At our darkest times, we are often most vulnerable

~Quote by me

**

Last night

Cameras are off

José snickered as he saw was Courtney and Alejandro talk to each other. They're getting rather friendly, aren't they? Oh, this is too good of an opportunity! He took out his camera that Chris had only let him keep because he paid him. I can manipulate this all I want.

**

Present time

Cameras are off

"Ok," Bridgette giggled and lowered her voice. Her, LeShawna, and Courtney were sitting at their usual spot for lunch in the cafeteria. "Geoff was super nervous our first time. He almost forgot to put on a condom. And I wasn't on birth control."

"Oh my god," Courtney laughed. "I was the nervous wreck when Duncan and I first did it. I can't believe I'm saying this, but..I'm just glad he had experience. Sure, I would've preferred him to be a virgin as well but the fact that he had had a partner before probably saved me from complete and utter embarrassment."

"Wow," LeShawna commented. "Never took you for someone who liked to share their sex stories, Courtney."

"Yeah, well..." she blushed. "I feel comfortable enough around you guys. Besides, the cameras aren't on today."

"But remember when Chris decided to secretly roll the cameras that one night and he caught you and Duncan in the act-"

"Ok!" She interrupted. "I don't wanna think about that right now. Hopefully they aren't on today."

"Guys," Gwen sat down next to Courtney with Trent on following behind. "You'll never believe what I just heard."

"What?" Duncan sat on the other side of Courtney and slung an arm around her. "You and Elvis finally slept together?"

"Shut up!" Courtney elbowed her boyfriend in the ribs while Gwen and Trent both blushed.

"Uh...no," The goth said. "First off, that's none of your business. Secondly, that's not what happened."

"Tell us then," the delinquent pouted, picking at his food with a fork. "I'm already getting bored."

She rolled her eyes before continuing. "Anyways, I heard that Heather and Alejandro broke up yesterday."

"What?!" Bridgette's eye's widened. "No way! Weren't they engaged?!"

"Yeah," Gwen answered. "It's kinda sad."

"Man," LeShawna frowned. "You think it had something to do with the miscarriage?"

"Probably."

Courtney bit her lip as they continued to talk about it. Was his the right time to offer her plan? She opened her mouth to say something, when-

"Hey Courtney!" A voice interrupted. The C.I.T. turned to see José. "Mind if I sit here with you guys?"

"Uh..." her and her friends exchanged looks and all nodded. "Sure."

"Is...Alejandro alright?" He asked. "I noticed how he was acting this morning but he wouldn't talk to me so I was hoping you guys would know?"

Courtney paused, not knowing how to answer. She didn't want to give away his business, but she also didn't want to leave his brother worrying. She decided to be subtle about it. "Well...I think he and Heather had an argument. I...also asked what was wrong but he wouldn't really talk to me either.

Lies, lies, and more lies, José thought. Good thing I have it all on video. "Oh," he pretend to be clueless. "I feel so terrible now. Yes, I've made fun of him for so many years, but when it comes to times like these...I want to comfort him. I want to let him know that everything will be alright."

"I could get him to talk to you if you'd like," she offered.

"Oh! No no no no, you don't have to do that! That was very thoughtful of you, though. If he really doesn't want to talk to me, then all I can do is give him space." He paused for a moment before speaking again. "So Duncan...I don't want to start anything, but I heard you gave up going after Alejandro for what he did to Courtney."

"Dude," the punk began. "That's literally asking to get your face beat in. But yeah, I did give up. Courtney said it wasn't fair since we had no evidence."

"Hmm...she does have a point, and I'm beginning to think so myself. My brother's no murderer, right Courtney?"

"I don't think he is. He's actually not that bad of a guy."

"Tell that to the pole he got me to kiss," Bridgette stated.

"Yeah, but that was years ago," Courtney continued. "He told me last night that he was only doing it for the game and it was nothing personal."

"So...you did talk to him?" José raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah-no..." she paused. Shit. "Ok, fine, I did, but I was only trying to give him privacy."

