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If jumping out of a plane into a pond of electric eels wasn't karma for all his life's wrongdoings, then Noah was sure that getting roped into going to a party Geoff was throwing had to be. Because who in their right mind would throw a party mere days after a volcano erupted and almost killed them?
Geoff. That's who.
Owen had been the one to tell Noah that the party was happening, begging him to go, and while Noah may be a dick, he can't say no to his best friend, especially considering everything that happened to him while on that disaster of a plane. So, he'd unwillingly agreed to go. Not because he wanted to, but because on contrary to popular belief, Noah was a good friend. Sometimes.
Which led to his current predicament; Noah standing outside of the reserved conference room, debating on whether or he should actually go inside. He could fake sick, claim that the burns he'd gotten from lava splashing on him and a few other contestants were bothering him. He could lie and say he had a migraine, or just walk away and say he forgot about the party.
Noah was still thinking about what he should do, when he hears a voice from behind, "Noah! I didn't think you would come."
Oh. Oh. He recognizes that voice. Slowly turning around, Noah looks to see Alejandro Burromuerto, who looks kind of nervous, if the way his fingers twisted the bull charm on his necklace.
Noah debates on replying to the other teen, considering that they hadn't spoken since London. Calling someone an eel before jumping out of a plane wasn't the best way to end a conversation, and they hadn't really been friends, right? He can easily pretend that he doesn't hear Alejandro.
"I didn't want to," he finds himself replying instead, and he curses himself internally for keeping the conversation going. He could easily end it, so why isn't he? "Owen begged me, and, well, here I am."
"Ah, I can't say I'm surprised he's the reason you're here," Alejandro says, a hint of distaste in his tone that Noah finds annoying. "You two are rather…close."
Noah keeps quiet for a few moments, taking the chance to look over Alejandro. His hair was slightly shorter, probably due to the lava, and besides a slight limp, you wouldn't realize that he'd almost died a few days ago to a volcano eruption. He doesn't seem like a loser, though Noah knew the truth.
At his staring, the Spanish teen shoots him a wink, and Noah merely rolls his eyes. "We're closer to each other than you were to the million," he muses, a small smirk on his lips. The way Alejandro's eye twitches makes him want to laugh, but he keeps that down in his throat, deciding he can save that for later.
"I was closer to winning than you were," Alejandro snaps back, clearly not taking the fact that he lost to Heather that well. And even after such a Gemmy-winning performance too. "Besides, Heather was a worthy opponent. If I had to lose to any contestant, I am glad it was to her."
"Technically, you both lost the million," Noah reminds in an almost sing-song voice, before remembering why Heather never got the million. Ezekiel jumping into the volcano, clutching onto the million that he'd managed to snag from Heather—why were they even throwing a party when one of the contestants died?
Alejandro blinks, confused for a second, but then seems to remember what he'd been told about Ezekiel taking the case full of money and falling into the volcano, and he grimaces. "It would appear so."
They stay quiet after that, until Owen spots Noah from the half opened doors, and he walks over to him. "Little buddy, I'm so glad you made it!" he says with a wide grin, picking the smaller teen up and hugging him close. He doesn't notice Alejandro until after he sets Noah down on his feet, and he laughs nervously at the Spanish teen. "And you made it too, Al—Alejandro."
Alejandro forces a smile, greeting Owen with nothing but false kindness, and yet, the blond falls for it anyways. Noah just sighs, deciding that he can use this distraction to get away from the eel, and he walks into the conference room, not sure what to expect from the party.
There's more people than he realized there would be. Interns he briefly remembers from his time as Chris' assistant, some crew he recognizes that helped film the show, and, of course, his fellow cast members.
Noah senses the tension before he sees it. Gwen and Duncan are sitting in a corner, drinks in hand and talking with one another. They have themselves distanced from everyone else, and across the room, Trent, DJ, and Cody are setting up musical equipment, and God, if that isn't a reason for Noah to just turn around and head back to his hotel room.
But, he told Owen he would come. He couldn't take it back now.
He spots Lindsay, Tyler, Leshawna, and Harold sitting together at a table, talking over cups of whatever punch Geoff had brought. They all had smiles on their faces, laughing with one another, and seeming like they weren't all affected by the show. By Alejandro.
Tyler spots him and waves, calling out a, "hey, Noah!" and beckoning him over. Noah lets out a short exhale, deciding that while he's here, he might as well try to get along with the others. After all, he wasn't planning on seeing any of them again once they started to fly home.
