Ohmygod, I'm sorry I've been dead for so long :#. I started school, you see. …That should tell you everything ¬¬. Before anything else, I should tell you that the next chapter will be up TOMORROW. I cut it in half only because it was getting too long.

MusicLuver78901: Now, don't get angry… that guy was just born a bitch ¬¬, he probably can't even help it *Courtney-speak*. I wanna see those things too D: that whole list you said. I'll try to add the things you asked me :) Glad you're enjoying it ^^ and I hope you like what's coming next.

sweetElisabeth: God, I wanna find out what happens too D: haha. Thank you so much for reviewing x)

TrueJackVP408: Hi, I think it's pretty safe you say you exploded a long time ago now :|

But sweetie, don't be naïve—it'll be years before the authorities accept Fanfiction deprival as a valid cause of death *shakes head* a shame really… Anyway, I hope your ghost enjoys this chapter.

But really now, thank you for what you said at the end. That seriously touched me :$

BelleDanseuse: Thank you, thank you, thank you! ^^ Enjoy the chappie!

honey-boo-skii: Where have I been? That's a great question 9-9 Duncan has feelings for Courtney, indeed- he just needs to grow up and realize it .. Thank you for reviewing, I hope you like this chapter :)

CarmillaD: Como siempre sos una ayuda invaluable para mí ya que me ponés en el lugar del lector, así que muchísimas gracias por eso 3. Eso es verdad, los personajes de anime no mueren ni aunque los agarre un meteorito, unos más que otros *coughcoughIchigoKurosakicough*. Está muy buena la imagen que me mandaste, tenés razón podría ser un retrato de la escena :) A mí la que más me llego es una que se llama "Not like the movies", ahora no la encuentro pero cuando la encuentre te la mando así la ves :P

Esa parte que te gustó es exactamente lo que pienso de DxG :/. Nunca me di cuenta lo mucho que me gusta escribir a Tyler; en el futuro voy a trabajar más con el :). En fin, espero que te guste este capítulo, ya estamos en el clímax de la historia, guarda :o.

I've always forgotten to credit Eminem's contribution to this story, not only the obvious Love The Way You Lie reference of the title (which I listened to constantly while writing this btw), but also in his song Kim, which I listened to for this chapter and the first part of the previous chapter; in both parts, faithful listeners might recognize some lines from the song.

Okay, guys: I showed you how Courtney pictured confronting Duncan after his cheating, and I showed you how Duncan pictured making things right with Court.

Now I show you what really happened between those two.

Part IX

And then, at a given moment in the week, it happened.

Courtney walked into First Class, having been looking for Alejandro. Instead she had found Duncan on the opposite end of the room, standing by Owen and Tyler. Their eyes locked; the four fell quiet; and just like that, with no planning or intention, came to be the first time the two exes saw each other since the events that had led them to became exes.

For a few seconds, the world stood still. Not a noise passed in the room; no voices were heard from the other compartments; even the wind seemed to have stopped. Courtney and Duncan's eyes bore into one another. A solid bolt of sheer energy passed between the look they were giving each other.

At least it seemed so to Tyler and Owen, each at one side of Duncan, who could almost feel the remnants of that energy radiating off them, making their skin itch.

Then, the door that had been left to its own accord closed itself, creating an echo that somewhat relieved the tense atmosphere.

"Umm…," Tyler spoke. "I'm gonna… leave you two to talk," he excused himself lamely, and quickly walked to the door.

"Wait for me!" Owen said, running after him.

They passed each at one side of Courtney –and at a safe distance away from her- and sped up as they neared the door, opening it desperately and closing it with a thud that resounded loudly. From the hallway, they could hear how Tyler chided Owen for that.

For a while, Courtney and Duncan stared at each other in silence. Neither seemed to want to be the first to look away.

Finally, Duncan seemed to get bored with the setting and strayed away. Courtney watched him pick up an old magazine and browse uninterestedly through it. She hastily looked away, her temper already flaring up at his antics.

