#geoff

Dear Mom and Dad I'm doing fine

You guys are on my mind

You asked me what I wanted to be

But now I think the answer is plain to see

I wanna be famous

I wanna live close to the sun

So pack your bags 'cause I've already won

Everything to prove, nothing in my way

I'll get there one day

I wanna be famous

Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na

I wanna be

I wanna be

I wanna famous

I wanna be

I wanna be

I wanna be famous

I wanna be

I wanna be

I wanna be famous~

It was still the night from the last challenge, The Killer Bass were now surrounded around a campfire, too tired to do anything else, but too depressed to go to bed.

They had only won two challenges even though they competed in five. It made the the whole team feel down. Did they really suck that bad?

Y/N sat on a trunk next to Duncan, her head in her hands. She wondered what he dad thought of her. She wondered how he was doing. Was he eating healthy? Was he drinking enough water? Was he being taken care of? Was he proud of her?

Y/N wanted to go home.

The sound of obnoxious crying made Y/N turn her head around, seeing Bridgette holding a crying Sadie's hand, guiding her to sit with everyone else around the fire. Sadie continued to sob, tears and snot leaking down her face, she hugged a piece of wood and held it close to her.

"It was a long goodbye," Bridgette said.

The sound of more people coming towards made Y/N inwardly groan. She already knew who it was. "What do you guys want?" Courtney sneered. "Come by to rub it in?"

"We got some extra dessert after out tuck shop party," Trent smiled. Y/N saw that Beth was holding up a platter of green jello with a gummy worm in it. "Thought you might want some."

"That's weirdly nice," Y/N remarked, eyeing the team with suspicion.

"Okay, Owen stunk up our cabin and we need some time to air out," Gwen said, rolling her eyes over to Owen, who farted silently.

"Oh, dude," Trent said in disgust.

Beth walked over the Courtney, holding up the jello to offer it to her. "No!" Courtney said quickly, a freaked out look on her face. "I mean, no thanks."

"What, are you on a diet or something?" Duncan asked.

"No! I just don't like green jelly, okay?" Courtney snapped, crossing her arms.

Beth shrugged, walking over to DJ, Duncan, and Y/N, offering them the jello instead. "No thanks, I'm good," Y/N said. Instead of saying something, DJ screamed, "Snake!" and knocked the platter out of Beth's hands, the jello all over the ground.

"Chill dude, it's just a gummy worm," Cody said, holding up the gummy worm.

"Sorry for trippin'," DJ sighed. "Snakes just freak me out."

"I feel you," Tyler said, patting DJ on the back. "Chickens give me the creeps, dude."

"You're afraid of chickens?" Gwen asked.

"Wow, that's, that's really lame man," Duncan laughed.

~Confessionals~ "So suddenly, everyone's having this big share fest by the fire," Gwen said. "Like Beth went on and on about how her mortal fear is being covered by bugs, Harold's afraid of ninjas, even Heather admitted she's afraid of sumo wrestlers."

--

"What's my worst fear?" Gwen shivered. "I guess being buried alive."

"Walking through a minefield. In heels," Lindsay said shakily.

"Flying, man," Owen admitted. "That's some crazy stuff."

"I would never go up in a plane! Never!" Izzy chimed in.

"I'm scared of hail," Geoff said. "It's small but deadly, dude."

"Being left alone in the woods," Bridgette said, looking down.

"Bad haircuts," Sadie said tearfully. "Oh, okay! I changed mine!" Lindsay said. "That's so much scarier than a minefield!"

Cody had to think about it before giving her answer. "Having to diffuse a time bomb under pressure."

"Open areas of water," Y/N bit her tongue. "Like lakes and oceans."

"I'm not really afraid of anything," Courtney said proudly.

"Bullshit," Duncan said, disguising it with a cough.

"Oh really?" Courtney said. "Well what exactly is your phobia?"

Everyone around the campfire looked at Duncan, curious to see what the fearless badass was most afraid of. Even Y/N, who Duncan talked to the most on the island, didn't have a single clue what Duncan was afraid of.

