Author's Notes: Hi everyone! I'm giving full introduction duties to Kenju. Take it away!
"Hello everyone! We have yet another chapter of Unbreakable Red Silken Thread for you and we hope you didn't mind the wait. This chapter proved to be tricky for a number of reasons, the main one being the inclusion of a character we haven't worked with so far and it took a few tries to make them feel 'right' and in-character. Whenever we introduce a new character it always takes a great deal of effort to write them as they are suppose to be similar but not exactly the same as the characters from the show (after all years have passed since TDWT ended). It also takes a great deal of effort to work out the character dynamics, their relationships and interactions. This particular chapter was also difficult in that it features a character that neither of us care for…we promise we did our best to be fair and not make this chapter (or story by extension) into a character bash.
"Another important thing to note is some of the thoughts and dialogue might seem a bit off here after what you've seen for the last few chapters, rest assured there is a reason for it and it will become more obvious as time passes by. We can give you a clue however but only one. A major aspect of this story is to compare and contrast various relationships. No one is perfect and everyone has faults, even the main characters.
"Now before we get to the chapter we did have one more thing to bring to everyone's attention. Yet again please give another big round of applause to CMR Rosa and qMargot, who have yet again provided this story with fantastic fan art to make it even more alive for everyone to enjoy. This time we get to see Dawn, Cameron, and a very special OC by the name of Zury. This character was created by our loyal fan and reviewer PrincessThunderquake as a reward for winning our 'name the collage/university' contest back in chapter six."
Hey guys, Rufus here again. I just have to say that Zury will get a few small cameos later on in the story.
Having said all of that, it brings us great pleasure to give you the sixteenth chapter of Unbreakable Red Silken Thread: Chance: Born on a Monday Part II
October 27th 2014 (12:30 PM)
As much as Gwen hated her current situation, she had to admit even if only to herself that the hot shower did feel amazing. The warm beads of water and bubbles of soapy suds soothed her aching muscles and helped clear the remaining fog of her hangover as they slowly made their way across her body before vanishing into the ebony void of the drain.
After allowing herself to bask in the pleasurable steam and warmth the shower had left behind the Goth started getting dressed. She wore most of the same clothes she had the previous night, minus her shirt. In its place she still wore the jersey Heather had given her to sleep in. The reason being that true to Heather's words, her own shirt was indeed covered in vomit, which even she wouldn't wear unless she had no other choice period. Likewise the jersey was the only thing Heather had that would actually fit her. Everything else the Asian had on hand would have made her look like a complete slut, as was the case when anyone tried to wear something meant for someone who was half a foot shorter, far less curvy, and close to two full cup sizes smaller.
But those two positives did nothing in the grand scheme of things in Gwen's eyes. She couldn't even begin to imagine what might happen because of the earlier events, but any attempts at doing so only resulted in worse and worse scenarios playing themselves out. After all, everything started with her having to tell Duncan that she would be moving out from their dorm and into Heather and Cody's!
Trying to ignore how much she was dreading that conversation, Gwen emerged from the bathroom.
Wanting to put this off for as long as possible, she took her sweet time walking down the hallway, taking small, light steps so she could go undetected for as long as humanely possible. As she did so, with her high-heeled shoes thankfully not clanking on the carpeted floor, the pale skinned girl saw something that made her body freeze and her jaw drop.
Heather was talking to someone who she didn't know, that in of itself wasn't what was noteworthy, no it was the fact that she was talking to a giant of a woman! Gwen had seen plenty of tall people in her life, but none that even came CLOSE to this one. The dark skinned titan might very well be the one person outside of Owen she had seen with her own eyes that was taller than Duncan. Her teal eyes couldn't help but notice how this giant wasn't just a tall lanky specimen either; her body was rather well built to say the least. Her sleeveless vest showing off her toned bronze arms as her shorts revealed a pair of powerful legs that looked like they belonged to a track star. Simply staring at this woman, seeing her talking to Heather, filled Gwen with a sense of dread.
"Why is she here? Did Heather call her in case I tried to back out of our deal!?"
Eventually, with her tiny steps slightly shorter than before, Gwen started noticing other details. The duo was speaking in hushed whispers, the taller of the duo clearly not happy about something. This continued until she happened to glance up and saw Gwen standing at the hallway's end. Heather's eyes followed and were soon upon Gwen as well.
"We'll talk more about this later, but not now," Heather said quietly, somewhere between a whisper and a growl.
A thick silence strangled any attempts at conversation for a few prolonged moments, until someone summoned forth the will to fill the barren void with sound.
"Gwen, this is Jasmine," Heather said to the Goth, gesturing to the annoyed ebony titan, "She's a good friend of ours, and she is going to help move your things."
Unable to take her eyes off of the young giantess, Gwen noticed that this Jasmine was in what appeared to be a very foul mood, not just annoyed as proven by the withering glare she sent Heather. Even more unsettling however was the fact that the Queen Bee was completely ignoring it. Then, to her horror, those coal black eyes high above her turned back in her direction and Gwen froze in place. To her great relief, the Goth saw a healthy dose of confusion and skepticism but no aggression directed at her. Whatever the giant's quarrel was, it wasn't with her at least.
