Disclaimer: I don't own anything. The characters are © Fresh TV Inc. / Teletoon, but the plot is mine.

"I've learned that people will forget what you

said, people will forget what you did, but people will

never forget how you made them feel."

Maya Angelou

"For your sake, Ogre, I hope that this day goes completely and utterly normal."

The door creaked loudly as Duncan twisted the handle and jolted it toward him, swinging it inside so they could venture out into the morning that was chilly, but not terribly cold. "Normal is so boring, Princess."

Courtney pulled away from him, her messy hair from her dreamless sleep the night before whipping around as she twirled to face him. "Duncan Mahone. Let me lay this out for you, I went to the first social gathering for me of the year last night and got drugged by some unknown assailant during one of my favorite movies where I discussed how much my arch-enemy knows about me and how he has really been pining after me since I was too young to realize what the female reproductive organs were for, only to wake up in his house after said drugging the next morning where I was subsequently chatted up by your mother, who told me far too much about your dating life and who happens to be a nurse and happens to be one of the most pleasant women I have ever met in my entire life and I don't understand how you can come from her, and hit on by your toddler cousin who is far too much like you."

Considering Courtney had not taken a singular breath in her tirade and her voice had gone up a few octaves by the end of the statement, she took the next few moments to take deep and soothing inhalations that would hopefully sooth the lack of oxygen she had received in that time period. She would have been substantially calmer if it weren't for Duncan's shit eating grin that he had as he crossed his arms to look at her.

She was egged on by the movement, so she decided she would continue until she felt better about the entire situation, following his trail as he began to walk past her, down the four stairs, and across the barren backyard (save for an attempted vegetable garden that had weeds overgrown inside, not to mention the vegetables would be out of season and therefore matched the rest of the depressed landscape). "Don't you turn your back to me you impossible Ogre! I'm not finished!

"I don't like the way that you have not been looking at me lately after giving me way too much attention that you knew would have me craving your weird perversions—"

He kept walking in a steady pace, feeling her form follow him across the crunchy grass from the frost that morning.

"I am tired of everyone treating me like some incomprehensible prude that can't tell the difference between water and a date rape drug, because that was obviously a one-time occurrence and will not happen again, ever, so get that thought out of your head before you hatch a new plan to QUOTE-on-QUOTE—"

Even though Duncan was not looking he could see the finger motions that made obnoxious quotations in the air.

"seduce me!"

He stopped at the far fence and leaned on the picnic table that had—clearly—seen better days, "and finally, I don't even know what time it is and I have…"

Duncan narrowed his eyes to skim over her features, that were generally becoming more and more frantic as seconds ticked on, she was now gaping and bringing her hands up around her head to thread through her hair. "Oh. My. God. Duncan, I have work today. No, worse yet, my father doesn't even know where I am. Oh my god, he's going to kill me. He's going to lock me out of the house and I am going to get kicked out of school because I can't afford to pay anything and I won't be able to get a job because I don't have my interview or working clothes, and…Jesus, Mary and Joseph all of my textbooks are at home!"

Let it be noted that Duncan would have found this entire situation comical except for the peculiar shade of green and red that Courtney was turning as she began to hyperventilate, moving her hands to fan her face in an attempt to cool herself down and calm her breathing before she went into a full blown anxiety attack.

The delinquent took his queue to go comfort the idol of his pining, removed himself from his position against the table to walk toward her, and gently took both of his hands to encase the side of her head, leaning his forehead against hers so he could attempt to be as sincere as he possibly could, as he figured that was the best way that they could move forward. Duncan, now is not the time to piss her off even more.

In his calmest voice, he began. "Courtney."

She wasn't listening and she was still mumbling incoherently about a test she had before the term ended for winter break and how Tommy was going to fire her because she didn't take her work seriously. Duncan attempted again, with a little shake of his head against hers. "Courtney, listen to me." Still no response. Fed up, the boy rolled his eyes and intensified his voice slightly, "Courtney! Listen to me. Your father and Tommy both called you this morning on your cellphone." Her brown eyes widened with utter fear, but he was sure to clarify. "My mother answered it. She told Tommy that you were feeling sick and she was the mother of a friend of yours, which is basically what she told your father."

