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When auditions were open for a new reality show called “Total Drama Island,” Owen’s decision to sign up was more out of the spur of the moment. He didn’t expect to actually receive any news from the producers. After all, there were probably a lot of teenagers that were eager for the chance to win the grand prize of $100,000 and, in the end, only 22 lucky contestants would eventually be chosen. To the surprise of him and his parents though, Owen had been selected. And Owen could say that when looking back at it, auditioning for Total Drama had to be one of the best decisions of his life.
Total Drama Island had introduced him to a lot of awesome experiences and friends that he would have never had if he had simply stayed home for the summer. Not to mention, Owen had somehow managed to outlast all of the other competitors and win the entire thing. While the victory was short-lived since he agreed to give up the prize for a chance to win the bigger prize of a million dollars, Owen was thrilled that the competition would continue into the show’s second season, Total Drama Action. Apparently, the show had gotten so popular that Chris was looking to expand it into further installments. Which was why, after Total Drama Action had finally been completed, they were now on its third season.
So far, Owen was enjoying World Tour, even though it could be difficult to face his fear of flying at times. Going across the world and visiting so many different locations like Japan, New York, and Paris was incredibly exciting, especially since it was always a surprise to where they were going next. But so far, his favorite aspect of the season had to be his new friendship with his little buddy.
Owen couldn’t help but admire how quick-witted and funny Noah could be. Well, to be fair, he had always thought that Noah was a cool guy since he had first met him in TDI, but this was the first time that he really had the opportunity to see another side of Noah. Although Noah looked like he might be a fairly serious person, Noah thoroughly enjoyed Owen’s jokes and sense of humor. Most of the time they were on the plane they would both try to come up with new jokes or ways to mess around in order to pass the time. But beyond that, what Owen really valued about Noah was how understanding he could be.
The best example of this was when he was dealing with the aftermath of his break-up with Izzy. It was...a difficult break-up, so he really appreciated how Noah had stayed with him after the Jamaica challenge. And looking at it positively, the two of them had shared a nice moment on the beach together because of it. Admittedly, Owen was still having difficulty with completely getting over Izzy, but looking back at it, he knew that their relationship wouldn’t have lasted long anyway. It wasn’t that he didn’t care for Izzy! He did enjoy his moments with her, but she could be a lot sometimes. It was probably best for the both of them to stay as friends.
Now that he was thinking about it, Owen actually had a lot of moments that he really valued with Noah throughout the season. Like in the first episode where they had to navigate through the Egyptian pyramids together or when they had time to relax by the campfire during the Amazon challenge. But out of all those experiences, their time in London together had to be one of his favorites.
Well, in hindsight, it probably wasn’t the best for the other members of their team since Ezekiel was trying to capture everyone, but at least for Noah and himself, it had given them a lot of one-on-one time as they navigated the Tower of London.
In the end, that’s what made that episode’s conclusion all the more difficult to face. With Al, Tyler, and Duncan teaming up together to vote off Noah, Owen felt like he was a stranger on his own team. The challenges didn’t seem as exciting as they used to be, especially since Owen knew that he was more than likely going to be the next one eliminated.
Speaking of, at the moment Owen was doing his best to ignore Al and Tyler. To truly mark their distance from Owen, they had both decided to sit on the other end of the economy class’s benches, leaving Owen by himself. They had also been whispering quietly to each other so that they could exclude Owen from the conversation. This didn’t leave Owen much left to do other than stare out the window and try to figure out where they were going next.
Owen sighed as he tried to get comfortable on the bench, deliberately shifting himself away from Al and Tyler. Since he was getting kind of groggy, he figured that it would be best to try to get some rest before the next challenge. Besides, sleeping sounded a lot more inviting than facing the awkward atmosphere anyway.
Letting out a yawn, Owen closed his eyes and let the soft whirl of the plane’s engines lull him to sleep.
