Hey guys :) Sorta little oneshot I wrote here, a thanksgiving gift to Courtney.

Update: Prinzessin; alternate ending is in the works, and I've decided that an epilogue is in order :P It's going to be amazing. Sequel won't be posted until...;) You figure it out. Let's see if anybody can guess.

Enjoy reading, and please leave a review.

To Duncan and Courtney (if you're reading this...): I miss ya'alls already :(

To Courtney, it was still pretty hard not to break down crying, every single time she thought of that Goth and her boyfriend-no wait, Ex boyfriend, as of three weeks ago-locking lips in the confessional behind her back, even long after she'd come home from that dreadful show. Every time the show came on, she switched the channel immediately, not daring to see how badly she looked while the cameras were rolling. She'd already made a fool of herself in front of everybody off-screen multiple times; when 'dumping' the asshole, and crying her eyes out-keeping everyone awake with her cries of sorrow, not that she cared-for many, many nights in a row, not to mention her asinine flirtation with the Latino bastard, who loved the shallow bitch, not her.

She was ashamed, to say the least, at her behavior on the show. Her parents wouldn't even speak to her. No, okay, that was a lie. They gave her a good, long, heartbreakingly cold talking to when she arrived, saying she deserved having the delinquent cheat on her. After all, she should have listened to them when they told her he was a no-good scumbag and would only break her heart. Yup, mother knew best alright.

She still woke up every other night, plagued by the nightmares with her former lover. She hated him for cheating on her. She hated him for kissing the only girl she felt like she could relate to in the entire competition, thus breaking the only friend she had on that show, besides Bridgette, of course. But what she hated the most, was that she still loved him.

She tried to convince herself that she didn't love him anymore, that there were better guys out there, and that he didn't deserve such awesomeness as her.

But she knew that wasn't the truth.

She was the one who didn't deserve him. She knew she'd driven him over the edge with all her nagging, and complaining. He must have gotten bored of her, and found himself infatuated with Gwen. So really, it was all her fault. She knew she loved him still, so much, that it hurt her and kept her from sleeping at night.

She spent weeks mourning and feeling sorry for herself. Half her summer was spent moping in her pajamas, eating ice cream and watching cheesy romance movies on Oxygen.

And then it hit her.

Why should she be moping around, when Duncan and Gwen were having the time of their lives? Who was she? Was this destined to be her future? Some hopeless wanna-be who cried forever about some stupid guy?

No.

She wasn't.

At that moment, she got up, and went online, signing herself up for every SAT-prep class in the area that she could go to. She walked to her closet-and right past the black skull shirt that had somehow made its way in there-and threw off her pajamas, dressing herself in respectful, appropriate attire, before pulling on a pair of stilettos and making her way to her dressing room table. Digging through her drawers, she managed to find the befitting make-up products, and began to apply it to her arm; right over the heart tattoo. She would get it removed, later.

She looked at herself in the mirror, unpleased with the results of her appearance. Something was off. She ran a hand through her hair slowly, frowning.

"You know, Princess, you sure have the prettiest hair in the world." Duncan spoke, picking up a chunk and rubbing it softly. "I have no idea why you want to crop it off."

Courtney sighed, rolling her eyes. "Because it looks professional, would be ten times easier to manage, and I think it would be fun to try out." Duncan snorted.

"You're crazy. I think that's stupid if you do that. You should grow it out, instead."

"But-"

"Trust me, it'll look so much better." Courtney frowned, not liking the controlling aura her boyfriend was emitting. This was something she wanted to do; he shouldn't be stopping her.

"Uh, no, I'm doing it. Friday, after school. You can come and watch, or you can wait to see it. Your choice." Duncan frowned at her, before cupping her chin.

"Why would you do such a thing, Princess? You know it's not going to turn out good. And who's going to have to pick up the pieces and comfort you? Me. So just...do yourself a favor and don't do it."

"You really think it'll look that bad?" Courtney asked, eyes embedded with hurt. Duncan nodded, hugging her tight. "Leave it as it is. It's good enough for me."

Courtney narrowed her eyes at her reflection, shoving her hair into a messy bun before grabbing her coat and walking out the door. He wasn't going to stop her this time. It was the only thing holding her to him, and damn right, she was going to get rid of it.

Within the next hour, she watched in sheer pleasure as the pretty brown locks fluttered down on her lap, and her shoulders, and her neck, curling up, defenseless against the sharp scissor blades. She only felt a little regret at losing most of her hair, but really, it was just hair, and it made her feel so much lighter without it.

It was the last thing that kept her tied to him, and now it was gone.

And that alone made up for the fact that most of her hair was on the floor.

As she was spun around to see her new reflection, a small, sad smile played on her lips as she ran a hand through her new hair, almost unable to believe how light, and free she felt. She was liberated. Liberated from control, liberated from him, liberated from everything that mattered.

She tipped the woman generously on her way out.

Over the next few weeks, she was exceedingly proud of herself. She was in the running for school president, and this time, she was sure to win. She straightened out her blouse and pants, fixing her fringe in the mirror. A lot had changed about her in the last couple of weeks.

She was accepted into Harvard with gracious arms. Her peers loved her from the show; the sympathy from what had happened didn't hurt the friendship either. She was positive she was going to ace her SATs and her life was improving tremendously.

