AN: By coming un-done, last chapter, I meant Courtney's relationship with Nate, mostly. Just a little heads up...
Gwen's POV
The drive to the restaurant had been nice; making small talk and laughing over things on the radio. It had felt very normal, and very right.
The restaurant it's self, looked incredible, filled with lights and music and mouth-watering smells.
"Trent, this place is amazing." I spoke up as the waiter led up to a table in the back, and Trent pulled my chair out for me.
"I'm glad you like it. Order anything you'd like." He encouraged, sliding the menu closer to me, smiling.
Opening the menu, I felt my eyes widen. "These prices are outrageous. Are you sure-"
"Nah, don't worry about it, Beautiful." He reached across the table and gave my hand a squeeze, sending butterflies to swarm in my stomach, and my cheeks to turn a very light shade of pink. I felt like a one of those idiot girls in the cliché romance films I always made fun of, but at the same time, I finally understood them. The girls in those movies just couldn't help themselves, when it came to their reactions to what their love interests did. I could now relate.
After ordering our food, Trent looked out the window for a brief moment, -still holding onto my hand, and lightly playing with my fingers- before turning to face me again. "You really do look beautiful, Gwen."
"Thanks, D-" I stopped, mid-sentence, realizing that mentioning my ex-boyfriend had chosen my outfit might not of been something I'd want to blurt out on a first date with a different boy. "Um, so, have you written any music lately?" I asked, trying to cover up my word fumble, noticing Trent hadn't brought his guitar case, for once.
"A little. Some about you." He admitted sheepishly, and I smiled widely.
"I'd love to hear it." I replied, honestly.
He laughed lightly. "Yeah, maybe I'll play it for you, one day."
As the food came, talking was cut short. Three quarters through my meal, I could feel my stomach twist a little bit, so I took a quick drink of water, then continued eating. Once finished, I started feeling my stomach begin to rumble, apparently loud enough that Trent could hear it.
"Are you... okay?" He asked, raising an eyebrow, and I waved my hand dismissively. A habit I'd unfortunately picked up from Duncan.
"Yeah. I'm f-" My sentence was cut off as I suddenly heaved, spewing vomit down onto the white table cloth and our empty plates. I lifted my head in a hurry, noticing I'd gotten some on my date, too, and covered my mouth with my hand. "Oh my god! Trent, I'm so sorry!"
Please, just kill me now.
Courtney's POV
I'd managed to pull myself together long enough for my Mom to ask me how my day was, for me to lie, then her to announce she felt tired, and head off to bed. All I could think about for the past three hours was Nate. I didn't want to leave things the way they were; I needed to apologize. If I didn't, the guilt would eat away my insides until there was nothing left of me.
Making sure Mom was soundly asleep, I snuck the keys off of her nightstand, and tip-toed downstairs again. Her car would be much faster, and much quieter, as well. However, I knew if I were to be caught, I'd never see the light of day, even if I explained it was to make-up with Nathan.
Upon leaving the house and quickly hopping into the car, I noticed I'd forgotten my jacket, in my blind race to get outside. My arms already felt numb from the intense cold of the December air. Switching on the heater, I backed out of the driveway as silently as possible, and soon, was speeding down the street. I knew he'd probably be sleeping by now, -it was nearing midnight- but I had to speak with him before it was too late. We lived pretty far from one another, so it would take me at least ten minutes to get to his house. This town was so big, though, so I would of be surprised if we were only a couple of minutes apart.
Suddenly, the car made a sickly popping sound, then stuttered, and began to slow down. "No, no, no. Don't do this to me now." I hissed, slamming my foot harder against the gas pedal, but remained rooted in the same spot. "Crap."
Glancing through the tinted window beside me, I nibbled at my lower lip as I looked at the small houses. I'm sure one of them would be able to give me a jump start, but asking a complete stranger at this hour, not only made me seem bad if the residents inside were asleep, but who knows who lived inside. They could be drug dealers or rapists, for all I knew.
Still, asking a drug dealer to start my car was a tiny bit better then having to walk for half an hour with no coat, in the snow, in the middle of the night.