Her heart rate was considering returning back to normal. "How did they take it? Just…wondering." Her voice was getting lower and she felt somewhat faint, thankful for the fact that Duncan was holding her up, or at least providing stability. "Tommy gave you the day off and your father seemed perfectly fine about the whole thing." Duncan removed his large hands and put them in his pockets roughly, "he was just worried about you, is'all."

It was at this time, in order to get her attention and focus away from the middle of his chest, she took in her surroundings. They were surrounded by fields and hills, trees and farms littered the distance. They must have been at least twenty minutes outside of the city she lived in. Awkwardly, she crossed her arms over her chest. "Well then…thanks."

Grinning, he backed up a bit and sighed, rocking back and forth on his feet, encased in the stereotypical 'rebellious footwear' that every punk had to purchase to be in the 'in-crowd' of radicals. After a moment, his grin faded, and his eyebrows furrowed. "Courtney, where did you get that water bottle last night?"

"Tommy gave it to me. Why?"

He shrugged loosely, his eyes belying his casual nature as they squinted in thought. "No reason. I left it there when I brought you here. Hope you won't miss it too much, 'cause I doubt it'd still be there."

"Littering is a felony."

"It was your bottle, Princess."

"Shut up, Ogre."

Duncan enjoyed the silence between them, as she stared off into space and was mentally preoccupied, but Courtney thought that the silence went on far too long, and she could hear the tick-tock of a mental clock for every second that passed between them. She shivered.

He noticed. He always noticed. He could read her surprisingly well, more than she could probably figure out herself. There were a lot of attributes that he had that would be an asset to her life, such as the attention paid to her that had never been before, and a sense of him pampering her when she needed it, simply because he would be able to tell she needed it. However, that did not stop her from orating the incarnation of everything he despised about her.

When she opened her mouth, he could tell by the way she straightened her back and arched her eyebrow slightly that it wasn't going to be good.

"Whatever is happening here…is not going to happen. Ever."

The grin he held on his face faded instantly, and he arched an eyebrow as she met his gaze.

"Never, Duncan. I will never be with you. I can never be with you. It wouldn't work. We're too different and things like this just don't work out. It would end badly for both of us."

He scowled and felt the edges of his mouth turn down. "And how are we different?"

"I can't be with someone who doesn't take his future seriously. I won't be with someone who gets his kicks with sick thrills and piercings and tattoos."

"So you aren't going to give me a chance because I don't meet your fucking dress-code?" She noted how his entire body tensed. Encased in a black long sleeved shirt and dark jeans, he almost appeared to be a panther, getting ready to say adieu to the unfortunate prey before him.

However, Courtney's brown eyes followed suit with the scowl that he had from earlier and never lost, "don't play dumb with me. You know what I am getting at."

"Spell it out for me. Since I am such an incompetent moron who doesn't know what he is going to do with his life, I need things like this explained to me. Bit-by-fucking-bit."

"Don't be rude, Duncan."

"Don't fucking tell me what to do and just tell me the real reason you aren't going to be with me. None of this goddamned bullshit about my clothes." His fists balled up, only for him to force them open again. "Tell me. I want to know how you really feel."

Squaring her shoulders, she took a deep breath, feeling the building tension between them. "Do you want to know why?"

"Yes."

"I am going to be president one day and I don't need any stupid delinquent holding me back and ruining my reputation. I will not explain why my other half is a failure. I will never condone being with someone who only take and never give. I will never be with you Duncan. You stand for everything I despise."

Tremors of anger ran through him as he stared at her, a malicious smirk coming up to take the place of his frown. "Thank you, Courtney. Thank you for presenting the most pretentious rationalization I could think of. Thank you for taking the side of every other motherfucking person. Thank you for not coming out of your shell to try something new. Thank you for being just as vapid, shallow, and useless as every other prick who is too high on their horse. And thank you for wasting too much of my time."

She stilled, and watched his body shake slightly with restraint. Swallowing a large gulp of air, she suddenly felt that sense of relief she had at telling him "how she felt" turn into something ugly, that reflected that it wasn't how she felt at all. "Du—"

"Shove it, Courtney. Get in the truck, I'm taking you home."

