Ahaha I realized I forgot to update this week.

Well, there's a super good reason why. I have been tied up and then held at gunpoint to write another chapter for Prinzessin. No, seriously. So in exactly a week, on Christmas, prepare for the most brutal, feels-kicking, heartbreaking, best-written chapter yet. And it's all thanks to my new partner in crime, Mel.

So, hope to see you reading next week, kiddies ;)

I stomped through the film set angrily, about to start kicking and/ or killing the next person who dared to cross my path. Stupid Chris. Stupid challenge. Stupid Justin AND stupid Duncan. I hate this competition; people always trying to fool me and everyone was out to get me. First the hair-incident, then the stupid time bomb incident, and now this!

"Ooh, I hate Chris for toying with my emotions and tricking me like that," I whispered to myself while sitting myself down on the trailer steps, resting my head on my hand. It was true, I don't know how I felt at the moment. Justin was definitely out of the picture; in fact, he was never really painted in. All a strategy just to get invincibility. But then Duncan came in... I couldn't even begin to explain exactly what I felt for him. Sure, we'd thought we were in love; but then everything happened so fast, and then Gwen came in, and I'd dumped him...and then there was everything that was happening now...

"Ugh," I groaned, rubbing my temples in an attempt to calm down the whirl of buzzing in my head. I heard a low chuckle from nearby, and my head snapped up; the person who I'd least wanted to see, now in plain sight.

"I knew you still digged me. Can't say I blame you though, who doesn't dig me?" I groaned again, closing my eyes and trying to will myself into believing that this was just my crazy, overactive mind hallucinating.

"Go away Duncan; I'm not in the mood." He merely chuckled again and took a seat next to me, much to my displeasure.

"C'mon, just admit it. You know you still do; everybody knows it." I snorted, shaking my head.

"Since when do I care what everybody else thinks?" I asked reasonably. This time, he was the one to snort.

"A few weeks ago; you know, when your hair was all what you thought was ruined?" I raised my eyebrows, recalling the horrid evening.

"I care, Duncan! I don't like going out in public looking anything less than perfect, were your exact words, I believe," he quoted precisely, mimicking my voice. I rolled my eyes at his inaccurate impersonation.

"Sounds like somebody cares quite a lot what others think."

"Okay, one, I don't sound like that. And two, it shows a lot that you actually remember my sayings, word for word," I concluded snarkily. He chuckled again, resting his arms behind his head in a carefree manner.

"Princess, be logical all you want, but you just gotta learn to accept that you like me." I rolled my eyes, shaking my head at him and groaning once more. Did I like him? How could he know, when I didn't even know it for myself? Sure, he was deeply attractive, and we'd been through so much together; but could I really like him after what had happened with Gwen?

"Just accept it Princess; it's a fact," he repeated, changing his wording slightly. I turned to look at him; putting on my blankest, simplest expressions.

"It is not a fact. It's simply your wishful thinking that you keep dwelling on and try to make happen. Which it wont."

"Ouch. Why don't you think it can happen?" I turned silent, trying to find a reasonable answer. Why couldn't it happen? It could; he would be happy, I think I would be happy, hundreds of fans would be happy, and I'd get everybody off my back. But then there was the more reasonable side to that as well. Last time that I had let it happen I got voted off in order to spite Duncan. And then I had lost my chance over the money, which I wasn't going to let happen again. And if we were to pursue a relationship now, then everybody would be out to get us out. I already heard the idle talk between the girls; trying to get Duncan out in order to spite me. I wasn't going to let either of us lose the chance of winning just to pursue a reckless relationship.

"Because Duncan, I don't like you. Why don't you just accept that?" I added on as a side note. Technically, I wouldn't of considered it as lying, because I honestly couldn't admit that I liked Duncan. Sure, he made my heart flutter. And sure, he was very enticing; but those qualities should just be considered as 'add ons' when taking one's feelings for someone into consideration.

"Trust me Princess, as soon as you mean it, I will," he turned his gaze on me and I had to look away; not wanting to look in his eyes, and be caught in a trance. There we go, another deeming quality to add onto my list.

