Disclaimer: I do not own the Total Drama series or anything else copyrighted.

A/N: I know, I know, it's been forever... blame it on the major block I had... and all the times I worked... and the vacation I went on... haha. I had originally written another chapter, but then decided to write this one... which, the ending turned out a bit differently than I had originally planned. Thank you all for the reviews! I hope you all continue to enjoy this!

"Oh! I'm sorry - Duncan?"

"Well, well, Princess... Will you be serving us today?"

Courtney sighed. She was at the restaurant Fridays, where she was a server at. She was turning around when she bumped into who she thought was a customer, but found out it was not only a customer, it was her boyfriend, Duncan. She glanced at where his friends were sitting at, and nodded. "I am your waitress today," she murmured.

Duncan grinned and said, "Well, babe, I want a water. No, scratch that, I want some pop... like, some Coke. Nah, I would like-"

Courtney put a finger up to his lips. "Why don't you go sit down and I'll get everyone's orders at one time?"

He gave her finger a soft kiss before winking at her and walking over to his table.

She rolled her eyes and grabbed her notepad and pen before walking over to their table. She immediately recognized her boyfriend and his cousin, Brian, but didn't recognize the girl that was with them. "Hello, my name's Courtney, I'll be taking care of you today. How are you-"

"I decided I would like a Coke," Duncan interjected, earning groans from his two companions.

"Dude, Courtney was being so nice and polite and you just had to interrupt her!" Brian said, rolling his eyes. He turned to Courtney and said, "I'd like a water. No lemon. Lots of ice."

"I'll just have a Sprite," their female friend said.

Courtney nodded, writing in at all down. "I'll be right back." She left the table and checked on another table she had before getting the drinks. She wasn't going to lie to herself and say she wasn't upset that some girl was sitting with them. True, she could have been Brian's girlfriend, but they all seemed to friendly around each other to be romantically involved. She sighed as she carried their drinks over to their table. She laid them down and asked, "Do you all know what you want?"

"Sure," Duncan murmured, not even trying to sound convincing. "First, I'd like you to meet someone. Courtney, this is Michelle. Michelle, Courtney."

Courtney smiled at Michelle, who returned the smile. "It's nice to meet you," Courtney said.

"Oh, you, too. Duncan talks about you so much... Well, like, since we've actually started talking about this past week..."

"We really need to work on seeing each other more," Duncan muttered. He looked up at his girlfriend and said, "Not like that, of course."

Courtney rolled her eyes, ruffling his hair lightly. "Sure, sweetheart. Now, are you ready, or-"

"Let's start out with an appetizer," Duncan said. "We'll have that pick-three thing, with... What kind of wings do you two want?"

"They all sound good to me," Michelle muttered.

"Inferno!" Brian exclaimed.

Duncan rolled his eyes and told his girlfriend, "Let's try the inferno. That'll effing burn our mouths..."

"What other two items?" Courtney said, smiling lightly.

"The potato skins and mozzarella sticks. Pronto."

Courtney smacked Duncan's arm. "I'm not making them!"

"Gosh, Courtney, hitting the customers... I hope your boss doesn't see you..."

"I sure hope my boss doesn't see you..." she muttered. "I'll be back in a few minutes with your appetizer."

Duncan smirked as his girlfriend walked off. He turned to his friends, who were smiling. "What are you two almost laughing at?"

"Your relationship is crazy," Brian muttered.

"Whatever. You wish you had a girlfriend, man."

Michelle giggled. "Ouch!"

"Yeah, yeah," Brian muttered, smirking while rolling his eyes. "Didn't you just see her... well, last night and earlier today?"

"I like seeing my girlfriend. I don't see what the problem with that is," Duncan defended.

Brian held up his hands. "No need to get defensive! I'm just saying..."

"Whatever, man."

"Aww, you two don't need to be fighting," Michelle said, running a hand through her long, black hair to get it out of in front of her face.

"This isn't fighting," the two cousins simply said, shrugging.

"If we were fighting..." Duncan paused before chuckling. "Believe us, this isn't fighting."

"How am I supposed to know that?" Michelle asked, rolling her eyes. "We never see each other."

"We're like the three amigos!" Brian chirped in. "Except we never, like... fight and solve crime together, or whatever... We totally need to work on seeing each other more."

"Doubt that will happen," Duncan murmured. He pointed at Brian and said, "You're in Montreal." He looked at Michelle and said, "While we're both in Hamilton, we go to different high schools. Fucking zone change..."

"This summer," Michelle said, persistence and determination in her voice. "We're all... well, Brian and I are definitely going to college in the Fall. No offense, Dunc."

"None taken."