"Understandable," the Spaniard nodded with a shrug. "So my brother really is a good guy, huh?" She nodded. "And would you ever go out with him?"

"What? No," Courtney made a weird face.

"Hello?!" Duncan yelled. "We're dating!"

"Yeah. I don't like him in that way. Besides, even if Duncan didn't exist, I still wouldn't like Alejandro that way."

"I know, I'm just teasing," he chucked. "I know you're with Duncan, right? But my brother does need someone like you in his life. Someone who will build him up in times like these."

"Isn't that supposed to be your job? Aren't you his older brother?" Duncan questioned.

"Believe me, I've tried, but he is always so stubborn. He would only listen to Heather, but I guess that's over now. I wonder if she ever comforted him." The rest of them shrugged.

"I know they still love each other," Courtney stated. "Which...is why I've come up with a plan." José turned off his recorder now that he had gotten everything he needed to edit. This should be good.

"Uh...don't you think we should stay out of it?" LeShawna asked.

"Yes, I've thought about it, and that probably would be the best thing to do, but I also know what it feels like to lose the love of my life with many words left unsaid," she took Duncan's hand and he smiled lovingly at her. "Tonight, we all need to split up into groups of two. One group talks to Alejandro while the other talks to Heather. We convince them to hang out with us and lead them to same place. It'll be a romantic candlelit dinner where they can talk out all their problems peacefully-"

"Hey," Gwen raises her hand. "I hate to interrupt and be a critic, but this is Heather and Alejandro we're talking about. They're not going to sort out their problems peacefully."

"And I know that," Courtney said back. "Which is why we are going get them to look their best and get them in their best moods. Once they see each other all dressed up, they won't be able to resist."

"Girl, sounds like you're livin' in a fantasy world," LeShawna commented. "This ain't no Disney movie where they make up just like that," she snapped her fingers.

"Yeah...I'm gonna to have to agree with Gwen and LeShawna," Bridgette said. "There's no way this is gonna work."

"Ok, then!" Courtney slapped her hands to her sides. "What do you guys suggest?"

"I think we should keep the candlelit dinner," the surfer decided. "However, maybe we should take them someone else first to sort out their problems."

"We could lock them in a room together?" Gwen suggested.

"Girl, they'd end up killin' each other!" Said LeShawna.

"No they won't," Courtney answered confidently. "They'll definitely end up making up eventually. Even if it does take a few hours."

"Or a few days," Bridgette muttered.

"More like a few years ," LeShawna corrected.

The C.I.T. rolled her eyes. "Guys, stop being so overdramatic. They won't take that long."

"Fine," LeShawna sighed. "We'll try your idea, but if it goes wrong, I'm blamin' you."

"So when are you guys doing this?" José asked. "I'd very much like to be apart of it."

"I think tonight would be good.?" Gwen nodded in agreement.

This couldn't be more perfect, he thought. Now all I need to do is edit this footage from today and last night and find someone that Heather trusts.

**

That evening

"So I said 'stop Scott! You're gonna hurt yourself!' But he didn't listen and jumped in like that anyways," Mike laughed.

"Serves him right," Cody muttered.

"Yeah, I hate to say it, but it does."

Zoey heard the words but she wasn't listening. All she could think about was how Heather and Alejandro were doing. Only Alejandro had showed up for breakfast this morning, and she hadn't seen Heather all day or for most of the day yesterday.

They were just getting back from their afternoon hike when someone had tapped her on the shoulder. She turned around and saw Alejandro's brother.

"Hey Zoey," José greeted with a smile.

"Uh...hey," she smiled back with an awkward wave.

"I'm so glad I found you. You really need to hear this."

"Hear what?"

He looked around. "We need to go someplace private." She glanced over at her husband who seemed to be engaged in his conversation.

"Ok, I guess?"

"Perfect!" José lead her behind one of the cabins and waited a moment to make sure no one else would walk by.

"So...what did you wanna show me?" She asked.

"Well, I was talking with Courtney earlier today and she told me that Alejandro and Heather had broken up," he started.

"What?" The redhead gasped. "Are you serious?"