When Owen opened his eyes, he noticed that he was no longer in the plane’s economy class. Instead, it looked like he had somehow moved to the first class area.
Owen gaped at the buffet table in the middle of the room. The table was mounted with giant doughnuts, cupcakes, turkeys, as well as a number of other items. Great Atlanta, Chris must have really increased the food budget!
Owen’s attention from the table was diverted as he heard Noah sit into the chair next to him. Noah had grabbed a cookie, one of the noticeably smaller items, and had turned to face him. “That’s why I don’t trust him. He’s basically a slimy eel that’s only trying to pretend to be nice to everyone before he backstabs them.”
“Al can be a little weird sometimes,” Owen admitted. “I can’t tell if he likes me or not, but he told me that he sees me as a friend. Maybe it’s just all a misunderstanding.”
Noah grumbled, a little annoyed, but didn’t argue with him. He instead started to eat the cookie that he had grabbed earlier.
“And it looks like Team Me is Super Wicked Hot has started the first part of the challenge!”
Owen, who was about to bite into a chocolate-covered doughnut, looked around in confusion before his eyes landed on a grinning Chris. When had he gotten there?
“The challenge is eating?” Owen asked, suddenly excited.
“Not just ordinary food,” Chris said, his grin growing wider. “Food laced with cyanide! Whatever team manages to outlast the other wins!”
Noah’s eyes widened. “Wait, what-”
Before he could finish, Noah coughed violently and began to slump forward in his chair.
“Noah!” Owen quickly reached forward in an attempt to grab Noah before he fell down. “Don’t eat the poison stuff, it’s poisonous!”
However, just before Owen could prop Noah up, someone forcefully grabbed his arm. Owen looked back and his jaw dropped when he saw who it was.
“Al?!”
Al shrugged apologetically. “Sorry my friend, but I cannot bear to see you like this. There’s no use in trying to help him anymore,” he said, gesturing to Noah. “It must be done.”
“What must be done?” Owen repeated. “What are you talking about?”
Before Owen could make sense of Al’s cryptic words, the scenery around them began to change. The warm, inviting, gold wallpaper of first class disintegrated and they were suddenly now in the elimination room.
Al threw the door open, sending blasting cold air into the plane. Before Owen could react, he grabbed a hold of a comatose Noah and with an evil grin, pushed him out into the blackness. Owen watched in horror as Noah’s figure became smaller and smaller before disappearing entirely.
Owen fell to his knees. “Al...why would you do that?!”
Al sneered before the pleasant smile returned to his face. “I must apologize. I didn’t realize how much he meant to you. But don’t worry my friend, I can remedy that.”
Although Owen tried to desperately hold onto the door, Al was too quick. With all of his force, Al pushed a struggling Owen out of the safety of the plane and into the open air.
Owen screamed as he plummeted down. He couldn’t make sense of what was going on around him as his eyes grew watery and his vision began to blur, though he swore that he could hear Al laughing after him. Colors swarmed around him and with a startling realization, Owen saw that he was rapidly approaching the ground. However, just as he was bracing for impact...
Owen woke up with a gasp. Slowly, he began to take in his surroundings. Cold hard benches, leaky ceilings, rats scampering across the floor...oh mother above, he was never so grateful to see that he was in the plane’s economy class!
His relief was short-lived though. He heard Al cough pointedly and oh, that’s right, he wasn’t alone right now. Owen turned and saw that, to his embarrassment, Al and Tyler were both staring at him accusingly.
“Oh...was I talking in my sleep?” Owen chuckled nervously.
Al and Tyler remained silent. If anything, their gaze seemed to become even more judgemental.
Owen averted his gaze. “Sorry. I’ll just...go away.”
Unable to take the awkward atmosphere, Owen quickly booked it to the confessional and slammed the door shut.
“Tyler and Al are super tight now, after all that time they spent on the plane in London,” Owen admitted to the camera. “They even voted Noah off. Noah! Oh, I miss the pitter patter of his tiny feet. Aw...and now, I think I might be next.”
