Disclaimer: I do not own Total Drama Island, and I am not making any money off of this story.

Now that I think about it, I seem to spend more time working on this story than I do on my others. Maybe it's because I want to finish something so that I can work on the rest of my stories with less distraction. Sorry about the wait again, but I had a lot of things to do and then got sick.

Whatever it is, and whatever the delay, here is the latest installment in this story. This chapter will also jump around a bit and look at the perspectives of different people. So expect to see a few more opinions. Hope you enjoy.

Chapter Seven: Simplicity Itself

Cody and Courtney continued with their date, blissfully unaware of the many people talking about their relationship. Which was probably for the best, it would have been an unnecessary complication to an otherwise peaceful day.

After their impromptu diving lesson, which ended after more than two hours of Courtney instructing Cody on proper diving techniques, they were trying to decide what to do next.

Cody wanted to go inside and find something to do. He was somewhat less physically inclined than his girlfriend, so he would rather relax in front of the television or do something else in the air conditioning after spending so much time in the sun exerting himself.

Courtney, on the other hand, wanted to go for a nature walk. The resort that the former and future contestants were staying at wasn't just one large building. Amongst other things, there was also a small forest that took up most of the southern half of the island. The CIT believed that a nature walk would be a nice way to unwind after those lessons in the pool.

So the two sat in the shade near the pool, drying off and debating what they should do next. Cody knew he was fighting a losing battle, Courtney could be both stubborn and convincing when she wanted to be, so it was only a matter of time before he gave into her wishes for one reason or another.

Still, there was no real downside to spending time with his hot girlfriend.

Noah, who had been seated in the shade nearby reading a book, unwillingly overheard there discussion as their words drifted over to his ears. The young prodigy rolled his eyes when he sensed that Cody was ready to throw in the towel on the debate.

Cody and Courtney, he hadn't seen that one coming, though it didn't really matter to him one way or another why they were together. From a certain perspective it could possibly work.

Cody was probably the closest friend he had on this show, and was one of the few people he could tolerate for any real amount of time. Courtney, not so much, he respected her intelligence but didn't know her as well as he did Cody. He hadn't been all that surprised that she and the delinquent had fallen through; he just never thought that these two would hook up.

Noah gave subtle reactions over the course of the conversation. Rolling his eyes when the two seemed to subconsciously flirt with one another and wincing when he felt Cody beginning to give into his girlfriends pleading, this was a cliché amongst clichés.

I hope you two know what you're doing, he thought to himself. Relationships don't tend to run smoothly, and the world off of the show probably won't be as supportive now that people will know you're together.

From a logical standpoint, they could work out or go horribly wrong, just like any other couple. They were both very intelligent in their own way; Cody was a technical genius while Courtney was politically intelligent. Their personalities complimented one another, and they could be good for each other. Of course, this was ignoring all of the reasons such a relationship could crash and burn. Cody and Courtney both had their own fan bases, and who knew how they would react to the hookup. Logically, that would be an issue in the future.

But what does logic have to do with love? He thought as he let his eyes wander over to where Katie and Sadie were sitting, his gaze lingered on the former for a few seconds before he glanced back to his book. There was really no way to see how things would go from here.

Only time would tell.

True to Cody's prediction, they did end up going on the nature walk as Courtney had wanted. But his girlfriend agreed that they would relax in front of the television for a little while afterwards.

After taking a few moments to change back into their normal attire, the two were walking through the resort and down the trail that led into the woods. Courtney was slightly in front of her boyfriend, quietly soaking up the atmosphere that nature seemed to create so easily. Cody was less at ease, but he was able to appreciate the scenery in his own way.

More than fifteen minutes of walking had taken the couple to the southern most part of the small island. The forest stopped a few yards away and allowed a small beach to form along the shoreline.

Courtney walked away from the path and onto the sand, stopping just short of where the waves were coming in. After a stopping to take in the view, Courtney walked over to a series of large rocks that seemed to have naturally become smooth under years of nature's power. The CIT raised herself up onto one of the higher rocks and placed her feet on a slightly lower stone, which allowed her to comfortably hug her legs to her chest.

Cody watched her from a few feet away, and then reached into his pocket to take out his phone. This is definitely worthy of a picture, he thought as he lined up the small camera in his phone. Courtney was gazing out into the water with a smile, and didn't even seem to notice that her boyfriend had just taken her picture. She turned to look at him as Cody pocketed the phone. He smiled back at her and remembered the short conversation that he and Beth had shared that morning.

"So how have you been? I haven't seen you since you moved." The brunette across from him asked eagerly.

"All right I guess," Cody replied with a shrug. "My new school is better than the one I used to go too, not a lot of major changes though."

"So dating Courtney isn't a major change in your book?" Beth asked him with a knowing smile.

"You noticed that huh?" Cody asked, somewhat embarrassed by the question.

"I don't think there's anyone here who didn't notice you two walk in together." The farm girl said, in an uncharacteristically matter of fact tone.

Cody rubbed the back of his neck in response; he hadn't thought that they would have made that big an impression.

"I was a little confused when you two came in like that," Beth confessed with a shrug. "I knew you were friends, but not that you were dating."

"That only started about two months ago."

"Oh, I see"

A length of silence gripped the two; the conversation had just taken a decidedly awkward turn. Something that talking about your current girlfriend with your ex seemed to cause.

"Actually, I need to go meet Courtney for breakfast now." Cody said, pointing in the general direction of the buffet.

