So, this is my first attempt at writing a fluffy and angsty romance story. Bear with me, guys! I'm new to this, so your tips and suggestions would be much appreciated. Yes, this chapter will be short, it's part one of a prologue, what do you expect?

Now, the limitations of the summary don't explain enough about the whole point of this story, so I'll take some time to explain it here.

Basically, Shawn has the early stages of a rare brain cancer, unawares to him until the next chapter. Given thirty days before a new operation with a mere 8% of survival rate, he decides to spend that last month, because he is an orphan, with Jasmine, who, as you'll find out, has moved back to Australia with her parents.

This story will most likely be thirty three chapters. Part I and II of the prologue, Thirty Days (One chapter will be one day, obviously), and an epilogue/aftermath of Shawn's surgery.

This is set immediately after Shawn gets home from winning TDPI, to all who are curious. And yes, it is in his POV.

I breathe deeply as I exit the plane. I did it. I won…a million. Freaking. Dollars. And to add icing to the cake: no more insane zombie nut facade. Sure, I'm a little paranoid, but Chris, being the asshole that he is, saw that on my application and made me into a stereotype. I heard he did the same to Ella, Rodney, Leonard and Beardo. I was kind of worried when I found out he did no such thing to Max. People think I'm weird in the head. At least Jasmine knows that the Island Me is not the Real Me…or at least that I'm not as obsessed as I seemed to be on the island. It's probably why she put up with me and liked me. I can't imagine she would if I was actually like that. I mean, yeah, I might have that backyard laser system, and sure I do zombie training exercises to sharpen my body and mind, but it's not like my current focus day in and day out is zombie this and zombie that…for the most part.

I'm still giddy as I exit the terminal, back in my hometown of Alberta, Canada. Wait, would that be homecity? I'm too excited to mince words with myself. The heavy silver briefcase is still crammed in-between my arms as I whistle happily, walking to the exit of the airport. Once outside, I hail a taxi.

"43rd street." I tell the cab driver, a grubby, short man somewhere in his fifties.

"43rd, eh?" He peers at me through his rearview mirror. "You got enough cash for that? It's seventy bucks." I see him eyeing me up and down. I can't say I blame him, I don't exactly dress like someone who has money. And I don't…er, didn't. It'll be nice not to have to worry about stuff like that for a long while.

"Yeah, don't worry about it." I grin.

"Whatever you say." The man grumbles, shifting into gear and starting the machine that tracks how much money it costs. "If you're bullshitting me…" He mutters under his breath, and I don't respond.

A few minutes go by, and I see the driver eye me in the rearview mirror again. "What's in the case?" He asks, trying to be friendly. I can sense the suspicious undertone though.

"You know Total Drama?" I ask, drumming my fingers on the case.

He nods. "Who doesn't, at this point?" He yawns. "Can't say I'm a big fan, but I'll tune in now and again if I got nothing better to do. I heard the new season is airing in a couple weeks."

I chuckle. "Well…" I read his taxi license. "Maurice. I just got off that show. You know what they give to the winner of each season?"

Maurice's eyes widen and he actually smirks. "No shit." He mutters. "Well, I might find my self placing a couple bets this season. Thanks, er…what's your name?"

"It's Shawn." For the first time in my life I say it proudly. I've always been that loner orphan boy, or the creepy zombie guy. Now I can say I survived the awful challenges of Pahkitew Island and outlasted thirteen other people, some strong competitors and the others not so strong, to win one million dollars.

"Well, Shawn. I'd like to thank you in advance for all the money I get when I bet my friends on the winner of this season." A dry chuckle.

"No worries." I laugh, and I suddenly realize how tired I am. I've got a bit of a headache as well. "I'm going to grab a few Z's…and not zombies." I mutter the last part as I close my eyes, hopping the dull throb in my head subsides.

"Will do, I'll wake you up when we get there." Maurice nods.

I close my eyes and fall asleep, dreaming about what happened moments before I got on my flight.