Once he was finished with his confession, Owen sighed as he slumped down onto the toilet seat. Normally, he would return to his team immediately after using the confessional, but it would be too embarrassing to face them, especially after something like that. Regardless, he had a lot to think about and this was one of the only places you could go to get some semblance of privacy.
It was normal to worry about a friend...right?
Sure, Owen had plenty of people that he would consider to be his friend from the show. However, because of the very nature of the competition, he had to watch many of his friends be eliminated as the episodes progressed. While he would certainly feel sad about watching someone be eliminated, it had never reached this extent before. Owen really missed Noah. Heck, he was even starting to dream about it now!
He had to admit that something about Noah was different. Honestly, it was hard to not notice Noah. He loved hearing the sound of Noah’s laugh whenever Owen succeeded in making a funny joke, or watching how Noah’s eyes would light up whenever he was genuinely passionate about something. And like his nickname for Noah suggested, he found it adorable with how little and cute his buddy was.
Woah, woah, woah, hold on. Did he just think that Noah was cute?!
Owen leaned against the confessional as he felt his heartbeat start to race. Okay, so he could admit that his friend was generally attractive. That wasn’t a big deal. Many of his friends would be considered pretty good-looking after all. But now that the thought was in his head, he couldn’t help but notice that Noah really did have nice features, like his soft, wavy hair and chocolate brown-eyes…
Oh no. Owen slid further down into his seat and covered his eyes. There was no denying it now.
He had a crush on Noah.
Well, as much as it was disappointing, Noah couldn’t say that he was too surprised by the series of events that unfolded after Alejandro heard his private conversation with Owen. Alejandro was crafty and would do anything he could to ensure his success in the game. It was only a matter of time before he figured out that Noah knew more about Team Victory’s eliminations than he let on. And since Alejandro couldn’t afford to let his image be tarnished, it would make sense that he would try to get rid of any potential adversary as soon as possible.
What he didn’t expect was that Chris would suddenly decide to change the rules of the challenge on them, effectively making Noah’s stay in the game even shorter than he thought it would be. Seriously, what the heck Chris? They were the ones that had captured the Ripper, exactly as the challenge had specified!
Noah knew that there wasn’t much point in contesting it though. Chris was, quite simply, an egomaniac. And seeing as how Chris wouldn’t be having a change of heart anytime soon, there wasn’t much that Noah could do. Even with Owen agreeing to vote with him against Alejandro, their two votes couldn’t compete with Alejandro, Tyler, and Duncan’s three. So, much as he had already expected, Noah was given a parachute during the elimination ceremony and was told that he was gone from the game. And to make matters worse, his descent from the plane ended with him falling into a pond filled with electric eels. In the middle of the English countryside. Go figure.
After getting attacked by the eels and earning a series of bites up both his arms, he was quickly ushered out of the pond by an EMT crew to treat any potential injuries before being escorted to the new playa resort. Like past seasons, eliminated contestants were sent to a five-star resort so that Chris could avoid any potential lawsuits. Since this season’s finale was apparently going to be in Hawaii, the resort was located in the same area. For convenience's sake, the same was true for the Aftermath studio.
However, while Noah usually enjoyed his stay at the resorts (it was where he had spent a majority of the first season, after all), the resort’s many amenities such as its large pool, spa area, and gaming center were unable to completely distract him from his thoughts.
He was personally rooting for Owen to win now that he was no longer in the competition himself, but realistically, he knew that Owen would probably not last for much longer. Alejandro had never hidden the fact that he hated Owen very well, so it was only a matter of time before he tried to get Owen eliminated. And with Owen arriving at the playa soon, Noah would have to eventually face him.