"Celine Dion music store standees," Duncan muttered, his head down. Y/N started giggling uncontrollably, covering her mouth when Duncan glared her, still giggling even though her hand was covering her mouth. "Not funny," he glared. "Oh yes it is," Y/N laughed.

"Exsqueeze me?" Cody smirked. "I didn't quite get that."

"Dude, did you say Celine Dion music store standees?" Trent asked. Duncan hid his face in his hands, embarrassed that everyone was laughing at him.

"Ooh! I love Celine Dion!" Lindsay squealed, before a look of confusion appeared on her face. "What's a standee?"

"It's the cardboard cutout that stands either outside in the inside the music store," Y/N explained, still slightly giggling.

"Don't say it!" Duncan snapped.

"Kind of like a flat Celine," Y/N smirked.

"So if we had a cardboard standee right now..." Courtney smiled.

"Shut up!" Duncan shouted, covering his face. "What about you, huh?" he pointed to Trent.

"Okay, well I hate mimes," Trent said. "Like a lot, alright." Courtney rolled her eyes.

"Courtney you have to be afraid of something," Y/N said. "Everybody said what they're afraid of. Now it's your turn."

"Nope, nothing," she smirked.

"That's not what she said last night," Duncan whispered to Y/N, Geoff, and DJ.

"Duncan, did you ever consider that maybe I was just humoring you and your lame-o story?" Courtney frowned.

"Sure princess. Whatever floats your boat," Duncan smirked.

"Shut up!" Courtney snapped.

A little bit after that, everyone decided that it was too late, and they decided to head to bed. Y/N said goodnight to her other friends like Gwen, Trent, and Leshawna, and headed off to the Killer Bass cabin. 

It was the next morning, each teams were sitting at their respected table in the mess hall, a bowl of Chef's oatmeal in front of everyone. Chris was at the front of the mess hall, grinning mischievously at all the of the campers.

"Campers, your next challenge is a game I like to call Phobia Factor," Chris said. "Prepare to face your worst fears!"

Y/N immediately froze up, her eyes widening.

"Worse than this?" Leshawna pointed to Chef's disgusting breakfast. "We're in trouble," Gwen said.

"For our first victimes, Heather, meet us all in the theater. It's sumo time!" Heather spit out her tea all over Trent.

"Gwen, you, me, the beach, a few tons of sand?" Gwen gasped and her eyes widened, a scared look on her face.

"Wait, how did they know those were your worst fears?" Lindsay asked.

"Because we told them," Gwen sulked, putting her head on the table. Lindsay still had a confused look on her face. "At the campfire last night," Trent said, patting Gwen on the back.

"Wait! They were listening to us?" Lindsay shrieked, standing up.

"It's a reality show, Einstein," Gwen frowned. "They're always listening to us."

"That's like, eavesdropping!"

"Chef Hatchet, didn't you have a special order for Tyler here today?" Chris asked. Chef, who was frying something up, nodded his head, a malicious smirk on his face. Chef handed Tyler a fried up chicken, Tyler grabbing it with a freaked out look. He hesitantly took a bite. Nothing happened at first, but then a chicken appeared where he took a bite, making him scream loudly.

After that, Chris had everyone gather outside to watch Beth face her fear. What she had to do was jump into a kiddie pool filled with worms. It made Y/N cringe when she imagined all those slimy worms all over her.

Everyone else seemed to think the same thing, everyone had disgusted looks on her faces, DJ even threw up.

Beth didn't seem to have a problem with it, shrugging and jumping into the kiddie pool. Y/N grabbed Duncan's arm when one of the worms was really close to touching her.

"Are you scared of a little worm?" he laughed.

"Oh shut up, you're scared of cardboard cutouts,"

That shut Duncan up real quick.

Beth was at the bottom of the kiddie pool for a few seconds, resurfacing with a big smile on her face, and worms covering her and inside her mouth, earning the Screaming Gophers a point and making Y/N wanting to puke. "And Beth sets the bar way up there," Chris said, making the Screaming Gophers cheer and Owen faint.

