Chapter Text
“You want… A reunion?”
“Uh-huh!” Owen eagerly bobs his head up and down, excitement setting his eyes ablaze with joy.
Noah frowns and then frowns some more. Sometimes, he wishes he didn’t have such an optimistic best friend. Noah does his best not to sigh, but honestly, his best is not good enough and he sighs anyway. He doesn’t have to worry about offending his friend anyway, Owen is a good sport. He’s always been.
Noah and Owen, Total Drama veterans, are sitting in a homely and quiet diner, meeting up for the first time in several months. Life has been busy for both of them. They had gone off to college after competing in reality TV and it was like almost settling down in a sense. Noah was tired of being in the spotlight and Owen wanted to make his mom proud by going off to school. Noah could roll his eyes at such a motivation. Owen’s mom would always be proud of him, he didn’t have to go to school to change that. However, his bubbly friend insisted that he wanted to get a good job so for the past year, the reality TV favorite has been attending a local community college while Noah attends a four-year university.
Now with the welcoming warmth of summer break, the two buddies finally have time to catch up and relax after a stressful freshman year. Noah’s glad to see his friend again, but he never thought that he would suggest a Total Drama reunion. The request catches Noah off guard.
“You don’t like the idea, little buddy?” Owen cautiously asks before scooting forward in his seat so that he can get closer to his smaller friend. “Why not?” He sounds more curious than offended. “You never miss the others? Not even a little bit?”
A little bit, Noah repeats in his head. Sure, Noah misses a few members of the Total Drama crew every now and again. Izzy is batshit crazy but is a lot of fun (besides, Noah can appreciate how her antics light Owen’s face up, even if the overweight man himself doesn’t notice), Eva is downright scary but has a level head and steel will when her temper doesn’t flare, and Gwen seems pretty cool. I mean, he hasn’t and doesn’t talk to Gwen a lot but his point still stands. There wasn’t time for that during and off the air, but he can still appreciate her realistic attitude and snark. Noah isn’t one to not appreciate a witty person.
“Now don’t get me wrong,” Noah drones as he picks up his coffee cup, “I like a few members of the crew, but that doesn’t mean we should plan a full-blown reunion with everyone.” He sips on the coffee in his hand, dark and bitter just like him. If Noah is going to be honest, he doesn’t even like black coffee that much but just drinks it because that was what people expect him to drink. No one expects the bookworm to chug down surgery energy drinks or suffocate his coffee with cream and sugar. Besides, sugar is bad for your skin. Anyway, he holds an appreciation for the strong liquid. It has done Noah a huge service during his first year of college whenever he had to pull all-nighters or cram for exams.
So, he continues to drink it, even if he cringes whenever he does. It’s an old and bad habit, but so what? What is someone going to do, sue him?
“Oh, but come on, Noah!” Owen practically whines as he slumps his face down onto the diner booth table between the pair. “The more people the merrier! Remember how much fun we all had together at Playa Des Losers and during Aftermath shows? I mean, doing Ridiculous Race was amazing,” Owen chuckles, “But it is nothing compared to the original gang. We didn’t make lasting relationships on that show- er, I mean.” Owen stutters as he sits up in his red booth and nervously looks around as if he’s trying to find someone to save him from his slip-up. Noah frowns at the sight. Although he didn’t win the show, he left the show with a girlfriend. A girlfriend he no longer has. He doesn’t want to discuss his ex, Emma, right now. It would only reopen fresh wounds. The pair had only broken up a couple of weeks ago after Noah finished the spring semester. It is all his fault, but that’s honestly not important right now. That’s a bitter topic for another time.
Noah takes another sip of his coffee and shoots a glare toward his panicking friend. It’s not a mean one, but simply one that says “drop it,” and Owen calms down a little, dropping the direction the conversation was heading. Owen doesn’t have to say anything to clear the tension because the pair’s waiter does that by walking over with a tray of plates- three counting as Owen’s and one counting as Noah- and starts piling them on the table.