Noah sighed as he put down his book, turning his attention to the large screen TV that was in the playa’s lobby. Well, there was no point to speculating about it since they were going to be watching the next episode anyway. Since the first season, it had become a tradition for the remaining contestants to gather together and watch the new episodes before they aired on TV. They had all managed to form a rather strong bond together, although Noah supposed that it was an inevitable result of being on a crazy reality show like Total Drama. There weren’t many other people that could truly understand some of the situations they had been placed in.
Like any event involving a bunch of teenagers cramped into the same room together though, these “episode nights” could be fairly chaotic. There was always a constant buzz in the room since everyone was talking at once and with all the food passed around during the episode itself, the cleaning staff must have thoroughly hated them all at this point.
Most people clustered in groups with the contestants that they were the closest to. Leshawna, Trent, Harold, and more recently, Gwen with her elimination in the last episode, usually sat on the couch in the middle of the room. Although there was still some awkward tension between Gwen and Trent, they both seemed to be getting more comfortable together since they were talking more again. Near the TV, Lindsay and Beth sat on the floor with a copious amount of blankets and snacks. On account of Tyler’s injury in Area 51, Lindsay propped his wheelchair next to them so that he could still join their conversation. Like usual, Katie and Sadie followed Justin wherever he went, so they tended to cluster around the Playa’s recliners to ask him about the Drama Brothers and the band’s latest album.
For himself, Noah usually chose to sit on the beanbags near the back of the room since it was the closest to the buffet table and away from the general chaos.
Geoff held up his arms to get the group’s attention. “Alright everyone, settle down. As much as I love hearing everyone having a good time, we have the next episode right here,” Geoff said, holding up a disc that he had just received from the producers.
Instantly the noise in the room lowered and Geoff nodded in approval before handing the disc off to Bridgette, who moved to put it into the TV’s DVD player. When she finished, she joined Geoff and DJ on the playa’s other sofa.
As Chris flashed on-screen to give the previous episode’s recap, Eva sat into the bean bag next to Noah with a large plate in her hand topped with an assortment of various steaks.
Noah raised a brow. “Isn’t that a bit much iron woman?”
Eva scoffed, but didn’t really take the comment personally. While most people learned to steer clear from Eva because of her notorious temper, Noah was one of the few people that could make a dig at Eva without her getting upset. They were both fairly open with each other and weren’t afraid of coming up with creative insults that, in the end, weren’t taken too seriously.
“Unlike you scrawny, I actually work out consistently. Protein is essential for building muscle. Besides, I got you some chips so you can stop your complaining.”
Eva threw Noah a bag of chips. Noah took his time eyeing the bag skeptically before eventually opening it and eating one of the chips.
“It’s acceptable.”
Eva rolled her eyes. She was about to retort before her attention shifted to the TV screen. “Wow, are they seriously launching them out the plane while they’re still sleeping?”
Noah followed her gaze, and sure enough, the contestants were plummeting down into the water along with two comically-sized swan paddle boats.
“It’s Chris,” Noah said simply. “I would be surprised if he didn’t check off enough traits to qualify for psychopathy.”
Despite his words, Noah did watch with some concern as the water’s current pulled Owen and the other contestants closer to the waterfall’s edge. He doubted that Chris would actually let them fall, but it was pretty bold to take that risk in the first place.
Thankfully though, before they got too close to the edge of the waterfall, Sierra managed to single-handedly pull the two swan boats to safety.
“Aw, I missed the best part!” Izzy lamented as she suddenly appeared behind them. While most people would jump at Izzy’s uncanny ability to sneak around and seemingly come out of nowhere, Noah and Eva had gotten used to their friend’s antics over time and didn’t even flinch as she swung into the beanbag chair next to them. “It would have been cool if they fell down the falls, don’t you think?”
“Izzy, Niagara Falls is 170 feet tall,” Noah said dryly.
Izzy waved her hand, unconcerned. “That’s child’s play. I’ve taken jumps way worse than that before.”