When he stands next to the table, Leshawna looks up at him, giving him a worried up-down before shooting him a smile. "Hi, string bean. Doing okay? That lava sure was hot."
"It's lava—nevermind," Noah starts, opting to not be a complete smart ass. Instead, he gives her a small smile back, hands behind his back as he continues, "I'm doing fine. How about you guys? I didn't see you after the whole running from our deaths thing."
"Oh, we're fine!" Lindsay answers, a bright smile on her face as she loops an arm around Tyler's. Besides a few bandages, undoubtedly covering the burns they had sustained from the stray drops of lava from Heather's splash, they look fine. About the same as usual, though Lindsay was wearing a new top, Noah notes. "Hey, do you know where Olaf went? He said we're having pizza!"
Context clues lead Noah to believe that the "Olaf" in question was Owen, and he can't help but snort at the name mix-up. "Pretty sure he's just outside the doors," he says, thumb pointing behind him where the doors to the room were. "Though, fair warning, Alejandro's out there too."
"Ah, gotcha…" Tyler let his voice trail off, a small frown on his lips. During the Aftermath episodes, they were allowed to watch the confessionals, and Alejandro's confessional about Tyler had made the jock upset, though luckily, Lindsay had comforted him, remembering who he was. "We can wait, babe, right?"
"Yeah!" Lindsay cheerfully replies, scooting her chair over to his so she could be impossibly closer. Noah averts his gaze, looking back at Harold and Leshawna, who watch the couple fondly.
"I'm surprised he showed up. Nobody really likes him, besides Heather and Courtney." Harold takes a drink of punch, before he looks Noah in the eyes. "He really is an eel."
"You got that right, baby!" Leshawna agrees, clinking their cups together as a mock toast and taking a drink herself. "He's just nasty. And don't get me started on the way him and Heather were making out on top of a volcano!"
Noah takes that as his cue to leave as Leshawna talks to Harold, feeling oddly passionate about her hatred towards the Spaniard. Apparently, she'd sung a whole song about it on the Aftermath. Good for her.
His next stop is to see Eva and Izzy, who have managed to secure a table a bit further away, but close enough to the food table. As soon as the ginger sees Noah, she immediately lunges for him, tackling him into a hug. "No-no! We knew you'd show up, even if you are a loser!"
"Ha ha, very funny," Noah deadpans, though he lets Izzy cling onto him, only pushing her away whenever she starts sniffing his hair. He turns to Eva, meeting her gaze and nodding at her. "Did Owen and Izzy drag you here too?"
"Yep. Though they both promised they'd work out with me tomorrow in the hotel's gym," Eva answers, crossing her arms over her chest as she glances around the room, her eyes narrowing. "Where's the rest of the idiots?"
Noah shrugs, taking the seat next to Eva and practically flopping down into it. When he does a quick look around the room, he notices that the only people missing from the cast are Courtney, Heather, Sierra, Justin, Bridgette, and Geoff. Katie and Sadie were giggling around the punch bowl, sneaking obvious looks at Gwen and Duncan, and peeking through the opened doors reveal Alejandro and Owen to still be talking, though now Heather has joined them. She seems pissed, from where Noah can see her, and he looks away quickly before he can be spotted. "Owen's right outside, and I think I overheard Harold say that Geoff and Bridgette are on a last second snack run."
Eva hums in acknowledgment, before she pushes a cup of punch towards him. "Got this for you. It's not spiked. I checked."
"Thanks, iron woman." Noah grabs the cup and takes a swig, immediately hit with a fruity mix. The flavors of pineapple and cherry hit him immediately, and he wonders if this is what freedom from Total Drama tastes like—bad decisions, fruit punch, and the loss of a million dollars.
After a few minutes, Owen makes his way back inside, five pizza boxes stacked carefully in his arms, along with two bags swinging from an elbow. "Pizza's here!" he proudly announces, and some of the others cheer, whether it's because of his enthusiasm or the promise of greasy food. He sets the pizzas and bags down on the food table, organizing them messily before coming over to Noah, Izzy, and Eva, still grinning widely. "Have Bridgette and Geoff came back yet?"
"Nope," Noah answers, staring into his punch cup to look at his red reflection. While he may look the same, he feels like he's aged ten years since the show began, and while he's lucky to not have any scars that can't be covered, he still finds himself feeling a bit self conscious about the ones he received from the pond of eels. Stupid Mclean. Stupid eels. Stupid mouth.