“Here you go boys,” the older woman grunts, her pinned-up ginger hair threatening to fall from its clip, “One double-stacked cheeseburger with everything, pancakes with bacon, chicken and waffles, and egg sandwich.” Noah boredly watches as the plates are set down as he sets down his cup on its own plate. He drags his egg sandwich towards him when it’s placed down. Meanwhile, Owen is rubbing his hands and eagerly licking his lips as he stares down at his bounty.
“Oh boy,” he chuckles, ready to consume everything in sight.
“Enjoy boys,” the waiter calls out as she walks away from the table.
“Oh, oh,” Owen looks up and calls out to the woman, “Can I please also have a chocolate milkshake?”
“Sure thing, hun,” Noah glances behind him to see the waiter smiling over at Owen as she moves behind the diner counter. “Want a cherry and whipped cream?” Noah snorts, that’s not even a question worth asking. He already knows what Owen’s reply is going to be before he turns back to face his friend who is bobbing his head up and down, a puppy dog look on his face.
Noah shakes his head with a little smile before looking down at his plate. He’s not really that hungry but makes an attempt to eat as he picks up his sandwich. Owen tucks a napkin into his shirt, making a bib, before digging into his burger. The oversized and stuffed burger oozes out goodness and some falls on the bib.
Noah decides to pick back up on their conversation once he takes his first bite.
“So,” he draws out, “This reunion…. Are you saying that the original gang includes everyone, even people from World Tour?” Noah asks as he sets down his sandwich, his eyes narrowed and sharp.
“Well, yeah,” Owen innocently replies with a full mouth before swallowing. “Why wouldn’t it?”
“Because there is no way in a Chris McLean ruled over Hell that I am going to voluntarily interact with that slimy eel Alejandro.”
“Al?” Owen tilts his head to one side, eyes blinking with confusion. “What’s wrong with Al?” All it takes is for Noah to raise his eyebrow for his slow friend to get it. “Ooh,” Owen nods, “That’s right, I forget that he’s kinda the reason you got eliminated on World Tour.” He quickly consumes the rest of his burger before taking a few napkins and cleaning his hands off.
“Kinda?” Noah snaps, struggling to keep his voice at an inside level. “He’s the complete, total, and only reason I got eliminated after London!”
“Well,” Owen meekly suggests as he discards the napkins in his hands next to his empty plate, “It makes sense that he would want you gone after you insulted him. I’m sure Al was just upset.”
“Right, upset,” Noah rolls his eyes and turns to look out the window the two are next to. He watches a woman walk her dog in the distance. “Well, he had no reason to be upset, all I did was say the truth. He was- and is- a slimy eel. My gut feeling was right, and people should have listened to me sooner.” From the corner of his eye, Noah can see Owen shrug.
“That’s true, but it could be that Al just acted like that on TV,” Owen offers as he picks off some fries on his burger plate before moving on to the chicken and waffles. “Maybe this reunion will be the perfect chance to move on. It’s been three years Noah, I’m sure Al has already moved past it all.”
“That doesn’t mean I should too,” Noah mumbles as he snatches another sip of his drink.
“So does this mean that you don’t want a reunion then?” Noah turns to see Owen sadly frown at his friend, his lip trembling.
“Well,” Noah huffs, confliction torturing his mind, “I mean- ugh, no…” He slumps his shoulders as he takes another bite of his sandwich. “I’m not jumping for joy about the idea, but it’s clear that you like it so sure, I’ll help you plan our happy little dysfunctional family reunion.”
“Really?” Owen squeals as he drops a waffle in his lap, too shocked for words. “Oh, little buddy, I knew that you would come through for me!” Owen jumps in his seat and hardly notices when the waiter comes by again to drop off Owen’s diabetes-filled milkshake. “I could just hug you right now!”
“Please don’t,” Noah winches. He’s endured far too many of Owen’s bone-crushing hugs, he doesn’t know if he can take much more. “You uh,” he nods down towards his friend’s lap, “Dropped something there.”
