Wow guys I had a great response from the last chapter and I've been writing some more, so I decided to post this chapter early. I go overseas on Sunday so there definitely won't be another update after this until April! Don't forget to review and let me know what you think!

Duncan jumped out of bed and began his usual morning workout routine, only to find himself face to face with Harold's underwear. And this was not the first occurrence. His cry of disgust woke the other four guys and Geoff and DJ laughed at Duncan's misfortune.

"Not cool, Harold, man! Not cool!" Duncan yelled at Harold.

"Those aren't mine," Harold denied.

"Oh, right!" Duncan scoffed. "You're always leaving your gitch lying around!"

"No I'm not! Gosh!" Harold folded his arms in annoyance. Duncan slipped on his shorts as DJ and Geoff got out of bed to join the argument.

"Ah, yeah you are, dude," Geoff countered.

"You have like absolutely no proof," Harold stated, getting out of bed himself.

"No one else wears that kind, dude," Geoff pointed out.

"And your mom sewed your name onto the label," DJ chuckled.

"Whatever! I'm going for a shower!" Harold said dramatically, grabbing his towel and leaving the cabin in his underwear.

"Hey, don't forget to clean the skid maker!" Duncan called after him. "I think Harold needs to be taught a lesson, boys!" Duncan said mischievously. "Who's with me?"

"Yeah!" DJ and Geoff agreed as the three of them high fived.

"It needs to be something to do with his underwear that's going to totally embarrass him and make him look like an even bigger idiot than he already is," Duncan mused.

"Maybe we should find out what the challenge is, and then we can decide where to go from there," Geoff suggested.

"Good plan," DJ agreed. Duncan was suddenly reminded of their conversation last night about Courtney.

"Speaking of plans… that conversation last night. We should just forget about it. I don't really like Courtney, I was just lying," Duncan said unconvincingly.

"Come on Duncan, we said we'd help, so we're going to," Geoff assured him. Duncan sighed. He knew there was no taking it back now, but he wished his feelings for Courtney were still a secret.

"What is your plan then?" he asked. "What do I have to do?"

"You just have to act normal," DJ instructed. "Like you said, you can't let her know you like her. Keep treating her the way you always do."

"Yeah, and don't act like you're trying too hard. Be cool," Geoff agreed.

"How is that supposed to help? It hasn't worked so far," Duncan scowled.

"That's where we come in," Geoff said proudly. "We're going to do everything in our power to make sure you two spend as much time together as possible."

"She already likes you," DJ said knowingly, "we just have to break down her walls so that she admits it."

"This doesn't sound like a very foolproof plan," Duncan said sceptically.

"Would you just trust us, dude?" Geoff said, pretending to be offended.

"Fine," Duncan exhaled dramatically. He hoped these two idiots weren't going to make him look like a fool I front of Courtney and the entire viewing audience.

"And DJ, you're still going to help me with Bridgette, right?" Geoff confirmed.

"You know it!" DJ said, giving Geoff a thumbs up.

"Come on, the challenge is going to start soon," Duncan warned them.

The three boys walked out to join the rest of the campers and Geoff gave Duncan a shove, pushing him so that he was standing next to Courtney. He turned to give Geoff a frown, only to look back at Courtney and find her glaring at him. He grinned at her and she made a noise of disgust before turning back to Chris.

Chris announced a cooking challenge, and the Duncan looked at Geoff and DJ in glee, a plan formulating in his mind already.

They made their way to the food truck and opened the doors.

"We could do a killer Italian theme!" Geoff said in excitement.

"Hello head chef!" Duncan grinned.

"Seriously?" Geoff asked. Duncan nodded. It was the least he could do since Geoff had agreed to help him with Courtney. Maybe Bridgette would be impressed by Geoff's leadership skills. "Then let's get grabbin'!"

As the team collected their ingredients and headed inside to Chef's kitchen, Duncan grabbed DJ and Geoff and explained his plan for Harold to them. The boys cackled malevolently until Courtney walked by them with Harold, a suspicious look on her face, and they quickly disbanded.

"Okay, we got like six people and three courses," Geoff said casually, throwing Harold a can of tomatoes. "So everybody partner up!" Duncan saw Geoff look meaningfully at DJ and Harold and he figured their plan was to partner him and Courtney together.

