Chapter Four: Full Circle

I slouched in my seat. Turning off the engine, I started to nervously tap my fingers on the dashboard. My blue eyes flashed to the neon digital clock in front of me. 4:50pm. I hadn't realized I would be so early to pick up Miss CIT. I rubbed the back of my neck and let out a deep sigh. I reached up and adjusted my mirror, catching a quick glimpse of my reflection. I really don't know what I'm worried about. We're just going as friends, nothing more. I was sitting just outside the driveway to her house. I rolled down the window in hopes of getting some fresh air. As I leaned against the open window, I really got a good look at her house.

It was beautiful, to say the least. The building looked as though someone had preserved it from the Victorian era and with the single fountain that was on my left, it could definitely pass off as a mansion. I gave a low whistle, my eyes tracing the house's exterior. Ivy traced up the white building and one could see budding roses in the flower bed. Gravel stones lined the path leading to the neatly paved driveway and a black iron fence sealed off their property. The sound of the fountain accompanied by the wind sounded somewhat whimsical, as if it were some sort of fairy tale. The sound of a door opening tore my train of thought away as I turned my attention to the door. A slender female closed the door behind her and locked it. As she started to walk in my direction I was able to see a little better. Courtney was wearing her typical grey overtop with a white blouse underneath accompanied with her olive pants. She walked over to the shotgun side of the car and pulled on the car door only to be jerked back when she realized that the car was locked. I snickered as she walked around the car to my open window. "Duncan, if this is your idea of a joke, it isn't funny!" She fumed.

"On the contrary, Princess, I find it hysterical." I gave my signature smirk and pressed the unlock button in the car. "Can't Little Miss CIT take a joke?" She rolled her hazel eyes and she opened the car door and sat down in the seat next to me.

"I've only spent a few seconds with you and I'm already regretting it." Courtney said. Her eyes looked at my clothing. "Don't you have anything else to wear? You always wear the same outfit."

"Look whose talking…" I mumbled under my breath as I backed out of the driveway and turned the wheel right, towards the main road. "Well I have to say, I didn't realize that Princess lived in an actual castle."

She leaned back in her seat and pulled down the overhead mirror, checking her hair. "I do come from a family of winners, Duncan. My parents are quite successful and they have high hopes for me. I have no doubt that in a few years; I'll be attending Harvard, on my way to a very virtuous career." She attempted to pat down a stray hair before gritting her teeth in anger.

I noticed her frustration and tried not to laugh. As I pulled up to a red light, I turned to her and shook my head in amazement. "No need to get all fussy over how you look, it's just a movie."

"Even so, I try to look my best every day." She stared furiously at the hair. "I'll never be taken seriously if I go out in public looking like this."

"Not to worry. I never took you seriously anyway." She gave me a deadpan look. "I don't really care what other people think and neither should you."

She gave me a cheeky smile. "I'm glad you feel that way, Duncan." She motioned towards the windshield. "The light turned green ten seconds ago." As if those words triggered everyone's fury, a flood of noise involving horns honking and people swearing at me filled the air. I jerked forward and stepped on the gas. As the car started to speed up, leaving the noise behind me, I cast an angry glare at the brunette sitting to my right. "It's a good thing that you don't care what other people think since the entire city now knows that you're a raging idiot who can't drive." I made a hard right and pulled into the mall parking lot. I started to slowly drive through the lot, looking for a spot…I think there's one over- "THERE'S ONE!" I jumped in surprise and had to slam on the brakes to prevent myself from hitting the car in the front.

"For the record, shouting loudly in my ear while I navigate through a busy parking lot will NOT make me park any faster." I said as I regained my focus.

"Great, that blue car took the spot. That's just great, Duncan. Maybe if you showed a little competitive attitude, you could've taken that spot." She said, seemingly ignoring what I just said. I parked the car and turned off the ignition. I exited the car and started to walk towards the mall. "Hey! Duncan!" I turned me head slightly to face the noise. "I can't open the car door! If this is some elaborate prank, I swear…"

"Courtney, Courtney, Courtney..." I said shaking my head. I gripped the handle and yanked. I hated to say it, but she was right. The car door was completely stuck. I pulled with both hands, hard. "You push, I'll pull." She said something regarding how 'useful' I was but I ignored it. With one final attempt, I pulled with all the strength I could put into it and she pushed so hard I could see a bead of sweat trickle down the side of her face. Suddenly the door flung open and she was launched onto me, she obviously had put in a little too much power. We both were on the ground, her on top. I had cushioned my fall with my elbows which kept me propped up. She landed face first on my chest. She lifted her head up and noticed our position. I chuckled. "Why does it seem that we are always in this position?"

