Falling, Alone, and a Mess

Chapter 4: 11:54pm

Duncan sat at the campfire, alone with his thoughts. Which he knew was dangerous. It was almost midnight, everyone else had gone to bed but him. The party was great, he caught up with all of his friends.
Especially Gaby.
He was so glad that he got to see them again. Tate was the stereotypical, romantic, musician guy. He played the guitar, writes his own songs, basically everything that makes girls swoon over him. When Duncan and Tate first met, they hated each other. Duncan would bully him in elementary all the time, and it carried on like till they entered 6th grade. That was when Tate's mother died, and Duncan did everything he could to support him. And that's when they became best friends. Before Duncan left, Tate and him would pull pranks all the time in school. Once, they even hung a very large poster of male genitalia in the principals office. Of course, Duncan took the blame since Tate's father was already having a hard time. But then, Duncan left for juvie. They sent letters, mostly consisting of Tate talking about all of his girlfriends, his pranks, and his family. Tonight was a great night for the bunch.
Leo was Duncan's other goofball, hard-headed, best friend. They met in pre-k, when Leo tried stealing Duncan's crayons and they got into a fight. Yes, just imagine 2 little 4 years punching and screaming at each other. But anyways, after that they became good friends for some odd reason. They don't know why or remember how, but they've been friends since. When Tate was too scared to do legitimate pranking, Leo was there. By legitimate Pranking I mean spray painting someone's house or shaving someone's cat. Leo used to bully Tate, just like Duncan did. It surprised everyone how they all became best friends.
And finally there's Gaby.
Duncan met Gaby when he had to go the salon with his sister, not because he wanted a mani/pedi, but because he had to. His siblings would take turns baby sitting him, since his parents didn't trust him whatsoever. Demi was the receptionist at the salon. She worked there part time, but anyways, one day Duncan was messing with the hair dryers when he saw a girl about his age walk in with what seemed to be her older sister. She looked just as miserable as he did. When her sister joined Demi behind the counter, she walked over to Duncan and introduced herself.
"Hi, I'm Gaby. My sister told me your Demi's little brother and that I should introduce myself."
"I'm Duncan, and yeah I am. I'm only here since my parents don't trust me with shit."
Play it cool, man.
Don't mess this up!
Act tough and she'll dig it.
"...Um ok, well it was nice talking to you."
She walked over and into one of the offices.
Damnit you idiot!
Great now she thinks you're an idiotic punk.
Duncan couldn't help but to pinch himself for having his thoughts get to him again.
He got up and walked outside, looking at the garden. Although he would never admit it, he really did have a soft spot for beautiful plants. He sat down on the bench outside, and inhaled deeply, admiring the beauty. Which that was interrupted by a short, mocha skinned color girl with long black hair.
"I see you've found the garden."
He turned around to find Gaby standing in the archway that leads a path around the building.
"So I see you're stalking me."
She let out a loud scoff.
"I noticed you from the office window, doofus. I can show you around the building if you'd like."
"Sure, why not?" Duncan got up and followed her inside.
The day was great for them. He realized that now, he'd have someone to hangout with when he had to go with Demi. Neither of them knew it, but that day was a start to a beautiful friendship.

Duncan inhaled deeply while sitting at the fire pit, which he later regretted because only smoke was met with his lungs. Gaby was the only thing on his mind.
Tonight she had informed him that she was homeschooled now. Apparently, she couldn't take the stress of school anymore. She was constantly having massive anxiety attacks, only having 2 hours of sleep a night, and she was diagnosed with Chronic Depression.
Duncan felt so guilty for not being able to help her when she needed him, he couldn't stop blaming himself for everything.
This is all your fault.
You left and she became a mess.
You're a heartless douchebag.
He stood up quickly and took one last deep breath, before putting out the fire and heading inside.
The house was silent. He hated silence. That was when the voices became louder than ever. He stood at the bottom of the staircase for a while, before slowly walking back upstairs.
He took off all of his clothing but his boxers, and then drifted off to bed.

A/N- ok so basically this chapter is just a recap story on his relationships with people nothing serious but I will say ,,, there is a surprise with Tate and one of his siblings but I will not say which but anyways ??? does Duncan have feelings for Gaby ??? if so, does she feel the same ??? why has it taken me 4 chapters to wrap up one day ??? idk ??? anyways guys stay tuned for chapter 5: Don't Blow It, Again