The heat of the day was so extreme a tumbleweed that rolled by Autumns feet spontaniously burst into flames and discentigrated.
"Hmm..." Autumn sweat dropped and moved away from the pile of ashes into the shade hoping she wouldn't be next.
Leshawna was the last to make it to the group. The intense humidity had caused her hair to friz up into a giant fro. She didn't seem to mind it as she casually strolled past everyone. The balding girl heather let out a giggle and Leshawna went into attack mode.
"I'm sorry. Do you see something wrong with MY hair?" Autumn covered up the smile on her face with her hand. Leshawna got in not only heathers face but Lindsays and beths as well.
"Not from where I'm standing." Duncan said as he peeked from between the divide he made in Leshawna's fro.
"Listen up part-neers!" Chris was dressed in full cowboy drag. Autumn sweat dropped. SHe didn't realize it until now. 'Hm, guess it was the hat...' she thought to herself. When he came to check on her he wasn't wearing the hat. "In any good western there are heros, outlaws, horses, and pretty dames. The hero defeats the outlaw and rides off in the sunset on the horse."
"What about the pretty dames?" Beth questioned eagerly.
"None of your beeswax!" Chris glared at Beth then laughed ruffling her hair playfully, "Just messing with ya. They usually hang out in the saloon during the bar brawl." Chris jutted his finger over his shoulder. Autumn thought to herself, 'He seems pretty good with kids when he's not trying to kill them...oh my god! What am I thinking!' She mentally smacked herself and looked off into the distance trying to ignore her thoughts.
"Bar brawl!" Harold was relaxing against an old fashioned wood fence. "Cooool." Then he began doing strange karate moves. It was quite freaky. Autumn shook her head. He continued with his spastic movements until duncan tripped him and Harold landed quite ungracefully in a trough full of water.
"Awesome re-enactment harold. Uh most brawls do end up with the loser in the water trough." Ducan smirked.
Leshawna glared at duncan. She muttered something about the confession cam. Autumn looked up to the camera and saw Tony looking to her. He waved and winked at her. She gave a very half hearted smile and looked away hugging herself. She remembered what she had heard that morning... She had to make sure to steer clear of him.
Harold came up out of the water and shook his head. The water sprayed everywhere including onto Justin's chiseled chest. It began steaming and justin began striking poses and muttering to himself. Autumn rolled her eyes and shook her head.
"Enough with the man candy! All eyes on me." Chris smirked and shot two rounds with his fake guns.
"No one is going to take you seriously with that outfit." Autumn muttered and a few of the kids that heard her sniggered. Chris just glared for a moment then continued. "Time for your first challenge. No cowboy worth spitting at can go one day without saddle practice. time to saddle up!" Chris pointed to a very pathetic and sickly looking horse which seemed more gassy than anything.
"That's the best steed we could afford?" Chris yelled to Chef who randomly appeared in one of the windows of the surrounding western buildings. Chef began naming off fancy un-needed items that he and Chris would never cast off for anything like a better horse.
"It's perfect! Don't change a thing!" Chris smiled.
Chris gave the group a break to go to the Confessional Cam.
"PFTHT...you call this a challenge?" Duncan laughed and attempted to get on the horse.
"Not so fast. you cowboys and cowbabes are going to have to mount the steed from up there." Chris pointed up and everyone looked up to the top of the water tower, "Not there. Waaay up there!" THe camera panned out to an even higher diving board. It was twice as high as the water tower. All the contestants gulped in fear.
Autumn's jaw dropped and she stared wide-eyed at chris. "This is insane. And totally not safe!"
"Since the Gaphers won last week they go first." Chris pointed to the Team Screaming Gapher. Don't worry! Our unpain interns have assured us it's safe." Chris nodded. Autumn heard Chef laughing maniacally in the background and shivered in fear.
"We won last week. Why do we have to go first?" Gwen questioned.
"Because I said so and I am your host. Chris McLain." Autumn caughed and glared. "And of course our...co-host Autumn Rainey..." He barely said the last sentence loud enough for the camera to catch. Autumn glared at him but he just laughed and winked at her. Autumn pouted and looked away. He was such an ass.
Poor Gwen began sneezing and sniffling again and after a chat with her team and Trent she worked her way up the swaying ladder. Autumn couldn't watch. She felt it was going to end bad. She also felt bad for Trent who couldn't seem to find the encouraging words he wanted to say.
"Break a leg Gwen!" He shouted. Even Autumn had to face-palm on that.
Luckily, Gwen landed on the horse, sliglty, unharmed.