I saw a faint blush rush to her freckled cheeks and a panicked look spread across her face as she scrambled off. "Lowest centre of gravity." She remarked and brushed herself off. "Ahem…Let's get going." I locked the car, put my hands into the pockets of my shorts and started walking alongside her to the entrance. What a night this is going to be…

~.~

As I entered the air conditioned shopping centre, a familiar feeling washed over me. Before I joined Total Drama Island, I spent all my time in here with my friends. We would run around, give the security guards a hard time and relax in the food court. It was so simple. Thanks to that joke of a show, the tradition was broken and his friends had found other hobbies to keep them entertained while he was filming. I heard Courtney call my name and I looked over to see her glaring at me angrily. She motioned me to follow her and started to briskly walk towards the escalator. "Duncan, I am NOT paying for a movie only to miss the first ten minutes. The movie's starting in twenty minutes and so help you if we're late…"

We both got on the ascending escalator and patiently waited to get to the top, at least I did. Courtney was busy tapping her fingers and muttering comments about how slow this escalator was and how nobody wanted to step aside so she could get by. When we finally arrived at the top, she gripped my hand and started to run. The feel of her hand on mine was strong yet gentle; I was instantly reminded of our Total Drama Island days. As I smirked to myself at the recollection of those moments, she realized that she was still holding my hand and jerked her hand away. She mouthed at me to keep running and focused her attention ahead, towards the theatre. As I followed, a store caught my eye. I slowed down my run and came to a stop in front of Cold Subject, a store Gwen and I used to shop at. My blue eyes scanned the store's entrance. Flashes of Gwen and I in the store seemed to occur in a rapid pace. I could hear Gwen's laugh as she tried on a dog collar that resembled my own. I could recall the way I whispered in her ear, telling her how beautiful I thought she was. I could still feel her lips on my own as we kissed in the middle of the store. Courtney's voice brought me back to reality once more. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed that she wore an angry look. She opened her mouth to say something when she noticed the expression on my face and her look softened. She gently nudged me forward and led me towards the theatre. I turned my head to give the store one last glance before I gave my undivided attention to the task at hand: buying tickets.

I approached an automatic ticket machine. As I started to scroll the movie options, attempting to find our movie, I noticed that Courtney had taken out her leather wallet and taken out one out of several credit cards and was waiting for me to input the ticket information. I smirked at her and pressed our movie choice. "If you think you're going to be buying your ticket, think again Princess."

"Duncan, I'm not going to accept charity from you. I have my dignity and I have enough money to pay for my own entertainment." She waved the credit card in front of my face. "I'm going to be paying for my own ticket with my own money." I gave her a blank look and snatched the credit card out of her hand. I turned back to the machine, ignoring her angry comments and pushed the button for two tickets. As the total came up and urged me to swipe my credit card, I felt a push and I turned around to see Courtney, with another credit card in hand, trying to swipe it through the machine. Keeping her held back with my right arm, I fished out my own card with my left hand and tried to swipe it myself. Unfortunately, she was fast and snatched my credit card out of my hand. "Sorry Duncan. It looks like I'm paying." She smiled evilly and attempted to swipe her second credit card.

I blocked her with my body. "I'm not letting you pay so you might as well let me pay. Can I have my card back, sweetheart?" She snorted and crossed her arms, not amused. I smiled at the brunette and spread out my body, guarding the machine. "Looks like we'll be here until the movie starts which will be in…" I glanced at the overhead clock. "Eight minutes." She bit her lip and looked at the clock, worried. "Let me pay, Princess."

She moved towards me and put her right hand on my cheek, a mischievous look on her face. Her hand slid down slowly. She dragged her finger down my neck and my chest. I didn't know what game she was playing at, but I liked it. My arm snaked around her waist. She looked into my eyes and gave a small pout. "Duncan, I don't want to miss this movie. I was really looking forward to seeing the movie with you. I'd rather be with you in the theatre than here." She wrapped her arms around my neck and I felt her lips near my ear. "I'm going to pay for the tickets so we can have a little more time to ourselves in the theatre."

