Duncan didn't have time to wonder where the boat of losers was taking him. He was too busy freaking out about the possible sasquatchanakwa driving the boat. He was relieved when it did actually turn out to be just Chef. He put his terror down to being over tired, despite the fact that he'd slept pretty well the previous night, with Heather curled up next to him. He was over the fact that the girls had tricked him. It was a game after all and he would have done the same thing if he had thought it would've worked on them. But somehow Heather was immune to his charms, and Gwen already had Trent.

He was however, still mad at Owen for pretty much losing the challenge for them. And now Duncan was paying the price. He looked up when he saw lights in the distance. He could make out the shape of some kind of building on the shoreline and from what he could see it looked pretty fancy. Chef steered the boat towards land and Duncan's stomach dropped as he realised he would probably be seeing the other eliminated contestants very shortly. Somehow the thought terrified him more than the sasquatchanakwa.

As the boat drew closer to the dimly lit dock, Duncan began to hear the voices of the past contestants shouting, though he couldn't make out what they were saying. They sounded like excited shouts though, not angry, so he figured they were letting each other know he was coming. Except, they didn't know it was him yet.

He wondered how they'd feel about him now. Was he heading to welcoming arms or an angry mob? He realised he didn't care that much. Though he was curious to see the reaction of his past team members, he really only cared about one person's opinion of him, and his heart swelled at the thought of getting to see her again. Things had ended well, right? He realised now he'd been stupid to think he'd never see her again. Of course the show would keep them together after they'd been eliminated.

So, maybe, he hoped, they could pick up where they left off. She hadn't cared about who her real soulmate was while they were on the island, so he didn't see why she would now. Unless she'd figured it out after she was eliminated. Still, he dared to hope. He wondered if she kept the gift he gave her.

Finally Chef pulled the boat up to the dock and Duncan could make out the silhouettes of a group of people gathered on the dock.

"Who is it?" someone yelled, though it didn't seem like the question was directed at him.

"Shut up, I can't see," someone else said in annoyance.

"Is it Heather?"

"It's Chef!"

"Don't be so stupid!"

Duncan stepped off the boat and onto the dock.

"It's… Duncan," Trent said stepping forward.

"Hey," Duncan nodded. He wasn't really looking at Trent, instead his eyes immediately sought out Courtney. She had her arms folded and her face was expressionless, but she didn't exactly look happy to see him. Duncan tried to smile at her but she immediately averted her eyes.

"Alright, you know the rules!" Eva shouted, and the group began to disband, heading back up to the massive mansion looming above them.

"The rules?" Duncan asked no one in particular.

"No questions until tomorrow," Leshawna informed him. Duncan nodded and turned his attention back to where Courtney had been standing, but she was gone. Leshawna noticed the direction of his gaze.

"Best leave that till tomorrow too," she advised. Duncan looked at her quizzically but she just shrugged and began to follow the others back up to the mansion. Duncan sighed and followed her lead.

Duncan didn't feel much like sleeping, it was still fairly early really, so he took the opportunity to explore his new surroundings. Playa des Losers was impressive to say the least and being eliminated suddenly didn't seem like such a bad thing after all.

After seeing everything there was to see he walked along the hall back to his room. He could hear giggling around the corner, coming towards him and he instinctively looked for somewhere to hide. The hallway was empty though and soon he was confronted by Geoff and Bridgette kissing and laughing, so wrapped up in each other that they hadn't noticed him standing there, until they almost walked into him.

"Duncan," Geoff said dumbly.

"Geoff," Duncan nodded awkwardly. He couldn't say he regretted voting Geoff or Bridgette off, but he thought they might hold some animosity for him. Bridgette seemed to read his mind.

"No hard feelings," she smiled. Duncan nodded and the three of them went to head their separate ways.

"Hey," Duncan turned, calling after them.

"Yeah?" Geoff replied, turning back to face Duncan.

"Do you guys know which room is Courtney's?" he asked. Screw Leshawna's advice. Geoff and Bridgette shared a look before Bridgette opened her mouth hesitantly.

"Room 208. Second floor," she said.

"Thanks," Duncan grinned and headed off in the direction of Courtney's room.

