Why hello there!

I would like to welcome you lovely folk to my NaNoWriMo 2014 winner!

Yes, I have done it again! With a grand total of 51654 words!

This is my second year completing NaNo and it has been one hell of a ride. For a long time I wasn't sure if I was going to do it again this year, then I've spent the whole month panicking that I wouldn't complete it on time. It's been hectic...But I did it! So, here we are again :D

Warning. This story contains a lot of sexual content. Implied and graphic descriptions of said sexual content. There are also a lot of OOC characters in this story, to which I apologise if I cause any offence, but it is all done to better suit the plot line.

Pairings (mentioned, implied and crushes): Courtney/Duncan, Bridgette/Geoff, Duncan/Gwen, Courtney/Alejandro, Courtney/Scott, Heather/Alejandro, Zoey/Mike, Courtney/Trent.

This story idea comes from the song All Of the Stars by Ed Sheeran. Everytime I heard it this year, I could not get the idea of a Duncney long distance relationship out of my head. I then read Where Rainbows Ends (Love, Rosie) by Cecilia Ahern, and I fell even more in love with long distance relationships and I just knew that this was what I wanted to do for this years NaNo.

We have 19 chapters, plus a Prologue and an Epilogue! There will be weekly updates (hopefully!), which means we're pretty much set until mid-April with this story!

And now, without further ado, this is my NaNoWriMo 2014 novel...

Chasing The Skyline

Prologue

Bitter Storm

You don't have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step - Martin Luther King Jr.

It was lively, Courtney had to say that. When Bridgette had told her about the New Years Eve party her boyfriend was throwing, she did not picture this in mind. Maybe a few people watching the countdown on TV, but no, Geoff had truly gone all out for the party. The sofa's had been moved from the main room to create a dance floor, and a faintly rememberable song was playing from the DJ's booth in the corner.

It was also crowded. Very, very crowded, to the point where Courtney found herself exiting down the stairs to the basement. She found the sofa's from upstairs down there, and they were occupied by a few people milling around, away from the loudness.

"Courtney!" Bridgette grinned, jumping from her seat and grabbing her friends hands. They'd been friends long enough for Courtney to know Bridgette had been drinking. Her make-up was slightly smudged around her eyes and mouth, and if Bridgette had been sober she would have been in the bathroom fixing it right now. "You remember, Geoff," she pointed towards her boyfriend, the party thrower, on the couch. "And that's, Duncan." Of course, Courtney knew them both, they had all gone to High school together, but she couldn't say she'd ever spoken to either of them before. "He's single," Bridgette giggled in her ear, her blonde curls tickling Courtney's face.

"Thanks, Bridge," Courtney laughed, but Bridgette wasn't listening. She had started swaying to the music from upstairs before letting out a loud gasp.

"I love this song!" She squealed- though Courtney doubted Bridgette had ever heard this song before- "Geoff, come dance with me!"

The young man grinned at his girlfriend, letting her drag him away. Courtney watched with a smile, settling herself in their empty seats. She could feel his eyes on her as she did. Turning to face him, Courtney found he wasn't intimidated enough to turn his gaze away. Instead, he held out the fresh beer he had just uncapped for Geoff before he had disappeared, offering Courtney the drink instead.

Courtney was not half as drunk as her best friend was, though Bridgette had always had a low alcohol tolerance. No matter how many times she bragged about the parties Geoff threw, Courtney had found the blonde to be the first one giggling like an idiot.

So, she took the beer. It wasn't her first choice of drink, she had definitely had better, but she didn't say no to free alcohol.

"You're crazy," he laughed, watching her hiccup over her words in attempt to get them out right.

"But that's what everyone wanted me to do right, go to Harvard Law school?" Courtney snorted. "If I had told my parents that I had even applied to any other schools they would have disowned me. They both went to Harvard - it's where they met! But that doesn't mean that's what I want to do, you know?" Duncan didn't know. "Like, okay, the big dream is to become a lawyer, but I- I want to do something else. I want experience. I want to live for something other than pleasing my parents, you know?" Duncan was not a parent-pleaser, he did not know. "So that's why I am heading to Oxford University in September."

"Why didn't you go this September?"

"Because I want experience!" Courtney shouted into the night. "I want to live a little. You know where I'm heading in two weeks? Singida. You know where Singida is? Africa! East Africa! In two weeks time I am going to Africa to volunteer for six months and I'm going to build wells and educate children and you know why?" Duncan didn't know why, he could barely understand Courtney's slurred words as it was. "Because it's experience, Duncan! Don't you want experience?" Courtney hiccuped out the last few words, much to Duncan's enjoyment.

Duncan didn't know what he wanted. He wasn't smart like Courtney was, he didn't impress his parents with grades, and his parents weren't push-y with him. His dad had tried to be, and was rather disappointed in his son, but his mother still loved him no matter what. She supported him through his decision not to go to college (not that there'd be many college's to accept him), and didn't push him to do anything that he didn't want to.

Duncan got the feeling Courtney's parents weren't like that at all.

