A/N: My gosh, I'm so damn sorry about how long it took me to update. Ifeel even worse because I know that I told quite a few people that the update would be really soon. Again, I'm sorry. Please forgive me.
Okay, now, about the chapter. I'm really not sure if I like this one. Maybe it's just me, but the end gives me a feeling of redundancy. Also, I didn't have anyone read this chapter before I posted it. Usually my sister or Katie will tell me if I've written shit or not. Sadly, those of you who review will be the ones to tell me how horrible this chapter was. I hope that at least one of you enjoys it though. That's all I really care about. So please, read on.

Disclaimer: Do you really think I could own something as awesome as TDI? If you do, you need some psychiatric help.

For once, it was Courtney's turn to stare incredulously at Duncan; something that she seemed to be taking full advantage of. He stared at her, clearly uncomfortable, but she couldn't seem to find her voice. Instead, she simply tightened her arms around his neck and buried her head in his chest as a hug of sorts. She felt herself being lifted up off of the bed and held on tighter in slight shock. He lifted himself onto to his knees, with her still clinging to him like ivy. Once situated, she felt him wrap his arms tightly around her and kiss the top of her head. She smiled against his chest and hugged him even harder. After a moment, she tried to say something to him, but it was muffled by the fabric of his shirt.

"What?" he said, letting her go enough so that she could lean back and speak audibly.

"I love you too," she reiterated with a smile.

He stared at her with a staggered expression that was much akin to her own look of astonishment when he'd confessed. She wondered why it would be such a shock to him. What had happened to all of that confidence he'd displayed so readily on the island? For god's sake, she practically oozed love for him everywhere she went! How could it not be obvious to him? Her thoughts were suddenly scattered by him leaning forward to rest his head on her collar bone. Not that she really had any objections. She smiled fondly at him before beginning to rub small circles on the exposed skin on the back of his neck with one of her hands. She heard him hum contentedly until with a laugh in his voice, he said, "You know, that whole 'I love you' moment wasn't half as corny or nauseating as movies make it out to be."

She pushed his head off of her and hit him lightly on the shoulder. "You always know how to ruin a nice moment, don't you?"

"Only when I know how to make it better again," he murmured softly, prior to giving her a loving kiss on the mouth. Still in the high of their confessions, it wasn't long before the kiss turned from innocent to passionate. Courtney didn't protest when Duncan pushed her down onto the bed once more, or even when his fingers moved downward to dance tantalizingly over her still flat stomach. They broke apart briefly to catch their breath, and he slowly lowered his weight onto to her. He watched her face intently, wanting to see what had been lost to him in the darkness that had served as their cover for the first time. She let out a sound somewhere between a gasp and a moan at the feel of him contoured perfectly against her. As if that was all of the encouragement he needed, Duncan's fingers suddenly grew frantic in their movements. They quickly darted to the fly of her denim shorts and fumbled with the button on them as a result of their hurry. Courtney didn't doubt for a second that things would have swiftly escalated from there had the two not heard the sound of laughter coming from outside of the door.

Blushing even more profusely than she thought would ever be possible, she untwined her arms from around his neck and dislodged his frozen fingers from her shorts. Her movement seemed to knock Duncan out of his stupor and he frowned before trying to move his hands back down to where they had been. She shook her head in dissent and a low whine emanated from the back of his throat. He yanked softly against the hold of her hands on his own, already aware that his efforts were futile but still willing to try. The corners of her mouth turned up slightly in response to his childish behavior, but she still shook her head 'no'. Sure, he might not have a problem with it, but there was no way in hell she was going to get… intimate with him when Geoff and Bridgette were probably only a few feet away. She couldn't believe she'd actually forgotten about them. He sighed disappointedly and fell sideways onto the bed. Rolling over onto his back, he snaked his arm under her shoulders and pulled her up against his side. She willingly snuggled up against him, resting her head on his chest like she'd developed a habit of doing. Looking up at his still pouting face, she decided that it was as good a time as ever to ask him about those all of those bruises and scrapes.

"Duncan?" she asked.

"Yes, Princess?"

She rolled her eyes but still smiled at his pet name for her. "Why do you look so… beat up?"

He grimaced but then said dismissively, "Don't worry about it."

She raised an eyebrow at his response. Didn't he realize that would only make her more determined to find out what had happened? "No, tell me," she said, her curiosity evident in her tone.

"No."

