Courtney sat with her team on a wooden stump where the campfire ceremony usually took place. It was time for their fifth challenge and she was ready to go. Somehow they'd managed to win their second challenge, and she was on top of the world. She glanced at Harold as Chris talked, wondering if she'd underestimated him. He had helped them win two challenges in a row after all, and now she thought she may have been a little hasty in removing him from her list of potential soulmates. However, just as the thought crossed her mind she saw him pick his nose and she knew she'd been right all along. Harold was definitely not her soulmate.

She turned her attention back to Chris as he explained the days challenge. All they had to do was spend a night in the woods. That should be easy enough, Courtney was a CIT after all, she was practically an expert on the subject.

Chris threw a map and a compass to each team and somehow Duncan (who she had gone back to hating after she'd discovered his only talent was carving a picture of his own skull into a tree) (which didn't really count as a talent in her opinion anyway) managed to catch them mid-air, before she could do anything about it. She gave him a glare and was about to protest that she should be in charge of the map and compass since she was a CIT and his only qualification was that he was a qualified criminal, seeing as he had been to juvie. And that was not something to be proud of.

But Chris was still talking so Courtney didn't get the chance to complain. Instead she just snatched the map from the delinquent's hand aggressively. Duncan just rolled his eyes and folded his arms sulkily.

When Chris told them they could go, Courtney began to lead her team expertly to their camp ground. Duncan, however, wasn't having any of it. There was no way he was putting his faith in Courtney being able to lead them there, so while Chris wasn't looking he swiped a spare map from Chris's back pocket. His own team had already taken off, but he knew he could catch up easily and just pretend he'd been there the whole time. After studying the map and figuring out where he had to go, he slipped the map back in Chris's pocket (the host hadn't even noticed it was missing) and caught up to the rest of the Bass. They seemed to be down two team members but since it was Katie and Sadie Duncan couldn't really see the problem.

"Where have you been?" Geoff asked him when he caught up.

"Making sure we win. Did I miss anything?" Duncan asked. "Anyone notice I was gone?"

"No," Geoff shook his head. "Courtney was too busy playing tour guide." Duncan scowled, weirdly annoyed that she hadn't even noticed he was missing. That just proved she wasn't observant enough to lead the team. The two boys walked in silence for a moment.

"Hey, Duncan?" Geoff asked.

"Mmm?" Duncan replied.

"You're like… experienced with girls and stuff, right?" Geoff asked.

"Well, yeah… I mean kinda," Duncan shrugged. He'd had a couple of girlfriends before he went to juvie, but there wasn't much opportunity for dating at an all boys prison facility.

"How can I get Bridgette to notice me?" Geoff enquired, looking a little hopeless.

"That's easy, bro," Duncan told him. "You've just got to compliment her."

"Like, tell her she looks pretty?" Geoff wondered.

"Nah, not with Bridgette. That would work on Lindsay probably but Bridgette is the kind of girl who wants to be complimented on her skills, not her looks," Duncan said wisely.

"Okay…" Geoff nodded nervously. Duncan sighed.

"Just, when we get there, tell her she'd really good at something," Duncan instructed. "Got it?"

"Got it," Geoff nodded again, more confidently this time. Duncan shook his head in amusement, wondering how the guy could be such a people person, yet so rubbish at talking to girls.

The rest of the journey went off without so much as a hitch, and once they reached their camping spot Courtney got them all doing jobs. She was pleased to see everyone had accepted her as their leader without much complaining. It was obvious that she was the most competent one of the group. She'd given herself, Geoff and Bridgette the task of setting up the tent, Duncan and Harold were on fire duty, DJ was out looking for food, Tyler was seeing what supplies were in their pack, and Katie and Sadie were… nowhere to be found. Well, good riddance, those two girls we're almost as dumb as Lindsay.

"Wow, you pitch a tent like a guy!" she overheard Geoff say to Bridgette as the three of them put the tent up. He had admiration in his voice but his words were less than flattering. It was clear Geoff was trying to flirt with Bridgette but his sexist remark made Courtney cringe and she knew Bridgette would in no way be flattered or impressed. It seemed to Courtney that Geoff thought he and Bridgette were soulmates, they both had marks after all. But if he kept up his awkward flirting style he'd never get the chance to find out.

"What's for dinner, woman?" came an amused voice from behind her. "I'm starving!" Courtney turned and scowled at Duncan. It was obvious he knew what he was saying was offensive to women, but his chest was puffed out and he had a cocky look on his face like he had just made the most hilarious joke of all time. Courtney didn't doubt that he was purposefully trying to antagonise her, but she wasn't going to let him get to her. She couldn't believe she'd thought for one second that this gross Neanderthal was a possibility for her soulmate.

