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

I know this took a while, but the reasons are the same now as they were before. College, the full-time devourer! I wish I had as much time to type my stories, or just sit and plan them, but I don't anymore.

I had hoped to have this up for my stories anniversary. Valentines Day! But it didn't work out like I'd hoped. Which might be just as good, this isn't really a romance heavy chapter.

Chapter Ten: Projective Perspective

Courtney's break wasn't going as well as she had hoped. But the 'vacation' had at least allowed her to deal with a few of her personal demons sooner rather than later. The break had at least allowed her to do that and get away from the pressures of home for a while.

But some things are forced by others, even as we may try to postpone them indefinitely.

Gwen had never been her favorite person, even before all the rumors around her and Duncan started. To be fair though, that was more a case of conflicting beliefs and personality clashes than any real dislike. But season two had been different. Gwen didn't like the show, didn't want to be there, but she had been given another chance at the million dollars on season two when she hadn't been.

And if that wasn't enough, she and Duncan had gotten very close after Trent was voted off. True, they had been friends before that. But once Trent was out of the way, Duncan decided that there was no reason the two couldn't get closer.

Was Gwen really unaware of how her not-boyfriend had been checking her out or was she just playing coy? She still wasn't completely sure. But she knew that Duncan had been flirting with her, even after he made it clear he thought they were together.

Out of sight, out of mind, she supposed.

She was willing to put up with her because she knew that Cody considered her a good friend, even though she had never treated him very well on camera.

So when Gwen approached her, she intended to at least be civil to the pale girl.

That vow lasted about as long as a New Years resolution.

"Hello Gwen," the brunette forced out. The gothic girl had spoken to her while she was leaving the room and asked to talk. It had seemed like a request, so she decided to go with it.

"What's your game?" Gwen, not being one to mess around, got right to the point.

"E-Excuse me," Courtney stuttered out, caught momentarily off guard by the hostility.

"What do you want with, Cody?" Gwen clarified, crossing her arms.

Want with him? She wandered to herself.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Don't play dumb, you wouldn't be dating Cody if you didn't want something."

Courtney gaped at the other girl, frustration and anger rushing through her while her face began to heat up.

"How dare you! I wouldn't do something like that!"

Gwen scoffed and looked the other girl in the eye, matching her glare.

"I know your kind Courtney, everything you do is a means to get ahead in life. This is no different then when you pretended to like Justin."

Despite the righteous indignation she was feeling, Courtney couldn't help but wince at the reminder. Pretending to like Justin hadn't been personal, and it wasn't like she had been overly forward with him. She had just let him draw his own conclusions, and hopefully remind Duncan that she wasn't going to wait for him.

"It was a tactical move, nothing more. We were in the middle of a contest," Courtney ranted, trying to convince herself as much as Gwen.

"So when the contest starts over, you'll dump Cody?"

Courtney automatically lashed out, but unable to think of an appropriate verbal response, she did so physically.

She was shocked as Gwen was when her backhand knocked the pale girl back a half step. Stunned by her own violent actions, Courtney stood there, motionless, until an uppercut knocked her onto the ground.

From there it was all a blur, Gwen jumped on and punched her while she kneed the other girl and the stomach and grabbed her hair. She could hear someone; she wasn't positive who, screaming. Eventually someone reached over and tried to separate them, though it took several more people to do it successfully.

It had only been two and a half minutes, but the girls had managed to do a decent amount of damage to each other. Courtney had a fair amount of light bruising on her face, and a bloody lip, while both her sleeves had been torn off. Gwen was holding her chest, where she'd been kicked several times. She was bleeding lightly from her neck where nails had dug into her skin, blood leaked down to her torn shirt. Trent was holding her up, asking if she was okay while she panted.

Courtney was being held by Cody and Bridgette, each one looking worried and confused. Unable to respond to anything around her, Courtney pulled away and marched up to her room.

This time though, Cody chased after her.

Trent wasn't sure what had happened. He'd been trying to find his girlfriend when he heard Owen screaming, seemingly panicked.

"Girl fight! Catfight! Oh where's a chocolate milkshake when you need one?"

Chocolate… Ignoring that odd thought for the moment, Trent followed the yelling just in time to see Gwen tackle Courtney who was already on the ground.

Shocked, confused, and secretly a little afraid, the musician hesitated to get between the two. Though he justified himself that Gwen seemed to have the upper hand at the moment.

Amazingly, it was Izzy who finally tried to break them apart, if only so she could show them how to fight properly. But even the oddly psychotic teenager wasn't able to do it alone. He, DJ, and Geoff were needed to finally drag the two apart.

He helped Gwen to her feet. Stopping for a moment to glare at Duncan, who had been trying to take bets and didn't look ashamed of that fact at all. He held Gwen as she huffed in anger and tried to figure out what happened, mildly panicked by the blood around her neck.

She finally muttered something about going to the infirmary before walking off. Courtney was already doing the same thing in a different direction while Cody followed her. He wanted answers, but Gwen needed to see a nurse first.

He knew his friend had something to do with this, even if it wasn't really his fault. He just knew it.

Gwen was very protective of her friends.

Heather had to stop herself from laughing too loudly.