"I know how to make pasta sauce!" DJ offered.

"I know how to boil pasta…" Bridgette said and DJ high fived her. Duncan wondered if Geoff had recruited Bridgette for this plan too, but he hoped his friend wouldn't betray him like that.

"Me and Sadie can rock the antipasto," Harold grinned. Duncan was grateful that Harold had also decided to help with the plan, and he felt almost guilty for a moment about the trick they were going to play on him. "I'm like a black belt when it comes to cutting cheese." On second thought, he had no qualms whatsoever. Harold was a total nerd.

"I guess that leaves you and me on dessert detail," Duncan said suggestively, giving Courtney his most winning smirk and wiggling his eyebrows at her.

"Oh no," Courtney refused. "No way!"

"Come on, Courtney!" Geoff stepped in, doing his job as wingman. He put an arm around Duncan and around Courtney. "For the team," he convinced her. Courtney looked at both guys doubtfully. Duncan and Geoff smiled innocently and Courtney frowned, clearly not believing their act. It was like she could tell they were up to something.

"Fine," she sighed. "But you better not screw this up!" she warned. Duncan nodded and shared a look with Geoff. It was now time for phase one of the plan to teach Harold a lesson.

Courtney watched disapprovingly as Duncan rolled out the pastry. It was just her luck to get stuck with him for the whole challenge. The deer hunting challenge had so not gone the way she wanted it to. She'd tried avoiding him and she'd ended up literally stuck to him, and he kept bringing it up whenever possible. Now it seemed like he was doing his best to annoy her again with his terrible pastry rolling skills. Couldn't he do anything right?

"Careful your big paws don't mash the pastry!" she scolded as she mixed up the custard filling. She hadn't really wanted to let Duncan do either job but he insisted her knew how to make pastry so she eventually gave in.

"Careful your uptight butt doesn't curdle the custard!" Duncan snickered. He thought he was so hilarious! It was beyond Courtney how she even found herself attracted to the dumb punk, let alone be his soulmate. It was infuriating.

"Oh ha ha ha," she laughed sarcastically, before shrieking at the sight that had just walked back into the kitchen. Harold stood in the doorway wearing nothing but a shirt and a tiny pair of underwear.

"Okay, who took all my shorts?" he accused. Courtney shot a sidelong glance at Duncan not doubting for a second that he had something to do with it. At that moment Chris walked in and announced they had three hours left before they had to serve their meals.

"Can you just make sure it's even?" Courtney said to Duncan as they went back to preparing the dessert.

"I'm trying," Duncan replied. "You don't have to keep bossing me around," he scowled. Courtney eyed him suspiciously, but it really did seem like she was trying so she just went back to making the custard. That was until a shouting match erupted on the other side of the kitchen.

"Dinner and a show," Duncan chuckled.

"You should be thanking your lucky stars you have me on your team and not Heather," Courtney informed him.

"I am," Duncan said genuinely. Courtney met his eyes, feeling them boring into her soul. She suddenly felt flustered and she dropped her eyes back to the pastry.

"It looks fine now, you can put it in the oven," she said, trying to regain her composure as Duncan eyed her in interest. She pretended she didn't notice and went to take the custard to the fridge.

"Sadie!" she called. "The bench is all yours! I'm going for a walk. Bridgette, want to join me?" she asked. Bridgette nodded and the two of them skedaddled from the kitchen.

"What's up?" Bridgette asked once they were outside. Courtney had intended to confess everything to Bridgette, to get it off her chest so that she could finally breathe. Her certainty that Duncan was her soulmate, her decision to ignore that fact and the deep burning desire she had for him anyway. But now that they were alone, she couldn't bring herself to voice her fears aloud. It was a confession she knew she could never take back. She hesitated before speaking.

"Nothing… it was just really stuffy in there," Courtney lied. Bridgette saw right through her though.

"It's Duncan, isn't it?" Bridgette guessed.

"No!" Courtney denied. "Yes… I'm so confused. Can we talk about you and Geoff instead?" she said, a hint of desperation in her voice. Bridgette seemed to sense this so she let Courtney change the subject.

"Fine," Bridgette sighed. "What do you want to know?"

