total drama oneshots

unexpected - bridgette/ezekiel friendship

// this was requested by someone on ao3!! enjoy :)

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Bridgette sighed happily as she exited the shower, wrapping a towel around her body. Finally, after a boat ride that felt hours long, distanced greetings, and a long shower, Bridgette felt clean again. She felt as if she should be more upset over her elimination, but she honestly just felt relieved to no longer stink of skunk. Even so, she was trying to stay positive. Sure, she may have lost, but she made a lot of good memories and relationships as well!

Bridgette hummed lightly as she dried and brushed her hair, thinking back to the good times on the island. Though the challenges had been grueling, the time in between the campers had made sure to have fun. Putting her hair back into a ponytail, Bridgette smiled as she remembered Gwen and Leshawna, the two girls having been extremely nice to her despite being on different teams before. As she got dressed, her light smile grew as she remembered Courtney and Geoff, by far the two she'd grown closest too. Courtney, despite being uptight, always meant well, and her interactions with Duncan always made Bridgette laugh. And Geoff... Bridgette blushed at the thought of the dorky, dumb, yet loud and lovable teen.

As Bridgette finished getting ready, fresh and clean, her stomach rumbled. It was then Bridgette realized she had yet to eat dinner. And she was on Playa de Losers. Which means no more island food. The thought alone almost made Bridgette's mouth water. With newfound eagerness, Bridgette made her way to the door, prepared to rush to the hotel cafeteria and gorge on decent food for the first time in weeks. However, as she swung open the door and stepped forward, she ran into something-some one .

"Augh!" The figure fell to the ground, knees bent and hands at their side. Bridgette looked down, prepared to apologize, but any thought of an apology dried in her mouth as she realized who it was.

Oh . She thought bitterly. This was not a memory she wanted to remember.

Ezekiel looked up at her, messy hair peeking out from his beanie, and Bridgette couldn't help but frown.

"Oh... Ezekiel. It's you," Bridgette said, trying to be polite. "What were you doing outside my room?" Ezekiel silently gazed up at her, mouth opening and closing like a fish. After a moment or two, he gasped and hurriedly stood himself up and dusted himself off. In the process, he nearly fell over, making Bridgette raise a questioning eyebrow. She almost began walking away, but then the boy spoke up.

"W-Wait. I've been waitin' here so I can talk to you, eh."

"You've..." Bridgette didn't trust him. "You've just been waiting outside of my room? For how long?"

Ezekiel looked at her in confusion for a moment. "Uh, not too long I think. I mean, you haven't been here too long, right?"

Right. Bridgette almost forgot how bad his social skills were.

"Yea," Bridgette confirmed. "What did you want to talk to me about?" At this, Ezekiel somehow became more awkward, shifting his eyes and tugging on the strings of his hoodie. He took a deep breath and said four words she never thought she'd hear from him.

"I wanted to... apologize." It was quiet enough to be a mumble, but she still heard it.

"Apologize?" Bridgette repeated, shocked.

"Yea." Ezekiel confirmed, raising his voice a bit. "For being uh, sexist." The way he said the last word wasn't quite right, as if he was still getting used to saying it. Bridgette's best guess was that someone told him about it while here. He probably didn't know it was a word until then.

However, Ezekiel wasn't done. "Uh, since comin' here, the others have been teachin' me why what I said was wrong. They've also been teachin' me other stuff... since apparently I don't know a whole lot. About the world n' stuff."

"Oh." was all Bridgette could say. She was not expecting this. However, once the shock wore off, she smiled. Hearing about Ezekiel making an effort to change for the better, and others helping him, warmed her heart. She always disliked disliking people (wasted energy, she thought), so now she could lift that off of her consciousness. More importantly, Ezekiel could make himself into a better person and get himself some friends.

"So," Ezekiel spoke up again. "I understand if you don't, but please forgive me for bein' an uh... idiot."

"Well," Bridgette said. "I think before I forgive you completely, I want to make sure you're telling the truth. I want to see if you've actually changed for the better."

"Really?" Ezekiel gasped. "That's better than I thought I'd get, eh. I've been apologizin' to Eva for weeks, still hasn't worked."

Bridgette felt the urge to laugh. "So you've been apologizing to all of the girls?" Ezekiel nodded vigorously.

"Yea. I think all of 'em except Eva have forgiven me for the most part," Ezekiel frowned. "Dunno what to do to get Eva to forgive me."

"Well, make sure you don't do it too often," Bridgette said, almost surprised at how she was giving him advice, when not even five minutes ago she hated him. "Eva is the type to hold grudges, and the more you bring it up to her the more likely she'll be to not forgive you, Just show her subtly that you've changed."

Ezekiel's eyes widened. "Really?"

"Yep." Bridgette nodded.

"Huh, I never thought about it like that. I'll have to remember it, eh." Ezekiel scrunched his face, as if he was trying to burn the advice into his brain. It was a little funny looking, but Bridgette knew he had good intentions.

"Hey," Bridgette found herself saying. "I was going to go get something to eat. Would you want to join me?" Ezekiel waited a moment, almost as if he was expecting her to take it back, When she didn't. He nodded slowly, and took a cautious step forward.

On their way to the cafeteria, Bridgette talked about different animals she'd seen and experiences she'd had while surfing. Ezekiel hung onto every word, in awe at the fact she'd seen a dolphin before, or that she could make her own seashell necklaces, or how she'd collect rocks. It was all something surreal to him, all so different from the sheltered life he'd led. Bridgette enjoyed being able to talk so passionately about what she loved, despite the person she was talking to having no knowledge on the topic.

Later that day Ezekiel told himself he wanted to find out as much about the world as he could. Whether it be the ocean, a foreign sport, a new book, fashion, or something like baking brownies. He wanted to learn it all.

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// Ezekiel character development go brrr