"I hope you don't expect me to dignify that with a response," she said haughtily. Duncan just continued to look at her smugly. Ugh, what was it with that guy that made her want to slap him across the face? But at the same time he looked kind of hot with that smirk permanently plastered on his face, and his blue eyes staring at her like she was something he wanted to devour. She shivered involuntarily. She was spared the gruelling task of having to figure out what she was feeling by DJs voice coming across the clearing.

"Hey guys, look what I found!" he holds a rabbit out in front of him. It soon became apparent that he did not intend to kill and skin the rabbit to eat, but to keep it as a pet.

"You couldn't find any food?" Courtney asked in exasperation. It had been his only job after all. It seemed he couldn't even manage that. Just as she had thought, her entire team was useless. She sighed dramatically. "Then it looks like we're eating grubs and berries for dinner." The thought didn't appeal to her but it was better than nothing, right?

"Has anyone seen Tweedle-Dum and Tweedle-Idiot?" Duncan asked. Courtney forced herself not to smile at the words. She did not think Duncan was funny.

"Who cares?" she snorted instead. "We're better off without them anyway."

"I'm not gonna argue with that," Duncan said. Courtney looked at him suspiciously. Were they actually agreeing on something? "What?" Duncan asked, seeing her staring at him.

"Nothing," she shook her head. "Hurry up and finish building the fire."

Duncan had witnessed Geoff's terrible attempt at flirting with Bridgette. How did he manage to screw up a compliment so bad? Duncan knew he had to help the guy out some more, so when the rest of the group were sitting around the fire, Duncan and Geoff went into the woods to "pee".

"Dude, girls are so confusing!" Geoff complained.

"No, you're just an idiot," Duncan pointed out. Geoff looked sulky but he didn't argue. "Look, just leave her alone for a while and try again later when she's forgotten what an oaf you are."

"Do you have to be so mean about it?" Geoff whined.

"Tough love, my friend," Duncan chuckled. "Look, I have an idea," Duncan proposed. "I'll tell a scary story and then hopefully Bridgette will get scared and need someone to comfort her. AKA; you. She'll probably be running into your arms." Geoff nodded and the two headed back and sat with the others around the campfire.

Somewhere in the distance an owl hooted and Duncan felt Bridgette jump beside him. Pathetic. This was going to be so easy.

"Be cool, it's just an owl," DJ assured her.

"Sorry. I just get really freaked out in the forest," Bridgette admitted.

"This reminds of this really scary story I heard once," Duncan said casually. His plan was to help Geoff but he bet he could even scare Miss No-Nonsense Courtney. That would show her.

"Awesome! Tell it man!" Geoff encouraged. Duncan grinned at him.

"Are you sure? 'Cause the story I'm thinking of is pretty hardcore," Duncan said doubtfully. Across the fire he saw Courtney roll her eyes.

"Ooh, we're so scared!" she said sarcastically. Duncan smirked to himself. Now it would be so much better when he scared her out of her wits. She thought she was so tough, but he'd show her.

"Alright, but don't say I didn't warn you," he said nonchalantly. He grinned menacingly and began his story. He built to the climax of the story, getting really into it and adding dramatic pauses to create tension. He could tell the rest of his team were on the edge of their seats, hanging on his every word as he told them the story of the bloody hook. Everyone had looks of terror on their faces and he would have laughed out loud if he wasn't so committed to the story.

"They say… that this killer is still alive… wandering these very woods. He could be just about anywhere really… maybe even right… here!" he shouted the last word and pulled out a hook, sending the rest of his team into screams of horror. He burst into laughter at their reaction, unable to hold back any longer. They were all so gullible!

"Duncan! That was so NOT funny!" Courtney shouted, her voice still quivering slightly from the fright he'd given her. Duncan smiled smugly. He thought it was very funny actually and scaring Courtney was the best bit.

"Oh yes it was!" he chortled. "I just wish it was all on camera! Oh wait, it is!" He doubled over into fits of laughter again, so he missed Courtney shooting daggers at him.

"You are so vile!" Courtney spat. "Do your parents even like you?"

