Hey everyone! Not much to really say here besides that I'm glad you are all enjoying the story! I've always enjoyed college AU's in fanfiction for the sheer amount of freedom they really give you. This chapter changes directions a bit but I've started to really get a grasp on where I want to take this story and Cody's character, since he has some cool depth to him that I really do want to explore here, especially in his relation to other characters, since he's so flawed but likable all the while.

Anyways not much else to say but thank you for reading! And check out my other story Total Drama: The Fifth Generation!

The sun beamed down on the campus. The first leaves had just fallen, painting the greens with dots of orange, red, and yellow. a beautiful day, that should by no means be wasted, and should be spent basking in the sun. Days like these are when even the most studious dropped their work and spent time laying in the grass or playing frisbee with a stranger. So naturally, Cody found himself sitting in front of his TV smack between Noah and Harold, screaming over a game of Mario Kart.

"That's the third fucking blue shell this race!" Harold shouted, tightening his grip on his controller as he watched his Walugi get thrown into the air while Cody passed him as Rosaline.

Cody leaned forward in his seat, power drifting around the corner to finish the second lap. "First place will be mine!" He cackled maniacally, a banana trailing behind his cart.

"Did we really have to go to such a hard track?" Noah exclaimed as his Wario went soaring off the edge, his cart burning up as it fell towards the earth. The cynic watched the AI racers pass by him, leaving him practically half a lap behind.

"YES!" Cody and Harold shouted in unison as they jostled with each other for first place. Turning the final bend, Harold chucked his item's haphazardly at Cody, who simply blocked the first, and then swerved to dodge a green shell before crossing the finish line.

"Woohooo!" Cody threw his hands in the air, almost hitting Noah in the face as the bookworm fell off again, slowly but surely settling into ninth place. "I never lose Rainbow Road!" He boasted, doing a little half dance in his seat.

Harold simply placed his controller on the coffee table. "I simply cannot keep up with your mad carting skills." He admitted with a grin. "Well done my dude." He said as Noah barely crossed the finish line in time.

"I hate this stupid track!" Noah snapped, throwing his head back as the final scores came up. Cody had won with a decisive lead, as per usual, though Harold had seemingly managed to make it competitive.

"Hey dudes, are you guys busy this Saturday?" Harold said, staring at his phone.

Noah glanced over, and placed his joycons down on the coffee table. "Why did a chill go down my spine when you asked that?" He asked.

Harold shrugged. "My Goddess says Owen's frat is throwing a massive party on Saturday and that she wants me to come." He said, running his index finger and thumb along his goatee. Originally a source of mockery amongst the trio (though mostly Noah), the ginger had managed to grow it out decently well. "But that sounds big. And loud."

"Don't you like that?" Noah asked, picking up his book and opening to the middle.

"In a woman? Absolutely." Harold nodded. "But outside of Owen and Leshawna I'll be amongst a sea of strangers. I'd honestly want you guys to come along."

Noah pretended to ponder the request. "Yeah, no. Not my forte." He shook his head. "Plus Emma has a free night on Saturday."

Harold scoffed. "Whatever happened to the bro code?"

"It's bros before hoes, not bros before long term girlfriend." Noah quipped. "And I've already made the dinner reservation."

"Daaaaamn Noah." Cody elbowed him. "Look at you being all gentleman like. Looks like I've been rubbing off on you?" He laughed, getting off the couch to clean up the controllers. "I'd be down to party this weekend."

"Sweet. I'll let Lashawna and Owen know." Harold nodded, typing off a quick text.

"You think Gwen will be there?"

Harold shrugged. "I don't know. I heard Trent will be there." He said, causing the geek to sulk. It wasn't like Cody disliked Trent. Quite the opposite in fact. After all. who could hate him? Trent didn't have a single bad bone in him. Part of Cody wanted to root for his and Gwen's relationship. For a while, he did. He told himself that Gwen being happy all that mattered. But another part of him was glad Gwen dumped him. A pang of guilt ebbed in his stomach.

