Chapter Text
A lot happened to Heather Kasuga from the end of Total Drama Action and the beginning of World Tour.
First, and to her, most importantly is that her hair grew out. It is now in a chic bob. She likes it, but she likes her hair longer. Her hair is one of her favorite parts about herself, so losing it on international TV after doing all of those embarrassing challenges was the worst humiliation of her life. Now that it’s grown out, she refuses to lose it again. She even gets scared to go to the hair salon to get a trim because she is so afraid of losing it again.
Second, she got into an internet feud with Gwen. Which even she didn’t see coming. Thinking about it now, Heather is embarrassed she wasted so much time on someone so unimportant. She keeps thinking about what she could have done during that time. She could’ve gotten modeling jobs, try to get into a good college, or maybe just have gotten to rest in between seasons, but she also didn’t know there was going to be another season.
And last but not least, she met Alejandro. It was a couple of months after Action had ended when she had walked into a coffee shop just wanting a coffee, and had walked out wanting so much more. She walked out wanting someone.
Their first meeting was straight out of a rom-com. She walked up to the counter and ordered her iced coffee. She only waited a couple of minutes until her name was called saying that her drink was ready. She walked up while looking at her phone, grabbed her drink with her free hand, and turned around to leave. She was disrupted only a couple steps in when she ran into someone. Some of her drink spilled onto the floor, but not all of it. She looked up to apologise to whoever she ran into, but she was left speechless. She ran into a man, he looked around her age. He had gorgeous long, brown hair and mesmerizing green eyes. He looked good. She realized she was staring when she looked up again and saw a smirk on this man’s lips.
“I’m sorry, I wasn’t paying attention.” Heather said, feeling shivers down her spine from his stare.
“Something distracting you?” The man whispered in a flirtatious tone.
“E..E..Excuse me?” Heather stuttered out, suddenly feeling nervous in this man’s gaze.
“I’m Alejandro, and you are?” The man, Alejandro apparently, said, putting his hand out for a handshake.
“I’m Heather.” She stated, feeling some strange pull to comply and answer. She put her hand out too and shook his. They stayed hand in hand for a little longer than necessary.
“Heather… Beautiful name for a beautiful girl.” Alejandro remarked while raising her hand up to place a kiss on it.
He slowly dropped her hand and winked at her.
“Let me buy you another coffee, hermosa.” He stated.
“It’s fine, I don’t need your charity.” Heather mummured.
“Please, I insist.” He declared, persisting through and trying to convince her to agree.
“Fine, I guess if it means so much to you.” Heather said, trying to control her composure and not fold in his presence.
“It does.” He whispered in her ear.
They walked up to the counter together and waited for a barista to come up.
“What’s your order?” He asked in a low voice.
“It’s just an iced coffee.” She voiced, not letting him get to her head.
The barista walked up and he ordered 2 drinks, her iced coffee and a black coffee. They walked over to the side to wait for their drinks. Heather didn’t do anything to start a conversation, she didn’t trust herself to not say something stupid.
Once again their drinks came out only in a few minutes. She grabbed hers and was planning on saying thank you and walking away until he asked her to go sit down at one of the tables with him.
“Oh, uh sure yeah.” Heather said, thinking what harm this could possibly cause.
They walked over to a table in the corner of the cafe, it was lit by a candle in the middle of the table. They sat across from each other and he started a conversation.
‘So, what brings you here today, cariño?” He questioned in a husky voice.
“I wanted a coffee.” She stated in an obvious tone as she picked up her coffee.
He laughed quietly and looked at her with admiration in his eyes. She couldn’t understand what that meant and chose to ignore it.
They had a conversation like that for a while. Him asking her questions, her responding with snarky, sarcastic answers. It was a nice back and forth and after a little bit, Heather was getting curious.
“What about you?” Heather asked, waiting for a response.
“What do you mean?” He responded, with a confused look on his face.
“You keep asking me questions, but you haven’t told me anything about yourself.” Heather stated as if it was obvious and as if she was confused as to why he was confused.
“My name is Alejandro Burromuerto and I am 18 years old. I have 2 brothers, Carlos and José. Both are older than me. I am fluent in 3 languages, Spanish, English, and Japanese. I am from Madrid, but I moved here for better college opportunities. My favorite color is red. My favorite food is Tortilla de Patata and I am asking you a bunch of questions because I want to get to know you.” Alejandro said and stared at Heather after, watching her digest the sentence.
After that, they talked for hours, going back and forth. They were asking each other questions and genuinely being interested in the answer. At some point, Heather checked her phone because of a notification and she saw the time. It had been hours since she first entered the store. She knew she had things she wanted to do after getting coffee, but right now she can’t think of anything but Alejandro. At some point Alejandro saw the time too and realized he had to go.