"Yes, I promise to you that I am not lying. But that's not even the full story. A couple hours ago, I found this tape recording that Chris left laying around from last night."

"Wait...I thought the cameras were off last night?"

"They were," the Spaniard said. "But he must've left the sound on."

"So wait..." Zoey looked suspicious. "How did you find the recording again?"

"It was on the ground, no joke. I'll show you." He pulled out his tape recorder that he had marked with the date and the time of last night. "His interns must've dropped it."

"And...what's on this tape?"

He lowered his voice. "I'm not sure you wanna know..."

"Well is it hurting anyone?"

"It...may hurt someone."

"Then show me!" She whisper-yelled.

"Ok," he turned it on. "Just promise me you won't tell anyone except for the one who deserves to know about this, ok?"

"Well who deserves to know about it?"

"Well...year involves Heather. She doesn't know but she needs to know. She hates me and I think you're the only one she'll listen to." Zoey's face went pale.

"How...how bad is it?"

"Oh, it's pretty bad," José answered. "I was in shock when I heard it myself." He pressed the 'play' button.

Once the tape was over, Zoey's mouth was agape. "No...this...this can't be real! This is fake! It has to be!"

"Sadly, it isn't," José shook his head.

"Are you sure that was Courtney and Alejandro?"

"Yes," he nodded. "I questioned it myself at first but then I looked at what Chris wrote on the back." He flipped the tape over to reveal both of their names. "He's probably saving it for later to start more drama. But please, I beg of you, please let Heather know before this all gets out. I think she at least deserves to know and be saved from the embarrassment later. Especially after all she's been through."

Zoey nodded, but remained silent as she took the tape. There's no way this could be true.

When José noticed that she was still unsure, he spoke again. "I'm not lying. You can even ask Chris. Besides me, he's the only one who knows."

The redhead bit her lip nervously. Should I ask Chris? Would he even care? Probably not. That would probably remind him to show it to everyone too. And even if this was just fake, Chris would still make it public. "I...don't think I'll ask Chris and I'll take your word for it. He'll just get it back and show it to everyone right away."

"He may have copies though."

"Yes, but like you said...I would be saving Heather from the embarrassment. Thank you, José."

"No problem. Just let me know how it goes. And don't tell Heather that I showed you this! It would be best for her to think that only one person she trusts knows about it." Zoey nodded as she slowly walked away with the tape. How am I supposed to tell Heather about this?

**
That night

"Ok, so me, Bridgette, Gwen and LeShawna will all talk to heather while Geoff, Duncan, Harold and Trent will talk to Alejandro," Courtney said as her and her friends were standing in the cabin all in a circle.

"Why do I have to be the one to talk to Alejandro?" Geoff whined.

"Because you're a man and we are helping dress them up," his wife answered. "And no, he is not going to go after me. Get over it."

"Ugh...fine."

"Is everyone ready?"

"Um...no?" Said Duncan. "What exactly are we supposed to do?"

"Well I don't know?" His girlfriend started sarcastically. "Maybe get him in a suit and give him a hair makeover?"

"Babe, you know how much I hate that stuff."

"I don't care! This isn't for you! This is for Alejandro and Heather!"

"Yeah yeah," the delinquent grumbled.

"Let's go girls!" Courtney led her friends out of the cabin.

"Uh..." Geoff started. "Anyone know where Alejandro is?"

**

When the girls finally found Heather, she was sitting in the forest up against a tree, crying her eyes out. It did not look like they woman they knew. The woman they knew was very stubborn, smart, manipulative, cunning, never breaking, strong. But this one looked completely broken. Even more so than when the miscarriage had occurred.

They slowly walked towards her, and Courtney was the first to speak. "...Heather?" The Asian only looked up at her and more tears fell from her eyes.

"Are...you ok?" Bridgette asked gently.

Still no answer.

"Hey," The C.I.T. bent down and placed a hand on her shoulder. She immediately jerked away at her touch.

"G-get away from me!" Her voice shook as her cries became more violent.

"I'm just trying to help-"

"Sh-Shut the fuck up, y-you don't want to help me."

