Duncan x Reader

Chapter 2: Part One

'So...' Duncan blows smoke out of his nose, sending it billowing in loose ribbons through the air.

He'd ushered you outside as soon as he had spotted you sniffling in the corner of the cafe, abandoning his coffee order in favour of pulling you outside and lighting up. He offers you his join out of politeness and stares, tired smirk itching at his lip. The smirk vanishes when you slip the blunt from his fingers and raise it to your lips.

You take a drag, filling your lungs to the brim before passing it back and sighing. 'We're on a break.'

'Oh, what?' Duncan chokes, shaking his hand to tell you to keep the blunt for yourself before reaching into his pocket and lighting a second. 'What the fuck happened?'

You swallow the bile rising in your throat. 'Second thoughts?' You shrug, trying to ignore the fact that your eyes have started to fill.

'You or him?'

All you have to do is look at him.

'Shit.'

'That's one word for it, yeah.'

Duncan snickers. 'If you break up, don't think you get to forget that I exist... I'm not losing custody just because pretty boy has his head in his ass.'

You don't know if it's the nicotine, or Duncan's lazy charm, but a giggle bubbles up your throat and breaches your lips. It catches you off guard and you almost double over from the shock. As quickly as the laughter takes over you, it's gone again, leaving you feeling emptier than before.

'Hey.' Duncan flicks your forehead right between the eyes. 'I mean it. If he ditches you, he's an ass.'

The spot where he flicked you aches, sending a dull spark through your skull, but strangely the pain is a comfort. 'Thanks, dunc.'

'It's what I'm here for?' He shrugs.

'Duncan!' Courtney waves, before jogging over to where you're hidden slotted in-between two cafe's. 'Trent's going to kill you when he finds out you've smoked before we eat.' His mouth pulls downwards as he reaches you, stopping short of the smoke that billows from Duncan's mouth. 'You know he hates it.'

He flicks up his eyebrows and presses an index finger to his lips. 'What daddy doesn't know won't hurt him, will it?' Stooping to his bag on the floor, he lets you take what's left of his joint from between his teeth as he removes a can of deodorant from within. He flips off the lid, letting the plastic clatter to the floor before dousing himself in it and making everyone around him choke.

'You know he'll still be able to smell it on you, right?' Courtney cocks an eyebrow and glares.

Clouds of antiperspirant fill the air and Courtney gags as the powder touches her tongue, drying it out. She waves his arms wildly, attempting to clear the air. 'Are you coming? I thought Trent said you wouldn't be able to make it.'

Duncan's palm connects with the back of Courtney's head with a smack.

'What the fuck was that for?' Courtney shoulders scrunch up as her own palm comes up to cover the stinging.

Pinching his nose, Duncan sighs. 'We're doing lunch. The four of us.'

You guts twist. Trent had given you nothing, but radio silence for the past three weeks. Evidently the gang, and Courtney, were not getting the same treatment.

'Is something up, because I feel like I've just put my foot in it -.'

That earns Courtney a second slap.

'Fuck, okay okay – keep your stupid secrets.'

'We should go...' Duncan cuts in, curling his fingers into a fist, he taps his knuckles against your shoulder. His fist unfurls, becoming an open palm that latches onto you and squeezes. 'I've got a twenty-bag, if you're up for an old fashioned hang out, later?'

You nod. Right now, you can't think of anything you need more than good company and you're not going to turn your nose up at a little calming herbal remedy either.

'I'll come to you? Should be finished up with these idiots before five.' He grins, but it doesn't quite manage to cover the concern in his eyes.

'Sounds good.'

'Sweet.' He turns on his heel and cups the back of Courtney's neck, thumb ghosting the red mark he's made as they both turn heel and head back towards the cafe where Gwen is presumably waiting for them.

Inhaling deeply, you let your back hit the brick wall behind you. It's when you're left alone that it gets bad. Another reason you're thankful for Duncan's impromptu hang-out invite. The world closes in on you. You've stopped trying to keep the tears at bay, you know there's no point. You settle back into your sorrow all too easily as it wraps it's long arms around you again, swaddling you in the inescapable despair that has dictated your existence for the last few weeks. All you feel is hollowness. It scrapes you out leaving you numb and gasping for air. You lift Duncan's stump of a blunt to your lips, taking one final pull before dropping it to the floor and crushing it with your heel.

'It's bad for your lungs, you know.'

The sound of her voice makes you want to be sick. You swallow, hard, squeezing your eyes shut to rid them of tears. 'Don't pretend to care,' you snarl.

Gwen smiles.

It makes you want to punch her.

'I'm just -.'

'Well fucking don't, alright.' You drop your gaze and bite your tongue. 'The group is already waiting inside for your stupid lunch date, so just fuck off.' Venom drips from your voice. Your tone is borderline violent as you harden your jaw to stop a stream of curses from flying from your mouth.

Gwen glances to her feet and for a second, you think you can see the faint lines of regret etched into her forehead, but her expression changes too quickly for you to tell. She lifts her head. 'He's not spoken to me any more than he's spoken to you.'

'Shouldn't you be trying to jump one of the other boys? Or was it just Trent you were after?' Looking at her hurts.

'I know I deserved that.'

'Yeah, yeah. You do.'

She shuffles her feet, toeing the concrete beneath her shoes as her lips part.

You can see her mind whirring, see that she's trying to string a sentence together that will convey what she actually feels, how everything inside her feels torn and twisted.

Mouth snapping shut, she decides against it. She knows whatever she says now, no matter how much she means it, will be tarred by the kiss, by the betrayal she played a part in. Hanging her head, she offers up a weak smile before heading off towards the cafe.

You're glad that she leaves without you having to push her. In all honesty, you don't know what you would have done had she stayed and tried to explain herself. You haven't been able to look her in the eye since Trent told you. Although, no-one could exactly blame you for it. She was the one who had kissed your boyfriend and left you feeling as though someone had ripped out your insides. Something squirms inside of you. The problem was you could understand it, why Trent had kissed her back. Gwen Ingrid was a God of a woman. You'd know her as long as you had Trent, which was long enough to learn that Gwen was everything that everyone wanted and more. It was just her perfect little face and perfect tits, Gwen was mysterious and laid back and so hideously in tune with everything around her that she made most people feel special without even trying. How were you supposed to compete with that? You hauled in another breath and stopped the shaking of your hands by slipping them behind your back and pressing them to the wall. Then, you let yourself cry