When she was finally able to take her eyes off of the giant girl, Gwen was even more shocked to see a small pile of suitcases and duffel bags stacked up near the door. That was when realization hit her…Heather wasn't just deadly serious, but that was happening NOW. Not eventually, not possibly, but NOW.
"Are you ready, Gwen?" Heather asked, her tone both blunt and sharp so it left no room for argument.
'Just play along, stay passive, don't encourage her. Fighting doesn't do me any good since she just feeds off it. She's got a royal flush and all I've got is deuces and threes. I just need to wait her out, not give her anything to work with. Don't let her know she's bothering me and eventually she'll lose interest and kick me out.'
After mentally going over her plan, Gwen replied, "I am. But we don't need all of this, I don't own that much stuff."
"Better safe than sorry," Heather quipped while Jasmine remained as silent as a statue.
The trio stood outside of Duncan and Gwen's dorm at the opposite end of the same floor. Jasmine had several large duffle bags draped over her arms and two suitcases at her feet while Heather had her can of mace ready just in case Duncan turned out to be home and didn't like the new arrangement. If she had been in a better mood Gwen would have laughed at Heather for being so prepared and trigger-happy despite Duncan being far away at this time. But as it was, the Goth simply kept her mouth shut and opened the door to their shared dorm.
The sight within was…expected, at least for Heather. The place looked like a pig's sty, trash bags and clothes strewn all over the place and quite a bit of garbage, mostly empty take out boxes stacked up in every corner.
While she had expected the place to be a pigsty, it still didn't prepare Heather for the full repulsiveness within. It looked like a place that hadn't been cleaned in years, rather than the two months it had been inhibited by them. Trash bags ranged from only partially tied to left completely open, full of old fast food wrappers and bags of clashing colors and logos and foods mingled like bushes to the trees of vertical stale half-eaten pizza crusts littered the floor. The smell that punched the trio was a putrid combination of low tide, wet dog fur, and cheap air freshener of questionable value. This was even more noticeable as the number of trash bags that were the scents source numbered less than a dozen. The majority of trash not on the long since dirtied carpet was seemingly crammed into take-out boxes and milk jugs.
Added to that they found wads of tissue paper soaked in what could only be assumed to be a disgustingly glistening white special ingredient one might find to be used in the creation of miniature, vile pig-babies that were scattered around on the carpet as if part of some Easter egg hunt devised by a disturbed Easter Bunny from Hell with a eternal erection.
Clothes were everywhere. So many pieces of clothing scattered about so haphazardly that one might have imagined that those living here had never heard of a closet or a hamper. Everything from panties to undershirts was on display. The majority of them stank so badly that in Heather's mind they must have belonged to Andy Dufresne after his five hundred yard crawl to freedom.
The total effect of the space before the trio was a dwelling of filth and trash so severe that it could have been imagined as a modern day flat version of Gehenna, a constantly burning trash heap outside of Jerusalem that Jesus used as a visual metaphor for Hell.
Aside from a lack of fire, it wasn't far off.
Turning to Gwen with a scrunched nose and scowled visage, Heather asked point blank, "Do you even bother taking out the trash?"
"We do at the end of the week. Cuts down on trips to the dumpster out back."
"Reminds me of me brother's rooms whenever the folks aren't 'ome for more than a day," Jasmine muttered.
"I guess I'm not too surprised," Heather remarked, "gutter trash is gutter trash." Ignoring the glare that Jasmine sent her way, she asked the third member of their little group, "So if he's not here, then where is Duncan exactly?"
As they walked into the revolting living quarters, Gwen explained, "We both have afternoon classes, not morning classes. Both of our first classes start around one. Since its past noon, Duncan is probably eating breakfast."
Jasmine looked like she was going to say or ask something but she was stopped when Heather cleared her throat, earning her another glare.
"How long do we have before he gets back?" Heather asked, turning her attention to Gwen.
Gwen shrugged. "The rest of the day, I guess. Normally we head out to classes together and then go right to town when they're over. We don't get back till late."
Seemingly satisfied with that answer, Heather's gaze left Gwen and returned to the dorm itself, which Heather took some mental notes of. The most obvious detail was that it wasn't a higher-end dorm like she and Cody had, but was one of the more commonplace types that made up most of the campus' student dwelling places. This meant it was smaller, had only one bedroom and a living room, no bathroom, and no kitchen.
Her thoughts were put on hold the moment she spotted a pair of Gwen's panties on the couch for all the world to see. She groaned in a gut reflex, feeling increasing disgust shivering up her lithe spine. Heather muttered under her breath, "Savages!" before she pulled out a pair of yellow rubber dishwashing gloves she had brought with her just in case they were needed. And as her observations proved, they were sorely needed. Along with a charcoal filter mask, a HAZMAT suit, and about a hundred gallons of bleach.