"Woah! That was awesome Gewn! Ghaphers one! Grips! You're up!" CHris said as he laughed. He was enjoying the contestants pain way too much.
"It's not like things could get any worse..." Trent trudged off and climped the same swaying ladder that Gwen previously climbed. He jump off. Unfortunately, he landed butt first on a post. "Or maybe it can..." He squeaked.
Everyone made pained sounds and the boys held themselves as they witnessed the horendous event. "EESh..." Chris cringed moving his hands to his own manhood. Autumn wasn't trying to look but she couldn't help but follow along the muscles in chris' arms toward his hand that was covering his-Autumn slapped herself in the face just as she caught Chris' eye by accident. He smirked like the big-headed tard he was. "Glad it wasn't me! Gaphers one! Grips zip! Harold! You're up."
One by one the team members completed the challenge. In the end it was left up to Leshawna and heather. They seemed to have a little problem at the top of the ladder on the board which resulted into them falling off and getting stuck on the iron rooster compass that was on top of a nearby building. Leshawna used her afro as a cushion as she feel from the top of the building and landed by Autumn and Chris. Then she proceeded in laughing at heather who was still stuck.
Chris began laughing at Leshawna who's rear was shown by the rip in her jeans she got when she fell.
"Uh oh..." Autumn made a face mixed between embarassment for Leshawna and disgust at Chris for laughing and continuously causing her more embarassment by telling her she was showing the entire tv audience which resulted in Leshawna almost beating him to a pulp.
Autumn diliberately looked the other way laughing.
"No need to get my dungerees all dusty. Looks like the two teams are tied three apiece. To the next challenge for the tie breaker cow pucks!" Everyone began following Chris to the next challenge.
Autumn looked up and saw Heather still stuck. She was yelling to the others who didn't seem to hear, "Umm... CHris..." She ran up after him to tell him he forgot about Heather but he waved it off. Autumn shrugged.
Chris began explaining the next challenge but the water for the challenge disappeared as Owen drank it all straight from the water gun. Chef made it clear he wasn't going to lug any more water to them so Chris created another challenge.
Autum didn't seem to have much to do with this episode of Total Drama Action so she stayed in the background looking beautiful for the camera. It was what they wanted anyway.
"Your final challenge of the day will be calf roping." Chris decided.
"Where are the cute little baby cows at?" DJ questioned looking around the empty ranch.
"They are not any. Grips are the Cowboys. Gaphers are the cattle. Cowboys rope the cattle they win. The cattle dodge the cowboys," Chris paused, "they win."
"How do we know who's who?" Trent scratched his head in confusion.
"Grips get to wear these stylin cowboy hats. Gaphers get to wear," Chris paused for a dramatic affect, "udders!" Everyone on the gaphers team groaned.
"You just had to ask." Heather glared at Trent evilly.
"Sorry..." Trent tried to smooth talk his way around Gwen but it was definitely not working. Autumn felt bad for him. After a while of their arguing chris began talking.
"Would the cattle care for some hay?" Chris joked.
"Would the host care for a knuckle sandwich?" Duncan threatened.
"I'm good! Chef will now judge the competition. Yo chef!" Chris pointed to Chef who stepped out into the sunlight. Autumn gasped. Chef was wearing a very old western pink dress. Complete with Hat and Fan. She tried to hold in the laughter. 'I hope he's getting paid enough!' She recived a short warning glare from Chef and she instantly stopped laughing. "Love the dres, Cheffete." Chris laughed and Chef glared at him Maliciously. Chef moved between Autumn and Chris. Chris began begging Chef to stop what he was doing but Autumn couldn't see what he was doing. Chef finally moved out of the way and Autumn saw that he tied Chris up to a post. She busted out laughing and recieved yet another glare except it was from Chris. She continued laughing.
"Maybe when I change I will come back and untie you." Chef held up his dress and walked away in his pink heels. Autumn stifled her giggles and looked to Chris who seemed to be quite uncomfortable.
"I can't feel my arms..." He whined.
Autumn used this oppertunity to her advantage. "Let the calf roping begin!" She said loudly. The contestants were off! The camera men followed along after them leaving Autumn and Chris alone.
"Hmm, looks like you could use some help there cowboy." Autumn laughed.
"I'd appreciate it." Chris said sleekly. Autumn jumped down from the fence and walked up to him.
"Nah, I think I like you like this." She smirked.
"All tied up? Hm, kinky. I'm sure you're the one who likes being tied up." Chris glared but he had a dirty glint in his eye. Autumn just pursed her lips and flicked him on the nose.