"Oh, I'm sorry; I didn't mean to hold you up."

"No problem, I'll see you later Beth."

Cody had passed Beth and began walking down the hall when she called out to him again. Cody stopped and turned back to her.

"Are you," Beth hesitated for a few moments before she finished her question. "Are you really happy with Courtney?"

Cody blinked, and seemed to seriously consider the question for a few seconds before he answered her with a smile.

"Yes," he said confidently. "Yes I am."

Beth smiled back at him. "I'm glad," he could hear the sincerity in the girls tone.

The two stayed like this for a short moment before Cody continued onto the buffet.

It would be rude of him to keep his girlfriend waiting.

Cody shook his head after the flashback ended. He was glad that Beth had taken the fact that he and Courtney were dating so well. He counted her as a real friend, and he didn't want to lose that.

After walking along the sandy shoreline for a few minutes, Cody went to sit next to his girlfriend on the rock, placing himself so they were both comfortable on the warm stone.

DJ watched from a few yards away in the tree line. He had been going for a walk with bunny when he had seen his former teammate and friend walking through the forest together. They seemed to be enjoying themselves, so he didn't do anything to disturb them.

He had been surprised as everyone when he found out that they were together, and a small part of him had hoped that she and Duncan would get back together.

There didn't seem to be any chance of that happening though.

They do make a cute couple, he thought to himself as Cody went to join his girlfriend on the rock.

He knew Courtney pretty well from the time they spent on the same team back during season one. She was nice when she wanted to be, though she could be rather overbearing at times. And he and Cody had partnered up during the suitcase hunt right after Owen won the race against Gwen. The tech geek had tried to keep their team together after they found the suitcase, and he didn't hold him responsible for the trouble the ropes had caused later on.

Now that he thought about it though, it was a little odd that Cody had hooked up with Courtney, especially after she had threatened to drop them during the race.

He didn't seriously think that Courtney would have let them fall to their deaths. But the CIT could be very competitive when she wanted to be!

After bunny began shifting around in DJ's hand, the gentle teen softly pet his small friend and offered him a peace of lettuce while he walked away, leaving the couple their privacy.

Courtney and her boyfriend sat there together for a few minutes, the ocean was an equally impressive sight from the small beach as it was from the dock on the northern part of the island.

The two shared a lighthearted conversation while they were sitting there. Wondering what surprises Chris would have in store for them once season three began the coming summer, and other random topics before they decided to start walking back towards the resort.

Their conversation continued once they were back amongst the trees, nature seemed to create a backdrop to their conversation as they walked. The singing birds, the twittering of small animals, it all seemed to create a melody that lacked any real tune.

But neither of the two felt that it really needed one, and they were content with it until they reached the resorts main building again. By that time, Cody had worked up a sweat and even Courtney felt like taking a short breather.

So they did what Cody had proposed earlier, and went to relax in the resorts main television room. Courtney left the room after a few minutes to get them something to drink while Cody settled himself on the couch. He wandered where everyone else was for a few seconds, and then simply shrugged it off.

Harold walked in only a few moments later, but paused when he saw Cody by himself on the couch. The nerd briefly considered talking to Cody now when he the chance, and weighed it against the risk of Courtney finding him and going supernova on him.

Though Cody had shown the uncanny ability to calm down the CIT, something he had previously thought impossible.

Cautiously, Harold walked over to Cody, who was distractedly looking through the big screen televisions channels.

"Hey, dude, how's it going?"

Cody stopped channel surfing to look at Harold. He was surprised to see that he was talking to him, but not unpleasantly so.

"No bad, how goes it with you?"

"It goes well; Leshawna and I really love this place." Harold said with a happy smile.

Cody noticed that, and the lack of a former teammate of his.

"Where is Leshawna anyhow?"

"With Gwen and Bridgette I think. She said that she and her girls needed their space."

Realizing he was getting off track, Harold decided to cut to the point.

"Listen Cody, do you think that Courtney is still mad at me?"

Cody hesitated before answering. The correct answer was a resounding yes! But he didn't want to be that blunt.

Harold seemed to understand exactly what his silence meant though, and sighed out loud. Not that he had expected this to be easy, but he hoped for something better than a worse case scenario.

"All right then. Listen, can you pass on a message to Courtney for me?" Harold continued without waiting for an answer. "Tell her that I'm really sorry for what I did the first season! It wasn't fair to vote her off just to get back at Duncan. I'm also sorry that she got voted off again during TDA. But I didn't vote for her then, I swear!"

"Dude," Cody interrupted Harold's rant. "It's cool, I'm not mad at you, but Courtney kind of is."

"Only kind of mad?" Harold asked lightly.

Cody didn't answer again, because he knew she was more than kind of mad, but she was working on it. Before he could respond though, he saw Harold tense up and stare at something over his shoulder.

He had a bad feeling that he knew why too.

With deliberate slowness, Cody turned around to face the doorway. And true to his luck, Courtney was standing there in the doorway, tightly clenching two bottled water that seemed on the verge of exploding. The look on her face screamed bloody murder.

Cody briefly wondered if he was going to survive long enough to make it to Valentines Day.

Well that chapter gave me a lot of trouble, but I hope you all enjoyed reading it. I expect my virtual combat story to be the next one I update, so be on the lookout for that. And please leave a review, tell me what you liked, disliked, and anything else you care to point out because I want to improve.