Once the gloves had been snapped on, Heather took one of the duffle bags from Jasmine then turned and said to the other two present, "I'll find anything of Gwen's in here. You two go get the rest of her stuff. Oh, and Gwen, use a trash bag for anything of yours that's in the laundry basket."
"If we had trash bags the garbage wouldn't be stuffed into take-out boxes, and the ground is our laundry basket," Gwen pointed out, with a tone difficult to identify.
The Queen Bee glared at the Goth, making the taller, fuller built young woman shrink back a bit. Then, after a few seconds, Heather's grey gaze stopped its harsh leering. The Asian Girl amended, "Fine. I was going to throw away the duffel bag anyway." With that, she went back to the floor to pick through the clothing, looking for anything that was obviously Gwen's.
Taking that as a sign to proceed, both Gwen and Jasmine went into the only bedroom, both silent for short trip that felt like it took much longer than it actually did. The Goth was unnerved by this quite a bit; this giant of a woman's presence was putting her on edge. The bedroom had been like the living room, a mess, to put nicely. Thankfully though, there wasn't any garbage or any pitiful attempts at containing the unwanted but not removed trash. More eye-catching than the lack of trash on the floor was what had been put up on the walls, various posters of heavy metal bands and a number of sexy pinups. It looked more like the room of a single guy in college than one who had been with a girlfriend of several years.
Silently, Jasmine set down the bags she had been carrying, one of which Gwen took and walked over to a small dresser on the room's other side. Opening drawer after drawer, she filled the bag with her clothes. While doing so, she looked back and noticed Jasmine going through the clothes on the floor, and putting whatever she could easily assume were hers into another bag. Something about how she did this surprised the Goth, leading her to breaking the silence between them. "You know, if you want, I'm sure Heather has another pair of gloves you could borrow?" she asked, her voice somewhere between half-sincere and half-snark.
"I don't need 'em," Jasmine replied, thinking nothing of her answer, even sounding a little curtly about it.
Gwen paused, fearing that there was hostility in her voice, directed at her. When she could will herself to speak to the intimidating black woman yet again, she asked, "How can you be so calm? While just going through someone else's room like this?"
"I've got three brothers 'n two sisters, 'n I've often 'ad to do the laundry. Dirty laundry is nothin' I'm not already use to."
That answer, so banal and devoid of subtle menace helped Gwen relax slightly. Still, she felt rather nervous. Trying to distract herself from that, she started looking through the closet. Finding more than she had expended, she put what she found in the duffle bag. Every so often while doing so, she would look back over at Jasmine and briefly stare.
The nerves that had been jolting underneath Gwen's pale skin at the unspoken tension were kept at bay until she had finished cleaning out the closet, by that point there was nothing left to distract her. "So…uh, Jasmine, was it?" The Goth started uneasily, her voice dripping in sap-like nervousness, with her usual raspy tone only added to by a wavering effect. This only increased when Jasmine stopped what she was doing, stood upright, looked at her, and nodded. There was nothing that suggested anger or displeasure in the towering girl's face or posture, but her simply being there, so tall and powerful, yet still obeying Heather, put Gwen on edge. "I-I-I'm…sorry for-for…dragging yo-you…in-into this…" she pulled out of her throat, endlessly berating herself for how pathetic she sounded.
"Ya didn't, 'Eather did," Jasmine stated simply, "So no worries."
An uneasy silence emerged from that. Gwen knew she should have felt better, with it being completely obvious that this young woman had absolutely no ill-will towards her, and even better yet she might have had some towards Heather! But the Goth didn't feel any better. More than anything, she wanted to push for details, to know what Heather had told her. But, due to not wanting to risk this neutrality in Jasmine's eyes, Gwen said nothing.
Thankfully, or unthankfully (depending on Gwen's particular mood at any given moment), Heather entered the bedroom and broke the silence with her mere presence. Had she not been so pissed off at her for everything and focused on Jasmine at that moment, Gwen might have marveled at how just by walking into a room Heather could effect it, change it. But as it was, she simply stared at Heather, who had a bag around her shoulder and her can of mace still in her hand. The Queen Bee took a look around the sleeping space, her strong smoky grey eyes ever so briefly focused on the few items of clothing that were noticeable at the top of the semi-closed bag that the Goth had just filled, no doubt noticing how they all showed quite a bit of skin, be it thigh or cleavage. Turning towards Gwen, she spoke, "For someone who I remember as kinda being mousey and shy around people, you've got an interesting choice in clothes."
Gwen bristled at that, before softly muttering with her head down, "Duncan likes them."
That brought on another uncomfortable silence, one much stronger than the previous, which lingered until Heather broke it by asking, "Do you have anything else, Gwen? It looks like we've got all your clothes packed already."
