Yes! It's that time! Juggling time! :D This is one of those stories I told you about not to long ago. And, as you may or may not have noticed, it's dxg central. This one will probably be one of the shorter ones too. I only hope you like the ride. But I must say, as with the next story and the one before this that I put out, don't expect regular updates. What I write on will depend on my mood.

It was nearing the end of summer the day it happened. The day everything came crashing down for the three friends. Not that they were tight friends, but friends none the less despite their vast differences. Courtney, a brunette with emerald green eyes and skin dark enough so that many mistook her for a Mexican, was the straight A student. She never missed a day of school, recoiled at the notion of skipping, and went into convulsions when the possibility of a B came about. Duncan, on the other hand, was the exact opposite. He was a bad boy punk who didn't give a damn about the rules of the school or home, not even society. He went around making trouble every moment he found. He skipped school, or at least one class, every day and was a total heartbreaker. He had honed this skill with much practice and the aid of his exceptional looks. He had jet black hair with a green Mohawk sitting atop it, his eyes were a mix of bluish green, teal perhaps, his skin not to dark but not to light, and he had piercings covering his face. There was one by his nose, two above and below one eyebrow, and two in one ear. And, no surprise, they were the same shade as his eyes. Some girls were revolted by how he's 'desecrated' his body and tried their hardest to have nothing to do with him while the rest swooned over him on a daily basis. There were many choices because of this, and he wasn't picky. It was like a buffet, he had all he could eat and picked what he felt like at the time, dumping most within a day or two depending on his mood. Only Courtney was different. She's been like those girls who hated him, yet he, for some reason, refused to give up on her. No matter that he had plenty more choices, he wanted only her. And it took time, believe you me, but eventually he broke her. She gave in to him and became his official full time girl. There was no one else for either of them.

And then there's Gwen, the lonely little antisocial 'freak', as most would say, who didn't really belong to any clique. She was an undesirable. No one wanted to date her, never, and few even wished to associate themselves with her. But she didn't care. She was fine with being left alone to draw things, usually things where everyone else died. It wasn't that she actually wanted to see them fall prey to her intricate traps. For some reason she just couldn't help herself. What more was there to do when you had no one to talk to? But her wonderful personality wasn't the big thing that turned people off of her. Mostly it was her appearance. Her hair was dyed teal and dark green, verging on black, ears void of piercings, skin pale as a ghost, and clothes a mix of the colors of her hair. Everyone thought it to be odd. But what really pushed her appearance over the edge of just plain edgy and interesting into scaring off others was her eyes. They were darker then the darkest night, seemingly piercing through all she set eyes on, and contrasted greatly with the tone of her bleached skin. All this had garnered her the name 'Phantom' or 'Stalker' and occasionally the two combined for the especially brave. But never did anyone dare say these nicknames to her face nor did they cross her path intentionally. However the whispers never stopped. Not after the first week, month, or year. Even now, two years after she moved to this small town, the rumors still flew. It didn't help that she beat a boy up halfway through the first year, bringing her more unwanted attention. But that's not the point right now. Right now it's the summer after and things are about to get so much more complicated.

She, Gwen, was sitting under a lone tree out in the meadow that she'd fallen in love with since the first time she stumbled upon it. It was the one place she could take solace in with no fear of being intruded on just like it was the first place she remembered talking to Duncan with ease. And after that all the rest of the major events happened there too. She was writing in her journal, doodling in the margin whenever she couldn't think of the right word or wasn't sure how to tell what was happening at this point. This was why it was good for her to be gifted in both writing and drawing. And then, as she was getting to the good part of the day she heard voices. Faint at first, but obviously getting closer by the second.

"I hate you! I hate you! I hate you!" Courtney's cry reached Gwen. He'd done it again. Gwen was never really sure why, but he always managed to screw something up. The thrill was what the culprit was she guessed. Kissing another girl, gently touching them as he passed, and even full on sex. It happened all the time. There was no way Courtney didn't know, but it was only when she caught him did she throw a fit.

"Courtney, wait!" Duncan's cry followed shortly after.