The sad thing was, Noah didn’t even question it. Izzy had pulled off a large number of stunts before, although it did sometimes have a tendency to get her in trouble. The most notable had to be the injury she sustained after jumping out of the plane in Jamaica. Despite the accident though, it didn’t take long for Izzy to snap out of her “Brainzilla” state and return to her normal self during the Aftermath special.
“Alright,” he eventually conceded. “But I doubt that everyone has your crazy level of pain tolerance.”
“Sounds like someone was worried there for a second,” Eva said slyly with a barely noticeable smirk on her face.
Izzy immediately caught on to what Eva was implying. “Oh, are we talking about Big O-”
Before Izzy could finish, Noah slapped her mouth shut. “Could we not do this right now?” He hissed, making sure to not speak too loudly.
Izzy giggled. She was easily able to get Noah’s grip off of her. Curse his weak arms. “Don’t worry Noah, Owen’s a good catch.”
Noah averted his gaze out of embarrassment. Luckily, everyone was lost in their own conversations regarding the episode so they didn’t notice that anything was off.
When Noah had arrived at the Playa following his elimination, Eva and Izzy had seeked him out fairly quickly, Eva because she was glad to see one of the contestants that she could actually stand and Izzy because she was ecstatic that Team E-scope could finally reunite.
While it was reliving to see that Izzy was back to her normal self after the accident, Noah had no idea how to act around his crush’s ex. To his surprise, Izzy revealed that she had a pretty decent understanding of the situation and told Noah that she would help see the two of her friends get together. Eva had also stated, much to his chagrin, that it was pretty obvious that he had a crush on Owen.
Regardless, even with the two’s support, Noah didn’t have much confidence that Owen even remotely felt the same way. Instead, each day at the playa had been filled with a buzzing anxiety knowing that Owen’s arrival was becoming more and more imminent.
Eva seemed to notice Noah’s hesitation. “Are you thinking of backing out?”
Izzy gasped over-dramatically. She grabbed Noah’s shoulders. “You can’t give up now! You haven’t even tried yet!”
“And what makes you think that it will all work out in the end?” Noah snapped, his temper flaring. “For all we know, I’m just going to make things awkward and ruin a friendship that I really care about.”
Izzy faced Eva with some concern. Although it sometimes seemed like Izzy lived in another reality, she could read her friend’s emotions with a surprising amount of accuracy.
“Did we...push him too far?”
Eva shook her head. Instead, she remained firm as she looked at Noah. “You’re being stupid with this. Yeah, things might not turn out the way you want. So what? This is Owen we’re about. Do you seriously think that he’s going to blank you because he doesn’t feel the same way?”
Noah grumbled, burrowing his knees further into his chest, but let her continue.
“There’s no way that it’s as one-sided as you think anyway,” Eva said, jerking her thumb to the TV screen. “Four episodes ago, he had a nightmare about your elimination and shouted your name in his sleep. And last episode he freaked out because he thought that you died.”
“Trust me, Owen is into you big time,” Izzy added. “I’ve never seen him so worried about someone before. It’s got to be a sign for something.”
Noah sighed. They both looked way too eager to hear his response.
“Alright, you bring up a few good points,” he admitted. After the words left his mouth though, he instantly regretted it as Eva shot him a smug look.
Izzy leaned forward. “You don’t have to be so nervous about it. Hey, look, I’ll even help. I can be your wingman!”
Noah raised a brow. “And I’m sure you have plenty of experience with that,” he said dryly.
“Oh yeah, tons! I once helped a bear get together with the sasquatchanakwa when we were back on Wawanakwa. They even invited me to their anniversary!”
Eva shrugged. “It might help. If Izzy talks to Owen first, you won’t have to be the one that initiates the conversation.”
Noah inwardly groaned. He couldn’t believe that he was actually considering this. “Okay, fine.” Before either of them could respond, Noah held up his hand. “But only because I’m sure that Owen is going to notice that something’s up if I keep acting so nervous around him. He already knows that I’m hiding something.”
“Haha, yes!” Izzy cheered. “Don’t worry Noah, you won’t be disappointed.”
