Gwen's POV

It was cruel, really, that the earth never swallowed you up when you requested it to.

As soon as I took in what I had done, and the apology had left my lips, I dashed from the restaurant, leaving my dignity behind in a pile of puke.

I bit my lip as I could feel moisture building up behind my eyelids. The snow falling gently from the sky stuck to my hair and brushed across my cheeks as I ran, through the parking lot, determined to get as far away as I could. I dug my phone from my purse, but stopped short as I realized I had no one to call. Bridgette and LeShawna were probably busy still, and Duncan... well, he isn't exactly the person I'd want to tell this. Hell, he'd probably make fun of me for barfing on my date.

So, moving glumly to the far edge of the parking lot, I sat on the curb, face in my hands, when I heard the resturant door open. The bell chimed a happy sound, and I heard footsteps approach me. Still, I didn't look up, even as the person took a seat beside me.

"If you weren't feeling too good, you could of told me. We could of rescheduled." Trent said, breaking the silence.

Dropping my hands from my face, I sniffled, a lump building up in my throat as I examined him. He had taken off the jacket of his tux, though I could still spot some residue from my accident on him. I felt humiliated. Although, after a moment, I finally spoke up. "You know, you reek."

And in that instant, we both cracked up. Laughing loudly and happily, we felt ourselves grinning afterwards.

"Then allow me to do this." I knew what he was about to do, but backed away too slow, as his arms encircled me. I gagged melodramatically, as he hugged me. It sent us both into another fit of giggles.

When he finally dropped his arms from around me, we were left staring at each other. It didn't matter we were both splattered haphazardly with my vomit, or that we both probably stank now, because when he leaned down and softly pressed his lips to mine, I couldn't find a single thing wrong about this date.

Courtney's POV

We sat on the couch for a moment, as I let him stroke my hair. My brain ordered me to push him away, but my frozen body didn't comply. The heat emanating from him was just too lovely to resist. At the same time though, I knew I should be using this time to tell Nate how sorry I was.

"You're thinking about him still, aren't you?" Before I had a chance to say anything to that, he spoke again. "You can't tell me he's a better boyfriend to you then I could be..." Lightly, he kissed my jaw as he breathed the words, and my mouth opened slightly at the sensual feel of his lips against my skin. All of a sudden, it was like the fog surrounding my brain had been lifted, and I realized exactly what he was doing. Grunting, I shoved him away, pulling myself from him and off the couch in general.

"You pig." I snarled once I was back on two feet, though the menacing effect seemed to be lost on him, as he sent me a smug smirk. Amusement shone clear on his face. My left hand twitched, just begging me to slap him.

However, before I got the chance, the front door swung open once more, and in came Duncan's mother; a swirl of snowflakes trailing behind her.

"Is it working?" I asked hopefully, not bothering to contain my glee.

"Sorry, Sweetie. I'm afraid it won't start." She said, giving me an apologetic look as my relieved grin turned into a frown. Noticing Duncan sitting there, she smiled lightly. "If you'd like, I'm sure my son would be more then happy to drive you home..." She trailed off, glancing at him. However, my stomach just knotted in despair.

He shrugged. "Sure, I wouldn't mind."

I tried to keep my expression blank, and my tone polite. "No, no. I don't want to trouble you."

Duncan sneered. "Alright, then have a nice walk home, Princess." My hand twitched again. I couldn't believe, only five minutes earlier, he'd actually seemed genuinely concerned for my health and emotional well-being. Jackass.

It's like a light bulb lit up over his Mother's golden head as he uttered the dreadful nickname, and her smile turned a bit warmer. "You must be Courtney." I nodded, feeling astounded. Had he talked about me to his mom?

"It's so nice to meet you. I'm sorry it's under these circumstances, though. I'm Lauren Evans." I shook her hand, quietly introducing myself, even though she already knew who I was.

Duncan and his Ma exchanged looks for a second, having a silent conversation, before he heaved himself off the couch.

"Alright then, let's hit the road, Darlin'."

"Don't call me that." I hissed out of reflex, and his mother chuckled lightly, causing my cheeks to burn in chagrin.

Reluctantly, I followed him out the door, wrapping my arms around myself as the cold breeze hit my wet shirt. I let him lead me into the garage, where a silver truck was parked. It looked like it would be able to handle a blizzard perfectly fine, with it's large tires. He unlocked the door for me without a word, before getting in himself.

Once we were inside, and he'd flipped the heater on, he looked at me expectantly. "Well?"

I pursed my lips in confusion. "Well what?"

He gave me an annoyed grunt. "Give me the damn directions to Nathan's house. I thought you wanted to get there."