"Ow!" Chris began moving around under the ropes trying to get free. Autumn flicked his nose again, "stop it!" He whined. Autumn just laughed and grabbed his face gently.
"You're less annoying when you're tied up." Autumn grabbed a hankerchief from nearby and was about to put it around Chris' mouth. She smirked widely.
"You know you like me and my 'annoying' self." Chris said a-matter-of-factly.
"As if."
"Oh don't think I didn't see you staring at me earlier."
Autumn glared at Chris. She was hoping he didn't notice.
"See anyting you liked?" He laughed and Autumn tied the hankerchief around his mouth tightly making sure to get his hair knotted in it.
Autumn sat beside Chris on the fence and she fiddled with his hair as he worked the ropes from around him. Finally, he managed to get them un-done. He turned as he took off the hankerchief and grabbed Autumn around the waist lifting her up with strength that surprised her and sat her down in front of him. SHe giggled a little bit because the feeling of his hands on her sides tickled her in a strange way. She wasn't used to it. She liked it but at the same time she hated it. She was afraid of those feelings again.
He laughed and looked into her eyes and seemed like he was about to say something but the contestants came running back. He looked away and frowned. As he walked to the contestants he put his sadistic-host smile back on and began talking.
"Well, what do we have here? The caddle roped the cowboys. A bit unexpected but what the heck. The gaphers win!" Chris announced and the Gaphers began cheering.
Autumn just looked off in the distance. Autumn felt the camera on her but when she looked she saw Tony holding the camera to the teams and Chris but Tony was looking at Autumn. He smiled and winked. Autumn quickly looked away.
Chris told the teams to go and shower thus ended the challenge. Tony cut the camera off and began walking over to Autumn. Autumn tried to look busy by picking up some ropes off the ground. Luckily, Chris moved between her and Tony, "Hey, don't worry about those. Tony can pick them up." He put an arm over Autumns shoulder and steered her away. Tony just glared at Chris.
Chris had no idea what he saved autumn from. She breathed a sigh of relief.
"Hey, party again tonight after the guilded chris awards. Be there." Chris was running off.
"Do I have to?" Autumn groaned.
"You owe me." Chris winked over his shoulder and disappeared.
Autumn ran off on her own deciding to get some lunch. She made her way to the cafeteria. Chef was cooking some more of his mystery food.
"Sup Chef."
Chef grunted in reply.
Autumn sat and chatted with Chef about random things until Chef grew quiet.
"Autumn I'm going to ask you something." Chef looked thoughtful for a moment.
"Um, ok."
"What is up with you and Chris?"
"Nothing is up with me and Chris." Autumn shook her head.
"Hm..." Chef stared at her a moment longer.
"I know you like him." He said nonchalantly.
Autumn didn't say anything. She knew he was right...well sort of. She did like him. She wouldn't admit it. She didn't need to her silence said it all. She just really didn't want to get hurt again. She took this job so she could get away from the norm for a bit and just relax and not have to worry about dating or what not.
"He likes you too."
Autumn still didn't speak.
"What happened to make you so distant? So cold. One second you're kissing Chris and the next you're kicking him and fighting with him...giving him those dark, evil stares that tend to soften into a hidden affection the longer you stare at him." Autumn sweat dropped at the seriousness and deepness of Chefs words.
"I'm not distant or cold..." Autumn hugged her knees to her chest. "I'm..."
"Defensive" Her and Chef said the word together. Autumn looked to the ground. Chef slowly stirred his newest concoction absentmindedly.
"Chris may be stupid sometimes, self centered, egotistical, a smart ass, a dumb ass, a regular ass, and shallow...but it's all a front. He does it for the camera and the attention. He's not really like that. Once you get to really know him you'll see. He's actually a very romantic, nice, caring guy." Chef shrugged.
"And you know this how?" Autum cocked an eyebrow.
"I know everything." Chef gave her an intense look. Autumn sweatdropped and smiled. Chef smiled back. "If anything happens...just know Chris would never hurt you. If he was stupid enough to do that I wouldn't be here talking to you about this." Chef nodded.
Autumn couldn't help but laugh. Though Chef may have been right it was just too hard...too hard to forget all the pain in the past. The wound was too fresh and too deep. "Thanks Chef." Autumn stood up to leave.
"Anytime."
Autumn stood on the stage beside Chris holding several guilded chris' on a large plate.
"The votes have been cast! If you get a guilded chris it means you're safe for now."
"And the guilded Chris goes to...Lindsay and Beth." Chris threw the two squealing girls their guilded chris'. "Justin. And last but not least Owen."