Weird Goth Girl and the Crackpot in Training had gone at it. And she had seen the whole thing.

Gwen looked even worse then usual. Heather mused silently, remembering how disheveled her rival appeared when she walked to the nurse.

And the truly hilarious part, they'd been fighting over that tech-geek Cody! She was going to get so much mileage out of this.

Unable to control herself, she started audibly cackling. Ezekiel watched her, afraid, from a few feet away. He had stayed away while the girls had gone at it, and hoped they hadn't hurt each other too badly. But he chose not to get involved so the aggression wouldn't switch to him.

Eva was making some offhand comments about the mistakes the girls had made during the fight. Where they should have aimed and how to properly grapple among other things, she just seemed disappointed she hadn't been involved.

Lindsay was raving to anyone who would listen that Carol and Gaudy had gotten into a fight, despite being one of the last to find out about it. No one bothered correcting her about the names, they were used to it.

Heathers thoughts were less sensitive.

Please tell me Chris got that on tape!

Once she reached her room and slammed the door, Courtney began to scream. But there were no tears this time, only anger. The brunette began to methodically destroy the room she had been given. Not even noticing when Cody cautiously opened the door, which she had forgotten to lock.

Intimidated by the sight of a chair shattering against the wall, Cody sat back and watched while Courtney vented on her pillow for several minutes before falling onto her bed with a sigh. Unsure where to begin, he stood quietly, waiting for a sign of some kind.

"I really need better lawyers," Courtney commented randomly.

"What?"

"I mean, if I had better lawyers I wouldn't have gotten drawn into this stupid event. And I probably wouldn't be stuck spending half a semester on a new season, that'll probably end up indecisively again, and land us on a fourth."

Eyes darting around the damaged room, Cody tried to think of an appropriate response. When nothing came to mind, he settled for changing the subject.

"So…what happened with Gwen just now?"

"I don't want to talk about it."

"But I-"

"Just drop it, please."

Giving in for the moment, Cody went to get an icepack to help with the bruising that was beginning to show.

"That bitch!"

"Gwen-"

Gwen cut Trent off. "I swear I am going to take that silver spoon from her mouth and dig her eyes out with it." This was followed by a long series of threats that Gwen claimed she would follow through on once the nurse was done working on her.

Once the young Latin woman left (eager to get away from her rather volatile charge) Gwen began to calm down, which probably had something with Trent being back with her, instead of a strange woman who had been putting a stinging ointment on her cuts. Courtney's nails were surprisingly sharp, as it turned out.

Gwen was in no mood to talk, and experience told Trent that trying to force it would not go over well. So the musician settled for playing a few notes on his harmonica. She seemed appreciate it too.

Finishing one of the few songs he knew for the small instrument, he waited for Gwen to say something. She didn't like awkward silences.

"I really dislike her," and she had just proven him right.

Which puts her, what, half a step below Heather's hate. Trent thought to himself, trying to figure out where to begin.

"I mean I knew she had issues, but she just went and slugged me. For someone always trying to act the pacifist she really is a hypocrite." This one-sided conversation went on for about twenty minutes until Gwen got tired and stood up.

"Thanks for listening Trent, see you tomorrow." A quick kiss and Trent watched her disappear, still not having the full story behind the fight.

Maybe he should just let it go for now.

"She is so abrasive!" Courtney growled, but nodded in thanks for the aspirin and icepack Cody had brought her.

Despite telling him to drop the subject, Courtney had continued to make small remarks about what had happened. This let Cody drew a rough mental picture of what happened.

"Gwen's not that bad," he responded, sitting down next to her in the bed.

Courtney scoffed, but didn't offer a real rebuttal.

Unsure and not willing to try and lecture her with so many facts missing, Cody wrapped an arm around her and gave her a loose hug.

The smile she gave him through the pain suggested he had done the right thing.

"You think I'll get in trouble for this?" Courtney made a gesture at the broken items around the room.

"I doubt it; Chris forced us here so he'll probably get stuck with the bill." Cody commented, wondering what the host did when he wasn't making them miserable. They hadn't seen him since he had welcomed them the other day.

"Think he actually got a date?"

"If he does, the girl has my sympathy." Courtney said, wondering who could be desperate enough to date that narcissist.

After a few minutes of silence Cody suggested they watch something on the small television the room was equipped with, not wanting to face anyone else right now Courtney quickly agreed.

Okay, several things I feel I should say.

First of all, my profile should be updated a few days after this chapter is loaded, two or three probably.

Second is the subject of Gwen. I realized that some people might get the wrong idea from her actions this chapter. Let me make it clear, Gwen is not some villain out to breakup Cody and Courtney. She's a concerned friend who really doesn't like someone said friend is dating. That's all.

Third, my update speed is slow for many reasons. Real life, college, other interests, and I needed to prove to myself that fanfiction was only a part of my life. Long story, tell you later.

And just to be clear, because I know the fight scene was a bit chaotic. Courtney threw the first punch when her temper got the better of her. So take that however you'd like.

All in all, I'm actually pretty satisfied with how this chapter came out. And I hope that I get a good response from readers telling me what you think. And since this is only one of two active stories I have right now, updates should be a bit quicker.