Expect the Unexpected
Chapter Eleven
Lovestruck
The streets of Toronto were busier than ever as Christmas was drawing closer and closer. With the shopping malls now packed full of children screaming in excitement as mall Santas walked by, stressed-out mothers looking for the perfect Christmas gift for every member of their family, and fathers seeming to never be able to find exactly what department they were supposed to be in- it could only mean one thing; there was only a week left until Christmas Eve.
Heather believed herself to be a very skilled individual. Besides ballet, she was very gifted in math, swimming, but most importantly, her ability to shop. This skill of hers was very useful in situations like the one she was currently in– helping Harold find the perfect gift for Leshawna. Cody had also agreed to tag along, mainly because his apartment felt extra lonely due to Gwen moving out from all of their fighting. It had been small arguments that kept snowballing into bigger issues. Cody didn't really go into major details, but Heather could piece information together from whatever Gwen would say to Duncan about it. What? Of course the two roommates would gossip about it together.
Heather looked along the shoe racks, seeing if there would be anything for Leshawna. Let's get one thing straight though, she was not doing this for Leshawna. She was only helping Harold out. Heather offered her assistance so Harold wouldn't keep whining to her about not having anything for his girlfriend. Plus, she still needed to find a gift for Duncan. Neither of them wanted to attend Christmas with their families, so they decided to host their own. It would start with a Christmas Eve party at their apartment with all of their friends (sadly it would mainly consist of people from Total Drama as Duncan was very close with them). They would exchange gifts with one another afterwards. Then, they would spend Christmas Day in their pajamas watching some silly holiday movies that Duncan insisted on showing Heather.
When he found out that she never did get to watch any classic Christmas films, he made it his mission to buy as many as he could for her to watch with him. Her parents didn't really believe in doing all of the family nonsense when it came to the holidays. They all just spent Christmas at country club parties after country club parties through the month. Now though, Duncan promised to show her exactly what she had been missing. Why, just the other day she finally was able to go ice skating for the first time with him. It was quite fun, especially whenever one of them lost their balance.
"What do you think of these?" Harold cut in, holding up a pair of platforms that Heather could only describe as tragic. It was a brown wedge, with a large red bow at the ankle, and some tacky turquoise detailing on the wedge.
"Harold," she began, slowly lowering the shoes down, "I hate your girlfriend. But even I am not so cruel that I would let you give her those."
The nerdy man let out a loud groan as he put the shoes back into their respective box. "This sucks!" Harold leaned against the shelves and slowly let himself slide down to the floor. "I won't ever be able to find a perfect gift in time."
"Get up!" Heather whispered to him with an edge in her tone. She looked around making sure no one would see the pathetic man sulking. "Come on, we are going to go to the makeup store."
"Seriously, Heather?" Cody walked up behind her. He put his hands in the pockets of his jackets while shaking his head at her. "You're thinking of buying makeup right now?"
Heather rolled her eyes at the two men. "No, you moron. I'm thinking of Harold buying Leshawna makeup. The girl loves doing her makeup. I see her YouTube tutorials always pop up on my recommendations, but to be clear I would never watch them." She looked between them, and the two men sadly weren't catching on. "If we go to the makeup store, they will have some makeup for Harold to buy for her for Christmas. You can also probably get her some skin care stuff if you think she has too much makeup."
"She has been saying that her forehead has been breaking out recently due to this new product she tried." Harold stated, finally thinking of something she needed.
"Great! You can go ask the worker for some recommendations. I'm sure she would appreciate something useful." Heather agreed. She stuck out her chest in pride as she was able to think of something for the YouTube star. Since Total Drama ended, Leshawna got into acting, but kept a side hustle of being a YouTuber. She mainly did story times, vlogs, and makeup routines, but Heather didn't really watch any of them. Okay, fine. Maybe she did watch one or two when she was bored.
"Yeah! It's also next to the candle store! She was saying how she wanted to get some new scents for our place!" Harold's mind began to race, suddenly connecting the dots on what his girlfriend would want for Christmas.
The three friends began to walk towards their next destination, trying to get through the crowds. Heather did originally plan on going with the guys, till one store caught her eye. "You guys go ahead," she called out, "I'll catch up with you later. I have to go check something out?"
"What?" Cody tried to yell back, but the wave of Christmas shoppers took him and Harold away from Heather as she got out of the crowd.
Heather made her way to one of the side stores in the mall. It was a punk store, or so as it was labeled by the literal name being Punk Store. She had heard Duncan talking about this place once or twice. Apparently it had a lot of merch that Duncan got into. Though she definitely felt like a fish out of water when she walked inside.
"Welcome to Punk Store," the monotoned cashier greeted, "where we hope you have a rocking day!"