"Well, goodbye contestants." Chris smirked. He, Chef, and the four participants in the finale were sitting at the airplane terminal. "Usually we'd have you stay at the Playa, but we're going off to do a spin-off: Total Drama Presents: The Ridonculous Race."

"I thought you weren't hosting that." Dave jeered, bruised and bloody. While they had gone back for the germaphobe, they had not been quick enough to save him from a mild beating from Scuba Bear. Clearly in a bad mood, he continued. "Guess they wanted a less stupid host with a less dumb face! Hah, take that!"

"Yeah...right." Chris said, looking weirded out. "Anyways, I bid you all au revoir."

"That means goodbye!" Chef shouted at the foursome. To Chris: "Told you those eight days of French I would come in handy."

Chris just rolled his eyes as the duo walked away.

Bye, you...meany...meany faces!" Dave cried, sobbing and running to his gate.

Sky shot a rather guilty look Dave's way and gave Jasmine a hug and Shawn a fist bump. "Well...it's been fun, guys. Still mad you beat me though." She joked to Shawn, who was gripping the suitcase tightly. She too walked off to her terminal.

"Well, I guess this is goodbye." Jasmine tapped her fingers nervously. "Crikey, it's been fun, eh Shawn? Too bad it was just a fling." She said the last part sadly.

"I thought you lived in Muskoka?" Shawn asked, confused. "I don't have parents, I can come and see you all the time! I take classes on line and-"

"I'm moving back to Australia, Shawn." Jasmine said quietly. She expected Shawn to be crestfallen, sad, bummed out, even angry or relieved. What he was the last thing she was expecting.

"Awesome!" He cheered. "I can totally come and visit you!"

Jasmine was stunned. "R-really?" She stammered. She hadn't thought he cared enough to make that much of an effort. Her face lit up and she grabbed him in a massive bear hug. "You really are the best." She put him down. "You can stay we me and my parents, sure, but what about getting there? Tickets are expensive, mate."

Shawn waggled the briefcase. "No problem! Just got a million bucks, I don't think it'll be that big of a deal."

"You're serious about this?" Jasmine said hopefully. "You can meet some of my friends and ,wow! We would just have the most wonderful time."

"Dead serious." Shawn smiled, giving her a thumbs up. I'll keep in contact but I plan on getting there in at least two weeks from now."

"That's perfect." Jasmine nodded. "We move in three days so two weeks from now we should be settled in for the most part."

"Flight 391 to Alberta, Canada." A voice called.

"That's my flight, gotta go!" Shawn smiled.

Jasmine bent down and gave him a kiss. He stared into her eyes.

"Shawn...c'mon dude get the hell up." She said, her voice changing drastically.

"Huh?" Shawn was startled.

"Shawn…hey, Shawn, wake up." Having my shoulder nudged jolts me back to the present. I sit up groggily and the briefcase nearly falls to the floor, but my quick reflexes allow me to grab it before it hits the ground. I don't want it spilling all over the floor of this cab of questionable hygiene. Dave would've probably gone nuts. I'm glad Jasmine remembered to grab him before we took off. I was hoping the whole 'Sky must die' thing was a facade as well, but that didn't seem to be the case. Poor bastard was really smitten with her. Speaking of the other contestants, I'm surprised that dream was as vivid and accurate as it was...besides Jasmine having a man's voice and all.

"That'll be eighty-two seventy five." Maurice informs me, breaking me out of my train of thought. I reach for my wallet, but remember that there is nothing in there, per usual. Instead I unclip the briefcase, and grab one of the ten-thousand crisp one-hundred dollar bills and hand it to him. "Keep the change." I tell him, closing the briefcase back up.

"Cheers." He nods to me, and eyes me up and down again. "You were gone all that time and you don't have any luggage?"

"Nah." I shrug. "I don't have much."

He nods to the briefcase. "Now you can change that."

"You betcha."

"Catch you around, Shawn."

"Bye."

I head to my apartment building. I was lucky enough to score the ground floor, which has the luxury of a small backyard. The landlady thinks I'm adorable, so she lets me off easy with the rent, me being an orphan and all.