Without a word, the Goth walked back to the closet and retrieved a few items: a familiar looking diary, what looked like a thick worn sketchbook, a older model laptop, a equally worn out extension cord for said laptop, a much smaller cord, a cell-phone charger, a brush, and some assorted make up. The items were added to the duffel bag in her grasp without a word. Looking back at the two others, she muttered, "That's all there is." While doing so, she reached for her backpack containing all of her books and various school supplies, which she hiked over her right shoulder.
Both Jasmine and Heather were surprised by that, with neither attempting to hide as such. The Queen Bee asked, likely speaking for both of them, "Are you serious, Gwen? You don't own anything else? Nothing at all?"
Looking away from the two sets of wide, prying eyes, Gwen said in a soft whisper, "My mom kicked me out last year, remember? So yeah, that's pretty much everything."
By the time she looked back at the other two, it looked like Jasmine was going to say something and her gaze looked a little less indifferent than it had previously been. But before the Giant Girl could do so, Heather grabbed her much larger arm and pulled. For whatever reason, that alone made Jasmine stop and take a few silent steps forward. With that, Heather said, "If there's nothing else, Gwen, we should be leaving. No sense in spending more time here than we need to, right?"
Wanting to avoid any arguments, Gwen simply nodded her head and followed the other two.
As they left her and Duncan's dorm with three duffle bags, a backpack, and two empty suitcases, Heather asked, "Do both of your bags have clean clothes?"
"Mine does," Gwen replied as they reached the elevator, Heather stopping at hearing that, with Gwen and Jasmine following suit.
The Queen Bee nodded towards the Goth, "Gwen, Jasmine, please switch bags," they did so and the Asian continued, "and Gwen, could you give your backpack to Jasmine, so she can take it and your clean stuff back to our dorm?" Despite wanting to resist, the Goth didn't and handed over her backpack. Watching as it hung limply from the ebony elbow of Jasmine's right arm, Gwen heard Heather further comment to the titan, "and could you also take the two empty suitcases back?" Jasmine nodded. "Great, you can just leave them in the living room, but put the rest of the bags in the spare bedroom, okay?"
"Sure, 'Eather." Jasmine said while she, with surprising ease, lifted the two large and cumbersome empty suitcases.
The Goth marveled at the scene playing out before her, mostly because of how ordinary it seemed. Heather wasn't being demanding or even noticeably snappy with Jasmine. None of the menace or threatening nature that marked her (thankfully few) conversations with the shorter Asian girl was present. She even sounded…thankful, for the other's help, as if she actually cared, like she had a conscious and soul. But all it took to kill that notion was reminding herself of her current situation.
"Thanks Jazz," Heather said, "after this we shouldn't need any more help so you can get back to lunch. Gwen and I have to make a slight detour though, do you still have your spare key to our dorm?"
"Yeah, I got it."
"Great. Thanks again."
"No worries, 'Eather."
With that, Jasmine started to walk down the hallway and quickly vanished from sight.
Despite still hating this whole fucked-up situation more than words could describe, Gwen did feel a little better not having Jasmine's towering presence hovering over her, though that brief increase in feeling positive was effectively killed when the elevator came. After the doors opened, Heather stepped inside before turning around and looking at the Goth with a raised eyebrow. Sticking to her plan of going along with things for now, Gwen followed her without resisting. She wanted to escape as the elevator doors closed but she resisted.
The ride down was something that felt like an hour to the worried Goth, she released a breath she didn't know she had been holding when the doors opened and Heather exited, following behind her like a taller, pale, more-endowed shadow as the Queen Bee traveled a short distance to a large room labeled 'Laundry Mat.' Gwen remained as silent was the grave but burned in embarrassment as Heather parked herself between two washing machines as though this was an everyday thing. Once there, the raven-haired girl started separating Gwen's clothing into the different machines, with colors in one and whites in the other. The idea of her hated archenemy doing her laundry was as odd as it was insulting.
Not able to endure that, wishing to have some small degree of control on this horror of a day, Gwen joined in without saying a word wishing to end this as quickly as possible. As she always had done before, the taller girl started dropping everything into one of the washing machines.
She didn't get more than five items in before heard a "What do you think you are doing?" followed by a push that was just strong enough to move her out of the way. Looking at Heather, Gwen noticed how she lacked the hateful expression she'd imagined and simply appeared annoyed.
As she reached into the washing machine and withdrew several brightly colored items that were then deposited in the other machine Heather muttered, "You should know better than to mix the whites with the colors. It fades the colors and ruins the whites."
Gwen groaned and muttered under her breath, "Yes mother."
Despite the softness of this, Heather heard it and cut Gwen a glare that easily silenced her. The Goth kept her mouth shut as the Queen Bee loaded then started both machines. Once they were going, she took both duffle bags and dumped them into a nearby trashcan; followed by the gloves she had been wearing the whole time.
Once the lid was back on the trashcan, Heather looked around, and noticed that she and Gwen were the only two people present aside from a tall dark skinned woman at the other end row of machines facing away from them. Aside from her above average height, the only thing that stuck out about her to Heather was the powerful smell of hairspray coming from her direction. "You know, it's a good thing you don't have anything that's hand-wash or cold-wash only, those take a lot longer," The Queen Bee quipped.