"I don't know, Jumpy McChicken! I haven't asked them lately," he said, not caring about her insults at all. He'd gotten to her and she couldn't deny it and he was having too much fun rubbing it in to be worried about her lame attempt at offending him. He was about to tell her how hilarious her face looked when he'd revealed the hook, but he was interrupted by a long howl of a wolf somewhere off in the night, and suddenly the girl he'd just been mocking was in his arms, her body shivering. Duncan didn't know if it was from the cold or from fear, but either way, he felt a strong urge to comfort her.

From across the fire he saw Geoff put his thumb up. Okay, so Duncan's plan had worked, but not on the girl he'd intended it to work on. But he wasn't exactly complaining, holding Courtney felt really nice. Of course, if any of the guys mentioned it he would just say he was trying to get into her pants. Duncan didn't have feelings, and definitely not towards spoilt type-A princesses.

Okay, so it wasn't exactly her proudest moment, but she'd screamed when Duncan told his story. She was annoyed at him, but she was more annoyed at herself for falling for it. And now the dumb story had her on edge, even when she was cursing him and throwing insults at him. He didn't seem to care however.

What was worse than her scream though, was the fact that she'd practically dived into his arms when she'd heard that wolf howl. How embarrassing. But the worst thing of all was that she liked being his in arms so much that she'd stayed there a lot longer than necessary. Her heart was pounding, and with each beat she felt her whole chest ache, like her heart wanted to burst out of her chest and attach itself to Duncan. She hoped that didn't mean what she thought it meant. She was sure Duncan could feel it, but she hoped he put it down to fear and adrenaline, rather than attraction. God, was it attraction? Is that why she was thinking about his strong arms and firm chest right now instead of whether or not she might be eaten alive by wolves?

Knowing she'd been in his arms longer than the time it would still have been believable to say it was just an unconscious reaction to a potential threat, she extricated herself from his grasp. She opened her mouth to say something, a witty remark, a cutting statement, but nothing came. Instead she just turned on her heel and strode quickly into the woods, claiming she had to pee.

I don't like him, I don't like him, she lectured herself. He was a juvenile delinquent, a stain on society. And she was going far in life in politics or law maybe. No, there was no way she was attracted to those vile piercings and haircut. And he most certainly was not her soulmate. It had to be someone else.

And yet, when she got back from her stroll in the woods and the others were in the tent, ready to sleep, she found herself laying down beside him, with the vague idea that he'd keep her safe if the wolves came, and maybe she could snuggle against him in the night for warmth. Her stomach lurched excitedly at the thought and she had to stifle a groan, hating herself for somehow developing this dumb crush.

She couldn't sleep, Duncan's story was still reeling in her mind, and the ground was too hard and she was cold. She glanced at Duncan. How was he asleep already? She cursed him under her breath. This challenge was going terribly. They'd had no food, Katie and Sadie were missing and now sleep seemed miles away. They were so going to lose this challenge.

She heard a whispered conversation between Bridgette and DJ, followed by Bridgette exiting the tent. The next thing she knew, the tent was burnt to a crisp around them. Well, that would make it easier to sleep. Not.

"Great," Courtney seethed. "That's just great Bridgette. Now we have nowhere to sleep!" she screamed at the girl. Maybe she was being harsh, but honestly how clumsy could one girl be? If she'd thought things were bad before, it was nothing compared to now.

"Yo, Drama Queen, relax. It's cool," Duncan assured her. Or at least tried to. She was far from being reassured. How could he be so relaxed at a time like this? Did he never worry about anything? It was infuriating.

"Cool?" Courtney snapped. "It's COOL? Things could not possibly get worse!" she shouted at him. She knew it wasn't his fault but he was the easiest target, plus it helped her to hate him and forget that brief attraction she'd felt before. Only, it turned out things could get worse, because at that very moment the heavens opened and it began to pour. Duncan looked smug, which honestly was bewildering to Courtney. Did he like being soaking wet? She shrieked in frustration, knowing this was going to be the worst night of her life.

It was morning, Duncan was sure of that from the birds he could hear singing. It had stopped raining sometime during the night and they'd all fallen asleep. There was a warm comforting pressure on his chest, the curvaceous figure of a woman curled against him, her legs entwined with his and her hand absentmindedly stroking his chest. Was he still dreaming?

He opened an eye cautiously and his heart stopped for a second when he saw who it was who was cuddled up to him. Shit. He was finding it harder and harder to lie to himself and keep pretending he wasn't more than a little attracted to her. She was gorgeous and she was dominant and feisty. It was sexy, he had to admit. He wondered if he kissed her if maybe the lines on his chest would turn to colour.

