A/N: I was actually going to write and release this chapter next week, but thanks to my wonderful reviewers I have I decided to kick myself in the butt and get it done today! This chapter involves drug use, so if that is not for you just skip the latter half of this chapter.
I do not own Total Drama, all rights reserved to the respective owners.
I locked the gate carefully behind me before turning to Duncan who was already seated on his motorcycle. It was parked on the other side of the street, stood on the grass that indicated the end of the road and the beginning of the ditch that run alongside it. One helmet hung off one of the handlebars, tilting it, the other held by Duncan, he was carefully bouncing it between both of his hands.
I crossed the thin road and caught the helmet in the air as he threw it my way. "Safety first", he grinned before reaching for the his own helmet.
"Would be safer if you didn't throw it at me", I mumbled in annoyance as I got on the vehicle behind him. Duncan chuckled as he slid the helmet over his head and kicked back the stand. I followed suit and locked my arms around his body, pressing myself close enough to feel his warmth.
The drive to Geoff's house took seven minutes, five less than normal since Duncan had apparently decided a long time ago that speed limits don't apply to him. I had protested with whatever force I could without endangering both of us; squeezing him too tight for comfort and yelling.
"You're a danger to traffic, you know that right?" I asked and raised my eyebrows, watching him take off his helmet, as I had already done, and place it back on the handlebar.
"I can't be that bad", Duncan answered and patted his jean pocket, "got a license, babe." I huffed out a breath of air and avoided his gaze as I felt a smile creep onto my lips.
"Hi guys", a deep voice said, efficiently stopping our conversation short. I looked over to where the voice came from and I froze in place as my eyes were met by the sight of a confused DJ standing near the front door.
"DJ", Duncan said excitedly and walked up to the big guy to give him a high five that transitioned into a short handshake.
"Hey, DJ", I said and shook off my initial shock, trying not to sound suspicious. For all he knew Duncan was only giving me a ride, nothing more nothing less.
"You two came together?" DJ asked and pointed between the two of us, raising an eyebrow at the unfamiliar and - to his knowledge - barely fathomable scenario.
"Well", I started but was quickly interrupted by Duncan.
"Yup", he said with a big grin. The confused look on DJ's face grew deeper, furrowing his brows and wrinkling his nose.
"Well only because Bridgette didn't answer my texts", I rambled out faster than normal, continuing to try and not to give away mine and Duncan's new found and still vulnerable connection. The statement seemed to be enough of an answer for DJ, his face smoothened and a smile took the former frowns place.
"Good to see you're getting along", he said and patted the back of my shoulder before turning toward the door again. He had to ring the doorbell twice before it opened. Geoff greeted us with a bare chest and his hat thrown haphazardly onto his head. The three of us stepped inside and Duncan's grin grew wider. Bridgette was walking down the stairs around the corner, wearing Geoff's shirt unevenly buttoned over her chest and a pair of jean shorts.
"Oh god", I exclaimed in a mix of shock and disturbance as I realised what we had interrupted, and looked away from Bridgette. She started combing through her hair, trying to calm the frizz down, as her cheeks stained pink in embarrassment.
"That explains why she ain't answering your texts", DJ chuckled, but was visibly uncomfortable by the scene we had walked into.
"Nice, dude", Duncan grinned and fist bumped his friend.
"Wait, what texts?" Bridgette asked as she walked up to the rest of us, having put her hair up in the usual ponytail she wore. Her blush had lessened and the simple hairdo calmed the frizziness of her hair down, though the buttons on the shirt were still buttoned in disorder, leaving patches of her stomach visible and making the uncomfortable situation near impossible to sweep under the rug.
"Don't worry about it", I smiled in reassurance and waved a hand dismissively. Maybe lying to DJ had been a bad move, him telling Bridgette about the nonexistent texts was something I had not predicted, but hopefully she would leave it behind as we all tried to leave the situation as fast as possible.
