Disclaimer: I own nothing. All characters belong to the respective owners.

Note: This is a special gift for MrAwesome1999 as part of the TDWF Summer Secret Santa! Hope you like it! ;)

Owen watched as the clock ticked by. Second by second, minute by minute, hour by hour. It never seemed to end. The sun was just peeking down over the beige roof as the clock struck three o'clock, releasing a shrill ping sound. Owen ran, or shall we say, waddled to the window and watched the bright yellow bus pull up next to the driveway. An assortment of teens stepped out. Large and small, tall and short, fair and dark, anything you could imagine. The sight of the last one out made Owen giggle in anticipation. He heard the door downstairs open and immediately leapt into position on the side of the bed facing away from the bedroom door.

Footsteps clicked up the stairs, growing louder and louder and louder until the knob turned and Noah walked in with a bored expression.

Taking the opportunity, Owen jumped up and screamed. "HEY, LITTLE BUDDY!"

Noah screamed like a pre-teen girl or very feminine boy before collapsing backwards into the small waste bin by his desk.

"Noah, are you okay?!" Owen panicked. Suddenly, he was having second thoughts about his surprise.

Noah pulled a rotten banana peel out of his hair and groaned. "Yes, Owen. I'm okay. Just very sticky."

Owen nibbled at his lower lip as he played with his digits. "I didn't mean to scare you. You didn't poop yourself, did you?"

"I said I'm fine," the bookworm sighed. "But what are you doing here?"

Owen perked up. "Oh, I had a surprise."

"Is it another jumpscare?" asked a deadpan Noah.

"No, it's even better. Remember how last summer we just sat around doing nothing?"

Noah raised his brows. "Yeah. I also remember you raiding my fridge, cracking my phone, clogging the toilet... Need I continue?"

Owen blushed at the last one. "Hehe, yeah." He snapped back to reality. "I mean no!"

"Well, what is it? The suspense is killing me."

"Was that sarcasm?"

Noah narrowed his eyes. "Yes. Now just hurry up so I can shower."

"Well... Remember how you said you never wanted back on Total Drama?"

Noah felt a strike on his heart, as if it just stopped dead. "Uh..."

"Well, how about we go on a new reality show?!"

Noah sighed. "Yeah, let's break another one of my ribs."

"Oh, this one is safe. Totally safe!"

Noah plopped down in his rolling chair and crossed his legs. "Okay. What's it called?"

"It's a whole new one called The Roost."

Noah rolled his eyes. "Last time I checked, we weren't birds."

Owen sat down on the bed, creating a loud squeak that hurt their ears. "It's not about birds. It's about friendship and stuff."

"And what would we be doing in this show?"

"Just hanging out in a house with other couples and competing in challenges for a million dollars. I think it sounds cool."

"Couples? We're two straight friends... I think?" Noah shuddered.

"It's not just for couples. It's for friends, siblings, parents, and children too!"

"It sounds like Total Drama... but in a house. I'm sorry, buddy, but I don't think I'm up for this. I have a summer job I want to get, I need to save up for college, and I need to..."

Noah stopped in the gaze of Owen's puppy eyes, bold and dark with a single tear leaking from his left.

"It's not working this time, Owen. I'm over your emotional manipulation."

Owen's lips began to quiver and snot came running out of his nose.

Noah finally smiled and gave in. "Fine, I'll go with you."

"Thanks, little buddy!" Owen grabbed Noah and squeezed tight, turning his lungs into deflated balloons and his face grape purple.

"Owen... Can't..."

Owen noticed what he was doing and dropped his friend. "Sorry, buddy. Hehe."

Noah let out a dull mumble. "Mmmmm."

Owen stuffed the last suitcase into the trunk of Noah's car and slammed the top down.

Noah strolled out of the house talking on the phone. Owen tried to listen in, but he was too late. Noah hung up and stuffed it in his pocket.

"Ready to go, little buddy?" Owen asked, bubbling with excitement.

"I guess so. I called my mom and she said I could go. My cousin said she'd dog sit while we were gone, so all that's left is to hit the airport by sunset."

Owen jumped up and down. "I'm just so excited! I miss playing Total Drama with you."

"Yeah, me too. Say, do we need to stop for food? Because we have, like, an hour to get our flight booked."

"No, I already hit your fridge this morning. We're good."

Noah narrowed his eyes. "Why am I not surprised?"

"Don't worry, Noah. With all the money we'll win, you'll be able to stock your fridge for lightyears."

"Uh, lightyears measures distance, lunchbox."

Owen chuckled. "Oh, Noah: so smart."

"Ready to get this over with?"

Owen nodded in agreement and took the passenger's seat while Noah took the wheel of his convertible. The two were off into the evening sunset for the adventure of a lifetime.

Owen was growing bored. Talking to Noah about how awesome they would do was getting repetitive and Noah was getting flustered, often staying quiet during Owen's storms of questions.

The chubby boy flicked the radio on and tuned it into a rap station.

"Ooo, it's Nicki Minaj!"

Noah turned the radio off. "Nope. Let's try and keep this drive peaceful and not annoying. Okay?"

"But, Noah... I'm boooorrreeeed."

"And that's my problem? Look, I know you're hyper, but save it for the game."

Owen frowned. "Noah? Do you even want to go? We don't have to if you want to stay home."

"..."

"Noah?"

"Yeah... I do. But it's the first day of summer and I had plans. I mean, getting jumpscared and forced to do this show wasn't one of them."

