Disclaimer: I do not own the Total Drama series or anything else copyrighted.
June 12, 2008.
It wasn't the day Courtney and Duncan met, but it was the day they began their relationship. Their relationship started off rocky. He kept bugging her, and she finally gave in to his persistent nagging. "We'll see how this works" is what she told him. He was shocked she caved in so quickly, and she was shocked herself. There was something different about him, and she could tell there was a genuine guy underneath the tough facade. She was actually about to break up with him a week after getting together with him, but when he got sent to the boathouse, they got to spend a bit of time together to just talk. Then they stole the food and well...
Their first kiss was a very memorable moment for both of them.
Two years later, they were still together, and they were actually going to celebrate their anniversary this year. The year prior, on their first anniversary, Duncan had been back on the show. Of course he had remembered - it was on the back of the picture of her that he kept under his pillow. Had she remembered? He wasn't sure. He never asked her. Of course, he hadn't thought about that until the day of their second anniversary.
"Honey - oh, you look nice today."
Duncan looked over, seeing his Ma standing in the doorway. He had been very much absorbed in his thoughts, mostly about Courtney. He had only seen his Ma in the doorway. Well, he heard her, but he really didn't hear her. "What?"
Mrs. Evans softly smiled and sat on the edge of his bed. "Everything alright?"
He nodded. "Yeah, I'm just thinking."
"Well, don't think too hard, sweetie."
He rolled his eyes. "You need anything?"
"Just came up to see how you're doing," she said, patting his leg. "Are you going anywhere today? You're dressed up nicer than usual..."
"Today's me and Court's anniversary," he softly said, a small smile forming on his face.
Suzie couldn't help but beam at her son. She always proud of him for dating a girl like Courtney, somebody who really settled him down. "I'm happy for the two of you," she said. "Are you two doing anything special today?"
"She made reservations for dinner somewhere. She wouldn't tell me where." He shrugged. "Neither of us really know what to do. She broke up with her last boyfriend on their anniversary, and I've never had an anniversary..."
"Wait, how long have the two of you been going out?" his Mom questioned.
"Two years."
"Then you have had an anniversary."
"Okay, I've never celebrated an anniversary. I was on that stupid show on our one-year anniversary last year."
"Well, you've celebrated your birthday, and that's an anniversary..." She laughed when he gave her a knowing look. "Oh, I don't know... Have you gotten her a gift?"
He slowly shook his head. "Uh, crap..."
She smiled and said, "Maybe you should get her flowers. Roses are nice."
He slowly nodded. "Yeah. I'll get her those. And something else..."
Right as Duncan was about to knock on Courtney's house's door, it flung open and he was engulfed in a hug by Courtney. He returned the hug, though it was partially difficult due to the items he was holding.
"Hey," she said, smiling at him.
He returned the smile, kissing her cheek. "Hey. Happy anniversary."
She beamed at him, hugging him tighter. "Happy anniversary."
He held onto her, his head resting on top of hers. He took in her scent, which was a warm vanilla. He knew she was experimenting with different perfumes. He never told her, but he could smell all the perfumes she wore when they were together. She had used this particular one a few times, and it was definitely his favorite. Maybe he would bring it up later.
"I brought you some gifts," he said, pulling back from the hug and holding out the gifts.
She smiled, carefully taking the gifts from his hands. In one hand she held a bouquet of red and white roses. In the other hand held a carefully wrapped item. "Thank you," she said, continuing to smile at him.
He shrugged, bashfully smiling. "You're welcome," he said.
"My Mom said she wants to say 'hello' to you," she said. "Since we've got a while before the reservation, and we don't really know what we're doing..."
"It's cool," he said, smiling. "Just lead the way."
Once they arrived inside and in her kitchen, she placed the two gifts on the table before turning around and telling him, "Mom is in the living room."
"You're not coming with me?" he quietly asked.
She shook her head, letting out a sigh. She quietly told him, "Mom wants to talk to you alone. I don't know why, but..." She shrugged. "I'll be in here opening your present."
He smiled. He leaned forward, kissing her forehead. He let his lips linger there for a few moments before walking out of the room. He found her Mom sitting on the couch, watching a quietly playing TV. "Hello, Mrs. Richardson."
"Hello, Duncan," his girlfriend's Mom said, smiling at him. She softly patted the couch and said, "Come sit down for a moment, please."
He nodded, not saying a word. He silently made his way over to the couch and sat at the other end of it. He cleared his throat before quietly asking, "So... What did you want to talk about?"
