Together Again

Chapter 2

Amy took another step towards her daughter and swept her up in a warm, suffocating embrace. She started to cry as she pulled away and pulled Gwen inside of the home she was taken away from. She took her into the kitchen and then Gwen's mom yelled for little brother, who is now sixteen, and told him to hurry down.

They heard his footsteps and him complaining about being interuppted while on the phone when her saw Gwen. He stopped talking and moving for a second. He kept his gaze on her as he took a few uncertain steps. "Gwen?" he asked. She noticed how deep his voice had gotten, and how tall too. He still had some of the boyish features that she remembered from when they were younger, but he had lost his baby fat and had evidence of facial hair.

Gwen could barely whisper his name as she walked over to him. Her mother hadn't aged much, but her baby brother certainly had. She hugged him and felt his tears fall onto her shoulder. Then she felt her mother move next to them and wrap her arms around them both, having her family complete after so long.

…

Gwen spent the next few hours with her mother and brother trying to cover years of experiences passed. Gwen learned that her mother had got a promotion and didn't have to work weekends anymore. Her brother was in the top ten percent of his class, and was currently struggling in chemistry. She also learned that he had his own band, and that he was the lead guitarist. They talked about Gwen's plans for the future, and of course what happened in her past.

"Before I left I called the cops on him. They should be contacting us as soon as they file him into their system."

They were silent. Relief washed over them because they knew that the ten-year nightmare has finally ended.

Glancing at the clock Amy said that she'd make Gwen some food before the trick-or-treaters started showing up. This would be their first complete family meal in a long time.

"I'll help you cook Mom, just let me go get my costume from my car."

….

"That was fucking awesome!" Duncan yelled as he stuck his head out of the window of his friend's car, and yanking off his dirty, slightly burning hockey mask. They'd just finished trashing the house of Chris McLean, a guy that all of the teenagers hated.

"Duncan, dude, I gotta say that this has been the best prank that we pulled in years. I wonder how he's gonna react one he realizes Gerard is just a dude." Mike said.

"I hope Gerard takes a picture," Frank added.

They'd created a fake email account and began messaging Chris, pretending to be a hot girl. They then planned a date for tonight with him. Gerard was going to show up for the date in a mini-dress and a blonde wig, meanwhile Duncan, Frank, Mikey, and Bob trashed his place.

"Duncan, it's good to have you outta Juvie. Thank God they can't hold you past your eighteenth birthday."

That's right Duncan, son of the chief of police, was a juvenile delinquent. Duncan had always been a little troublemaker, but when he was eight his behavior got more rebellious. Duncan had gotten mad at his father and the other cops for not being able to save his best friend from being taken by her father. He believed that they could have brought her back, but that they didn't try hard enough. As a result, Duncan decided to give the towns police hell by breaking laws. And to further piss off his father he dyed his hair, and got several piercings.

The group pulled onto the side of the street and parked outside of the house were the a buddy of theirs lived. Every year he threw a huge Halloween bash, and every year they got wasted and crashed at Gerard and Mikey's house. When they got out of the car they saw Gerard standing there in his min-dress and stilettos.

"Dude! That was the funniest shit ever! He screamed like the girl I was dressed up as! I took a bunch of pictures and a video on my phone." They flipped through the pictures and after the watched the video, and almost started crying from laughter.

"You ready to do this?" Bob asked.

"You know it," Gerard said, "I'm gonna score me some major numbers with this outfit," he said moving his hands down his figure.

"Nuh-uh you're going home with me tonight." Frank told Gerard, just playing around.

They all started laughing. "You guys are such fags," Duncan said while walking into the house.

"Someone's jealous!" Bob said, as the rest followed him in.

"Eat it," Duncan retorted.

"You'd like that wouldn't you?" Mike asked.

…

They'd been at the party for a few hours and all the guys were already trashed. Gerard was making out with some chick bassist who just started up a band, Frank was dancing with a couple of girls, Bob was making out with a couple of girls, and Mikey was… eating cookies? Duncan was the only one who wasn't completely intoxicated, in fact he hadn't touched a drink all night. He'd been ignoring all of the girls who approached him and got a nervous feeling in his gut. As the time passed on more girls came on to him.

There was one girl who was especially persistent, and slightly tipsy. She was dressed in a poofy gown and had a tiara on her head. When Duncan couldn't get her to stop talking he pulled on his mask and walked away. The "princess" wouldn't be shaken off that easily though, she followed him around the party, making him offers that most other guys would jump at. He looked at the door and then at his cell phone.

He turned around to face her and she gave him a flirty look. "Look Princess, it's been fun, but I got somewhere to be." And with that he made his way out of the house and towards the park where the old oak tree was.

...

A/N: Here's part two. I'll give a cookie to anyone who figures out where I got the names for Duncan's buddies. Nat, if you don't know I'll kick your butt.