"Whatever you say Duncan. Oh, and as something that you should know; next time, try not to make it so obvious as when you're drooling over me. It's really degrading; especially on live television." He stammered, trying to find the right words as to not make himself sound like a complete imbecile. He looked so cute when he was frustrated like that; and yet another add on.

"I-I don't know what you're talking about. I was not drooling over you; you give yourself way too much credit," he said hastily. I giggled at his desperate attempts. Why was he even bothering to deny it? I knew it, he knew it, hell, even Justin knew it. Maybe this was how he felt all the time; how he thought I was constantly denying my attraction towards him.

"Sure you were Duncan, you and Justin both." He growled, standing up and beginning to pace; obviously not able to sit still anymore. Was it something I said?

"Don't you go mentioning pretty-boy. That sick bastard wanted to get his hands, and lips, all over you," he bit out menacingly, as if Justin had committed a personal crime against him. Did I mean that much to Duncan? I smiled on the inside, not quite ready to show it yet on the outside. And as if on cue, my heart began to flutter. Sometimes his brashness-especially when it came to me-really knocked the wind out of me; in a good way. I decided to have some fun with this; wasn't everyday Duncan got so jealous, and this would be the beyond perfect opportunity to show him exactly how I felt when he had been with Gwen.

"I think it would be very appropriate to mention Justin, seeing as he has the perfect potential to be my new consort." If there had been water, Duncan would've done a spit-take.

"Please tell me, that in your princess-y vocabulary, consort means piece of shit. Trash would also be acceptable; or just a sick assho-"

"Duncan!" I cut him off, enjoying every single minute of his jealousy. I put on my most serious face, and looked Duncan straight in the eye.

"In your neanderthal vocabulary, consort would mean boyfriend. Beau, if you wish. Or how about my adorable little Justie-poo!" I squealed in a very girlie manner; swooning and sighing romantically for impact. I had to keep from puking as I said it, yet it was all worth it to see Duncan's face. It was amazing how fast it changed colors; white, to pink, to scarlet. It was highly entertaining.

"Are you out of your fucking mind! Why the hell would you consider that douche-bag of a wimp boyfriend material?! Since when did you have the audacity to even think of liking him!?" I crossed my arms, thankful for the many acting classes I'd taken in Junior High.

"Goodness Duncan, don't yell at me like that. We aren't going out anymore; I have the right to like and or go out with anybody I want, and there's nothing you can do about it." His nose flared and I was sure, that if this had been any other person he was talking to, he would've killed them by now.

"Like hell is there nothing I can do about it!" His expression and the way he was acting made me break my acting bubble. I couldn't help it; I started laughing. And not my usual giggle, or simple snort. No this time, it was full on out laughter; I'm talking about hard, hands clutching my stomach, tears falling out of my eyes laughter. And this only infuriated him more.

"Would you care telling me what the hell is so funny?" I shook my head, wiping away the tears from my eyes, and trying to get my breathing back to normal.

"I made all that up. And now you've just proved to me that you really are jealous," I explained giddily. He sighed, seeing as he couldn't weasel his way out of it.

"Well do you blame me? You're all dressed up and gorgeous; what with yourprincess dress, and the crown-"

"It's a tiara," I interrupted not knowing how much more flattery I could take without going red in the face, but he put his hand over my mouth and kept me from interrupting again.

"Anyways, he's trying to get his freaking girly hands all over you, and you were encouraging it! You wanted him to kiss him!"

"No! It was all strategy! I wasn't planning to do anything with him; besides, do you think Chris would really allow a 'happy ending'? Of course not!"

"I don't know what to think. I've been kinda..distracted today." I snorted.

"I could tell." He sighed and sat down again, running his hand through his mohawk.

"You caught me off guard today. I didn't know that you were gonna dress up like that, or sing like that for that matter. Damn girl, you got some pipes on you. How come I didn't know you could sing like that?" This time it was my turn to sigh; I didn't like people knowing that I could sing, it was a secret hobby of mine. But it was a private hobby that I didn't let anyone know about.

"I can't. I was lip syncing."

"Who do you think you're fooling?"

"No really, I can't sing for crap. Chris just forced me to dress up, told me to learn the lyrics so I could lip sync just so he could make some more money off TV advertising." Duncan looked at me skeptically, and I had to turn away. How could he tell that I was lying? Oh, thats right, because he knew how to read me like a freaking book.

