Ten

Present Day.

Courtney had no idea if she was really ready to face her past, but as she drove past the "Welcome" sign into her old home town, she realised it was too late to turn back now. That being said, she intended to only be there to do what her therapist had told her, and then get out of there as fast as she could.

Passing through the town, it looked as though everything had changed since the last time she had been here. The only thing that looked the same was her old high school, but she was certain that must be different too.

She pulled up to the hotel she had booked and checked in. It wasn't particularly fancy, but neither was the rest of the town, so she hadn't expected much coming back. The place only had two rooms; a bathroom and a multi-purpose room with a fridge, a bed, a TV, and a radio.

Courtney turned on the radio and the first song that came on was 'You Shook Me All Night Long' by AC/DC. As soon as she heard it, Courtney burst into tears, remembering all the nights she had listened to the song with her first love. She curled into a ball on her bed and sat there silently sobbing.

Past.

"So what do you have planned for us tonight?" Courtney asked Duncan as they sat on the grass at lunch. It was only a Wednesday, but it was their six month anniversary and Duncan had told Courtney that he would plan the whole night so that she didn't have to. She had protested a lot at first, but had eventually allowed him to do what he wanted.

"If I tell you, it'll take all the fun out of it," Duncan told her. She folded her arms grumpily and was about to protest once again when Bridgette, Geoff and Heather sat down next to them having their own argument.

"It isn't my fault that I'm bored!" Heather was saying. "All he wants to do is talk. If I wanted to talk I would've stayed with Trent."

"The reason you broke up with Trent was because he was obsessed with that Gwen girl from his old school," Bridgette reminded her. Heather rolled her eyes.

"Whatever, all I'm saying is that I get that DJ is your friend but you can't stop me from breaking up with him," she insisted.

"The dude will be heartbroken," Geoff said.

"I really don't think he'll be that upset," Heather assured him. She turned to Courtney and Duncan. "Anyway what's up with you two?"

"Duncan won't tell me what we're doing tonight," Courtney complained.

"Don't worry Court, it's really sweet," Bridgette guaranteed. "You'll love it."

Courtney turned on Duncan, even more annoyed now. "You told them what we're doing, but you won't tell me?" she whined. "You're my boyfriend, shouldn't I be the first to know these things?"

"Not when it comes to these things," Duncan countered.

"Relax, he only told me so I could pick out an outfit for you," Bridgette informed her.

"Yeah Courtney, do you really want to spend the whole day grumpy at your boyfriend and ruin your night just because you're in a shitty mood?" Heather asked her. Courtney sighed.

"Fine, I guess you're right," Courtney mumbled reluctantly.

"Great, so you'll meet me at the record shop at six wearing whatever Bridgette tells you to," Duncan said. "Don't be late!"

Courtney did as she was told, and showed up at Duncan's work at five minutes to six wearing a blue strapless dress, which was much shorter than what she would normally wear, especially considering it was cold out and Bridgette hadn't given her a jacket to wear.

At almost exactly 6pm, Duncan arrived to pick Courtney up in a horse-drawn carriage. Courtney was completely speechless as Duncan stepped out of it to greet her.

"Is this okay?" he asked, already knowing the answer by the look on her face. Courtney nodded slowly, still in shock. Duncan gave her a kiss on the lips. "Happy anniversary."

"This is incredible," Courtney exclaimed as Duncan helped her into the carriage.

"This is only the beginning," he promised. "You look cold, here take my jacket."

Courtney did so gratefully, and wondered if Bridgette had purposefully not given her one at Duncan's request, so he could lend her his. It's the kind of small romantic gesture she wouldn't have expected from him six months ago, but now that she knew him she realised it was just the kind of thing he would do, think of little things like that to keep things romantic.

"How long have you been planning this for?" Courtney asked curiously, leaning her head on Duncan's shoulder. He shrugged, jostling her head slightly.

"About a month," he said, as if it were nothing. Courtney sighed gently, enjoying the cool breeze as the rode through the town. They went up and down each street, looking at the Christmas lights that people had already put out despite it only being November.

When they had looked down all of the streets, the carriage pulled up out the front of a restaurant called "Velvet Night", not the fanciest restaurant in town but far classier than Lazy Joe's. Duncan took Courtney's hand and helped her out of the carriage.

"This is incredible, I've never been here before," Courtney informed Duncan.

"To be honest, neither have I," he admitted. "I came here on DJ's recommendation, and he knows his food so hopefully it's pretty good."

When they went inside, the were greeted by the maitre d' who showed them to their table and gave them menus. The restaurant was dimly lit for a more romantic setting, and there was a vase on each table with different types of red flowers. Courtney opened her menu to find that it was full of fancy foods that she'd never heard of.

"Maybe this place was a bad idea," Duncan said, frowning at his menu in confusion. "Why can't they just serve normal stuff? You know, people food?"

Courtney laughed. "No, we'll try something new, and if it's terrible we can just go to Joe's and have dessert that," she decided. Duncan raised his eyebrows and sighed.

"Okay, we'll see how we go..."

