In case anyone is confused about anything let me clarify stuff. Courtney left the show around November 2010 and was 17 and a senior who skipped school to do the show. She left then went to LA and then Berkley accepted her the next fall. Now that everything is clear. Let's move on. Disclaimer: I don't own the TD series. Sadly.

Did Courtney make it?

Over twelve years have passed since I left the show, my family and Duncan. David's 12th birthday is coming up but he's more excited about being the birth of his future little twin sisters. Yes, I'm pregnant again but instead of being a dirt poor, stumbling 17 year-old teenager alone struggling with every day problems, I have a successful job as a lawyer working my way up in the law firm case by case. I own a five bedroom, two-story house with two bathrooms a huge backyard in the nicest neighborhood LA has to offer and the most stable marriage any girl could wish to have in her life. I'm due May 31st and today is the 16th of May. My husband's name is Jake Collins and he is lawyer at the law firm I work at as well. I met Jake eight years ago.

David's fourth birthday was a week away, my finals were less than a month away, and my job as a secretary/intern for my boss is beyond stressful. I desperately wanted to get David that Honka Fire truck he saw in Toys R Us, he's been begging for it for almost five months now. I was determined to get it for him and was working as much overtime as I could to get it for him.

During one of my late shifts, my boss gave me a case that one of his top lawyers had just won and told me to file after the lawyer got here to put the last bit of paperwork to put in the case file. The lawyer had been living in New York for the past couple of years and everyone said he was one of the best. But after everyone said New York I tuned them out, because that city held nothing but memories from the past I wanted to let go of.

My boss also advised me to look closely at the file and study the case and how it was presented so that I could learn to be a better lawyer. I smiled as my boss clocked out for the night knowing how lucky I was that he even accepted to both hire and teach me. He looked past problems and just saw the potential within me, I will be forever grateful. I glanced at the clock and it was 6:15, I called the baby sitter to tell her I was going to be a staying later than usual tonight. I had finished scheduling my boss's next day and every other small job and by 7:10, I was finished and began studying the case my boss left me.

The case was a murder case and when I first saw the case, I didn't understand how our lawyer had won when all the evidence pointed to the client. But after reading all the evidence that the lawyer was able to dig up and how he had laid it all out in black and white to the judge and jury I understood that only an idiot would have sent the client to jail. I was too engrossed in the case to notice the lawyer sneak up on me until he was right in front me asking for the case.

"Is that my case?" the lawyer asked. I looked up to see a young man about 5'8", white, with light brown hair and gorgeous hazel eyes. He had a smile on his face and his eyes held curiosity while he had his left hand outstretched toward me. I was tongue-tied and I nodded and handed him the case.

"Thanks. You must be Mr. Fletcher's new secretary. I'm Jake Collins," He stretched out his other hand to shake mine. I shook it and stood up as I said, "I'm not new. I actually have been working for Mr. Fetcher for over four years now." Pride crept into my voice as I look directly in his eyes.

"Sorry for my rudeness. But haven't been in the office for a very long time since the boss sent me to New York to help expand his law firm to both coasts," he laughed it of and I found myself smiling as I replied, "No its ok."

"What's your name?" Jake asked still holding my hand. I looked down and said, "Courtney, Courtney Garcia."

"Well it has been a pleasure meeting you Courtney," Jake turned my hand around so that the back of the hand was to him, then he lifted it up gently and swiftly kissed my hand before slowly releasing it and saying, "I hope to see you again." Jake left the office with the case sitting neatly on my desk and me standing there letting my hand simmer in the sweet feel of his kiss. I went home feeling lightheaded and the next day I bought David his truck and passed my finals with all A's. I eagerly waited to see Jake again.

It was after my finals that I got to see him again because he had decided to move back to LA and I was hoping it was because of me but never got my hopes up to high. When he got his apartment and had officially moved back I saw him around the office a lot. We would smile, laugh, and flirt a little. He asked me out to coffee a lot and our relationship grew. I learned a lot about said he was born in a Fresno but moved down here to go to Berkley and had graduated early and immediately began working for Mr. Fletcher. It was a small law firm at first but he said he liked working here and enjoyed watching this law firm grow. He is 27 and his birthday is January 25 while mine is June 9. Even though he was six years older than me our relationship grew and we went from small talk at Starbucks to deep conversations at the fanciest restaurants in town. He knew about David and treated me a lot but I always paid him back.

It was only three months after David's 5th birthday that I was ready to introduce the two. Jake and I had been dating officially for five months and I didn't want to go any father with Jake until I was sure that David could accept him.

David was very apprehensive of Jake at first but after visits to the zoo, park, movies, and a very expensive robot for Christmas, David grew to love Jake and Jake began to think of David has his own son. I couldn't have been more happy. I even graduated with honors at Berkley about three years later.

I know everything about Jake, even his wild drinking side and Jake knows everything about me as well, especially my past. Jake watched the show, every season and every episode. He understands how painful it was for me to leave everything behind and start over. He even accepts that I can never love him as much as I loved Duncan but he says he doesn't care and will wait however long for me. He stayed true to his word and we dated for 3 years until I was ready to say, "I love you," to him on Valentine's Day.

