Hello all!

I've finally joined the Total Drama fandom after being away from the show for several years and I'm writing a couple fics for it: this one, and a collection of Team E-scope oneshots. I'm super excited to share them with you guys and I hope you all enjoy!

Also, in case you're curious, the title is from the song by girl in red!

Noah looked around the compartment one more time before deciding it was safe. He tucked a book under his arm and darted for the door on his tiptoes. Checking once more that no one was awake, he slid out the door and down the hallway.

He made it to the cargo hold, quietly closing the door behind him, and only once it was shut did he breathe a sigh of relief. Finally, he could have some peace and quiet! Being around the rest of Team Chris was exhausting at the best of times, and downright irritating at the worst. Well, Izzy and Owen weren't bad company, but the latter's flatulence sure was.

Noah flicked on the torch he'd smuggled earlier and searched around for a comfortable place to sit. In front of him was an enormous mountain of crates. He stepped around it and smiled to himself. Right in front of him was the perfect reading nook; or well, as perfect as one could get on this crummy plane.

Several dusty pillows and a threadbare blanket were collected in a pile in a corner between the wall and the stack of crates. It was dark, hidden from view, and guaranteed some molecule of privacy.

Noah didn't hesitate before sitting down and making himself comfortable. Even though the blanket smelled very faintly - but very suspiciously - of rotten fruit, he still draped it over his shoulders. It helped to take the chill off after spending several tortuous hours in the middle of the Yukon.

Despite the fact that it was so much warmer up in first class, Noah couldn't stand being around the others for longer than necessary.

But finally, he could have some time to himself.

He balanced the torch on a nearby crate, huddled into the blanket, cracked open his book and began to read.

Things stayed blissfully quiet for about half an hour, until along came a noise Noah was dreading: the door to the cargo hold being opened. Dammit! It was probably one of his teammates coming to look for him. He hoped it at least wasn't Alejandro. That dude seemed about as trustworthy as Heather, fake niceties and all.

The gentle pitter-patter of footsteps came closer and closer until they rounded the crate mountain. It wasn't Alejandro. It was just Cody, still half-frozen, with his arms wrapped around himself in a futile effort to keep warm. Cody's eyes widened in surprise when he saw Noah. Evidently he wasn't expecting anyone else in here, either.

"Oh, h-h-hey, N-Noah," he said, lifting up a hand in greeting. "W-Wasn't exp-p-pecting anyone d-down here, heheh."

"I came down here for some privacy," Noah responded, "What are you doing?"

"Er, s-same, actually, eheh. Sierra's really a-annoying me. B-But she's asleep now, and I wanted t-to find more b-b-blankets." Cody shuffled over to Noah and gazed down at him expectantly. "C-Could I have that one, p-please?"

Noah shrugged and handed him the blanket he'd been using. "Sure. You clearly need it more than me."

"T-Thanks, man." Cody wrapped the blanket tightly around himself and plopped down onto the cushions next to Noah.

Noah shivered. They were sitting only centimetres apart, yet being next to Cody in this state was like being locked in a freezer with the key thrown away. Noah couldn't help but feel bad for his friend. Falling into a half-frozen lake, and then not even being able to warm up in first class was a shitty way to spend the night.

Also, Noah was fairly warm himself, yet all that warmth was rapidly draining from him, no thanks to Cody's icy form right next to him.

Noah stood up and picked up his torch. "I'll find some more blankets for you," he said. "No offense dude, but I can't stand to be around you right now. You're making me feel cold again!"

"Eheh, sorry." Cody smiled sheepishly.

Noah rolled his eyes and set to work, prying the lid off of several nearby crates and rummaging through them. No blankets to be found, but what he did find had him more baffled than he really should have been.

"A fish tank, basketball, stepladder… a meat grinder? A crossbow? Seriously, where does Chris find this stuff?"

"P-Probably from his m-mom's attic, or s-sonething." Cody piped up.

Noah smirked a little, but that smirk quickly dropped away when he peered inside another crate. "...And I don't even want to think about where that has been." His face contorted into an appropriate expression of disgust.