Why was he already beginning to regret his decision?
“Calm down, you’ll be fine,” Eva said, seeing Noah’s expression. “Besides, I’ll make sure to deal with Owen if something does happen. Personally.”
“Uh, no thanks, I think I’ll be good,” Noah quickly said. While Eva had been doing much better in her anger management classes, he wasn’t going to risk having a crazy Eva go after Owen just because Owen wasn’t interested in dating him.
“It was just a suggestion,” Eva said, appearing to sound innocent.
Noah sighed. “Okay, as much as I love talking about my personal love life, can we please just get back to the episode?”
To his relief, Eva appeared to back off. “Yeah, yeah, alright. Where did we leave off anyway?”
Luckily, it didn’t seem like they had missed too much. Chris had just finished introducing the show’s new contestant, although judging from the reaction of everyone in the room, no one seemed to like the reveal. Not like Noah could blame them. This was Blaineley they were talking about after all.
Blaineley wasn’t doing a good job of making a first impression with the show’s remaining contestants either. After devoting the entire song sequence to herself, most of them had given her a look of disdain. Honestly, it looked like Owen was the only one that could remotely stand her.
“Who wants to take bets that Blaineley will be eliminated in her first episode?” Noah joked.
“That woman is insufferable,” Eva said, gritting her teeth. “I had to deal with her throughout all of the Aftermath segments. And you know the best part? She shipped me off to Scotland to look into a lead about Duncan just so that she could get rid of me!”
“I don’t know, she can be kind of fun,” Izzy said to both their surprise. “Like, this one time, I snuck into her room backstage and took some candid photos of her. Do you want to see them?”
“Yeah, as much as I’d love to bleach my eyes after this episode is over, I’ll have to decline,” Noah said.
On-screen, Chris started to explain the first part of the challenge. Each “bride” would select a groom from the giant slot machine. For the first part of the challenge, the groom had to direct the bridge through a series of obstacle courses as they were blindfolded.
Eva scoffed as she watched Alejandro help Courtney make her way to her wedding dress since Duncan was refusing to offer any help. All in all, it was pretty obvious that Alejandro was just taking advantage of the fact that Courtney was vulnerable after her breakup with Duncan.
“Ugh, why is that all the hot guys in this show always end up being evil jerks?” Eva complained.
“Alejandro is essentially a more competent version of Justin,” Noah said in agreement. “He has a strong chance of winning the entire thing, but only if he doesn’t let his crush on Heather get to him first.”
Eva’s eyes widened in surprise. “Wait, Alejandro really does have a thing for Heather? I thought that he was only leading her on because he was planning on getting rid of her later.”
“You would think. But nope, going from his body language, it’s entirely genuine.”
Eva grimaced. “Geez, that’s like watching two slimy villains fall in love.”
“Exactly,” Noah said, not missing a beat. “They’re perfect for each other.”
When the contestants finished the first part of the challenge, Chris had directed everyone back to the falls. Each couple was forced to cross a tightrope over Niagara Falls without losing their balance, but they would only receive immunity if they were able to successfully answer Chef’s questions. While watching the episode, it was pretty disconcerting to see how determined Sierra was to make the marriage with Cody official. Well, “official” was being pretty generous since it wasn’t like saying “I do” would make it a marriage by law, but Sierra seemed to think otherwise.
Noah didn’t usually particularly care about other people’s relationships because they didn’t concern him, but Sierra could be...unnerving at times. It was uncomfortable to watch, especially since Noah would consider Cody to be a friend of his.
At least it didn’t look like he was alone in that sentiment. As Sierra loudly cheered in excitement when Alejandro agreed to act as a witness for the “marriage,” Leshawna clicked her tongue.
“Man, that girl is a different kind of crazy,” Leshawna commented. Everyone else in the room nodded in agreement.