Next it was Lindsay and Sadie's turn, the two of them having to wear very ugly wigs. The two of them had very terrified looks on their faces, cringing as Chris very slowly.

Then it was Owen and Izzy's turn, the two of them having to fly up in very poorly looking plane flown by Chef. Y/N watched from the ground as she saw the plane fly, the plane doing all these rolls and flips. It would have been cool to see if the plan didn't look like it was about to fall apart.

It was Harold's turn next. He was in the bathroom when ninjas ambushed him. Obviously Y/N didn't see what happened, but the Chris told their team that Harold knocked himself out with nun chucks. So no point for them. 

 Everyone watched as Leshawna was chased by Chef dressed in a ridiculous spider costumer, Leshawna shrieking and screaming as she was chased. It made Y/N want to laugh, but Leshawna was her friend, so she didn't.

After that, everyone gathered around the outdoor amphitheater, sitting on the bleachers to watch Heather confront  a sumo wrestler. "Oh this is gonna be good," Y/N smirked, watching as Heather shook as she looked at the sumo wrestler. The sumo wrestler came running towards her, an angry look on his face. In response, Heather crouched in fear, the wrestler tripped over her and rolled down the hill, earning the Screaming Gophers their second point.

"It'll be okay, Bridge," Y/N hugged Bridgette before she had to face her fear. Her challenge was she had to spend six hours in solitude in the woods.

"Thanks, Y/N," she said shakily. "I'll be okay, I promise."

After Bridgette walked into the woods, Y/N went to the beach to watch Gwen face her fear. She was in a glass box, and all she had to was stay buried for five minutes.

"There's enough air for an hour, you only need to do five minutes," Trent comforted.

"As long as we decide to dig you up," Chris said, shoveling the sand onto the glass box.

"Not funny, Chris!" Gwen shakily cried, genuinely freaked out.

"Sheesh, take a pill," Chris smirked.

"I'll be listening to whole time," Trent smiled, handing Gwen a walkie talkie. "Just yell for me if you panic and I'll dig you right up."

"Goodbye cruel world," Gwen said as Trent closed the air slot, Chris continued to bury her.

After that it was DJ's turn. Everybody went back to the theater to watch him conquer his fear, which was having to touch a tiny little snake.

"Hey, you can do this buddy!" Duncan cheered.

"Yeah, go DJ!" Y/N hollered.

DJ stood on the stage, shaking and deciding whether he should just do it, or risk losing the challenge for the team. "It blinked!" he screamed, jumping back.

"It means she likes you," Sadie called out.

Courtney rolled her eyes. "It's the smallest snake ever, DJ, come on!"

"Yeah but it's slimy and scaly and slithery-"

"We need this point DJ!" she screamed. "Suck it up!" Y/N rolled her eyes and scowled. She really hated when Courtney acted like this. Everyone else on the team seemed to think the same thing.

"What, we're heading back to Loserville, people," Courtney said.

"Doesn't mean you have to be a bitch about it," Y/N muttered.

"What was that, Y/N?"

"Oh, nothing,"

DJ took a deep breath and with his eyes closed, very slowly picked up the snake with his finger, earning the Killer Bass a point and making everyone cheer.

"See, fear is only in the mind," Courtney said.

Now it was Trent's turn. Trent was supposed to be keeping Gwen company while she was still buried, but got distracted and started running when he saw a mime. "Just talk to him bro! And ask him to go away!" Chris said using a megaphone. "Okay, we've got two minutes before Gwen's done. Cody, you're up."

Chris told everyone else to go back to the campsite while he dealt with Cody. Cody had only ten minutes to diffuse a trash can bomb. If he didn't diffuse the bomb in time, it would explode, garbage going everywhere.

Now it was Duncan's turn. A few feet in front of him was a Celine Dion cardboard cutout. Y/N stood next to a scared and terrified Duncan. "Isn't she pretty?" Y/N asked. "I promise you, she's really nice."