The Goth remained as silent as the grave.
"So, if your mother kicked you out last year," the shorter girl asked, trying again, "where did you get the mountain of clothes from? Even if they had all been clean it still would have taken three suitcases to carry them all."
Gwen remained quiet, until she realized that Heather might not stop asking questions if she didn't answer one. "They were gifts, Duncan bought most of them for me," she offered up, weakly.
"Is that right?" Heather asked with a tone that suggested actual surprise. "That's a shame, the one guy who doesn't hate shopping for clothes had to be a gutter trash piece of shit."
That got under Gwen's skin, enough that she could no longer bite her tongue. "At least he's not some geeky, creepy stalker that goes around sniffing people's hair," she fired back.
Heather gave a look that she couldn't pinpoint an emotion for. "Cody has actually changed quite a bit since you last saw him, and he hasn't been a creepy stalker, as you put it, since we got together. I know you won't believe me for telling you this but he's actually rather sweet and thoughtful. Though I do agree with you on the geeky part," she replied before amending, "But it's not exactly a bad thing."
Gwen might have commented on that if not for her cell phone going off. Taking out the small device revealed it was Duncan thanks to the caller ID. That alarmed her, but not as much as when she found that Heather had snuck up behind her and saw it too.
To the Goth's relief, Heather simply shrugged, "Remember our terms? You're free to do whatever the hell you want to…just as long as you follow the three rules."
Gwen quickly answered the phone, and heard Duncan's voice on the other end, "Hey Pasty. Where are you?"
"Oh, uh…" she started to answer, choked up by nervousness, "I-um…something came up, y-you see, and, and…well…" The Goth looked at Heather, who was waving her off. Taking that as a cue that she could go, Gwen's mood improved, at least a little bit. "Well…I can talk to you about it over some grub. I'm heading to the food court now."
"Good, I'm already here. See ya soon. I'll save ya your favorite seat. Hurry up babe, my lap's cold without my favorite cock warmer sitting on it." The Delinquent's voice said before lightly chuckling, and then vanished as the call ended.
With that, Gwen pocketed her phone and started to leave, so happy to be away from Heather that she hadn't even minded that she would have to endure the embarrassment of sitting on Duncan's lap like a freaking eight-year-old in public, while also attending to his not quite so subtle request.
"One second," Heather said, stopping the taller girl in her tracks. Once Gwen turned to face the Queen Bee, the shorter girl added, "Just a reminder. If you ever break any of the three rules, that video might end up on MyFace in a matter of seconds. But you're still free to do whatever you want otherwise. Don't worry about your laundry though; I'll take care of it. Hell, I'll even fold it and have it waiting for you in your new room for you."
That effectively killed the small joy that had clawed its way into Gwen as she felt her shoulders sag while taking as many steps as she could away from the controlling girl.
The Goth's shoulders had remained sagged until she entered the crowded cafeteria. The wide eating space was crammed with those who were eating, conversing, and otherwise taking a moment's rest from their busy days.
She fought her way through the sea of shifting bodies and the loud roar of countless conversations until eventually, she found Duncan. He was sitting at a table with some of his closest friends, all of whom Gwen either found annoying or hated with a vivid passion. The Goth had never been a people-person but she found her limits tested by this group in particular. Whenever Duncan wasn't with her, he was with them, sometimes for an entire day if not longer, which would leave Gwen by herself, pushing beyond her loner tendencies. As she walked towards them, she felt her hatred spike up even further as Lightning and Scott were laughing at something Duncan had told them. After all, it had been THEIR PARTY that lead to this entire mess. As far as Gwen as was concerned, they were just as guilty as Heather.
Forcing down her contempt of his friends, Gwen reached Duncan. He grinned eagerly, pulled out of his seat slightly, and padded his lap, waiting for her to sit. Instead, the Goth stood at his side, bent down, and whispered into his ear, "We need to talk. In private. Now. Something has come up and it's important." Duncan, who had before been helping himself to unhidden eyefuls of the massive pale cleavage just below his eyes as she bent over, displayed a look of confusion when the words finally clicked. "It's about last night. We have a big problem now," she added, to ease his confusion.
"How big?"
"Chris MacLean grade fuck up."
At that, the Delinquent arose from his chair. For everyone that had survived the hell they had, that name was synonymous with a scale few could understand. With his tray of food (mostly eaten) in his hands, he told the others, "I'll talk to you later. Something's come up."
After a nod from Scott and fist bump from Lightning, Duncan followed Gwen to a nearby table. Thanks to it being empty and at the far side of the cafeteria, it was ideal for this talk.
The couple sat down, but before Gwen had a chance to speak Duncan fired the first question. "Okay, what's up with the jersey? And what's got your panties in a bunch?"