"They probably got lost and are making out somewhere," Izzy suggests, twirling a curl with her finger and resting her elbow on the table. "No-no, did you know they're back together?"
Noah raises an eyebrow, thinking to himself for a long moment. Honestly, he was kind of shocked. After all, Bridgette did cheat on him on international television, as Harold had reminded during her song. "Really? Even after she swapped spit with the eel in the Yukon and get stuck to a pole?"
"Come on, little buddy," Owen says softly, resting a hand on Noah's shoulder. He immediately takes it off, noticing the glaring brown eyes staring at him. "Al was just playing the game, right? I mean, Heather acts the same way, and we still like her."
"Who's 'we'?" Eva asks, and Noah is inclined to agree. "She's a royal bitch. I don't even think Lindsay likes her anymore."
True. Watching Lindsay cuss Heather out during Island had been an experience, to say the least. "It couldn't have happened to a better person," Noah had told the rest of the losers after they watched it.
"What Eva said." Noah goes to back into staring into his punch, successfully ignoring Owen as he tried to convince him and Eva to give them a chance. It was pointless. Alejandro had shown his true colors, and people didn't like him. Simple as that.
Except, it wasn't as simple as that. Because somewhere halfway across the world, Noah had thought that they could maybe be friends. But Alejandro was nothing but a semi-good actor, and given the first chance, he eliminated Noah, sending him plummeting out of the London sky.
Whatever. He was over it. Or at least that's what Noah keeps telling himself.
After Bridgette and Geoff come back from their snack run with way more snacks than probably needed, the party starts in full swing. Noah keeps his gaze away from the door and on his friends—Izzy and Owen are dancing with a big group of both contestants and crew, while Eva sits at the table with him, nursing another cup of punch. The two can barely hear each other over the pop music blaring over the speakers, so they opt for staying quiet, silently agreeing not to join the crowd.
At some point, she brings out her iPod, offering Noah an earbud, and eager to not listen to yet another Rihanna song, he accepts. The music isn't his style—he doesn't think anybody knows that he doesn't actually like music at all—but it's a nice distraction from his thoughts, so it's alright in his book. After five songs, Noah debates on leaving the party so he could take a walk but decides against it, noticing Gwen and Duncan standing by the doors. From his view, he can't tell if they're just talking or making out, and he isn't eager to find out.
Half an hour later, Izzy stumbles over to the table, holding plates with pizza and other various snacks for the group. Her and Owen take a break from dancing to eat with Eva and Noah, the two of them somehow managing to be louder than the music. After they finish eating—and Noah gives the rest of his food to his best friend—Owen grabs his hand and begs him to dance with him, and after three refusals, he finally accepts.
Noah quickly discovers that he doesn't know how to dance. While he'd been invited to a few parties after helping some popular kids cheat off of him on assignments, he always skipped, and he'd only attended school dances because he was class president. Owen doesn't seem to mind, or maybe doesn't notice that he doesn't know how to dance, and instead bumps into him as he dances similarly to Leshawna.
Following the beat of the music makes him look like a sentient noodle, in his opinion, but Lindsay bumps into him halfway through Gimme More by Britney Spears and dances with Noah, letting him spin her around before she makes her way back to Tyler. Afterwards, Izzy pulls him in for a dance, which consists of her spinning him around, and Noah promptly leaves the dance floor after that, feeling dizzy and dazed.
He walks towards the drink table, noticing that there's now a cooler full of soda cans, and as he reaches to grab a can of Mountain Dew, another hand brushes against his. He flinches away from the touch, looking up to meet a pair of familiar green eyes, and he immediately groans, moving to turn away until a hand grabs his wrist.
"Noah, please," Alejandro's voice wavers slightly, softer than Noah has ever heard before. "I would like to talk to you. Preferably away from here, so we can actually hear one another."
The bookworm frowns, turning his head slightly just in time to see Alejandro get covered in the red light from the rainbow flashing lights Geoff had insisted on using. Oddly enough, he looks handsome in the light, his eyes the only part of him that isn't red.
"The eyes are the window to the soul," Noah's mom has always told him, and while he hasn't believed it in his seventeen years of living, he thinks he can believe it now.