"What does that have to do with-" Brian stopped before muttering, "Oh..." He cleared his throat and said, "Yes, this summer. We're all hanging out." He paused before saying, "But I live in Montreal."

"I think she's implying that you'll be staying at my house," Duncan muttered.

When Michelle nodded, Brian made a clicking noise with his mouth before saying, "Gotcha."

Duncan rolled his eyes, smirking, but in the back of his mind, he couldn't help but think about Courtney. The three of them had essentially been best friends for a long time. Michelle and Brian weren't as close as he was with the two of them, but they still talked regularly and shared information with one another. Courtney and him had known each other for about a year and a half, and were dating the entire time, but really didn't work on keeping their relationship until after Total Drama Action, which was about four months prior. They had talked about spending more time together during the summer, and was essentially torn. He wanted to spend time with both his best friends and the love of his life, but he wasn't sure who to spend more time with. True, it was still December and summer wasn't for another few months, but it was good to plan ahead.

Courtney was having the same dilemma. She was cleaning up a bit when she overheard Duncan, Brian, and Michelle talking. She couldn't help but grow both slightly jealous and sad at their plans. Her and Duncan agreed that they would spend more time together during the summer, but didn't want to hang out and then feel left out if Brian and Michelle came over.

She sighed and shook her head as she grabbed their appetizer. She figured Duncan would assume something was wrong, but didn't want to seem like she overheard them talking. She checked on the guests at her other table, who were about to get up, before walking back to her boyfriend and his friend's table. "Here's your appetizer," she said, laying the main plate down and handing them each a smaller plate.

His friends each said "thank you", and Duncan smiled and and muttered, "Oh, this looks so good... Did you make this?"

She rolled her eyes, smirking. "Just for you, darling." She then rested her knee on the part of the booth next to Duncan and gently started rubbing it as she watched them for a moment.

"What's wrong?" Duncan asked, surprised by the way she was caressing her knee.

"Oh, I bent down earlier and hit my knee against a rough corner," Courtney murmured.

"Did it hurt?" Brian asked.

Despite the crazy looks Michelle and Duncan gave him, Courtney smiled softly and nodded. "It did. It hurt a lot."

Duncan scooted closer to her and wrapped an arm around her waist, and while he kept each other close, he left enough room for him to eat and not get his working girlfriend dirty. The conversation that Duncan and his friends had was still playing in each others minds, though neither of them knew the other was thinking about it. Although both loved being in a relationship with the other, all of it was such new territory to them. Neither had been in love like that before, nor had they loved wanting to spend time with another person like they do. Both longed to see one another; their Winter Break had been filled with more moments of them actually seeing each other than ever before, and neither were ready to go back to the days of hardly seeing each other.

Neither noticed how quiet the other was being, nor did they notice the strange looks Michelle and Brian were giving them.

"Um... Are you two okay?" Michelle softly asked.

Courtney and Duncan immediately snapped out of their thoughts and slowly gazed at each other. Duncan grinned at Courtney and said, "Yeah, we're just having our own telepathic conversation."

Courtney rolled her eyes, smirking. "Of course. Are you all ready to order, or do you need a few minutes to look at the menu?"

"I'll just have the shrimp meal," Michelle said.

"I will have the Cajun chicken and shrimp pasta," Brian said.

"Cheeseburger. Medium well. Fries," Duncan said.

Courtney nodded as she jotted down everyone's orders. She smiled at them and said, "I'll go ring those up and be back out in a few minutes."

"Dude, what's up with you two?" Brian asked.

Duncan frowned, furrowing his eyebrows together. "What are you talking about?"

"I don't know..." Brian murmured before saying, "You two are always so... talkative. All over each other. Smiling and happy. Y'know?"

"We've just got a lot on our minds, I guess," Duncan muttered, shrugging.

"Are you two on the rocks?" Michelle softly asked.

Duncan shook his head, a small smile appearing on his face. "Nah, we're fine..." He let out a sigh and shrugged. "I've got a bit on my mind. Maybe she does, too."

Brian instantly grinned. "Aww. Are you going to propose to her?"

Duncan started coughing, as his drink went down the wrong way when he drank it. "No!" he spluttered out between coughs.

"I go away for one minute and you start choking," Courtney murmured, patting her boyfriend's back as she sat down next to him.

He rolled his eyes, noticing her small smirk. "Thanks for caring," he said, patting her thigh.

"Oh, my pleasure."

"Ooh, I just love your sarcastic side."

"Oh, God, I take back what I said earlier," Brian murmured. "Get a room."

Courtney rolled her eyes, but an amused smile now laid on her face. "Are you all eating lunch or dinner?" she asked.