"Um, yeah– hi," Heather responded, seeming to be the only one inside of it. "I'm trying to find the perfect Christmas gift for a guy who comes in here a lot." She looked around, seeing a wall of band t-shirts, many of which Heather knew Duncan owned. "Do you have any recommendations?"
The man looked at her as if he was a zombie. His shoulder stayed sagged forward, his eyes clouded, and Heather could have sworn she saw a bit of drool hanging from his lip. He was quiet for a moment before he repeated. "Welcome to the Punk Store. Where we hope you have a rocking day."
She let out a scuff of annoyance before deciding to venture on alone. The former Queen bee was clearly out of her element in this type of store. There was a section for accessories that she went through, but didn't see anything that would cater to Duncan's interest. Considering that they sometimes did their laundry together, she was pretty sure she knew what his style was at this point. She personally never got what girls saw in the bad boy aesthetic, but from time to time... she found herself staring at him as well. He was able to pull it off quite well.
They had some collectible stuff, but Duncan wasn't big on fan merch besides just the occasional vintage t-shirt. For a moment, she actually considered just getting him some stickers that the shop sold for his clipboard at work, but even she knew that it would be a horrible Christmas present. At this point, she was very close to giving up.
"We have a new shipment of CD's and Vinyls coming up," the cashier came up behind her to say.
Heather jumped up in surprise, not even hearing him move let alone get this close. Was this guy even alive? "Uh, no thanks. He has stated he is good on vinyls. The only one he can't seem to find that he wants is this Elvis vinyl that he really wants."
"Do you mean this one?" The cashier then held the gold vinyl right up, almost like he pulled it out of thin air.
It was almost as if the heavens parted, a light beamed down, and a choir of angels began to sing around the vinyl. "Elvis' thirty number one hits!" She read out loud as she took the record from the man and held it in her hand. "How did this even end up here?!"
"It was a shipping mistake or something," the man shrugged, probably having no clue how it even happened himself, "but we're gonna sell it for thirty bucks."
"Consider it sold!" Heather beamed at him. She couldn't wait to see the shock and surprise on Duncan's face when she gave it to him. Although Heather mainly cared to receive presents, she was quite excited to be able to give this one to Duncan. Mainly because she knew how much it meant to him.
She eventually met back up with Cody and Harold after she checked out. It seemed once Harold was able to think of smaller gifts for Leshawna, he really was able to leave the mall with quite a few hefty bags. The group was walking through the parking garage, listening to Harold talk away with weird Christmas facts.
"Then, mistletoe originated with fertility rites-."
"Oh my god!" Heather finally snapped. "Enough, Harold! We get it. Just, please don't start with your weird facts at the Christmas Eve party next week."
Cody was actually appreciative of Heather cutting Harold off. He did not feel like discussing fertility rituals– again. "I can't believe you and Duncan are co-hosting a party together," he shook his head. "That's something boyfriends and girlfriends do."
"We live together, idiot." Heather rolled her eyes as they finally reached Harold's car. "It just makes more sense for us to throw one together. Especially since a lot of the people attending were also on the show with us."
Harold got into the driver's seat and looked at Heather as she got in the passenger's seat. "I agree. You would have never agreed to let Leshawna come to one of your parties before. Now, we can both come and it'll be a lot easier."
Heather turned back to look at Cody in the back seat, "Hear that, Cody? It's easier." She sent him a smirk before going back to look forward.
"Whatever." Cody rolled his eyes. "I'm just saying, you and Duncan are getting weirdly close."
"It's not weird!" Heather felt the sudden need to defend herself and her roommate.
Harold pulled out onto the street, going to Heather's apartment first since it was closer. "You did get matching tattoos with him." He reminds her.
"In honor of Bruiser," She reminded them, "and it's cute! So, just shut up." To quiet the boys up, Heather leaned forward and turned the radio up. Neither of them knew what they were talking about. Duncan and Heather were in a perfectly normal friendship.
After the shopping trip, Heather went home and rested for most of the day. She would need it with the extra shows the company was putting on now that Christmas was coming to an end. The Nutcracker's final show was coming soon, and Heather would definitely miss being a part of it. It had been her big break, and her agent was already receiving offers for auditions for spring shows. It was going to be a big year for her. Though her feet, which were already damaged beyond repair due to years of training, would never forgive her.
She laid on the couch, waiting for Duncan to finish up whatever he was doing in the kitchen. The two were in for the night, bingeing some new show Heather found while Dance Dads was on the mid season break. The pair was currently watching The Real Housewives of Ontario.
"Alright," Duncan walked in from the kitchen, holding two mugs. "Here. Try this!"
Heather sat up as he walked into the room. She paused the show, only letting the sound of the rain pitter pattering against their window fill the room. "What is this?"
