Chapter Text
Reese was a bit apprehensive as he stepped off the boat with Duncan, who still had a bit of the punk aesthetic leftover from his teens, but it has mellowed out since they got married.
(But they still had regular appointments together to get their nails done.)
Fifteen years since he’d been on the show and seen it in person.
It…honestly hadn’t changed much.
Blaineley had attempted to resurrect it with a series of new shows after World Tour, and the last one had ended in absolute disaster.
She had been more concerned about how she looked on camera than making sure the contestants were being taken care of, and it ended with wild animals taking over and the camp had to be evacuated.
Luckily everyone had been fine.
But despite the aging, it looked like it had been at least mowed recently.
“Reese! Duncan!” Chris waved “great to see you could make it!”.
“Great to see you too.” Reese gave him a small hug “god this place hasn’t changed much…Wow.”
“Yeah, we’re doing some repairs. Should be up and running in no time.”
“I thought you weren’t doing Total Drama anymore?” Reese asked.
“We’re not. It’s a regular summer camp. But we DO get to keep the name.”
Reese smiled “that’s nice…Hope it goes well.”
“Yeah, but don’t go putting them through hell.” Duncan laughed, wrapping an arm around Reese’s waist.
——
The others filed in, and their welcomes varied.
But all of them positive.
Lindsay and Tyler almost took Reese off the dock with their rush to hug him and Duncan.
Everyone looked so…different.
Grown up.
A far cry from the teens he knew all those years ago.
“You guys look great! How’s work?”
“So amazing!” Lindsay smiled brightly.
“Nothing but positive reviews so far!” Tyler added.
“That’s great!”
Everyone mingled amongst themselves as they all filed in.
——
Silence fell over the group as Sierra stepped off the boat.
While she HAD apologized years ago, for just about everything under the sun, and was in therapy ever since…she’d long since accepted that it was going to take a long time for the others to forgive her, if they ever would forgive her.
Especially Reese, Chris and Cody.
But Reese still greeted her politely as she settled into a conversation with Heather.
Alejandro had been the final arrival, and Reese waved to him.
They’d started communicating more frequently after World Tour.
He’d broken free from his parents and José, and had gone to live with his eldest brother Carlos.
Carlos and therapy had made a substantial change, and Reese’s presence had boosted his confidence in talking more openly about his experiences.
“Great to see you Alejandro. How’s Carlos?” Reese asked.
“He’s doing fine, he is on tour again. You know how it is.” Alejandro waved a hand.
As they caught up about their lives and Reese’s and Duncan’s engagement, Chris whistled to get their attention.
“Alright campers-“
“BOO!” Trent gave him a thumbs down.
“- we’re recreating the FIRST ever picture taken on these docks! Places people! While we still have daylight!”
They all apprehensively stood on the dock.
Leshawna crossed her arms “we are NOT falling for that again.”.
”Will you guys EVER let that go?”
“No!” They chorused.
“I promise, the dock has been rebuilt AND reinforced.” Chris held a hand up, the camera in the other as Chef worked to untether the boat.
They all groaned but gathered in a closer circle.
“On three! One…”
A pause.
“Two….”
A longer pause.
“Come on man! My back can’t handle this!” DJ called out.
“THREE!” Chris held adjusted the camera “say WAWANAKWA!”
“Wawanakwa!” they chorused, the camera flashing and momentarily blinding them.
——-
The reunion party was going exceptionally well.
Better than Reese had expected.
Duncan was joking around with Cody, Trent, Harold and Justin, whose band ‘Drama Brothers’ was making a comeback tour, and Alejandro.
Lindsay, Beth, Heather and Sierra were chattering together.
Noah, Owen, DJ and Geoff were laughing together.
Gwen, Izzy, Bridgette and Leshawna were talking about work with Courtney, Katie and Sadie.
Eva was talking with Ezekiel and Tyler.
Reese smiled as he sipped his drink.
Everyone seemed to be getting along.
Chef was manning the grill, and Chris was at his side, flirting with him openly.
Chef looked a bit annoyed, but was eyeing him with a loving smile.
———
They even had a campfire ceremony that night.
Reese hadn’t had an actual campfire in years…
The smell of burning wood mixing with the smell of nature and sugary marshmallows brought back a wave of nostalgia.
Though that might be due to the fact he was slightly buzzed.
“Who’s up for a little campfire song before we turn in?” Trent held up his guitar.
Loud, drunken cheers rang out in encouragement.
“Any requests?” Trent strummed the strings and began to adjust them.
They all called out songs, and Trent began the opening chords to what Duncan chose.
A “Your Physics Love” song called ‘Juveniles’.
——
After an hour of songs, they’d called it a night and stumbled to their respective cabins.
Their old cabins, Alejandro going with the Killer Bass and Sierra with the Screaming Gophers.
Reese had been pulling his pajama pants on when he spotted something on the wall.
Faded.
Dusty.
But there.
It was still there.
“R+D 2007 say:
You Belong.
You Matter”.
“We really came a long way. Didn’t we?” Duncan rested his chin on Reese’s hair.
“Yeah…but look.” Reese smiled softly.
More carvings.
Just initials…but it was there.
Lots of them.
“Looks like we did make a difference, huh?”
Duncan kissed his temple “we sure did babe.”
The two crawled into bed and held each other closely.
Their eyes closed and their breathing evened, matching each others as the drifted off.
Coming back was actually a good idea after all.