Chapter Nine – All's Well that Ends Well

Heather walks into the TV studio at 9am on Friday morning. The producers of Total Drama have asked her to come in for a final audition. Maybe I'll finally find out who is gunning for my job! She thinks.

"Hi, I'm Heather Burromuerto, I'm here for the Total Drama hosting audition," she says to the girl at reception.

"Of course, Heather. Just take a seat and I'll the producers know you're here," the receptionist says, gesturing to a couch opposite the front desk. Heather does is she is bid, taking out her phone and checking facebook to pass the time. She's waiting for about ten minutes when she hears someone else walk in the front door. She looks up to see Alejandro walking up to the front desk. She frowns in confusion.

"Alejandro, what are you doing here?" she asks. Alejandro whips his head around to face her. He looks slightly surprised for a moment before composing himself and walking over to her.

"I came to see you, of course… to wish you luck," he smiles.

"You already did that. You're meant to be looking after Sebastian and Gabriella." Heather narrows her eyes.

"They are with the nanny. I thought you would be in your audition already…" he says.

"I thought you said you came to wish me luck?" Heather says suspiciously.

"Did I say that? I meant I came to see how you went," Alejandro says.

"Seriously, what is going on here?" Heather demands.

"Heather?" the receptionist says. Heather looks over at her. "The producers will see you now. Would you like me to tell them you're here, Alejandro? Perhaps you can audition together?"

"What?!" Heather shrieks. Alejandro flinches. "You're the person going up against me for the job?"

"Yes… I told you!" Alejandro defends.

"No you most certainly did not, if you had, I definitely would have remembered kicking you out of the house!" Heather goes to slap him but he catches her wrist.

"I did tell you. It was in Spanish, but I told you!" Alejandro says. Heather glares and snatches her arm away from him.

"Hmph. Well it doesn't matter, because I'm still going to get the job!" Heather turns and stalks up the hallway to a room where the producers are waiting for her. She walks in only to find Chris McLean chatting amiably with the producers.

"Oh, hi Heather," one of the producers says, noticing her. "Thanks for coming in, but we don't need you anymore. Chris wants to come back, so we're going to go with him. Tell Alejandro, will you?"

"I can't believe you tried to steal my job!" Chris accuses.

"You quit!" Heather reminds him.

"You're so ungrateful!" Chris says before turning back to the producers. Heather gives a shriek of frustration before storming out of the building, dragging Alejandro behind her.

The door bell rings and the housekeeper hurries to open it. Katie and Beth stand there looking somewhat intimidated by the huge mansion.

"The party will be outside in the back garden, I will lead you there," the housekeep tells them, ushering them inside. "Follow me." Katie and Beth follow her through the house and out into the magnificent back garden. The housekeeper hears the doorbell and quickly leaves to answer it.

The main feature of the garden is a huge fountain which a stream runs off and into an enormous swimming pool. There is an array of multicoloured flowers everywhere and at the very back there appears to be a hedge maze.

"I told you we didn't need decorations…" Katie whispers. Heather appears behind them.

"This party better not be lame. When does the alcohol get here?" she demands.

"Uhh…" Beth starts. The housekeeper returns with DJ, his mother and a couple of other people.

"This man is the caterer. Shall I lead him to the kitchen?" asks the housekeeper.

"Yes, obviously!" Heather rolls her eyes. "Does he have the alcohol?" she follows them inside to the kitchen.

"Do you think Sadie will come?" Katie asks.

"She RSVP'd a yes, so I guess she is…" Beth replies.

"This party kinda sucks," Bridgette says to Courtney as she takes a sip of wine. "There's like fifteen people here."

"Tell me about it. Where are Trent and Gwen? I haven't seen them since her art show." Courtney replies. Bridgette shrugs.

"Where's Duncan?" Bridgette asks.

"I don't know, he was meant to meet me here because I was coming straight after work but apparently he thinks being late is fine!" Courtney complains. "I called him but his phone is off."

"How irritating," Bridgette says. Geoff runs up to them.

"This party RULES!" he shouts enthusiastically. He throws Bridgette over his shoulder and carries her to the pool and throws her in.