Oh yeah, you're probably wondering about that. I knew my parents, sorta...they were the partying type. Well, they were all at this party one night, and it turned out the designated driver wasn't really doing his job, and then the car veered off the road into a pond. Everyone but the driver was killed, all six other people, my parents included passed. I was only two years old, so I only have the faintest memories of them. After that it was to the orphanage. The orphanage was in the middle of nowhere, hence all my survival skills. I left that hellhole a year ago, and now I take high school classes online and work part time so I can pay the rent.

I enter the building, but instead of heading for my door I head up the stairs, to my neighbor and friend, who has the key to my apartment.

I knock on the door, and within moments it's flung open and there she stands, her usual cheerful but rather faraway smile on her face.

"Shawn!" She greets, giving me a warm hug.

"Hey Laney!" I greet, returning the hug.

Laney was my fathers best friends younger sister, if that makes sense. She's almost ten years older than I am, clocking in around twenty-six.

"I'd invite you to come in, but I'm just leaving." Laney tells me anxiously.

"Oh?" That's not unusual for Laney. Being a make-up artist, she's always going places. "Where is it this time?"

"Los Angeles." She grins. "Going there for work."

I nod, and her face lights up. "Oh, when I get back you'll have to tell me all about Total Drama!"

"For sure." I nod. "You have my key?"

She checks her pockets but to no avail. She scratches her head, ruffling her long black hair. "Umm, I have it somewhere. Hold on." She opens her purse and digs around for a couple seconds. "Ah! Here it is!" She hands it to me.

"How's Zombie?" I ask. "You remember to feed him?"

"Twice a day." She nods. "He really lives up to his name."

I laugh. "That he does. Is Rob staying to take care of your pets?" Rob is Laney's fiancé.

Laney nods. "Yeah." She checks her phone. "Oh shit! I'm going to miss my flight!" She gives me another hug and then grabs her suitcase. "Bye Shawn! See you when I get back!"

"Bye!" I call. I close her apartment door for her, as she forgot to do so. I'm surprised she didn't notice the briefcase I was holding. That's Laney for you. I hum the Walking Dead theme song as I walk back down to my apartment. Turning the key in the lock, I open up and step into my home.

"Zombie! I'm home!" I call. I hear a meow from somewhere in the distance. Typical Zombie. He didn't get his name by coincidence. He's about as mobile as one.

I walk through my kitchen, grabbing the cat treats on the way. I swear, Zombie eats better than I do…or used to.

He's on my bed, relaxing. Surprise surprise. He's big and fat and very fluffy. People have mistaken him for a weird blanket or a small rug before. I got him two days after I moved to the city.

"Hey Zombie!" I coo as I lie down on my bed, nuzzling my face in his fluffy flabby belly. "I missed you." I told him. He purrs and bats my face playfully. I give him a treat and then show him my briefcase. He sniffs it halfheartedly and then goes back to staring intensely at the bag of cat treats.

"You should pay more attention to the case." I chide. "Without that you might not be able to have any more of these!" I give him another treat.

After five more minutes of cat cuddling, I check the time. It's already seven, so I do something I want to do all the time but can rarely afford to do. Order pizza…AND a drink. I call the pizza place and put in an order for a medium cheese pizza, who know what kind of infectious diseases you can get from the meat in those places, and two liters of root beer. I give them my address and they say they'll be there in about an hour, so I decide to take a shower. My headache is back and stronger this time so I'm hoping the warm water will help. I turn the water on. I take of my beanie and my vest…

"AGH!" I scream. A horrible pain rockets through my head and I fall to my knees, gripping my head in agony. Another sharp pain and now I'm on the floor, heaving. What the hell is going on? My last through before I fade into unconsciousness is. "Whose going to get the pizza?"

Dun dun duh! So, what do you guys think? I know there was no Jasmine this chapter but thats what you get during the prologue. What did you think? I'm rather nervous about posting this so any feedback is appreciated. Review please!