Gwen stared down to see a little boy tugging on her arm. He looked around five or six and didn't have his guardian or parent around. Once he finally got Gwen's attention, he spoke. "Excuse me lady, c-can you help me find my mummy? I was playing outside the restaurant with the dog and then it-it chased me and I ran away and now I can't find my mum."
"Sure thing bud." Gwen nodded as she smiled down at the little boy. "Do you know her phone number?"
The boy wiped his nose with his hands as some tears fell down his face. "I-I don't know her phone number. Sorry. Can you still please help?" The boy requested. "I really miss her."
"Yeah, don't stress. We'll find her." Gwen reassured.
"Promise?"
Gwen kneeled down to the boy's height as she put on her best smile. "I prom-"
"You find Ace yet?" Duncan interrupted, kneeled over to catch his breaths. He looked up to see Gwen and the boy giving him a puzzled look. "Got chased by some dogs and then this mum came up to me and was crying about her son-Camden, was it? I Told her I'll tell her if I find her son and then the dog came again and I tripped and fell. Anyways, I saw you so I quickly ran over to you before that dog saw me again." He explained, finally noticing the other boy's presence. "Who's the kid?"
Camden and Gwen exchanged bright smiles before Gwen stood up. "You still remember where that restaurant is?" She asked as the begun walking the way Duncan came from.
"You could probably find the restaurant from that lady's screaming." Duncan remarked as he led the way.
The three walked to the restaurant, glad that Camden would be able to reunite with his mother again. Their hopes were high and everyone was surprisingly able to get along and there wasn't any bickering. Once the trio arrived to the restaurant, they were greeted by emptiness. On the door, it said: CLOSED. Then came out a lady with a broomstick to clean the outside of the restaurant. She noticed the three and said:
"The restaurant's closed. Scram." She stated before glancing back at the little boy. "Oh are you the lil fella' who got lost? Camden, is it?" She inquired, pointing at the child. Camden eagerly nodded, expecting his mother to come out and engulf him in a surprise hug. "Well she left ya'."
That definitely startled the three.
"What? What are you talking about?" Gwen protested.
But the lady already turned her heel and was heading inside the restaurant. "You're on ya' on, Camden!" She called out.
Camden turned to Gwen and looked as if he was about to burst into tears. "Is it true?" He asked. Silence. He ran up to Gwen and hugged her tightly. He didn't want to lose his mother.
This gave Gwen déjà vu of what she had to deal with for the two weeks she was away. She could feel herself warming up tears at the thought. She ha been planning on ignoring it once she was back in California but this had reminded her. She hated that feeling. But it wasn't about her so she kneeled down to hug Camden and give him reassuring words. "Sh, it's alright Camden. You'll find your mum. I promised, remember?"
Meanwhile, after hearing the words of the lady at the restaurant, Duncan ran off. He had a slight clue where Camden's mother would be.
"I miss her so much." Camden cried into Gwen's shoulder.
"Camden...?" A voice called. In fact, an all too familiar. Camden turned around to see his mother. Immediately, he sprinted over to his mother, embracing her in a hug. "Oh I missed you so much." The mother stated.
Gwen stood up and walked over to Duncan. "That was nice of you, Duncan." She appreciated as she watched the mother and son hug. "Wanna head out now? Think they need a moment."
"Sure." Duncan agreed as the two walked out of the scene.
"Alright, we still need to find Ace so I suggest that I'll cover left and you cover-"
"Gwen, we've been looking for Ace for hours. We need a break." Duncan interrupted. "I'm being serious."
Gwen shook her head. "Then I guess I'll search on my own." She claimed as she started walking away from Duncan. "Hey what gives?" She questioned.
Duncan once again sidestepped her, trying to block her way. "Look at you, you're a break from this. C'mon, how about we sit in my car and talk about what happened before." He suggested, talking about their little fight. "I think it's just a little walk."
"I do not need a break. I'm a college student. I'm used to this." Gwen responded, slipping up a little yawn. Gwen looked at Duncan who was giving her a look. "What?"
"I have snacks in my car." Duncan added.
"I'm coming." Gwen sighed as she followed Duncan.
Were they in the presence of their car with snacks and a heater? No. Gwen and Duncan were stuck under the bus stop since it started heavily raining and also due to the fact that Duncan quite literally didn't know where the boarding kennel was. The two were sitting close to try and keep warm. It didn't really help since they were drenched. It just made them more bitter and enraged.
"Shouldn't have listened to you." Gwen mumbled, getting up. "I'm going to go find Ace."
Duncan, who noticed Gwen getting up to strut away caught up with her and pulled her back under the shade. "You're not going anywhere. We'll look for Ace once the rain's over."
Gwen yanked her arm away from Duncan as she had a sullen look on her face. "Oh yeah? And why do you care so much? Because you sure didn't care back in All Stars! I don't even know why I ever liked you because whatever the fuck happened to you is the exact reason I hate people like you!"
"Damn it! I've always cared!Youjust never cared since you would blank me out! If it's anyone's fault I acted like that, it's because of you, Gwen!"
"So letting you have freedom is what made you act up like that? It's my fault for being the only one who actually let you be yourself! Oh right because it's always me getting the blame! You want rules? Fine, here's one: I do whatever I want, you do whatever you want, and we don't bother each other about it!" Gwen shot back, turning around to storm off. But she was once again stopped by Duncan. "What is it!?"