"How's it going? I mean… you seemed to be getting close with him," Courtney observed.

"Yeah, things were going well until today when he told me I looked like his friends hot mom," Bridgette rolled her eyes. "Am I supposed to take that as a compliment?" Courtney cringed. Geoff really had no idea.

"I mean, at least he's trying," Courtney pointed out.

"I guess," Bridgette shrugged. "I really do like him most of the time, and he's really cute, but sometimes he just says the dumbest things," she sighed.

"He thinks you're soulmates. People do dumb things for love," Courtney said wistfully.

"I guess you're right," Bridgette agreed reluctantly. "But this whole soulmate thing freaks me out still! I mean his shirt is always open. Those lines are kind of intimidating, you know? Whether or not they're for me." She glanced at Courtney and Courtney knew she wasn't going to like what was coming next. "Do you think Duncan's your soulmate?" Courtney didn't know how to reply. Should she admit to Bridgette how sure she was that Duncan was her soulmate?

"No," she said eventually. "No, definitely not." She said it with a tone of finality but she wasn't even sure she had convinced Bridgette, let alone herself. "I'm going to the confessional, you should head back," Courtney told Bridgette. The blonde nodded and Courtney went to the confessional to try and convince the viewing audience that Duncan wasn't her soulmate, since she couldn't seem to convince herself.

"Somebody find Courtney, it's time to finish the dessert," Duncan said to no one in particular as he got out the tray of pastry and the custard from the fridge. He knew Courtney would probably want to do this part herself but she wasn't here and he was, so he got out a piping bag and began filling the pastry with custard.

"They all have to have the same amount of custard!" came a voice behind him. He hadn't noticed Courtney sneak up on him, he was so busy concentrating on the dessert. He rolled his eyes and continued pumping.

"Oh relax, they're fine," he assured her. He thought they looked pretty damn good if he said so himself. Courtney was still looking angry though. "You know, you'd be a lot more fun without that pole up your butt."

"I'm like the most easy going person I know!" Courtney said defensively.

"Oh yeah, you're totally laid back," Duncan scoffed. Was she serious right now? Well, now he had a point to prove and he knew just how to do it. He didn't hesitate before squeezing the piping tube full of custard and squirting the yellow goo all over her face, grinning at himself.

Courtney cried out in outrage as the custard hit her face, and she looked less than impressed. She wiped the custard from her face slowly, looking like she was going to cut a man, before picking up the bowl of custard and flinging it at Duncan's head. She burst into laughter as the custard ran down his face.

Okay, that was definitely not what he was expecting. But then again, he had known there was more to Courtney than just an uptight control freak. And then she did something even more unexpected, running her finger across his forehead to scoop up some of the custard and then licking her finger. Was it wrong that he found it incredibly hot?

"Now who has a pole up their butt?" Courtney teased, obviously mistaking the look on Duncan's face for one of disgust.

"It's still you, princess," Duncan smirked, pulling the custard bowl from his head. "One custard fight does not make you a laid back person." Courtney screwed up her nose at him. "Now if you'll excuse me I have to remove this custard from my hair before we serve the food."

He left the kitchen on a high. Courtney had finally let loose for once, and it was because of him. She was actually smiling at him and teasing him. Could Geoff and DJ's plan actually be working?

Courtney's heart was still thumping from the brief custard fight she'd had with Duncan. It had actually been kind of fun, and it was totally harmless. It didn't make her like him even more, or anything like that. Nope, definitely not. She was still as indifferent to him as she was on day one. He returned from the washroom with his hair all fixed up after getting the custard out of it, just as it was time to serve the dessert to Chris.

Courtney picked up the plate of cannoli and gestured for Duncan to follow her out to the dining room where Chris was waiting. She placed the dish in front of him and stood back, waiting nervously for his verdict. If the Bass won this challenge it would be their third win in a row. She felt a hand on her shoulder and she glanced around to see Duncan trying to comfort her. He gave her a reassuring smile and she smiled weakly in return. He obviously knew how much this meant to her.

"Ehh…" Chris started. "Six." Courtney's face fell at the score and Duncan looked ready to murder Chris. Courtney was annoyed at herself. They could have got a higher score if she hadn't decided to participate in Duncan's dumb custard fight, she was sure of it. But then Chris announced that the Gophers needed a ten for their dessert to even get a tie and the two of them instantly brightened.