"Just one hug and you're done," Chris snapped his fingers.

"That-that looks really real, man," Duncan stuttered.

"Dude she's made of cardboard!" Tyler shouted. "Get in the game!"

"Hey, you can back out if you want," Y/N smiled, grabbing Duncan's hand. "No one's forcing you yo do anything, besides Courtney. But if you don't want to do this, that okay."

Duncan took a deep breath, blushing a little bit when he realized Y/N was still holding his hand. "All right, I'll try," he said.

"You got this," Y/N grinned.

"Okay, okay," Duncan hyped himself before running towards the cutout with his arms open. With a determined look on his face, he hugged the cardboard cutout, lifting it up in the air, and earning another point. The Killer Bass started cheering and hollering. Y/N had the biggest grin on her face as she walked towards Duncan.

"I did it!" he exclaimed.

"Yeah you did!" Y/N said, the two of them hugging each other. After a second they realized what they were doing, and let each other go, chuckling awkwardly.

"Sorry about that," Y/N coughed.

"Nah, you're fine, it's okay," Duncan said, the two of them looking anywhere else.

"Y/N, it's your turn," Chris said. Shit. "Go change into your swimsuit and be at the beach in five minutes."

Five minutes later, Y/N was standing on the sandy beach in her swimsuit, multiple different thoughts going through her head. Thank God Duncan was going swimming with her, or else she would of quit the challenge before it had even began.

"All right, Y/N. All you need to do is swim around for only fifteen minutes," Chris explained.

"Yeah, yeah I can do this," Y/N shakily said, walking into the cold water. Duncan didn't say anything, walking behind her. 

Y/N walked stiffly toward the edge of the dock. The lake seemed darker up close, like it went on forever underneath. Duncan stepped up beside her, shirt off, tattoos visible under the fading light. Y/N wished she had a little more time to admire his tattoos and lean build.

“You ready?” he asked.

“No.”

“Too bad,” he said, grinning. “Come on. I’ve got you.”

She hesitated, then jumped with him.

The cold smacked her in the chest like a punch. Panic clawed up her throat instantly. Her arms flailed. “Y/N. Hey.” Duncan swam closer, steady hands on her shoulders. “You’re okay. I’ve got you. Just breathe.”

She clung to him without thinking, eyes wide and gasping. “I can’t—I can’t—”

“Yes, you can,” he said firmly. “You’re not sinking. I’m right here.” Slowly, she nodded. Her breathing evened out.

They floated for a bit. She gripped the water like it might turn solid if she tried hard enough.Ten minutes in, she was swimming small laps near the dock. Not graceful, but alive.

“You’re doing better than I expected,” Duncan said, watching her.

She smirked weakly. “Thanks for the vote of confidence.”

He swam beside her for a moment, then asked, quietly, “Why are you so scared of this stuff anyway?”

She froze mid-stroke. Water lapped softly around them.

He waited.

Y/N sighed. “When I was six… before my mom left, she was supposed to be watching me at this apartment pool. She said she’d be right back, just going inside to answer the phone. Told me to stay out of the water.”

Duncan stayed silent, eyes on her.

“I didn’t listen. I went in. Slipped on the steps. Went under.”

She glanced away, like she could still taste chlorine in the back of her throat. “I remember the water in my nose. Couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t scream. Just sinking. Everything felt huge and empty. I honestly thought I was gonna die.”

“Your mom find you?”

“Eventually. I don’t know how long I was under. A neighbor pulled me out.” Her voice turned brittle. “My mom was too busy yelling about me not listening to even realize how scared I was.”

They floated in silence for a moment.

“That’s why I don’t do water,” she finished softly. "If I can’t see the bottom, it’s like… it all comes back.”

Duncan nodded, his face unusually serious. “That’s messed up. But you’re not that kid anymore.”

She met his eyes. “Don’t feel like it.”

“You don’t have to,” he said. “You’re still out here. That counts.”