Enjoying the warmth that filled the car for a moment longer, I reluctantly pushed open the driver's side door, and my body instantly felt cold as the heat was replaced with a bitter, chilling breeze. I examined the three houses closest to me, and decided on the one in the middle, as all the lights seemed to be on, so I wouldn't risk waking anyone up.
I shuffled across the street and rubbing my bare arms with my hands, trying to give myself some kind of warmth again. Halfway across, I slid on pile of slush I hadn't seen, and was sent sprawling onto the concrete, ending up soaking wet, and frozen to the bone. Hurrying a little faster, -but now watching my steps more carefully- I made it to the normal sized, two level home, and knocked on the front door.
It took a minute, but the door swung open, revealing a petite little blond woman, who looked about in her mid-thirties, early-forties. She certainly didn't see like any sort of drug dealer; on the contrary, she looked almost... sweet. Like those kind of Mothers you saw on television shows.
"Um, excuse me, I was just wondering if you had any jumper cables? My car kind of stopped working, and I really need to be somewhere." I stuttered out, words coming out jumbled as my teeth began chattering.
"Oh Sweetheart, you're freezing. Come on inside, and of course I can help you." She ushered me inside the home before I had a chance to say otherwise, and I was greeted with the smell of fresh baked cookies. I hesitantly followed the woman as she led me into the living room, her teal eyes reminding me faintly of someone else, I really didn't want to think about, at this point in time.
"Here you are," She smiled warmly at me, handing me a blanket that I accepted without a second thought. Wrapping it around my shoulders, I noticed it looked like someones old baby blanket, a light blue flannel material, covered with little green dinosaurs.
"Now, your car is that fancy black one outside, right?" She asked me, digging around in a closet a few feet away from where I sat on the sofa.
I pulled the blanket tighter around my shoulders. "Yes, that's right." She emerged from the closet a minute later with some jumper cables, and nodded. "Alright, I'll be right back, then."
Watching her exit the house, I hadn't heard anyone come down the stairs, until I heard a gasp and a familiar voice chuckle. "Well, I'll be damned..."
Spinning around wildly, I glared at the boy before me. Fate just loved to screw me over, didn't it? Although, now I knew one thing for sure, Duncan's eyes weren't that color from contacts; looking at the woman I assumed was his Mom.
"Liking my baby blanket, huh?" He asked cheerfully, and I cringed against it, and chucked it on the other end of the couch, as if he had said it had a disease.
"So, Princess, what brings your royal self down to my humble home?" He asked cheekily, and I resisted the urge to smack him one.
Sighing in aggravation, I focused at the clock on the wall while I spoke. "My car broke down. Your Mother is helping me fix it."
Duncan jumped over onto the sofa cushion beside me, in turn, making me jump in shock as I was jostled around.
"Do you have to act like such a child?" I snapped, and he smirked in response, leaving me to groan. "You couldn't simply walk over and sit down, could you?"
"Nope." He replied, throwing his arm over my shoulder, and I glared at him darkly. However, he seemed unaffected by the look. Weirdly enough, he removed his arm, himself, and gave me a frown, only a second later. "Have you been crying?"
I blinked and reflexively touched my eye, not realizing it was still puffy. Still, I pretended only to scratch it, before dropping my hand from my face. "No, why on earth would I be crying?"
He shrugged, then looked down, I was about to follow his gaze when Duncan reached forward and took my hand. I was about to yank it back, but he turned the appendage so my palm faced upwards, showing the scrapes I'd gotten from my fall on the road. "You're soaking wet, and you're hurt. Did you trip or something, clumsy?" He asked, a teasing smile on his face, though his eyes were still filled with concern. All of a sudden, I felt a bit overwhelmed with the situation.
I said nothing as I pulled my hand away from his, and stood up. "I should go. I'm sure-"
"Ma hasn't come in yet, and at least let me clean the cut for you." He suggested, and grabbed me by the elbow, leading me down the hallway before I had a chance to react.
The Punk led me inside the bathroom, then dug through the medical cabinet for a moment, before pulling out some antiseptic and a band-aid.
I was silent as he began cleaning the wound, and he apologized when I winced at how it stung as he cleaned it. Finally, he carefully slapped on a red band-aid, and kissed the spot he'd just covered. "There you go, Darlin'. All better."