With her eyes on the wall, the brunette calmed herself and organized her thoughts, calling back all the things she wanted to throw in his face to make the most out of the unexpected situation. She focused on the things she knew she should say, to hide the fact that she didn't know what she wanted to say to him. If she were to say what she truly wanted to say, it would come out as a mix between slapping him around with a 'you're heartless and a cruel bastard for doing this to me!', asking him in tears just what was wrong with her for him to do this, and forcing herself into his arms saying 'take me, hold me in your arms, call me Princess again and never let me go'.

Meanwhile, Duncan flipped the pages of his magazine, trying to contain the different feelings that were bubbling up his throat. For the first time in days, he could give free reign to all of his anger towards Courtney, and he planned to use that opportunity to its fullest.

Courtney looked back at him and folded her hands together. She cleared her throat and started, "O-okay Duncan, I'm of the opinion that we can't continue to ignore each o-"

"My, that's one hot get-up," he muttered to himself, as if he hadn't heard her.

Courtney looked down at the page he was watching. It featured a woman in a scanty set of purple lingerie. Courtney's jaw tightened. "Are you gonna make her wear that?" She said, contempt in her voice when she referred to Gwen.

He looked up. "Maybe." His eyes bore into hers.

She glared back at him, arms folded.

Duncan went on. "Purple is her favorite color, so…"

"I'm glad you have that covered," Courtney cut off.

A silence followed. Courtney was biting hard her lip, and she looked like she would blow up at any given moment.

"Yeah, well," Duncan babbled lazily. "It's those kinda things, you know, that one always…-"

"HOW COULD YOU!" Courtney suddenly screeched, and she saw him cringe. "Aww, I'm so sorry, Dunky. IS THAT TOO LOUD FOR YOU!"

"Well, I would rather you didn't bust my eardrums" he said, picking at his right ear. Immediately, Courtney lost all sight of what she had planned to say.

"UGH! You are still just the same annoying bastard as always!" Her eyes flew dramatically to the ceiling. "What, just what did I ever see in you? A chimp would make a better boyfriend! At least it would have more sense that to choose a gothic tramp over m…-"

Duncan snapped to action at this. "Hey, don't you talk about Gwen like that," he said warningly, standing up for the other girl partly because he felt it and partly because he knew it would hurt the girl in front of him.

"Oh!" Courtney widened her eyes and took her hands in front of her heart. "Oh! You defend her! How sweet! It's so nice to know you're so loyal to her!" This wasn't good. Shouting like this would only get her further from the direction she wanted to go, Courtney knew, but she couldn't help it. Why was it that now that she was finally facing him, she said not the things she had long planned she would tell him, but other things, ones that sprung in the heat of the moment?

What was there in him that made her act like this?

Meanwhile, Duncan's good mood had evaporated, as he was reminded of why he couldn't stand her chastising voice. It drilled on his ears in the exact same way it used to, insistant, annoying, overpowering…. "Let me tell you, Duncan, even in your worse times, I never thought you capable of doing something like this. But once again, you surprise m…-"

"Get out."

"What?" she screeched.

"Get out!" He closed the distance between them in a few strides and began to push her towards the door. It took her a while to react to his forcefulness, but when she did, she planted her heels on the ground; and they stood there, struggling, halfway to the doorway, because he would never handle with his full strength so that she couldn't free herself if she put up a fight.

"I'm not gonna leave, Duncan!" she cried. He could tell she was upset at being stopped short, when she probably had so much to throw in his face. She sounded so energetic, while he sounded so tired of everything. "Just because you don't feel like listening to what you've done-!"

"I don't wanna listen to you 'cause you're full of shit!"

"I'm full of shit! You're so full of it you can't even see above yourself!" She gasped once as she attempted to stand her ground, while he had a firm and effortless grip on her forearms.

He finally released his grip on her, pushing her aside. "Look, what will it take for you to shut up and leave me alone?"

"Tell me why you did it," she said resolutely.

Duncan hesitated. "Why don't you tell me?" He said, trying to buy some time.

"Me?"

"Yes, you," he confirmed, more assuredly. "You're asking me to tell you how it went down, but you already have the whole story figured out, don't you? Well, don't you?" He looked at her and her eyes briefly darted off to the side. She so did. "So go ahead, tell me why I did it."

Courtney stared at him for a while, trying to figure out his true intentions. For a split moment, Duncan had the irrational fear that, just like in his dream, she would look into his eyes and see all the truth she needed there, out in the open.