"NO! Get away!" they were closer now. So close that if she were to stretch herself up as far as she could in her sitting position she could have seen the top of Courtney's head, brown hair gleaming beautifully in the sun. That was all that was beautiful. The rest was a mess. Her face was stained with tears, make-up running, and what appeared to be a bruise or two on her face. Not from Duncan, no way, it was from the girl she'd attacked earlier when she found him getting a bit to close to her. But don't worry, she may have gotten hit a time or two, but she won.

Babe!" he reached out his arm as if to grab her, but he was falling farther behind, making that impossible. It might not make much sense considering he had to be able to run like the wind regularly to get away from the cops for stealing, defacing property, and God knows what else. He was just tired. Curtsey of a late night pulling off a prank on the nerds with Gwen's aid.

"Stop following me!" the pitch of her voice grew higher, the way it always did whenever she was choking back more tears. "I don't want anything to do with you!"

All this commotion irritated the goth girl, all she wanted was peace and quiet. And she especially hated it when she could not find it in the one place no one was ever at. It was the worst of luck for her. Still she refused to look up to see if they were in view. She was intent on getting her thoughts out on paper no matter what was going on.

She was up the hill now and headed straight for the tree without any signs of slowing.

Gwen snickered when she ran right into it. "Nice going, genius." she should've known better then to mock her at a time like this, but they were friends. And she was in the mind set of Duncan. If she said that to him he would have laughed right back and teased her much the same.

"Shut the fuck up Gwen!" she snapped in a not so mad as I am sad tone as she straddled the large tree, scrambling up it's trunk like a monkey would have. But it was no surprise. Courtney always did something foolish to get away from Duncan after drama. Only she'd never invaded Gwen's place before. Never.

That's when she really caught Gwen's attention. Gwen raised a brow, frowning lightly as she was finally forced to close her journal with an irritated sigh. "Damn it Courtney. What are you doing?" she growled, rolling her eyes as she craned her neck to see Courtney, who was still climbing. It may sound harsh, but Gwen wasn't about to sympathize with her. It's not that she didn't feel bad for the girl after being cheated on, it was more so that Gwen had become tired of this cycle the dysfunctional couple was stuck in. That and her and Courtney were never very close. The only reason they associated themselves with each other was because of Duncan. They both cared deeply for him and as such couldn't bear being away from him for the amount of time the other wanted with him. As such they had no choice but to hang around the other a large percent of the time.

This time Courtney didn't bother responding. Not with words anyway. She did, however, increase the volume of her wails. This was her way of telling all to fuck off and if they didn't she would pretty much kill the poor unfortunate souls.

A growl formed in Gwen's throat. She didn't want to deal with this intruder. And she wouldn't be if she were anywhere else. So where the hell was Duncan? Had he not been right behind the bipolar prep? "Get down!" Gwen demanded, raising to her feet with a scowl now present on her face. She wanted Courtney off her tree. NOW.

"Nooooooooo!" Courtney screamed, finally ceasing her accent and crawled over onto a not so steady branch very close to the top. This was one of her better attempts to keep Duncan away. Most the time her ideas were lame and easily accessible. But Gwen didn't doubt that her best friend Duncan could find his way up there. He could escape detention centers. Why not scale a tree?

Gwen was about to yell a not so kind phrase up to her not so best friend when Duncan finally found his way up to the top. "C-Courtney…" he sucked in a deep breath, exhausted through and through. "wait…" he wheezed, cough following shortly after. "I'm…sorry." he said with a bit more steadiness, holding his head.

Gwen gladly turned her attention to Duncan and her hate to worry. Anything for him. "Are you ok?" she said softly, walking toward him so she might offer her condolences. But it didn't work out that way.

He snorted, mumbling something under his breath, straightening himself so that they were no longer a few inches apart in height, but him a whole foot.

She smiled lightly, unintentionally snickering at the stressed punk. "Sorry." she apologized quickly. "But what's the count to now? Still bent on believing she's 'the one'."

