A/N: I've been trying to write a CodyxGwen for a while but I hadn't been able to come up with anything until now. This one-shot is somewhat inspired by "Ever dream" by Nightwish because that's the song I had on repeat while writing this. If I owned Total Drama (which I don't) I'd have CodyxGwen be canon! Anyway I hope you like it!

Picking up the pieces

It was dark. Alleys usually are at night, but this one seemed worse. The teenage girl stood under the only light and watched as the blackness seemed to swarm around her. It slithered closer and snapped at her black boots but never managed to come too close.

Gwen wished Duncan would hurry up. She had been waiting twenty minutes already. He had told her to wait outside their favorite club for him. Well it's more his favorite club, but Gwen enjoyed it because Duncan did.

She hadn't seen the punk much recently. The last week or two he seemed busier than usual and had little time for his own girlfriend. She called him here and there but he never picked up; she didn't want to complain to him about it though. Their relationship was always very laid-back and relaxed. The last thing Gwen wanted was to remind Duncan of his ex Courtney.

As if brought along by the very thought Gwen heard someone call out to her.

"Hey Gwen," Said a familiar voice. She didn't have to look far to see Duncan walking over to her.

"You made it," She said as he walked into the light. It was the same old Duncan; same Mohawk, skull shirt and scowl on his face.

"Sorry I'm late," He said looking down. Gwen noticed he didn't sound all that sorry. Perhaps that was merely the annoyance at him being late talking. "I'm glad you could make it."

Gwen nodded, "I haven't seen you around lately; thought you might've gotten arrested again."

Duncan tried to fake laugh, but not much came out. "Nah I've just been…around."

"Around?" Goth girl asked raising an eyebrow.

The boy sighed, "Listen Gwen we need to talk."

"Is something wrong?"

"I'm just going to come out and say it: we need to break up."

"What?" She asked surprised. "Why?" Gwen tried to hold back the emotion in her voice.

"It was fun," He told her. "We raised some hell, but it's just not doing it for me anymore. Something's missing and now that Courtney's started talking to me again—"

"Wait," Gwen interrupted. "You're leaving me for Courtney?" She asked disbelieving.

"Pretty much," He told her. A strange look of contempt passed over his face. "There's just something about that girl that drives me crazy, you know?" Duncan had the decency to look embarrassed and quickly looked at the ground. "But it would be cool if we could still be friends."

"I just…" Gwen's voice strained. "I want…I can't…you did…" Multiple emotions ran through her at once. Sadness. Confusion. Guilt. Anger.

"What do you say?" he asked.

"Just…just leave me alone Duncan!" Gwen said before turning around. Duncan put his hand on her shoulder but she brushed it off and started walking. Her speed increased and Gwen started to jog before breaking out into a run down the dark street.

"Well that could've gone better…" Duncan muttered to himself.

Cody was nervous. He stood bravely in front of the closed door and took a breath. He cracked his fingers quietly as a distraction while he pumped himself up in his mind. You can do this Cody! You're the man! This isn't about you, this is about her! Are you a man or a mouse? Cody paused.

Okay that's enough encouragement, He told himself. Once again he took a breath before gently rapping his knuckles on the closed door in front of him. The sound of his knocking resounded.

He could hear her crying. But after he knocked again the sound ceased and the sound of clumsy movement took its place.

"Not now Mom," Gwen's voice said through the door. "Just give me five minutes alone will ya?" She asked rudely.

"It's me," Cody said. Hearing himself he quickly slapped his hand over his mouth. Angry thoughts entered his head about how stupid that must've sounded. It's not like he's ever done this before so how would she know who he is?

"What? Who are you?" Gwen asked curiously.

"It's Cody," The brunette said through the door. "Come on Gwen, I want to talk."

"Cody?" She asked surprised. "You mean Cody Cody?"

"The one and only," He answered coolly. "The codemeister himself!"

A slight giggle was heard followed by a pause. "The doors not locked…" She called out. Taking that as good an invitation as he was going to get Cody twisted the door handle.

He pushed the door open and entered Gwen's room. Also known as "Gwen's Domain," "The bat cave" and "Goth girl heaven" it was a room Cody had regularly fantasized about entering.

Closing the door behind him his eyes glanced quickly throughout her room as if expected to memorize every feature and be tested on it. Gwen's room, Cody realized, reflected her personality and interests the same way her outfit did.