Duncan sat across from her, handing her a mug. "It's my own version of hot chocolate. Just try it."
Heather looked at him hesitantly as she lifted the mug to her lips. The warm beverage filled up her chest. Then, when the familiar tingling of alcohol hit her taste buds, she let out a hum. "You spiked this?"
Duncan grinned at her reaction, "I sure did. What do you think?"
She rested her back against the arm of the couch. "It's really good." Heather took another sip of the hot chocolate, "I hope you plan on putting this out at the party next week."
"You should know that's why I did it." Duncan nodded, leaning back on the other arm of the couch. The two roommates looked at one another as they sipped on their spiked hot chocolates. "I got your present in the mail today."
Heather tapped her foot, her legs still laid out across the couch, against his leg. "You liar. I also got your gift today. But, I will definitely make you freak out with mine."
Duncan shook his head quickly. "No way, Queenie. I definitely won this one." He set his empty mug down on a coaster.
Heather went to reply with some teasing remark, but the sudden clack of thunder made her yelp. "I-is that thunder?"
"Oh shit, yeah it is." Duncan nodded as he peered out the window to see that the weather picked up. He really did get annoyed when it came to thunder and rain, but it wasn't ever anything serious.
Heather was the complete opposite. Although her irrational fear of sumo wrestlers was conquered many years ago, she also had a second big fear– thunderstorms. She was able to thankfully ignore it when she and Duncan were chilling together. But once they packed up and went to their respective rooms for the night, the thunder seemed much louder. The loud boom of the thunder kept making Heather jump and shiver underneath her covers.
She used to be able to get through these rough moments with Bruiser. He would instinctively know to lay on her chest and purr as loudly as he could to help her block it out. With another loud clash, Heather jumped up. She couldn't keep doing this! At that moment, Heather felt as though she was on autopilot. She opened the door to her room and walked down the hallway. She carefully reached for the door knob at the end of the hallway. She took in a deep breath before walking into Duncan's room.
Since Heather moved in, Duncan's room had gotten much cleaner. She was able to easily navigate her way to his bed. She laid a hand on his arm and gently shook him, "Duncan.." she whispered, "Duncan, wake up."
The man stirred for a moment before sitting up. He was not the easiest person to ever wake up, but hearing the fear in Heather's voice woke him up instantly. "What?" He sat straight up, looking around to see if there was something going on, only to turn to her, "What? H-heather?"
Heather sat on the edge of his bed, her hands shaking slightly as lightning lit up the sky. "Don't laugh," she warned, "but I'm.. I'm really scared of thunderstorms. I usually have Bruiser to help, but I'm–."
Without another word, Duncan scooted over to the other side of the bed. He then lifted the covers up and held them open. "Come on," he instructed, "get in."
Heather wasn't sure why she agreed to this, but without another word, she got in. Oddly enough, she wasn't even sure why she wanted to come to Duncan in the first place. But, she knew it was where she wanted to be. Sure, to most people, Duncan was just some punk jerk, and Heather also used to think of him that way. Yet, when they finally were able to bond, Heather was able to appreciate him for the more caring man that laid underneath the surface level. She used to like people who were downright terrible, but she could appreciate Duncan's sweeter side.
"Why?" Duncan's voice cut through the darkness, "why are you afraid of storms?"
Heather turned around, the pair now facing one another. She could make out Duncan's blue eyes in the street lamp light that the window provided. "I didn't mean to wake you, you know."
"Don't ignore the question." Duncan stated, not letting her back out, "Why are you afraid of thunderstorms."
Heather let out a loud sigh. She never was able to tell anyone, not even Alejandro, the truth. It wasn't like Heather to be open. She enjoyed having walls and barriers between others and her emotions. It was how she was able to keep herself safe. Then, somehow, Duncan came into the picture. He was able to relate to the reasons on why she built those walls. He could relate to her more than anyone else that she ever met. It was almost worrisome just how easily he could see through her. If she would let anyone in, it would be Duncan. "Promise to never tell anyone?"
Duncan, to Heather's surprise, lifted up his pinky finger. The memory of him making fun of her for doing it only a month ago quickly came to her, but she held back from teasing him about it. Heather sent him a smirk before wrapping their fingers together. "I promise." He stated clearly.
Heather unhooked their fingers as she laid down against the pillows. "When I was little I uh- I wasn't really skinny. My mom thought I was too heavy, so she sent me to a camp of sorts."
"You went to a fat camp?"
"Shut up." Heather snapped at him and sent him a glare "But, uh– yeah. I didn't know that they had a tradition, where they would mess with the newest camper. So, it began to rain and they... they locked me out of the cabin for the night. It was really terrifying when it started to thunder, and ever since I've been scared to be alone during a thunderstorm."