"Haha." he shook his head back and forth, mostly ignoring Gwen as he walked past her toward the tree in which Courtney hid.

And that was the end of that. The might have been moment was over just as fast as it began, with him quickly moving on to what was in fact the bigger issue aka Courtney. "Babe!" he cried up, cupping his hands around his mouth so that he was louder. "I'll give you a massage like you're always asking for!" Bribery. A man like Duncan's best friend. "I'll even take you to that restaurant of yours!" Neither Gwen or Duncan thought that he could get any more pathetic. But if it got her back then, to him, it was more then worth it.

Her cries died down a little and if one was to stare hard up at her like Duncan was they could see that she was seriously thinking of obliging. After all, it wasn't every day she was offered something like this. No. It was just every month, that's all. Of course, she still refused.

"No! Why not?" he exclaimed, throwing his arms into the arm with disbelief and aggravation abound. "You love that stupid shit! So why the fuck not!" he was crossing the border from a bit worried but collected straight into anger and, more likely then not, soon to be desperation.

"What kind of question is that?" she spat, hugging the trunk of the tree tightly, insecurity over the instability of the limb rising to the surface of her mind.

It was obvious he was growing angry, Gwen could even see that his face was turning red. Not from embarrassment or anything stupid like that, red from fury. "Get your ass down here!" he ordered, done with bargaining. And instead of helping the situation he made it ten times worse. Worse even then Gwen could've made it. Is he smart or what?

"Go fuck yourself!" she bellowed, sadness still managing to seep through into her voice. "Or better yet go fuck Kristen!" she added, voice shaking as the pain grew clearer in her tone.

"Why don't you grow up?" he snapped. "I was just talking to her!" he moved himself so that he was at the base of the tree, easily able to look up and see right where she was.

"Not unless 'talking' suddenly means squeezing her ass!" she started moaning again, sobs returning to boot. She was a wreck. And it would be this way for quite a while if one of them didn't change their tactics. It was summer after all. Neither had anywhere to be, so it would take longer for them to break the other. No school, Courtney's only incentive and for Duncan there was nobody to prank as well as nothing good enough to steal.

Duncan grit his teeth, mouth curled into a snarl. His lips parted to say something, but instead Gwen's voice was what was heard. "Stop it." she sighed irritably, taking a firm hold of his arm in case he did something stupid. He turned his head to look at her.

She was taken aback by how cold his eyes managed to look. Sure she'd seen it before, but not when he was looking at her, only when he looked at others. It happened all the time actually. Take his girl, he gives you the stare, try to outrank him, same, pull a fast one on him, same. But no matter what he was feeling about any person, hate, bitterness, sadness, or whatever he'd always make sure that when he looked at her his face was void of those negative emotions. His eyes were soft, and smile warm, fooling everyone but her. "She's upset." I motioned up at her. "Even I know that." she meant it as a joke, but it didn't come out that way. "Just…don't say something you'll regret…" she trailed off, lowering her gaze and released his arm.

He sighed lightly, hate slowly evaporating. "Courtney…look…I'm sorry." he yelled softly, trying to sound less threatening and more on her side.

"Lying son of a bitch!" she, on the other hand, wasn't about to give in. She was pissed, more pissed then usual, and wanted to show him that. That and that he'd messed up big time for once. She was done giving chances, done forgiving his petty mistakes, done with him.

"Baby, please." he half begged, voice pained as he wrapped his muscular arms about the tree so that he could scale it much like Courtney had. Although, somehow, he was much slower then his counterpart. Gwen was amazed by this as she watched.