"Geoff!" she shouts once she has resurfaced. Geoff just cannonballs into the pool next to her, showering water all over Lindsay and Tyler who are making out at the edge of the water. Courtney rolls her eyes and is about to go and talk to Heather when she spots Duncan walking into the party. She purses her lips and marches up to him.

"What took you so long?" she demands.

"I forgot about it," Duncan shrugs.

"That is the worst excuse ever! Seriously, this party is really boring, at least you could've have been here to suffer with me!" Courtney complains.

"No kidding, where is everyone?" he says, looking around.

"That is completely beside the point!" Courtney snaps.

"I'm going to get some food," Duncan says, ignoring Courtney's irritation and walking over to a guy holding a plate of food. Courtney stares after him, outraged and a little put out that he isn't responding to her anger.

"Katie, this was the whole reason you got me to plan this party, I'm not stupid. Just go and talk to her!" Beth says, giving Katie a push in the direction of Sadie. Katie gives a sigh of resignation and walks over to where Sadie is chatting to Harold.

"Hey Sadie…" Katie starts.

"Katie?" Sadie squeaks in surprise.

"Harold, can you give us a minute?" Katie says.

"Gosh!" says Harold, stalking off.

"So… Sadie… how are you?" Katie asks.

"I'm good, what about you?" Sadie responds nervously. This is the first time the girls have spoken since Sadie was eliminated from Total Drama Ten Years Later, and Sadie isn't really sure where the conversation is going.

"I'm… okay." Katie says. They look at each other then at the ground, standing there in silence. "Okay, I'm lying," Katie finally says. "I'm not okay! I'm totally miserable without you! I don't care anymore that you stole my Justin Bieber t-shirt. I don't even like Justin Bieber anymore! I just want to be friends again!"

"Oh my god, Katie, I thought I'd never hear you say that! I want to be friends again too! It's like we're totally in sync!" Sadie replies.

"Oh my god Sadie, this is exactly like that time on TotalDramaIsland where we had that fight but we made up again!" Katie says.

"Totally! That's exactly what I was thinking!" Sadie gasps.

"Eeeeeeeeeee!" the girls shriek and pull each other into a hug.

"BEST FEMALE FRIENDS FOR LIFE!" Katie squeals.

Harold sits on a stone bench by himself after being dismissed by Katie. Leshawna sees him sitting alone and goes to join him.

"Hey baby, what's up?" she asks.

"Not much." Harold says shortly.

"Hey, are you still mad about all that stuff that happened at the wedding?" Leshawna questions.

"Kind of. You had no right to tell Duncan about me and Lisa. And trying to kiss me was really out of line. That was really stupid, Leshawna," Harold reprimands.

"I know. But in my defence I was lonely, my boyfriend just dumped me and I had to watch one of my good friends get married to the love her life. I also had a lot to drink," Leshawna explains.

"That's no excuse, Leshawna," Harold shakes his head.

"You're right. But Harold… I know you don't want to hear this but I feel like I need to tell you. I feel like such an idiot that I ever let you get away. I always liked you Harold and I still like you a lot. You were so good to me…"

"It's too late for that Leshawna, I'm with Lisa now," Harold interrupts.

"I know, I know! Just let me finish!" Leshawna says. Harold nods and Leshawna continues. "What I really miss most is your friendship. Do you think you could forgive me?" Leshawna finishes hopefully. Harold looks at her thoughtfully.

"Yeah, that would be awesome," he smiles.

"Duncan is acting so weird tonight!" Courtney bitches to Heather.

"What kind of weird?" Heather asks, gulping down another glass of wine.

"Just kind of vague and distant. He's barely paid me any attention at all, even when I was yelling at him," Courtney huffs.

"He's probably cheating on you with Gwen," Heather says.

"No he isn't! Can you be a bit more supportive please?" Courtney snaps.

"Sorry! I was just trying to be helpful. Ugh, speaking of things that are disgusting!" Heather slurs.

"What?" Courtney shakes her head, confused. Heather points to the door leading inside, and Courtney turns to see Gwen and Trent enter the party. Duncan is the first to go and greet them.