"I understand that you and Courtney's anniversary is today," Mrs. Richardson began, looking over at Duncan.
He nodded. "It is..."
"I don't want you doing anything to my daughter," she firmly said.
Before she was able to say anything else, Duncan quickly interjected, "Look, Mrs. Richardson... I would never hurt your daughter. Ever. I know you know of my past, and I know you know I went to jail... I would never jeopardize Courtney in any kind of way. She knows this. I respect and love her too much, and I know how much she will succeed in life. She's got a lot to live for, and... Honestly, I'd be so mad at myself if I were involved in her going to jail, or something worse."
Her Mom slowly nodded. "I see..." she murmured. She then smiled at the young man and said, "I hope you two have fun tonight."
He blinked. Seriously? That was their entire conversation? "Thanks." As she stood up and left, he continued to sit there. He was stumped very their very short conversation. Maybe she had more planned but was stumped by his response? He had to admit - he gave her an awesome speech. But, he wasn't kidding. He meant every word he said. He loved Courtney, and he would do everything to make sure she didn't end up in trouble. He knew she was a strong woman, though. She was very smart, too. She knew when to talk, and how to talk.
Maybe to those who weren't like him, anyway.
She grew up in a more wealthier setting. She knew what those people expected, and for the most part, she lived up to those expectations. He, on the other hand, didn't grow up in a wealthy setting. His family was far from poor, though. They had a nice, comfortable life. His family didn't hang around people that Courtney's family associated with, though. Duncan especially never hung around people like that. He used to loathe those kind of people, and sometimes, he still did. He used to think Courtney was like them, but soon realized she wasn't. She was so sure of her life, so sure of who she was and who she was going to be, but he could tell that she was scared. Scared of what? Failing, in so many ways. That's what she feared. And he eventually learned that.
"Duncan?"
Duncan frowned. Courtney sounded a little too scared for his personal liking. He immediately got up and walked back into the kitchen. "You okay?"
She nodded, staring down at the counter below her. "Did you mean it?"
He furrowed his eyebrows and pursed his lips. "Uh... Did I mean what?"
"What you said to my Mom."
He nodded, slowly making his way over to her. "I know you're not questioning me," he teased.
She smiled softly before looking up at him. "It was nice to hear that coming out of your mouth."
He smirked, leaning forward and hugging her. He liked giving her hugs, and he liked being on the receiving end of a hug. Well, he also liked how their bodies seemed to mold together. "So, did you like my present?"
"I did," she softly said.
The present he got her was a picture frame that could two pictures. The two pictures he gave her were ones that were taken at each of their graduations. His Ma took so many pictures, and he went through each of them many times, and there were lots of pictures of them from Courtney's graduation, so of course he spent time looking through those.
"I got you a present."
He grinned, tightly hugging her. "Go get it..." he teased, his voice slightly whine-y.
She giggled and let go of him. "You wanna come up?"
He nodded and followed her upstairs to her bedroom. He noticed the pictures on the walls had been changed since he last visited... Well, at least since he last saw the walls leading upstairs, and since he rarely spent the night, it had been a few months. He stopped at one picture, wickedly grinning. "Aww, look at the cute Princess," he remarked.
Courtney immediately turned around and jogged down the steps. She looked at the picture and instantly blushed. It was a picture of her when she was younger, in a ballerina outfit, posing and smiling happily. "Oh, God," she murmured.
"I want to hear this story," he said, smirking at her.
She sighed, shaking her head. "When I was five, I took dancing classes. During the middle of the year, we took pictures. This was one of them."
He nodded. He leaned over and whispered in her ear, "Those dancing classes definitely paid off..."
She definitely blushed at that comment. "I hate you," she whispered before walking up the stairs and into her room.
"Aww, you wish you did," he said, still smirking as he followed her. When he got into her room, he noticed it looked slightly different. It took him a few seconds, but he noticed there were some things missing from the room. "What'd you do in here?" he asked, sitting down on her bed.
She stopped rummaging through her closet, shocked by his question. She quickly grabbed her wrapped present before walking over to her door. She quietly shut it before muttering, "Mom will be so mad when she finds the door shut, but I don't need her hearing this..."
He furrowed his eyebrows. "Did somebody come in here?"
She shook her head, sitting down next to him. "A few days ago, my Mom and I got into a huge argument. That's partially why she talked to you today. Our argument... We argued about where my life is heading." She sighed, shaking her head and shutting her eyes. "She thinks I'm throwing my life away by being with you. She thinks I'm suddenly going to 'turn into you', meaning getting into trouble and just bullshitting around and such..."