Thankfully, the scene quickly cut to the plane’s cargo for the elimination ceremony. Noah watched the competitors file into the room with some unease. Based on Alejandro’s earlier attempt to convince Duncan to vote for Owen, it was safe to say that Owen would not have a good chance getting out of this unscathed.
“Duncan and Courtney have immunity,” Chris informed the group. “Everyone else is fair game. What’s it gonna be?” Chris looked down at the sheet in his hand. “Interesting. Really? Huh. Who’d’ve thought? Wow.”
“Read them already!” Heather groaned in annoyance.
Chris held up his hand. “Okay, okay. Hold on to your halter top. Two votes for Heather.”
Heather’s eyes widened in shock. “What?! Did Courtney vote twice?”
Chris ignored her and continued to read off the list. “Two votes for Sierra.”
Sierra cleared her throat. “I’m sorry. My name is Sierra-Cody now. It’s hyphenated.”
Chris paused for dramatic effect. “And four votes...for...Owen!”
Noah let out a breath he didn’t realize he was holding. Going from the collective groan in the room, Noah wasn’t the only one that was disappointed about the elimination’s result. With Owen out of the game, there weren’t many other people to root for.
“What? Me?” Owen asked with surprise.
Alejandro flashed the camera an evil smile. Noah rolled his eyes. Slimy eel.
Chris handed Owen a parachute. “Owen, the gang has spoken.”
“Oh, okay,” Owen said with a sad smile. “Well, I’ll miss you guys.”
“Smell you later, man,” Duncan said with some genuine regret.
Alejandro held up a hand to his chest. “I am weeping. On the inside.”
“You can’t do it on the outside, Al? Just a little? I’d like that. Al? Al? Al! Al?”
Blaineley interrupted Owen with a shrill cry. “I’ll miss you most of all, chubby hubby.” She proceeded to cry for a few more seconds before lifting her head up, revealing that her crying was only an act. “Was that good? Think the audience will like me for that?”
Owen gave the rest of contestants a final smile before moving to jump out the plane. Well, attempt was probably more accurate since he immediately got stuck due to his size.
“Oops. Little help?”
Alejandro sneered as he walked forward, eager to finally get rid of Owen. However, as he tried to kick Owen out of the plane, Owen proceeded to fart in his face, sending Alejandro staggering backwards. The kick seemed to do the trick though, since Owen was sent falling down into the sky.
Chris flashed the camera a smile. “If you think that was harsh, just wait ‘til you see what happens next time right here on Total. Drama. World Tour!”
With the episode’s conclusion, Geoff moved to shut off the TV.
“Alright, I know that everyone is a bit down, but no worries! The producers said that Owen should be arriving soon. He might already be outside the resort now.”
“You wanna go check it out?” Eva asked, pointing to the resort’s entrance.
Noah stood up, trying to steel his nerves. Alright, this was it.
“Okay, sure,” he said, attempting to feign nonchalance.
“Owen! Owen! Scream if you can hear me!” Izzy shouted as she opened the resort’s entrance and ran out into the main plaza area.
As Noah and Eva trailed behind her, Noah spotted Owen by the beach’s shore. When a contestant was eliminated, the production crew would transport them to the resort by boat since they were along Hawaii’s coast. Owen had just moved to grab his luggage when he saw Izzy. His expression instantly brightened.
“Hey, Izzy! You’re back to normal!”
“Huh?” Izzy skidded to a stop in front of Owen before she realized what he was referring to. “Oh, that?” Izzy laughed. “Brainzilla was over a while ago. Actually, I almost forgot that it even happened.”
After a few seconds, Owen’s smile faltered slightly. “Um, I know that things didn’t turn out exactly the way we wanted Izzy, but I hope that there are no hard feelings between us.”
To his relief, Izzy reached forward to give Owen a small hug. “Are you kidding? I would be mad if we let a stupid thing like that not let us hang out anymore Big O.”
After pulling back, Izzy looked behind her and a wicked grin grew on her face as she spotted Noah. “Hey Noah, what are you doing back there? Come over here!”