He watched as she swayed from side to side on the rooftop. Maybe he was to blame for the one too many beers, but he knew she never would have opened up to him if he hadn't pushed those last few ones into her hand. He'd known Courtney for a long time, four whole years through High school. They'd never spoken a word, but everyone knew who Courtney was. Class president. Student council. She was the girl that led the petition against the removal of the drinking fountains, despite the fact no one used them.

They give character to the building

That was her argument, Duncan could remember it clearly. He didn't care about the water fountains himself, but there was something about watching this determined young girl rant and rave about the importance of them through every school event, through every home room and period, that always struck his curiosity.

But here she was, sitting beside him, unraveling in the fading moonlight. There was a lot of anger built up inside her of, a lot of sadness, but even under all of that, Duncan could still see her determination. Her determination to be different, to break away from what is expected of her and do her own thing. Duncan had been doing that his whole life, his parents were just glad he had graduated on time and wouldn't have to face another year of High school. Not that he had plans for college. Courtney looked like the kind of person that had everything mapped out in front of her. Duncan didn't know what he was doing tomorrow.

They didn't know how long they had been sat on the roof. They'd heard everyone screaming and shouting below, the countdown into the new year that neither of them acknowledged. They sat in silence, sometimes talking, asking about each other.

"Do you see that?" Her slender fingers were pointed towards the horizon. The sky was edging with pink now, and he watched as her eyes squinted at the sunrise. "It's beautiful,"" she breathed, her head coming to rest on his shoulder and he didn't shrug it off. They watched as the sun came up between the buildings, and for a moment Duncan thought she'd fallen asleep on him. He moved his head to look down at Courtney's face, only to find her staring back up at him.

They couldn't remember who leaned in first, their lips lightly touching in a tentative brush. It wasn't exciting or energetic, it was stained with the taste of beer and they could both say they had had better kisses. But it was different, as they pressed closer into each other, tongues licking, teeth biting, it wasn't something either had experienced before.

Duncan's hand wound round Courtney's neck, his fingertips brushing the loose strands beneath her mess of a ponytail. Her nails dug into his biceps, holding him closer to her, urging him to not pull away.

He leaned her backwards, lying her flat against the slanted rooftop, one of her legs hitched over his right hip. It was still early morning, no one was going to see them, but they didn't care either way. Courtney held him to her, his lips assaulting her throat, lowly gasps escaping her lips. He leaned in further, not holding back.

The sun was bright through the window, but that wasn't the source of heat that she found herself crawling towards. Before her eyes were even open, she found herself pressed up against the warmth from under the covers. Her brain was starting to wake up, but it was the wet kiss that he placed on her forehead that fully woke her up. Duncan chuckled as Courtney's startled look, letting her back away form him, grabbing at the covers to cover her exposed upper body.

They stared at each other for a moment, Courtney not letting the 'deer caught in the headlights' look. A smirk broke out across Duncan's face as he leaned his head back down on the pillow. He could hear Courtney physically gasp as realization hit her hard. They were both naked in a guest bedroom, of which Duncan had claimed as his home away from home at his best friends house.

She did not look impressed when Duncan reopened his eyes. Courtney was already leaning over the side of the bed, grabbing at the clothes she could reach without exposing any more skin.

Duncan watched with curiosity for a moment before shuffling his way towards her. He placed a delicate kiss against the small of her back. He instantly felt her froze against his lips.

"Duncan..." She breathed heavily. Courtney's voice was hoarse, and she wanted to yell and scream and tell him to stop, but something in her mind told her that was not the way to go. She couldn't say she hadn't enjoyed last night. Even if it was the beer talking most of the time, Courtney couldn't say it didn't feel good to get so much off her chest at once. Duncan was a stranger to her, sure, but something had clicked last night between them, and now they had more than enough secrets to keep for each other.

The young man sat up in bed, placing a hand on each of Courtney's hips, lightly squeezing her beneath his flexed fingers. Courtney tensed again. She didn't want him to touch her, she didn't want him to have the wrong impression. His chin came to rest of her shoulder, and she leaned her back against him. Her eyes never opened as they sat like that for a moment, and Courtney couldn't complain about how safe she felt, how happy she felt, just sitting there with him, stranger or not.

"We shouldn't..." She tried, her words escaping her once again. Duncan adjusted their position, leaning himself further away, leaving Courtney feeling cold all of a sudden. "Last night was great. It was amazing." Duncan's stomach clenched. "But I'm leaving for six months in a few days time, I'm not going to be back until the middle of Summer. It's...it's not fair to you, to me, to both of us if we-"

Duncan snorted. "Listen, Princess, I'm not looking for anything special here, believe me." He rolled out of his side of the bed, "A quicky during the morning after was all, but clearly that's not your style."

She didn't turn to look at him again, but she heard the door slam shut after he left. Courtney would have cried had she been anyone else but herself. But she held it together, pulling on her own clothes and exiting the room through the same door he had, before she found herself too caught up in the perfect memories of the night before.

The A/N's in this story will be at a minimum, just a few explanations along the way is all. I will also be replying to all non-guest reviews via PM, so keep your eyes out for that :P

Also, I need a holla from everyone on the forum because you bitches better be reading this!

Thanks for reading, please review (:

Love, ChloeRhiannonX.