"Uhh, thanks for the compliment?"
She groaned, shaking her head. "I didn't mean for it to come out that harsh..."
"I know, but..." He shrugged. "Yeah. Go on."
"So, we started yelling at each other. I said I'm glad I'm moving out, she suggested I just pack up and leave since I'm so ready to throw myself out there, and I said I would." She shrugged and continued, "So I began to pack. I got a lot done, too, but Mom came in. We talked and made up, I guess."
He reached over, rubbing her back. "I have good news about the apartment we were looking at."
She looked at him, surprised. "Really?" she happily asked, smiling softly.
He nodded, also smiling. "Yep. They have all sorts of apartments available..."
"Do we have to give them any sort of notice?" she asked.
He shook his head. "Nope. All we have to do is fill out an application and get approved..."
She grinned and suddenly said, "I'm going to get one tomorrow and fill it out."
To say he was shocked was an understatement. He thought they were going to wait until August to move. He thought that they were going to go on vacation and then save up for a couple of months. "I dunno, babe..."
She frowned. "What?"
He sighed, sensing her irritability. "Courtney, it's not that I don't want to move ASAP, but... We're going on vacation next weekend. That's going to cost us a lot of money. We need money to move in."
She sighed, looking down. "I-I mean, I've got quite a bit of money... Well, enough for vacation..."
"Exactly," he said, softly smiling. He reached over and hugged her. "I didn't mean to upset you."
"I know," she murmured, resting her head against his. "I just... I want to get out. I want to start my new life."
He nodded. "I do, too. I know my Ma wants to check out the apartment at some point. I think Dad said he wanted to check it out, too. I don't know. What about your parents?"
Courtney closed her eyes once more and wrapped her arms around him. "They don't want me living in an apartment, much less with you," she softly said. "They'd prefer I live in a dorm. Of course, they're not paying for anything since I'm getting a full ride to UT..."
He nodded, softly rubbing her back. "They should be happy you're going to college and you're on your way to pursuing an amazing career..."
She smiled, kissing his cheek. He looked at her and returned the smile. They continued to sit there, looking into each others eyes and smiling at each other. She finally softly asked, "You want to see what I got you for our anniversary?"
He shrugged. "I guess." He smirked when she glared at him. He kissed her forehead before cupping her face in his hands. His teal eyes stared directly into her dark brown ones. "You know I would love to see your present."
She smiled, lightly pecking him on the lips. She reached behind her and grabbed her wrapped gift She placed it on his lap and said, "Open up."
He pursed his lips and carefully studied the present. He folded his arms and placed his index finger on his chin, tapping his softly.
"What are you doing?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.
"I'm trying to guess what you got me," he said, still carefully looking at the present.
She gaped at him. "Seriously?" she asked. "Just open the present!"
He smirked at her. "It drives my family insane when I do that on Christmas, so I wanted to see how you'd react."
She rolled her eyes, though an amused smile now laid on her face. "So are you going to open it?"
"That's the problem," he started, earning a groan from his girlfriend. "I normally just tear open presents, but yours is so nicely wrapped and I wouldn't to mess that up..."
"Shall I open the present for you?" she teased.
He rolled his eyes, smirking at his girlfriend. "Nah. Do you mind if I tear it open?"
"I just want you to open it, honestly. I don't care how you open it."
He then proceeded to tear off the wrapping paper. He chuckled when he saw that it was a simple picture frame. The picture that was what made him smile. It was a picture of them from earlier in the week when they went to the beach. It was a picture he took of the two of them with her camera. The picture was perfectly centered, with their faces close to the camera. Both were wearing sunglasses, for it was bright at the moment, and both were broadly smiling. He remembered that moment exactly. They were walking along the boardwalk after spending a few hours at the beach. He looked over at her one moment and thought about how beautiful she looked then, and wanted to take a picture of her. She was bashful at first, insisting that they take a picture together, so he took one of the two of them. He loved that picture, and was happy that she framed it for him.
He looked at her, fondly smiling. "Thank you, Princess."
She blushed, coyly shrugging. "I know, I didn't get you much..."
"Hey," he softly said. "I happen to like this picture. A lot." He smiled and asked, "Wanna hear something cheesy?" When she giggled and nodded, he said, "I'm gonna put it right next to my bed so you'll always be next to me while I'm sleeping..."
She threw her head back and began to laugh. "That is cheesy," she agreed, still laughing slightly.
He chuckled. "You know where you should put the pictures I gave you?"