"Told you," says Heather. Courtney rolls her eyes and goes over to Gwen, Trent and Duncan.

"Hey Gwen, Trent. Where have you guys been? I haven't seen you since Wednesday," Courtney says.

"Well… can you get Bridgette and Geoff? We'd like to tell you all together," Gwen says mysteriously. Courtney raises one eyebrow and looks around for Bridgette and Geoff, seeing that they are still in the pool. Courtney, Duncan, Gwen and Trent walk over to them and sit on the edge of the pool.

"Bridgette!" Courtney calls to her friend. "Gwen and Trent have something to tell us." Bridgette and Geoff swim over and Courtney and Duncan turn to Gwen and Trent.

"So… the reason we haven't been around for the last few days is because… we flew to Peru." Gwen says.

"Uhh… why?" Duncan asks.

"To get married!" Gwen bursts out excitedly, holding out her hand so everyone can see her ring. Her four friends stare at her in shock for a moment before finding their voices.

"Congratulations!"

"Wow, that's fantastic!"

"So unexpected… but great!"

"Cool, man!"

"Thanks guys!" says Trent. "I hope you don't mind that we didn't tell you. Neither of us wanted a huge wedding so we just decided to elope. It was so romantic. Do you want to hear the song I wrote for her?"

"Maybe later…" Duncan grins.

"What's going on over here?" Heather asks, walking over to them.

"Gwen and Trent got married!" Bridgette says excitedly.

"Ugh, great. Now we're all married, welcome to the club!" Heather rolls her eyes.

"We aren't all married," Courtney reminds her icily.

"Well you're the lucky one! Alejandro tried to steal my hosting job from me. He wouldn't have succeeded of course, but Chris managed to steal it anyway!" Heather says grumpily.

"Tragic." Courtney says stonily. "Duncan, I'm over this party, let's go."

"No thanks," Duncan replies.

"But I want to leave!" Courtney whines.

"Well, go then. I'm not stopping you. I'm having a good time." Duncan says. Courtney looks at him with a pained expression on her face, as if to say, 'why are you doing this to me?' The other five look around awkwardly, trying to ignore Courtney and Duncan's conversation.

"Fine." Courtney spits and turns to leave.

"I'll walk you out!" Bridgette says, getting out of the pool. The girls walk to the house in silence. "Are you alright?" Bridgette asks once they're inside and away from the party.

"Yes." Courtney says shortly. They're silent for another moment. "Why am I the last one to get married? It isn't fair." Courtney says sadly. "Is Duncan ever going to propose?"

"I didn't think you were in hurry to get married," Bridgette says.

"I'm not! At least, I wasn't. Stupid Gwen. Her ring wasn't very nice though, was it?" Courtney muses.

"Definitely not," Bridgette laughs. The girls have reached Courtney's car now and they smile at each other. Courtney goes to get into the car when Bridgette stops her. "Courtney…"

"Yeah?" Courtney says worriedly.

"I want to tell you something… Geoff didn't want me to say anything yet, but I just really want to tell you and I trust you not to tell anyone until everything's decided but… Geoff and I are moving to Australia." Bridgette confesses.

"What?" Courtney says, surprised. Bridgette nods. "But that's so far! How will I live without you?" Courtney says, choking up.

"You can come and visit any time! Australia is really nice! And we'll be back in Canada all the time to see my mom and Geoff's family. You don't really have to live without me," Bridgette smiles. "And anyway, that might be a few years off yet, I just wanted to tell you." Courtney nods. They hug before Courtney gets into her car.

"I love you babe!" Bridgette winks. Courtney smiles.

"Love you too, idiot!"

Somewhere in the drive home, Courtney's smile fades and she remembers how annoyed she is at Duncan. She throws her things on the ground when she walks inside at around eleven o'clock. She decides to go straight to bed, but she puts on her sexiest nightie so that Duncan will know exactly what he's missing out on tonight when he finally gets home. She knows she won't be able to sleep till he gets there so she pulls out a book and starts reading. She checks the clock periodically, getting more and more irritated as it gets later and later. When it gets to 1am she decides to call him and demand that he come home immediately, but she just gets his voicemail. She sighs in frustration and decides to call Heather.