He overjoyed and took out a small black box. I was speechless as he got down on one knee and proposed to me. He said he had loved me from the day we first met and wanted to spend the rest of his life with David and me. When he said he wanted to start a life with David, I was elated and cried as I chocked out a small very quiet, "Yes." We got married on September 18th, 2019 when David was 8 and our ring bearer.

Almost four years later, here we are still together and David is happier than ever to have a father. I don't know who was happier, Jake or me, to hear David call Jake, "Dad" for the first time on Christmas Day two years after our marriage. Today I'm 29 years old and pregnant with twin girls. We already have their names ready, Jennifer Michelle Collins Maria Rose Collins and. Jennifer for Jake's grandmother, Michelle for his mother, Maria for my grandmother, and Rose because that's David's favorite flower.

The best part I believe is that over twelve years later with coming of my new girls, Duncan has finally disappeared from my nightmares and I think my heart has finally been out back together without his help. I'm proud to have kept my promise to myself. My life was perfect and nothing was ever going to ruin it.

Right?

Twelve years. Twelve fucking years, I've been in hell. And I'll be damned if I let luck number thirteen pass me by. This is my year. The year I get my fucking life together again, and it starts when I win back my Princess. Her mere nickname sends an arrow through my hollow heart. I was an idiot for letting her go and picking that slut Gwen over her. I was a young stupid 17-year-old kid who mad the biggest mistake of my life.

I thought she would always come back, I thought she would always be mine, but I was wrong, dead wrong. I should've treated her better, respected her, and loved her like she loved me damn it. I should've done a lot of things but I didn't and I lost her.

But not for good. I'll get her back and make her believe that it was the stupidest thing I ever did to cheat on her and how my life went to hell without her. I may have won another million but without her by my side, the money made me feel hollow, shallow, disgusted. I tried to block the pain with Gwen when I married her 4 years after the show, but divorced her ass # years into the marriage when I found out she was sleeping with that bastard Trent just because his brand new solo album went double platinum. I went bankrupt jus 3 years after that and got a stupid minimum wage job to pay of my bills and crap.

I went from living high in a mansion to living in a dump apartment. It took me one year to realize I needed Princess back so I went looking for her at her parents' house in Toronto. I knew by now Princess has moved out but her parents had to know where she was living now but I was dead wrong. I had just ridden my motorcycle to her old house and parked my bike on the street. I walked up to the front door and knocked, the reaction I got was expected.

"YOU," raged her father. He was just as old as he looked back then, except more grey hair and he was balding on the top of his head. What made me uncomfortable that his eyes were just like Courtney's onyx eyes that I missed so damn much. I scuffled my feet on the porch step and mumbled a little saying, "Yea, it's me. Do you know where Courtney is now?" I was being weak and I hated being weak so to make up for it I looked him directly in the eye and stood up tall.

"You mean you don't know what happened?" Her father sounded surprised and happy but I took that as a bad sign because that meant he knew something I didn't and I hate being left in the dark.

I scoffed and said, "If I knew where she was I wouldn't need her Dad to tell me know would I?"

His face scrunched up in anger as he yelled, "I am NOT her father! That idiot is not my daughter and YOU need to GET OFF MY DAMN PROPERTY!" He tried to slam the door in my face but my hand caught the door just in time and pushed it back open.

"What do you mean she isn't your daughter? Don't you dare call Princess an idiot! Or I'll break your face open," my threats worked as I saw those onyx eyes widen in fear. This stung at my heart but I passed by it as I stepped closer, finally entering the house and glaring at the pathetic shaking loser in front of me.

"We disowned that slut from our good family name! She brought shame to this family when she came back from that horrific show! At least she had some sense left over not to tell YOU, the reason her life went in the toilet, the truth. Now get out of this house before I call the cops on you," he hissed at me.

I hid my disgust as I said, "I'll be out of here as soon as you tell me where Courtney went," I said in a low very dangerous voice.

"The bitch said something about going to Berkley. Like such a great school would ever accept her," he replied with a roll of the eye.

"Thanks," I said before I punched him in the face, effectively breaking his nose and knocking him out for a good long while. I ran out the room as heard Courtney's mom, at least I think it was her mother, yell from another room. I hopped on my bike and rode to the infamous States.

Ever since that day, I promised myself I would find my Princess and get her back. I got to LA around March and it took me a long ass time to find a job and an apartment since I'm broke. I don't know if it was relief or a just my damn bad luck that no one recognized me from the show but I have to keep reminding myself that this is U.S. not Canada. No one here cares about stupid reality TV shows.

I was living on the streets until I found work as a taxi driver. I found some sympathetic guy who let me crash in their tent. It amazed me that these men were living in the streets with just tents for a house. I guess people here call them hobos but to me they were more than that. They were men, but broken men when I took the chance to get to know them. They were just broken inside, like I was but they chose not to do anything about it. Not me, no way was I going to give up. I wasn't going to end up like them, I was going to find Princess and make everything work out. That was a promise.

So? Horrible? Is Duncan too OOC? This chapter was difficult because I didn't want Duncan to be weak and desperate just wounded but stubborn with a trace of his arrogance left. But cn Duncan fufill his promise? Review worthy I hope?