The buzzer on the dock went off. Chris’s voice echoed across the water. “And that’s fifteen minutes, baby! Phobia faced!” Y/N let out a shaky laugh and swam toward the dock. Duncan followed, climbing up beside her.

He handed her a towel without a word. She took it, hands trembling slightly. “Thanks,” she muttered. “For asking.”

He shrugged. “Thanks for not letting me drown out there.”

She rolled her eyes. “Please. You’d cling to me like a leech.”

He grinned. “If it means getting that close to you, maybe.”

She bumped his shoulder with hers, smiling despite herself.

Everyone was beginning to finish their challenges. Gwen got dug up, Lindsay and Sadie got to take off their ugly wigs, and Izzy an Owen got off the plane, kissing the ground as soon as the touched the ground.

Now it was Tyler's turn, everyone gathered around a chicken coop to watch as he faced his fear.

"All right gang, we're in the ninth inning," Chris said. "Tyler, for your challenge, you need to get in this pen for three minutes with these chickens." Chris opened up a box to reveal a chicken with two baby chicks.

"You can do it Tyler!" Y/N cheered.

"Yeah, unless of course you're chicken," Duncan laughed. Y/N hit him hard in the ribs, hoping it would leave a bruise.

"I'm not sure we're getting anywhere on this one," Chris said. Tyler was in the pen, but he was completely frozen, rocking himself back and forth on the ground.

"Tyler, this is the last challenge, quit being such a girl!" Courtney snapped. "You have to do this or we're going to lose."

Cody pulled out a calculator, pressing all sorts of buttons. "Actually, if you do the math, you can't possibly win and the score's seven to four."

"Not necessarily," Chris smirked. "We've got one more challenge set up."

"Who? It can't be me," Courtney said. "But I didn't-"

"You didn't have to," Chris interrupted. "W"e're always watching you and your reactions."

Y/N though back on it. What was Courtney afraid of? She replayed last night in her head, trying to remember if Courtney reacted strangely to something. Then it hit her.

"You're afraid of green jelly?" Y/N burst out. "You're getting on us for not getting over our fears but you're afraid of something so simple as green jelly? Oh man, that's way too much."

Courtney glared at her, but didn't say anything, too embarrassed to speak.

"I knew it!" Lindsay said. "Didn't I tell you guys they were eavesdropping?"

"Oh, who cares," Courtney said. "It's not going to make a difference."

"Let's make this interesting then," Chris said, walking up to Courtney. "I'll give you triple points if you can complete it."

Courtney sighed but agreed to the challenge. A few minutes after that, everyone was standing at the bottom of a tall diving board, a pool of green jelly at the bottom, which Chef was stirring. Courtney looked up in disbelief.

"You're afraid of jelly," Duncan giggled.

"Shut up!" Courtney seethed. "Only the green kind. It's like sugary, jiggly snot!"

"You can face your fear and dive straight into this pool of jelly," Chris said. "Or let your team lose yet another challenge."

Courtney sighed, her head down as she walked to the ladder and began to climb. "This is insane. I could seriously die doing this."

"Oh, that is cruel," Gwen cringed. "It's probably warm by now. Warm, green jelly. Snotty, bouncy-"

"You're not going to make me quit!" Courtney yelled down as she climbed. After a few more seconds, she finally got to the top, her legs seemingly turning into jelly as she looked down. After a moment, Courtney covered her face with her hands. "I can't do it! I'm coming down!"

The Killer Bass looked down and sighed in disappointment, the Screaming Gophers cheering that they got another win.

"Then there you have it," Chris smiled into the camera. "The Gophers win invincibility this week. Again."

Y/N walked away from everyone, frustrated that the Bass lost another challenge. She was definitely voting Courtney off, that stupid hypocrite. 

An hour later, it was time for the elimination ceremony. Chris had already handed the marshmallows the campers who had completed their challenge. Y/N chewed on her marshmallow as she watched the rest of the ceremony unfold.

"There are only two marshmallows left on this plate," Chris said. The only campers who didn't receive a marshmallow were Bridgette, Tyler, and Courtney. "The three of you did not complete your challenges today. One of you is going home tonight and cannot return. Ever. The next name I'm gonna call, Bridgette."

