Courtney was worried sick, and no amount of comforting from her newly reconciled friend Gwen could displace her worry. She had let Duncan get the best of her again, and nearly broke her nose because of it. It was stupid of her to get angry at the past, yet she still gritted her teeth at the Gwuncan video. She picked at her dinner absentmindedly, not interested in her admittedly delicious looking steak. What was it that had her down?

"What has you down, señorita?" Courtney turned around to see Alejandro giving her a sickeningly false smirk, leaning across the table.

"Can it, Al." Courtney snarled at him, emphasizing his most hated nickname. Alejandro's eyes twitched, but he kept his face neutral. The rest of the villains quieted down to hear the looming fight.

"You misjudge me, chica!" He laughed, flipping the hair out of his face in a clear attempt to woo her. "I am simply worried for you happiness!" He smiled. "It must have been humiliating for you to have to see that disgusting display in the challenge today."

"Hey!" Gwen protested, causing Scott to snicker.

"I don't need your sympathy, Al." Courtney hissed, causing Alejandro to flinch. Sure she knew he was just trying to provoke her, but it kind of worked. She did hate seeing that clip, and it did make her want to plan Gwen's funeral for next Tuesday- but she was over that. Totally, completely, one hundred percent over it. "I have my sights set elsewhere." She purred happily, causing Scott to gasps angrily.

"What? Who is it? Is it Mike? I'll-" Scott yelled, before Courtney kicked him in the shins under the table. "-oh, right." He laughed nervously.

"Awww, does Scott have a widdle crush on Courtney?" Gwen giggled mockingly, but put her hands over her mouth in shock. "Ohmigosh I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to be rude!"

"Shaddup!" Scott fumed, clenching his fists. "Anyway, I don't think you should be questioning my romantic interests-I mean, not that I am romantically interested in CIT chick, hehehehehe..." He stopped and laughed awkwardly. "Your romantic track record is a crazy stalker obsessed with nine, and green hair Mcjuvie boy!" Gwen glared and pouted angrily at this. Scott didn't acknowledge Gwen's reaction, digging into his steak.

"Um, guys, can we stop fighting?" Cameron piped up for the first time that night, earning him a glare from everyone except Gwen. "Ok then, never mind." He meekly sighed and returned to his dinner.

"Actually Scott, I think if there was one thing more pathetic, it was how you didn't even fight back against that mutant shark. Even Sierra tried more than you." Alejandro redirected his focus onto Scott, whose eyes widened in fear.

"Sh-shut u-up..." Scott shivered, rubbing his arms. "Sh-shark almost killed me already!" He said, glaring daggers at Alejandro.

"Yeah, Alejandro, lay off him!" Courtney yelled angrily, growling as Gwen restrained her from lunging at him. "Didn't you see last season? He had to live in a trauma chair because of that stupid monster!"

"Well I had to live in a robot suit for an ENTIRE YEAR!" Alejandro fumed, getting up and putting his hands on the table. "My family thought i was dead! You can go and besa mi culo!" He slipped back into Spanish for a second, leaving everyone confused.

"I think that was some form of profanity, guys." Cameron told the others, who let out an understanding 'Oohh' in response.

"Anyway, Scott isn't the only one who failed, you know." Courtney glared over at Cameron, who gulped in fear. "Four Eyes over here didn't even last a second!"

"Not true! I lasted exactly five seconds, thank you very much!" Cameron defended himself, indignant. Everyone else at the table burst out laughing when he said that, and Cameron pulled his hoodie over his head and shrunk below the table.

"Sorry Cam, but that's not much better." Gwen stopped laughing and patted his back sympathetically.

"Sweet!" Scott stopped down his steak and grinned, interrupting the conversation. "This steak doesn't have mud on it! I didn't even know that was possible!" He gave a small squeal of delight, but stopped when he realized everyone was staring at him. "What, do I have something caught in my teeth?" He checked his teeth in his spoon.

"No..." Gwen looked at him, confused. "Or at least, not more than usual." She frowned in distaste. She wasn't sure Scott actually owned a toothbrush, actually. "Steaks...don't normally have mud on them..."

"Yeah they do, or at least I ain't had one that didn't till just now!" Scott laughed. "'Course, nothing beats when mama makes them with cow and not road kill." He grinned, earning looks that were equal parts disgust, confusion, and pity. "Why is everyone looking at me weird, seriously?"

"Scott, eating road kill is dangerous, not to mention gross!" Courtney said, concerned for Scott's health and confused on how he survived childhood.

"She's right. If it isn't freshly run over and skinned and sterilized, eating road kill is likely to get you sick." Cameron grimaced in disgust and fear. Pretty much every time he learned more about Scott's home life, he got more disturbed.

"Yeah, if you're a wimp!" Scott boasted, thumping his chest, but he coughed up the steaks t-bone. "Sick!" He said, tossing it away.

"Uh, Courtney, can I talk to you for a second?" Gwen pulled Courtney aside and whispered. When Courtney nodded, she continued. "You like Scott, right?" Courtney blushed and smiled sweetly.

"Maybe just a little..." She twiddled her hair between her fingers, sighing happily. "He's just so...so...unique!"

"Yeah... but maybe he's, y'know, really unique?" Gwen pointed at the redneck redhead, who had his feet up on the table, much to the disgust of Alejandro ad Cameron. "He's a little unrefined, don't you think?"

"I suppose you're right..." Courtney mused. "SCOTT, GET YOUR FEET OFF THE TABLE THIS INSTANT!" She yelled, causing Scott to snap to attention.

"Ma'am, yes ma'am!" Scott stiffened up and obeyed her command, causing Alejandro and Courtney to smirk.

"See, problem solved!" Courtney turned back to Gwen, smiling. "All he needs is encouragement."

"Yeah, that's totally encouraging and not intimidating." Gwen snickered.

"As far as I'm concerned, they're interchangeable." Courtney smiled. "Boys are like dogs, you've got to train them." She shrugged.

"That's an interesting philosophy..." Gwen looked confused, turning to watch Scott and Alejandro bicker over something that was most likely stupid. Gwen was about to dig back into her steak, but she quickly realized it was cold and sighed. "I think I'm going to head off to my room now, Courtney." She got up and pushed her chair in. Cameron soon followed her lead, and before long, Courtney and Scott were the only ones left.

When Scott had assured that everyone else had left, he spoke up. "Hey babe, thanks for pulling me out of the ring back in the challenge."

"Oh, it was nothing, I mean, I couldn't have done it without Gwen..." Courtney giggled and blushed slightly, but quickly stopped herself. She didn't understand why every time she spoke to him, she felt lightheaded, I mean, he was nowhere near conventionally attractive, not even personality-wise.

"I like you better anyway. Gothball's too uptight for my tastes." Scott smirked.

"Scott!" Courtney scolded him, face red. "Gwen helped you just as much as I did!" She said, standing up for her friend.

"Yeah, but she's not nearly as hot as you." Scott grinned cheekily, earning him a gasp and a slap across the face from Courtney. The nerve of that redneck jerk!

"Goodnight, Scott." She glared and got up in a huff, leaving him alone at the table to think about what he'd done.

After a few seconds of silence, he smirked. "Yeah, she's totally hot."

AN; This is the shortest story I've written so far, actually. It's just a little story I wrote up after episode 7, nothing much. Scott's adorable when he's traumatized by Fang, btw.