Without looking at her he began to walk to his truck, wordlessly, he opened the door and stepped in, slamming it behind him. Slowly, she made her way over to the passenger side and into the dark vehicle. Snapping in the seatbelt, she let out an uneven breath. "Du—"

He started the engine with a loud purr and violently shifted the stick into drive. Duncan could think of ten thousand things he wanted to do right now than drive her home, he was pissed, and the last thing he needed was the girl who just crushed his childhood dreams sitting within a close proximity. This must have been what hell felt like. His frustration turned itself into a sick form of adrenaline, he wanted to yell, scream, and do something awful that made him get his "bad-boy" reputation to begin with.

Instead, he was driving home a snob. He knew she was a snob. She had always been a snob, he just didn't realize how badly it would feel when she would drive a nail into his cranium that showed just how much she cared about someone other than herself or her future.

Meanwhile, all Courtney could think about was how she made a bad situation exponentially worse. Was it weird to feel numb about breaking someone's heart? She had never been in a situation like this, and she hated it. Especially since she saw just how much he was hurt, and how ruthless she had actually been with the comments that were only dramaticized with hope that it would draw him away because that was what she thought she wanted.

Duncan impatiently thrummed his fingers on the frayed leather steering wheel, his foot tapping on the ground. Courtney noted how his jaw was locked, his eyebrows furrowed—mainly because the light kept glittering off of the barbell piercing he had that was facing her from that side of his profile. It didn't take much for her to ascertain that he was frustrated and pissed off, and it was at her.

She didn't want to admit that what she said was rude, because it felt good to say it. She didn't want to admit that she was feeling regret, because he deserved what she said, completely and fully, for what he had been doing to her in their last year of high school.

Which was, of course, turning her into a hormonal female that deeply desired a romantic stimulus after years and years of being able to contend with the idea of being an old woman with a bunch of cats. Now the idea sounded awful, and she wanted nothing more than to watch inane romance movies and read vapid love stories that she had avoided for her entire life.

Of course, she really didn't want to admit that she enjoyed his physical presence, and was learning to appreciate his mental presence as well. He wasn't an idiot, which shocked her. He seemed relatively literate, which was even more shocking. And she didn't even mind his choice of clothing as much anymore because there were things that counteracted the contrived skulls and crossbones, like his scent, smile, the way the hairs of his goatee scratched her chin when they kissed, and…

"I'd appreciate if you didn't look at me, Courtney."

Courtney's eyes widened as she realized that the entire time she had been staring, and immediately turned her head to look straight ahead. His voice was bitter and on a singular note, and it even sounded as if he delivered it through gritted teeth.

It was for the better, right? After all, if she was going to be president one day she did not need to have dirty laundry in the form of a dirty and phenomenal romance with a delinquent who couldn't hold a job or pass a simple high school level class. Even if he was just what she needed right then, but if it would hurt her future it wasn't worth it. Right? She had to be the level-headed one in the situation because obviously he was not going to give her a rational explanation for what was happening between them and what their future was going to be.

It wasn't that she didn't like him, on the contrary, she just had to think of her future. Everything was at stake. She couldn't lose her head. Not now.

A sign on the left side of the road caught her attention, and Courtney's heart began to pound. "Duncan?"

"What?"

"Turn into the park."

"No."

"I need fresh air."

"Then open the fucking window."

A dead pause.

"Duncan."

"Courtney."

"Please?"

Another stretch of time and an impatient sigh later, Duncan moved to put his hand on the clutch and change gears so they could turn into the entrance of the sanctioned state park. After going down the winding street to the parking lot, he pulled into a spot and abruptly turned off the ignition and flung off his seatbelt with a click. He didn't look at her, she audibly gulped.

"Aren't you going to get out?"

"Are you playing a game with me, Duncan?" Her heart was beating erratically against her chest, a flapping bird that had been caught by unforgiving fingers of metal.

After a moment of absolute stillness, he laughed, actually laughed. His head was thrown back against the seat and he shook his head, a smile on his mouth that denoted nothing nice. "You've got to be kidding me."

"I'm being serious."

"And I haven't been?" He turned to her, a look of seriousness on his face. "How fucking into yourself are you to think that I have been lying and using so much of my time coming up with ways to get you to know how I feel, just because I think it's a game? It has never been a game to me. I should be asking you, since you seem to be taking a lot from our encounters and not bothering to reciprocate any sort of emotion back like some emotion-hungry bitch."

