Welp, here it is. My very first one shot :D Enjoy.

Courtney sat at the edge of the dock of shame, peering into the murky lake water; the prickling of tears were toying and stinging her eyes, threatening to fall. She clenched the locket into her hands as the wetness in her eyes fulfilled their threats as they fell down her mocha cheeks. Courtney sniffed, not bothering or caring to wipe her eyes. Suddenly, she heard footsteps on the poorly paneled wood behind her.

"Can't sleep, princess?" She heard an all too familiar voice behind her.

She quickly wiped the tears from her eyes of tears, and smeared and runny mascara. "Go away," Courtney muttered, her voice cracking. She hoped he wouldn't notice, but no such luck.

She felt warmth next to her as Duncan sat next to her. He glanced to her now damp face as it shined in the moonlight.

"Hey…" Duncan whispered as he placed his hand on her trembling one. To his surprise, she didn't pull her hand away. "What's wrong, Princess?" He glanced at the hand he wasn't holding. "What is that?" he asked.

"Don't call me that! I have a name." she snapped coldly. "And it's a locket. Does that answer your questions? Can you leave me alone now?" she demanded.

"You never said what was wrong…" he replied softly. He thought about teasing her, but he knew if he made her upset right now, the results would not be so amusing.

"Well…" Courtney trailed off, trying to keep her voice from cracking again. "A year ago today, my mom died." She had to bite her lip to stop a sob from escaping from her lips. Courtney took a breath and opened the locket to reveal a ten year old Courtney with her mother. "She gave it to me before she left." She looked at the picture and smiled through the silent tears still falling on her face. "We were at this carnival my hometown held every year when I was a kid. That was before my parents started working so much," she reminisced.

Duncan couldn't stand seeing girls cry. He wrapped his arms around Courtney, held her to his chest, and placed his lips upon her soft brown hair.

"I'm so sorry, Princess." He didn't know what else to say to make her feel better. She smiled a bit, but her smile quickly faded, and she buried her face in her hands.

"She used to call me that," Courtney murmured into her palms.

Duncan placed his head on top of her shoulder, trying to comfort her. She looked so damn upset, like nothing in the world could make her smile again. The two sat in silence for a while. Duncan was the first to speak.

"Are you doing okay, Pr-Courtney?" he caught himself.

"Not really…" Courtney whispered, staring into the water again. "I always wanted to make her proud of me… and now she's just gone." Pain laced the brunette's voice.

Duncan glanced at the photo in her hands. "You look a lot like her." He murmured. A pain filled smile flashed across her face.

"Yeah…" she trailed off. "What is your family like?" she asked suddenly.

"They're cops." Duncan chuckled. "We don't exactly see eye to eye." He looked down to Courtney's no longer tear filled deep brown eyes.

She gave him a puzzled look, then nodded understandingly.

"Do they work a lot?" she wondered.

"They're home enough, I guess. Why? What's up, Princess?" Duncan whispered. He instantly regretted calling her that again.

Courtney winced at the name, but relaxed into Duncan's arms after a moment. "My dad is never really home, so it's like I live alone. It's nice… To a point. I just get lonely sometimes." She sighed. "Nothing is the same."

Duncan wrapped his arms around her and settled his hands together just above her hips. "Hey Duncan," Courtney started, "You do realize that if you tell anyone that you saw me cry, I'll have to kill you, right?"

"Yeah, I know. I won't tell anyone."

Courtney eyed the delinquent skeptically.

"Hey, you can trust me." He swore. She raised an eyebrow at him.

"Never change, do you princess?" he shook his head at her.

Courtney stood up, and Duncan followed.

"I'm gonna go to sleep," Courtney said with a sigh. She turned back for a moment. "Thanks, Duncan." She smiled up at his mesmerizing teal eyes.

"No problem, Princess."

Courtney stood on her toes to give him a peck on the lips, much to his surprise.

"Whoa, does the Princess want to come to the dark side?" he said with his signature smirk.

Courtney smiled and rolled her eyes. "Shut up." She turned around and bit her bottom lip. "Goodnight Duncan." She yelled over her shoulder.

Duncan turned around and yelled back, "You too, Princess." He chuckled to himself. That girl really was something.