"Fuck off!" she screeched, screaming wordlessly the instant the words passed her lips. It was an awful scream, but not the worst the others had heard. Duncan's worst scream was when another girl he'd been with was nearly killed by one of his former friends. That was when he stopped bringing girlfriends along for the ride of his heists unless he was sure they could handle it. And so far Gwen, his best friend, was the only one that could fit the bill. Gwen's worst hadn't really happened yet, but it soon would, much sooner then she thought. But if she were to pick in this moment then she'd have to say when her first and only boyfriend along with her best friend, back in Northern Canada, were caught cheating with each other. She'd startled them so badly that they'd jumped a foot, falling right off their perch on the kissing rock, earsplitting screams breaking through the silence that surrounded them as they plummeted to the jagged rocks below. Gwen stared down at them long after their bodies made impact, hand immediately brought to cover her mouth. She was scared, she didn't know what to do. People would know they were gone, it'd take only a day. And that's why she left. Moved far away. She told no one but her parents, leaving her friends, her cheery personality, and lifestyle all behind her. Never to unbury it again.

Gwen stared up after him, frozen in her place yet increasingly bored. She just wanted this stupid drama to be over once and for all. She wanted to be able to go where she wanted without worrying that at any given moment Courtney the princess might ruin the moment with her incessant bitching. She wanted to have her time with Duncan.

Duncan continued to beg, full out beg now, as he slowly climbed. "Courtney, please! I didn't mean to hurt you! I-I love you!" he swore up and down. "I-I just want another chance." his once smooth breathing was starting to get ragged again, making his voice delayed and labored.

He could sense the tears falling from her face because of the sobs that were heard. No one sobbed that much without tears. "N-No!" she insisted, shaking her head violently from side to side. Not that it meant much. She was obviously losing her will to resist him and his pleas and as such would surely give in like she always did. And, not that she really noticed at this point, but the branch was starting to wobble underneath her. It was not meant to hold this weight, not even with someone as tiny as Courtney. She also didn't notice that Duncan was close to reaching her on her little perch either.

"Don't cry." he cooed, stopping as he reached the branch directly below hers. He was exhausted , not understanding why. He didn't exactly exercise, but that was no reason for this sudden tiredness. "C-Come…" he trailed off. "…on…" his breathing was extremely labored, face warm, hands shaking. He wanted some water, but refused to give this up. But he really didn't feel like climbing any further. So he reached for Courtney's leg, fingers brushing the bottom of her shoe. "Damn it…" he cursed, tone level. Then it hit him. He fully realized that he didn't have to be sitting and stood, shakily at first, but quickly steadied himself. Now he could easily grab hold of the beautiful brunette. And so he did. He took a firm hold of her skinny leg, praying that she wouldn't start kicking and make the both of them fall off.

His hand was warm to her, her and her naturally cold body, so she immediately took notice. Jumping up to her feet instinctively. "Nooo!" she screamed, nearly falling down towards Duncan in her haste to stand. However, she managed to cling on to the trunk of the tree as she stood on her one foot, the other still dangling down a bit with Duncan holding on to it. "Get the fuck off me!" she was more pissed off and scared then she was hurt at this point. She even wanted him to fall. She just didn't want to go down with him.

"Courtney, stop it!" Duncan cried as she tried to escape his hold by kicking her captured foot frantically. He then decided he'd had enough of this game and used his other hand which had been his stabilizer to grab onto the same leg. He believed that with this amount of strength he could easily pull the stupid girl from her perch.

"Stoooop!" her scream was earsplitting, but nothing more. It wasn't the kind of scream that made you think 'is she dying' or 'maybe someone's hurt.' It was nothing short of annoying to the unfortunate people nearby. And that included Gwen.

Gwen growled at her, knowing fully well she would not hear. She was just trying to hold her tongue. She refused to be dragged into such a petty argument. Although she fully supported Duncan, even though she felt he deserved better.

Courtney might've been strong but Duncan was way stronger, especially when he wanted to be. And with his sudden pull on her she was finding it increasingly hard to keep her balance and felt as if she might start crying again. "D-Duncan…" she stuttered, "let go!" she kicked him then. Despite her fear of falling she used her leg keeping her up to smash his fingers as hard as she could.

"Holy shit!" was his automatic reaction as was retracting both hands. It wasn't to often that he cursed directly at her, but this time he couldn't help it. "Bitch." he hissed, back in a sitting position as he glared up at her.