She glared at him and he just smiled back, unfazed. But then, a brilliant thought struck her. She would get the answer out of him for sure. Courtney's glare slowly melted into a rather evil smirk and Duncan couldn't hide the sudden concern he felt for his own future health. She gently pushed his arm off from around her shoulders and slowly moved to straddle him. Placing her hands delicately on the upper part of his chest, she leaned forward until her seductively smiling face was mere inches from his own.

"Please," she breathed after a moment, happily noting the dazed look on his face, "won't you tell me what happened?"

Duncan was astounded that he could even hear her over the rapid beating of his heart. He was also intensely shocked that he wasn't drooling yet. It took everything he had in him to refuse her. It was especially hard seeing as his new mental friend was practically screaming at him to just tell her. Apparently consciences were easily manipulated by the cunning of temptingly sexy women…

Courtney leaned back, almost frowned and in turn, just about ruined her entire ploy when he shook his head in place of saying no. She had thought for sure that he'd cave. Weren't guys supposed to crazy over that stuff? 'Oh well,' she thought wickedly, brushing her irritation aside, 'I guess I'll just have to up the ante.'

Reassuming her licentious smirk, she suddenly leaned back down and barely brushed her lips against Duncan's. She pulled back slightly to give him a lazily confident look and run a hand through the shock of green hair on the top of his head. Although she had no idea why, she knew that it was something that really turned him on. His sharp intake of breath only served to prove her right. She fought the blush that threatened to return as she remembered the rather blunt words he'd used to tell her that little fact. Finally succeeding in beating the accursed redness back, she repeatedly ran the fingers of one hand through the soft green atop his head, as though she were petting a cat. She almost burst out laughing when his head lolled back and he let out a sound that was damn near a purr. As if realizing the same thing, Duncan grinned abashedly before reaching up to grab her wrist and disentangle it from his hair.

"Why don't we stop with that before I do something really embarrassing?" he remarked, his grin shifting to a lazy smile.

Courtney frowned. "But I wasn't done yet!" she complained prior to mumbling, "All of that was supposed to make you tell me what happened."

A look of mock surprise adorned his features. "You were trying to seduce me into telling you, Princess?"

Her frown deepened and she didn't respond, crossing her arms over her chest indignantly. Duncan chuckled before lightly pushing her off him. She landed on her back, arms still crossed. Sitting up and then scooting to the edge of the bed, he stood up walk a few steps away from the bed before stopping to stretch.

"You know," he said mid-stretch, "that was pretty damn hot."

"What was?" she said, still miffed.

"You."

She scoffed and he spun around to look at her still on the bed with her arms crossed, a frown to rival hers appearing on his face.

"What was that for?" he asked, a little peeved that she doubted him.

"Well," she began in a slightly disdainful tone, "if it was so hot, then it would've worked the way I wanted it to!"

Duncan sighed. He looked at her for a moment before muttering, "Leshawna and Eva."

Courtney finally uncrossed her arms and used them to prop her back off of the bed so that she could see him better. "What was that?" she asked, "I didn't hear you."

"Leshawna and Eva," he repeated loudly.

She then got off of the bed in much the same way that he had, by scooting. After standing up she walked over to him in a way that could only be described as curious. Stopping in front of him, she reached up to touch one of the bruises on his face. She was glad to note that a few of them were already starting to lose their purplish tinge and fade somewhat around the edges. "They did this to you?" she asked in a vaguely disbelieving manner.

He bent his head a little bit to look her dead in the eye. "Yes."

"Why?"

"Apparently," he said with a grimace, "I needed some sense beaten into me, because 'only a fool would walk away from the best thing that had ever happened to him.' ...Or so Leshawna said as she gave me this lovely bruise right here," he finished, gently patting the hand she'd placed over a rather nasty bruise on his left cheek.

"Oh. I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"For not trying to go after you myself," she said quietly while looking up at him. "If I had, then maybe this," she lightly circled the bruise with her finger, "could've been prevented."

He calmly wound both of his arms around her waist before saying, "You shouldn't have done anything differently, Princess. I was the one who did the most damage."

She opened her mouth to defend his actions but he cut her off by pressing a finger to her lips. "But you know," he continued once sure that she wouldn't speak, "there's only one thing that's still kind of bothering me about this whole thing."

"What?" she asked anxiously.