It was dark; the only window in the room had the blinds perma-shut. The dark feeling may also have been accomplished by the massive black paint on the walls or the various dark artifacts she kept. Cody spotted creepy dolls, a large (and stocked) bookshelf and a few well kept posters and wall scrolls.

The tech geek had always thought Gwen's room would be neat and well taken care of, and it's possible that under normal circumstances it was. However, today her room was a mess. She had various clothing (mostly shirts, Cody failed to spot any underwear) strewn across the floor along with multiple sheets of paper crumbled up here and there.

The Goth princess herself was currently sitting on her queen-sized bed next to a box of tissues and some sheets of paper. A waste basket filled with used tissues could be seen next to the bed. Gwen looked a bit worse for wear; she wasn't wearing any makeup and her eyes were red.

"It is you Cody," Gwen said surprised. "I don't think I've seen you since world tour ended; but then again that was only three months ago." Cody nodded as she paused for a moment to remember. "What are you doing here?"

Cody hesitated. "I heard…about Duncan."

Gwen's eyes grew wide for a second before returning to normal. "Oh you did?"

He nodded, "We're friends on face-book remember? You posted it there."

She nodded looking down; a pencil twisted itself around her fingers. "You're not here to hit on me are you?"

Cody looked embarrassed, "No of course not. I came to make you feel better!"

"How'd you find me?"

"I asked your friends," He explained. "I remember you telling Trent about your friends Pixie corpse, Marilyn and Reaper so I asked them. I sent them an email and they told me where I could find you."

"Wow," Gwen said looking extremely surprised. "They told you where to find me?" She asked incredulous. "Those three? I…don't believe you." She admitted.

Cody chuckled nervously, "Well they didn't want to at first. But I explained the situation and…well they still didn't want to tell me so I had to wear them down but eventually they told me." He said nodding.

"That's amazing Cody," Gwen admitted. She made a mental note to text Marilyn to get the whole story on that later. "I thought a guy like you would be scared of people like them."

"Me? No way," He said truthfully. "I like you remember? I'm used to Goths; it's the emo crowd I'm still a bit rusty with." This caused Gwen to chuckle slightly. "Actually, I was a lot more worried about your mom."

"Yeah? How did you get past her anyway?" Gwen asked.

Cody stuck his hands in his pockets. He was still standing up. "It was easier than I thought," The tech geek admitted. "I knocked on your door and when she opened it she seemed to recognize me from the show."

"I told your mom I was here to see you and she nodded and took me to your room. I think she must've liked me because she said something about me being able to help you. That's why I came over here so I just kept nodding."

Gwen nodded, slightly embarrassed. It was true that her mother liked Cody from watching total drama, Gwen had to admit. She had even criticized Gwen once for ignoring a boy who went out of his way to protect her.

"Can I sit down?" Cody asked expectantly.

"Umm okay," Gwen said looking down at the mess on her bed. She tried to push away some of the tissue boxes and paper while he took his shoes off. Cody plopped onto Gwen's bed and sat cross-legged.

"How're you holding up?" He asked kindly.

Gwen shrugged, "Considering I've closed myself off in my room crying, writing bad poetry and listening to Within Temptation I'd say not so well."

"That's not so bad," he told her. "Most teenage girls would be much worse off."

"Thanks…" Gwen said sarcastically.

"Sorry," He apologized. "Want to talk about it?"

She nodded, "That would be nice. My mother and my friends here didn't really know him so they don't get it. I tried to call Leshawna and Bridgette but they didn't have a lot of time to talk."

And so she did. She recounted exactly what happened that night, what she did afterward and what she was feeling during the break-up. "It was just so sudden," She told him. "Not to mention insulting. I was thrown aside for Courtney like I was nothing…"

"Hey," Cody put his right hand on her shoulder in a comforting way. "You're not nothing Gwen. You're amazing. Duncan's an idiot if he couldn't see that. Any guy, including myself, would be lucky to go out with you."

She flinched slightly. Cody realized he may have made a slight error. He had truthfully come with the pure intention of making her feel better but he managed to slip his own feeling in like always.

"What about you?" She reversed. "How are things with…Sierra?"

"Oh her," Cody said uncomfortably. "The thing is Sierra and I don't live anywhere near each other. She still emails me every day but we're just friends."

Gwen smiled, "It must just be my luck that you live so close to me."

"It had nothing to do with luck, but fate that put us so close," He grinned. "Anyway I'm here to comfort you, not the other way around." He raised his arms to be about equal with her shoulders and opened his hands. "Hold my hands," he asked.