Owen followed Izzy’s gaze and he instantly lit up. He pulled Noah into a bone-crushing hug, much to Izzy’s amusement.
“Noah, you’re okay!”
Noah struggled to speak. “Why wouldn’t I be?” He gasped.
“Oh, uh, no reason,” Owen said nervously. He carefully released Noah to the ground. “I’m just happy to see you again.”
Noah rubbed the back of his neck as he smiled softly. “Yeah, me too big guy.”
Izzy watched the exchange with a grin before suddenly speaking up. “Hey, so Eva and I are going to explore the off-limit areas in the resort. I found an entrance to them when I was going through the rafters and I’ve been wanting to check them out for a while.” Eva gave Izzy a bewildered look, but before she could interject, Izzy had quickly grabbed a hold of her arm and was already dragging her to the entrance. “Take some time to catch up!” She called back.
“Huh, that was weird,” Owen commented, scratching his forehead. “I wonder why they were in such a hurry?”
While Owen watched Izzy and Eva’s retreating forms with confusion, Noah was mortified. Geez, that was Izzy’s attempt to hook them up? Real subtle there. Thank god that Owen could be oblivious sometimes.
Rolling his eyes, Noah turned back to Owen, only to suddenly feel out of his element. Right, they were alone now.
“Uh, yeah, who knows?” He said, more out of an attempt to fill the mounting silence.
Strangely enough, Owen also seemed hesitant. He kept shuffling his feet and readjusting his stance before eventually facing Noah again.
“Okay, um, this is going to sound weird, but well, here it goes...IreallylikeyouandIthinkthatweshouldgoout!”
It took Noah a moment to process his words. Had...that actually just happened? He didn’t just happen to hallucinate and imagine the most ideal scenario, right?
Owen seemed to get nervous by Noah’s lack of response since he immediately tried to backtrack.
“Ah, I’m sorry, was that too fast? I should have thought through what I was going to say first...but, um, I think that you’re really cute and funny and-”
“Woah, Owen calm down,” Noah said, holding up his arms to stop Owen’s nervous rambling. “I just needed a moment to make sure that I heard you right. Actually...you beat me to it,” Noah admitted. “I was planning on asking you out but I didn’t know how I should bring it up.”
Owen gaped. “Wait, really?!” His eyes widened in realization. “So, the whole time that you were keeping that secret-”
Noah sighed. “Yep, you got it right. Izzy figured it out too in case you weren’t able to tell from her great match matching skills,” Noah said dryly.
A goofy smile spread across Owen’s face. “Ah, this is awesome! I can’t believe that I was so worried over nothing. Does this mean that we’re official now? Like, boyfriend and boyfriend?”
Owen’s smile was so blinding. It was almost hard to look at him directly. Still, there was something innately captivating about it. Noah felt his chest lighten.
“Yeah...I would really like that.”
Noah watched in amusement as Owen pumped his fist into the air.
“Woo! This is the best day ever!”
Owen’s gaze landed back down at Noah. His voice grew softer. “Um, it’s okay if you don’t feel comfortable with it, but could we…?”
Noah caught onto what Owen was implying. Although he felt like his nerves had been shot during the entire conversation, he suddenly felt a surge of confidence go through him. Before Owen could react, Noah leaned forward on his tiptoes due to the height difference and captured Owen’s lips with his own.
Owen instantly grinned into the kiss. Noah felt his knees grow weak. Owen’s lips were a lot softer than he had expected. It was easy to get lost in the sensation of their lips gently brushing against each other. He felt his brain begin to go fuzzy from the contact. Along with that feeling though, was an inherent sense of rightness. He had felt so nervous in how he was going to approach Owen and whether it would work out in the end, that it felt so relieving to know that his worries weren’t founded.
Owen pulled back with a breathy laugh and Noah involuntarily found himself laughing as well.
Yeah, he could get used to this.