Now I was thoroughly confused. First he acts like he really cares about me, then tries to seduce me, then he acts like the normal bastard I have to put up with on a daily basis, and now he's going to take me right to my boyfriend's house? His sudden mood swings were starting to make me feel dizzy.

"Come on, Court. We're wasting time." He urged me, bumping my calf with his foot. I glare at him for half a second, before sighing.

"Just take me home, Duncan. It's too late to visit, now." I grumbled, staring out the window as he shrugged and pulled out of the driveway.

Duncan's POV

I'd thought we were making progress. I'd assumed she would finally give into me back in the living room; but of course, Courtney never does what I expect her to.

Still, my ego had taken a bit of a hit, as I'd been so sure she would realize I was the one who was right for her.

Thinking of being back inside, I knew Ma was going to be firing a million questions at me as soon as I got home. I really wasn't too excited for that.

I pulled out of the driveway after she requested I take her home. I wondered why she wasn't thrilled that she'd get a chance to speak with him, when he was the very reason she set out in the middle of the night, in a blizzard, in the first place. I noticed, that despite the heater being on full blast, she'd still shiver and curl up tighter against the seat, every once in a while. As I pulled up to a red light, I shrugged out of the winter jacket I'd snagged off the coat rack before leaving, and tossed it to her.

She examined the article of clothing with a displeased glower. "What's this for?"

"It's a jacket. People wear them when going out into cold weather." I held back a smirk as she fumed; clearly not content with my patronizing response.

"I know what it's used for. I was only asking why you were handing it to me." She snapped, irritably.

"Because you're freezing your ass off." I bluntly stated, and she didn't argue. However, she pushed the coat back over to me, shaking her head.

"I don't want it." Court muttered bitterly, turning to face the window again.

I shrugged, tossing the jacket into the back seat. "Fine, suit yourself; Miss Cranky Pants."

Her leg suddenly shot out, whacking mine, which caused us to swerve off the road a little. I shot her a look, but she was still staring blankly out the window.

Damn, women were complicated.

After driving around in the dark for a while, Courtney finally piped up with a clipped; stop here, leaving me to slam on my breaks.

"I'll walk the rest of the way." Before the girl had even finished with her sentence, I'd pushed the button on my car door, which sent the locks downward, sealing her in.

"No you won't." I said before she even had a chance to protest, before I drove forward, turning onto any road that appealed to me.

"Duncan, my house is that way!" Princess shouted, angrily pointing a dainty finger into the opposite direction.

I shrugged, not bothering to change my route. "Nope, we're not getting out of this car until you can be a little more appreciative."

Her eyes hardened into daggers, and her hands suddenly seemed to turn into claws as she grabbed at the t-shirt I wore, and she yanked me toward her. It took all my focus not to crash into the stop sign we were passing as she did that.

"What's your problem?" I barked, though kept my eyes straight ahead, and tried to ignore her breath blowing across my cheek.

"Drive me home right now!" She shouted, causing me to wince at the volume of her shrill command.

Still, I kept my cool. "Now, now, is that really any way you should talk to the driver?" I asked her, swerving purposely to the side, and watching as her eyes widened slightly in horror.

"Stop fooling around! Take me home!" Courtney ordered, and I smirked, sliding a little farther into the other lane, and sped up a tad.

Her calm facade was starting to crack, I could see it. "Duncan, I'm serious." She spat out, though her voice was quiet.

"Will you thank me and admit how wonderful I am for driving you home so late?" I asked, pushing my foot just a little harder onto the gas pedal.

It might of been my imagination, but I thought I saw her hand twitch. She remained quiet, however, biting her tongue despite the situation.

"Alright, then..." I began weaving in and out of the empty, slick streets, a sly grin on my face as she paled the faster I went.

"Y-You're crazy! Suicidal!" She yelled, waving her arms above her head in a panic.

I chuckled. "You can stop it, Princess. Just say the magic words."

Torturing her was almost as fun as kissing her had been.

Her lips poised at the T in thank you. "Thank..." Suddenly, the car seemed to hiccup, and we began to slow down as a loud popping sound was heard.

"Ugh, are you freaking kidding me?" Courtney growled up, glaring up at the roof of the truck. I squinted at the dash board, and noticed we were out of gas.

"Well, looks like this is your stop!" I grinned joyfully, before she proceeded to grab my hair and slam my forehead against the car horn, that let out a loud screech in response.

This was going to be an enjoyable walk.

AN: I'm back, I'm back! Here I am! Not dead! Hope you enjoyed this chapter. Really, I apologize for not updating, but it's a long story...