris will let me." She then looked at Duncan, and she looked to the half eaten cookie in his hand. "So?" She questioned, making him look up. "You gonna eat it? Or are you going to ditch it for some of Gwen's baked goods?"
He held up a finger to protest, but she just shooed him. "I'm just kidding." She breathed. She then got that hurt look in her eyes again, and stuttered out, "Hope you like them," and disappeared into the other side of the plane, running practically.
Duncan slumped down in his seat, noticing the vile looks from his team members. "What?" He snapped. They all slowly turned around, a few whispered starting, but he told himself that he didn't care.
He looked down to the cookie and remembered how it had tasted, so good but so sad at the same time. He didn't take another bite, just wondered if Courtney knew how much it hurt him when she said to never call her Princess again.
A/N: Dear Duncan,
You suck.
Balls.
Sincerely, All the sane TDI fandom