This chapter is dedicated completely to guitarNrd362! Enjoy? [:

Chapter 26: Tiffs and One Day

One week and there was still no sign of Zach anywhere. Not at lunch, not in classes, not even a sight of him mindlessly roaming the halls. Courtney and all of her friends thought he was just afraid to show his face in case Duncan snapped and all hell broke loose, which might have happened if they had known one tiny little detail.

Duncan had already gotten to him.

"You what?" Courtney screeched as she abruptly stopped walking down the hallway, attracting a few stares along the way from by passers. Although, he shouldn't really be complaining since he was the one the one to accidentally let it slip in the middle of the halls crowded with people.

"Would you keep it down?" Duncan whispered as he clamped his hand over her mouth in an attempt to shut her up. "Ow!" the boy yelped as he instantly retracted his hand away from her face, inspecting his palm for any marks. "You bit me!"

"Well then you shouldn't have put your vile hands over my mouth," she snapped back, slightly wiping her mouth off in the process.

"Your mouth isn't the only place they could be babe," Duncan suggested with an arrogant and cocky smirk as he looked her body over approvingly. 'Damn, she fine,' he thought inwardly, the words almost escaping through his lips.

"Shut up you barbaric pig," she spat as she glared at the boy in front of her. "Now, come with me," Courtney instructed as she grabbed his wrist and drug him down the halls as if her were a kindergartener in trouble. Right now, he might as well have been.

"Where are we going?" the curious teen asked, his arm still being pulled by the hot tempered brunette in front of him.

"To talk."

She lead him out of the door's entrance and proceeded to walk, no one in sight. They walked through the luscious, pure green grass of the campus that had flowers blooming out at various places in complete silence. If it hadn't been for the circumstances, the latter of the two would have actually enjoyed the sight. But now though, with Duncan confused and annoyed and Courtney slightly peeved at him, now was not a good time for ogling things.

Once they reached Courtney's destination, the dock, she let go of his wrist and faced him with a demanding expression. "Explain." It was just a word, just a small word, but it cut through Duncan like a razor blade and made his insides cringe.

"Why are you acting like what I did was such a bad thing?" he asked as looked at her with a bored expression.

"Because it was!" Courtney screamed as she threw her hands up in the air to add greater emphasis on her statement.

"Look, that asshole hit you and me. Did you really think I'd let him leave here undamaged?" Duncan questioned as he crossed his arms over his broad chest, slightly angry at her for thinking she could just go on like nothing ever happened. You'd think, out of all the girls in the world, that she would be the one to never get over a grudge. But noooo, the one time something dramatic decides to happen in her life, she just tries to forget about the whole freaking mess. Even Duncan didn't have that will power.

"No, but I thought that maybe you would run the idea of almost killing him across me before doing it and almost landing your ass back in juvenile hall!" She said with narrowed eyes and clenched fists. Did he honestly think that violence was the answer to everything? Was he really that dense?

"Well excuse me for actually doing something about it, since you obviously weren't going to do anything yourself!" Duncan spat back, equally as angry. "And no, suing him does not count as doing something," he added, somehow reading her mind and knowing exactly what she was going to say next.

Courtney took in deep breaths to try and steady her breathing. It was a practice she picked up from her mother; she was a psychiatrist after all. "Fine," she said sharply, opening her eyes back up to meet the teal eyed boy's gaze. "What's done is done, and I can't do anything about it."

Duncan was, once again, shocked. Did she really not think this situation was that important? Would she really just let a something as serious as this drop in a matter of seconds? Courtney was, even after all these years, a mystery to him. On the up side of things, maybe if she was really just willing to let that whole thing slide so easily, she'd forget about what he had done to Zach five days ago. Maybe the universe was finally turning his way.

"But really? Throwing him out of a second story window?"

Of course not.

Duncan rolled his eyes in utter annoyance. Here we go again, he thought. "Don't worry, I made it look like an accident Princess. Stop being so uptight." He said it with such nonchalance, it was as if he was a cold hearted man who'd just kicked a puppy and carried on with his day. Now, granted, Duncan wasn't that evil, Zach wasn't technically a defenseless puppy, and the damage may have been more than just a mere kick, but you get the picture.

Honestly, though? You purposely knock somebody out of a window, possibly plummeting to their death mind you, and he could say it as if it were a daily thing? Sure, Courtney didn't like Zack, in fact she down right hated the guy, but it still didn't give Duncan the right to almost up and kill the boy.

Off in the distance the bell rang, knocking both of them out of their mental lapse and signaling that class would start in ten minutes. Courtney made a noise that was a sigh crossed with a groan and turned back to face the criminal in front of her.

"We'll talk later," she said with a voice leaving no room for arguments before she started walking back to the buildings, leaving Duncan alone with his thoughts.