Nobody in the trio responded, for they were all trying to figure out what exactly they were eating. "Both," Brian finally said, his response said slowly.

Courtney raised an eyebrow. "Both?"

"We kinda ate earlier," Brian explained.

"More like brunch," Duncan informed his girlfriend. "And it was a small one, too."

"Leftovers from breakfast at my house," Michelle said.

Courtney nodded, giving Duncan's hand a squeeze as his fingers intertwined with hers. "So what are you all doing here in Toronto?"

"Nonna," Duncan murmured.

Courtney raised an eyebrow. "Is she alright?"

Duncan nodded. "Just another family dinner... that I didn't know about until today..." Although it looked like she had a good poker face, or at least one that didn't display any type of weakness, he could see right past it. He could see in her eyes that she, at first, was upset. Of course, that sadness disappeared once he made his final remark, but he made sure to give her hand another squeeze.

"Aah, Nonna's cooking..." Brian murmured, a big smile forming on his face. "I love that woman's cooking!"

"Only an idiot would hate it," Duncan said. He looked at Courtney and asked, "Do you want to come over tonight?"

Courtney shrugged. "I'll have to check with my parents first, but I should be able to come over."

"There's a difference between wanting and being able to," Duncan explained.

Courtney rolled her eyes. "I would love to come over. Let me check with my parents first to see if we're doing anything tonight."

Duncan smiled and quietly said, "My Nonna would just love to see you again."

His girlfriend smiled, a faint pink spreading over her cheeks. "It would be nice to see her again, too," she softly said.

"No offense, but do you have any other tables?" Brian asked.

Even though Duncan shot his cousin a dirty look, Courtney shook her head and said, "Nope. You all are my last table..."

Duncan shot his girlfriend a dirty smirk. "Oh, babe, we'll be here for a while..."

"You know you'll get to your Nonna's early," Courtney teased.

Duncan shrugged, leaning back in his chair. "Or I'll get summoned there by my Ma. You know I really can't say no to her."

"Courtney!"

Courtney jumped, startled. She had just gotten off of work and was walking outside to her car when she heard her boyfriend calling out to her. Even though he had asked her when she'd be getting off of work, she hadn't expected him to literally be there when she stepped outside.

"What are you doing here?" she asked, walking over to him.

"Waiting for you, duh."

"You've been here for the past forty-five minutes?"

"What would you say if I responded with a 'yes'?"

"It's freezing out here!"

He chuckled. "No, I haven't been out here the whole time. The three of us went by a few shops for a while before heading back. I just got here maybe two minutes ago. Brian and Michelle are getting the car now."

She nodded, sitting down next to her boyfriend. "So what time do we have to be by your Nonna's?"

"Oh, whenever. You still coming over?"

"Yes, but I don't have anything to wear."

He smirked. "Aah, I guessed right." He reached down, much to her curiosity, and grabbed a bag that was laying on the ground next to him. He placed the bag in her lap and said, "I got you these."

She gaped at the bag before looking at him. "You bought me clothes?"

"Sure did."

"Or is this lingerie?"

"As much as I'd love to see you walking around in just your...undergarments, I don't know how everyone else would react to that."

"I'm glad you're so considerate."

"Eh, I try."

She looked inside the bag and pulled out the clothes her boyfriend had bought for her. She smiled when she saw her had bought her a simple shirt, and a simple pair of shoes. The shirt was white, the shoulders were cut-off and bare, and the sleeves were three-quarters length. The shoes were just regular, white, ballet-style flat shoes. She was a bit surprised that everything was the correct size, but then again, Duncan never ceased to surprise her. She smiled at Duncan and said, "Thank you. But, how did you know my size?"

"Closet raiding."

"WHAT?"

He chuckled. "Hah, just kidding, babe. I saw the size of your work shirt when we were there earlier, and then, though it took a while, finally saw the size of your shoes. I didn't really pick out the clothes, though. That was all Michelle. I tried picking out something for you, but..." He shrugged, a simple, small smile on his face. "Michelle thought it was too show-y for a gathering like this."

Courtney rolled her eyes, despite the smile on her face. She then leaned up and gave Duncan a short, quick kiss. "Thanks, sweetie," she softly said.

He shrugged, leaning forward and returning the short kiss. "You're welcome. You want me to ride with you?"

"Sure."

"Alrighty, let's go."

"Wait, Duncan, I need to change."

"You can do it in your car."

She sighed and stood up, leading her boyfriend to her car. She wasn't entirely embarrassed to change in front of him - no, she had done that before - but she was afraid of other people peeping into her car.

It was as if he was reading her mind when he said, "Don't worry, babe. Anyone that tries to sneak a look at you is going to have to go through me first."

