(Courtney's POV)

I kiss him back, my hands on his chest. 

I enjoy it. 

That's a bad thing.

I shouldn't.

He'll hurt me again. 

I push away. 

"No, Duncan, I can't ." I just got over you. "You can't just come running back."

He shrugged as he let me go. He rubbed the back of his neck. "Sorry, I just got caught up in the moment." That's a lame excuse. Even for him. 

I should be angry, but I'm not. I actually laugh at this awkward moment earning a weird look from Duncan. I feel like I'm back when we stole the food from Chef. The first night Duncan and I had kissed. 

"Uh, Courtney, are you okay?" he asks. 

I calm myself down. "Sorry, I just feel so stupid," I say bluntly. Okay, that's not me. Breathe, Courtney, I tell myself. Just be straight-forward with him. "Duncan, I can't do this. I can't do... us."

He nods. "That's understandable, but could you just-" 

I shake my head cutting him off. "We are just going to be friends. Nothing else. You're lucky I'm even giving you a chance at this," I tell him. I hold my hand out so we can shake on it. He just stares. "Just shake on it, ogre." I haven't used that nickname in so long. 

He shakes his head, smiling slightly. "Fine, princess. On one condition," he says.

My arm is getting tired. I sigh. "What?"

"I get to take you out again."

Then we shake on it. 

↠↞

I knee Duncan in the groin. He groans doubling over as I stand up and try to wipe mud off of me which is useless since I'm covered in it. 

Duncan and Scott's idea of a fun activity for a small get together was to go mud-wrestling. 

Why did I agree to hang out with Duncan again?

Since  after TDAS, its been easier to be more daring. I do a lot more things now instead of being my uptight-wannabe-self. A lot more people seem to like me that way, anyway.

A month has gone by since Duncan kissed me. I forgave Shane and Scott who are now a thing, disgustingly. I've felt happier, though.

I'm about to walk over to Scott and Shane when I'm pulled down into the mud again. When I turn around, with no surprise, Duncan has a hold of my ankle. 

"Dammit, Duncan, let go!" I exclaim. 

He laughs and pulls me toward him. 

Ugh. I didn't knee him hard enough. 

He climbs on top of me and smears mud in my face before he holds my wrists down over my head. He's smirking down at me. 

"I thought you were going to beat me up again?" he snickers. I try to wriggle out of his grip. "Sorry, I win."

If only I could knee him again, but he had to sit on my legs. 

"Fine, you win," I grumble. 

He climbs off of me. I wipe my face off. "You're an ogre," I tell him. "And an asshole."

"Call me what you want, but I know that I'm still a hot juvenile," he says. "Princess."

I scoff. "That doesn't mean you can call me whatever you want."

"You can deal, bossy."

I briefly glare at him before I walk out of the mud. 

Shane laughs at me as she hands me my extra pair of clothes. "You look disgusting, Court."

I smile. "Yeah and now it's your turn. I hope you get beat up," I say jokingly.

"Nah, I'm not like you," she says smiling. 

"Thanks," I say with heavy sarcasm. I shake my head as I walk over to the little showers off to the side of the mud ring. 

I haven't told Shane about the kiss. How could I? Its not like it meant anything in the first place. Plus if I did, she would never leave me alone about it. 

I strip down into the bathing suit I had underneath my clothes and turn on the water. I rinse the mud out of my hair and wipe it off my arms and legs. 

Duncan is standing in the shower next to me and he also has his bathing suit on. I look over at him, and he's smirking in my direction. 

"You missed a spot," he says. 

I glare at him. "Did not."

He walks over to me and strokes my cheek slowly with his finger. "There you go. All better." I doubt there was anything there to begin with. His flirting has been non-stop since we became friends again.

"I'm not a five-year-old," I say trying to stop myself from blushing. "I could have done that myself."

"And there's the up-tightness again," he says, leaning against the wall connecting the showers.

"I am not uptight!"

"Whatever you say, princess." Then he walks away from me. 

My cheeks warm up in embarrassment. I close my eyes and take ten deep breaths to calm my mind. When I open them, I see Trent walking out of one of the showers. When did he get here?

I turn off the water and hurry to get into my other pair of clothes grabbing the dirty ones on my way out. I have to jog to catch up to Trent. I'm panting when I get to him. I seriously need some exercise.

When I catch my breath, I look up. I see he's looking at me with a worried expression. 

"I'm fine," I assure him. I stand upright and take a deep breath. "Hey."

"Uh, hey, Courtney," he says. I can tell he's trying not to laugh. "It's been a while. How's life been treating you?"

I snort. "Like hell, but I'm getting through it." I look down at myself. My swimsuits soaking my clothes. Great. 

He throws his towel over his shoulder. "Listen, I'm sorry for the shit you went through when I left. I didn't realize that Gwen would, uh, do that."

"Oh, it wasn't your fault. I got past that stage, and Duncan's just as big of an asshole as he was before. You did nothing, Trent," I say, putting my hand on his arm in a comforting manner. 

He nods. "If you say so. I saw you two mud-wrestling," he says. "You're seriously terrible at it."

I glower at him as I drop my hand. "I could have beaten him up again. I'm just a little rusty."

"Sure, you are." I hit him in the arm and he laughs. "Look, it was nice talking to you, but I have a girlfriend waiting for me. We should hang sometime."

"Yeah, we should. See you later," I say. I turn to start walking in the other direction then I stop. "Wait, Trent. I have a question."

I turn around and see that he hasn't moved. 

"Yeah?"

"How did you get over it so fast? Why did you just take Gwen back?"

"Okay, um, well first off that's two questions not one. But I'll answer both of them anyway." He rubs the back of his neck. "I trust Gwen. I know that we went through some rough times, but I know her. She may need an arm, or person, to help, so I'm cool that Duncan was there, physically, when I wasn't." 

I nod. "You should tell her that I want my friend back. That we should all get together." Even if I am still pissed at her, I still had to make things righ.

He smiles. "Sure." 

I walk back over to the group. Duncan's watching Shane and Scott wrestle with his arms folded. 

"What did he want?" he asks when I stand next to him. 

"More like what did I want," I correct.

"Okay then, what did you want, princess?"

"Why is it your problem?"

He shrugs. "I was just wondering."

Or he's jealous.

***

Edits done by geneyjohn

*edited