Before Gwen could answer him however, Duncan, who was sitting right next to her, put one of his arms around her. The Goth felt the mighty limb as the muscles in it tightened around her slightly less lithe waist before she was pulled closer and pushed into his rock-hard mid-section as the hand of said limb started to grope her bust with no restraint or subtlety. Leaning into him and moaning breathily, for that one moment the world around her disappeared, everything was okay and all was right in the universe. Here, this private corner of the world that she and only she could claim encompassed her. His strength more than enough to fend off any threat and his resolve as unshakable as a mountain. Once the Goth's gargantuan globes had been groped enough by his measure the same hand slipped down her waist before he leaned her even closer to himself to begin a kiss.
Normally, Gwen would have just given in and let Duncan have his way with her. But she knew that she had to tell him what had happened; she needed to explain what was going on now so it wouldn't spring as a surprise on him that evening. So she pushed him back. She didn't actually push him away but the motion was enough to make him pause. While doing so, the sense that she was doing something wrong for breaking up their usual dynamic made her skin prickle and her nerves slightly jitter. She felt spikes of fear dancing across her mind but continued with her task.
Acting before either of those emotions could get the better of her, Gwen bluntly said, "We're being blackmailed."
That instantly got Duncan's attention. Before Gwen knew what had happened, she felt her boyfriend release her. Looking at him, she noticed that his previous playful demeanor was gone, the expression on his face adored with various metal piercings now far more serious, far scarier. Gwen loudly swallowed a lump in her throat.
"Who is it, and where can I find them?" he asked directly in a tone that was calm but conveyed great wrath just barely hidden beneath the low volume of his voice. Gwen trembled slightly, his protective side helping wash most of her fears aside for the time being. It was without a doubt what she loved most about him aside from his raw strength, his readiness and willingness to come to her aid when she needed it. No one bothered her, no one hassled her, and no one could ever hurt her, not as long as she was his girl. Basking in that feeling of inner warmth she pressed on.
"I-Its Heather," Gwen answered, feeling slightly uncomfortable at the hard stare Duncan was giving her. She was thankful that a look of confusion replaced it once he caught the meaning of her mentioning that specific name. "Yes, that Heather, the one from Total Drama," she explained. The Delinquent's face morphed into a look of sheer surprise at that answer. "She's here, on campus, attending, and she's just as big of bitch and a pain in the ass as she was back then!" Gwen explained further, venting her hatred after repressing it all morning.
There was silence for a few moments, as Duncan seemed to be pondering something. Eventually, something in his mind clicked, and he put two and two together. "Is this the same Heather that's been sleeping her way through the girls on campus, Pasty?"
Gwen nodded. "And she's not alone. She's with Cody. Yes, that Cody." She explained dryly.
Again, Duncan was quiet for several seconds that felt like eons to the worried Goth. She knew that now he was going to ask the million-dollar question, about the blackmail.
"How the hell did that skinny little dork score a hottie like Heather?" He asked. Gwen glared at him, both for asking that and for so casually referring to Heather of all people as a hottie. Noticing this, without any warning the playfulness returned to Duncan in the form of a smirk. "I'm serious," he said, with a wide grin on his face that didn't speak of genuineness, "even if she's a complete bitch, she's a fucking hot bitch. Hell, if it hadn't been for Princess, I'd have tapped that ass hard on TDI," he commented, not seeing Gwen's brief look of anger. "So, seriously, if she's with him, why is she going through girls like a star quarterback?"
Gwen shrugged. "I don't know, Heather claimed that she's bi, but I think she's a lesbian who's just using Cody for his money."
"What do you mean?"
With a sigh, Gwen recalled the final awkward attempt the Tech Geek made to get her attention. "During World Tour, Cody told me that his parents are loaded. He even showed me a picture of his house, and it was impressive enough to back up his claims. If I had to guess, Heather somehow figured out that he had money to his name and is stringing him along to get it."
"Damn, the loser's a lucky little bastard," Duncan muttered. While she did feel anger at that remark, what Gwen felt more of was confusion. Her boyfriend seemed to notice this and clarified. "He's got money and a hot lesbian gold digger going for him that brings over other girls for him to fuck," he said flat out. The playful grin returned as he added, "I'm actually a little jealous."
Now with the anger overpowering her other emotions, Gwen harshly spat at Duncan, "Need I remind you that it's Cody's 'hot lesbian gold digger' who's blackmailing us!?"
With that comment appearing to bring Duncan's mind back to the main issue at hand, he went silent for a moment before asking, "Okay, so what exactly does Heather want?" He paused for a second. "'Cuz if it's you, I'd be more than willing to work out a deal," Duncan said, his cocky grin back.
Unable to help herself amid her boyfriend seeming unable to give a shit about their situation, Gwen pushed him, or at least tried to. Her hands couldn't get the living wall of muscle to budge. "Why are you taking this so lightly!? You're the one she could fuck over if she wants to!" she snapped.
Now curious, Duncan said, "Okay, Pasty, I'll bite. What does Heather have over me? And why does it have you so wound up?"