Duncan frowned at her confession. His recent feelings for Heathers aside, he felt a weird pain in chest. He admired how strong she was to deal with all of the things she did during her childhood. Sure, maybe she let some of those challenges make her act out as a teenager, but now she was a strong woman because of it all. "As long as you live with me," he started to say, placing a hand on her arm, "you can come in whenever there is just a little bit of rain." He didn't mean it just because he was— well– he was in love with her. He was offering it to her as a friend. He may not have been able to relate to being locked out of a cabin during a thunderstorm at fat camp, but he was in similar situations whenever he would try to run away from home. There were several nights when he had to lay out in the rain due to running away from his fathers rage.
Heather gave him a smile at his offer. She whispered a silent thank you, before moving to give him a hug. The lingering scent of cologne on his pillow, made her do a second secret sniff. "You still have that cologne on?"
Duncan looked confused for a moment until it clicked. "Oh, no. I just wore it earlier and didn't shower before my nap. It's like it's stuck on the pillow. Why? Still like it?"
Heather was thankful for the dark lighting as it was able to conceal her blush. "Yeah, I still like it."
Duncan let out a yawn as he closed his eyes. If it wasn't for the sandman practically banging on his door, Duncan wouldn't have let his next words slip out. "Good, I started to wear it for you." He nuzzled his head into his pillow.
Heather's blush only deepened at his sleepy confession. Within a matter of moments, Duncan's breathing started to even out as he went back to sleep. She knew she should have turned away from him, but she felt compelled to stay right there. Why was she all of a sudden feeling so funny around him?
Duncan was not the usual guy who one would go to comfort. However, Heather kept finding herself drawn to him. He was there for every major moment in her life the past six months. Yet, it was also all the little moments that seemed to plague her mind as well. When she decided that she wanted to learn how to cook, he was in the kitchen with her telling her what knife was used for what. When she needed help with giving Bruiser a bath, he would always be there to catch him and bring the cat back in. Then, when she decided she wanted to start jogging again… well, Duncan didn't really join her with that one, but he did start buying premade protein drinks for her to have after she ran.
As Heather laid there, watching Duncan sleep, she tried to figure out what was going on with her. Though her train of thought was halted when Duncan moved towards her in his sleep. He wrapped an arm around Heather, and brought her closer to his chest. Heather was caught off guard by his action and she had no time to resist. It wasn't the first time that she and Duncan had cuddled one another. They never did talk about the times that they did it; it just went unspoken of between them. Now though, Duncan wasn't even awake to hold her, he just did it on instinct. But worse of all, Heather liked it.
Her heart was beating wildly as she laid against his chest. The scent of his cologne wafted back towards her, making her feel much calmer for some unknown reason. The rise and fall of his chest pulled her to sleep as if it was a lullaby. But it wasn't! It was just Duncan! Why did she feel like this? She hadn't had these types of thoughts since…
Since Alejandro…
All those years ago, when she and her ex had first gotten together she felt the same way. These odd sensations around Duncan infuriated her like it did when they rose for Alejandro. Yet, Duncan was able to make her feel even more confused than Alejandro did. Alejandro was very attractive, that was just a fact. He came from a wealthy family, he was connected, preppy, intelligent, and every other quality she wanted– well, ones she was supposed to want. She liked that he kept her on her toes, but that really only happened on the show. When they were off of it, she felt like a cuddle and kiss dependent zombie. It wasn't her. She had a fire in her, and for the years that she was with Alejandro, it seemed to dwindle.
Then, after their breakup, she was able to get that fire back. Especially after she moved away from her parents and in with Duncan. She was able to dominate the dance world and the city of Toronto. But that was bound to happen. What she didn't expect was.. well being in her current position. He was everything that she once repulsed from. He was a bad boy who would go to juvie, and once even ended up in jail! Yet, he was also one of the sweetest people she knew. It wasn't even sweet in a way for Heather to manipulate, because Duncan could always clock when she was up to something. He knew that she was strategic, sometimes rude, and easily annoyed. But, he also knew the sides of her that she kept closed off; he knew that side of her, and she liked showing it to him. Duncan was able to fuel the flames of the fire that she prided herself on.
She nearly facepalmed as the reality of the situation crept in. "Fuck!" She mumbled quietly, turning so that her cheek rested on his bare skin.
Heather wasn't supposed to want to be held by him like this. She was definitely not meant to just go to his room on instinct because she was scared. The smell of his cologne should not convey a sense of calmness over her. She should not be looking forward to Duncan coming home so that they could hang out. The idea of spending Christmas with him should not sound so appealing! She did not expect to feel this way about him.
She did not expect to… fall in love with him.
Author's note: Come back next Monday for the final chapter!
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