“I am so sorry, mi ángel, but I have to go.” Alejandro stated with a sad look on his face.
“Oh, it's okay.” Heather murmured, trying to not sound as disappointed as she felt.
“I would love to take you out on a real date, Heather.” Alejandro voiced, sounding somewhat hopeful.
Heather had to hide the smile that was threatening to spill and she said, “I would like that.” She admitted.
Alejandro asked for her phone and she obliged. He put his number into her phone and sent himself a text.
“So, how about tonight at 7pm?” Alejandro asked, a hint of nervousness in his voice, that most people wouldn’t pick up. But Heather did.
“Yeah, okay. I can do that.” Heather agreed, trying not to sound too excited.
They started to walk out together, they were in sync. Still continuing their conversation. They left in different directions, waving goodbye. Heather was immediately thinking about what she was going to wear tonight and how she was going to wear her hair. She was deep in thought about her date tonight all the way back to her apartment.
Alejandro was the same. He was wondering which place he should take her, what he should wear, if he should text her when he gets home or if that makes him look too desperate. But at this point he was, he never hit it off with anyone like he did with Heather. She was special and he needed to do this date right.
…
Alejandro and Heather hit it off on their first date. So they went on another one, and another one, and another one. And then they started dating and it's been an amazing few months. Getting to know Alejandro was one of the greatest joys in Heather’s life, and the same goes for Alejandro. It’s only been a few months, but he knows he wants to spend the rest of his life with this woman. She compliments so well and is, in his eyes, genuinely the most perfect woman ever. But of course, whenever anything is going good for Heather, something has to come and try to ruin it. And of course that since was none other than Chris McLean. He reached out to Alejandro offering him a role on what Chris swore would be a new hit show, Total Drama Dirtbags. Alejandro and Heather realized they needed to have a talk about what this would mean for their relationship. Heather knows what happens to contestants on Total Drama and how horrible it can be.
“So, what does this mean for us?” Heather questioned, suddenly feeling a wave of sadness wash over her. She has been done with Total Drama for more than a year. She refuses to continue to let this show negatively impact her.
“What do you mean, mi luz?” Alejandro countered.
“When you compete on Total Drama, you can’t contact anyone from outside the crew and competitors. You’ll be away for months, so I’m just wondering how you want to go through this.” Heather stated, praying for a re-assurance to come out of her boyfriend's mouth.
“Heather, it will all be okay. You could watch the show while it airs so you can still see me, maybe I could use my charm to convince the producers to let me keep my phone. But if you’re not comfortable or happy with me being away for so long, I won’t do this.” Alejandro said the last part so easily, and it made Heather somewhat mad, you don’t just give up a large sum of money.
So she voiced her anger, “Are you crazy? You don’t just give up a million dollars!” Heather shouted. She had been robbed of the money in this first season, when they shaved her head yet said she failed the challenge. She refused to let this happen to someone she cared so much about.
Alejandro said, in the calmest tone, “I would do anything for you, losing a million bucks is nothing if I get to spend the months I would have been competing with you.”
That shocked Heather, sometimes she forgets she can be deserving of love because of her parents, so coming face to face with someone who loves her enough to give up something so big, it makes her feel scared. Alejandro is like a dream come true, and Heather is really scared of waking up.
“I still say you compete. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity, Alejandro, and you deserve it.” Heather complimented.
“Okay so, we have to think about what we should reveal, do I tell people you're my girlfriend?” Alejandro asked, he knew how much she loved privacy and doesn’t want to force her more into the limelight than she already is.
“I mean, do we have to? Our relationship is so perfect right now and I don’t want some internet creeps ruining it, and it’s not that I want to hide you. I just can’t have anything destroy this relationship. I love you too much for that” Heather expressed, not wanting to hurt Alejandro’s feelings.
“I completely understand, mi amor. So we keep our relationship under wraps? Don't let anyone know anything they could use against us?” Alejandro asked, wanting to make sure he understood her request completely.
“Yes, what they don’t know can’t hurt them.” Heather communicated.
“Do I still tell people I have a girlfriend, and just don’t say who it is? Or do I tell people I’m single?” Alejandro asked, shivering at the last word. At this point in his life, he can’t imagine being with anyone but Heather.
“Tell them your single and use your charms to get further into the game. I mean not using one of your strongest strengths is just bad planning.” Heather said, acting like she wasn’t bothered at all about the fact her boyfriend would act like she didn’t exist to him in a couple of months.
“Are we keeping this a secret forever?” Alejandro whispered, as if he didn’t want anyone else to hear, even though it was just them in Heather’s apartment right now.