"What i-is it?"

"Trust me, you don't want to know." Noah shook his head and popped the lid off the crate next to it. He smiled again - satisfied, this time - and reached in, pulling out several blankets. They were worn through with a few holes, and they were made from a scratchy material, but they were better than nothing.

"Here." Noah tossed them over to Cody, who didn't even waste a millisecond before scooping them up and bundling himself up in them. He looked like a misshapen, multicoloured burrito. Only his face and shoes poked out.

"T-Thanks, Noah," he said, "I ap-p-preciate it."

"No problem." Noah sat back down, picking up his book. But he was once again unable to get any reading done, because Cody decided to initiate a conversation with him.

"S-So, you know who g-got booted?"

Noah grimaced. "Bridgette."

"No! Really?"

"Yup. And I'll bet you anything that Alejandro had everything to do with it."

Cody raised an eyebrow. "Alejandro? But why? He seems pretty cool to me."

"Yeah. He seems pretty cool. And he's got everyone fooled. But not me."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean he's playing everyone. Think about it. He gave Harold a little 'pep talk' about honour, and what happens next? Harold forfeits out of honour. And I saw Alejandro schmoozing with Bridgette today; being all flirty, getting in good with her. And then what happens next? She ends up stuck to a pole and eliminated-"

"Hang on," Cody cut in, sitting upright. "Do you have any real proof of this? Because it seems like those were just coincidences."

"No. I don't have proof. But I also don't need it. I can tell when someone's acting suspicious. I was listening in when Al spoke with Harold. And you need to have been blind to miss all the obvious flirting he was doing with Bridgette." Noah turned to Cody, dead serious. "I'm warning you, Cody. Stay the hell away from Alejandro."

Cody still looked unsure, but nodded along anyway.

Noah nodded back, hoping that Cody was actually going to do as he was told. He'd tried voicing his suspicions to Owen, only to be shut down with, "Aw, but he's so nice! Besides, he won't hurt us. We're on the same team!"

And then Izzy had piped up with, "Yeah, Noah! Did you see the way he treated that panda back in Japan? It was soooo cute! Anyone who's that kind to animals is A-OK in my book!"

That was that. Izzy and Owen refused to listen to reason.

Their tendency to see the good in everyone was going to be their downfall, Noah just knew it. But he wasn't going to let his friends fall victim to whatever the fuck Alejandro was doing, and that included Cody.

Noah was especially going to keep an eye on Cody. Sure, Owen might be right in that he, Noah and Izzy were (temporarily) safe from Al since they were on the same team, but the same couldn't be said for Cody. And Cody, like the others, liked to look on the bright side of things. He was kind-hearted and lovable.

Just like Bridgette, who just took a fall from a plane while still attached to a pole.

Noah balled his fists. No. He wasn't going to let Alejandro sink his teeth into Cody if he could help it.

"So…" Cody spoke up, tentatively, pausing for the right thing to say.

"So what?" Noah wasn't in the mood for long pauses.

Cody looked a little flustered at that, and quickly got out a few words, teeth still chattering from the cold. "W-Where do you t-t-think they'll take us next? I'm h-hoping it's s-somewhere warm."

"Dunno. And to be honest, I really don't care right now."

Noah had effectively shut this new conversation down before it had even started. And Cody knew it, too. His face fell. All was silent between them for a few moments. Then Cody stood up, still swathed in his blankets, and said, "I'd better get b-back to loser class before s-s-someone realises I'm g-gone. T-Thanks for the blankets. S-See ya." He left, leaving even more silence in his wake.

Noah tried not to care. He didn't want to think about what tomorrow would bring. He came down here to read in peace, not predict what tortures Chris would inflict upon them.

But a part of his brain was busy chastising him for being so rude to Cody, who was just trying to have a conversation with his friend. They hadn't seen each other in a while, after all. He was lonely and half-frozen, and Noah just shut him down.

It was a little mean, he supposed.

Noah opened his book and started to read again.

Maybe some other time, soon hopefully, he'll sit down with Cody and have a proper catch-up.