Cody flopped back on the couch. "I'll go with you. I mean, how can you have a party without the Codemiester?" He said, flashing his 'winning' smile. He checked his phone, and his eyes widened. "Ah crud, I've got an assignment due tonight!" He remembered, rushing over to his room. "Just let me know when the party is!" He yelled back to Harold.

"Hey Cody, you almost ready?" Harold yelled from the living room. "We still have to stop by my goddess's place to pick her up!" He added.

"Yeah, yeah ummm." Cody checked his phone. 6:27. The party was supposed to start at seven PM. "Just one more minute!" He called out to Harold. Cody looked into the bathroom mirror. He closely eyed his beige sweater, performing a quick stain check. After passing the test, Cody stood back, doing a final fit check. The sweater looked fashionable, but didn't make him look like he was trying too hard. The same could be said of his worn grey jeans. The ladies love this type of look. The kind of vibe you would get the charismatic underdog protagonist. He nodded to himself, and ran his brush one more time through high hair, trying to get it just right.

"Are you coming or not?"

"That's what she said!" Cody called out before opening the door to an unamused Harold. They left the apartment. The sun had fallen below the horizon, and the air was growing colder. Cody zipped up his jacket, and stuffed his hands in his pockets as he walked. "How far is Leshawna's?"

"Not far." Harold answered. Within five more minutes they reached Leshawna's apartment complex, where she was waiting for them outside. "Hey sweetie!" She brought Harold into a close embrace. Harold simply grinned and leaned into the hug.

"My dear luscious Leshawna!"

"And how are you doing shortstuff?" She asked, turning to Cody,.

The tech geek fist bumped the larger women, donning his Codemeister grin. "You know me. I'm always doing fantastic." He said, earning a glare from Harold that said 'tone it down buddy.' Cody coughed. "I mean, yeah I'm doing well enough." He said in a more normal voice, causing Lashawna to chuckle.

"That's good kid. That's good." She grinned and took Harold's hand. The group walked off while Harold talked about his summer job at Steve's Bungie Ninja Fighting camp. Cody trailed a tiny bit behind the flirty not-a-couple. The opposites were certainly not always on such good terms. In their first class together, Harold made some extraordinarily stupid comments about her size. But somehow despite that he'd managed to win her over, despite his sheer lack of charisma. Perhaps it was luck. But Cody knew he didn't need luck. He just needed his charisma and a bit of patience. Cody continued to listen to Harold ramble until he stopped in front of a tall townhouse in one of the residential districts of the city. The faint sound of music thumped against the walls of the house, and lights flashed through the curtains.

"Here we are!" Leshawna said, walking up the steps and eagerly knocking on the front door. The door opened, revealing a blonde man in a cowboy hat with no shirt on carrying a solo cup. Cody remembered the man's name was Geoff. He remembered seeing him around Gwen a few times when she was hanging out with Bridgette. "Sup brother!" Lashawna waved.

"Sup!" Geoff greeted. "And sup to you two little dudes!" He greeted Cody and Harold. The former shot finger guns at the shirtless man, who fired back at the tech geek. "Come on in! Party is off to a rocking start dudes!" His voice was somehow free of any tension or stress.

Harold awkwardly followed Leshawna in, but Cody entered with an exaggerated stride, swinging his arms as he walked, and a crooked smirk adorning his face. "Where the ladies?" He asked Geoff, looking around the house.

"Everywhere, little dude." Geoff slapped a hand on Cody's shoulder. He smelled like alcohol. "But try not to y'know, be a wierdo. House rules and all. One strike and you're out, got it?" He said with a slightly more serious tone, smiling all the while.

"Yeah of course!" Cody nodded profusely.