"Heather," The surfer began. "We do. We really do."

"N-no you don't!! You know exactly what's going on! D-Do you guys think this is funny?!!" She wiped her face with the palm of her hand.

"What are you talkin' about, girl?" LeShawna joined in.

"Courtney knows..." she replied, hiding her face between her legs.

The brunette raised an eyebrow. "What?"

"Maybe you should talk to Alejandro and figure it out!" She hissed.

Oh. Courtney frowned. How'd she find out that I talked to him? "I'm so sorry about your breakup, Heather. And I don't think it's funny at all."

There was a moment of silence before she growled in frustration and stood up, both of her fists balled. "Oh my god!! Stop lying!! You know what you did, bitch!!"

"Whoa whoa whoa," Gwen said. "I think you need to calm down."

Courtney backed up in surprise. "Wh-what the hell did I do?!"

"You...you whore! I hope Duncan finds out about what you did!!"

"Heather, I seriously don't know what you're talking about!" That only seemed to make her angrier.

She gritted her teeth. "You. Are. So. Fake!!!!" She swung her fist and hit her right in the eye.

Before Courtney could react, she fell the ground, holding her hand over the newly injured area. "Ow..." she moaned in pain as Bridgette, Gwen, and LeShawna helped her up.

"What the fuck was that for?!" The goth snapped.

"Oh, I don't know, maybe she could tell you!!" Heather sent a death glare towards the C.I.T.

"Courtney, what did you do?" Asked Bridgette.

"I did absolutely nothing!! She's insane!"

"Ok, let's get you a cold washcloth." The three girls helped her walk back to the cabins, leaving Heather to sit back down and continue to sob angrily.

Courtney's such a lying bitch. And Alejandro is more of an asshole than I thought. How could I have been so stupid? I loved him. God, I still love him so much. How the hell can he not feel the same way after all these years? How?!

She punched the ground with her fist and buried her head into her legs again and held herself. That was the only comfort she had left. She felt exactly like she did before she met Alejandro. When she trusted nobody and let nobody in. She tried being nice to people only to get bullied. And right when she thought she might have a chance at finding the one, she was wrong yet again. This was far worse of a blow than the first time. Last time I try to make friends or fall in love with someone.

**

"I knew she was psycho," Duncan retorted after Courtney finished telling the guys about her and Heather's...incident.

"Hey!" Alejandro snapped. "Watch your mouth, shark head!"

"Ok, I thought you 'hated' Heather now?" He replied.

"I...don't. But I'm not getting back together with her. We're way too different to work out."

"What do you mean you're 'way too different,' man?" Geoff said. "You guys are, like, the same person. You both like manipulating people into kissing you, you-"

"Ok, first of all," he interrupted. "I don't 'like' manipulating people into kissing me. It's a strategic thing. And second of all, I have no interest in your wife."

"We already went over this, Geoff," Bridgette rolled her eyes.

"Anyways," the Spaniard continued. "Why were you guys trying to get me all dressed up?"

"Uh..."

"Well..."

"Ya see..."

"It was my idea," Courtney raised her hand. "I...came up with a plan to get you and Heather back together-"

"And I said that's not gonna happen."

"I know, just let me finish. We tried to talk to Heather because she was crying. But she freaked out when I touched her shoulder and called me a bitch and then punched me. And she kept telling me that I knew what I did or something. It was weird."

"She's got a lot of nerve," Duncan growled.

"Well you must've done something to her," Harold said.

"But I didn't! I swear I had no idea what she was talking about. And neither did they!" She gestured the other girls. "She acted like I either committed he worst crime in the world or stole her boyfriend."

Stole her boyfriend... Those words stuck in the back of Alejandro's mind. The only way she could 'steal' her boyfriend is if she was with me.

"Ah ha!" Alejandro snapped his fingers together, getting everyone's attention. "Courtney was with me last night! Maybe she saw and got jealous!"

"But that was really extreme, even for Heather. We didn't even hug or anything."

"I know, which is why this is strange. It's almost as if...she heard something from someone."

