Between Friends

Chapter 2

After a somewhat awkward breakfast with Gwen, subsided only by Heather's hilarious attempt to pursue Gwen around the island with a slight limp gained from some "unfortune accident" that occurred earlier that morning, Duncan finds himself venturing deep into the forest. Having decided that Leshawna's elimination would suffice for the time being, Chris allowed the remaining campers a week of rest and relaxation. Though this came across as a bit out of character for the sadistic host, who were they to pass up such a rare opportunity.

Duncan walks slowly, taking in his surroundings with casual interest. Even with all of the challenges they've faced around the island, Duncan never really stopped and "smelt the roses" per say. For what it was worth, the place wasn't all that bad. Sure, the animals had to be monitored at almost all times of the day thanks to the cast and crew agitating about half the island's population – seriously, these beasts could hold quite the grudge – and the hidden cameras scattered everywhere made finding privacy very scarce. But hey, it definitely could've been worse.

Continuing his stroll, Duncan stumbles upon the campsite from the outdoor survival challenge. Breaking out into a huge grin, he surveys the area. Memories of that night's events flood his brain as he steps over discarded material left by everyone from, what felt to him like, ages ago. Noticing two sets of bear tracks he laughs, remembering the story he heard of Izzy and Owen's failed 'bear scare" prank. He continues his exploration, until his eyes land on a particular tree a few feet in front of him. Carved into its bark were the initials "DC + CT," followed by a caricature of a skull with heart eyes. Duncan traces the lines with his fingers, before letting out a small sigh.

"You really did like her, didn't you?" Gwen says from behind him, causing him to jump almost a foot in the air.

Duncan turns to find her sitting with her back against a tree stump. A sketch pad in her lap and pencil in hand.

"How long have you-"

"Whole time," she answers, without looking up from her work. "You're lucky I wasn't some deranged madman. Or worse…Chef."

Duncan chuckles. "Hehe, yeah. Lucky me," he says, turning back to his art. A moment of silence passes as he studies it a bit more. "I came out here some time after we shared that kiss. It seems like so long ago that I guess I forgot I even did this…"

"Aw, Dunc! That's so cute!" Gwen teases, a hand over her heart in mock compassion. "Who knew that you were such a romantic?"

Duncan rolls his eyes, walking over to her. "Yeah yeah, I'm a big ol' teddy bear on the ins—" he starts, his words falling short upon getting a glance at the page she was currently working on.

Gwen had drawn a detailed picture of Duncan carving the initials into the tree, with a cloud like formation transforming into the shape of Courtney hovering and looking down from above. The drawing was so incredible that it practically leaves him speechless.

"Wow…" he says upon finally finding his voice. "That's…amazing."

"Eh, it's not that great," Gwen replies, shading in the background. "Since you weren't around, I had to imagine you standing there to get the full image in my head."

Duncan takes the book out of her hands, lightly tracing the lines with his fingers as not to smudge them. "Everything is so thorough and precise. Like a painting in an art museum," he comments.

"Wow, I didn't take you for such an art connoisseur," Gwen says. "And it seems someone has been studying the dictiona—Duncan!"

Duncan runs further into the forest, laughing as he waves Gwen's sketch pad in the air as if it were a won prize. Hiding behind a tree, he flips through a few pages, admiring Gwen's artwork with a curiosity similar to a child's. Smiling at what he saw, he almost misses Gwen sneaking up beside him. She makes a grab for it, but Duncan holds it above his head and out of her reach.

"Duncan! This isn't funny! Give it back!" Gwen exclaims, standing on the tip of her toes to add extra height as she reaches for one of her most sacred possessions.

Duncan smirks, dropping his arm a bit, only to extend it again when Gwen jumps for the object.

"Come on, Sweetheart. You can do better than that," he teases, placing his free hand on her waist to keep her just out of reach.

After a few more failed attempts, Gwen sighs in defeat. Resting her hands against his chest, she glares at him; Duncan's smirk expanding into a small smile.

'You know, she's pretty cute when she pouts like this,' Duncan thinks to himself, relaxing and subconsciously lowering his arm to his side.

Though this would've been the perfect opportunity for her to grab the sketch pad, Gwen finds herself entranced by Duncan's gaze; noticing a sudden softness to his usually piercing teal colored eyes. She goes to place a hand on his cheek, the sudden eruption of thunder above causing her to jump into him instead.

Duncan glances upward, noticing the quickly greying sky for the first time, before feeling a droplet of rain splash onto his forehead. Removing his hand from her side, he wipes the water away, another droplet catching him soon after.