"But I'm not forcing you to do it. I just wanted to spend time with my little buddy again. It's been a whole... Three months?"

"Four."

"Yeah, that's sooooo long. I thought I was going to die of boredom until I found out about this show. Then I saw it..."

"Our certain failure?"

"No, silly. Us, bathing in the winnings like best bros, letting the money rub over our hot bodies and..."

Noah wanted to cringe in disgust, but his friend was just so innocent and carefree. It's the same reason that attracted him to the chubby boy. Back on Total Drama, Owen was his only true friend, always there for him, no matter how pessimistic he got. Though this relationship wasn't romantic and merely a playful friendship, this didn't stop the fan shippers. All the fan fiction... Ew.

Noah snapped back to reality and Owen was still going on about bathing in cash. He just smiled back. "Yeah, that sounds fun... In a really messed up kind of way."

Suddenly, the car began to shudder and a grumble erupted from deep within the vehicle. Noah freaked out and Owen asked him what was wrong.

"It's something with the engine! Of course it happens now! Of course!"

Owen began to panic and shook Noah's shoulder. "Are we going to die?!"

"No, but we're not gonna make it in time for our flight," Noah sighed, pulling over in the side of the road and shutting his car off. "I'll check the engine and call a guy."

"That's even worse!" Owen screeched.

Noah stepped outside to find himself in a dark, creepy neighborhood surrounded by broken down houses and slums. He popped open the hood to get a blast of smoke to the face. Falling over coughing, he popped out his phone and dialed the number.

Inside, Owen was saddened and disappointed. Everything was riding on their playing of the show, and now that it was done as dinner, he had nothing to look forward to at all. Even spending time with Noah at home would be boring.

A pair of headlights crawled down the road and Owen gasped. "That was fast!"

Noah's eyes went wide and he retreated into the car. "That's not the guy!"

"Who is it then?"

"Just don't act stupid. Don't. Move."

Three thugs stepped out of the truck and walked up to Owen's window. All were wearing beaten hoodies with the sleeves cut off, revealing seas of ink. One man had a giant ring in his nose, whom appeared to be the leader of the gang.

The man tapped on the glass and Owen rolled it down.

"Can I help you?" Noah asked as dryly as he could without crying.

"Where you boys heading?" came the man in a deep voice.

"The airport," Owen said. "We're on a TV show."

"Not really," Noah said, freaking out again. "We were, but we changed our minds!"

"What?!" Owen gasped. "You didn't want to go! Did you?"

"Get out of the car," the man hissed, dragging the door open and pulling Owen out. Noah backed into his own door as another thug tried to pull him out. A few kicks to the jaw deterred the thug, but the scrawny wimp couldn't hold on and was yanked to the concrete.

"Yo, Johnny," came Nose Ring. "Check the trunk."

The third thug went to back of the car while the other two held Noah and Owen to the ground. The friends shared a scared glance.

"You two have anything?" Nose Ring asked.

"Nothing," Noah snarled. "Just some clothes, deodorant, snacks, my grandmother... Well, maybe the last one is a stretch."

"He's right!" Owen mumbled from his face down position. "We're..." Suddenly, Owen's stomach began to rumble and Noah held his breath.

The air became toxic and Nose Ring fell off of Owen, his eyes watering. Owen stood up and kicked him in the balls again and again before ripping the thug off of Noah.

The criminal shot his fist into Owen's gut, but he was met with rolls of jelly-like fat. He tried pulling back, but the belly of the teen created a vacuum that trapped his fist. Owen headbutted the thug, knocking him out.

Johnny ran over with his knife raised, but Noah tripped him before he could get to Owen. Noah grabbed the dropped blade and Owen sat on all three downed criminals.

"That was... interesting," said a disturbed Noah.

"Yeah..." said Owen.

The thugs let out mumbles of pain. "Mmmmmmmmmmmm..."

"Should we call the cops?" Owen asked.

"Yeah. I'm on it..." Noah sighed. "Uh, thanks for saving me, dude. I owe you."

"You don't owe me anything, little buddy. I wanted to have an adventure, and man did we get one."

"Getting mugged and beating up thugs for ten seconds counts?"

Owen thought for a second. "Yeah. We're totally awesome now. Our names will be in every paper from Ontario to Alberta. We're famous again!"

"Meh. I'm always famous. Having the biggest fanbase in Total Drama has its perks."

"Ha! Yeah."

Another pair of headlights pulled up and two cops stepped out.

"You may remove your butt from the suspects, sir" said the woman to Owen.

The man walked up to Noah. "What happened here? You need medical?"

"Well, we we're mugged, thrown to the ground, then we kicked butt and I was just about to call you guys. We're fine as two mugging victims could hope to be."

"Do... I know you?"

Noah smirked. "You may know me from such shows as Total Drama Island and Total Drama World Tour."

"Oh, no, never mind. I was thinking of someone else. You two need a ride?"

Noah sneered and Owen grabbed him in a hug.

"We may have missed the show, but at least we had a good time, right, Noah?"

"Yeah, just great..."

"If it makes you feel any better, I left you some spoiled milk in the fridge back home. I was going to drink it, but I didn't want you to feel left out. Noah? Noah? Hey, Noah? Noah?"

|:/

~A/N~ Hopefully you enjoyed this. I was trying for a silly, yet sincere, short story, and I feel like I hit the right notes. ;)