Once she was out of earshot, he let out a sigh. Duncan was confused as hell. Sure, he knew 'accidentally' knocking Zach out of a window went against all morals he's ever had, but what else was he supposed to do? It seemed perfectly logical in his mind. Zach punched him and Courtney, Duncan shoved him out a window. Fair trade, right?

Even though Duncan deemed it okay, he knew he was still in deep with Ms. Uptight. 'I need to make it up to her...' he thought a he shoved his hands in his jean pockets, starting to walk back to the buildings. 'Come on Duncan, think. What can you do?'

Bingo.

-DxC-Forever-Bitches-

At the end of that day, all Courtney wanted to do was sleep for a week without being disturbed. She had take a math test, a history quiz, written an English paper in an hour, and ran two miles in PE. To put it lightly, she felt like crap.

The teen was walking down the illuminated white halls of the Brentwood dorms, her face getting slightly perkier as she saw her door just down the hall. Courtney's forehead suddenly creased and her lips puckered, spotting a small object lying on the floor in front of her room. It looked like a present of some sort that had been crudely wrapped in green wrapping paper.

'It must be for Bridgette,' the CIT thought absentmindedly as she reached down to scoop up the lightweight item off the carpeted floors. The gift, much to her surprise, was addressed to her.

Why would somebody give me a present...?

Courtney quickly snapped out of her phase and opened the door, swiftly dropping her tote bag and purse on the way in, then dropped onto her bed with the present still in hand. She laid on her back, looking up at the crappily wrapped gift. That's when she saw a little card attached. The brunette swept her caramel colored bangs out of her face and brought the card closer to her eyes, trying to make out the chicken scratch edged in black ink.

Dear Princess,

I know this probably won't make up for what I did, but just consider this a little gift from me to you. Happy early birthday babe, and all that other mushy crap.

-Duncan

Now Courtney's curiosity really spiked.

'He got me a gift? He remembered my birthday was tomorrow? Why would he get me something? Does he like me?' So many questions, no answers to be found. 'I bet it's just a piece of candy or something,' she mused to herself. There was only one way to find out.

Well, actually, there were two. But Courtney wasn't about to go up to Duncan and ask what was in the present without even opening it. She'd look just plain stupid then.

Pushing her thoughts aside, Courtney slid her fingernail into the wrapping paper and cut it, then proceeded to tear the rest of it off. The strange thing was that it was a jewelry box- a rectangular one that necklaces came it. Eyebrows creased, she slowly took of the cover of the box, then reached inside and pulled out a silver chain. But what was at the end of the silver chain was what caught her eye.

The word 'Princess' in silver cursive letters hung limply from the end of the necklace.

A small smirk couldn't be helped as it crept onto the girl's chaste lips. He was a clever ass, she's give him that. It was, however, a very sweet gesture. How many punks do you know that would go around and buy girls jewelry as an apology? Not very many, that's for damn sure. It might have just been a cheap ten dollar one from the school store on campus, but it was the thought that counted.

The brunette then let her smirk turn into a smile as she pulled her new necklace around her neck and clasped it in the back.

Courtney stood up and went into the large shiny bathroom, then looked at her reflection in the mirror above the sink. She thought that now, with Duncan's necklace hanging protectively around her neck, she looked complete. Like there was just something missing about her appearance before, and now she'd found it.

She heard the dorm room door click open and quickly stepped out of the bathroom. Courtney soon found Bridgette sprawled across the sofa, her eyelids heavy set over her bright hazel eyes.

As soon as Bridgette notice the figure near her right, she opened her eyes.

"What's up Cour-" She paused as a sudden light caught her eye. A smirk now danced across the surfer's facial features, knowing all too well of her cousin's obvious crush. "So, I see Duncan gave you a necklace," Bridgette said nonchalantly, cleverly masking the smug feeling that was welling up inside of her chest.

Courtney's dark orbs instantly widened as she looked down to the necklace, even though she knew full well that her chin would be obstructing her view of it.

"Maybe," was the mumbled response from the flustered girl.

Bridgette smiled sweetly, knowing they were both head over heals for each other. Honestly though, who couldn't tell? Everyone knew. The only people who it was a secret to were the duet themselves. She just hoped that one day, one of them would grow some balls and come out with their feelings.

The blond looked over to see Courtney fingering the little necklace and toying with it while absentmindedly smiling to herself. She couldn't help but hope with her next thought:

Maybe that one day would be soon.

H-Hey guys? *sharp knife flies by xXduncanxloverXx's head* NOT COOL DUDE! uhm..*ahem*.

I'M SO SORRY GUYS! I know I haven't update in like...pshh...3 months...but just to let you guys know, I feel terrible about it. :/ I felt like the most horrible person in the world, believe me, but I've just had way to much on my plate in these last months.

I know I probably don't deserve it, but please leave a review..? It would mean the world to me. Thanks so much for your patients guys.(: Oh, and Merry Christmas! Happy Hanukkah! Happy Kwanzaa! Or if you're not religious..just have fun on your break. (;

Love,

xXduncanxloverXx