"How dare you call me a bitch, Duncan! What the hell do you expect? It isn't as if I'm used to someone going around and half-seducing me up against books and lockers! This is a new situation. Hell, before you I had never been kissed and all of a sudden I'm feeling these really…weird emotions that I'm not in tuned to and you are there as the start and end of all of my problems." She had turned in her seat to look at him, her face turning red with both embarrassment and anger. "You say I'm the selfish and conceited one. Did you expect me to just fall in love with you just because you know how to make me feel good?"

"Frankly, yes. You just said it yourself, make you feel good. That is all I've ever wanted to do. Ever. You just need to sit back and enjoy life before it's all gone and you're married to some rich snob who wouldn't know a vagina from a bagel and cream cheese."

It was now her turn to laugh, "so this is all a favor to me? Thanks, but no thanks."

He arched an eyebrow, "do you know how many years I've liked you Courtney? If this was a game you would have known, I would have used you and tossed you like I do most other girls. But no, I compare every girl to you."

The truck occupants fell silent as they measured the task at hand: what was going to happen next?

Courtney felt the spotlight of the world on her as he watched her, and she wondered, when she fell from grace, would they create an effigy of her? Regardless, she finally gave into an impulse and extended both of her arms to steady herself on his shoulders, pulling her body to his in a graceful swoop (thank you yoga), only to press her lips tightly to his own.

No words were spoken as no words were needed. Their mouths opened in unison as they pushed and pulled deeper into each other. Courtney was suddenly very glad she was thin as he used one arm to move her so she was straddling his waist, and she arched shamelessly into his touch, using her hands to grip his shirt, run across his neck, tangle in his hair—they never settled anywhere. Their tongues battled, and it was only when Courtney trapped his tongue in her teeth and sucked on it lightly that Duncan groaned.

The sound rumbled against his chest which passed onto her, and she decided instantly that she enjoyed the sound.

Reputation be damned, she could get used to being pressed up between Duncan and any hard surface; metaphorically speaking, she knew that it was all so wrong, but as he ran his hands up under her shirt, where one moved across her back in a solid and confident motion while the other moved slowly over her ribs where it lightly touched the border of her bra, she could not care.

She gasped. He took control. She wanted more. He could tell.

While he used his tongue to kiss her as if he were a dehydrated man and she were his oasis, he moved his curious hand to push up her bra on her chest, where he covered the exposed breast with his hand and gently fondled it. It was times like these that he wished they were not in public; not that he had often kissed women like this in the front seat of his truck in the middle of broad daylight while being parked out in the open.

She pressed her body closer to his, leaning her head back and he broke away and placed his lips on her neck, where he licked, kissed and sucked—she knew she would have to cover it up with makeup the next day, but couldn't be bothered with reasoning in that moment. It all felt so good, how could it be bad?

Head thrown back, she moaned his name, which only made him more excited, and she could tell by her position on his lap. In a way, it only made her more excited to know that she must have been doing something right in this unknown realm. She then saw the windows, which were getting clouded with their exertion. Righting her head, she used her hands to pry Duncan off of her neck, and when he questioned her with a look, she leaned down gently to his ear while wrapping her thin arms around his broad shoulders, "we can't do this here. We're fogging up and we'll be caught unless we leave."

Unfortunately, he saw her rationalization. "I don't know your address."

"Will your mom have any macaroni and cheese left after Scotty gets through with it? I'm really hungry."

Duncan smiled at her slow invite back over to his place, "he eats like a pig but they'll be plenty for you." His fingers, still under her shirt, pulled the bra back down as he kissed her neck lightly. "I'm not finished with you, Princess."

"I should hope not," Courtney moved from her position on his lap as he removed his hands from under the thin cotton shirt, "but this doesn't really solve anything."

The sour point couldn't make the grin fade from Duncan's mouth as he shifted in his seat and moved to buckle back in. "Don't ruin it, Courtney. We gotta get out of here before the cops catch me here. I'm on strike two, anyway."

Before she could question what he meant, he started the engine and threw the vehicle into reverse.


Author's Note: I know you all have been waiting for another kiss with them. Hope that satisfied your cravings for now—even if it is just a tease! :) Also, thank you so much for all of my religiously reviewing followers! It means the world to me! It's so nice to see that people have left you reviews and it's so nice to know that people are reading…it really makes me want to write better chapters for you all. Of course, shameless plug, check out my other story.