Work Text:
01. Angel
She was an angel.
A fallen one, granted, but Harold wasn't too concerned with details.
02. Reason
Ten thousand rational reasons not to go out with him; maybe a handful of reasons to do it, if she really, really wracked her brain. But somehow, it was still a hard decision.
03. Prank
"…And said 'secret picture' will remain missing until such time as Harold's underpants are returned." Heather smirked wickedly as Duncan seethed. "Any questions?"
04. Caught
Heather removed her tongue from Harold's mouth as Gwen and Leshawna stared at them, eyes and mouths opened wide.
"Um…let me start off by saying that this is not what it looks like."
05. Anxiety
"Ugh…why do his stupid allergies give me so much crap to deal with?" Heather muttered, pulling her knees up to her chest as she sat in the hospital waiting room.
06. Rock
Dear Journal, Today I learned that you can't just substitute any shiny rock for a diamond if you don't want to royally cheese your girlfriend off.
07. Hire
Even though she secretly had fun, and even though he tried to refuse it, Heather forced the money into his hands before storming back into her house. After all, she'd said that she was only hiring him because she couldn't find anyone else to take her to the dance, and she'd meant it.
08. I can't make you mine
"DAMN it, Harold! When are you going to just give it up and accept the fact that Leshawna doesn't like you?! I mean—not that I CARE…"
09. Race
DJ windmilled his arms. "WHOA—"
He fell to the ground, as Harold sprinted past him, grinning. Yeah, he thought. We'll see which one of us gets to ask out Heather first.
10. Heartbreaker
It had been so much easier with all her other boyfriends. Both parties knew it was just for looks and status, that in the end the relationship was doomed. Harold's stupid sincerity made the chances of heartbreak seem so much more real.
11. Language
"NO, Harold, I actually DON'T consider it romantic to propose IN KLINGON!"
12. Wait
"Er—wait!" Heather called, running after him. "Maybe—maybe dinner together wouldn't be so bad…"
13. Tongue-Tied
She said yes? Harold thought stupidly, only able to gape in astonishment.
14. Crystal Clear
"But let's make one thing clear—just because I get more in my weekly allowance than you could even hope to make in a year, that does not mean we're going Dutch! Or that you can take me someplace cheap!"
15. Fraud
Heather smirked. The way Harold had managed to trick the other team like that…it always impressed her how downright devious he could be when he wanted to.
16. Search
He sighed. "Where else am I going to find a girl like her?"
Gwen didn't miss a beat. "Prison," she said, turning a page of her magazine.
17. Apart
It wasn't until the final season was over that Heather realized how big the three-hundred kilometers between their hometowns really was.
18. Personality
Noah smirked as Harold glared at him. Granted, he knew that "her personality" was not a valid answer to the question "And name one thing wrong about me dating Heather"…but he was having a hard time coming up with a retort.
19. Orange
As Harold droned on, Heather began to wonder two things: one, how many times would she have to hear about his orange-juice allergy before he realized he had told this story before, and two, why was she never quite bothered enough to actually tell him?
20. Crawl
"No, I am NOT going to call him! It's HIS job to come crawling back to ME!"
(One hour later…)
Ring-ring!
Click. "Hello?"
"Ahem—Harold? Uh…it's me…"
21. Alternate Reality
Sometimes she wondered: if he had been some popular stud, and she were still a pimply little fatso, would they have still wound up together?
22. Downstairs
"What kind of anniversary is this? I have to come downstairs for breakfast?!"
Harold, meanwhile, was trying to cook three or four different courses at once, two of which were currently on fire.
23. Pop
"No, I do not want a sip of your soda!" Heather cried, pushing the can away as Harold drew back in surprise. "GROSS!"
"Aw, and I hear I thought you liked sharing his saliva," Cody mocked as he strutted past.
24. Cliché
"So the annoying geeky kid winds up with the totally popular hot girl?" Chris asked, motioning to the kissing couple and making a face. "Hasn't that already been done to death?"
25. Memory
Harold sighed, laying his head on her shoulder. "I can't even remember what it was like before we were together."
"I can," Heather muttered. "There aren't too many good memories, though."