Shut up Duncan, he told himself. Thoughts like that were not welcome in his head. He didn't want her and he didn't need her and soulmates were for nerds like Harold.

"Morning, Sunshine,' he said tauntingly as Courtney opened her eyes. He wasn't sure it he was teasing her because he was trying to keep her away, or because he just like to tease girls he liked. You don't like her, he scolded himself. He leered at her as she gasped and sat up.

"Ohmygod. Ew!" she said in dismay. "You were cuddling me!" she was up and away from him as fast as humanly possible. Duncan did his best not to scowl at her reaction. Actually it was kind of funny. That was the second time she'd ended up in his arms in the last 12 hours, and now she was trying to act like she didn't like it? Pfft, she was so hot for him. And it was now his number one mission to get her to admit it. Not because he liked her back or anything. But because it was embarrassing for her.

"I was calmly lying on my back and trying to catch a few z's," he pointed out in amusement. "You were snuggling up to me," he grinned. Courtney's face was priceless.

"You are such an ogre!" she retorted.

"I've been called worse," Duncan shrugged and laid back down. She hadn't admitted her mortal attraction for him, but she had been unable to deny that she was snuggling up to him, and that was enough for now. Duncan considered it a victory. He chuckled to himself as Courtney made a cry of frustration and stormed away. Yep, she so wanted him.

"Let's go already, so we can make it back before the Gophers!" Courtney demanded as the rest of her team slowly woke from their slumber. It was late enough already! Plus she needed something to forget to burning embarrassment of being caught cuddling up to Duncan. It was cold, okay? And he was nice and warm and comfortable. It was nothing more than that. She had been planning to wake up earlier so that he'd never know, but unfortunately she'd been able to sleep too well and he'd caught her out.

But the rest of the world could know that so as soon as they were back at camp she made sure to let everyone know via confessional that she had been ASLEEP and therefore it meant nothing and essentially it was like it never happened. If only she could forget about it so easily herself.

They were the first team back, but their victory was short lived when Chris pointed out that they had team members missing.

"Oh, you mean Katie and Sadie?" Courtney asked innocently. "I'm pretty sure they got eaten by wolves last night." That was believable, right? In any case, Courtney was past caring.

"Darn shame," Duncan shook his head in agreement. Courtney tried not to act surprised that he was backing her up, even after all the names she'd called him. She supposed he just wanted to win as much as she did. She was still so mad at him though. But Katie and Sadie had not been eaten by wolves (much to Courtney's chagrin) and they raced into camp only a moment later. They were so going to get it.

"Have you two finished your little love-fest?" Courtney asked sweetly, interrupting the hugging girls. "Good. Because thanks to you we just LOST THE CHALLENGE!" Courtney cried. She needed them to know it was their fault they'd lost and that was why one of them was as good as gone.

The campfire ceremony was uneventful as everyone had agreed that Katie was going home. The girls were as useless and annoying as each other so they just decided to go in alphabetical order.

After Katie had been ferried away on the boat of losers, Courtney made her way to the step of her cabin, trying to collect her thoughts, which were mainly filled with Duncan. How was it possible to hate him so much and yet at the same time he was constantly in her thoughts, wondering if he could be the one to make the lines on her chest light up. But she knew that path led only to madness and it wasn't going to win her the competition.

As if he were called to her by her thoughts, Duncan appeared from the darkness and sat by her on the step. Her stomach dropped when she saw him walking towards her. She glared at him as he sat down.

"Ugh, what do you want now?" she said in annoyance.

"I just wanted to say that, I'm sorry I scared you," Duncan said, a little unconvincingly.

"I was not scared!" Courtney denied. "It was completely circumstantial." She was glad that he thought she was mad because he scared her, but she still had to prove to him that she hadn't been scared at all. She wasn't afraid of anything, after all. "And there is no such thing as a hook man!" she scoffed.

"Yeah, you're probably right," Duncan agreed indifferently. "Or are you?!" he bellowed, pulling a hook out. Courtney shrieked at the top of her lungs. Annoyed at herself for falling for it, and for him for tricking her again, she groaned in frustration and stood up.

"I hate you!" she declared. She stalked off back to the campfire and Duncan smirked to himself.

"She so doesn't hate me," he snickered. And he would have her admit it before this competition was through.

Hey guys, hope you liked this chapter! Title comes from the song Disgusting by Kesha/Miranda Cosgrove! (Last chapter's title was pretty obvious I don't think I need to explain that haha). Writing this makes me realise how much I miss sesaon 1 Duncney, they were so cute :(

Anyway, let me know what you thought!