I grinned and moved my left arm and stroked her cheek. "I'm afraid that's not going to happen." Within a fraction of a second, I wheeled around and swiped my credit card in the machine.

She stood in shock, speechless. As my credit card went through and the tickets began to print, she finally seemed to gain her ability to speak back. "You…when your arm wrapped around my waist…you stole your card back."

I gathered the tickets and pocketed them. "You're not the only girl who's tried tricking me. You lost character about halfway through. Besides, you shouldn't keep the card in your back pocket; it's too easy to be pick pocketed." Courtney's face was slightly pink in her fury but she seemed to bottle it up and mumbled to herself. We quickly walked around the crowd of people and made our way to the concession booth. I let out a low whistle as I looked at our options. "So what will you have?" Without a word, she walked to the cahier and ordered a regular popcorn, no butter, with a regular sized diet pop. I jumped in and ordered a regular soda and sour gummies for myself. As the cahier gave us the total, I casually slipped him the twenty before Princess could reach for her wallet. She only glared at me as I received my change and gathered our concessions. She went to go grab straws when I something caught my eye. I wasn't sure who I saw but I was sure that it was someone I knew. Although in this crowd, it wasn't much of a stretch. I searched the busy theatre once more before I joined Courtney in the front. A teenage girl ripped our ticket stubs and directed us to the theatre. We walked in silence and our eyes met only once before she quickly averted them. We entered the well-lit theatre and surveyed the crowd. "Front or back?" I asked her.

She seemed to forget she was mad at me for a moment and replied. "Middle. You're not catching me with you in the back and I don't want to damage my eyes by sitting so close."

"If you sit close, you'd be too distracted by me anyway. Besides, I doubt your eyes will be damaged by the screen."

"I wasn't talking about the screen." She started to walk towards row L and we took our seats. The brunette extended her arm back and gently massaged her neck. Her lips parted in an 'o' shape when she finally hit the right spot. I couldn't keep my eyes off of her. She closed her eyes and moved her head to one side. A small noise of satisfaction escaped her lips and she moved her arm onto the arm rest. She glanced sideways and noticed that I was staring like a total idiot. "What?"

"Nothing." I said. She gave me a questioning look and drew her attention to the popcorn in front of her. She picked up a kernel and examined before throwing it into her mouth. "Thanks."

She said the last part so quietly that I had to strain to hear her. "What for?"

"Everything." She stated simply and turned to face me. "Duncan, I wanted to pay and although I hate that your pigheadedness got in the way, it was very sweet of you to pay for me." Her eyes kept shifting off my face as though she were embarrassed.

I gave her a small grin. "You didn't have to come with me. I just wanted to see you and I believe that when a guy takes a girl out, he should make her feel special. You're no different." Her hazel eyes met mine once more.

"I'm still going to pay you back somehow." She said with a smile. "I stand by what I said before; I don't take charity from anyone." I met her smile with one of my own.

"I'm sure you'll think of a way to repay me." I said cheekily. Colour rushed to her cheeks and she averted her eyes in embarrassment.

"Knock it off, Duncan." She bit her lip, presumably to prevent a giggle from escaping her lips.

I laughed and held up my hands in mock defense. "Sorry Princess. I can't help myself if I'm out with one of the hottest girls in town."

"Stop it." She said trying to ignore my comments. She loved it. The way she turned her head so much as to still see me through the corner of her eye. It was cute in sort of a little kid way.

"Yeah, I better stop before your boyfriend beats me up."

She gave me a confused look. "Boyfriend?" She trailed off.

"Noah? Remember you told me over the phone?"

"Oh yeah. Sorry, the question caught me…off-guard." She gave a nervous laugh and started to eat more popcorn. She's making this too easy…

I smirked and leaned closer. "Noah's not your boyfriend. You're single."

She locked eyes with me and blew a stray hair out of her eyes. "Forget it. It was a stupid thought anyway. Yes, I'm single. Happy? I just didn't want to sound so pitiful."

"Princess, you're anything but pitiful. You may be a LOT of things, but pitiful isn't one of them." The lights dimmed and the movie began.