Bridgette cleared her throat, drawing everyone's attention to her. "Why don't you go down to the basement and pick a movie, I'll order the pizza and join you after." I knew what she really wanted to do was clean herself up, maybe brush her hair before redoing her ponytail or maybe splash some water on her face, but most definitely change into her own shirt.
And that was exactly what she had done once she joined the rest of us in the basement. She came bouncing down the stairs in a hoodie of her own and threw the shirt back to Geoff. He was sitting in an armchair, halfway facing the couch on which Duncan, DJ and I sat. In between the couch and the armchair stood a small coffee table, and diagonally aligned with it stood an old pooltable; though it was occupied by a tv instead of cues and balls.
I knew that the basement used to be big when we were kids, but over the years bedrooms and bathrooms had been moved around as the family expanded. All that was left now was a decent sized lounging area; the rest had been turned into a laundry room, big enough to wash and dry all the clothes of the eight residents.
"Pizza's on the way", Bridgette smiled and sat down in Geoff's lap, "have you guys picked a movie yet?" The couple's position was an intimate one; it looked warm and soft, perfect for gentle touches and one-armed hugs. If it had only been the two of us, or maybe if our friends knew, I would've replicated the comfortably looking position with Duncan. I would've snuggled into his side and let him drape his arm around me, intertwine our fingers as I leaned against his chest. I'd ask him to tell me about himself, more than the question's he had answered during our stupid game, more than an allergy and more than meaningless hookups.
While the thoughts about everything I wanted to ask Duncan spun around in my head and distracting me, DJ had already started the movie of our choice and was talking lightheartedly to Bridgette about the ambiguous ending. Getting both Duncan and Geoff to complain about spoilers. Soon enough the pizza was delivered and paid for and DJ passed around napkins in concern for everyone's clothes and the furniture.
Halfway through the reality-bending-mind-boggling movie the pizza had been delivered and eaten. Soon enough Geoff spoke up in excitement. "I know what can make this movie even better." He patted Bridgette's upper thigh as a signal for her to move before he got up from the armchair. He rounded the pooltable fast and rummaged through some boxes on the other side. Each box was labeled differently, indicating they were used to storage old or seasonal stuff; christmas decorations, cutlery, baby clothes, all of the brothers even had a box of their own.
As the spinnin trinket on the tv screen fell over Geoff came back from behind the pooltable with a wrinkled paper bag.
"Yes", Duncan cheered as the two of them high fived. I looked over at Bridgette for confirmation of my suspicions, and as I had thought she rolled her eyes and let out a sigh.
"To this movie? You're going to get a headache", she said and shook her head, but despite the earlier contempt she had shown a smile now tugged at her lips. Geoff shrugged in response and dragged the footstool accompanying the armchair toward the small table and emptied the contents of the bag onto it.
Duncan scooted forward on the couch, leaning toward the table with his elbows resting on his knees, watching with a grin as Geoff spread out the green substance on the rolling paper. I shuffled closer to Duncan, putting one knee up on the dark gray fabric as I turned my body to face him.
"You're not actually going to smoke that, are you?"
"Why wouldn't I?" Duncan asked and turned his attention from Geoff's fast working hands.
"What if his brothers smell it? Or worse, comes down here." I knew the two of them smoked, Geoff more than Duncan, and I knew they had never been caught, I knew Bridgette sometimes indulged too and that when she didn't she made sure the others at least stayed safe. It wasn't that big of a deal really; but it messed with your brain, and Duncan was already on the verge of spilling our shared secret.
"Oh would you relax? Nothing's gonna happen, babe. Unless your royal highness is a tattle tale, that is", Duncan chuckled and bumped my shoulder with his.
"Courtney may be right", DJ piped up for the first time since Geoff had taken out the bag.
"Thank you", I said and threw an open hand in his direction and looked gratefully at him, "at least someone is using their brains", I snapped back at Duncan and narrowed my eyes.
