So I decided to break the previous chapter up 'cause it was just going to be too long and I figured to begin the flashback and then the episode reaction in this chapter. Again, I don't own anything except Mo, some staff, and Jennifer. Keep reading JetJake's Total Drama Kingdom. It's almost finished and you just know there's going to be an episode where everyone will be back to cheer on the final two. Anyway, read and review please.

Chapter 3, part 2

Mo zoned out Chris' obnoxious recap of the last episode as he stared at the clips from the Robin Hood challenge. He cringed at Leo attacking the intern and ultimately throwing the challenge at the end. He looked back at Stella, observing her neutral face when Chris talked about her elimination. He turned back to the screen to see the ending of the theme song and merely watched. He acknowledged that Christian was right about Cherry after hearing her confessional, watched the conversation in the Boys' Tower after Auden came back, listened to the confessionals.

He watched as everyone else worked hard to find a grail, laughing internally to see the one in the confessional but no one noticing it. He winced at Leo's confession about being uncomfortable around him and Raven put a hand on his shoulder in a reassuring way, understanding Mo's sadness. He especially felt bad for Christian as he watched Derick leave him and Wednesday pushing him off the highest tower. While the episode continued, Mo began to think about what happened when he found Christian in the lake.

~*~*~Flashback~*~*~

Mo remembered talking about the lake after Leo left and showed Auden the lake. He saw someone swimming towards the shore, wondering if someone had just found a grail. He was surprised to see it was Christian, looking very pissed and grail-less. "What are you doing? Taking a swim?" He asked with a small grin on his face.

He meant it in a teasing way but Christian seemed to have taken it the wrong way, snapping back, "No! I was inches away from a Holy Grail when that Wednesday pushed me off the balcony and into the lake!" In spite of himself, Mo couldn't help but find Christian being mad adorable. It did not help that he was also very wet and that his clothes clung to him in a very enticing way.

Shit, this is a really bad time to be turned on right now, Mo thought as he tried to avert his gaze from Christian's obviously toned body and to calm his dirty mind. He vaguely remembered what Auden said but all he heard was Christian saying he needed to find a Grail and Mo just blurted out, "Do you want to look with us?" Mo immediately shut his mouth, feeling his face heat up a bit. One good thing about being sun-kissed tanned was it was harder to see the blush rising.

Christian cocked an eyebrow, asking, "With you two? My competition?"

Shit, shit, shit, I am such an idiot. Of course he's not going to want to come with us. What the hell was I thinking? Stupid, perverted brain. Mo thought angrily to himself as Christian merely looked at them for a minute.

"I guess I could."

Wait, did he seriously say yes? Mo wondered, looking at Christian who looked right back at him. …Shit, stop looking at me like that. Mo thought, trying to keep calm.

"We were thinking there might be one out here." Auden said, but neither of them acknowledged Auden.

"So what happened your friend who doesn't wear any shoes?" Christian asked, moving towards Mo, wringing his shirt out at the end. Mo sucked his breath as he caught a glimpse of Christian's stomach. Mo snapped back to normal when Christian cocked his eyebrow again.

"He already found one. What about Derick?" Mo asked, hoping the talking would keep him from ogling Christian again.

"We found one right away. I think he actually won the challenge. What a surprise, isn't it?"

"That guy won?"Auden asked in disbelief.

"He's an idiot, but a lucky idiot." Christian admitted.

"After I left, I was sure Derick wouldn't have lasted much longer, but he's still in the game. Shows what I know." Mo just kept looking at Christian that he didn't see Auden look away. "No way!"

Mo snapped back to normal, asking, "What is it?"

"I think I just found a Holy Grail!" Auden ran over to the window and grabbed the grail that was sitting on the ledge. "Yes! It feels good to be safe!" Auden cheered, raising the grail above his head.

"You found one!" Mo said, forcing a smile for his friend. He may be safe but Christian and I still need to find one.

"Great..." The sarcasm in Christian's voice was undisguised but Auden ignored him.

"I'm gonna head back to the hall and see who else is there. Good luck guys!" Auden said running back inside. Mo stood there awkwardly, looking at something other than Christian.

"We need to find the other grails." Christian immediately said, heading back inside. He stopped before the door, looked back at Mo and asked, "What are you waiting for? Let's go."

"Right! Let's do this." Mo said, smiling a bit. They searched down one of the hallways and Mo noticed a huge spiral staircase. "Hey, we haven't been up there yet. Maybe there's one up there." Christian nodded in agreement and they began walking.

There was a silence between them until Christian asked, "So why did you want me to search for a grail with you? Everyone here hates me and wouldn't be bothered with helping me."

"No one hates you; you're just rough around the edges. Besides, didn't you start out with Derick?"

"Yeah and look at where he is, stuffing his face with edible food while I'm out fighting for my life." Christian responded.

"Okay, I can kinda see your point. But other than that, he's been with you since the beginning."

"I wouldn't be surprised if he decides to leave me again for Grace like he did during the Capture the Flag challenge. Wouldn't be the first time someone left me behind."

"So what do you plan on doing with the prize money if you win? I really want to use it to get my band a record deal, maybe do a national tour." Mo said, changing the subject to talk about something other than depressing thoughts. Christian was silent for a while before Mo added, "C'mon, everyone has a reason for being on this show and working really hard to stay in the game. I've seen you compete and I know you really want to win but are you doing it for the recognition or do you have a goal for that cash?"