Trent was the last one left and was sent to the Lame-o-sine.
Autumn jumped from the stage and waited for Chris. Tony was packing up all his camera equipment nearby.
"Hey Autumn!" Tony bounded over carrying some heavy looking bags. "Can't wait to see you tonight at the party. If you can even call it a party." Tony rolled his eyes and laid on the innocent pretty boy act pretty thickly.
"Yeah, totally." August said trying to sound like she wasn't really interested. Tony waited another moment then shrugged, "I'll save you a seat tonight then." He walked past her heading towards his cart with the other camera crewmen.
Chris mosied over and stared after Tony, "What did he want?"
Autumn couldn't help but smile at Chris' expression. He looked a little 'jealous'. "Nothing really. Just talking about the party tonight." She shrugged and walked with him to the cart.
"Hmph." Chris climbed into the driver seat of the cart and started it up. Autumn jumped in beside him and he rode off to their trailer.
Autumn beat him to the restroom and changed out of her clothes into something more comfortable and fresh. She threw on some ripped up jeans and black loose and low cut top that exposed her shoulders and her favorite converse. The front of the shirt had a smiley face with 'X's for eyes.
She messed with her hair a bit and put on a little make up. She scolded hersef mentally when she mentally questioned herself about if Chris would think she looked good.
Finally she walked out of the bathroom and sat on her bed while chris primped and changed. When he came out they walked outside together and met with the others.
"Hey guys!" Everyone greeted one another and the party began. The alcohol was passed around and skipped over Autumn.
"Come on Autumn just drink one with us." Jose encouraged her by holding one out.
"No thanks. I'm not a fan of alcohol."
"How about some shots then?" Tony smiled mischeviously as he pulled out three different bottles of liquor. There was some Jaeger, whiskey, and rum.
Autumns mouth watered. She hasn't had a drink like that in a long long while. "Maybe...just one."
Everyone cheered and began passing the liquor around.
Autumn laughed and had her one shot. Then one became two. Two became three and so on.
Chris was chilling beside Autumn and Chef. Autumn was laughing quite loudly at some stupid joke Gage was telling and almost fell over. Chris caught her and steadied her. "Ok I'm cutting you off."
"No no no..." She slurred and turned to face him, "I'm not drunk..." She paused as if thinking really hard, "I'm just intoxicated by you!" She started laughing and so did the others.
Chris smiled but he was only slighty amused. He only had two shots and he cut himself off so he could watch after Autumn. He figured she would drink more than she should have.
"I need some water." Autumn stood up and stumbled to the left but regained her balance. She started walking towards the closest trailer which was the camera crew trailer.
"Do you need any help?" Chris said as he was about to stand and follow her.
"No, no I'm good I promise. I'll be right back." Autumn promised and walked off.
When she was gone everyone was still conversing with one another and promised to take Autumn out drinking more because she was just too much fun drunk.
Chris sat there with his chin on his hands staring into the fire. Chef stared at him for a moment.
"Dude, I have to take a piss." Tony stood up and began walking off. "I'll be back. Don't drink all my liquor." He joked and headed off in the direction of the camera crew trailer.
Chris looked up at him and watched him go then turned his gaze to Chef who gave him a look. Chris didn't like the idea of Tony being near Autumn. He has known Tony for a while and he's not what one would call a nice guy.
Autumn was placing her now empty glass of water in the sink. She paused a moment and just stared at her reflection in the glass and sighed. She went to turn around when she knocked into something.
"What's wrong?" Autumn looked up and saw Tony standing there in front of her. Her heart jumped in her throat.
"Oh, nothing. Just tired." She waved off his question.
"You should lay down then."
"Nah, I'll pass." Autumn went to move around him but he put his hand firmly on her shoulder and steered her back around.
"It's ok. You can sleep in my bed. I'll sleep on the couch or something. I'll let the others know." He tried to move her back but she planted her feet firmly. He frowned and used a little more force and pushed her harder. Autumn fell back into the counter and leaned against a wall for support. She was pretty drunk still and could barely keep right side up especially when she was getting thrown around.
"No...stop..." Autumn stood up and tried to move around him again but he grabbed her and pushed her back towards the opposite end of the trailer where the rooms were.
"Shhh, it's ok. Come on. You know you want to. I like you." Tony held her face and looked into her eyes, "I know you like me too. Right?" He looked slightly hurt when Autumn just stared at him blankly and shook her head no.
Tony was beyond drunk to a point where he had no conscience or care.