Feeling a little relieved at finally being able to move forward, despite her feeling tense, Gwen explained, "Apparently there are security cameras around the building, at least outside in the parking lot." She quickly saw that Duncan wasn't following. "Heather has what happened last night on film, us getting back drunk, you driving drunk on campus grounds, and our...argument."
Without hesitation Duncan started to get up. As he did, he said just five words.
"I'll take care of it."
Instantly knowing that her worst fears were confirmed, Gwen leapt into action to stop him, bolting upwards and hooking her hands onto his wide, broad shoulders and pushed down. The actual force behind her push wouldn't have been enough to stop Duncan but the shock of the action effectively left him frozen in mid-rise. But that didn't stop the intense teal glare he sent Gwen's way.
"Th-That would be…an extremely bad idea," Gwen weakly said, weltering under his gaze. "I-I…I'll do it. I-I've already been doing it. It's where I've been all fucking day. P-Please j-just sit down. W-we can talk about this."
The air was as silent as it was tense while second after second passed with no change. The Delinquent's stare hadn't changed any and Gwen started to fidget under it, this was the kind of look that the Busty Goth would do anything to avoid having to face. Mere words could not express how relieved she was when Duncan sat back down. "What does she want?" he asked, "And how exactly do you plan on getting out of it?"
Knowing she had to be careful but also quick, Gwen jumped at the presented opening she had. "Heather basically just wants to play her little games and treat people like puppets, like she did back on Total Drama. I've just got to get her to cut the strings on her own."
Clearly not liking that cryptic answer, Duncan's gaze got a little more unpleasant as he asked, "And why do you think me taking care of this would be a bad idea?"
"Hello, its Heather we are talking about!" Gwen explained; her fear of the harsh teal glare briefly giving way to the conviction that came with being able to state the obvious. "That by itself is bad enough but the fact that she can get her hands on security camera footage means she already has some measure of control around the dorms, maybe even around the whole campus. And she's just as bad as she was on Total Drama, if not worse! There's no doubt in my mind that she's thought of you trying to do something and has more than one plan in place to fuck you over if you try anything!"
The Goth paused, both to make sure her voice's strength didn't leave her mid-word and to gauge how responsive her boyfriend was to her warning. His expression was doubtful, but not dismissive, and that was enough to encourage her to keep going. "Remember, it took me and Owen working together to bring her down the first time," she continued, "and it took a male Heather to give her a run for her money on World Tour. Unless you're as fucked-up and heartless as her, you don't stand a chance going against her directly. Luckily though, we won't need to, because I'm already working on a plan to deal with her. It might take a little time but I know I can make this go away, with no work or effort."
Duncan stared at her for several seconds, looking as if he was trying to find any lies on her pale face. "I'm listening," he said, sounding a little sharp but not exactly hostel.
"Heather gave me three rules. That's it, just three. If I follow them, she'll delete the footage and never bother us ever again."
"What are they?"
"We-we-well…" Gwen started, fumbling over her own words like she was an awkward middle-school student again, having reached the point she had been dreading the most, "The f-first one i-is, and please don't react till you let me explain…is, uh, is-um, is that I ha-have to live-live with…her and Cody for the rest of the year…"
By this point, Duncan had effortlessly crossed the line into being absolutely livid. The sparks of anger flashing in his teal eyes made Gwen wish she were dying, even though she knew that his intense wrath wasn't directed at her. "No!" he harshly spat, "I'll fuckin' deal with this!"
"No!" Gwen nearly shouted as she lunged at Duncan, acting without thinking, on pure instinct to stop him. Before she knew what she was doing the Goth threw herself onto her boyfriend's lap, her added weight more than enough to get him to sit back down. Without missing a beat Gwen started grinding his covered cock with her ass, all of her usual thoughts and concerns about how much she hated doing this in public forgotten as she was soul concern was protecting her boyfriend from making things even worse. Even if this was something she hated, the Goth had become quite skilled at it, enough to sooth Duncan when need be. He still looked quite pissed but his growing boner and lack of movement was proof of its weakening. To further the effect, she leaned in against him, pressing her breasts against his body while subtly moving back and forth as she kissed him, inviting his tongue into her mouth almost pleadingly until he caved into her ministrations.
This continued for a few minutes before Gwen stopped most, but not all, of her efforts at soothing his temper. Leaning back from him against the table but continuing to grind she explained, "It's not like that. They aren't going to fuck me, and if they try anything you won't have to worry about blackmail because they won't live long enough to release that footage." She saw Duncan smirk at that, knowing that fierce oaths of devotion like that always stroked his ego. "Either way, it's not gonna be for long. I've already worked a way out of this mess."
Once again colored curious, Duncan asked, "What exactly do you have in mind, Pasty?"
"Well, I'm still allowed to do what I want to do…for the most part," Gwen started to explain, "I just have a curfew of midnight, I need to live in Heather and Cody's dorm, and you can't come into their dorm. I know that all sounds like a lot but it's not really that bad. I'll still have all day and most of the night to do whatever I want, to be with you," she paused, looking at Duncan for his reaction. Thankfully, he seemed to be calmed down by that. He still obviously wasn't pleased but he wasn't radiating wrath anymore. A win. "If I know Heather, and I do, I know that she's like a cat. She plays with something until it dies or she gets bored with it so I'll use that to my advantage. My plan is just to wait Heather out until she gets bored and kicks me out."