The Gophers dessert was a disaster, and if that wasn't amazing enough, the sight of a very angry, blue Heather with horribly drawn on eyebrows sure made everyone's day.

"The Bass win, twenty one to twelve. And it's not just 'cause I almost died. The ribs sucked too!" Chris declared. The Bass cheered while Heather went on a rampage.

"As promised the Bass will be enjoying a reward tonight!" Chris announced. "A five star dinner under the stars!"

The Bass erupted into cheers again at this news.

"Way to go guys!" Courtney grinned. Duncan turned and wrapped his arms around her, lifting her from the ground. She giggled, feeling dizzy and her heart pounding from the contact and the thrill of winning yet another challenge. But as much as she enjoyed being in Duncan's arms, she had a promise to herself she had to keep.

"Put me down," she told him, she was still smiling but she was fast becoming anxious. "Put me down!" she snapped after he ignored her the first time. He quickly placed her back on her feet, looking a little worried. She pursed her lips at him in annoyance. Why did he keep having to do things that made her like him? Couldn't he just stay away from her? Even when he was being purposefully annoying she liked him and she was really getting sick of it.

While the Gophers headed to the campfire ceremony once again, the Bass were led by Chef to a clearing in the woods for their 5 star reward dinner.

Duncan kicked at the ground, trailing behind the rest of his team, wondering how he messed up with Courtney so bad. He had thought he was making progress, but then at the end of the challenge she was back to hating him. And he was pretty sure she didn't really hate him, but she sure as hell was doing an excellent job of pretending to. But he couldn't for the life of him figure out why.

The group stopped dead when they saw what had been set up for them. A table stood in the middle of the clearing, adorned with candles and roses. In the trees someone had strung fairy lights that glittered like the stars above their heads. Even Duncan was impressed by the magical atmosphere that had been surrounded them. It could have been really romantic… if the girl he liked would talk to him, and if Harold wasn't there.

"Awesome…" Harold breathed. "Like… amazing!"

"Yeah," Geoff agreed next to him. Duncan saw DJ give Geoff a shove in the direction of Bridgette. Geoff cleared his throat and Bridgette looked up at him.

"Shall we?" Geoff held out his arm and Bridgette took it. Duncan rolled his eyes as Geoff led Bridgette to the table. If only things were that easy with Courtney.

Somehow DJ managed to orchestrate the seating arrangements so that Duncan sitting next to Courtney, much to her obvious annoyance.

"Hey, princess," he drawled, pouring her a glass of fake wine. She took the drink but ignored his comment.

"A toast!" DJ announced, standing up, holding his glass out at eye level. "To the Killer Bass and our third win in a row!"

"To the Killer Bass!" everyone cheered. Duncan went to clink glasses with Courtney but pulled his glass away at the last second, as she was still refusing to look at him.

"It's bad luck to not look someone in the eye when you clink your glasses," he whispered in her ear. She shivered at his breath on her neck and turned to face him. Her eyes shimmered with the reflection of the fairy lights surrounding the clearing and Duncan didn't take his eyes off her as their glasses touched.

"Well done today," he told her.

"Thanks," she said shortly. "We only got a six though. We could've done better if we'd stayed focused on the task instead of acting like children."

"Aw, is that what you're mad about? Come on, it was fun. And we still won, so what does it matter?" Duncan shrugged, grinning at her.

"It matters because we only won because the Gophers did terribly, not because we were good," Courtney snapped. "There's a difference, and it's knowing that difference that is the reason I'm going to go far in this competition and you aren't," she spat.

"I know you think you're better than me, but trust me, you aren't," Duncan snorted. "And I know you like me," he added with a wink. "You can deny it all you want, but I'll get you to admit it eventually."

"Your confidence is admirable," Courtney said scathingly, "but let's get one thing straight. I don't like you, and I never will," she said matter-of-factly.

"We'll see," Duncan smirked. She was trying way too hard to convince him that she didn't like him, which could only mean one thing; she most definitely did like him. Duncan chuckled at Courtney's aggravated groan, but he left her alone for the rest of the night. There was still plenty of time to win her over.