"Aight." Geoff released Cody's shoulder, his voice losing all tension. "Rock on little man!" He cheered, throwing both arms into the air, causing some beer to spill out of his cup. The host disappeared into the sea of people congregated on the first floor. Dozens of unrecognizable faces flowing in and out of a giant mass. Cody wandered through the crowd, his small frame keeping him from bumping into anyone dancing or talking. He strained his neck, trying to look at all the faces in the crowd for the pale face of a particular goth beauty. Not able to spot her, Cody made his way up the stairs to a less crowded second floor. He didn't see Gwen, but he spotted a large table stacked high with cans of beer, and a large punchbowl full of what he assumed was a spiked drink. He looked around, still not recognizing anyone within the immediate vicinity. Deciding to blend in, he spooned some of the spiked drink into a plastic cup.

"CHUG CHUG CHUG CHUG!" Voices chanted from the next room over. That must be where Owen is. Cody theorized. He walked over with drink in hand. There Owen was, shutgunning three beers. Next to him were a few other members of the frat that he recognized. If memory served right tall, dark skinned man was DJ, and the tanned, model looking guy was Justin. On the other side of Owen stood Trent. Owen finished chugging the cans and crushed them, before letting out an ear shattering burp.

"CRUSHED! WOOOOOOOO!" He cheered, earning a round of applause from all the guys and a redhead girl in a strange, short green dress. The girl leapt up onto his shoulders, and Owen giggled. They seem like a cute couple. Cody assumed. Next to the rest of the group was Trent. The two locked eyes for a moment before Cody turned away, a ripple of guilt running through his limbs. He wasn't sure why he felt guilty. After all it's not like he did anything to hurt Trent and Gwen's relationship. But you were happy when they broke up, he sharply reminded himself.

Though Cody pulled his eyes away, Trent most certainly recognized him, and walked over to where the tech geek stood awkwardly. "Hey Cody, you good man?"

"Oh yeah!" Cody said. He scrambled for a moment, before donning a confident grin. "I'm in my element around all these beautiful ladies." He boasted, causing Trent to stifle a laugh. "Everything good with you?" Cody asked back, knowing fully well that he wasn't. I mean the dude was probably hurting a lot.

"Well," His smile faded, replaced with pensive stare, mixed between regret and longing. "Me and Gwen broke up." When Trent said it, Cody couldn't help but feel bad. "Lets go somewhere more quiet." He suggested, pointing towards an empty balcony near the punch bowl.

Cody followed Trent out to the balcony, spiked punch in hand. The wind hit Cody's face, and he felt a chill run through him. The sun had completely disappeared. The orange light of the city polluted the horizon, blotting out the stars. Trent leaned over and walked cars pass by on the street below. "I bet you want to know what happened?" He asked with a sigh.

Of course, Cody wanted to know, but it'd be rude to outright ask. He nodded. "I do want to know." Cody admitted. "But if you don't want to talk about it, you don't have to!" Cody joined Trent in street watching while he sipped his drink. As the liquid hit his lips, he tasted some sort of sweet soda, contrasting with the harsh taste of a cheap wine he didn't know the name of. The drink warmed him up on the cool night. "You didn't do anything to hurt her right?"

Trent simply shook his head. He looked a little annoyed, but it faded. "Don't worry, nothing like that happened." He assured the geek. "I think… I just couldn't make her as happy as I was." He guessed. Cody opted not to respond. It didn't make sense after all; they'd been so infatuated with each other. "It started out great but after the first few months tell Gwen was becoming bored. I guess the charm of hearing a guy play guitar for you wear off after the 200th time. But maybe it was just my own anxiety." He explained, before taking a large gulp of this drink, nearly downing half the cup. Perhaps it was the lack of light, but Cody couldn't quite make out the expression on the musician's face. Somewhere between regret, and… resentment?