"Ugh, what's wrong?" Heather answers groggily.

"Is Duncan there?" Courtney asks.

"Duncan's your boyfriend, remember?" Heather says. "Not mine."

"He's not there?" Courtney suddenly feels less annoyed and more worried.

"No, I kicked everyone out at midnight. Can I get some sleep now?" Heather snaps. Courtney hangs up. She tries calling Duncan again but still gets his voicemail. With a sick feeling in her stomach she calls Bridgette.

"Hey Court, what's up?" Bridgette says.

"Have you seen Duncan?" Courtney asks.

"Not since we left Heather's at midnight. He said he was going to the stadium for a bit before he went home," Bridgette says. "Is he not home yet?"

"No! He's probably tipped his stupid truck or something dumb and now he's lying trapped under it, dead! That would be so like him!" Courtney rants.

"Why don't you go and check?" Bridgette says calmly. Courtney doesn't even bother replying, just hangs up and starts towards the front door. Realising what she's wearing, she quickly grabs whatever clothes are by the front door, which is her sandals and a jacket of Duncan's, and throws them on. She grabs her keys and races out the door.

When Courtney arrives at the stadium she can see that all the lights are on and Duncan's car is in the carpark, so obviously he's here somewhere. Or was here. Maybe he was kidnapped. Or murdered. Courtney continues to think the worst. The entrance that is open is the one where the trucks enter so Courtney goes in that way, assuming that's where Duncan must have gone.

"Duncan?" she calls as she walks onto the grounds. The lights are blinding as she looks up into the empty stands. She sees Duncan's truck, Courtney 2, standing in the middle of the arena so she walks over to it, but Duncan is nowhere in sight. "Duncan?" she calls again.

"Hey, Princess," comes his voice from behind her. Courtney spins around to see Duncan walking towards her. She strides over to him angrily and gives him a shove.

"You complete asshole! Do you know how worried I was?" she yells.

"Whoa, I'm sorry! Can I make it up to you?" he says, holding up the keys to his truck.

"You're going to let me drive it?" Courtney says sceptically. Duncan nods, laughing. Courtney grins and snatches the key from him before he can change his mind.

"Nice outfit by the way," Duncan says. Courtney looks back at him and winks.

"Wait till you see what's underneath it!" she says seductively. Duncan smirks and follows her to the truck, sitting in the passenger side. Courtney starts up the truck and speeds around the arena a few times before driving over some old cars and crushing them. She has a look of pure glee on her face the entire time. Duncan watches her face happily, but eventually he has to stop her.

"Courtney," he says. Once she's finally pulled the truck to a stop and turned off the engine, much to her disappointment. "I was thinking about what you said the other day. About being in this for the long haul…"

"Oh my god, did you let me drive this so I wouldn't get angry when you broke up with me?" Courtney asks, frowning.

"No, of course not! Stop jumping to conclusions and let me finish." He pauses and she doesn't say anything else so he continues. "I wanted to let you know that I am in it for the long haul. I want to be with you more than anything. I love you. So… will you marry me?" Duncan pulls out a little box from his pocket and opens it to reveal a silver engagement ring. The diamonds on it are arranged to look like a rose, and Courtney can safely say that it is much nicer than Gwen's.

"Oh my god, yes! Yes, yes, yes!" Courtney grabs Duncan by the front of his shirt and pulls his lips to hers. He starts to kiss her back, before remembering he's still holding the ring. He pulls away and grabs her hand, sliding the ring onto her finger. She admires it for a moment before going right back to making out with him. Duncan laughs as she kisses him hungrily and pulls herself onto his lap so she's straddling him.

"Do I get to see what's under here now?" Duncan smirks, grabbing a piece of the silky material covering not that much of her body.

"You know it," Courtney giggles, throwing it to the floor of the truck.

Note - Okay I decided this is the last chapter for this story. I don't have the inspiration or motivation to write it anymore which means that my writing just really isn't that great. But I've tried to tie up all loose ends. Thanks for reading!