"Fine," is all he spits out, annoyed that his drink grabbing was interrupted. Alejandro smiles at his answer, before starting to lead him away from the party and out of the doors, barely sparing anyone a glance.
While he's all but dragged away, Noah makes eye contact with Eva, who raises an eyebrow in concern. He shrugs in response, unsure of what exactly they are going to talk about. If he has to guess, it would be so the Spaniard can make amends before they all go their separate ways. Maybe the guilt is eating him up inside, or maybe he just wants to save his ass in case there's another season, or, God forbid, a future documentary about the horrors of Total Drama.
They walk past the lobby, Alejandro making a beeline towards the elevators. Noah raises his eyebrows, now starting to wonder if the other teen plans on killing him and hiding his body in a suitcase. It would just be his luck.
"Woah, taking me to your room? How would your girlfriend feel about that?" he asks dryly, having to hold back a cackle whenever Alejandro spins around on his heels to give him an incredulous look of horror.
"That's not what—I'm not…—ugh, you're insufferable!" Alejandro snaps, dragging Noah into the elevator roughly before pressing the button for the fourth floor. "And Heather is not my girlfriend."
Noah frowns confusedly, putting the hand that isn't caught in Alejandro's grip on his hip. "Really? That Gemmy winning performance during the finale could've fooled me." For some reason, he was oddly thankful that Alejandro and Heather weren't actually dating, but he wasn't quite sure why. Maybe Total Drama fucked him up more than he was thinking it did.
Alejandro rolls his eyes, finally letting go of Noah's wrist. The smaller boy rubs at his skin, shooting a glare at the other teen, but Alejandro pays him no mind. "It was acting, Noah. Surely you know about it, considering you pretended to be my friend until London!"
"Me? Pretending? Ha! That's fucking hilarious," he retorts, meeting Alejandro's glare with a matching one. "Don't act like you didn't pretend to be some great guy during the entire fucking show, you eel."
"Mierda, don't call me that!" And suddenly, Alejandro is lunging for Noah, who prepares to get punched in the face, but is instead just pinned to the wall of the elevator by a forearm against his chest.
Peeking up through his bangs, Noah's eyes lock with Alejandro's, and he can hear every heavy breath the other takes, and he knows Alejandro can feel his chest rise and fall erratically. Both of their eyes are wide, and Noah feels his mouth go dry as he awaits his fate.
The two are quiet until the elevator arrives at the fourth floor, and Alejandro all but manhandles Noah out, hooking an arm around his and pulling him towards a hotel room door. The Spanish teen stops for a few seconds, patting his pockets to find the key, and he opens the door, all but shoving Noah inside.
Stumbling, Noah manages to catch himself before he falls on his face, and after steadying himself, he glares once again. "Geez, rough much? I'm fragile, you know."
He swears he can hear Alejandro mutter, "of course you are," under his breath, but he doesn't have any proof, so he settles on staring impatiently at him instead. After all, he was dragged here against his will (for the most part), and he would like some answers before Owen started to get worried that he was missing.
"Well? What is so important that you had to drag me away from the party?" Noah asks, his impatience beginning to boil over.
Alejandro frowns, turning to face Noah, fingers twirling the bull charm of his necklace like earlier. That was definitely a nervous tic then. "I thought you didn't want to attend," he says, avoiding Noah's question. "Besides, it was quite loud in there."
"What do you want?" Noah demands, taking a few steps forward so their chests are barely touching. His finger pokes into Alejandro's chest, feeling the silk fabric of the shirt he was wearing, and he tries not to distract himself. "You can't just drag me away to talk and then not talk. So spit it out."
Taking a deep breath, Alejandro drops his charm, a hand rubbing the back of his neck. "I just…wanted to apologize, for eliminating you. That was probably not pleasant."
"You think?" Noah scoffs, stepping back a step and giving the other teen a pointed look. "I landed in a pond of eels. Kind of fitting, right? Escaping the eel on the plane, only to end up with real ones." And then, just so he can rub salt in his own wound, he adds, "at least they didn't pretend to like me."
Alejandro pales at the new information, eye's widening as he looks at Noah. He had noticed earlier than the other was wearing jeans instead of his usual cargo shorts, but he merely thought that Noah wanted to try out something different. "You're kidding, right?"
Noah shakes his head with a small, humorless laugh, the sound not reaching his eyes. "Nope. Got stung a bunch. You should've seen the muscle spasms." They weren't a pretty sight. He remembers how Owen freaked out when he had one in front of him a few days back, when they were in his hotel room.