But this was reality, and a second later she straightened her back and said "Okay." And shooting him a disdainful look from under her lashes, "You where there, so was she." A significant shrug. "You were bored. She always had a thing for you," she narrowed her eyes. "And you don't give a fuck, about anything… That's how it happened." It was a grave understatement of all the theories she had tossed back and forth in her head, but she didn't feel safe enough to let him know how much she had thought about it.

Duncan adopted a thinking position and tried to suppress a grin. "Mmh… yeah…, that could be just right."

Courtney could have gone up in flames right then and there. He wasn't going to give her a straight answer, was he? She was itching to say something, anything, to force him to say something real, but she had the nagging feeling that he intended to keep her guessing.

"So what, were you expecting me never to find out?" she asked.

He shrugged. "Yeah, kinda."

"That's bullshit!" she exploded. "You wanted me to find out, you did it on the very same plane because you wanted me to find out!"

Duncan laughed a big, humorless laugh at this. "See? You already know everything, why're you asking me for?"

Courtney felt a tightness in her throat. He was actually laughing about this.

She saw him turn his back on her and could no longer restrain herself. The words poured out like a tide out of her mouth.

"I. can't. freaking, believe you! How can you be such an irresponsible jerk! Duncan I'm talking to you! The least you can do after everything you've put me through is face me! Duncan!"

"Goddamnit," Tyler announced as he closed the door behind him, causing Owen and Alejandro to look up. "Couples fight, I get that," he said as he sat next to them. "But this is just another level of… crap-dom, you know?"

He had been walking past Economy class, without noticing the door was semi-closed. When he passed in front of the crack, a wave of screams had struck him right in the ear, momentarily deafening him.

"What couple?" Sierra asked as she came into the room. Passing by the light switch, she turned it on, because it was almost dusk and it was beginning to get dark.

"Duncan and Courtney," Tyler answered.

The purple-haired girl took a hand to her mouth. "Oh, gosh. They found each other?"

"Yep," Tyler responded, and looking out of the window, "I think it's going to rain."

A moment of silence, which Owen then broke with a quiet, "Where do you guys think Gwen is?"

Sierra narrowed her eyes hatefully. "Crawled under a rock, most likely."

"She's locked in the bathroom," informed Cody, with a worried look on his face as he also joined the group. "So to speak. The lock's still busted."

"And to think," said Tyler. "It all started with a busted lock."

"It did?" Alejandro asked him, not missing a beat. "You never did tell us how the affair actually happened. Why don't you relate the story?"

But Tyler was saved from the situation because in that moment, the loud distinctive sound of glass shattering came from the room in question. All the present looked up in alarm.

"What the hell was that?"

"Oh no," the Latino's skin uncharacteristically blanched. "My heirloom glass bowl my mother sent me."

Duncan looked at the smashed glass whatever against the wall, which would have comfortably crashed against his head had he not ducked in the last second.

He turned to Courtney with widened eyes. "Congratulations," he said, clearly shaken up. "You convinced me that you are a sociopath."

"Well great!" she cried. "Maybe now I'll get you to listen to me!"

"GOD!" Duncan shouted. "I'm so freakin' TIRED of you all up in my face!"

"Well I'm tired of YOU TOO, YOU KNOW!"

"Well then why are you HERE!"

"Because I want you to give me an answer!" the brunette exploded. "A real answer!"

"You don't deserve one!" Duncan finally yelled, faster than he could decide whether he meant it or not. "Okay! You don't even deserve that much!"

Courtney closed her open mouth, forgetting what she had meant to say a second ago. "I don't deserve one?" she echoed, her eyes narrowing but her heart quickening. "You break us up and I don't even deserve to know why?"

She watched him intently, waiting for the punch line, but his mouth was a firm line and his eyes were defiant; he had said all he had to say, and had meant it all.

Before she could deflect the attack, her chest constricted with the possibility that he really did think she was that worthless.

Courtney wasn't one to get affected by hurtful words. If the same words had been spoken by any other person, she wouldn't have even considered them before she brushed them off and went on with her life. No, it was not the words; it was the fact that they came from him that made it so unbearable.

