Disclaimer: I do not own the Total Drama series or anything else copyrighted.

"Duncan, look at this!"

Duncan peered over at at the magazine Courtney was looking through. It was full of wedding-related dresses. He looked at the dress she was pointing to, which was white and pretty big. "What about it?"

She rolled her eyes. "It's cute."

He shrugged, continuing to flip through the channels. "It's poofy."

She stared at it for a moment before shrugging. "I still like it."

He smirked before his phone started to ring. He grabbed it out of his pocket and checked the caller ID. He frowned, not recognizing the number. He went ahead and answered it. "Hello?"

Courtney glanced over as Duncan suddenly stood up and walked out of their apartment. She shrugged, figuring he wanted some privacy during that phone call. She continued flipping through the magazine, writing down ones she liked. She suddenly heard a few thumping noises on the wall. She frowned, knowing that the noises came from outside. She placed the magazine down and stood up, walking over to the front door and opening it. She saw Duncan slouched against the ground, staring in front of him, almost painfully. With wide eyes, she asked, "What happened?"

He sighed as he stared at his now slightly bloody hand. "I hit the wall..."

"The brick wall here?" she asked, now figuring out where that thumping noise came from.

He nodded, still looking down. She sighed and muttered "I'll be right back" before quickly stepping inside. She rushed to the bathroom and grabbed the first aid kit. She stepped back outside and bent in front of Duncan. She grabbed the cleaning alcohol and a clean washcloth before grabbing his hand. She put some of the alcohol onto the washcloth and started cleaning off Duncan's hand. She could feel him tense up due to the stinging, but he didn't say anything. His knuckles and the area around them were affected the most. She found knuckle bandages and placed them down before grabbing her hand guard, something she used when she sprained her wrist a few years before. She put it on his hand and asked, "Why'd you hit the wall?"

He kept silent. She looked up and saw a few tears running down his cheeks. She gasped and immediately frowned. "Duncan, what's wrong?"

He bit his lip before shakily saying, "B-Brian died."

She gasped, her hands flying to her mouth. "What?!" she softly asked, her eyes wide. Brian was Duncan's cousin, and they were extremely close. They were almost the same age, with Brian being exactly two months older than Duncan. Brian lived a couple streets down from Duncan when they were little, but moved a few hours away when they were 8. They talked, e-mailed, and texted regularly since, and got to see each other during the holidays when they were in school, and whenever they could afterwards. "H-how?"

Duncan shrugged. "Some car accident, that's all anyone will tell me."

She leaned forward and wrapped her arms around his neck, holding him close to her. She wasn't even paying attention to the crisp air that was hitting her somewhat clothed skin as she tried comforting Duncan the best she could. She never had anyone close to her die before, so she didn't know how he was feeling at that moment. She felt Duncan wrap his arms around her. He started shaking, and she knew he was crying even more. She rubbed his back with one hand and rested the other on his head, lightly running it through his hair. "I'm so sorry," she murmured, her head resting against his.

He nodded, sniffing. "I don't know what to do, Courtney... I..." He was at a loss of words. He tightened his grip around her.

She kissed the side of his head and quietly asked, "When did he die?"

"Early this morning," he said. "His Dad called me just now. He said the memorial and funeral and all of that will be in Ottawa... it'll probably be, like, sometime next week, once the autopsy is finished..."

"When are you leaving?" Courtney asked, resting her forehead against his.

He shrugged. "I don't know... I kinda want to go up there tomorrow, but I mean... I don't really know anyone there..."

"I can go with you," she murmured, reaching forward and wiping away his stray tears.

He shook his head. "No, you've got work..."

"And so you do," she informed him. She sighed before quietly saying, "We'll leave Friday afternoon and see what's going on then. Is that okay?" Friday was only a couple of days away, so they wouldn't be waiting too long to go out there.

He shrugged. "I guess..." he murmured. He sighed, a shaky breath escaping his lips. "Courtney, I love you. I really do."

"I know," she murmured, feeling the tears well up in her eyes. She could hear the strain, the pain, the emotion in his voice. "I love you, too."

He nodded, kissing her softly. Suddenly, he felt his phone vibrating once again. He grabbed it from his pocket and checked the Caller ID. "It's Mom." He sighed before picking it up. "Hey, Ma..."