He took a deep breath before knocking. He wasn't sure what he was going to say, but he thought he'd figure it out when he saw her.

"Who is it?" she called after a beat. His stomach flipped at the sound of her voice. It had been way too long.

"It's Duncan," he called back. Silence. Some scuffling sounds, then Courtney's footsteps as she walked towards the door. She was wearing her pyjamas with a sweater thrown over them, her hair slightly messed up.

"Hey princess," he grinned. "Did I wake you?" he asked.

"No. What do you want?" Courtney said shortly. Duncan was a little taken aback, but he tried to hide his surprise.

"I thought we could… catch up," he said lamely. Courtney raised an eyebrow at him.

"I'm not going to have sex with you," she said flatly.

"That's not what I meant," Duncan huffed. "I actually meant talk." And maybe have sex later.

"No thanks. Bye," Courtney went to close the door.

"What's your problem?" Duncan snapped.

"My problem?" Courtney retorted.

"Yeah. We were getting along great on the island. What happened?"

"What happened was I realised I can do better than you," Courtney snorted. "Did you really think I was sitting around waiting for you so we could pick up where we left off?"

"No," he said, even though he kind of had thought that. "Did you hook up with someone else then?" he questioned, annoyed at himself for caring. Jealous, even though she hadn't answered the question yet.

"None of your business. What's it to you anyway? Like you didn't hook up with other girls while I was gone," Courtney scoffed. Duncan was about to deny it. Maybe she was just waiting for him to assure her he only ever thought about her. But he didn't want to give her the satisfaction. If she didn't care, then neither did he.

"Whatever, Courtney," he snorted. "I didn't ever really like you anyway."

"The feeling is mutual," she spat.

"I guess it's lucky we weren't soulmates after all," Duncan scowled.

"Lucky," Courtney agreed angrily, and Duncan couldn't help himself, he lunged forward, grabbing her and pulling her mouth to his. She was compliant at first, kissing him back with an intensity he matched easily. But all too soon she was pushing him away, delivering a sharp slap across his face.

"Leave me alone," she hissed acidly before slamming the door in his face.

He knew he was out of line. He'd probably made it much worse. He should have left before he'd done something so stupid, or better yet, taken Leshawna's advice and not come at all.

But then, at least now he knew where he stood. Things were over between them, her words and slap to the face made that clear, and he was pretty sure it didn't get more over than that. And he was sorry. He was incredibly regretful that things hadn't worked out between them, though he should have known they never would. But he'd be okay. There'd be other girls who really wanted him. Maybe even a soulmate.

He tried to console himself with these thoughts as he made his way back to his own room and went to bed. And he knew it was true, and yet it didn't stop it hurting right now, and he fell asleep with his cheek and heart still stinging.

It was easy for Courtney to be angry at Duncan. Anger was her go-to emotion when she didn't know what else to feel. And when she saw him get off that boat she was so overwhelmed with a flurry of emotions, anger was the only one she could latch onto.

It was better that way. It was better if he never knew he was her soulmate. If he knew… well she wasn't quite sure what would happen, but she was pretty sure it would eventually destroy her. Which was why when she'd realised he could be joining them at Playa des Losers any day now she'd managed to convince everyone not to tell him. Although, convince is a tame word for the way she threatened them mercilessly to keep her secret. If one of those blabber mouths told, she would have their head on a platter.

She hadn't expected him to kiss her. She wasn't ready for it, and she hadn't realised how much she ached for it until it was already happening and she was responding before she could remember how much she hated him. It wasn't his fault, she knew that. He couldn't help that his lines were black, any more than she could help that hers were green. But it surprised her that he still seemed to want her, when his soulmate was somewhere on this island. And she was mad that he had the nerve to pretend like he hadn't considered hooking up with one of the other girls. He must have considered it, after all. He hadn't known she was sitting there, just on the other side of the island, pathetically waiting for the day he'd announce his presence at Playa des Losers.

She didn't cry this time, after she'd slammed the door in his face. She just angrily threw her sweater to the floor, the one she'd thrown on to hide her marks. He could never see them. She'd never let him get close enough to see them again. It was for the best, for both of them, if she ever wanted to move on.