"And if they succeed?" she teased, looking back at him.

He shrugged. "I don't know, darling. Though, I'm sure you'd kick their ass if they tried to look at you as well."

"Or maybe I'd scream."

"Hey, screams can be deadly."

She rolled her eyes as they got into her car. As soon as they were both in, she took a glance around before taking her shirt off. She lazily folded it and threw it into her backseat.

Duncan whistled and said, "Mm, babe. You just keep getting better looking every time I see you..."

"Yeah, yeah, as much as I'd love to do stuff with you right now, we're in a car in a very public place," Courtney muttered. She took off the straps of her bra, creating a strapless bra, and threw the straps into the backseat.

Duncan was almost shocked by her words, but was more shocked at how her bra seemingly transformed. "What did you just do?"

"I'm not wearing bra straps with this shirt," she muttered, tossing on her brand-new shirt, which fit her perfectly. She then took of her work shoes and socks and placed them on the floor of the backseat before putting on her new shoes, which also fit well. She then pulled down her visor and looked into the mirror, frowning slightly at her appearance. She grabbed her purse, got her brush out of it, and pulled her hair out of her ponytail before beginning to brush her hair.

"You look fine," Duncan stated, watching her frown at her appearance.

"My hair looks awful, and I'm only wearing mascara," Courtney muttered, sighing as she pushed up the visor.

"Nah, I like this natural look," Duncan said, shrugging.

She looked over at her boyfriend and smiled. "Thank you. Now, where are we going?"

"Nonna's. Remember how to get there?"

"Kind of..."

"Well, just start driving until you get lost, I suppose."

"I don't think your parents will like me spending the night here... Well, I mean, sure I did it last night, but they weren't here..."

"I honestly don't care, Duncan."

"What's with the sudden change?"

They were in her bedroom at her house. While Duncan was originally going to get a ride back to Hamilton from Michelle and Brian, Courtney had invited him over, and he didn't object too much. He was only worried about what her parents would think. Like he said, he spent the night before while they weren't home, but he had never spent the night while they were actually there. He was almost certain they would kick him out... and he didn't even have his car with him.

Courtney shrugged, turning onto her back and looking up at her boyfriend. "It's about time you spend the night over here while they were here."

Duncan nodded. "Good point."

"You love me, right?" she suddenly asked.

He slowly nodded, looking down at her. "Yeah... Why?"

"My parents don't think we love each other... or, well, they don't think you love me."

He snorted. "What would they know?"

"They heard me telling you that I love you, and both discussed how we're just in our little 'puppy love' stage and that we don't understand what real love is..."

He rolled his eyes. "Whatever. They don't know anything."

"Have you parents ever said anything?"

"Besides telling me to never break your heart? Nah."

Hearing that always made Courtney feel incredibly loved, and very uncomfortable. "Sounds like we shouldn't be breaking up then."

"I know, right."

Courtney suddenly reached up and tightly wrapped her arms around Duncan's neck. He wrapped his arms around her tiny waist, bringing her as close to him as possible. He knew she just needed a hug and wasn't going to say anything. He didn't know what to say, quite frankly. It was as if her parents had one thing set it mind, and that was for her to be this straight-A student, get into a prestigious school, and become a lawyer. He figured that they thought anything else outside of that goal would just get into her way, and would set her back, from her "dream", her "goal in life".

Was becoming a lawyer her dream? Sure, she seemed really set-forward on becoming one. It seemed to really interest her. He smirked when he realized she was good at arguing with people. She never said she wanted to do anything else, so he figured she didn't have any problem with becoming a lawyer. Maybe it was her idea, and because becoming one can lead to big bucks and popularity, maybe that's why they're so "happy" for her to become one.

It was almost funny at times to realize how different they were. Even their families were just so different. Their opposites brought them together, but their similariites brought them even closer. He knew he loved her, and he knew what he felt for her was love, because the overall feeling scared him, yet he did love that feeling. Their parents, though... His were so welcoming of their relationship. They even told him they were proud of him for finding a girl like her to just settle him down. Sort of. He was still that smart-alleck boy who, for the most part, went by his own set of rules.

And then there were her parents.

Were they accepting of their relationship? He knew they didn't like him, so probably not. It only made him mad that they weren't completely happy for their daughter.

"Are you doing anything on New Years?"

He snapped out of his trance and looked down at his girlfriend, who was staring up at him inquisitively. He raised an eyebrow and asked, "That's what you've been thinking about this whole time?"

She smiled, shaking her head. "No. I was thinking about some other things before going over what I was doing in the next couple of weeks..."

"Well, I'm doing some family stuff on New Years, but I'm free New Years Eve if you want to do something then..."

"That would be nice."