---

The trip to Ottawa was a quiet one for Duncan and Courtney. It was a four hour drive between where they lived in Toronto and Ottawa. Courtney ended up driving the drive, for Duncan had just gotten done with a twelve hour Midnight shift right before they left and was dead tired. She was a bit tired as well, as she only got a few hours of sleep. Cramps kept her awake for a while, and after a few texts to Duncan, they spent an hour or so on the phone before she literally fell asleep as he talked to her.

Courtney passed through the two bigger cities of their drive, Oshawa and Kingston, almost wishing they could stop and venture to their usual stops. Oshawa wasn't too big, and they never spent too long there, but on their previous drives, they would get gas and eat at this little restaurant that had amazing food. Kingston was bigger, and Duncan and Courtney often spent hours there on their previous drives. She thought to herself, maybe they would stop at some places on the way back. Duncan was passed out for the majority of the drive; he would ask where they were a couple of times, and he had to get up and use the bathroom while they were at the gas station.

Courtney wasn't too sure of the directions to Brian's parents house, so when they reached the general Ottawa area, she woke Duncan up. It took her a few seconds, as she was trying to focus on both the road in front of her and waking Duncan up, but he finally woke up.

"We there yet?" he groggily asked, blinking.

"No. I'm not sure how to get there from here..."

After a few seconds, he slowly sat up, fixing his seat. He made a humming noise, thinking about where they were at. "Just keep going on 417 until we hit 19 North," he murmured, referring to the different highways. The area that Brian's parents lived in was Lindenlea, which was in the Northeastern part of Ottawa. With the exception of Duncan telling her the places to drive and her responses to them, neither of them talked. She noticed that he was starting to become a little figdety, and that he was shaking slightly. She could hear his foot tapping on the ground, and out of the corner of her eyes, she could see him moving his arms around, from crossing them to placing them on his lap...

"Babe, can we stop at that park for a second?" he asked as they exited the highway.

She nodded. "Yeah." She noticed the uneasiness, the quivering, and how scared and nervous he was in his voice. She pulled into the parking of the lot, and as she pulled into the parking spot, he jumped out of the car. She stopped and turned off the car and stepped out, looking over the car at Duncan. He was pacing around in the spot next to him, somtimes bending over, his hands on the top of his legs, like he was trying to steady himself.

"What's wrong?" she cautiously asked.

"Is there any water in the car?" he asked. "I feel sick."

She quickly opened the backseat, remembering that she bought some water at the last gas station they stopped at. She barely drunk any, and remembered tossing it into the backseat. She grabbed the bottle and shut the door before walking over to Duncan. She handed him the bottle and watched him down at least half the bottle. She reached out and gently began rubbing his back. She could feel him start to loosen up slightly. "Are you ready?" she asked after a few minutes.

He shook his head. "Not in the least." He cracked a tiny smile, glancing at her. "Might as well head over there, though. I'm sure Ma and everyone are worried..."

"I'm sure they understand," she said as they got back into the car.

It only took less than ten minutes to get to Brian's parents house. They lived in a two-story house at the end of a small cul-de-sac. Courtney pulled up in front of the house, noticing all the cars that sat there. She turned off the car and looked over at Duncan, who sat there looking incredibly upset and nervous and was even a bit paler. "Are you alright?" she asked, truly concerned.

He shrugged. "I don't know... I really don't feel well..."

She pursed her lips. "Well, let's get you inside. Maybe Brian's Mom will know what to do," she said, referring to Brian's Mom, who was a nurse.

Duncan nodded and slowly opened his door. He wasn't sure what was wrong with him, and he didn't like it at all. He was shaking slightly, he was sweating a bit, he felt incredibly anxious, he was nauseated, and he felt like his heart was beating at an incredible strength. For a few seconds, it felt like his body wouldn't move. Finally, he slowly started to stand up, but his head instantly began to feel lightheaded, and immediately started to fall towards the ground, fainting.

---

Duncan slowly opened his eyes. The bright light made him want to continue keeping his eyes shut. He glanced around and saw nothing much, except that he was in a hospital room. He groaned. He absolutely hated hospitals, and something bad must've happened if he was taken to one.

"Duncan?!"

He glanced over to the window and saw Courtney sitting in a chair. Her eyes were wide and surprised as she looked at him.

"What happened?" he asked as she got up and sat in the chair next to his bed.