She raised an eyebrow, "Are you trying to flirt with me again?"

"No I'm serious, hold my hands."

"This better not be some sad attempt to get to hold my hand," Gwen said raising her arms to where his were. She clasped hands with him and Cody intertwined their fingers. They were now sitting right in front of each other with their knees nearly touching.

"Repeat after me." He told her. "This'll work, I promise." She nodded.

"Duncan is a big jerk," Cody said monotone.

"Duncan is a big jerk," Gwen spit out.

"I am better off without him."

"I am better off without him," She nodded slowly.

"I am a wonderful, beautiful person."

"I am a wonderful, beautiful person," She repeated.

"I will date Cody instead of Duncan."

"I will—"She paused. "Hey wait, Cody!" She yelled at him.

"Sorry, sorry," He apologized but didn't let go. "I couldn't help it."

She smiled, "It's okay. You almost got me." Gwen didn't notice but they were even closer now. The Goth girl leaned her head on the tech geek's forehead.

"You're too smart for that," he admitted. Cody couldn't help but notice the small amount of space between them and blushed slightly. "Next you should say 'I am super smart and sexy.'"

Gwen laughed slowly as she gazed into Cody's big eyes. "Thank you Cody, I feel better than I have in days."

"I'm glad," He said looking back at her. "I guess my job is done…"

"But you can't leave yet," She said sadly. "You haven't gotten your reward yet."

"What reward—"

But his question was cut off as Gwen's blue lips covered his pinkish lips. Cody's eyes grew wide in surprise before returning the kiss. A pleasurable explosion of warmth and happiness lit up their mouths as the kiss deepened. Cody never wanted it to stop when…

"Gwen!"

At the sound of her mother's voice Gwen's eyes ripped open and she pulled her mouth off of Cody's. "Mom?" She asked looking around surprised. "What the hell are you doing in my room?"

Cody was so into the kiss he hadn't heard the voice; he only opened his eyes when Gwen stopped kissing him. Looking around he noticed Gwen's mother was standing in the doorway with her arms crossed. This was not something he had accounted for.

"I came to check up on how Cody was doing," Gwen's mother answered. "I knocked on your door but when you didn't answer I opened it to find you kissing him!"

She turned to look at the tech geek. "Cody when you said you were going to comfort my daughter, this isn't what I had in mind."

At that comment Cody went from uncomfortable to downright frightened. "I'm-I'm sorry ma'am, it's just that I…I umm…"

"It's not his fault Mom," Gwen interrupted. "Cody was helping me feel better and I was the one who kissed him."

Gwen's mother sighed, "Alright Gwen. I've given up trying to understand you long ago. As long as you feel better…" At this Gwen nodded. "Then that's fine. I've got to go to the store so you'll be home alone." At this Gwen's mother and Gwen shared a series of eye movements between them that only served to confuse Cody more.

After one more look Gwen's mother said goodbye and left them alone again. Gwen sighed and a moment of silence passed as Cody was wondering how this ended up happening.

"Sorry she interrupted our kiss," Gwen apologized. "Do you have to leave now?"

Cody shrugged, "Not unless you want me to leave."

"I want you to stay," She admitted. Gwen stood up off her bed and Cody copied her. "I mean if you left I might fall back into depression."

"Then I'll stay," He said smiling. "I think we should do something—to take your mind off Duncan."

"What did you have in mind?"

"We could watch a movie or…maybe play some video games?" He suggested.

Gwen laughed, "Video games? You sure know how to treat a girl Cody."

"Well when I was walking here I passed an arcade not too far back," He explained. "Want to check it out?"

"Sure," She nodded. "But first," She said. "Since we were interrupted before…give me a hug."

"What?" He asked surprised.

"Give me a hug before I change my mind."

At that Cody quickly ran over and hugged Gwen. It felt nice. Gwen wasn't particularly warm but Cody felt like something in his chest was filling up. Gwen enjoyed the hug too.

"Hey Gwen?"

"Yeah?"

"Can I get that kiss again?" He asked.

"Maybe later…" She said letting go. Cody looked disappointed, but only for a second. They left Gwen's room and found their way outside of her house. Gwen pointed out various things as they walked down the street; Cody listened of course but he was far too interested in another thought.

Gwen is still holding my hand!

A/N: I have a habit of ending romance fics with the guy and girl holding hands for some reason. Anyway please grace me with some reviews :)