Her mind stumped, her ears buzzing, she opened her mouth as if to yell something else at him, but she didn't know what to say, and a violent sob came out instead.

Her whole face flushed and she immediately put her fist over her mouth, mortified. She whipped away from his sight, and for the hundredth time –and perhaps more furiously than ever- she cursed the power the boy held over her.

Out of the corner of her eye she saw him turning away from her, and she filled with resentment. He was going to just stand and do nothing. Clearly it wasn't enough for him to have pushed her towards the edge, to the point where she was biting and clawing just to keep herself together; now he entertained himself pushing her off completely, doing everything in his power to force her to cry in front of him.

Meanwhile, Duncan was wondering why his body had snapped to a different side as soon as he had seen tears come out of her eyes.

Why was it so unbearable for him to see her cry that he had to look away? He had been saying things he didn't even remotely mean for about half the night now, he could do for a few more minutes. Just until she went away –convinced that he hated her guts- out of his life forever.

Please stop crying.

He could feel himself softening. Before, her own strength had been keeping him cruel, convincing him that she could take it; but now she was breaking down, and the stifled, tiny voice of what once was his conscience was making itself heard in the back of his mind again.

But then, "I wasted a year of my life with you," Courtney said, and her voice was again steady, if remarkably more venomous.

He solidified.

"I should thank you for doing all of this," she continued. "because… in doing this, you've set me free. And after you, my life can only get better. I'm glad this happened. I'm glad you chose another victim. And you know what else?"

She stopped. He finally turned to face her.

She still had those tears in her eyes, but they seemed irrelevant; they were there, but they didn't reflect her state of being, not anymore. She looked like the calm of the destruction after the storm, and the morning after the biggest fight of their lives.

"What?" he ceded.

"She won't last anywhere near as much as me."

He shuffled.

"Right back at ya."

She raised an eyebrow. He couldn't tell if she was offended or disbelieving.

Nothing was said for a few seconds, and then Courtney turned on her heel and walked towards the door. Duncan turned around at the same time, looking out of the small window and pretending he saw something in the somber-looking sky.

With her hand on the open door, Courtney paused, and looked back at the boy she was leaving behind.

"Oh," she said. "And you're a pathetic excuse for a human being if that was really your reason."

A pause. Then,

"And you're the psychotic bitch you always were."

He had taken so long to mutter back his response that he wasn't sure if she had heard him before she exited the room. He got his answer a few seconds later, when he heard the door close again.

A silence, that made him doubt whether it was truly her that had received his words, or someone else; and then,

"I didn't change, Duncan. You changed," Courtney said quietly, as if trying to fit one last rebuttal inconspicuously, in order to get the last word without rekindling the fight. She wanted to leave –she was dying to leave, she was way too tired, and way too sick of him- but her personality wouldn't let her pass up the obvious affront.

"I didn't change," said Duncan, who would die before he let her have the last word. "You just have no clue as to who I am. Not really."

"Excuse me? What's that supposed to mean?" Courtney glared at him from across the room, her hips finding their way to her hips. She couldn't help it; she was getting deeper into the argument.

He hesitated for a split second, before turning around fully. "I'm talking about how you always tried to change me. Always more worried about what everybody else thought. Always looking over your shoulder whenever we were out together." He had hesitated because honesty was a dangerous territory.

But as for Courtney, the words represented something else entirely.

"Don't you dare try to turn this on me!" she seethed, stomping towards him. Her plans had taken a 180º turn, from get away as soon as you can all the way to stick around and fight with all you've got. "It was you who did this to us! It was you! You did it! It's-"

"No, I'm sorry, I totally forgot," he rolled his eyes. "You're a perfect little angel who can do no wrong."

"-your fault! And don't you dare start sounding self-righteous! Nothing… is an excuse to what you did!"

Duncan raised his voice to be heard over her frenetic attack. "A little angel who, strangely enough, spent all her time making me go through HELL!"

"Oh, really!"

Their faces were flushed as they looked at each other with more anger than they ever had before. As the screams rose in volume, making their ears buzz and their throats ache, the feeling in the back of their minds was the same.

The real fight had started when Courtney had closed the door.

Don't forget to check tomorrow for Part X. :)

~The Lighthouse