It wasn't long before a waiter came to take their order. "I'll have the chicken and um... cheese thing, please," Courtney requested. The menu hadn't actually said cheese, but she knew that's what 'fromage' meant, and 'chicken' was in English so it seemed like a safe enough option.

"And for you, sir?" the waiter asked.

"I'll have the duck please," Duncan replied. That was one of the few words he had understood from the entire menu. The waiter nodded at them and took their menus as he walked away.

"He knows we don't belong here," Courtney observed. "Did you see the faces he was pulling when we ordered? We have no idea what's going on."

"When you bring a fancy restaurant to a small town, what else do you expect from the customers?" Duncan pointed out. "Plus we're teenagers. It's not like we're well-travelled yet, we still need to get through high school."

It only took half an hour for their meals to arrive, probably because the restaurant was completely empty apart from an old couple by the window and what appeared to be a small birthday party at a nearby table.

Courtney and Duncan thanked the waiter as he presented them with their meals and then looked at their meals uncertainly before bursting out laughing.

"This looks like vomit," Courtney said quietly so none of the staff could hear her. "I don't know what's in it and I don't really want to find out."

Duncan poked his duck and screwed up his face at the cous cous it was laying on top of. "What do you think this was marinated in?" he asked.

"Well I think the menu said it was comfit duck, which means it was marinated in it's own fat," Courtney told him. She pushed her plate away from her and Duncan did the same.

"Do you wanna just get burgers from Joe's?" he suggested. Courtney nodded.

"Skip out on the bill?" she added. Duncan smiled at her proudly. They walked quickly but inconspicuously towards the door and as soon as they got outside started into a sprint. The carriage had gone so Courtney wasn't really sure where they were running to, but it seemed like Duncan had already figured that out.

They ended up in a parking lot where Duncan had obviously parked his car earlier. He unlocked it and they got in, both breathing heavily from their run, before driving off to Joe's.

"What's all this now?" Joe asked. "Not another dance?"

"It's our six month anniversary," Courtney explained. "We went to a fancy restaurant and when our meals arrived we didn't really want to eat them."

"You didn't skip out on the bill did you?" he demanded, putting his hands on his hips, Duncan and Courtney just looked at him sheepishly. "You two! You know as a business owner I don't condone that kind of behaviour!"

"Aw come on Joe, you would've done the same," Duncan reasoned. "They deserved it, the pretentious jerks. And now we're bringing business to you!"

Joe sighed. "Alright, I'll bring you some burgers," he said. "And since it's your six months I'll get another picture for the wall."

"I do feel kind of bad," Courtney admitted once Joe had left. "They'd probably lose a lot of money as it is just to keep it open."

"You and I both know everyone there was judging us just for being there," Duncan reminded her. "If they didn't want to lose money maybe they shouldn't be so stuck up."

Courtney laughed. "I guess you're right," she agreed. "They don't need our money."

They ate their meals slowly, not wanting to rush to the end of the night, talking and laughing, and sometimes Joe would come over and join the conversation.

"So where are we going after this?" Courtney asked as they returned to the car.

"All in good time," Duncan said mysteriously. He turned on the car and put a tape in, playing their song. "It wouldn't be a date without AC/DC."

Courtney rolled her eyes, trying to hide a smile. The route they took next seemed vaguely familiar to her, but it wasn't until they arrived at their destination that she remembered she had been there before.

"Is this the place from our first date?" she asked in disbelief. It had been laid out with hundreds of candles, illuminating the daffodils that now covered the ground which she was certain hadn't been there before.

"Yep!" Duncan replied proudly. "Ma helped me out with all the flowers. Daffodils are your favourite right?"

Courtney nodded, tears forming in her eyes from how beautiful it all was. "This is amazing," she said, her voice cracking.

"Hey, are you okay?" Duncan asked. Courtney nodded, wiping the tears away. She pulled him into a deep kiss, trying to say all the things she couldn't say with words.

When they had pulled away from each other, Duncan laid a blanket on the roof of his car and they laid there, looking at the stars and enjoying the dim light of all the candles. It was a cold night but Courtney felt warm wrapped in Duncan's arms.

"Duncan?" Courtney whispered.

"Mmm?" Duncan hummed.

"Do you think we'll still be together this time next year?" she asked. Duncan paused for a moment.

"Yeah, I think we will be," he told her. Courtney looked up at him with a smile and kissed him gently. He pulled her close to him, kissing her more passionately, one hand on the small of her back and the other tangled in her hair. She kissed him back with just as much desire, arching her back into him, wanting more.

"I think I'm ready," she told him, breathing heavily. He nodded, continuing his kisses down her body.

"Are you sure?" he asked her, only stopping his kisses for a second to mutter the words. This time it was Courtney's time to nod. "As you wish," Duncan whispered in her ear, and Courtney knew this was a night she would never forget.

Sorry for a bit of a longer wait on this chapter! I'm trying to keep the updates quick but sometimes I lack inspiration or don't know how to write what I want to happen. On that note, to the person who was calling me "stupid" and "dumb": insulting me isn't going to make me update faster. If anything it motivates me less, so if you want faster updates positive reinforcement is more likely to work. Thanks for reading!