"Really then? Then I triple dog dare you to sing a bar for me, right now, just so you can prove to me that you can't sing." I blanched, and he smirked.

"No, that's preposterous!"

"C'mon, nobody's here. The cameras are finished filming for the day, and every other contestant is currently in the infirmary for the night. It's just you and me baby," he assured smoothly, leaning forward expectantly.

"No way. Besides, you got crushed by the monster, why aren't you in the infirmary?"

"I can take a fall for my Princess." I was speechless; was he just playing around, or did I really mean that much to him? I took a quick glance at his face, and he seemed completely serious.

"I think that monster crushed your small cranium even smaller than it was before," I retorted shakily, my palms starting to sweat and shake out of nerves. All of a sudden my head started to ache, and I was convinced it was because of the damned tiara I was still wearing. Jittery, I took the tiara off my head and shook my hair out, brushing out the small knots the tiara had formed. I turned to see Duncan scrutinizing me with a curious look on his face.

"Can I have a decent response why you don't want to be with me?" he asked suddenly, totally off the topic we'd just been discussing. My head started to buzz again, two different arguments forming. I groaned quietly, pushing my hair back from my face and placing the tiara daintily on my lap.

"Okay, fine. Hypothetically, of course, if I did like you it would completely get in the way of the competition. It's already happened once, and I'm not letting it happen again."

"Well, we're stronger now. I've seen you kick major ass; and if we were to vote together, and be together we could still manage to cause some major damage to the competition." He didn't get it. What if this stupid plan were to work, and then we were both to make it into the final two? I could fight him, but I'd seen him attempt to fight me before. He couldn't keep his head on straight. Hell, all I'd have to do was wear my bra and panties to the finale, and he'd be so out of it, I would win hands down. DIdn't he see that I didn't want to ruin his chances at the competition.

"And what if we were to make it into the final two Duncan? Then what?"

"We could play fair." I snorted, resting my chin on my palm again. I could see how frustrated he was getting with the conversation; obviously not getting through to me one bit.

"Yeah? And what if I were to put the money before you again? Where would that put us? I'll tell you where, ruined. Couples and competitions don't work out. Look at Leshawna and Harold, Bridgette and Geoff, Trent and your beloved Gwe-"

"Don't even go there," he cut off. "I don't know what the hell is going on through that head of yours, but I swear that absolutely nothing happened between Gwen and me." He looked at me for any sort of response, but I remained stubborn. He sighed frustratedly, and stood.

"I don't even know why I asked you in the first place. You're just-"

"Not worth it?" I interrupted glumly, lowering my head; a response I'd heard many times before. Not just from boys, but from my parents as well. The memories put me into a feeling of contempt; recalling the bitter words and scornful tones. The disparagement in their eyes; I shuddered, feeling tears rise up, but desperately trying to push them back down. I snapped out of my reverie when a thumb jerked my chin up, forcing me to look into worried blue orbs. Something in my eyes made Duncan grab my hand and pull me up against him, wrapping his arms around me tight. I fought my screaming mind, and wrapped my arms around his muscled torso, breathing deeply all the while. He pulled back and wiped his thumb across my cheek; and it was only then that I'd realized that a few tears had escaped my watchful conscience.

"Don't you even think that Princess. If you weren't worth it, I wouldn't have tried so hard in the past, and wouldn't still be trying now. I like you, and I'm not giving up anytime soon, not until you give in and you're mine. Keep that in mind." He pulled back and lay a chaste, sweet kiss on my temple, leaving me to hold back a slight whimper. He reached down, and plucked the tiara off the floor, placing it gently on my head soon after.

"That's where that crown belongs. It suits you well, you know." I nodded, my voice temporarily gone.

"You look worn out, why don't you get to bed?" I nodded again, barely able to choke out a 'good night' before entering my trailer.

I'd finally figured it out. The heart-fluttering, the sweaty palms, the headache, the inability to speak properly. Especially the jealousy, and even the raging mind conversations. I smiled, touching my hand to my forehead; the exact spot where he'd kissed me. I felt like an obsessed fan girl of a star who'd just accidentally touched her; vowing never to wash the spot ever again. I'd just become sure.

I like Duncan.