"Stop Tony! You're hurting me!" Autumn felt her eyes burn with tears but she held them in. Suddenly, she felt a sharp pain across her face as Tony slapped her.
"Shut up. You think you're too good for me. You think just because you're rich and famous you can ignore me and look down on me?" Tony gave a dark laugh.
"What are you talking about! You're crazy!" Autumn pushed him back but he advanced on her quickly dragging her to the back room.
"Stop!" She screamed and kicked. Tony dropped her to the floor figuring it would take to long to get her to a room. He got to his knees and grabbed her by the throat as he crawled on top of her. "My god Tony stop it! You don't know what you're doing!"
"Yes I do!" Tony grabbed the neck of Autumns shirt attempting to pull it off but she held it on. He got annoyed with that quickly and started pulling on it stretching it out and slightly ripping it until he was satisfied with the view.
Autumn screamed for help and Tony slapped her on the same cheek again and covered her mouth. Tears fell from Autumns terrified eyes.
"Shh, shh, it's ok..." Tony kissed Autumns neck and trailed his hand down her stomach towards her pants when someone walked up behind him and yanked him off.
"What the f-" Tony dropped to the floor. Autumn pulled her now ruined shirt over her exposed areas and turned away hiding her face from whoever it was. She sniffled a little and attempted to get up. The person didn't hesitate to rush forward and grab her.
"Are you ok?" Chris asked as he turned autumns slightly swollen red face to his. Autumn just looked at him with tears in her eyes. She felt sick and vulnerable like she did in her previous relationship...the first hit was just an accident...or so he said, but what about the other ones? She remembered how terrified she was when she left. Eventually, his threats and calls disappeared.
She cried and held onto Chris clinging onto his shirt tightly and staining it with her tears. He just held her quietly and let her let it all out. The guys were still at the campfire except for Chef who was standing outside the trailer unkown to Autumn.
Finally, after several minutes Autumn pulled away from Chris and started towards the door. He quietly followed after. Autumn stumbled down the stairs but caught herself and stepped on the ground. She looked up seeing Chef standing there. He looked at her with a shocked and horrified expression that he quickly tried to hide.
Autumn felt disgusting. She ran past him and headed towards the safety of her room.
She didn't even stop as she passed the other guys. She didn't even look back as they called her name. She didn't stop until she made it all the way to the bathroom. She cut on the steaming hot water then turned to get her night clothes from her suitcase. She paused in front of the mirror and saw her face. Her right cheek where Tony hit her twice was red and swollen slightly. Her eye make up was running down her face and throat. She looked like death warmed over. Tears were still pouring from her eyes.
She grabbed her clothing and closed the bathroom door and locked it. She stripped from her clothes and just sat under the shower hugging her knees close to her and cried and cried and cried...
Autumn wasn't sure what time it was when she got out of the shower but she was dead tired now. She put her pajamas on and walked to the door unlocking it. Before she walked out she looked in the mirror and saw that the swelling in her face was going down but her eyes were extremely red.
She just sighed and opened the door exiting. She gasped when she saw Chris sitting on his bed. He looked up at her quietly. He had changed out of his tear soaked clothing and was now wearing some boxers and a t-shirt. Autumn looked away walked to her bed. Had he been waiting up for her this whole time?
Only after Autumn settled under her blankets did Chris finally move. He turned off the lights and crawled under his own blankets.
Autumn couldn't sleep. Everytime she closed her eyes she saw Tony reaching for her. Then it would switch to her old lover. She could feel every emotion she felt then even in her dreams.
Finally, she had enough and woke. Autumn quietly crawled out of her bed and walked over to Chris. He wasn't asleep. He looked up at her and she kept her eyes to the ground. Chris sat up and moved the blankets aside and patted the bed beside him. She slowly sat down and after a few seconds stuck her feet under the blankets and laid her head down. She remembered what Chef was saying about Chris. He would never hurt her.
Chris pulled the blanket over them both and tucked Autumn in soundlessly. He moved a little closer and put an arm securely around her just holding her. Autumn felt safe in his arms. She closed her eyes and drifted off into a dreamless sleep.
During the night Chris pulled away and left her to her side of the bed. Autumn rolled over faceing him. She stretched and sighed cutely. He just watched her sleep, traced lines along her face, and breathed in the smell of her japanese cherry blossom body wash. He felt his heart ache for her.
He thought about Tony and how he almost killed him but seeing Autumn stopped him. Chris looked to his hand. It was bruised pretty badly and one knuckle was split. He'll have to get that checked out in the morning.
At last he drifted off to sleep as he looked to Autumns face across the bed.