She cowered slightly, but only for a moment, hopping back to her feet to jump up and reach the next branch. She sighed with relief when her hands closed around the branch. Now all she had to do was pull herself up. Duncan wouldn't be up to follow her for a minute or two so it was ok that she was struggling some. As long as she pulled it off before he rose.

Just as she predicted it took him a while to get up. And regardless of his tough guy exterior even as he got on his feet he found himself clutching his hands, one in the other. "Get down here!" he demanded, through with this. He swiftly latched onto the limb Courtney had been on previously, easily swinging himself back and forth enough to gain the momentum necessary to flip himself in a full cycle to land perfectly on his feet on the branch. It wobbled more then naturally, Duncan glancing momentarily at the support before looking back at his girlfriend.

She had already made it two more branches up to the last one. There was no where left for her to go but down. And that would be painful. Undoubtedly. She was starting to hyperventilate some, taking hold of her chest. "G-Go away…" she uttered it so softly that she knew he wouldn't hear. "Please…"

Duncan hopped to reach the next branch, but somehow missed. He stared blankly up at it. It was high. He scowled. He jumped again, once more falling back to the same branch. He was growing frustrated at his inability to get somewhere Courtney could. He knew he was better then her highness the selfishness. He would prove it too. He jumped. Another fall. The limb of the tree shook. Rinse and repeat. The only change was that the more he tried the harder the limb shook.

"Duncan, stop!" Courtney warned, leaning her head over and down a bit to see him.

"Shut up!" he snapped back, ignoring her words. He even punched the body of the tree, not to spite her or even because she was nagging. It was due to the fact he was losing to a tree. He wanted to win. He didn't have as much of an issue with losing as Courtney, but, depending, he could be just as temperamental.

"Duncan! You fucking idiot! You're gonna-" and she stopped cold, eyes widening like she already knew the outcome of his next action.

He glared at her as he leapt with all the force he could muster, fully believing this was it. And in a sense he was right. His fingers closed around the branch and he half smiled in victory. Only a half smile because it was short lived. He didn't get a good of enough hold on it to stay up, despite his strength, and he fell. He came down on the branch for the final time. All this force finally broke the limb right off and Duncan found himself falling far and fast. He had brilliant reaction time, but this was so unexpected for him that he couldn't do a thing about it. Only him, and both girls, could watch the scene play out in slow motion.

Gwen didn't have the view that Courtney had and as such couldn't see the fear etched in Duncan's features, but she felt it more so then Courtney. As he fell she was one with him. It was like she could feel the wind on her body as Duncan did, his heart beating a million miles an hour, his voice caught in his throat, the pain of the branches scrapping him and, most of all, the desire he had to cling onto something, anything to keep himself from hitting the ground. As all this went through both Gwen and Duncan's body and mind Gwen was frozen in place, eyes wide with unbound fear, mouth a flat line, and heart crumbling.

Courtney, on the other hand, had a perfect view of the tragedy. She could see plainly the fear in his rapidly widening eyes. She saw his arms reach for the quickly passing branches, she saw his mouth move to speak with no words resulting, she even, at the last moment, glimpsed what he had tried to say. 'I'm sorry.' That, in the end, was what pushed her hysteria over the edge so that she erupted into a full fledged scream. A scream so eerie, bone chilling, and blood curdling that it was easily the worst scream the three had or would ever hear. It was a scream of pure terror. Nothing could compare. It's what love does.

And then he made impact. He made a smack equivalent to one falling onto pavement, only this smack was much worse. It hit so hard because of the distance. Trust me. It's worse. One might even argue that they could've heard the crunch of bones as they shattered. And then, as his head hit hard on a rock the girls fully lost it. The blow didn't make a louder sound then the initial hit, but it did wind up louder as the sound stuck in his throat was forced out by the hit.

The earsplitting cry brought Courtney to tears and Gwen to her knees and then, as the two continued to freak out, Duncan began to slowly lose his grip on reality. He could hear Gwen's panicked voice muttering to please be ok but that was about it. And then he was gone…

What do you think of it so far? To unrealistic? idk. Any constructive criticism is much appreciated. :) Plz review!