Feeling my face flush, I stepped away from him, bumping into someone as I jerked backward. Turning, I felt my face grow hotter. The older man standing there cleared his throat, and nodded at me.
"Sorry." I said mumbled quickly, and I ducked around him with a shy smile, leaving the bathroom and making my way back inside the living room.
I curled up on the end of the couch, feeling it hard to breathe. I just wanted to leave this house, and never come back. I'd already made a fool of myself by slamming into Duncan's Father, and I'm sure his Mom minded having to go out into the blizzard that was starting, a lot more then she made it seem.
"You never told me why you were crying. Or what you're doing driving around like a mad-woman in the middle of the night." Duncan's voice startled me, and I looked at him, leaning against the wall across the room.
Scowling, I scoffed. "Because I wasn't crying, and even if I was, it's really no business of yours. Neither is what I'm doing."
He blew out a breath, and moved to take a seat in the spot next to me again, much to my distaste.
"Did you and Nathan have a fight, or something?" He questioned, and I opened my mouth to deny it, but the words stayed lodged in my throat. Duncan nodded his head, seeming to take that as a yes.
I was just about to get off the couch, and go see how my car was coming along, when Duncan grabbed me by the shoulders and tugged me close, holding me to his chest.
Softly, he whispered in my ear, "I'm really sorry, Honey."
Duncan's POV
I hated knowing it had been my fault Courtney had cried- even if she was never going to admit she did. It wasn't even just that; it was simply the fact she had shed some tears. By the look of the redness around her eyes, I assumed there had been a lot of them, shed. Not to mention she was soaked and bleeding. The whole combination left a knot in my stomach.
Cleaning her wound, I was relieved to see it wasn't deep, only a little scrape. The rational part of my brain, -that also contained my manly pride- was yelling at me that I was acting like such a marshmallow. However, it was currently over-shadowed by the softer side of me, -that I was usually unaware I even possessed in the first place- wanted nothing more then to make sure she was okay.
Kissing her palm, I tried to keep myself from smirking as her cheeks lit up with a blush. The rational side of my brain was a little quieter after this display.
I snorted lightly as she backed up and ended up walking straight into my Dad, she blushed some more, muttered out an apology, and scurried away like a scared little mouse. That was new.
"Duncan, I'm guessing that car outside your Mother is trying to get started belongs to that girl, correct?" He asked me, and I nodded, smirking.
"Yeah, but hey, think you can do me a favor, Pa?" I asked and spoke again before he could reject my question out-right. "Keep Ma from fixing the car for a while."
He gave me a deadpan expression, and I sighed heavily, and lowered my voice. "Look, I really like this girl, okay? I just want ten extra minutes alone with her, alright?"
His lip twitched, hinting at a smile. "Sure, Son." He walked away without another word, but then popped his head back inside the bathroom a second later, "By the way, I approve. She's quite... cute."
I felt pleased, and a bit disturbed at the same time. My Father approving of anything I like was a sure fire sign of the Apocalypse, considering he hadn't even liked Gwen very much.
Making my way into the living room, I asked her once more, as to why she was crying. Of course, she denied it again, -as if I expected anything different- then I sat down next to her for the second time that night.
Asking her about Nathan seemed to strike a cord, as she opened her mouth and shut it, without saying a word. Her expression however, was filled with remorse and sadness. Without realizing what was happening, I'd pulled her to me, and whispered how sorry I was in her ear. Don't get me wrong, I didn't feel sorry for throwing a wrench into her and Nathan's relationship. I only felt sorry for the fact that dumb ass had made her cry, and she'd obviously been heading to talk to him when the car broke down.
What surprised me the most, was that she let me hold her, not speaking a word of protest. I smiled to myself, resting my cheek atop her head, while I began to run my fingers through her hair.
It wasn't the hot and heavy make-out session I wanted, but hey, it was certainly a start.
AN: I'm sorry for the lack of GxT this chapter, but there shall be more next chapter. I just wanted to get Courtney and Duncan's relationship on the right track. So, thoughts? And was Duncan too out of character? I always wonder about that, when making him all... lovey-dovey. :P