“No, not forever. Just until this whole Total Drama mess is behind us.” Heather stated as if it were the most obvious answer in the world. Heather couldn’t fathom acting like she wasn’t in love with Alejandro for the rest of her life.
“Okay, I’ll make sure to win for us, mi vida.” Alejandro said as he leaned in to kiss her forehead.
“You better.” Heather murmured.
…
Then the Gemmy Awards come around, and the Total Drama cast is nominated. So when the time comes around for the award ceremony. Heather shows up and already knows that the cast isn’t supposed to come back to the show. She has to act shocked and is mostly mad that she doesn’t have a chance to win Total Drama now, but a small part of her is happy that this show is done with her. This show made her shave her head, and embarrassed her time after time again for the whole world to see. God forbid a girl is a little bit happy that she doesn’t have to deal with that anymore.
So she puts on a face and acts shocked when Total Drama Dirtbags is announced and she is somewhat mad because why did Chris wait to tell them? Why be a douche and tell them the night of a massive award ceremony. Then, to add salt to the wound, they weren’t allowed into the venue. They had to stand outside and wait for Izzy to try and break in. Which she did, but then she just let the door close behind her, not even trying to keep it open for one of us to sneak in. They all just about gave up until some weird fan girl, Heather thinks her name is Sara or something like that, gave an actual good speech and convinced the original Total Drama cast to fight back to go onto the show.
All Heather was thinking about while they were chasing after the Total Drama Dirtbags bus was how this would affect Alejandro? Would it mean he could still be on the show? He was pretty excited about it, no matter how much he tried to hide it, she could read him like an open book anyway. She didn’t want to hurt his feelings and possibly ruin the best thing she has in her life right now. She was internally panicking for the entirety of the 2 hour car ride. So much happened Heather honestly can’t remember all of it. She saw Alejandro though. He was driving the bus for the other show, and she threw something to cover his windshield. Then they fell off a cliff, and Leshawana's bra saved them? Heather doesn’t truly remember all of it. It felt like a fever dream. But at some point she woke up to Chris and Chef in an airplane flying them out of there and onto the old set of Action.
Then Chris told them that there would be another season of Total Drama and that they would be competing in it. And she was pretty excited, another chance at a million dollars, who wouldn’t say yes? Then to make it all better, Alejandro walked out and Chris said that he would get to compete too and it took everything in her to hide her excitement. She loves playing against Alejandro. They both get so competitive. They had to stop though, after a game of Connect Four got violent. But now, getting to compete against him to win a million dollars, she really wants to win. But it also doubles their odds, so it only makes Heather more excited for this season. Her and Alejandro share some looks here and there but they don’t want to make anyone learn the truth, so they don’t approach each other until there is no one else around.
After Alejandro finished his confessional, Heather walked in and actually caught him off guard.
“Hey, mi amor.” Alejandro whispered.
“Why are we whispering?” Heather whispered.
“So people don’t hear us, mi reina. But, anyways, what is our strategy here?” Alejandro asked, trying to look her in the eye so he could read her easier.
“Your charm is your best trait.” Heather stated, obviously deep in thought.
“Are you telling me to flirt with other women? Princesa, I can’t believe you right now.” Alejandro asked, exaggerating his voice and trying to make Heather laugh. Which does work.
“I’m trying to make sure we’ll win.” Heather grunted.
“So we’re trying to make it to the final two, no matter what.” Alejandro stated, as if it wasn’t obvious.
“Yes, of course. But don’t make it obvious.” Heather said, already strategizing.
Then after a little bit, Heather came up with the perfect idea.
“We could act like we hate each other.” Heather whispered, as if she didn’t want to be heard. But Alejandro heard her, he always did.
“I don’t know if I could do that, mi tesoro.” Alejandro lamented. The thought of acting like he wasn’t in love with Heather made him shiver.
Heather scoffed, “I think you’ll live.” she said as she put her hand on his shoulder.
He leaned into it and put his hand on her face. He looked into her eyes and asked her, “Are you ready to act like we don’t know each other?”
“I was born for this.” Heather said jokingly.
She leaned in and put both her arms around his neck, after she did that, he moved his hands to her waist. They slowly leaned in, looking into each other’s eyes until their lips touched. They kissed slowly, trying to savor this, knowing that they wouldn’t be able to do this for a while. When they finally pulled apart, they hugged, squeezing each other really tightly. It felt like they were hugging for hours, but it was only for a couple of minutes. They slowly let each other go, not really wanting too yet knowing they have to.
They shared one more quick kiss, then they walked away. Ready for the competition, but not ready for the extra acting they are going to have to do this season. But they’ll make it through it and it’ll be okay, at least they hope. But knowing Chris McLean, who knows what’ll happen.