"Scott! Don't go out there! It's a bloodbath! You have no hope of surviving!" The busty blonde shouted to her boyfriend, now holding a machine gun which literally was not there a second ago. I loved pointing out continuity errors.

"I have to, Amanda. I have to do this if we have any hope of surviving this hellish situation." The pussy of a boyfriend said dramatically, pushing his shaggy black hair out of his eyes. I heard a few girls in the front row of the theatre squeal with joy as the boyfriend grabbed his girlfriend around the waist. "I love you." Just as he leaned in to kiss her, a zombie punched through the wall and bit the blonde on the shoulder. Blood came out in buckets and the theatre gasped. I rolled my eyes. This film was far too tame for my liking.

"Did you see that? How could she be so stupid? If I was in that situation, I'd put together a zombie survival kit at LEAST a year in advance. She clearly wasn't a CIT before." I looked over in surprise. It wasn't even fifteen minutes in and Princess had started the commentary. While she WAS whispering and, to be honest, I was much more interested in her comments than the movie itself, I quickly realized how sensitive our theatre was. Some guy with greasy hair in front of us turned around and promptly shushed her. It only made it worse. She shushed back and continued to whisper her thoughts and comments on the film.

The greasy hair guy motioned to me. "Hey. Can you get your girlfriend to shut up?" She, unfortunately, heard that and started to spout off at him. The fight got pretty heated and it was no surprise when one of the theatre staff came and we were escorted out of the theatre in record time.

As the staff closed the theatre door behind him, Courtney looked at me sheepishly. "I'm sorry. I don't know what got into me."

"On the contrary, I thought it was pretty hot." I said, walking alongside her to the mall entrance. As we reached the glass doors we realized that it was pouring non-stop outside.

"Great. Now what are we supposed to do?" Courtney moaned and took a seat on the bench outside, protected with an oversized umbrella.

I tucked my hands into my jeans and took the seat next to her. "Even though you practically forced me to break all kinds of driving rules, run to the movie at an unnecessary fast pace, try and pay for your ticket, lie to me about having a boyfriend and get me kicked out of the theatre, I'd say that this was a success."

She tucked her brown hair behind her hair and looked at me. "You mean that?"

"Of course, I do."

She sighed and crossed her legs. "Well, I MIGHT say that I enjoyed spending time with you. Although you can be a total ogre at times, I'll admit I had quite a bit of fun tonight. I daresay you would be a fair candidate for another outing but that might be a stretch. When I'm a lawyer and you're stuck in prison, I MIGHT remember tonight and CONSIDER helping you out." She grinned at my surprised reaction.

"Princess, those are some of the kindest words you've ever said to me." I placed a hand over my heart. "That really touched me, I didn't know you cared." She punched me in the arm with mock force.

At that exact instant, the umbrella gave way under the water weight and all the rain that it had accumulated fell down on us. Courtney gave a shriek of surprise and started to moan. "AGRH! Why does this have to happen to me?" She started to get up but my hand extended out and grabbed her arm.

"What's wrong, sweetheart? Can't stand the rain? We're both entirely soaked anyway. Try to live a little dangerously." I gave her a challenging smirk. She narrowed her eyes and yanked her arm away.

"I'll show you." She resumed her seat as the rain continued to pour down on us. She looked really pretty, at that exact moment. When I was on the bench and she was on the bench, both completely soaked. "Still don't think I can do this?" I shrugged.

"Well, you ARE sitting here with me. I think that you'll be too mesmerized by my amazing personality and appearance to even care about the rain." She huffed and moved closer to me. I realized how I could see through her shirt and it took every piece of willpower I had to quickly force my sapphire eyes back to her face.

She leaned inwards, putting her weight slightly on my lap. I raised an eyebrow. She wrapped her arms around my neck and whispered in my ear. "On second thought, I don't think I'll bail a total Neanderthal, such as yourself, out of jail."

I raised my left hand and placed it under her chin. She was fully on my lap now, facing me. Keeping my eyes focused on her onyx ones, I grinned mischievously. "If you spend enough time with me, I'll be the one bailing YOU out of jail." She pulled my shirt forward and we locked into a kiss. My eyes widened in shock but I quickly adjusted to the kiss. There was something so incredibly hot about this situation that really got me fired up. Her hands grasped my hair, gently pulling it. My arms wrapped around her waist and traced the wet curve of her body. This was it. This was where we left off after Total Drama Island. We had come full circle.