"You're not leaving mid argument! We're finishing this now!" Duncan responded, holding Gwen by the shoulders. "If you want me to be my fucking self why couldn't I act like how I was in that season? You say I have my freedom so why aren't I allowed to do that!"
Gwen rolled her eyes at Duncan. "I never said you weren't allowed. I said I have my limits and I don't need you going around trying to get back with your ex!"
"I do not give a shit about Courtney! I left her for a reason! But you wouldn't understand since you're your usual self and always jumping into conclusions." Duncan responded. "Not to mention your whole life is set out and perfect while I go to the worst college and work in a boarding kennel! Oh, and that two week holidays of yours-"
"I didn't go on a holiday, Duncan!" Gwen interrupted, tears welling up in her eyes. "My aunt died!" Then came the tears.
Duncan's eyes softened as he noticed Gwen starting to cry, something he hadn't expected at all. "I'm… sorry. Gwen," he gently apologised. Gwen just stared back, then stepped closer to Duncan and rested her head on his chest, surprising him further. Shifting past his initial shock, Duncan wrapped his arms around her, enveloping her in a comforting hug. "It's alright. I'm, um... really sorry for that." he murmured.
Gwen started frowning at Duncan's words. He had previously said the same words and it had no meaning since he didn't know what he was even apologising for. Gwen pushed away from Duncan and stared daggers at him. "No you're not. Duncan, I'm done with this! My days were perfect before you came and now you came! Now, I'm losing time and need to find Ace!" Gwen stated, looking outside to see it heavily raining. There was no way she could go outside during that weather so Gwen helplessly plopped herself down on the bench. Duncan came to sit down too before Gwen said: "Don't even sit near me." Duncan nodded as he moved himself to the far right side of the bench.
Gwen then rested her head in between her knees, thinking of her aunt Tracey. Slowly tears came swarming down Gwen's face.
Hearing the soft tears, Duncan once again scooted closer to Gwen and placed a hand on her shoulder. This time, she allowed it."It's alright Gwen." Duncan patted Gwen's back. "Hey, it'll get better, alright? You wanna talk about it?"
"Well, my aunt, Tracey died and at home it just seemed very tough since my mum, brother and I have to comfort all the others. It gets very stressful, you know? But seeing my mother, it really just hurt a lot so I tried to help out by not grieving over it as much but it's just really hard to not and-and it just hurts a lot thinking about it..." Gwen explained.
As Gwen explained, Duncan carefully listened as he continued patting Gwen's back. Once she was finished, he was rewarded a hug by Gwen and he happily returned it. Afterwards, that heavy feeling left Gwen as her and Duncan started catching up on everything they'd missed from all the time apart. It was around 5am when the two slowly started getting tired and slowly fell asleep in the bus stop.
The next morning, Gwen and Duncan were sleeping at the bus stop. Many people passed by and noticed them, but since it was early, most just minded their own business. Still, it was quite a sight to see two former Total Drama stars snuggled together on the benches.
As always, Duncan had woken up earlier than Gwen and decided to surprise her by finding Ace. So, he slowly moved away from Gwen and off he went in pursuit to find Ace.
Still, Gwen managed to continue sleeping on the bench. But after a while, she woke up too to see that Duncan wasn't around. She was trying to make it seem subtle that she was looking for Duncan. However, her attempts were useless when they old lady sitting next to her noticed.
"Your boyfriend ran that way." The old lady stated, pointing right.
"Thanks." Gwen thanked, not even correcting the boyfriend part. "Now where is he?" Gwen mumbled. Gwen continued searching for Duncan until she walked past an alleyway. There she saw Ace. And there was another person... Duncan. Duncan was laying on the floor as Ace was jumping on him and licking his face. Duncan tried to pull Ace away but he was secretly enjoying it. He didn't even attempt to hide that smile. Gwen smiled to herself until Duncan looked back to see Gwen. "Oh, I just saw you two and..." Caught off-guard, Gwen stepped back, stumbling over and landed on the floor.
Duncan chuckled to himself as he got up and helped Gwen up. "Feeling better now?"
"Oh yeah. About that, Duncan. I just wanted to say thanks because I think that got out of my system now." Gwen thanked, flashing Duncan a nervous smile.
"Well, does that mean I get a reward for that?" Duncan joked.
"Don't ruin the moment." Gwen deadpanned.
Duncan smiled as he stared down at Gwen's annoyed look. "Noted. Anyways, I was gonna surprise you with Ace but you found us." Duncan stated, handing Gwen Ace back. "Spotted the kennel just down the street. You wanna join me or are you still mad about..."
"I'm still mad at you but I'll walk with you." Gwen responded, holding Ace in her arms.
As soon as the two started walking, Ace quietly dozed off. The two chuckled and looked up and smiled at each other.
"Big night, huh? I wonder what he'd been doing?" Duncan claimed.
"He probably was one of the dogs who attacked you." Gwen commented.
Yeah, I made them fight again but like they never had a serious fight like this and their relationship can't always be sparkles and rainbows.
Also no, the story is not finished.
There still is so much which is meant to happen but I gave a sweet Gwuncan moment to end off the chapter.