AN:

Me: Hey loyal readers and reviewers! Part 2 is here! Wassup? I've got some amusing news. Well, I found it amusing.

I was recently watching 30 Rock. If you don't watch it, watch it. Freaking hilarious. So I was watching an episode, and Tracy was nominated for an Oscar for his movie "Hard to Watch" which is basically about a guy whose life sucks so hard it's impossible. Seriously. His mom blows up. Well, I'm watching it, and I'm like "Holy shit this is Used Up Courtney's life!" XD Haha, how over the top did I go with that chapter explaining her life and her sister? There were times when I thought, "How much worse could it get?" and then I said, "Oh hey, this could happen" XD

By the way, I got a deviantART, where I'll probably post some illustrations for some scenes from this and my other stories. You can request one if you want ;) Now

on to the chapter.

Used Up

Chapter 12:

In love's tug of war, the rope often gets torn apart.

To say that the act of Courtney entering her apartment was done in such a way that was exaggerated would be… well it would be an understatement.

She had stomped all the way home, growled at anyone who greeted her, and slammed her apartment door in a manner that resembled a crash of thunder loud enough to wake the dead. The short tempered brunette threw her purse to the floor, and very childishly shouted, "I'm hooooo-ooooome!"

No one responded of course, the residence was empty. She was just checking. Her roommates had been home much less lately. Bridgette was busy with Geoff nearly every day. And Gwen, she'd been attending art shows constantly. Courtney was happy for her; she deserved recognition for her paintings and drawings. She silently envied her artistic friend for her talent; Courtney couldn't draw for her life. Her own talents came from music, which Gwen herself sucked at.

Sometimes she felt lonely with her roomies being out so much, but she was busy too and at that moment she was fine with solitude.

Flopping on the couch and grabbing her book from the woven basket underneath the end table on the left side of the sofa, Courtney snuggled into the cushions and exhaled deeply. She needed to cool down. Rage was pumping quickly through her veins, and relaxation was the first thing on her to-do list. What was the second thing? Pummel Duncan and Alejandro, of course.

Even thinking their names made her angry again. How could they do that to her? It was so childish, so piggish, so like heartless men to humiliate her like that with their fighting. She wasn't a prize to win from their jealous squabbles. Courtney did have to admit that Duncan's protectiveness and jealousy was a tad cute, but she found no happiness in Alejandro's attention.

Other girls might fawn over the affection of the sexy Latino. But not her, at least not anymore. She had scratched the surface, and saw him for what he really was; a siren. He sang his sweet song, luring you in with compliments and kindness. Then when you finally realized what he was all about, it was too late; he'd already sunk your ship and sent you plummeting into the dark waves. You'd already given yourself to him fully, and you were nothing to him. She remembered the moment when she had discovered that it was all an act, and what she had almost done in what she referred to as her temporary madness. Recalling it made Courtney feel sick, and gave her an empty feeling in her chest. She had almost-he almost made her- She couldn't even finish the sentence.

With a groan Courtney pushed all thoughts of him out of her head. Chill, she told herself in a very Duncan like manner, you're too angry. Just chill.

. . .

After getting into another small argument with Alejandro, Duncan left and decided to go find Courtney. He thought she was probably in her apartment, bitching to her friends about Al and himself.

Part of Duncan wasn't sure why he'd acted the way he did back at the restaurant. He wasn't typically a jealous guy; as long as the guy didn't get too handsy with his girl he usually took at as a sort of compliment. So why did he freak out over Alejandro putting moves on Courtney? This was especially strange because he wasn't supposed to care about Courtney. He figured he probably got so jealous because of how far Alejandro got with Courtney. The most he and she ever did was make out, and even that was seldom. She was addicted to taking things slow.

…But it's not like he cared.

He didn't.

. . .

It was hardly a half an hour since the time Courtney walked into her apartment when she heard a knock at the door.

Hmm. She tapped her lip absentmindedly and got up to answer it, curious to whom it might be.

Bridgette wasn't supposed to be home until 4 pm, and it was only 2 o' clock. If she knew the clumsy surfer well enough, it was common for her to be fashionably late to most things, and almost never early. That is, unless Geoff and she decided to go to the shared apartment to hook up, which would make things considerably awkward for Courtney when she answered the door.

Wait… That doesn't make sense. She mentally scolded herself, Why would they knock if they were coming in expecting no one to be home? It's basic logic, Courtney.

It could be Gwen. She often forgot her keys at home or left them in her smock at her art studio, so she would need to knock. But she also wasn't due home until much later. Still, Gwen was known to not run her schedule by the clock either, which annoyed organized Courtney to no end.

It was probably Duncan.

She nodded silently in agreement with herself, Yes, I bet its Duncan.

He was probably coming to apologize for his earlier actions. Well, he was going to apologize as much as Duncan ever did. And, of course, she'd point her nose up at him for a while but eventually forgive him. That was how they worked. She liked it that way.

And even though his apology would be a tad pathetic, she knew he'd mean it. Unlike some people, he wasn't a user.