Duncan smiled at Courtney reassuringly. He uncoiled an arm from her waist to reach up and gently tuck a stray strand of hair behind her ear. "Don't worry, babe," he said softly, "it's nothing major."

She visibly relaxed and stepped forward to rest her head on his chest in her relief. "Then what's bothering you?" she eventually asked after a deep breath.

His arm found its way back with to rest with its mate on her lower back before he responded. "Well, you said that you thought you were pregnant. Now, not that I don't trust you or believe that whole thing about women knowing their bodies, but shouldn't we try to make that 'think' a little bit more definite? Do you think we could get our hands on a test or something around here?"

Courtney smiled widely. "You know Duncan," she began, "it's funny you should mention that…"

"You really did all of that, Princess?! Just for a stupid pregnancy test?!" Duncan asked amusedly through the door. Both he and Geoff had been stunned when the girls had finally caved to their pleading and told them just how they'd gotten their hands the EPT.

"Could you not try to have a conversation with me while I'm doing this, you ogre?" Courtney yelled back. She turned briefly to look at a grinning Bridgette sitting on the rim of the incredibly tiny bathtub. In fact, just about everything in the bathroom they were currently occupying was tiny. She was glad to overlook that aspect though in favor of the privacy the location provided. She'd have to remember to thank Beth again for finding the small room next to the sauna the next time she saw her. Turning away from the door her delinquent lover insisted on loitering around, she grabbed the box containing the pregnancy test from where she'd placed it on the sink counter. She heard Bridgette get up from her seat and walk the few steps over to where she was standing.

"So how do you use it?" Bridgette asked curiously, grabbing the box from Courtney to find the instructions.

"You pee on it, Bridge," Courtney replied. She laughed when Bridgette purposely dropped the box and eyed it with disgust.

Courtney bent down to pick it up, still chuckling to herself. Righting herself, she opened the box and took out the thin stick inside. Pulling the tiny cap off of the end she revealed the small bit of white that the test would be useless without.

"You're supposed to pee on that tiny thing?" Bridgette asked, still skeptical.

"Bridge-" Courtney began. She was suddenly cut off by Duncan yelling through the wood of the door again. "Are you done yet?"

"Could you be patient, Duncan?" she replied exasperatedly. She heard him give a shout of laughter and quickly turned to face her surfer friend, irritation evident in her features. "Can't we do something about him?"

Bridgette grinned in amusement. "Threaten him with abstinence?"

Courtney laughed. "And have to listen to him complain every waking moment? I'd be better off just getting this done with!"

Bridgette nodded, and still chuckling, made to leave the room in order to give Courtney some privacy. "Oh and don't worry Court," she said as she opened the door, "I'll make sure no criminals try to pull a 'B and E' on you."

Courtney grinned as Bridgette closed the door behind her, but it faded as she looked back down at the test stick. She couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed about the idea of the four of them outside the door being near enough to hear her while she was using the bathroom. But as the gallon of Sunny D she had gulped down a less than a half hour ago finally caught up with her, that feeling was ignored. Finishing as quickly as possible, she paced the test on the counter once more, flushed and washed her hands. Looking away, she waited a few seconds before turning to peer at the tiny screen that would tell her what she was dying to know. Grabbing the stick, putting the cap on the end, and slipping it back into the box, she opened the bathroom door to find three anxious looking faces. After biting her lip, she took a deep breath and smiled wider than she ever had before. And that smile was all that was needed for the true celebrating to begin.

In the midst of a bone crushing hug from Duncan, Courtney dropped the box. The test slipped out and the result was there for anyone close enough to see. There, on the small screen, was a single digitalized word.

Pregnant.

A/N: So there you go. The unfabulous chapter 10. Luckily for those of you who now hate this story, there's only going to be one more chapter after this. Which brings me to a really IMPORTANT part of this author's note:

I received a really awesome review from Black Wolf Jaganshi Lover (I hope you don't mind that I used your PenName) asking me about a sequel for this story. Now, I have absoutely no qualms at all with doing this as I already have a plot idea, but I want to be sure that it won't be a waste of my time. You can tell me if you'd like a sequel in a review (if you wish to leave one), but my real decision will be based on poll I've put up concerning it. Oh, and for those of you who don't know, on the poll: "Ja" is yes and "Nein" is no. Sorry, I'm obsessed with German. lol. So, if you'd like a sequel, make sure you vote! Danke fuer lesend und tchau!