“Huh?” Owen looks down at his lap and lets out a nerdy chuckle as he picks up the waffle in his lap and stuffs it in his mouth. “Guess I was just too shocked for words- and waffles- that you agreed!” He exclaims with a full mouth.
“Yeah, whatever.” Noah doesn’t think it’s that big of a deal. “If you- we’re going to really do this, then we need to plan the logistics,” Noah states as he points at Owen with a serious expression. Owen is quick to agree, and Noah dominates the conversation.
During the rest of the meal, the duo plans out all of the necessities for the reunion such as who was going to book the venue, who was going to make invitations and send them out, and who was going to handle the catering.
It’s by the time that Owen has emptied all of the plates and is slurping on the last bit of his milkshake that the pair have a solid foundation for who is doing what. Noah is handling the invitations and location while Owen is handling the food and entertainment.
“This is going to be the reunion of a lifetime!” Owen declares before letting out a loud bleach.
“Well, we might as well make it special if it’s going to be broadcasted,” Noah shrugs. Oh yeah, guess it should be mentioned now that in all of the contestants’ contracts it says that if they all get together as a group that the reunion has to be made into a TV special. Noah wouldn’t have even known if it wasn’t for the fact that he overheard Courtney go on and on about the details of everyone’s contract during World Tour. It was mentioned in one of her braggy rants about suing the show and producers. He’s surprised that he even remembers such a detail about Courtney. Whatever, Noah’s memory has always been as selective as hell anyway.
Anyway, the broadcast element is one of the reasons that Noah was, and still is, so hesitant about getting the old gang together. He’s had enough of being exposed on reality TV. Owen doesn’t care about the broadcast element, he’s just excited about seeing his friends again, of course, Noah isn’t sure everyone else will hold such enthusiasm.
“Oh, I’m going to get a hold of the show producers as soon as I can!” Owen lets out a chortle as he stands, his actions lively. “I’m sure they’ll want a reunion just as much as I do!” Owen jogs out of the diner as he pulls out his phone, too caught up in his glee to realize a critical flaw.
“Wait, Owen,” Noah attempts to call out to his friend, but he’s already gone. Noah sighs with a shake of his head as the pair’s waiter walks over with the bill. Looks like Noah is footing the bill. He mutters a “thanks” to the waiter as he takes it from her and looks down at it. He groans as he sneaks a glare at Owen’s stack of plates. No wonder he went to a community college , Noah thinks as he sets down the bill and pulls his wallet out, He couldn’t afford to go to a four-year university with his stomach and ravenous appetite.
---
Owen is absolutely over the moon. He doesn’t mean to walk out on his little buddy at the diner, but he just can’t wait to get this reunion off the ground. He talks to the producers of Total Drama, and then some more people, and then some more. By the time he’s done, he realizes it’s been hours.
Owen grunts with a yawn as he pulls himself off of his family’s living room couch. He can hear his mom humming in the kitchen doing dishes. The rest of the family is out of town, Owen's father and his brothers are on a fishing trip. Owen loves, loves hunting and fishing, but he wasn’t about to leave his poor mom home. His mother has zero interest in fishing so Owen decided to opt-out of the trip in order to spend some quality time with his favorite person. It works for Owen because he gets to hang out with his good buddy Noah and his mother is contempt with the idea of staying home so that she can have bonding time with her loveable son.
Owen tiredly scratches his face when suddenly realization hits him: he left poor Noah to deal with the bill, causing him to have to pay for both his and Owen’s meal. Shame and regret instantly flood him, and he makes sure to shoot his little buddy a quick message to let him know that he's sorry about walking out on him and for not footing the bill. Before he can see if his friend has replied, Owen decides to give a call to his ex-girlfriend, now second-best friend, Izzy. He can hardly contain his excitement as he quickly goes to the phone app and clicks on her contact. It's not often that Owen gets a chance to call Izzy due to the fact that she's constantly changing her phone number since she's always on the run. He's not sure what she's on the run from, but she's always on the run regardless. Each time Owen asks, she always has a different answer. Sometimes it’s the FBI, sometimes it’s the Illuminati, and sometimes it’s the USSR (though Owen is pretty sure that’s not a thing anymore… Maybe).