"Could you not find another way to make her happy?" Cody wondered aloud. This only made Trent more upset. Me and my big mouth. "Sorry, I didn't mean to say you weren't-"

Trent cut Cody off with a dismissive wave. "Don't worry about it." He looked up towards the skyline. "In trying to make her as happy as those first dates, I let stress and anxiety get to me. Every moment of every date had to be perfect. Even if we were just sitting around, doing nothing. If something went wrong it'd really bother me the rest of the date, leading to the entire date becoming ruined." Cody felt a pang of pain for Trent, along with a faint ebbing of guilt. "In the end. Gwen tried to get me to calm down, but in my own stupidity I kept trying to force perfection in our relationship, and it crumbled away." He finished, staring ahead. Cody wasn't sure how to respond to this, so he simply didn't, and took a swig of his drink instead, and placed a comforting hand on Trent's shoulder. "Honestly, I don't blame Gwen for dumping me."

"Are relationships really that stressful?" Cody wondered. "I mean genuinely, I wouldn't know." He explained himself. "I mean, women never seem to go for a guy like me." He sulked. Both of us are really going through it huh?

Trent gave Cody a smile. "You really are like everyone's younger brother huh?" He exhaled air audibly, holding back a laugh. Cody frowned, but Trent slapped him on the back. "Don't take it as a bad thing. It means people care." They stood in silence for a few minutes, taking sips as cars passed by and the lights across the city flickered.

"Why do you think women aren't into me?" Cody asked, breaking the fragile silence. "I just can't figure it out and the more I try the more I fail. I see you and Owen and Geoff all being confident and manly, but when I try that it always ends in failure."

Trent thought for a moment. "Maybe it's because you try so hard." He explained, earning a confused eyebrow from Cody. "I probably didn't explain it properly." Trent nodded. "When Gwen and I started going out, it was because there was a mutual connection. Both of us tried yeah, but it never felt like I had to become some different form of myself to win her over." He explained. Cody still didn't follow, but kept listening quietly. "But when I got anxious and tried to be perfect, it- well you already know what happened. Gwen didn't like me when I tried to be someone else."

"But why didn't you just try being yourself again?"

Trent shrugged. "I didn't feel confident enough to." He said bluntly. "It's hard being genuinely yourself. That's probably why so many relationships fall apart."

Cody paused for a moment, not sure what to add. Trent felt so much older, more experienced them him, despite being in the same year. Perhaps I am the little brother. He shook his head, a wistful smile on his face. "Man I feel like an ass. Here I was hoping to flirt with Gwen while you are clearly reeling from the breakup." Cody admitted, sulking. "I'm sorry." He pressed his forehead against the balcony. The tech geek wasn't particularly why he admitted to this, but part of it was probably the alcohol, and another part guilt.

Trent raised an eyebrow, and shrugged. "Yeah that would've been a dick move." He said. "Plus, she's probably hurting to. I really stressed her out."

"That's probably also true." Cody admitted, feeling particularly like a dirt bag. "Maybe I should give up on Gwen." He wondered aloud. "I mean, she's never shown any interest in me. She probably even hates me." He felt embarrassed saying it, but it also made him feel a bit lighter. This stuff really is dangerous, he thought, staring into what remained of his drink. He'd never imagine admitting this, much less to Trent of all people.

"She certainly doesn't hate you." Trent shook his head. "I mean you did get Gwen paired with me on that project. It takes a real man to do that." The musician said. "But she sees you as a friend at most. One that annoys her, but nonetheless, a friend."

Cody waited a moment, letting it sink in. It hurt, but also felt a bit nice. "Thanks Trent." He said before finishing the rest of his drink. "You really are an amazing guy."

Trent followed suit, finishing his own drink. "Don't sell yourself short man." He said, turning back to the house and walking towards the door. "If you need to talk, shoot me a text." He stopped at the doorway. "And remember, just be yourself, alright?"

"Yeah." Cody nodded. "Same to you man." He said as Trent reentered the party. He stayed outside the house for a moment, drinking in the cool fall night, and the sounds of the honking cars below. I should probably go check on Harold now, huh? He walked the balcony and back into the townhouse where the party raged on.