"Hmm?"
"Above your bed."
She curiously stared at him. "And why is that?"
"So I'll always be looking down at you."
She gaped him. "What?"
He blinked before saying, "Okay, that sounded so harsh..."
She let out an exasperated laugh before saying, "I understand what you meant. While it sounded a bit mean at first, it also sounded super creepy."
He chuckled. He then looked at her clothes and noticed she was wearing a pair of jeans and a solid three-quarter length shirt. Thinking that was what she would be wearing, he asked, "Where are we going for dinner?"
"Somewhere nice," she teased, winking at him.
"You're wearing that?" he asked, gesturing towards her outfit with his hand.
She shook her head. "Nope. I wanted to wait until you got here to change."
He grinned. "You gonna put on a show...?"
She rolled her eyes, smiling. She leaned close to him and said, "Not until later."
He grinned. "I can't wait."
After dinner, the two of them decided to just lay down and stare up into the sky. Yes, they were in her backyard, and they were laying down on a blanket. Both were laying on their backs. Duncan had his arms crossed behind his head, and Courtney's arms were crossed below her chest. Both were laying side-by-side, her head resting under his arms on his chest.
"Do you stare at the stars a lot?" he softly questioned.
"Sometimes," she admitted. "Mostly from my room, though. I'll open my window, sit on the windowsill, and just stare." She shrugged. "What about you? Are you a star-gazer?"
He chuckled. "Kind of. Sometimes I'll sit on the back porch and look out, sometimes I'll pull a chair into the yard... Sometimes Ma joins me, and we'll just sit there and talk and talk and talk... One time we talked until 3AM. She got so mad because I had to go to school in a few hours, and she had to be at work in a few hours as well."
She giggled. Another thing she admired about Duncan was his relationship with his Mom. They were as close to being best friends without really being best friends. She often yearned for that kind of relationship with her own Mom. Her yearning was more prominent when she was younger, but around the age of fourteen or fifteen, she partially gave up the thoughts and the hopes. She was glad to have people like Duncan, Bridgette, and some of her other friends in her life. She could confide in these people, and, with the exception of Duncan's playfulness at times, they wouldn't judge her.
"Did you have a good time tonight?" she softly asked, turning her head and looking at him.
He nodded, turning his head to look at her. "It was nice. The food wasn't the best, but it wasn't crap, either."
She nodded in agreement. "Yeah. I've had better food from places with prices like that, but..." She shrugged once more. She continued looking at him as he focused his attention back to the sky. He looked so thoughtful, and she wondered what he was thinking about. Was he thinking about her? Was he thinking about their relationship? She wanted to ask him, but at the same time, she didn't want to break the peaceful moment.
She smiled when he placed one of his arms around her, his hand resting on her waist. She brought one of her hands closer to him and laced her fingers through his. She snuggled closer to him, closing her eyes. She told herself, she could stay like this forever. Her and the love of her life, laying down, basically holding each other in silence. No words needed to be spoken-
"Your parents are staring at us."
She giggled. Okay, so she didn't mind talking, either. But silence was always a virtue. She didn't bother opening her eyes, though. While her eyes were closed, it felt like they were the only two people in the world. Well, her backyard was a wide, open space, and they were the only two people in it. She asked him, "Are you staring back?"
"Nah," he muttered. "I just looked back for a second and there they were, standing in the window..."
"You know what would be funny?" she asked, opening her eyes and looking at him.
"What?" he asked, looking back down at her.
"We could fake an argument, and then get back together in the morning. You'd leave all angry, I'd run up to my room upset..."
He smirked at her, though he couldn't help but raise an eyebrow. "Seriously? You'd want to do that?"
"I didn't say we'd have to do it," she explained. "I just thought it'd be funny. It would drive my parents nuts, that's for sure."
He chuckled. "I know Pa wouldn't like that too much, but Ma would probably get a kick out of it. I wouldn't want to try that around my parents, though. They'd get mad at me. Now, unless you were the one yelling and I'd be the upset one..."
"You couldn't be upset," she teased.
He rolled his eyes. "Okay, next time you come over, let's try that. Then we'll see who can and can't be upset."
A/N: ...boring chapter is boring? I started to write the first Aftermath when I realized I needed to write this. I hope you all like it, though! And keep up the reviews! The more, the merrier, and the more I get, the quicker I write! For the most part, anyway. The next chapter is mostly written out, but I would like to put up another one for "Best of the Rest" first before a next chapter for this story. We'll see how the creative juices flow today and tomorrow. Thanks!