At least crazy Izzy has the consideration of always telling Owen whenever she changes her number so that way, he always has a way to contact her. It is especially handy to have a way to contact Izzy when the group- aka Eva, Noah, Izzy, and Owen- all decide to get together to have the Monopoly game night. Those are the best. Owen wouldn't trade those nights for the world. Some of his best memories have been made during game night. The company is good, the food is good, and the games are good. Of course, he never wins any of the games but that's okay, that's not what matters.
Owen impatiently hums as the phone rings. It takes only a few rings for Izzy to pick up. All Owen can hear is the whirl of machines in the background. It's strange and odd but hey, Owen’s used to it.
“Izzy?” Owen calls out when Izzy doesn’t say anything. “Are you there?” Owen’s about to get seriously concerned when he hears a giggly cackle on the other end. Relief instantly hits him.
" Hey Big O, " Izzy squeals on the other end, “How's it on the flip side?”
"Izzy, wow, so good to hear from you,” Owen finds himself grinning silly as he makes his way out of the living room and towards the stairs, heading off to his room. “I'm doing good, real good actually. Uh, Izzy? Where are you? It sounds like you're in a factory.”
"Right-o, Big O,” She tells him, "But the reason why is class-si-fied."
"Right, "Owen replies as he sheepishly climbs the stairs, almost not wanting to know. "So, Izzy, are you busy with uh, doing whatever it is that you are doing? If you’re not, I have some really big news I want to tell you.”
"Did Noah finally come out of the closet?" She badgers him, giddiness in her voice.
"Huh, what?” Owen blinks as he makes it to the top of the stairs and walks to his room. “No, that's not it…”
"Did you come out of the closet?” Izzy guesses again.
"Izzy, I'm pretty sure neither one of us are in the closet. We're just not,” Owen pauses, not sure how he should phrase his words as he walks into his room, "Open about our preferences.” Nailed it , he thinks as he does a victory arm pump with his free hand. “But I mean, Justin is totally my type. Just uh,” Owen nervously chuckles, “Let's keep it a secret between you and me.”
“You got it! My lips are sealed! Zip!” Owen can imagine Izzy pantomiming the action. “Okay, so I’m done guessing. I’m stumped, stumped, stumped! What’s the biz?”
"Noah and I are hosting a Total Drama reunion! How cool is that?” Own waits for Izzy's excitement, but hears nothing. He stands in silence for a few moments waiting to hear if she'll say something, but she doesn’t. “Uh, Izzy?” Owen loudly whispers. “Are you there?” After a few more beats, Izzy replies.
"Yeah,” Izzy chipperly replies, "I'm here. Sorry about that Big O, but I had to go MIA for a moment. I just entered enemy territory, if I would have said something I would have been caught. Rabid ManBearPigs have sharp ears.”
"Oh no, are you okay?” Owen flops down on his bed, biting his lip. “We sure wouldn't want those oh, wait, what...? What did you say was after you?” Man-Bear-whatcha-ma-call-ems?”
“ManBearPigs,” She hisses, and Owen hears her voice fade on the other end. It’s replaced by the sound of beating metal. “Okay,” he hears some wrestling as her voice becomes clearer, “I'm safe, for now. Wow, Big-O, " Izzy giggles finally allowing herself to celebrate. “That is like so so so so exciting. It’s almost as exciting as all of the times we- well, mostly you- almost died on Total Drama!”
“I know, right!” Owen grins. “So, uh, Izzy, we haven’t sent out invitations or told the others yet but are you coming? It would mean a lot to me- uh, Noah and I if you did.”