The other teen looks a mix of disturbed, horrified, and guilty. "I didn't—that wasn't what I…Noah, I'm so sorry," he apologizes, and that's when Noah notices that Alejandro's eyes are starting to water. Oh shit—is he about to cry? Over Noah?
"It's fine, I'm over it," he says in an attempt to comfort Alejandro, gesturing to himself. "And I'm alive, see? The show didn't kill me after all."
"But it could have," Alejandro whispers wetly, before reaching forward to pull Noah into a hug. "Oh, mi cerebrito, I missed you." His words are said into brown hair, arms wrapping tightly around the smaller figure.
Noah freezes, thinking back on the chain of events that led to him being hugged by Alejandro Burromuerto. After hearing a quiet sniffle, he decides to awkwardly hug back, patting the taller teen's back like his mom used to do to him. "I guess I missed you too."
"You guess?" That startles a laugh out of Alejandro, who wipes the few tears he shed from his cheeks, and then looks down at Noah with a small smile. "I almost went crazy without you on the plane. Everybody else was just so insufferable."
"And here I thought you'd fit right in," Noah jokes, his snort turning into a yelp when Alejandro pinches his side. "Ow! You fucker. I'm sensitive, remember?" Still, he can't help the dumb, small smile on his lips, and he notices that Alejandro has a matching one. What a pair they make, he can't help but think.
Alejandro finally pulls away from the embrace, silently mourning the loss of Noah's body against his. "Back on the show, I did consider you to be my friend. Or the closest thing to one, I suppose." Making friends on a show like Total Drama was typically for strategic purposes, but back on the plane, Alejandro hadn't wanted to use Noah as a pawn. Or, he wouldn't have until the time came, but still. He had believed they were friends.
"Yeah?" Noah finds himself a bit surprised, but starts to realize that discovering how manipulative the other was may have clouded his judgment on their previous interactions. Just slightly. "I thought I was just another Tyler to you. He's upset about that, by the way."
"I figured he would be," Alejandro says offhandedly, running a hand through his hair. "You were the one person I felt closest too. And one of the only sane ones on that contraption Chris called a plane." For all the crashes they had experienced, there was no way that plane was safe for travels.
Noah hums, his gaze focusing on a nearby wall as he tries to sort his thoughts. So, Alejandro didn't hate his guts, and seems to want to be friends again. Could you be friends with someone again if you thought the first time was fake? A thousand different thoughts race through his head, all involving the two of them.
"You were alright too," he settles on, a genuine smile forming on his lips. "Think we can move past the whole "eel" thing and try being friend-ish away from cameras?"
Alejandro's eyes light up at the question, and Noah finds himself oddly captivated by that detail. It's so minimal, and would be to anyone, but for some reason, he suddenly becomes hyperfixated on those pretty green eyes. "Of course, mi amigo. Though, you did upset me with that "eel" comment—" He's cut off by a pinch to his arm, and he rubs the irritated skin and pouts at Noah. "Is this seriously how are friendship is beginning?"
"Yup. Take it or leave it, Casanova." Alejandro decides to take it.
After spending some time talking, they finally sneak back into the party, Noah swinging by the table that Eva and Owen are sitting it to tell them that he's fine, and just needed some fresh air. Eva raises her eyebrow at the lie, but doesn't bother correcting him, and the blond smiles and tells him that's okay.
Alejandro, who was waiting a few steps behind him, gently grabs his wrist again, leading Noah over to the food table so they could grab drinks like they had been doing before escaping the party. He hands the smaller teen a Mountain Dew, grabbing a Coke for himself, cracking open the can and taking a swig.
He looks over at Noah, who is drowned in a blue light, and his breath hitches at the sight, green eyes meeting brown. Alejandro can feel his heart race in his chest, but decides to take another drink so he didn't make himself look like a complete fool. Across from him, Noah simply grins, stepping closer so they can clink their cans together.
"Cheers to being done with Total Drama," he laughs, taking his own drink and wiping his lips immediately after. He looks over to see Alejandro staring at him, and Noah tilts his head in confusion. "What? Something on my face."
"Nevermind," Alejandro quickly says, deciding to make a toast too. "Cheers to our reunion, and our friendship."
Noah snorts but bumps their cans together again anyways, thinking that maybe coming to this party wasn't a bad choice after all.