"Why do you care about why I'm here or what I want to do if I win? Everyone here is more concerned about what they want rather than to hear other people." Christian snapped and Mo sighed.

"Never mind, you don't need to talk about it if you don't want to. I just thought it'd be nice to end this silence."

"…Before my dad died, he was a helicopter mechanic." Mo stopped walking and turned to look at Christian, who also stopped and was staring off into space. "During his free time, we would work on cars together. I want to be automotive engineer. I love getting my hands on a broken down car and just fixing it up to what it used to be. I love the feel of an engine revving up, how it just purrs when you drive it and it makes me feel so alive, knowing that I made it run like that. I recently got accepted to the Art Institute of California but even with scholarships, grants, and student loans, my family can't afford sending me. When I heard they were accepting people for a new season, I realized this might be my chance to go to one of the best engineering universities in the world and maybe, for once in my life, I'll finally have my dreams come true. I just want to be happy with what I love to do."

Silence followed after Christian spoke. Mo just looked at Christian in surprise, realizing Christian opened up to someone other than Derick. Hell, I wouldn't be surprised if Derick didn't even know Christian wants to go into mechanical engineering. Mo thought as he smiled a bit. "That sounds really great. I hope you win." This caused Christian to snap his gaze to Mo and stared at him intensely, which Mo laughed at. "Dude, I don't know if you noticed by now, but I'm not like everyone else. I care about everyone here, especially the people who share their dreams with so much passion. If you think you'll get your dream by winning, I'd gladly step down if we were the top two."

"Whatever, you're just saying that to make me believe that you care and then you'll stab me in the back when you get the chance." Christian snapped, walking up the stairs again. Mo frowned and grabbed Christian's bicep, causing Christian to fall back on Mo, who fortunately had enough balance to not cause both of them to tumble down the stairs, and turn into Mo's chest. "What the hell, Mo?" Christian shouted, glaring angrily up at Mo. There was a good six-inch height difference between them so Mo had to crane his neck down to look Christian in the eyes.

"I'm serious; I'd pass up the million bucks if it'll give you the chance to go to that school. I'm not the kind of person who'll prevent someone else from fulfilling their dreams."

"Yeah, and I bet Ella told you she wanted to win to spread to joys of being a hippie and you would want her to win too. Or maybe Auden wants to "help save the family farm" or-"

"Is that what you think of me? You think I'm a pushover, willing to be someone's stepping stone so they can win and that I'll just smile and congratulate them? Let me get one thing clear here, I am no one's bitch, Christian. Despite the fact that you think I can be won over by some sob story, I don't tell everyone I'd step down so they could find an answer to their problems." Mo interrupted as his voice escalated with anger and his grip on Christian tightened. Christian frowned even more as he struggled to get out of Mo's arms.

"Then what does that make me? Why the hell am I so special? I don't know about you, but I never make promises I can't keep and I especially hate people who break promises so don't waste your breath."

"Damnit, Christian, why is it so hard for you to believe that I'm a nice guy who happens to care about you?"

"Because no one gives a shit about me and, quite frankly, the feeling is mutual!" Christian shouted at the top of his lungs, shoving Mo off of him. Mo stumbled a bit down the stairs a bit but managed to hold onto the wall to avoid falling backwards down the stairs. Christian was breathing heavily, his face bright red from anger and his fists clenched tightly. "Don't you get it? Everyone here despises me and I won't be risking my neck for anyone."

"I'm not asking you to. I just wanted to let you know I support you despite what you think of me. Isn't that what friends do?"

"Friends? You think we're friends? You're my competition; you've hardly talked to me other than during challenges when we need a strategy. Why the hell do you think that makes us friends?"

"Because in this challenge, this moment right now, we've seen sides of each other than no one else has seen before." Christian scoffed at this and turned away. "I'm a laid-back guy. I don't lose my temper easily because I know that my temper can be used against me. Most of my time here I'm playing a leader, keeping my teammates from killing each other, doing my best to win challenges. I know I'm not perfect but most of the people here look up to me and if I ever lost my cool they wouldn't hesitate to kick me out. I can tell you don't blow up unless it's really extreme. It's like you have this wall around you that keeps all your emotions inside and that's probably what keeps others away because you're afraid of being hurt." Christian opened his mouth to protest but Mo added, "Christian, just shut your mouth for one minute and just listen to me. I know you can appear cold and methodic during challenges but when you started talking about your dream of being a mechanical engineer, there was a spark in your eyes that is hardly ever seen. I just want you to have that spark in your eyes more often and if that means letting you win, I'd do that for you."

Christian was silent again, taking it in. "Look, if it makes you feel better, we can forget about this whole conversation and go back to being just competition but I want us to become friends. I'm sorry for blowing up on you."

"It's fine. It's just… no one has ever put me first before anything before." Mo smiled a bit at this and Christian shook his head and added, "But this doesn't mean that I'm not going to keep my eye on you. I still don't trust you."

"You don't need to now but right now we also have to find those grails before it's down to us." Mo said and Christian's eyes grew.

"Crap, what the hell have we been doing? We wasted a good twenty minutes here. Let's hurry up these stairs and find a grail." Christian exclaimed, running up the stairs. Mo just laughed and followed him up.

~*~*~Flashback End~*~*~

"Mo… Mo!" Mo snapped back to reality after a hard jab from Raven. The episode was finishing up with Cherry and Christian's confessionals. "Dude, what's up with you? You just went all spacey on us."

"I'm fine man. Just remembering things." Mo replied as the lights turned on.