Y/N was relieved to see that Bridgette was leaving. She really hoped that Tyler was staying instead of Courtney. Although she hardly talked to Tyler, she liked him a lot more than she liked Courtney.

"The final marshmallow of the night goes to, Courtney,"

Fuck.

"You'll get that chicken next time," Duncan smirked, patting Tyler on the shoulder. Tyler got up from his trunk and walked very slowly to the dock.

"Looks like a new pecking order has been established here," Chris joked.

"It's not like he can cry fowl," Duncan chuckled.

"Time for Tyler to fly the coop," Geoff laughed.

"He won't be flying high tonight," Bridgette giggled.

"Okay that's enough!" Courtney stood up.

The air smelled like smoke and pine, and the lake in the distance was quiet now—no cameras, no yelling, no challenges. Just stillness.

Y/N sat on a worn log her arms around her knees. She stared into the night sky, replaying everything that had happened earlier, diving into the water, the panic, Duncan’s voice pulling her back to the surface.

She heard footsteps crunching over dry leaves.

“You always brood this dramatically, or is it just a post-trauma thing?” Duncan’s voice broke through the quiet, teasing but softer than usual.

She smiled faintly without looking at him. “Just trying to decompress.”

He sat beside her, close enough that their shoulders nearly touched, but not quite. Neither of them spoke for a moment, watching the stars in the sky.

“I never said thank you,” she said eventually, glancing at him. “For earlier. For staying with me in the lake.”

He gave a one-shouldered shrug. “Wasn’t a big deal.”

“It was to me.”

He didn’t respond right away. Just stared into the fire, jaw ticking like he wanted to say something but didn’t know how to start.

After a beat, he muttered, “You did good. Most people would’ve bailed.”

“I almost did.”

“Yeah, but you didn’t. That’s what matters.”

Something about the way he said it made her chest tighten. She watched the flickering light dance across his face, normally so smug and unreadable, but right now, he looked… different. Open. Guard down.

“You surprised me, you know,” she said quietly.

“By not being a total ass?” he smirked.

“By giving a shit,” she said, nudging his boot with hers. “I didn’t think you’d actually get in the water.”

He chuckled. “Yeah, well… guess I don’t always do what people expect.”

They lapsed into silence again. Not uncomfortable, just heavy with things unsaid. Riley could feel the words forming in the back of her throat, unspoken and fragile: I like you. But she swallowed them down.

He probably didn’t feel the same way.

Duncan glanced sideways at her. She looked tired but strong, hair messy from the lake and wind, eyes glowing in the firelight. He wanted to say something too, something real. But the thought made his stomach twist.

Instead, he said, “You gonna be okay next time we hit the water?”

Y/N nodded slowly. “I think so. I mean, I’ll still freak out. Just… less.”

“You can always hang on to me,” he joked, but it came out gentler than usual.

She smiled. “I might take you up on that.”

Another moment of silence. This one stretched a little too long. She wanted to stay. He didn’t want her to leave. Neither moved.

Eventually, Y/N stood up, brushing ash off her hands. “I should get some sleep.”

“Yeah,” Duncan said, standing too. “Me too.”

They both hesitated.

“Night, Duncan.”

“Night, Y/N”

She turned and walked toward the cabins, the fire’s glow fading behind her. Duncan watched her go, scratching the back of his neck, heart beating faster than he liked to admit.

Why the hell did she have to make it so hard not to like her?

Y/N climbed the steps to her cabin, closed the door softly, and leaned against it with a sigh.

Why does he have to be so impossible to read?

Neither of them knew the other was standing on the edge of the same feeling.

But for now… that was close enough.

i cant wait to write them being so down bad for each other

reader is now officially head over heels for duncan <33

stay safe and drink lots of water <33

xoxo, Izzy

Taglist <3

@sc4rrc @casualluminaryobject @kys-kawaii0 @that-b-word-lol