“Of course, I’m coming to partayyyyyy! DJ Escope in the house!” Izzy hoots and hollers so Owen does as well, her excitement contagious. “So, Nono is in on the shindig as well, alright!”
“Yeah, but it kinda took some convincing to get him to play along,” Noah admits as he stares up at his bedroom ceiling, “And the only reason he didn’t want to do it was because of Al.”
“Al? Like aloe vera?”
“What? No, I’m talking about Alejandro.”
“Oh, the spicy Spaniard!” Izzy whistles. “Is Nono afraid of seeing his long-time crush or something?”
“Crush?” If Owen was eating something right now, he would be choking. “What do you mean crush? I mean, Al is hot, and smart, and charming, but that doesn’t mean Noah has a crush on him! I mean, I know what that looks like! He basically became Jello around Emma when he had a crush on her!” Owen’s stomach growls.
Mmm, Jello , he can’t help but think as he licks his lips.
“It was a forbidden crush!” Izzy dramatically declares. “One of betrayal, hate, and passion! Just ask Sierra, she’ll know what I’m talking about.”
“Sierra?” Owen sits up in his bed. “Yeah, I guess if anyone would know who liked who, Sierra would. She is like a crazy super fan of Total Drama. Thanks, Izzy,” Owen feels a smile tug at his lips as he speaks.
“All in a day's work- oh, shhh!” The eccentric woman hushes Owen, even though he wasn’t talking. “The enemy is approaching,” she whispers, “I gotta go O. Mama’s got some men to kill cause she’s got her killing license renewed, WHAHAHA-!” And with that, the line goes dead, and Owen is left to sit in wonderment.
Trying not to be bothered by the redhead’s words, Owen takes Izzy’s advice and hits up Total Drama’s biggest superfan. Owen has everyone’s number from the original cast (plus Al and Sierra) on his phone. They’re all his good buds and it would be a bummer if he didn’t have a way to contact that.
The phone doesn’t even get to its first ring when Sierra answers.
“Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, hi Owen!” Sierra squeals on the other line. “Long time no hear from! You know, this would be the perfect time for you to answer a few questions, you see I’m updating my blog and-”
“Uh, sorry Sierra, but I don’t think I have time for that,” Owen nervously admits. “I need your help with something.”
“Oh my gosh, really? I would do anything. Anything,” she stresses. “Except like,” she quickly adds on, “Marry anyone except Cody. I’m a loyal girl, you see. Uh, discounting that time I thought Cameron was my Cody bear. That doesn’t count, I was off my game.”
“Oh, I’m sure Cody didn’t mind,” Owen mutters, not sure what to say. “So, Noah and I are putting together a Total Drama reunion and I-” He doesn’t even get to finish what he is saying because the superfan lets out an unholy noise of pure excitement that makes Owen’s ear bleed a little.
“Really? Really?” Sierra gasps and Owen can hear aggressive typing on the other end. “Please tell me I am a part of this because if I’m not-! Oh, my followers are hearing about this, stat!”
“Wait, wait!” Owen pleads. “Yes, you are invited and no, they do not need to hear about it… Yet. Look, we uh, haven’t sent out the invitations yet so wait to tell your followers until everyone else knows. Pretty please?” The typing ceases and he hears Sierra take a deep breath in and out.
“Okay, Owen, I can do that. So,” Sierra clicks her tongue, “Whatcha need?”
“I guess I uh,” Owen hesitates, not knowing if he should be talking about his best friend and relationship issues with a stalker, “So you have a strong grasp on everyone’s relationship in Total Drama, right?”
“That’s not even a question worth asking, of course, I do!” Sierra squeals. “I have a chart documenting everyone who’s ever been on the show’s relationships! Did you know that the only two couples from TDI that are still together are Bridgette and Geoff and Tyler and Lindsay? They’ve been the longest-lasting couples in Total Drama history!”
“Do you have something about relationships that are, er, not real?” Wow, Owen really has no idea how to phrase his concerns. He doesn’t understand this fan stuff like Sierra does!
“You mean do I have something documenting non-canon ships?”