~.~

Gwen POV

"Gwen?" Trent looked at me, worried. I sat outside the theatre at one of the tables in the food court. I looked up at Trent and gave a weak smile, acknowledging him. "Are you okay? You seem really upset." I nodded slowly and opened my mouth to say something but I just found myself choking on my words. Trent sat across from me and looked really uneasy. I couldn't blame him. Who would WANT to be seen with an utterly depressed goth girl? I ran my hand through my hair and sighed.

"Trent, it's not you." I managed to say. He looked at me in total astonishment; I hadn't said anything since we left the theatre. I'm sure he was thrilled to get some sort of verbal response out of me. I reached over and grasped both of his hands in my own. "Contrary to what you might see before you, I actually had an amazing time with you." I gave a half-hearted smile. My blue tinted lips formed a smile. Going to the movie tonight was such a rush. We picked me up on time, had pre-ordered the tickets and had even remembered to get me a small popcorn with a single squirt of butter. He hadn't tried to kiss me or do anything romantic out of respect to my relationship with Duncan. He even offered his jacket to me when I was cold in the theatre. His shaggy black hair was slightly out of place and he wore an expression which conveyed the deepest concern. Being with him had its own unique feeling. He treated me as though we had known each other our entire lives. He clearly wanted me to feel special and had accommodated the date to my liking. God, I did not deserve such a sweet guy. How did I repay him? By acting like a total emo bitch. I stood up from the table and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "Thanks for everything, Trent. I'm really sorry about how I've acted. I'll call you later." I walked out the side door before he had a chance to respond. As the rain swiftly came down on me, I walked in the direction of my house with my hands held firmly in my sweatshirt pocket. My tears soon blended in with the rain. I squeezed my eyes tighter together, hoping that the pain would go away.

"Did you see that? How could she be so stupid? If I was in that situation, I'd put together a zombie survival kit at LEAST a year in advance. She clearly wasn't a CIT before." I recognized that voice. I looked downward at the middle rows, trying to catch a glimpse at the source. Trent said something to me but the movie drowned him out. My eyes caught sight of a guy turning around and shushing the girl behind him. I shrugged and drew my attention back to the movie. Trent leaned in to take a sip of soda the exact moment I did. I realized what was about to happen and I quickly backed off, blushing. Even though the lighting was sparse, I could still see the colour on his face. He apologized and urged me to take the first sip. I shook my head, smiling, urging him to take the sip. We both stared at each other, smiling in embarrassment. It was disgusting how sweet we were being to each other. This kind of thing would normally make me barf. "I just KNEW that she was going to die." The moment was instantly ruined. I glared at the girl and was about to give her a piece of my mind when the light flashed on her face. It was Courtney. I couldn't believe my eyes. The guy in front of her said something and she went into hysterics, everyone in the theatre locked eyes on them. Trent stood up and tried to see what the commotion was while I spotted about three people run out of the theatre to contact the staff. As the two were escorted out, I couldn't help but wonder what happened.

The movie ended shortly after that and we left the theatre. As I recalled parts of the movie to Trent, I noticed that some sort of card lay in Courtney's seat. I walked over and realized that she forgot her credit card. "Shit." I said and showed Trent. Trent quickly recalled that he had heard one of the theatre goers say that the couple who had caused the commotion was heading towards the main entrance. I told Trent to meet me in the food court while I returned the card. He complimented me on my noble and caring personality and I managed to run before he caught sight of me blushing for the second time. I rushed through the mall and got to the main doors. I was about to push open the doors when I caught sight of Courtney straddling a guy on the bench. They both were soaking wet and she was whispering something in his ear. I grinned, my hand resting on the door handle. Well, well, well. Courtney actually found something that could handle her. She pulled away from his ear and my heart stopped. I watched as Duncan put his hand underneath her chin. I tried to tear my eyes away. My feet seemed to be grounded in place. I watched as Courtney pulled Duncan into a passionate kiss and I counted the seconds until he'd break away. One….two…three…four…He didn't break away. His arms snaked around her body, the way he used to for me. I ran back to the food court, fighting back tears.