"You don't remember?" she asked, furrowing her eyebrows slightly.

He sat up and tried to think about what he could from earlier that day. "The last thing I clearly remember was being at some park and feeling like shit... we're in Ottawa, right?"

Courtney nodded, her face less tense but still slightly worried. "Yeah... Duncan, you fainted."

"Wait, what? When?"

"About eight hours ago. It's a little after Midnight. You fainted outside of Brian's parents house."

Duncan sat there. He was utterly confused. "Am I sick?"

Courtney sighed, figdeting around in her chair slightly. "You had a panic attack."

He sighed, leaning back against the pillow. "Great," he muttered, shaking his head.

"You'll be released in the morning," Courtney softly said, reaching over and grabbing his hand that was closest to hers. "The doctor gave you a bit of Ativan, which is probably why you were out this long..." She sighed, giving his hand a light squeeze.

"I didn't mean to worry you."

She shook her head, giving him a light smile. "I'll admit, I was pretty scared at first, but..." She shrugged. "You've been stressed and upset these past two days." She frowned before saying, "The doctor suggested something."

"What's that?"

"He suggested you go back home. He said coming here somehow triggered something in your body that basically shut it down. I told him, as someone who's had a few panic attacks before, that it was most likely due to you being incredibly stressed out and upset due to all of this..."

"That bastard," he muttered, referring to the doctor.

Courtney rolled her eyes. "I told him I'm not forcing you to do anything, but that I would tell you what he suggested..."

"Who's all at Brian's house?" he asked, instantly changing the topic.

"Your Mom is there..."

"Oh, God..."

"His Grandparents, from both sides of his family... um... a couple of his cousins... oh, Michelle's there, too..."

"Michelle was at the house?" Duncan asked, slightly surprised. Michelle was another one of Duncan's close friends, but they were a lot closer in middle and high school. Michelle was also Brian's girlfriend, and they had been going out for about four years.

Courtney nodded. "Yeah... oh, I need to call your Mom..."

"She's not here?"

Courtney shook her head as she held the phone up to her ear. "Nah, she went home a little while ago, knowing I would stay-" She laughed, obviously at something his Mom said.

He sighed, barely listening to their conversation. He knew that plenty of adults had panic attacks, but he never expected to have one himself. Panic attacks were really scary, from what he had heard and seen. He remembered Courtney's panic attacks... well, he knew she had three of them. He heard about the first one, and saw her in the hospital after the second one, but saw her during her third one, and it was a scary sight. He could guess, but wasn't sure how she must have reacted when seeing him faint like that.

He glanced over, suddenly hearing someone enter the room. A nurse was entering the room. "Nice to see you awake, Mr. Evans," she said, smiling softly.

He smirked. "It feels nice to be awake and know where I'm at."

The nurse laughed as she began to check his vitals. "I'm sure your wife here filled you in with all the details."

Duncan wickedly grinned, glancing over at Courtney, who was still on the phone, except she was also looking at the nurse warily, a blush spreading across her cheeks. "She sure did," he murmured. He looked back at the nurse and asked, "So when can I go home?"

"Later in the morning, once your doctor gives you the final okay," she said, jotting a few notes on the clipboard. "Alright, Mr. Evans, if you need anything, don't hesitate to call the nurse station or have your wife come down and tell us what you need."

"Will do," Duncan said, still grinning as the nurse left the room. He looked over at Courtney, who was off the phone and just sitting there, her face flushed. "So, babe, we're married?"

"Oh, shut up," she crossly muttered, narrowing her eyes at him. "It slipped."

"Oh, I bet it did," he teased, earning himself a more intense glare from his fiancee. "So, how's my Ma doing?"

"She's fine, and she'll be here bright and early-"

"How bright and early?!"

"-to see you, and I don't know how early she'll be here. Around 8, maybe?"

"Well, then," he muttered, turning off the light beside him. "I'm going to bed. You can join me if you want..."

"That bed is too small for the two of us."

"Hasn't stopped us before."

"There's a cot at the end of your bed. I'll sleep on that."

"Aww." He shrugged. "Fine then. But, if you decide to join me, you know where I'll be at..."

"I'll be sure to keep that in mind."

A/N: Thank you all for the reviews! This chapter will be in two parts. I decided to put this up first because I knew what to write for the majority of this chapter, heh. Please continue to review! They definitely help me write quicker =)