"Do you really think that will work?" Duncan asked skeptically.
"Just look at her track record. If Heather doesn't get anything out of something, she doesn't waste her time with it, hence why she's still with Cody after World Tour."
There was a pause. "I'm not happy about this."
"I promise, this won't take long. If the rumors are true, Heather hasn't slept with the same person twice so far, and I imagine that mindset applies to other contexts as well. It shouldn't take more than a week to get her out of our lives for good, two weeks tops."
Duncan frowned. "Two weeks without my favorite bed warmer is going to suck," he remarked, sounding less like a pissed adult and more like a whiny kid losing a beloved toy.
"I know, babe," Gwen nodded in sympathy before developing an artificial naughty glint in her coal black eyes, "but remember, my curfew isn't until midnight. We'll still have all day and a good chunk of the night to do anything. We. Want." She hinted in a raspy, breathy whisper, as she resumed her grinding in his lap. "How about tonight…I'll wear my collar…for the entire time until I've got to go. I'll be your hot, horny, hungry big-tittied cock-slut…all. Night. Long."
Despite putting her all into the display, grinding his cock with her ass, speaking in the naughtiest whisper she could muster while saying the exact things she knew he liked, and rubbing her breasts into his chest even though they were in a crowded room, it was just that, all an act. She didn't have nearly the same sex drive as her boyfriend, just touching herself every once in a while would do the trick. But Gwen had long since discovered that a night of giving her body to Duncan to ravage in whatever way he desired was easily the quickest way, often times the only way, to get him to relent on something he was against.
And the results pointed to it working just as she hoped as Duncan briefly closed his eyes and said nothing, simply basking in his girlfriend, who was usually something of a prune in public, doing this for him, that fact along with her allusions to what was in store for tonight was just enough for his mind to be swayed.
"Okay Pasty. You've convinced me. I'll let you handle this," Duncan said; surprisingly warm. Then he reopened his eyes, and for whatever reason, he seemed to just re-notice the jersey. "Uh…remind me again…what's with the jersey?"
Gwen tactfully replied, "Heather," with a scowl.
Any further comments about the Queen Bee were cut off as Duncan's watch started to beep. "Uh?" he said, looking at the device, "guess it's time to head to class."
Groaning at that, the Goth said, "I'll tell you the rest later. I should get going too. I've got an appointment with the warden to deal with."
Gwen started to get off of Duncan's lap when he stopped her. The confusion she felt was erased the moment his lips forced themselves onto hers and his hands clawed away at her breasts with a passion so intense that they were starting to hurt. After what felt too long to Gwen, Duncan finally stopped and released her, the college couple standing up as Duncan threw away his trash. Gwen prepared to leave when Duncan suddenly grabbed hold of one of her wrists stopping her again.
"Just remember," Duncan said, his expression unreadable and serious, "if there are handcuffs and a nightstick involved, I will be demanding the whole story when it's over," by the time he was finished he had that playful grin on his face again. With that 'warning', he left.
With Duncan gone, Gwen felt an unnoticed tension in her chest suddenly release itself. She mentally sighed, shocked by how well that had gone. She imagined it going worse. Even so, there was the lingering dread that still had its claws in the back of her mind.
'I just hope Heather loses interest as quickly as I said she would, because if she doesn't…Duncan's temper will just make everything worse.'
And that is the latest chapter of Unbreakable Red Silken Thread! As always, we hope you all enjoyed it! :)
Once again, I'm going to give the floor to Kenju to offer up some closing comments:
"And that is a wrap ladies and gentlemen we do hope that the chapter was well worth the wait. Duncan is unbelievably difficult to write as we have to keep going back and checking ourselves to make sure we're not turning him into an absolute asshole here, just a bigger asshole than on the show. Gwen also happens to be difficult, as we haven't had anywhere near as much practice with her as we have the other main characters but we're starting to get the hang of her.
"We wanted to take this opportunity to again thank everyone for their comments and reviews. We really do wish we could take the time to respond to each and every one of you, but between the sheer volume of works we are both dealing with, on top of everything else we have to deal with thanks to 'real life' that's just not possible. Whenever we can we do reply to serious concerns or address them in the following chapter if it needs to be (such as Heather being able to dominate Jo in her first appearance). This chapter was another example of trying to address certain fears/concerns without giving away too much of what's to come concerning Gwen and Duncan.
"Next chapter will focus on fleshing out a few characters as well as introduce one of the more...unique aspects of this story that we hope you will all enjoy.
"Until next time, read, review and spread the word! Our goal is to eventually have our own TV tropes page for this story!"
HEY! That's my closing bit Kenju! Lol
But yes, please do all of those things that my writing partner suggested until the next chapter! :)