"Court?" Bridgette's soft voice spoke, she was leaning over Geoff's shoulder, her arms hanging over them and gently hugging his chest from behind. "Nothing's going to happen, the three of us can keep them in check", she gestured between herself, DJ and I as she spoke. I looked at her in confusion, only to be met by a reassuring smile.
"Fine", I rolled my eyes and threw my leg down from the couch, sinking lower in the process.
Three soon turned into two as Geoff offered Bridgette a joint in the midst of his own high. The two of them shared smoking kisses in the armchair as the end credits of the movie started rolling on the screen. Bridgette smoothly shifted from Geoff's lips to the rolled-up paper, taking it in between her lips and dragging, filling her lungs and mouth with smoke which she exhaled onto the face of her partner before bursting out in a laughing fit.
DJ had moved to sit on the footstool as Duncan had spread out to take over almost the entire couch, pushing me to the opposite armrest as he laid down comfortably, resting his head on two stacked pillows. He had a joint by himself and took long drags out of it, shaping the smoke he exhaled into delicate rings towards the ceiling, unlike Geoff and Bridgette who didn't seem to care about how it looked or where their smoke ended up. If I hadn't known better I would've found the tricks enchanting.
"Oh", Bridgette exclaimed and jumped off her Geoff's lap, "we need music." She strutted happily to the boxes and dug around for a little while before retrieving a decent sized speaker.
"What we need is freedom, man", Duncan chimed back and threw his arms out haphazardly.
"Look around. This is freedom, man", Geoff chuckled and took another drag of his joint.
"Man", Duncan started and sat up from his lying position to face Geoff, "we don't have freedom, man. We're all trapped in this stupid town because our stupid parents has stupid authority over us."
I was relieved at his movement as I was no longer crammed in the corner, I moved from the armrest and rolled my shoulders in an attempt to stretch them out.
"My mama ain't stupid", DJ said and jumped in the conversation. A small smile crept its way onto my face as the three guys only got more and more into the conversation.
I turned my head toward the pooltable and saw Bridgette crawling around on the floor under it. "Do you need any help?" I asked and raised and eyebrow.
"I can't find the stupid power outlet", she answered and looked at me over her shoulder, her face scrunching up in a frown.
"It's on the other side", I smiled and pointed to where the tv's cable was plugged in. Bridgette was smart and sweet and really caring, but high Bridgette was adorably naive and almost like a little kid. Well when she wasn't sucking Geoff's face that was.
"Thanks", she smiled at me once she returned from the floor and sat beside me on the couch. Music was now flowing through the room, some generic radio station with absurd songs, but it was better than nothing. "I'm tired", she pouted and leaned her head on my shoulder.
I shook my head and smoothed down her frizzy hair. "Go to sleep then." Bridgette didn't answer me, she stayed leaning against me until I could hear her breathing change and I knew she was asleep. I gently leaned her the other way, letting her head rest on the armrest instead off my shoulder.
"Hey guys", I said and stood up from the couch, "I'm going to go home now. And don't disturb Bridgette, she's asleep."
"How are you going to get home, man?" Duncan asked and furrowed his eyebrows. "You came here with me, man, and it's too far to walk."
"She came here with you?" Geoff asked in surprise and pointed to Duncan, his eyes were wide with confusion.
"I know, it's weird", DJ whispered before looking up at me, "I can drive you home." He was the only one with a vehicle that wasn't either intoxicated or asleep, and I knew his offer was one of nothing but kindness.
"You need to take care of these two", I shook my head, "make sure they don't get into any trouble."
"Oh we can get him into trouble", Duncan smirked.
"I'm just gonna call a cab", I said, ignoring Duncan's proposition; or threat maybe.
"Get home safe, babe", Duncan called after me as I climbed the stairs up from the basement. It may have been the drugs talking, but his concern stirred something inside me. Something warm, something bubbly. Something I was completely terrified by yet something that made me smile wide.