Chapter Four: I Fought the Law and Trent Won
When Courtney finally got home from the venue, there was already a car parked in front of her house. It was a car she recognized but was still surprised to see.
"Trent? What are you doing here?" Courtney called out as she was pulling up into her driveway.
"Do I need an excuse to hang out with one of my favorite people?" Trent asked with a shrug. In his hands were two bags of takeout from her favorite Chinese restaurant.
Courtney got out of her car and gave him a suspicious glance. He wasn't the best at hiding things, but he especially couldn't hide anything from her. Trent sighed, knowing that she could tell that something was up.
"Fine, fine. I got a text from Bridgette about what happened and figured I could help take your mind off things," he admitted.
Courtney rolled her eyes. She was fine, and it would take a lot more than Duncan showing up out of nowhere to… okay, maybe she wasn't completely fine but she handled it like an adult.
"Alright, let's go inside. Can't let my beef and broccoli get cold," she said, unlocking the door to let both of them in.
Courtney led the way toward the living room and turned on the lights. While Trent was settling in, she went into the kitchen to grab plates and utensils. "Anything to drink?" she asked while dropping off the plates.
"Just water is fine," Trent answered.
She went back to the kitchen and got water for Trent and green juice for herself. Back in the living room, Trent had already opened up all the takeout and spread all the containers out as if it were a buffet. "Bon Appetite," he said with a smile.
The smell of MSG and soy sauce smelled so delicious that Courtney's stomach began to rumble. She had forgotten that she had barely eaten all day. Trent grinned and handed Courtney a plate with all of her favorites.
"Thanks, Trent," she said quickly before devouring the food. Once she had some food in her stomach, she grabbed seconds at a more humane pace. Meanwhile, Trent had barely taken two bites.
"So are you going to talk about what happened today?" he asked, trying to act nonchalant and innocent.
"Hm… no?" Courtney answered in between bites. "There's nothing to talk about."
"Uhhuh… So the fact that you saw "He-who-shall-not-be-named" today meant just a regular day in the life of Courtney?" Trent pressed a little further.
"I handled it," Courtney said simply.
"Handled it, how exactly?"
"We made a truce."
"Oh Courtney, please don't tell me you made him sign a contract again."
Courtney nearly spit out her juice. Once she re-composed herself, she snapped back, "No! Why does everyone think that I'm obsessed with contracts? I was SIXTEEN."
"It doesn't help that you're a lawyer now," Trent pointed out.
"Touche, Trent, touche."
"Anyway, so you talked to Duncan and everything was cool? He didn't try to cause trouble? Or did he try to apologize? Maybe something along the lines of, 'Courtney, I still love you. I've never stopped loving you?'" Trent asked, raising his arms dramatically. His Duncan impression sounded more like Alejandro but he was still very much 'in character'.
Courtney began to blush. "No… I mean, I don't know. I kind of didn't let him talk," she admitted.
Trent raised an eyebrow. "Do you still have feelings for Duncan?"
"What! No! Do you still have feelings for Gwen?" Courtney retorted.
"Changing the subject and being defensive? I may need to cross-examine the witness."
"That's not how the law works!"
"That's how Trent law works and I'm the judge so I'm gonna let that slide."
"You can't be a lawyer and a judge at the same time! That's unfair!"
"Overruled. Sorry Court, Trent Law can be harsh." Trent let out a laugh as Courtney's face got more red. Her cheeks were puffed out from pouting. He gave her a gentle pat on the head and then poked her puffy cheeks. A little bit of air escaped from her lips, and eventually, she couldn't help but laugh along with him.
"But to answer your previous question. No, I don't have feelings for Gwen anymore. We could even get paired up and walk down the aisle together and I wouldn't even feel a thing," Trent replied once they both calmed down from their laughing fit.
"I could arrange that," Courtney said, with a mischievous grin.
"Go for it. I mean, I'd rather walk with her than Heather," Trent said while shaking his head. "No offense." He quickly added, knowing that she and Courtney were now good friends.
"None taken. She wasn't the best to you on the show and she hasn't even really apologized to you for it yet. But she isn't that bad once you get past her defenses," Courtney explained.
Heather hasn't changed that much since being on the show, but with all things media, her attitude was heavily exaggerated. Heather was also there for Courtney when she first found out that Duncan cheated on her and Heather was the one who reached out to her once the show was over to hang out. She had even made up with the rest of the bridal party, and the group of them grew closer over the years, earning Heather a spot as a bridesmaid.
They began chatting about other things such as what was going on in their lives as they finished up eating. Trent was going to release a new single soon titled By Your Side and was planning on going on an American tour after the wedding. Courtney revealed that was taking a break in her career and trying to figure out her next steps. She was okay with being a corporate lawyer but didn't want to do that for the rest of her life. She wanted her work to be more meaningful than defending rich, old people whenever they did something wrong.
"Why don't you come on tour with me?" Trent suggested.
"What? As a groupie? Ew, that's gross," Courtney said, sticking out her tongue.
"No, as my opening act. I know you are a great singer. You carried most of the singing performances during World Tour."
Courtney paused. Go on tour and sing with Trent? That sounded like a lot of fun and it was a generous offer, but she wasn't sure. "I don't know about that…" she said, looking down. "I spent so long trying to get out of the spotlight and it was so hard to prove I've changed after Total Drama."
"Even more reason to go back. Show the world who you are now, on your own terms," Trent added. "How about this? I have a mini-concert next weekend. Sing with me for one show and we can talk more about it after that. Deal?"
Courtney bit her lower lip nervously. One show wouldn't be that bad right? "Okay, fine. Deal."
"Great, I'll have my people call your people. Just kidding, but seriously my agent Diane will give you the details."
Author Note:
Thank you all for reading again! I appreciate the Favorites and Follows. I like a little Trentney every once in a while but don't worry, this is ultimately a Duncney story.
I feel dumb because I just realized Courtney's name is like… Court… you know, taking people to court. Ha. I'm too amused now. Any other name puns that I missed in the Total Drama Cast? Feel free to leave a review and let me know.