"Yeah, someone could've easily thought we were flirting when really we weren't doing anything."

"It was probably Harold," Duncan commented. "The dweeb gets everything wrong."

"Hey!" Said guy glared at the delinquent. "Idiots..." He muttered.

"No," the Spaniard shook his head and squinted in thought. "It could not have been him. I saw him walk into the dining hall whenever I got up that night."

"Thank you," Harold said, sending another glare in Duncan's direction. The punk rolled his eyes in response.

There was a quiet knock on the door. Everyone looked at each other and Duncan only shrugged, opening up the door to reveal José.

"Alejandro!" He smiled. "It's so nice to see you again after what happened! Are you doing alright?" His younger brother ignored him and continued to think about the situation at hand. "Ok then..." José said awkwardly. "Don't answer then."

"We're trying to figure out why Heather freaked out and punched Courtney in the face," Duncan told him, gesturing to his girlfriend with the black eye.

"Oh my dios, that does not look good! Should I get an ice pack? Or would you prefer a wet cloth?"

Alejandro looked at his brother as he spoke. Something seemed...off. Alejandro knew that José was the kind of person that would act extra kind and offer people help if he had something to hide. But how could he have convinced Heather to punch Courtney? And why were his actions always taken out on Courtney?!

"Or, if you want, I could-"

"Courtney," he began, interrupting José. "So you thought that Heather was acting like you stole her boyfriend, right?"

"Uh...I guess, but that was just an example-"

"No, I think you're on to something...let's say someone saw us talking last night and told Heather that we kissed or whatever." But Heather would not have believed it if it came directly from José. He could've used someone else to tell her! Someone that Heather trusts.

"But why would they do that?" Courtney asked.

"To start drama," he answered simply. "Or someone has something against you." He glanced at José from the corner of his eye.

Who does Heather trust besides me?

"Well whoever the hell wants to hurt Courtney can answer to me!" Duncan growled, wrapping a protective arm around his girlfriend. "I bet whoever started this shit was the same person who tried to drown her!"

Hmm...

By now he knew it was José. He just needed to think of someone Heather trusted.

Then it hit him.

Zoey.

He couldn't just leave right now. He needed to wait a little longer and make it look as casual as possible. And he needed to keep the conversation subtle just in case she had no idea what was going on. Alejandro managed to keep a straight face as everyone continued to share their speculations and solutions.

"Why don't we just ask everyone if they saw Courtney and Alejandro talking last night?" Bridgette suggested. "It could've been a huge misunderstanding."

"But what if it wasn't?" LeShawna asked. "Duncan's got a point. Courtney has already nearly been drowned in a lake and beaten up over something she didn't do. Someone obviously has it in for her."

"But who would it be? I don't think anyone hates Courtney that much. And it obviously wasn't Alejandro or Heather.

"Well what if it's someone that's really close to her?" Geoff said. "Like, say Duncan." Everyone gasped.

"Dude, what the hell?!" The punk snapped. "Why the fuck would I want to hurt my own girlfriend?!"

"Ok, let's not start blaming everyone," Bridgette intervened. "We need to think rationally."

"I think I know who did it," José started. "It could've easily been Chris. I mean, isn't he always filming everything when nobody expects it? He could have edited it and made it look like you two were doing something."

José, Alejandro thought as he smirked internally. You just gave yourself away.

**

Sierra was writing down some new ideas for her blog in her notebook, when the door was violently slammed open. She let out a small yelp and nearly fell off of her bed. Once she saw who it was, she put on her biggest smile. "Heather...hey." She bit her lip awkwardly as she watched the Asian woman reach from underneath her bed and pull out her suitcase.

As everyone else did, she found out about the breakup that morning. And now she was leaving the island. She wanted to say something but she knew Heather would either ignore her or yell at her. She bit her tongue while Heather made sure everything was packed.

Of course she couldn't help but feel bad for her. Heather would often have a scowl on her face but her expression now just looked broken. Emotionless. She noticed Heather had a picture of her and Alejandro in her hand from the outer pocket of the suitcase. She stood there for a moment, as if deciding what to do with it. Then she let out a heavy sigh and placed it back in there.