26. Bed
"You know, I don't mind sleeping on the floor, Heather. You can have the bed."
"Well, of course I get the bed!" Heather raged as she threw her suitcase on top of it. "Moron!"
27. Needle In A Haystack
"A dork I can actually stand to be around." Heather paused. "Wow. Who would have thought?"
28. Shave
"Do I—really have to do this?" Harold pleaded, taking the razor away from his stubbly chin for the tenth time.
29. Whatever
"Whatever! Fine! Go on your date with Leshawna! See if I care!"
30. Guardian
"Whatever you do, don't say anything bad about her around Harold," Duncan said, rubbing his bruised jaw. "He's decided he has to 'protect her good name' or something…"
31. Infidelity
"Well, then, it's a good thing you weren't looking at that girl," Heather said, examining her nails as if to mask the growl in her voice, "because if I ever even thought you might be cheating on me…oh, you don't even want to know…"
32. Fiction
"Hmm…the scrawny, redheaded hero falls in love with a wicked, dark-haired princess." Noah quirked an eyebrow as he put down Harold's manuscript. "Why does this sound so familiar?"
33. A New World
"I am not in Kansas anymore," Heather muttered, crossing her arms almost protectively as she followed him into the sci-fi convention.
34. Accuracy
"Actually, if you take into account the slight difference between the calendar and astrological years, it isn't our anniversary until 11:30 tonight. Which means that I'm technically not late. By the way, what size are you again?"
35. Fallen
It was so easy to slip up on this whole "being nicer" thing, and just give in to the urge to sneer or snarl at whoever was annoying her. But if Heather had learned one thing from Harold, it was that you always had to get up every time you slipped.
36. Original
Of all the things she hated Leshawna for, being Harold's first Total Drama crush was probably the least forgivable.
37. Abstract
Heather stared at the painting in horror. "THAT'S supposed to be ME?"
"It's abstract. GAWSH!" Harold snatched back the portrait and stormed away. "Philistine…"
38. Imperfection
Harold was perfectly willing to overlook her patchy, scraggly hair. And Heather was willing to overlook his scrawniness…and his illnesses…and his geekiness…and his raspy voice…and his—sorry, what were we talking about?
39. Let's Go
"Let's go! Fame and adventure await!" Harold said, grinning broadly as he pulled his startled girlfriend behind him into the woods.
40. Left Behind
Heather sighed, crossing off another day without Harold on the calendar. The McGradies were all ridiculously annoying, but maybe she shouldn't have declined their invitation to go on this ski trip.
41. Potential
She saw a potential servant. He saw a potential angel. Oddly enough, they were both a little right.
42. Demon
"Okay, but demons can have feelings too, ya know! Haven't you read Paradise Lost?"
43. Jump
"Well," Bridgette said, still giving her a suspicious, sideways look, "if you really want my advice, I'd say that sometimes, you just have to take a leap of faith." A small smile passed her lips. "Don't worry—I think he'll be able to catch you."
44. Punish
"I'm perfectly fine with it," Courtney said, turning up her nose. "As far as I'm concerned, going out with Heather is exactly the kind of punishment that little cheater deserves."
45. Over
"Oh please. I am so over that dork."
"You've said that six times now," Eva growled, pumping her dumbbell. "You're not convincing us any us, either."
46. Deception
Heather's eyes narrowed in silent fury. Harold had lied to her. Harold had lied to her, and she was going to rush home and find out what he was up to right now.
Meanwhile, Harold grinned as he stood back to admire his work. "This surprise party is gonna be AWEsome…"
47. Thunder
"No, I don't CARE how loud the storm is, get back in your own bed, you scrawny little PERV!"
48. Welcome
"Welcome, m'lady, to Chateau McGrady," he said, opening the front door with a flourish.
Harold's brother rolled his eyes. "Dork."
Heather had been about to say the exact same thing, but glared on principle.
49. Stop
"No—ha-ha—STOP!" Heather cried, trying to push him off.
Who would have thought that Heather would be so darn ticklish?
50. Writers' Choice: Lucky
As she joined him in front of the altar, they both gave each other a sheepish smile. At that moment, each of them thought they were the luckiest person in the entire world.