Finally reaching the entrance to her home, she unlocked the door and swung it open without bothering to see who it was. She knew already, anyway. Closing her eyes before it fully opened, she stood in the doorway looking annoyed and snobbish.

"Hello Princesa."

. . .

Courtney's eyes widened, and she mentally slapped herself for not checking who it was through the door's peephole.

"Mind if I come in?"

The shocked brunette struggled to regain her composure and managed to give him a glare.

"No." she snapped, "I'd really prefer if you didn't."

Too late.

He'd already walked in, shutting the door with his foot and kicking her previously thrown purse out of his path in one fluid motion. She had begun to back away as the young man made his way towards her leisurely, a charming smile on his lips.

"I was so upset about how we ended things at lunch, I just felt it was my duty to come here and talk to you about the whole mess."

No matter how much she didn't want to admit it, Courtney was scared. He's going to rape me. She thought frantically, He's going to rape and murder me.

She closed her eyes for a moment and tried to remain calm. He could just have come to talk. He wasn't necessarily there to brutally kill her. But just in case he was… she began to strategize. First she thought about exits. If he attacked her she could just run away right? Wrong. He was blocking the front door, and the fire escape was connected to a door a few rooms away. Well I could call for help. She thought, No wait, I couldn't. She was alone in her apartment, and the thick walls would prevent her neighbors from hearing her scream. Also, it was hot out so all the windows were closed due to the air conditioner being on full blast. And her phone was in the purse that he had just kicked out of her reach. What about self-defense? Courtney was strong, but not strong enough to overpower a man his size. It wasn't even like she could use a makeshift weapon; all the knives and other potentially harmful objects where in the kitchen and it would look very suspicious if she all of a sudden made a run for it. And she hadn't even taken into account the idea that he might be armed!

All in short, she was defenseless.

If Alejandro had noticed Courtney's panicked state, he didn't seem to care as he continued, "I'm so sorry for the way I acted, I just can't believe that a fantastic young lady like yourself would go for such an immature pig." He grinned and grabbed her suddenly, putting them into a position that resembled a dip in a tango dance.

"Remember us?" he asked, bringing his face entirely too close to hers, "Can't we go back to what we were?"

She felt weak. She felt helpless. She felt just like the day when she almost-

"…no…" she murmured quietly, hardly more than a whisper.

The charismatic smirk that the Latino had previously been wearing faltered a little. "What?" he asked.

"I said, NO!"

Suddenly summoning all of her strength, Courtney pushed him off of her and sent him stumbling back a few feet. She felt rage clawing at her insides, and she was just desperate to let her anger out.

"You know what Alejandro?" she spat, "I'm done. I'm done with being objectified. I'm done with feeling weak and pathetic. I'm done with giving and giving and giving, and getting nothing back! And most of all, I'm done with you!"

She panted heavily and continued with her rant, now running with the adrenaline pumping through her veins.

"You single handedly put me through hell, and now you think that you can just waltz back into my life like nothing ever happened! But I'm not letting you take advantage of me again. You thought you could turn me into some weepy little girl who'd come crawling back to you just by smiling at me? Well I'm sorry to disappoint you, but that's not who I am. I'm stronger now, and there's no way in hell I'm letting you back into my life!"

She was smiling now, knowing by the look on his face that she had taken control.

"Guess what, Alejandro? I don't need a guy that showers me in compliments to feel good about myself! I don't need to receive lots of expensive gifts to know that I'm loved! And I DON'T NEED YOU."

Neither Courtney nor Alejandro was positive of what happened in the next few minutes. It all just felt like a blur. She was pretty sure he slapped her across the face, and he was pretty sure that she was completely unfazed. She was pretty sure that she told him, "Get the fuck out of my face." And he was pretty sure that he did what he was told. Most importantly, both of them were pretty sure that after he walked out the door they never saw each other ever again.

. . .

Once Courtney snapped back to reality, she felt this odd feeling in her chest. It wasn't emptiness- actually it was quite the opposite. She felt like she was flying. She felt she could lift the entire world up on her shoulders and not break a sweat. She felt free.

She began to laugh.

And when she stopped laughing, she began to cry.

. . .

Duncan really wasn't expecting to see Courtney hysterically sobbing when he finally got to her apartment. He hated seeing girls cry, and seeing her cry was even more unsettling. She always appeared so strong; it made him wonder what triggered her tears. He felt angry all of a sudden, at the idea that something or someone could have put her in this state.

Not sure what to do, he opted to pull her into a tight hug. She buried her head in his chest and he felt his shirt dampen from her weeping.

"What's the matter?" he murmured in a hushed voice.

She tilted her head up a tiny bit so that he could hear her. "Nothing." She said quietly, because she honestly wasn't sure why she was crying when she had been so happy only minutes ago.

Duncan stiffened and in a calm and measured voice asked, "Who did this to you?"

"No one."

"It was Alejandro wasn't it!"

"No-"

"I'll kill him! I'll-"

"Duncan!" Courtney shouted desperately, searching his eyes with her own. "Please. Just don't. Just stay with me."

And so he did.

AN:

Me: And there you have it folks.

Yeah… not much to say except sorry for the wait.

R&R dearies, and I'll love you forever.