Sierra frowned when she saw her pick it up and start rolling it across the cabin floor. She really don't want to say anything, but she wanted to at least say goodbye.

"Heather?" She said quietly.

The Asian paused. "Bye Sierra," she whispered, voice shaking.

Then she slammed the door.

Sierra only sat there, mouth agape. She had never heard Heather speak like that before. Her voice was so gentle, but it held a sad tone. It sounded weak. Hopeless.

The purpled-haired woman stood up and walked outside to where Heather was heading. She watched her push the handle down and sit on top of it. Then she simply waited for the next boat to come by the dock.

This isn't fair, she thought. This isn't fair at all. Sure, Heather hadn't been the nicest person, but she didn't deserve to leave feeling like this. She had already gotten all her karma. She didn't need anymore. Enough was enough.

Sierra took a deep breath and walked towards the dock. She slowed her footsteps down as she came closer to her. "...Heather?"

"What?" She replied. "And no, I'm not staying."

"But-"

"But no!" She rose her voice. "There's no point in staying anymore."

"Well what about the people who care about you?"

"God, can't you see?!!" She stood up, turning to face her, tears in her eyes. "No one cares about me! I could drown myself in this fucking lake and no one would come save me!!" She gestured angrily towards the water. "Heck! I could even tell people right before I do it and they wouldn't stop me!! Everyone hates me!"

"I don't hate you-"

"Bullshit!" She snapped. "I bet whenever you were watching Island you loved to hate me! Have you ever been at the mall just trying to shop and then somebody tells you to die?!!"

Some of the other campers heard this and began to gather around in curiosity. Sierra looked around anxiously but Heather kept going.

"Have you ever been so sorry about something that you've done and all you want to do is apologize but you just can't because people won't believe you?!!"

"No, but maybe you shouldn't have done something bad in the first place-"

"You're right!" Heather yelled. "You are so fucking right!! Everything that's happened to me in the past couple weeks if my fault!! It was all mine!! If I wouldn't have been so mean and bitchy to everyone back then, maybe things would be different. Maybe I'd still be with the one I love and maybe my baby would still be alive!!" She choked as her tears began to fall. "B-But no...I chose to be the bad guy. I-I thought it would make me invincible. No one would be able to hurt me. But I still fell for everything like an idiot!!"

Duncan walked out of the cabin to go use the restroom when he found Heather and Sierra talking by the dock. And Heather was in tears. He raised an eyebrow. "What in the hell-"

"I fell for Alejandro's lies for three fucking years!!" Heather said. "And now he's apparently banging Courtney!"

"Whoa whoa whoa, wait, what?" Duncan stepped closer to her and in front of Sierra. "La cucaracha isn't interested in Courtney."

"Oh, that's what you want to believe."

"No, he told me."

"That doesn't mean anything!"

"And where the hell is your evidence?!"

"I have a fucking recording, dumbass!!"

Duncan's eyes widened and he was at loss of air. "...What?"

"Yeah, that's right! Zoey showed it to me!"

"Well where is it?"

"She has it. Go talk to her!"

Duncan immediately went into the dinning hall to look for Zoey. He found her sitting with Mike and Cameron and grabbed her arm.

"Hey!" The redhead said, trying to pull away.

"Hands off!" Mike yelled.

"Where's the tape?" He asked urgently.

Zoey looked at him with utter confusion. "...What?"

"Where. Is. The. Tape?"

The...tape? The tape! Her eyes widened. "Uh...it's in my cabin."

"Show it to me." She nodded and led the delinquent into the cabin. She lifted her pillow and picked it up and then pressed play.

"What the...fuck?" Duncan whispered sharply whenever the tape was over. "There's no way this is real. Did you...record this?"

"No," Zoey shook her head quickly. "Someone...gave it to me."

"Who?"

"I can't tell you..."

"Who?!" He raised his voice. Please tell me Zoey, it's urgent!"

"...José."

A/n- Only one more full chapter after this!