Taking the book from him, Gwen steps away and clears her throat to get his attention. "Guess we should find shelter before it starts to pour out here," she says, turning her back to him in order to hide her blush.

"…Yeah, alright." Duncan responds, rubbing at the back of his neck. Pushing himself off the tree, he walks alongside her. His earlier thoughts regarding Gwen unnerving him just a bit, considering it came completely out of nowhere.

'Not like it wasn't true, though' he thinks, before shaking his head. "Stop that!"

"Stop what?" Gwen questions, looking up at him.

"Uh..." Duncan says, trying to think of a reasonable lie. "Nothing. Hey, so, do you know the way back to the cabins?"

Gwen opens her sketch pad, flipping to a page with a crudely drawn mockup of the surrounding area.

"Yeah, I think we have to –" she starts, before a streak of lightening brightens the sky, followed closely by a loud thunder clap. The rain begins to downpour, a strong gust of wind ripping the pad from her hand and sending it deeper into the forest.

"Shit!" Duncan exclaims, taking off after it with Gwen trailing close behind.

They chase after the book, ducking and dodging between low branches and jumping over small logs. Duncan shields his eyes with his arm, glancing behind him to make sure Gwen is still near. The rain pelts against their skin, practically drenching them to the bone. Duncan jumps and grabs the pad out the air before it can go any further, violently flipping to the page which was now completely unintelligible.

"Fuck," he says with a groan, closing the book and stashing it under his shirt to hopefully preserve the remaining pages. "What do we do now?"

"W-we should probably find some kind of s-shelter. I'm pretty sure there's a cave around here somewhere," Gwen states, hugging herself and shivering a bit.

Duncan nods, choosing a random direction to head in. They walk for a while, their shoes squelching in the mud. Duncan glances out the corner of his eyes at the still shivering figure beside him, deciding to throw his arm around her shoulder and pull her against him to share warmth. She thanks him, snuggling into his side a bit, before pointing out an opening up ahead.

Running into the small cave, Duncan immediately gets to work starting a fire. Ruffling some leaves and twigs together, he grabs his lighter out of his back pocket and, after a few attempts, sets it ablaze.

"Yeah, there we go!" he exclaims, pumping his fist in the air. Turning to face Gwen, he pauses when he catches her taking off her top.

She walks over to him, laying her shirt down on a rock a few feet from the flames, and crossing her arms over her chest.

"…What?" she inquires, with a shrug. "Pneumonia is still a thing, and I'm not trying to die on national television."

"Fair point," Duncan says, before peeling off his own shirt and setting it by hers.

The two of them sit beside each other, watching the rain continue through the mouth of the cave. An awkward silence fills the air, brought on by the proximity of their half naked bodies to each other, and the events that had occurred barely a few minutes prior. Both ignorant of the other's nervousness, they both desperately search for something to say to break the tension.

Gwen speaks first. "So…" she starts, staring down at the fire in front of them. "What made you sign up for this show anyway?"

Duncan glances over at her quickly, not expecting the question, before sighing and leaning back against the wall.

"When you come from a long line of policemen, being the "bad seed" of the family can sure take its toll on you," he says, crossing his arms. "Not only does being here keep me out of juvie, but actually winning this thing might make my family see me as more than just the 'screw-up," you know?"

"Aww Duncan, I didn't take you for such a softie," Gwen teases, making googly eyes at him. She giggles, covering her mouth with her hand.

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever," Duncan replies, rolling his eyes with a smirk. He nudges her a bit. "You repeat that to anyone, and there will be extreme consequences. You got that, Sweetheart?"

"Mhm, sure," Gwen says, smiling at him. "Mr. Badass."

"Well, what about you? What made a social rebel like you enter such a heavily televised competition such as this?" Duncan asks.

"Believe it or not, my mom thought this was would be a good experience for me," Gwen says, also leaning back against the wall.

"Wait, seriously?!" Duncan exclaims, looking over at her. "Your own mom set this up for you?! No way!"

"Yup. She mailed in my application before I had a chance to protest, and made me do the audition tape afterwards," Gwen explains, shaking her head. "Said it would be good for me to get out the house and make some new friends."

"Your mom is awesome," Duncan jokes, resulting in a punch to the arm. He laughs, before noticing the discarded sketch pad off to the side of them. "Oh yeah, here."

Gwen thanks him for the object, before opening it and inspecting the damage for herself. "Luckily, it seems like only a few sheets got wet. So, I didn't lose much," she discerns, flipping through the pages.