“Yes? Maybe?” Owen winches, having no idea what ‘ships’ or ‘non-canon' is.
“Of course, I do!” Sierra practically sings. “So, do you want to hear about the 10 most popular fanon ships or-”
“I just have a question about Noah,” Owen blurts.
“Oh my gosh!” Sierra squeals for the millionth time. “Are you asking about who Noah is shipped with? Because oh boy, he’s shipped with a lot of people!”
“Huh? I mean no, but-”
“Noah is shipped the most with Cody making their ship name NoCo, but all I have to say is that Cody bear is mine! Hiss, hiss! Growl, growl! Noah can’t have him!” Sierra sounds absolutely terrifying, and Owen is a little scared.
“Woah, woah, don’t worry,” Owen anxiously giggles, “You don’t have to worry about Noah stealing your… Cody bear any time soon. Why do people think the two of them would be a good couple? They’re not even close frie-”
“Season one, episode 3. The kiss on the ear.”
“Ohhh, hehe, I kinda… Forgot about that.”
“The fans didn’t.”
Owen rules to keep that information locked away deep, deep in his mind. He knows his little buddy wouldn’t be happy if he finds out that the fans are shipping him with Cody, so he decides that Noah is better off not knowing at all.
“Anyway,” Owen is starting to feel all nervous and weird, and when that happens, he gets gassy so he tries to change the subject. “I didn’t mean sailboats, or ships, whatever they are, I was just wondering if you could tell when other contestants who didn’t get together… Liked each other. You know, let’s hypothetically say that you could tell if Noah had a crush on Al- I mean, someone during World Tour, who would you think that would be?” Owen prays that Sierra didn’t hear his slipup.
“Hmm,” Sierra thinks, “Noah’s a tough one. I really didn’t think he had an actual heart until he got with Emma!” Owen wants to let out a sigh of relief. Sierra didn’t pick up on what he said, thank all that is cheesy and good. However, he is pained for the sake of his bud! Why would Sierra say that Noah doesn’t have a heart?
“Of course, my little bud’s got a heart,” Owen hears himself gasp.
“Oh, don’t be so offended sounding Owen! You know that Noah is like 90% snark so it’s hard for him to be vulnerable. So, why were you asking if Noah had a crush during World Tour? I love talking about ships and all, but it’s a little random.”
“Well, uh, uh,” Owen feels himself start sweating and before he knows it, he blurts it all out: “Well, when I asked Noah about having a reunion, he didn’t want to at first and he brought up Al and I thought that was weird so when I called Izzy to tell her about what happened, she said that Noah had a crush on him and I thought that was, well, you know, odd so I uh asked her would might know if that was true and she directed me to you, and you see, I’m just really worried about my buddy because he’s still mad about getting eliminated and I think he’s holding onto a lot of negative feelings and I just want him to be happy, especially since he broke up with Emma- oops…”
“WHAT?” Sierra screeches. “Another Total Drama relationship has crashed and burned? First Duncney and now this?”
“Duncney?” Owen mutters.
“Duncan and Courtney, duh!” The fangirl says a few more inaudible rambles before clearing her throat. “Okay, okay, okay, I can’t believe I, Total Drama’s number 1 fan did not know this! When did it happen?” Sierra’s question sounds more like a demand. “Tell me. Now.”
“About a little less than a month ago,” Owen squeaks out, scared for his well-being. Sierra squawks something that sounds like the equivalent of a keyboard smash.
“Nemma may be dead,” Sierra finally declares, “But we can make Alenoah a reality together, Owen! If what you are saying about Noah is true, then this sounds like a typical case of hashtag enemies to lovers. As one of my favorite tropes, I can’t afford to miss out on making it a reality!”
“I have no idea what you just said,” Owen says slowly, his mind running on one bar, “But does that mean you are going to help little buddy and Al become friends again?”
“Oh, we’re going to do more than that Owen,” Sierra giggles, “We’re going to make Total Drama history.”