She was no longer that little girl who cried over a stupid boy.

Smiling a winners' smile, she exited the bathroom, heading towards the auditorium where she would be presenting her speech. Her strides were brisk and full of confidence, like the winner she was.

Nobody could stop her.

She'd learned a lot since the season had ended. Maybe, in time she would forgive Duncan. She didn't really care anymore about hating him; she could learn to forgive and forget. The days of tears and heartbreak were pushed behind, and a whole new Courtney had emerged. She was beyond proud.

Walking on stage, she was greeted with a large round of applause from her fellow students; she took no hesitation to flash a wide, gleaming smile at them all.

"Hello. I'm Courtney Taylor, and I…"

o 0 O 0 o

"….would like to be your next senator. Thank you, for giving me you time this evening. Good night." A roaring round of applause greeted the thirty-six-year-old's ears as she walked off the platform, talking to her assistant quickly before making her way to her car. It had been a long, tiring day of campaigning, and all she really wanted to do was go home and get some rest.

Her campaign for senator was going grandly; she didn't hire a campaign manager, for she was her own. She'd learned the lesson long ago to rely on herself, and that she was the most important person in her life. Her well being came first before anyone else's; although, considering the events that had occurred within the past few years, she'd tweaked that statement a little bit.

Running a hand through her grown-out hair, she sighed, pulling up to the driveway of the large, homey house. She was thrilled to be home, and she nearly fell flat on her face in her rush outside the car; Lesson: never try to run in high heels.

She ran up the steps to the front door, unlocking it quickly, stepping inside, and dropping her bag on the floor. "Guys, I'm home!" Within a couple of seconds the clamor of little footsteps could be heard, eagerly rushing throughout the house.

"Mommy!" Within another two seconds, two black haired cherubs appeared in the hall as they rushed into their mother's arms, giving her many kisses and hugs to replace the ones they lacked all day. Courtney beamed, hugging her twins tightly before kissing their heads. These were her first born, at the age of twenty-eight. They were a challenge, yes, but she loved them with all her heart.

"Oh, my babies, Mommy missed you so much."

"We saw you on TV Mommy!" Claire piped up, freckles splashed all around her rosy cheeks. Courtney grinned at her, tweaking her daughter's perky nose. "And what did you think?"

"You looked really pretty Mommy...I liked it…" Michael spoke in his quiet, intuitive way. Courtney smiled warmly, hugging her small son closer to her. "Thank you, Sweetie. Now, where's…."

"Mama? Mama? Wait fow meee!" a high pitched baby voice squealed, and heavy breaths could be heard as a tiny little girl ran into the hallway, and straight into her mother's awaiting arms. Courtney scooped up little Delilah gently, kissing her flushed cheek and stroking back her wavy blond hair.

"Of course I was going to wait for you, Honey. I missed you like crazy!" she cooed to her four-year-old daughter, tickling her softly. "Now, where's Daddy?"

"Funny you should ask." Turning her head, she smiled softly as she saw the man she had married, cradling their nearly one-year-old daughter in his arms; Little Vanessa...oh, she just had to be her favorite of them all. She was so quiet, so sweet, and just so….beautiful.

"Nice to see she's wide awake. She should be in bed right now." She should have been annoyed at her husband, but the stare that Vanessa was giving her was so sweet and so intent, she couldn't help but smile at her and ruffle her thick curls.

"I know, I know. But the little munchkin was intent on staying awake to see her mommy." Courtney smiled at her baby girl and leaned forward to kiss her cheek, making a wide smile light up her pale face.

"Well, time for bed. All of you," she spoke to the rest of her kids, arousing a large chorus of 'Aww!' and 'But I'm not tired yet!' even though Courtney could see them discreetly rubbing their eyelids and trying to hide small yawns.

"C'mon guys. Last one in bed gets the rotten pancake tomorrow!" and with those words emitted from her husband's lips, all the kids-sans Vanessa, of course-scrambled to their respective bedrooms, getting ready for bed. "Oh, I thank the day I made that rotten pancake…"

"All your cooking is bad, not just the pancakes," Courtney quipped, earning her a light pat on her butt from her husband. "You're going to regret that, just as soon as I put my little cupcake to bed." Courtney giggled, amused with how her daughter smiled at the nickname, wrapping her arms around her father's neck before cuddling into his chest.

"Well isn't she the darndest thing...Goodnight, Baby," Courtney cooed, kissing her daughter's head before the baby's father carried her off to bed. Looking around the house, she realized how lucky she was. She had a beautiful home, four brilliant, perfect, and downright amazing children, and the most perfect husband in the entire world.

And all the had to do was be herself; her uptight, overachieving, hardworking self to achieve all of this. She was happy she'd changed.

Sensing someone behind her, the back of her neck pricked, and her suspicions were proven correct as two strong arms wrapped around her slim waist. "I missed you, today. It's just not the same without you around the house…and you were amazing on TV. I'm sorry we couldn't be there for you. Next time, I promise." Courtney smiled, turning around to face her husband and caress his cheek.

"It's alright. It wasn't that special anyways." Her husband smiled and kissed her forehead, making his wife giggle in content.

"You're going to make an amazing senator. I love you, Princess."

"I love you too, Duncan."