"That's good," Duncan replies, shifting closer to her. "How come you didn't tell anyone you could draw?"

Gwen glances up at him, noticing their close proximity to each other instantly. Blushing a bit, she turns her eyes back to the book in her hands.

"It's not something I share willingly with others. I don't really think I'm that good at it. Plus, after that whole thing with Heather stealing my journal earlier…" she states.

Duncan nods. "I get it. But not that good?' Gwen, these are fucking amazing!" he says, pointing down at a picture she drew of Bridgette sitting in the mess hall mid laugh. The details were so strong that one would confuse it with an actual photograph. "The lines, the shadows casting on the wall, you captured all of it so perfectly!"

Gwen smiles brightly, not used to this much praise for her artwork but accepting it nonetheless. She shuffles through a few more of her creations, with Duncan's commentary on what he likes about each piece she passes. When a particular one catches his attention, she stops to explain the thought processes that led to its creation. As she speaks, Duncan sneaks a few glances at Gwen herself. This slight warmth filling his chest every time she laughs or he notices her head tilting in that puppy dog expression he remembers from the other day. He isn't exactly sure what was happening within him, but that doesn't mean he's protesting it either.

Hours seem to pass by before Duncan realizes that the rain has stopped, the sunset visible through the mouth of the cave. He stands, strolling over and peeking his head out to survey the damage. Finding it relatively clear, Duncan smiles.

"Hey Gwen, I think it's safe for us to move now…" he says, making his way back over to her. "There's a few trees scattered here and there, but we should be fi—"

Gwen lays asleep, her head craned awkwardly against the wall behind her. Duncan smirks, plopping down beside her and tilting her head to rest on his shoulder instead. A small smile graces her face, as he cuddles into him a bit before dozing off once again.

'Guess a short nap wouldn't hurt us,' he thinks to himself, a small yawn escaping his mouth. He closes his eyes, settling against the cave wall once again, before drifting off into his own peaceful slumber.

~ BF ~

Unbeknownst to the two sleeping teens, a vengeful Heather had been searching around the island for Gwen since she'd escaped her grasp that morning during breakfast. Finding her nowhere around the camping grounds, Heather reluctantly ventures into the dense forest, climbing over broken logs and tripping over leaves and twigs.

"Ugh, wait until I get my hands on that sneaky little…" Heather mumbles aloud, shoving a branch from in front of her, only for it to swing back and whip her in the face. "Ow! Oh! I freaking hate it here!" she exclaims, her words slightly muffled as she rubs at her sore and, surely, swollen nose.

"With these stupid cameramen, and these ridiculous challenges, and these savages! Don't even get me started on the wild animals. And—"

Heather's one-woman rant comes to a screeching halt as she passes in front of the cave, doing a quick double take at the sight before her. She stares at the two of them for a moment, her mind working quickly to formulate a perfect revenge plan out of this scenario, before a devious smile spreads across her face. Taking out the small digital camera she conveniently stashed in her pocket for just such an occasion, Heather snaps a few photos of the pair and rushes back in the direction of the cabins. Searching around frantically, her eyes land on the figures of Chris and the camera crew standing by the mess hall.

"Alright, so next week I'm thinking we do another survival themed challenge. But this time, I wanna really mess with them. So, I bought this weather machine off the black market and I hired a bunch of—"

"Oh, Chris!"

At the sing song call of his name, Chris McLean turns to face the unusually perky teen as she uncharacteristically skips towards him. Though that would've been taken as an immediate red flag by most who knew her, the mischievous host's interest is, instead, peaked at the thought of what the – as many on the island had and still would refer to her as - dark-haired she-devil could be hiding up her sleeve this time around. And how he could somehow exploit it to improve his ratings.

"Heather. You seem awfully…chipper than usual," he comments, giving her a once over.

Heather smiles. "Oh, I definitely am. I really think these next few weeks are going to be very interesting," she responds, idly messing around with the camera in her hand.

"Oh?" Chris replies, instantly perking up at the implication of possible drama. It was in the name of the show after all, and he had been craving for some fresh material. "And why is that?"

"Nothing much. Just stumbled upon something that might make the game a little bit more…exciting. If used correctly, that is," Heather answers, handing the device over to him.

With a quirked eyebrow, Chris inspects the image on the screen. His eyes widen as he clicks through the collection of pictures, with a devilish grin stretching across his face.

"So, what do you think?" Heather asks, crossing her arms with a smirk of her own.

Chris chuckles.

Sometimes, a little bit of chaos was a good thing.

~ BF ~